Charting A New Course (Part 3) by Dr. James B. Richards

God gave man authority to function on planet earth. Through the propitiation of the Lord Jesus, He freed man from wrath (1 John 2:2). It is as if He created a level playing field for all men and said, Now you choose life, you choose blessings, you choose to live according to the promises I have given. If you believe what I have done, you will make choices based on my word. If you do not, you will make excuses!

It is simultaneously terribly intimidating and incredibly freeing to realize that we have the authority (right) to choose the life we desire. To accept this responsibility means we have no one to blame, it means we cannot create mystical blame-shifting doctrines. Most of all it means we can make changes in our lives today! Really think about that. What if this is true? What if it is within your power to change the quality of your life? If this is true, what will you do?

Everyone who has ever lived has struggled with the question, “Why does it go well for some and badly for others?” Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, pondered that very question. “For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them.

All things come alike to all: One event happens to the righteous and the wicked; To the good, the clean, and the unclean; To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. I returned and saw under the sun that The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:1,2,11, NKJV). If this concept was a challenge for Solomon, it is understandable that we would struggle with the same issue. But we have the mind of Christ! We have the promises of God. We have His Word as a light and His Spirit as a teacher. We don’t have to live in such archaic confusion!

We have been delivered from the curse and qualified for the promises (Galatians 3:13, 2 Corinthians 1:20). We should be able to understand this clearly. The same opportunities come to all men. Some will see and seize the opportunities while others will not. The consequential outcome is not evidence of the favor or disfavor of God, but of the choices of man. I was recently pondering some unfavorable situations in my life. In the end I had to ask only one question: Are these consequences worth the decision I made that got me here? I can’t solve my problem if I will not accept responsibility for my choices.

Yes, there were other people involved. Yes, other people created and contributed to the problem but I chose how I would respond to the problem. These are situations where I made godly decisions that had some negative repercussions. And yes, I can live with this outcome better than I could live with a more comfortable circumstance and a hardened heart! The point is this: God is not arbitrarily determining my circumstance. I am!

Favor is not an abstract blessing that comes upon men because they do enough religious duty to earn God’s benevolence. Some people seem to think that we can live irresponsibly, make bad decisions, and God will cause people to like us. We have twisted the word of God to all manner of complicated formulas and rituals. But the ultimate question is, “Do I believe God’s Word enough to put it into practice?”

Reconnecting to Jesus by Dr. James B. Richards

There is a natural tendency in everyone to think about goals and new beginnings at the first of the year. But what we may not realize is Christmas can be a time of refocusing before we begin goal setting.

What better way to prepare for setting new goals than refocusing on life’s true purposes? If we allow Christmas to be a time of reconnection to our Lord and King, the resolutions we make at the first of the year will be far more meaningful.

For some, December is a time, however, that takes them even farther off course, away from our divine destiny. When Christmas and holidays are focused in the wrong direction they can become a time of frustration, destructive financial management and depression. What should be a celebration of the birth of our Lord can become a massive effort at carnal indulgence. It can rob us of everything godly about this season we celebrate.

By making some good choices it can, however, be a time of refocusing on eternal priorities that prepare us to make New Year’s resolutions that honor the spirit of the season. If Christmas is a time of refocusing on what our life is really about, it can prepare us to make resolutions that truly add to the quality of our life.

Why do we celebrate Christmas? It doesn’t matter that this is not really the time Christ was born. What matters is why we celebrate! This is the time that God’s ultimate destiny began to take shape. He chose us in him before the creation of the world, to be holy and blameless in his sight (Eph 1:4, NIV). This was God’s eternal plan taking shape before the eyes of mankind.

God has always desired an intimate relationship with his family. He has always desired that Jesus be the focal point of that relationship. In Him all things are reconciled to God. God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure. And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ; everything in heaven and on earth (Eph 1:9-10, NLT).

The birth of Jesus was the place where man’s relationship to God could be recovered. Jesus’ birth was announced by a host of angels singing and proclaiming, “Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). This was not an announcement of peace between men. This was an announcement of peace and goodwill from God toward men. His birth, which would lead to his death, burial and resurrection, would do away with the enmity between man and God.

This season is the celebration of the Christ becoming a man so He could open the way for all men to know God. This is when God gave the unspeakable, most incredible gift to mankind. If this is what we celebrate this will be a time of reconnection. In fact if that is what we celebrate we will be focused, reconnected and have our priorities set for making new and more godly decisions at the celebration of New Year!

The way I have learned to benefit from Christmas is by using it as a time to refocus on the fact that I am celebrating the birth of my Lord and Savior, and the purposes for which He came.  Jesus came to establish a Kingdom! Saving us was just a part of that process. Becoming a steward of the Kingdom, resulting in managing my new life for His purposes is the fulfillment of His purpose for coming to planet earth!

Christmas can be an incredible time of reconnection to ultimate purpose! Look for ways to turn this season into a time of reconnection. Discuss it among your family members. Just find your own answer to the question, “what can we do to reconnect to God’s purpose for Jesus coming?” And then, “what can we do to help reconnect others to the purpose of the season?” Is there a way to get your family focused on Jesus and connected to a higher purpose? My daughter, Christy, has her son give toys to children that are less fortunate. I have heard of families that have their children buy presents for other families. Many times our church members will adopt families in the community and find ways to help them have a Merry Christmas. One musical family takes their children to banks, department stores and malls to sing Christmas songs and play their instruments. There are a million things you can do to reconnect to the purpose of God!

As stewards of the Kingdom, we are called to manage all of our life, time and resources for a Kingdom purpose. In fact, these things are not ours at all. The Bible says we were bought with a price, our life is not our own. Now that we, and all we own are His, we are called to manage these resources for His eternal purposes. But at the time that we should be honoring God, and the incredible gift He gave us in Jesus, this is when we stop giving to our local church. Too often we ignore our missions pledges and special commitments.

Churches and ministries around the worlds suffer financially at the time of the year that is set aside to celebrate the very reason for these ministries! Several years ago I was contacted by one of the national ministries we support. He had a team of missionaries trapped on a Muslim island that was violently hostile to the Gospel. The people who had pledged to support the evangelistic project stopped sending support at Christmas and left the team stranded with no resources to come home. They were sleeping on a bus, with limited food and no money for travel. They were not only in danger for their lives but they would be away from their own families for Christmas. Through our Partners we were able to send the funds they needed to deliver them safely to their families.

Make this Christmas a time of celebrating the real reason for the season! Reconnect to your Savior and His eternal purposes. Seize the season as a time to minister to others. Make Christmas about Christ and you’ll be ready to make next year a true time of renewal.

Charting A New Course (Part 2) by Dr. James B. Richards

Since the beginning, religious thinkers have looked at those who face hardship and those who succeed, and have mistakenly assumed their plight to be the favor or disfavor of God. Jesus’ disciples were shocked when He announced how difficult it was for those who had wealth to enter the Kingdom (Matthew 19:23). The main reason for their shock lay in their faulty idea that wealth was a sign of God’s favor, while poverty was an expression of God’s personal rejection.

Recall the situation with the boy who was born blind. The disciples were so deeply entrenched in this faulty concept that they asked what possibly became the most ludicrous question in the New Testament, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? (John 9:2, NKJV) How could the boy have sinned before he was born? And why would his parents’ sin cause him to be under the curse of blindness?

Jesus answered the question in a way that brings clarity to every problem we encounter, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent me…”(John 9:3-4, NKJV) God is not glorified in figuring out why the problem came. God is glorified in the prob-lem’s solution. Pessimists, legalists, and other negative thinkers are more concerned with who to blame than who to heal!

The search for blame is false nobility that has the appearance of seeking truth and righteousness. As often as not, though, it is a mask for unbelief. If we can make the solu-tions complicated, if we can focus on the problem instead of the cure, we can avoid accepting our respon-sibility to make good choices.

If all else fails, we can follow in Job’s footsteps and blame God for our circumstances, thereby maintaining the illusion of our righteousness. But as God asked Job, “Would
you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified ?” (Job 40:8, NKJV)

Charting A New Course by Dr. James B. Richards

Almost everyone who has heard me speak knows that one of my favorite stories is about a young Asian boy who stood on the seashore watching the boats as they sailed to and fro across the horizon. After a time, he asked his grandfather, “How is it that the wind only blows in one direction but the boats sail in every direction?” The grandfather answered, “It’s not the direction of the wind, but the setting of the sail that determines your direction!”

Nothing is more appropriate for this time. This is your chance to chart a new course. No matter how the winds of life are blowing, you can set your sail for the destination of your choice. You can move toward your goals and dreams or you can do nothing and be blown by every wind of circumstance and be whisked to some unknown, undesirable destination. Today more than ever, I want to help you choose your destination and set your sail.

The universe is filled with laws that work. Whether we do or do not understand them, they work. I know there is a law called gravity. I really do not understand it, but it works independent of my belief, understanding, choices, or approval.

In Heart Physics, we teach that all of the natural laws of the universe mirror and help us to understand spiritual laws. This is one of the first things I realized about the laws of the universe. They work regardless of how good, bad, spiritual, or carnal you are. If a good person slips from the roof of a building, he will plummet to the ground as surely as an evil man.

These laws are no “respecter of persons!” Likewise, the laws of the heart work irrespective of character and spirituality. They work without arbitrary decisions on the part of God! He said, and this is my paraphrase; Here are the way things work. If you trust me, you will make this work for your good. If not, they will work against you!

Do you ever look at people who seem to have it all and wonder, “Why does life work so well for them?” Or what about those people who seem to always triumph over every situation? Do you ever wonder, “What’s their secret?” We know that God loves all people equally. We know that He makes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45).

No matter how much it may seem that God is favoring one person over another, it simply cannot be the case! Some people learn to make the immutable laws of God work for them. They make the decisions trusting these laws while others mistakenly wait for God to make the decisions and languish in lack and defeat!

 

A Time To Launch (part 4) by Dr. James B. Richards

There are many forms of false peace. Misunderstanding the facts can cause a sense of tranquility, but it is false. Sometimes we mistake the absence of conflict as the presence of peace. But that false peace quickly vanishes in the face of opposition and hardship. Relief is often thought to be peace. Relief can come even when making bad decisions. A vacation can give you relief, but when you return to work the problems will still be there.

The word for peace in the New Testament is very similar to the word He-brew word shalom. It can be translated as tranquility, healing, prosperity, or any number of desirable situations. The peace of God is more than a tranquil state of mind. It is a tranquil state of mind that comes from knowing all your needs are met.

We are not simply look for a tranquil feeling to know when to launch. The New Living Translation says it very well. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts (Colossians 3:15). We don’t just want peace. We want the peace that comes from Him!

The phrase “let the peace of God rule” could be translated as “let the peace of God umpire!” An umpire declares you safe or out. The umpire is the final word evaluating the event. It will be the peace that comes from Him that gives us our freedom to launch!

Getting peace from Him about a plan doesn’t come because we make plans and then pray. I want to lay my plans out before Him. In His presence, I want to think about, visualize, or verbally talk my plan through. I want to know how my heart feels while I am in His presence. In his light, we have light. As I lay out my plan in His presence, He can shine the light of omniscient wisdom onto my every thought.

Proverbs 16:3 says, Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established. As I commit my plan to God, in His presence, not before or after I am in His presence but while I am in His presence, He can establish my thought. He can redirect, teach, and correct. More than anything, though, as I lay out my plans in the presence of a holy God, I can feel His peace about every aspect that I expose for His approval. His peace will be the umpire who declares my plan safe!

A Time To Launch (part 3) by Dr. James B. Richards

In this day and age, wise counsel abounds in the form of books, teaching programs, DVDs, the Internet, and an unlimited number of conferences. Without good direction, people lose their way; the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances (Proverbs 11:14, TMB). Counsel is simply advice or input. Through all the resources available to us today, we can get input from people we will never have the opportunity to meet.

But in the end, none of that will be the final word. None of that will tell us when to launch. All of that increases our knowledge and develops our understanding, but the final word will be the voice of God in our heart. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:6, NKJV). Regardless of what anyone says, in the end we need knowledge, understanding, and wisdom that comes from the mouth of God.

When our heart says go, we will be immovable; we will see the end in our heart. We may not have all the answers, there may be some pieces of the puzzle that have not come together, but we will have a peace that passes understanding. In the end, it will be having and keeping this peace that determines how we progress on our journey!

Remember that attitude is everything. “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right!” It will be the abiding peace from God that keeps you in the realm of confidence that keeps asking questions, finding answers, and moving forward. Colossians 3:15 says it like this, And let the peace of God rule in your hearts. Not just any peace. The peace of God!

A Time To Launch (part 2) by Dr. James B. Richards

Circumstances reveal opportunities to the person who has his or her sail set while hides them from negative thinkers! Real winners win when everyone else is losing!

In Matthew 16:4, Jesus rebuked the religious thinkers of His day. They knew how to read natural signs but hadn’t ever developed their hearts to read the spiritual signs.

He said, Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. We must develop a heart that can discern the practical and the spiritual.

We must ask all the right questions. If you’re not asking questions, you’re just trying to talk yourself into something. Here are a few questions I must ask:

1. Have I invested in my knowledge of this goal?

2. Do I have the wisdom of God’s Word?

3. Have I written the vision and the plan?

4. Have I counted the cost? (Until I know what I’m giving up, I haven’t counted the cost!)

5. Do I know what the obstacles will be?

6. What are my resources?

7. Do I have a budget?

8. Are there people who will need to help me?

9. Do I need to be surrounded by different people?

Asking these practical questions helps us develop our heart for wisdom. It helps us to become discerning. There is no substitute for asking the tough questions. Asking the hard questions gives us true insight.

A wise person gets known for insight (Proverbs 16:21, TMB). Insight is the ability to see into a situation. Insight sees both the good and the bad, the advantage and the disadvantage.

Counsel is the place to ask the hard questions. Counsel isn’t when someone tells us what do or attempts to make choices for us. Also, it rarely comes in the form of counseling. Counsel is best found at the feet of those who have succeeded at endeavors that are similar to our own.

The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:12, KJV). The best counsel in the world comes from our mentors, those people to whom we have given permission to speak into our lives about a particular subject.