Alive and Active Life

People try all kinds of approaches and tactics to establish themselves in better ways . . . who they are, what they do, how they are perceived, etc. Being established helps people live their daily lives. And in the first months of a new year, this topic is still on people’s minds. Maybe it’s on your mind.

What have you done to establish yourself?

What does it mean to be “established?” The dictionary defines establish as a process to:

I have some good news. You don’t have to establish yourself alone. Jesus is the one who establishes you, but He invites you into His work. Because He knows you inside-out, He helps you know which action steps to take. Your cooperation (the work that only you can do) with His intentional influence and intervention of your heart (the work that only He can do) establishes your daily choices. He works. You work. It’s a partnership.

God loves you! He is very invested in your life from a purely loving position. God gives your life eternal purpose and influence to affect the human timeline for His glory. In other words, He has given you a platform on which to live out your role for His Kingdom. God builds you into His plans and gives you a stable place of value. Further, from His own heart, He approves your work to be valid. Jesus accepts and recognizes you. He installs you and settles you in. Jesus is an establisher.

The Lord does all this by His gospel. He is saturated with hope. It’s the kind of hope you can apply to every issue of your life. The only way you miss His hope is if you fall into unbelief or deception. If you jump into the pool of unbelief, not only do you become deceived; you also miss His power in your life. And you miss His intimate companionship. This is also the pool of loneliness.

Jesus has opened so much access for a Christian to live in fellowship with God. So much was revealed in the past through the prophets and the Law . . . but even greater things are revealed through Jesus. Because Jesus is the God-man, He is very much like you and very much like God. He can completely identify with you. He stands beside and with you in your life. Jesus also understands God completely and represents Him exactly. (Heb. 1:3) This is God’s plan – that you should know Christ intimately and live in fellowship with Him, established in His power to live your daily life with purpose, peace, and joy.

Why did God go to so much trouble to establish you?

First of all, God truly loves you. But there’s more. He wants you to join Him in reaching others all over the world. The tiny Christmas baby, the grown sinless Sacrifice, the resurrected universal King – that’s who wants to establish you. He establishes everyone who trusts Him, so you have a really good shot at this! Just trust Him!

As He faithfully, lovingly, and wisely works in individual lives – in your life – He also establishes His Kingdom on earth. He shares the leadership load with you. You become His valuable partner. His co-worker. Companion. This begins to eliminate the “lonely factor” that is so common to people.

Since He is the same yesterday, today, and forever – Jesus is the only wise God. (Heb. 13:8)

The Apostle Paul talks about this establishing process for his own journey. I encourage you to read Romans 16:25-27.

Have you let Jesus be your Establisher? He is eager to do this wonderful work in you. Jesus is loving, kind, and powerful. Do you believe Jesus is all He claims to be? Are you establishing yourself in Him by partnering through action steps with His work in your heart?

Perhaps more critical questions you need to answer are these – are you establish-able? Have you set your heart on pleasing God? Are you teachable? Humble? Honest? Open? Will you trust Jesus to do great things in and through you?

Why not live your life established in God? You can become a strategic thinker on God’s chess board of life. Why not take full advantage of the opportunities you’ve been given? Please, accept God’s invitation: On the chess board God has set up for you – It’s your move. * Why not become increasingly established in Christ by doing what only you can do as He does what only He can do?

* Much of this article is taken from It’s Your Move: Strategies in Thinking From Romans. Order your copy today!

My latest book just arrived back from the publisher! e-Pistles for an i-Generation. I’m excited to share it with you!

I want to tell you about the cover (directly below). Notice the title: e-Pistles For an i-Generation: Relevant in a Digital Age. Your generation. Our digital age. The front picture portrays that 1st and 2nd Corinthians can get from an ancient scroll into your i-pad (and then into your heart). The back cover is an i-pad with a critical message.

A handful of people went through the devotional book before I sent it to the printer . . . and they loved it! They said each day provides relevant, brief, inspirational interaction with a Scripture portion. Once you finish e-Pistles, you also finish both 1st and 2nd Corinthians, and you see how relevant those e-pistles are to this i-generation you and I are part of.

Here is the introduction page from the book. Take a look. Also, notice:

If you take a swiss army knife and carve your name into a large tree trunk, that etching will far outlast your natural life. It will be a chiseled monogram of your existence. A kind of “letter” to people in centuries to come. But these days, this i-generation is etching in cyberspace with all kinds of e-resources.

Since you live in the i-generation, your story will more likely be carved in cyberspace than on a tree. So many details about your life are already in the cloud. Businesses, medical organizations, and social media are engaging all kinds of firewalls to keep people’s information safe. Your life is well chiseled in bytes. Yet, let’s think about this engraving opportunity.

Thousands of years ago, letters and pictures were chiseled on stone. Over centuries and through civilizations, written communication has evolved, from chiseled pictures to scrolls to paper products to technology and cyberspace. Now, we have a prolific number of books, volumes of recorded information, and an entire industry of publication. No longer do people pursue only paper products. E-books, audio-series, on-line classes, blogs, and podcasts are available.

With the brilliant discovery of engraving in cyberspace, now it really is possible to have e-pistles written for an i-generation. Whether you work in a specific location of career or work from home, it is possible for you to impact this highly technical, intelligent group of people who – without Jesus – are still lost. The i-generation has made this entirely possible. Computers, devices, and other technologies let you interface anywhere in the world. So why not do just that? Why not start being an e-pistle with your life?

God doesn’t use stone, scrolls, paper, or cyberspace. He writes on human hearts. Start into this book by asking some questions.

The material in e-pistles For An i-Generation is laid out for quick and easy engagement in your busy day. I suggest this approach to get the most out of the material:

Order your own copy and enjoy the ancient scrolls in a fresh new way from Intentional Living Store!

666 Year or 777 Year Will 2020 be a 666 year or a 777 year for you? Numbers mean things. You can put them together in various ways to increase meaning. They measure things, identify patterns, and organize systems. Numbers Read More ...

For more resources and tools that inspire and equip you to live well using God's Word in practical ways each day, visit the Alive and Active Life website.

You may have been privileged to receive some kind of honor or award for a significant accomplishment. Perhaps you gained scholarship recognition. Maybe it’s been a military medal or a sport-related achievement. Perhaps you are an esteemed author, speaker, or political leader. You may be one of many of us who have simply made it through required levels of school, kissed your diploma, moved your tassel from right to left, and landed a job worthy of supporting daily living. That, too, is a worthy honor and accomplishment.

Read More …

You may have been privileged to receive some kind of honor or award for a significant accomplishment. Perhaps you gained scholarship recognition. Maybe it’s been a military medal or a sport-related achievement. Perhaps you are an esteemed author, speaker, or political leader. You may be one of many of us who have simply made it through required levels of school, kissed your diploma, moved your tassel from right to left, and landed a job worthy of supporting daily living. That, too, is a worthy honor and accomplishment.

Even if you have not been given honors in your life, there is one honor given to every person who trusts Jesus for forgiveness of sins and eternal life. If you believe, this honor is yours. You become a child of God. His very own. You even become His friend.

As a Christian, you are part of the Body of Christ. How amazing to join all the other Christians around the world and across the centuries to form His complete Body. God lives inside you. How many people on this earth can claim that the all-powerful great God lives inside them? But it is true for the person who believes. When this really lands in your mind, it is nothing less than stunning! God’s very essence – His Spirit – dwelling in you. What an unthinkable honor. And how often this is taken for granted. Yet, it is the greatest honor any person could ever be given.

There is a double honor for you as God’s child, His friend. Not only does He live inside your spirit. You also have very special work to carry out for His Kingdom. God has given you specific abilities and skill sets that will edify other believers.

First, God has given you spiritual gifts. Here is a list. Which gift(s) do you have? The point is not how many, but are you engaging what you’ve been given?

These build up the Body of Christ.

There are additional abilities God has given you. These are roles we are exploring in this article. They focus on specific positions with rights, responsibilities, and privileges of those posts. You occupy these roles much like a career position, where you exercise skills sets and abilities to accomplish tasks entrusted to you. Here are positions available in God’s Kingdom:

You may want to explore these positions and roles to see how God has designed you and how He wants to empower you to edify and encourage His Body of believers. Don’t worry if you don’t immediately know. God will show you, train you, and increase your skills as you ask Him to give you understanding.

When you trust God enough to practice what He shows you and begin training in these skill sets and abilities, you may feel you are stepping out of your comfort zone. That is normal for a person trying new strides. Yet, taking risks as you obey God proves you believe Him and love Him. It proves your testimony that He is the One leading you, empowering you, and blessing your faithful work in the role He has called you to.

The honor and the double honor given to you are undeserved. They are extravagant displays of mercy and grace, of partnership and friendship with God. They elevate you to God’s original position of splendor, royalty, and purpose for your life.

So honor #1 – Christ lives in you! Honor #2 – Christ has given you special abilities and a specific position from which to serve Him and His Kingdom. The rest will come clear as you faithfully carry out what you know.

Be open, humble, and eager. You will become an amazing person as you train in these honors! And even in hard times, life will still have adventure and purpose.

How can you engage both honors in your daily life? What skill sets might you pursue additional training in? How can you push yourself, as in a career with professional development goals, to better your service for Jesus Christ? Yes, this is a responsibility – but it is also an adventure of exploration.

While you think and pray for guidance and training in God’s design and plan for you, remember there are greater gifts than spiritual gifts or positions. The greater gifts are faith, hope, and love. And the greatest is love. (1 Cor. 13:13) How are you developing these greater gifts each day?

This article, developed from 1 Cor.12:27-30, is part of a great study tool: E-PISTLES for an I-GENERATION! This book takes a modern look at 1 and 2 Corinthians, letters Paul wrote to first century believers. Letters used to be engraved on parchment and scrolls. This 68 session study book shows that God wants to engrave His love and principles on human hearts. E-PISTLES provides deep encouragement and practical ways your life can be an “e-pistle” to the i-generation you live in. You will want to order a copy!

You know what it’s like to wake up in the morning, look out your window, and see heavy fog. Sometimes it’s so thick you can’t see anything. Trees are barely visible. The street is out there somewhere. Probably the first thing going through your mind is, “How am I going to see the road and other vehicles to drive?” Still, the view is captivating. The veil silently lingers over everything. In fact, it changes the landscape perspective. You are left to fill in opaque spaces with memory or imagination. Lines are no longer clear. Outlines barely visible. Boundaries blurry. And everything seems unsure. If only you could unveil the view.

Read More …

You know what it’s like to wake up in the morning, look out your window, and see heavy fog. Sometimes it’s so thick you can’t see anything. Trees are barely visible. The street is out there somewhere. Probably the first thing going through your mind is, “How am I going to see the road and other vehicles to drive?” Still, the view is captivating. The veil silently lingers over everything. In fact, it changes the landscape perspective. You are left to fill in opaque spaces with memory or imagination. Lines are no longer clear. Outlines barely visible. Boundaries blurry. And everything seems unsure. If only you could unveil the view.

The fog of the world interferes with clear vision. You are left to fill in spaces the best you can. Outlines and boundaries blur together. Life seems unsure, unpredictable, and unnavigable. It can be scary. You never know what will pop up right in front of you, and since you can’t unveil things, you feel you can’t let your guard down for a moment.

Living this way day in and day out feeds a high-strung approach to life. Fear and anger grow as you realize how little control you have. You hunger for simple and uncomplicated. Right and wrong are gray. A lingering, silent, ghostly veil covers the world as people strive to make the best of things. Folks take care of themselves first and most because they are just not sure anyone else will take care of them.

The principles that define right and wrong are determined by God. He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. They are simple and uncomplicated. They draw clear lines. Boundaries are defined for safety and godly living. They declare God cares deeply about you. He promises to show love to your generations if you/they love God back. Respect, manners, courtesy, mature responsibilities – all are laid out. (Ex. 20:2-17; Deut. 5:6-21)

Those precepts are credible. All eternity hinges on them. So glorious is the Author, that the Israelites couldn’t look at Moses as he read to them the commandments God gave. His face still shone with God’s holiness after receiving them. Moses was the first to hold stone-engraved messages that God intended to engrave on human hearts.

God’s Spirit brings glory to everything. He does not operate in a fog. Things in the past are surpassed with increasing glory.  Let’s look at some examples from Scripture. The first covenant is surpassed by the second, final covenant. Condemnation is surpassed by forgiveness of sins and eternal life. The Old Testament daily shedding of blood to cover sins is surpassed by the once and final shedding of Christ’s holy blood for remission of all sins. The veil of the old covenant is surpassed by a torn veil (temple veil torn from top to bottom) as Christ’s broken body ushered in the new covenant. Jesus wants to unveil life.

Glory surpassing glory. It just gets better and better. The Spirit now offers friendship with God. Face to face. Freedom. Transformed people in God’s image with unveiled faces. This was unheard of in previous centuries. Now it is the eternal reality of Heaven.

Now life can have clarity. Healthy boundaries. Excellent standards of conduct. Opaque places filled in with God’s deep, abiding love. Clear direction for living. Peace even in turmoil. The lingering, silent, ghostly barrier is ripped away and replaced with quiet, powerful love.

God’s principles provide guidance. They keep you connected to God’s heart. And they form a safeguard around your pathway. This gives you hope. Life is challenging. Especially discouraging is the scenario where you have tried, and still seem to have missed the mark. It’s as if there’s a veil over your growth. This “curtain” keeps you from being who you should be.

What do you do in this situation? How do you rise out of what has been and receive a new glory?

This needs to be your default. It’s how a redeemed person grows from glory to glory and is transformed. It takes time. No instant pudding. Ask God to take letters He once engraved on stone and engrave them on your heart. You must participate relentlessly in this process for it to become your own e-pistle.* Engraving takes time as you choose Christ over everything.

When you set your eyes and heart on God, He has a way of turning things in your favor and for your good. When you persevere in surrender and prayer, God engraves His holiness on your heart. By submitting to His wisdom, even with unsolved issues, God works. He is for you!

If you want to know God more deeply, navigate life better, be rid of the obstructing veil, and live in freedom – patiently hope in the Lord. (Ps. 37:7-9) Take this step of faith and humility. Let go of reputation and calculation. Let turning to the Lord become your default. Unveil your heart to God.

How can you practice seeking God with all your heart, starting today? What veil do you need to tear down?

* This article, developed from 2 Cor. 3:7-18, is part of a great study tool: E-PISTLES for an I-GENERATION! This book takes a modern look at 1 and 2 Corinthians, letters Paul wrote to first century believers. Letters used to be engraved on parchment and scrolls. This 66 session study book shows that God wants to engrave His love and principles on human hearts. E-PISTLES provides deep encouragement and practical ways your life can be an “e-pistle” to the i-generation you live in. You will want to order a copy!

Here is a mini-library with articles on Hope!

The world spins on – It’s Your Move! Every day you have so many scenarios where it really is your move! Many life trials will not be properly addressed on this earth. We need to accept that up front. Perhaps some will. But some issues are so tangled, too complicated to unravel. God helps people apply strategies in thinking using His wisdom to work through difficult problems. God always helps when it’s your move.

Freedom is for you at least from God’s point of view. Freedom is for His people.

There is one circumstance of judging and accusation, however, that is already dealt with – guaranteed. It involves your freedom. The burden is no longer yours to bear . . . even if you are guilty. And we are all guilty. This freedom is what God intended us to live with on this earth. It’s not brought to completion yet, but it will be completed when Jesus returns.

Jesus took care of very tangled problem, and He fought to the death to ensure your freedom. Jesus set you free from sin, death, and the law. Those are the biggies. True, we have many additional tangled issues we must deal with in our lives. But these three are the super tangled issues. Jesus took care of them for us. The law referenced here is God’s law that He gave to His people in Old Testament times. The law made everyone guilty! And that reality was not good enough for God. So, He came up with another plan.

Do you know why the law is no longer in judgment over you? Do you fully “get” why its power no longer rules over your daily life? If the law was still over you, your life would look completely different.

The Scriptures are packed with hope. They reveal a power you can live inside every day. The message is refreshing. It’s one of emancipation. You have been set free from the Law. So now, it’s your move. What’s your response back to God?

So you have freedom from the Law as a Christian. But what about death? Death is a powerful force. Its reality motivates, dictates, and flavors many choices. It is the constant awareness of death that propels people forward to accomplish, conquer, establish, and experience. Even so, physical death’s power is limited. It ends when your life succumbs to it. This example of how death’s power is limited can help us understand the obsolete power of the Law. Let’s unpack this.

God wants you to be free from the condemnation of His Law over your life. His Law is not evil in any way. It is right and fair and just. But under His Law, every sinner is in terrible trouble. You and me both are rightfully condemned to the punishment of death because the Law exposes the sin in our hearts.

But what if someone were to take all your sin away from you, absorb it into themselves, and take responsibility for it? And what if that person were to die your death and fulfill the deserved punishment? What if that person just happened to be a perfect person who never sinned, and they made arrangements for their perfect record of conduct to be given to you, if you were willing to accept it? In other words, they arranged a great exchange on your behalf. That person would end the condemnation of the Law over you, and you would be free to live your life with their perfect conduct as your own. A swap. Sound unthinkable?

Jesus Christ did this very thing. He arranged an amazing trade. A transfer process. His clever, strategic plan tricked your enemy, who held death over you because of your sin. But Jesus took all your sin away from you and onto Himself and died your death. In essence, your sinful self died with Him on the cross. It’s a mystery. Yet, that is what happened. Then, He made an incredible swap. He put His holiness onto you, if you accept it. The new you is free to go, free to be holy, free to live forever, free to be the real you. What an amazing gift! DO take it if you haven’t already. By faith, accept your new life. You are under a new law – the Law of the Spirit of God. The written code of God’s Law is rendered powerless. Why? Because Jesus never once broke the Law, yet He fulfilled its purpose of identifying, condemning, and punishing sin. “He became sin who knew no sin. . . “ (2 Cor. 5:21) Jesus accomplished this for you because God loves you very much.

If you trust Jesus for this incredible exchange, you are no longer under the Law. Instead, you are under His Grace.His grace triumphs over everything.  When Jesus died once for all, He made the Law obsolete. (Heb. 8:13) Since your old life died with Christ on the cross, the Law is powerless over your new life now. And you are free.

Since it’s your move, what will you do today to live more freely in the Spirit? What doubts are standing in your way? What obstacles are keeping you from living inside God’s grace? Can you identify them? Ask God to give you a Scripture to claim in your doubt or your obstacle. Then replace your doubts with Scripture. In this place you will also have wisdom to respond when you are falsely accused.

Please accept the power to live free forever.  And apply this power to every day tangled issues. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!” (Jn. 8:36) So –What’s your move? Freedom or bondage?

* Portions of this article are taken from my book, It’s Your Move: Strategies in Thinking, Less. 25.

Life is like a game of chess. Interesting pieces are placed in a certain order on an equally interesting board of contrasting squares. Then it starts: the strategies, choices, and patterns. It only takes a few minutes to realize you can’t play chess without being very engaged and thoughtful.

That’s how life is. You strategize to live intentionally as you move across life’s board.

The book of Romans provides excellent strategies for life. It is a tutorial for a well-structured, well-lived life. This New Testament book teaches about God’s grace in a clever, logical, strategic, and surprising manner. It helps you process critical ideas even as it gives you options and examples. As you engage these ideas from Romans, you find yourself adopting a long view perspective that stretches your comfort zone. And then one day, you realize that you are resolved. You, indeed, know that – “with God, all things are possible.” (Mt. 19:26) This gives you the edge you need on the game board of life.

Rather than debate theology, It’s Your Move helps you study and apply Scriptural concepts in practical ways. When you get up in the morning for another day, you need information and resources to help you make good decisions. You need strategies in thinking, because – ready or not –

– It’s your move.