I have been so humbled by the comments from those of you that read this blog. When I started the blog, I was looking for a way to vent my frustrations with the typical "Church" without taking it out on others. If you've read my blog before, you understand why I say, "Church"; if not, read some of my earlier posts. At any rate, the blog transformed into my attempts to share encouragement with all of you.
Many of you, share my profession or something to the like. And, like a friend of mine and I were discussing on Friday, we experience high levels of stress even on a normal day. There are so many factors that stress us from the dangers of the job, balancing work and family, political pressures, and many more. I think about all of you so much and I wish each of you knew how much I pray for you, your safety, and the stability and sanctity of your families. All of you are at the top of my thoughts each day. The amazing thing is, that so many of you read my blog knowing who I am, with all my imperfections, and yet you still read and share with your friends. So lately, I've been wondering, "Why?" Now that is a deep question, but it's one I want to spend some time with today.
One of my favorite verses explaining God's desire for us to succeed, is located in the book of Jeremiah 29:11 which reads, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. " You see, God doesn't want to be a dictator of our lives, nor does he want to set a bunch of rules for us to live by just to make our lives difficult. If we follow his guidance and his teachings, his plans for us to succeed become reality.
This is where the problem comes in. For those of you in law enforcement, how many times have you investigated a crime where the suspect blamed somebody else? It's like the story of the criminal that breaks into somebody's house, falls out of the window and sustains serious injury, then wants to sue the homeowner for his injuries. You see, we want to make mistakes we know are our fault, then blame somebody else for our actions. I heard a comedian once talk about how kids always blame their parents for their (the kids) mistakes. The comedian went on to say, "My mom was good, my dad was good. I guess I'm just a moron." The truth of the matter is that our relationship with Christ is often times just like that. "Lord, I know I've done nothing to deserve your blessings, but that other guy kept me from going to Church." Then, when we hit the bottom, look up at God, and ask, "Why?" We live our lives by our own rules and desires then wonder "WHY" God doesn't bless us.
As I've written before, God's love is so much more than we can comprehend. Even when we've turned our back on God, he's right where he's always been waiting on us to return. Jesus tells the parable of the lost son in Luke 15:20 where Jesus, talking about the Father of the lost son, say, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." This passage tells us that the Father was watching for the return of a long lost, greedy, spoiled, punk. He was praying for his son's return, even though the son had been so ungrateful. You see, God know how and why we do things. Some of the things we do break his heart, but he loves us anyway. And when we stray from his love and will, he is standing there with arms wide open, looking for us, waiting for us to return. If you've found yourself like this, maybe today would be a great time to spend some time in prayer alone with God. Something like this. "Lord, forgive me when I try to do things on my own. Forgive me when I take your love for granted. I'm sorry and I ask you to take control of my life. Help me to follow your plans for me. I love you Lord."
I hope all of you have a wonderful week. As I often do, I've included a link to a song, "The Love of God" performed by Mercy Me at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWnvmKoLWUU
Please know that I love and I'm praying for each of you!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
"You're not alone"
Nope, I'm not talking about aliens, ghosts, or the voices inside your head. I'm talking about things much deeper than any of those things.
Today, as I write my blog, my heart is heavy for some friends and family. There is so much pain, worry, lack of energy, and just down-right loneliness. I mean, let's face it. There are so many times we feel so alone in this world. There are so many factors that can drive us to this feeling and force us into believing the lie that, "I am alone". Well, from the very beginning, you're not alone. In Genesis 2:18, God said, "It is not good that man should be alone" so what happened next? He created Adam his very own hottie!! Ok, I'll be serious. God did create Eve because he saw that Adam was alone. Of course, he knew that Adam was alone because he built Adam to desire a relationship. Now, you may be reading this blog and feel alone in a dating or marital relationship, but what I want to really hit with this blog, is the feeling that we have no one to confide in and the sense of hopelessness that this feeling can bring. The important thing to see here, is that God doesn't want you to feel this way; you were not created to be alone. He loves us SO much, and I fail to find words that can possibly express his love for us. Do you find yourself feeling despair? Hopeless?
Life can dish out a heck of a hand so many times and there are so many factors that can cause us to feel alone. Would you believe that one of the major causes of loneliness (in the Bible) is guilt? Just read Genesis and some of David's Psalms. David had everything going for him, and I mean EVERYTHING! Read Psalms 3:1,2 " 1 LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! 2 Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.” Can you hear David's loneliness? Now remember, the people in the Bible weren't Super Heroes; they were just like you and me. David was no different, yet he felt alone. In the passage above, David was actually on the run from his own son, Absalom. Now the Bible says that David was a man after God's on heart and that David, well he was special to God. As David rose in power and stature, he fell victim to his own power and essentially went on the run. Now, after God has blessed him with everything, he is now alone and filled with regret. Can you imagine having everything and then wasting it all away? David lost everything; his family, his kingdom, his wealth, and much more.
My encouragement to you today is that God loves you more than anything. Even in David's time of trial, he writes this in Psalm 4:8, "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe." God the Father is listening to you and he hears your cry! Wouldn't today be a great day to spend some time talking with him and sharing your heart with Christ? No need for a fancy prayer, just tell him how you feel. He wants to share your burden and pains. Look at my previous blog where Jesus tells us how to rest.
I will leave you with a link to a YouTube video. For those of you that follow me via RSS, search for the song, "Where Your Heart Belongs" by Mainstay. It is a wonderful message that accurately describes this blog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cxMiw9hh-I
Lord, I ask you to demonstrate your love to my friends as they read this blog. Remind them they are not alone and that you do care for even the simplest of problems they face. Remind them that you loved us enough to share your very own Son with us. I love you Lord and I ask you help me be an encouragement to more people.
Today, as I write my blog, my heart is heavy for some friends and family. There is so much pain, worry, lack of energy, and just down-right loneliness. I mean, let's face it. There are so many times we feel so alone in this world. There are so many factors that can drive us to this feeling and force us into believing the lie that, "I am alone". Well, from the very beginning, you're not alone. In Genesis 2:18, God said, "It is not good that man should be alone" so what happened next? He created Adam his very own hottie!! Ok, I'll be serious. God did create Eve because he saw that Adam was alone. Of course, he knew that Adam was alone because he built Adam to desire a relationship. Now, you may be reading this blog and feel alone in a dating or marital relationship, but what I want to really hit with this blog, is the feeling that we have no one to confide in and the sense of hopelessness that this feeling can bring. The important thing to see here, is that God doesn't want you to feel this way; you were not created to be alone. He loves us SO much, and I fail to find words that can possibly express his love for us. Do you find yourself feeling despair? Hopeless?
Life can dish out a heck of a hand so many times and there are so many factors that can cause us to feel alone. Would you believe that one of the major causes of loneliness (in the Bible) is guilt? Just read Genesis and some of David's Psalms. David had everything going for him, and I mean EVERYTHING! Read Psalms 3:1,2 " 1 LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! 2 Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.” Can you hear David's loneliness? Now remember, the people in the Bible weren't Super Heroes; they were just like you and me. David was no different, yet he felt alone. In the passage above, David was actually on the run from his own son, Absalom. Now the Bible says that David was a man after God's on heart and that David, well he was special to God. As David rose in power and stature, he fell victim to his own power and essentially went on the run. Now, after God has blessed him with everything, he is now alone and filled with regret. Can you imagine having everything and then wasting it all away? David lost everything; his family, his kingdom, his wealth, and much more.
My encouragement to you today is that God loves you more than anything. Even in David's time of trial, he writes this in Psalm 4:8, "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe." God the Father is listening to you and he hears your cry! Wouldn't today be a great day to spend some time talking with him and sharing your heart with Christ? No need for a fancy prayer, just tell him how you feel. He wants to share your burden and pains. Look at my previous blog where Jesus tells us how to rest.
I will leave you with a link to a YouTube video. For those of you that follow me via RSS, search for the song, "Where Your Heart Belongs" by Mainstay. It is a wonderful message that accurately describes this blog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cxMiw9hh-I
Lord, I ask you to demonstrate your love to my friends as they read this blog. Remind them they are not alone and that you do care for even the simplest of problems they face. Remind them that you loved us enough to share your very own Son with us. I love you Lord and I ask you help me be an encouragement to more people.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Stress you say?
Today, "stress" has been on my mind. I generally deal with stress fairly well, but occasionally, I get to the point where I feel like throwing my hands up, shaking my head, saying out loud, "What's the use?" Stress for me comes in many shapes, colors, people, things, emotions, places, and others; many of which I have no direct control over. If you're like me, once you start to get stressed, it's next to impossible to get de-stressed without a good nights rest or other significant events to take my mind off of things.
But seriously, how many of you feel over-whelmed right now? There are so many things in our culture that induce stress that it would be impossible to list them in one blog. Some of the things that stress us are somewhat self induced. We feel such a need to have, "stuff" that we dig one huge debt hole buying stuff we don't "need". We make horrible life choices in the interest of "me" and "I", then wonder why things are so screwed up. Oh, did I mention that our best self chosen course of action is to blame somebody else for our bad decisions then expect the government to bail us out?
Yet, there are those people in our culture that have been dealt a bad hand and forced to deal with it. Maybe you're one of those that have been laid off after 20+ years of loyalty looking for work? Maybe you're a single parent with such a burden to simply put food on the table? Maybe you're reading this and find yourself in the middle of a divorce? Maybe, you feel as though your life just isn't worth anything to anybody because you can't seem to get things right? Let me assure you that our Lord and friend Jesus wants nothing more to help you, if you'll let him. So, what does the bible say about stress?
Now, I'm not going to bore you with the part of the bible where Jesus talks about the birds of the air not having to worry, rather I'm going to tell you about the love and healing power of Christ. Take a look at Matthew 11:28 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt%2011:28&version=NASB . Jesus offers some serious encouragement to us here when he says, "Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laiden, for I will give you rest." WOW! Did you read that?! There are no stipulations, no contracts to sign, no requirements to be a certain weight, look, hair style, or drive a certain type of car! He loves us enough to pick us up when we are weak. He loves us enough to give us rest when we have no more to give. Again, I like The Message translation and it reads, "Are you tire? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest." Man, what a God to serve! The trick is learning to let go and let God take over for us. It's not easy and many times we will fail, but we MUST try to let God lead every part of our life.
If you are reading this right now and feel overwhelmed and burdened, please take a moment to tell God about it. You don't need to pray a fancy prayer with a bunch of "Our Father's" or "Lord God's", rather just talk to our Lord as if you were talking to me. "Lord, I am completely done. I have nothing left to give and I don't have the energy to take. I want to give up. I need help and I need your love. I cannot go any farther without you. Please take my burden and my stress and help me learn to leave it with you. I love you Lord!"
But seriously, how many of you feel over-whelmed right now? There are so many things in our culture that induce stress that it would be impossible to list them in one blog. Some of the things that stress us are somewhat self induced. We feel such a need to have, "stuff" that we dig one huge debt hole buying stuff we don't "need". We make horrible life choices in the interest of "me" and "I", then wonder why things are so screwed up. Oh, did I mention that our best self chosen course of action is to blame somebody else for our bad decisions then expect the government to bail us out?
Yet, there are those people in our culture that have been dealt a bad hand and forced to deal with it. Maybe you're one of those that have been laid off after 20+ years of loyalty looking for work? Maybe you're a single parent with such a burden to simply put food on the table? Maybe you're reading this and find yourself in the middle of a divorce? Maybe, you feel as though your life just isn't worth anything to anybody because you can't seem to get things right? Let me assure you that our Lord and friend Jesus wants nothing more to help you, if you'll let him. So, what does the bible say about stress?
Now, I'm not going to bore you with the part of the bible where Jesus talks about the birds of the air not having to worry, rather I'm going to tell you about the love and healing power of Christ. Take a look at Matthew 11:28 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt%2011:28&version=NASB . Jesus offers some serious encouragement to us here when he says, "Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laiden, for I will give you rest." WOW! Did you read that?! There are no stipulations, no contracts to sign, no requirements to be a certain weight, look, hair style, or drive a certain type of car! He loves us enough to pick us up when we are weak. He loves us enough to give us rest when we have no more to give. Again, I like The Message translation and it reads, "Are you tire? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest." Man, what a God to serve! The trick is learning to let go and let God take over for us. It's not easy and many times we will fail, but we MUST try to let God lead every part of our life.
If you are reading this right now and feel overwhelmed and burdened, please take a moment to tell God about it. You don't need to pray a fancy prayer with a bunch of "Our Father's" or "Lord God's", rather just talk to our Lord as if you were talking to me. "Lord, I am completely done. I have nothing left to give and I don't have the energy to take. I want to give up. I need help and I need your love. I cannot go any farther without you. Please take my burden and my stress and help me learn to leave it with you. I love you Lord!"
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Sometimes I Feel Like Such a Failure...
Today is the first day of 2012 and I've started it off with a bang! First, I didn't stay up to bring in the New Year or participate in any of the New Year traditions. We've been working on a complete tear out and rebuild of our hallway bathroom which has consumed most of my time during my vacation. Don't get me wrong, it has gone really well and I've really enjoyed it, but I was tired last night. To get back on topic, it's the morning of 1 JAN 2012 and I woke up around 10:45 to find that my wife and kids were gone to church; without me.... I woke up the first time around 02:30am and remained awake for at least an hour or more. You see, I'm one of those people that once I get woke up, I'm done (in most cases) no matter how much or little sleep I get. The missing point here however, is that my wife was awake, and I assume she had been awake for some time yet she still managed to get up, get the kids ready and off to Church for the 09:15 service. So as I sat here on the couch drinking a cup of coffee feeling convicted, I started praying. In fact, while I laid in bed last night wide awake, I began to pray. Now I won't bore you with the details of what was going on, but suffice it to say there were yet another of life's trials keeping us up.
The late Ike Brissey and I used to talk about this type of thing often and I remember discussing, "Boy, if I had the faith of the disciples and could just walk with Jesus, I would be so much more faithful and reliable to Christ." As Ike reminded me, the disciples were just like you and me; ordinary. They were lower class individuals who were allowed to take part in many miraculous things. And, after spending a lifetime on Earth with Jesus, at the moment of truth, some of them hid and denied even knowing Jesus(MAT26:31-34). In fact, Jesus knew that Judas would betray him and even identified it at the last supper (MAT 26:21) before Judas sold Jesus out to the Romans. These men literally walked and talked with Christ in the flesh! They saw many amazing things first hand (many of them even wrote books of the Bible telling their own account) yet the Bible let's us in on a little preached about, even known, little secret; the Disciples were human.... Yep, they were just like me, ordinary. While Jesus knew a horrible death was coming, he demonstrates how human he is later in MAT 26 when, as he was talking with Peter, James, and John and said, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." (MAT26: 38 NIV)
I tell you all these things to tell you that I am very burdened as I write this blog. Realizing that I slept through Church (be assured, my guilt is not out of obligation to be at Church, rather it is out of knowing we have such a wonderful Church where lives are changed every single service), was not together with my wife when I should've been, and did not set the proper example for my children. Some of you may be thinking, "What's the big deal?" You see, I accepted a free relationship with Christ who has blessed me and my family with SO MUCH! As I've said in my other blogs, God doesn't want to beat me up and be a dictator, he wants to enjoy a relationship with me. I've asked God for the blessings in life without being willing to man up when I'm tired. And this folks, translates to, "sin". How do I recover? Simple; "Lord, I am sorry. I don't mean to take your love for me for granted. Please forgive me and help me remember how wonderful you are. Help me man up when I'm tired. I love you Lord!"
My goal for this year? Step up, man up, and be more, "Courageous" all for the cause of Christ!
The late Ike Brissey and I used to talk about this type of thing often and I remember discussing, "Boy, if I had the faith of the disciples and could just walk with Jesus, I would be so much more faithful and reliable to Christ." As Ike reminded me, the disciples were just like you and me; ordinary. They were lower class individuals who were allowed to take part in many miraculous things. And, after spending a lifetime on Earth with Jesus, at the moment of truth, some of them hid and denied even knowing Jesus(MAT26:31-34). In fact, Jesus knew that Judas would betray him and even identified it at the last supper (MAT 26:21) before Judas sold Jesus out to the Romans. These men literally walked and talked with Christ in the flesh! They saw many amazing things first hand (many of them even wrote books of the Bible telling their own account) yet the Bible let's us in on a little preached about, even known, little secret; the Disciples were human.... Yep, they were just like me, ordinary. While Jesus knew a horrible death was coming, he demonstrates how human he is later in MAT 26 when, as he was talking with Peter, James, and John and said, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." (MAT26: 38 NIV)
I tell you all these things to tell you that I am very burdened as I write this blog. Realizing that I slept through Church (be assured, my guilt is not out of obligation to be at Church, rather it is out of knowing we have such a wonderful Church where lives are changed every single service), was not together with my wife when I should've been, and did not set the proper example for my children. Some of you may be thinking, "What's the big deal?" You see, I accepted a free relationship with Christ who has blessed me and my family with SO MUCH! As I've said in my other blogs, God doesn't want to beat me up and be a dictator, he wants to enjoy a relationship with me. I've asked God for the blessings in life without being willing to man up when I'm tired. And this folks, translates to, "sin". How do I recover? Simple; "Lord, I am sorry. I don't mean to take your love for me for granted. Please forgive me and help me remember how wonderful you are. Help me man up when I'm tired. I love you Lord!"
My goal for this year? Step up, man up, and be more, "Courageous" all for the cause of Christ!
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