Definition

At the request of my campus Pastor I am posting this everywhere I can think of.  Hopefully you can draw truth from this post.  

Definition.

 

I am living a season of life where this word is the foundation of my search.  So many people my age are going through the same thing.  What is it that defines you?  What are you?  Do you define yourself by your friends?  By what you own?  By what you wear?  How is it that this is the most important thing about you, and yet we feel so confused and scared of what defines us?

 

You see, the only thing that can define us is the affirmation of God.  It is what we long for.  You remember being a kid and creating something so amazing that you just had to show Mom and Dad?  They would come and look at what you made.  Sometimes they’d praise the work you did, others they would be disappointed because it was creatively destructive.  But isn’t that what we’re trying to do with our lives?  Don’t we live in such a way that we are asking anybody to come and look what we did?  We’re searching for affirmation that our lives mean something.  

 

It doesn’t matter whether you have faith in God or not.  We are wired this way.  We want to know that our lives have meaning.  We need to know that we are living out our purpose.  What I believe is that until we can surrender our lives that we are creatively destroying to God, that we can’t define our lives in such a way that generations will recall.  Our definition must come from God.  He must be molding our lives and we must remain moldable.

 

For a long time I have wanted to have something to offer.  I have longed to make a difference for the Kingdom of God.  I wanted to get out and be somebody.  I don’t want to be overlooked.  Often times I feel like I’m not doing enough.  I feel like if I’m not the one in charge or the one who is needed that I don’t matter and that God doesn’t use me.  That’s wrong.  I’ve thought that if I can’t evangelize, that I must not be a strong Christian.  There’s something wrong with me.  

 

I’m beginning to learn just what my life means to God.  It is a beautiful, wild, and scary thing.  It is strong, it is passionate, and it is full of life and freedom as only God can give.  I want to live in that.  I’m am trying to take the steps to walk in that relationship with God.  I keep messing up.  I keep losing sight of God in the midst of stress, in the midst of the storm.  I feel like Peter saying “if it is you, Lord, then tell me to come out to you!” And Jesus replying “Come.” I get out of the boat and start walking towards Him, then I look away for only a second and sink.  It takes faith that sometimes I just don’t have.  I doubt.  We all do.  And if you don’t, what is it that you see?

 

I think that we need to realize our definition in life doesn’t come from what we do or who we are.  We need to know that what we’re building and what we’re working toward is something only God can create.  God will define our lives if we let Him.  When we let him do that, we won’t always see the results, and maybe we never will.  But it is that definition that we are longing for.  That definition will fulfill our lives.  That definition is what gives us a purpose.  We need to stop trying to build our own lives.  We need to realize that we just can’t mark the world like God can. 

Look at Jesus.  Jesus was the son of God and he is still the most controversial, most well known figure in the history of the world.  Abraham, allowed his life to be molded and marked by God.  God defined his life as being Man of God and he is the father of nations.  David surrendered his life to God at a very young age.  God defined David’s life as that of a leader, of a warrior, of a man who passionately followed HIm.  We know David as a man after God’s own heart.  David was also blessed as he ruled over the nation of Israel and that time is known as the golden age of Israel.

 

We are defined by God, and that definition leads to actions that we take.  That definition leads to the choices we make and how we live our lives.  If you’re thinking to yourself “Well, I don’t know how God is going to define my life” or that maybe you just don’t know if you’ll be able to find what God’s definition is, I’d encourage you to go beyond just praying or looking through the Bible.  Start talking with a mentor, a pastor, a group of friends, or find a lifegroup and let them know what you’re looking for.  Sometimes we must let other people carry us before the feet of God because we’re too scared or weak,  or we just can’t get there period.  

God saw all that He had made,

and it was all very good.  Genesis 1:31a

I was thinking about this verse today.  As some of you know I’m currently working through the book Wild At Heart, which takes a look at how God has a wild side and that is instilled in men in different ways.  

The story of creation is something that is taught to us a young children, often by well-intentioned sunday-school teachers.  What they miss is that God created parts of the world and many creatures to be wild and dangerous.  We miss that in sunday school.  Sunday-school, and church in general is supposed to be a ‘safe’ place right?  I think that we may have missed the goal there.  We have replaced ‘safe’ with tame.  

Yes, God created those little pets that we have that are sweet, he created all those birds to sing his praises and remind us that He loves music.  He created a garden for man to dwell in, but He created Adam out in the wild – in the wilderness.  If you look at chapters one and two of Genesis – you’ll notice that Eve was not created until after God had placed Adam in the garden.

God created those nice things we think of.  He also created the mountains, those animals that would consider you lunch with no extra thought, and the barren places of the earth that would swallow you.  The world is wild.  It’s dangerous.  God created it.  He said it was good.  And it is.  Let’s let God transform His church.  Let him make something wild, something powerful… something good.  There will be places within His Church that are going to be calm and ‘safe’ or ‘tame;’ but let Him make the Church dangerous again. 

Living Hope has done a good job at letting God do this.  But can we be even more moldable? Can we let Him make His church even more dangerous?  I know I’ve missed that.  And I feel that maybe too many of us have.

Who encourages you?

Who speaks in to your life and gives you the courage to the point where you will dare to do something difficult?  Encourage is truly an active word.  We must work to encourage one another – this goes beyond speaking.  It extends in to giving active help to one.

 Or perhaps what I’m trying to get at is who is it that heartens you?  Who is that can speak truth and pick you up and hold you up to God so He can renew your spirit?  You see, we all need these people in our lives.  We need someone to come along side us and lift us up to God.  We need someone to come along side us and put us in a place where we are able to remain in God.  

Once we are heartened, we can then move to the next step, and that is inspiration.  Inspiration is the step where we can be infused with confidence, resolution, and enthusiasm.  How many of us have missed this?  The english language, although it has few words for different ranges of emotion, can still segregate out meanings in different words.  We so often miss the Inspiration step.  We gain inspiration from God, from His creation, and also from each other.

For a long time I had the blessing of a group of men who were able to encourage, hearten, and inspire me.  This was crucial in my development as a young follower of Christ as well as in my transition from boyhood to manhood.  However, I no longer have this group of men around me.  Who is it now that encourages, heartens, and inspires me?  I don’t know.  I find small glimpses of those who are able to encourage me.  You know who you are, and I thank you.  Where I am at right now, I feel I need more than you can give right now, and that is alright.  God will show up and His will shall carry on, and carry me.  I know for myself, I shall be spending a few days alone, in the Wild of God’s creation as soon as I am able.

Back to the first question.  Who is that that encourages, heartens, and inspires you? 

Reasons

Alright, so, I have been going to Living Hope Church for about 3 years, and in that time, I have grown a lot. But, last night, I got to talking with God and thinking about everything and I have come to the conclusion, I think that, I am not entirely sure that Living Hope Fisher’s Landing, or any other current campus is the place for me. I am willing to go there for the time being, but I just feel that there is another reason why God has me there. What reason is that? Well, to be honest, I think God wants to introduce me to my future wife there, and you know what, I am all for that.

Where has this come from? Well, last Sunday (the 13th of April) really. I just felt like  the message was not for me and that I was simply there to take a breather and relax from all the demons that have been tormenting me. And shelter is great, but I need spiritual food, and right now, I think my future wife, my best friend and God are the best sources of that.

I do want to start my own campus, free of DVDs and full of truth though, and I will beginning basically that this summer and I just might continue to do the online sermons for a while. Anyways, thought I would blog about that. later.

 

M to the B to the W,

Wild Wolf

More Leadership

Hi, everybody, i am Dr. Nick….oh, wait, sorry. wrong show. I am Wild Wolf, and will be your new author on this site and i join the many other authors here. Do not worry, i will be good, and enlightening, whatever that means. anyways, i look forward to talking with you guys soon, peace and harmony and love. later!