10/7/2011
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Psalm 9:15 " The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug. Their feet are caught in the net they have hidden."
When Nations turn away from God, the results can be devastating. Throughout the old testament of the Bible, there is a seemingly never ending cycle of deliverance and pain that takes place with the Nation of Israel and God. God will do something amazing for His "chosen" people and then after an amount of time goes by, they will turn their back on God and start trying to do things on their own accord. From their own prideful position, they suffer and then they fall, and then God will have to humble them through a painful trial in order to have them turn back to Him for their deliverance once again. God loves overcoming huge odds and doing things that can only be done through His supreme power and wisdom, but at some point you get the idea that He is just sitting up in Heaven shaking His head, going, here we go again. You still don't believe in me, do you? Oh yeah of little faith. Well, Israel continues to go through the peaks and valleys of their relationship with God as their faith ebbs and flows like the ocean's tide. Every time they think they've arrived as a Nation, someone in the command and control structure disobeys God's orders and they fall back into the pit they have dug for themselves as our Bible verse of the day above explains. Well, here we are thousands of years later, and the same challenges are happening right now in America. We have been a blessed Nation that was founded on the Judeo- Christian values espoused in the bible and we prospered more than any nation ever has because of our founders realization of our dependence on God. But as time has gone on and our financial success has grown, we have slowly but surely stopped given God the credit, and instead have become convinced that we are something special and that we are responsible for our prosperity. So we have slowly and surely legislated God out of certain areas of our Country's foundational structure, the classroom, the courtroom, the public marketplace, the nativity scenes of our cities. The consequences speak for themselves. Our Country has fallen into the pit we have dug. We have become the victims of what we asked for. Freedom from God that the Atheist movement has espoused, leads to a Nation free of the blessings of God. We wonder where God is? He is right where we have put him, in the bleachers, just waiting for us to invite Him back to where He should be, leading us on the playing field. The parallels between what happened to Israel in the Old Testament and what we are going through now in America are striking. Our prideful condition has led us to suffer the unintended consequences of our own success. The unintended consequences of our actions have led to our decline as a nation. In the story of King Midas the law of unintended consequences is best laid out. King Midas gets his wish and everything he touches turns to gold. At first glance, Midas is as happy as can be with the granting of his wish. He is only focused on the wealth benefits of having gold anywhere at anytime in his fingertips. He can be the wealthiest man in the world and buy anything he desires. Everything changed for Midas though was the unintended consequences of his granted wish began to manifest themselves and he realized that by touching his loved ones they became lifeless and by his embrace all food became inedible. Suddenly, all the wealth in the world lost its meaning if he would never have anyone to share it with, nor would he ever have any food to eat. This story reminded me to be very careful in what I pray for in my life. The old saying of be careful what you wish for because you just might get flashed into my mind. Sometimes not getting what we prayed for is God protecting us from the law of unintended consequences. We may not even realize it until much later in our life, or until after we die, but we must trust that sometimes by God not answering our prayers, He is actually working more powerfully in our lives than if he did. In my own life, I have often prayed for comfort, but later realized that He wanted me to have deeper character. He was working for my eternal benefit rather than for a short term need that I perceived to be important. He was protecting me from myself, knowing that I was not ready to handle all of the temptations that would come with "material comfort." I am hoping that someday, should that in fact be a blessing He bestows upon me, that I will be ready to handle it, like in Matthew 25:21 when Jesus says to His servant " Well done good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your Master's happiness." That is something that someday I hope to hear my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ whisper in my ear, "well done my good and faithful servant." I pray for our country to have a revival, that we can find our way back to the dependence on God that made us great. I pray for myself that I will never turn my back on the one who saved me!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
How deep do we want to go?
10/06/2011
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the Day: Psalm 38:39-40 " The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him."
How do we know when we are on the right track as Christians? How deep should we go in pursuit of our faith? Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 that the greatest commandment of all was to ''love the lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind." How do we know when we have arrived at that place? Do we ever arrive? These questions and many others have been bothering me lately as I seek an ever growing relationship with God. I want their to be intensity in my relationship with God. I want to fervently pursue Him and explore the mysteries of that relationship. I recently read an amazing book by Mark Batterson called " In a pit with a lion on a snowy day." At the end of this book, he talks about getting back to the primal aspects of what first attracted us to Christ and to being a Christian. That moment when we first realized that He truly was " the way, the truth and the life." Like the first kiss with our significant other, there was a magical and life altering moment when we first felt the present of Christ in our life and we realized that our lives would never be the same. Batterson explores the concept of simplicity on the near side of complexity vs. simplicity on the far side of complexity in exploring how deep our relationship is with the Lord. he states that simplicity on the near side of complexity is only mind deep; people know what they believe, but they don't know why they believe what they believe. Their faith is fragile. Simplicity on the far side of complexity on the other hand, takes into account an awareness of the unanswerable questions and unexplainable experiences of God that lead to a heightened appreciation for the mystery and majesty of who God is. God calls us to faith on the far side of doubt, joy on the far side of sorrow and love on the far side of anger. So how do we get there? That is the journey that we should all be pursuing as Christians! Batterson recognizes that we as Christians have a problem. While we are quick to point out what is wrong with our culture, we are slow to seek out what is wrong with us, meaning the church in the 21st Century. Instead of asking what is wrong with this generation who has all but abandoned the church, we should be asking what is wrong with the church? He believes that the answer lies in the fact that we are not great at the great commandment. We need more compassion, more wonder, more curiosity and more energy when it comes to fulfilling the great commandment. This requires a period of painful introspection about how intense is our pursuit of God. We may need to learn and unlearn some things that have kept us from being great, or even good, at fulfilling the great commandment. One question that Batterson poses is " Does your heart break for the things that break the heart of God?" The answer to that question, I believe, reveals a lot to us about where we are in our walk with the Lord. We all have sin in our lives that surely breaks the heart of God. But how seriously do we take that sin? Are we truly repentant and striving to remove those things which breaks God's heart, or do we just casually wave it off as just a condition of our human nature. I for one know that I have lots of room for growth in being more intentional and having more intensity around correcting those things in my life that break God's heart. A partial list would include not always being all in with my trust of God's ability to run my life, a lustful heart, an ability to want to have a backup plan, a level of impatience that is unacceptable and a hard time living out the same amount of grace and forgiveness,, that He has shown me, to others in my life.Those things break God's heart and my heart must truly break for that until I am able to fix those things through a deeper understanding of who God is and what He is capable of achieving in my life. I pray that I would find the all consuming passion and energy to make that the highest priority of my life. Nothing else will truly matter in the end. As Batterson points out, Anything less is not enough. It is not just unfulfilling, it is also unfaithful.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the Day: Psalm 38:39-40 " The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him."
How do we know when we are on the right track as Christians? How deep should we go in pursuit of our faith? Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 that the greatest commandment of all was to ''love the lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind." How do we know when we have arrived at that place? Do we ever arrive? These questions and many others have been bothering me lately as I seek an ever growing relationship with God. I want their to be intensity in my relationship with God. I want to fervently pursue Him and explore the mysteries of that relationship. I recently read an amazing book by Mark Batterson called " In a pit with a lion on a snowy day." At the end of this book, he talks about getting back to the primal aspects of what first attracted us to Christ and to being a Christian. That moment when we first realized that He truly was " the way, the truth and the life." Like the first kiss with our significant other, there was a magical and life altering moment when we first felt the present of Christ in our life and we realized that our lives would never be the same. Batterson explores the concept of simplicity on the near side of complexity vs. simplicity on the far side of complexity in exploring how deep our relationship is with the Lord. he states that simplicity on the near side of complexity is only mind deep; people know what they believe, but they don't know why they believe what they believe. Their faith is fragile. Simplicity on the far side of complexity on the other hand, takes into account an awareness of the unanswerable questions and unexplainable experiences of God that lead to a heightened appreciation for the mystery and majesty of who God is. God calls us to faith on the far side of doubt, joy on the far side of sorrow and love on the far side of anger. So how do we get there? That is the journey that we should all be pursuing as Christians! Batterson recognizes that we as Christians have a problem. While we are quick to point out what is wrong with our culture, we are slow to seek out what is wrong with us, meaning the church in the 21st Century. Instead of asking what is wrong with this generation who has all but abandoned the church, we should be asking what is wrong with the church? He believes that the answer lies in the fact that we are not great at the great commandment. We need more compassion, more wonder, more curiosity and more energy when it comes to fulfilling the great commandment. This requires a period of painful introspection about how intense is our pursuit of God. We may need to learn and unlearn some things that have kept us from being great, or even good, at fulfilling the great commandment. One question that Batterson poses is " Does your heart break for the things that break the heart of God?" The answer to that question, I believe, reveals a lot to us about where we are in our walk with the Lord. We all have sin in our lives that surely breaks the heart of God. But how seriously do we take that sin? Are we truly repentant and striving to remove those things which breaks God's heart, or do we just casually wave it off as just a condition of our human nature. I for one know that I have lots of room for growth in being more intentional and having more intensity around correcting those things in my life that break God's heart. A partial list would include not always being all in with my trust of God's ability to run my life, a lustful heart, an ability to want to have a backup plan, a level of impatience that is unacceptable and a hard time living out the same amount of grace and forgiveness,, that He has shown me, to others in my life.Those things break God's heart and my heart must truly break for that until I am able to fix those things through a deeper understanding of who God is and what He is capable of achieving in my life. I pray that I would find the all consuming passion and energy to make that the highest priority of my life. Nothing else will truly matter in the end. As Batterson points out, Anything less is not enough. It is not just unfulfilling, it is also unfaithful.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Love will keep us together
10/5/2011
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Matthew 22:37-39 " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. And the 2nd is like it; Love your neighbor as yourself."
My wife had surgery yesterday and I was thinking about what true love is as she was taken off to surgery and then I came home to my young children and they were so concerned and upset for their mommy. They love her so much and couldn't function properly without her. Neither could I. Our family unit was out of whack all day without the love, expressed in many ways at many times during the day, of my wife and their mother. My wife is great at expressing her love to her family in her acts of unselfishness. She lives out her love for her family by putting the needs of the kids and me before her own. She loves by example. Tonight we had a mother of a classmate from my son's school deliver food to us so we wouldn't have to cook or clean. Talk about living out the love thy neighbor creed. That was an amazing example of love to me. This woman didn't even really know us, but as a result of a prayer circle, was led by the Spirit to do this as an act of kindness. My son's school is filled with this type of loving attitude from the faculty, to the parents and then to the children. They are learning all about love in the sense of living it out in their daily lives towards one another within that school community. It is so cool to be a part of such a special place. They exemplify the type of love that Jesus was teaching about constantly in His earthly ministry.
I have always thought of love from the context of what it means in my life. To me, love is a devotion to someone or something that will cause you to prioritize it, to fight for it, and if necessary to even die for it. Jesus tells us in the scripture above that the one thing that we should be prioritizing in our lives above all else is to love God with all we have. That love will bind us together. I find it fascinating that He leads with loving with our hearts. When we love with all of our heart, we are vulnerable and there is a commitment to make it work out. In poker parlance, we are all in. Jesus is saying that the love of God is something that we need to be all in for in our lives. He knows that the benefits of that relationship will be a blessing to us of utmost importance. When we love God as best as we know how, we are illustrating our humility and dependence upon Him to lead us throughout our lives. We benefit from the time spent with Him just like with any other loving relationship we have. We are more easily able to discern His will for us in difficult circumstances, in tough decisions, and in managing both successes and failures in our lives. How do we accomplish loving God? I believe the answer is in prayer. When we pray to God, we are actually loving Him. We are exhibiting the importance of Him in our life by our willingness to spend time with Him in conversation. When we make God a priority, we show how much we love Him. We should take time out of our days to be alone with Him in prayerful thought. Call me crazy, but I find that when I start my days this way in the early morning ,they tend to go better. I often find that something that I prayed on, or that was revealed to me, inevitably comes up during the day and I am better prepared to handle that circumstance. There are many potential hindrances to our prayer life, including busyness, distraction, disappointment and neglect. But just like in our relationship with our wife or kids, if we continually put off spending quality time with them, our relationship will suffer because of the neglect. Love is best defined by another four letter word, time. As a mentor of mine once said, don't tell me why you don't have time for something, tell me why it's not a priority in your life. We all have the same amount of time in a day, and how we prioritize it says a lot about what and who we love. Jesus, in the bible verse above from the book of Matthew, calls this the greatest commandment of all. He knows that we will have to make sacrifices with our time occasionally in order to spend quality time with God, but the benefits will be so much greater than the cost, that He is urging us to make this priority #1. God delights in our willingness to spend time with him and will richly bless us by imparting His wisdom and love upon us. We can fake many things in our lives, but we cant fake showing up. Showing up for God is worth our time. In fact, it is the most important thing that we can ever do.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Matthew 22:37-39 " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. And the 2nd is like it; Love your neighbor as yourself."
My wife had surgery yesterday and I was thinking about what true love is as she was taken off to surgery and then I came home to my young children and they were so concerned and upset for their mommy. They love her so much and couldn't function properly without her. Neither could I. Our family unit was out of whack all day without the love, expressed in many ways at many times during the day, of my wife and their mother. My wife is great at expressing her love to her family in her acts of unselfishness. She lives out her love for her family by putting the needs of the kids and me before her own. She loves by example. Tonight we had a mother of a classmate from my son's school deliver food to us so we wouldn't have to cook or clean. Talk about living out the love thy neighbor creed. That was an amazing example of love to me. This woman didn't even really know us, but as a result of a prayer circle, was led by the Spirit to do this as an act of kindness. My son's school is filled with this type of loving attitude from the faculty, to the parents and then to the children. They are learning all about love in the sense of living it out in their daily lives towards one another within that school community. It is so cool to be a part of such a special place. They exemplify the type of love that Jesus was teaching about constantly in His earthly ministry.
I have always thought of love from the context of what it means in my life. To me, love is a devotion to someone or something that will cause you to prioritize it, to fight for it, and if necessary to even die for it. Jesus tells us in the scripture above that the one thing that we should be prioritizing in our lives above all else is to love God with all we have. That love will bind us together. I find it fascinating that He leads with loving with our hearts. When we love with all of our heart, we are vulnerable and there is a commitment to make it work out. In poker parlance, we are all in. Jesus is saying that the love of God is something that we need to be all in for in our lives. He knows that the benefits of that relationship will be a blessing to us of utmost importance. When we love God as best as we know how, we are illustrating our humility and dependence upon Him to lead us throughout our lives. We benefit from the time spent with Him just like with any other loving relationship we have. We are more easily able to discern His will for us in difficult circumstances, in tough decisions, and in managing both successes and failures in our lives. How do we accomplish loving God? I believe the answer is in prayer. When we pray to God, we are actually loving Him. We are exhibiting the importance of Him in our life by our willingness to spend time with Him in conversation. When we make God a priority, we show how much we love Him. We should take time out of our days to be alone with Him in prayerful thought. Call me crazy, but I find that when I start my days this way in the early morning ,they tend to go better. I often find that something that I prayed on, or that was revealed to me, inevitably comes up during the day and I am better prepared to handle that circumstance. There are many potential hindrances to our prayer life, including busyness, distraction, disappointment and neglect. But just like in our relationship with our wife or kids, if we continually put off spending quality time with them, our relationship will suffer because of the neglect. Love is best defined by another four letter word, time. As a mentor of mine once said, don't tell me why you don't have time for something, tell me why it's not a priority in your life. We all have the same amount of time in a day, and how we prioritize it says a lot about what and who we love. Jesus, in the bible verse above from the book of Matthew, calls this the greatest commandment of all. He knows that we will have to make sacrifices with our time occasionally in order to spend quality time with God, but the benefits will be so much greater than the cost, that He is urging us to make this priority #1. God delights in our willingness to spend time with him and will richly bless us by imparting His wisdom and love upon us. We can fake many things in our lives, but we cant fake showing up. Showing up for God is worth our time. In fact, it is the most important thing that we can ever do.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
The Wilderness
10/4/2011
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Deuteronomy 31:6 " Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
The wilderness means different things to different people. If you say to someone that you have just returned from the wilderness, they probably think you went camping or shot the rapids in a raft or canoe or went mountain climbing. They would think that you went to get away, to relax and recharge. They may think that you needed time alone to think about your life, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. To escape the frantic pace at which we live our lives in the 21st century. The wilderness conjures up vivid memories for most people. For me, it represents freedom, beauty, open space, quietness, serenity, adventure and most importantly, time for personal introspection and reflection. I have found my soul many times during various 'wilderness' excursions. But in my Christian walk, as I am sure is the case with many other folks, the wilderness can represent something more scary. It can represent the times that truly test a man's faith. it can represent our black hole experiences, where we are alone and afraid, with little feedback or communication from God. Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness to prove his ministry was not about the kingdom of this world, but the kingdom of the unseen heavenly realms for which God had sent him. Jesus suffered greatly in the wilderness, but he stood strong by rebuking the devil with scripture, " it is written that Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4 " It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test." Matthew 4:7 " Away from me Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only." Matthew 4:10 The fact that Jesus, the Son of God, suffered greatly when tempted in the wilderness should give us all perspective and encouragement when facing our own wilderness experiences. In fact, Hebrews 2:18 tells us, " Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." That He understands what we are going through in our darkest hours of questioning our faith, and that He is able to help us and intercede on our behalf when we're wondering where God is in our lives, when our prayers aren't being answered, when we can't hear God's voice, is what has kept me going many times. It is that personal relationship and fellowship with Christ, God incarnate, that defines our walk. That He can relate to our human experiences, since he also experienced them as a human, is what sets our whole Christian life apart from any other religion in the world. Because when we are in the midst of a wilderness experience, when God is building up our trust in Him through a season of preparation, there is no other practical way to get through that except to know that our savior, Jesus Christ, suffered as well and can relate to what we are going through. Not surprisingly, the place where we are most likely to experience testing is exactly the place where we struggle most to trust God. For me, that has been patience and fully surrendering my financial future over to Him. I am slowly learning how to let go and trust Him for this part of my life and as I have tried to hang on too tight to what isn't mine to begin with and to what I can never keep. He has been teaching me some necessary and painful lessons. I find it laughable as I look back on my experiences, how I could clearly hear Him saying to me, " We can either do this the easy way or the hard way, but the lesson is going to get taught one way or another," and how my pride kept me from doing it the easier way. He needed me to trust Him more in this area of my life, and because I was a reluctant learner, it took more time and cost me more resources than He probably wanted it to. I firmly believe that God always wants what is best for us, and He uses our wilderness experiences to help prepare us for a bigger dream that He wants us to accomplish. He teaches us how to surrender our dreams to Him, how to persevere during a difficult trial, how to leave our comfort zones, so He can help us reach our full potential as our dream is realized, and to glorify Him. He needs to transform us into the person that is capable of living out the dream, which we were created for. This sequence repeats itself over and over in the Bible, when God uses the biggest underdogs to help achieve His purposes. He removes people from their comfort zone, helps them overcome obstacles, grows their faith via trials and tribulations, temporarily leaves them alone, leaves them discouraged, prepares them through a deepening trust, releases them from captivity, gains an improbable victory and achieves a fulfillment of His big purposes. The whole time the players in the various stories, whether it's Moses, Joseph, David, or a slew of others, are going 'we're not worthy.' You must have the wrong guy or gal. We are filled with self doubt, we are murderer's, adulterer's, stutterer's, surely you must mean someone else. God must just shake His head and go "oh yeah of little faith!" He has been preparing them their whole life for everything He needs them to accomplish, He knows everything about them and still they are reluctant to accept the fact that they can trust Him fully. Human nature is nothing if not consistent, we must have to see it to believe it, I guess. God is in the resume building business and He often uses our wilderness experiences to help mold us into what he needs us to be. That usually requires some pain on our part, and it always requires a greater level of patience and trust. God knows how badly we want our dream to be accomplished, He wants it even more. He must refine us first. For when our "lack" is finished, whatever that is for each of us personally, then our preparation in the wilderness is finished. We are finally ready to claim our dreams and glorify our God!
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Deuteronomy 31:6 " Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
The wilderness means different things to different people. If you say to someone that you have just returned from the wilderness, they probably think you went camping or shot the rapids in a raft or canoe or went mountain climbing. They would think that you went to get away, to relax and recharge. They may think that you needed time alone to think about your life, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. To escape the frantic pace at which we live our lives in the 21st century. The wilderness conjures up vivid memories for most people. For me, it represents freedom, beauty, open space, quietness, serenity, adventure and most importantly, time for personal introspection and reflection. I have found my soul many times during various 'wilderness' excursions. But in my Christian walk, as I am sure is the case with many other folks, the wilderness can represent something more scary. It can represent the times that truly test a man's faith. it can represent our black hole experiences, where we are alone and afraid, with little feedback or communication from God. Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness to prove his ministry was not about the kingdom of this world, but the kingdom of the unseen heavenly realms for which God had sent him. Jesus suffered greatly in the wilderness, but he stood strong by rebuking the devil with scripture, " it is written that Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4 " It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test." Matthew 4:7 " Away from me Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only." Matthew 4:10 The fact that Jesus, the Son of God, suffered greatly when tempted in the wilderness should give us all perspective and encouragement when facing our own wilderness experiences. In fact, Hebrews 2:18 tells us, " Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." That He understands what we are going through in our darkest hours of questioning our faith, and that He is able to help us and intercede on our behalf when we're wondering where God is in our lives, when our prayers aren't being answered, when we can't hear God's voice, is what has kept me going many times. It is that personal relationship and fellowship with Christ, God incarnate, that defines our walk. That He can relate to our human experiences, since he also experienced them as a human, is what sets our whole Christian life apart from any other religion in the world. Because when we are in the midst of a wilderness experience, when God is building up our trust in Him through a season of preparation, there is no other practical way to get through that except to know that our savior, Jesus Christ, suffered as well and can relate to what we are going through. Not surprisingly, the place where we are most likely to experience testing is exactly the place where we struggle most to trust God. For me, that has been patience and fully surrendering my financial future over to Him. I am slowly learning how to let go and trust Him for this part of my life and as I have tried to hang on too tight to what isn't mine to begin with and to what I can never keep. He has been teaching me some necessary and painful lessons. I find it laughable as I look back on my experiences, how I could clearly hear Him saying to me, " We can either do this the easy way or the hard way, but the lesson is going to get taught one way or another," and how my pride kept me from doing it the easier way. He needed me to trust Him more in this area of my life, and because I was a reluctant learner, it took more time and cost me more resources than He probably wanted it to. I firmly believe that God always wants what is best for us, and He uses our wilderness experiences to help prepare us for a bigger dream that He wants us to accomplish. He teaches us how to surrender our dreams to Him, how to persevere during a difficult trial, how to leave our comfort zones, so He can help us reach our full potential as our dream is realized, and to glorify Him. He needs to transform us into the person that is capable of living out the dream, which we were created for. This sequence repeats itself over and over in the Bible, when God uses the biggest underdogs to help achieve His purposes. He removes people from their comfort zone, helps them overcome obstacles, grows their faith via trials and tribulations, temporarily leaves them alone, leaves them discouraged, prepares them through a deepening trust, releases them from captivity, gains an improbable victory and achieves a fulfillment of His big purposes. The whole time the players in the various stories, whether it's Moses, Joseph, David, or a slew of others, are going 'we're not worthy.' You must have the wrong guy or gal. We are filled with self doubt, we are murderer's, adulterer's, stutterer's, surely you must mean someone else. God must just shake His head and go "oh yeah of little faith!" He has been preparing them their whole life for everything He needs them to accomplish, He knows everything about them and still they are reluctant to accept the fact that they can trust Him fully. Human nature is nothing if not consistent, we must have to see it to believe it, I guess. God is in the resume building business and He often uses our wilderness experiences to help mold us into what he needs us to be. That usually requires some pain on our part, and it always requires a greater level of patience and trust. God knows how badly we want our dream to be accomplished, He wants it even more. He must refine us first. For when our "lack" is finished, whatever that is for each of us personally, then our preparation in the wilderness is finished. We are finally ready to claim our dreams and glorify our God!
Monday, October 3, 2011
What are we running from, what are we running to?
10/3/2011
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: 2 Timothy 4:7 " I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
They say when you wake up in the morning in Africa and your a Gazelle, you better be running because if you don't run fast enough, a Lion will catch you and kill you, and if you wake up and you're a Lion in Africa, you better be running because if you aren't fast enough to catch a Gazelle, you will starve to death. So either way, you better be running. Life is like a race.For some they treat it like a sprint, for others that pace is way too fast and they treat it like a marathon. But whether we treat life like a sprint or a marathon, we all are running a race. But a race against what exactly? Most people would answer that question as a race against time. Some want to get as much pleasure out of life in the time that they have to enjoy it. Others want to grow in whatever endeavor they are called to pursue and have a lifetime of meaning and significance. Most of us are usually running away from something and running towards something new. That could include relationships, careers, addictions, ourselves, responsibility, reality, and the list goes on and on. Paul in the Bible verse above was talking about having accomplished the goal of his faith, to persevere and finish the race strong. He had run away from his past life as a persecutor of those who followed the Christian faith, and ran to a fervent commitment to Jesus Christ and to preach the gospel on His behalf. Though he endured many hardships as a result of his commitment to Christ, he kept his eye on his eternal promise, " the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day." 2nd Timothy 4:8 We all have to make a decision on what we are going to pursue in our lives. I have met many people whose lives are stuck in the past and their dreams have been mired by the sin that still controls them. Rather than coming to a place of repentance and freedom in Christ, their self pride keeps them from accepting the free gift of salvation, and they just keep making the same mistakes over and over. It is almost as if they are like a hamster on a wheel, running and running, and yet making no progress. They spend their entire life running from themselves and they tend to be running right towards their own destruction. There is a clear alternative. You can make yourself a new path forward filled with hope and joy and free from the guilt of your past mistakes. How can you do this? By accepting the invitation of Jesus Christ as your savior. 2nd Corinthians 5:17 says, " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away and the new has come." The result of our mistakes to not have to define us. Although there are always consequences to our actions and our sinful acts, there doesn't have to been a lifetime of condemnation and guilt. We love to beat ourselves up, Christ wants to set us free. We view God as a traffic cop, with a radar gun, behind a billboard just waiting to bust us. So we do everything in our power to avoid Him and his 'judgement.' But if we trust in the Lord, and His plan for us, we soon come to realize that rather than judgement, He dispenses mercy, grace, forgiveness and love. All the things we need for moving forward from our past quagmire are found in Christ Jesus. We find, like Paul, a new direction and purpose in our life through Him. He will protects us from the true judgement of God at our day of reckoning through his merciful sacrifice on the Cross. He waits to lead us forward, forgetting the past, striving towards the future. Our sins are left behind us, their binding shackles removed once and for all. We are free to run and win the race of life, energized through our risen Lord. We find the strength to finish strong and claim the prize that awaits us at the finish line; An eternal resting place where we no longer have to race, but rather can rest from this life's grueling race. Praise and glory be to God.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: 2 Timothy 4:7 " I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
They say when you wake up in the morning in Africa and your a Gazelle, you better be running because if you don't run fast enough, a Lion will catch you and kill you, and if you wake up and you're a Lion in Africa, you better be running because if you aren't fast enough to catch a Gazelle, you will starve to death. So either way, you better be running. Life is like a race.For some they treat it like a sprint, for others that pace is way too fast and they treat it like a marathon. But whether we treat life like a sprint or a marathon, we all are running a race. But a race against what exactly? Most people would answer that question as a race against time. Some want to get as much pleasure out of life in the time that they have to enjoy it. Others want to grow in whatever endeavor they are called to pursue and have a lifetime of meaning and significance. Most of us are usually running away from something and running towards something new. That could include relationships, careers, addictions, ourselves, responsibility, reality, and the list goes on and on. Paul in the Bible verse above was talking about having accomplished the goal of his faith, to persevere and finish the race strong. He had run away from his past life as a persecutor of those who followed the Christian faith, and ran to a fervent commitment to Jesus Christ and to preach the gospel on His behalf. Though he endured many hardships as a result of his commitment to Christ, he kept his eye on his eternal promise, " the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day." 2nd Timothy 4:8 We all have to make a decision on what we are going to pursue in our lives. I have met many people whose lives are stuck in the past and their dreams have been mired by the sin that still controls them. Rather than coming to a place of repentance and freedom in Christ, their self pride keeps them from accepting the free gift of salvation, and they just keep making the same mistakes over and over. It is almost as if they are like a hamster on a wheel, running and running, and yet making no progress. They spend their entire life running from themselves and they tend to be running right towards their own destruction. There is a clear alternative. You can make yourself a new path forward filled with hope and joy and free from the guilt of your past mistakes. How can you do this? By accepting the invitation of Jesus Christ as your savior. 2nd Corinthians 5:17 says, " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away and the new has come." The result of our mistakes to not have to define us. Although there are always consequences to our actions and our sinful acts, there doesn't have to been a lifetime of condemnation and guilt. We love to beat ourselves up, Christ wants to set us free. We view God as a traffic cop, with a radar gun, behind a billboard just waiting to bust us. So we do everything in our power to avoid Him and his 'judgement.' But if we trust in the Lord, and His plan for us, we soon come to realize that rather than judgement, He dispenses mercy, grace, forgiveness and love. All the things we need for moving forward from our past quagmire are found in Christ Jesus. We find, like Paul, a new direction and purpose in our life through Him. He will protects us from the true judgement of God at our day of reckoning through his merciful sacrifice on the Cross. He waits to lead us forward, forgetting the past, striving towards the future. Our sins are left behind us, their binding shackles removed once and for all. We are free to run and win the race of life, energized through our risen Lord. We find the strength to finish strong and claim the prize that awaits us at the finish line; An eternal resting place where we no longer have to race, but rather can rest from this life's grueling race. Praise and glory be to God.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Contentment
9/30/2011
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Philippians 4:11-13 " I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."
Wow. This is a truly amazing attitude expressed by Paul in the Bible verse of the day, considering all that Paul went through while spreading the gospel message. To summarize just a few of his hardships, Paul was almost stoned to death, many times beaten, flogged, imprisoned, shipwrecked, starved, sleepless and almost always weary and yet he was content? What kind of guy was this? I believe that Paul had an experience with the Risen Lord on the Damascus Road that was so transformational, so awe-inspiring, that he literally stopped focusing at all on his own life and his personal struggles and instead was laser focused on the reunion that he knew would take place with Jesus in His eternal home. Paul got a glimpse of things in heaven that literally floored him and changed his whole perspective. 1st Corinthians 2:9 says " Eye hath not seen. nor ear heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him." Paul had an experience that proved to him the glory that awaited him. He literally got to see a glimpse of heaven and it forever changed him. From that point forward Paul never complained about his circumstances but rather kept focused on the prize that was his to claim at then end of his race. He shared a bit of what was driving him forward despite all his sufferings in Romans 8:38-39 when he says " For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." So the question for us is how do we find contentment? I know many people that are suffering greatly in their lives right now. They would tell you they have little contentment. They are dealing with divorce, addictions, financial hardships, loneliness, unemployment, lack of purpose and many other ailments. Some are so angry at things in this world over which they have no control, such as the political situation or global climate change,that they are literally imprisoned by their anger. Some people have lots of money, but no happiness or contentment. I also know others who have little in the way of material things but have an abundance of contentment. So what is the answer? I believe our focus becomes our reality. If we focus on all the things that we perceive to be wrong in our life, we can't find contentment. It doesn't matter how much we have, we will always have something wrong. On the other hand, if we focus on all that we have been given in Christ Jesus, namely forgiveness of all of our sins and eternal life in His glorious kingdom, then we can find contentment, like Paul ,in even the worst circumstances. Truthfully, most of us could not survive the type of hardships that Paul endured. We are not strong enough physically or spiritually. Most of us also do not got a chance to see the Risen Lord or a glimpse of the '3rd Heaven' in our lifetimes either. Human nature does not allow us to comprehend just how great heaven will be. We are somewhat limited in our beliefs and understandings by our experiences in these bodies that we now live in. But someday the true beauty will be revealed and all of our fears will be removed and we will know what true contentment feels like. No more wanting, no more comparing, no more complaining, no more judging, but just resting in the peace of our Lord. Proverbs 14:30 says " A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." We can't have contentment and envy at the same time. Our focus becomes our reality. Find contentment in the promises of the Lord, and not in the false promises of this world. When we think of what hardships Paul endured, and yet he was still able to find contentment, the only plausible answer is his contentment was found in Christ. Some 2,000 years later, I feel the answer is still the the same. Though I wonder off the path many times and am vulnerable to my own sinful nature, which includes all of those things that bring discontentment, I find peace when I get before my King and rest. There is no condemnation in Christ, only contentment. I am learning to go there more and more. Someday, I will never leave.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Philippians 4:11-13 " I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."
Wow. This is a truly amazing attitude expressed by Paul in the Bible verse of the day, considering all that Paul went through while spreading the gospel message. To summarize just a few of his hardships, Paul was almost stoned to death, many times beaten, flogged, imprisoned, shipwrecked, starved, sleepless and almost always weary and yet he was content? What kind of guy was this? I believe that Paul had an experience with the Risen Lord on the Damascus Road that was so transformational, so awe-inspiring, that he literally stopped focusing at all on his own life and his personal struggles and instead was laser focused on the reunion that he knew would take place with Jesus in His eternal home. Paul got a glimpse of things in heaven that literally floored him and changed his whole perspective. 1st Corinthians 2:9 says " Eye hath not seen. nor ear heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him." Paul had an experience that proved to him the glory that awaited him. He literally got to see a glimpse of heaven and it forever changed him. From that point forward Paul never complained about his circumstances but rather kept focused on the prize that was his to claim at then end of his race. He shared a bit of what was driving him forward despite all his sufferings in Romans 8:38-39 when he says " For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." So the question for us is how do we find contentment? I know many people that are suffering greatly in their lives right now. They would tell you they have little contentment. They are dealing with divorce, addictions, financial hardships, loneliness, unemployment, lack of purpose and many other ailments. Some are so angry at things in this world over which they have no control, such as the political situation or global climate change,that they are literally imprisoned by their anger. Some people have lots of money, but no happiness or contentment. I also know others who have little in the way of material things but have an abundance of contentment. So what is the answer? I believe our focus becomes our reality. If we focus on all the things that we perceive to be wrong in our life, we can't find contentment. It doesn't matter how much we have, we will always have something wrong. On the other hand, if we focus on all that we have been given in Christ Jesus, namely forgiveness of all of our sins and eternal life in His glorious kingdom, then we can find contentment, like Paul ,in even the worst circumstances. Truthfully, most of us could not survive the type of hardships that Paul endured. We are not strong enough physically or spiritually. Most of us also do not got a chance to see the Risen Lord or a glimpse of the '3rd Heaven' in our lifetimes either. Human nature does not allow us to comprehend just how great heaven will be. We are somewhat limited in our beliefs and understandings by our experiences in these bodies that we now live in. But someday the true beauty will be revealed and all of our fears will be removed and we will know what true contentment feels like. No more wanting, no more comparing, no more complaining, no more judging, but just resting in the peace of our Lord. Proverbs 14:30 says " A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." We can't have contentment and envy at the same time. Our focus becomes our reality. Find contentment in the promises of the Lord, and not in the false promises of this world. When we think of what hardships Paul endured, and yet he was still able to find contentment, the only plausible answer is his contentment was found in Christ. Some 2,000 years later, I feel the answer is still the the same. Though I wonder off the path many times and am vulnerable to my own sinful nature, which includes all of those things that bring discontentment, I find peace when I get before my King and rest. There is no condemnation in Christ, only contentment. I am learning to go there more and more. Someday, I will never leave.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
What's your view of God?
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the Day: Isaiah 55:8-9 " For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
What is your view of God? No single answer in your life will define your actions more than the answer to that question. Why? Because it is a matter of perspective that will shape how you respond to any situation that happens in your life. In a nutshell, if you have a high view of God, then your problems will seem very small. If you have a low view of God than your problems will seem very large. In fact we tend to want to shrink God down to the size of our largest problem. But it has been said that a low view of God is the cause of 100 lesser evils, while a high view of God relieves us of 10,000 temporal problems. If you believe in the promises of the Bible that He loves you unconditionally and He is always working things out to your benefit, then your won't fear the trials in your life. You will rather learn to view them as growth opportunities that provide us with the ability to draw closer to God in our trust and faith in His ability to work out any problems in our life for our benefit. On the other hand, if you believe God is impersonal and out of touch or reach, and has many other things to worry about than your own personal issues, then you will most likely go through life very fearful, because your view of God is so small. As we grow in our faith, the bigger our view of God should get, and the less fearful we should become. When we codify those beliefs in our hearts and souls we can begin the process of unlearning some of our fears, by trusting more in Him and less on our own abilities to fix our problems. Most of our problems in life are not circumstantial, they are perceptual. Our problems seem really big, because we make God out to be really small. Maybe it's time for us to stop creating God in our image and let Him create us in His. Well, the prophet Isaiah is speaking to the chasm that exists between us and God. It is unfathomable for us to realize just how big that gap is. We are restricted by time and space limitations, while God is not. He can be multiple places simultaneously, working out billions of things for His glory. He is the ultimate multi-tasker. We have found galaxies that exist 12.8 billion light years away from earth. That represents probably only the beginning decimal point of how much greater His ways are than our ways and how much higher His thoughts are than our thoughts. But all of that is meaningless if He isn't there for us on a personal level, able to relate to and have relationship with us individually. Praise God that the veil was torn and the walls came crumbling down by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which opened the way for us to directly be connected to the living God through the Holy Spirit. Now the personal relationship we crave with God was made accessible by the grace of God through faith in His Son. God can be intimately involved with all His children now through that sacrifice, and I have personally shared in that love and grace. As I have sought Him, I have found Him. I have learned that God is not great because nothing is to big for Him, but rather God is great because nothing is too small for Him. This is not only illustrated throughout Jesus's ministry on the earth, when His first act of power was to turn the molecular structure of water into wine at a wedding so the party could continue, but also in my personal life when he has removed me from many situations that were crushing my spirit and constricting my growth. Whether learning how to forgive more easily, love more openly, or trust more completely, I can feel His transforming hands all over my life. While I am and always will be a work in progress on this side of the grave, I hate to imagine where I would be without His love in my life. That personal relationship is filled with conversation, wisdom, guidance, power and strength. I have come to depend on Him and His strength more and more as I realize my own limitations. Humility is a childlike characteristic that we should all strive for, realizing that we, like little children, are dependent on another being for our very existence. For that is the beginning of true and liberating wisdom.
Bible verse of the Day: Isaiah 55:8-9 " For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
What is your view of God? No single answer in your life will define your actions more than the answer to that question. Why? Because it is a matter of perspective that will shape how you respond to any situation that happens in your life. In a nutshell, if you have a high view of God, then your problems will seem very small. If you have a low view of God than your problems will seem very large. In fact we tend to want to shrink God down to the size of our largest problem. But it has been said that a low view of God is the cause of 100 lesser evils, while a high view of God relieves us of 10,000 temporal problems. If you believe in the promises of the Bible that He loves you unconditionally and He is always working things out to your benefit, then your won't fear the trials in your life. You will rather learn to view them as growth opportunities that provide us with the ability to draw closer to God in our trust and faith in His ability to work out any problems in our life for our benefit. On the other hand, if you believe God is impersonal and out of touch or reach, and has many other things to worry about than your own personal issues, then you will most likely go through life very fearful, because your view of God is so small. As we grow in our faith, the bigger our view of God should get, and the less fearful we should become. When we codify those beliefs in our hearts and souls we can begin the process of unlearning some of our fears, by trusting more in Him and less on our own abilities to fix our problems. Most of our problems in life are not circumstantial, they are perceptual. Our problems seem really big, because we make God out to be really small. Maybe it's time for us to stop creating God in our image and let Him create us in His. Well, the prophet Isaiah is speaking to the chasm that exists between us and God. It is unfathomable for us to realize just how big that gap is. We are restricted by time and space limitations, while God is not. He can be multiple places simultaneously, working out billions of things for His glory. He is the ultimate multi-tasker. We have found galaxies that exist 12.8 billion light years away from earth. That represents probably only the beginning decimal point of how much greater His ways are than our ways and how much higher His thoughts are than our thoughts. But all of that is meaningless if He isn't there for us on a personal level, able to relate to and have relationship with us individually. Praise God that the veil was torn and the walls came crumbling down by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which opened the way for us to directly be connected to the living God through the Holy Spirit. Now the personal relationship we crave with God was made accessible by the grace of God through faith in His Son. God can be intimately involved with all His children now through that sacrifice, and I have personally shared in that love and grace. As I have sought Him, I have found Him. I have learned that God is not great because nothing is to big for Him, but rather God is great because nothing is too small for Him. This is not only illustrated throughout Jesus's ministry on the earth, when His first act of power was to turn the molecular structure of water into wine at a wedding so the party could continue, but also in my personal life when he has removed me from many situations that were crushing my spirit and constricting my growth. Whether learning how to forgive more easily, love more openly, or trust more completely, I can feel His transforming hands all over my life. While I am and always will be a work in progress on this side of the grave, I hate to imagine where I would be without His love in my life. That personal relationship is filled with conversation, wisdom, guidance, power and strength. I have come to depend on Him and His strength more and more as I realize my own limitations. Humility is a childlike characteristic that we should all strive for, realizing that we, like little children, are dependent on another being for our very existence. For that is the beginning of true and liberating wisdom.
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