Marketers know that most of us are impulsive shoppers. We make snap decisions based on mood or perceived value. Choices have consequences; good or bad.
Not so wise decisions. Good choices usually include reason and research.
Which snap decisions would you like to change? How does God‘s word help you?
I love the autumn season. It is this time of year where the weather is cooler and the colors are vibrant. I also love winter as well because, for those living in the north it means snow!
Yet, harvest time is a beautiful time of year for sure! It is the last glimpse of the variety of color!
Meterologist are not farmers but both have one thing in common. They both look ahead.
This time of year the harvest is being brought into the storehouse! In Luke we find the most interesting passage of scripture.
Luke 9:62
“Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’”
This passage has many significant meetings and interpretations but the one that caught me today is perhaps speaking to me. My guess is that you’ve been there too if we were to sit down over coffee and discuss.
My schedule is full, just like yours. It seems that the more active that I am, the less I feel productive. At least I would expect more outcomes because of being more busy. You’ve been there too.
When I planted my little garden I needed to mark my lines carefully. Had I looked back my lines would not have been straight. For those using a plow, the focus had to be on the future in order to see a straight line. Those that look back drifted to the left or to the right. John Green right, “if you can’t stop thinking about it, don’t stop working on it.”
For those using a plow, the focus had to be on the future in order to see a straight line. Those that look back drifted to the left or to the right.
If I set up my schedule, I should always be looking beyond the moment just see the horizon. Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”
Long-range objectives are what keep us going. We don’t quit when we receive short term gains! Investors will tell us that about our money. So too, our Lord wants us to be looking ahead and investing in His Calling and mission.
Virtue or Vice:: Today we look at the topic of spiritual virtue.
I love a parade. My favorite part is when the veterans march by carrying flags of patriotism. I am grateful for the sacrifice of those who have served our country! It makes me stand up and tear up. Those that have sacrificed so that I can enjoy the freedoms I have should be honored! They have done what many refuse to do while so many also benefit from their sacrifice.
Before you swipe to ignore this post, please read further because you may be surprised by what I say. Many automatically slap a label on such a post, calling this just another “nationalism,” feel good, exclusive post for Americans only. Yet, it is not that and it is more than that!
I respect and honor those that have served in the military and I appreciate the historic perspective, at the least, that America has done well because of the positive Christian influence. Okay, go ahead and label me as a Christian Nationalist. While it may seem like it, I am actually a Christian globalist. I believe that my faith makes a difference in the world for the good of others. That being said, I cannot deny that I am a Christian who lives in this world! My religious values and American ideals can and do meet with the healthy values of charity, love, and goodwill.
However you may feel, please know that the point of this blog is to help explain my faith.
It is because of the sacrifice of Christ (His death on the cross) that I can be saved from sin and can become loving, caring, and giving toward others.
What has kept our country free from tyrannical control is the sacrifice of soldiers who gave, paying the price for my freedom and the freedom for others.
Today, I say THANK YOU TO VETERANS! You are heroes who invested in our freedom. You have lived out what is written in John 15:13: “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
What can we sacrifice so others can enjoy freedom?
Today I begin a little project to read and summarize my findings from the books I am reading.
I begin with a great read by Dr. D. Michael Lindsay, President of Taylor University. In fact, as I read his book, Hinge Moments, Dr. Lindsay is just beginning a his new role as newly elected president. He is experiencing transitions in real time!
This book looks at several interviews of popular individuals that have experience transitions in their lives. It is a book that perhaps was intended for college students has become more popular among others as well. In the book he differentiate between change and transition.
One of the quotes that I found most compelling is found in just the very introduction of the book that reads; “For all of us there is only one thing that remains the same – the fact that nothing does.”
Taken from his own personal experiences and also interviews with very popular and interesting people, Lindsay helps define the principles and ideas that deal with the transitions in our lives. His book is an easy read and very compelling.
I’m a person who loves to underline the interesting facts found in books and articles. Sometimes it’s one sentence out of a paragraph that jumps out at me but in this book, I find myself underlining far more. My guess is that I will re-read the book and extend my highlights with my yellow highlight marker to draw out distinctive from my first read.
A summary of the book can be found on page 20 when the author simply states; “There are at least three kinds of changes we face: those we wouldn’t choose but we can see coming, those we choose ourselves, and those that flood our homes at two in the morning.” (Referring to my personal experience as a child when this home was flooded.)
And interesting diagram is provided as an outline for the book that begins with one axiom going up call confidence in another axiom moving right called time. Within these are a series of steps that occur through the transitions in our lives.
Each chapter unpacks each of these beginning with discernment, anticipation, and intersection that reduce our confidence but over time, we begin to unpack the remaining chapters he unpacks the following outline beginning with landing, then integration, the inspiration, and finally realization.
This book is not written just for the young adult but for everyone who anticipates and experiences life’s transitions. It’s a book that helps each of us make the most of life’s transitions (also the sub title).
I WISH … I could lose a few pounds … I made more money … I could change this or that …. We all have made, “I wish” statements. It is common to all of us. We remain positive and determined. This optimism is what keeps us moving forward and a healthy dose of wishful thinking isn’t bad.
It’s also important to realize that God has a purpose for us and we can make a difference in the lives of others. Perhaps there is something you wish for in others and not from others. Maybe there is a blessing you can be to someone else instead of just yourself. God is in the business of granting wishes but likely for the potential of helping another along the way.
Wishing has to include his companion call to action. A healthy combination of both wishing and doing might yield the kind of return that we hope for. Not everything can be determined by our persistence but if we don’t lean in we may never discover it.
What is your first step of action after wishing? When will you begin?
The more you know, the less you really know. It makes sense when you think about it. It seems that the more you discover the more questions you really have about the discovery. Inquisitive minds are interested in unraveling the mysteries of this world. Truly the inquisitive mind is humble enough to admit their need for answers.
Some of the smartest people are also humble enough to admit that there’s so much more to learn. Smart people ask good questions. You met them and so have I; they are the ones that ask because they seek to understand. They explore the things we are too afraid (too intimidated) to explore. They don’t settle with just knowing and are not too proud of what they have discovered.
Wisdom can be traced to asking good questions of the One who created us. Solomon knew that the awesome fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom.
Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. (Proverbs 9:10)
Start asking questions to discover Truth. The answers are like buried treasures. Their value is in the searching and once found, it is cherished. Yet, it caused the truly interested sealer to see for deeper meaning with every new discovery.
Star today by asking these simple questions: Why do I exist? What is God teaching me about myself? How does that inform my decision making?
A goal is not always meant to be reached; it often serves simply as something to aim at. –Bruce Lee
If you want to accomplish anything in life, you can't just sit back and hope it will happen. You've got to make it happen.Chuck Norris
People often as me the question, “What you doing today?” Too often I look at my calendar to answer the question without really comprehending the opportunities. I often have missed the significance of such a question. I am too often skipping through my day without even a thought of God’s plan for my day-to-day activities.
I’ve come to learn that God actually has another plan for my daily activities. That is usually very different from what I would assume to be his plan. But in actuality, God works in mysterious ways. If I would allow him, they would be far more surprises and reasons for personal testimonies. I would perhaps see more God sightings if I thought more clearly of His plan that I often overlook.
We’re all filled with distractions. We put our minds to work on the natural and often miss the supernatural. You see, if my day is planned by myself, any good that may come of it is quickly stolen away by my bragging which leaves little room for God’s Glory!
Often we pack our schedules leaving little room for God to do what he would choose to do if only we let him. Nevertheless, God does interrupt our day. He does this usually to remind us of the importance things of life; God’s plan. We can miss tremendous opportunities that only God could orchestrate.
Colossians 4:3 — And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.
What if we thought in terms of Colossians 4:3 every day? Making if we made this our daily prayer? What if we spent time asking God for opportunities so that we would proclaim his truth in the life of another? What if that interruption, though annoying as it may be is just really God’s way of nudging us to a deeper and more meaningful experience both with him and in the lives of others?
There are many in our world today that are longing for God‘s meaningful touch in their lives. And yet there are many who fill their schedules so that they can find meaning of their own lives. I wonder, could God make a plan that would both satisfy the needs of those looking for God‘s touch while also satisfying the needs of others looking for mean in their lives?
Who is the most powerful person you have ever met? For Christians, the most powerful meets us where we are. In prayer, we speak with God through Jesus, who intercedes for us. Prayer, simply put, is talking to God through our intercessor, Jesus Christ.
Prayer connects us to God because of what Jesus did on our behalf. It is through Jesus that we have an advocate, bringing our needs before God in heaven. Without going into depth theologically, prayer is simply the lining of our will with God‘s Will.
When we pray we seek wisdom, direction, help, and hope. Through God’s Grace we have access to the most powerful, who is God. Prayer not only changes things, it changes us. “Cast all your concern on Him.” (1 Peter 5:7)
What do you need to talk to God about?
Matthew 18:12-14
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
God demonstrates His love by coming to the least and lonely. He left His heavenly home to become our sin offering!
After the disciples had grumbled with one another about who was the greatest, Jesus instructs them using the example of a child. He reminds them to care about what matters to God!
Matthew 18:2He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
I want to share with you how the scripture applies to each one of us as we think about our responsibility in God’s Kingdom, for His sake and for His glory.
I want a key in on the following passage in Matthew 18:12 - 14. It is about the good shepherd.
Our Good Shepherd has extended his grace for even just one of us!
— The least!
— The last!
— The lost!
We love children and youth (& their families) because Jesus cares about them. **We ARE THAT ONE JESUS LEFT THE NINETY NINE TO RESCUE!!**
Understanding of the good shepherd, who would die to protect his sheep. And even for just one, leaving the 99 for JUST ONE!!
Children are the example Jesus gives to define the importance of the Shepherd. He notes that children are near to his heart, they are the vulnerable!
We read further that the intent for understanding the parable is to know that Jesus is divine!
John 10:11: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
And further, verses 14-16. Vs. 14: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”
Here we read that Jesus is the Greatest Shepherd, God with us! He is our protector and defender. He is willing to lay down his own life!
There are three questions we are encouraged to answer as we reflect on the Word of God.
The least! Who is beneath you?
The last! Who is behind you?
The lost! Who is outside of your vision?
Do good! These simple words are hard to live by – all the time by everybody. Yet, doing good is protected by many “Good Samaritan Laws”. These are laws making it possible to do good for others in need.When it within your reach and capacity to help others, it would be an ethical violation to not do good for others in need. The 9 qualities of love are eternal values. (See Galatians 5:22-23)
Galatians 6:9 :: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
God responded to our need by giving grace to everyone and He makes it possible to “do good” (against such there is no law).
Discerning what is best requires careful planning and yielding to God’s plan. It involves prayer to seek God’s best. Excellence is found in what God does and as we follow Him, we seek to not just be better but to do what is best.
What can you do today to help others? When do you plan to do good for others.