Category: Living Deep

There are numerous misconceptions floating around, frequently quoted as authoritative. So many that Wikipedia has a page devoted to them.

A few examples.

Abner Doubleday did not invent baseball. Neither did it originate in Cooperstown, New York. It is believed to have evolved from other bat-and-ball-based-games such as cricket and rounders. It first took its modern form in New York City.

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was not caused by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicking over a lantern. A newspaper reporter invented the story to make colorful copy. (Imagine that.)

Houseflies have an average lifespan of 20 to 30 days, not 24 hours.

Eating less than an hour before swimming does not increase the risk of experiencing muscle cramps.

People do not use only ten percent of their brains. This misconception dates back to the early 20th century. It has been attributed to psychologist William James, who used the expression metaphorically.

Another common misconception is that the Bible says “God helps those who help themselves.” Many will say it’s their favorite verse, thought they’re hard pressed to tell you exactly where it can be found.

The list of misconceptions goes on and on, underlying a simple reality:

Just because you’ve heard something all your life doesn’t make it true.

OTHER ALL-TOO COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS.

What are some other misrepresentations we’re prone to believe? Maybe the list would include:

• God has forgotten me, and now he is finished with me.

• My life will always be what it is today.

• I don’t have the strength to change, or the strength to face what I must face.

• I am alone.

• I have good reason to worry. I have good reason to fear. I have good reason to give up.

These misconceptions will never be true, no matter how many times you’ve heard them, no matter how many times you’ve repeated them.

Solomon once said, somewhat sternly…

The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps. (Proverbs 14:15)

Today our challenge is to confront every belief that seeks to limit the possibility of God doing something great in our lives. Give thought to each one: Stare it down, tear it apart, see if it has any basis at all in the truth of God’s Word.

The world will say it what it can to keep you down, merely for the sake of colorful copy. Don’t give these misconceptions the final word.

Trust, instead, in what God says about you, about today, about your future, and about his plans for you.

The early 20th century tent-revivalist Billy Sunday once said:

“The only way to keep a broken vessel full is to keep it always under the tap.”

The truth is that we’re all broken. Or, at the very least, chipped and cracked. In order for our lives to remain full of what matters most, we need to stand in the stream as often as possible, for as long as possible, allowing the fountain of God’s presence to fill us to overflowing.

This applies to your devotional life, to be sure. It applies to countless others areas as well.

Consider some of the ways we keep our vessel full each day:

• Seeking the company of those who build you up, rather than those who tear you down.

• Listening to uplifting music — or a sermon — rather than an angry online rant.

• Spending time in the Word before turning to your newsfeed.

• Speaking to others in a way that edifies, rather than seeking to criticize.

• Watching films and videos that offer a message of hope, rather than despair.

Our many chips and cracks ensure that we need to be filled again and again, throughout the day, day-after-day-after- day. It won’t happen by accident. To be filled, we need to take the intentional step to position ourselves beneath the tap in every way we can.

In his prayer for the church in Ephesus, he asked that they would “be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19)

Today we can say this prayer for ourselves. And we can strive to answer it for others.

Norman Vincent Peale used to tell the story of a struggling businessman who reached a turning point in life after seeing a picture of a boat stuck in the sand. The caption said:

The Tide Always Comes Back.

We often make two common mistakes:

• When things are good, we think everything will always be good.

• When things are bad, we think everything will always be bad.

Both are wrong.

Life, and all it entails — your marriage and your ministry, your relationships and health and finances, your approval rating among those you serve and the success of each new endeavor — tends to cycle from peak to valley. As the old hymn says, there is an ebb and flow to life.

You can count one constant in all of this: God’s faithfulness. Your ability to survive the ebb comes down to your willingness to trust in his goodness, even when all you see is sand.

Today, whether your tide is in or out, lean on the faithfulness of God. Focus on his presence, and remember his promise. It will keep you singing as you go.

Be thankful for his goodness; be thankful for his mercy. For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. (Psalm 57:10)

A while back I read about a research project investigating the phenomenon of luck.

It goes without saying that I don’t believe in luck. Neither, apparently, does Richard Wiseman, the psychologist that directed the study. (His book based on the study is called The Luck Factor: The Scientific Study of the Mind.)

After examining traits, beliefs and habits of people that could be characterized as either lucky or unlucky, Dr. Wiseman determined that “lucky” people tend to create their good fortune via four basic principles.

1. They know how to create and recognize good opportunities for themselves.

2. They make good intuitive decisions.

3. They have positive expectations.

4. Through resilience, they turn bad situations into good ones.

His conclusion is the same that most of us would come to: There’s no such thing as random good fortune or random misfortune. We create these things with our attitudes, our actions, and our expectations.

For this reason, there should be no such thing as an “unlucky” Christian.

What some call luck — positive experiences that work in your favor — is part of our inheritance.

We don’t call it luck, though. We call it being blessed.

It’s not the result of random fortune. It’s the result of living by faith and walking in obedience. As King David said: “Real help comes from God. Your blessing clothes your people!” (Psalm 3:8 The Message)

I encourage you, then, you to practice living faithfully with a sense of expectation. There’s nothing presumptuous about it. In fact, we’re called to do it.

We can live in joyful expectation of the goodness of God. And we can remember the words of Jesus:

“According to your faith will it be done to you.” (Matthew 9:29)

In his sermon Songs in the Night, Charles Spurgeon said…

“It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight; but he is the skillful singer who can sing when there is not a ray of light by which to read — who sings from his heart, and not from a book that he can see, because he has no means of reading, save from that inward book of his own living spirit, whence notes of gratitude pour forth in songs of praise.”

This is what hope does. It gives us a song to sing, even when the night is long, even when the light is dim.

In the book of Philippians, as he languished in a Roman prison cell, Paul wrote some of the most optimistic, forward-looking words in all of Scripture.

(1:12) Everything that has happened to me here has helped spread the Good News.

(1:14) Because of my imprisonment, many of the Christians here have gained confidence and become more bold.

(1:19) I will continue to rejoice. For I know that as you pray for me and as the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will all turn out for my deliverance.

(1:21) For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better.

These aren’t the words of a doomed man. These are the words of a man convinced that the best is yet to come.

Paul believed the best about the future because he believed in a God that is good, and powerful, and merciful, and loving.

If this is our God, how is it possible not to be filled with hope?

Maybe today your days are dark and your nights are long … maybe there is no ray of light by which to read … this is the time to cling to the message of the coming season: We have reason to hope because Christ has come into the world bring peace and goodwill to all who will receive it.

And, as Paul reminds us, hope does not disappoint. It’s worth the emotional investment you make in daring to believe that the best is yet to come.

This is our hope.

A few years ago a writer named A.J. Jacobs embarked on an adventure that would later become a best-selling book.

He resolved to live for one year according to all the laws and commandments of the Bible. The book became The Year of Living Biblically.

At the beginning of the project, he defined himself as an agnostic Jew — Jewish in name and heritage, but not in practice.

His objective was to follow all of the Old Testament laws to the letter — observing the Sabbath, cleansing rituals, the dietary restrictions, even to the extent that he didn’t shave or wear blended fabrics.

He also began to tithe, which he was surprised to discover felt really good: It feels good to be generous. It feels good to help people.

Jacobs also said, in his quest to obey all the Old Testament commandments, that he became overwhelmingly aware of a new sensation, one that he had hardly noticed before: Gratitude.

He began to feel thankful for every little detail of his life. He talked about getting on the elevator in his apartment building, and being with overcome with gratitude for the elevator. And he talked about being thankful to arrive home, thankful for his wife, thankful at the sight of his son.

He said that gratitude became something like an obsession with him, that throughout the day he kept saying to himself again and again, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

He wrote…

“It’s an odd way to live. But also kind of great and powerful. I’ve never before been so aware of the thousands of little good things, the thousands of things that go right every day.”

I don’t know what has happened in Mr. Jacobs’ life since he wrote this book. I don’t know where he is spiritually, but I do know that while he was on this journey, he discovered a principle of living that, if used everyday, can revolutionize your life.

It’s the principle of Gratitude. Being thankful enables you to recognize more and more the work of God in your life.

This reminds me of Milton’s quote …

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.”

One definition of epiphany could be: experiencing a God-moment. An infinite number of them await your encounter — including more than a few today.

These God-moments begin with a heart prepared to say Thank You for every little thing.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning once said, “Light tomorrow with today.”

I think she’s talking about planting a certain type of seed: doing things each day — even when today is a little dark — to ensure that tomorrow is a little brighter.

This would include, for example, continuing to put money in your savings account even when things are tight financially right now. Or continuing to give your best effort at work even when your future with the company is uncertain. Or continuing to nurture a relationship that might not survive the current storm.

Regardless of what you’re going through today, you need to continue to plant seeds for tomorrow. Sometimes it feels futile — the future has a way of appearing all too uncertain — but we can trust in God’s goodness.

Isaiah promises:

God will greatly bless his people. Wherever they plant seed, bountiful crops will spring up. (Isaiah 32:20)

Henry Drummond tells the story of two artists who were commissioned to paint a picture depicting perfect peace.

The first artist painted a landscape with a mountain lake: calm, quiet, serene.

The second artist painted a violent waterfall crashing down on jagged rocks, but next to it was a slender birch tree, with a single fragile branch stretched out over the water.

In the fork of the branch was a bird’s nest. Lying in the nest, untroubled, even glistening from the spray of waterfall, was a small bird fast asleep.

This is peace. It’s not the absence of crashing waves, it’s the security of the nest in the midst of the turbulence.

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. (Isaiah 26:3 NKJV)

Our challenge today is to look not at the waves, but to find our place of peace in God’s presence.

Mel Fisher spent his life diving for buried treasure.

In the late 1960’s he began a quest for the priceless treasure cargo of the fabled lost Spanish galleon Atocha. Every day, for more than 16 years, Mel, his wife, his children, and his band of “Treasure Salvors” explored the waters off the coast of Florida, in search of riches.

He motivated his team and kept the dream alive by beginning each day’s hunt with the cry: “Today’s the day!”

After more than 16 years of searching, that day arrived. On July 20, 1985 Mel Fisher’s team discovered the Atocha, containing a treasure worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The days of sporadic paychecks and living hand-to-mouth were over for Mel and his team.

OUR SEARCH FOR TREASURE

Solomon tells us that if we’ll search for wisdom the same way Mel searched for riches, we’ll find an even greater reward: the knowledge of God.

The Bible makes the bold promise that within its pages you can discover foundational truths upon which you can build your marriage, your career, your family, your finances, your friendships, your relationship to God, and every aspect of your life.

And the best part is: these truths aren’t elusive. It doesn’t take 16 years to find treasure. When you search the Bible for God’s direction for your life, you can make a new discovery every day.

On one day you’ll be reminded of someone you need to forgive; on another day you’ll get insight in how to deal with a problem at work; on another day you’ll become aware of a sin you need to confess, and on and on.

When you open the pages of your Bible, you can truly say, “Today’s the Day!”

We haven’t been put on earth to stumble in the dark. God’s light is available. He speaks to us each day, giving us the direction we need, if we will only search for it.

In speaking of wisdom for daily living, Solomon said…

If you look for it as silver, and search for it as hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:4-5)

A Stanford University study in 1994 revealed that happy people and unhappy people tend to have similar life experiences. It’s not that happy people experience one success after another, and unhappy people experience one failure after another. Their lives are pretty much the same in that respect.

The difference, the study concluded, is that the average unhappy person spends more than twice as much time thinking about unpleasant events in their lives, while happy people tend to think about things that will brighten their personal outlook.

In the book of Philippians, Paul never uses the word happiness, but he does talk about joy, and contentment, and the peace of God which passes all understanding — all of which are yours to experience.

How do you get there?

One key step centers around your thought life.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

For most of us, our life experiences aren’t all that different from the experiences of everyone else. The difference-making difference can be found in how we choose to think about each situation … and, ultimately, how we choose to respond.

What will be the focus of your thoughts today?

There’s a story about a man named Samsundar Balgobin who won first place in an international linguistics competition with his response to following challenge: “No English dictionary can adequately explain the difference between ‘complete’ and ‘finished.’ How would you explain the difference?”

Here’s his response:

“When a man marries the right woman, he is complete.
When he marries the wrong woman, he is finished.”

As the story goes, he received a five minute standing ovation, he was rewarded a trip around the world, and he was invited to dine with the Queen of England. No doubt the judges themselves were married, and knew firsthand just how accurate is this definition.

From a theological perspective, there’s also a difference between the two words. When Jesus cried out on the cross, “It is finished!” he was saying, in effect, “The power of sin is done away with. It is paid in full. It is gone forever. It cannot hurt you anymore.”

And when Paul said, “Ye are complete in him,” he was saying that the Jesus you received at salvation is all you need for your life in God. You have complete forgiveness in him. Your hope is complete. Your future is complete. Your purpose is complete. In him you have everything and lack nothing.

With Jesus, you’re complete and sin is finished.

Without him, we’re all finished.

“If you never ask, the answer is always no.”

The person who made this statement recently was talking to marketers about closing the sale. It got my attention because it also applies to our prayer life.

James said, “You do not have because you do not ask God.” (James 4:2)

More and more I see asklessness as the root of our problems.

True, James also said that we don’t receive because we sometimes ask with the wrong motives … but I’m convinced that the first part of the equation is the bigger obstacle for a good many of us.

The best way to solve this problem is with pen and paper and time spent in solitude.

Write down the things in your life that you have been dealing with on your own, that you have (inexplicably) neglected to pray about.

Then make a decision to bring these matters before the throne every day until they’re resolved.

You and I both know from history that it works.

Why we go through seasons of asklessness is a mystery for the ages.