Kidologist.com: Karl Bastian’s Personal Site and Blog
Archive for Devotional
June 26, 2008 at 3:06 pm · Filed under Christianity, Devotional, Spiritual Growth
How many times have we prayed and asked God to bless our efforts… well, no more! Read on to discover why you should never ask God to bless your work!
We want God to look down from heaven, see what wonderful things we are doing for Him, and to bless what we are doing.
I was challenged to reconsider this common practice by my written mentor, Oswald Chambers, when he wrote: “Many a Christian worker has left Jesus Christ alone and gone into work from a sense of duty or from a sense of need arising out of his own particular discernment.”
This does not necessarily mean we are “sinning,” but that WE are generating the spiritual activity ourselves. Though as we get busy and drift from God, sin certainly can result! Oswald referring to our Christian activity, “There is no sin in it, and no punishment attached to it; but when the soul realizes how he has hindered his understanding of Jesus Christ, and produced for himself perplexities and sorrows and difficulties, it is with shame and contrition he has to come back.”
It sounded so spiritual, the old saying I latched onto as a kid: “God can’t move a parked car.” But in the end, this attitude of fast-paced service, disguised as a sense of urgency for the lost, is a deadly and unbiblical and has led many a sincere Christian worker to get going so fast and furious in their flurry of Christian work that they end up crashing due to a blind spot around a corner on the super service highway of spiritual achievement. What good is all your “work” if it takes you away from the very one you are supposedly serving so passionately?!? I know that I have been driven since a very young age to be “Busy for God” - and yet I am discovering that God is not in as big a hurry as I am. When I get stressed out I am learned to breath deep and release it all remembering, what God wants done will get done (with or without me) and what I never get to, He probably isn’t concerned about - as long as He has ME.
God has been at work throughout the ages, and is quite capable of accomplishing His goals and purposes without me being all stressed out. I get so worked up over all that “needs to get done” when God says, “It’s all done already, just walk with Me.”
Mark chapter eleven, in the Message, records Jesus saying, “Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you.” When we are stressed, we are ahead of God. And He doesn’t hurry to catch up to us, I believe He often stops, and waits for us to notice we are alone, and to come back to Him, and then He will continue on with us at His pace. Jesus continued, (in the Message) “That’s why I urge you to pray for absolutely everyting, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you’ll get God’s everything.”
Oswald writes, “…get into the habit of steadily referring everything back to Him; instead of this we make our common-sense decisions and ask God to bless them.”
My challenge to myself first and foremost is this: Do not ask God to bless anything. If it is of God, it is already blessed! To ask God to bless it, is to hint that it may not be of Him to start with, even if it is a good thing.
Think about it, if God has asked you to do a thing, how silly to ask Him to also bless it! It may border on an insult to Him. And if He hasn’t asked you to do it, why would you want His blessing on it?
Instead, ask God what He would have you do, and then pray for the courage and strength and persistance to see it through despite any obstacles or resistance you may encounter as you obey. Now there is a prayer God can answer!
May 1, 2008 at 9:34 pm · Filed under Children's Ministry, Christianity, Devotional, Leadership, Life, Spiritual Growth
I don’t remember who told me this story, or if I read it in a book, but it came to me at a period of my life when I was suddenly more teachable than ever before having come to the end of “myself” and it made a huge impact.
The story was of a pastor who had just gotten a call to a much larger ministry and wanted to seek out the council of a well known and highly successful pastor of an even larger ministry. He was excited to get a lunch appointment with this pastor and came ready to glean as much wisdom as he could from this one meal they would share. After they had ordered he explained that he was soon going to be going to a larger ministry and wanted as much advice as possible on how to survive and thrive in this new bigger ministry. The seasoned pastor smiled, and calmly responded, “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” The younger pastor wrote down this first bit of advice and then looked up ready to write down the next pearl of wisdom this godly man would have to share… but no words followed. Seeing the look of bewilderment on the younger man’s face, the older man said, “Yes, that’s it. Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” I remember the younger pastor saying that he was kind of irritated and annoyed because he was really hoping to go home with more than just one quote. But years later he discovered just how wise that one piece of advice was, in fact, the KEY to success in life as well as ministry.
This has been a key part of my journey the past two years since I went full time with Kidology and stopped having two full time ministries. There have been seasons in my life where I was in such a hurry DOING for God that I forgot how to BE. Ruthlessly eliminating hurry from my life has become my passionate pursuit. But “hurry” has a way of creeping back in, it is still how I am naturally wired. So this week, as I began to feel the pressure building again, I made this wallpaper to remind myself not to lose any of the progress I have made.
Enjoy this wallpaper:
(Open above image in new window for larger view)
Let me encourage you to make this your wallpaper for a few weeks and ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life!
April 30, 2008 at 11:19 pm · Filed under Children's Ministry, Christianity, Devotional, Leadership, Spiritual Growth
A while back I found the articles linked below on pastors.com and they were exactly what I needed at the time. I have since shared them with many men and I offer them here, not as something I think you might need, but as something I NEEDED that you just might too.
I recommend you read and digest just one at a time and actually DO the recommended assignment provided in each PDF download.
Confessions of a Driven Pastor I (Download Part One)
It’s no longer safe to assume that people in ministry have healthy souls and just need a little coaching in the leadership area. - Pastor Lance Witt
Confessions of a Driven Pastor II (Download Part Two)
For years I intuitively knew that I was violating my soul. In honest and quiet moments, I longed to get off the treadmill but didn’t know how. - Pastor Lance Witt
I pray that you will find these artilces as convicting and as helpful to you as I did.
March 31, 2008 at 10:40 am · Filed under Christianity, Devotional, Life, Luke
We had a pretty big storm last night and at one point I was awakened by a HUGE thundering outside. I immediately thought of my little boy upstairs so I felt my way through the dark to his room and when I entered I found him not crying, but awake and wide-eyed with fear. As soon as he saw me he lifted his arms asking me to pick him up.
I lifted him out of his bed and sat down in the recliner cuddling him. He tightly gripped my shirt and within seconds he was fast asleep even as the storm continued to rage outside the window and rain pelted the side of the house. But it didn’t matter to him anymore. As long as he was in his daddy’s arms, and daddy wasn’t afraid, he no longer had an reason for concern.
When the storms of life hit, my Father also thinks of me and comes to me. And if I will simply reach out to Him, He will gently pick me up and hold me close. And with tight grip on Him, I too can rest in peace despite my situation or the things that try to strike fear into my heart. You see, He’s near, and He’s not afraid, so I no longer have reason for concern either.
Being a father has taught me more about my Heavenly Father than I ever imagined.
March 31, 2008 at 7:50 am · Filed under Christianity, Devotional, Discipleship, Leadership, Spiritual Growth, Uncategorized
This past weekend I was presenting at the GCSSA conference in Arlington Heights, IL, but as often happens when you are serving God, it turns out that’s not the only reason I was there. I was also there to meet a guy named Dave Wager and to be challenged by him. It’s an amazing thing I’ve been learning over the past two years - when I am focused less on DOING for God and more on BEING with Him, I end up seeing and hearing things I would have missed otherwise.
Dave is the president of Silver Birch Ranch in White Lake, Wisconsin. You can’t talk to Dave for long before his passion slips out - a passion for men to be intimate with God and to be men who are IN THE WORD daily.
Dave was explaining to me that as he travels around to speak to men at conferences, retreats, etc. he often asks the men if they desire an intimate walk with Jesus, and (of course) they all say ‘yes.’ But when asked how many believe they HAVE an intimate relationship with Jesus, few answer that they do. In fact, he told me that when he asks PASTORS how many of them are in the Word daily, most are not. (This was often true of me when I was lost in the business and never-ceasing activity of ministry.) He has found that most Christians spend more time reading books ABOUT God or ABOUT the Bible, than they actually do reading THE Bible which is the ultimate book about God!
Dave is a published author, but what I love about his books, is that they are simply a passage of Scripture, some reflective thoughts of his on the passage, but then two pages of blank lines for the reader to journal. As Dave says, “Men need to be reading the Bible and wrestling with it, that is how we grow and how we become intimate with Jesus, by listening to Him, talking to Him, having daily conversations with Him.”
I ended up changing one of my goals for Yosemite Summit after talking with Dave. Originally, I was going to challenge each man on the retreat to bring and read one entire book that dealt with the soul or Christian life. Instead, I bought a copy of Beyond the Compass for each man and we will be getting into the Word on this retreat. Not that we weren’t going to already, but the emphasis is going to change. I will say that I still believe that Christian leaders NEED to be reading what I call “soul books” - books about our walk with God and that explore how we are wired spiritually. Too many leaders (myself once included) read only “leadership books” and “ministry books” to the detriment of their souls. So I still strongly that we need to read more non-leadership and non-ministry books and read stuff that fuels our SOULS not just our ministries. But I’ve also been convicted that the Bible must remain our primary source of reading.
I am one who has learned the hard way that you can be flying high in ministry and be empty in your soul. In fact, it can be ministry itself that pulls you away from an intimate walk with Jesus. I’ve written elsewhere on this blog about how an addiction to ministry can spoil your walk with God and your marriage, and how blind you can be to it happening because everything you are so busy “doing” is so GOOD - come on! It’s minitry! How can it be bad? Let me tell you, it can be deadly.
So, all this to say:
HAVE YOU BEEN IN THE WORD TODAY?
YESTERDAY?
THE DAY BEFORE?
Here’s an idea that my discipler challenged me with in high school - that worked then, but I have long since abandoned. It’s really quite simple, but POWERFUL:
NO BIBLE? NO FOOD!
You see, we never fail to feed our body, but we often fail to feed our souls. Our body will crave nurishment and make it known to us, via grumblings, pains, even noises sometimes! But while our soul cries out for nurshiment, we often fail to hear it’s groanings. So use your human physical hunger as a reminder to provide nurishment to your hungry soul. Make a sticker that says “NO BIBLE? NO FOOD!” and put it wherever you need the reminder that you can’t eat if you haven’t spent at least a little time in the Bible. Obviously, the ideal isn’t just the reading, it is time with God reflecting on the Word and praying about it, but at a minimum, have read something - it’s can’t help but pull you in deeper.
Simply make a rule: YOU CAN NOT EAT IF YOU HAVEN’T READ A CHAPTER OF THE BIBLE.
I am re-instituting this rule for myself today. I’m tired of inconsistent time in the Word. Are you? Not only will you read more (much more) of the Bible this way, but you may just lose some weight too!
March 17, 2008 at 11:02 am · Filed under Children's Ministry, Christianity, Devotional
Came across this image on a blog I follow called the Scripturist.org, and just wanted to post it so I’ll never lose it.
(click image for full size graphic)
God loves to use the unusable, which is the only reason He uses me.
March 13, 2008 at 9:02 pm · Filed under Christianity, Devotional, Life, Spiritual Growth
Our small group tonight started a study of the book of James, our primary topic this evening was on suffering - not necessary the major life altering sufferings - but the daily struggles and trials that upset our plans and frustrate us, but that God is trying to use to form our character. It isn’t just the “big” sufferings that God uses, He used the little daily “stuff” too. In fact, at times, the major battles are easier as they are obvious, but we can easily miss the small battles that actually have a huge impact on our spiritual growth. Below is a piece I wrote awhile back that was published elsewhere, but I wanted to post to my blog for my small group and to archive it here for future reference.
Fear leads to anger.
Anger leads to hate.
Hate leads to suffering.
One of Yoda’s most famous quotes, from the second half of the Star Wars saga, is his ominous warning to the young Anakin, “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suf-fer-ing.” (Did you read those words with the appropriate Yoda inflection?)
I certainly don’t doubt that fear leads to anger, or that anger leads to hate, and hate certainly leads to suffering. What I’d like to challenge from this sage quote is the assumption that the worst possible state of being is suffering.
The point of Yoda’s warning is that we are to avoid fear, anger, and especially hate because they lead to the ultimate evil: suffering. ANYTHING to avoid suffering! Please, do not fear… you may suffer! Please, do not get angry or hate… or you may suffer! And suffering is to be avoided at all costs! According to Yoda, suffering is the worst possible outcome of any situation! It must be, because Yoda concludes his platatude with ’suffering.’ He adds not, “Suffering leads to….” for there is nothing worse than suffering. (Insteresting, that despite the Jedi’s lack of fear or anger so much suffering still entered their personal worlds as the saga unfolded, could they have been avoiding the wrong outcome?)
In sharp contrast to the wise Yoda, are the words of Jesus Christ, who promises “in this world you will have troubles.” (John 16:33) Better translated in the KJV as “Tribulation.” I’m not about you, but tribulation sounds a lot like suffering to me! And we don’t LIKE to suffer! And Jesus doesn’t say we might, we says we WILL! So what do we do when we suffer as Christians? I’ve often tried to make my response to be, “what is God trying to teach me in this?”
Oswald Chambers, as he often does, shatters even my best efforts to look at things from God’s point of view, when he writes, “If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in his hands, to enable you to understand what transpires in other souls so that you will never be surprised at what you come across.” I read that and was floored. It may not be “what is God trying to teach me” - for that is still self-focused (what will I get out of this?) - instead, it may be instead, “what is God doing in me for the sake of others?”
Oswald continues, “God’s way is always the way of suffering.” What would Yoda have to say to that? We resonate with Yoda’s warning because we are motivated to AVOID suffering, but God says that suffering is THE WAY to His purposes - purposes that are much lofter than merely the avoidance of pain.
Don’t undestand your suffering? Take heart, Oswald comforts, “We never realize at the time what God is putting us through; we go through it more or less misunderstandingly.” So rather than rush to understand, or even get through it, rush to obey.
He suggests when we suffer we ask ourselves, “Is Jesus educating you into a personal intimacy with Himself?” I’m learning that Jesus is ever pressing for only one thing - not greater ministry works - but simply genuine intimacy with Himself. He adds, “This can never be until a personal need arises out of a personal problem.”
Without a personal knowable God, Yoda’s highest acheivement can only a lack of suffering, and even the great master jedi could not avoid that! Fortunately, we have a higher goal than a comfortable life, we can know our Creator! But that knowledge comes only through suffering, for the simple reason (I hate to admit) that suffering is the only thing that seems to draw us Godward. Without suffering - would we ever truly completely turn to God? Apparently not.
Many things lead to suffering, but suffering leads to intimacy with our Creator, so avoid it not!
Suffering, Avoid Not.
Leads to Intimacy with Creator, It Does!
March 7, 2008 at 6:41 am · Filed under Christianity, Devotional, Life, Spiritual Growth
I woke up in the middle of the night recently with these words forming in my mind. I have learned via the trials and tribulations of life that everything that ever worries me, concerns me, bothers me, irritates me, hurts me, saddens me, angers me, depresses me, or holds me back from victorious fellowship with Jesus have one little word in common: me. I heard Jesus whisper in my ear, yet again, “Let go of ‘me’ and you will be free.” The words below flowed in those early morning hours as my heart aches to be free of me.
(click for full size)
(This is now my daily prayer to keep me focused on Him, not me)
February 12, 2008 at 1:34 am · Filed under Devotional, Life, Spiritual Growth
A Jelly Fish for God? Read on!
Not too long ago, the most important thing to me was my personal contribution to the Kingdom of God. I’ve literally been “in ministry” since I was a young boy. To me, as the son of a preacher man and a mother who served in the local church with creativity and a keen sense of leadership – serving God was what it meant to be a Christian. By the time I was a teen-ager was I traveling to minister in churches besides my own and by my mid-twenties I’d been to over ten countries on mission trips ministering to children and equipping leaders. From the time I got up in the morning until I collapsed in bed at night, I lived to serve God. As I look back, I still am so thankful for all the amazing opportunities that God brought into my life, but I also feel the burden of stress and the deep exhaustion that was my daily experience. And the loneliness. I have learned the hard way that “Impact” is not the purpose of my faith. It is a result of following and serving God, but it is not why God called me into relationship with Him. I was so busy serving God that I did not have the time, nor often even the inclination, to truly invest in knowing God. And I was starving my soul. I suppose, by God’s grace, there will still be “Kingdom Impact” in my future as I follow and serve the Lord, but I truly am not concerned with that any more. I have discovered the deep satisfaction of simply pursuing God, rather than pursuing his pleasure. Where as I once said to God by my life, “see all that I am doing for You?”, I now simply say, “Hey, God its me.” The problem is that “me” is not as impressive as all the things I can DO, but I’ve learned that “me” is all God wants, and it is all He died for anyway.
I wish I could say I came to this realization one morning during my devotions. But that would assume I did “devotions” or that when I did I took time to listen to God while I was busy reading and studying the Bible to teach from it, or praying for and about all the things I was doing for God. No, it took me coming to the end of myself and experiencing a complete break down in some pretty critical areas of my life until I finally saw myself for the utter and complete failure that I was. Not a failure in ministry per se, but a failure in my soul. Flat on my face, defeated by my own self-destructive drive to change the world and impact the Kingdom, I finally was forced to stop. In that oasis of inactivity I finally listened, and discovered God really wasn’t as impressed with me and all my “ministry” as I had assumed. Quite to the contrary, He was quite disappointed in me, and the secret loneliness I pretended wasn’t there, was His attempt to draw me to what He created me to be – simply a child of His. The problem was not that I had two full time ministries, though I’m sure that didn’t help, the problem was that my purpose in life was defined by what I did for God, rather than by walking with God.
In this past year I have been deeply impacted by hearing Phil Vischer, the creator of VeggieTales, as he has spoken at several conferences I’ve been at. He has been very open and vulnerable about his own drive for “impact” that cost him his ministry, Big Idea. A man we all assumed must have been on top of the world as his “impact” sky-rocketed, was struggling deeply with his identity and purpose and it was causing physical as well as spiritual sickness. He too reached a crisis point in his life where God finally got his attention. I hesitate to repeat too much of his journey, as that is his personal story, but I encourage you to hear him speak and get his book, Me, Myself and Bob. But I do want to share something he explained this past weekend at a children’s ministry conference aptly titled, INSIDE-OUT. He explained why he named his new company “Jellyfish.” As quoted on his website,
“Why? Because jellyfish can’t choose their own course. They can’t locomote. They can go up a little, they can go down a little. But overall, they’re completely dependent on the current to carry them wherever they’re supposed to be. For a jellyfish to make a 20-year plan would be ridiculous. An act of ultimate hubris. And so it is with us. Rather than crafting their little plans and laboring to force things to go “their way,” Phil and his new cohorts at Jellyfish are committed to seeking and following God’s direction, each and every day – committed to staying in the “current” of God’s will, and letting Him carry them where they need to be. No long range plans, unless they come directly from God.”
Let me encourage you to read his Jellyfish Story for yourself on his website. I see so much of my own journey in his.
So what does God have for me in the future? To be quite honest, I’m not really that concerned about it. But I do know what He has for me today. To walk with Him. To listen to Him. To obey Him. To follow Him. And along the way, He’ll show me what He wants me to do for Him today, and maybe tomorrow. But not much more. After all, He didn’t save me so I could make an “impact” on the world, He saved me so I could be His child. And He doesn’t really need my help anyway. Anything I do for Him is only to give me an opportunity to work with Him and watch what He wants to do in my life as well as in the world. He is quite capable of accomplishing His goals with or without me. But He’d rather me choose to live life with Him, rather than work my soul to death trying to do stuff for Him.
I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know what today offers, another opportunity to walk with God. And that is plenty to fill my soul and put a bounce in my step.
February 6, 2008 at 11:39 am · Filed under Christianity, Devotional, Spiritual Growth
Found an awesome bookmark near my wife’s Bible, she got it at a women’s retreat, but you don’t have to be a woman to appreciate these thoughtful reminders! I’m posting mostly for myself, so I’ll never lose this… it is great for meditating on. I hope you enjoy as well.
NASA photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope has been labeled the ‘Eye of God.’
- Because God is a personal Spirit…
I will seek intimate fellowship with Him.
- Because God is all-powerful…
He can help me with anything.
- Because God is ever-present…
He is always with me
- Because God knows everything…
I will go to Him with all my questions and concerns.
- Because God is sovereign…
I will joyfully submit to His will.
- Because God is holy…
I will devote myself to Him in purity, worship and service.
- Because God is absolute truth…
I will believe what He says and live accordingly.
- Because God is righteous…
I will live by His standards.
- Because God is just…
He will always treat me fairly.
- Because God is love…
He is unconditionally committed to my well-being.
- Because God is merciful…
He forgives me of my sins when I sincerely confess them.
- Because God is faithful…
I will trust Him to always keep His promises.
- Because God never changes…
My future is secure and eternal
Now there are some things to think about!
Written by Bill Bright.
Next entries »
We want God to look down from heaven, see what wonderful things we are doing for Him, and to bless what we are doing.
God has been at work throughout the ages, and is quite capable of accomplishing His goals and purposes without me being all stressed out. I get so worked up over all that “needs to get done” when God says, “It’s all done already, just walk with Me.”
