What's Missing In Inspirational Words?

"Inspiration for 2015" was the the title of the calendar buried underneath the seven months of neglect piled on my desk. Twelve photos of adventurous locations with sportsmen engaged in extreme activities were setting the illustration for each month's  inspirational one word headline. The calendar used the words ambition, strategy, leadership, excellence, integrity, energy, precision, teamwork, vision, execution, and inspiration all aimed at keeping people focused on achieving success. A caption followed every headline highlighting the importance of each motivational word.  Yet no matter how success is measured, one word was missing. Sacrifice.
Whether the religious or metaphoric sense of the word, a sacrifice is giving up something for the sake of something else. Little can be achieved without sacrifice. It unlocks the full potential of every human gift. Sacrifice separates greatness from mediocrity while bridging victory to those still defeated.  Even the gift of love's ultimate token, is sacrifice. Nothing can be more inspiring.
Our souls yearn for sacrifice. We crave it so much it lines the pages of our favorite novels and finds its way into of our art, music, and films. Sacrifice transforms all the words of my calendar into "service". Perhaps, the soul knows its addiction to self can only be cured by sacrifice.
Although we all seem to know we need sacrifice,  many aren't sure what to sacrifice or to whom. Ironically, many think the Christian life is too much of a sacrifice. As if, they are missing out on something. Other than regrets all "Christian sacrifices" amount to quantity. I have no problem sacrificing quantity for quality. Sadly, most of humanity's sacrifices are offerings to the gods of self worth, preservation, and acceptance.  But, once a man got sacrifice absolutely right. Jesus said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13  
Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. Bloody, broken, and neglected He was buried under a pile of our ambition, He died to save us. However, He would rise to illustrate our lives with an adventure. Now, you can make a sacrifice for any god, but I bet you can't find another God who will make a sacrifice for you. Happy Easter.

TRUST

I didn't know her. I had never met this troubled young women in her twenties. As I read the multiple charges of larceny and prostitution that riddles the public record of my friend, now in her middle age years, I realized she was a completely different woman. I didn't recognize her from her past. She was looking to expunge her past and she wanted my help. As I said, I never met the troubled young woman who left home at sixteen.  I only knew the strong, encouraging, compassionate, and hard working woman she had grown into. I had only met the godly volunteering mother/grandmother.  I don't  have to imagine what kind of transformation must have taken hold of her life. It was Jesus. More than once , I have heard her say so. It has been a blessing to be her friend. Trusting me with her past has been one of my greatest honors.

Trust could arguably be the most complex human emotion. It is quite possible to love without trusting but impossible to trust your heart to someone you don't love. Trust is essential to belief.  You cannot believe in something or someone you don't trust. Simply put, it's hard to trust. Some people have a hard time loving God because they simply don't want to have to trust Him. Probably because that means submitting to Him. Yet, trust is what is required to right wrongs. The bible says  Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6

Jesus wants our trust so He can straighten out the messes we make out of our lives.  He expunges our records. So, God no longer remembers what we were. Through Him, we become a new creation unknown to the world.

My friend's eternal record has already been expunged. No matter what she had been, she's been washed . She became a new person, reborn through trust in Christ. If we do the same, imagine  our transformation. In just a little while, we would be so beautiful no one would recognize us either. Trust me, that's mighty pretty.
    

If God's Plan is Perfect, Why Pray?

Blasting from my truck speakers came some strong words. "If it was planned at all, it was planned in all. If it was planned ever, then it was planned forever. Nobody catches God off guard." I must have rewound the cassette until the tape wore out listening to Sam Cathy's sermon. Those words changed my life. They made me realize, if God exists, His plan is flawless, just like Him.  He gives significance to the tiniest details. He gives meaning to chance. Believing God has a perfect plan is liberating. More than once in my life, especially over the past few months,  I've heard "God's got this." He absolutely does and I find comfort in God's sovereignty. Earlier this week, someone asked,  "if God's plan is complete and perfect, why do you bother to pray? Can it change anything?" It's deserving of an answer.
First let's consider the essence of God's plan. Since God is perfect and holy, He could not have needed us. I believe God wanted us. He wanted us to love Him without making us mindless robots. Because He Is all knowing, He knew allowing us to make choices would result in our becoming unholy and separate us from Himself. He provided, in His plan, a way back to Him through the sacrifice of His son. Beyond this, much of God's plan remains as mysterious as He is. That doesn't mean He doesn't have the details worked out. It simply means we don't know the details. Part of that mystery is what role we play in it.
Now let's think deeply about God and time. Ravi Zacharias says that " God is the only enity in existence, the reason for whose existence is in Himself; all other entities or quanities exist by virtue of something else and in that sense He alone is perfect, uncaused, infinite and independent being in essence." It's more scientific than you might think. New experiments in quantum mechanics have shown effects can happen before the cause. The bible teaches in Revelation God is  "the Beginning and the End." God can operate outside of time and space or from whatever, whenever, or wherever He chooses. He can operate simultaneously from any point of time because He is eternal. This means it's possible for God to interact with you in real time, without reacting to you, though He included your actions (or lack of) in His plan. So pray, it means you can't rule out that your prayers might be a part of the details of God's plan. Think of it this way. Suppose you were planning to put together a bike for your child. If you decided to let your young child help, would you still be in control regardless of the mistakes you know your child is going to make? Would it make him love you if you forced him to help? Would still want your child to talk to you during the process? At the end of the day, wouldn't you still have a bike?

I have prayed for God to give me things I wanted. I have asked Him for things I needed. I have begged Him to change lives and circumstances knowing His plan was perfect already. Honestly, I don't know what effect, if any, prayer has had on any circumstance. Still, I've seen miracles, signs, and wonders that defy logic.  Regardless of the effect prayer has on the circumstances, it puts you in contact with the creative power of the universe. That may not change God's plan but it's certain to change you. Perhaps, that is part of the plan. In any case,  praying can't hurt God's plan or you. Why would you miss tapping into something perfect because it wouldn't change for you? A better question might be why wouldn't you change to tap into it?  If you need a scientific reason to pray, here's a a link to the benefits of prayer.  If you're looking for a perfect answer for why we should pray  if God's got a perfect plan, I don't have one. I'm not perfect.  My reasons are simple. I follow a perfect God who told us to.