C.S. Lewis wrote in “The Weight of Glory,”

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

How would you rate your desire for God and the things of God?

Do you take your faith seriously? Have you ever thought about what that means? About what is at stake in taking the Christian life seriously as opposed to taking it nonchalantly or casually? About what your life would be like if you did take it seriously, or more seriously? What would be different in your life from the way you are living it now?

In order to be an effective leader it is essential that others see you as trustworthy – because you are trustworthy. In his book Be a People Person, John Maxwell discusses five ways a person can become trustworthy to those around him or her. They are worth keeping in mind.

1. Demonstrate what you want to instill
2. Be an encourager
3. Believe the best about others
4. Help others experience success
5. Equip people for future growth

The Bible tells us “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Speaking of God the Son, John writes, “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). One of the implications of these verses is that God is eternal, that is to say, he is not a temporal or spatial being. God created time and space. Yet “before” he did that he “was/is.” This is a great mystery to the human mind because God created us as spatio-temporal beings. Things only make sense to us in terms of space and time. Everything we know we know at some time and in some place. Pointing to that which is beyond space and time is incomprehensible to us. We can affirm that such a being exists, but it will never really make sense to us how such a being can be. It is outside of the framework of intelligibility God gave us. In other words, God’s being is a mystery to us. He is Yahweh (Jehovah), the “I AM,” that is, the eternally existing one. He is the LORD (which is how the name Yahweh is usually translated in the Old Testament). The LORD is the mysteriously eternally existing God. That’s how he revealed himself to Moses, and through him to us.

But it’s not just God’s being that is a mystery to us. His knowledge is a mystery as well. The Bible tells us that God is all-knowing. He knows every detail of everything. He not only knows what was, is and will be actual, but he also knows all possibilities. His knowledge is infinite and perfect, that is, complete. But since God is eternal (timeless and non-spatial), he doesn’t know as we know. We come to know things temporally, bits at time. We reason discursively, that is, running through a series of thoughts. We do not know the future. God, however, knows everything “always” in the eternal moment. He is outside of time, yet he knows everything in the course of time – including the future, because there is no future for God, and what will be our future God has always already planned out in detail. Though it is not yet actual for us, it is for God. That type of knowing is a mystery to the human mind. Again, we can know that it is, but it doesn’t really make sense to us because it is radically other than the way we know. God is a mystery! Praise him for it. Thank him for revealing himself to us so that we can know him sufficiently.

How often we overlook the simple truths in life. John C. Maxwell reminds us of one of those simple, yet powerful, truths in his leadership book called Be A People Person. If you want to be a successful leader – either at work or at church or at home – you need to treat people as you want to be treated. This means you need to encourage those around you, and show your appreciation for them and what they do, and forgive them when they make mistakes or hurt you in some way, and listen – really, actively listen – to what they have to say, and do your best to understand them. After all, who among us doesn’t want to be encouraged, appreciated, forgiven, listened to, and understood?

Marriages are far more likely to last and be genuinely fulfilling when husbands and wives grow in intimacy with each other over the years. This is not likely to happen naturally. It must be intentionally pursued. It has to be worked at. Dr. Doug Weiss, a Christian counselor, recommends three simple exercises for growing in intimacy. First, couples should commit to pray together every day. It doesn’t have to be for a long period of time. But praying with and for each other each day develops bonds of intimacy as you center your relationship on God, just as God intends. Second, each day set aside a few minutes to share your feelings with each other. Dr. Weiss recommends using a formal procedure for a few months to get into the habit. It may seem hokey, but it works. One spouse looks the other in the eyes and says, “I feel (feeling word) when (put a present situation when you feel this). I first remember feeling (put the same word here) when (explain the earliest occurrence of this feeling).” The other spouse then shares a feeling in the same format. Looking the person in the eye is important, since the eyes are the windows to the soul. In the Appendix to his book Intimacy Dr. Weiss has a couple hundred feeling words to choose from for those who aren’t used to speaking about their feelings, and so have a limited vocabulary in this regard (and this is often as true for woman as for men). Because feelings are personal, the more you share them with your spouse, the more close you will grow with him or her. Finally, once a day each spouse should praise or verbally encourage the other. If you set aside 15 minutes or so at the end of the day, you could do all three of these things at the same time. Again, the formal structure of this may seem awkward at first, but if you are not in the habit of doing these three things already, this is the best way to cultivate the habit and start the process of growing in intimacy.

For more information, I highly recommend Dr. Douglas Weiss’s book, Intimacy (Siloam, 2003). The book will help you understand the principles of intimacy, help you discover the roadblocks to intimacy, and help you find ways to make intimacy part of your daily life.

In The Necessity of Prayer E.M. Bounds writes,

Here, let it be said, that no two things are more essential to a spirit-filled life than Bible-reading and secret prayer; no tow things more helpful to growth in grace; to getting the largest joy out of a Christian life; toward establishing one in the ways of eternal peace. The neglect of these all-important duties, presages leanness of soul, loss of joy, absence of peace, dryness of spirit, decay in all that pertains to spiritual life. Neglecting these things paves the way for apostasy, and gives the evil one an advantage such as he is not likely to ignore.

I’ve been reading E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer. What a mind and heart this man had for God - and for prayer! Bounds writes in the first chapter,

If Jesus dwells at the fountain of my life; if the currents of this life have displaced and superceded all self-currents; if implicit obedience to him is the inspiration and force of every movement of my life, then he can safely commit the praying to my will, and pledge himself, by an obligation as profound as his own nature, that whatsoever is asked shall be granted. Nothing can be clearer, more distinct, more unlimited both in application and extent, than the exhortation and urgency of Christ, “Have faith in God.”

You see faith is the indispensable means to cultivating the kind of life Bounds talks about in the opening of the paragraph. It is the heart of prayer. And which Christian among us doesn’t long for that kind of life?

John 15:7, If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

In his book, Humility: True Greatness, C.J. Mahaney refers to these words by John Stott: “In every step of our Christian growth and maturity, and throughout every aspect of our Christian obedience and service, our greatest foe is pride and our greatest ally is humility.” Mahaney goes on to talk about 6 practical steps we can take each day to cultivate this greatest ally in our Christian life.

1. Reflect on the wonder of the cross each day.
2. As you wake up each morning make the first thoughts of your day an acknowledgment to God of your dependence upon him and need for him.
3. Express your gratefulness to God each morning.
4. Practice the spiritual disciplines: prayer, Bible study, worship.
5. Memorize and meditate on Scripture.
6. Cast all your cares upon him.

Paul says “there is great gain in godliness with contentment” (1 Tim. 6:6). Contentment is a rare jewel; not many possess it, or even try to possess it, yet it is of great value. We can define contentment as a state of being in which you are satisfied with what you have and with the circumstances of your life. This does not mean that you just resign yourself to endure whatever is going on in your life or your current station in life. This is a common misunderstanding people have about contentment. They think it is just passively accepting the status quo. They think it entails an attitude of giving up. This is not true. A contented person continues to move in the direction of improving their place in life. They do the best they can at what they do, and even look for new opportunities to use one’s talents and gifts to one’s advantage. The difference is that a contented person will not become distraught if they don’t acquire more and better things, or if their circumstances or position in life does not change. And the reason they don’t become discontented is that their true satisfaction is found in God, and they genuinely accept his sovereign will for their life.