You ever had one of those days.. just nothing seems to be going right. You're tired, you're frustrated, you just can't see the end of the tunnel and you know that the light is really a train coming at you? Had one of those yesterday. Kinda still having one today, truth be told.
But, I found some time out of the day to stop and pray a little. Try to refocus, try to get back to what's important. So I offered up my moment of silent petition, sure that through all the turmoil, I would just have more turmoil on the other side. And I did. My day didn't seem to get better, it just kept right on going.
I finally got a break toward the end of my day, and opened up my Google reader and read my well over due reading for the day (which was about 16 days late). It happened to be Ezekiel 33 and 34 and 1 Peter 5. Talk about God showing up. I read it like I haven't read anything in a while. Devoured it. Couldn't stop.
Why? Well, part of my prayer was for God to clarify my situation. And He did just that. Those versus were like God Himself going.. see, here it is.. just a reaffirmation really, but man, you just got to love those 'woooo' moments.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
TRUTH
Just reading a few things today, and something came to mind.. an acronym for truth that might have something more to it.
Tough
Relational
Uncompromised
Thoughtful
Honest
For truth to be effective, it has to exhibit all those points. I am sure there are more, but I like how that sums up.
Tough
Relational
Uncompromised
Thoughtful
Honest
For truth to be effective, it has to exhibit all those points. I am sure there are more, but I like how that sums up.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Are you willing...
God has called you. He prepared a way for you to come to Him. He is running down the road toward you.
Will you desperately pursue Him? Will you abandon all else to run to Him? Will you embrace the call that is drawing you home into His open arms?
The work of the cross behind us, the throne of God before us, will you heed the voice of God in your life, regardless of where it might lead you?
He did not call you to safety, security, comfort levels, or peace the way the world would understand these things.
He has called you out of darkness, He has called you out of death.
He has called you to war. He has called you to live dangerously. He has called you to action.
Wake up. Hear where He would have you go. Hear what He would have you do.
Step up, step out. Go!
And then, when you step across the door of eternity and stare the creator in the eyes you can hear these words that He will say to you...
"Well done. Enter into your rest."
Will you desperately pursue Him? Will you abandon all else to run to Him? Will you embrace the call that is drawing you home into His open arms?
The work of the cross behind us, the throne of God before us, will you heed the voice of God in your life, regardless of where it might lead you?
He did not call you to safety, security, comfort levels, or peace the way the world would understand these things.
He has called you out of darkness, He has called you out of death.
He has called you to war. He has called you to live dangerously. He has called you to action.
Wake up. Hear where He would have you go. Hear what He would have you do.
Step up, step out. Go!
And then, when you step across the door of eternity and stare the creator in the eyes you can hear these words that He will say to you...
"Well done. Enter into your rest."
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Give thanks...
The Thanksgiving holiday has just passed. Did you take time out of your holiday to stop and thank anyone? Did you take the time to thank God for all that you have? Or what He has done in you life this year?
I had the privilege to teach a sermon the Sunday before, where I talked to the students about giving thanks. It's so easy in our day to day routine to forget to say thank you, even to those who deserve it, like the guy holding the door open, or the person who lets you into the flow of traffic, or the person who makes you your morning cup of coffee.
The way I see it is, if we forget to give thanks to those who do for us, and have a material presence in our life, how much more so do we forget to say thank you to God. To turn to Him, and just appreciate Him for being Him.
Look at the verses below, and ponder on them, meditate on what God would say to you through them. And then, take some time, and just thank God, really.
Hebrews 12:28
I had the privilege to teach a sermon the Sunday before, where I talked to the students about giving thanks. It's so easy in our day to day routine to forget to say thank you, even to those who deserve it, like the guy holding the door open, or the person who lets you into the flow of traffic, or the person who makes you your morning cup of coffee.
The way I see it is, if we forget to give thanks to those who do for us, and have a material presence in our life, how much more so do we forget to say thank you to God. To turn to Him, and just appreciate Him for being Him.
Look at the verses below, and ponder on them, meditate on what God would say to you through them. And then, take some time, and just thank God, really.
Hebrews 12:28
"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,”
Colossians 3:16
Colossians 3:16
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
Chronicles 16:8
Chronicles 16:8
“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.”
Psalm 136:1,26
Psalm 136:1,26
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.”
Resting in the back of the boat
He came to give us life, and that more abundantly. He gave us His peace, not as the world understand peace, but the peace that passes all understanding. He leads me by still waters.
I read this in the Bible and am astounded by the fact that, in the midst of all that I have going on around me, I don't really have to worry about anything but where my attention stays focused. The rest of the world is doing what it can to pull my attention away from the Creator of Heaven and Earth, but He, He is calling me to Himself, drawing me closer, telling me to keep my eyes on Him, and in that I can have rest.
There is a story of Jesus and the disciples crossing a lake in the middle of the night, when this great storm comes and starts to swamp the boat. It is so fierce that all the disciples start to worry about their lives, and that they might die. So, these 12 men turn toward the back of the boat, and go and wake up Jesus to tell him about what's going on. So, Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves, and all is calm. It doesn't say so, but I like to think, Jesus turned around and went right back to sleep.
Now, think about this.. 4 of those 12 disciples were experienced fishermen. They were use to rough seas, and they were petrified of dying. Yet, this son of a carpenter was sleeping right through it.
The disciples problem? They were to concentrated on the storm. They failed to realize that if Jesus could sleep through something, then they should be able to also.
God has not called us to a quiet life, He has not called us to sail on calm seas. He has called us into the storm, to forge ahead and to live dangerously because He has sent us to go. Notice, at the beginning of the story Jesus says this, "Let us go to the other side." If God is sending you into the storm, look to see where Jesus is.
It's easy to miss the rest when you are looking at the storms of life. But, I see Jesus sleeping in the back of the boat.
Lord, help me rest in the back of the boat.
I read this in the Bible and am astounded by the fact that, in the midst of all that I have going on around me, I don't really have to worry about anything but where my attention stays focused. The rest of the world is doing what it can to pull my attention away from the Creator of Heaven and Earth, but He, He is calling me to Himself, drawing me closer, telling me to keep my eyes on Him, and in that I can have rest.
There is a story of Jesus and the disciples crossing a lake in the middle of the night, when this great storm comes and starts to swamp the boat. It is so fierce that all the disciples start to worry about their lives, and that they might die. So, these 12 men turn toward the back of the boat, and go and wake up Jesus to tell him about what's going on. So, Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves, and all is calm. It doesn't say so, but I like to think, Jesus turned around and went right back to sleep.
Now, think about this.. 4 of those 12 disciples were experienced fishermen. They were use to rough seas, and they were petrified of dying. Yet, this son of a carpenter was sleeping right through it.
The disciples problem? They were to concentrated on the storm. They failed to realize that if Jesus could sleep through something, then they should be able to also.
God has not called us to a quiet life, He has not called us to sail on calm seas. He has called us into the storm, to forge ahead and to live dangerously because He has sent us to go. Notice, at the beginning of the story Jesus says this, "Let us go to the other side." If God is sending you into the storm, look to see where Jesus is.
It's easy to miss the rest when you are looking at the storms of life. But, I see Jesus sleeping in the back of the boat.
Lord, help me rest in the back of the boat.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Unarmed Warrior
Men! Warriors for Christ!
Have we laid the weapons of our warfare at the feet of devil? Have we, in the pursuit of masculinity and manhood, taken that which God would use for our benefit and bought into the lie that those weapons are to effeminate?
What knight would hand over his sword to his enemy? What cop would hand over his gun to a criminal? They wouldn't. That would be crazy. Yet, so many Christian men have done exactly that.
You may be asking how have we done that. The answer is simple. We don't read our Bible, the very words that God inspired to be written to lead us into all truth. We don't pray, the very means that we can have direct communication with our maker. We don't worship, the very act that allows us to glorify our king.
These are our weapons. And the devil has done a great job of taking these things and feminizing them, as if to read your bible, or pray, or worship, were something that women are suppose to do. "To do it wouldn't be manly, and will only get me laughed at," we think to ourselves. It plays on that secret fear many men have, that of being good enough. So, we just lay them down, besides, as a man, we can do it without those things, right? Wrong.
Take a look around at the men in the church. What words come to mind when you see them? Courageous? Fearless? Powerful? Timid? Unattached? Unplugged?
I, for one, am tired of being the devil's chew toy, and I am reaching down to grab my weapons. If you are willing to take up yours (or if you are one that never has laid them down), pray for me, and others, that we can wake up and be the sleeping giant God has called His warriors to be.
Think about it...
Have we laid the weapons of our warfare at the feet of devil? Have we, in the pursuit of masculinity and manhood, taken that which God would use for our benefit and bought into the lie that those weapons are to effeminate?
What knight would hand over his sword to his enemy? What cop would hand over his gun to a criminal? They wouldn't. That would be crazy. Yet, so many Christian men have done exactly that.
You may be asking how have we done that. The answer is simple. We don't read our Bible, the very words that God inspired to be written to lead us into all truth. We don't pray, the very means that we can have direct communication with our maker. We don't worship, the very act that allows us to glorify our king.
These are our weapons. And the devil has done a great job of taking these things and feminizing them, as if to read your bible, or pray, or worship, were something that women are suppose to do. "To do it wouldn't be manly, and will only get me laughed at," we think to ourselves. It plays on that secret fear many men have, that of being good enough. So, we just lay them down, besides, as a man, we can do it without those things, right? Wrong.
Take a look around at the men in the church. What words come to mind when you see them? Courageous? Fearless? Powerful? Timid? Unattached? Unplugged?
I, for one, am tired of being the devil's chew toy, and I am reaching down to grab my weapons. If you are willing to take up yours (or if you are one that never has laid them down), pray for me, and others, that we can wake up and be the sleeping giant God has called His warriors to be.
Think about it...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Greater love has no one than this...
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. Jn 15:13
I hear this scripture used a lot in reference to Jesus dying on the cross. Somehow, we have read this verse and in our own minds we have taken it to mean that we have to physically die to show this kind of love. Although I will agree, dying for a friend is an awesome sacrifice, I think we completely miss out on the real meaning of this verse.
Think about this for a second, if I physically die, I only have to do that once. But the connotation that I believe Jesus was speaking about was dying daily to ourselves. If you look at the verses before and after this you start to see a much broader picture of what the idea he was conveying is. It's about loving others more then yourself. It's about putting others needs before your own desires.
It's easy to die for someone, it's much more difficult to live a life of humility and submission. But it is in that submitted life to God that we truly start to understand the real sacrifice of Jesus.
Think about it...
I hear this scripture used a lot in reference to Jesus dying on the cross. Somehow, we have read this verse and in our own minds we have taken it to mean that we have to physically die to show this kind of love. Although I will agree, dying for a friend is an awesome sacrifice, I think we completely miss out on the real meaning of this verse.
Think about this for a second, if I physically die, I only have to do that once. But the connotation that I believe Jesus was speaking about was dying daily to ourselves. If you look at the verses before and after this you start to see a much broader picture of what the idea he was conveying is. It's about loving others more then yourself. It's about putting others needs before your own desires.
It's easy to die for someone, it's much more difficult to live a life of humility and submission. But it is in that submitted life to God that we truly start to understand the real sacrifice of Jesus.
Think about it...
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