Proud Father

I know in this space, and especially on my Facebook page, I all too often brag about my children’s achievements.  I’ve been known to discuss their sports, and even from time to time, their academic exploits.  (Though the latter not as often as I should, though all three do great in school). 

I just can’t help talking about my kids because I am a very proud father.  I thoroughly enjoy watching all of their games, attending the school events, (ok, some events more than others) and just watching them succeed in all areas of their lives.  I like to share all that they’ve done with others.

I began to think about this from God’s point of view.  I started to think about how often He would be proud of what I do every day.  How often do I achieve things that would make Him smile and want to share my achievements with others.  As His son, don’t I want to make Him as proud of me as I am of my own kids?

How about you?  How often do you make God want to brag to the world about your accomplishments?  How often do you make God smile every day? 

Our goal as children of God is to make Him happy.  Just as our own children do things (at least when they are younger) to make us happy, we need to do the same things for Him as well.  What have you done for Him lately?  If you haven’t made God smile lately, maybe you should start trying again today.   

Slip & Fall

So this last weekend my son Noah had a birthday party.  He had invited a number of his friends all over to have a game night.  The party started at 7pm, and since the majority of the guys liked to play football, we started the party with two hours of two-hand-tap football in the open field behind our house.  I was asked to play along with everyone to make the teams even, and we played a number of games and the players on the teams kept rotating. 

It was during the last game that something happened that I didn’t expect.  I was punting the ball during a kick off when my left foot must have slipped and I landed with all my weight directly on my back.  The unexpected fall took me by surprise and knocked the breath out of me.  I took a moment or two to figure out that I wasn’t dead, or at least injured in any major way, and then finally got up and continued playing the game.

I bring this up today as when I was looking back at what had happened one thing really stuck out to me:  When I’m not paying attention it’s really easy to slip and fall backwards.  No, not just when playing a sport, but in my spiritual life as well.  Things in my spiritual life can be going along just fine as I may be praying daily, reading my Bible , worshipping Christ, and talking with others just as God says that I’m supposed to be doing.  Yet, if I take my eye off the ball for a moment, it’s possible that I could slip and fall.

Yet, I don’t think that is the main point that God was trying to show me.  I feel that the main point is that the fall is probably going to happen, no matter how much I try to avoid it.  What is more important is how I get back up after the fall.  If I had slipped and decided to never get back up, what good would I be for my team?  If I fall spiritually and just lay there, what kind of example will I be for the world that is looking at me to see what I’d do? 

Today what I want to impress on you is that you will more than likely have times when you slip and possibly fall.  God knows that.  What is the true demonstration of your character and your faith in God is how to rebound from that slip and fall.  Do you stay there and give up, or do you dust yourself off and get back in the game?  God knows you aren’t perfect and that there will be times when you go down.  What He expects from you is your desire to get back up and keep up the fight for His cause.  To continue the fight against sin.

Are you ready?  Can you get back up again after you fall?  I did, and I hope you can as well.

Feasting on Crumbs

The other day I was thinking about the crumbs that were left on my plate after eating dinner.  Why the crumbs got my attention I may never know, but I really started to think about how they relate to my spiritual life. 

You see, I know that there are days when I only give Jesus the crumbs from my life.  I’m just too busy and make excuse after excuse for why I can’t fulfill my obligations to Him.  Instead of giving Him the main course, I give Him the leftover crumbs.  It may not even be a conscious decision, but instead something that just develops as the day goes on. 

As I thought about it more, I was wondering how I’d feel if the roles were reversed.  What if God wasn’t the great God that He is and only could give me a little blessing today? What if He just was too busy to walk with me through my day today?  How would that make me feel?  When I look at things this way, my priorities change.

Have you ever had a day when you just didn’t give God the attention that you know He should have?  How did that day work out?  Would it have been better if you’d prioritized God instead of something else?

My point today is that God doesn’t deserve the crumbs.  Give Him the main course and see what He does with the crumbs that you have left over for everything else. I guarantee that those crumbs will be a lot more plentiful in your life with this arrangement than the other way around.

Give Up

You know, it really amazes me how easily people give up on things these days.  You see it all the time, and in all aspects of life.  We’re such an instant gratification society these days that if we don’t get the results that are desired right away, then we just throw in the towel and go towards something else. 

What ever happened to the old saying that anything worth having is worth working for?  When did hard work stop paying off?  It must have happened since my parents raised me, as I was taught to work for the things that I want.  I was taught that anything worth doing was worth doing right.  I mean, if I gave up so easily I wouldn’t play sports now, would have never got into a second relationship after my first, etc.  Yet, early failure didn’t deter me; instead it made me more determined to reach the goals that I had set.

I see this same problem in some people’s Christian lives.  They get a relationship with Christ and it’s easy going at first.  Some things go great when they give it all to God, and many things are good.  Then all of a sudden they find a pothole in the road and overcorrect on their swerve.  Some see that pothole and instead of driving around it, they turn around completely and don’t travel the road any more.  Why do they give up?  Did they think that life was going to be so easy?  Or was it all of a sudden not worth the effort?  

Today I want to impress upon each of us that the effort is going to be needed in your  walk with God.  It’s not going to be smooth sailing all the time.  In fact sometimes things can get harder before they get easier.  I mean, the devil didn’t worry about us when we were on his side, then we change teams and he starts to notice and tries to find a way to get us back on his side.  We will be attacked.  Things will get harder.  If we truly believe that the life with God is worthwhile then we need to put in the effort.  Don’t give up so easily.  Know that the payoff in the end is so much better than anything we’ve already had in your life.

God is worth it.  You are worth it.  Never give up on God as He’ll never give up on you.

Will Power

I know someone who is getting married this summer, and along with most brides-to-be, she is working on losing weight.  Now she’s already pretty skinny anyway, but she wants to perfect on her wedding day, and rightfully so.  What is funny to me is how much her will power has improved the closer she gets to the wedding day.  She already ate healthy but would sneak in some candy here and there in the past.  Now, no candy.  No coffee.  No extra anything in or on anything she eats or drinks. 

What struck me the other day is the fact that many of us do the exact same thing in other parts of our lives.  If we really want something, no matter what it is, we can find a way to make sure it happens.  Like my bride-to-be friend we can eat healthy and exercise more than ever if we want to fit into something for a special occasion.  We all of a sudden can find the money to get that one thing we just have to have when normally we wouldn’t have it at all.  And we can make time in our busy schedules for something that we really want to do.  But, when those things are not important to us then there just isn’t any way we can do any of those things. 

How often do you treat your spiritual life the same way?  When you want something from God is it possible to all of a sudden find more time to pray?  Maybe things have been bad in your life so you start going to church or a Bible study.  Then once you get what you want, or at least it becomes less important, those things you were doing become things of the past.  The motivation is now gone, and so you go back to how things use to be. 

What would your life look like if you were always willing to live for God 100% each and every day, instead of giving 60% some times, other times 70%, and only sometimes 100%?  Would you see more blessings in your life?  Would you be closer to God?  It’s time to open your eyes and evaluate how you live your life and start living for Him completely each and every day instead of just when you need something from Him.  If you do, just watch and see what kind of blessings you receive.  

WWJB

That is right.  What would Jesus blog?  I’ve been writing this blog for quite some time now, and I’d never given that a thought until just the other day. 

There are so many things going on in the world, and He has so much to tell us about, right?  So what would Jesus blog about?  Would He just blog, or maybe He’d have a radio or TV show in order to help get His message out?   Would He pastor a church of His own, or would He visit them all?  Would Jesus travel all over the world to pass along His message, or would He only stay in a big city like New York and expect the power of the media to do the work for Him?    Maybe he’d have his own network – JTV!

Well, in spite of all the questions I actually think I have the answer.  You see, Jesus has us out in the world already passing along the message.  He has pastors in churches all over the world doing the work.  Yet, we still have problems getting the message out, and so many others are still untouched.  Maybe that is because some of us aren’t doing our part?  Or maybe we’re out there trying, but others aren’t seeing Jesus in our lives?

So, no matter what Jesus would or would not blog, the message for sure will be the same.  The only way to Heaven is through Jesus, and that all of our sins will be forgiven when we gain that relationship with Him.  Not only should we want that relationship for ourselves, but for others as well.  

I Hate It When My Neighbors Mow

I don’t know about you but I’m not a huge fan of mowing my lawn.  If you’ve been reading this blog long enough you know that it becomes a topic around this time almost every year.  I actually enjoy being outside and even doing some yard work; however, it seems like that darn lawn always looks horrible when I don’t have time to do anything about it.  Then to make matters worse, the neighbors on both sides of our house mow their lawns and now ours looks the worst of the three.  We can’t have that now, can we?  Of course not, so off I go to mow the lawn because I don’t have any choice, right?

So today I was thinking more about that lawn mowing and the comparison of our lawns in a different context.  (Go figure with me, right?)  What if those lawns were our spiritual lives instead. When they aren’t kept up, weeds will start to grow, and after enough time it’ll start to look pretty bad.  Then to make matters worse, the people around us start to clean up their spiritual lives and are doing better on the upkeep.  They start getting rid of the weeds when they first start to sprout instead of letting them go like I have.  Then it gets worse, as another person around us does the same, and now we look horrible in a spiritual context. 

You see, sometimes when we’re just focused on ourselves we don’t really see all the weeds in our spiritual lives .  We think we can just take it easy for a bit and not get to the upkeep that needs to be continually done on our spiritual lawns.  No need for fertilizer (examples:  prayer, Bible study) to be applied because we don’t think it looks that bad.  Those weeds don’t look so bad, so no need to apply any of that weed and feed (confession and rejection of sin and sinful influences) either, right?  Oh and those sticks and stuff (little habitual sins) sitting on the line are just fine as long as we don’t mow, right?

  

Instead of working hard on that lawn for a while then taking it easy for a bit only to go back to the hard work, why not be the person in the neighborhood who always has the nice lawn.  How do you do that, you ask.  First off, you have to have a firm foundation.  Start right away with feeding the lawn with things that will make it healthy.  Read your Bible and pray.  Then keep an eye on those around you and not only keep up your lawn, but help others keep theirs alive and vibrant as well.  Bible studies, accountability partners, attending church, and so much more are examples of how we can all work together to make the spiritual neighborhoods we live in to be healthy across the board. 

Keep in mind that from time to time, no matter how much work you put in a weed or two will probably show up in your lawn.  It’s how we react to those weeds that shows how strong we really are.  So, although I hate it when my neighbors mow in the real world, I don’t mind at all when it comes to the spiritual lawn I have…as it keeps me on my toes and aware when my lawn needs work.  I hope from now on it does for you as well.