Love your neighbor

The Parable of the Good Samaritan On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and …

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Sharing your gifts

As always, comments are very much appreciated! Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to …

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Using our talents as well as our struggles

Using our talents as well as our struggles As always, comments are greatly appreciated! Dialogues are far better than monologues! “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to …

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Teach me to do your will

Teach me to do your will LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring …

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Fighting society enduced anxiety

Fighting society induced anxiety Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all …

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Love your neighborSharing your giftsUsing our talents as well as our strugglesTeach me to do your willFighting society enduced anxiety

Mar
27

Love your neighbor

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The Parable of the Good Samaritan

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

-Luke 10:25-37

This is such a straight forward and powerful story that Jesus tells us today.  It is not hard to grasp the message.  Jesus wants us to be on the front line helping people who are struggling.  Sometimes it may be as simple as reaching out and buying a sandwich for a homeless person.  Physical needs that are clearly not being met are the easiest to identify, but what if there is someone within our sphere of influence who has deeper needs than physical; are we prepared to step up and meet those needs?

I know that in my own life I will have times where I really need someone to ask the simple question, “How is everything going?”  The thing I really need is the follow up question though is the follow up question, “How are things REALLY going?”  In reality I am almost always going to respond, “Things are good, how is everything with you?”  It is easy in today’s society to take, “How is it going?” as nothing more than another version of hello.  By digging deeper the other person knows you actually care.  9 out of 10 times you might end up hearing how great things are.  I love my life.  I have an amazing wife, two incredible daughters, and a job I wake up excited to go to most day.  It is the tenth day when I am not in the best of spirits, when for some reason I am full of stress, and when I have lost sight of the awesome blessings in my life; it is in those days that the simplest acts of kindness feel like lifesavers.  Those are the days where someone digging deeper is so important.  I can’t imagine that this sentiment is unique to me.

It is rare that we come across a near death person on the side of the road like in the parable today, but that does not mean that people are not in need.  We have a society that is devoid of sincere care in a lot of ways.  The biggest need a lot of times is a listening ear.

So next time you are with a friend, family member, colleague, or relative stranger that you are engaged in conversation with; ask how things really are with them.  You might be surprised how important the conversation ends up being.

We have the opportunity as Christians to be a real life example of God’s love for each other.  The results of feeling touched by God’s love can be life changing.

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Mar
24

Sharing your gifts

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As always, comments are very much appreciated!

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” –Matthew 28:18-20

Tall order!  It sure would be nice if the great commission went a little something like, “Hey, I died for your sins.  You should be good now.  I took care of everything.  Just go and enjoy life here on earth and I will see you all in the afterlife.  And P.S. you are welcome.”  Unfortunately that was not the last thing Jesus had to say on Earth to those who followed him.  Jesus wants us to go out and share the good news with the world!  Deep down this is something that all Christians would like to do, but where to begin?  It is easy to feel entirely ill equipped to evangelize to anyone or have a meaningful impact in anyone’s life.  It is important to realize that God does not require your confidence, he requires your action.

The bible is filled with main characters that feel like they are out of place.  Moses is a perfect example throughout the Bible.  He feels entirely awkward the whole time.  He keeps saying over and over again to God, “You have the wrong guy!”  In fact it got so bad in Exodus 5 with the Israelites turning against Moses and Aaron that we hear Moses stunned when God tells him to go approach Pharaoh.  In Exodus 6:12 Moses pleads with God, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?”  It is easy to feel like Moses.  Why would anyone ever listen to me?  The fact of the matter is that God calls us in all different ways.  The only way God does not call us to be is silent.

So where do you fit in to the picture?

In 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 we hear from Paul about this very topic:

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”

It is pretty powerful to think that your specific gifts were determined by God for use in furthering his kingdom here on earth.  You do not just have a random set of gifts.  You are great at specific things for a reason.  So serve to your strengths!

What are you good at?  God may have given you a gift with children, with teenagers, or with young adults.  You might connect incredibly well with macho guys, single moms, or those recently divorced.  Perhaps you are a gifted builder, teacher, mechanic, or sales person.  These are all different gifts, but Paul tells us that they are all from the same spirit.  How could you use those gifts to further God’s kingdom here on earth?

And if you think that your gifts are somehow less than the pastor of the church because you are only working in the nursery, try telling that to the parents of the children you are watching while they are able to be fully engaged listening to the sermon that weekend, you are the MVP!  Try fixing a car for free through an automotive ministry for a single mom struggling to even pay basic bills, and then telling her that your gifts are not important.  There is no better way to show people Christ’s love for them than being an example of it yourself.  Acts of kindness seem to have a way of turning into conversations that God can take wherever he pleases.

So, embrace your gifts!  Figure out how you can use them best.  Then act!

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Mar
20

Using our talents as well as our struggles

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Using our talents as well as our struggles

As always, comments are greatly appreciated! Dialogues are far better than monologues!

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’  His master replied, ‘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!’ The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ His master replied, ‘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!’ Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.  For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

Matthew 25:14-30

This is a parable that most Christians are incredibly familiar with.  It has been taught on a ton of times.  At first I was not going to talk about this parable today for exactly that reason, it has been taught on so much.  The more I thought about it though, the more I realized that it is taught on so much because it is so darn important and yet most Christians struggle with implementing the message.  Jesus told us that God has given us each individual talents that are to be used to help spread God’s word while we are here on Earth and also help those that have physical needs as well.  When we get to heaven Jesus tells us that God is going to be the master who asks, “What have you done with what I gave you to work with?”  Terrifying thought!  We know that our salvation comes from knowing Jesus Christ and accepting the gift he gave to us when he died on the cross, but Christians were not designed to sit on the sidelines waiting for Heaven.  We are called to maximize the talents we have been given for the good of the kingdom of God.  So where does God want to use you?

I think there are a lot of Christians that struggle with this passage because they look at missionaries, pastors, and other folks “directly” doing God’s work, and do not think that they could ever do that.  The good news is that God can use you exactly how you are right now.  God needs people in every walk of life.  You do not have to be in a third world country to be on the “mission field”.  There are people who need tangible worldly help and people who do not know Christ everywhere.  Whether you are a college student, financial planner, a doctor, a teacher, a lawyer, or a sales representative; God needs your help!  So what keeps us from using the gifts God has given us?

In most cases I think the answer is fear of embarrassment.  “I don’t want them to think I am some religious nutjob!”  This fear of embarrassment rapidly transforms into rationalization. “Besides, what am I going to do? Should I be that guy with the megaphone shouting at people that they are going to hell?  No one is converted like that anyway!  In fact, it actually turns people off towards Christianity.”  I know that I have personally fought this battle many times with myself.  The reality is that God does not want you to be the megaphone guy.  That clearly does not work.  However, on the evangelism spectrum there is a lot of middle ground between megaphone guy and refusing to ever even bring up Jesus outside of the comfortable walls of the church. God wants us out there building relationships with others first, but then not being ashamed to bring up our faith later.  Listen to what Paul has to say about this matter in today’s reading in 1 Corinthians 25:19-23:

“Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

The other thing that keeps a lot of Christians from bringing up spiritual matters with others is that fear that they themselves are not worthy.  It is easy to think to ourselves, “Who am I to bring up this to another?  I am far from perfect myself.” The truth is that we all have things that we struggle with in our lives.  We all have battles that we fight.  God can use those too!  If you are struggling or have struggled in the past with some type of sin in your life, chances are others are currently struggling with the exact same thing.  You have an incredible opportunity to provide support and love for those people in a way that few others could.  Don’t be afraid to use the negative stuff in your life in a positive way for Christ.  I love the story of Joseph in Genesis.  He was sold into slavery by his brothers and eventually thrown into prison because of them.  And yet listen to Joseph’s perspective in Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Joseph had every right to be furious with his brothers, but instead he chose to focus on the good that God had planned through this hardship.  If we can all keep this perspective when we go through trials and battle sin in our lives, God can accomplish powerful things through us for his kingdom.

Thought for the day: In my current position in life how can I best use the talents God has given me?  How could God best minister to others through me as a result of trials or struggles I have had in my life?

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Mar
14

Teach me to do your will

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Teach me to do your will

LORD, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.

Answer me quickly, LORD;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I entrust my life.

Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.

-Psalm 143:1, 7-8, 10

I think as Christians most of us would like to be better at keeping the will of God at the center of our lives.  At times we are incredibly good at doing this and at times it is an incredible challenge.  It is during these challenging times in our lives that we need to cry out like David does in Psalm 143.  These are the times where we are in the most need of direction and guidance.  Unfortunately, I think these are also the times where it is easy, as a Christian, to distance ourselves from God.

When we are not in line with God’s will in our life I think that the natural human reaction is to be filled with guilt and shame.  None of us like these emotions and as a result the solution that we frequently turn to is attempting to avoid thinking about God.  The more we think about God and the sacrifice he made on our behalf, the more intense the feelings of guilt when we are not living our life in accordance with his will.

That is what I love so much about David.  David screwed up a TON in his life.  His life was frequently completely out of whack with what God expected out of him.  David allowed some pretty terrible sin to enter his life and those sins were not only out of line with God’s will, but also impacted a lot of other people in powerfully negative ways as well.  What I love about David is not his sin; what I love is how he responded to his own weakness.

David did not try to avoid God.  David did not try to stop thinking about his sin.  David never turned his back in shame.  Instead, David cried out for help.  David asked that God would teach him how to follow God’s ways.  He had seen that under his own strength he was fundamentally incapable of conquering the sin in his life that repeatedly crept back in.  However, instead of accepting defeat, when David was at his worst he turned back to God.

Hopefully it is a lesson that we can all take to heart in our own lives.  We are all sinners.  Every one of us has at least one area of our life that we constantly struggle with.  Every one of us has some aspect of our heart that we would be ashamed to let others see.  Most of us flee from this sin and trust in our own strength and self discipline to prevail over this sin that refuses to be conquered.  Re recommit ourselves over and over again and continually tell ourselves the lie that “I am turning over a new page today!”  Then we try to stop thinking about it.

This is not the solution.

Instead, take a page out of David’s book and recognize that you are incapable of doing the will of God without the power of God aiding you.  Stop leaning on your own strength but continue to take your sin to God and to others.  Let God help you.  Let people in your life that love you provide accountability and support.  There is serious power in having people in your life that you tell EVERYTHING to.  If you struggle with gossip, make sure you have someone in your life that you are going to tell every time you slip up. If you struggle with moderation, confide in a friend.  If you have an issue with porn, let a friend fight the battle with you.  If you cannot keep yourself from judging others and viewing them in a negative light, ask for help.

Confession to God is good, but confession to God and friends is far more powerful.  If we are never afraid to seek help when in need amazing things will begin to happen!

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Mar
06

Fighting society enduced anxiety

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Fighting society induced anxiety

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

-Philippians 4:4-7

This is such an important verse to embrace for all Christians. It is an idea that is presented relatively frequently throughout the Bible. If we put our trust in God and truly believe in his power to see his will done in our lives, peace follows.

Paul urges us to avoid being anxious today. Simple enough advice and yet far easier said than done. It seems that in today’s world almost every message we hear is designed to make us anxious.  If we are anxious, stressed, and worried about our current situation we need to turn somewhere to find help.  Thus the need for more government, more protection, and more consumer goods.  Fear and anxiety are powerful motivators.  Every message from our elected official, news outlets, and advertisers target us in some way.

We are told that we are not safe.

We are told that our jobs are not secure.

We are told that we need more worldly things.

We are told that our world is going to hell in a hand basket.

We are told lots of things.

Paul tells us to bring it back to Christ.

In EVERY situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

This may be easier said than done, but it is worth the effort to form this habit. We may have to fight every message in our world to really focus on Christ, but it is worth the fight.

So next time you are anxious about anything, stop immediately and pray.  Give it up to God.  Trust that our God is big enough to bring you through whatever is causing you stress.  Trust that he has a master plan and that his will in our lives will ultimately win out.  The hard part is that this is not a one time thing.  We are called to repeat this over and over again until it becomes a habit.

If we will form the habit of coming to God in every situation instead of just from time to time, he has promised to guard our hearts. What an incredible promise!

We really do worship an awesome God.

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Mar
04

A modern day parable

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A Modern Day Parable

In Luke we see a story of a rich noble named Zacchaeus. This is an incredibly powerful man. The implication in the passages is that he has been unfair in his dealings with people fairly frequently throughout the course of his life and taken advantage of his position to gain even more power and wealth. Enter Jesus. Everything changes. Let’s read.

A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

-Luke 19:2-10

What a beautiful story.

Close your eyes and imagine for a minute this in modern day terms. The scene would look almost like a Thanksgiving Day parade. People know that Christ is coming so they are packed in the streets on each side trying to get a mere glimpse of the savior. And now our main character is a CEO of a large investment bank that has amassed unbelievable wealth through deceiving the public and by essentially stealing money from people through fraudulent methods.

This CEO hears the good news of Christ and realizes the errors in his ways. He makes the way to the parade in his three piece suit that has been professionally tailored for him. He arrives in a limo, but discovers upon arrival that there is no way to get near the street. The crowd is too thick. No one cares that he is a CEO of a large investment bank. In fact, most people that realize he is near are angered at his presence at such an event. So what does this CEO do?

He unbuttons his suit coat, takes off his tie, turns to his body guard, and says, “Give me a hand,” as he reaches for the lower hanging branches of the tallest tree he can find. He is determined to simply get s glimpse of Christ. He scales up the tree and sits in the branches waiting. What an incredible sight that would be!

That is exactly what happened today in Luke.

Then Jesus, upon seeing this CEO in the tree approaches the tree and asks to stay at his house. Can you imagine the outrage? This is the man who has swindled the public, gotten rich through deception, ruined the financial lives of millions, and Christ is dining with him!? It never occurred to me when reading this story previously that people probably thought Christ simply wanted to dine with the rich. They must have thought he wanted a 5 course meal, a nice glass of wine, and servants to wait on him hand and foot. The reality is that Christ was after something much different. Yet the crowds didn’t like it. They were not so quick to see repentance and forgive.

Are we that much different today? If Christ returned tomorrow and one of the first places he decided to crash was with the CEO of a large investment bank that was under investigation for fraud, wouldn’t we all raise our eyebrows a little bit? Wouldn’t we all question whether this is truly Christ returning or if it was an anti-Christ that we had been warned about in scripture? Wouldn’t we all think he was heading to the wrong place?

This struck me as an interesting thing to think about today. We have a tendency to read these stories and think, “How could people be so blind to question Christ?” Would we have been so different?

Something worth thinking about . . .

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Mar
02

Information does not equal knowledge

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Information does not equal knowledge

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

They are the kind who . . . are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

-2 Timothy 3:2-7

I feel like Paul could pretty easily be talking about most time periods, but his words certainly ring more true today than ever. He pretty much described the nature of the world in 2012. There is an abundance of people today who “have a form of godliness but deny its power,” and people who are, “always learning but are never able to come to knowledge of the truth”.

I think these two phenomenon run rampant today, especially in high schools, colleges, and in early adult life. We are the google, twitter, Wikipedia society. People think that hearing enough sound bites translates to having knowledge. People think that to become an expert on a topic all you have to do is google it or check out the Wikipedia page.

Information does not equal knowledge.

So many people (especially in the under 25 crowd) know a ton of facts, but have lost the ability to put these facts together in any logical order, and draw meaningful conclusions. They can spout off facts, but do not see the big picture. They can regurgitate five different people’s opinions that they read elsewhere on a topic, but have no new thoughts of their own. Obviously this does not apply to everybody, but it is a scary trend.

Today’s society is always learning, but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth!

This applies also in regards to Christ. So many people “know most of the claims of Christianity”. They “pretty much get it”. They consider themselves spiritual. They believe in a higher power. They think Christ may fit into the picture somehow, but certainly not as the only way to achieve salvation. That would be too exclusive! We are a generation of options.

Then instead of digging deeply into the topic, researching the history behind the claims of Christianity, looking at the archeological evidence, reading the entire historical account in the Bible, and discovering collaborating testimonies from historical sources that are not found in the Bible; people simply discount the whole thing because taking the time to thoroughly research is a thing of the past.

We want to be able to jump on our i-phone find 20 restaurants in a 2 mile radius, click over to reviews online, pick one out, and get directions sent to the phone GPS all in a matter of a minute. We no longer have any desire to solve any problems of our own. That is what a phone is for, right?

Christ does not fit into our world view. Christianity cannot be put into an app on a phone. It cannot be summarized in a one page Wikipedia article. It does not allow people to conveniently craft their own personal God to fit their own lifestyle. God is God whether he fits our lifestyle or not. Christ is Christ even if it is not convenient at the time. The path to salvation is through him.

That does not work in today’s society.

We want to practice a “form of godliness”. We do not want to fully recognize the power of Christ and what he accomplished on the cross.

Information does not always equal knowledge.

What is most convenient does not always equal what is best.

What we want to be true does not always equal absolute truth.

Seek knowledge. Seek Wisdom. Seek Christ. Seek the will of God in your life. The world may not understand, but this world will eventually fade away. What you will be left with will be eternal.  That certainly seems worth the effort to investigate!

Verse of the day 2 Timothy 3:6-7

They are the kind who . . . are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

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Feb
07

Developing a Passion for the Harvest

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Developing a Passion for the Harvest

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

-John 4:31-38

It is easy to become self centered.  We all do it from time to time. We get so caught up in our own worldly needs that we completely miss opportunities to have an impact for the kingdom of Christ. I loved how Jesus responded when his disciples encouraged him to eat, “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”

There are days in my job where I completely forget to eat for the entire day because I am so engrossed in what I am doing.  I am so focused on the conversations I am in that I don’t even feel myself getting hungry.  I love people and love my job.  This is exactly what Christ says today about doing the will of God. He was so locked in on doing the work of his father that he wasn’t even hungry.

Why are we not like this more?  There truly is a great harvest out there, but the workers are few.  If I can get so excited and focused in my job, is there any reason why I am unable to cultivate this mindset towards service?  Hopefully not!

This week find a way to get involved and have an impact in the lives of others. Go volunteer, start up a conversation, or reach out to someone who is hurting.  This time, however, do it with a passion so strong that you look up at the end of 4 hours and don’t even realize you forgot to eat lunch!  Obviously you need food as well, but every once in a while it is fun to lose yourself in doing a great thing to the point where you forget to put food into your body.

If your food is doing the will of the father and that is what sustains you, life becomes a lot more fun and rewarding!

If you enjoyed this blog leave a comment!  Dialogues are far more entertaining than monologues and give the author a great deal of encouragement!  : )

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Jan
27

Hearing wisdom above the noise

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Hearing wisdom above the noise

Does not wisdom call out?
Does not understanding raise her voice?
At the highest point along the way,
where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
beside the gate leading into the city,
at the entrance, she cries aloud:
“To you, O people, I call out;
I raise my voice to all mankind.
You who are simple, gain prudence;
you who are foolish, set your hearts on it.
Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say;
I open my lips to speak what is right.
My mouth speaks what is true,
for my lips detest wickedness.
All the words of my mouth are just;
none of them is crooked or perverse.
To the discerning all of them are right;
they are upright to those who have found knowledge.
Choose my instruction instead of silver,
knowledge rather than choice gold,
for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.

-Proverbs 8:1-11

You have 17 unread emails.

You have 37 friends with updated profile pictures.

You have 6 text messages to respond to.

Your voicemail box is full and cannot receive new messages at this time.

7 people “like” your most recent facebook status update.

12 have commented on it.

11 have commented on another person’s status update that you commented on.

3 of your Apps have updates available.

You check twitter, CNN, ESPN, and LinkedIn.

You have 8 of your favorite shows saved in your DVR.

Your fantasy football team has three trade requests pending.

Your time that could be spent in silence is filled with music, sports talk, or talk radio.

Somewhere out there wisdom is still calling.  She is still shouting from the rooftops.  Are we taking the time to listen?

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Jan
18

What do we rationalize?

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All a person’s ways seem pure to them,
but motives are weighed by the LORD.

Commit to the LORD whatever you do,
and he will establish your plans.

The LORD works out everything to its proper end—
even the wicked for a day of disaster.

The LORD detests all the proud of heart.
Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

-Proverbs 16:2-5

I have always loved Proverbs 16:2, “All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD.”  It rings so true.  I know that I am constantly battling the forces of rationalization in my own life.  As human beings, we are all incredibly good at convincing ourselves of whatever we feel like at the time.  God wants us to break free of this cycle and stop leaning on our own understanding, but instead truly seek after his will in our lives.  The only way to do this though is to become self aware enough to catch ourselves when we are falling into the trap of justifying our actions and rationalizing why they “aren’t that bad anyway!”  Until we break out of this habit pattern it is VERY difficult to find the will of God.

Today look back through your life and try to isolate times where you talked yourself into certain actions being “not a big deal” but later were able to look back and see why they actually were.  This can often times apply not only to sin in our lives, but also to lifestyle choices that hinder us as well.  How often do we struggle to take care of ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally even when we are well aware of things we could do to help?  As human beings we are constantly engaging in self sabotage.

So take time today to look back and really think through times where this has been the case in your own life.

When previously have you convinced yourself your thoughts or actions were pure?  When did you cause yourself to stumble through rationalizing away God’s commands?  Journal about it today.  Then pray for forgiveness and strength in the future. Pray that God would open your eyes when opportunities like this come up again. Pray that he would keep your heart humble and open to his words.  The first step to peace of mind is leeting Christ in.  However Christ has a hard time moving into our heart if it is still filled with our own baggage we refuse to turn over to him.  Where is he supposed to put his things!

Get out all of the baggage that you have held onto throughout your life and have never sought forgiveness for.  Not only will it be a liberating feeling to no longer hold onto your sin, but it will help you catch yourself in the future from falling into the same traps over and over again.  God wants to help you with this, and if you will simply let him you will find your desire to follow God stronger than it has ever been before!

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