How Committed Are You?

A chicken and a pig went for a walk around the farm. As they passed the farmer’s window, they noticed a wonderful breakfast prepared for the farmer and his wife on the breakfast table. As they peeked closer, they noticed bacon and eggs on the plates.

The pig and chicken were silent for a moment as they took in the impact of what they saw. Finally, looking at the eggs, proud of her contribution, the chicken said, "now that was a sacrifice!" The pig looked at the bacon on the plate, turned to the chicken and said, "Yes, for you it is a sacrifice. But for us it is total commitment!"

Good point, Pig, good point! While the chickens are involved, the pigs are committed totally.

So what are you, when it comes to following Christ, a pig or a chicken?

Have a great weekend, move past being involved, and go to church for Heaven’s sake!

What's in a Name?

I always find baby names interesting. Some parents should be locked up for what they name their kids! I saw a website the other day that had a list of the most unusual names. Wow!

Five people named their kids Tequila. Do you think they were drinking? A dozen named their precious one Juvenal (yes, it is misspelled, but does it matter?). I wonder what the middle name is? Delinquent?

Notorious is growing up in various parts of the country. Wonder what he (or is it she?) is going to do to live up to his/her name?

God names and renames people through his-story. If you have committed your life to Christ, then he has renamed you. He looks past what your parents called you, reaching a level of love and intimacy to where you are now "Son" or "Daughter." And he puts "beloved" in front of that.

Let that sink in. You are a beloved son or daughter of the Almighty God, the maker of heaven and earth. He loves you more than you know. He is for you and not against you.

Ps 103:13 — As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.

Today I am going to work on living up to the name I have received from the creator of this world.

Trapped by Holding On

Think Along 101

Trapped by Holding On

In Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, he talks about simple monkey traps used by indigenous people in various parts of the world.

To make the trap, you hollow out a gourd, leaving an opening just large enough for a monkey to get his open hand through. Once the gourd is securely chained to a tree, you place inside it some nuts or rice—something the monkey desires to eat.

The monkey reaches into the gourd to grab the food, but his fist full of food is too large to pull out of the hole. He’s trapped! He pulls and yanks in vain. He will not let go. Even when the hunters arrived to check the trap, he will not let go. His life ends because he will not let go.

Before you judge the monkey’s stupidity, stop and think about all the stuff that we hold onto that is destructive. How much misery do we create simply because we will not let go?

There is power available in Jesus to let go. Sweet freedom awaits!

Romans 6:22

Now that you have been set free from sin. . ., the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

What do you need to let go?

Psalm 100

 
Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving thanks.


Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

The Wilderness

As soon as Jesus is baptized, he is led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness. The wilderness was hostile territory, a lonely place fraught with danger.

Why was he led there? To be tested, strengthened, and to get ready to serve as the Messiah. What has that to do with us? A lot, I think.

The Bible speaks a lot about testing, temptations, and trials. These things come to develop us, to mature us, to help us become better servants of others. God is interested in your difficulties and problems, but I think he is more interested in what you become as a result of them.

James says this in the first few words of his letter.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Here we go Monday! Here we go New Week! Allow the trials of the week to draw you closer to the One who loves you more than you know.

Be a Lover

Joe walks into a post office one day and sees a middle-aged, balding man standing at the counter methodically placing "Love" stamps on bright pink envelopes with hearts all over them. The man then takes out a perfume bottle and sprays scent all over them.

Joe’s curiosity gets the better of him, so he goes up to the man and asks him what he is doing. The man says, "I'm sending out 1,000 I Love You cards signed, ‘Guess who?’"

Joe probes further, "Why?"

The man explains, "I'm a divorce lawyer."

So that’s kinda funny!

There is a serious thing to think about though, and it comes from Proverbs 6:19. There are some things that God hates, including, "a person who stirs up conflict in the community."

Be a lover, a peacemaker, and attend church this weekend for Heaven’s sake!

Imagining God

Voltaire said, "God created man in His image, and man has forever been trying to return the favor."

Anne Lamott says, "You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do."

There’s a lot to consider in both of those quotes! The point is that we do tend think that God thinks like us. Right?

That’s why it’s crucial to think and communicate in a community where Scripture has authority, where diversity is present, and where people are striving lovingly to come to honest views about life.

We may not always agree but we never need to hate.

By the way, I don’t think God hates FAQS - frequently asked questions!

Body Thoughts

A little quiz about your body!

Which is more important: eye, ear, arm or Adam’s apple?

Truth is all of them are pretty important! Sometimes people get the arrogant notion that they are superior to others, or that everyone should be like them. God designed diversity for a reason, and it should be celebrated and used for his glory.

If we are followers of Christ, then we have been placed in the church to become his body, a body of diversity and unity, a body of love and support, no matter what happens.

1 Corinthians 12:25-27 (The Message)

The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this.

Remember!

Everyone is important, no need for feelings of superiority or inferiority.

Self-deception

Self-deception is a huge issue, from what I read. I don’t have a problem with it personally, at least that’s what I tell myself. (That was a joke.)

They, whoever they are, say that we talk to ourselves more than we talk to anyone else. And guess who we talk about the most? Yes, that’s right. We talk to ourselves mostly about ourselves.

We all lie at times, so guess who we likely lie to the most? See the previous paragraph for the answer.

How do we figure how we are deceiving ourselves? True friends are probably the best answer, but you can start by listening to yourself. Do you spend a lot of time rationalizing?

A long time ago someone wrote this out for me:

Rationalize = rational lies

All lying is sourced, ultimately, in the father of lies, Satan (see John 8).

I need to be careful.

Contentment

Are you content? It seems that some are; most are not.

Why is that?

I think our lack of contentment is rooted in a lack of satisfaction with God. Not being content, it seems to me, in essence, is saying "God is not enough. I want more." And wasn’t that the original sin of Adam and Eve?

The cultivation of contentment must be rooted in the promise of God’s protection and provision.

The writer of Hebrews really gets at it with these few words (in chapter 13):

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Of course, Paul, in Philippians 4, says he knows the secret of being content no matter what. Here’s his secret:

I can do everything through him who gives me strength, referring to Christ.

Knowing and trusting, which is the essence of faith, the promises of God found in a relationship with Jesus allows me to be satisfied internally regardless of what is going on externally.

I’m going to work on staying focused on that this week!

Breaking the Silence

 

A couple had a really bad argument, which was not unusual for them. Then the usual pattern played out: silent treatment. Both ways. Strained, tense silence.

They had to be somewhere that required them to drive through the country. As they were driving along in their angry silence, they came up on a barnyard with several donkeys in it. The wife saw this as an opportunity to break the silence – with sarcasm of course!

Looking and pointing at the donkeys, she asked, "Relatives of yours?" As the words settled, she crossed her arms smugly.

Her husband smiled and answered her, "Yes! In-laws!"

It’s Friday and you should laugh!

Remember Proverbs 17:22.

A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.

Have a great weekend, and go to church for Heaven’s sake!

Young Wisdom

Think Along 92

Young Wisdom

Over the years a teacher collected thoughts from children ages 5 - 10. They are good reminders for us all.

Share.

Don’t hit.

Stay on the path.

Don’t chew with your mouth open.

Say "Please" and "Thank you."

Don’t burp in public.

Be nice to old people.

Close your eyes when you pray.

Put your dishes in the sink.

Don’t go through red lights.

Smile.

Hold hands when crossing the street.

Don’t pick scabs.

Brush your teeth.

Clean your room.

Listen.

Don’t use bad words.

Don’t call names.

Go to church.

Tell jokes.

Obey the rules.

Sin

We can’t be sinless but we can sin less.

I really like that quote. My observation is that we are pretty quick to claim to first part, using it to justify sloppy living. "It’s just the way I am. I can’t help it."

Really?

If we follow Jesus, we have the Spirit of God who enables us to overcome lots of things. While it’s not possible to be sinless, it is possible to sin less, by the power of God’s Spirit.

The tension, in my mind, lies between two extremes. One extreme is striving for perfection to point that I make myself miserable, forfeiting peace and joy in the process, often making others miserable as well. The other extreme is simply giving up and giving in to sin without much effort.

So what do we do? Isn’t the key simply asking God to work in our lives, giving him the time and space to work, cooperating with him, following his lead? I believe he shows us the way to put forth a strong effort without being miserable.

So what do I need to allow him to work on today? How can I sin less today?

Remembering

It was one of those days that you remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news. You remember what the day was like as it unfolded.

Fears. Worries. Anger. Sadness. Concerns. Questions. Lots of prayers.

I remember the eerie silence of the beautiful blue sky. No noise. No contrails. So strange.

I remember how churches filled to overflowing on the Sunday after the reminder that we are not in control of much of anything in this world. People, who don’t usually, remembered a God who loves them, even as we had questions for him.

It’s good to remember, and it seems that in a lot of ways we have forgotten (again). How quickly we go back to the illusion that we are in control of our lives and that we are not totally dependent upon God for each breath we take.

Remember. Don’t forget.

Lot to Do

Here it is Monday again. As you look at your week ahead, it may seem almost overwhelming – so many things to do, people to see, places to go, meetings to attend. Can we get it all in?

What I’ve found is that often the load is not as heavy as it appears. A lot of times the container appears heavier than the content makes it.

Some time ago, one of my sons was feeling burdened by all he had to do. I told him I understood, and I told him the best thing to do was to get up and just start taking it on. I added that once you begin tackling the tasks, they usually are not as bad as they appear.

So, let’s get going this morning. Just take stuff on, one thing at a time, and maybe you’ll find that it’s not as heavy as it appears.

Oh, and don’t forget, you are not alone today!

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified. . ., for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Be Careful

A large corporation, feeling it was time for a shakeup, hired a new CEO. The new boss was determined to rid the company of all slackers.

On a tour of the facilities, the CEO noticed a guy leaning against a wall. The room was full of workers and he wanted to let them know that he meant business. He asked the guy, "How much money do you make a week?"

A little surprised, the young man looked at him and said, "I make $400 a week. Why?"

The CEO said, "Wait right here." He walked back to his office, came back in two minutes, and handed the guy $1,600 in cash and said, "Here's four weeks' pay. Now GET OUT and don’t come back!"

Feeling pretty good about himself about making an example out of this young man, the CEO looked around the room and asked, "Does anyone want to tell me what that goof-ball did here?"

After an awkward silence, from across the room a voice said, "He was the pizza delivery guy from Domino’s."

That’s funny! And instructive! James, in his first chapter, says,

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

Have a great weekend!

Do Something

There’s an old Chinese proverb that says this.

I hear and I forget.

I see and I remember.

I do and I understand.

There simply is no substitute or replacement for action.

When it comes to following Christ through this world, we understand him and his ways best, really coming to know him, by doing the things he did.

It’s important to hear about them, it’s crucial to see them, but in the end, we must take action.

Jesus asked the people hearing and seeing him, "Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?"

James (2:26), the brother of Jesus, puts it this way:

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

What do I need to DO today?

Questions

It’s a good way to live! It helps keep us accountable and governs much of what we do.

What? Living in anticipation of questions.

If you know someone is going to ask you later if you did something, then you will think pretty hard before doing it or not doing it.

About 2,000 years ago, Seneca, a Roman philosopher, statesman, and playwright, said there are four questions we should ask ourselves at the end of each day.

What infirmity have I mastered today?

What passions have I opposed?

What temptation have I resisted?

What virtue have I acquired?

You can modify them, but I think anticipating the asking of questions at the end of each day is a good way to live better.

What do you think?

Torn Curtain

Did you ever tear a curtain when you were a kid? It was accident! But you probably still got in trouble for it.

Lots of interesting things happen at the death of Jesus. One of them is that the Temple curtain is torn in two, from top to bottom. This curtain, which separated God’s most intimate presence from his people, was thick, 60 feet long, and very strong.

Josephus, the Jewish historian, says it was 4 inches thick and so strong that it could not be pulled apart by horses tied to it, pulling in opposite directions. Yet it was torn in two, and it’s clear who did the tearing: God.

Why? It’s about access! God has opened a way, through a relationship with Jesus, for us to come to him freely and with confidence.

Ephesians 3:12 — In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Hebrews 4:16 — Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.



Let’s remember that as this week unfolds with all of its challenges and opportunities.