PLUS

II Corinthians 3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.”

I Corinthians 4:7 “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”

Psalm 139:13-14 “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”

I Corinthians 15:9-10 “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me.”

Our hearts are quick to trust in ourselves, but our actual self-sufficiency is not up to the task as God reminds us in II Corinthians 3:5. It is clear and powerful to consider that all our raw material comes from Him (I Corinthians 4:7). God plainly reminds us that our skills, our smarts, and our strengths are gifts from Him.

As a young Christian, I fully understood that God had given me the raw material of my life. After all, He had formed me from my mother’s womb. Yet, I errantly retained a bit of credit for my situation in life. After all, while God had given me much, I had worked hard and wisely to develop it. As a result, God deserved some of the credit, but so did I. It was around that point in my spiritual journey that God confronted me with the following from the Apostle Paul that is well worth restating from above:

“For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me.” (I Corinthians 15:9-10)

Wow! Paul shares with us that his motivation to work hard was a God-given-gift.

That means that while God deserves full credit for our raw material, He also deserves full credit for the ability to develop that raw material. Our relationships, our circumstances, our opportunities, and even our motivations are from Him. All our sufficiency is from Him and this truth must be engraved in our hearts.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD FULLY UNDERSTAND OUR COMPLETE RELIANCE AND DEPENDENCY ON GOD. Whenever we accomplish something, remember the important truth – it was yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me!

ADMIN: I won’t be publishing a PLUS blog next weekend, but please keep praying faithfully for widespread revival in the United States of America while trusting in God completely for our sufficiency!

Joshua 5:6 “For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give, a land that floweth with milk and honey.”

Ecclesiastes 1:9 “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”

Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

The challenges we face today are no different than those experienced throughout human history. As a result, our pitfalls follow a repeating pattern. And their resolution starts with an understanding that there is an enemy that is poised to pounce.

Our complacency and our fear, though, should prompt us to walk a narrow path of faithfulness between spiritual recklessness and paralysis. Meanwhile, our trusting vigilance provides an important steadying force: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8) And as we trust in God, we arm ourselves to avoid defeat: “Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.” (Psalm 25:1-2)

The Israelites provide a powerful reminder for us today. After escaping from Egypt, and seeing God part the Red Sea, they stood on the precipice of the Promised Land. God had already delivered them from the world’s superpower. Before they crossed the threshold of success, they sent spies to scout out the situation. All came back acknowledging the grandeur of the land. Yet, ten of the twelve were transfixed on the challenges that awaited them. Instead of trust, they sowed seeds of doubt in their human ability to overcome the daunting task that awaited them.

Caleb and Joshua spoke up but were overwhelmed by the masses. In fact, the population’s fear was so extreme that they conspired to murder God’s trusting servants. Furthermore, the population started to create plans to return to Egypt and accept a future of renewed servitude.

The Israelites eventually made their way into the Promised Land. But instead of enjoying a direct trip from Egypt to a land that flowed with milk and honey, they wandered in the wilderness for four decades. When they did finally cross the River Jordan, they must have reflected on the fact that their lack of trust caused them to eventually get to where God intended for them to go, but with a delay of hardship and heartache.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO TRUST GOD AND OVERCOME THE TRIUMPH OF OUR ENEMIES. May we never stand on the precipice of the Promised Land and be overwhelmed by our concerns about giants.

Exodus 18:18-21 “Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreo er thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rules of hundreds, rules of fifties, and rulers of tens.”

Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

One of the most common mentorship questions I have received over the years is related to how to appropriately live out your faith in the workplace – most often related to the military environment. The answer is long and multi-faceted, but one of the most powerful components of the answer is related to the first of three core values of the United States Air Force – Integrity First.

Our military service calls on its 700,000 members to live with integrity – consistently and steadfastly.

There are two primary components of integrity – the first is honesty. If I were to live my life in a work setting by scrubbing out the bedrock components upon which my character rests that are driven by my Christian faith, then I would be living a fundamentally dishonest existence. I would be hiding the core component of a world view that shapes my perspective and molds my life. That would be a fundamentally dishonest act. Thus, I must not hide my faith or I would be violating Integrity First.

The second component of integrity is wholeness. It is living an undivided existence in which I align the entirety of my life – my words, my thoughts, and my actions – with my values, morals, and principles. Integrity means not separating your life into components, but living a whole life in which all parts fit together into one complete entity. Again, when I hide the faith component of my life at work, then I artificially divide a character and personality that is meant to be indivisible. As a result, I would be violating Integrity First.

The concepts are simple. If you hide your faith in the workplace, then you are finding two ways to violate the first core value of our organization. This isn’t to say that you go out of your way to inappropriately create a distraction that diverts the focus of the workplace from its mission and purpose. But, it does provide comfort that our own secular organizational core values insist that we don’t hide a core element of who we are and Whose we are!

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO INTERWEAVE THEIR FAITH INTO THEIR LIVES SO FULLY AND COMPLETELY THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO HIDE. It is a way to maintain Integrity First!

John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

I John 5:19 “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.”

I John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

A few months ago, a professor at Harvard Business School lost her job. It was due to an interesting ethical lapse that appeared to demonstrate a systemic problem. This professor was found to have falsified data during her research and thus lied in her publications. It was a stain on the university’s reputation and had ripple effects at other colleges as they had adjusted their educational policies to align with her findings.

The most fascinating element of this breakdown of academic integrity was the subject matter of the research – ethics and honesty. This professor was unethical about ethics and dishonest about honesty. It was lying squared!

The world all around us is looking to drag us away from what is right, pure, and true. They seek to alure us to their paths and attract us to their lives. It comes from the most prominent seats of power and the most revered of institutions. They will do whatever it takes to get us to conform, even if it includes lying squared!

The counter-cultural alternative is our Lord and Saviour, who is the way, the truth, and the life. He is calling us to be conformed not to the world, but to Him. In sharp contrast with the world, he offers what is good, and acceptable, and perfect. And His presence in our lives is greater than the things of this world that seek to lie and cheat and steal to keep their grips on humanity.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO AVOID BEING ALLURED BY THE TRAPPINGS OF THIS WORLD AND INSTEAD CONFORM TO CHRIST. Lying squared is all around us, but the truth is the far more attractive alternative.

Psalm 56:11 “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.”

Psalm 115:9-11 “O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.”

On March 3^rd, 1865, Congress passed a bill requiring the words “In God We Trust” be engraved on all gold and silver coins. It was the last bill that President Abraham Lincoln signed into law before his assassination. Though that slogan had been engraved on some U.S. coins before that time, it was that federal act that first formalized an acknowledgment of the need for a trust in God into nationwide law.

These leaders were able to enshrine In God We Trust into the nation’s law because it was already enshrined in Christian theology. In a Biblically literate society, they had read about and understood the trustworthiness of God as revealed in His Word.

When God says something once, early American leaders knew to believe it. When He says something back-to-back-to-back, as He does in Psalm 115, then they knew it should be on the forefront of their minds. In fact, such a thing was well worthy of engraving onto those things that would fill every pocket and populate every wallet.

Interesting, there was a bit of a debate about engraving “In God We Trust” on every coin in 1865. There were those in Congress who thought that such a phrase was inappropriate. Interestingly though, it wasn’t because they were secular humanists who strove to purge every mention of God from their society. No, just the opposite. A contingent in Congress had a better alternative – “In God Alone Is Our Trust.” This group of federal legislators wanted to emphasize that God was not just to be trusted as a prominent element of society, but instead as the preeminent element of society. He wasn’t just to be highly trusted, but ultimately trusted. While it was the shorter more catchy motto that was signed into law, the more powerful intent is engrained into the fabric of American society!

PLEASE TRUST IN GOD AS NOT JUST PROMINENT, BUT PREEMINENT. Every time we look in our pockets, purses, or wallets, may we remember that God is to be ultimately trusted. After all, it is right to remember that – In God Alone Is Our Trust!

ADMIN: I won’t be publishing a PLUS blog next weekend, but please keep praying faithfully for widespread revival in the United States of America!