It's the Small Things Really....

Ever get so caught up in the desire for the next big thing?  

You wish your life was more exciting and you don't see the purpose in the normal, hum drum kind of day.  To you, its the mountain top experiences that matter, but our character and integrity show who we really are on the most average of days.  It is what I do with the little that has been entrusted to me that will snowball into greater things in the long term.  

It's the minor details of the most boring day, that if we were to put aside, over the long haul would have grave effects on our life and the lives of others.  

Neglect washing your dishes and before you know it your entire kitchen is full of crusty cheese and sticky spoons.  Don't wash your son or daughters basketball jersey and oh man, they have just become the stinky kid on the team.  And seriously, no one wants to be that kid! It's the little things that we do, that no one notices that show who we really are. It's not the big moments when we get that award or do that great thing in front of a bunch of people.  Who wouldn't want to give their best in that moment?  It's the small, unnoticed things that reveal who we truly are.  

Don't get too caught up wishing for the next big thing, when today has so much to offer you.  Everyday, is a gift from God, therefore, everyday, deserves our very best for the one who created us.  

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.- Colossians 3:17

The Redo Button

Ever wanted to press the redo button on your life?

Yeah, me too.

I remember when I was in college and the coach called me up to pinch hit in the varsity game.  I was so excited and nervous at the same time, wow this was my chance to prove to my coach that I could compete at the varsity level.

I remember the pitch, it was the perfect pitch, but I cast my hands just slightly and ended up popping the perfect pitch up.  Ugh....I failed.

I went home and thought about that pitch and how I cast my hands over and over again wishing that I could just hit the redo button, have that at bat one more time and take a line drive into left field instead of a pop up.

Many of us live with deep seeded regrets.  My at bat is not that big of a deal, although it stung at the time it doesn't bring me anymore pain, but maybe your regrets do.  Maybe its painful for you daily, because of something that you said to someone or something that someone did to you that caused a tearing apart of a relationship. Maybe it was a decision that you made that caused your life to go a completely different direction and you wish desperately that you could hit he redo button.

If you live your life full of regrets you'll find out that you will become a very unhappy person.  The truth is that our past can imprison us if we let it.  It happens quickly and before we know it we're held captive to what we wish we would have done or said or not said.

We let it define how we enter into new relationships or situations, we put up walls to protect ourself so the same thing doesn't happen again to us.  Or we live in fear of making the same mistake so we risk taking chances and never live with true freedom, but in bondage to our past regrets.

So, how do we get past fear and into freedom from our past?  How do we go about life being ok with our mistakes realizing that they're apart of a bigger plan?

If I could be really honest with you for a moment I have many fears.  I still kick myself for saying or doing things that I know are stupid, but I have come to a greater understanding that my life is not under my control. There is one who wants to heal me from who I once was and wants to make me a new person and free me from the regrets of my past and the ones of my present.

You know,its a funny thing really.  A lot of us want a redo button and that is exactly what Jesus Christ offers for those who would call out unto Him to rescue them from their wrongdoing and selfishness.  Claim Him as Lord, put Jesus in control of your life and in that moment He presses the redo button.  All your sin, gone.  "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" -Isaiah 1:18.

Then, the transformation starts to begin.  For me, when I began my journey with the Lord Jesus I knew that my life would never be the same.  I knew that something was different about me.

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old is gone and the new has come"- 2 Corinthians 5:17

Now, ten years later I've seen Jesus heal me of my past regrets and my present ones too.  My joy and hope are found in Him alone.  Yes, my life might be exactly how I would have drawn it up, but I am content in God's plan for my life.  Whenever I try to take control I just make a mess of it anyways.

Want to press the redo button?  That's good.  You need it.  It's ok to admit that you don't have it all together.  In fact, until you do admit that  you need forgiveness because of the ugliness of your sin you'll never truly be made free. Your life was never meant to be lived alone.  We have to come to an understanding that we are a rebellious people.  We want control and we want our own way, but God offers a way for rebellious, selfish people to be made right with Him and have a new beginning.  For we know that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved"- Romans 10:13

Without a redo button we remain lost in our sin, but Jesus Christ came, lived a perfect life without sin, paid the penalty for sin by satisfying God's wrath on the cross and conquered death proving that He was everything He said that He was and now He offers you a new beginning.  The thing is that you've got to let go of your life.   He's got the redo button, you need His forgiveness, won't you call out to Him?

Jesus said, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for prisoners" Luke 4:18

A Call to Self-Denial

When I think about the gospel I am brought to an understanding that it calls me to denial of self. 

The gospel reveals to me that I am self centered and conceded, yet Jesus Christ calls unto me to tell me that He desires to make me new.  His wants to mold and shape me into His image to give me aspects of His character and of His selflessness. 

If I would only get out of the way the unexplainable could happen as the risen Christ takes this insecure, selfish and impatient woman and fills her with hope, courage, a servants heart and joy in the waiting. 

Oh, how I wish that we true of me every moment of everyday!  Lord Jesus, I need you!  Transform me, for in you I desire to abide, moment by moment, but my flesh wants to rebel towards your transformation.  It is quick to run to old habits and selfish ways, but Lord Jesus, crucify my flesh! As you call me unto yourself take the old me and make me a new creation! 

If anyone should come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me- Matthew 16:24

Think you're pretty great?

Jesus Christ is not just a bandage for the wounded.  Nor is he just a friend for the lonely. 

He is the God-man incarnate, who's destiny was put in forth before the creation of the world to not merely bandage your wounds, but to heal you completely, restore you and make you brand new through the life giving work of the Holy Spirit. 

Although, He is a friend, He is so much more than that.  He is our advocate who speaks in our defense, because before God we stand guilty.  Yet, through Christ death and resurrection we are forgiven and free. 

However, if you do not know Him as Lord and Savior, you are His enemy, not His friend.  If you claim Christianity, but are not a follower of the risen Christ you are fooling yourself and you are still dead in your sin. 

Many an individual has gone through life believing that they are really something.  We believe the lie that we've got it all together and that life with us in charge is the way its suppose to be.  We might not say it out loud, but inwardly, in the depths of our selfishness we think we're pretty great. 

God does not think that you are great.  This is a hard truth for some of us to realize.  For only He alone is great and we are undeserving of His mercy and grace, yet He chooses to lavish it on us anyways. 

Go on thinking that you're great and you'll realize that you've missed salvation.  For a man will always think he is great until he views his life in light of the cross of Christ.  For when we do we realize that we are a rebellious people in desperate need of forgiveness. 

Do not compare yourself to sinful man, you'll always find someone more sinful than you.  Compare yourself to Jesus Christ, the perfect one, who died to set humanity free.  Then in your realization of who you truly are, respond to God, put your life in His hands, let go and follow Jesus. 

It is in the letting go that we find life.  Hallelujah.

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 1 John 2:1

Love or Obedience?

Above all else, Jesus Christ desires our obedience.  In our obedience we communicate to Him that we love Him, but if we believe that Jesus Christ wants us to love Him above all else we won't always see it necessary to obey Him.  We will bask in pools of grace while forgetting the call of God to be Holy.  

 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.- John 14:23-24

"This is love for God: to obey His commands and His commands are not burdensome" 1 John 5:3

Jesus makes it quite clear that the one who loves Him is the one who obeys Him.  Your allegiance to Christ is made evident, not in your religious creeds or church attendance, but in your commitment to Him.  If you do not obey Him, then you do not know Him.  If you have no desire for fellowship with Him, no drive to turn from sin and towards His righteousness then you are still lost in your sin, unforgiven and before God you stand condemned.  

Do not fool yourself into thinking that just because you attend church or just because you prayed a prayer that one time that you have salvation.  Whether or not you have true salvation is revealed in your obedience to Christ today.  Are you walking with Him?  Desiring to be changed by Him?  Are you abhorring sin in your life, striving to overcome the old life by the power of the Holy Spirit?  If so, then good, keep fighting dear Christian!  But, if not, then you have been deceived into thinking that you actually know Him.  

You see, when you truly turn from your sin and towards the saving work of Jesus Christ you can do nothing but be changed.  You know that you will never be the same because the risen Christ has been made Lord of your life and has invaded your very being.  

Obedience to our Lord is what matters.  If we love Him, then we will obey Him.  It's really that simple.  

Examine your life and ask yourself, do I truly know Him?  Have I truly turned over control of my life to His Lordship?  Is He King and Master over my life?  Have I in my brokenness turned from my sin and towards the saving work of the risen Christ?  

I hope that you have today.  If not, then I beg of you, let go of your life and watch Him transform you.  

Love: More than a feeling?

How much do you want love?

What would you do to get it?   Would you take great risks?  Would you sacrifice something great in order to have it?

Many of us find ourselves right in the middle of all of these questions at some point in our life.  We might have taken a great risk for love or sacrificed something great in order to reach that pinnacle of "being in love".  

Maybe we thought that we met "the one" only to find out in the end that they weren't really "the one", but just someone that we got wrapped up in far too quickly.  We believe that love is a feeling, but love is not a feeling, it is so much more than that.  

Yet, our culture and our media teaches us that love is feeling.  It says be with someone who makes you happy and not just some of the time, but all the time and if they don't make you happy all the time, well then you can call it quits.  No big deal.  Isn't that an unrealistic expectation to put on someone though?  Aren't we making it about ourselves when we say its your responsibility to make me happy?  Is it, really? Or are we just projecting the selfish desire of our own selfish hearts onto someone who's looking to you to make them feel happy all of the time too.  In the end what we do is grow to resent that person, because they can't give us ultimate, lasting, 24/7 365 happiness.  

Maybe some of us have had our heart broken,  because that gaping hole that was crying out for love caused us to seek it from a person who couldn't love us unconditionally.  The feelings faded and the excitement of a new relationship wore off and here we were left with this person that we got way too emotionally wrapped up with right from the start.  Ever been there?  Yeah, me too.  

Could it be that love isn't a feeling?  If it were then our relationships would be based upon something that changes with the wind.  Today I love you, but tomorrow I'm mad at you, so now I'm not sure. See what I mean?

Maybe real love is grounded only in something that is unchangeable, steadfast, filled with hope and lasting joy?  Maybe real love involves commitment and sacrifice.

Maybe we're running around, burning the bridges of love, because we've never experienced this real and lasting love.  A love that doesn't change with the wind, but grows stronger with each passing day.  A love that cost someone a great price.  A love that reached beyond limits for you.  I like the sound of that love, don't you?  

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.- 1 John 3:16

Ah, there it is, real and everlasting love.  It's sacrificial, it loves without limits and it cost someone a great price.  It's that kind of love that no earthly person can give you.  Sure, people can love us to some degree like this, but ultimately this love is only found in Jesus Christ. 

You can spend your life chasing after love or you can stop, turn around and pursue love from Jesus Christ.  Ask Him to take control of your life and to set you free with the great love that he displayed for you by dying in your place so that you might have freedom, life and forgiveness from all your mistakes.  

I spent too much of my time chasing after love that faded, looking to a person to fill that gaping hole in my heart for love, but when I stopped chasing and laid my life down at the feet of Jesus Christ I found a love that was greater and that reached higher than any love I have ever known.  

I don't want to chase after love that can fade.  I want to chase after a love that is unchanging and everlasting, but what about you?  

Love, Acceptance and a Nintendo 64

Have you ever wanted something really bad?

I mean, really bad.

When I was a kid it was a Nintendo 64.  When I was a teen it was love and acceptance.  Then as I grew into adulthood it was marriage, success, and a name for myself.  

Often times the desires for those things will cause us to do things that just don't make sense and quite frankly, aren't very wise.  We find ourselves so infatuated with that desire that in our tunnel vision we make life far too much about ourselves, focusing on what we don't have instead of what we do have.  

As we reflect on this month of being thankful.  I wonder, what are you not thankful for in your life, because inside of you burns a desire to just have that one thing.  You'll do just about anything to get it and you believe that without you can't truly be happy. 

I'm not saying that things like love, acceptance, success, marriage, or even a Nintendo 64 are bad things.  It becomes unhealthy when we believe the lie that if we don't have those things than we are incomplete.  In our pursuit of that one thing we lose focus on what really matters and we do stupid things to get it.  

Maybe you've pursued love in all the wrong places?  Maybe you married not because you really were committed to that person and loved them, but because you were desperate and lonely.  Maybe you've neglected your family, because success at your job became more important than spending time with them.  You might say that you love your family most, but what we love most gets revealed by what we invest the most time, effort and money into.  

Maybe in order to be accepted by others you've comprised your morals and beliefs so that you could "fit in".  You go home at night feeling like a total failure, knowing that this is not who you are, but you put a mask on once again and do it the next day.  

Too many of us are running around trying to be someone that we're really not.  We're like vacuums, sucking the life out of everything that we can find, hoping that maybe, just maybe, this will fill us up and give us that lasting joy and satisfaction.  

This makes me think of an encounter that Jesus has with a woman at the well.  She was a Samaritan and Jesus was a Jew.  Now, Jew's are not suppose to associate with Samaritans, they viewed them as "half breeds" and dogs.  But, Jesus had a different view and that shouldn't surprise us!  Jesus reaches out to this woman one day at the well and He offers her living water.  He tells her that if anyone drinks from the water that He gives they will never be thirsty and in them will become a spring that wells up into eternal life.  

Oh my goodness, did you just get the best mental picture in your head of what Jesus is describing?  I did.  I bet this woman did too.  The woman then asks where she can get this water and Jesus tells her that He is the living water.  Meaning, that if we come to Him, confessing our sin and asking Him to take control that He will fill us with joy, newness of life, peace, hope and purpose.  He will wash all of our sins away if we in our brokenness would cry out to Him realizing that we in and of ourselves are broken and rebellious people in desperate need of rescue.  Jesus Christ wants to give you life and life to the full.  He wants to give you a hope and turn your mourning into dance. He wants to take that empty feeling from you and fill it with joy, real and everlasting joy.  

Stop running, won't you?  I know from personal experience that a pursuit of anything other than Jesus Christ will leave you empty, disappointed and wanting more.  Find your hope in Him and watch Him set you free from the trap of needing something more to be complete.  All other things can be taken from you, but Jesus Christ has existed from eternity past and He will always exist.  He can never be taken from you.  

What I really want is Jesus, how about you?