Push me. Drive me. Give me something to live for.
That is what
lots of church people expect from their leaders. Yet God has not called your church or mine to
meet all the needs and not even to feed you spiritual. God calls us to help people learn to eat
spiritually, to love God and to chase after Him.
I am greatly
challenged by Mark Batterson of National Community Church in DC. His book In the Pit with
a Lion on a Snowy Day is an in-depth look at vision and gives
clarity to people looking to God and who desire to be part of a purpose driven
adventure that only God could put together.
In that book
Batterson gave us what he called the Manifesto:
Quit
living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail
without divine intervention. Keep asking
questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of
the solution. Stop repeating the past
and start creating the future. Stop
playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate
everything you can. Live like today is
the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from
worshipping what's right with God. Burn
sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more
about what God thinks. Don't try to be
who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion.
It is time
for living with passion, vision and confidence and with God in those things to
be our ultimate goal, desire, reach and so much more. Yet we keep slipping, or
choosing to back up. Is that true of
you? As in the story of Jonah he ran
from God and was not willing to do what God asked and missed out on some pretty
big things. Listen up, we miss loads of
good stuff, God’s best for us, when we don't drop it all to be with God.
Galatians 4:9
nasb
But now that you
have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless
elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?
Honestly, it
makes me sick to see people willing to give up big things for what seems
comfortable and easy. God doesn't call
us to comfort and ease. He calls us to
win the world to Jesus. Yeah, we have to
work and care for our families, but it is all tied together.
Quit living
like life has no purpose or that the only purpose is to race toward death, just
to get to heaven! Find out what your
passion is and start living.
Psalm 37:34
The Message
Wait passionately
for God, don't leave the path. He'll give you your place in the sun while you
watch the wicked lose it.
Blaze the
trail. You may be the first one in your
family.
Quit holding
back. The adventure awaits as we trust
God!
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