What’s Holding You Back?

Does anyone remember this ad campaign run by law enforcement in hopes of getting people to wear their seat belts?  This was promoting the seat belt as the way to help keep the user from having major injuries if they are in an accident.

I thought about this the other day when putting on my seat belt.  I was thinking that the slogan could also apply to our spiritual lives.  All too often we allow our busyness to hold us back from God.  We have the kids' events, our own events, work, family, and the list goes on and on. We just allow all of these things in our lives to hold us down from the life that God wants us to live for Him.  I’m not saying that they are bad things, and in fact I’m all in favor of taking part in most of that stuff, but if they keep you from God, then maybe they should be reevaluated.

So, today I just wanted to take a moment and help us all reexamine our lives and make sure that our priority is God.  If we have Him in our lives and make him the priority, then the rest will fall into place.  Don’t allow anything to hold you back from God and what He wants you to be doing with your life.

Potty Training For Your Soul

As anyone who has kids can tell you, most times potty training isn’t easy.  It’s not just pointing your infant towards the toilet and saying go ahead and use it.  Instead there is a lot of training that is involved, from how to sit on the toilet all the way to how to flush and everything in between.  Most of the time the child will do well for a bit, regress a bit, and then finally figure it out, and from that point there isn’t much instruction needed. 

If something like potty training is so difficult, why do we as Christians often act like discipling a new Christian is less work?  While our mission on earth is to go out and make disciples, we often forget that it’s more than just talking to someone, pointing towards heaven, and then walking away.  Discipling a new believer takes time, and we need to be walking alongside the new believer and being there with them the entire way.  If we’re there with them as they start their journey, then they will have someone there to help them if they stumble, someone who will keep them going in the right direction.

When was the last time you helped lead someone to Christ?  Did you stay with them once they accepted Christ into their life, or did you just leave them alone from that point?  Just remember that the job isn’t done when you show them the door to heaven, you have to show them how to walk through it as well.

If The Shoe Fits – Don’t Buy It!

Have you ever heard someone talking about a purchase they just made and discussing that they “just had to buy it”? What forced them to make the purchase?  Were they facing the barrel of a gun and being forced by the gunman to make that purchase?

The reason I bring it up is because all too often we Americans think that we just have to buy stuff because we saw it at the store, other people have it, or it was on sale. 

Now I have to thank my parents for my love of shopping.  I love to go through the sale ads every week and see all the deals and circle all the stuff that we should buy.  They really taught me how to hunt down a good deal.  But, I’ve found one thing for myself over the years.  Sometimes the best deals are those that you don’t purchase.  If I don’t have the money for shopping, just maybe I shouldn’t be going.  Why step into Kohl’s, Best Buy, or Menards if I don’t have the money to buy anything there?  (BTW – they are all favorite stores of mine, I’m not hating on them at all.)  All we do when walking into a store is tempt ourselves to spend money.

This is where I hit you hard:  YOU NEED TO HAVE A BUDGET.  But, not only do you need to have a budget (even a monkey can be trained to put numbers on paper), you also have to stick to that budget.  If you have $500 for food this month, then you have to find a way to spend only that much on food.  Same thing goes for clothes, gas, and all the other categories!

If you need help working out a budget, then you and I need to talk.  This is a passion of mine, and I’d like to help you get there.  I can show you the principles of doing the budget, and we don’t even have to talk real numbers unless you want.  The thing to know is this:  God doesn’t want you to be in debt.  You are slave to the lender (see Proverbs 22:7) and it’s time to end that relationship and get closer in the most important relationship in your life:  God.

Why Is There An R?

For many years of my life I had trouble with this month we’re in.  You know, the month that starts with an F.  I just couldn’t figure out how to spell it, as it just didn’t make sense to me since no matter who I heard say the name of it, they never pronounced it how it’s spelled.  If that is the case, why is it spelled with that stupid R in it?  Who says Feb-R-uary?  I know I don’t, yet it still has the R there and I just have to deal with it….and at some point in my life I finally gave in and started to spell it like everyone else.

Why do I mention something stupid like the R in February?  Am I that short on material to write about, or is this some kind of joke?  (I know, either could be the answer with me!)  Frankly, I think it’s a simple comparison to some of the lost people in the world.  Many are out there and they just can’t wrap their heads around the idea of Jesus and/or God.  They hear about the miracles that were performed and they just can’t find a logical reason for why they happened.  They try and try to rationalize if there really is even a need for God in their lives (like I did if there is a need for that R in February), and they think that if their way is good enough, there is no need to change.

What if we could go out there and provide them with the answer for why God is needed in their lives?  What if you and I could show them that not only is He needed, but He should be the focal part in their lives?  Like the R in February that to me at one point in my life made no sense, God is the same to many in the world.  He’s there as a part of the whole, and they think they can do without Him.  Yet, in order for their lives to be whole they need Him more than they’ll ever know.

Who will you help show them the reason for God in their lives?

Resolve

So, it’s the 31^st of January….Just how many of those new year’s resolutions have you broken?  Yes, I’m calling you out right here, right now.  There is probably at least one of them that you started that you’ve already given up on.  You did know that you aren’t in the minority, right?  Every year they give us the stats for percentages of people who ‘ve already given them up on certain days. 

I personally am not a resolution person.  Instead of giving myself some unrealistic list of things that I’m going to do this year, I’ve instead given myself one goal a year to try to reach.  Three years ago I wanted to become more physically fit.  Two years ago I wanted to be more spiritually fit.  Last year I wanted to be more family focused.  This year I decided to be more active. 

Now being more active can mean a lot of different things, and I think that is exactly why God has given me this goal.  This is the year that He wants me to put it all together from the past. 

Physically I have gone downhill since I worked hard a few years back at getting back in shape.  This year I’ve felt that it’s time for me not to be lazy when I have free time, but instead it’s time to get active again.  I’ve started doing a few things that are already helping with that.  I hope to ramp it up even more in the future.

Spiritually I’m feeling led to get more involved in His Word.  It’s not good enough to just show up to church and listen to a sermon.  It’s not good enough to just read the Bible, but instead I need to study it.  I also need to do studies with my wife and make sure we’re both on the same page.  Oh, and not to just pray for the basics, but instead pray that God moves in my life and those I feel led to pray for. 

In the area of family focus last year I worked hard on really engaging more and more with my whole family.  My kids are getting older all the time comma and I want to make sure that not only do they know me, but that I know them as well.  I don’t know what the future holds for them, but I want them to use their talents to the best of their abilities.   I want them to focus their lives on God, and to trust in Him to help them in their lives as He has mine.  I also am continuing to make sure that Traci and I are invested in each other and don’t drift off from one another.  We pray together and work on our finances together to stay closer to each other, and hence closer to God.

I guess that my point in telling you all of this is to give each of you a different perspective on resolutions.  They are so easily broken because they are so easily made.  It’s time to focus all of our lives on God and what changes He wants to make in our lives.  I’ve felt for years now that He puts the “resolutions” in my life for each day, week, month, and year.  If we follow Him and what He wants for our lives, then how could we ever fail to meet a resolution again?

Nail Clipping

Have you ever clipped your nails?  I’m guessing if you are old enough to read this you’ve done it once or twice in your life.  (Or should I say, I hope you have!)  Why do you clip your nails?  I think it’s obvious.  You clip them in order to get rid of something you don’t need or that gets in your way.  They get to a point that you just can’t handle them the way they are and so you have to do something about them. 

The funny thing about your nails is that they all seem to grow at different speeds, right?  One won’t need clipped when you clip the others, and then a week later it’ll need clipped when the others do not.  It’s an endless cycle of clipping and possibly even filing them down.  Yet, you continue to do the maintenance on your nails because it’s needed.

Sin is a lot like your nails.  Different sins can creep up in different areas of your life and you need to keep doing the maintenance in order to not to allow them to interrupt your life.   The problem is that we don’t often see sin this way.  We let one sin creep in, and instead of taking care of it when it becomes a problem, we let it linger.  As it lingers there, the sin keeps growing, taking up more and more space.  If you allow it to stay in your life long enough it may even become a permanent fixture and can lead to other sin finding a way in.

What if we started looking at the sin in our lives like a finger nail.  As soon as you notice it, you should take care of it and keep it in control.  Don’t let it grow like crazy and make things difficult in your life.  It’s time to deal with these intrusions as soon as you see them and clip them in the bud.

Lesson from Sports

As you’ve read on here from time to time, I like to play sports.  I enjoy the competition, the fellowship with the other people playing, and the exercise I get from playing.  Well, one thing that I’ve relearned lately comes from my exploits in softball.

Due to the constant rain all summer and fall, the softball seasons this year were a complete mess.  Makeups of makeups of makeups were scheduled.  We’d get to play every 2-3 weeks in both seasons.  There really was no way of getting any consistent at bats all season, and so you couldn’t get a rhythm in fielding or batting. 

I really started to feel that lack of rhythm in the fall.  My batting wasn’t too bad (actually better than the summer), but my fielding was very hit and miss.  So we finally get the last two games of the season in on a Monday night.  It’s pretty cold (I’ve never played softball in November before) and it was hard to keep my hands warm.  I have two balls hit to me at second base from back to back batters from the opposing team.  One hits my glove hard and my hand went numb instantly.  So, I missed that out.  Then the next one gets hit to me and because I still had numbness in my hand I couldn’t field that cleanly either and they get another runner on base.  So, what does the next batter do, he tries to hit it to me as well, as he figures that they’ve found a weak spot.  Well, all of a sudden I find my inner Roberto Alomar and make a very difficult play that ends the inning.  Then the next two times the ball comes my way I easily make outs that I’d been missing before.

So, the next game comes, and a ball is hit to my right and I dive to get it, but I don’t come up with it cleanly. I quickly get it and throw the ball to the shortstop covering second base to try and force out the runner coming from first base.  Of course, I didn’t make the play in time and he’s safe, and they end up getting a few runs out of it.  Then an inning later a ball is hit to me just out of my reach.  But, at the end of the game I make the final out on a ball that if I don’t get it not only gives up the hit, but would cost us the game.  Instead we preserve the one-run lead, and finish the season at 9-3.

What did I learn from this?  Well, first off I’m not perfect.  It’s very humbling to have a ball come to you that you know you should make the play on, only to goof it up.  God seems to really enjoy reminding me of this lesson.  Secondly, I learned that although I may not be perfect and have messed up before, there is always a chance at redemption.  I messed up numerous times in those games or just didn’t make the play that was needed.  Yet, in the long run everything worked out for the best, according to His plan. 

These lessons are the same in the rest of my life.  I’m not perfect and everything isn’t always going to work out perfectly.  Instead, at times there will be rocks in the road, but eventually we’ll hit some smooth sailing again.