Brian Dolleman's Blog

There’s a corner store in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn that I’ve gone to many times.

It’s a typical corner store. Maybe you know the type…

It has everything.

They sell milk and bread, laundry detergent and bicycle padlocks. They carry snacks and cigarettes, pre-paid cell phones and subway passes. If you don’t see what you’re looking for in the store, they have it behind the counter.

Serious. It has everything.

Imagine a child going into this store and selecting some candy…

He walks up to the front counter and asks, “Can I get this Kit Kat Bar?”

The cashier says, “How much money do you have?”

“Thirty-five cents” the boy replies.

“I’m sorry, those are seventy-five cents. Why don’t you look around and find something else that’s cheaper.”

OK, stop. Let’s talk…

This little exchange is how most of us understand faith.

We want something. We hope we have enough faith for it. We fast and we pray. We make the right confessions. We memorize all the Bible promises.

And when we don’t get what we want, we assume we’ve brought a seventy-five cent candy bar to the cashier with only thirty-five cents of faith in our pocket.

There’s a problem with this picture of faith…

It’s all about us—what we have, what we bring, what we can afford, what we’ve earned—and it’s not about God.

This is unfortunately how most Christians view their faith. It’s an earnings-based, self-help, “pick yourself up by your bootstraps,” “do these things and you’ll be blessed” approach to life.

The truth is, you don’t even need God in this approach.

Let me offer another view:

“Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus… All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing!” (Ephesians 2.7-9 MSG)

I wanna say that a little louder: WE DON’T PLAY THE MAJOR ROLE.

Going back to the story of the child wanting a Kit Kat bar, let’s change up the details of the story a bit…

The child is the son of the store owner.

He may not even realize it yet, but everything he has is the result of what his Father owns and provides for him.

He goes up to his dad and says, “Can I get this Kit Kat bar?”

Now, the Father may smile and say, “Yes!”

Another possibility—He might smile, but say, “Not now son.”

Confession time: I don’t always get what I think I need—or what I want or ask for. I don’t always know the reason(s) either. I do know that my Heavenly Father is good, and every good thing I have comes from him.

Jesus, while talking about faith and asking God for things, used the example of children coming to their parents (not customers coming into a corner store with money in their pockets).

“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” (Matthew 7.9-11 NLT)

So, for a quick review:

• We don’t play the major role.

• God isn’t some cosmic corner store shopkeeper.

• He is our good Heavenly Father. Every good thing we have comes from Him.

• Even when He smiles and says, “Not now son,” He is still good and He is still our provider.

• It’s not about us—it’s not about seventy-five cent faith -vs- thirty-five cent faith. It’s about knowing who He is and who we are in relationship to Him.

I’d be one of the first to admit… the church is far from perfect.

It’s easy to make lists of church flaws, problems, flops, embarrassments, and disasters.

Unfortunately, we often get so focused on the ugly that we lose sight of the beauty.

The church is a beautiful body—scars and all.

“God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ…” (Ephesians 1.22, 23 NLT)

Did you catch that?

The church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ.

Yes, the church is marked with the scars of our failures…

And it is filled with Christ.

It is His body.

It is a beautiful body—scars and all.

Jesus spent time with his disciples after he rose from the grave.

He was fully alive, had conquered death, hell, and the grave… and he still had the scars in his hands and his side.

Our beautiful Savior—scars and all.

Those scars serve as a reminder that Jesus suffered for us and he is victorious.

Those scars serve as a reminder that with God, anything is possible.

Those scars serve to as a reminder that God is OK with our scars.

I know the church isn’t perfect.

You know it, and God knows too.

It’s actually kinda hard to say this, but I know it’s true…

God sees us (the church) as the beautiful body of Christ—scars and all.

I think God wants us to see what he sees.

I believe He wants to remind us, “Don’t get so focused on the ugly that you lose sight of the beauty.”

The church is a beautiful body—scars and all.

If I could choose a super power, I’d want the ability to be invisible.

How about you—what super power would you choose?

Here’s something cool…

We already have a super power!

“I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers. It is the same wonderful power he used when he raised Christ from death.” (Ephesians 1.18, 19 CEV)

There’s a familiar Hillsong chorus that says, “The same power that conquered the grave lives in me.”

Yup, God’s limitless power lives in us…

But the truth is, it’s really His power, not ours.

We have His power living in us—and because it’s His power, it’s accomplishing His purpose.

My purpose for wanting the power of being invisible?

Because it would really help me pull off some incredible pranks.

But it’s mostly so I could see and hear things that people didn’t intend for me to see or hear.

God’s super power in us is different. It’s not there for pranks or putting us in a place of advantage over others.

God’s power in us is accomplishing His purpose.

What God wants (His purpose), He provides the power to accomplish.

He wanted Christ raised from the dead—and His power made it happen.

God wants us to be free, forgiven, holy, courageous, bold, and on-mission for Him.

And the good news is: He provides all the power needed to accomplish His purpose in our lives.

What God wants in us, He provides the power to accomplish.

That should make us smile.

By the way, I’d love to hear from you… what super power would you choose and why?

We are blessed with every blessing heaven has to offer because we are united with Christ (Ephesians 1.3).

The next few verses describe the symptoms of a blessed life.

Check it out:

1. We Are Loved. (vs. 4 God loved us)

2. We Are Chosen. (vs. 4 and chose us)

3. We Are Made Blameless. (vs. 4 to be holy and without fault in his eyes)

4. We Are Adopted. (vs 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family)

5. We Are Showered With Grace. (vs. 6 grace he has poured out on us)

6. We Are Free. (vs. 7 he purchased our freedom)

7. We Are Forgiven. (vs. 7 and forgave our sins)

This list should make us smile.

Thank you God for giving us such a blessed life.

Bring it on Donkey Kong.

I’m saying YES to a blessed life—I’m taking what He’s giving.

I want to be more and more aware of His blessings in my life, to be be “blessing-conscious.”

Maybe you know that old hymn of the church…

“Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings, see what God hath done!”

The first verse of that hymn says, “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost—count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”

That’s so good.

Let’s be more blessing-conscious and celebrate all the good things God has done in our lives.

The Bible reminds us, “Through Christ, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing that heaven has to offer.” (Ephesians 1.3 GNT)

Snap!

Every spiritual blessing that heaven has to offer…

Are you kidding me?

That’s huge.

What God dishes out (in terms of blessings) always exceeds our capacity to contain it.

We are overflowing, dripping, leaking, oozing with the blessings of God.

So go ahead—say YES to a blessed life.

Smile, celebrate it, and don’t forget…

You’re leaking.

HERE’S A CHALLENGE:
• Be “blessing-conscious” – be on the lookout for blessings today.
• Try to discover at least one blessing you weren’t really aware of before.
• Thank God for something you haven’t already thanked him for.

What blessings are you discovering? What blessings are you thankful for today?

Fear keeps things small.

It prevents us from attempting big things.

However, the knowledge that God is for us, not against us—gives us strength and courage.

I believe God wants us to have strength for today and courage for tomorrow.

I believe He want us to fear less…

And I believe God wants us to attempt big things.

“The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” (Daniel 11.32b NKJV)

Great exploits = big things.

Let’s do big things!