But not because you’re so great.

Nope. In fact, our own greatness gets in the way.

When we rely on our competence, our skills, our effort, we fail to recognize the actual places and ways God wants to use our gifts.

Oh, I know, it often starts with God’s prompting. But then we take it and run. “Thanks, God, I’ll take it from here!”

And if we do succeed because we’re so great, such kingdom breakthrough will be attributed to our power not God’s. And the breakthrough won’t really be as great and lasting as it could be.

In being about what God is about, humility is the name of the game.

Unless you’d rather that people celebrate you instead.

Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed. Isaiah 54:4

When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand
about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time,
for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. Mark 13:11

Merciful Father, we thank you for always being with us. We are thankful
for the power to see clearly the task set before us provided by the Holy
Spirit who dwells within our hearts. Amen.

The crowds wanted healing. They had been experiencing the power of God’s kingdom breaking into ours – the power of grace, love, forgiveness, reconciliation, healing, wholeness, life. Today, the disciples had given it a go, but they were unable to heal a suffering boy.

But Jesus wouldn’t always be here to be the one through whom the kingdom would be poured out. While Jesus would be the only Messiah, Jesus didn’t intend for him to be the only one through whom the glory of God’s kingdom could be experienced.

“That’s why,” Jesus says to the disciples, “I’m pouring my life into you. I’m giving you everything I have. I want you to be able to do what I do. God’s kingdom is here – through you.”

It is their birthright as children on God. It is your birthright, too. You are God’s kids. Therefore, you are heirs (Romans 8:14-17). Everything that belongs to God, our Father, our Abba, Daddy, belongs to you.

But the disciples didn’t have faith in this promise. That is, they weren’t claiming their kingdom authority as God’s kids representing their Daddy in the world. How were they – and how are we – to claim that authority?

“The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. (John 5:19)” The Son is about what the Father is about. This is where kingdom authority comes from. Staying alert to where God is and to what God is doing in the world, and then going there and being about what God is about.

And we are only able to do this through humility. We must give up our own agendas and put on God’s agenda. We must surrender our need to be in control in order to recognize that God is in control. We must empty our hands, releasing everything we carry – all that weighs us down, all that holds us back, all the hurdles we put in our own way, all our struggles, all our joys, all our competency, all our skills – we must release everything we carry and allow God to sort through it and then give back to us the tools we need to do the job God is calling us to accomplish.

Your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32). And we can only receive what God has to give us if our hands are empty.

Ash Wednesday
Joel 2:1-2,12-17; Psalm 51:1-17
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. Psalm 116:8

Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him. Matthew 14:29-31

Creator of the universe, only you can deliver our souls from death. When we become overwhelmed with the activities of the world, let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

We live with a God-shaped hole, that nothing else will fill. We try. Our appetite tells us to consume our way to meaning and satisfaction. Our ambition tells us to compete with others, doing unto them before they do it to you, showing them who’s boss, who has the power, taking all that you can get. We strive for affirmation – please, please, please tell me I’m good enough, I’m popular, celebrate me. (For an excellent unpacking of this, see Mike Breen’s original blog post).

In the beginning, God scooped up the dust and formed us, molded us into his people. God’s fingerprints are all over us. God’s handprint marks us. We were always intended to live with the outstretched presence of God’s hand on our lives. It’s how our Abba, our Daddy, created us.

He gives us our identity. We are his children. Because he says so. It’s all gift. It’s all love. It’s all grace.

And as we live in the power of God’s grace, as we live in the gift of our identity as God’s child, others can’t help but be impacted by it.

Photo attributed to Fergal of Claddagh via flickr and used under Creative Commons.

Matthew 17:1-13 | Up on the mountain the promise of identity is proclaimed once again. God declares about Jesus to the disciples, “This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him. Listen to what he says!”

Jesus is what it looks like to live fully in your identity.

In conversation about this Transfiguration event, one of my colleagues offered that the difference between transfiguration and transformation is that transfiguration is a transformation that reveals God’s glory and God’s kingdom here in our midst.

As we live more and more out of our identity as God’s children, your life is not just transformed, it’s transfigured.

God is saying to you, “With you I am well pleased. You are my beloved child.”

Embrace your identity. And as you do, you will see that God’s kingdom is breaking into ours. Through you.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable. Isaiah 40:28

God has not left himself without a witness in doing good – giving you
rains from heaven and fruitful sea-sons, and filling you with food and
your hearts with joy. Acts 14:17

Creator God, you will not faint or grow weary of your people. Your love
is endless and your provisions are bountiful. We joyfully give you
thanks and praise for your goodness towards your whole creation. Amen.

Matthew 16:21-26 | It seems that Peter is letting Fear and Resistance get the best of him. And with a strong challenge, Jesus gives him the way to break through (and to breakthrough!).

Here’s Steven Pressfield’s take on it:

Are you paralyzed with fear? That’s a good sign.

Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do.

Remember our rule of thumb: The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.

Resistance is experienced as fear; the degree of fear equates to the strength of Resistance. Therefore the more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that that enterprise is important to us and to the growth of our soul. That’s why we feel so much Resistance. If it meant nothing to us, there’d be no Resistance.

Have you ever watched Inside the Actors Studio? The host, James Lipton, invariably asks his guests, “What factors make you decide to take a particular role?” The actor always answers: “Because I’m afraid of it.”

The professional tackles the project that will make him stretch. He takes on the assignment that will bear him into uncharted waters, compel him to explore unconscious parts of himself.

Is he scared? Hell, yes. He’s petrified.

(Conversely, the professional turns down roles that he’s done before. He’s not afraid of them anymore. Why waste his time?)

So if you’re paralyzed with fear, it’s a good sign. It shows you what you have to do.

Then Jesus made it clear to his disciples that it was now necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, submit to an ordeal of suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and then on the third day be raised up alive.

Peter took him in hand, protesting, “Impossible, Master! That can never be!”

But Jesus didn’t swerve. “Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works.”

Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?”

Do not fear or be dismayed! Joshua 8:1

Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one.
Revelation 1:17-18

Father God, when disappointment arises and fear is all we can see ahead
of us, let us hold on to our Sa-vior, the Alpha and the Omega, the one
who lives forever and ever. Amen.

I learned about Addi Somekh through the mental_floss Watercooler Ammo Newsletter. He took his passion and set off to make a difference with it. I believe he has.

What’s your passion? Where might it lead you?