Monday, January 31, 2011
excuses
I have been a little bit under the weather the last few days. The reason for missing a couple of blogs. Should be back to normal, what ever normal is soon.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Silent Lies
I ran across Galatians 1:10 today and to be honest I don't like it very much, it says:
Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
Here is why it bothers me. I work really hard at not telling any lies and overall I do a pretty good job. However this verse convicts me because sometimes by being silent I am not being honest and is not being honest any different than telling a lie?
Sometimes I tend to lean to the side of winning the approval of people when it comes to the truth. I think if I tell them the truth they won't like me, or they will think I'm off the deep end and then I will never have a chance. So I keep quite.
What I need to keep reminding myself is if a blind person was walking towards a end of a cliff should I really care what they think if I were to warn them?
Now I also have to keep in mind that telling the truth about the Gospel has to be done in love, that I do have to listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and that I don't have to do it all myself. All I need to do is to keep in mind that in the end it's all up to God.
So why not do things for His approval and not man's?
Pleasing people instead of God in the end doesn't do anyone any good.
When it comes to the Gospel message being quite may not be a lie, but it's not the truth. Don't the people around you deserve the truth?
Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
Here is why it bothers me. I work really hard at not telling any lies and overall I do a pretty good job. However this verse convicts me because sometimes by being silent I am not being honest and is not being honest any different than telling a lie?
Sometimes I tend to lean to the side of winning the approval of people when it comes to the truth. I think if I tell them the truth they won't like me, or they will think I'm off the deep end and then I will never have a chance. So I keep quite.
What I need to keep reminding myself is if a blind person was walking towards a end of a cliff should I really care what they think if I were to warn them?
Now I also have to keep in mind that telling the truth about the Gospel has to be done in love, that I do have to listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and that I don't have to do it all myself. All I need to do is to keep in mind that in the end it's all up to God.
So why not do things for His approval and not man's?
Pleasing people instead of God in the end doesn't do anyone any good.
When it comes to the Gospel message being quite may not be a lie, but it's not the truth. Don't the people around you deserve the truth?
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Is this all we really need?
This morning as I finished up Hebrews in chapter 13 verses 20 and 21 I found a prayer that in my head went ding, ding, ding, ding. If you stop and think about it what more could you possibly pray about for yourself, a family member, a friend, or a complete stranger.
20 Now may the God of peace—
who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep,
and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
21 may he equip you with all you need
for doing his will. May he produce in you,[e]
through the power of Jesus Christ,
every good thing that is pleasing to him.
All glory to him forever and ever! Amen
If we are equipped to do his will and do it, and everything that we do is pleasing to Him really what else is there?
Something to really think about.
20 Now may the God of peace—
who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep,
and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
21 may he equip you with all you need
for doing his will. May he produce in you,[e]
through the power of Jesus Christ,
every good thing that is pleasing to him.
All glory to him forever and ever! Amen
If we are equipped to do his will and do it, and everything that we do is pleasing to Him really what else is there?
Something to really think about.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
How to become a hero
Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
In reading Hebrews this morning I was struck by the fact that chapter 11 was the who's who of Old Testament Bible hero's. 17 people in all are listed by name, plus the people of Israel and all the prophets. The thing that really caught my attention was the three words in front of each of these names and the account of what they did was in fact the blue prints to become a hero ourselves. Those three words: IT WAS BY FAITH.
This exact phrase is used 16 times in the same chapter so it must be important.
Then Hebrews 12 follows up with a practical application on how to become a hero by keeping our eyes on Jesus.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.[a] Because of the joy[b] awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Verse 2 is so cool. Jesus is the champion. He initiates and perfects our faith. Then the end of the verse is what should keep us going through the roughest times.
Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
All because of faith we too can become a hero and do great things, endure great hardships and most importantly have hope.
In reading Hebrews this morning I was struck by the fact that chapter 11 was the who's who of Old Testament Bible hero's. 17 people in all are listed by name, plus the people of Israel and all the prophets. The thing that really caught my attention was the three words in front of each of these names and the account of what they did was in fact the blue prints to become a hero ourselves. Those three words: IT WAS BY FAITH.
This exact phrase is used 16 times in the same chapter so it must be important.
Then Hebrews 12 follows up with a practical application on how to become a hero by keeping our eyes on Jesus.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.[a] Because of the joy[b] awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Verse 2 is so cool. Jesus is the champion. He initiates and perfects our faith. Then the end of the verse is what should keep us going through the roughest times.
Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
All because of faith we too can become a hero and do great things, endure great hardships and most importantly have hope.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
We are all a bunch of Gomer's
Today's blog is going to be short and sweet. I was reminded this week of the story of Hosea and Gomer.
What a picture of forgiveness and redemption. Gomer slept around, had kids by other men, took off and left Hosea. Then after she had her fun and was stripped of her beauty and no one wanted her. After she had hit what she thought had to be rock bottom she was then put for auction as a slave. But then Hosea steps in and out of love and grace he bought his own wife back. What a great love story, the stuff movies and romance novels are of.
But that is really not the story here. The story is that we are all a bunch of Gomers we have all prostituted ourselves to idols and in our sad condition when we are not worthy, when we are up on the auction block at the back of the room up goes Jesus' nail holes in his hand and he pays for us with his own blood because of his Grace.
Thank God for that.
Please take the time and read chapters 1-3 of Hosea today they are short and filled with love and redemption.
What a picture of forgiveness and redemption. Gomer slept around, had kids by other men, took off and left Hosea. Then after she had her fun and was stripped of her beauty and no one wanted her. After she had hit what she thought had to be rock bottom she was then put for auction as a slave. But then Hosea steps in and out of love and grace he bought his own wife back. What a great love story, the stuff movies and romance novels are of.
But that is really not the story here. The story is that we are all a bunch of Gomers we have all prostituted ourselves to idols and in our sad condition when we are not worthy, when we are up on the auction block at the back of the room up goes Jesus' nail holes in his hand and he pays for us with his own blood because of his Grace.
Thank God for that.
Please take the time and read chapters 1-3 of Hosea today they are short and filled with love and redemption.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Ribs or bread?
I hate it when I convict myself. Well I know it's not really me. The other day I was sharing what I thought was a brilliant point with some people and I walked away feeling pretty good about myself. Then slowly as the hours passed I didn't feel so good, conviction started to set in.
We were talking about telling others about Christ even if they would not ever get it. Here is what I said that I have not stopped thinking a about since.
When I find a great place to eat I get all excited and tell everyone about it. Especially if it is a barbeque place. I bring it up in almost every conversation. I would tell someone about this great barbeque place not knowing that they may hate barbeque, but that does not stop me. Then if I find out later I think to my self oh well, I can't help it they don't like barbeque their loss. Then go on and tell the next person.
Here is the rub (no pun intended). The thing that I have not been able to stop thinking about since. Am I as excited about Christ and what he has done for me as I am about Jethro's and Jimmy Jack's? I mean a person can get a good rack of ribs at these two places but what about the bread of life?
I should be talking more about the most important J. Not Jethro, Jimmy or Jack but Jesus.
John 6:35
Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
We were talking about telling others about Christ even if they would not ever get it. Here is what I said that I have not stopped thinking a about since.
When I find a great place to eat I get all excited and tell everyone about it. Especially if it is a barbeque place. I bring it up in almost every conversation. I would tell someone about this great barbeque place not knowing that they may hate barbeque, but that does not stop me. Then if I find out later I think to my self oh well, I can't help it they don't like barbeque their loss. Then go on and tell the next person.
Here is the rub (no pun intended). The thing that I have not been able to stop thinking about since. Am I as excited about Christ and what he has done for me as I am about Jethro's and Jimmy Jack's? I mean a person can get a good rack of ribs at these two places but what about the bread of life?
I should be talking more about the most important J. Not Jethro, Jimmy or Jack but Jesus.
John 6:35
Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Monday, January 24, 2011
On sale vs. a good deal
I just wanted to go on record as saying I would rather get a good deal on something rather than buying it on sale. In today's marketing everything is on sale they mark it up, then mark it down and say it's on sale and then tell you how much you have saved. That just burns me for some reason. After shopping this weekend I want to tell you the different between a sale and a good deal.
Example 1
I went to a store and they had a dress shirt for $13 I thought that was what the shirt was worth to me. The catch was it was on sale for get this 75% off. It was on sale and I saved over $40, yea right.
Example 2
I went to another store and bought a pair of dress pants they were marked at $19 I thought that that was a fair, a good price the only things was do I get just one pair or two? Then when I went to check out the pants rang up $10. Perhaps it was a mistake so I went back and got the black pair that had a different upc# and they also rang up for $10 also. Now that's a good deal, much better than a sale.
So when ever someone tells me they got something on sale I just roll my eyes.
I would rather get a good deal on something than getting it on sale, a good deal is when you can bu something for significantly less than what you would be willing to pay for it at full price.
Just venting, my family is used to it.
Example 1
I went to a store and they had a dress shirt for $13 I thought that was what the shirt was worth to me. The catch was it was on sale for get this 75% off. It was on sale and I saved over $40, yea right.
Example 2
I went to another store and bought a pair of dress pants they were marked at $19 I thought that that was a fair, a good price the only things was do I get just one pair or two? Then when I went to check out the pants rang up $10. Perhaps it was a mistake so I went back and got the black pair that had a different upc# and they also rang up for $10 also. Now that's a good deal, much better than a sale.
So when ever someone tells me they got something on sale I just roll my eyes.
I would rather get a good deal on something than getting it on sale, a good deal is when you can bu something for significantly less than what you would be willing to pay for it at full price.
Just venting, my family is used to it.
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