Thursday Thought

27 million. That’s how many Americans are influencers—paid online content creators. Of these, roughly 12 million are full-time. Nobody knows the precise number, of course, but surveys suggest 14% of 16-54-year-olds are influencers, and for 44% of those, it’s a full-time gig. SOURCE: https://www.complex.com/life/a/tracewilliamcowen/12-million-influencers-us

If you know anything about marketing in today’s digital spaces, you know it’s all about platform size, subscribers, followers and likes. Which spawned a global symphony of self-trumpeters, each seeking to out-blast his neighbor.

Self-First, Self-Focused

Giacomo Leopardi quipped, “It seems rare in our age to find a widely praised person whose own mouth is not the source of that praise.” In truth, we’ve become a nation of self-first, self-focused, self-indulgent marketers, screaming to influence others for our own benefit.

But this is not the Jesus way. Not even close. In fact, He once said, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). Charles Spurgeon put it this way: “You will never glory in God till first of all God has killed your glorying in yourself.”

Imaging Jesus

Bottom line: we need to love Jesus more than we love likes. Because whether you realize it or not, the moment you call yourself a Christian, you become an influencer, imaging Jesus to the world around you. And that’s why we must resign from the self-centered symphony.

I’ll never forget Wendell Loveless’ comment, “There’s only one man in the universe God the Father is determined to glorify—and that’s the Man, Jesus Christ.”

I dare you to say out loud, “I am a full-time influencer for the Lord Jesus Christ. When people see me, they are seeing my version of the Christ I claim to love.”  Note: Your version of Jesus is the only Jesus they will ever encounter. So, how much of the real Jesus are they seeing?

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors”—influencers—“as though God were making His appeal through us.” 2 Cor. 5:20

At seventeen, he was kidnapped by his brothers, thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, and hauled off to Egypt. Not only was there no light at the end of Joseph’s tunnel, there seemed to be nothing but tunnel.

Yet Genesis 39:2 records, “The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man,” working for one of Pharaoh’s officials. Not only that, the verse goes on to say, “His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.”

Far From Home

Sounds nice and tidy—unless you’re Joseph. He was still far from home. Still far away from familiar surroundings, familiar food, and—of course—his family. To Joseph, it probably didn’t feel like the Lord was with him. After all, things got worse!

When falsely accused of sexual advances toward his boss’s wife, Joseph was immediately thrown into prison. He must surely have felt he was far from the goodness of God.

Not so. Genesis 29:21 records, “The LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”

Genesis 39:23 comments, “The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him.”

Ever True

Here again, on a purely human level, it might not have appeared that, detained far from home, accused of a crime he did not commit, the Lord was “with” Joseph. But God’s Word is ever true.

And as a good student of the Bible, you know that Joseph’s story, in fact, does have a pleasing turnabout. After Pharaoh dreamed two confounding dreams, Joseph interpreted the dreams and wound up second in command over all Egypt. And yes, Joseph is ultimately reconciled with his family.

Which brings us to your story. Maybe you’re facing unthinkable rejection, insurmountable obstacles, or unimaginable pain. Consider: God is with you. Even if it doesn’t feel that way.

Hebrews 13:5 assures us, “for He Himself has said, ‘I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER ABANDON YOU.'”

Worth Hanging On To

You’ve heard Joseph’s story many times. You know the life lessons. Still, it’s a good idea to place a bookmark in a verse like Hebrews 13:5. Because unimaginable trouble may be on the way. And when it comes, we’ll need something to hang on to that’s worth hanging on to.

For He Himself has said, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” -Hebrews13:5

QUESTION: How long should you pray for an unsaved loved one before giving up?

You’ve likely heard of George Müller, the man who ran orphanages in England. But George Müller also had a deep passion for his friends who were without Christ.

In November of 1844, Müller committed to praying daily for the conversion of five specific friends. Having begun to pray earnestly, he would not stop.  

Nothing Else Happened

Eighteen months passed before the first friend came to faith. But nothing else happened that second or third or fourth year. Ditto for years five through nine. Nothing! But George Müller prayed earnestly.

After 10 years, another friend was converted. At year 11, nothing happened. But George Müller prayed earnestly. In year 12, nothing happened. But George Müller prayed earnestly. Years 13…14…15….20…nothing. But George Müller prayed earnestly.

And Then…

Finally, after 25 years had passed, the next man came to Christ. Müller continued to pray earnestly for his remaining friends right up until his death in 1897. Soon after attending Müller’s funeral, both finally came to Christ. In all, George Müller prayed for 52 years.

I’m guessing you haven’t prayed that long for an unsaved friend or family member. But it’s likely that as you’ve prayed, you’ve felt like nothing’s happening—or ever will happen. And you’re tempted to quit—often.

No, not ever!

Don’t do it. Ignore the doubts, the voices telling you to move on. They are not of Christ!

Never stop praying—earnestly—for your unsaved loved ones. Never. Never. No, not ever.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

Would you knowingly withhold from God something you knew that He really wanted? You say, Of course not! Then why do so many of us give God so little of the thanks He’s asked for?

Have you noticed that in our churches we have praise bands–but no thanks bands? And have you noticed no one ever goes to a “thanks practice” at church? Odd. Because we could really use the rehearsal! Ever been to a prayer meeting where all they did was give thanks? Me neither.

Our Praise is More About US!

I submit that we praise more because it feels good to us. Conversely, we thank less because it feels less good to us. Which (sadly) proves our praise is more about us than the One we’re supposed to be praising.

In our lopsided theology, many of us have come to know praise as a happy lyric set to a chirpy tune supported by a thwopping rhythm section. Perfect for waving our hands.

But what on earth are we supposed to do with giving thanks?  How do you tap your toe to that?

A Shift in Balance

Now, I’m not saying we shouldn’t offer praise. God wants it, loves it, commands it! I’m just suggesting we need to shift our balance more toward thanks. Because the biblical emphasis on thanks is massive:

• I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. Psalms. 9:1

• Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Psalms 100:4 (Notice that thanksgiving leads the list!)

• Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 5:20

• Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2

• Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

First Lesson in Humility

It turns out that giving thanks is the first lesson in humility. And because there’s little fun in humility, there’s often little thanks in our living. Yet we Christians are not called to indulge ourselves, but to adore our Savior.

More thanksgiving—individually and corporately—is the course correction we must make now! But why wait? Join me in this simple prayer.

Thank you, Lord—for saving me.

Thank you, Lord—for forgiving my sins.

Thank you, Lord—for preserving me as I walk with you.

Thank you, Lord—that I am not defined by my past failures but by your present grace.

Thank you, Lord—that you are actively at work in my life and have a plan for every moment of this day.

Thank you, Lord—that you have promised, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

Thank you, Lord—for your never-ending offer to cast all my cares upon you, because you care for me!

Thank you, Lord—that this earth is NOT our home. Heaven is!

Thank you, Lord—that you long for my unsaved relatives and friends and neighbors to come to Christ even more than I do!

Thank you, Lord—for giving me another chance to learn a thankful lifestyle.

I look forward to thanking you again—today—and every day!

Amen.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

How many steps do you walk in a lifetime?

Assuming an average of 7,500 steps per day and a lifespan of 79 years, your step count will total 216,262,500.  That’s about 110,000 miles—long enough to walk around the Earth roughly 5 times.*

You know what’s even more amazing? How few times we fall. Think of the tens of thousands of steps we take every week: at work, at home, at the grocery store. Now ask yourself, when was the last time I fell?

But let’s say your lifestyle is much more sedentary. Not much of a walker, you manage only half the average step count. But even then, you’ll rack up enough steps to circle the equator twice!

When Was the Last Time?

I’m not suggesting it doesn’t happen. But for most of us—all glory to God—the falls are few and far between.

This came to me the other day when I was bounding down the stairs to leave the office. Every week, I take dozens of trips up and down those stairs and—to date—all without a major incident. But the way I read the Bible, that’s no accident. That’s the kindness of God.

I’d never given any of this much thought before our first Israel trip with Charlie and Kathy Dyer, who share Psalm 121 over the bus’s loudspeakers. When you gaze out the window at the cliffs and crags that Bible folks routinely navigated every day, hearing Dr. Dyer read this Psalm is soul-riveting.

Verse three is particularly comforting: “He will not allow your foot to slip; He who watches over you will not slumber.”

Many Reasons!

Now here’s where I’m going with all this. It’s a question. When was the last time you thanked God that He kept you from falling on your bottom—or worse—your face?

I’m not ignoring the tumbles that we’ve taken in the past. But statistically speaking, they really are incredibly few and far between. Which means we have many reasons for many expressions of thanks to God.

I’ll stop, lest this becomes a guilt trip. But why not pause now and give God thanks for the tens of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands?) of steps you’ve taken without falling. And as you do, hear the words to that lovely Psalm again!

He will not allow your foot to slip; He who watches over you will not slumber.  Psalm 121:3

*Source: https://www.awpnow.com/main/2019/09/27/fun-fact-friday-steps-over-a-lifetime/

At the Deer Crest Resort in Estes Park, you’ll find more elk than deer.

But there are more hummingbirds than deer and elk combined at this Colorado retreat.  Four well-stocked feeders on a balcony overhang guarantee a constant flutter of tiny wings.

Diminutive in size, hummingbirds are fiercely territorial. Should one bird attempt to sip from the same feeder as another, you’ll have a front row seat to a fight of lightweights.

To ensure access to the feeder they claim as their personal possession, these creatures dive angrily at each other, chatter loudly, and even jab with their oversized bills.

In their defense, hummingbirds need to feed constantly. Which makes each and every other hummingbird a competitor, if not an outright enemy.

If only those birds truly grasped how much their Heavenly Father adores them. If only they could rest in the certainty of their Heavenly Father’s endless and rich supply.

But isn’t that the very thing our Heavenly Father wishes for us as well? We who are gold medal champions at worrying over things we cannot control, why can’t we learn to relax in the certainty of our Heavenly Father’s endless and rich supply?

If only we could find our security in Christ, rather than fluttering about looking for fulfillment in lesser things.

If only we took Him at His word: “My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).

Lord…help us rest in you, assured that you really will supply all—not some—of our needs. Amen!

It’s an 8,898-foot summit, best reached by the Estes Park Aerial Tramway: Prospect Mountain in Estes Park, Colorado.

You can’t miss the neon-red cable cars. Up top, enjoy panoramic views of amazing peaks, the Continental Divide, and downtown Estes Park.

Sadly, you cannot trek to the highest point of Prospect Mountain, because that is private property. However, you can hike to the West Summit, which is still pretty great.  

The incline’s terrain is relatively smooth, and the air is much easier to breathe than—say—at Rocky Mountain National Park’s Alpine Visitor Center (11,976 feet). Still, it wasn’t long before the heat and humidity really got to me. Yet, having begun the hike, I was not about to quit.

After grumbling to myself, “How much longer ‘til we reach the point?” I spied a sign on the trail ahead. Its message was exactly what I needed: “You’re almost there.”

So, I kept going. Long enough to finally reach the end. And that’s where I saw yet another sign: “You Did It!”

If only our daily lives were punctuated with those kinds of encouraging words, with signs of hope. They are not. But…they could be.

What if we chose to be human signposts of encouragement to others? What if we took on the high and holy calling of being God’s messengers of hope? Can you imagine anything more significant? Don’t you think it would lead to conversations about the real reason for hope—Jesus—and His victory over sin and death?

There are 8.3 billion people walking this earth. And every single one of them is hungry for a word of encouragement.

If you’re looking for a sign, well…this really is it.

Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you also are doing. -1 Thessalonians 5:11

Eternal fire insurance.

For years, that’s what many of us evangelicals have been selling to non-believers: “Get Jesus—get out of hell.” End of story.

Sadly, that has been the end of the story for many folks. They “pray a prayer” but don’t live the life. And while it’s true that only those who believe in the gospel of Christ and His forgiveness will escape hell, we may be guilty of false advertising—on a grand scale.

Having received His forgiveness, Jesus calls us to something radical: repentance, a total lifestyle change. That means we must turn 180 degrees away from the self-focused sinful mania that enslaves every one of us.

Jesus spoke often of this turnabout. In Mark 1:15, He called us to “repent and believe.” In Luke 5:32, Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Yet that repentance component appears to be missing in many.

For decades, we have sold people eternal fire insurance rather than life change. Addicted to “felt needs” and “feel goods,” we have removed any expectation of change on their part.

We’ve sold a Jesus who will “give you peace,” and “fill the hole in your soul.” But the Jesus who offers these says you must “take up your cross daily and follow me.” We’ve sold Jesus as the answer to our pain, but not Jesus as the Master of our life. No wonder so many folks look, talk, and act like the world—all the while claiming to be Christians.

We dare not add to the simple gospel—but we dare not share only part of it, either. It’s time to sell the whole package—not just eternal fire insurance.

Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. -1 John 2:4

For 17.1 miles, the Fall River twists, turns, and splashes across Estes Park, Colorado. A ribbon of it backs up to the hotel we stayed at. Who could resist the river’s whispered invitation to walk along its bank and enjoy the wet wonderfulness? Not me!  You’d find me out there every morning.  

Given the intensity of a waterfall right at your feet, the soundscape is as glorious as the scenery. Which meant I felt obliged to trek back and forth five or six times every outing in an act of exercise as pleasant as you could imagine: three hundred feet there…three hundred feet back.

After a day or two, you begin to notice things about that river. Like the extreme range of sounds when you traverse its banks. Obviously, the waterfall is noisy. But the acoustics ebb and flow with differing dynamics. Where there’s a large boulder in the middle of the flow, the acoustics are dramatic. But where the river bottom is smooth, there’s little sound at all.

Apart from the rocks, the boulders, the drop-offs—in other words, the obstructions—there is no character. There is no sound. There is no song.

The same could be said of our Christian lives. Like me, you’d probably prefer life without the drama. Given the choice, most of us would opt for a rock-free, obstruction-free existence. And certainly, we’d say no thanks to the wildness of any waterfalls.

But those are the very things that bear testimony to our character and infuse beauty in our witness for Christ. We don’t like them, but we need boulders and rocks—and sometimes, even falls—to give us a song of praise.

Lord, teach us to welcome the obstructions. Without them, our testimony is small and silent.

And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope.  -Romans 5:3,4

Bristly. Like iron. That’s the top of a bison’s head.

At the Terry Bison Ranch in Cheyenne, we touched several of their three thousand critters most of us grew up calling buffalo. The big guys stand more than six feet tall and weigh 2000 pounds.

The “little” ones are only five feet tall, weighing “just” half that. Large or small, they all seem to fight a losing battle with the flies of the open plains.

Of course, the bison we touched briefly (careful to avoid any horns!) were not there for our benefit but theirs. We held out cork-sized snacks of oats and wheat stuck together with molasses—irresistible to those shaggy beasts. Which brings to mind a story.

In the movie Dances with Wolves, one of the biggest stars is a bison. A really big bison named Cody, weighing 2000 pounds. There’s a scene in which the bison is supposed to run. But Cody would have no part of it.

So, they ended up experimenting by tossing Cody Oreo cookies off the back of a pickup truck. Sure enough, doling them out slowly gave that bison sufficient motivation to run—and fast! All it took was a few Oreos.

The truth is, everybody’s chasing something: a job, a dream, a goal, a girlfriend or boyfriend. But how many are chasing holiness? How many are running after godliness? Is what we’re chasing noble? Will it last for eternity?

Are we “running with perseverance the race marked out for us?” Or are we just chasing Oreos?

Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. -Colossians 3:1