Monday Memo

Albert Einstein said, “Once a day, allow yourself the freedom to dream.”

I don’t know what Einstein dreamed about; I guess his life’s work and the contributions he made to physics gives a clue.

If you were devote time each day to the task of dreaming, what would you dream about? A better family life? A closer walk with God? A larger congregation? A more secure financial situation? What are your dreams?

When we dream, we allow ourselves to see beyond the ugliness of now. When we dream, we allow ourselves to explore the possibilities of what could happen, how things could become.

We know the words of Jesus. “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

Mustard-seed faith — which is actually mountain moving faith — starts with a dream, an idea of what could be. You don’t have to stay stuck in a rut forever. The first step to changing your situation is to allow yourself to dream.

Try it. Once a day (at least once a day), take some time to get alone with God, think about your life, your ministry, your family, your health, your happiness, and allow yourself to imagine how things could be.

John Ruskin said, “What we think or what we know or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.”

We’ll take issue with part of this statement, since we know that what we believe (i.e. our faith) is, in fact, of great consequence. We also know, however, that unless what we believe is expressed in what we do, our beliefs aren’t fully genuine. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:26)

So, nitpicking aside, let’s look at what Ruskin is saying. He’s saying that talking, planning, evaluating, analyzing, and theorizing won’t get us where we need to be. What we need to do, more than anything else, is take action. Al Batt said, It is easy to sit up and take notice. What is difficult is getting up and taking action.”

Along these same lines, Jack Canfield (The Chicken Soup for the Soul guy) said, “The world doesn’t pay for what you know; it pays you for what you do.”

Canfield goes on to say (in his book, The Success Principles): “When you take action, you trigger all kinds of things that will inevitably carry you to success…You begin to learn things from your experience that cannot be learned from listening to others or from reading books. You begin to get feedback about how to do it better, more efficiently, and more quickly… You begin to attract others who will support and encourage you. All manner of good things begin to flow in your direction once you begin to take action.”

What action have you been putting off too long?

The Tennessee Titans were supposed to be good this year. They finished last year 13-3. The between season changes in personnel were minimal. This was supposed to be their year. They’re 0-6 now, coming off their worst defeat in franchise history.

The Broncos were supposed to struggle this year. New head coach, new quarterback, mediocre performance in recent years. Expectations weren’t high; it was supposed to be a rebuilding year.

Though the NFL season is still young, and a lot can change in the next three months, these two teams remind us that predictions and expectations don’t mean that much. What really matters is how you perform today.

From time to time in his letters, Paul mentioned that there were those in the church who didn’t think much of his doctrine or his ministry. Some believers — preachers among them — took pleasure in Paul’s imprisonment. Paul’s attitude was, in effect, it doesn’t matter what they think, what they want, what they like, or what they expect. I’m not doing this for them.

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)

We keep plugging away, day-after-day, in spite of success or in spite of failure, not because the world believes in us, but because we believe in Christ.

Earlier I wrote about following the example of Christ’s humility. Paul tells us that we should have the same mindset as Christ. He reminds us of how Christ let go of all that was rightfully his in order to become a servant and live a life of obedience — even to the point of death. The result is that God exalts Christ to the highest position in creation, to whom every knee will bow.

The process is the same — to an obviously lesser extent — for the followers of Christ. When we humble ourselves in imitation of Christ, God is able to exalt us in honor of Christ.

Jesus said, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)

I’ve heard this verse described this way: Your job is to humble yourself, God’s job is to exalt you. If you try to do his job, he’s forced to do your job.

God wants to bless us. He even wants to exalt us, according to Jesus. But he can’t and he won’t as long as we’re bent on exalting ourselves.

A friend once told me (only half-joking, I assume), “Steve, when people meet you, the first thing they don’t think is, ‘Wow, what a humble guy.’” That concerned me, and I began to wonder what I needed to do in order to convince others that I am sufficiently humble.

And then I realized what the Word actually says. Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord. (1 Peter 5:6)

The fact is that you don’t have to convince me that you’re humble, and I don’t have to convince you. We are to humble ourselves before God; he knows when we’re doing it right and he knows when we’re just playing a game. And when we’re doing it right, he stands ready to bless — exalt us, even — at the proper time.

Do you want more self-discipline? Put a book on your head. It works, according to Roy Baumeister, a social psychologist at Florida State. In his book Your Own Worst Enemy Baumeister reports that students who practiced walking with a book on their head (to improve posture) ended up eating better, studying harder, and sleeping more — without specifically focusing on making these improvements.

Baumeister’s theory of self-improvement is that small improvements pave the way for big improvements. As leadership coach Penelope Trunk says, “Self discipline snowballs.” If you can work hard to get disciplined in one area, you can discipline yourself in others more easily.

Maybe that’s why Paul said, “I buffet my body and make it my slave…” (1 Corinthians 9:27). He knew that gaining control over one area can help us gain control over another.

If you want to develop self-discipline, and (like most people) you have a number undisciplined areas to choose from, start with the easiest, not the toughest. Put the proverbial book on your head and start walking straight. — SM

American author Iving Kristol said, “Being frustrated is disagreeable, but the real disasters of life begin when you get what you want.”

This is because what we want — or what we think we want — is so often not what we really need in order to live a fulfilled, meaningful life. There comes a time when we realize that the trinket we worked so hard to aquire, or even the goal we sacrificed so much to reach, doesn’t bring the satisfaction we expected it could. We then find ourselves asking, as so many have, “Is that all there is? Is this as good as it gets?”

Goals will always have a place in our lives, and accumulating possessions will always be part of the human experience, but we serve ourselves best the sooner we understand that these things will never be enough. We serve ourselves best when we are learn, as Augstine said, “Our hearts are restless, until they rest in thee.”

Where are you seeking your rest today? In a paycheck? In a relationship? In a status symbol? In a measure of success? These things may not be the enemy — they’re not bad in and of themselves — but it’s important that we understand that they’re not the finish line, either. If your heart is restless today, take a moment to re-evaluate what you really want. Strive to say, as David said, “My soul finds rest in God alone.”

Anatole France once said, “Nine tenths of education is encouragement.” The same can be said for preaching, with a slightly different percentage; according to Paul, 33% of preaching is encouragement. He said, “But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.” (1 Corinthians 14:3)

This applies to our conversations, as well.

Here’s my point. We need to check the content of our sermons (and our conversations) to see how much time we spend encouraging others, as opposed to how much time we spend pointing out their sins, or complaining about how bad things are, or warning about how bad things will get, and so on.

People need encouragement.

So, what is it? What does it look like? According to various online dictionaries, it can be defined as:

-contributing the progress or growth of someone or something.
-the expression of approval or support.
-to motivate, incitement to action or practice.
-to give hope or courage to someone.

You could say that encouragement is telling someone what they most need to hear in order to take the next right step.

The sermons (and conversations) that I find most encouraging are the ones  that remind me that God’s mercy is always more powerful than my sin, and there is no situation beyond his ability to restore, and that restoration can begin today if I start taking action today.

The sermons (and conversations) that I find most encouraging are the ones that remind me that holiness isn’t an unattainable goal, that becoming like Christ isn’t beyond my grasp, that it’s the birthright of every believer — including me — if I will only start taking steps in that direction.

All of our sermons (and conversations) should have an element of, “You can do it. Here’s how.” Whether we’re behind the pulpit or just talking to a friend one on one, we’re called to be voices of encouragement.

The average person talks to himself or herself thousands of times a day. For many people, much of that self-talk is negative. “You’re so stupid!” one says to oneself. “Why can’t you do anything right? You’ll never get a break. You’ll never succeed. You don’t have a chance. You’ll never change.” These words reinforce what we believe about ourselves, and they influence the actions we take.

We find it far too easy to believe in the power of our weaknesses and failures; we find it far too difficult to believe in the power of the God who came to transform us into his likeness.

God spoke through Joel this simple phrase: “Let the weak say ‘I am strong.’” (Joel 3:10) He was talking about the day of battle; he was guaranteeing his people a victory.

Every day is the day of battle for followers of Christ. We fight temptation, discouragement, apathy, and failure — day in, day out. And in the midst of battle, God reminds us that victory is ours. Therefore, let the weak say I am strong — for (as David proclaimed when facing Goliath) “The battle is the Lord’s.”

For the last few years I have made it a point to read these words from C.S. Lewis on Janaury 1. (This the first reading in a volume of his writings called The Business of Heaven.)  In Mere Christianity, he wrote…

“The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.

We can only do it for moments at first. But from those moments the new sort of life will be spreading through our system: because now we are letting Him work at the right part of us.”

So let’s make it our first job each day — throughout the entire year — to listen to the quieter voice, and letting Christ lead us into his presence, 24 hours at a time.

Dale Carnegie said, “Remember, happiness doesn’t depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely upon what you think.” This is why Paul commands you “to be made new in the attitude of your minds…” (Ephesians 4:23)

There’s no getting past it: transformation begins between your ears. You’ll never see a permanent change in your circumstances until you make a permanent change in your thoughts. The paradox is that when you begin to change the way you think, the status of your situation loses much of its significance. When you begin thinking right, you find that externals aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

Thinking right doesn’t change your circumstances directly. It changes you — it renews you and transforms you — and the indirect result most often is that external conditions change, too. But your first focus must be on what’s going in your mind. What are you thinking about? Norman Vincent Peale said, “Change your thoughts and you’ll change your world.” That’s a secondary outcome. The primary outcome is: Change your thoughts and you’ll change yourself. As Paul said, “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” (Romans 12:2)

Where do we start? “Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8)

Happiness, satisfaction, contentment, and optimism: these all begin (and end) with being made new in the attitude of your mind.