We Gotta Leave The Zone...The Comfort Zone!

"We Gotta Leave The Zone...The Comfort Zone!"
By Zach Wood
Matthew 28:16-20

We would all agree that we desire to minister to the lost.  We want to have an affect on people’s lives in a positive way and share with them the love of Christ.  None of us would say we don’t have a desire to do that.  But the way we live our lives in these comfort zones, I can’t help but think the world sees that and wonders why we say one thing and do another. 

We have great thoughts, ideas and intentions of saving the lost.  But when it comes down to the nitty gritty, we have the hardest time actually getting out to minister to the lost because it takes us out of our comfort zones.  We must leave our comfort zones if we are to be a part of changing lives for Christ.

This is one of the most powerful passages of Scripture we see in the New Testament.  After Jesus’ resurrection, He tells His disciples they have a responsibility and a mission.  Jesus is not leaving them with an easy task.  They are called to win the lost.  We are called to win the lost!

I am often scared to get out of my comfort zone.  I want God to do amazing things through me and to me, but I am often so not willing to go the distance for Him to do so.  

Most of us probably enjoy going to some kind of sporting event or some type of show where we are entertained.  We enjoy being spectators, do we not?  We enjoy watching a game or watching an entertaining show.  It’s fun to just sit back and relax to watch a show.  With a game, it’s fun to root on your team and give support.  Now, what if someone from the game or from the show came out and grabbed you from your seat and said, “Let’s go, you’re on!”.  Whoa!  Would we be a little scared?  Of course.  Being pulled from the safety of being the spectator to actually being involved in the action!  Completely different scenario! 

Even though that may bring a laugh to some of us, it really portrays the truth with how we live our lives.  We tend to want to be spectators and not be involved in the action of what Christ calls us to do in the world around us.  We see things happen and pass us by and we just move on with life.  Somehow, I think we expect others to take care of the dirty business because either we are busy or we just don’t have the desire to step out of the comfort zone.

If we are going to win the lost, we gotta leave our comfort zones.  

God Gave More Than A Good Enough Effort

"God Gave More Than A Good Enough Effort"
By Zach Wood
Philippians 2:1-11

What if God had a “good enough” attitude?  Almost all of us use what if statements.  We say “What if?” a lot, do we not?  What if this happens?  What if that happens?  What if, what if, what if?  We find ourselves sometimes buried underneath these statements.   

  

Could you imagine how it would be if God would have used this phrase in His effort to come to this earth to save us?  What if God would have looked down on us and said to Jesus, “Go to earth, meet some people, but don’t spend too much time trying to get them to understand who I am.  If they listen, ok.  If they don’t, don’t worry about it and don’t put too much effort into trying to reach them.  It’s good enough if you just show them some of My Love.  Don’t do anymore than you have to for them.”

If that would have been what happened with Jesus coming to this earth, I cannot imagine what life would be like right now.  We would have no hope.

The wonderful news here is that God did not have a “good enough” attitude.  He had so much more of a love for us that far surpasses that!  Sending Jesus Christ to this earth to build relationships with people was not all He did.  He went to the Cross of Calvary and proved His love for us!  He hung on that Cross and died an agonizing death to show His love.  There is absolutely no love greater than that! 

  

How in the world can we read this powerful passage about Christ’s humility and continue to live with a “good enough” attitude?  It breaks my heart to know that I have fallen to live a mediocre life at times with my attitude.  Just doing things good enough to just live.  Just doing enough to get through my day just to do the things I want to do.  Spending a little time with my wife and kids so that I can write on my punchcard that I’ve done my time for the day with them.

I am so thankul God gave more than a "good enough" effort.  He gave His all!

A Good Enough Attitude Affects Your Relationships

"A Good Enough Attitude Affects Your Relationships"

By Zach Wood

Ephesians 4:29

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Your relationships with others can and will be greatly affected when you exhibit a mediocre life.  Your ways of doing things will not be such a great example and the ways you show others how to do things may not be taken with sincerity or be meaningful. 

It is quite easy, when we fall into the mediocre way of life, to let the things we say to others become less and less meaningful.  Before we know it, we have stopped giving encouragement to others.  We have stopped going that “extra mile” to help others out.  We just become melancholy.  When we are not trying our best anymore, people see that and wonder.

I struggle with the “good enough” attitude at my job.  I strugge with it during my family time.  I even struggle with it doing church work.  All areas of my life suffer when I have the "good enough" attitude.  I find myself thinking “This is good enough" when I could be doing much better. 

If we possess a “good enough” attitude, then what is coming out of our mouths all day long while we work or when we go to church or when we are with our families?  Probably not the most encouraging and uplifting words.  If we are allowing words to come out that are not lifting others up and giving them positive thoughts to think about, we need to reconsider our attitude.

Our relationships with others will be strengthened when we have more than a good enough attitude.  People are listening to us when we talk.  Are they hearing positive things or negative things?  To be an effective witness in our relationships, we need to be positive and be a Godly role model.

A Good Enough Attitude Results In A Mediocre Effort

"A Good Enough Attitude Results In A Mediocre Effort"
By Zach Wood
Colossians 3:1-3
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

 I keep asking myself this question.  How in the world can I expect incredible things to happen in my life if I am only willing to have a “good enough” attitude?  It’s like I’m expecting God to do something more amazing to me and with me while only giving a half-hearted effort.  If I am not able to put my whole heart into everything I do and do it to the best of my ability, then I cannot expect great results.  That’s when I need to do a self-evaluation of my attitude and heart. 

As Christians, our lives are now with Christ.  We are no longer our own, but bought by the blood of Christ!  We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ.  Anytime our mind is focused on the things of this world, we take our eyes off of Christ, mediocrity can settle in and that results in problems.  We end up giving a mediocre effort when we are not focused on what God desires.  If we focus on Christ, our "good enough" attitude turns into a "give it our all" attitude!  

We are called to praise God in every situation we encounter.  No matter what we encounter, God challenges us to give Him thanks and to be a witness.  However, we are human and we often fall into a slump where we don’t feel like trying.

There are many reasons we can fall into the slump of having an attitude that gives mediocre results:

Fatigue

Uncertainty of life

Things weighing you down at home/work/school/church

Not having any goals in life set

These and other things can result in our mood shifting to not caring about much and just doing enough to get the job done at work, at home, at church, at school and then going off to do your own thing.  It’s normal sometimes to feel like you don’t care about anything.  We all fall into that mode at times.  However, if we stay in that “good enough” mentality, it will affect our lives dramatically.

I encourage all of us to remember that we must set our minds and hearts on things above, not on the material, earthly things that will not last.  We need to go from "good enough" to "giving our all".  Why?  Because God gave so much more and didn't have a "good enough" attitude.

He gave us His all, so why can't we give our all?

Devotional Info

Dear Devotional Readers,

I wanted to take a few moments and write to you all to let you know that I have been thinking about the inconsistency of my writings for the past couple of years.  It is no surprise to you all that I have not been sending out my "weekly" devotionals for a while now.  This has been heavy on my heart and I have decided that I am going to take a break for a while in writing these devotionals.  I am not ending my writing, but just taking a break. 

I hope to resume my writings by the summer.  I have not been putting piority on my writings and I believe I just need time to collect more thoughts and pray for God's direction for this writing ministry. 

I appreciate your understanding and I will keep you posted on when I shall resume the devotionals.

God Bless,
Zach Wood

Good Or Bad Fruit?

"Good Or Bad Fruit?"
By Zach Wood
Luke 6:43-45
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.  Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.  People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.  The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.  For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

When you go into a grocery store and head to the produce section to get some fruit, how many of you would be grossed out if you saw apples that had brown spots all over them?  How about if the grapes were all smashed and squishy?  What if you went to get some strawberries and you saw mold all over them in the container?  I doubt many of you would make the purchase and take any home to your family to consume.  That would be disgusting.  When you buy fruit, you want to purchase what looks good and ripe.  We would not consider buying fruit that looks gross because we want value in the fruit we buy and consume.

Just as others would be turned off to a gross produce section of fruit in a grocery store, they are also turned off when they look at our lives and see bad fruit.  This is a terrific parable from Christ.  Do you desire people to see good or bad fruit in your life?  Well...duh....of course you want people to see good fruit.  However, many of us live our lives in a way that shows bad or moldy fruit.  The problem is we tend to let so much from the world enter our minds and hearts and we allow our tree(bodies) to become saturated with mold and then our fruit looks gross.  How can we expect others to want to know Christ if our fruit looks bad?  Whatever we are storing up in our hearts and entertaining in our minds will come out in our words and actions.  If that is good fruit, then we will be productive and show Christ's love.  If it is bad fruit, what we do will not be desired by others.

There is probably not one of us who would say we desire to have bad things come from our lives.  We desire and strive for what is good and will glorify God.  It is that daily battle with sin that we all struggle with.  We just have to decide if we are going to be strong in Christ and let Him lead us and guide us so that we show the good fruit and not the bad.  In order to grow, we must be in His Word daily and grow from His teachings.  There is no way around that.  We simply cannot expect to show good fruit in our lives if we are not daily growing in His commands.  There is no way we can expect to show the good fruit of His love if we are not taking the time to grow through His Word.  It is not gonna happen.

It is my prayer and desire that we all live better lives for Christ and strive harder to show good fruit in our lives.  We need to keep our tree full of good fruit.  If bad fruit grows, we need to take care of it and get rid of what is causing that bad fruit to grow.  God will prune us so that we can grow the good fruit.  It might be painful, but well worth getting rid of in order for the good fruit to grow so others can see Him through us. 

Are you bearing good fruit or bad fruit?

Controlled

"Controlled"
By Zach Wood
Romans 8:6-8
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God.  It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.  Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.


When I was a kid, I remember getting remote-controlled toys that were quite fun to play with.  I would spend hours controlling a car to do cool and funny things.  It was neat how that provided so much entertainment in my young years as a boy.  Something about being in control of that little car and making it do things I wanted it to do was just fun.  I had complete control.  Whatever button I pushed or how I steered the little wheel on the remote, the car did what I wanted it to do.  As you can imagine, I had fun bumping the thing into walls and sending it off little ramps I put up.  It was fun to see the tricks I could do with the car I controlled.

In our lives, we have a choice who we are controlled by.  Are we going to allow ourselves to be controlled by the sinful nature and allow Satan to use the remote to crash our lives and bump into things that will hurt us?  Or, are we going to allow the Spirit to control us and steer us in the directions we need to go?  The enemy wants nothing more than to kick us around and steer us in every direction that will hurt us and bring misery into our lives.  When Satan has the remote control, there will never be happiness and joy long-term, only temporary pleasures.  We may speed our way through some things and think they are fun at the time, but they will eventually result in pain and heartache. 

When we allow the Spirit to control our lives, we focus our mind on eternal things.  We experience peace like never before.  We are controlled by the Spirit and are led into a life that is rewarding.  Now, this is not to say we will not experience any grief, sorrow or pain.  There is no life that we can live void of these things.  That is just life.  No way to avoid grief, sorrow and pain.  However, when we are controlled by the Spirit, we can experience comfort, peace and joy only by the power of God. 

Who controls you?  Is it the sinful nature or is it the Holy Spirit?  Do you feel like the Apostle Paul who in chapter 7 of Romans explains the constant struggle of sin?  Each day, we must all make the choice whether we are going to be controlled and led by the sinful nature or by the Holy Spirit.  If we choose to be led and controlled by the Holy Spirit, we must be strong in prayer and ask Him to lead us.  Remember, a mind that is hostile to God and chooses the sinful nature cannot in any way please God.  If we choose to be led by the sinful nature, nothing good will ever come out of that lifestyle.  Only the life led by the Spirit in accordance to God's word will result in happiness and eternal rewards.

I encourage you today to examine your heart and decide each day who will control you?  The enemy or the Spirit?