Where are your thoughts leading you?

Psalm 8:5 “Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!”

Genesis 1:26-27 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.”

2 Corinthians 10:5 “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”

Isaiah 26:3 “The steadfast of mind you will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You.”

Your thoughts are important; generally for most of us, your thoughts become words or actions.  There are some whose thoughts become words or actions much quicker than others but regardless your thoughts are powerful.  Whether you are thinking about the test that you have coming up the next period, or the interview that you have next week, or the bad thoughts running through your head; those thoughts are powerful.  When your mind is focused on the kingdom of God, your thoughts revolve around that same kingdom.  Your thoughts may lead you to encourage a fellow student, a co-worker, a friend, a complete stranger.  When your mind is not focused on God, but instead focused on things of this world; we are more inclined to fall into the traps of this world, we are more inclined to fall into the traps of the deceiver. 

Satan wants nothing more than to cloud our minds with thoughts that do not belong there.  Satan wants nothing more than for us to remember that image we saw on the computer screen or on your cell phone.  Satan wants nothing more than for us to replay the images of that person cutting you off in traffic or cutting in front of you at the grocery store.  Satan wants us to keep those thoughts in our head, because Satan knows that if those thoughts are in our head, he is winning.  Satan also know that when our thoughts are focused on our Lord and Savior and growing the kingdom of God, that he loses. 

“We are destroying speculations and every loft thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every though captive to be the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5

Let your thoughts be based in the Gospel, let your thoughts be completely indulged in the love of Christ.  Where your thoughts are, so there will be your actions as well. Love God: Love Men.

Focus on His Presence

Matthew 28:20; Psalm 139:1-4

“When My Presence is the focal point of your consciousness, all the pieces of your life fall into place.  As you gaze at Me through the eyes of your heart, you can see the world around you from My perspective.  The fact that I am with you makes every moment of your life meaningful.” Jesus Calling – Sarah Young.

“…and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20 NASB

“O Lord, You have searched me and known me.  You know when I sit down, and when I rise up; you understand my thought from afar.  You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.  Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, you know it all.”  Psalm 139:1-4 NASB

It is incredible to me to know that the some of the last words our Savior spoke were “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  That just shows me that amount of love that our Savior has for each and every one of us. 

When you are focusing everything you do around the thought of would this glorify God, there are going to be times when everything seems to be working; there are also going to be times when even when you are focused 100% on the presence of God that things are going to go wrong.  Following Jesus is not an easy thing, nor is following Jesus the cure all for having problems.  But when you try to focus your every thought around the presence of God and glorifying Him through everything that you do, you are going to have an impact on your life and the lives of the people around you. 

But even when we fail to focus our lives on God, our Savior still loves us.  He is still our Savior and He gives us the opportunity to redeem ourselves by trying to do better.  This isn’t a one time shot, take it or leave it.  Our faith is an opportunity to show growth through trials and triumphs.  Our faith is an opportunity to show others how important the message of our Savior is to others. Our Savior knows every move that we are going to make. He knows when we are going to make the right decisions and He knows when we are going to make the wrong decisions; and He still loves us the exact same. 

Try to live your day to day where you focus on glorifying God in everything that you do, but remember that we are going to fall short of the glory of God; but that isn’t going to change the way that our Savior looks at us nor does it change the love that He has for us.  Love God: Love Men

Struggles = Pure Joy!

Matthew 13:45-46 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

“Thank Me when things do not go your way, because spiritual blessings come wrapped in trials.  Adverse circumstances are normal in a fallen world.  Expect them each day. Rejoice in the face of hardship, for I have overcome the world.” ~ Jesus Calling, Sarah Young

It seems really crazy to thank God when we are facing things that we feel like we shouldn’t be facing.  Try these for example: God thank you for diagnosing me with cancer, God thank you for letting my parents get divorced, God thank you for letting me struggle with inappropriate content.  I have heard very few people ever say they are thankful for circumstances like those.  Maybe that is not the point that James 1:2-4 is trying to make but then again maybe it is.  It doesn’t say consider it joy when you face struggles that aren’t that difficult, it doesn’t say consider it joy when you face struggles that you can deal with.  It says “consider it joy…when you encounter various trials.”  That is a very difficult concept for me to grasp.  I am supposed to consider it joy when things stack up against me; that just does not make sense to me. Unless you don’t read the entire verse, it doesn’t say that the things you are going through are going to be easy, it doesn’t even say that it might not hurt; but it does say that “testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”  So my suffering, my trials, my struggles, are supposed to make me “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”.  It is at times like this where the infinite power and all knowingness of God is completely and utterly amazing.  The struggles of this world are just that, struggles of this world! Struggles that are temporary, struggles that will go away; don’t confuse that with me saying those struggles aren’t going to hurt because they are going to hurt.  They wouldn’t be struggles if they didn’t. 

Our God who knows we are going to struggle is perfecting us to be complete, lacking nothing so that we may be the ambassadors of His message to the people that we come into contact with.  Those struggles are not going to last forever, those struggles are not going to bury you.  “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”  I have to think that the exclamation point didn’t exist at the time of this writing because there should have been at least five exclamation points at that end of that sentence.  No matter what the world throws at us, and the world is going to throw things at us, no matter how hard things get; our God has overcome them!!!!!  Our God has overcome the world!!!!! 

So next time that you face a struggle, whether that be in the next 5 minutes, or the next 5 days; try to consider it pure joy that our Heavenly Father who loves us so much is perfecting us.  He is chiseling away at the things that do not need to be in our life.  He is building us up to ambassadors of His calling.  Allow those struggles to reaffirm that our Heavenly Father has called you to be His child.  That is absolutely, pure joy!  Love God: Love Men.

Are you allowing God to do extraordinary things in your life?

Deuteronomy 31:6; 1 Peter 3:4; 2 Corinthians 4:6-7; 2 Corinthians 12:9

“Your weakness and woundedness are the openings through which the Light of the knowledge of My glory shines forth.  My strength and power show themselves most effective in your weakness.” Jesus Calling- Sarah Young

The opening line of the daily devotional this morning says “It’s okay to be human”! Let that sink in a little bid for you.  “It’s okay to be human”.  That is a very comforting thought, that our Savior says it is okay to be human.  I mean after all he does know what it is like to be human.  He knows what it is like to be surrounded by people who don’t have the same beliefs that you do.  He knows what it is like to be talked about behind your back.  He knows what it is like to be betrayed by a friend.  In short, He knows what it is like to be a human.  But just because it is okay to be human, doesn’t mean that is it okay to wallow in the fact that we are human and therefore can’t be used for God’s purpose. 

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you.  He will not fail your or forsake you.” NASB  When we are going about our daily business and things are tough, or when someone we know says something about us that is unpleasant, or when something bad happens to someone we love, know that the Lord our God is the one who is walking beside you.  And when He is walking beside you, it is more than okay to lean on His everlasting arms.  God is going to use those times when things are going badly to show Christ to others through you.  “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-7.  The earthly vessels are used to show the power of God in us so that we cannot boast in the power that God has.  “And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boat about my weakness, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9.  “Power is perfected in weakness”; God takes ordinary, sinful people to be His instruments to show the world the grace that He has made available to us.  God uses the regular Joe to do incredible works in His kingdom, because “power is made perfect in weakness”.  By God using regular people to do incredible things, the power of Christ is becoming evident.  Because we are so incapable of doing the things that God is using us for, it draws the attention away from us and towards God.  It takes the ability to boast about what is happening away from us and gives that ability to God. 

God is going to use you in ways that you cannot imagine.  God is going to do incredible things through you.  God is already using you to do some of those incredible things.  Keep your eyes open so that you may see the things that God is doing in your life so that you can attest to those things.  The world is in dire need of people who are willing to let the will of God be done in their lives. Are you going to be that person?  Are you going to be the person that is the change they want to see?  Are you going to be the person that 20-30 years from now people look back and say “Wow, God used that person to do something extraordinary”?  I challenge you to be that person!  Love God: Love Men.

Lean Not on Your Own Understanding

Psalm 52:8; Proverbs 3:5-6

“But as for me, I am like a green olive tress in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.” Psalm 52:8

“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and do not lean on your lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust is like a staff you can lean on, as you journey uphill with Me.  If you are trusting in Me consistently, the staff will bear as much of your weight as needed.  Lean on, trust, and be confident in Me with all your heart and mind.” Jesus Calling ~ Sarah Young

Trust is a weird thing; we can give it out sometimes without even thinking about it to people we hardly know.  We pass it out to strangers without ever needing to receive it back.  But we often find it difficult to trust in the Lord of all the earth who created everything in our world.  Why is it difficult to trust in God?  Is it because we can’t see Him?  Is it because we can’t physically touch Him?  Is it because we aren’t really sure how or where this trust is going to lead us?  Is it because we are too prideful?  Personally, I don’t like to ask for help, in anything.  Now, I’m not one of those guys who will drive around lost for hours before asking for directions, but I am one of those guys who does not like to admit when I struggle with things.  I don’t like to admit when I don’t have it all together.  I don’t like to admit that I don’t have all the answers.  I don’t always like to ask for help, because I am not always sure that I want to hear the answer that is going to be provided. 

When asking God to work in your life whether it be by asking for Him to show you His path for you, or asking Him to walk beside you during dark times, or whatever else it might be that you ask God for; sometimes those answers aren’t always what we want to see, hear, or do.  God sometimes uses us in places that we are uncomfortable being used in.  When we ask God for what He wants us to do, He is going to tell us; and when he does tell us, we have to be willing to do what is asked.  I often find myself asking, “God what do you want me to do, what is your plan for me?” and before there is even time for answer, I think I know what God wants me to do.  Sometimes, I might have the same idea, but for the most part just asking God for his plan isn’t enough trust.  The trusting part comes from when God answers and you follow.  “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”  Proverbs 3:5-6  NASB  Notice it doesn’t just say, do trust your own understanding, but acknowledge Him.  Acknowledge what is being done around you, acknowledge what God is saying, acknowledge where God is leading you.  Because if you ask God, He is going to lead you.  Trust that His plan is way better than yours.  Love God: Love Men.

Win the Day!

Psalm 118:24; Philippians 4:19, 6-7

“Come to me with a thankful heart, so that you can enjoy my Presence.  This is the day that I have made.  I want you to rejoice today, refusing to worry about tomorrow.”  Jesus Calling- Sarah Young

I had a coach when I was in high school that his motto was “win the day”.  Whether that be in practice, in class, at games, wherever…it was always “win the day”.  That little saying did very little to actually change the way that I played or practiced (I like to think that I was “winning the day” regardless of if he said it or not) but now I see that saying in a different meaning.  Sports are my thing; I like to play them, I like to watch them, I like to talk about them, and I some times feel they can illustrate a point better than my words can so bear with me as I try to bring this all back together.  Psalm 118:24 “This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” NASB God wants us to rejoice in the day that He has made for us.  He doesn’t want us to bogged down by the worries of the next day, he doesn’t want us to worry about the things that happened yesterday; no, our God wants us to rejoice in this day, the day that He has made.  This may be a little bit of a stretch, but I believe God wants us to “win the day”.  You cannot go back and change the mistakes of yesterday or live in the successes of yesterday, you cannot go forward and fix the problems that the next day might bring; but you can “win the day”.  What does “winning the day” look like?  How do we “win the day”, when it seems like the odds are so stacked against us?  Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  NASB God just drew up the game winning alley-hoop, God just drew up the game winning Hail-Mary pass.  God just put away match point.  “By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehensions, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Sounds like a pretty awesome game plan.  Sounds like a pretty sure fire way to “win the day”. And when you does those things, when you bring your requests before the Lord with thanksgiving, he is going to supply all the needs that you have to “win the day”.  “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”  So not only did God draw up the ultimate play to win the game, He also brought the star player to complete the play with you.  WIN THE DAY!  LOVE GOD: LOVE MEN                                                                                                                                   

Is your yoke difficult? Are your burdens heavy?

Matthew 11:28-30; Isaiah 1:5,9

“Rehearsing your troubles results in experiencing them many times, whereas you are meant to go through them only when they actually occur.  Do not multiply your suffering in this way! Instead, come to me, and relax in My Peace.”

Remember back to your elementary days, or possibly even junior high; you over hear your teacher or principle talking about something that you did.  You know that you are probably going to be in trouble over it.  All day you spend worrying about what is going to happen, how they are going to react, how you are going to respond.  The teacher/principal waits until the end of the day to say something and by that time your stomach is in knots because of all the worrying you are doing.  So the principal finally calls you into his/her office only to find out that they understand what you did and why you did but they still have to punish you somehow but it isn’t nearly as bad as you were expecting.  I’m sure all of us have had an experience like that whether it be in school, at work, or even in relationship; but Jesus doesn’t want us to live in that constant state of fear.  Jesus wants us to walk through those struggles when they happen, not over and over in our head.  Maybe there is a specific sin that you struggle with; Jesus doesn’t want you to beat yourself up all the time for times that you have failed previously.  No, Jesus wants to walk alongside you through the current times when you are struggling.  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My Yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NASB.  Jesus doesn’t want us to carry around the fear, the hurt, the anxiety, the worry of things to come; Jesus wants us to take His yoke upon us, he wants us to carry His burdens which are much lighter than our own. 

Jesus never says that being a follower of Christ is going to be easy, he never says it will be without trials and tribulations, but he does say that He is with us every step of the way.  When we are facing those struggles, those trials, those valleys He says do not continue to fill your entire mind with how bad the troubles are.  When the road is long, when the days are hard that is when Jesus wants us to lean on Him even more.  When we feel like we can’t take another step, when we feel like we can’t take another failure, when we feel that nothing in this world is going right; that is when Jesus wants us to fall into His arms and to let Him carry us.  “Take My yoke upon you…..for My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.  Love God : Love Men.

Jump on in, the water is fine!

Philippians 4:7; Matthew 14:30; Hebrews 12:2

“The closer you live to Me, the safer you are.  Circumstances around you are undulating, and there are treacherous-looking waves in the distance.  Fix your eyes on Me, the One who never changes.  By the time those waves reach you, they will have shrunk to proportions by My design.  I am always beside you; helping you face today’s waves.  The future is a phantom, seeking to spoke you.  Laugh at the future! Stay close to Me.” Jesus Calling

The future is a scary place; it is full of unknowns and possibilities.  Full of decisions and full of effects based on those decisions; where do I go to college, do I change careers, where is God calling me and on and on. The future is full of things that will happen either one way or another based on the path that we chose.  One of the scariest things about the future is the unknown of if you made the right choice or not.  Was that girlfriend/boyfriend my soul mate? Was this college the best college that I could have chosen?  What am I missing by working at this job?  The closer that we are in our relationship with our God, the more in tune that we are with the paths that He has planned for us.  When we are close to God, we can more easily hear His voice guiding, directing our plans.  When we are close to God we are more at peace with the decisions that we have.  “And the pace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 NASB.  The peace of God will guard our hearts and our minds! The creator of the universe is so madly in love with each and every one of us that He will guard our hearts from things that are not beneficial to us; he will guard our minds from thoughts of inadequacy, thoughts of uselessness, thoughts of worthlessness, thoughts of “what-if”.  Our God wants nothing more than for us to rest in His peace, to have peace that doesn’t make sense other than that we are in the presence of God. Our God does not want us to fear the unknown, our God doesn’t want us to fear the “what-if”.  The story of Peter walking on water illustrates exactly that.  Peter always get a lot of flack for sinking while he is on the water, but I feel like Peter does not get the accolades that he deserves for actually walking on water, anyways I digress. 

Matthew 14 is the story of Jesus walking on water towards the boat that the disciples are in.  The winds are beating the boat and tossing it around in the waves and here comes Jesus walking towards them on the water.  Now if I were in that boat after spending who knows how long trying to keep a boat from capsizing and then all of a sudden the shape of human appears on the water, I can bet that I would be a little terrified.  Peter takes this opportunity to call out to Jesus and to ask Jesus to bring him out of the boat.  From there we all know what happens, Peter gets out of the boat, starts walking, and then sinks.  End of story, right?  Well not exactly.  Here in West Texas we have been involved with many, many winds storms or even tornadoes but never once have I seen the wind.  Now I have seen the dirt that was thrown into the wind, but never have I actually seen wind.  Matthew 14:30 “But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” NASB.  Now I can only imagine the joy that swept over Jesus at that exact moment when Peter cried out “Lord, save me!”  That is the response Jesus had been looking for all along.  That is the same response that Jesus is looking for today when we face the winds and the waves.  He is looking for us to cry out to Him, “Lord, save me!”  In other translations, it says that Peter took his focus off of Jesus and that is what made him aware of the wind and the waves.  It wasn’t that the waves and the wind had stopped, Peter just didn’t notice them because he was so focused on Jesus.  “…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 NASB  When we fix our eyes upon the “author and perfector of faith” we don’t realize that the wind is blowing and that waves are crashing in around us.  When we fix our eyes on the “author and perfector of faith” we are so enveloped in the presence of God that the “peace that surpasses all comprehension” is upon us. 

In order for us to not fear the future, in order for us to now fear the chaos that is happening in the world around us we must be wrapped in the presence of our Lord and Savior.  We must be enveloped in the love that has shown us by enduring the cross.  Do you really think the same God who allowed his son to be crucified for us so that we may have the ability to spend eternity with him, would let the uncertainty of the future be what separates us from His love?  I can’t believe that.  Nothing in this world, nothing that Satan can throw at us can ever separate us from the love of Christ Jesus.  When the future is scary, laugh at the future because you are walking with the God who created that future. Love God:Love Men

Is your cup empty?

1 Samuel 16:7; Romans 8:38-39

“Do not be ashamed of your emptiness.  Instead, view it as the optimal condition for being filled with My Peace.” Jesus Calling

It is easy for me to appear to have it all together.  I want it to look like to other people that I know what I am doing and that I know how things are supposed to be done; whether that is in my job or my personal life or anywhere.  I don’t ever want it to seem that I don’t know what is going on regardless of the situation.  Clearly, I am not the only person to have felt that way because in 1 Samuel 16:7 the Lord said to Samuel “…Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature…for God sees not as man sees, for man look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  I feel like that when I put on the face of I have everything together that I am fooling some people.  Sure I may be able to fool the person that I see at the grocery store or the teller at the bank, but there are certain people that I cannot fool regardless of how hard I try.  My wife is one of those people, it doesn’t matter what I do or how I act if there is something that is bothering me my wife is one of the first people to know.  My wife can do that because she knows me so well.  So well in fact that there are times when just by an expression on my face she can tell exactly what is going on.  Even though my wife knows me that well, our God knows me even better than that.  Our God knows exactly what I am thinking; our God knows exactly how much we don’t have it together.  Our God sees straight through the façade that we put up and directly into our hearts.  And even better yet, our God isn’t disappointed when we don’t have it all together.  He takes that opportunity for us to be filled by His spirit, to be filled by His Presence.  Our God is walking side by side with us through every trial and tribulation that we face just waiting for us to let Him carry us. 

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 NASB.  Our God is never going to leave us when we don’t have it together.  Our God is never going to abandon us when we feel empty.  Our God is never going to hide himself from us.  Our God is never going to let anything come in between us and Him.  Our God wants nothing more than for us to be the people that lean on Him in every situation.  He wants us to be guided by His plan.  He wants for us to be wrapped in love, a love that we cannot comprehend, a love that was made possible by the death of Jesus.  There is nothing in this world, nothing that we can do, nothing that Satan can throw at us that will make our God leave our side.  Be filled with the presence of God, let your cup runneth over with blessings that our God has laid out before us.  Let our God walk beside you.  Love God: Love Men.

Do you have control issues? Maybe you have trust issues instead!

Psalm 46:10; Colossians 4:21; 2 Peter 1:3-4

“When you bring Me prayer requests, lay our your concerns before Me. Speak to Me candidly; pour out your heart.  Then thank Me for the answers that I have set into motion long before you can discern results.”  Jesus Calling

“Trust Me by relinquishing control into My Hands.  Let go, and recognize that I am God.  This is My World: I made it and I control it.” Jesus Calling

I have heard the verse is Psalm 46:10 many times, “Be Still and Know that I am God…” but the New American Standard Bible that I have has a different translation of that verse and it takes on a whole new meaning.  The NASB states it this way “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  Psalm 46:10.  Relinquishing control is not my thing, relinquishing control means that I am not in control.  I know, I know that is the part of giving up control, you are not supposed to be in control.  Cease striving…quit trying to control everything.  I have never thought that keeping control was going against the will of God.  Our God is a control freak.  Our God is the creator of the universe, and He made the universe the exact way that He wanted it made.  By us hanging onto things that we cannot control, but desperately want to are we going against the will of God?  For those of you that know me, if I am not in control of the situation I feel super uncomfortable in that situation.  I am as much of a control freak as there is on this planet, but does that mean I am going against the will of God?  If I am completely honest with myself, I may not like the answer.  At the end of verse 10 in Psalm 46, it says that “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Our God has planned everything and in the end He will be exalted regardless of how much we try to prevent that. 

When I pray, (and that is not near often enough) I don’t like things to get messy.  You have been around the person that spills out their entire heart at the feet of God so that our God will carry those burdens, I feel really uncomfortable during those situations.  But God calls us to lay our burdens down at His feet.  He doesn’t say lay your burdens at my feet as long as they are clean and tidy.  He doesn’t care how messy things get in our lives; He wants us to be completely real and honest at the foot of his throne.  He knows what is going on in your life already; He wants us to be able to trust Him and to be vulnerable so that we have to lean on Him during those times.  Trust and control seem to be two different disciplines in my life, but the more and more I think about it trust and control go together like supply and demand.  For those of you not familiar with supply and demand here is very, very scaled down version.  Supply and demand are usually inverse properties.  If demand is high, then supply is typically lower.  If supply is high, demand is typically lower.   It is like the old playground toy, the teeter-totter; if one end is up the other is down.  Now apply that to trust and control.  The more we trust in our Heavenly Father, the less control that we have over our life.  The more control we have, the less we are trusting.  That steps on my toes a LOT! I don’t like that fact that if I am trying to control my life, I probably do not trust enough what God is doing in my life.  Our God wants nothing more than for us to trust in Him completely, to completely lean on Him for everything in our life.  Not just the life-changing, groundbreaking things, He wants us to lean on Him in our daily life with even the smallest of things.

My challenge to me especially and to anyone else who struggles with control, let go of the things that you cannot change.  Let go of trying to be god of your own life.  We already have a God who is way better equipped to do that.  Love God:Love Men

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

Psalm 56:3-4, Matthew 6:20-21

“Store up for yourself treasure in heaven, through placing your trust in Me.  This practice will keep you in My Peace.”  Jesus Calling

Until recently, storing my treasures in heaven and trust did not seem to be on the same playing field.  They didn’t seem like they went together like peanut butter and jelly.  Storing up treasures in Heaven to me was don’t worry excessively about what your bank account looks like because you can’t take it with you anyways, and trusting God looked more like “God, I didn’t study for this test as much as I should have, but I  trust that you won’t let me down.” My GPA can speak to the fact that I don’t believe God “bailed” me out of not studying all the time; the grades would have probably been worse, but my last minute “hail-mary” (talking football play here, not actual prayer) didn’t magically make my C become an A just because I told God that he wouldn’t let me down.  That is not the trust the keeps us in His presence. 

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasures are, there your heart will be also.”  I have heard that verse preached on by a few different people who have tried to make it a sin because your bank account has more than a couple zeros at the end of the numbers.  I have heard that you can’t be rich and a Christian.  You know the camel through the eye of the needle thing.  But I want to challenge that.  Down a few verses in verse 24 it says that “no one can serve two masters…”  it lists wealth at the end of that verse as a master that cannot be served along with God, but it does not say that you cannot have wealth.  It says that you cannot have two masters.  There is a big difference between having money and worshipping money; although sometimes there is a fine line that between the two.  But at the end of verse 24 in Matthew 6 you can place whatever word you would like in place of wealth.  Maybe your master is popularity, power, a sin you struggle with, fill in the blank; that verse still means the same thing.  You cannot serve God completely if you have something in your life that you are treating as an equal to God. 

When Jesus says in Matthew 6 to store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, I know he isn’t talking about building up your bank account for use in Heaven, (I hear they don’t have ATM’s there).  Instead Jesus is asking you to examine your life and build up qualities that are Heavenly qualities.  He is asking us to serve the one true God instead of placing other things in our lives that we place on equal footing or even higher than God.  He is asking us to be kingdom people who have the desires of God in their hearts instead of desires of this world.  Let me say that again, God is imploring us to be kingdom people who have the desires of God in our hearts instead of the desires of this world.  That last part hits home really hard for me because there are desires of this world that I struggle with immensely.  But God is calling me through His Son to leave those desires in this world and instead be a kingdom person. 

That is where the trust comes in and makes the other side of your peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  We are a fallen people who continuously look for out for our best interest first, but by God sending his Son to the cross for you and for me, he is asking us to trust that His plan is way better than ours.  He is asking that we store up treasures in Heaven because our God wants nothing more than to spend eternity in Heaven with us.  Trusting that giving up the desires of this world and following Jesus is the type of treasure that we can store up in Heaven.  Trusting that God has a plan for each and every one of our lives that is so much better than anything we can ever imagine is building up treasures in Heaven.  Trusting that even though we stumble and fall, our God will lift us up, dust us off and continue to hold us as we walk with him that is building up treasures in Heaven.  Having a super large bank account with more zeroes than I can count, but spending the majority of that helping widows and orphans, spending that money to help spread the Word of God to people who are so desperately wanting to hear the Good News, that is storing up treasures in Heaven.  Trust in God that His plan is better than mine, better than yours.  Build that treasure in Heaven.  Love God:Love Men

Fear Of What We Might Miss

“Much, much stress results from your wanting to make things happen before their times have come.  One of the main ways I assert my sovereignty is in the time of events.” Jesus Calling

Romans 8:31, Psalm 46:1-3, Luke 1:37

I can’t tell you how many times that I have prayed for God’s guidance or help in a situation in my life only to go ahead and do what I thought was best all along.  I felt because I had prayed for it, that it was okay to go ahead and do what I wanted to do anyways.  Praying for God’s direction and guidance is only one part of the recipe.  Yes, that is one of the main ingredients, but how good are chocolate chip cookies with flour or chocolate chips?  The same principal is in effect here as well.  Just asking God to help you do something or to help guide you down a path doesn’t mean that we can go ahead and head down whatever path we want to go down. 

I think the main reason that I just jump on the path and start going is because I am insecure of what I might miss if I don’t go ahead and start down that path.  Yes the path that I am headed down may no be the worst path in the world and it may even have some good things on that path, but what am I missing when I don’t let God tell me which path to take.  Sometimes it may be the same path that I was going to take, but other times and probably more so that not, it is a path altogether different than the one that I think would be best.  That is why he is God and I am not.  I believe fear is what drives a lot of our decisions.  Whether it be moving investments out of mutual funds or stocks because one day the market has a down day, whether it be putting in an alarm system because your neighbor’s house got broken in to, whether it be keeping your kids in a bubble because the outside world is a scary place.  All of those decisions are completely normal decisions, but are they driven by fear?  Psalm 46:1-3 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in our trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.” Our God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in our trouble!

How many of you remember the game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”?  Remember the “life-line” that the contestant could choose, and how most of the time the person on the other end of the phone knew exactly what the correct answer was to the question?  But do you also remember the few times when that person on the other end of the line had absolutely no clue as to which way was up in regards to the question being asked?  Remember how dejected the contestant felt and how helpless they felt?  Our God is always on the other end of the phone and always has the right answer to our questions.  Our God is never, not going to be there to provide us with help that we couldn’t come up with on our own.  Our God is never going to give us the wrong answer. 

Luke 1:37 talks about how nothing is impossible with God.  That is right before Mary responds to Gabriel and tells the arch angel that she will in fact do as the Lord has said.  Imagine the fear going on inside of her at this time.  A unwed teenage girl is going to be a mother, as if that is not enough reason to be scared, her child is going to be the Savior, but yet Mary in all of her wisdom tells Gabriel that because of who the Lord is in her life that she is going to go down the path that the Lord has shown her. 

I have heard the verse in Romans 8:31 quoted so many times in times of grief or despair.  “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”  But how many times do we allow those words to sink and really hit home?  If the God of the universe who knows how many hairs are on our head from before we were even born is for us, then no power is Hell or on earth is strong enough to overcome us.  My prayer for me and my prayer for you is this, may we lean on the discretion of our Lord and bask in His presence while we wait for the plans of the Lord.   It will not always be easy, but it will always be worth it.  Love God: Love Men.

The Gift of Hope

Psalm 46:1, Romans 12:12; Romans 15:13

“Hope is like a golden cord connecting you to Heaven. The more you cling to this cord, the more I bear the weight of your burdens; thus you are lightened.”  Jesus Calling

Heaven is not a place for burdens.  I remember the song No Tears in Heaven that says in heaven there will be no tears, no sorrow, no pain; and that is a life that our Heavenly Father so desperately wants for us now.  Yes there are going to be times of tears, sorrow, and pain while we are on this earth, but the promise that we have if we hold tight to Him that he will carry our burdens for us. Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, refuge is defined as a shelter or protection from danger or distress or a place that provides shelter or protection.  Our God wants to be that protection for us while we are on this earth.  Think about it like this, in North America alone there are 556 wildlife refuges.  The reason that we have wildlife refuges is because those animals were being harmed or were in danger whether it is from man-made devices or from natural causes.  Our God is our wildlife refuge, whether it is because of something that we have inflicted upon ourselves or because of something out of our control.  Romans 12:12 says “…rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer…”  We are called to rejoice in the fact that we have a hope of eternal life, we are called to rejoice in the fact that we have a Savior whose love for us is so far outside of our understanding, we are called to rejoice in the fact that the tribulations (read dangers) of this world are temporary and that our Lord and Savior wants nothing more than for us to lean on him during those times. 

Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”    Our hope is not some basket we just carry around with us holding onto in the case that we need it.  Our hope is powerful; our hope in the coming Savior draws the power of the Holy Spirit into our lives.  The same Holy Spirit that led David to be a man after God’s own heart, the same Holy Spirit that led a teenager become the mother of Christ, the same Holy Spirit that led Jesus to perform miracle after miracle.  That is the same Holy Spirit that we can have dwelling inside of us if we have the hope that our God so desperately desires for us. 

Jesus Christ does not want us to live a life full of fear of what is happening around us.  Jesus Christ does not want us to live a life where we feel that the world is closing in around us.  Jesus Christ wants us to live a life that is so full of hope that we cannot wait for the day that He returns.  Jesus Christ wants us to live a life that is full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ wants us to live a life were we can share that hope with others.

My wife is a huge fan of giving gifts.  Christmas is one of her favorite times of the year because she gets to go out and get gifts for people she loves in hopes that they will in turn like the gift that they have been given.  But let’s pretend that next year; there are no people to receive the gifts that she has spent so much time and effort on.  The joy of gift giving would be gone for her.  Our God is also a big fan of giving gifts; not only did he give us this gift of his Son, but he gives us the gift of Hope every day.  The question is, are you in the place to receive that gift? 

Jesus, Is That You?

A New Year, a new set of resolutions, a new set of successes, a new set of failures.  A new year represents a time where we get to wipe the proverbial slate clean.  We get to wipe away the times where we failed, we get to build upon the times where we succeeded.  For most of us it is any opportunity for us do something better; be better about going to the gym, be better about watching what you eat, be better about not drinking cokes, etc.  How often do we take the opportunity to be better at listening to what God is saying to us?  How often do we take the opportunity to be better at being the light in the dark?

This New Year provides an opportunity for each and every of us to better ourselves.  Every New Year provides us a challenge to be better in which ever arena of our life that we feel needs some improving.  This year and every year, that challenge is for me to develop a deeper relationship with our Heavenly Father, to be aware of the opportunities that are being provided to me to be the Light in the dark, to be more diligent in my daily quiet time and to continue to develop my relationship with my Savior.  A lot of the time I see the New Year as a time to improve myself only, but my challenge to you is that you take this opportunity to see the world in a new way this year.  To change the way that you interact with your neighbors, to not see people as a means to an end, but as an end in and of itself that is pretty spectacular. 

This New Year I challenge you, but more importantly, I challenge myself to be the change in the world that we so desperately need.  This blog is going to follow the daily devotional of the book titled Jesus Calling by Sarah Young; not only is the blog going to be an opportunity for me to get some of my thoughts out on paper, but also a time where my fellow Christians who are walking along with me can express their thoughts as well.  I truly believe that as a society that we have fallen away from communal relationships.  I hope that this blog is an opportunity for fellow believers to share in an experience that is greater than the individual. 

Jesus Calling is a daily devotional written by Sarah Young.  Sarah wrote this book after spending considerable time listening to what God was telling her.  This book is an opportunity for each and every one of us to hear the voice of God in our daily lives.  As we embark on this journey, I would encourage each and every one of you to take part in this devotional; to include your families, your parents, your kids, your co-workers, and yes even your neighbor.  I truly believe that the more in tune we are to the word of God the more apt we are to be the light in the dark and to be the hands and feet of Christ.  If at any time during this devotional, you have a thought, a prayer, a concern, a praise I encourage you to allow your brothers and sisters to lift you up during that time.  I hope that this blog provides all who read it an opportunity to realize that we are not in this battle alone, there are followers of Christ fighting this battle with us literally all over the world. From Africa to the Philippines, from Washington D.C. to the war-torn border towns, from Seattle, Washington to Stuttgart, Germany, from Itu, Brazil to Eastern Europe; there are followers of Christ who are making the stand to be the hands and feet of Christ.   My prayer is that this blog will provide strength to those who are weak, to provide encouragement to those who are downtrodden, and to provide a network of Believers who know that they are not in this fight alone. 

Peter asked the same question in Matthew 14; “Lord if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.”  Jesus answered that question for Peter the same way that He answer s that question for us. “COME”.  Won’t you step out of the boat with me?