We've been in a series at church for a few weeks now called, "Masquerade". Figuratively speaking, all of us wear masks at different points in our lives to cover up or hide what's really going on. In doing so, not only do we cover up who we really are, but we also deny ourselves the opportunity to get real with God, deal with our issues and become the people he really longs for us to be. So this series has been taking a look at some of the different masks we wear and challenging us to take off those masks and get real with God.

This week we looked at the mask of success. If it's true that every mask we wear hides something, then what Pastor Mark shared, was that the mask of success hides the lack of true identity in Christ. As this thought was developed I thought it was a fascinating idea to think about. If you think about our pursuit of success in this world, often it is motivated by image. In other words, our pursuit of success is a pursuit to create a certain kind of image for ourselves with wealth, possessions, status, etc. And the level of success we reach becomes our identity. So in essence, our identity is not defined by who we truly are but by what we accomplish and achieve, and those things mask our true identity.

But if we take off the mask of success and redefine it in God's terms, the very foundation of how we define success changes. Where the mask of success is defined by image... an image we create for ourselves that becomes our identity... success in God's eyes is defined by our identity (who we are in Christ) and this identity becomes our image. We could very easily do the same things in either scenario, but the motivation behind why we do those things totally changes. No longer are we vainly pursuing wealth, possessions, and status to create an image for ourselves but we are pursuing the things that God stirs within us out of a sense of our identity in Him.

So the big question is, how do we take off the mask of success and redefine what being successful is all about? Well according to human standards which are based on image, you've become successful when you achieve a certain image of success... you've achieved a certain status and you appear successful. According to God's standard which is based on identity, you become successful when you understand who you are in Christ, you get a sense of what God has created you to do and you live your life to fulfill that mission of what you were created for... your calling from God. What exactly that calling is, and what it will look like is different for every one of us because we were all created with a unique purpose. But the real goal in finding success is to understand who God has called you to be... what he has created you for... and to boldly and passionately pursue that purpose with everything that's in you every single day of your life.

God is so good and he never ceases to amaze me with the things he does and the ways he works!

I've really been wrestling a lot lately with what it means to follow Jesus... not just ideologically but in practice... to really follow him... to really live my life differently.

So a group of us from church have been studying the book "Weird: Because Normal Isn't Working" by Craig Groeshel and really talking about what it means to follow Jesus and live for him... but not just talk about it, live it!

Well, God has really been dealing with my heart on the whole money issue lately... tithing, giving, generosity, living debt free, etc. and this is one of the areas in our study of "Weird" that I've really been trying to take some action steps. I know this is an area of my life where I've had the illusion of thinking I'm in control. So over the years we've been way more reliant on credit cards than we should be and in the end probably missed out on the opportunity to be reliant on God and see the miracles of his provision on so many occasions.

I've been feeling in my heart like God wants me to cut up all the credit cards and get rid of that illusion of control that keeps me from completely depending on him but it's like the worst time right now! We live in California but have a house in Michigan still that we've been renting just to try to pay all the bills. Well, our renters recently moved out leaving us with our normal bills plus our mortgage payment to carry... and to top it all off the city building inspector came through and cited us for $3000 in repairs which we don't have the money to pay for. The kicker is we can't rent the house again until the repairs are done so we have to do them.

I've been praying hard, believing God to provide, but all the while had a plan B waiting in the wings, knowing that I could use the credit cards to help pay the bill if necessary. Last week, the day that I got the estimate from the contractor, as I was crunching numbers trying to figure out how we were going to pay this bill, the church treasurer shows up in my office with a check for $500 that someone from the church anonymously wanted to give to us! It was as if God was reminding me that he's more than able to provide... Cool, indeed... however, there still is $2500 that we don't have!

Ironically, if we were able to find renters for the house, the first months rent, the security deposit and the $500 anonymous gift would almost exactly cover the bill. But we haven't had much luck in finding renters. Lots of interest but nothing coming through. So I just continued to believe that God could provide but my plan B was still waiting in the wings.

Well, today I was watching a message online about Bold Obedience to God and I just knew in my heart at the end of this message that the Bold step of obedience I needed to take was to cut up all the credit cards and trust that God would provide. I was terrified knowing that there was no other way to pay this bill if the credit cards were gone but I knew it's what I had to do to truly trust God in this situation. I collected all the credit cards and was getting up out of my chair to go run them through the shredder (still terrified if I was making the right decision) when I glanced at my phone and noticed I had an email. It was from one of the people who had previously gone through our house stating that they really liked the house and are planning to submit an application in the next couple days!

Nothing is for sure at this point but it was just the confirmation I needed!

The credit cards have been run through the shredder!

God is good!

I've been reading the records of the kings of Israel and Judah in the Old Testament. The records are filled with wicked king after wicked king who led the people of God in idol worship, sin and rebellion against God. And then every once in a while you find a king who was fully devoted to God and would destroy the idols, shrines and high places and lead the people back to God.

I've glossed over these passages before but as I read them today, I was particularly struck by the tremendous courage of these kings who were devoted to God and led the people back to Him. Certainly it couldn't have been an easy thing to go against the tide of what had become "normal" in that culture and to bring about significant cultural change. It had to have taken a great deal of courage and conviction to stand up against the cultural current and turn things around.

As I mentioned, I've glossed over these passages before, feeling somewhat removed from the cultural context but I wonder how removed we really are. Do we not live in a culture that is full of idolatry, sin and rebellion? Certainly our idolatry, sin and rebellion looks different than it did back then, but is it not still idolatry, sin and rebellion? Doesn't it seem that these things have become the cultural norm for us? We adapt ourselves to less than godly ways of living and become numb to them because that's what's normal.

I wonder, then, where are the leaders, the people fully devoted to God who would follow the example of these courageous kings and rise up with courage and conviction to bring change? It may not be any easy road to walk, but doesn't God deserve for us to take a stand for Him?

May God fill you with passion, devotion, conviction and courage to be all he has created you to be and to stand up for what is right.