North of Normal | The blog of Byron Bledsoe

Lessons From ‘07 – Part 1

Posted on December 29th, 2007.

As we wrap up they year, there are a number of things I’ve learned. I remember being thrilled that ‘06 was over, thinking how much better ‘07 would be. The challenges of ‘06 carried over to ‘07 for a while before things got jacked and better. This year has been a year of tremendous growth for me, personally. I’ve tried to learn from my mistakes, as well as from all that life brought me. Over the next coupe days I’ll share some of those lessons.

One of the main things I’ve learned is that life is really very simple, but even in that simplicity I don’t have all the answers. I’m really striving to live a life of loving God and loving others. That sounds so good, but it brings honkin’ challenges. The loving others part is not something that comes natural to me. I’ve had to ask God continually to give me a greater love for others. As the year went by and God and others became more of my focus, I learned the following:

While here on earth, we really do love God BY loving others.
When you focus on others, the “brothers” often get jealous. This isn’t new, i.e. the prodigal son’s brother… I really used to believe that if you reached more people “Christians” would be overwhelmed with joy. Huge lesson – I was never more wrong!!! They will often use any means to discredit what you’re doing. It’s really not a big deal because those kinds of people rally around negativity and lies, which always eventually comes back to bite them. You can’t rally people around creating a culture of vultures with spiritual talk and innuendo, griping and complaining (murmuring…) and it last. Once your “issue” is over, many of these people will eventually turn on you and do the same thing. Create a culture of criticism and it’s what you’ll live with. Because of this, I pray harder for several pastors in Central Florida. They’re only one decision away from their biggest fans becoming their greatest critics (I know because many of their biggest fans used to be some of my biggest fans who became my loudest critics… now they’re somebody else’s fans, soon to be…). The fastest way to bring these people out is to focus more and more on “others”… it won’t take long.
If the laser focus that is given by some to trying to destroy and discredit churches that are reaching people were transitioned to simply reaching people, it wouldn’t take long to change the world. Have you read these verses?
God has continually confirmed in my heart, often through fire, that I’m doing what I was born to do – what a life!!!
I’ve learned you can be both scared and confident at the same time. Not knowing what tomorrow holds and how it will look can be frightening, but knowing who holds tomorrow and how you’re chasing him brings overwhelming confidence. We have one life to give, how will you invest it? Check this out!
Insecure people can often see your confidence in Christ as personal arrogance.
There is something I can learn and grow from in any situation, regardless of the motives of the one who brings it to me.
Those who want you to fail, will do anything they can to distract you from God’s purposes. The more you stay focused, the angrier they get.
Most “Christians” I’ve known think verses like this one are optional (and they always have excuses for why it doesn’t apply to them – kind of a dangerous pattern with Scripture!) – but Christ-followers understand it and live it.