Van Moody's Blog, page 3

Love Isn’t Like

We often think that God’s method of loving is equivalent to the
way that we love—the way the world loves. If we take a hard look at Scripture,
however, we find that this isn’t the case.

How does the world love? We’ve been conditioned to love based on
the sum total of how much we like someone else. So, if I like you enough, or if
there is enough about you that I like, then I open my heart to love you. It
seems to make sense logically, right?

But that’s just the thing. Love doesn’t make logical sense. The
love of God is not the abundance of how much He likes us. He’s not up in heaven
saying, “Oh, they’ve almost achieved my love. The way they put that outfit on—I
really like that. I’m close to loving them.” No! That’s not how He loves. As a
matter of fact, God’s love often skips over things about us that He doesn’t like!

We don’t like to think about God not liking us because, again,
we’ve been conditioned to believe that His love is dependent on His like. Can
we be brutally honest? There are many things about us God doesn’t like. But He
loves us anyway. John 3:16 doesn’t say, “For God so liked the world.” No—it
says, “For God so loved the world.”

God wants us to love others as He has loved us (John 13:34). How
has He loved us? He forgave us; He didn’t condemn us; He didn’t judge us—even
when we deserved it. When He was on the cross, He said, “Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). He didn’t come condemning; He
came loving. While we were still sinners, He came to die for us and give us a
way back to God (Romans 5:8).

So what’s the point? We often are so focused on the Great
Commission that we forget the Great Commandment. Real, mature believers
understand that love should always be present with truth. Love isn’t like—it’s
not based on someone’s ability to perform, be charming, or do things correctly.
This means that we have a responsibility to love everyone, just like Jesus
did—regardless of how likeable they are.

We’re fortunate that God’s love isn’t based on like; and now, we
are called to exhibit that same love to a world that desperately needs it.

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Don’t Take the Bait: Releasing Unforgiveness and Living in Freedom

One of the hardest things we’ll ever face as followers of
Christ is Jesus’s command in Luke 6:27: “But I say to you who hear, love your
enemies, do good to those who hate you.”

Cultivating a love for those who have wronged us is the work
of the Holy Spirit; but we have a part to play as well. After all, we can’t
love those whom we haven’t forgiven. So how do we let go of unforgiveness?
Instead of offering a multitude of tips or practical advice, let’s start here:
we release unforgiveness by looking at the example of Jesus.

Consider this: in every way that we will ever be hurt or
offended, Jesus was as well. When you are betrayed, remember that Jesus was.
When we are falsely accused, remember that Jesus was. When you are humiliated,
misunderstood, wronged, and abused, remember that Jesus was.

This doesn’t mean we don’t take the necessary actions to
protect ourselves and others. After all, forgiveness isn’t the same as
reconciliation, forgetting what happened, or condoning the wrongs committed
against us. But this DOES mean that we have a responsibility to show love
towards others even in the midst of being wronged. While it’s so much easier to
take the bait of unforgiveness—bitterness, resentment, hatred—Jesus did not.

Jesus didn’t take the bait. Even when He was rejected,
abused, humiliated, hanging on the cross, He loved. Satan was hoping He would
take the bait. Instead, He said, “Father, forgive them. For they don’t know
what they’re doing.” In the midst of all of His pain, and the injustice shown to
Him, Jesus didn’t take the bait.

In that moment, Jesus taught us that the hurt, pain, and
disappointment we face will only go on as long as we are unwilling to forgive.
The good news is this: Because He didn’t take the bait, we have His power
inside of us to stand up to temptation. We have the power to forgive instead of
choosing bitterness, resentment, and hatred. While we’ll still be wronged in
this world (and wrong others), His power inside of us gives us the ability to
move on from these wrongs, forgive, and love those who have fallen short.

After all, that’s exactly what Jesus did for us.

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Peeling the Onion

If you’ve ever peeled an onion, you know that it takes time
and effort to reach the seed in the center. Though an onion begins with a seed,
as it grows, layers upon layers conceal that seed. Onions are messy, and they
fill your home with a stinging smell that can make your eyes water. Peeling
them isn’t an easy task, but it’s necessary if we want to use them in our
cooking.

So what does your destiny have to do with an onion? Just
like the onion, we start as a seed—the genesis of our makeup, designed by God,
when we’re first created. As time goes on, however, and we begin life, we start
layering things on top of that seed. Life hits us with fears, disappointments,
hurt, frustration, and difficult circumstances.

The mistake that so many of us make is that we end up trying
to live our lives from behind all of those layers. We never really uncover who
we are, because we come to the conclusion that the work of peeling away all
those layers is too costly.

But when we take the time and effort to peel the onion…when
we return to the core of who God made us to be… that’s when we you begin to
live the lives that God called us to live. That’s when you begin to live from
your purest place—the place of identity.

God’s desire for you is that you would live from a place of
security in the identity He’s given you! John 10:10 says that Jesus came to
give us abundant life! So the question you need to answer today is, “What
layers are keeping me from realizing my full potential in Christ, and how can I
remove those layers with His help?”

Peeling the onion isn’t easy; but it’s so, eternally worth
the work.

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By Faith Alone: Our Fundamental Misunderstanding about Life in Christ

 For it is by
grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can
boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9

Did you know that saving faith
doesn’t finish its work once you’re saved?

While most believers firmly grasp
the truth that faith alone leads to God’s salvation, there’s a fundamental
misunderstanding about the role of faith from that point onward. We struggle
with the misconception that the main basis by which God relates to His people
is our works. While we may know in our head that this isn’t true, we often live
like it.

Think about it:

Have you recently feared that God
would be angry with you, or abandon you, after making a mistake or committing a
sin?

Have you subconsciously believed
that your good works, or faithfulness, to God makes Him love or enjoy you more?

When we submit to these misconceptions, it’s primarily
because we misunderstand the heart of our Father. The truth is He doesn’t only save
us based on faith—He also sustains us by faith. Romans 1:17 says, “For in the
gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by
faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live
by faith.””

We live every day of our walk with Christ by faith. This
means that we’re free from the need to perform for love, just as we didn’t need
to perform for salvation. Paul corrects the church of Galatia in Galatians 3 by
saying, “Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you
now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” Just as we were saved by faith, we
live and are kept by faith—nothing more, nothing less.

So…are you walking by faith today?

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Seeing Yourself Differently: The Part of Switching Seasons That Few People Remember

Do
you know what so many people neglect to do when changing seasons? The answer is
simple, but it’s probably not something you actively consider when going
through a transition.

When
we’re changing seasons, it’s essential to shift the way we see ourselves.

Look
at the example of Moses and Joshua. When Moses died, it was Joshua’s time to
lead the nation of Israel into the Promised Land. Great, right? The only
problem was how Joshua saw himself. Why was this a problem? Because, for the
past forty years, Joshua had been Moses’s understudy. He’d been in the
background, aiding, supporting, and learning. Joshua had been behind the
scenes. Even when he was one of twelve spies to scout out Canaan, his opinion
about the Promised Land had been drowned out by the disbelief of ten others.

Joshua
saw himself in a certain way, not because he lacked faith or strength, but
simply because he’d been playing a certain role until this transition. It had
been a different season. There is a time and place to be a student, a mentee,
and a learner. That’s so important to leadership. However, if we’re not
careful, your season will change without you realizing it.

If
we’re not careful, everything around us will shift, but the way we see
ourselves won’t. Joshua had to understand himself as a prominent, responsible
leader of a nation. He had to go through this shift in order to lead
successfully and effectively. Likewise, as we change seasons, we have to change
the way we see ourselves.

How
do you see yourself today versus one year ago? What’s changed externally? Has
your self-view changed accordingly? What might you need to adjust in your
perspective of yourself?

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The Anatomy of a Home

This season, at The Worship Center, we’ve been studying four
fundamental aspects of our walk with God: faith, family, fitness, and finances.
As we look at the makeup of a thriving, God-honoring family, we thought it
fitting to invite our congregation inside our family’s home. Visiting each
room, we explored the purposes of a healthy family—purposes God ordained back
in Genesis, and that are still essential to living a Godly life today.

No matter whether you’re married or single, whether you live
with family or friends, these truths will impact the way you relate to one
another, and your overall quality of life as a believer. Let’s take a look at
each room, and its purposes for building a healthy family:

Basement. The
first room we brought our congregation into (virtually) was our basement. A
basement is a place where, oftentimes, hobbies or recreational activities take
place. It’s also a place of refuge and safety in storms and other disasters.

As believers, our homes and families are meant to be places
of solace, refuge, and safety. The home is a place where we’re meant to open up
and be ourselves in freedom. Let’s face it: we all have storms in life. Whether
it’s transition, loss, promotion, or any number of changes, we need a community
to support us. Proverbs 14:26 says, “In the fear of the Lord one has strong
confidence, and his children will have a refuge.”

Do your family members find refuge and safety in your home?
Do you?

Library/Office. A
family is a learning center for life. Whether or not you have a healthy book
collection, you likely have a space in your home dedicated to work, learning,
and personal growth. Families develop one another, and help each other become
all that God has created them to be.

If there’s no growth in a family, it’s not operating at its
full, God-given potential. We see that instruction and discipline are extremely
important to God: it’s why, in Ephesians 6:4, He tells believers to “not
provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and
instruction of the Lord.” What better place for this than the home?

You’re passing a legacy on to your children, and the
generations to come after them. What heritage will you leave them with?

Dining Room. Not
only a place for meals, our dining room table is the location for our family
meetings. This is where we define our family’s priorities. Why is this
important?

For starters, life today is so busy that, unless you define
what’s important to your family, the world will try to do it for you. In Joshua
24:15, Joshua defines his people’s priorities. He says, “Choose for yourself
this day whom you will serve…but as for me and my household, we will serve the
Lord.” Defining your family’s priorities is paramount to making the most of
your lives together. Make sure to make space for this.

Game Center. In
our living room, we have one of our favorite board games—Monopoly—set up. This
is an aspect of home that some Christian families neglect: fun. A family that
plays together stays together. After all, if you can’t have fun with one
another, can you truly be that close?

While priorities and work are essential, so is taking time
to rest. God rested on the seventh day, and spent time walking with Adam and
Eve in the cool of the days in the garden. He asks His people to observe the
same period of rest in the Old Testament. We see that Jesus napped, took time
alone, attended week-long weddings, and ate with His disciples. Not every
moment was filled with work and toil.

Do you know how to have fun with your family? Do you connect
regularly without an agenda or overarching purpose, other than to have fun? If
not, it’s high time you rediscover that joy.

A home, and a family, can be many things. These are only
some of the purposes of a family; but we hope you’ve been inspired to reignite
purpose and meaning in your home. What can you do today that will foster the
intentional, loving space that God desires for your family? How can you
contribute to making your home a home that honors God, and makes others feel
accepted, loved, and at peace? Let’s get started right now.

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In Between Seasons

What’s the greatest destroyer of leadership?

What can undermine your potential faster than anything else?
What’s the number one cause of failed leaders—on personal, organizational, and
even national scales? What’s the Achilles heel that disarms leaders, and makes
them more vulnerable than anything else?

It’s not money. It’s not admiration. It’s not business. It’s
not logistics. It’s not numbers.

The greatest destroyer of your leadership is arrogance.
Pride.

Why? Because arrogance and pride say this: “I am better.” In
order for you to hold this view of yourself, you have to put others down.
You’ve got to demean them, disrespect them, and not honor them.

Proverbs 16:18 tells us that “Pride goes before a fall.” As
leaders, we’ve got to be extra vigilant to ensure that our confidence and
self-esteem doesn’t morph into arrogance. You likely have people around you
that affirm, encourage, and build you up. Don’t ever allow their voices to make
you think you’re better than others.

So how do we catch ourselves when we do begin to become
arrogant? This is tricky. The challenge is that very few people—especially
those employed by us—will have the courage to say, “You’re proud.” People will
talk amongst themselves. They’ll say it to everybody else. But they will rarely
come to you with it.

This means that, as leaders, we must be extremely
self-aware. We’ve got to constantly remind ourselves that other people got us
to where we are; and without others, we cannot go further. That humility, that
dependence, is the antidote to the greatest destroyer of leadership: arrogance.

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Willpower vs. God’s Power

Have you ever set a resolution or
personal goal, only to find yourself quickly falling short of the
transformation you desired? Maybe, as we approach the end of the year, you’re
reflecting on the achievements you set out to reach in January. It can be
discouraging to realize we’re not as far along as we would have liked; however,
it can also lead us to acknowledge a very real truth:

In and of ourselves, we simply
don’t have the power to realize transformation.

Whether you’re craving a physical
transformation, a mental transformation, a social transformation, an emotional
transformation, a financial transformation, or even a spiritual transformation,
there’s only one source we can turn to Who has the power to bring it about. Why
is it, then, that when it comes to most areas of life, we try to do things in
our own strength? Many of us understand that we need God’s help to grow
spiritually; but if we want to get more physically fit, we rely on our own
discipline and efforts to get the job done.

This won’t work, because the same
truth still applies. We need God’s help. And we need to realize that God
desires our transformation even more than we do—in all areas of life! In Acts
16, we find the story of Paul and Silas escaping from the prison. The prison
guard, taken aback by the mercy they’ve shown in not immediately leaving him to
die, asks, “‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, ‘Believe in the
Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.’”

The word for “saved” in this verse
means “total transformation.” Not only the guard’s spiritual life, but every
aspect of his existence would be changed when He came into contact with Jesus.
We serve a powerful God—His influence isn’t limited to one area of our lives.
Our faith cannot be compartmentalized. He wants our total transformation, and
is the only One who can provide the means for it!

So, if God wants us to be made
whole in every area of our lives, we need to develop a theology of total
transformation. In other words, we need to develop a theology that encompasses
physical health; finances; relationships; and every other sphere of life. We
need to see even the way we care for our bodies as a spiritual discipline. Only
when we surrender every area, and lean into His power, will we see His hand at
work, changing and transforming us from the inside out.

Real change only comes by virtue of
God’s power. So, the next time you sit down to write a list of your goals for
the next season, invite Him into that space.

Fitness as a Spiritual Discipline

What do you think of when you hear the phrase, “spiritual
discipline?”

Things like prayer, corporate worship, Bible reading, and other similar activities probably come to mind. It’s easy to group these things together, and think they comprise the whole of spiritual discipline.

However, the Bible paints a different picture. 1 Corinthians
10:31 says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the
glory of God.”

All means all. What
does this imply for us? It means that everything we do in our lives becomes a
spiritual discipline. One aspect of life we often overlook as a spiritual
discipline is our physical fitness.

Think about the poor health, obesity, chronic illness, and other
epidemics in the Western world today—especially America. Do you think
Christians have been fully stewarding their fitness as a spiritual discipline? I’ve
personally known several friends and family who are strong and faithful in the
Lord; these individuals have forever impacted my life and my walk—however,
they’ve neglected their physical health. They don’t take care of their bodies,
or balance their ministry and careers with exercise and other important
practices.

Earlier in the book of 1 Corinthians, we read this powerful
statement from Paul: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your
own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body”
(6:19-20). While we most often take this verse to be in context, referring to
sexual immorality, it also applies to overall physical health.

Our bodies are not our own. One day, when we stand before
God, He’ll ask us to give an account for everything we were given to steward. He’ll
ask us what we did with our finances; our material possessions; our time; our
relationships; our skills…and He will also ask us what we did with the body He
gave to us.

What will we say on that day?

Taking Hold of the New

Have you ever had to let go of something old to take hold of
the new thing God had for you?

In Joshua 1, we find a conversation between God and Israel’s
new leader. Joshua had followed in Moses’s footsteps for years. Now, it was his
time to lead the nation. God begins by saying these words to Joshua in Joshua
1:2:

“Moses my servant is
dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into
the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.”

Notice the very first sentence. It’s not encouragement. It’s
not a marker of Joshua’s new identity. In fact, it’s not about Joshua at all.
God’s first words in this book are, “Moses my servant is dead.”

Why is this? I believe it’s because God knows that, before
we can take hold of the new things He has for us, we have to be trained to let
go of the old. Joshua couldn’t cling to the memory and legacy of Moses as
inspiration for his new role. He had to lead in his own way. After all, Moses’s
leadership had resulted in an extra 40 years of wandering for the people of
Israel. It was time for a new leadership to take the reins. So Joshua had to
let go of the old to embrace what God had next for the Israelites.

What “old” do you need to let go of? What memories,
legacies, or elements of your past have you not released? Are you coming out of
one season and into another? It’s so important to let go of the old in order to
take hold of the new.

If Joshua did it, so can we! God gives us the power, encouragement,
comfort, and peace to be able to let go of what’s behind us. Paul echoes this
truth in Philippians 3:13-14:

“Brothers, I do not
consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what
lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward
the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Don’t be afraid to let go of the old. God’s got you! Release
what’s past, and take hold of the exciting future things He has in store for
you.