Becoming a Man of Significance (Pt. III)

Learning to Rest in God

Before I left Singing Waters, Canada my spiritual mentor's wife gave me a powerful quote from Beth Moore.

"Remember this important fact about God. He never asks anything of us to make Himself look better. The demands He makes on our lives are NEVER for his personal gain. We cannot make Him anymore God than He already is. He would be no less Lord of Lords if no one believed. Every urging and exhortation of God to us is for one major reason. He desires that we have the pleasure of knowing, serving, and sharing Him."

How true this quote is. God is no less God if we disobey or obey Him. He doesn't need our works. He doesn't need us to do anything for Him. He is the great I AM, period. For so long, I thought I had to win the world for Jesus, that it was my responsibility and task to finish the Great Commission, that without me doing God a favor, God would not get anything done on this earth. How proud and foolish I was to think this. God will accomplish what He has set out to do, with or without me. My response to His Great Commission is simply a privilege to know, serve and share with Him in His glory and in "His" mission.

When I ponder His greatness, His power and sovereignty, I am able to rest. I am able to rest in the knowledge that God is God, He will do what He says He will do, and I get to have fun holding His hand while He's doing it and come along side of Him for the ride! God is a playful God. He loves to be with His children. He wants to share with us His wonder, His love and His glory. Everything in this earth, the oceans, the skies, the mountains above and valleys below were created as gifts for you and me. He loves us with a compassion that will never end. He wants us to live in His rest and He wants us to live from His rest.

The Father's been telling me, "Jaeson, It's okay to rest! You are not a human doing, you are a human being. Created to be-loved and be my beloved. Even if you never did another thing for Me, it would not change my great love for you. I will carry you from start to finish in my arms of love. Son, I will be there for you when you fall down, I will be right there for you when you get back up. I'll never stop cheering you on, I am confident that what I started in you, I will finish. You are the apple of my eye and the desire of my heart. You are my son, greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved. You will always be great in my eyes, no matter what you do right, or what you do wrong. You are perfect as my love for you is perfect. Rest in the knowledge of my love for you son, I am your heavenly Father and I will never stop loving you."

Good times :)

A Man's True Success

What I've learned in the last ten days in Singing Waters, let alone my ten years as a born again Christ follower is this; that a man's true success is not in what he does, but in who he is. Success is not about what you do, who you know, what you have, or anything else. Success is not a state of doing it is a state of being. Success is about knowing God.

"And this is eternal life that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3)

Success is about truly knowing and loving others. "Love them just as I have loved you." Being a Christ follower is simple, it's about one thing: LOVE. No more, no less. Just learn to love and you'll be okay. Really, it sounds cliché, but it's definitively true. Love is the foundation of everything. It is the foundation for why God exists, for why we were created. It is the foundation and purpose of all things. Love will never fade away, it will last forever. Love is why we are here. And we can't learn to love without one another. We need God. We need each other. We were created for relationship. We need to share this love with every human being and this is what makes life a success. When we learn to truly love, we have achieved success. We will be people of significance.

To be a person of significance is to live for a purpose bigger than your-self. It is to be self less and others focused. It is about standing for righteousness and justice. Don't get me wrong, I'm not promoting us to do nothing, I believe that we are to fight for truth, to pray for the ending of abortion, to speak for those who don't have a voice, to stand up for what is right, to take care of the orphans and widows, to preach the Gospel to all nations, to dream big dreams, to have high hopes and to believe that with God anything is possible. But, I just want to make sure that in everything we do for God that our hearts are pure and we remember why we do what we do. We do it because of love, because of relationship, and because it's right.

Becoming a man of significance to me is about faithfulness. It's about being faithful to God, being faithful to my family, my friends and those God has placed in my life to love. I want to be man who is faithful to his future wife, be it the Lord's will, that I will cherish her and nourish her all my days. I desire to be a man who is faithful to my future children, being a dad who was always there for his kin, and never loving ministry more than his own family. I want to be a man who is faithful to his values, faithful to his beliefs, his convictions and doing what is right, even when it is hard to do so. I want to be that man, that when he falls, he keeps getting back up again and again. For a righteous man falls down seven times, but he gets back up. I want to follow my heart, do what is right, and live a full life. I want a life full of meaningful moments, wild adventure and glorious battles that were won for the Lord, not alone though, but with my family, my brothers and my sisters in Christ. All men die, few men truly live.

That's what I want. I want to live again. I want to know my God, know others and make His love known from a pure heart. Oh God, make me a man of significance!

To See God in Everything Makes Life the Greatest Adventure

So the day I get back from Singing Waters, the following happened. I believe God is confirming to me loud and clear, how simple it is to be a person of significance. It's not about the big show or the big ministry. It's about loving God and helping others, each day, as they come your way. Good times!

Email Subject: My UPS Delivery Guy…ACCEPTED CHRIST TONIGHT!

Please pray!

So...I just got back from Singing Waters Canada (prepare for a interesting journal entry later) but that's not why I'm writing...

I'm writing because my UPS delivery guy (Fernando) GAVE HIS LIFE TO CHRIST 5 MINUTES AGO ON THE PHONE!!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!

So, about two months ago this UPS truck pulls up to my house and delivers a few boxes of my book to me. I get to talking with the delivery guy and decide to give him a copy of my book and pray for him. He was totally open, I shared my testimony and prophesied over him and he was really touched. I told him to call me if he ever needed anything.

Well, tonight around 9:30pm I get a random call. It's the same guy from UPS! He calls me up desperate because his family is falling apart and his girlfriend who is also the mother of his three children are on the verge of separation after 20 years of relationship. It was totally God, I counseled him for a good bit, then I told him what he needed to do, to forgive her and talk it out, but most of all to pray :)

He then says, "So how do I pray?" Right then, I told him he needed to know Jesus. But then his phone died out! Then I get a call from Sophie and we talk a good bit....after a half hour later or more, I was thinking, "No, I have to call him again and not let the enemy take away his salvation!"

I call him again, he picks up and I say, "So you still want to learn how to pray?" He says, "Absolutely!" I share the Gospel with him and invite him to repent and give his life to Christ. He prayed with me over the phone and at the end I could hear it in his voice, he was a different man. He told me, "I feel good right now, like bro, really I feel good like I'm a different person, God bless you and your family!"

I then share with him on how to read the Bible, talk with God through prayer and walk in the power of the Spirit. I also taught him to immediately share His new found faith with everyone he knew, especially his family. He then asked me if I could come down asap to his home in Riverside to preach the Gospel to his family and friends and said he would make sure everyone he knew in his community would come!

I told him I was heading to Asia on Monday, but I would send Thomas (our campus leader at UC Riverside) hahhaha....I haven't even told Thomas yet! But Thomas you are going to go preach the Gospel to his family and community and start a new church!!!!! WOOHOOOO!!!

OK. So pray for Fernando to grow in the love of Christ!

And pray for his girlfriend "Marie" and his three children to be reconciled also to Christ and to be happy family again :D

And pray that we start a simple church movement in his community in Riverside be it God's will!

HAPPY DAYS :D

Blessings,

JMA

(so the next day, Fernando drove up to my house in his UPS truck with a big smile on his face and soda can as a gift to me. He wanted to thank me, but also ask for more prayer and help with his family situation. I gave him five new Bibles on the spot, made sure he was water baptized and prayed for him to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He was immediately filled, and we prayed together for God to heal his family. About two hours later he called me and said, "Jaeson, I want to thank you and thank God. When I got home Marie and my children were waiting for me. We talked things out, and God did a miracle. I am going to keep praying everyday. I pray that God makes me a better person.")

He hasn't just made you a better person Fernando, He's made you a better man, He is making you into a man of significance!

--
"do something everyday that scares you" :D

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can." John Wesley

posted by Jaeson Ma @ 1/27/2008 08:08:00 AM