11-19-12
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Isaiah 40:31 " But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not grow faint."
Sometimes life is hard. If we are not careful, we can easily loose our joy due to the hardships that this world offers that never seem to be in short supply. Our health is failing, our loved ones are on drugs, our boss is a jerk, there is not enough money in the bank, or if there is, not enough time to enjoy it. We are getting old more quickly they we would like. This seems to be especially poignant around major holidays such as Thanksgiving when we wonder where the last year has gone or how it went by so quickly. The years sure do seem to speed up as you grow older. If we focus on the media and the news of any given day, there are plenty of things that will depress us. This past Presidential election cycle was enough to make even the most patriotic of Americans feel embarrassed by the lowliness of the campaign process. Is that the best we can do, I kept asking myself as I viewed viscous attack ad, one after another? Apparently so. I guess all it takes to become President of the United States these days is to artfully and ruthlessly vilify your opponent without ever having to put forth an actual plan of your own.
So where do we turn when the weight of the world is stealing our joy and we cant seem to see over the mountains that stand before us? I believe the answer is found in the Bible verse of the day above. If we place our hope in the Lord, wait upon the Lord, we will renew our strength. As a matter of fact, we will find an amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm from aligning ourselves with the only One, through the energizing gift of the Holy Spirit, who can ever give us real strength and real peace. I learned while listening to a sermon the other day that the word enthusiasm comes from the Greek words En and Theos, which literally mean " In God." The more we align and spend time with God, the more energy we get. We actually feel like a gust of wind has lifted us up to soar like eagles and to run and not grow weary. I have found that we need to re-frame our problems from what is wrong with us, to what is right with God. Just that subjective change in mindset can truly set us free. They say a low view of God is the cause of 100 lesser evils, while a person with a high view of God is relived of 10,000 temporal problems. We cannot focus on God and help but feel our strength grow. Our fears can cripple us and leave us looking back on our lives and wondering why we hadn't tried more things or taken more chances. These regrets, called sins of omission, can stifle our happiness later in life. The price of our vitality is the sum of all our fears. God says in Matthew 11:28 "come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and i will give you rest." He alone can give us the courage to go forward when we are out of strength. He alone can give us the enthusiasm for life deep in our soul when it seems all the world is caving in all around us.
As followers of Christ, it should be our birthright to be enthusiastic and to have a sense of destiny about life when we focus in on how great His love is for us. Where others see us a having a death wish, we really have a life wish. We want to take risks for the One who risked it all. As my Pastor said this weekend, all the other religions of the world focus on the word "do" as in what do you have to do to be saved? Wow, what a heavy burden to carry around with you, always wondering what else you have to do in order to be accepted by a judgmental God. Christianity focuses on the word "done" as in Christ has done it all for us. We are free from sin, from the guilt and shame that otherwise would have destroyed us if it were not taken care of us on the cross. Our sin tab reads PAID IN FULL. It is a hard concept in this world of go take what you want from the world, be your own boss, you deserve it, for us to get to a place where we can be energized in just knowing that there is nothing that is required from us other than accepting what already has been done for us by a merciful and loving God. When we really come to that place where we see how powerless we are to deal with our own sin, and yet we realize that we have a God who sent the Lamb of God in Jesus Christ to pay an atoning sacrifice for our collective sin, Christians should be the most energized people in the world. Not naively enthusiastic, recognizing that we all will experience seasons of sometimes tremendous pain in our earthly pilgrimage, but inherent enthusiasm welled up deep in our souls.
God loves insurmountable odds, and the Bible is full of the stories that prove this, just see David vs. Goliath or Gideon's army for a few reminders, because where we see obstacles, He sees opportunities. Opportunities to bring glory to His Kingdom by using saved sinners like us, the rag tag folks of God's Army, the weak to humble the strong of this world and to bring love to the hopeless. That is why only the weak can fight in His army. He needs to break us of all pride and then He can begin to restore us for His bigger plan and purpose for our lives. There should be tremendous enthusiasm in being a part of such a big plan. Jesus says throughout the scriptures that we must be like little children " For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." What are little children like? First off, they are totally dependent on others for their survival and contentment. Was that a big hint or what from our Lord? If you look at their personalities though, they tend to be eager, enthusiastic, playful, loving, trusting and not the least bit self conscious. They are alive and they are eager to experience life to its fullest. I believe God expects the same from His followers. There should be an enthusiastic expectancy to our lives as followers of Christ. I believe King David was a man, although certainly not immune to pain and heartache, who lived his life in an eager way that was dependent upon the Lord and full of enthusiasm for what he might do next. This is captured in one of his prayers in Psalm 5:3 " In the morning O Lord, you hear my voice. In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." For that and many other reasons King David was known as a man after God's own heart. May we have the courage to live enthusiastically in and for God ourselves. He deserves nothing less from us.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
We are His beloved
10-23-2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: 1st John 4:19 " We love because He first loved us."
Can you imagine the state we would be in as humans, full of our guilt and sin, if God had told us that before He could love us, we needed to get ourselves cleaned up, straightened out and rid of all the junk in our lives that keeps us from closer fellowship with Him? He would be a very lonely God because there would be no one that He could love. But thankfully for us, God is merciful and desires above all else a close and intimate relationship with His people who populate the earth. In fact, he loves us so much that rather than making us do anything to be more loveable, he sent His only begotten Son in Jesus Christ to earth to take care of our sin problem and our unrighteousness right here on earth, so that we could be reconciled back to him and His love right in the place where we were. In other words, in our sinful nature. Romans 5:8 proves His immense love for us when it states that " But God demonstrates His own love for us for us in this; While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Wow, that is a powerful verse. It says to me that God so understood the depth of our sin problem and our inability to do anything about it, that He sent us a life line in Jesus Christ, to bear the burden of the world's sin on His own shoulders and paying our sin tab in full. The message is clear, we are powerless to deal with sin, except through the strength, grace and wisdom found in and through Jesus Christ. All other religions of the world are reaching out to God in their guilt, trying to earn their way out of their sinfulness by the good deeds they are doing in their own eyes, hoping to get that insurance policy in the sky to cover the wickedness of the hearts. But Isaiah 64:6 shows the ineptitude of that approach " All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all of our good deeds and righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." What we see as good works, God sees as filthy rags. They are literally nothing when viewed through His eyes. They are an affront to Him, They can never compare and measure up to His holiness, when He was willing to risk it all and take the sin of the fallen world and place it on his Son on the cross. So while the other religions of the world struggle to feel ok about their guilt, and themselves, through their fruitless efforts to please God, God reaches out to us in His Son and says here is your salvation, sent just for you, take and drink of Him, who alone can save you. He is available to all people, and only your foolish pride can keep you from accepting His redemption for your sinfulness. He alone can set you free, will you let Him? So, my natural response is, what should we do to respond to a love that is so great and so undeserving? Well, in the verse of the day, 1st John 4;19 he tells us what to do: Love others. Because He loved us first, we must love others and share with them the good news of the gospel. In fact, he warns us later in 1st John 4:20-21 how serious He is about us loving others when he says " If anyone says I love you, yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." We are freed up to love others, even those who are unlovable, because deep down in the depth of our souls, we have been set free by the fact that He loved us first. The world needs to know this kind of love, for it is the only true love that exists in the world. Augustine said there are only two types of love: The love of God unto the forgetfulness of self, or the love of self unto the forgetfulness and denial of God. Which way are most of us living today? As selfish lovers of self, and it is literally starving the world of the ral love found only in God. As humans, our love is imperfect. It is jealous, anxious and often flawed. But God's love is perfect, holy and ever lasting. Human beings are prone to hurt one another. We tell each other mean, judgmental things, like that we no longer are in love with you. Things that cause pain and hurt and agony. God says just the opposite. In Hebrews 13:5 He says that no matter what you do or have done " I will never leave you or forsake you." There is another assurance we can bank on in Romans 8:1 ' Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." He has removed all of our sins as far as the East is from the West. Why would we not want what God is freely giving and what this world so desperately needs? Unconditional love, free from guilt and shame. Hebrews 2:3 says " How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" The answer is we wont. Romans 14:11-12 assures us " That as surely as I live says the Lord, that every knee will bow before me and every tongue confess to God. So then each of us will give an account of himself to God." Why not freely accept the love of God found only in Jesus Christ." Now go and love one another so that people can see the love of God in you. Fathers love your children and your spouses and keep the place in your family that is of vital importance. Children love your parents for they are doing their best to help you deal with this darkened world. Love those who persecute you, for then you will be aligned with the selfless love of God. God cares about our heart alignment and wants us to reflect his gracious heart of forgiveness and humility. Humility onto love on the cross. Love so amazing. Love so amazing.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: 1st John 4:19 " We love because He first loved us."
Can you imagine the state we would be in as humans, full of our guilt and sin, if God had told us that before He could love us, we needed to get ourselves cleaned up, straightened out and rid of all the junk in our lives that keeps us from closer fellowship with Him? He would be a very lonely God because there would be no one that He could love. But thankfully for us, God is merciful and desires above all else a close and intimate relationship with His people who populate the earth. In fact, he loves us so much that rather than making us do anything to be more loveable, he sent His only begotten Son in Jesus Christ to earth to take care of our sin problem and our unrighteousness right here on earth, so that we could be reconciled back to him and His love right in the place where we were. In other words, in our sinful nature. Romans 5:8 proves His immense love for us when it states that " But God demonstrates His own love for us for us in this; While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Wow, that is a powerful verse. It says to me that God so understood the depth of our sin problem and our inability to do anything about it, that He sent us a life line in Jesus Christ, to bear the burden of the world's sin on His own shoulders and paying our sin tab in full. The message is clear, we are powerless to deal with sin, except through the strength, grace and wisdom found in and through Jesus Christ. All other religions of the world are reaching out to God in their guilt, trying to earn their way out of their sinfulness by the good deeds they are doing in their own eyes, hoping to get that insurance policy in the sky to cover the wickedness of the hearts. But Isaiah 64:6 shows the ineptitude of that approach " All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all of our good deeds and righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." What we see as good works, God sees as filthy rags. They are literally nothing when viewed through His eyes. They are an affront to Him, They can never compare and measure up to His holiness, when He was willing to risk it all and take the sin of the fallen world and place it on his Son on the cross. So while the other religions of the world struggle to feel ok about their guilt, and themselves, through their fruitless efforts to please God, God reaches out to us in His Son and says here is your salvation, sent just for you, take and drink of Him, who alone can save you. He is available to all people, and only your foolish pride can keep you from accepting His redemption for your sinfulness. He alone can set you free, will you let Him? So, my natural response is, what should we do to respond to a love that is so great and so undeserving? Well, in the verse of the day, 1st John 4;19 he tells us what to do: Love others. Because He loved us first, we must love others and share with them the good news of the gospel. In fact, he warns us later in 1st John 4:20-21 how serious He is about us loving others when he says " If anyone says I love you, yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." We are freed up to love others, even those who are unlovable, because deep down in the depth of our souls, we have been set free by the fact that He loved us first. The world needs to know this kind of love, for it is the only true love that exists in the world. Augustine said there are only two types of love: The love of God unto the forgetfulness of self, or the love of self unto the forgetfulness and denial of God. Which way are most of us living today? As selfish lovers of self, and it is literally starving the world of the ral love found only in God. As humans, our love is imperfect. It is jealous, anxious and often flawed. But God's love is perfect, holy and ever lasting. Human beings are prone to hurt one another. We tell each other mean, judgmental things, like that we no longer are in love with you. Things that cause pain and hurt and agony. God says just the opposite. In Hebrews 13:5 He says that no matter what you do or have done " I will never leave you or forsake you." There is another assurance we can bank on in Romans 8:1 ' Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." He has removed all of our sins as far as the East is from the West. Why would we not want what God is freely giving and what this world so desperately needs? Unconditional love, free from guilt and shame. Hebrews 2:3 says " How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" The answer is we wont. Romans 14:11-12 assures us " That as surely as I live says the Lord, that every knee will bow before me and every tongue confess to God. So then each of us will give an account of himself to God." Why not freely accept the love of God found only in Jesus Christ." Now go and love one another so that people can see the love of God in you. Fathers love your children and your spouses and keep the place in your family that is of vital importance. Children love your parents for they are doing their best to help you deal with this darkened world. Love those who persecute you, for then you will be aligned with the selfless love of God. God cares about our heart alignment and wants us to reflect his gracious heart of forgiveness and humility. Humility onto love on the cross. Love so amazing. Love so amazing.
Monday, October 8, 2012
The Judge Without a Court
10-8-2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Romans 2:1-4 " You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things. Now we know that God's judgement against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgement on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgement? Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you to repentance."
I am a man in dire need of repentance based on the verse above because I am guilty in my sin of judgement. I live my life in a way that is at odds with this teaching, even if by my power I try my best not to. And you see, that is where the problem lies. I cannot live the life I am called to live as a Christian, as a follower of a Christ, on my own terms and in my own power. My self-righteousness quickly gets in the way and condemns me of being guilty of judgement of others. Who am I, a mere man, to judge others and where does that lack of tolerance come from? I believe it comes from allowing the world in which I live to corrupt my thinking and from not being grounded deep enough in the true teachings and understanding of who Christ is and how he taught. He taught nothing but compassion and tolerance. In every person he saw a child of God who was worthy of His calling and time, and never did he judge someone based on their past behavior without throwing them a life line to a new life of hope in him. He understood fully our human weakness and our moral frailty. Brenning Manning, in the book Abbas's Child, points out the paradoxical challenge of Christ's life on earth to His followers by noting how He got involved with the " moral failures, the irreligious and and immoral people; so many dubious, obscure, abandoned, hopeless types, existing as an eradicable evil, on the fringes of ever society." My God, if Jesus Christ himself was so compassionate and patient towards those people in his time on this earth, turning towards them with gracious kindness so that they may still be "saved" up and until their last dying breath, who am I or is anyone else to cast our own judgement upon those same people when we don't even have a court in which to judge? Lord have mercy on me and forgive me of my sin! In today's world, the AIDS carriers, the drug addicts, the sexual predators, the dregs of society, would be the first ones that Jesus would probably reach out to because of their being ostracized in society. How hard of a message is that to hear with our human understandings and limitations? Impossible! According to Manning, "the Pharisee lurking within all of us shuns sinners, while Jesus turns toward them with gracious compassion." The only way we can ever get to the place where we can look at things through His eyes is to totally surrender to our way of thinking and to remove all pride from our lives that assumes that we have some moral authority over those whom have chosen to reject God. We are so quick as Christians to judge those that have chosen to live their life in a way that doesn't measure up to our own make believe standards. What a joke that is and an insult that must be to the Risen Lord. As a matter of fact, it is those same people who Christ may put in our path so that we can illustrate to them what true, non judgmental, love looks like. Romans 5:5 says " The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us." The challenge is do we use that love of God to the best of our abilities and in a way that would be pleasing to him? I am first to admit that I often fail in this area, as I am way to quick to cast dispersions on those who I deem as unholy. Just typing that makes me sick to my stomach when it becomes apparent that next to Jesus Christ, who reveals in His human life what it looks life to live a divine life, full of compassion, grace and mercy, just how guilty in my human ignorance I am. I fully realize that we as sinners our never able to even come close to approaching the life of God incarnate on this earth, but yet my utter lack of tolerance in some situations still startles me. I am reminded to run to the cross and repent when these episodes of judgement are revealed to me, so that I can live a radical life as one who is beloved by a God who forgives me of ALL of my sin through the blood of my savior Jesus Christ. Without that assurance, I would be truly dead in all my transgressions, with no hope for redemption or eternal life. God calls us to a life of forgiveness, which is counter cultural in a world that demands an eye for an eye at best, and a much more uneven retribution against those who have harmed us at worse. In the Lord's prayer, we ask God to "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." We have seemed to forget what He is really teaching us here, that He forgives us without limit, an unpayable debt ( The meaning of 70x 7 ) and expects us to have our hearts positioned in the same manner. Only a complete and radical trust in a Source greater than ourselves, and a total abandonment to our own flesh, can empower us to truly forgive the wounds inflicted upon us by others. May the Lord of all strength, power and glory give us the ability to do so. For there in lies true freedom, free of judgement and revenge, the truest Christian who can say they did their best to follow the example for which He died upon the cross, forgiveness of our sins. For even in His last breath, in Luke 23:34 Jesus turns to His accuser and says "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Romans 2:1-4 " You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things. Now we know that God's judgement against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgement on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgement? Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you to repentance."
I am a man in dire need of repentance based on the verse above because I am guilty in my sin of judgement. I live my life in a way that is at odds with this teaching, even if by my power I try my best not to. And you see, that is where the problem lies. I cannot live the life I am called to live as a Christian, as a follower of a Christ, on my own terms and in my own power. My self-righteousness quickly gets in the way and condemns me of being guilty of judgement of others. Who am I, a mere man, to judge others and where does that lack of tolerance come from? I believe it comes from allowing the world in which I live to corrupt my thinking and from not being grounded deep enough in the true teachings and understanding of who Christ is and how he taught. He taught nothing but compassion and tolerance. In every person he saw a child of God who was worthy of His calling and time, and never did he judge someone based on their past behavior without throwing them a life line to a new life of hope in him. He understood fully our human weakness and our moral frailty. Brenning Manning, in the book Abbas's Child, points out the paradoxical challenge of Christ's life on earth to His followers by noting how He got involved with the " moral failures, the irreligious and and immoral people; so many dubious, obscure, abandoned, hopeless types, existing as an eradicable evil, on the fringes of ever society." My God, if Jesus Christ himself was so compassionate and patient towards those people in his time on this earth, turning towards them with gracious kindness so that they may still be "saved" up and until their last dying breath, who am I or is anyone else to cast our own judgement upon those same people when we don't even have a court in which to judge? Lord have mercy on me and forgive me of my sin! In today's world, the AIDS carriers, the drug addicts, the sexual predators, the dregs of society, would be the first ones that Jesus would probably reach out to because of their being ostracized in society. How hard of a message is that to hear with our human understandings and limitations? Impossible! According to Manning, "the Pharisee lurking within all of us shuns sinners, while Jesus turns toward them with gracious compassion." The only way we can ever get to the place where we can look at things through His eyes is to totally surrender to our way of thinking and to remove all pride from our lives that assumes that we have some moral authority over those whom have chosen to reject God. We are so quick as Christians to judge those that have chosen to live their life in a way that doesn't measure up to our own make believe standards. What a joke that is and an insult that must be to the Risen Lord. As a matter of fact, it is those same people who Christ may put in our path so that we can illustrate to them what true, non judgmental, love looks like. Romans 5:5 says " The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us." The challenge is do we use that love of God to the best of our abilities and in a way that would be pleasing to him? I am first to admit that I often fail in this area, as I am way to quick to cast dispersions on those who I deem as unholy. Just typing that makes me sick to my stomach when it becomes apparent that next to Jesus Christ, who reveals in His human life what it looks life to live a divine life, full of compassion, grace and mercy, just how guilty in my human ignorance I am. I fully realize that we as sinners our never able to even come close to approaching the life of God incarnate on this earth, but yet my utter lack of tolerance in some situations still startles me. I am reminded to run to the cross and repent when these episodes of judgement are revealed to me, so that I can live a radical life as one who is beloved by a God who forgives me of ALL of my sin through the blood of my savior Jesus Christ. Without that assurance, I would be truly dead in all my transgressions, with no hope for redemption or eternal life. God calls us to a life of forgiveness, which is counter cultural in a world that demands an eye for an eye at best, and a much more uneven retribution against those who have harmed us at worse. In the Lord's prayer, we ask God to "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." We have seemed to forget what He is really teaching us here, that He forgives us without limit, an unpayable debt ( The meaning of 70x 7 ) and expects us to have our hearts positioned in the same manner. Only a complete and radical trust in a Source greater than ourselves, and a total abandonment to our own flesh, can empower us to truly forgive the wounds inflicted upon us by others. May the Lord of all strength, power and glory give us the ability to do so. For there in lies true freedom, free of judgement and revenge, the truest Christian who can say they did their best to follow the example for which He died upon the cross, forgiveness of our sins. For even in His last breath, in Luke 23:34 Jesus turns to His accuser and says "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Fear Not
7-17-2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the Day: Psalm 23:4 " Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;If your rod and staff, they comfort me."
If we are truly walking with the Lord, spending time in the word and following His directions for our lives, we should be the most courageous souls on the face of the earth. We should be bold as Lions. We know that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain should the worst thing that could possibly happen to us, we die, actually happen for as Paul said in Philippians 1:21 ' for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." This should free us up to charge ahead in our pursuits of whatever the task at hand is that God is calling us to pursue. So why don't we? Why do I still struggle so much with my fears? I have been pondering this a lot lately because I do know that the most common phrase in the Bible is Fear Not and I truly believe it can be attainable to live this way, but yet I still struggle with totally surrendering all of my fears to the Lord. I find that whenever I try to take the wheel, and drive the car that is my life on my terms or with what I feel are my rights, the fears coming flying in and although it sounds easy to just say I will stop trying to be captain of my ship, I find it to be quite difficult at times. I guess as much as I try to control it and am aware of the pitfalls that accompany my quest for my will and my way to be done, my prideful human condition can still creep in and mess with God's perfect plans for my life. I am torn because I truly know that God's way is the best way, the path that leads to real freedom and true life. I have even occasionally been quite bold in the manifestations of my faith for His eternal purposes. But I don't seem to be able to sustain or maintain the energy that builds up when I am living for the one and only real Truth in this life. I get distracted so easily by so many trivial things, be it the latest political news, or the pending collapse of the Country I love from both moral as well as financial bankruptcy, or the pretty girl at the club who is somehow working out in an outfit that together doesn't even encompass a cocktail napkin's worth of material. Many blessings are currently overflowing in my life, and I am fully aware and fully grateful. I feel the Holy Spirit all around me, and His presence comforts me in my prayers and guides me in my walk. I feel close to the Lord when I am faithful, as He is always faithful. I want to do big things for the Lord at all times and yet sometimes I find it difficult to even take a step forward towards that courageous decision that needs to made on His behalf and where I am convinced that fearless living resides. Instead of being and living as a vessel for which and through which God can use me for what I was created for, I tend to think of me and my limitations, my past stumbles and my lack of confidence in so many areas of my life and I feel unable to do it. But then I remember the Bible is full of heroes who never felt worthy of the calling God put on their lives, but they learned how to fully surrender their will to God's will and their way to God's way. I think of David as a little shepherd boy or Moses as a stuttering murderer or Sarah as a barren 90 year old. Did they fully realize how God was preparing them for his huge glory when they were in the midst of it or were they just focused on getting their hearts right and being faithful in prayer so they would be ready when and if the Lord of the Universe called them into action? I pray that this is the process I am going through know and that soon it will be revealed to me how I can be used for His purposes. It is always the remnant that God calls on to save the city, and I firmly believe He is raising up an army of men and women right now who understand what is happening and will be prepared to answer the call. Psalm 23 lets us know that God will and has always provided everything that we need for our successful completion of our testing. In this one little Psalm, we see all of the various attributes that God provides for not only our survival but also for our success; He provides Rejuvenation ( he leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul, verse 3 ), guidance ( He guides me in paths of righteousness, verse 3 ) protection ( I will fear no evil, for you are with me, verse 4 ) comfort ( your rod and your staff, they comfort me, verse 4 ) blessings ( you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, verse 5-6 ) and eternal relationship ( and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, verse 6 ). I pray for the wisdom, strength and courage to just get out of the way and let Him fearlessly lead me to the place of my destiny, for I am convinced that there is no greater discovery available to man thant seeing God as the Author of our destiny. Amen.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the Day: Psalm 23:4 " Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;If your rod and staff, they comfort me."
If we are truly walking with the Lord, spending time in the word and following His directions for our lives, we should be the most courageous souls on the face of the earth. We should be bold as Lions. We know that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain should the worst thing that could possibly happen to us, we die, actually happen for as Paul said in Philippians 1:21 ' for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." This should free us up to charge ahead in our pursuits of whatever the task at hand is that God is calling us to pursue. So why don't we? Why do I still struggle so much with my fears? I have been pondering this a lot lately because I do know that the most common phrase in the Bible is Fear Not and I truly believe it can be attainable to live this way, but yet I still struggle with totally surrendering all of my fears to the Lord. I find that whenever I try to take the wheel, and drive the car that is my life on my terms or with what I feel are my rights, the fears coming flying in and although it sounds easy to just say I will stop trying to be captain of my ship, I find it to be quite difficult at times. I guess as much as I try to control it and am aware of the pitfalls that accompany my quest for my will and my way to be done, my prideful human condition can still creep in and mess with God's perfect plans for my life. I am torn because I truly know that God's way is the best way, the path that leads to real freedom and true life. I have even occasionally been quite bold in the manifestations of my faith for His eternal purposes. But I don't seem to be able to sustain or maintain the energy that builds up when I am living for the one and only real Truth in this life. I get distracted so easily by so many trivial things, be it the latest political news, or the pending collapse of the Country I love from both moral as well as financial bankruptcy, or the pretty girl at the club who is somehow working out in an outfit that together doesn't even encompass a cocktail napkin's worth of material. Many blessings are currently overflowing in my life, and I am fully aware and fully grateful. I feel the Holy Spirit all around me, and His presence comforts me in my prayers and guides me in my walk. I feel close to the Lord when I am faithful, as He is always faithful. I want to do big things for the Lord at all times and yet sometimes I find it difficult to even take a step forward towards that courageous decision that needs to made on His behalf and where I am convinced that fearless living resides. Instead of being and living as a vessel for which and through which God can use me for what I was created for, I tend to think of me and my limitations, my past stumbles and my lack of confidence in so many areas of my life and I feel unable to do it. But then I remember the Bible is full of heroes who never felt worthy of the calling God put on their lives, but they learned how to fully surrender their will to God's will and their way to God's way. I think of David as a little shepherd boy or Moses as a stuttering murderer or Sarah as a barren 90 year old. Did they fully realize how God was preparing them for his huge glory when they were in the midst of it or were they just focused on getting their hearts right and being faithful in prayer so they would be ready when and if the Lord of the Universe called them into action? I pray that this is the process I am going through know and that soon it will be revealed to me how I can be used for His purposes. It is always the remnant that God calls on to save the city, and I firmly believe He is raising up an army of men and women right now who understand what is happening and will be prepared to answer the call. Psalm 23 lets us know that God will and has always provided everything that we need for our successful completion of our testing. In this one little Psalm, we see all of the various attributes that God provides for not only our survival but also for our success; He provides Rejuvenation ( he leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul, verse 3 ), guidance ( He guides me in paths of righteousness, verse 3 ) protection ( I will fear no evil, for you are with me, verse 4 ) comfort ( your rod and your staff, they comfort me, verse 4 ) blessings ( you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, verse 5-6 ) and eternal relationship ( and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, verse 6 ). I pray for the wisdom, strength and courage to just get out of the way and let Him fearlessly lead me to the place of my destiny, for I am convinced that there is no greater discovery available to man thant seeing God as the Author of our destiny. Amen.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Freedom From Within
7/6/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: John 8:32 ' Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
We celebrated America's 236 Birthday this week as a sign of the freedom we enjoy as a nation. It took a lot of brave men and women to work together for the enduring cause of our freedom from the tyranny of oppressive rule. It took courage and strength and fearlessness to fight the battles that needed to be fought in order for us to secure this most treasured of earthly prizes- FREEDOM. But although we are still free as a group of individuals to pursue our desires, to pray and worship freely, to love and to cherish the beliefs that make us special as a nation, there are still many walking amongst us who are not free at all. They are walking in spiritual bondage to an evil, oppressive occupier of their minds, hearts and souls and in many cases they are not even aware of their plight. On the outside, they may even appear to be winning in the game of life. They may be living the American dream of fancy houses, nice cars and great careers. But if you were to ask many of these people to honestly state how they feel on the inside, many would express a far different story. They would say that they are fearful of losing of what they had worked so hard to acquire. They would talk of the anxiety and depression they feel. Basically, they would feel duped that all of the external things that they thought would bring them peace and comfort, has instead left them feeling like a captive deep in their souls.They are literally trapped in an internal prison. I know this feeling because I was living it for the first 38 years of my life. No matter how much worldly success we accumulate or how many possessions we acquire, we eventually must come to the stark conclusion that all true freedom must come from within. As the Bible verse of the day states above, once we recognize this truth, that Jesus is the only way to true and everlasting contentment, can we be set free internally. The truth of who Jesus is and what He came to do for us here on earth, is the beginning of our internal journey to find real truth and freedom. Once we recognize the fact that Jesus died on the cross for forgiveness of our sins, was resurrected on the third day to sit at the right hand of the father's throne, and left us the ability to connect with His truth through the power of the Holy Spirit, can we begin our march to true freedom deep in our souls. The amazing thing is there is no hard work required on our part, only the willingness to ask Him to come into our lives to help us with our pain and separation, to recognize who He is and what He has done for us, and to humbly repent of our sinful nature and He does all the rest! True freedom begins the moment we recognize how far we fall short of the mark He set, and recognize that without Christ, we would stand guilty in our sins before the God of the Universe on judgement day. Now, we are free in the knowledge that He alone has paid our sin bill in full and there is nothing left on the tab! If that is not freedom, I don't know what is. It doesn't mean it will be easy, or without pain, as we grow in our knowledge of who He is and who we are, and how great the chasm is that divides us, as Isaiah 55:9 reminds us, " As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." But it gives us great freedom to know that He has taken care of the chasm, and He understands that our sinful nature is a result of living in a fallen world into which we were all born, where sin and darkness reign until HE comes again to clean this whole mess up. Unless you grasp that thought, you will never be free and no amount of money or success can make you feel free inside. Like all freedom, our internal freedom came at a cost, and in this case it cost Christ everything. But love has no higher calling than this, that He was willing to lay down his life in a gruesome fashion so that we could live in true freedom, knowing that we are His for eternity. For He came to this earth to set the captives free, to remove the scales that were over our eyes so that we can see the truth clearly. After the drugs where off, the sex gets old, the gambling brings only pain where it once brought pleasure, we must finally admit that the sinful ways of this world lead only to entangle us in our pain. Jesus Christ is the way to true freedom. "He is the way, the truth and the life" as John 14:6 reminds us. All of our heart's desires and all we need for happiness and contentment, come from being assured of the rest and security that comes from the loving arms of our heavenly Father, by way of His faithful Son. True freedom never comes from external circumstance, but rather from internal contentment. When will we stop striving, looking for external things to fill the void that exists in our lives? True freedom comes from within. May that truth set you free. Amen.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: John 8:32 ' Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
We celebrated America's 236 Birthday this week as a sign of the freedom we enjoy as a nation. It took a lot of brave men and women to work together for the enduring cause of our freedom from the tyranny of oppressive rule. It took courage and strength and fearlessness to fight the battles that needed to be fought in order for us to secure this most treasured of earthly prizes- FREEDOM. But although we are still free as a group of individuals to pursue our desires, to pray and worship freely, to love and to cherish the beliefs that make us special as a nation, there are still many walking amongst us who are not free at all. They are walking in spiritual bondage to an evil, oppressive occupier of their minds, hearts and souls and in many cases they are not even aware of their plight. On the outside, they may even appear to be winning in the game of life. They may be living the American dream of fancy houses, nice cars and great careers. But if you were to ask many of these people to honestly state how they feel on the inside, many would express a far different story. They would say that they are fearful of losing of what they had worked so hard to acquire. They would talk of the anxiety and depression they feel. Basically, they would feel duped that all of the external things that they thought would bring them peace and comfort, has instead left them feeling like a captive deep in their souls.They are literally trapped in an internal prison. I know this feeling because I was living it for the first 38 years of my life. No matter how much worldly success we accumulate or how many possessions we acquire, we eventually must come to the stark conclusion that all true freedom must come from within. As the Bible verse of the day states above, once we recognize this truth, that Jesus is the only way to true and everlasting contentment, can we be set free internally. The truth of who Jesus is and what He came to do for us here on earth, is the beginning of our internal journey to find real truth and freedom. Once we recognize the fact that Jesus died on the cross for forgiveness of our sins, was resurrected on the third day to sit at the right hand of the father's throne, and left us the ability to connect with His truth through the power of the Holy Spirit, can we begin our march to true freedom deep in our souls. The amazing thing is there is no hard work required on our part, only the willingness to ask Him to come into our lives to help us with our pain and separation, to recognize who He is and what He has done for us, and to humbly repent of our sinful nature and He does all the rest! True freedom begins the moment we recognize how far we fall short of the mark He set, and recognize that without Christ, we would stand guilty in our sins before the God of the Universe on judgement day. Now, we are free in the knowledge that He alone has paid our sin bill in full and there is nothing left on the tab! If that is not freedom, I don't know what is. It doesn't mean it will be easy, or without pain, as we grow in our knowledge of who He is and who we are, and how great the chasm is that divides us, as Isaiah 55:9 reminds us, " As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." But it gives us great freedom to know that He has taken care of the chasm, and He understands that our sinful nature is a result of living in a fallen world into which we were all born, where sin and darkness reign until HE comes again to clean this whole mess up. Unless you grasp that thought, you will never be free and no amount of money or success can make you feel free inside. Like all freedom, our internal freedom came at a cost, and in this case it cost Christ everything. But love has no higher calling than this, that He was willing to lay down his life in a gruesome fashion so that we could live in true freedom, knowing that we are His for eternity. For He came to this earth to set the captives free, to remove the scales that were over our eyes so that we can see the truth clearly. After the drugs where off, the sex gets old, the gambling brings only pain where it once brought pleasure, we must finally admit that the sinful ways of this world lead only to entangle us in our pain. Jesus Christ is the way to true freedom. "He is the way, the truth and the life" as John 14:6 reminds us. All of our heart's desires and all we need for happiness and contentment, come from being assured of the rest and security that comes from the loving arms of our heavenly Father, by way of His faithful Son. True freedom never comes from external circumstance, but rather from internal contentment. When will we stop striving, looking for external things to fill the void that exists in our lives? True freedom comes from within. May that truth set you free. Amen.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Just Do It!
6/20/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the day: James 1:22 " But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (NKJV)
Thursday, June 14, 2012
The Wounds of Glory
6/14/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Revelations 5:12-13 " In a loud voice they sang: Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! Then I heard every creature in Heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever."
In Revelation 5, the apostle John portrays Jesus as a wounded Lamb. Why should our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ appear before the assembled in his wounds in his glory? The answer is because His wounds are His Glory! They symbolize everything that gives us hope and gave Him glory! That He was able to overcome the temptations of the world, namely darkness, evil and the sinful nature of man, to remain Holy and thus receive all the glory, honor and power bestowed upon him by the heavenly Father for all of eternity. I love this image because it reminds me of His greatness and my weakness and sinfulness all at the same time. While He was able to overcome, often I succumb to the pleasures of my flesh. While He stood strong in the face of temptation, I often fall in my own weakness. While He deserves all of His eternal treasures, I must humbly seek His mercy upon my soul. The scriptures above reveal glimpses of the praise that will be non stop, day and night, for the King of Kings in the heavenly realms and which all believers will be a witness of. The whole of the worthiness of that praise to me is summed up in these scriptures from Romans 5:6 and 5:8 " You see, at just the right time, when we were all still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly and " But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." I love that our faith didn't then and doesn't now require us to get it all together, or to figure it all out, or to pull ourselves up out the ditch we had fallen in to in order for our Savior to be willing to die for us, to relieve us all from the punishment that was rightfully due us for our rebellious nature towards God. In fact, he did just the opposite. He took our sin upon Him so that we could become righteous in His own eyes. So that our sin would be dealt with through the work on the cross and not alone before a God who could see our sins for himself and give us the just punishment we deserve. So the wounds He suffered on the Cross are His glory, but they are also ours. For without them, we wouldn't stand a chance and our sin would condemn us to a place of eternal separation from the place of glorious praise and honor to our Eternal King for those who believe. We should never bee ashamed of the gospel because he wasn't shamed on the cross to carry the weight, and to pay the unimaginable price, of our sin so that we could be reconciled back to the God who created us. As Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." Even when we were yet sinners, and at the perfect time, He was willing to die for you and for me. I would say He was busy working things out for the good of all of those who love him. I can never understand fully this eternal sacrifice in my human condition. But I can try to live my life in way that says thank you Lord Jesus, thank you, for what you did for me on the cross. Amen!
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Revelations 5:12-13 " In a loud voice they sang: Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! Then I heard every creature in Heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever."
In Revelation 5, the apostle John portrays Jesus as a wounded Lamb. Why should our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ appear before the assembled in his wounds in his glory? The answer is because His wounds are His Glory! They symbolize everything that gives us hope and gave Him glory! That He was able to overcome the temptations of the world, namely darkness, evil and the sinful nature of man, to remain Holy and thus receive all the glory, honor and power bestowed upon him by the heavenly Father for all of eternity. I love this image because it reminds me of His greatness and my weakness and sinfulness all at the same time. While He was able to overcome, often I succumb to the pleasures of my flesh. While He stood strong in the face of temptation, I often fall in my own weakness. While He deserves all of His eternal treasures, I must humbly seek His mercy upon my soul. The scriptures above reveal glimpses of the praise that will be non stop, day and night, for the King of Kings in the heavenly realms and which all believers will be a witness of. The whole of the worthiness of that praise to me is summed up in these scriptures from Romans 5:6 and 5:8 " You see, at just the right time, when we were all still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly and " But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." I love that our faith didn't then and doesn't now require us to get it all together, or to figure it all out, or to pull ourselves up out the ditch we had fallen in to in order for our Savior to be willing to die for us, to relieve us all from the punishment that was rightfully due us for our rebellious nature towards God. In fact, he did just the opposite. He took our sin upon Him so that we could become righteous in His own eyes. So that our sin would be dealt with through the work on the cross and not alone before a God who could see our sins for himself and give us the just punishment we deserve. So the wounds He suffered on the Cross are His glory, but they are also ours. For without them, we wouldn't stand a chance and our sin would condemn us to a place of eternal separation from the place of glorious praise and honor to our Eternal King for those who believe. We should never bee ashamed of the gospel because he wasn't shamed on the cross to carry the weight, and to pay the unimaginable price, of our sin so that we could be reconciled back to the God who created us. As Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." Even when we were yet sinners, and at the perfect time, He was willing to die for you and for me. I would say He was busy working things out for the good of all of those who love him. I can never understand fully this eternal sacrifice in my human condition. But I can try to live my life in way that says thank you Lord Jesus, thank you, for what you did for me on the cross. Amen!
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Tied together
5/17/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: John 15:5 " I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
Jesus says he is the Potter and we are the clay. He is the Vine and we are the branches. He is the Head and we are the body. He is the Groom and we are His bride. He is the Shepherd and we are the sheep. What do all of these things mean? They mean everything! They mean that we are inextricably tied together to our creator in a way that one without the other is worthless. What is a Shepherd without sheep? Unemployed! What is a Potter without clay? Dizzy! What is a Groom without His bride? Single! What is a Vine with branches? A stump! What is a Head without the body? Gruesome! We need Christ, and not a day goes by where I don't realize that more and more. But the fact that He needs us is an amazingly liberating thought when we stop to think about it. That is how important and valuable we are to Him. When our life seems mundane and the banality of it all begins to wear us down, we can always remember that the God of the Universe needs us to play a part in His grand creation. And not just any part, but the part that He has designed specifically for us. But I had never really stopped to think how significant all of this is until the other day when I heard a sermon on the radio discussing this very topic. We may never know until we are home with our Savior in heaven how a kind act, or a simple word of encouragement, helped to change a life, which in turn could change the world in way that only the Creator could work out. He paints on a canvass that is so much grander and infinite than what we are capable of understanding as humans, that this is the essence of our faith. We must come to the place of complete surrender and absolute trust, understanding that " as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts," as Isaiah 55:9 reminds us. We are sheep and sheep without a shepherd will wander right off a cliff and fall to their death in their stupidity and frailty. They will leave the green pastures and fresh grass to search for a better place, only to place themselves directly into peril in the desire to be their own master. A good Shepherd never rests as he is always caring for his flock and aware of the myriad of problems that can lead them to destruction. But likewise, this is what he loves to do. He exists to tend to His flock. Without His flock, the Shepherd has nothing to do and nothing to care for. What a blessing it is when you come to understand the symbiotic relationship that exists between God and man, how one without the other is incapable of functioning. God needs man to carry out his plan in this world, and man needs God to have a chance to carry out his plan in this world. Without Jesus as our Shepherd, we like sheep,would all go astray. Even with Jesus, we still battle our tendencies to want to do it our way, to put ourselves above our Shepherd, to try to work things out with our pride and efforts leading the way. But eventually we get tired and like all sheep, we come back to the place where we can find true rest, under the protective care of our Good Shepherd. Thank God He never leaves us or forsakes us. He needs us as much as we need him. Without clay, a Potter is just sitting idly, watching His wheel go round and round. A groom without His bride is desperate, alone and hurting. A vine without branches can not bear any fruit, for their is nothing on which for the fruit to blossom. A head without a body can give commands, but their is nothing with which to fulfill the orders. It hit me full force the other day as I was driving in my car. I am nothing without my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for apart from Him I can do nothing. But it gives me great hope, that He needs me to carry out my purpose in His grand mosaic in the sky, whatever that may be. I may never know until I return Home for all of eternity what that purpose was, but I will be excited beyond my wildest dreams when he shares it with me and His glory is revealed. I can rest in that thought alone as I learn to fully surrender, through my fragile faith and His enormous grace, that he will complete the good works that He has begun in me for His glory for ever and ever, Amen.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: John 15:5 " I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
Jesus says he is the Potter and we are the clay. He is the Vine and we are the branches. He is the Head and we are the body. He is the Groom and we are His bride. He is the Shepherd and we are the sheep. What do all of these things mean? They mean everything! They mean that we are inextricably tied together to our creator in a way that one without the other is worthless. What is a Shepherd without sheep? Unemployed! What is a Potter without clay? Dizzy! What is a Groom without His bride? Single! What is a Vine with branches? A stump! What is a Head without the body? Gruesome! We need Christ, and not a day goes by where I don't realize that more and more. But the fact that He needs us is an amazingly liberating thought when we stop to think about it. That is how important and valuable we are to Him. When our life seems mundane and the banality of it all begins to wear us down, we can always remember that the God of the Universe needs us to play a part in His grand creation. And not just any part, but the part that He has designed specifically for us. But I had never really stopped to think how significant all of this is until the other day when I heard a sermon on the radio discussing this very topic. We may never know until we are home with our Savior in heaven how a kind act, or a simple word of encouragement, helped to change a life, which in turn could change the world in way that only the Creator could work out. He paints on a canvass that is so much grander and infinite than what we are capable of understanding as humans, that this is the essence of our faith. We must come to the place of complete surrender and absolute trust, understanding that " as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts," as Isaiah 55:9 reminds us. We are sheep and sheep without a shepherd will wander right off a cliff and fall to their death in their stupidity and frailty. They will leave the green pastures and fresh grass to search for a better place, only to place themselves directly into peril in the desire to be their own master. A good Shepherd never rests as he is always caring for his flock and aware of the myriad of problems that can lead them to destruction. But likewise, this is what he loves to do. He exists to tend to His flock. Without His flock, the Shepherd has nothing to do and nothing to care for. What a blessing it is when you come to understand the symbiotic relationship that exists between God and man, how one without the other is incapable of functioning. God needs man to carry out his plan in this world, and man needs God to have a chance to carry out his plan in this world. Without Jesus as our Shepherd, we like sheep,would all go astray. Even with Jesus, we still battle our tendencies to want to do it our way, to put ourselves above our Shepherd, to try to work things out with our pride and efforts leading the way. But eventually we get tired and like all sheep, we come back to the place where we can find true rest, under the protective care of our Good Shepherd. Thank God He never leaves us or forsakes us. He needs us as much as we need him. Without clay, a Potter is just sitting idly, watching His wheel go round and round. A groom without His bride is desperate, alone and hurting. A vine without branches can not bear any fruit, for their is nothing on which for the fruit to blossom. A head without a body can give commands, but their is nothing with which to fulfill the orders. It hit me full force the other day as I was driving in my car. I am nothing without my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for apart from Him I can do nothing. But it gives me great hope, that He needs me to carry out my purpose in His grand mosaic in the sky, whatever that may be. I may never know until I return Home for all of eternity what that purpose was, but I will be excited beyond my wildest dreams when he shares it with me and His glory is revealed. I can rest in that thought alone as I learn to fully surrender, through my fragile faith and His enormous grace, that he will complete the good works that He has begun in me for His glory for ever and ever, Amen.
Friday, April 20, 2012
The Nature of my Human Nature
4/20/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
My human nature keeps getting in the way of God's nature. I hate choices because they always reveal to me the sinful nature of my human nature. As my friend Pete McKenzie says, life comes down to fries or fruit. Man I know that fruit is what I need and what I should order, but there's something satisfying about ordering up those fries. It is like a treat to myself for having to be around myself. My walk as a Christian is designed to draw closer in relationship to Jesus Christ, to bear much fruit, and to be the embodiment of his love to a hurting world. But my human nature keeps telling me to try different things, to do it on my own,or worse the world's way. To go the way that I feel is best and that feels the best to my fleshly nature. There is never any fulfillment there, but I keep trying to do it my way. I can come up with all kinds of ways to be distracted, from senseless movies, to reading things that are inconsequential, to dallying in various activities. But there is no peace there. The only real peace comes from being in the word, walking with my Lord and Savior, and letting His wisdom indwell me. Fries or Fruit. Life always comes down to that. I know that the only lasting contentment and peace in this world comes out of my relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the Good Shepherd and wants truly what is best for me. He wants to protect me, to give me the desires of my heart and soul. My human nature is selfish though and diametrically opposed to relaxing and being still in the perfect love of Christ. I want action! I want to make things happen, to make a difference, to be the man. He is saying turn to me, for "blessed are those who hunger for righteousness, for they will be filled." I know He is right and yet I am saying to him, "I want that Lord, but can we do it on my term?" Of course, the answer is no. Not because He is some cosmic kill joy who wants to be a control freak in my life, but simply because my ways can never work as well as His ways. Even though I realize that, my human nature keeps getting in the way. His love should truly be all I need for contentment, and it is, if only I could find a way to just fully trust in it and be still in it. But my human nature keeps getting in the way. I have glimpses of perfect contentment in Him, when I am fully surrendered and His grace can envelope me. But these moments are fleeting , because at some level my human nature wants credit for my happiness. How stupid! What a fool I am. Why do I keep running back to the hazards of fries, when I know the benefits of fruit. I, like all of mankind, struggle with a rebellious spirit that says I am the master of my own domain. But why? I can see if someone hasn't had a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, then they would have no benchmark with which to compare the futility of that mindset. But I have seen, felt and occasionally lived out the beauty and contentment that resides in that personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I have no excuse. Fries or Fruit? I hate those types of questions. My soul knows it needs the fruit, but my human nature yearns for the fries. Thank God as believers that yet "while we still sinners, Christ died for us," as Romans 5:8 assures us. Without that assurance, our human nature would lead us, like dumb sheep, right to our own destruction. But the Good Shepherd understands our lack, and meets us in our greatest places of need. He comes to restore us back to health and to set us down in green pastures. He waits until we are sick of fries, and crave the fruit of a relationship spent in and with Him alone. I know that the reason for my life is best entrusted into His hands, for His guidance and care. But the nature of my human nature keeps getting in the way. I pray that one day I will allow His good and perfect nature to overwhelm my human nature and I will finally succumb to allowing myself the rest that my soul so desperately needs on a sustained basis. I know where to find it. It is right in front of me. I just need to get my human nature out of the way. Then every day I can confidently say, yes Lord, give me your fruit, I want the fruit of life that comes only from resting and abiding in you. Amen!
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
My human nature keeps getting in the way of God's nature. I hate choices because they always reveal to me the sinful nature of my human nature. As my friend Pete McKenzie says, life comes down to fries or fruit. Man I know that fruit is what I need and what I should order, but there's something satisfying about ordering up those fries. It is like a treat to myself for having to be around myself. My walk as a Christian is designed to draw closer in relationship to Jesus Christ, to bear much fruit, and to be the embodiment of his love to a hurting world. But my human nature keeps telling me to try different things, to do it on my own,or worse the world's way. To go the way that I feel is best and that feels the best to my fleshly nature. There is never any fulfillment there, but I keep trying to do it my way. I can come up with all kinds of ways to be distracted, from senseless movies, to reading things that are inconsequential, to dallying in various activities. But there is no peace there. The only real peace comes from being in the word, walking with my Lord and Savior, and letting His wisdom indwell me. Fries or Fruit. Life always comes down to that. I know that the only lasting contentment and peace in this world comes out of my relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the Good Shepherd and wants truly what is best for me. He wants to protect me, to give me the desires of my heart and soul. My human nature is selfish though and diametrically opposed to relaxing and being still in the perfect love of Christ. I want action! I want to make things happen, to make a difference, to be the man. He is saying turn to me, for "blessed are those who hunger for righteousness, for they will be filled." I know He is right and yet I am saying to him, "I want that Lord, but can we do it on my term?" Of course, the answer is no. Not because He is some cosmic kill joy who wants to be a control freak in my life, but simply because my ways can never work as well as His ways. Even though I realize that, my human nature keeps getting in the way. His love should truly be all I need for contentment, and it is, if only I could find a way to just fully trust in it and be still in it. But my human nature keeps getting in the way. I have glimpses of perfect contentment in Him, when I am fully surrendered and His grace can envelope me. But these moments are fleeting , because at some level my human nature wants credit for my happiness. How stupid! What a fool I am. Why do I keep running back to the hazards of fries, when I know the benefits of fruit. I, like all of mankind, struggle with a rebellious spirit that says I am the master of my own domain. But why? I can see if someone hasn't had a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, then they would have no benchmark with which to compare the futility of that mindset. But I have seen, felt and occasionally lived out the beauty and contentment that resides in that personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I have no excuse. Fries or Fruit? I hate those types of questions. My soul knows it needs the fruit, but my human nature yearns for the fries. Thank God as believers that yet "while we still sinners, Christ died for us," as Romans 5:8 assures us. Without that assurance, our human nature would lead us, like dumb sheep, right to our own destruction. But the Good Shepherd understands our lack, and meets us in our greatest places of need. He comes to restore us back to health and to set us down in green pastures. He waits until we are sick of fries, and crave the fruit of a relationship spent in and with Him alone. I know that the reason for my life is best entrusted into His hands, for His guidance and care. But the nature of my human nature keeps getting in the way. I pray that one day I will allow His good and perfect nature to overwhelm my human nature and I will finally succumb to allowing myself the rest that my soul so desperately needs on a sustained basis. I know where to find it. It is right in front of me. I just need to get my human nature out of the way. Then every day I can confidently say, yes Lord, give me your fruit, I want the fruit of life that comes only from resting and abiding in you. Amen!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
The Pain of Separation
4/5/12
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Matthew 26:39 " My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
One extraordinary fact to me about the story of Jesus on His way to the cross is that He began to fully comprehend what He was being called to do by his Father in heaven. The painful knowledge that He would have to bear the terrible weight of the collective sin of mankind left him face down in the garden of Gethsemane. As Matthew 26: 38 says, " My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." He knew that this was going to be awful, and for a period of time He would be separated from the protection of His Father. The thought of that painful separation frightened him greatly, and the only way for Him to deal with it was intense prayer. But when He emerges from His time in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus has already won the battle. He has stared his greatest fear in the face, and fully surrendered to the will of his Father as Matthew 26:42 points out " My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." With that statement, he has claimed victory over the temptation of the devil, and to prepare for what He knows He has to do to fulfill the prophesies of scripture. The amazing preparation that reveals the character and commitment of Christ to please his Father has just taken place. History is about to be changed forever. God has offered us a plan for salvation and forgiveness of our sins in and through His Son, and His Son has committed to carrying out the excruciating steps that must take place in order to fulfill the plan. The biggest stumbling block that scared the wits out of Jesus was that He knew that it would require a period of separation from the Father, while the Father's will was indeed being done. If it scared Jesus that much to be separated for any amount of time from the will of His Father that He ended up fast down in the dirt, should it not also terrify us? Hasn't Jesus warned us here about how scary that can be when we are walking alone in this world without the protection of God in heaven? The decision to walk alone in our lives, will lead to enormously painful consequences. I spent the better part of the first 38 years of my life walking alone, separated from not only the will of God for my life, but even acknowledging His presence. The pain of that separation ultimately led me to being face down in the dirt also, unable to find any lasting peace or joy from my efforts. Worldly success, yes occasionally. But deep abiding peace? Never. I am still want to try to do things on my own, without first praying and seeking the guidance of the One who knows me best and always wants the best for me. But more and more I am learning to consider the pain that usually results from my willful decisions. So what can I do? Did Jesus not love me so much that He gave me a road map in the Garden of Gethsemane? I need to pray and pray and then pray some more. That way I will be walking in the protection and will of my Lord when I face this broken world on a daily basis. The battle will be won before it is even fought on a daily basis. Our ability to reject temptatation never comes from our strength, but always from His strength living in us. When we are separated from His strength, we have no shot. We are defenseless against the schemes of the adversary, who " prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" as 1st Peter 5:8 tells us. I mean, all we have to do is wake up and there is already someone who is trying to destroy us. That scares me to the core. But it also humbles me to realize that I must depend on the protection of God, or that separation will lead to my demise. If I willfully choose not to pray every day, or not to study His word each day, then I will leave myself open to attack. When the trials come, I need to prepared for victory as Jesus was being prepared at Gethsemane. As he was led to the fate that awaited Him, He had already claimed His victory. His character was not being built in the Garden, it was being revealed. How we deal with adversity in our lives doesn't build our character, it reveals it. Do we trust in God or not? Do we believe His word is true or not? Are we going to try our best to obey what He tells us to do or not? As I get older, I realize how little the knowledge I have or perceive to have is really worth. I also realize how great God's wisdom is and how valuable that it is for keeping me out of of ditches. I have come to realize that true wisdom is the ability to keep ourselves out of situations that require it. I have come to realize that the cost and the pain of being separated from the will of God is much higher than I want or need to pay. The eye of the Hurricane is in His word and in His love. All around me is chaos and fear, but in Him is peace and strength. Thank you Lord Jesus for given me a road map to deal with my brokenness and rebellious spirit. Thank you that you went first, and took the weight of my sin so that I wouldn't have to. I could have never stood up to it. For without you, I am nothing.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Matthew 26:39 " My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
One extraordinary fact to me about the story of Jesus on His way to the cross is that He began to fully comprehend what He was being called to do by his Father in heaven. The painful knowledge that He would have to bear the terrible weight of the collective sin of mankind left him face down in the garden of Gethsemane. As Matthew 26: 38 says, " My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." He knew that this was going to be awful, and for a period of time He would be separated from the protection of His Father. The thought of that painful separation frightened him greatly, and the only way for Him to deal with it was intense prayer. But when He emerges from His time in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus has already won the battle. He has stared his greatest fear in the face, and fully surrendered to the will of his Father as Matthew 26:42 points out " My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." With that statement, he has claimed victory over the temptation of the devil, and to prepare for what He knows He has to do to fulfill the prophesies of scripture. The amazing preparation that reveals the character and commitment of Christ to please his Father has just taken place. History is about to be changed forever. God has offered us a plan for salvation and forgiveness of our sins in and through His Son, and His Son has committed to carrying out the excruciating steps that must take place in order to fulfill the plan. The biggest stumbling block that scared the wits out of Jesus was that He knew that it would require a period of separation from the Father, while the Father's will was indeed being done. If it scared Jesus that much to be separated for any amount of time from the will of His Father that He ended up fast down in the dirt, should it not also terrify us? Hasn't Jesus warned us here about how scary that can be when we are walking alone in this world without the protection of God in heaven? The decision to walk alone in our lives, will lead to enormously painful consequences. I spent the better part of the first 38 years of my life walking alone, separated from not only the will of God for my life, but even acknowledging His presence. The pain of that separation ultimately led me to being face down in the dirt also, unable to find any lasting peace or joy from my efforts. Worldly success, yes occasionally. But deep abiding peace? Never. I am still want to try to do things on my own, without first praying and seeking the guidance of the One who knows me best and always wants the best for me. But more and more I am learning to consider the pain that usually results from my willful decisions. So what can I do? Did Jesus not love me so much that He gave me a road map in the Garden of Gethsemane? I need to pray and pray and then pray some more. That way I will be walking in the protection and will of my Lord when I face this broken world on a daily basis. The battle will be won before it is even fought on a daily basis. Our ability to reject temptatation never comes from our strength, but always from His strength living in us. When we are separated from His strength, we have no shot. We are defenseless against the schemes of the adversary, who " prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" as 1st Peter 5:8 tells us. I mean, all we have to do is wake up and there is already someone who is trying to destroy us. That scares me to the core. But it also humbles me to realize that I must depend on the protection of God, or that separation will lead to my demise. If I willfully choose not to pray every day, or not to study His word each day, then I will leave myself open to attack. When the trials come, I need to prepared for victory as Jesus was being prepared at Gethsemane. As he was led to the fate that awaited Him, He had already claimed His victory. His character was not being built in the Garden, it was being revealed. How we deal with adversity in our lives doesn't build our character, it reveals it. Do we trust in God or not? Do we believe His word is true or not? Are we going to try our best to obey what He tells us to do or not? As I get older, I realize how little the knowledge I have or perceive to have is really worth. I also realize how great God's wisdom is and how valuable that it is for keeping me out of of ditches. I have come to realize that true wisdom is the ability to keep ourselves out of situations that require it. I have come to realize that the cost and the pain of being separated from the will of God is much higher than I want or need to pay. The eye of the Hurricane is in His word and in His love. All around me is chaos and fear, but in Him is peace and strength. Thank you Lord Jesus for given me a road map to deal with my brokenness and rebellious spirit. Thank you that you went first, and took the weight of my sin so that I wouldn't have to. I could have never stood up to it. For without you, I am nothing.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The Gardner
3/21/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Jeremiah 1:10 " See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."
Sometimes in order to get a new beginning God must remove what is standing in the way. Like a Gardner, He must uproot and destroy things in our life that our keeping us from glorifying Him in the way he most desires. In the Bible verse above, God is telling Jeremiah that Judah will be punished for her rebellious ways, that He will allow her to be destroyed and over run by the Babylonians and that she will have to spend a period of time in captivity. That must have been a fearful message for Jeremiah, as a Jewish man, to hear from the Lord, knowing that Judah was going into captivity as a result of her rebellion. But that is not then end of the story. The rest of the verse goes on to promise that ultimately, this is for the benefit of Judah, as God will eventually restore the land and provide it with a new beginning, a fresh start if you will. He must 1st remove and then restore. He needs to purge her before He can replant and bless the her again. These old testament scriptures I find fascinating in that they usually mirror a story of what is happening at one time or another in my own life. Like the people of Judah, I for many years and in many ways was rebellious towards the Lord. In fact, I never even was wanting to follow him until I was 38 years old. And like a skillful Gardner, when He finally got my attention, He needed to weed out many things from my life, namely a hardened heart, a prideful mind and a distrusting soul. The process was extremely painful at times, and can still be as I grow in my walk. But the Lord has continually shown me that His gardening skills are never wasted and they are always meant to clear room for the replanting that needs to take place in me. He needed to clear out all the weeds, so their would be room for the roses that He wanted to grow in the garden of my heart. He needed to clean out the thistles in my mind, to make room for the Olive Tree he was planting that would learn over time to depend on Him for everything it needed. He needed to painfully pull out the thorn bushes in my soul to make room for the soft, peaceful waterfall that would help to water the garden He was rebuilding in my life, so that He alone could become the stream of living water that I needed to survive. The process is ongoing and will be until the day I go to rejoin Him in my eternal resting place. The rooting out and pulling down can be quite painful, mostly because I can be quite stubborn. Nobody likes to go through the painful tear down projects that must take place occasionally in our lives. But if we can learn to see them through the eyes of our Eternal Gardner and realize that He is always trying to clear out space for a better future outcome, filled with more beauty and growth in Him and for Him, then we can learn from each situation as He draws us closer to Him. Sometimes, during our most challenging periods, it is quite normal to ask, why God? Why are you allowing this to happen in our lives? Like David often asked, where are you Lord in the midst of my suffering? What is the point of all this suffering? But Romans 8:38 says " And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God." We don't always no why bad things are allowed to happen or when relief will come, but we always know who will eventually deliver us, restore us and make us more beautiful than we were before. The Eternal Gardner, who first must demolish before he can refurbish. I have come to realize the mess that existed in the garden of my life only in hindsight. When I was wallowing in it, and He began to change me from the inside out, yet I only felt a pull to try to hang on to what I had known and what I become. But as He has worked in my life and begun to teach me how to let go, He has allowed me to see the beginning of new fruit from the seeds He has planted. As I repented, He replanted. He is the Gardner of repair and restoration. He removes the weeds of our lives, and replaces them with blossoming Tulips. It is up to me to allow Him to do His work in my garden. Please come in, Gardner of life!
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Jeremiah 1:10 " See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."
Sometimes in order to get a new beginning God must remove what is standing in the way. Like a Gardner, He must uproot and destroy things in our life that our keeping us from glorifying Him in the way he most desires. In the Bible verse above, God is telling Jeremiah that Judah will be punished for her rebellious ways, that He will allow her to be destroyed and over run by the Babylonians and that she will have to spend a period of time in captivity. That must have been a fearful message for Jeremiah, as a Jewish man, to hear from the Lord, knowing that Judah was going into captivity as a result of her rebellion. But that is not then end of the story. The rest of the verse goes on to promise that ultimately, this is for the benefit of Judah, as God will eventually restore the land and provide it with a new beginning, a fresh start if you will. He must 1st remove and then restore. He needs to purge her before He can replant and bless the her again. These old testament scriptures I find fascinating in that they usually mirror a story of what is happening at one time or another in my own life. Like the people of Judah, I for many years and in many ways was rebellious towards the Lord. In fact, I never even was wanting to follow him until I was 38 years old. And like a skillful Gardner, when He finally got my attention, He needed to weed out many things from my life, namely a hardened heart, a prideful mind and a distrusting soul. The process was extremely painful at times, and can still be as I grow in my walk. But the Lord has continually shown me that His gardening skills are never wasted and they are always meant to clear room for the replanting that needs to take place in me. He needed to clear out all the weeds, so their would be room for the roses that He wanted to grow in the garden of my heart. He needed to clean out the thistles in my mind, to make room for the Olive Tree he was planting that would learn over time to depend on Him for everything it needed. He needed to painfully pull out the thorn bushes in my soul to make room for the soft, peaceful waterfall that would help to water the garden He was rebuilding in my life, so that He alone could become the stream of living water that I needed to survive. The process is ongoing and will be until the day I go to rejoin Him in my eternal resting place. The rooting out and pulling down can be quite painful, mostly because I can be quite stubborn. Nobody likes to go through the painful tear down projects that must take place occasionally in our lives. But if we can learn to see them through the eyes of our Eternal Gardner and realize that He is always trying to clear out space for a better future outcome, filled with more beauty and growth in Him and for Him, then we can learn from each situation as He draws us closer to Him. Sometimes, during our most challenging periods, it is quite normal to ask, why God? Why are you allowing this to happen in our lives? Like David often asked, where are you Lord in the midst of my suffering? What is the point of all this suffering? But Romans 8:38 says " And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God." We don't always no why bad things are allowed to happen or when relief will come, but we always know who will eventually deliver us, restore us and make us more beautiful than we were before. The Eternal Gardner, who first must demolish before he can refurbish. I have come to realize the mess that existed in the garden of my life only in hindsight. When I was wallowing in it, and He began to change me from the inside out, yet I only felt a pull to try to hang on to what I had known and what I become. But as He has worked in my life and begun to teach me how to let go, He has allowed me to see the beginning of new fruit from the seeds He has planted. As I repented, He replanted. He is the Gardner of repair and restoration. He removes the weeds of our lives, and replaces them with blossoming Tulips. It is up to me to allow Him to do His work in my garden. Please come in, Gardner of life!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
The Great Exchange
03/18/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Romans 5:8 " But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
I love this notion of exchanging something to get something else. It rules almost all aspects of a capitalistic society. We provide a good or service and we get something in return for our efforts. I wash your car, you pay me $20. I make a sale of a certain item, I get paid a commission. But what about all of the other, non-monetary, exchanges that take place in our lives on an almost daily basis that help shape who we are. Sometimes, hopefully, we do something extraordinary for someone without expecting anything of value in return, except for feeling good about the decision we made. Maybe that is the greatest gift of all. We get to build our self worth and self esteem when we help a cause or a person or the earth, without expecting anything back. When we show love towards someone, knowing they can never love us back, that is an act of selflessness that makes our character develop. We exchange a piece of ourselves for the benefit of an other. Well, imagine going to the place that Jesus went to show His love for us, knowing that not only could he get nothing back in this lifetime for his sacrifice, in fact He would have to endure unspeakable agony in order to accomplish His purpose. He would be mocked, derided, spit upon and mercilessly punished in order to fulfill His Father's will, the redemption of mankind. He would make the ultimate sacrifice and within that act, would provide me and anyone else who is willing to accept it, the greatest exchange that could ever take place in our lifetime: His righteousness for our sin. That He would be willing to suffer and die for us while we were yet sinners is what really sets us apart from any other religious doctrine. The implications are enormous. He didn't die for those who had their act together, who were working their way into the Kingdom, who were following all of the laws, who had turned over new leaves, who were going the second mile. No, instead He met us right where we were and still are, in our sinful nature. He said come and join me at the banquet table, for I have taken your sin upon me and given you my righteousness while you were still sinners. That way no one could ever boast about how much they deserved this Great Exchange. Ephesians 2:8-9 pretty much puts the nail in anyone's coffin who thinks their great works are the reason for their salvation " We are saved by grace, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast." This is remarkable in its simplicity, and in its complexity. It is simple to understand that God, being the loving Creator that He is, had to create a plan to salvage His creation from the sinful nature that had befallen them in the Garden. But it is incredibly complex to think that the Son of Man was willing to die a gruesome death, that my sinful nature deserved, in order that I would be set free from the consequences of that sin, so that I could be an eternal part of His Kingdom. And there is nothing that I had to do to earn it? We men like to earn our rewards. We like to feel that we deserve the spoils of our labor. But here Christ Jesus gave us the Greatest Exchange that could ever take place in history and didn't even require us to lift a finger? No work, all grace? Man, does this through many people for a loop. What do you mean I can't earn it? What do you mean I can't work for it? How am I supposed to feel good about myself? All we have to do is truly believe in our hearts and souls that He is and was who He said He was? I find that hard to beleive and this is a lament that keeps so many out of the Kingdom. But it truly is His Amazing Grace indeed, and something that when comprehended to the extent that we as humans can actually comprehend what took place on the Cross at Calvary can be transformational in our lives. If we are willing to see life not as an exchange of what we can get for something we give, but rather as a way to to give thanks for something we have already been given that can never be taken away and that we can never earn, then we can become more Christ like! When we truly look at all of life's situations as a way to bless someone without expecting anything in return, that is where real freedom exists. And where life's true blessings exist. We as Christians have already been given the greatest gift of all! Our job is to give it away in a way that glorifies and exemplifies that love that has already been shown to us. So why is it so tough to truly live this out? Why do I so often fail in my heart and in my soul to take time and to see all situations through this lens of His grace? I guess I can take solace in that He didn't wait for me, or expect me, to be any where near perfect before He was willing to die for me and to remove my sin from my eternal record. Isaiah 1:18 says " Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." My only response is, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Romans 5:8 " But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
I love this notion of exchanging something to get something else. It rules almost all aspects of a capitalistic society. We provide a good or service and we get something in return for our efforts. I wash your car, you pay me $20. I make a sale of a certain item, I get paid a commission. But what about all of the other, non-monetary, exchanges that take place in our lives on an almost daily basis that help shape who we are. Sometimes, hopefully, we do something extraordinary for someone without expecting anything of value in return, except for feeling good about the decision we made. Maybe that is the greatest gift of all. We get to build our self worth and self esteem when we help a cause or a person or the earth, without expecting anything back. When we show love towards someone, knowing they can never love us back, that is an act of selflessness that makes our character develop. We exchange a piece of ourselves for the benefit of an other. Well, imagine going to the place that Jesus went to show His love for us, knowing that not only could he get nothing back in this lifetime for his sacrifice, in fact He would have to endure unspeakable agony in order to accomplish His purpose. He would be mocked, derided, spit upon and mercilessly punished in order to fulfill His Father's will, the redemption of mankind. He would make the ultimate sacrifice and within that act, would provide me and anyone else who is willing to accept it, the greatest exchange that could ever take place in our lifetime: His righteousness for our sin. That He would be willing to suffer and die for us while we were yet sinners is what really sets us apart from any other religious doctrine. The implications are enormous. He didn't die for those who had their act together, who were working their way into the Kingdom, who were following all of the laws, who had turned over new leaves, who were going the second mile. No, instead He met us right where we were and still are, in our sinful nature. He said come and join me at the banquet table, for I have taken your sin upon me and given you my righteousness while you were still sinners. That way no one could ever boast about how much they deserved this Great Exchange. Ephesians 2:8-9 pretty much puts the nail in anyone's coffin who thinks their great works are the reason for their salvation " We are saved by grace, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast." This is remarkable in its simplicity, and in its complexity. It is simple to understand that God, being the loving Creator that He is, had to create a plan to salvage His creation from the sinful nature that had befallen them in the Garden. But it is incredibly complex to think that the Son of Man was willing to die a gruesome death, that my sinful nature deserved, in order that I would be set free from the consequences of that sin, so that I could be an eternal part of His Kingdom. And there is nothing that I had to do to earn it? We men like to earn our rewards. We like to feel that we deserve the spoils of our labor. But here Christ Jesus gave us the Greatest Exchange that could ever take place in history and didn't even require us to lift a finger? No work, all grace? Man, does this through many people for a loop. What do you mean I can't earn it? What do you mean I can't work for it? How am I supposed to feel good about myself? All we have to do is truly believe in our hearts and souls that He is and was who He said He was? I find that hard to beleive and this is a lament that keeps so many out of the Kingdom. But it truly is His Amazing Grace indeed, and something that when comprehended to the extent that we as humans can actually comprehend what took place on the Cross at Calvary can be transformational in our lives. If we are willing to see life not as an exchange of what we can get for something we give, but rather as a way to to give thanks for something we have already been given that can never be taken away and that we can never earn, then we can become more Christ like! When we truly look at all of life's situations as a way to bless someone without expecting anything in return, that is where real freedom exists. And where life's true blessings exist. We as Christians have already been given the greatest gift of all! Our job is to give it away in a way that glorifies and exemplifies that love that has already been shown to us. So why is it so tough to truly live this out? Why do I so often fail in my heart and in my soul to take time and to see all situations through this lens of His grace? I guess I can take solace in that He didn't wait for me, or expect me, to be any where near perfect before He was willing to die for me and to remove my sin from my eternal record. Isaiah 1:18 says " Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." My only response is, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Look Foolish
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day" 1st Corinthians 1:27 " But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong."
God has always used seemingly foolish things to shock the world. Better yet, he asks for our deep faith and belief and then uses our own foolishness to glorify Himself. The Bible is full of stories and events that the world looked at as utterly ridiculous. The circumstances were so unreal that they seemed ludicrous. Sarah buying maternity clothes at age 90? Noah building an Arc and preparing for a flood in the middle of a Desert? David running to the battlefield to fight a giant with a slingshot? The Israelites marching around Jericho blaring trumpets? Peter stepping out of the boat in the middle of a lake? The response to all of these situations by bystanders at the time must have been are you kidding me? You are totally insane. I could see Sarah standing in line at the Old Testament version of Mommies R Us and the looks she must have gotten. Tell me the Lord doesn't have a wicked sense of humor. Well, here we are some 2,000 years later from the time of Christ's last breath on this earth, and not much has changed. People who are striving to follow Christ still seem foolish in the world's eyes. Maybe more so than ever. I often feel like I look foolish telling friends I used to get drunk or high with that I no longer wish to go there. That I have found a new life and a better way in Jesus Christ and that the pain I used to feel that led me to try and drown or smoke away is no longer there, thanks to His love and grace. I have replaced the world's medicine cabinet for God's. I look foolish in the world's eyes when I pray for people I don't even know or forgive those who have truly tried to harm me. I look foolish when I admit that I don't have a clue about what my purpose is in this life, but that I do know I can trust in God to lead me to where He wants me to go. For I have come to realize that He wants me to get where He wants me to go, even more than I do. Just trying to be a God fearing man is a huge challenge and leads to many situations on a daily basis where the world considers my attempts to honor God as shear foolishness. Let alone how many times I profess my love for Christ and than fall flat on my sinful face in words, deeds and actions. Trying to live a life that doesn't evolve around kingdom of self is quite foolish in today's world of instant gratification and self promotion. The battle of flesh vs. spirit is clearing being waged at a feverish pitch in this world, and I think it is safe to say that flesh has an insurmountable lead at the moment. I can hardly go a day when I don't feel the overwhelming temptation to give in to my fleshly desires. But when I try and espouse my feelings on why I believe it is better for me to at least attempt to stand strong in the spirit, I look foolish in this world's eyes. I guess I have come to realize that I would rather be disliked for who I am in Christ, than liked for who I am not. That doesn't make it any easier. It still hurts. At our core, humans have a need for acceptance and approval. The question I need to continually ask myself is who am I looking to for validation? If I look to this world, I always end up getting used, abused or burnt out as I try to do well in whatever endeavor I am chasing to make others like me, and to earn their approval, and maybe a pat on the head like a little puppy dog. Christ loves me not because of anything I am or could ever be, but because of who He is and all that He has done for me. Even though I am a lost sheep at times, He never stops being my good shepherd. I feel his love so much not because nothing is too big for Him, but because nothing is too small for Him. He gets into the granular ares of my life and sets up shop in the areas of my life that the world looks at as mundane. The granular places is where He breaks in and changes me, from the inside out. When I am in tune with this truth and strong in the word, I am willing to be boldly foolish for the Lord. I am willing to take risks and try things that the world would see as foolish. But in my quest for joy in this world, looking foolish for the Lord is as close as I can come to feeling true meaning and purpose. May I be increasingly eager to take risks for the Lord, and to look foolish in the world's eyes, for that is where I am most connected to my living God!
Bible Verse of the Day" 1st Corinthians 1:27 " But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong."
God has always used seemingly foolish things to shock the world. Better yet, he asks for our deep faith and belief and then uses our own foolishness to glorify Himself. The Bible is full of stories and events that the world looked at as utterly ridiculous. The circumstances were so unreal that they seemed ludicrous. Sarah buying maternity clothes at age 90? Noah building an Arc and preparing for a flood in the middle of a Desert? David running to the battlefield to fight a giant with a slingshot? The Israelites marching around Jericho blaring trumpets? Peter stepping out of the boat in the middle of a lake? The response to all of these situations by bystanders at the time must have been are you kidding me? You are totally insane. I could see Sarah standing in line at the Old Testament version of Mommies R Us and the looks she must have gotten. Tell me the Lord doesn't have a wicked sense of humor. Well, here we are some 2,000 years later from the time of Christ's last breath on this earth, and not much has changed. People who are striving to follow Christ still seem foolish in the world's eyes. Maybe more so than ever. I often feel like I look foolish telling friends I used to get drunk or high with that I no longer wish to go there. That I have found a new life and a better way in Jesus Christ and that the pain I used to feel that led me to try and drown or smoke away is no longer there, thanks to His love and grace. I have replaced the world's medicine cabinet for God's. I look foolish in the world's eyes when I pray for people I don't even know or forgive those who have truly tried to harm me. I look foolish when I admit that I don't have a clue about what my purpose is in this life, but that I do know I can trust in God to lead me to where He wants me to go. For I have come to realize that He wants me to get where He wants me to go, even more than I do. Just trying to be a God fearing man is a huge challenge and leads to many situations on a daily basis where the world considers my attempts to honor God as shear foolishness. Let alone how many times I profess my love for Christ and than fall flat on my sinful face in words, deeds and actions. Trying to live a life that doesn't evolve around kingdom of self is quite foolish in today's world of instant gratification and self promotion. The battle of flesh vs. spirit is clearing being waged at a feverish pitch in this world, and I think it is safe to say that flesh has an insurmountable lead at the moment. I can hardly go a day when I don't feel the overwhelming temptation to give in to my fleshly desires. But when I try and espouse my feelings on why I believe it is better for me to at least attempt to stand strong in the spirit, I look foolish in this world's eyes. I guess I have come to realize that I would rather be disliked for who I am in Christ, than liked for who I am not. That doesn't make it any easier. It still hurts. At our core, humans have a need for acceptance and approval. The question I need to continually ask myself is who am I looking to for validation? If I look to this world, I always end up getting used, abused or burnt out as I try to do well in whatever endeavor I am chasing to make others like me, and to earn their approval, and maybe a pat on the head like a little puppy dog. Christ loves me not because of anything I am or could ever be, but because of who He is and all that He has done for me. Even though I am a lost sheep at times, He never stops being my good shepherd. I feel his love so much not because nothing is too big for Him, but because nothing is too small for Him. He gets into the granular ares of my life and sets up shop in the areas of my life that the world looks at as mundane. The granular places is where He breaks in and changes me, from the inside out. When I am in tune with this truth and strong in the word, I am willing to be boldly foolish for the Lord. I am willing to take risks and try things that the world would see as foolish. But in my quest for joy in this world, looking foolish for the Lord is as close as I can come to feeling true meaning and purpose. May I be increasingly eager to take risks for the Lord, and to look foolish in the world's eyes, for that is where I am most connected to my living God!
Monday, February 6, 2012
The Greatest Love
2/6/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: 1John 4:8 " Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
We live in a performance based culture where our acceptance and appreciation is often times directly tied to our performance. This is especially true in the marketplace, or the sports world, where today's hero can be quickly become tomorrow's goat based on our latest performance. If we win, whether in business, sports or even love for that matter, we find ourselves receiving accolades and our feeling of self worth can temporarily be lifted. On the other hand, when we make a mistake or lose a deal, we are under considerable pressure, both internally and externally, not to let it happen again. We are living in a time when people love to tear others down. It is almost like some people feel better about themselves when they are critical of others shortcomings or failures. We all seek love in our lives and want to be accepted and appreciated. We are all striving for validation in some form or another. I spent many years of my life waiting for my earthly father to validate me as a man and tell me that he loves me and is proud of me. That day has never yet come. But thankfully, God's love for us is not like that. God's love is in no way tied to, or dependent on, our performance. Likewise, it is not dependent on our character or our behavior. There is nothing we can ever do that is good enough to have God love us anymore and likewise there is nothing so bad that would cause Him to love us any less. Because God is Love, we don't have to live our lives on a spiritual roller coaster that resembles the rest of our life. Because as the verse above tells us God is Love, He is the very essence of what that means. It is essential to His being. In other words, the Lord does not ever cease to love us because in order to do so He would have to cease being Himself. The guilt that we put on ourselves over our sins and bad deeds which paralyze us and can cause us to miss out on the great things He has planned for us, never translate into the God of the universe loving us any less. Because no one can ever live up to the perfect standards of love and grace that come from the Lord, if God's love were dependent on on our performance or character, a sense of of uncertainty and unworthiness would also be prevalent deep in our souls. That's the game that the devil likes to play with us, to try and get us to feel unworthy or unlovable based on our performance. he tries to make us have a worldly perspective on love rather than a Godly perspective. When we try to live up to the world's ever changing performance standards, there is no grace in living that way. We are quickly overcome by legalism and bondage as we strive to live up to all of the false expectations. But God's love is perfect and has no attachment to worldly expectations. His affections are not based at all on our worthiness, but rather on His unchanging character. Because He never changes, we never have to worry about His love being conditional. The Bible tells us so. It shows us the characteristics of God's love throughout the stories and the way Christ interacted with various people while He lived on earth. A few of those characteristics of His perfect love would include: It is perfect. It is eternal. It is immeasurable. It is sacrificial. It is incomprehensible. It is unique. It is unconditional. It is unending. It is constant. It never changes. And most importantly, it is practical. He gave us a road map for applying His love in practical terms in our own lives with how he dealt with people like Peter and Zaccheus and the Adulteress in John 8. These are just a few of the examples found in the Bible that show how He is always willing to forgive, to teach, to inspire, to rebuke, to encourage, to humble and to melt our fears away in His love. His love is the tool Jesus used to change people's lives. He loved them when the world said they were unlovable like Bartimaeus. He loved them when the world wanted to stone them to death for their sins like the adulterous woman in John 8. He loved them when they had forsaken Him, like Peter to the little servant girl. He loved them all the way to the cross. God's perfect love lived out in the flesh through Jesus Christ should help us to deal more practically with our sins and flaws. If He forgives us, why can't we forgive ourselves. More importantly, why can't we forgive others more easily when they sin against us? When I learned to let go of the hurt and pain caused by the lack of validation from my earthly father, and learned to try and forgive him in a way that Jesus forgives me, from the deepest part of my soul, there was such freedom that overcame me. Freedom like I had never experienced before. True freedom lies in forgiveness. True freedom lies in the comprehension of how perfect God's love is towards us. I have found the greatest love of all in my life in God through Jesus Christ. I pray that I will continue to learn how to share that love with others. It is an ever changing process with me, dealing with all of my human, imperfect emotions. My love and ability to love is imperfect in every way. Thank God that His love is not like mine. Amen!
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: 1John 4:8 " Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
We live in a performance based culture where our acceptance and appreciation is often times directly tied to our performance. This is especially true in the marketplace, or the sports world, where today's hero can be quickly become tomorrow's goat based on our latest performance. If we win, whether in business, sports or even love for that matter, we find ourselves receiving accolades and our feeling of self worth can temporarily be lifted. On the other hand, when we make a mistake or lose a deal, we are under considerable pressure, both internally and externally, not to let it happen again. We are living in a time when people love to tear others down. It is almost like some people feel better about themselves when they are critical of others shortcomings or failures. We all seek love in our lives and want to be accepted and appreciated. We are all striving for validation in some form or another. I spent many years of my life waiting for my earthly father to validate me as a man and tell me that he loves me and is proud of me. That day has never yet come. But thankfully, God's love for us is not like that. God's love is in no way tied to, or dependent on, our performance. Likewise, it is not dependent on our character or our behavior. There is nothing we can ever do that is good enough to have God love us anymore and likewise there is nothing so bad that would cause Him to love us any less. Because God is Love, we don't have to live our lives on a spiritual roller coaster that resembles the rest of our life. Because as the verse above tells us God is Love, He is the very essence of what that means. It is essential to His being. In other words, the Lord does not ever cease to love us because in order to do so He would have to cease being Himself. The guilt that we put on ourselves over our sins and bad deeds which paralyze us and can cause us to miss out on the great things He has planned for us, never translate into the God of the universe loving us any less. Because no one can ever live up to the perfect standards of love and grace that come from the Lord, if God's love were dependent on on our performance or character, a sense of of uncertainty and unworthiness would also be prevalent deep in our souls. That's the game that the devil likes to play with us, to try and get us to feel unworthy or unlovable based on our performance. he tries to make us have a worldly perspective on love rather than a Godly perspective. When we try to live up to the world's ever changing performance standards, there is no grace in living that way. We are quickly overcome by legalism and bondage as we strive to live up to all of the false expectations. But God's love is perfect and has no attachment to worldly expectations. His affections are not based at all on our worthiness, but rather on His unchanging character. Because He never changes, we never have to worry about His love being conditional. The Bible tells us so. It shows us the characteristics of God's love throughout the stories and the way Christ interacted with various people while He lived on earth. A few of those characteristics of His perfect love would include: It is perfect. It is eternal. It is immeasurable. It is sacrificial. It is incomprehensible. It is unique. It is unconditional. It is unending. It is constant. It never changes. And most importantly, it is practical. He gave us a road map for applying His love in practical terms in our own lives with how he dealt with people like Peter and Zaccheus and the Adulteress in John 8. These are just a few of the examples found in the Bible that show how He is always willing to forgive, to teach, to inspire, to rebuke, to encourage, to humble and to melt our fears away in His love. His love is the tool Jesus used to change people's lives. He loved them when the world said they were unlovable like Bartimaeus. He loved them when the world wanted to stone them to death for their sins like the adulterous woman in John 8. He loved them when they had forsaken Him, like Peter to the little servant girl. He loved them all the way to the cross. God's perfect love lived out in the flesh through Jesus Christ should help us to deal more practically with our sins and flaws. If He forgives us, why can't we forgive ourselves. More importantly, why can't we forgive others more easily when they sin against us? When I learned to let go of the hurt and pain caused by the lack of validation from my earthly father, and learned to try and forgive him in a way that Jesus forgives me, from the deepest part of my soul, there was such freedom that overcame me. Freedom like I had never experienced before. True freedom lies in forgiveness. True freedom lies in the comprehension of how perfect God's love is towards us. I have found the greatest love of all in my life in God through Jesus Christ. I pray that I will continue to learn how to share that love with others. It is an ever changing process with me, dealing with all of my human, imperfect emotions. My love and ability to love is imperfect in every way. Thank God that His love is not like mine. Amen!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Never Enough
2/1/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Genesis 1:28-29 " God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it;Rule over the fish and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Then God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food."
The book of Genesis is both a book of great joy and hope and also one of great sadness and brokenness. We see both the miraculous powers of the Creator of the universe at work in His splendor and the sinful nature of man to let his prideful condition lead to his own demise. The fall of mankind that took place in the Garden of Eden plays out in the lives of us as individuals on almost a daily basis. Our human nature is such that we are never really satisfied with what we have and always leads us to want more. God had given Adam and Eve everything they could hope for. There was beauty, security, freedom and abundance all around them in the Garden at all times and at first they were content. Genesis 2:25 illustrates this for us " the man and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame." But it takes only a brief time until the free will that God gives to each of us humans leads them to disobey the one command that God had given to them. Their pride was the tool that the devil used to weaken them to the point of disobeying their God who had provided everything they needed for comfort and fellowship with Him. After they sinned and ate of the forbidden fruit, they were instantly overwhelmed with guilt. Where just a few passages ago they were fine with their nakedness because they were walking with the Lord, now in Genesis 3:7 their sinful action has left them feeling vulnerable " Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves." The sinful episode of disobedience in the Garden has been a thorn in the side of man ever since and it clearly exposed our human nature to seek our own path, desiring more in our pleasures than in the comfort and security of God's promises. I have a very hard time realizing that true happiness only comes when I align myself with the will of God. I want to live as a person who pursues pleasure and puts no limits on my passions. That is the sinful nature of my flesh that is always in conflict with the Holy Spirit that lives within me and constantly reminds me that the path of fleshly pleasure will only lead to a road of destruction. Paul describes this on-going fierce battle that rages in all of mankind between our desire to gratify the flesh or live by the Spirit in Galatians 5:16-17," So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." I believe this is the epicenter of our struggle as humans. We do what we do not want to do because although our minds are willing, our bodies are weak when it comes to gratifying our flesh. I have failed at this in many different ways throughout my life, but I have finally learned the most valuable lesson; I am too weak on my own to avoid temptation. As a matter of fact, as a mentor of mine likes to say, I can avoid anything other than temptation. It is only through the Power of Christ living in me that I have any chance to defeat my fleshly desires. I simply can't do it on my own. The most distressing part of this is that this holds true even when things are great in my life and I seem to have everything I need for happiness. It helps me to find comfort that the Bible is full of stories like the fall in the Garden that illustrates I am not alone in my weakness. Moses and David were both murderer's and David was also an adulterer. These great men of God had impactful lives serving the Lord, yet even they were vulnerable to the powerful nature of sin. Why can't we ever just be content where we are? Why are we always striving for more? Like more stuff, more sex. more power or more money is ever going to make us happy. When will we ever realize that our lives are just a vapor. I am still weak and vulnerable anytime I am away from the word of God or like a lost sheep, I stray from the Good Shepherd. But I have come to realize that true happiness can only be found in obeying God's word to the best of my abilities, flawed as they are. Even King Solomon, " The wisest man that ever lived," according to 1 Kings 3:12, came to the same conclusion. He was blessed with wealth beyond imagination and was given the privilege of building God's temple, yet he could find no lasting contentment apart from obeying God. He devoted himself to studying and exploring all kinds of things. He sought worldly pleasures and satisfaction in his fleshly pursuits, but he quickly realized they were folly and without value as the contentment he was seeking evaded him through these pursuits. He tried to find contentment through personal achievement. He undertook many great projects, including the building of an extensive irrigation system to bring water to his groves of flourishing trees. In the end, he decided according to Ecclesiastes 2:11 " that yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun." So if the richest man in the world, and the wisest man who ever lived found no real value in chasing after greater wealth, fleshly pleasure or personal achievement, why do we think it will ultimately be any different for us. All of these things can bring temporary satisfaction or prideful expression, be they don't lead to lasting contentment or eternal value. Jesus himself came to point this out for us, in that He came, not to be served, but rather as a servant of all. He could have amassed all power and wealth for His earthly consumption. But, He chose instead to focus on His eternal glory, the most humble man who ever lived. So what is the point of this life then? Where should we search for the place of contentment and of eternal value? What is our wisdom gained throughout our lifetime good for? The answer lies in the scriptures for as Paul says in Galatians 5:1 " It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." Freedom from ourselves and our sinful nature. Freedom from our desires for always wanting more and thinking that will leads us to contentment. Freedom from the longings of our flesh. And so, as Romans 5:2 states, " we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." For He alone can fill our hearts with lasting joy and lead our souls to a place of everlasting contentment. He alone is worthy of all our praise. Amen!
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Genesis 1:28-29 " God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it;Rule over the fish and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Then God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food."
The book of Genesis is both a book of great joy and hope and also one of great sadness and brokenness. We see both the miraculous powers of the Creator of the universe at work in His splendor and the sinful nature of man to let his prideful condition lead to his own demise. The fall of mankind that took place in the Garden of Eden plays out in the lives of us as individuals on almost a daily basis. Our human nature is such that we are never really satisfied with what we have and always leads us to want more. God had given Adam and Eve everything they could hope for. There was beauty, security, freedom and abundance all around them in the Garden at all times and at first they were content. Genesis 2:25 illustrates this for us " the man and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame." But it takes only a brief time until the free will that God gives to each of us humans leads them to disobey the one command that God had given to them. Their pride was the tool that the devil used to weaken them to the point of disobeying their God who had provided everything they needed for comfort and fellowship with Him. After they sinned and ate of the forbidden fruit, they were instantly overwhelmed with guilt. Where just a few passages ago they were fine with their nakedness because they were walking with the Lord, now in Genesis 3:7 their sinful action has left them feeling vulnerable " Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves." The sinful episode of disobedience in the Garden has been a thorn in the side of man ever since and it clearly exposed our human nature to seek our own path, desiring more in our pleasures than in the comfort and security of God's promises. I have a very hard time realizing that true happiness only comes when I align myself with the will of God. I want to live as a person who pursues pleasure and puts no limits on my passions. That is the sinful nature of my flesh that is always in conflict with the Holy Spirit that lives within me and constantly reminds me that the path of fleshly pleasure will only lead to a road of destruction. Paul describes this on-going fierce battle that rages in all of mankind between our desire to gratify the flesh or live by the Spirit in Galatians 5:16-17," So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." I believe this is the epicenter of our struggle as humans. We do what we do not want to do because although our minds are willing, our bodies are weak when it comes to gratifying our flesh. I have failed at this in many different ways throughout my life, but I have finally learned the most valuable lesson; I am too weak on my own to avoid temptation. As a matter of fact, as a mentor of mine likes to say, I can avoid anything other than temptation. It is only through the Power of Christ living in me that I have any chance to defeat my fleshly desires. I simply can't do it on my own. The most distressing part of this is that this holds true even when things are great in my life and I seem to have everything I need for happiness. It helps me to find comfort that the Bible is full of stories like the fall in the Garden that illustrates I am not alone in my weakness. Moses and David were both murderer's and David was also an adulterer. These great men of God had impactful lives serving the Lord, yet even they were vulnerable to the powerful nature of sin. Why can't we ever just be content where we are? Why are we always striving for more? Like more stuff, more sex. more power or more money is ever going to make us happy. When will we ever realize that our lives are just a vapor. I am still weak and vulnerable anytime I am away from the word of God or like a lost sheep, I stray from the Good Shepherd. But I have come to realize that true happiness can only be found in obeying God's word to the best of my abilities, flawed as they are. Even King Solomon, " The wisest man that ever lived," according to 1 Kings 3:12, came to the same conclusion. He was blessed with wealth beyond imagination and was given the privilege of building God's temple, yet he could find no lasting contentment apart from obeying God. He devoted himself to studying and exploring all kinds of things. He sought worldly pleasures and satisfaction in his fleshly pursuits, but he quickly realized they were folly and without value as the contentment he was seeking evaded him through these pursuits. He tried to find contentment through personal achievement. He undertook many great projects, including the building of an extensive irrigation system to bring water to his groves of flourishing trees. In the end, he decided according to Ecclesiastes 2:11 " that yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun." So if the richest man in the world, and the wisest man who ever lived found no real value in chasing after greater wealth, fleshly pleasure or personal achievement, why do we think it will ultimately be any different for us. All of these things can bring temporary satisfaction or prideful expression, be they don't lead to lasting contentment or eternal value. Jesus himself came to point this out for us, in that He came, not to be served, but rather as a servant of all. He could have amassed all power and wealth for His earthly consumption. But, He chose instead to focus on His eternal glory, the most humble man who ever lived. So what is the point of this life then? Where should we search for the place of contentment and of eternal value? What is our wisdom gained throughout our lifetime good for? The answer lies in the scriptures for as Paul says in Galatians 5:1 " It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." Freedom from ourselves and our sinful nature. Freedom from our desires for always wanting more and thinking that will leads us to contentment. Freedom from the longings of our flesh. And so, as Romans 5:2 states, " we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." For He alone can fill our hearts with lasting joy and lead our souls to a place of everlasting contentment. He alone is worthy of all our praise. Amen!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Alignment of the Heart
1/26/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: 1st Corinthians 13:13 " And now these three remain: faith, hope and love; but the greatest of these is love."
If we could do only one thing to make us more like Jesus, what would it be? Would we heal the sick and hopeless? Would we teach others about the kingdom of heaven? Would we shoot down the Pharisees and their self-righteous attitude? Well, I believe that we all do have the chance to be more like Jesus in the way we live our lives. How? By aligning our heart to be more like the heart of Jesus, always putting love above all else. Why are we so quick to judge others when Jesus himself never judged others? In fact, He warned against the consequences of such actions in Matthew 7:1-2 " Do not judge others, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Jesus loved us so much that " while we were yet sinners, He died for us." He never let our sinful nature stop him from loving us. If there is one thing that I wish I did better in my life it would be to align my heart more like the heart of JESUS. I wish I wasn't always looking at my situations from such a selfish standpoint. I wish I was more loving towards those that despise me, like he taught on the sermon on the mount. I wish I wasn't so needy, fully capable of realizing that His love and grace were truly sufficient for me. I wish I didn't hold grudges like Jesus didn't. I wish I could look at every situation with my heart in a place of love before I spoke or acted. I fail a lot at this and it bothers me. For I have seen the peace and grace that does indeed fall upon me when I respond to various situations in my life in a manner that would make Jesus proud. Those are the times when I feel the best, the most liberated from the bondage of my own worldly instincts. We live in a world where an eye for an eye is the mantra for survival. Jesus taught that approach leaves everyone blind. He taught forgiveness while we seek retribution. I get mad when people don't agree with my beliefs. How stupid! I should pray for them and try harder to love them even more. I get upset at the political games that are taking place in our country and the pain that is being inflicted on the country I love by a few who have chosen to gratify themselves with the power they have been given, rather than to serve the ones who elected them. Who do I think I am? I should be more aligned with Christ in these thoughts and realize that as He did that we need to pray for our leaders. Besides this isn't our home anyway so why should I let it bother me so much. As Philippians 3:20 points out " but our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." Focusing on the character of Christ leads to a loving response and a grateful heart in all circumstances. I just wish I could always be aligned with him, and get myself and my emotions out of the way more often. That is my goal and I strive towards it, hoping each day to be a little bit more aligned with the heart of my Savior. Love is the greatest of all that will remain, now and for eternity. That He loved me enough to die for me on the cross for forgiveness of my sins is the greatest love I will ever know. His love is perfect in all ways and manners. Mine is not. I pray to be more aligned with His loving heart and to cherish each person He brings into my life the way He cherished me at Calvary. Amen.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: 1st Corinthians 13:13 " And now these three remain: faith, hope and love; but the greatest of these is love."
If we could do only one thing to make us more like Jesus, what would it be? Would we heal the sick and hopeless? Would we teach others about the kingdom of heaven? Would we shoot down the Pharisees and their self-righteous attitude? Well, I believe that we all do have the chance to be more like Jesus in the way we live our lives. How? By aligning our heart to be more like the heart of Jesus, always putting love above all else. Why are we so quick to judge others when Jesus himself never judged others? In fact, He warned against the consequences of such actions in Matthew 7:1-2 " Do not judge others, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Jesus loved us so much that " while we were yet sinners, He died for us." He never let our sinful nature stop him from loving us. If there is one thing that I wish I did better in my life it would be to align my heart more like the heart of JESUS. I wish I wasn't always looking at my situations from such a selfish standpoint. I wish I was more loving towards those that despise me, like he taught on the sermon on the mount. I wish I wasn't so needy, fully capable of realizing that His love and grace were truly sufficient for me. I wish I didn't hold grudges like Jesus didn't. I wish I could look at every situation with my heart in a place of love before I spoke or acted. I fail a lot at this and it bothers me. For I have seen the peace and grace that does indeed fall upon me when I respond to various situations in my life in a manner that would make Jesus proud. Those are the times when I feel the best, the most liberated from the bondage of my own worldly instincts. We live in a world where an eye for an eye is the mantra for survival. Jesus taught that approach leaves everyone blind. He taught forgiveness while we seek retribution. I get mad when people don't agree with my beliefs. How stupid! I should pray for them and try harder to love them even more. I get upset at the political games that are taking place in our country and the pain that is being inflicted on the country I love by a few who have chosen to gratify themselves with the power they have been given, rather than to serve the ones who elected them. Who do I think I am? I should be more aligned with Christ in these thoughts and realize that as He did that we need to pray for our leaders. Besides this isn't our home anyway so why should I let it bother me so much. As Philippians 3:20 points out " but our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." Focusing on the character of Christ leads to a loving response and a grateful heart in all circumstances. I just wish I could always be aligned with him, and get myself and my emotions out of the way more often. That is my goal and I strive towards it, hoping each day to be a little bit more aligned with the heart of my Savior. Love is the greatest of all that will remain, now and for eternity. That He loved me enough to die for me on the cross for forgiveness of my sins is the greatest love I will ever know. His love is perfect in all ways and manners. Mine is not. I pray to be more aligned with His loving heart and to cherish each person He brings into my life the way He cherished me at Calvary. Amen.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Our Weakness, His Strength
1/19/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: " Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save."
We are all born with unique abilities. What comes naturally fore some, might be nearly impossible for others. Some people have a knack for selling, some for teaching, some for math and others for science. Some are athletically gifted, some are Spirit led. God gave us unique gifts because He had a specific goal in mind for each one of us when He created us in our mother's womb and He needs us to fulfill our role. Likewise, we also have weaknesses. Things that leave us vulnerable to destroying our lives if we are not able to recognize them and to reign them in. Many people have similar weaknesses, areas in our lives where we are easy pray for the evil one if we are not especially careful. Most, including myself, have struggled with one or more of these things at various times throughout our lives: Lust, insecurity, fear, greed, gossip, pride, dishonesty, substance abuse, ungratefulness, the list goes on and on. I have struggled with each of these areas at one time or another in my life. What truly matters though is our we willing to recognize our weaknesses, the areas where we are especially vulnerable at any given time, and to realize that we may not have the strength to deal with them on our own? Our personality flaws can be a powerful motivation for good or evil in our lives, depending on our response. A proclivity for sin can ruin your life or it can drive you to utter dependence on God. The fact that God is mighty to save us from our weaknesses, our sin, should be the joy we focus on when we realize that we are too weak to deal with certain things on our own. The Apostle Paul understood this so well that he had gotten to the point where he had learned to rejoice in his sufferings, for when he was weak, he knew that he must depend fully on God and that God alone was strong enough to pull him through any ordeal. In the Bible verse of the day above, the term mighty to save should give us great joy and comfort. We think of mighty in our world today in terms of brute strength and physical prowess. But in the original Hebrew text, the word for mighty is yasha, which indicates freeing, delivering, defending, preserving, rescuing, saving, victorious. In the grandest sense, yasha means that if we trust in the Lord, God will win. He wins the very lives of the people he sets out to rescue from harm. When we think of God in this way, we grow in our faith and get excited about what He can do for those who put their trust in Him. I have found many times in my life how weak I was to deal with certain sins in my life. My initial response was either one of pride, saying I could find or way to deal with it, or to try and downplay the significance of the very sin that was holding me in bondage. I have found that to be a recipe for disaster. Sin never sleeps and it's consequences always stay longer than we want them to stay, and always cost more than we want to pay. Make no mistake, sin can ruin your life. It can leave you broken, destitute and alone. Putting our faith in God's strength and Him alone can lead us to a new, better life free of those areas of our life that we are too weak to control. He alone is mighty to save. He will free us and deliver us from our temptations if we turn to Him with utter dependence. Praise be to God for His power is made great in our weakness.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: " Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save."
We are all born with unique abilities. What comes naturally fore some, might be nearly impossible for others. Some people have a knack for selling, some for teaching, some for math and others for science. Some are athletically gifted, some are Spirit led. God gave us unique gifts because He had a specific goal in mind for each one of us when He created us in our mother's womb and He needs us to fulfill our role. Likewise, we also have weaknesses. Things that leave us vulnerable to destroying our lives if we are not able to recognize them and to reign them in. Many people have similar weaknesses, areas in our lives where we are easy pray for the evil one if we are not especially careful. Most, including myself, have struggled with one or more of these things at various times throughout our lives: Lust, insecurity, fear, greed, gossip, pride, dishonesty, substance abuse, ungratefulness, the list goes on and on. I have struggled with each of these areas at one time or another in my life. What truly matters though is our we willing to recognize our weaknesses, the areas where we are especially vulnerable at any given time, and to realize that we may not have the strength to deal with them on our own? Our personality flaws can be a powerful motivation for good or evil in our lives, depending on our response. A proclivity for sin can ruin your life or it can drive you to utter dependence on God. The fact that God is mighty to save us from our weaknesses, our sin, should be the joy we focus on when we realize that we are too weak to deal with certain things on our own. The Apostle Paul understood this so well that he had gotten to the point where he had learned to rejoice in his sufferings, for when he was weak, he knew that he must depend fully on God and that God alone was strong enough to pull him through any ordeal. In the Bible verse of the day above, the term mighty to save should give us great joy and comfort. We think of mighty in our world today in terms of brute strength and physical prowess. But in the original Hebrew text, the word for mighty is yasha, which indicates freeing, delivering, defending, preserving, rescuing, saving, victorious. In the grandest sense, yasha means that if we trust in the Lord, God will win. He wins the very lives of the people he sets out to rescue from harm. When we think of God in this way, we grow in our faith and get excited about what He can do for those who put their trust in Him. I have found many times in my life how weak I was to deal with certain sins in my life. My initial response was either one of pride, saying I could find or way to deal with it, or to try and downplay the significance of the very sin that was holding me in bondage. I have found that to be a recipe for disaster. Sin never sleeps and it's consequences always stay longer than we want them to stay, and always cost more than we want to pay. Make no mistake, sin can ruin your life. It can leave you broken, destitute and alone. Putting our faith in God's strength and Him alone can lead us to a new, better life free of those areas of our life that we are too weak to control. He alone is mighty to save. He will free us and deliver us from our temptations if we turn to Him with utter dependence. Praise be to God for His power is made great in our weakness.
Monday, January 9, 2012
God is in the resume building business
1/9/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Psalm 37:3-4 " Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."
God is in the resume building business. He is always using our past experiences to help prepare us for future opportunities. The Bible is full of such stories. God uses the failings and the successes of our lives to prepare us for what we need to achieve for His Kingdom work here on earth and in Heaven. 2nd Samuel 23:20-21 tells the story of a valiant warrior named Benaiah, who kills 2 of Moab's mightiest warriors, and then kills an Egyptian giant with his own spear and finally kills a lion in a pit with his bare hands. All of this was preparing him for the day when he would become head of King David's body guard regimen. David himself was being prepared to be a king when he learned to place all of his trust in the God who delivered him from the giant Goliath, giving him the courage to run to the battlefield with only a slingshot in his hand. Moses was a reluctant leader who had been prepared by God just at the right time to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Noah was prepared by God to withstand the ridicule and shame that came from his culture for building an Arc in the middle of the Desert. The stories go on and on. One thing remains the same. God sees the big picture when we often times cannot. He is preparing us throughout our lives to play a part in his picture show, and we need to trust in His plan, even when it seems scary and impossible to believe. Thankfully, God is as patient as we are stubborn, and He will wait for us to come around because He knows how important it is that each of us fulfill the divine role that He has in mind for us. I look at my own life and often wonder how my past experiences are preparing me for some future opportunities. I must admit that at many times I wonder where exactly I am headed in my life. I have many things that I would like to accomplish, and yet can already feel the reality of time constraints starting to pinch in on some of my dreams. I must stop myself at those moments and recalibrate the image, because my understanding is so infinitesimal compared to the size of His power and His purpose. Isaiah sums this up well in 55:8-9 when he says " for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." My job is to humbly admit that I have no real understanding of how the big picture is being worked out through all of my little life experiences. I must truly trust, by faith, that the God of the universe is going to be able to make it all come together at the perfect time for His glory. My fears can quickly get in the way of His plans if I don't catch myself and learn to continually seek Him and trust His plan for my life. When I get anxious, it is because I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE HAS IN MIND! But guess what, He doesn't owe me or anyone else an explanation. He deserves the benefit of the doubt. I truly believe that He uses the mystery of our individual journeys as His main tool to build a deeper faith within us. If He showed us the ending of the movie at the beginning, life would loose all its mystery and intrigue. I think that learning to embrace that uncertainty is one of the hardest, yet most important parts of our Christian walk. It is called faith! When we accept Christ as our Savior, we are granted eternal certainty of being with Him, but we are not granted situational or circumstantial certainty in any manner. We must learn to see His hand at work in all facets of our life and to trust that all things are being worked out for His good. A selfish attitude around our desire to be in control, leads to anxiousness and fear. A selfless attitude where we trust in our Savior for all provisions and keep our eyes on Him leads to a " peace of God that transcends all understanding" and helps us to cope with the storms of life. I struggle with having the desire to constantly live this way and the inability to do so. I still am a slave to the culture I live in and often feel like I am being torn in two by the desire to live for Christ, and the need to find acceptance in a culture that is 180 degrees opposed to His teaching. We live in a narcissistic world, where self-centeredness is rampant and where the kingdom of self is heavily defended territory. The battles that rage between spirit and flesh are alive and fierce. I pray that God has been building my resume for the times that are to come so that I may be prepared, and understand exactly what is needed. When courage is required,God needs His men to be the dependable ones. That fact has remained the same throughout the history of the Bible and God has always used their lives to prepare them for action. May my resume be ready at just the right time!
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Psalm 37:3-4 " Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."
God is in the resume building business. He is always using our past experiences to help prepare us for future opportunities. The Bible is full of such stories. God uses the failings and the successes of our lives to prepare us for what we need to achieve for His Kingdom work here on earth and in Heaven. 2nd Samuel 23:20-21 tells the story of a valiant warrior named Benaiah, who kills 2 of Moab's mightiest warriors, and then kills an Egyptian giant with his own spear and finally kills a lion in a pit with his bare hands. All of this was preparing him for the day when he would become head of King David's body guard regimen. David himself was being prepared to be a king when he learned to place all of his trust in the God who delivered him from the giant Goliath, giving him the courage to run to the battlefield with only a slingshot in his hand. Moses was a reluctant leader who had been prepared by God just at the right time to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Noah was prepared by God to withstand the ridicule and shame that came from his culture for building an Arc in the middle of the Desert. The stories go on and on. One thing remains the same. God sees the big picture when we often times cannot. He is preparing us throughout our lives to play a part in his picture show, and we need to trust in His plan, even when it seems scary and impossible to believe. Thankfully, God is as patient as we are stubborn, and He will wait for us to come around because He knows how important it is that each of us fulfill the divine role that He has in mind for us. I look at my own life and often wonder how my past experiences are preparing me for some future opportunities. I must admit that at many times I wonder where exactly I am headed in my life. I have many things that I would like to accomplish, and yet can already feel the reality of time constraints starting to pinch in on some of my dreams. I must stop myself at those moments and recalibrate the image, because my understanding is so infinitesimal compared to the size of His power and His purpose. Isaiah sums this up well in 55:8-9 when he says " for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." My job is to humbly admit that I have no real understanding of how the big picture is being worked out through all of my little life experiences. I must truly trust, by faith, that the God of the universe is going to be able to make it all come together at the perfect time for His glory. My fears can quickly get in the way of His plans if I don't catch myself and learn to continually seek Him and trust His plan for my life. When I get anxious, it is because I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE HAS IN MIND! But guess what, He doesn't owe me or anyone else an explanation. He deserves the benefit of the doubt. I truly believe that He uses the mystery of our individual journeys as His main tool to build a deeper faith within us. If He showed us the ending of the movie at the beginning, life would loose all its mystery and intrigue. I think that learning to embrace that uncertainty is one of the hardest, yet most important parts of our Christian walk. It is called faith! When we accept Christ as our Savior, we are granted eternal certainty of being with Him, but we are not granted situational or circumstantial certainty in any manner. We must learn to see His hand at work in all facets of our life and to trust that all things are being worked out for His good. A selfish attitude around our desire to be in control, leads to anxiousness and fear. A selfless attitude where we trust in our Savior for all provisions and keep our eyes on Him leads to a " peace of God that transcends all understanding" and helps us to cope with the storms of life. I struggle with having the desire to constantly live this way and the inability to do so. I still am a slave to the culture I live in and often feel like I am being torn in two by the desire to live for Christ, and the need to find acceptance in a culture that is 180 degrees opposed to His teaching. We live in a narcissistic world, where self-centeredness is rampant and where the kingdom of self is heavily defended territory. The battles that rage between spirit and flesh are alive and fierce. I pray that God has been building my resume for the times that are to come so that I may be prepared, and understand exactly what is needed. When courage is required,God needs His men to be the dependable ones. That fact has remained the same throughout the history of the Bible and God has always used their lives to prepare them for action. May my resume be ready at just the right time!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
New Beginnings
1/03/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: 2nd Corinthians 5:17 " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come."
When the calendar hits January 1st, it is a new beginning. Hope permeates the air as we look forward to a clean slate and a fresh chance to make the best of the talents that we have been given. The past year is soon forgotten, and we strive to make an impact given the new beginning we have been given. We hope to learn from what we did well last year and also from what we did not do so well. People set all kinds of goals and resolutions to seek to make improvements in their lives. I am in the process of starting a new consulting company and feel a tremendous amount of energy and focus around my new endeavor. But I realize that as Psalm 127:1 states " Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stand guard in vain." See I am limited in my power and am susceptible to the fears of my heart. But in God, when I put my trust in Him and lean not on my own understanding, my power is made infinitely more strong. As a matter of fact, as the Bible verse of the day above states, all things are made new in Jesus Christ. Our relationship with Him provides the ultimate new beginning. For me, all the pain and disappointment of past relationships and my own shortcomings were washed away when I first came to know and accept Jesus as my Savior. In my own weakness, I found new strength in Him. I am still amazed at how since that day I still feel like every day is a new beginning, as I get a new chance to glorify Him who is worthy of my praise. When my focus is on Christ, and I am humble and prayerful before Him, He guides my path and leads me to many new things. On my own I can have occasional good ideas, but with Him I can have God ideas. There is an unseen force that guides things all around me and helps me to see new opportunities. Where before I was blind, now I can truly see. I can see things as Providences, rather than as coincidences. I can see new opportunities, and positive results, where before I could only see challenges and my own fears to stifle them. Christ is the ultimate new beginning because in Him, everything is made new. Each and every day is a gift to be an effective steward with the gifts He has given us and with the opportunities he brings our way. What we do with those opportunities is our gift back to Him. May 2012 be a year of new beginnings, as we draw closer to our Lord and Savior on a daily basis and seek His ways. For He will surely make our path straight and His wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing we desire can compare with it. Those who seek His wisdom, will surely find it. May you seek it will all of your heart. Amen!
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: 2nd Corinthians 5:17 " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come."
When the calendar hits January 1st, it is a new beginning. Hope permeates the air as we look forward to a clean slate and a fresh chance to make the best of the talents that we have been given. The past year is soon forgotten, and we strive to make an impact given the new beginning we have been given. We hope to learn from what we did well last year and also from what we did not do so well. People set all kinds of goals and resolutions to seek to make improvements in their lives. I am in the process of starting a new consulting company and feel a tremendous amount of energy and focus around my new endeavor. But I realize that as Psalm 127:1 states " Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stand guard in vain." See I am limited in my power and am susceptible to the fears of my heart. But in God, when I put my trust in Him and lean not on my own understanding, my power is made infinitely more strong. As a matter of fact, as the Bible verse of the day above states, all things are made new in Jesus Christ. Our relationship with Him provides the ultimate new beginning. For me, all the pain and disappointment of past relationships and my own shortcomings were washed away when I first came to know and accept Jesus as my Savior. In my own weakness, I found new strength in Him. I am still amazed at how since that day I still feel like every day is a new beginning, as I get a new chance to glorify Him who is worthy of my praise. When my focus is on Christ, and I am humble and prayerful before Him, He guides my path and leads me to many new things. On my own I can have occasional good ideas, but with Him I can have God ideas. There is an unseen force that guides things all around me and helps me to see new opportunities. Where before I was blind, now I can truly see. I can see things as Providences, rather than as coincidences. I can see new opportunities, and positive results, where before I could only see challenges and my own fears to stifle them. Christ is the ultimate new beginning because in Him, everything is made new. Each and every day is a gift to be an effective steward with the gifts He has given us and with the opportunities he brings our way. What we do with those opportunities is our gift back to Him. May 2012 be a year of new beginnings, as we draw closer to our Lord and Savior on a daily basis and seek His ways. For He will surely make our path straight and His wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing we desire can compare with it. Those who seek His wisdom, will surely find it. May you seek it will all of your heart. Amen!
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