The Next Big Thing
When I was growing up, there was always a next big thing.
As a poor kid raised in Chicago’s Humboldt Park, I usually got the next big thing long after it had already peaked. By the time I got my first hand-me-down bicycle, skateboards were in. Couple years later when I finally got a skateboard, video games were all my friends talked about. On and on, from cassette players to car stereos, video cameras to VCRs, pet rocks to iPods, polo shirts to designer purses — there was always something that all the cool kids had while the rest of us lagged behind.
Without money to waste, because a box of Cap’n Crunch was a luxury in my neighborhood, I realized early on that there would always be a next big thing. It’s how advertisers, and all the product producers behind them, stay in business. Their job is to make people feel even more inadequate, insecure, uncertain, and needy than we do already. They focus our attention on what we don’t have rather than what we do.
More importantly, I also realized that next big things never deliver. Sure, they’re fun for a day or two, but I soon discovered that they couldn’t live up to the hype. They didn’t give me all they promised — popularity, excitement, fulfillment, security, happiness. The day after playing my first Atari video game, I was still the same lonely, struggling, hurting kid I had always been.
Next big things always promise more than they can deliver.
And they haven’t changed much since I was a kid. If anything, we’re now bombarded with more big things at once than we can handle. It doesn’t help that today’s new smart phone is outdated tomorrow, or that fashion tastes change faster than online headlines.
We have more brands, more varieties, more gadgets, more next big things than ever before. But none of them satisfy us.
Tying our happiness to the next big thing only leaves us knotted in frustration every time. We’re always chasing something that perpetually slips through our fingers, left holding our own longing and disappointment time after time.
When I was about thirteen, however, I finally discovered the only big thing that delivers. That’s when I found myself at a youth service convicted by the Spirit of God, aware of how much I needed Jesus in my life. That’s when I gave God my life and agreed to follow Him wherever He wanted to take me and to do whatever He called me to do.
My circumstances didn’t magically change overnight. In fact, nothing around me changed much at first. But something inside me shifted dramatically. The only big thing that really matters, my relationship with the Living God, was secure. He not only forgave me of my sins and wanted a personal relationship with me, but God also had a special purpose for my life. My Abba Father, my Creator, had designed me for more than I could ever imagine.
God had big things in store for me, events and opportunities and situations that still boggle my mind even now after they have come to pass. And now after decades of knowing Him, loving Him, and serving Him, the Lord still loves to surprise me. He still has more for me.
Just like the phenomenon of the next big thing, God always has more for us.
But there’s a crucial difference. When Jesus said,
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. — John 10:10 NIV
He wasn’t making an empty promise. And He wasn’t just referring to the unbridled joy we’ll have with Him in Heaven. Day after day, Jesus offers us the abundance of trusting Him for all our needs right now, knowing we can rely on Him regardless of our emotions or the circumstances of our life. As God’s Word assures us,
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. — Hebrews 13:8 NIV
With God, there’s always more. Unlike the next big things offered by our culture, the fulfillment found in knowing God and stepping out in faith with him never disappoints. It may not be what you expect, but from my experience what God has for you and me is always better than anything we can attain on our own. He knows your heart and how He made you.
He gifts you with His presence, filling you with His Spirit and blessing you with His abundance.
You don’t have to settle for the emptiness of chasing after something that can never satisfy you. If something’s missing, if you’ve never found satisfaction in all the next big things, then it’s time to experience the fullness of knowing God in every area of your life.
It’s time to feel the power of God’s Spirit leading you on a bold adventure.
It’s time, my friend, to move into more.
Original devotion written by Choco De Jesus, author of Move Into More.
As a poor kid raised in Chicago’s Humboldt Park, I usually got the next big thing long after it had already peaked. By the time I got my first hand-me-down bicycle, skateboards were in. Couple years later when I finally got a skateboard, video games were all my friends talked about. On and on, from cassette players to car stereos, video cameras to VCRs, pet rocks to iPods, polo shirts to designer purses — there was always something that all the cool kids had while the rest of us lagged behind.
Without money to waste, because a box of Cap’n Crunch was a luxury in my neighborhood, I realized early on that there would always be a next big thing. It’s how advertisers, and all the product producers behind them, stay in business. Their job is to make people feel even more inadequate, insecure, uncertain, and needy than we do already. They focus our attention on what we don’t have rather than what we do.
More importantly, I also realized that next big things never deliver. Sure, they’re fun for a day or two, but I soon discovered that they couldn’t live up to the hype. They didn’t give me all they promised — popularity, excitement, fulfillment, security, happiness. The day after playing my first Atari video game, I was still the same lonely, struggling, hurting kid I had always been.
Next big things always promise more than they can deliver.
And they haven’t changed much since I was a kid. If anything, we’re now bombarded with more big things at once than we can handle. It doesn’t help that today’s new smart phone is outdated tomorrow, or that fashion tastes change faster than online headlines.
We have more brands, more varieties, more gadgets, more next big things than ever before. But none of them satisfy us.
Tying our happiness to the next big thing only leaves us knotted in frustration every time. We’re always chasing something that perpetually slips through our fingers, left holding our own longing and disappointment time after time.
When I was about thirteen, however, I finally discovered the only big thing that delivers. That’s when I found myself at a youth service convicted by the Spirit of God, aware of how much I needed Jesus in my life. That’s when I gave God my life and agreed to follow Him wherever He wanted to take me and to do whatever He called me to do.
My circumstances didn’t magically change overnight. In fact, nothing around me changed much at first. But something inside me shifted dramatically. The only big thing that really matters, my relationship with the Living God, was secure. He not only forgave me of my sins and wanted a personal relationship with me, but God also had a special purpose for my life. My Abba Father, my Creator, had designed me for more than I could ever imagine.
God had big things in store for me, events and opportunities and situations that still boggle my mind even now after they have come to pass. And now after decades of knowing Him, loving Him, and serving Him, the Lord still loves to surprise me. He still has more for me.
Just like the phenomenon of the next big thing, God always has more for us.
But there’s a crucial difference. When Jesus said,
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. — John 10:10 NIV
He wasn’t making an empty promise. And He wasn’t just referring to the unbridled joy we’ll have with Him in Heaven. Day after day, Jesus offers us the abundance of trusting Him for all our needs right now, knowing we can rely on Him regardless of our emotions or the circumstances of our life. As God’s Word assures us,
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. — Hebrews 13:8 NIV
With God, there’s always more. Unlike the next big things offered by our culture, the fulfillment found in knowing God and stepping out in faith with him never disappoints. It may not be what you expect, but from my experience what God has for you and me is always better than anything we can attain on our own. He knows your heart and how He made you.
He gifts you with His presence, filling you with His Spirit and blessing you with His abundance.
You don’t have to settle for the emptiness of chasing after something that can never satisfy you. If something’s missing, if you’ve never found satisfaction in all the next big things, then it’s time to experience the fullness of knowing God in every area of your life.
It’s time to feel the power of God’s Spirit leading you on a bold adventure.
It’s time, my friend, to move into more.
Original devotion written by Choco De Jesus, author of Move Into More.
God Has Marked You for More
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Move Into More: The Limitless Surprises of a Faithful God the brand new book by Choco De Jesus Don’t miss out on the extraordinary things God wants to do in your life. Open your eyes to the all-powerful, all-loving God who wants more for you than you can even imagine.  List Price: $16.99 Sale Price: $11.49 (32% off)
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Pastor Choco, author of Move into More, knows what it feels like to want more from life. Raised by a single mother after his alcoholic father left, he grew up as a poor Puerto Rican kid in Humboldt Park, one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods. He grew up never having enough.
However, God had so much more for him. Pastor Choco rose to become senior pastor of New Life Covenant Church (one of Chicago’s fastest-growing churches) and one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In Move into More, with conviction and earnestness, Pastor Choco explains that God has promised a life of more—joyful contentment that comes from living passionately with a purpose—to anyone who follows him in obedience. It’s not who you are, he says, it’s what Jesus can do if you will let him. Choco breaks down popular-yet-untrue thinking that God’s “more” is about wealth or material possessions, fame or power, and shows readers that God’s more is far better than anyone could ever imagine. If you’re willing to Move into More, your eyes will be opened to the all-powerful, all-loving God who wants more for you than you can imagine in your wildest dreams. When you follow Him faithfully and obediently, you will find peace in your problems, rest in your weariness, order in circumstantial chaos, and joy in trials. Don’t settle for less than God has for you—it’s time to Move into More!
Buzz About the Book
"Pastor Choco has a heart for the lost, for those who are hurting, and for the downtrodden. Move into More reminds us that serving others should be a priority of all Christ followers. We receive blessings from God when we pour blessings into the lives of others." — Kirk Cameron, actor and producer "Choco knows what more is all about. It’s not about possessions or constant happiness or the size of your bank account. Pure and simple, it’s about knowing God and relying on him as your source for everything. It’s about drawing closer to him and moving into more—more to enjoy, more to share, more to invest for what matters most. So if you’re exhausted by never having enough, if you’re running on fumes and wondering why life feels so hard, then this book is for you. — Mark Batterson, NYT bestselling author |
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