Do you have what it takes?

Even when I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me live to tell the people of this age

what your strength has accomplished, to tell about your power to all who will come. Psalms 71:18 GWT

It was early August on a hot muggy afternoon and I was laying on my back in the little league football practice area.  Mosquitos buzzed around while I was covered in dirt and sweat.  Just moments before I had caught sight of my dad coming to my team to watch my practice.  He rarely came and something inside of me wanted to make a good impression.  I wanted him to know that I was good enough.

“Rogers on your back for one on one!”  Yes sir, I responded and laid down on my back helmet to helmet with Jones.  When coach counted to three, we were to get up as fast as we could and run straight at each other.  One would tackle and the other was to run straight over his opponent.  I glanced over to see if Dad was watching.  “Three!!!” 

I was small and quick…nearly 20 pounds less than my opponent.  I knew I had to hit first and hard.  I lowered my head, we collided and both fell to the ground.  Our teammates cheered with enthusiasm.  But I felt pain in my neck…some of it remains to this day.  Did Dad notice my sacrifice?  Did he think I am good enough?

Moses was in the desert leading the people of Israel toward the promised land.  While Moses was with God on the mountain the people rebelled, mad a golden calf and worshipped it.  God did not destroy the people, but told Moses he would no longer travel with them.  Then Moses pleaded and interceded with God on behalf of the people…”If I have found favor with you?”

There is a gnawing and a longing to know that we have God’s favor.  We long to hear the words that God spoke over Jesus at his baptism…”you are my beloved son in whom I take great delight.”  Even when we have experienced God’s love, there is an ache to remain in that place.  Are there some activities, steps, some things that you can do, to know that you “are the apple of your heavenly Father’s eye?”

A broken and contrite heart God will not despise.  In other words, when you approach God in humility, he always welcomes you.  This of course begins our salvation experience.  NONE of us are good enough to impress God on our own abilities.  We just can’t do enough “good” to impress God.  So we humbly receive the sacrifice of Jesus to die in our place, to die for the sins that we committed.  This begins our relationship with God as his children John 1:12.

Secondly, walk continuously in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.  He is the promise of Jesus to be with us always.  He will lead and guide us into truth….truth about God’s continuing love for us.  He will speak to you, teach you, convict you, open your eyes of understanding, gift you to purpose, comfort you, challenge you to walk in faith.  There is no Christian life that Jesus understood, that does not include Holy Spirit’s full time involvement in the life of the believer.  Don’t be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Life without the Spirit is like a boat in the ocean that has neither sails nor compass.  You will arrive somewhere at some time, but only because of the influence of the wind and waves.

Read the Bible daily.  Jesus said that man does not live by bread alone, but by the word of God.  Yet, we want to make Jesus a liar.  How you say?  By our actions of NOT being a doer (or reader) of the word…yet we expect to live a full and meaningful Christian experience.  Jesus quoted scripture to resist temptation.  This word was hidden in his heart at an early age…so that he would not sin.  We must capture a renewed hunger and thirst for the word of God.  It doesn’t become us to be spiritually emaciated just because we forgot to eat from God’s bread of life…his word.

Unconfessed and undealtwith (not a word, but it communicates) sin.  God’s voice seems to go silent when we sin.  Isaiah 59:2 says it best. “It's your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.” NLT.  This is not a martyr, I’m just not good enough response to God.  This is areas in our lives where we have told God “not to go there”.  We have just presumed on God’s grace and said that he knows we are weak.  We just don’t want to acknowledge that we are unwilling to humble ourselves and deal with our own selfishness.  But God our Father is serious about following him with our whole heart.  Sin separates us.  So, we confess our wrong doings.  Then He forgives.  Because of Jesus, He forgives completely.  Oh, the cleansing that comes when we are washed once again by the blood of his cleansing.

The final encouragement to know that we walk in his favor is to retell God’s past actions.  When we tell others what He has done…faith grows in our hearts.  This is more than just telling how God has worked in your own life, it also includes telling the great stories of the Bible.  As we share of God’s goodness we become connected to the story.  We become witnesses to the accounting of God and his ways.  We see how he forgave others…and we are encouraged that He will forgive us too.  Telling God’s story places us in the position to live life in the middle of God’s favor.  When was the last time you just told someone about a Bible story that you found interesting?  When did you tell someone how God spoke to you while reading the Bible? 

God loves you!  He has provided so many ways to express to you that He loves you.  In fact all of creation shouts that God prepared a world for us to enjoy…because He loves us.  God, our Father, so loves us that He did not even hold back from giving his only son, so that we could know his favor, blessing, approval, and love.  He is watching and we get to show Him that we have what it takes.  “Three”  Get up and tell somebody how much God cares and loves them.