Spiritual Ambition

Calling — "A Man of a Different Spirit"

Therefore, we also make it our ambition to be pleasing to the Lord.  2 Corinthians 5:9

The explorer of Antarctica, James Cook, once said, “I ... had ambition not only to go farther than any man had ever been before, but as far as it was possible for man to go.”

He was a man of ambition.  As Christians, we must be men and women of ambition as well.  Whereas, Captain Cook was ambitious for himself, we must be ambitious for God!  God is worthy of nothing less from us. Thee are many stories of men and women who because of an insatiable desire accomplished great things.  I am not aware of any person, who desired very little and yet accomplished anything great.

Often, as believers we have not thought it right to pursue “great things”.  We tend to think that this reeks of pride and arrogance.  And to be candid, this has and does happen in the Name of Jesus to our shame.  Someone has said, “there is no room for pride in ministry.”  Amen. Yet, I think we can pendulum swing to the far extreme in the other direction and develop a false sense of humility.  This actually can easily become an excuse for us to stay in our comfort zone and become complacent. 

Humility is not opposed to greatness. Humility is a recognition that I am not here to seek great things form myself (Jeremiah 45:5).  Humility is a recognition that if I am going to be involved in something great (like the Great Commission) I must live in a daily dependence upon the Lord and in supportive community with His people.  

Jesus never said it is wrong to desire to be great.  On the contrary, He said, “whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant and whoever wishes to be first shall be your slave, (Matthew 20:26-27).  Jesus also said, “whoever keeps and teaches His commandments shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven, (Matthew 5:19).  Jesus never put down anyone for desiring to be great.  He redefines what greatness is and He transforms our desires for greatness.

It is not wrong to desire.  Buddhism teaches that desire is the source of suffering.  Therefore, the goal of Buddhism is to remove or extinguish desire so there can be harmony.  Christianity teaches that although our desires have done bad or even mad, it is through the transforming power of Jesus Christ that our desires are transformed.  Jesus renews our mind and purifies our desires. For example:  “He who hungers and thirsts for righteousness shall be satisfied, (Matthew 5:6).  “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart”, (Psalm 37:4).  “For it is God who is at work in you , both to give you the desire and the ability to work for His good pleasure”, (Philippians 2:13).  

What do you need then to leave your mark on this world for His glory?  In a word, focus.  If you are careful, you can inscribe your name on a piece of wood by using a magnifying glass as you focus the sun’s rays.  Otherwise, the sun will beat down on the wood all day long and never leave a mark.  Even so, if we are to leave the mark of the Gospel in this world, we must focus our lives around three aspects of spiritual ambition.

Spiritual ambition is made up of vision, passion and action.  If you have vision but no passion or action all you have is a fantasy.  If you have passion without a clear vision and action, then you have passion out of control.  This would be like water pouring out of a fire hydrant without the hose or the fireman to direct the water.  Action with no vision and no passion is legalistic or meaningless activity.  It is mere duty obligation which won’t last long.  But when all three are working in concert with each other then you turn ordinary events into something that is atomic.  This is spiritual ambition.

God called Caleb, “a man of a different spirit”.  He was a man of ambition (vision, passion and action).  Caleb’s vision was founded upon God’s promise given to him through Moses when he was forty years old.  At eighty-five Caleb is as passionate about the vision God had given him forty-five years earlier, (Joshua 14:10-12).

This was Caleb’s vision.  It burned in his heart for more than forty years!  Caleb made God’s promise his life vision.  Caleb made God promise his passion.  Caleb acted in faith on God’s promise.  It became reality.  

What was different about Caleb from all of the others?  He followed God fully because he was a man of spiritual ambition — a man of vision; a man of passion; a man of action.  

May God raise up many men and women today with a Caleb spirit!  

doug

God calling

Calling — endurance

What does endurance have to do with calling or what does calling have to do with endurance? 

Without God’s calling we will not last. Without endurance we will not experience the deep call of God. The Scripture says, “deep calls to deep”— God’s heart to our heart. God calls - we respond. 

God calls us first to Himself and then secondly to join His purpose. Don’t forget this! In order to to live deeply with the Lord and in order to fulfill God’s purpose, we will have need of endurance so that when we do the will of God we will receive what was promised (Heb 10:36). What does God promise, you ask? Our inheritance is the age to come from which we will inherit the new heavens and the new earth. But the greatest reward of all - is God Himself. He is yours and you are His. 

 Through endurance, God is unlocking something deep within you? What is it? Through endurance, God is strengthening you for His purpose and for your future inheritance. Call to Him . . . with persevering faith. He’s called you.

Purpose with Passion

Calling — purpose with passion

Why do you do what you do? Is it a job or a calling from God? If you do what you do because it a means for security, it is a job. If you do what you do because you “feel the pleasure of God”, it is a calling. We get a job. We discover calling. At jobs, we make money. At calling, we make a difference. A job is chosen by you. Calling is initiated by God. Jobs have to do with knowledge, ability and skill that you have acquired. Calling has to do with how God has wired you. Jobs are too small. Calling is our life opus. 

Help in discovering God's calling — reflect on the 10 R's:  

Starting place — Responsibilities: what am I responsible for?   Reward - what gives me joy?  Return - where do I see God using me (ask others for their input)?  Ruin - what breaks your heart?  Repentance - what do I need to change?  Risk - Where do I need to get out of my comfort zone and start obeying?  Remember - how and where God has led you? Reflect - meditate on the Word.  What is God saying to you about you?  Refresh - spend time alone enjoying the Lord.  Request - saturate all of this in prayer.   

CHRIST — Person centered leadership

CHRIST — Person centered leadership
A 5C devotional on healthy leader development

There are a number of excellent books on leadership which stress the importance of having a clear set of values and principles from which you lead. Having clear values and principles is essential for your leadership.

The question is where do you get your values and these principles? Do you make them up? Do you derive them from common sense? No. We do not determine our own values and principles. They come from a Person and that Person is God Himself.

When I came to Christ in my college days, I did so because He came to reconcile me and restore my broken and lost relationship to God.  He did not come to make me "religious"or to give me more rules and principles to try and follow.  He came to reveal God to me, John 1:18.  He came to seek me and rescue me, Luke 19:10, in order to bring me to God, 1 Peter 3:18.   He came to bear witness to the truth, John 18:37.  He came to make me a member of the covenant family of God, John 1:12.

Jesus modeled person centered leadership to His disciples throughout His time with them.  He did nothing on His own initiative.  He did not speak on His own. He make judgments on His own.  What He did; What He said; What He decided; all came from His relationship with the Father.  This was the secret and the source of Jesus' leadership.

Of course there are rules and principles in leader development but they are not primary.  RELATIONSHIP is primary.  Everything flows out of relationship with Christ including values, rules, and principles. We must be careful not to miss this and make values or rules the center of our leadership.  Jesus is the center of our life and our leadership.

Read the Gospel of John and look out for His relationship with the Father.  Follow Him

"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  To Him be the glory forever.  Amen."  Romans 11:36

CALLING: Thankfulness

A 5C devotional on healthy leader development

God has called us to be thankful — “give thanks in everything for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”, 1 Thess 5:18.  Thankfulness is the opposite of a grumbling and complaining spirit. When we grumble, complain and have self pity then we are saying that God does not know what He is doing.  He is not good.  He is not worthy of our trust, so we better take matters in our own hands. This is The Lie from the evil one who wants to break our fellowship with the Lord Himself. Thankfulness is an expression of our faith, our love and our hope in our Lord. Thankfulness is a choice that we should choose on a daily basis. Thankfulness is not always the easy thing - it involves sacrifice - Heb 13:15. Thankfulness is deeply rooted in contentment. Contentment is also not an easy thing. It is an attitude that we must learn and cultivate just like the Apostle Paul- Phil 4:11-13. The word contentment has the meaning of having an inward sufficiency so that we are free from outward circumstances to determine our thankfulness.  Where does this inner sufficiency come from?  Certainly not from ourselves but from our fellowship with Christ (see Philippians 4:11-13).

Thankfulness indicators:

Am I content with who God has made to be? Am I content with what I currently have? Does thankfulness characterize my attitude and my life? Am I thankful to God for where He has me and what He is doing in my life right now? Am I thankful for the people that God has in my life right now? Make the time to offer up all that you are and all that you have to the Lord and give Him thanks. Rub shoulders with thankful people and ask them how they have cultivated this attitude? Read through Philippians and be on the look out for the words - joy, rejoice and find out the reason why Paul emphasizes this trait. Exercise thankfulness today!

Christ —the glorious pursuit

A 5C devotional on healthy leader development

“ The moment the Holy Spirit quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition. This is the heavenly birth without which we cannot see the Kingdom of God. It is however, not an end but an inception, for now begins the glorious pursuit, the heart’s happy exploration of the infinite riches of the Godhead. That is where we begin, I say, but where we stop no man has yet discovered, for there is in the awful and mysterious depths of the Triune God neither limit nor end.”   A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom?  It's way over our heads. We'll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice? Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes. Romans 11:33-36, The Message

Exploring the unfathomable infinite riches of God is the adventure of a lifetime — an eternal lifetime!  What is exhilarating is that this pursuit is available now.   So, how about it?  Let's leave the comfort of the "Shire" and step out in the pursuit of the Holy. 

Challenging Assignment:
Explore the world — take a walk in the woods, climb a mountain.  What do you you take for granted — take pictures.  

Explore the macro-micro world — look through a telescope and microscope, wonder

Explore the world of music — listen to Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op.85, Adagio-Moderato, close your eyes and imagine the story

Explore the world of Art — take a tour through an art museum, sit and wonder — draw or paint something of your own.  

Explore the Book — read Ephesians 1-3 out loud and ask the Lord to flood your heart and illumine your mind.  journal your thoughts  

Competency — more than skill

A 5C devotional on healthy leader development

Competency defined is the ability to do something successfully or efficiently. It has to do with skill, knowledge and ability. To be competent means to be equipped and made adequate to fulfill God’s calling. Even as competency is important, competency does not operate in a vacuum. A person may be highly skilled but if he/she is not a team player the competent person can actually undermine the team. Competency is essential but if the competent person does not communicate, cooperate and is not committed to the team the team experiences a slow death. Grow your competencies as a team player. Use your competency to strengthen your team and train them in the 5Cs. (inspired by Robert E. Quinn, Deep Change - Discovering the Leader Within, chapter 13)

Challenging Assignment:

Go to 2 or more teammates and ask them to share with you a couple of areas they enjoy about being a teammate of yours and then ask them to share with you one area for you to improve in order to deepen your part on the team.  Listen to them and let it sink in, thank them and go deep in the rich soil of your community.