Don’t Settle For Less

Chrys and I recently visited Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. You may have seen those images. We did our share of playing, shopping, and eating around those interviews and Chrys may or may not second-guess traveling with me in the future because of some of my antics, but that’s another story! (Don’t all grandmas pretend to be dinosaurs in Scheels when there is a big fine green tyrannosaurus begging for a photo op? No? My bad.)

But about those interviews. One of the questions we were asked during our visit at Focus on the Family was one we often hear in a variety of ways. Basically, it’s “How can parents and grandparents help their children come to faith in Jesus?” We answered it there, but I want to answer it here, because I continue to think about it.  Permit me to begin with some words I wrote a while back on my personal site.

I’ve been in a deep dive with the Apostle John this summer. I’ve explored his gospel start to finish and I need to level with you: John has nothing to say about deconstructed faith as we hear it tossed about today.  John doesn’t speak to the idea of anyone using human understanding to take their faith apart and build it back into something more comfortable because broken church people have disillusioned them. John has everything to say about an ever growing faith, and the real life challenge of continuing to believe.

The Apostle John’s humility is on painful display throughout his gospel as he openly documents the disciples’ embarrassingly rocky road to believing that Jesus was truly the Son of God. John records how he and his friends came to believe, and how they learned to continue to believe that this Jesus was who He said He was, even though Jesus wasn’t going about this kingdom building restoring work in any of the tangible ways they had hoped or expected. None. Nada.

John tells us of how they came to believe all the prophets had said of Jesus must come to pass, His death on the Cross, His Resurrection, and His Ascension to the Father, all were necessary if He was to accomplish the work of preparing salvation for all who would believe in Him.

With some of the last words of his gospel, John reveals his reason for writing. He hopes to challenge his readers, that’s you and me, to believe– and keep believing so we can have life in the power of Jesus’ name.

I plan to write a Bible Study on John, pen a book on John, tape a teaching series on John, or all of the above. But for now, I had to stop and say this because I’m currently clueless as to how these projects will form. I have a gazillion notes and a growing sweet spot for the living breathing Son of God. That’s it.

I simply had to stop and plead with you to believe that this Jesus is who He said He was, the Son of God sent to forgive your sins and make a way for you to know God. Your life depends on it. And then, once you believe, I implore you to keep believing.

Keep believing, regardless of how Jesus is going about this kingdom building, regardless of how silly, ineffective, and faulty some of His carpenters can be, (all five fingers pointing at me right here).

Don’t settle for less than knowing Jesus intimately. He died that you might believe and find life, beginning now, and lasting for eternity in the power of His name. Which brings me back to the question at Focus that moved me to share these words.

Our lives between Sundays are the ones that will see our faith passed down to the next generation, or not. When we make Jesus our home and we begin living with Him instead of trying to live for Him, we make room for the Spirit of God to draw our kids and grandkids to His Life, growing and thriving in us.  Our words alone can’t do it apart from His Spirit.  I hope that helps!

Let us know how we can pray for you.