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Learn From Your Mistakes

When I was a child I did a lot of dumb things. I would love to be able to tell you that I no longer do dumb things but my wife reads this and will not allow me to lie. I can say that the stuff I did as a kid I do not do now and hopefully the stuff I do now I will not do when I am older. I try to learn from the mistakes that I make and use the experiences to grow. We will never be perfect. We will always make mistakes and slip up, but it is how we deal with our mistakes that define who you are. A great example for us is found in the book of Philemon where we see a runaway slave, Onesimus. He ran away from his duties and responsibilities and caused Philemon much pain and loss in the process. The fact that Onesimus ran off though did not define who he was. The fact that he was willing to own up to what he did and returns to face Philemon does. His returning to face those that he had wronged showed the heart and character of the man more so than his selfish act. One selfish act does not define who you are, what you do after the act is done does. You might be ashamed and feel like you let people down and maybe you should feel that way. But what do you think people will be most upset with, the fact that you messed up once, or the fact that you have not changed your ways and continue to mess up? Healing can not happen unless you are willing to face up to what you have done. Paul understood this when he sent Onesimus back to Philemon. It might be hard to do and it might be uncomfortable, but in the end you will have regained their respect.

Passion

What are you passionate about? Is it your family or your job? Is it sports or some other activity? We all have something that gets us going. I love sports for example, especially anything involving my North Carolina Tarheels. You can tell I am passionate just by looking at me most days. I have the UNC hats, the t-shirts, a jacket, etc. I am not ashamed to support my team and let my passion shine through. That being said, I have a hard time opening up at times about the thing in my life that I should be the most passionate about. Sure, I can sit back and write a daily message and post on the website or on facebook and hope that the world will see it, but am I doing enough personally to tell the world about how awesome God is? You can ask me about the UNC game from the weekend and I can talk your ear off. Yet I have a hard time handing out my business card and telling them about my work for the Lord at times. I seek people out for the sole purpose of talking to them about UNC sports, but then I find it awkward to ask people for an opportunity to share the gospel at their church or their events. The point is that we have to find a way to bring our passion for God out so that we can share it with others. I need to be more concerned with whether or not someone has heard the word of God and has been saved than I am of catching the game. I need to be more willing to talk about the gospel than I am about who UNC is recruiting. I need to be more aware of the needs of my neighbors than I am of who is next on the schedule. The challenge is this, find a way to use your passions in other things to open the door to discuss the passion of your heart. Its ok to love sports, but use that as a way to be able to share the gospel. God will open so many doors for you if you let Him. You do not have to be a natural speaker or be good at opening up to people. All you have to do is be willing. He will give you the words; you just have to give Him the opportunity.

War

We are at war. Every day we are under attack and most of us do not even know it. It is not a war of guns and bullets but a war of thoughts and deeds. Our war is not with an enemy that we can see. Our war is a war with sin, and sin is winning. The problem is that most of us don’t know that we are losing. We allow ourselves to be fooled into thinking we are doing ok. We look around at others and pat ourselves on the back because we are better than the other guy. We get to thinking we are good to go and that’s when Satan has his best chance to attack us. Satan is patient like that. He knows that sooner or later we will be weak and that’s when he comes at us the hardest. Do not give him that opening. Do not allow yourself to think that you are ok. The truth is we are not ok. If we were free of sin and had nothing left to do we would have already been called home. We have to fight the sin in our lives daily, but we have hope! The good news is that we are not alone in our fight! We have God on our side willing and able to take on any fight we need Him to take on for us. Do you have a problem with lust? God can handle it! Do you have a problem with anger? God can handle it! Nothing is beyond Him. Nothing we can face is too big or too much for God to handle. So why do we insist on trying to handle stuff on our own? We have proven time after time that on our own we are nothing. We will not make the right choices, we will be weak and we will fall. Stop fighting the fight by yourself and let God see you through. God can win the victory if you let Him. Then again, you can always continue on as you are and keep losing the fight. The choice is up to you.

Romans 7:15 - Why do we do what we don't want to do?

I am sitting here at work and I find myself dealing with one frustrating thing after another. It seems like everything that I pick up or every call I take is worse than the one I had just addressed. I am at the end of my rope and the knot I tied to help me hold on is stating to come loose. Needless to say, I need my a break. Why do I do this? Why do I come in every day and do what I do not want to do? Looking at our passage today it looks like this question has been out there a while. Granted, its not the same context that I was talking about but the question still rings as true today as when it was written back then. What is it in our lives that we hate to do most as Christians? The answer is (or should be) sin. We know when we do it for the most part and it eats at us. We feel bad about what we have done and we repent or we ignore that feeling and we turn from God all together. Life is really nothing more than a series of choices and relationships when you break it down to the basics. God gave us free will but too often we choose wrong. We follow our own desires instead of what we know to be right and good and make bad choices as a result. We allow the relationships that we are in influence us as to how we live our lives and that can lead us wrong as well. The problem is that it is just too easy to allow ourselves to get off the path. Satan makes sin attractive and exciting. If sin were something ugly and horrible and held no appeal at all, no one would sin. The thing that we have to keep in mind is that we have the choice as to whether we sin or not. We have to purposely choose to sin. You know right from wrong, so you can’t say that sin just happened or that you did not know. We always know when we sin or do bad. Its that nagging feeling in your gut that tells you. You do not have to choose to live in sin. You can choose to live in Christ. You can choose to live in the word of God. You can choose to live a life as free from sin as possible. We are not perfect, we will sin and God knows this. He also knows that if we just ask, He will forgive us. We might not always understand things the way we want to, we may not always do what we want to. But we always will have a choice. I say we choose to live for God.

Be The Reflection

One of my best friends is a lady named Jamie. She is an awesome person that always seems to light up a room. She is smart and talented, hardworking and loyal, and she has an inner beauty to her that seems to come very natural. She just lost someone very special to her, her Grandmother. I never had the pleasure of meeting this lady but I am able to know her heart by what I see in her Granddaughter. You see, we are reflections of our parents and grand parents as a rule. The way they lived, the values they kept, and the way they saw the world help to shape who we are. When people see us, they are not just seeing who we are, they are seeing all that have shaped and molded us. We are the outward representation of years of work and influence from the ones that have loved us. The same is true when we become Christians. When we accept Christ in our lives we are no longer just representing who we are. When we become Christians the way we live and act, as well as what we do reflect on the one that is in charge of our lives. If you confess to be a Christian and live a life that is not reflective of that, who are you saying God is? Some may not know Christ, but they will know you. It is up to you to make sure that you are representing what it means to be a follower of Christ at all times. Jamie’s grandmother left an amazing legacy behind, her granddaughter. We will be able to know her life and her works through Jamie. Jesus left a legacy as well, and that is us. That being said it is up to us to make sure that legacy is passed on to the next generation and to those that have never heard the good news. Be the reflection of Christ to those around you: let others see what He can do in how you live your life.

Blessed For a Reason

I was listening to the radio on the way into work today and I heard a phrase that just stuck with me. The pastor I was listening to said that we are blessed to be blessings to others. I had never heard it put that way before but the more I think about it, the more I know this to be true. When we come to know Christ and enter a relationship with Him we are blessed. We are blessed with His love and grace and we are given life more abundant than ever before. It is because of this that we want to go out and share this feeling with others. Think about it, if you go out to eat at a new restaurant and you just can’t believe how good it is, you can’t wait to tell folks about it. Then when someone goes to eat there and tells you how good it was you feel good about sharing right? I know that I do. If you are willing to share good news or good info with people that you know, why are we hesitant to share the best news of all? When we become followers of Christ we can’t just sit back and do nothing. We are blessed, but we are blessed for a reason. It is up to us to take the word to the masses. It is up to us to fulfill the great commission. It is up to us to be a blessing to those around us. You don’t have to reach the world, just the world around you. Be a blessing to someone in your world today and watch God do His thing. It is amazing to watch! Related verse: Proverbs 11:25 - A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Salvations Cost

My mom is the greatest shopper I have ever known. No matter what I am looking for she always knows who has the sales and she normally has a coupon for it. That comes in handy when you have to live on a budget. I mean if I can get the same type of product at half the price and the quality of the product is the same, I am making out. The problem is, sometimes there is not a coupon. Sometimes there is not a comparable substitute. Sometimes, we just have to pay the cost to get the item we value the most. Salvation is one of these items. You see, our salvation can not be received on a discount. There is not anything comparable to our salvation. You either have it or you do not. There is not an in between. You can not be a little saved. You can not have God somewhat in your life. You have to commit 100%. The good news is that it costs you nothing financially to be saved. Its not like I can go on TV and say “For the low price of $19.95 you too can be saved”. It does not work that way. There is a cost associated with this though, death. You have to be willing to die to your old life in order to receive the new life. You have to humble yourself before God and confess all your sins and ask for forgiveness. Then you have to mean it and you have to live it after the fact. Hey, I did not say it would be easy, just that there was not a financial cost. Now that you know the cost you have to ask yourself, do you value salvation enough to die to receive it? I did, and my life has never been the same.