21. January 2010 by BruceSmith.

Who Are You?

“Who are you?” Can you hear the question resounding from behind the persona of the man called The Wizard of Oz?  “Who are you…who are you?”  The question, asked throughout the ages, is of course, of paramount importance.  Others have suggested, “I think, therefore, I am.”  Others, “I yam what I yam.”  The question lingers for each of us.

Who are you?  The temptation for all of us, in reality, is to answer that question based upon what is happening in our lives at any particular moment.  Some, upon the heels of success, would answer the question by saying, “I’m a deal maker!”  Some, perhaps, would suggest, amidst the throws of failure, “I’m a loser, defeated, worthless.”  Others, depending upon the season of life they find themselves in, might correlate their sense of being to a relationship, bank account, altruistic endeavor, athletic accomplishment, hobby, or something else.  But who are we fundamentally?  Its worth considering on the deepest of levels.

The bible suggests that our “being” is determined, not by what we have done, faced, or experienced, but rather, by who we are in relationship to God the Father.  This is a critical truth on so many levels.  For, like Job, to name one, if we face a season of life where we are plagued with defeat after defeat, our only hope for solace, joy, and enthusiasm, will come from our understanding that God, despite our location in life, still loves us and is working His plan in our life regardless of what the world around us looks like.  Contrarily, like the rich young ruler who Jesus encountered, if we assume our place and “being”, our fundamental existence, is defined by what we have, then when the thought of losing all of that, or giving it away, comes rushing into our consciousness, nothing but panic, insecurity, and grief will confront us.  There must be something more.

Jesus said it plainly when He suggested that all who have seen Him have seen the Father, and all who have Him, have the Father.  He suggests that this is the definitive reality of our lives.  Life with God or life apart from Him; on the most basic of levels, this is all that will ever remain.  That is the bottom line.  All other realities of our lives play second fiddle.  This is why men who have known untold success have lived ruinous inner, moral, spiritual, and relational lives.  And it is why women like Marilyn Monroe, Anna Nicole Smith, and so many others, have found no real inner peace despite the beauty of their form, the size of their celebrity status, or the worship of culture.  

I ask you plainly today, who are you? Has your life been characterized by success after success?  Do people look at you and applaud all you do?  Do people whisper how great you are?  Are you really?  Are you the person God has called you to be in your inner, personal, and spiritual world?  Do you understand your worth is not located in the opinions of others?  Or, alternately, are you living a life less than everything you hoped for?  Have you failed morally, financially, relationally, professionally or otherwise?  Is a dream you have always craved remaining merely a dream?  Does this reality define your moods, emotions, esteem levels, and relating patterns?  Have you allowed the scars of the past to dictate your present inner reality?

Here is the good news for each of us; a life lived apart from God can be redeemed as we turn toward Him, embrace Him, and pursue His loving plan for us.  Our success or failure in this life can become a critical part of the plan of God to use us to make an impact on our planet.  Our success, defined by God and led by His hand, can be a huge source of blessing and leadership for others.  Our defeats can become a cornerstone of the mercy, grace, and compassion of God in our life and in the lives of others as we exemplify His restorative power.

We are not defined by the shallow pronouncements of a broken and distracted world that has abandoned its spiritual moorings.  Our identities are established in our relationship with Christ.  If we never measure up to the dreams we set for ourselves or the dreams imparted to us by our families, our hearts and souls can yet thrive in Christ.  If all the accolades and money and fame possible come our way, we can weather the storm of such pleasure and excess which seeks to distort our souls, and we can be defined by something bigger than that also.  Life, true life, is found in the eternal realm.  Our eternal lives are secure in Him if we have surrendered ourselves to Him.  He is the shoreline we all crave when tossed upon the tumultuous seas of life.  He is our refuge amidst the exhausting fight of daily life.  He is the sobriety we all need amidst the excess of pleasure and comfort.  He is our all.  He must define us.  One way or another, we are, indeed, defined by how we relate to Him.

And so, here is your life thought for the day. 

Life Thought: I am defined by God’s view of me. The varying impressions I have of myself are not the definitive or last word on my life nor are the opinions of others. The reality of His mercy and grace and truth, alone, are final for me. 

May we live in the light of that foundational spiritual anchor.

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

soulstormsite.com

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11. January 2010 by BruceSmith.

Living as a Lifer

Bill Dallas, in his book, Lessons from San Quentin, tells of the enormous success he acquired as a real estate mogul on the west coast.  This good looking, party hopping, social networking, sexually active, relationally distorted, and politically connected go-getter eventually saw all of his achievements, prowess, savvy, talent, and high octane living bring him down, very hard.  The thrill ride he once craved, and lived on a daily basis, eventually came off the tracks and landed him in prison.  Relationships shallow and severed, trusts broken, deals illegally shaped, and his soul neglected, Bill Dallas  found himself locked up, depressed, suicidal, and without hope.  And then, he found life…amongst the “lifers”.

Lifers, as they are known inside the prison walls, are those hardened criminals who have committed such horrible crimes that they have been handed the most severe of sentences.  Feared by Dallas as he entered the prison system, and looked down upon by him as worthless animals, these men became the very means of his transformation into a person of character, purpose, and hope.  How does such a thing happen?

As Bill Dallas tells it, it was the maturity, poise, depth, hope, and wisdom of these lifers who came to know God which captured him. Unlike the short-timers (the prisoners who were in and out regularly never learning from their mistakes), these lifers had come to see life with the kind of clarity which few ever attain.  As a result, they saw people, circumstances, and all of life in such a way, and lived in such a way, with grace and sincerity, that Bill Dallas could not help but aspire to it.  Once feeling superior, better looking, better dressed, better educated, …just better, Bill had come to see how small and shriveled he was as a person compared to these men.  And he cried out to God for a change.

If you read the book, and I encourage you to do so, you will find an amazing story of transformation, and a few principles on what it means to really live, as a “lifer”.  I would suggest to you, in fact, that each of us should live with the “lifer” mindset as our benchmark.  What is this “lifer” model for living all about?  Let’s look at a few principles, drawn form Dallas’ story with the time we have left.  

1. Life, true life, God intended life, is much bigger and much deeper than what we see around us most often.  The life reflected in the nightclubs, bar rooms, board rooms, corner offices, reality television, and that which is embraced by most people we know, is not the kind of life God offers or desires for us.  The wide road, as the bible suggests, is littered with empty lives, lives which are founded upon the “me” factor, lives which leave little room for depth, soul enrichment, and meaningful relationships.  Lifers live for something counter-cultural, something more.  The seek a richer existence.  The masses don’t motivate them.  In finding God, they find themselves and come fully alive for the first time.
2. Its what is inside that counts.  The exterior, though Desperate Housewives, Victoria Secret, The Bachelor, Hollywood, and the countless covers of so many magazines may suggest otherwise, is not the ticket to fulfillment or ego realization. No amount of physical transformation or adornment of ourselves will ever result in inner peace.  No sexual relationship with a man or woman, regardless of their exterior, will ever bring us lasting satisfaction.  The soul will always get bored with him or her no matter how alluring initially.  The inner workings of our soul need more than a well painted exterior.  And our thirst for meaningful relationships can never be quenched by a hot date or a trophy spouse.  We need more.  We yearn for more.
3. The mind must be maintained and enriched.  Our minds, what we do with them, largely dictates the quality of life we live.  Most lifers wind up in prison because they were prisoners of the mind long before they ever wound up behind bars.  If we do not learn to take control of what we think, what we watch, what we desire, and what we learn, we will be subject to the mindless living which so characterizes our world.  Have you listened to top 40 radio?  Actually listened?  Ever really listened to the music and conversations in a nightclub?  Ever really thought through what M TV is saying?  “Reality TV”?  Really??  There is a bigger reality, and a better way to engage our minds.  God calls us to a life of discerning observation, self control, and strategic use of our minds, wills, and emotions.  If we always just react to the moment or the urge without any depth of former thought or insight, we set ourselves up for relational, psychological, mental, physical, and spiritual destruction.  Use your mind.  Learn. Observe. Engage.  This is a big world worth learning about and experiencing beyond the shallowness we typically see.  The wonders of God are unfathomable.  We were not made to be passive couch potatoes, being led around by the yoke of common entertainment and coarse desire.  Were were created with a mind, and we are called to use them as God intended.  Our spiritual pursuit is the key to enjoying and growing our mind.  Without the spiritual part intact the mind is open to anything.  Dangerous.
4. The extent to which we offer ourselves to others determines our impact in the world.  Are we here just taking up space?  Are we so self aware, and self serving that we fail to see the amazing realities of the lives around us?  “Lifers”, as Bill Dallas came to see, were intentional, and thrilled about the opportunity to speak into the lives of others.  They took every chance possible to engage those short-termers who were so off track.  If they found a receptive heart, they gave of themselves in order to keep others from making the same mistakes they made in the past.  With grace, and tenderness, these wounded prisoners reached out to extend care and compassion to those who had lost their way.  They saw it as their privilege and their mandate.  They embraced it wholeheartedly.  And they impacted an entire system, an entire people. They never feared or shirked back sharing the lessons of their failure.  They always sought to champion the grace and redemptive love of God for mistake-laden souls. They, through the lives of Bill Dallas and others, have literally changed the world.  Bill Dallas now leads a ministry which reaches leaders and believers around the world.  That began with Bill Dallas encountering men who had come to grips with life and eternity.
5. Its all about Him.  Where ever we may find ourselves in this life, we must recognize its about Him.  We were made for relationship with God.  Life lived in obedience to Him, whether behind bars or in an office on the 50th floor of a major skyscraper, is what makes life worth living.  No title, position, bank account, or experience, will ever replace the God ordained hunger which resides in the heart of every human being.  We were made for intimacy with Him.  Obedience to His calling is where that intimacy is found.  No matter where you are in this life, you have access to that reality.  He is there.  And on the most fundamental of levels, its all about Him, and who He wants to be to us.  Is your life moving you toward Him?  Is your life in Him your compass?

God extends to each of us, every day, the opportunity to experience life to the full.  What are you doing with the life He gave you?  Are you living for the short-term?  Or do you have the view of a true “lifer”, one who sees the big picture in light of bigger realities?  Life lived outside of God’s call for obedience and maturity is a life imprisoned by the bars of unrealized potential.  Each of us experiences those moments when we know our hearts were built for something more, something beyond our natural ability.  We all long to escape the tedium of mediocrity and life as usual.  We search so many false options.  We travel down so many twisted and dead end routes.  We hurt so many along the way.  We lead so many who are watching us to the empty highway of the most traveled path.  If we could, in our mind’s eye, along with Bill Dallas, place ourselves in that cell with a lifer who has fallen and been redeemed by a God of grace and love, we too could experience what it really means to come alive, fully alive.  Can you see yourself there?  Can you examine your heart and your journey as you do so?  What now?

Turn a deaf ear to the ways of the world, and listen closely for the whisper of the Spirit of God.  In doing so, you just might find the kind of life you always dreamed of.  Not a life of ease and constant accomplishment and success, but rather, a life lived fully attune to every situation, circumstance, person, and purpose… a life lived as a true “lifer”.  

Live for the long haul,

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

soulstormsite.com

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