Keep it Simple

I do not read as much as I should but when I do I must admit I am a big fan of the “Guide for Dummies” books. The last one my family got was on dogs shortly after we got our puppy. The book broke everything down for us in a way that was easy to understand. There was not a lot of highly technical stuff added in to confuse you, and that’s a good thing. If they had made it too hard to understand it would have defeated the purpose of the message they were trying to get across to the reader. When Christ taught, he understood this and broke stuff down in a way that all could understand. He had all the knowledge of the Father and knew all that was to be known. He also knew that if the people of the time could not understand Him then His teachings would not have meaning to those He was trying to reach. So when He taught, it was often in parables or stories that all could relate to. He would then explain the story so as to make sure that all got the intended message. The point I am trying to make is that you do not have to be a doctor of theology or attend seminary to be able to share the word of God with others. You do not have to be a public speaker or a polished product to tell others of His love. You just have to be willing to do it. Do not think that you can do it? Look at me. I have not been to school to be a preacher or anything like that yet through Him I have been able to share the word. In 4 months I have been able to share His word with people in over 40 countries, it can be done! Trust that God will give you the words and be willing to share them with others. Just keep it simple and tell them the truth. Let the spirit work through you and in the hearts of the ones you are trying to reach. He will take care of the rest.

1st Corinthians 12:7 - We all have a gift

One of the hardest things to do as a manager is to identify what your people do best and then put them in the best position to succeed. If you have a very detailed oriented person, you would not put them in a job that requires a lot of flexibility and free thinking. Likewise, if you had a very creative person that worked well outside the box, you would not put them in a very routine and regimented position. You know that in doing so you would be doing yourself and your employee a disservice and no one would benefit. The same is true when it comes to us using our spiritual gifts. Are you aware of what your gifts are? We all have some gift that we were intended to use for the glory of the kingdom of Heaven. 1st Corinthians 12:7 says” Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good”. That being said, it stands to reason that if you are in the spirit then you have been given a gift and you are intended to share that gift with others. 1st Corinthians 12:4 goes further with this and says “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them”. It does not matter if you are gifted with a great singing voice, a skill, an artistic touch, or just have the gift of gab like me. Regardless of what that gift is, just keep in mind where it comes from, the spirit. You are given that gift and are intended to use it for the greater good but that only happens when you are willing to share that gift with others. Ask God to show you what your gifts are and then to have Him place you where He needs you. When you are where you are needed and are willing to open up to those around you, you will be amazed at what your gift can do!

1st Corinthians 10:13 - Distractions

I do not know about you, but I find that I am easily distracted. I do not know if I have a short attention span or what but I find my thoughts tend to drift on me from time to time. It is not that I can’t focus; it’s just that I allow other things to take my attention away from the task at hand at times. If we are not careful, the same can be true when it comes to our walk with God. We know what we are supposed to do, we know how we are supposed to live we just seem to lose our focus at times. It’s at these times though when we are the most vulnerable. When we take our focus off God and put them on other things it is real easy to lose our way. Let’s face it, it is not always easy to keep that focus where it needs to be. Satan makes sin attractive. Sin is designed that way to be that distraction in our lives. The devil does all he can to pull our attentions elsewhere because he knows that is the only way he has a shot at us. When we are focused on God and walking with Him we are beyond the devil’s reach. He can not stand that. His whole goal is to destroy us. The good news is that he can only do that if we allow him to. 1st Corinthians 10:13 tells us “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it”. That tells us that even if we are temped by the distractions in our life, He has given us all we need to overcome them. It tells us that we are not faced with anything that we can’t handle. It tells us that even if we lose our focus, He will always be there by our side, faithful until the end. We all will be distracted at times, but it is how we deal with those distractions in our lives that matter. As our verse today tells us, we have all the tools we need, it is just up to us to how we use them.

A White Christmas

This year we had the first white Christmas I can recall in some time. Usually I am not a fan of snow but seeing as my family was all home and no one had to go to work on Sunday or Monday, I was able to enjoy the weather. Snow covers everything, all looks clean and new. All the ugly gets covered up and it seems like the world is given a clean slate for a while. It put my life with Christ into perspective. The bible says that once I believe and accept God into my life that I am given a new white robe. That once I give myself to Him my sins are wiped away and I have a clean slate. Just like the snow covers all, so does His grace and love. He does not just get the big stuff in my life and sweep the rest into a corner, He gets it all. We can try to cover stuff up on our own, but that never works. Sure, we can fool some of the people some of the time but when we think we can cover up stuff forever on or own the only person we are fooling is ourselves. Just like the snow, we know that sooner or later our cover will begin to melt away and all our faults and sins will be there to be seen by all again. That’s not the case with God’s love though. His love never fades or melts away. I might mess up (more than I care to admit) but I know the blood that was shed for me covers my sin forever and that they are gone from me. Once I believe, I am a new creation in the eyes of the Lord. The old is dead and the new is in its place. What a great reminder He gave me this Christmas, and all it took was a little snow!

What Does Christmas Mean?

When I was a little kid, Christmas meant that Santa was on his way with lots of toys for me to play with. As I got older, Christmas meant no school for two weeks and a chance to sleep in some. When I was a soldier, Christmas meant a time of sadness because I was so far away from the ones that I loved. But it was not until recently that I have come to understand what Christmas really means. Christmas means that a savior was born! It means that God loved us so much that He sent us a way to be with Him forever. It means God kept His promise and did not forsake us. It means that no matter what, I am never alone. You do not have to be alone either. Christ was born to save us all. We just have to believe that He died for our sins and ask Him for forgiveness. Remember, the bible tells us that no one gets to the father but through the son. Christ shed His blood for all mankind. His one act provides a way to salvation for us all. Accept His gift today. Let Him work on your heart and open your eyes to the world around you. Learn for yourself what Christmas really means………………….It has been my pleasure posting these daily messages for the last few months. I have really been amazed and humbled at what God has done. This will be the last post until Dec. 28th. It is my sincere wish that all of you will have a very merry Christmas. Never forget, He is the reason for the season. I will be back with you soon. Take care and God bless you all!

I Can't

I work with the telephone company. I get to work with other companies to try to coordinate dispatches and repairs all over the world. Regardless of what I ask for it seems like the first person I talk to will always tell me why they can’t do what I ask. I have really grown to dislike the phrase “I can’t”. I hear this all the time and it gets to me each time I hear it. Most of the time when we say “I can’t” what we are really saying is I don’t want to or that I am too lazy to do it. I have found that no matter how many times you tell me you can’t or how many reasons that you give me, if I push the issue to a high enough level, someone will find a way to get it done. The same is true in our walk with God. We will have something put on our hearts and we will find a reason to justify why we can’t do what He is leading us to. What we have to keep in mind is that He would not put stuff on our hearts if He did not intend to give us all the tools we need to accomplish the task at hand. We see it time and time again in the bible where He gave his people whatever they needed to accomplish a task, so why would we think that He would not do the same for us? I could very easily sit back and say “I can’t come up with a regular message 5 or 6 times a week” yet here it is going on 5 months and I am still writing. All we have to do is to be willing to be used for His glory. Once you take that first step, He will provide everything that you need to take of the rest.

God's Grace

This Sunday our pastor was giving a sermon from the book of Romans. One of the main points that he made was that without sin, there would not be need for God’s grace. Now what does that mean exactly? If we were all perfect and never did anything wrong, would we have needed a sacrifice for our sins? Would we have needed Christ to come down and set the example for us to live by and then die to secure our salvation? Of course not. We are born sinners. We can not help ourselves most times because it is in our nature. But, we have the ability to learn and when we do we can see the sin in our lives. Once you are exposed to the word of God and can see what is expected of us, we can start to get an idea of just how lost we are without that perfect sacrifice. Only through sin and our awareness of that sin are we able to fully appreciate the love and grace that we receive from God. We can never be good enough on our own, it is only through the blood of Christ that we are made clean and deemed as righteous. As you get ready for Christmas, please keep in mind that He is the reason for the season. Reflect on what His gift means to you and give thanks that God loved us so much to give us the gift in the first place.

Snow Day

When I was a kid I used to love waking up and seeing the snow all over the ground. I knew that meant a day of snowball fights, sledding, and best of all, no school! As I got older, I hated snow days because that meant icy roads, long commutes, and shoveling the porch and driveways so I could get out and about easier. The point I am making here is that time has a way of changing how you look at stuff. Same is true when it comes to our faith and our relationship with God. When we are young we do not think as much about God. We will go to Sunday school and church and hear the stories but it is not real to us as kids. As we grow to teenagers and young adults we start to understand more and more and we learn to rely on Him. We go to him as a way to get us through the challenges that we have in life and it is when we start to form that bond. Through our adult years we will view Him as a teacher and a provider. We will work to understand His will and we will do our best to live a life He would approve of. Then finally, as we are in our golden years, we see Him more as a trusted friend that has been with us every step of the way. Time does not change who God is, just how we look at Him a lot of times. Regardless of what stage you are in now, He can be there for you too! He always stands at the door knocking; all you have to do is open the door. Start your relationship with Him today!

True Strength

What is true strength? Is it the size of your muscles or how much weight you can lift? Is it having overwhelming military force or having massive amount of people with which to dominate with? Maybe its money or financial power or the ability to control stuff because you have the resources to do so. All of this can seem like strength, but it does not really hit the mark. True strength is seen in the heart and character of a person, not in the size of their biceps or the size of their wallet. I have seen my little nephew stand up to someone 5 times his size because he thought they were messing with his big brother. That is strength. I have seen my mom hurting with arthritis among other things to the point she could cry put a smile on her face and act like all was ok so her family would not worry. That is true strength. I read a story of a man that was humiliated and broken on a cross. He could have prevented all of it with a word. He had done nothing wrong but still took the beating and died a horrible death. Not for his sins but for mine. I also read of a father who had to give his son up and watch his son go through horrible things all for the good of others. This is true strength. You too can have this strength in you. God knows that we are not the strongest of people. Through Him though there is nothing that we can’t do. We can have the courage to stand and face our demons. We can overcome all obstacles that are put in our way. God has all the strength you can ever need and more than you could ever ask for.

The Perfect Gift

I was a soldier for 9 years. I loved my time spent serving my country but it did stink being away from home during Christmas. It was during one of the times I was away though that I got the best present anyone here has ever given me. My daughter was a little one at the time and my parents and sister took her to go see Santa. She waited her turn and when she got up there she had her chance to ask him for whatever her heart desired. She looked him in the eye and told him that all she wanted was her daddy home for Christmas. It was a completely pure and unselfish act by a child. I have always thought that was the greatest gift I could ever have. I know that no one on earth will ever top that gift. As great as that gift was though it has nothing on the gift of everlasting life that God has given to me. I have no fear of death now. I know that hell has no hold on me and I know that I have been made clean. All of my sins and my past have been forgiven and I have been made new. There is no greater gift to be had! The best part of this gift is that it keeps on giving. I will be able to enjoy this gift the rest of my days. This gift will never fade or wear out. This gift will be just as special and wondrous 60 years from now as it was the day I received it. Better than that is the fact that anyone can share in this gift. Its not just for me, it is for all! You too can have this gift and enjoy it. All you have to do is ask and you shall receive. Let Him into your heart today and let His love fill you. He wants to give you the best gift of all, all you have to do is be willing to receive it.

Ephesians 2:10 - There is plenty of work to do

Ephesians 2:10 - For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Have you ever heard someone say "I'm bored, there is nothing to do"! I have to admit that I will say that from time to time myself. We have plenty of work that needs to be done, we just have a hard time getting ourselves motivated to go and do it. The verse that we are looking at today reminds us that we have our work laid out for us already. God has laid out everything at our feet. As we were made in Christ's image we know that we are capable of doing the work intended for us to do. All that is left for is for us to want to do the work. So why don't we? Why do we find excuses not to put the effort in? We will spend more time thinking of and looking for ways to get out of the work than we spend actually doing what we are called to do. It should not be that way though. I promise you the work you do for the Lord will be more rewarding than anything else that you can do. You can also be assured you will never have a more caring and giving boss than you will find in God. No other manager will ever be able to meet your needs and give you the tools to succeed like He can. And you will never find a training manual (the bible) that will be better written and more informative. Do not make excuses, find the time to do the work that He has set out for you. It is all around you, all you have to do is ask Him to show you the way and trust that He will lead you to where you are needed the most.

Love

Growing up, my parents would tell me every day that they loved me. It made me feel good and safe but there was no way I could really comprehend exactly what they felt for me at that time. As I got older though, I learned what they meant. It was not because I am a slow learner or anything, it was just that I did not have the right perspective. That all changed for me when I had my daughter almost 14 years ago. It was not until that time in my life that I fully was able to understand what my parents meant when they said they loved me. I would do anything to keep her from harm or from pain. I would gladly lay my life down for her and would do anything I could to make sure she has a good and happy life. I think any parent feels that way for their kids. That is why I know how much God gave to save me. He sent His only son to earth to be punished and abused for my sins. He allowed him to be crucified up on a wooden cross and humiliated so that I could be made clean. He gave us all the greatest gift of love the world has ever known. All that we have to do to receive this gift is ask for it. I know I can never repay Him for what he gave me, but I can try to live in a way that lifts His name and try to bring others to know Him. If you know God’s love then please share it with others. If you do not, write me back and I will do my best to share with you the love that He has shown me. We are all God’s children and He loves us more than we can ever know. I know because the gift He gave tells me so. You can know too, it is never too late.

Daily Decision

Proverbs 12:25 - An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up. Life can really beat you down at times. We put so much pressure on ourselves to produce and to life up to expectations. We try to be everything to everyone and we end up weighed down and heavy hearted. We can’t be every where at all times so there is always something that seems to fall through the cracks. I am here to tell though that it is ok. We don’t have to have a heavy heart and be weighed down by what this life has to throw at us. As Christians we know we have Christ in our hearts and that we know an endless joy. The only things that can bring us down are what we allow to bring us down. We wake up every day and have to make a decision. Do we attack the day and live a life that is full or do we stumble through it and let the day tear us apart? We have to choose to be miserable. No one can make us feel anything, it’s up to us to decide how to act and react. Be the one that has a light heart and brings encouragement to those in need. Live life to the fullest and try to bring others along to help you enjoy the ride. You will find that the days are a lot easier to get through that way!

James 1:22 - Don't just hear, listen

James 1:22 - Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. I do not know about how it is with most folks but at my house I tend to get in trouble when I do not listen to my wife. She will talk to me and tell me all kind of stuff for me to do but for some reason it does not make its way into my brain. She will ask “are you even listening to me?” I will usually repeat what she had said and that gets me off the hook. But, just because I can repeat what she said, that does not mean I was listening. We do the same thing when it comes to the word of God. We will hear it but are we really listening to what it tells us? My wife can tell me I need to take out the trash, but if I don’t pay attention and make an effort to actually do what she ask, how can I say I was listening to her? Now, my wife is smart, she started to write everything I need to do on a dry erase board for me. So now, if I ever neglect to listen all I have to do is look at the board and read what I need to do. God did the same thing. While He may not have a dry erase board (all time great invention by the way) He did put everything we needed to know into the bible. It is up to us to read it or hear it, listen to what it is saying to us, then to carry it out in our lives. Listening is great, but it does not do us any good if we do not put what we listened to into practice. Do not deceive yourself and try to convince yourself that you are doing what you are supposed to if you know you are not. Listen to the word and let it speak to your heart. Once you know the truth and the way, the only real choice you will have left to you is to do what it says and obey.

Teaching people to fish is better than feeding them one

There is an old saying that says, if you feed a man a fish, he will eat for a day, but teach him how to fish and he can eat everyday. The same can be considered the truth when it comes to the word of God. As Christians, we are big on feeding folks fish but not so great on teaching them how to fish for themselves. What I mean is that we are quick to give them a verse or an encouraging word, but that’s only a temporary fix. We will tell people that we will pray for them but how often do we show them how to go through the bible themselves? How often do we get with them and pray with them out loud and show them how easy it can be to talk to God? How often do we show them how they too can have a personal relationship with Him? The answer I am sad to say, is not too often. It is easier to give it lip service or to drop a nugget of information on them and walk away feeling good about ourselves for sharing our faith. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that what you are doing is wrong, its not. Share your faith whenever you can wherever you can. What I am saying though is that we have to transform our thinking from trying to feed one another every once in a while to getting those around us to where they can feed themselves spiritually daily. You can not always be there to meet with someone in need, but you can give them everything they need to be able to get to the one that can. Learn to teach those around you to fish for their selves. That way no one will have to go without!

It’s not what you do that’s important; it’s how you do it

It’s not what you do that’s important; it’s how you do it I was looking through a magazine this weekend and came by a quote from the late coach John Wooden. Coach Wooden was possibly the greatest coach of our time. One of the things that made him so good was that he had a way of putting things in a simple manner that all could understand. The quote that caught my eye was “it isn’t what you do that matters, but how you do it”. Now, Mr. Wooden was talking about stuff related to his basketball team but we can apply it easily to our daily lives as Christians as well. Look at what you do in your daily life. Now ask yourself, how do I do what I do? Do you do what you do daily willingly and with a joyful heart or do you do what you do out of obligation, just going through the motions? I can come to work daily and say I am grateful to have a job but if I am not doing the best I can and working with a good attitude, what am I saying? I can say that I love you as a brother or sister in Christ but if I never do anything that shows you that, how do you know? More than words are needed; it’s our actions that tell the truth. What are your actions telling those around you? Remember, it’s not what you do that’s important; it’s how you do it. Make sure your actions are showing that you are a Christian and that He lives in you.

You Either Are or Your Not

I was sitting in our youth discussion the other night when one of our youth leaders said something that I found really interesting. She said you can’t tape apples to an oak tree and call it an apple tree, its still an oak tree. What a great saying that is and I could not wait to use it in a daily message. The point this is making is that we can’t magically be something else just by pretending. We have to be who we are. An apple tree is an apple tree because that’s what it is. Its roots, its leaves, its fruit all came from an apple seed. It did not start out as an oak in the ground, have oak roots and then turn into an apple tree after the fact, it was always an apple tree. Same is true for us as Christians. We can not act like a Christian; we have to be a Christian. We can go to church, sing the songs, do the things that everyone expects of us, but if you are not rooted in faith and Christian to the core, then you are not really being a Christian. I see too many people like this, myself included at times. We will go through the motions but when push comes to shove we will revert back to our old ways of thinking. Like I said, I can see this in my own life. I would not use this blog as a way to blast folks. I write about stuff I go through and that I live or see around me. I use this as a tool to remind me to stay on the path that God set out for me and be a good person. It is my hope that in the process of sharing my observations that you the reader will get something out of it as well. The end goal is to bear good fruit. The fruit that comes from a life rooted in the word of God and rooted in faith. I know an apple tree because I can see the fruits it produces. I would hope that one day people will be able to know that I am a Christian by the fruit that I bear. Its easy to tell someone that you are a Christian, harder to show it and live up to the calling. If you can’t, all you are doing is taping apples to an oak tree.

James 4:17 - No excuses

James 4:17 - If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. We like to give excuses. We always have a reason as to why we did or did not do something. They may not have any bearing on the incident we are being asked about, but when we feel like it we can just about justify anything to ourselves if the excuse sounds good. We always have a reason as to why we should not do something that we know to be right and good. Our verse today reminds us that we have no excuses in the eyes of God though. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. That’s pretty straight forward and to the point isn’t it? We know in our hearts what is right and what is wrong. When we go against what we know is right, or just choose to do the wrong thing, we sin. So, how do we not sin in this way? Simple, do what you know is right, regardless of the situation. You can think of a million reasons as to why not to do right, but in the end if you don’t do what you should, you just end up wrong.

The Blame Game

I was watching the news the other day and I saw the sports highlights from the NFL. One highlight stood out to me. A receiver had a game winning catch fall out of his hands in the end zone towards the end of the game. That was not the part of the story that caught my eye though. What did get my attention was the fact that later on he got on twitter and blamed God. He said “I praise you 24/7 and this is how you do me?” That got me to thinking, why are we so quick to blame God when stuff does not turn out like we want? When we have disappointments or have issues in our lives we are quick to shake our fist at God and hold Him accountable. We never take the time to look at ourselves and the choices that we have made. We can’t hold God accountable for the trouble we get into if we are the one making boneheaded decisions. God did not make him drop the football; the receiver just lost focus and dropped it. God did not put the thief in jail; he put himself there when he decided to steal. God did not cause your financial issues; you caused them by spending foolishly and not planning for the future. The point is that we need to take accountability for ourselves and our own actions. God helps those that help themselves. You can’t just sit back, do nothing and expect all to be ok. It just doesn’t work like that. God is not out to get you. He loves you and wants you to have life to the fullest just as any parent would want for their kids. Stop and think next time before getting mad and blaming God. Is it really Him that you are mad at, or are you mad at yourself and just are too prideful to admit it?

WHY?

If you have ever had a kid or been around one for any period of time you will know that they love to ask one question more than any other. Why? They will ask it for any and all things. Why do I have to eat my veggies, why do I have to go to bed, why can’t I do what I want to do, why do I have to do my homework? They always want to know why. We are like that even as adults though. We never seem to grow out of that pattern of wanting to know the why behind what we do. As we get older though we come to understand the why a lot more than what we did as a kid. I wake up and wonder why I have to go to work some days but now I know why I go to work, to earn a living and support my family. 20 years ago that would not have been a thought in my head. Some things we will never know though. For starters, I have no idea why I have a hard time with the Spanish language (I took Spanish 1 in school 4 times), or why I was driven to do this blog message daily. I just accept it for what it is and press on. We need to do the same when it comes to God’s love. There is no good reason as to why He loves us. Just take a look at us. We are sinful, prideful, misguided pain in the butts most of the time. Why would he ever love us? What we have to keep in mind is that it is not for us to question God. He knows what He is doing. He has a plan and a purpose for us all. He has us where He needs us. What we have to do is accept that He is in control, surrender to His will and let Him lead us. Part of faith is not having to ask the why and knowing that what you are going to be ok. I don’t have to know why He loves me. I am just happy that he does. That’s enough for me. Is it enough for you?