Month: August 2022

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Most people know the story about David and Goliath but few know the story within the story. David is standing before King Saul explaining his confidence in his ability to slay the Philistine giant. Saul decides, “If the boy is going out to war, he ought to dress the part.” So he puts his tunic, armor, and sword on David. The youth walks around looking ridiculous in the ill fitted combat gear and declares, “Uh, I’m gonna pass on the battle rattle and go fight light.” (First Samuel 17.32-40 CWV-Chuck Wood Version) He runs out, pegs Goliath between the eyes with a small rock, and cuts off the enemy’s head with his own sword.

Here’s my point. Someone else’s armor (their alignment with God) might not fit you all that well. And although there are many areas in which will all serve God in principle (we all worship, obey, share the gospel, make disciples, etc…) it’s probably going to look unique and tailor made to each individual based on personalities, gifting, and seasons of life.

So let’s look at some Scripture that points to our unique personalities, gifting, and seasons of life.

Uniquely Crafted by God

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1.5)

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. (Psalm 139.13-16)

Uniquely Gifted

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2.10)

For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly… (Romans 12.4-6a)

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. (First Corinthians 12.11)

Unique Seasons of Life

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. (Psalm 1.3)

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— (Ecclesiastes 3.1)

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1.6)

So why is this so important? We’ve all seen people (and maybe we’ve made this mistake ourselves) trying so hard to be like someone else. It’s either so fake or awkward that it’s almost comical. We need to take some advice from the age old philosopher, Socrates, when he said “Know Thyself.” Even as we are trying to become more like Jesus, we will see designed differences. If we study ourselves in light of the Scriptures and our uniqueness in the eyes of God, we will be doing only what we are uniquely designed to do. This will bring more clarity and alignment to our lives.

Are we trying to be like someone else so much we are robbing the kingdom of our unique contribution? Are we cramming others into our “method mold” instead of majoring on Biblical principles?

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Wham! The pothole was so deep I thought I was on my way to China! My steering wheel was going crazy and when I got on the highway I thought the whole car was falling apart. You guessed it, my steering had been knocked out of alignment. I wouldn’t be making a trip to the Orient but I would be visiting a mechanic ASAP.

Sometimes life can start to shimmy, drift, or even feel like the whole thing is coming apart. And like the wheels on a car, one of the main reasons is a lack of alignment with God.

You only have to go back to the beginning to see that God always intended us to be aligned with Him;

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1.27)

One of the fundamental mistakes we make is when we take matters into our own hands and align ourselves with anything else but our Creator. Ultimately, it leads to an identity crises (Which has become more than evident today with the whole gender/pronoun debacle). It all started to breakdown back in the garden when Adam and Eve decided align themselves with their own ways (which was really Satan’s ways – Genesis 3).

But Jesus is not only the Great Shepherd but He’s also the Great Mechanic. He has provided a way to be realigned with God and solve our identity crisis. Basically, we let Him take the steering wheel of our life. Consider the following Scriptures;

I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me. (Galatians 2.20)

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” (John 10.10-11)

But just like checking the alignment on your car, we must periodically check our alignment with God (and it’s probably a good idea to check daily). One of the ways we can do this is by reading and studying the Word of God daily. I know that if I line my life up with His Word and His ways, I’m going to be in perfect alignment. Oh, we’ll still hit some potholes a long the way but the whole thing is not going to veer off into a ditch. How’s your alignment with God going?

Next time we’ll talk about our specific alignment based on our personality, gifts, station in life, etc…

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I like to ask people a trick question; “Who was the wisest person to ever live?” Solomon! Nope. Jesus! That’s why when I’m looking for an example to follow, I always go to Jesus first. So when we are looking for a role model with AIM, clear purpose in life, Jesus is our “Go To” person.

So what was Jesus’s AIM? First, He was perfectly aligned with the Father and His purpose . Consider the following passages;

• Alignment
  • Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. (John 5.19)
  • For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. (John 12.49)
  • “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22.42)

But what about intimacy? What kind of example did Jesus set for us between He and the Father?

• Intimacy
  • And behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” (Matthew 3.17)
  • All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” (Luke 10.22)
  • And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last. (Luke 23.46)

And lastly, how did Jesus model a clear sense of calling to His mission or ministry?

• Mission
  • He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” (Mark 1.38)
  • For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19.10)
  • I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. (John 17.4)

So it’s pretty clear that Jesus is a great role model on what it looks like to have a crystal clear purpose in life. Jesus had His AIM. Now we need to take a page out of His playbook and discover our AIM too.

Therefore, I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air
1 Corinthians 9.26

Most of us have heard of “the fog of war.” But have you ever heard of the “fog of life.” If not, I bet you $10 and a doughnut you have experienced it! It’s where the rhythm of the mundane or the tyranny of the urgent so obscures your direction in life, you could be groping about in the dark.

Recently, we asked our son and daughter-in-law, Wes & Tina, to share their experiences of making disciples and planting churches. The biggest takeaway for the disciples gathered in our living room was Wes & Tina’s clarity in their purpose. They knew exactly what Jesus has called them to do. In fact, that message of a clear vision for life was so potent, it immediately multiplied to three generations of disciples!

I spent time meditating on what my son said. It challenged me to think about the questions I ask as a disciple-maker. One question I routinely ask is, “What’s your next major step in pursuing Jesus?” It dawned on me, I could ask that question but if a person didn’t have a clear purpose or vision for life, they could be taking the next “major step” in the wrong direction!

That’s when the Lord gave me another question; “What are you Aiming at?”

AIM

• Alignment – Becoming all God meant me to be.
• Intimacy – Growing closer in my relationship with Jesus and others.
• Mission – Making disciples.

In order for disciples to stay on target with their walk with God they need to have a clear vision from God for their life. They need to Aim. I’m going to spend the next few blog posts fleshing this out, starting with “How Jesus had an Aim in His life.”