Change.

We live in a world where the only constant is change. It's even a reality in our bodies.

As we age, we have a tendency to live more from memory than imagination (Brain science has confirmed that the neural pathways in your brain literally harden unless you "exercise" them). For many of us, change is difficult. Social scientists say that 70% of us prefer the past and the present to the future. It's too risky/different/unknowable/uncertain/_______.

But here's a reality. To be Christlike is to change. John, Jesus' cousin who became a prophet in the desert said it this way: "He must increase, I must decrease."

If I follow Jesus, this will always be true. Less of my influence. More of Jesus' influence. Less of my desires. More of Jesus' desires. Less of my thoughts and opinions about things. More of Jesus' thoughts and opinions about things.

So how do you do it?

Dallas Willard says change always happens in this order.

Vision - A vision of God that lets me see both how good and how immense God is and how my little life might become a part of his goodness and power.

Intention - The decision to do something about that vision and move toward it.

Means or Method - Some tangible way to bring the change into my life. For example, begin serving the poor because I see that God cares about the poor. Or begin praying to God as a good Father and let pray become a relational thing (what we are doingn together) instead of a functional thing (what I need or want). Or begin reading Scripture every day to be soaked in God's reality.

Where are you on the change cycle?

Diagnosing your life with the 23rd Psalm

One of the reasons we don't grow is that we don't assess. We just kind of hope growth will happen. We don't know how we are doing, don't know our own barriers, don't know what we need to do next--because we don't assess.

A caveat: We don't make ourselves grow, but we do have a lot to do with removing the barriers to growth. We are our own lid.

So if you looked at Psalm 23, arguably one of the most famous passages in the entire Bible, as a tool for diagnosing your barriers to the growth God means for you, what would it tell you?

Verses 1-2: Are you going so fast there is no time to be led to still waters or green pastures so that your soul is restored?

Verse 3: Are you so fixed on your path that God couldn't offer a course correction to a new (or renewed) one filled with right living and relationships?

Verse 4: Are you so gripped with fear that you are overwhelmed by constant nagging thoughts about "the worst that could happen"?

Verse 5: Are your enemies (people, things, circumstances) so in front of you, so in your field of vision that you can't imagine any sort of restfulness in the middle of them? Are they a reason, for you, of a scarcity mentality that keeps you from seeing God's abundance?

Verse 6: Do you believe God's love, mercy and goodness are in such short supply that most of your life will need to be lived with neglect, striving and proof of your existence...and that experiences of love, mercy and goodness will be few and far between rather than the things that chase you every day?

Good news. Figure out your barrier, and turn to the Lord who is a shepherd able to lead sheep like you and me through any seemingly insurmountable barrier. Or as the Psalmist said it:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. That's something to write on a life, not a tombstone.

--Scott

5 Ways to use Lent as fertilizer for your growth

1. Stop doing something you normally do. Use the space you would normally give to that thing (Facebook, drinking coffee, responding with sarcasm, etc) to 1) pray and 2) remember Jesus' sacrifice on your behalf. Do it for 40 days and you'll be overwhelmed at what Jesus did when you weigh against how difficult it is for you to stop that one thing.

2. Start doing something. Reframe Friday from TGIF! to a day of blessing. Bless someone intentionally. Hold the door open for them. Buy the order of the person in line behind you at the drive-thru. Take your neighbor's trash container back to their house. Your creativity is the limit.

3. Read Scripture. If you don't already have a plan, you can follow the daily Scripture to the right in the Scripture feed, get the Scripture sent to your phone each day by sending follow stltrinity to 40404 or picking up a Scripture card on Sunday or by clicking here to download a copy of the Scripture reading card.

4. Examine your heart. Pray and ask God for insight. To help with that, our series through Lent is a look at the Lord's Prayer called Prayer: The Heart's Home. Write out your goals for your life. What do you want to contribute? How committed are you to God's kingdom? To what degree do you understand the calling on your life? What do you want people to say about you at your funeral? What do you want your kids to say about you? It's never too late to become who you were meant to be.

5. Suffer. No one likes this. No one wants it. No one would welcome it. Honestly, it's the manure of life. And who wants to step in that? But there is something to be said for it. Ask a farmer or gardener and they'll tell you, 'manure is the best way to stimulate growth in a plant.'

The story of Joseph found in Genesis 37-47 (the scene of him meeting his brothers again after they've sold him into slavery--effectively leaving him for dead--chokes me up every time) is a prime example. Only after going through intense suffering is he able to say to his brothers, the one's who were the source of his suffering, "Do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you." Genesis 45:5