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Raising the Bar

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1 Thessalonians 1:6-9 And you [set yourselves to] become imitators of us and [through us] of the Lord Himself, for you welcomed our message in [spite of] much persecution, with joy [inspired] by the Holy Spirit; 7 So that you [thus] became a pattern to all the believers (those who adhere to, trust in, and rely on Christ Jesus) in Macedonia and Achaia (most of Greece). 8 For not only has the Word concerning and from the Lord resounded forth from you unmistakably in Macedonia and Achaia, but everywhere the report has gone forth of your faith in God [of your leaning of your whole personality on Him in complete trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness]. So we [find that we] never need to tell people anything [further about it].9 For they themselves volunteer testimony concerning us, telling what an entrance we had among you, and how you turned to God from [your] idols to serve a God Who is alive and true and genuine,…

The distance between Macedonia, Achaia and Thessalonica was approximately 190 miles or the equivalent of the entire length of the country of Greece. A modern day equivalent of that distance would be equal to traveling from here to Wilmington (193 miles) or from here to Raleigh (183 miles). Does anyone in either city know of your faith? Are you impacting the Christians living in those cities? Are other pastors and Christians sending their church members to watch you in action? To learn how to follow Jesus; live like Jesus; live like a disciple? Let that sink in deep. Listen to what Paul says about their faith: everywhere the report has gone forth of your faith in God [of your leaning of your whole personality on Him in complete trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness]. They were leaning their entire personalities in complete trust and confidence in God, His Son Jesus, and the testimonies of the Apostles. They had set themselves to become imitators of Jesus and the Apostles. If they were imitators of all the above they were not simply reciting information, nor were they excelling at attending house church. No this means they were putting into practice what they taught and practiced. This means they were preaching, teaching, winning the lost, going to the nations, serving the poor, serving the church, baptizing others, making disciples, casting out demons, raising the dead, speaking in unknown tongues, and overflowing in the Holy Spirit. Those are the things Jesus and the disciples did. That was their normal. What has happened in modern Christianity that sees this as abnormal? How have we become so impotent, and watered down? It’s time to raise the bar once again!

At the 19th Summer Olympics in Mexico City in 1968 an American named Dick Fosbury set an Olympic record in the High Jump and brought home a gold medal. No one had ever jumped 7’4.25″ before! What was so unusual about Fosbury’s feat was that he did the high jump backwards. It looked awkward and strange. It was called “The Fosbury Flop.” But it worked! Branching out in a new high jump technique is one thing. Getting it accepted by others is another matter. Fosbury remarked,“I was told over and over again that I would never be successful, that I was not going to be competitive and the technique was simply not going to work. All I could do was shrug and say,’we’ll just have to see,’” AND PEOPLE DID SEE! Since then, nearly all world-class high jumpers now use his technique. To attain his goals, he changed his approach to high jumping, and he didn’t allow others’ comments to make him feel like he would not achieve his conviction. Is that the modern Christians’ problem? Have you been letting others determine your altitude?

Wow! This whole thing is astounding and humbling all at the same time. (I just blew my own mind!)

Big Things in Small Packages

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1 Chronicles 4:9-10 Jabez was honorable above his brothers; but his mother named him Jabez [sorrow maker], saying, Because I bore him in pain.10 Jabez cried to the God of Israel, saying, Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and You would keep me from evil so it might not hurt me! And God granted his request.

It’s hard to believe that 25 years ago a tiny book was written by Bruce Wilkinson titled The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life. A Wikipedia article about the book noted: In the book, Wilkinson encourages Christians to invoke this prayer for themselves on a daily basis: I challenge you to make the Jabez prayer for blessing part of the daily fabric of your life. To do that, I encourage you to follow unwaveringly the plan outlined here for the next thirty days. The book became an international bestseller, topping the New York Times bestseller list and selling over nine million copies by 2002.

What strikes me most about this passage of Scripture is that it emerges from amidst three chapters of genealogies. Many a new years resolution to read the Bible through has ended abruptly when encountering what appears to be an endless genealogy. Yet, Psalm 25:2 states clearly that it’s the Glory of the Lord to conceal a matter – but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. God conceals these hidden gems to see if those who are destined to be kings and queens in His Kingdom are willing to persist in the search for His hidden treasure. One pastor wrote that Jabez was the unknown who became well known.

Not only was Jabez a nobody, his birth and arrival was cursed by his mother, and his dad was non-existent. There wasn’t a blessing to be received from either parent. Chuck Swindoll, noted: The English rendering is Jabez, but the Hebrew is pronounced yah-betz (the second syllable sounds like the word baits.) His mother had the Hebrew word ah-tzav in mind when she chose her son’s name. The term ah-tzav refers to anguish, intense sorrow, or pain. To arrive at his name from the Hebrew word, you transpose two letters. So it’s a pun based on sound play. This would be like someone who hates cottage cheese, which is made from milk curd, saying, “I don’t prefer milk crud, thanks.” Somehow, his birth was associated with intense pain, though we have no idea how or what that pain might have been.

Jabez overcame, in spite of his curse, becoming a honorable man. Chuck Swindoll adds that: “The Hebrew word for honorable literally means “heavy.” We use that same concept in English when we say, “This is a weighty matter.” When used of a person, it conveys the idea that he or she is impressive or noteworthy.” What made him honorable or noteworthy is not specifically mentioned in Scripture. Yet, anyone reading this passage can see what is inferred: Jabez cried to the God of Israel,…In a polytheistic culture this was uniquely, and distinctly different from the average inhabitant of Canaan. Jabez chose Yahweh to be his God, and God chose to answer his prayer.

Jabez prayed a mountain shaking prayer. Filled with faith and desperation, he cried out saying, Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and You would keep me from evil so it might not hurt me! And God granted his request. In Jewish tradition the phrase, “your hand might be with me” when referring to God means that God’s protection, guidance, and support are with you. Essentially it signifies that you are not alone and God is actively involved in your life, providing strength and assistance. The “hand” metaphor represents God’s power and presence in a tangible way. What’s truly amazing about his prayer is that he was not born-again. He did not have the indwelling Presence of the Godhead living in him. He did not have the testimony of Jesus’ life, or Resurrection, yet he has the boldness to pray that God’s Power and Presence would be with him in a tangible way. Modern, western-minded, church attenders are typically waiting to die and go to Heaven in order to “know” God in a tangible way. Jabez was not having any of that. He was in pursuit of the “Prize” – the “Pearl of Great Price.” He refused to allow his circumstances, or the spiritual climate that surrounded him to determine the altitude he was desiring to ascend to.

Big things are made up of small things. Big destinies are typically shaped by small, ordinary, everyday choices – when nobody is watching and no one cares. BUT GOD. What little thoughts have you been having; what tiny choices have you been making? Are you willing to turn life’s stumbling blocks, and curses into stepping stones of advancing into the reality of God?