Faith Walk for an Audience of One

November 16-17

Dear Friends,

I write to you this weekend under conviction from a Wisdom Hunters devotional.  I want to share what a wrote to some of my Bible Study girlfriends.

Being in sweet fellowship with you all feels like a safety zone. A place to share what we sense the is Lord doing, a place cry out in despair, a place be vulnerable and express our disobedience and need for forgiveness without fear of being rejected.  One area God has worked on me this week in is assuming everyone, who loves the Lord, has similar experiences and understands what I am feeling. That is just not true in extensive areas of life experience.

The other thought that hit me in the gut (which is sore anyway from a stomach bug last night) came from the devotional below.  I talk to much to others about what  I need to just be working out with God. In my heart of hearts I've truly believed I share in hopes of someone else helping me figure out the remaining pieces of the puzzle to what God is up to with me or to encourage them in their "God" struggles.  But God's Word tells us the heart is quite deceitful. Also, God is fully capable of leading me without the help of others. He wants to get the full credit for leading me through the woods with the bread crumbs He drops.  

This devotional has me searching deeply to see if there are pride issues related to what I share or a need for approval from my "safety zone" in areas that the world offers rejection and persecution.

God is the best personal trainer we can ever have!  I love the way He disciplines and I do long to be pleasing in his sight.  Please forgive me if my faith walk and maybe too much talk have been a stumbling block to you in any way.

It's great being in God's classroom with each of you.

Love, Boo  I am laughing out loud. The devotional will not show up, so I'm having to type the whole thing. Do you think God wants to put it a little deeper in my heart. Heading to the chalk board!

Boyd Bailey, The Wisdom Hunters Devotional November 16, 2013

I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

John 14:31 

I struggle playing to an audience other than almighty God. I create an unnecessary tension by asking myself, "What will they think?  How will they respond?" Yet the heart of Jesus asks, "What does my heavenly Father want?  How can I obey Him with my whole heart?"

It is an audience of one with my heavenly Father that requires my focus.

So I ask myself, "Whom do I love more?  Do I love my Savior more, or do I love the praise of people more?"  If I truly love the commendation of Christ more than the approval of people, then I will obey His commands, even when I am misunderstood and mistreated. A life that loves God longs to grow in a relationship that faithfully follows His ways.

Caution is required not to become proud in our obedience. In a distorted way, a disciplined life can play into impressing people instead of pleasing God. It is a false humility to be proud of our humility and wish others could attain our level of maturity.  False humility on the stage of life acts out its spirituality for the world's accolades.

These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are

based on merely human commands and teachings/ Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence."

Colossians 2:22-23

True humility seeks only to deflect glory back to God's glory. However, when all is said and done, living for an audience of one insists on intense intimacy with Jesus Christ, so that we naturally follow His lead. It is like an eloquent dance rendition, where He leads and we follow.  Some steps are new and awkward, while others moves are comfortable and unconscious.  If we dance with Jesus before others, he will amuse them most, as He leads us into His will.   True humility follows Christ's lead.

Lastly, learning to live for an audience of one means giving away recognition and resisting taking credit.  For example, at work give the team credit for the success, and take responsibility for failure.  At home quietly serve behind the scenes without a worry about who gets the recognition for the household chores.  Most of all, minister for Christ's kingdom, so you kingdom fades away and His becomes full center.  An audience of one pleases the One.