Mark Batterson shared a brilliant post here, about the need at times to “cut the lines to the lifeboat” instead of playing it safe. Sharing from the story of Paul’s crash landing in the Island of Malta, the decision to throw everything overboard, cut the lines to the lifeboat and stay on the ship, saved their lives. That story rivals anything on this season of Lost.

Mark observes wisely, “we like backup plans. We all want a lifeboat. But there are moments in life when you have to cut the lines to the lifeboat. And the very thing that seems the riskiest is actually the safest and what seems the safest is actually the riskiest. The thing that could cost your life ends up saving your life and the thing that could save your life ends up costing your life.

I have been struggling, wrestling with and resisting, a decision that would require enormous personal risk for me and my family. Our human tendency is always to play it safe. Something about our fallen nature seems to revert back to the path of least resistance. Recently, as I have been reading through the life of Christ, I am convicted about how little Jesus played it safe. Unfortunately, sanitized, Sunday school Jesus is never presented this way. Following Jesus means we follow him wherever he leads. And sometimes, where He leads, will mean a shipwreck and a snake bite — and if we dare to follow — an island-wide revival. Acts 27:1-28:10

What a heartwarming and touching letter that the Bush sisters left for the Obama girls. Almost made me cry — almost!

Steven Furtick had a great post here about a topic I unfortunately know about and have seen often. He has a very sobering quote that someone shared with him that is quite true:

There is very little that we do in the Spirit that we cannot fake in the flesh!

Being part of the Charismatic movement, I have been exposed to the genuine moves of the Spirit and unfortunately all of the fleshly displays of what some have passed off as a move of the “Spirit”. When much of what we do in ministry is based on performance, there is such a tendency to revert to recreating moments that we feel were “breathed” on by the Holy Spirit, in order to keep our acolytes coming back for more. I have watched as “men of God” manipulated people and hyped up worship and rhetoric to elicit a response from people. It makes you want to puke. The reality is though, I have been that guy that has used hype to get a response from the crowd. God forgive me.

When we look at the life of Jesus, there was an effortless flow of power from him because of his intimacy with the Father. Jesus did not have to hype up the crowd in to a fever pitch of uncontrollable frenzy in order for the miraculous to take place. He spoke a word, he sent people on their way, he made mud pies with his spit and applied it over someone’s eyes, he told people to pick up their mats and begin to walk, yet never do we observe him hyping up the crowd.

I echo Steven’s prayer, “God, keep us close to the Source of our strength.
Help us to never manufacture in the flesh
what should only be accomplished in the power of your Spirit.

John 4:31 I can imagine this scene in which the disciples are urging Jesus to eat because they got him the pita and hummus combo at the local fast-food joint in Samaria. They didn’t know he had been ministering to a woman while he was waiting for them and at that precise moment a mini-revival was starting in the town.

How funny that the things that we pursue in life apart from the will of God leave us empty, unfulfilled and unsatisfied. When we are in the arena of God’s purpose for our lives, there is a satisfaction that we cannot express and put fully in to words. Ministry has its ups and downs and for sure, some days I was wish I was doing something else. The consistent thing I do know, is that when I am about “my Father’s business” I experience that ‘fullness’ in my spiritual stomach that keeps my going.

Lord, I want to live my life doing your will and accomplishing your work. In that is the promise, not that life will be simple, easy, effortless and tame, but that there will be a ‘fullness’ to my life that I will never encounter apart from you.

John 3:30 Got to love the confidence of John the baptizer as he was told that Jesus was baptizing and all of his congregation was going to Jesus. John understood his purpose and vs. 29-30 in The Message declares that John said “That’s why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.”

Do we get jealous when others succeed and we don’t seem to have the same measure of success? This passage convicted me of several things. First, there is something competitive in me that doesn’t allow me to celebrate victories in other people’s lives or ministries as easily as I would like. Secondly, Jesus needs to move to the center of whatever that is in me that creates those feelings of jealousy or competitiveness. I’m sure John being human struggled with these same things but his recognition of his own purpose and that of the Christ allowed him to surmount that.

Lord, help me to overcome in this area and celebrate the successes of those around me, even when I don’t seem to have that same measure of success in my own life. Allow me to understand my own purpose with such laser-like clarity and that Jesus would be the center of this area in my life.

John 2: 3-5 Big problem — the wine ran out! No problem — Jesus to the rescue! I love how Jesus responds to his mother when she asks him to troubleshoot the problem. His answer, “this has nothing to do with me, not my fault they didn’t stock up!” Yet she persists because she knows he can! She tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. Her belief moved into action, she set it up for the miracle to take place.
We need to live our lives this way. That our belief always positions ourselves and others to be in the pathway for the miraculous to take place. Because Mary was positioned for the miraculous, vs. 11 says that “he manifested his glory and the disciples believed.”

Lord, I want to live with the expectancy that you can do what you say you can do, and position myself and others to be in the pathway for miracles.