"Faith Is My Life!"

Here's a question to open up your spirit today - think it through:

"WHAT IN MY LIFE ACTUALLY DEFINES ME?"

A few suggestions you might consider:

• Ancestry/Ethnicity - who I came from and how that may have shaped who I am
• Social Network - those I rely on for encouragement and help me stay grounded - or not
• Family traditions - holiday celebrations, birthdays, deaths, politics, religion
• Self Image - who I think I am
• Physical appearance - the mirror doesn't lie
• Personal experiences - successes, challenges, disappointments, failures, hopes, dreams

In truth, all of these, in obvious and not-so obvious ways, have made all of us who we are. Over time we become the product of a sometimes confusing mix of all of them. Please realize that I am not a certified professional in the mental health disciplines, don't really want to be. I'm just a guy who has spent virtually all of my adult life learning from the Creator of all that is and with the help of his Spirit, pointing others to a life that truly is life. Many good people I have known in my half century of teaching/counseling ministry have had to look seriously at where they are and how they got there. Like some of those folks, you too may have to confront each of those areas that have and still are defining you. Now that you have confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord/Master, you will want to allow him to become the primary defining influence in your life. If you're not really there yet, be patient.

A few years ago Thom Rainer, President/CEO of Lifeway Christian Research surveyed 1200 millenials between 1980 and 2000. He published his research in a book - "The Millenials - Connecting To America's Largest Generation". Here are some of statistical results:

• 72% affirmed they are more 'spiritual' than religious
• 70% "church today is irrelevant"
• 65% "rarely/never attend a church"
• 75% "reared in an unchurched family"
• 26% "I will go to heaven"

I will not make any attempt to analyze what those numbers might mean but urge you to come to your own conclusions about how we (all of God's human family) understand him. For all of us who are seriously attempting to follow Jesus there is a greater agenda, a much larger possibility offered to us by God. It truly is a "Grand Canyon" experience.

I believe Paul states that possibility in a simple but profound way:

"We live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come. All this is from God who reconciled us (brought us back) to himself through Christ." 5:17

Let's think of it in a more personal way - "Faith is my Life!"

This perception of my life, as God the Father envisioned it for me, is a foundational teaching of Jesus and all of his Apostles. But, like happens today too, those Corinthian disciples had gotten distracted from who they really were by the social, political, familial, self serving loyalties they had grown up with. The church at Corinth was still a struggling baby, trying to fit their old ways of thinking and acting into this new way of life, but it obviously wasn't working. It wont work for us either.

So, I want you to take a short journey with me through 2 Corinthians over the next few weeks as we hear God speak to them (and us) through Paul. I will be using the NIV for this but you feel free to use whatever Bible version you prefer.

Until next time, plant this firmly in your spirit - "Faith is my Life!"