November 9, 2009 in
Attitude,Communication with God,Determination,Failure,Faith,Perspective,Prayer,Relationship with God,Spiritual Disciplines,True Stories with
We recently committed “cell phone provider adultery” by leaving Verizon Wireless, whom we have been with almost a decade, and going with their bitter rival, AT&T. The first few months have been an adjustment – new phones, new customer service, and a whole new process to learn. One of the things we did not anticipate in our initial switch was that most of our family still has Verizon as their service provider, so we went over our minutes in our first month because we lost our free mobile to mobile minutes. On the last day of our billing cycle I checked our minute usage and we were already 50 minutes over, which would have incurred more than $20 in overage charges. Maybe that is not a problem for you, but I HATE paying overage charges for anything! On a whim, I contacted AT&T customer service and explained my dilemma and the gentleman was very kind in listening to my predicament. As I was talking, I was thinking, “This guy probably thinks I’m an idiot! There’s no way he is going to respond to my request.” To my surprise, the AT&T customer service representative understood and told me that he would add 200 minutes to my account and that if I didn’t use those extra minutes this month, they would roll over to next month.
I learned something through that process – asking must precede receiving. Without asking, you’ll never receive. Maybe the reason you have not yet received something is because you’ve never asked. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
September 9, 2009 in
Communication with God,God,Prayer,Random Thinking,Relationship with God,Sin,Unspecific Ramblings with
While spending some time alone with God yesterday, I felt the need to confess feelings of apathy I’ve been experiencing in certain parts of my life lately. As I was praying, I sensed the need to locate some Scripture which could serve as a challenge for restoration and revival in my personal connection with God, so I randomly opened up the Bible and it fell to Psalm 80. Here is what I read,
“Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved! O Lord God of hosts, How long will You be angry against the prayer of Your people? You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in great measure. You have made us a strife to our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves. Restore us, O God of hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!” (Psalm 80:3-7)
Even though this passage was most likely written as a prayer for the nation of Israel to repent of their apostasy and be restored to God, I am convinced that this principle is still applicable today. There are times when all of us become distracted or even blinded by apathy and need God to restore our hearts to the time when we first fell in love with Him. When I “randomly” opened up the Bible today, I believe God knew exactly what I needed and I’m now praying that He will restore me each day.
August 21, 2009 in
Anger,Attitude,Funny Stories,God,Relationship with God,Sin,True Stories,Weakness with
Traffic is never a factor in our city; sure, we may have occasional delays and minor traffic jams, but I’ve never been more than 10-15 minutes late because everyone was trying to get to the same place. Having grown up in a large city (shout out to Charlotte, NC), I know the difference between minor and major delays so it really perturbs me when people in my small town get ticked about slight hangups on the roadway. For instance, I was on my way to work the other day and, by chance, I glanced into my rear-view mirror when I noticed a gentleman who appeared a bit agitated at another driver causing an inconsequential hindrance to this man’s route. Next thing I know, the impatient man pulls up beside the other driver, rolls down his window, and gives him the ol’ “one finger wave.” The fast-fingered driver then sped up and pulled over behind me, which is the wrong place to be because I cannot go fast for fear of another speeding ticket. I awaited my own close up of this man’s middle finger; however, after a brief episode of tailgating, he finally put his turn signal on and pulled into the parking lot…of a behavioral physician. I thought to myself, “That makes sense.” A guy who obviously cannot manage his behavior on his own needs help from someone outside himself.
I have a lot in common with that guy.
“Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” – the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 7:24-25
August 17, 2009 in
Fear,Funny Stories,Life,Relationship with God,Sin,True Stories,Weakness with
Learning to ride her bike this summer was one of the big accomplishments for my seven year old daughter, Lexi. She began with riding around in the driveway and eventually moved to the streets of our neighborhood…with our supervision, of course. A couple days ago, both her and my son went riding together on the next street over from us, but I could still see them from the backyard of our house. Lexi was enjoying her leisurely ride until a very poofy white dog, who was not on a leash, came running after her. Lexi is not scared of that much, but loose dogs (big or small) freak her out! Instead of pedaling faster to escape the pursuing canine, she abandoned her bike and began to run as fast as her little feet would carry her; however, it wasn’t fast enough. By this time in the chase, all I could hear was Lexi screaming and crying as the dog closed in on her and finally backed her into a place without an escape route. About this time, the owner of the dog showed up and saved the day but Lexi was not impressed with his neglect to keep his dog on a leash. Needless to say, she was pretty shaken up.
As Lexi gets older, I hope she learns the importance of staying on the bike because sometimes running isn’t the best way of escape.
August 4, 2009 in
Failure,Fear,Funny Stories,God,Guilt,Relationship with God,Sin,True Stories,Weakness with
Several years ago we had guests at our home for a weekend, which usually means an adjustment in our daily habits. I’m not talking about bad habits but normal, everyday things you can only do around your own family. Since our house is two levels (and also includes a basement), most of the adjustment only takes place on the ground-level floor. Normal activity resumes on the second floor where it is immediate family only. There is one slight connection between the ground level and the second floor by way of the stairs so that if you stand at the very bottom of our stairs, you can see straight into the upstairs bathroom if the door is open.
On Sunday morning, I got up early to take a shower and upon finishing I exited the bathroom with just shorts and no shirt on; however, as soon as I exited, I noticed that the female guest in our home was about to make her way up the stairs to the bathroom because she thought I was already done. Unfortunately, she saw me without my shirt on and I was extremely embarrassed. Although some guys may not think this is a big deal, I did because I’m not one who enjoys mowing the lawn with his shirt off or playing a basketball game where the teams are divided by shirts and skins. It’s just not me…it makes me feel as if someone has seen a part of me that was not meant for them to see. Now that you know my true feelings, I’m sure this will put to rest all the rumors flying about me being the shirtless model plastered on the wall of Abercrombie & Fitch!
Setting aside the physical aspect of this thought, I believe many of us can identify with the mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects. When someone catches an unauthorized view of a particular area of our life, we often retreat in shame. No one enjoys being exposed because of a weakness, a seemingly uncontrollable addiction, or an area of extreme vulnerability. Through years of experience, many have become experts at covering up these undesirable parts without realizing that “the eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). This means that God sees you – all of you…but He loves You anyway. Paul writes that God demonstrated His love toward us, that even though we were sinners, Christ still died for us (Romans 5:8).
July 27, 2009 in
God,Random Thinking,Relationship with God,Sin,The Gospel,Unspecific Ramblings with
I really enjoy writing. Since my journey in blogging began on April 17, 2007, I have published nearly 600 posts which mainly center on two topics: Bible Commentary and Real Life Stories. The Bible Commentary section of this blog started as a challenge to myself about being more consistent in studying God’s word and also developing something for my own kids to be able to use one day in their own journey through the Bible. This personal study of the Bible has been an exciting part of my spiritual growth over the past few years and hopefully into the future. My goal is to finish my thoughts on the New Testament by the beginning of 2010 and then start my trek through the Old Testament, which I’m certain will take several years.
The second part of my blogging adventure began on March 8, 2008, when I created a new dimension to my blog by incorporating random thoughts and real life stories with spiritual applications. This usually turns into an attempt to view everyday life with a sense of humor while providing a chance for personal reflection.
Considering all the reasons I write, there is one particular truth that I hope you do not miss. Thousands of years ago God created people to be like Him and have a relationship with Him (Genesis 1:27); however, the first two human beings were deceived by a fallen angel, Lucifer, and their disobedience brought sin into the world (Genesis 3:1-13; Romans 5:12). God had already warned Adam that breaking His commandment would result in death (Genesis 2:16-17), but Adam ignored the consequence for sin and chose his own way. Because God loved man (John 3:16), His prized creation, He immediately promised them a future deliverer who would conquer sin and death (Genesis 3:15). Thousands of years later God sent His only Son, Jesus, who was born of the virgin Mary to become this deliverer from sin and death through sacrificing His own life on the cross (Matthew 1:18-25). Since death is the only way to pay for sin, man now has two possibilities to pay this penalty: either man can pay for his own sins through physical death and eternity in hell (Revelation 20:11-15) or he can repent of sin and receive by faith that Jesus’ death was in place of his own and that His resurrection guaranteed eternal life in heaven (Romans 10:9-10; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus is why I blog. He has provided new and eternal life to all who repent of sin and believe in Him; therefore, I use my words to hopefully point people to the benefits of living life God’s way.
July 24, 2009 in
Determination,Faith,God,Prayer,Relationship with God,The Will of God,Trials with
Not too long ago I began reading Luke’s account of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and I have not been able to shake some truths I gleaned from the first chapter (Luke 1:5-25, 57-64). A couple named Zacharias (a priest) and Elizabeth were elderly, but felt unfulfilled in their lives because they had never been blessed with a child. It appears that they had prayed for years (1:13) that God would answer their request, but year after year God was silent and no answer was in sight. All hope seemed to be lost for this couple whom Luke describes as “righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (1:6). The question of fairness comes into view here because why wouldn’t God answer the desperate prayers of two people who were doing everything right? Little did they know that God was already at work…just not on their timeframe.
God sends an angel to Zacharias in order to reveal that he and Elizabeth were going to be parents, but Zacharias has a hard time believing that a man his age was going to be able to…well, you know. The angel gives Zacharias a sign, which also doubles as a consequence for his disbelief, and he cannot speak until John (the Baptist) is born. In my opinion, Zacharias prayed for God to answer without being fully convinced that He would respond.
When the same angel later appears to Mary, the mother of Jesus and relative of Elizabeth, he reveals to her that Elizabeth is pregnant and will soon give birth. Luke documents the angel’s words to Mary, “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible” (1:36). Our God specializes in making the impossible possible for those who are righteous and walking in His ways.
Maybe you’re tired of asking? Maybe you are convinced that God is not listening? But maybe tomorrow or the next day is the day God will arrive and make what once seemed impossible a reality.
You can hear more of my unfiltered thoughts on this story at the Summit this coming Sunday at 10:15am!
June 30, 2009 in
Determination,Failure,Life,Motivation,Relationship with God,Sin,Temptation,Transformation,True Stories,Weakness with
Ants were not meant to live in homes, especially mine; but for some reason, ants enjoy the comfy confines of our household. Every single year, usually around this time, we spot those tiny little insects roaming the kitchen and bathroom floor as if they owned the place and although they seem to be oblivious to our presence, we always notice them. I must be honest. I step on the ants. I’m sorry if you are offended by my inhumane actions, but I do. Sometimes I even do the squash and twist to make sure they are dead. The frustrating thing is that even though I’ve put countless ants to death, they keep coming back. I cannot get rid of them. My non-scientific reasoning for failing to exterminate the ants is that I have yet to discover where they are entering; in reality, I could continue killing ants all day long without ever completely eliminating them. I guess my time would be better spent in finding the unguarded source.
Sound familiar? Many people will spend much time and energy trying to correct unwanted behavior (killing ants) instead of facing the real source of their actions. The wise writer of Proverbs says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do” (Proverbs 4:23). When a person’s heart is not guarded by truth and righteousness, wrong behavior will be repeated. Do you ever wonder why you keep looking at porn, continue rising up in anger, or run from the things God wants you to do? And is the real answer found in purity software (which I’m not against), counting to 10 and taking a deep breath, or making deals with God?
Maybe it’s time for you to quit killing ants and begin protecting the place where they are entering.
In case you missed it, read yesterday’s post entitled “One Pastor’s Struggle.”
June 23, 2009 in
Funny Stories,Life,Relationship with God,True Stories with
“I swear! People are so lazy these days!” These are the words which crossed my mind as I patiently awaited for a “good for nothing employee” to open the bay door so I could get my oil changed at our local lube station. My kids were in the back seat starting to fight so it became even more imperative for whoever was taking an extended smoking break out back to take their last puff and serve the customers. Finally, an employee took his sweet time walking over to my car, so I rolled the window down and put on my best pastoral smile. “How’s it going,” I asked. “Good,” said the young employee. He continued, “I just wanted to let you know that the oil change station closed an hour ago.” About the same time, my eye caught the big sign with the hours posted right in front of my face and sure enough, he was right. Even worse was the fact that I had to reverse my car (because the bay door was already locked) to take the drive of shame as, I’m sure, all the employees were pointing and laughing at the idiot who can’t read the hours sign.
I wasted so much time waiting when the answer was right there. Life seems to work so much better when a person stays alert to those things which are already revealed.
What things are obvious, yet being ignored in your life?
June 12, 2009 in
Communication with God,Prayer,Random Thinking,Relationship with God,Spiritual Disciplines with
I’ve been praying for years. I’m not talking about the Ben Stiller, Meet the Parents prayer or the Will Ferrell, Talledaga Nights prayer, but real times of conversation with God. I don’t say that in pride or arrogance, but as someone who has practiced a spiritual discipline consistently, yet has never felt as if I am doing it quite right. Although I’m confident God is listening, I always walk away thinking I should be further developing this habit. Over the last several weeks, I have been in one of my many dry spells which, I believe, plagues every individual who prays. You know what I’m talking about? You begin asking questions such as, “Is God interested in my prayers?” “Is prayer really worth my time?” “Does prayer make a difference?” Instead of giving up, I usually try to push through these desert times and pray anyway. I must admit – sometimes it is difficult to continue on; however, I know it will eventually pass.
This week I decided to be more intentional about my prayers by actually writing them out. It was just what I needed. Seeing the words to my prayers in my own handwriting forced me to see exactly what was near to my heart.
So, it’s time for you to contribute. What things have helped you push through times when God seems distant? What can I do next time I enter a desert moment?
