Influencers Weekly Devotional

Go With ME

Embracing our Sacred Responsibility with Christ Who am I? - Where Am I Headed in Life? - How Will I Get There? He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas (which means Peter).” John 1:42 - ESV

I listened intently to the sermon, and a derivative of the questions I had heard in my past were appropriately asked, for it was the first Sunday following New-Year’s day when most people make their new resolutions. I had also heard the questions asked of me over 10 years ago by a friend, for I was feeling God’s call to follow a new life path, and he wanted to help me find it. My friend had read the questions in the latest self-help book about empowering one’s self to be the “man you always wanted to be.” It was one of the latest books concerning SELF and had made its way from the mainstream business culture to the Christian businessman’s self-help book list. I respectfully listened to him, as I always did, for I knew he meant well. But I couldn’t grab hold of his questions and answer them at the time. Don’t misunderstand me. It wasn’t that I couldn’t grasp the theory being espoused, for I had worked in the business culture for over 30 years. I had worked and succeeded in a goal-driven, commission-oriented profession my entire career to that point. When I was a new businessman, right out of college, forty years ago, I read most of the fad books, and I had applied the principles of these books as a perceived way to achieve success and personal happiness. I wanted to get ahead. I wanted to be a success. I wanted to become an outstanding professional, a great husband and father, and a powerful, rich, individual. I say, individual, but is there anything individualistic about those aspirations? Are these not the life goals of most men since the beginning of time? And yet, here I was hearing the same questions and same solutions being provided, as if it were something new. Only this time, it was for a Christian man to find his answers to life’s riddles using the same formula. The truth is that these questions never helped me in the past find what I deep down longed for, because I didn’t understand what was missing. So, here’s my problem with the questions, and why I feel great caution. You see, I don’t think anyone can answer the questions that follow, if he cannot answer the first one, which is “Who Am I?” If he doesn’t know who he is, then he will hope to become a persona of someone based on achieving his goals and objectives. If he somehow catches his illusive target, he will always identify himself not by who he is, but what he has accomplished, and he will never grasp that which is of greatest value. But the greater problem in this thinking is the failure to consider God’s plan and purpose for our life, and in leaving this out of our thinking, it will surely lead to disappointment in the end. I am reading a very good book a friend gave to me by Mark Buchanan called, The Rest of God. In this book, Mark observed, “Wise people ask, ‘Does the path I’m walking on lead to a place I want to go? If I keep heading this way, will I like where I arrive?’” When I read this question I could grasp it and understand its depth, for as Christian men, we are all on a spiritual journey. So, the most accurate question is: Am I on the right path? The right path will lead to the right destinationand choosing the right path should be our greatest objective for living a right life and achieving a right finish in our life race. But we cannot be on the right path headed in the right direction, unless we nail down who we are. Allow me to give an illustration of what I mean by this: Consider the Apostle Peter. In the scripture above, Simon meets Jesus for the first time. Immediately, Jesus nicknames him Peter. Who was Simon at the time? He was a fisherman, so he was also a laborer. When he sold his catch, he was also a businessman. When he went home, he was also a family man. But, who was he? All we could say to this point was that he was identified by what he did at work and home. Jesus would spend the next three years preparing him to understand who he was not by his vocation and accomplishments or lack of them, but rather by who he was in Christ. Peter would become “The Rock,” and Jesus was beginning His work in Peter’s life at this time to accomplish this. Three years later, Jesus had been crucified, resurrected and ascended to heaven. But before He ascended, Jesus asked Peter this question: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.)And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” John 21:17-19 With all this in mind let’s ask Peter himself the questions: “Who are you? Where are you headed? How will you get there? Does the path you are walking on lead to a place you want to go?” Interviewer: “Simon Peter, who are you?” Peter: “I’ll answer you truthfully, but it might be hard for you to understand. I am a friend of Jesus, and God’s child. Everything else about my identity flows from there.” Interviewer: “You are right about not understanding it, for your answer is kind of vague. Maybe we can clear it up asking you where you are headed in life?” Peter: “Well, I’m not sure where I’m headed. I was told by Jesus to follow Him. He said the Holy Spirit would come and fill me and would lead me from that point. I’m counting on Jesus’s promises to me to be true. I know this must look aimless and reckless with my life. But the truth is that I feel that I am on the right path with Jesus, and He will lead me to my life purpose.” Interviewer: “That brings me to my next question, but I don’t know just how to ask it now in light of your other answers. But, I’ll try anyway. How will you get to where you are headed, if you don’t know where you are going, and what you are supposed to be doing?” Peter: “Oh I didn’t say I didn’t know what I am to do or where I would end up. Jesus has given me my new vocation to feed His sheep, and He told me where my path would lead. He said I would be eventually taken to prison, and would be crucified. That is the path I am on, and the one He has chosen for me. He also told me at another time that he would be with me where ever I go, as I fulfill His great commission. Between now and then, I have a life to live, and my life is to be lived to His honor and glory and with His help.” Peter continues, “One of the reasons you are having such a hard time framing your questions is that they don’t fit a man who is sold out to Christ. You have borrowed questions from a textbook about being in control of one’s own life and having as a primary objective to be happy and fulfilled. Your questions don’t consider that my life is no longer my own to do as I wish. I had that kind of life before Jesus came to me, and it only led to frustration and fear and efforts to overcome my troubles by my own resources. I don’t want to ever return to that life. But I almost did, until Jesus asked me if I loved fishing more than I loved Him.” Interviewer: “Did Jesus ask you that question?” Peter: “That was the point He was making. I had just gone through the most disappointing time in my life because I had denied Jesus publicly. I was a failure as His friend and disciple, and I was about to return to my life as a fisherman. But it was on the shore of the lake that Jesus asked me the questions about loving Him. He asked me three times the same question, and then I remembered I had denied Him three times. I then realized that He had forgiven and restored me. My life will always be defined from now on by my love for Him and His love for me. For this reason, your questions cannot be answered clearly except the first one. I am a friend of Jesus. He loves me and I love Him. Everything I do in life flows from this relationship, and this is the path I am on. Will I like where it leads and the kind of death I will face? It will be painful. But it will lead to His glory, and that is my life’s purpose. The path I am on leads me to His plan for my life. He will get me there, and He will secure for me that which I deep down am longing for. Do I know who I am, where I am headed and how I will get there? You bet I do! More than you can imagine!” Men, choose your path wisely, for it is the path, not the goals that lead to a life that will lead to a successful life. You will be told that you’ve got to make it happen if you want to change your life, and much of the advice you will receive is rooted in the ways of the world rather than the ways of God. Simply get on the right path, by nailing down who you are in Christ first, and then, things will fall in place after this. Since it is a new year, let this be your first resolution. Get alone with Him. Spend time with your Best friend and allow Him to direct your steps, after He has drawn you near to Him. This devotional represents the last of the “Go With ME” series. I must take a little time off for another surgery, for this will be the third in thirteen months, and I am a little challenged right now. Hopefully, it will lead to greater strength, stamina and less pain, for I have a great race ahead of me that my King wants me to run. I will begin a new series in a few weeks called, “Abide With ME.” I am excited about it. While I am out of touch, it is my pleasure to ask our Cabinet members to share their hearts with you in place of my devotionals. These men represent the leadership of Influencers, as it is their primary responsibility to expand Journey Groups around the world. You need to get to know them, for they are great men who love the Lord, and are called by him to lead Influencers into the future. These guys can answer quickly who they are. God bless you all. If God be willing, I will return in a few weeks to do that which I have been taken captive by Christ to do. To His great glory, Rocky TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THIS DEVOTIONAL, CLICK HERE