This One Thing I Do

Most men put great value in being known for something and God certainly created us to be doers and to accomplish things in His creation. The apostle Paul certainly had many things he could point to in regard to his accomplishments. Yet, notice what he said about his life purpose in Philippians 3:13-14: Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

As a religious scholar and zealous persecutor of the early church prior to his coming to Christ, Paul didn't allow himself to wallow in guilt, nor did he take undue pride in his significant success in evangelizing the Gentiles. He chose not to rest on his past laurels and stop working fervently to spread the Gospel. He knew that he still had much to learn, much to do and that the process of becoming Christ-like is a lifelong journey. Paul realized what the prize really was--the joy in accomplishing God's purposes in his life and the eternal reward in Heaven for reaching this goal on earth.

In a world filled with distractions and meaningless pursuits where dreams and hopes can die in a moment's notice, we would be wise to define and examine our true purpose and whether or not it has any eternal significance. Are we pressing on toward the mark of a high calling or are we stuck in neutral due to guilt, fear, doubt or lack of purpose? Make sure this one thing you do puts you on a path for an eternal prize.

Who Cut in on You?

One thing that irritates most anyone driving a car is when someone cuts in front of them in traffic. "What makes them think they are so important" or "Don't they realize I have someplace important to be" are probably two of the tamer responses you might have when this happens to you. We are generally very focused on where we need to get to and are usually in a hurry to get there--if we aren't already running late. How dare someone interfere with us getting where we need to be?

In his letter to the church in Galatia, Paul makes this rather pointed observation: You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you (Galatians 6:7-8). Paul could see that Galatians were making great spiritual progress, but had gotten tripped up by legalism and traditions of man that had nothing to do with God's Word.

Though many years have passed, God's man is still fighting the same problem today. As much as we want to get to where we need to be, when we allow worldly philosophy, meaningless rituals and traditions to take hold and eventually control our lives, we've allowed our enemy to cut in on us and keep us from the truth. Trying to follow Him while trying to follow the world makes us a double-minded man, unstable in all he does (James 1:8).

Fortunately, the One who calls us is truth (John 14:6) and faithfulness to His Word will keep us from getting cut in on; allowing us to proclaim: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).

A Prayer for Inner Growth

In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul offers us up a prayer for inner growth; a prayer that speaks to our need today just as it did to the church he planted almost two thousand years ago: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all of the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge---that you may be filled to the measure of all of the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:16-19).

Paul is making three powerful requests here. First, he is asking that they be strengthened by the Holy Spirit--who resides in every believer--so that they will be divinely enabled to successfully live the Christian life. Secondly, he is praying that the church would be able to understand the magnitude of the enormous love that Christ has for them. And finally, he prays the life, character and virtues of God Himself would be fully developed in them, which is what we commonly define as spiritual growth.

The idea "dwell" means to settle in and be at ease. As we allow the Holy Spirit to dwell, to strengthen us, our lives become more and more pleasing to God. Knowing the depth of His love for us through Jesus Christ allow us to dwell in a deeper relationship with Him. Our inner growth is both a product of and enabled by the fullness of the love of God---the One who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (v.20)

Is it any wonder that Paul, during one of the more difficult times in his life, could boldly proclaim: I can do everything through Him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13) ?

Every Man's Battle

Research studies have determined that 5 out of every 10 Christian men have a major struggle with pornography. This is a statistic that will either horrify you or make you shrug your shoulders like it's no big deal. But our Lord Jesus Christ drew a pretty hard line in the sand when he told us at the Sermon on the Mount: "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28)".

Why did Jesus set the bar so high regarding sexual purity? Because our Savior knows how strongly men are visually stimulated by women. And judging from the fact that there are over one million pornographic websites on the Internet, you can be sure Satan knows this as well. Yet unlike our enemy, who wants us to accept suggestive photos or computer-generated images to satisfy our sexual desire, our Savior knows that pornography degrades women, distorts our image of our wives--the ones we're called to sacrificially love--and it cheapens God's perfect plan for sexual fulfillment between a husband and a wife.

Men's Ministry leaders Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker wrote a book about this struggle to maintain sexual purity and titled it "Every Man's Battle". I highly recommend this book and I also don't think for one minute that their title is an exaggeration. It is crucial for God's men to win this battle, and yes it can be won! www.x3watch.com has several great resources for anyone who is struggling with online pornography.

There are, however, two ways you won't win this battle---alone in isolation and without authentic male accountability built into your life. Our enemy wants you to believe that this sin is so shameful that you must remain in secrecy or that it's no big deal so go ahead an indulge---the same way he tempted Eve in the Garden (Genesis 3:4) and told her "You will not surely die." Make a covenant with your eyes and your heart that you will maintain sexual purity and do whatever it takes to live by it.

What Good is it?

One of the most effective ways to make a point is to ask a rhetorical question--a question that begs an obvious answer. Accordingly, we can find rhetorical questions in the Bible that effectively point out something that on the surface appears to have great benefit, but in reality amounts to nothing.

Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, not of our own works. Yet notice how James 2:14 tells us how works are still important: "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?" For those who put their emphasis on material things, Mark 8:36 asks: "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"

Scripture continues to identify things that seem important, but have no lasting eternal value. Good deeds (Galatians 5:2), physical fitness (1 Timothy 4:8), hard work (Ecclesiastes 2:11) and self-sacrifice without love (1 Corinthians 13:3) are all worthless in the economy of God's Kingdom apart from a relationship and a desire to please and glorify Him.

At the end of the day, if we want to be able to answer the question, "What Good is it?" in a way that has eternal significance, let's make sure the glory is pointed in the right direction---upward and not inward.

Pleasing in Your Sight

My daughter Amanda came home from school recently with a new Bible memory verse, Psalm 19:14---May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. One of the amazing things about Scripture is how you can read or hear a verse many times, but if you really listen and allow it to speak to your heart, the Holy Spirit provides new insight or sometimes just a hightened awareness of what God is saying. Amanda's new memory verse had just that type of impact on me.

The two things that define us more than anything are our words and our actions. The Bible reminds us how small, yet how very powerful the tongue is and it's potential for harm (James 3:5-12). Yet it also reminds us that our words can bring peace and build up others (Proverbs 15:1-2, 4, 7). God's Word also reminds us how desperately wicked our hearts can be (Jeremiah 17:9) while calling us love to God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30).

Amanda's memory verse, which she now proudly recites, should be a daily prayer for every one of us who follows Christ. God is not only our Rock, our source of strength, but He is also our Redeemer who freed us from the bondage of sin. The things we say and the things we think should bring honor and glory to the One who created us in His image. When our words and our hearts follow after our Lord Jesus Christ, who saved us by his shed blood, we are indeed pleasing in His sight.

Compromise...Once

My favorite TV show is 24, where the lead character is Jack Bauer--a counter-terrorism agent. Bauer's life is a constant confrontation with people and groups whose ultimate purpose is to commit evil. Some of those he confronts were at one time the "good guys"--people who were committed to the cause of protecting America but chose to become it's enemy. During one episode, when another character asked Bauer how someone could make the choice to switch, he replied, "You can look the other way once, and it's no big deal, except it makes it easier for you to compromise the next time, and pretty soon that's all your doing; compromising, because that's the way you think things are done. You know the guys I busted? You think they were the bad guys? Because they weren't, they weren't bad guys, they were just like you and me. Except they compromised....once."

Ask anyone who has ruined their life by making sinful choices, and you can pretty much trace it back to the decision to compromise...once. Rarely does one set out intentionally to do evil; rather it is typically a bad first choice where the reward momentarily outweighs the feeling of guilt. People who steal are usually caught after multiple attempts, because after trying it once and succeeding, the next time it becomes easier to compromise. The decision to continue visiting pornographic websites becomes easier if the first attempt succeeds without repercussions. An affair that destroys a marriage always starts with one decision: to flirt, to take an undue interest in a member of the opposite sex, to respond inappropriately to flattery, to compromise.

Notice what James 1:14-15 says about the decision to compromise: but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. The decision to compromise is easier to defeat when we stop it at the starting point---our own evil desires. Immersing ourselves in God's Word, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts and building accountability into our lives will help us keep these desires from being born into sin.