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What motivates you to get up everyday and engage in the front line of the Kingdom of God?
Motivation to show up.
In the grind.
Live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit in faithfulness to your Father.
Recently, I heard a story about Michael Jordan. Jordan is famous for finding reasons, even making them up, to destroy his opponents every night. The NBA schedule is 82 games a year plus playoffs. You can imagine how hard getting up for each game could become. What a grind.
Jeff Van Gundy was the coach of the New York Knicks when Jordan played for the Chicago Bulls. Van Gundy once called Jordan a con man, saying Jordan lulled NBA players to not try as hard against him just by being their friend. Van Gundy thought Jordan used friendship as a competitive advantage.
The next time the Bulls played the Knicks, Jordan scored 51!
Jordan looked for any competitive advantage he could to win.
What motivates you? Unlike an 82-game season, you wake into the arena of life 365 days a year. Even on vacation, you are in the arena. How are you daily energized to engage in the Kingdom? I think each of us has to figure this out for ourselves.
Here are some of my motivations:
1. Salvation – My encounter of Jesus in my salvation opened my eyes to a completely different reality. It was not just that Jesus forgave me of my sins, but He began to show me His Kingdom. I had no idea. Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
2. Access – I regularly have powerful experiences with our Father in the Holy Spirit. I am in awe of opening the Holy Word of the Living God and being with Him every day. Someone like me gets to be with Him (Hebrews 10:19-25, 1 John 4:19).
3. Wisdom – Many, many times the Holy Spirit gives me direction in circumstances I can’t navigate. His willingness and ability to make me a man, a husband, a father, a friend, and a warrior is incredible to experience (John 14:16-17, James 1:5-8).
4. Pain – I am daily motivated by the amount of pain in which I find people. Pain both frustrates and motivates me. Some pain cannot be healed. However, there is a lot of unnecessary suffering caused by a lack of understanding of how Kingdom love works. I wake everyday motivated to meet with people in their pain, be a friend, and, when possible, help them find restoration and power (Matthew 9:36-38).
5. Privilege – I get to run the race that the Creator of the Universe created me to run. How is that possible? The wonder of running His race is daily nourishment (Hebrews 12:1-2).
6. Hatred – I hate Satan. I hate the way he wrecks lives and spreads destruction. I hate the way he lures people away from the simplicity of devotion to Christ. I hate his lies and his whispers. I want to be used by our Father to deliver people from his grip (John 10:10, 2 Timothy 2:24-26).
Life can be such a grind. 365 days a year you have to wake up and live. What keeps you going? What keeps you focused on Jesus? What drives you to live and walk in the Holy Spirit? Why read Scripture? Why give yourself away to others?
One key ingredient that has significantly helped me stay on fire for a long time is building deep relationships with others who are equally on fire. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Let us run…” We are not made to run alone. As the Trinity is one God in three Persons, so we have not been made to survive on our own. We need each other. I have seen in the Kingdom that fire begets fire. I am surrounded by a group of men and women on fire to run their races.
May the Holy Spirit clarify for you your motivation.
In the Overflow, when God goes first in all things, there is great, unquenchable fire!
