After reading some old post and after the blog went through a small identity crisis, I decided to return to just telling the things that God has been showing me (and a few tidbits as to what’s going on with life as well). While I know that sounds rather uninteresting, it’s what I know God would want me to do. I sat here contemplating how I could get more readers and try to get the blog better known. The truth is, I don’t need it to be. God brings the readers here that He wants to be here. If that happens to be only a few people from time to time, then so be it. But I think it’s best if I just keep things the way He would want it.
This made me think of Matthew 25:21 which reads: “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” This is near the end of the parable about the talents. Each servant was given a certain amount that they were entrusted with. One of them had doubled his investement, the smallest amount, and was given the best reward. Sometimes I think we all become to ambitious. I know I have at times. Even recently I’ve caught myself trying to jump ahead of what God’s will seems to be. We begin to think that we can somehow change up our pace without involving God and end up messing the whole thing up. But when it comes down to it, if we just are faithful and do what God wants us to do with the our smallest gifts, then He will multiply the blessings beyond what we can count.
Not By My Strength
The cliche verse is Philippians 4:13 which says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I didn’t label cliche, I saw it on another Christian blog listed as a cliche. It’s a truth we can grasp and hold on to. It is true forever and while seemingly overused, it remains the truth. Today I had a frustrating day. Yet, I know that God gave me the strength to make it through the day.
I encounter kids all the time that make the day more difficult. Today was rough with some of them. But, I know that God has it all worked out and He is there to help me conquer any obstacle. Isaiah 41:10 says: “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” You might think dealing with difficult children is a rather nominal issue to deal with, but enough problems consecutively, and anyone can get pushed over the edge. It becomes a further problems when you must deal with parents that have to invent reasons why their child might misbehave–even if that makes the teacher out to be made a liar. Obviously, this complicates what should have been simple discipline and undermines one’s authority.
So, how do I keep from losing my cool and just throwing a chair? The end of Isaiah 41:10 ends with; “I will hold you up with my VICTORIOUS right hand.” (emphasis mine). Look at the word victorious. Isn’t it great to know that with God, we will always end up victorious? It might not always seem that way but in the end, we have victory to look forward to.
It is that hope that helps me through the roughest of days. That, along with Philippians 4:13 help remind me that it’s not about me and that I am not doing it on my own strength. Our children’s church lesson taught us to look at ourselves as a guitar pick and to look at God as the guitar player. Nobody thanks the pick for it’s work, but the commend the player. If we use that mind set, we should be looking forward to the finale when our “guitar player” gets His well deserved standing ovation.
No, I am not going to use some scientific method to explain to you how Kris Allen won over the popular Adam Lambert. This is merely my opinion based on my observation of Season 8 of American Idol. Just for the record, I did happen to favor Kris Allen. “How can you not favor Adam? He was so good at everything he did!”. In the words of Scott Smith from Air 1, “Adam screams to much”. Those of you who know me know that I happen to like a little wild and loud music (much of what is played on Radio U). But, there comes a time when the loud, screaming, ear piercing music does not need to be played (there is a time and place for it, but not always). Adam gave me the impression that he couldn’t do anything else. Here in America, those loud, screaming bands are not exactly the best sellers. Since the title of the show is AMERICAN Idol, it would only make sense that the winner would reflect what the majority of America would want to listen to. I’m going to break down my thoughts on why Kris won.
Talent
I am not saying that Adam is not talented. His performance with Kiss was very good. That is his style of music and that is great. When it comes down to it, I see Adam as more of a performer rather than an artist (much like Taylor Hicks who NEVER should have won his season). Kris Allen in contrast, is a true artist. Not only can he sing, but he has other talents as well such as playing the guitar and piano. He is someone I can see most of America listening to in their cars or on their iPods (including my own). While Kris my have had a bad night here and there, he was over all consistent and never really tried to be bigger than he was. He was consistently himself every week. Adam tried to be a plethora of characters and I don’t believe we ever really saw him (with the exception of that really creepy version of Burning Ring Of Fire).
The Votes
This morning, it is becoming known that Kris won by a lot. Many thought it would have been closer. Here is my theory as to why it was not.
By the time we had found out who the final 3 were, Adam’s fate was already set. Danny Gokey and Kris Allen are very similar in style. Whenever a contestant is eliminated, the displaced voters do one of two things: They either stop watching the show (which is minimal) or they put their votes behind another contestant. Since Danny and Kris were very similar in both appearance, voice, and style, it is only natural that if either one was eliminated, then his voters would back the other. By the time we got to the top 3, Adam had already had the amount of voters he was going to get. Once Danny was eliminated, it could be assumed that Kris was going to win. Those voters who voted for Danny and stuck around to vote again would most likely put their support behind Kris.
Divine Intervention
OK, before you click to something else, let me explain.
There are two aspects to this. If you watched the Season Finale, both Kris and Adam were given brand new cars. Kris mentioned that he needed a new car. Wouldn’t it be great if God used this whole American Idol experience just to answer Kris’ prayer about needing a car? He didn’t even need to win the competition and he would have received the vehicle! To me, that is an awesome example of how God can work to answer prayers. But I think it goes further.
One episode, Simon Cowell commented about how humble Kris was. And, if you look back on the season, you will see someone who wasn’t really sure of his place in the competition. Yet, week after week he managed to stay in the game. I may be crossing the line in my next few sentences, but I’m going to say it anyway. The winner of American Idol has a tremendous influence on the masses. Wouldn’t it be great if God wanted someone strong in their faith to win so that he could win souls? Kris has mentioned that he wants to play Christian music and use his gifts for God. As if being a worship leader isn’t enough. And just think, if all he ever did was return to leading worship, the amount of people that would flock to the church just because of him may expose the gospel to those who would have probably not heard it otherwise.
Kris mentioned how Adam deserved to win. Even at the point where he could have jumped for joy and reveled in his victory, he was still humble enough to say it could have gone the other way. 1 Peter 5:6 says: “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.” His humbleness alone is a testimony of his faith. Look what God did as a result of it? He “lifted him up in honor”.
Closing Thoughts
Whatever you think of the show, it is true that those who win have a huge influence on many–especially youth. I understand the reasons that Christians have for avoiding the show. The term “Idol” makes people uncomfortable. When someone like Kris Allen comes along though, you can’t help but see how God can turn something meant to create “idols” among ourselves into something that will bring glory to Him.
Granted, it remains to be seen if Kris’ new found fame will take him astray but as Christians, we should all pray that this experience will expose others to who God is. My belief is that Kris Allen will be able to influence many for the kingdom of God.
I find it simply amazing how God can use any part of His creation to illustrate a point. Recently, God used a common household pest: a roach. What possible Spiritual truth can we learn from a roach? Well, just a few simple facts about how cockroaches work and you will start to see where I am coming from.
These fascinating little creatures (and I say fascinating from a scientific point of view) are very resourceful and very well evolved–if I may be allowed to use such a word. These creatures that would prefer a life outside the home feeding on dead and decay wood and other organic materials also seem to be comfortable in situations inside the homes of ordinary people. The are a nuisance and would not be noticed except when one stray one suddenly catches itself in a brightly lit room. Of course, it instinctively tries do return to some dark crevice to hide its self from the light.
Coincidently, people do the same to God. They live in darkness and enjoy the filth around them. Suddenly, when the light catches them off guard, they would rather run away than be exposed for what they really are. The light has a tendency to show the truth hiding behind the crevices of our hearts. In many cases, the truth becomse exposed and we instinctively make excuses so we can hide from “the light”. But God wants to exterminate these “roaches” in our lives.
Romans 10:9-10 is a key set of verses that shows us what it means to confess in and be saved. We must confess Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead. Once we do so, we have allowed Him full access to our lives. But many don’t want to give everything to God. They want to hold things in dark little corners where the light won’t penetrate. When the light does catch them off guard, they give up on their walk and go back to hide in the darkness. But we can not hide forever.
Proverbs 15:3 says: “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”
Imagine how much more penetrating those eyes are for those who have confessed! Unlike roaches, God is not put off by our dark spaces sin tries to hide in. His light can penetrate all areas of our lives. If we are truly serious about surrending our lives to Him, we have to be willing to allow His light to shine through us. This means there should be no place for “roaches” to hide. He wants to clean our dark spots so that we can be free from the infestation of sin. Sin, like roaches, can infest our lives and become an overwhelming pest. Like with a bad insect infestation, we must allow “someone” to come in and remove those pests from our lives.
Our “someone” is Jesus. Roaches are not fun and neither is sin once the “light” exposes it for what it really is. Sin keeps us in darkness because that is where it thrives.
Are there roaches in your life that need to be exterminated? Are you willing to let the light solve your infestation or are you still hiding in the dark? The dark isn’t fun for anyone and nobody like roaches. God is there ready to remove your roaches. Whether you are a believer who has backslidden or is struggling with some kind of thorn in the flesh or someone who is looking for help from the infestation that is taking over and possibly destroying your life, I can tell you that God is willing to take away all that. A can of Raid will temporarily remove roaches from an imediate area, but it will never be permanent. In much the same way, the things on this earth that we seek to fill these dark holes are only temporary solutions. We need God to be the ultimate exterminator. I take comfort in the words of 2 Timothy 2:19 which says: “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.””
With a solid foundation in Christ, we can be free from sin; from an infestation that will ultimately destroy us.
Dear Lord,
We know that you and you alone have the power to remove the infestation of sin from our lives. We ask that your light will show us how we’ve allowed this infestation to build up and help pave the way to exterminate sin from our lives. Thank you for Christ who is our Lord and Savior and thank you for dying for us. We know that if we believe on you Lord Jesus that we will be saved (Acts 16:31). We confess that you are Lord and believe in our hearts that you were raised up from the grave. Thank you Lord for your love and interest in me.
Selfishness. My continuing observations of the world around me centers on that one word. Yet, most of us deny that we are living a selfish lives. We have become desensitized by the things around us. Our society has worked incredibly hard to make us think that it’s not about us when really it is. My previous post talked about where our joy comes from. I’d like you to indulge me further on this.
There are people that are simply just miserable all the time. You may know some of these people. They are the ones who come home and never have a nice thing to say about their day. This person was doing that and this person was doing this. In my line of work, it could be “this kid is like this and this kid did that.” I’ve been guilty of this on occasion, but it’s becoming less and less frequent as I learn to seek my joy from Christ rather than the situations around me.
That’s where the title of this post comes into play. Have you noticed that every sin mentioned has to do with you? Before you take this as a personaly attack, let me explain. If we look at the Ten Commandments, we see that the first 4 Commandments deal with our relationship toward God. Only one God, no idols, the sabbath, etc, teach us that God is first, holy, and deserving of our love and honor. Right there, it takes the focus off of us and puts it where it should be. The last of the commandments give us direction that will guide us in that same light.
“Do not steal” is more than just about taking something that doesn’t belong to you. It is synonymous with “Do not covet” as you probably wouldn’t have stolen the item if you hadn’t been coveting it in the first place. This makes it about “you”, or, about “us” (which ironically is also spelled with a “u”). We begin to become jealous of the person who has this “thing” that we want and we are willing to do anything to get it. “Do not kill” and “do not lie” come into play here. Many will lie and cheat to get there way even if it hurts someone else or in extreme cases, kills. Our jealousy can even hurt people close to us when it comes to loyalty to our spouses.
The religious leaders of Jesus’ time spent a lot of time asking Jesus about why He wasn’t following specific rules. The Bible tells us that Jesus knew their hearts. I believe He knew that they were more focused on each individual law that the failed to miss the bigger picture. If we look at the commandments as a whole, we see that God’s perfect plan–God’s perfect order–has always been in play. We were designed to worship Him and center our lives around His plan and will for our lives. Thus, the Ten Commandments were not given just for a check list of things not to do, but rather a way to direct us away from an “us” centered life of sin into a righteous, free life in Him. It would seem to me however that many Christians to this day focus on the minor rules without looking at the big picture.
The whole idea of this is that we shouldn’t need the Ten Commandments at all. We should be seeking after Christ and so willing to become like Him that our self won’t get in the way. Is your day or circumstance ultimately about you? Are you living your day expecting those around your to conform to your way of thinking? Do you expect people to act a certain way only to be disappointed because it didn’t go the way you had planned? If you answered yes to any of these, then you are hoping in things that will never make you content.
How do we find true contentment? We learn this in Philippians 4:8-9 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever thingsare pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there isanything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” The peace of God is neverending. If we find our peace with Him, then Christians should be the most content and happy people on earth. If you feel free to read on in Philippians 4, you will read about all the trials Paul endured and yet still found peace and contentment.
I leave you with these words from The Message Paraphrased: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30
O.K., random title. I am in sort of a random mood. But, that spices things up a bit and makes the blog more spontaneous. This comes from being very relaxed. While most people are breathing a sigh of relief because it’s the weekend, I am relaxed because the day went so well.
Earlier in the week, I had a parent ask how I was able to stay so positive and cheerful dealing with all the students. My reply was it all depends on where your joy comes from. While I’m not perfect everyday, I am finding it more and more fulfilling to cheerful in the midst of chaos rather than lash out and get angry. Actually, it keeps everything flowing more smoothly. When I am calm, the students are calmer. Calmer might sound like things are nice all the time. They really aren’t.
But, when things don’t go as planned, we are faced with a choice: Do we get upset about it or do we put it behind us? Many come home and vent in anger at the events of the day. This sends them on a downward spiral psychologically and emotionally as they begin to despair and think that nothing ever goes right. Without even meaning too or realizing it, they are in a constant state of frustration, anger, and despair. They feel like they are never happy and can never be happy.
There is good news however. We all have the power to choose how are attitude on life is going to be. Something I’ve always been taught from school, to work, to teaching is that attitude sets the stage for everything. “But Josh, you can’t be happy all the time.” Maybe not. But as a general rule, you can have joy in the midst of chaos. It all depends on your source of joy.
If your joy is dependant on the world around you and things going as planned, then I’m sorry to tell you, you will be miserable more than you are happy or satisfied. If your joy comes from money and things, I can certainly guess how you would be miserable and depressed with all the news today about the economy. If you joy comes from others, what do you do when they let you down?
My joy comes from Christ. I know that He is perfect and already paid the ultimate price for me. There is no way He can let me down because He has already done everything I ever need Him to do. I am filled with joy knowing that through Him, I can do all things (see Philippians 4:13). I know that I don’t have to operate in my own strength.
Philippians 4:13 shows us that even when we don’t feel like we can handle a situation, even when it goes terribly wrong, even when things at work and home frustrate us, we can rest assured that God will give us the strength to take it on. With His help, we will still be able to find joy in the midst of our circumstances.
So, what is making you miserable? Is it something at work? A job its self? Do you feel as if you have never been happy? That nothing ever goes right? Perhaps your “treasure” is just in the wrong place?
Oh Father,
We are blessed to know that you are our strength, our shield, and our refuge. Thank you for sending Christ to be our deliverer from our sinful ways and thank you for giving us your Word to remind us that our joy comes from You and You alone. We ask that you help us remember this as we go day by day and tackle our daily “giants”.
We thank you and pray in Jesus’ Holy name,
Amen
I wish everyone the best weekend and hope you find “joy” in all you do.
Wow, it’s been awhile since I made a blog post. The main reason for that is because I locked myself out of my WordPress account. When I tried to recover my WordPress password, I discovered it was sending my reminder to an email address that is now defunct. So, this left me stuck “behind the waterfall” so-to-speak.
So, since everything is working again, I decided to change things up a little. Thus, I introduced a new design and added a new picture (the story behind the picture can be found on the FAQ page). I took a nice little trip to the Zoo today with family. The last time I was at the Zoo was in 2006 when we took the AVCS students to the San Diego Zoo. This Zoo was no San Diego, but it was nice and pleasant. I can’t say I was disappointed.
Observations From Behind The Waterfall
As I look around, see the news, and realize how the world seems to be falling apart, I am still comforted to know that God is in control. The world is wondering “how” and “why” this has happened. I point to one simple verse. Hebrews 13:5 says: “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave nor forsake you.”” So what does that have to do with anything?
As our economy continues to spiral out of control, I continue to hear about how we, as Americans, have been living above our means. While this is a big issue, the problem lies deeper. Why do we live above our needs? Because we covet. We must have the latest gadget, gizmo, T.V., video game, etc, etc. We look at our bank accounts and know we can’t afford it. So, we swipe our credit cards and say to ourselves “I’ll just pay for it later.” Boy, do we ever pay for it! Even if we meet our obligations and pay off what we bought, we end up paying so much more than the original cost in the first place thinks to interest.
Here lately, I’ve been struggling with the issue of tithing and what it means. I think tithing, especially in the New Testament, was never meant to be a ritualistic, legalistic, system. I think instead, it was to awaken ourselves to the fact that the things of God should come first. If the things of God come first, then we begine to understand His nature and the things He wants us to invest our time and money in. Once we realize this, then we are willing to give so much more than a meager 10%. He doesn’t want our 10% if it’s going to be an imposition to us. He wants EVERY aspect of our lives, including our money.
Once we become God centered, it goes beyond money. We don’t focus on the things we don’t have anymore and instead, begin to look at things that have eternal value. We start to love the things God does and as a result, are drawn to give our money to Him in ways that will advance His message and ultimately lead people in a relationship with Him.
If you feel burdened by tithing, I implore you to pray. Ask God to guide you in an understanding of what it really means. It’s not about the 10%. It’s about Him, His word, and His will.
I read this self-help book once that told me to find my center. Often times we mistakenly think we are our center. But God should be our center, not our center-left or center-right.
What is your center? Is it the stuff you can’t have or is it God? Are you content as Hebrews 13:5 suggests? Here is my prayer:
Dear Lord,
Help us to be content. Let us find our joy in you so that we go beyond mere content and truly find happiness in the awesomeness of your glory. Lord, help us to shed our selfish ways and invest the resources you blessed us with to further your message, your word, and your love to “all the nations”. We thank you for your perfect grace and mercy.
While watching the movie 21, I began thinking of how easy it can be to let sin consume us. In “21″, an MIT student is invited to participate in a team that counts cards and earns money. When he realizes that it could be the answer he needs to get into Harvard Medical, he reasons that it will get him the money he earns and then he can quit. As you can probably guess, he doesn’t stop there. He eventually gets to the point where the money, greed, and gambling consumes him.
Throughout much of the movie, he stays focused and is able to count cards correctly thus assuring victory each time. After he begins winning time after time, it slowly begins to change him–both in appearance and character. Finally, he is so consumed by his new addiction, that he loses everything that is important to him.
While not a Christian movie, I think it’s an excellent example of what happens when we compromise. Satan is very good at making a little sin look attractive because it may end up benefitting us in the short-term. But, how often does it escalate into something more serious? In the example of “21″ he tried to justify his wrong doing by believing it would help better himself. How many times to we let things slide by saying “Just a little bit won’t hurt”?
Matthew 4:1-11 is the story of Jesus being tempted. The Spirit leads Him out into the desert where He stays for 40 days. Verse 2 in the NASB says: “And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.” I believe Satan responds to our “hungers”. Satan tried to play to Jesus’ hunger to make Him stumble, but Jesus wouldn’t budge. He wanted Jesus to turn the stones into bread so He could eat. What is the harm in that you ask? Would it have been wrong for Jesus to feed Himself?
In “21″, it wasn’t the fact that he needed money for school that was wrong. Obtaining the money for school wasn’t wrong either. It was the method and heart of the matter. When Satan tempts us, he shows us a mirage of what the outcome will be. Perhaps we even obtain that thing that looks so beautiful. But what do we lose along the way? Our character? Our integrity?
Since I’m going with a theme here, we sometimes find ourselves going “Just one pull on the slot machine won’t hurt.” But once we pull it, we start to reason. “Well, one more and that will do it.” And again; “Well, it can’t lose everytime.” Then we are hooked. I believe every temptation starts out like that. I know I get that sometimes. I get that little voice that says “Come on Josh, it’s just a little bit. What harm can it do?” But sin is like taking a small taste of your favorite desert then having it yanked from you. You can’t have just one bite. you want the whole desert!
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for Righteousness for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6
Sin is never satisfying. It always leaves us wanting more which eventually destroys our very being because we become consumed by it. In contrast, God’s word satisfies us. It is so satisfying, that you can’t live without it. This comes with time. We must be persistent to allow the Spirit to do the work intended. If we do, then we will be “hungering” after God’s word in order to be filled. Where sin leaves a void, God’s word and His love fills it.
You shall be filled if you hunger and thirst after righteousness. We are rigtheous through the saving blood of Christ. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” says Acts 16:31. Through Christ as our filter, we are righteous and thus, should be filled. That is to say, we should never be left needing anything else to fill our lives because our lives should be filled with Him. Once we have received that gift, we should be seeking others to fill.
Have you tried and tried to fill some void? Remember, just a little bit can hurt–especially when it leaves you wanting just a little bit more. I am not perfect. I know there are things that I have done as a result of adding “just a little bit”. But the more time I spend in God’s word, the less room there is for that little bit.
Alright Y’all, it’s time I recap my little road trip, so here it goes: Obviously things started out OK. We left Anza Saturday morning and arrived in Copperas Cove late Sunday. Actually, most of the trip was pretty cut and dry. Then we got to Texas and that’s when our GPS TeleNav System (Sprint) decided to get creative. We should have stayed on the 10 and went past El Paso. But we decided to trust the computerized voice and got off the 10 and follow some highway to nowhere (and nowhere is an understatement). Let’s just say I’ve never driven that long and not seen anything. It was pitch black (with the exception of a few lightning strikes) and nothing could be seen anywhere…NOTHING. And I thought Anza was bad! We drove for about 2 hours before anything that resembled civilization returned (and that ended up being nothing but a ghost town). That wasn’t the worst of it. Somehow the “Welcome To New Mexico” sign eluded us and we ended up in White City New Mexico. This “GPS” was supposed to be giving us the Fastest route. Instead, I think it decided we needed to see more of…well…nothing (literally). By the time we arrived in White, we were nearly out of gas. That was quite a scary situation seeing as how we had seen nothing for quite sometime and became worried that we wouldn’t see anything in time to fill up. But, we managed to fill up at some lonely Shell station at a price 5 cents higher than Anza (the highest price we saw the WHOLE trip). You would of thought we would have given up following the TeleNav, but we didn’t. Mostly because we didn’t bring a paper map so we would have been completely lost without it. At least we could hang on to hope that it would eventually get us to our destination. Lucky for us, it finally got us back on the Texas side of the border. Daylight was well underway by this point and we were starving. So in Seminole, we stopped at McDonald’s for Breakfast sandwiches. By this point however, we had crossed into the Central Time Zone and thought we had completely missed Breakfast. We were under the assumption that breakfast ended at 10:30 so we didn’t expect much at 10:40. Lucky for us, breakfast ended at 11 so we got our breakfast sandwiches and continued on our way. But, we were still following the TeleNav, so once again, we ended up nowhere. We saw a radio tower and a house or two (very very far apart) and wondered who would live out there? You think your drive to Walmart is far! By the way, I’m quite aware that those from Texas or those who have spent a lot of time here are probably laughing at me right now (I’m laughing too…now that I am here). So, our “guiding light” continued to take us through field after field as we hoped we would find our destination soon. Lucky for us, we at least went throught several small towns where we could get gas, but our destination still seemed so far out of reach. That was not the end of our adventure. Our TeleNav suddenly stopped working while we were in “No Where” just before a cross highway. We literally had to guess where to go next and ended up guessing right. When we finally got the TeleNav working again, we were on the right route. After over 30 hours of driving, I finally arrived in Copperas Cove, Texas. That GPS “guidance” system made me appreciate Psalm 119:105: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” God is always reliable. TeleNav (from Sprint) is not very reliable. Texas is a big (empty) state. But, God is a very big God and uses the world as His footstool. Now as things change, more than ever I am ready to let Him “light my path”. Like the GPS, we sometimes allow other things to guide us and they end up taking us places that we hadn’t intended on going. While we may still end up where we wanted to be, we might have had an easier ride if we had allow God and His plan guide our life. Thanks to all those who prayed for a safe journey. I have a lot to get used too. I’ll continue to keep you all updated.
Well, let’s get to the last first. If you don’t know, there have been some hiccups regarding me getting to Texas. Be that as it may, I am pulling out Saturday…finally. So, for those of you who have been on the edge of your seat wondering what is up–there you have it. Also, I am working on a video blog. I actually had one ready, but my computer encoded it with the wrong encoding and so, I am left to try again another day. I can tell you that I will be video-logging my move to Texas. It will be a funny, humor-filled misadventure. More details will be available as I get closer to completion. Call it a YouTube mini-movie so-to-speak.
Now for some Word.
Things with my computer and this move have had me stressed out. But I heard a podcast sermon today where the Pastor speaking said “the message of Christ is to value rest over stress.” I thought to myself “yes, that makes sense”. But it’s a lot easier said than done. I sometimes wonder why I worry–why we all worry. Is it really because it’s going to make a difference? That certainly can’t be the reason. And, do we worry about things we really should be worried about? I read a story about a guy who was worried that his grass might not grow quite as tall next year. It actually sent him to the hospital for “stress related health issues.”
There are what would appear more meaningful things to worry about. Like money. Don’t we worry about money a lot? With the Economy the way it is right now and banks merging right and left, we almost have no choice but to worry about money. But what is money? What do we use it for? I know there are things we need, but do we have faith that God will provide for those needs?
The bottom line is that we worry about money so that we can sustain the lifestyle WE want; or better yet, the lifestyle we think we deserve. But what do we deserve? Does the world owe us? Does God owe us? Perhaps maybe we have the wrong attitude toward it.
America is the wealthiest country in the world. Even our poor have it better than most other countries do. Yet roughly half of 18-49 year-olds are stressed. I think the problem is selfishness. In a previous post, I quoted the Scripture where Jesus states one of the greatest commandments is love your neighbor as yourself. Have you ever felt stressed when you put others first? I firmly agree with that Pastor I heard today that stress comes from worrying about ourselves.
If we attend to the things of God and realize that ALL belong to Him, then what do we have to worry about? We are merely stewards entrusted with the things we have–this includes money. Yet time and time again we yell and scream because we can’t pay some stupid bill we probably don’t even need. I sometimes wonder if God doesn’t have a hand in that. Could He be telling us to cut that from our life? “But we worked so hard for our money.” This is a sense of entitlement.
It’s true that many of us work hard and as a result, feel like we deserve to benefit from what we have made. But something else we deserve is death. Romans 3:23 says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and Romans 6:23 says: “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Jesus didn’t deserve death. He suffered so badly for our sins and yet, went willing to die for us anyone. He knew that so many people would reject Him and so many would still sin. But He died anyway. So who are we to say we deserve anything!? We don’t but for some reason, we still get stressed out!
We sing that song “I’ve got the peace that passes understanding down in my heart.” Peace that passes understanding is a peace and a joy that is not dependant on our situation. It’s a joy and a peace that is not about us. We should be experiencing a “peace” no matter what is happening because we have Christ as a filter to receive a gift we haven’t earned nor deserve. That is peace. That is joy. My circumstance as it is has been rather lousy, by worldly terms. But nothing I’ve been through in the past few months can compare to the agony and pain that Christ went through because of His love for me. If nothing else, He owes us nothing–we owe Him everything. Jesus was clear as to where we should set our treasures. In Matthew 6:19-24, we are told not to set our treasures here on earth where “moth and rust destroy”. Yet, it is because of those things that we get stressed and worked up over.
What am I getting at? The more I read, the more I want to draw closer to Christ. The more we set our eyes on Him, the less we have to worry about ourselves. He loves us so much that He took more humiliation, pain, and shame than any of us could ever handle. He wants us to emulate that love to others. He wants us to resonate His glory. If we are worried about ourselves and our present state, we can’t effectively do that. This is the connecting theme that resounds throughout the scriptures. When we put God and others first, we don’t have time to worry about ourselves because we are to busy meeting the needs of those around us. As a result, we will find our needs met.
I believe God ALWAYS meets the needs of His children. We taint it though because we don’t think He is meeting our needs the way we think He should. I’ve been guilty of this. I’ve expected or wanted things to go a certain way. When they don’t, I’m ready to say “well God, you didn’t meet my need this time.” In reality, He did, I just didn’t see it because of my selfish bias.
God loves us. He doesn’t want us to be stressed. And I believe He will take that burden from us if we only let Him.
Oh Lord, please remove our distractions so we can turn our eyes on you. Help us to realize that it’s only through you that we can receive peace beyond understanding.
When are you peaceful? Is it when things are good or when things are bad? If you trust God, shouldn’t you be peaceful no matter what YOUR situation is?
I encourage you to read Matthew 6:19-24. Ask God to help you apply it to your current life and situation–whether good or bad. Perhaps it’s better than you see it. Maybe after looking at your situation from God’s perspective, you will see how silly it is to be so stressed about things.
Mr. Josh
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