Three P's: Perseverance

Ok. 

It's been a while. I'd like to say that I have spent this entire time contemplating what I want to write regarding perseverance but that would be a lie. I've just been busy and distracted. Two kids. A wife. 20 credit hours at school. Not excuses, just the reasons that I haven't posted in a while.

I love how I wrote that explanation as if there is this horde of people sweating when I will post my next blog. Believe me, I am aware that most people reading this either: A. didn't know I even had a blog, or B. don't care when/if I ever post again.

Anyways... I've been writing about these three P's. Perspective, Priorities, and (now) Perseverance. For some reason these three ideas have been bouncing around in my head for a couple years and I figured that my new blog was the perfect place to lay them out.

So... for everyone who has been holding their breath; exhale. Here it is:

Perseverance

I honestly don't know where to start. In the past few weeks, so many examples of this idea have been presented to me. I have come across scripture after scripture that speaks to this idea. This tells me one thing:

Perseverance is important.

And it applies to us all.

More often than we think.

Going back to my last post I spoke to this a little bit. I recognized that it is obvious that we are not going to always have the "proper" perspective. This concept applies far, far beyond our "perspective". It has to do with every decision we make and action we take. Every day. I'm not sure how many of you are like me but I know that I fail daily. I fail God, I fail my wife, I fail my kids. It could be in my thoughts, my actions, my attitude, whatever. This issue of perseverance has to do with how we handle that failure. 

When we know that we have (sometimes habitually) failed our God, our family, our friends, our co-workers, or anyone else in our sphere of influence, how do we handle it? What do we do? Can we fix it? Can we do better?

Considering  that I fail daily, should I just resign myself to that fact; admit defeat and continue in the same pattern without hope of change?

NO.

I'm going back to my last post a little bit here but listen to me. If you are a follower of Jesus, the Spirit of GOD is living in you. Please, PLEASE, stop for a moment and remember that Truth. It is that Truth that gives you the ability to persevere. 

We are being sanctified day by day. That is a fancy way of saying that God is working on us, always. We know that we will never achieve perfection this side of eternity. If we could become perfect here on Earth then we could get in to Heaven without the need for Christ which just is not the case. There is work to be done and there always will be work to be done. The beauty of that statement is that the work is being done. Not by us but by God. By the only one who can do what needs to be done. 

Perseverance. No matter how hard we fall. No matter how many times we fall. We have no choice but to stop, humble ourselves, and say, "now it will be different." That's our only option. Without that mindset we are left in doubt; questioning whether or not we are truly saved, whether or not we are truly children of the living God. We must live in faith, knowing that our heavenly Father is faithful and just to forgive our sins (1 John 1:9). This does not in any way mean that we take lightly the following observation of 1 John 2:3-4 which says, "Whoever says 'I know Him' but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him." But those two verses are working in harmony. We recognize, as Paul does in Romans 7:15-20, there is a tension between our flesh and our spirit and we do not always keep His commandments; but the Spirit of God is waging war on our behalf and as long as we persevere, He will endure victorious. 

We strive to obey the loving ordinances of our gracious heavenly Father. We also must know that He is here. In us. With us. Among us. Working. He will complete His good work. All we have to do is bend the knee and let the creator of all that is good and perfect and beautiful have His way in our lives. 

And after those times.

The times that I stand up.

And declare how I will do it.

I have to stop.

Repent.

Bow.

And persevere. 

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Ok. So those are the three P's. I don't like lists. I disdain alliterative lists. But there you go. Take it however you want.

Who knows what the heck I'll write about next. Probably my kids or something. They seem to take up a lot of my time.

Stick around.

I'll try to keep it interesting.

Three P's: Priorities

Hopefully everyone enjoyed my last post which was the first of my "Three P's" and if you didn't enjoy it, well... hopefully you'll give me another shot.

So here comes the second "P" in my little list of observations. In case you missed it they are Perspective, Priorities, and Perseverance. I'll mention again my disdain for lists. I even feel silly just talking about the "Three P's." Sounds like a self-help book by some guy that I'd have no reason to trust. Regardless, it just so happens that these thoughts have been in my head for a while and it just so happens that they all begin with the letter "P". Whatever.

Here it goes....

Priorities

I think that in order to maintain or even develop a clear, consistent perspective it is incredibly important that you have your priorities set right. If our priority is our job, our family, our house, our yard, our hobbies... ourselves? our sin? then you better believe that it will have an impact on what "data" we are considering relevant and how to order it in a meaningful relationship. 

If we want to know what our priorities are, all we have to do is look at how we spend our time, how we use our words, what we do when we are alone, what our thoughts are like. Pretend there was a camera crew following us around for a few days and then it was shown to a complete stranger. They will get a very strong impression as to what our priorities are, regardless of what we may profess them to be. For some of us (and by "some of us" I mean myself) this is a scary thought. 

If our priority is Christ, then there should be evidence of it. As followers of Jesus, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. How can the very presence of God be in me and not be evident in what I do? God is living in us.

Hold on, let me say that again.... God is living in us. 

That has to be one of the most extreme concepts that we as Christians hold. Again, take a second and consider those five words. Are you kidding me? No, I'm not. Neither is He. He's there. Living. In. Us.

When we make Him the priority, we submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit of God that resides within us and we are transformed.

Pretty much everything that I've written here so far is summed up pretty well by Paul in Romans 8:5, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit." I'll get back to Romans 8 in a second but let's take a minute and replay the video that our personal film crew has been shooting for the past few days... how much time did I spend with my mind "set on the things of the Spirit?" If we're honest all of us should answer, "not enough." I don't think that's anything to be ashamed about, I think the only man who ever had His mind set on the things of the Spirit 24/7 was Jesus Christ, but I do think it is an important observation to make. The reality is that we will always struggle. Paul addresses this in his Romans 7:15-20 passage, the whole "the things I do do I don't want to not do but things to do I not do for want to not not do for doing etc...." verses (that's a paraphrase, but you know what I'm talking about). Paul gets in to the dual nature of the believer thing which is a whole other post (that I am probably not qualified to even attempt to write, so I probably won't ever go there) but my point is that while there is a reality to that struggle that we won't be free from this side of eternity, we still have to be diligent to set our mind on the things of the Spirit. 

Romans 8 then goes on to make the statement that those who are in the flesh cannot please God (v.8). On the flip side of that, we can see that it is those who are in the Spirit who please Him. It is God's Spirit in us that pleases God. Without Him, we've got nothing. With Him, we've got everything. 

So what? What I'm supposed to do is just yield myself to the Holy Spirit 24/7? Well, ideally, yes. What could be better than that? Why would that sound like a chore or some sort of hassle? One more time: God is living in us. God. Why in the world would we not want to make Him our priority? How could it get any better? Let's look at Romans 8:6 and consider the options: "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." Yup, I'll take number two please. 

Let me be very clear that I am not suggesting that if we aren't 24/7 locked in with the Holy Spirit, then we are not true believers, or going to hell, or losing our salvation, or anything like that. I'm simply making the observation that it seems to me that any time we spend with our minds "set on the flesh" and not "set on the Spirit" is time spent wasted. Prioritize. Let's be diligent. Jesus is the center of everything according to Colossians 1:16-17, so let's start living like we know it. 

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Wow. When I sat down to write this post I had a completely different idea and direction in my mind. But, this is what came out. What are ya gonna do? It is what it is. Hopefully there is some sense in there somewhere. 

This is completely unrelated to the post but since I've been in Romans 8 for most of the night, I keep seeing these verses and I just can't help but write them here. They are some of the most powerful, beautiful words in Scripture:

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."  ::  Romans 8:38-39

Amen.

Stick around.

One more P to go.

Three P's: Perspective

Let me start by stating that I am generally not a fan of "lists" or "points" to a greater "point". Generally if I am listening to a sermon and I hear the speaker say, "There are 5 points I'm going to make about X," I get kind of annoyed. And if those points are all alliterative or form an acronym, forget about it. I'm not saying its the right attitude, I'm just saying. 

That being said...

Five or six years ago, I had this idea. I was just thinking about... life. Specifically the Christian life. For some reason three particular words stood out to me. That's right; a list of points. Oh wait... they are alliterative. 

Super. 

Anyways, I started thinking about them more and more and how they are related and important, etc. I never wrote anything down regarding them, they've just kind of been bouncing around in my head for the past 5 years. So I figured now that I have this blog and these teeming masses of people just dying to know what is going on up in my tiny brain, now is as good a time as any to get some thoughts down.

So the three P's are: Perspective, Priorities, and Perseverance.

Ooooooh, fancy right?

This first post is going to be about Perspective and then hopefully I'll get around to writing about the other two. 

Perspective 

There's a lot to be said about perspective. Heck, it has more than seven different definitions and applications according to Dictionary.com. My favorite definition listed is this:

per·spec·tive [per-spek-tiv]

noun

::the faculty of seeing all the relevant data in a meaningful relationship.

There's a lot right there that is interesting. (all) Relevant data. Meaningful relationship. As individuals, how often are we considering all of the relevant data and how it is related in a given situation? What constitutes data being "relevant"? Every situation we face is going to be unique to that specific moment or individual involved. However, there is data that is eternally relevant and should be applied in everything. 

Scripture is full of that type of data. One thing stands out in particular to me though: 

Philippians 2:5-8 "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus..."

The Scripture goes on to tell how, despite the fact that Jesus was God incarnate, he humbled himself. He served. He obeyed. He worshiped. He sacrificed. In this way, He loved. 

If there was ever a man that walked on this Earth who had a complete grasp of all of the relevant data and how it exists in a meaningful relationship, it was Him. 

And look what He did.

I believe that most of us suffer from a lack of perspective. I think that most of us underestimate the power and impact that our perspective has at any given moment. Most of the time we are observing what is going on around us and processing to ourselves what we think it looks like, what we think about it, how it makes us feel, what we can gain from it, what we might lost from it, and so on. How often do we take the time to consider what someone else in that room might be thinking, feeling, processing, at that very moment and then do our best to show grace, generosity, friendship, and love to that person? 

I'm feeling my own conviction dripping from my forehead even as I write this. 

I just wonder how my life and the lives of others that I am in contact with would be changed if I were to intentionally maintain good perspective. Eternal perspective. The Christ-perspective of Phil. 2:5-8.

Let's slow down. Take a minute to think. Fix our perspective. 

Someone else who had some good perspective; John the Baptist.

John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease."

So simple. So incredibly difficult. God help us. Without Him, its impossible.

Stick around.

I've got two more P's to go.

Just to write. Right? Write.

I know that its not too often that you come across many men who have blogs for no particular reason  It seems (at least to me) to be mostly the ladies who take the time to write down thoughts and observations.  

Well, I don't care.

I have no inclination as to how often I'll feel compelled to update this, so it might not be that exciting. Regardless, I've decided to give it a go. 

And here's why...

Today as I was sitting in my 310 Grammar class, I suddenly and inexplicably felt an incredible, heart wrenching longing for Summer. At first I was kind of confused because Summer has never been one of my favorite seasons (I'd rate it 3rd out of the 4). Then I realized what it was that I was feeling.

When I think about Summer and being a kid, I have a very distinct image that comes to mind. It's nothing super fancy, its just a simple view from street level in the neighborhood development that I lived in when I was in 4th grade. Its just a view looking down the street, at all the suburban homes lined up one after another. But its the very beginning of dusk. The sky looks like its on fire and everything; the houses, the cars, the street signs, the other kids, the pavement; everything, seems like it is shimmering gold. 

Its not just this image that is beautiful to me. Its the feeling. And what it felt like to be there in that moment. Remember when you could just go outside and play? When you were old enough to be trusted to run around the neighborhood with the other kids but still too young to be seriously deceitful and destructive? How beautiful was that? What happens to that?

I think that's what my heart was longing for.

At first it made me kind of sad. Thinking about innocence and how it doesn't last. But then I started thinking about my boys and it made me smile. I'm glad that I got to experience that and I'm glad that someday they will too. I want to be there to help them linger in those moments for as long as they can. 

I believe in Heaven. I believe it is a place where there is no darkness or shifting shadow. Where there is no deceit or destruction. Where the Sovereign Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will be worshiped throughout eternity. Where we will come face to face with Love, Power, Truth, and Goodness. 

I also believe that those childish Summer evenings, when the good Lord is burning up the sky to create a blank canvas for what tomorrow will hold, just might be as close to Heaven as we will ever get while here on Earth. 

So, that's my story about wanting to start a blog.

Stick around.