morningstarmen

Faith Hope and Freedom to Risk

When many men think of risk, thoughts of a large investments in a stock, or the starting of a business come to mind. For others, adventures  to inaccessable places or inhospitable lands might be the first thought.  There are differences between the risks we take for personal glory or wealth, and those we take on behalf of others.  God frees us for so much more than to relax and live comfortably.  Neither is bad, but either can prevent us from reaching the real purposes we've been called to.  In this episode we'll explore why we are not truly ready to risk until God sets us free. We call this "Freedom From".  But once we are "Free From", we then must ask "why?".  What was the purpose for that liberation?  It's then we first understand that God frees us "from", so that we will be free "to".   This is the underlying foundation which supports all intelligent risk. It is risk in pursuit of a purpose larger than our own self-fullfillment. Each of us will one day breath our last. If my risks were taken to bring me fullfillment, then all that I've risked and all that I've gained will be passed on to others who may or may not appreciate that. But when my risks are the call of  God my father on my life, then my risks are in the pursuit of things much bigger and with longer life than my own goals.

Faith Hope and Freedom, Freedom From Idols

If you've ever scanned the pages of a Bible, you've undoubtedly noticed many references to "Idols".  It seems those "primative" people really struggled with placing things  made from  stone or wood at the centers of their worship, their affections, and their plans.  But is that really what was going on? Is it really that these people all so completely bought in to the idea that a piece of wood crafted by them to represent some diety could have sway over their lives.  What if - instead - they were saying they they want to build gods whom they liked. Who appealled to their notions of what gods should behave like?  What if they looked into their worlds and decided that gods must be like this or that because it seems that the world worked in certain ways.  Whenever a man decides to allow his imagination to skulp his god, rather than allowing God to skulpt a man's imagination, then trouble is afoot.  Men choose to make idols. They choose to allow many things to serve the role that only God himself can and should fill. Why?  Let's take a closer look.

Faith Hope and Freedom. Freedom from Passivity

There are some endeavors  in life which  we begin with passion and enthusiasm. Life is good and the new endeavor is exciting. But then... difficulty, disappoint, and the daily grind. What was at one time a great new adventure becomes a real chore. Not what we hoped for, not what we expected, and more of a battle than could ever have been imagined. At times like that we can become indifferent.  Have you ever been tempted to quit on the big thing God has placed in your care and stewardship?  Have you ever thought about settling for "OK"? Have you ever been willing to compromise on the best because average was so much easier to achieve?  Let's take a look at what happens when the battle is long and hard and our motivation for continuing begins to falter.

Faith Hope and Freedom. Freedom from Doubt

Most people have "doubts". And each of us has a level of Skepticism through which we filter everything we hear, read and see. Skepticism is a self-preservation device. Without some level of healthy skepticism we would each be easy targets for every new scam. Or worse, we'd live in a constant "head-spinning" confusion since we'd be forced to believe contradictory messages which so often swirl around us. So each of us needs a level of reasonable and healthy skepticism which can protect us from harm.  Yet each of us also knows at least one other person whose skeptic nature has made them suspicious even of good things. They seem powerless to give themselves over to trust in anything or anyone. Of course, that's an illusion. Since the skeptic has to trust himself. Since he doesn't trust others - whether institutions, people, or even God - he has unwittingly declared that there is one person he does trust; himself. The true skeptic trusts that his understandings, perceptions, and awarenesses are the only reliable filter through which to pass information and from which to judge fact from story and truth from myth.  And in that the skeptic imprisons himself. He is trapped inside his refusal to trust anything.  Today we'll look at how a freedom from doubt is actually the courage to live a life of conviction and how a life lived in chronic doubt is one marked by the failure of the doubters courage to make a choice and live by it.

Faith Hope and Freedom, Freedom From Worry

Few things can choke our lives like the constant "drip" of worry. We inflict harm to ourselves and to those we care about when worry dominates our thinking. But are there any real antidotes to a worry-filled life? There is certainly the strategy of denial! Let's just not be real about what is going on. But that doesn't seem too courageous. There's always the gut it out method. But worry internalized only makes us sick and those around us miserable. So neither of those methods seems reasonable. As Christians, and as honest and real people, are there any other options that work? Let's take a look!

Faith Hope and Freedom. Freedom from Self

Friendships That Matter

Spiritual Coaching Part 15

Spiritual Coaching Part 14

Spiritual Coaching Part 13