value – Far More Life

Spiritual Fervor

How would you respond if God asked, “What would you like to do for Me on earth?”

Provide food and clean water? Eradicate an illness or disease? Ensure justice for the oppressed? Develop life-changing technology? Share Christ with an unreached people group? Love hurting children? Share truth and grace through the arts?

There are so many options, so many needs in the world! The question can feel overwhelming and leave us paralyzed, unable to choose where or how to help. But each of us is drawn toward someone or something. Some options stir more excitement in us than others. I am a firm believer that lives would be permanently changed if each of us acted on our God-given passion.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. (I Peter 4:10, NIV)

God wants His children to make a difference. And He has equipped us to do so. That is where we find far more life. Some of us are called to do big things that impact many people. Others are called to administer God’s grace to only a few people, or even just one. But in order for God’s plan to be accomplished, each of His children has a job to do. One is not better or more important than another.

Finding and following our passion helps us obey this instruction:

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. (Romans 12:11, NIV)

I think if we are using our gifts and following our passion, we will be zealous and fervent because we are fanning the flame that God lit within us. But when we struggle to serve Him, when our hearts are not in it, we may be trying to do something He has not gifted or equipped us to do. Lack of zeal and fervor is a warning to check the condition of our hearts.

There are certainly important tasks we do not find exciting. For one it can be washing dishes or teaching children’s church, while for another it may be budgeting or listening to someone’s problems. We can perform them out of love for God (and those around us), even when they are not enjoyable. In fact, God instructs us:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:23-24, NIV)

But we can get bogged down with the mundane tasks of life and forget that God has called us to more. We find far more life when we balance life’s necessary tasks with those that fuel our passion.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:21 & 33, NIV)

For some, God has one mission that they pursue their whole life. Paul is an example of this (Acts 9:15). He spent his life sharing the good news of Jesus. Sometimes this was in person through individual conversations, public preaching, and planting churches. Other times it was through letters sent all over the world — and saved in the Bible for us to read, too!

For others, the mission changes as the needs around them change. Joseph is an example of this (Genesis chapters 37-50). Throughout his life He impacted individuals (his father, his master, the baker, the cupbearer, Pharaoh, his brothers) as well as the whole nation of Egypt and those who became the nation of Israel.

If you are not sure what your passion is, consider these questions: What do you value? What do you enjoy? How can you use those interests to reveal God to others? It may be something you can do right away — like I did when I started this blog! Or it may require a time of planning and preparation. But identifying what you want to do for God is the first step; you cannot pursue a dream you have not dreamed or reach a goal you have not set! Once you identify something you want to do for God, you can start fulfilling it day by day.

Near the end of His life, Jesus offered this prayer. It was confirmation that He lived far more life. He could only say this because He kept his spiritual fervor until God’s plan for Him was fulfilled. May we find our fervor and say this to God at the end of each day, too!

“I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.” (John 17:4, NASB)

Sisters,
Is the idea of making a difference in the world appealing to you? Why or why not?
What energizes you? What do you value? What do you enjoy?
In what mundane area would it help you to remember you are working for God, not for people?
What would you like to do for God?
Find fervor and far more life by taking a step toward fulfilling that passion today.
-Shari

Gold!

…Now for a short time different kinds of troubles may make you sad. These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold. Gold can be proved to be pure by fire, but gold can be destroyed. But the purity of your faith will bring you praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ comes again. (I Peter 1:6-7, ICB)

Throughout history, gold has been viewed as valuable. It contains an array of unique and beautiful colors. It absorbs light, which makes it appear to shine. It is rare enough to be special, but still possible to find. It is hard to locate and extract from the earth in large quantities. It does not corrode. It is malleable and can be formed into different shapes. When melted, it can be poured into forms and stamped for practical uses, like money, or admired in jewelry and decor. It does not react with other elements, allowing it to retain its beauty over time. The purer a piece of gold is, the more valuable it is.

God compares our faith to gold. Faith is beautiful. It shines. It is relatively rare. It is hard to find on the earth in large quantities. It does not corrode. It is malleable. Faith is practical but also admirable. It retains its beauty over time. The purer faith is, the more valuable it is.

Gold can be proved to be pure by fire. Raw gold has other elements mixed in with it. It is purified by being heated by fire or electricity, then introducing a chemical that pulls out the impurities (non-gold components).

These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. God compares the process of refining our faith to refining gold. Trials are the heat that is applied to our faith. They bring ungodly beliefs, thoughts, and actions to the surface so they can be removed from our lives. The result in God’s children is far more life — a purer faith that is a better reflection of God.

The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. (Proverbs 17:3, NIV)

This purity of faith is worth more than gold. This seems like a strange comparison, comparing seemingly-intangible faith with tangible gold. But our faith results in actions. It shapes our decisions. It permeates every aspect of our lives. That makes it tangible. Our faith is real to God, too. It is valuable to Him. He will use one of earth’s most valuable elements — gold — to make the streets in Heaven (Revelation 21:21). Those streets will be beautiful, but our faith is infinitely more beautiful and valuable in God’s economy!

Gold can be destroyed. Humans do not know how to destroy gold. We can dilute its purity, but it still exists. We can dissolve it with chemicals, but that only causes it to disperse further. Perhaps God can destroy gold by some power or force that is not available to us. The Greek word that was translated “destroyed”, apollymenou, can mean “to no longer serve the use for which they were designed”, so perhaps that is a better interpretation. Using either meaning — destroy or make unusable — these verses contrast gold’s destructibility with our faith. There is no trial that can destroy genuine faith. Nothing can cause it to stop serving its purpose in our lives. In fact, our faith leads to eternal life:

For you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (I Peter 1:9, NIV)

Here are other Bible verses that use gold to illustrate a spiritual lesson:

The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. (Psalm 119:72, NIV)
Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. (Proverbs 8:10-11, NIV)

God’s guidelines for life are more precious than gold! They offer value for both this life and the next one.

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. (Acts 3:6-7, NIV)

The lame man did not recognize Peter possessed something more valuable than gold. Peter looked beyond the man’s obvious need and met his deepest need. God’s work in our lives is also precious and priceless!

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. (I Corinthians 3:11-13, NIV)

The writer uses physical building materials as an analogy for the components of our lives. Some, like gold, are valuable investments of our time and energy that God will reward when we reach Heaven. Others are not deemed valuable by God and will not gain us anything in Heaven. Far more life builds with gold!

Sisters,
What aspect of gold is most appealing to you? How do you see that aspect in your faith?
How have trials refined your faith? What impurities have they exposed and removed?
What is your reaction to the claim that faith is valuable? Do you value it more than gold?
Are there areas of your life where your faith seems unusable? Ask God to help you see how faith can add value in those areas.
Where are you using gold to build your life? What is not gold that could be?
Thank God for the richness of faith and far more life that accompanies it!
-Shari

Shine Your Mirror

Far more life requires an understanding of who we are in relationship to God. An unrealistic view of Him or ourselves robs us of the richness He offers. From time to time it is good to stop and reflect on who we are in Christ, how God viewed us before we accepted Christ as our Savior, and what He has promised His children. We can think of it as “shining our spiritual mirror” to remove the impurities — wrong perceptions, false beliefs, faulty thoughts — that have clouded our view. A freshly shined spiritual mirror offers far more life — a clearer image of God and who we are in Christ.

Ephesians is a great “mirror shining” book. The first three chapters remind us of our identity in Christ. The last three chapters tell us how to put that truth into practice. Some friends and I spent last week reading Ephesians, one chapter a day, and sharing our thoughts. We had wonderful virtual fellowship as we shined our mirrors. You can do the same! Recruit some friends to join you on this journey or share your comments here to connect with others pursuing far more life.

Here are the truths about myself and God from those chapters that I want to wholeheartedly embrace and live out:

I am one of God’s holy people, a saint. (1:1)
I am faithful in Christ Jesus. (1:1)
I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (1:2)
God chose me! Before the creation of the world, he chose me. (1:4)
I am holy and blameless before Him. (1:4)
He predestined me for adoption into His family. (1:5)
He has freely given me His glorious grace. (1:6)
I have been redeemed, my sins forgiven, by Jesus’ blood. (1:7)
He lavished the riches of His grace on me. (1:7-8)
He shared the mystery of His will with me. (1:9)
I am marked with the Holy Spirit; He is a seal — a promise — guaranteeing my inheritance, a deposit on my future. He will stay with me until I am with God in Heaven. (1:11-14)
God wants me to know Him. (1:17)
I have been called to hope. (1:18)
He has a rich inheritance for me. (1:18)
He shows incomparably great power to me. (1:19)
I am part of the body of Christ, His church. (1:23)
I was dead because of my sin, an object of God’s wrath. But God made me alive with Christ! (2:1-5)
God raised me up and seated me with Christ in the heavenly realms. (2:6)
He will continue showing me grace and kindness through the ages to come. (2:7)
I have been given the gift of salvation through God’s grace. (2:8)
I am God’s workmanship, His masterpiece. (2:10)
I was created to do the good works that God prepared for me in advance. (2:10)
I have been brought near to God through Christ’s blood. (2:13)
Jesus is my peace, He unites me with others who love Him. (2:14, 16)
I am reconciled with God through the cross of Christ. (2:16)
I have access to my Father, God, through Christ. (2:18)
I used to be an alien and a stranger, but now I am a member of God’s household, His family. (2:19)
I am part of a bigger group of Jews and Gentiles who have become a dwelling place for God’s Spirit. (2:22)
I can approach God with freedom, boldness, and confidence. (3:12)
His Spirit gives me power in my inner being. (3:16)
Christ lives in my heart. (3:17)
I have power to grasp God’s love, to understand how wide and long and high and deep it is, even though that love surpasses knowledge. (3:17-19)
I can be filled completely with God. (3:19)
God’s power, which is more than I can ask or imagine, is at work within me. (3:20)

So much rich truth in these chapters! Remembering all those truths would enable us to always walk in far more life with a sparkling clean mirror. But our limited hearts and minds may need time to absorb them one at a time and shine our mirrors bit by bit.

I attended a conference recently that helped me shine one corner of my spiritual mirror. I was challenged to think of the theme verse in a whole new way:

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10, NLT)

To bring this verse to life, we were each given a postcard with an abstract picture on it. Each postcard was unique, with different colors and patterns, just as each person was unique, with different skills, interests, and spiritual gifts. But when we put all the cards together, they created a literal masterpiece, an image of a famous painting. The speaker pointed out that each person who follows Christ — from the first disciples recorded in the gospels to the last saints remaining alive when Christ returns — has a unique role to play in building God’s kingdom. But everyone needs to add their part in order for the masterpiece to be complete. We are each important, but we are also part of God’s bigger and more important masterpiece: fulfilling His purpose and bringing Him the glory He deserves. It was a wonderful reminder to value ourselves as God does, not too highly and not too lowly, and to find the work He has planned for us.

We experience far more life when our mirrors are shined so we can see both our immense value to God and our role in His bigger purpose. Both are required to see ourselves and God clearly. Both are necessary for far more life.

Sisters,
Does your “spiritual mirror” need to be shined? Is it showing God and you accurately?
Read Ephesians 1, 2, and 3 this week — alone or with friends — and list the truths you see about God and yourself. (You are welcome to comment here.)
Which truth do you want to focus on absorbing right now? Spend time reading it in different translations, looking up related verses, memorizing it, working through your doubts about it — whatever you need to do to imprint it clearly in your mind.
Enjoy far more life as you see yourself and God through a cleaner spiritual mirror!
-Shari