Talking to the Creator!

 

God is always . . . .

 

Pursue God

 

Knowing Jesus . . . Do YOU?

 

Pursuing God daily....

 

24/7 relationship

 

A lifetime of blessings rolls on....

 

Keep growing that relationship with God

 

Resisting Satan...

The "S" word....

 

It takes effort.

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded . . . .(James 4:7-8)

It takes effort! Yes.....we still have some work to do. This is what Paul says in Philippians 2:12, as he instructs us to work out our salvation. 

(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%202%3A12-13&version=NKJV) 

You see, Jesus did the work as far as our sacrifice and redemption. However, now we must give the Holy Spirit reign in our lives and decide to follow Christ and deny Satan daily. 

Christianity is an active faith and an interactive relationship with Jesus Christ. It is NOT a religion. It takes effort!

Spend time with God today and everyday . . . throughout the day!

My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. (Psalm 62:7-8)

Many call upon God when things get challenging . . . and that is acceptable and understood. However, most of go through our daily routines oblivious to God . . . like He doesn't care so much about our everyday, ho-hum life. Yet He does! He notices everything!

The more we include God in our everyday life . . .  no matter how insignificant we may think it is . . . it strengthens our dependance upon God and our confidence in Him. Our relationship with Him becomes a daily, 24/7 thing. By the way, it also pleases God that we include Him in everything!

This way, when things do go haywire, we are already in touch with our Rock and Savior! We do not have go search for Him or feel ashamed in any way. Spend time with God today and everyday . . . throughout the day!

from my performance to His presence

Moving from my performance to His presence . . .

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works . . . (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Let these words sit and permeate our souls for a while. God did not create me to do things to be noticed. He created me to bring notice to Him. He saved me from eternal hell to know Him eternally and to share Him with others so they too may know Him.

Everything I do is for His glory and renown, not my popularity or promotion. We cannot possibly do anything to gain salvation in Christ. It is His grace. Once saved however, our works, which He establishes in us, will bring Him glory and recognition.

I am striving to move from my performance into His presence.

No pain . . . no gain!

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him . . . (Philippians 3:7-9)

We tend to gain a lot of things over the course of a lifetime. If we simply look back over the last year, we can probably name a few things we have now that we did not have a year ago. Not all things are good either!

However, what we have gathered . . . what we have accomplished . . . what we have obtained has not real value if Christ was not included in the gathering. Most of what we name has good memories. We gain education, friendships, rewards in sports, job promotions, and the like. Some may have gathered wealth, homes and cars. Yet what have we really gained?

I have found that it is the losses that we really gain in life. This is where we learn the real life lessons . . . lessons that last an eternity! 

We all have heard the expression in the gym; No pain, No gain! It is true in our spiritual walk as well. The pains and losses we go through in life are where we gain the closeness of God. We feel His presence. We run to Him and trust in Him more. Failures cause us to communicate with Him more and we receive the richness of His presence and comfort. The pain we experience leads to a gain in our relationship with Jesus!

leave everything better than we found it

Everything we have is ultimately a gift from the Lord and belongs to Him. The goal of our life should not be to accumulate the maximum amount of wealth we possibly can, but to live in right relationship with God, others, and the world He created. 

Today is a good day to celebrate the truth that:

 

“The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it” (Ps. 24:1).

I was taught to believe that we should leave everything better than we found it. This does not only apply to places we gather, but also this earth we live upon and the relationships we have. 

Can we say that about our own lives? Do we live in such a way that we honor God and are grateful for all He supplies. Do we respect the venues where we eat, stay, or attend events? Are people better off having been in our presence?  

These things tell a lot about who we are and Whose we are!

What we need is eternal vision.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:28-31)

I wish someone had informed me of many of the things I know now when I was young, especially things of God. I "grew up in church" but was rarely taught how to apply anything to my life. What I realized was from God came directly from Him as He drew me to Himself over the years. Now at sixty-two and thirty years into a real relationship with the Lord, I can look back and see His hand in everything . . . from a five year old baseball player, high school and college sports, a lifetime of coaching, twenty-five years of missions work, and now teaching for twelve years in middle and high school.

So why mention that now? My desire is to build into the young people and their families what God is doing in their lives so they do not miss it like I did! Many of our experiences as a youth is God's way of preparing us for His work in the future. Individually the experiences may seem trivial . . . a family vacation, middle school disappointments, failed relationships, victories and defeats in sports, etc. However, as an entire package, one can see God knitting everything together for your use in His Kingdom. 

What we need is eternal vision. Our young people need to know how to see with biblical vision and not worldly sight. It has to be taught , modeled, and explained. 

Religion or Relationship?

 Religion or relationship . . . what is your choice? We can choose to develop a religious habit of worshipping an idol or a building or we can experience a daily relationship with the Creator of the universe, whereby each day brings new encounters and surprises. We can commit to a schedule of worship or dedicate ourselves to deepening our relationship with the God Who holds us within His hands.

Do you know this God? Do you trust this God? Rather are you religiously seeking something to keep you occupied day after day? The God I know, as Paul states below, both gives and maintains my relationship with Him! He gives me life!

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. (Acts 17:23-25)

How should we fast? Lent 2022

 How should we fast? Most identify fasting with some sort of denial f food for a period of time, as when Jesus. fasted forty days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11) However, fasting can also be about giving up anything that keeps us from Christ and our proper relationship with Him. It is not only a time of giving up, but giving back!

Whether it is giving up food or and activity, we spend that time we would have been eating (or  something else) and spend time with the Lord in prayer, song, scripture reading, etc. We can also use the expenses normally used on the activity and give back to a local charity,  a local mission, or even our church!

While fasting, we are also reminded by Jesus not to advertise it! It is between us and Him, not for anyone else's benefit! 

Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. (Matthew 6:16-18)

So what is hindering your relationship with the Lord today . . . . food, language, sports, social media, relationships? Do we need to take a closer look at these things and spend less time here and more time with Christ and His Word? Have a conversation with Jesus today! 

How should we fast?

Connections are essential!

Remember "connecting the numbers" as a child?  We would be presented with a design with numbers that resembled something, but we could not quite see it. We had to trace the numbers in order to really understand it. Then we would color it in and really experience it. 

Life and relationships are the same way. We pass by people daily and see a shadow many times. We even ask "What's up?", or "How 'ya doin'?", but before anyone answers we have already passed each other by. 

Connections are essential! 

Look at the drawing below. What do you see? A faint image right? One that requires a deeper focus to really see or understand. It requires time and investment. It requires connection. 

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Colossians 4:5-6)

My wife reminds me daily of the importance of connection, but it took someone else to show it for it to really set in . . . by the way, is that not what we husbands do? We need someone else to say what our wives have been saying all along? Ok, back to my point . . .

I so appreciate a co-worker who the other day took valuable time out of his day to connect with my wife and me. He wanted to know all about us. Not just a simple fist bump, high five or even a casual hand slap or hug, but a real desire to connect! WOW!!!!

In our relationships with Christ, family, co-workers, even the young people we encounter, are we deliberately making time to connect? If we connect the numbers to the drawing we will get a deeper meaning and perhaps begin to imagine what Paul may have experienced when Jesus confronted him. We get to know Paul a bit as we connect!

So some application: 

Will we sacrifice our agenda for the chance to get to really invest in another's life?

In life . . . especially in the CHRISTian life . . . connections are essential!

Too much is simply too much!

What can we not live without? 

For the CHRISTian, anything besides God is an idol! In reality, we own nothing, so nothing should own us! Yard sales and garage sales are great in helping get rid of things we do not need but just keep around. Sell it. Give it away. Get rid of the junk! Garages, basements, and even storage containers for which we pay rent, are full of things we do not need. Why is that? 

Too much is simply too much!

Getting rid of the things that tie us down is important in life and especially in our relationship with our Lord. Idols tie us down  . . . hold us back . . . and cost us dearly in the long run. They take up space. They collect dust. They cost us time, money and even relationships at times. Idols pull us away from God!

Then I said to them, ‘Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’ 8 But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. (Ezekiel 20:7-8)

Idols cost the Jewish people much in their relationship with God. What are they costing us today? Let's clean out our houses of things we are holding on to today . . . both physically and spiritually.  (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2012%3A1-2&version=NKJV) 

Too much is simply too much! Let's run this race unhindered!