Ordering Your Private World, Week 5

Hope for the Driven Person:
“Can the driven person be changed? Most certainly. It begins when such a person faces up to the fact that he is operating according to drives and not calls. That discovery is usually made in the blinding, searching light of an encounter with Christ.” (page 48)

“Paul the apostle in his pre-Christian days was driven. As a driven man, he studied, he attained, he defended, and he was applauded… later, when he could look back at that life-style with all of its compulsions, he would say, ‘it was all worthless.’ …Paul was driven until Christ called him… when, in complete submission, he asked Jesus Christ, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ A driven man was converted into a called one.” (page 48)

John—A Picture of a Called Man:
[27] John replied, "God in heaven appoints each person's work. [28] You yourselves know how plainly I told you that I am not the Messiah. I am here to prepare the way for him—that is all. [29] The bride will go where the bridegroom is. A bridegroom's friend rejoices with him. I am the bridegroom's friend, and I am filled with joy at his success. [30] He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. (John 3:27-30)

Called People Understand Stewardship. Saul acted like the throne belonged to Him. John knew that “his” crowds were only “his” until it was time to turn them over to their real owner, Jesus. “His crowds may be our careers, our assets, our natural and spiritual gifts, our health. Are these things owned, or merely managed in the name of the One who gave them?” (page 54)

Called People Know Exactly Who They Are. John not only knew who he was, but also who he was NOT—the messiah. “…Those whose private worlds are in disarray tend to get their identities confused. They can have an increasing ability to separate role from person. What they do is indistinguishable from who they are.” (page 54)

Called People Possess an Unwavering Sense of Purpose. Notice that John’s purpose was to bring glory to Jesus.

Called People Understand Unswerving Commitment. John was 100% committed to Jesus, to the point of saying “he must increase, but I must decrease.”

Because of These Things, Called People (Like John) are Filled With Peace and Joy.

Becoming Called:
[1] It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. [2] Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living out in the wilderness. [3] Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had turned from their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. (Luke 3:1-3)

The Word of God Came to John… In the WILDERNESS. John experienced both quiet and dependence upon God in the wilderness.

“Look inside. What makes you tick? Why are you doing all of that? What do you hope to gain as a result? Andwhat would be your reaction if it was all taken away?”