Success?

What is it?  How do we attain it? How do we define it? What does it look like when we attain it?  Is it measured by position, wealth, prestige? These are all question we need to think about.  Success verses Failure that is the struggle we are all engaged in. We all know what a gage is; it is a measuring device and there are many different types of gages.  As Christians we must be careful what gage we use for success.  The world has its gages and they have a materialistic and temporal view. The scripture is the most important gage anyone can use.  It gages our character, our motives and measures us by the Character of Jesus. Success is not just about a single accomplishment but about our journey. Failure on a given day does not mean failure for the week. Success in business does not assure success at home and family.  I think the 15^th chapter of John gives us the greatest gage for success.  It is the words of Jesus and they are powerful.

Let’s start with this, “without me you can do nothing” this says to me that success begins with dependence upon God.  What He ask us to do and be is beyond our ability it can only be accomplished as we walk in relationship with Him.  I will be so bold as to say this: all success from God’s point of view flows from relationship with Him.  Many of us think the key to success is to work harder, burn the candle at both ends they say.  Listening to Jesus suggest that maintaining relationship with His is the top priority. Is it possible for anyone to walk in intimate relationship with Christ and at the same time be a failure?  What looks like success to us may be failure to God and what looks like failure to the world may be success to God.  We often think that success is about the right method or program but these can become cheap substitutes for the failure of relationship with Christ. Listening to what Jesus says in John 15 our calling is not to produce fruit but to bear it.  There is a big difference which often is overlooked.  I was reading a modern translation of the Bible recently and the translator had substituted the word produce for bear.  I wrote under the word produce, bad translation.  Jesus teaching is clear.  The limb does not produce an apple, it bears it. The apple comes from a living connection with the life of the tree.  It is the life of the tree which produces. The limb bears because it is connected.  You can tie a plastic apple on a dead limb and call it fruit if you like but you are only pretending.  I will say it again, all authentic Christian ministry flows from relationship. The fruitfulness of our lives and of His Church is dependent upon connection with the Divine life flow of His Spirit.  The scripture speaks of the Christian life as, “the new and living way.”  All programs and plans which do not flow from His heart will never be called success by Him.  As my friend Kerry Willis would say, “relationship rules.”  jfs

Deliver Me from Me

It may sound like a strange prayer but that is what I prayed this morning.  It is a ME world and every age has some form of the ME disease .  One of the perils of old age is to be held prisoner by all the aches and pains of a body which demands attention.  It is so easy to become focused on ME and trying to fix ME becomes a way of life.  My prayer today is, Lord help me stay focused on YOU and not ME.  Teach ME when to tell ME to shut up and sit down and trust God.  It is an interesting thought that life begins with ME as a crying baby thinking of nothing but his or her own needs.  Oh Lord, don’t let my life end the way it began with MEitus.  Jfs

Ga 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Beware of your gaze

Our hearts have a way of following our gaze.  We cannot live without a glimpse of the ugly, the discouraging and the tempting, but we can refuse to turn a glimpse into a gaze.  “Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus” is the best advice for our journey.  We cannot help but notice the enemy’s billboards, they are everywhere peddling his smut, but we cannot fix our eyes on Jesus and gaze at the enemy’s trash at the same time. Jfs

Hebrews: 12:2

Making Memories

My memory bank comes alive this time of year.  Memories of grandma and grandpa MacManus warm my heart on these cold days.   Christmas was always special to my family and most importantly it was about relationships.  Most of the gifts have long sense been discarded,  outdated stuff, replaced by more stuff.  It is not the stuff I miss, it is the laughter around a Christmas dinner,  it is the time spent by a warm fireplace burning real wood.  I wish I could hunt a Christmas tree with grandma Mac one more time.  I wish I could go back to that old gray farm house one more time and sit by the fire with grandpa.  I would ask him questions that only he could answer.  I would tell him I love him and appreciate all the miles he walked behind a mule plowing and planting so we could eat.  I would say thanks for all the times he cut my hair for free and then paid me for helping him pick cotton.  Memories of mom and dad and all the years we gathered at their house and celebrated our Lord’s birth always come calling this time of year.   I appreciate the gifts they give from a loving heart but more than ever I appreciate the sacrifices they made to give me a better life.  When the storm blew our house down,  dad and mom built a new one with a hammer , hand saw and a few other hand tools.   He had no power tools.  It was a four room house,  small and not much to look at but I wish I could spend just one more night there and wake up to a breakfast cooked by the loving hands of my mother.  Well this could go on and on but I have said enough for now.  My prayer is that this Christmas all of us will make some good memories for our families,  memories worth reviewing for a lifetime, memories not of stuff but of relationships and above all the memory of the greatest Gift,  JESUS.    jfs

Reaching

It is 4:47 in the morning and the arms of my heart reach for the Prince of Peace, the God of all Comfort.  I cannot be satisfied with knowing about Him, I must know Him. I need the light of His Love, the Joy of His touch and the Peace of resting in His arms. I am hungry for food from His table, no religious snacks will do, no vending machine religion without heart or soul can quench my thirst.  I must have HIM, I cannot live without HIM. He is the source of my strength, the hope of my future and the joy of my life.  Like my children when they were very small who would lift there little arms toward me and say, “take you daddy.”  So this morning I lift my weary arms toward heaven and say, “take you daddy.”  As the old gospel song says, “Oh I need you , every hour I need you.”   jfs

Ps 143:6  I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Selah

"BEING"

Much of the time our failure as a Christian is the failure of “being” not “doing.”  If you are like me when you ask yourself, “How can I be a better Christian,” you think of,  “What do I need to do?” I guess it is natural that when we think of growing as a Christian we think of having to do more, strive harder, add new things to our to do list.  For me this never works.  I always find myself in the trap of busy-ness.  If you think the path to spirituality is work, work, work, then you need to hear the words of Jesus, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  Matthew 11:28-29 (NKJV)  When we try to “do” in order to “be” we can never “do” enough.  When we focus on “being” the “doing” comes natural.  Heavy loads and galling yokes never come from Jesus. These heavy loads are often put on us by well-meaning people who want us to do more so we will be successful in their eyes and they often use a worldly definition of success.  So what do I have to do to be a better Christian?  Work harder? NO, Learn to Listen and Obey.  Jesus knows you were not made for heavy loads.  Just focus on “being” and in “being” you will “do” the right things.  Relax, stop letting the opinions of others plot the course of your life.  It is your life and they won’t be there when you stand before the Father.  Learn to live within the bounds of your creation.  Superman and superwoman are deceptions, stop trying to fly and walk with the Prince of Peace. jfs

Frustration

I just heard pots and pans clanging together and Mary’s frustrated voice proclaim, “I’ve got to have some room in this kitchen!!!!!!!”  I know it is not funny but I laughed anyway.  She also added, “You have three shops and I have ten feet.”  Do I sense a bit of resentment?  I built the kitchen cabinets so it must be my fault.  What a joy to live with this girl.  I cherish every moment with her.  She is my best friend and leaving her to go speak somewhere is always difficult for me.  These days we are trying to make the most of every moment together.  We are realists and know that we are nearing the end of our earthly journey.  We enjoy the simple things of life, our deck, flowers, birds, and of course Tramp. We have had an incredible journey together and while we are very different, our differences have served us well.  Now back to the subject of frustration and how it can wrap its tentacles around our lives and leave us miserable.  I get frustrated with my ADD.  I can’t stay with anything for long.  Studying for me has been in tidbits at all hours of the day and night.  I have notes written on everything from napkins to paper plates and I can’t find them when I need them.  I think my greatest frustration is with me.  I keep hoping I can do better but the guy I see in the mirror just gets older.  I am dealing with some of my frustration these days.  I have decided I can’t be like you.  I can’t please everyone and some people will never love me no matter what I do.  I have decided to stop chasing success and go for relationship building.  The question is, can I have a close relationship with Jesus and be a failure? I think not.  I will no longer let you or anyone else define success for me. What matters most to me is that my Heavenly Father is pleased with me.  I am weary of living by other people’s definitions and for me that has been the source of so much of my frustration.  It is His “Well Done” I am in pursuit of and anything that takes me away from that is cause for frustration.  Don’t let the clanging of life’s pots and pans frustrated you. It is not that important.  Stick with the important stuff, stop chasing rainbows and for goodness sake, BE YOURSELF.  Jfs

1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.