Why Worry?

It is so easy to say it but so hard to live that out, "Why Worry?" I know that God can handle whatever comes my way, I know that He knows my future. I know that He has a plan for my life. Yet I find myself getting bogged down in "worry". What is worry? Worry is not trusting God in short. Saying to God, maybe not directly, I don't trust you, I don't want to let go and let you take whatever is creating anxiety in me today. I am pretty sure God has never held back on His promises, never withheld His grace and mercy toward me. So "Why Worry?" Because as long as I am in this mortal body I will worry, however, I can learn to trust Him, I can learn to let go. I am pretty sure the only way that will happen is if I draw nearer to Him in a relationship that is constant, intentional and full of passion. As I passionately pursue Him the worries of this day fade in the light of His grace and I am able to stand.

Father today help me to passionately pursue you so that when the worries rear their ugly head I will not fret but will trust.

Sidewalk to School

Get Out of the Boat

I am reminded today of Peter's encounter with Jesus on the water. I cannot imagine what must have been going through the disciples minds as they saw Jesus walking on water but then he calls out to them to get out of the boat and do the same. All but one play it safe, all but one allowed fear to keep them from experiencing God and doing the impossible. Peter gets out of the boat and begins to walk on water. How Peter must have been totally blown away by that opportunity. I am reminded that I need to get out of the boat of safety, the boat of comfort, the boat of ease and step out into the unknown and experience God in perhaps ways I have never and to allow Him to use me in ways that perhaps I have never been used. But I am also reminded that I like Peter can become easily distracted by the things around me and take my eyes off Jesus and immediately begin to sink. Peter became afraid, fear is really nothing more than not trusting Christ in the midst of the unknown. As long as my eyes are fixed on Him, as long as I am trusting Him taking that step of getting out of the boat and doing the impossible does not seem so hard. The second I take my eyes of Christ and begin trusting myself instead I will sink. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding, in all my ways acknowledge Him and He will direct my paths. Lord help me today to get out of the boat and do the impossible, but more than that help me to keep my eyes fixed on you.

India: What has God taught me?

Since returning from India I have been asked this question often and I really have not had a good response other than, "It was amazing", "It was eye-opening", and many other short sweet diatribes that seem so short of the truth. So I woke up this morning with this question heavy on my heart and I feel I need to begin processing the answer through my blog.
Meeting Ananthi and hearing her story of how God has used her to reach out to the poorest of poor with the Gospel of Jesus is truly amazing as I see a clear example of what Jesus was saying throughout the Gospels of what it means to help the poor, care for the needy and fulfill the Great Commission. To hear and see her incredible dependence on God is both inspiring and convicting. Even in the midst of poverty and from my minds eye just miserable conditions I saw joy and an incredible dependence on God that I do not see in myself or in much of Christianity here in the US. Our western mindset says I need to go over there and get them out of those conditions and give them a nice home, nice clothes, nice this and that and we want to throw stuff at them and somehow believe that this is the answer. Then I look in the mirror and say wait a minute I have a nice home, nice care, nice clothes, I have basically whatever I want whenever I want and yet I find myself not satisfied, I find myself not content, I find myself miserable, I find myself not dependent on God. Has the overabundance of stuff and the chasing of the "American Dream" clouded my ability to rely on God and seek Him daily? One of the guys posed a great question, is what these people need to really pull them out of their conditions? What's amazing is the community that you see happening in the midst of those conditions, the joy on the kids faces, the dependence on God. What I saw in India through Friend of the Good Samaritan School, Ananthi, their staff was the Gospel in action as they strive to meet basic needs, education, medical, food and most importantly the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I did not seem them trying to pull kids out of the slums and give them better homes or more stuff, but rather teach them to depend on God and allow Him to meet all of your needs. On Sunday we held a church service where hundreds of people came and what blew me away was the noticeable difference between the kids that attended the Good Samaritan school and those who did not, they were healthier looking, more respectful, more joyful, and most importantly more in love with Jesus. I am reminded of this song:

Heart of Worship

When the music fades
And all is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless your heart

I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the ways things appear
You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You
All about You, Jesus
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You
It's all about You Jesus

King of endless worth
No one could express
How much You deserve
Though I'm weak and poor
All I have is Yours
Every single breath

I'll bring You more than just a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You
All about You, Jesus
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You
It's all about You Jesus

Its all about you
Jesus

I realize that our stuff is not the problem it's my heart. My prayer is that just like the people of India that I encountered who have little and whose hearts seemed bent toward God and who live in total dependence on Him, that I who am surrounded by much will learn to depend on God and allow my heart to truly love and seek after Jesus.

Sincere Love

Matthew 15:7-20 8" 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'

Oh how I love Jesus, Oh how I love Jesus because He first loved me. I wish that this was always true of my life. I wish that it was not so easy to allow things, circumstances, people to distract me from following Christ. I wish that I could say that every time I teach or preach that I did not just honor Christ with my lips and yet know that my heart was far from God. The Bible says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." This is my desire, but desire can only become reality if accompanied by action. However action if done out of wrong motives is just action. I want to draw near to God out of a sincere heart, not one motivated by guilt, fear or anything other than love. Today may I pursue a relationship with Christ out of love and allow His love to shine from my life.

Eternal Focus

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

As I read this passage I could not help but think of those I know that are facing some tough times. As one who has been there and has seen the ups and downs of going through a trial here is some food for thought. For most of the trial I was plagued by the what if's, why's and keeping my focus on the light and momentary. It was not until my focus became as described in verse 18 that I not only was able to work through the trial but that God was able to work in and through my heart. The unseen that we fix our eyes on for me is the the eternal truths of God, His love, His strength, His presence, His plan, His sovereignty, His grace and mercy and so much more. That understanding comes from what verse 16 talks about in that our inner man is being renewed day by day. How? Thought getting in God's Word, through praying and while praying laying out the questions and the seen. It was at this point that God really began to give me a peace and an understanding that I cannot explain. My prayer is that each person who reads this will be challenged to seek God and by seeking Him you would turn your focus to the eternal and that God would reveal Himself to you more and more each day.

Father I do not even begin to understand why things happen the way they do or when they do, but I trust you and know that you love me and I ask that you would daily give me an eternal focus.

Chasing the Wind

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

I am not sure I need to say a lot about this passage. Sort of speaks for itself and honestly not sure really what to say. Solomon denied himself nothing and yet found that those things brought him nothing. At the end of the book he concluded that the only thing worth chasing is to know God and obey His commands. Today what will I chase after? At the end of the day what will my money trail, my time card, my spent energy say about what I chased after?

Father help me to chase after you, help me to deny myself pick up the cross and follow you. Give me the strength to overcome the temptation to chase after anything that would take the place of you.

Contentment

Philippians 4:12-13 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

I read this morning this quote from a poet, "As a rule, a man's a fool. When it's hot, he wants it cool. When it's cool, he wants it hot. Always wanting what is not." I know I have been guilty of this so often with so many things. I see it in my kids and so I know that it's something that I struggle with, apples don't fall to far from trees. Paul a man who experienced so much from having everything life in his culture could give to being stoned and within a breath of losing his life no doubt had to wrestle with contentment. Through those things he learned as he said the secret to being content, a relationship with Christ. His contentment was not based on circumstances but on his relationship with Jesus. Which Jesus himself even eluded to when He said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you." All these things are our daily needs, not wants. That I think is the problem, our wants, and that is where the relationship with Christ plays a huge part. The closer I get to Jesus the more my wants become what He wants. Not that I won't still struggle as I am sure Paul did being human, but the temptation to please myself instead of Christ is dulled by the mind that is consumed with the Word of God and is surrendered to following Him.

Father so often my wants supersede my needs and honestly distract me from knowing you. Help me like Paul to want to know you more and pursue a love relationship with you. Remove my selfish wants and fill them with yours that I might be used by you to impact others for you.

Pass It On

Proverbs 2:1-6 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Often more is caught than taught, that's a phrase that at time really makes me cringe. I want my kids, my students to fall in love with God and desire to follow Him everyday of their lives. I know that I must teach them by being intentional and equipping them with necessary tools to navigate through life. But if in my teaching they do not see that it has made a difference in my life than more than likely they will follow my example rather than my teaching. One part of the above passage really sticks out to me, "If you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure." How valuable is my relationship with the Lord? What does my life say that I value? If I want my kids and students to fall in love with God and desire to follow Him than I must be an example of that to them. I must seek after God as a treasure and maybe just maybe through my faults and triumphs they will see that chasing after God is priceless.

Skeptism

2 Peter 1:5-7 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

I know that many are skeptical of the Bible, Jesus and our faith. Many are skeptical because of an intellectual roadblock like Thomas who would not believe until he saw for himself the nail scares and put his hand into the side of Jesus. I often think though that many skeptics are simply that because what they hear and see often do not match and thus causes questions to rise as to the validity of our faith and claims. I know cause recently I have been confronted with this very thing and have been skeptical of my life as I have seen what I have said in the past was not true of my life in the present. Recently I had the opportunity to go to an Indian Reservation in Montana and to go to La Ceiba, Honduras on mission trips with my youth ministry. What I encountered there I pray has forever changed my life. I was confronted with the harsh reality that the majority of the world lives with and what I as an American take so greatly for granted. I was confronted with the very fact that to this point my life has really been about me and mine. I was confronted with the fact that my $38 a month that I give to Compassion which is great is really just the tip of the iceberg. I was confronted with the reality of needs vs wants and am still wrestling with how much do I really need???? I was confronted with something that is very close to the heart of God and that all in all I am doing very little about, that being the poor, the orphan and the widow. I want this to change in my life, in my church, in my faith and maybe I will no longer give fuel to those that are skeptical of my life, church and faith by showing the one thing that describes God, LOVE!!!! As I figure out how that love will be expressed in my life my prayer is that somehow others will be confronted with these realities and maybe somehow we through Christ's power can change the World!!!!

Sportianity: The Religion of Sports

I was recently given an article entitled "Whatever Happened to Play" by Shirl James Hoffman. I wanted to write this to more articulate my response to this article and what I witness day in and day out in the context of working with youth. I hope this generates discussion and thinking but if not at least it helps me think through this subject.
This whole matter of sports has become a huge area of contention for me as a youth pastor and father. I personally love sports and enjoy watching and participating in sports. I want my children to enjoy sports as well. However what I am seeing today is enjoyment of sports to an extreme that I believe is extremely unhealthy and is destroying the family and individual lives as well. Sports today has turned into a religion one that Hoffman calls "Sportianity". He gives some just crazy examples of this in his article which you can find at the Christianity Today website. I am blown away by the sheer dedication and commitment that many families and people make to sports starting at a very young age. I know students and children who have practice every night and sometimes mornings as earlier as 6am before school starts. I know 8 year olds who have games 3 or more nights a week. I know students who are playing 60-90 games a summer in softball or baseball. The kicker for me is that when I talk to some parents about their family or just their child coming to church on Sunday or Wednesday I often get back from them that it is to much to commit to and I am asking an aweful lot of students. Yet these same students are the ones described above. Families skip church to watch a certain game or go to a certain tournament. Students can't go on mission trips or help out in VBS because they have sports camp during the summer. Don't get me wrong, as Hoffman says "Youth sports programs certainly provide worthy experiences for young people, but with increasing frequency they seem to spin out of control." This is what is going on today. Sports is out of control and the sad part to me is that parents and students are not standing up to it and saying "NO". Hoffman states, "Evangelicals in the sports community have to often been followers rather than leaders, adopters of the dominant ethos rather than trendsetters who challenge it." To which I say amen. I absolutely believe that if parents and students would stand up to the status quo and say no things would change. Because what team is going to bench their star athletes if they say no and I am going to church instead of practice tonight. Please understand I am not calling us to stop sports all together, but to bring balance back in order to save our families and children from a self-destructive lifestyle that renders families from spending quality time together and students from missing opportunities that in the long run will matter more. There is no doubt that sports can and are a good thing but like anything when taken to extreme can destroy the very ones who are taking it there. Sportianity will always exist but for those of us who claim to follow Christ we must turn from the idolatry of sports and turn to the Worship of God and allow that worship to direct our choices and commitments.

Knowing Him: Temporal Events 2 Accomplish Eternal Purposes

Luke 2:1-20 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

It always blows me away how the most seemingly obscure parts of the Bible can be some of the most important. In this case it blows me away the way God works. Little did Caesar know that he was playing an important part in accomplishing an eternal purpose. How amazing is God's sovereignty and the mysterious ways that He accomplishes eternal purposes. I look back over my life and see how temporal events accomplished eternal purposes and for which I am thankful. However there are some events that I wish were different, events that hurt, events that led to some very difficult situations but always led to the good. It's in these events that I must trust God and allow His eternal purpose to be played out. The question is do I really believe that God will work all things together for good? My prayer is that no matter what comes my way I will trust God that He knows what is best and that He has my best in mind.

Father help me to trust you no matter what so that you can accomplish your eternal purposes through me.

No Pain, No Gain

Matthew 16:24-27 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

Lately I have been challenged with and over and over again reminded that following Christ while extremely rewarding is not easy. We live in a culture where if we want something all we have to do is take a pill for it, charge it to a credit card or have the government bail us out, instead of saving for it, working hard, maybe breaking a sweat and actually having to earn something. As a result we miss the joy and reward that comes from the effort that we put into it and we get stuck just wanting more and believing that we deserve it. Sadly the same thing happens in many who claim to follow Christ, they want the benefits of following Christ, like overcoming sin, experiencing joy and satisfaction. Jesus in His exhortation here in the book of Matthew speaks to the fact that following Christ is work and sacrifice. Just like losing weight and exercise is tough the end results are amazing. So it is with Christ and a relationship that we work at throughout our lives. I must understand that to experience joy, to experience overcoming sin takes a daily surrender of my life to Christ (denying myself), being broken and humble (taking up the cross) and pursuing a relationship with Christ (follow me). Today my prayer is that I would experience all that a relationship with Christ offers.

Father today as I pursue a relationship with you help me to surrender to you and experience just how awesome it is to follow after you.

Metaphors of Growth

Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Paul gives us three metaphors to illustrate the importance of our faith specifically our relationship with Christ. First he gives us the metaphor of a path that we are to walk. Like every path there is a beginning and an end, also throughout the middle there can be several paths or detours that will lead us off the main path to destinations unknown. Jesus declared that He is the only way to life eternal. I know often in my sometimes feeble attempts to walk with Him I often take the side paths and end up going a direction I did not want to go. But Jesus is so amazing in that I can take 10,000 steps away from the path and it only takes one to get back. Second he uses the metaphor of a tree that has roots going deep. The amazing things about roots is that if properly fed they will be twice as long as the tree and able to withstand forces that would try to knock the tree over. In life I have faced many trials and will face many more, I know that in those times that I have been fed by the Word of God that the roots of my relationship with Christ have helped me to stand firm in the midst of a storm. Third he uses on object that is being built. With every building project the foundation is absolutely critical to the overall health of the structure. Jesus himself illustrated this with the two men, one who built his house on the sand and one who built his house on the rock. They key was the foundation which was obeying the Word of God. If I want my faith to be rock solid than I must build its foundation on the Word of God and the truths within and not on my own thinking or the thinking of the "wise" or even my experiences. These things should never be used to validate the Word of God but the Word of God should validate these things. Today may I be found walking the path of a relationship with Christ as I am rooted through God's Word and build my faith as I obey it.

Father thank you for the message of Christ and relationship that comes from believing that message, give me the strength today to live for you and walk with you so that my faith might be strengthened to face the challenges of today.

So I Wait

Psalm 25:21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.

As I read this verse today I am reminded of the song Hungry, here are the lyrics.

Hungry I come to You
For I know You satisfy
I am empty but I know
Your love does not run dry

So I wait for You
So I wait for You

I'm falling on my knees
Offering all of me
Jesus You're all
This heart is living for

Broken I run to You
For Your arms are open wide
I am weary but I know Your touch
Restores my life

So I wait for You
So I wait for You

I’m falling
I’m falling for You
Jesus You’re all
This heart is living for

What an incredible song filled with the truth of who God is and the very longing but often not the practice of my life. Psalm 25:21 is an incredible challenge to my heart that integrity and uprightness should characterize my life as I wait on the Lord. Often I will sing the words of this song and truly mean them but so often my life does not reflect the hunger to which it speaks. Psalm 25 reminds me that I must not just say I am hungry, I must not just sing the words, I must live the words. Jesus you're all this heart is living for, is that true? Oh how I want it to be true. Today my prayer is that my life would be marked by integrity and uprightness and that the words of this song would be found true in me today.

Father give me the strength to live for you today. May moment by moment surrender to you and fall down on my knees as I wait for you. Today may it be said of me that Jesus you're all this heart is living for.

Practical Atheist

I have been being challenged in my life over the past few months with my spiritual lifestyle. A message that I heard from Craig Groechel called "Practical Atheist" describes it best. A practical atheist is someone who believes that God exists but does life as if God does not exist. In my life as a pastor it can best be described this way it's a minister who believes that God exists but does ministry as if God does not exist. To often my prayer life had become when I prayed on Sunday nights or Wednesday nights before I spoke to the youth or when I was expected to or my devotional life would be my preparation study for a message or a talk. My ministry had become what I do at church and that's it. Bill Hybels once said, "that the way I was doing the work of God was destroying the work of God in me." You see I have become a full time pastor but a part time lover of God. My life is described in Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men." On the outside I was honoring God but in my heart I was far from Him, just going through the motions. I was checking out Matthew West's website, especially the site linked to his song "The Motions." On that site he writes "I know what a "Christian" should say. I know how to act. I know how to put up a spiritual front, even if I'm not passionately seeking God. That was the inspiration behind my song, "The Motions". I was tired of settling for a stale faith. God is a God of PASSION. His true plan for our lives is anything but boring. Every day, The God of adventure beckons his sons and daughters to quit going through the motions, and walk into a life filled with passion and wonder." In verse 14 of Isaiah 29 it says "Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder". This is what I want, I want to once again be passionate about my relationship with Christ, I want to be passionate about reaching people with the gospel, I want to be passionate about prayer, I want to be passionate about living for Christ everyday. I want Philippians 1:20,21 to be true once again. I want to be a full time lover of God. I do not want to go through the motions and I am writing this and sharing this because I want others to hold me accountable. I want others to join me in not letting practical atheism describe our lives anymore. If you read this I ask you to please pray for me but I also ask you to evaluate your life and ask yourself am I a "Practical Atheist?"

An Attitude of Gratitude

Psalm 107

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;his love endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say this those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 3 those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. 4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. 5 They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 7 He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. 8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, 9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

From the words of James MacDonald:

Psalm 107 is all about thankfulness. Very specifically Psalm 107 repeats one verse four different times: Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of Men.
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. Praise and gratitude are inseparable. Praise starts from the soles of our feet and comes up through the muscles ans sinews and joints and organs of our bodies and bursts from our throats. It's with all of our hearts that we give God thanks. Gratitude is not something shallow or frivolous, flippant or superficial. It is the deepest expression of the soul in love with God. And that soul says, "With all my heart, I give you thanks."
What bugs me, though, is when people express their gratitude on a day like today, late in November, and then return to their self-centered, dissatisfied, hopeless, and pathetic outlook on life the other 364 days.
Gratitude is more than an annual ritual performed hastily before diving into the Thanksgiving meal. It's more than a holiday decoration, more than a snappy word that rhymes with "attitude." Of all the human emotions, gratitude is the most powerful. So powerful is gratitude, it can obliterate fear, hopelessness, and doubt. Gratitude can heal a broken heart, slow the aging process, and restore broken relationships. Gratitude creates hope,and hope brings joy. It is in joy, not fear, that we find strength.

Father,
I pray that everyday would be Thanksgiving day in my heart. I have so much to be thankful for and yet often find myself expressing it very little. Remind me daily of your goodness and may I rest in you each day. May my life be a praise offering to you.

Playing Dodgeball

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

It's funny how I often treat, the things in verse 10 like a game of dodgeball. Often like dodgeball I will try to avoid these things at all costs and deny that they are happening. Why? Fear of confrontation, fear of rejection, fear of admitting weaknesses, believing the myth that somehow if I just avoid it, it will go away. They don't go away in fact if not dealt with they grow into bigger problems. I believe that is why Paul writes, "Do not let the sun go down on your anger." There is something about dealing with the issue before you go to sleep. I know my dad would say that there were some nights that he and my mom would stay up pretty late dealing with an issue, but as far as I know they practiced this and did not allow issues to seperate them. According to these verses admitting weaknesses is not weakness at all but rather strength. The key here is that in dealing with the issues of my life I must look to Christ to give me the strength and I must rely on Him to help me with each one. If I try it alone it would be like playing dodgeball with just me on one side and an entire team on the other, no chance of victory.

Father today I need your strength to face the issues of my life and this day. Help me to turn to you instead of dodging them so that I might grow in strength and in my love for you instead of getting beat down.

How Different It Would Be?????

Philippians 3:13-14 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Today as I was reading my devo's a comment that the writer made hit me right between the eyes, "How different our past would be if we could relive it knowing what we know now." Let that sink in for just a minute. I know looking back at my past there are so many times that I wish I could take back something I said, or something I did or a situation I put myself into. I so wish I could go back to high school and live for Christ in order to tell everyone the good news of the gospel. But reality then sits in and I know that I cannot go back. As Pumba from Lion King says, "You got to get your behind out of the past or I mean you gotta put your past behind you." I know I cannot change my past, but as the verse above refers I sure can learn from it and then press on to do something about my future. So often we allow our past to dictate our future and that is sad. We cannot do one thing about the past, we cannot change it, we cannot relive it and thus we can only learn from it. My prayer is that the mistakes that I have made in the past I will not make again, the lessons that I have learned will help to shape the lessons of the future. My prayer is that all of that I will use to help me strain toward what is ahead. That I would be able to take hold of Christ and allow Him to guide my future and that someday I will obtain the prize that awaits.

Father help me to see my past as just that the past, may I have learned from it and may I strain forward through Christ so that I may honor and glorify you.

Honor Your Parents

Exodus 20:1-12 1 And God spoke all these words: 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 "You shall have no other gods before me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six day's the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

This verse directs all children to honor their father and mother. So how u doing at this? Here is a quote from James MacDonald: "The key word is all. Adults haven't outgrown this command. Every race and culture upon the earth is under the universal, biblical principle to honor their parents. Things will never go right with you and with your future generations until you submit to this biblical command-regardless of your parents success rating. God doesn't say, "Honor good parents" or even "Grade them on the curve." Honor means that your attitude is matched by your actions. You communicate to your parents, "You are the person God sovereignly placed in my life. You may have hurt me at times, but I take off my judge's robe and release you from the stand. I choose instead to see you with compassion as people with needs, concerns, and scars of your own. I honor you."
Honoring parents does not mean seeking their approval or making ourselves vulnerable to hurtful behavior. Honoring our parents does not mean ignoring or denying the past.
Here is what it does mean: choosing to place great value upon our relationship with our parents. It means recognizing the things they have done right. It means acknowledging the sacrifices that they have made for us. It means seeing them as Christ does with compassion and mercy. It means forgiving them as Christ has forgiven us. Honor our parents, if only because God said so.

Father I want to thank you for my amazing parents and I pray that my life will always be honoring toward them as I live to honor you as well.