If you walk around our neighborhood this time of year and look at the lawns you will see that some are totally brown, some brown and green and some totally green. Why is there a difference? There are many things that contribute to a green lawn or keep one from becoming green. Some things add to and some take away from a lawn looking good. Some people zero scape so a green lawn is of no value. But if you want a green lawn free from weeds and goat heads, you will need to pay attention to some important details.
Just as some things destroy a beautiful lawn so there are also more important things that destroy a life. Colossians 3:5-8 describes some things that destroy life. We need to spend our life saying no to everything that takes our life away. What is it in your life that diminishes the life God wants for you to experience? I think about independence, wanting big things, insatiable consumerism, going fast in life...alone, having a motivation that longs for others to recognize my importance. The list goes on. Colossians 3:1 reminds me that if I am serious about living the life God is committed to me living, I must set my heart on living as he intended. No games here...life is a joy but it is also a war with the enemy of our life.
The tragedy is that there are so many people who want a beautiful lawn but never get the sod put in. So many people who God puts in our life are caught up in destructive things that continue to rob them of the life they were created for. If you and I will deal with this stuff, many who don't know how to deal with life issues might be encouraged to check out Jesus. Walk around any neighborhood and in the homes we pass by there are heartaches, frustrations, emptiness and issues that are destroying our friends. What an opportunity we have to be a blessing to them.
THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A WHILE: We should be more fearful of an affluent neighborhood than the downtown of a large city.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
I don't want to go to the doctor today, tomorrow or...ever
It may be a male thing but I am not sure. I do know I cannot remember ever wanting to visit my local MD. I do have a couple of friends who are doctors but all I want to do with them is have coffee. What is this about? Well, they may want to examine my life up close. They may find something I think I already know but their pronouncement of it brings reality too close.
Not only do we usually not like close examinations of our medical condition but often we do not want those who do not know Jesus yet to look too closely at our life...especially during difficult times in our lives.
James 1:2-3 in the Message "Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely."
You and I have the opportunity to show the world a different way of doing life. God uses these tests in our life to reveal to those who live close to us or who work with us that there is a way of living that looks very different from what they are used to. But the trick is we must respond to these situations in a way that shows we believe God is not sleeping but is in control of everything we experience. He allows some and engineers some of the things we experience.
In order for God to be visible in our life to those without Jesus however, we must be close to them. We cannot feed hungry people, clothe them or visit them from a distance. We must live close for them to examine our lives-kind of like going to a doctor.
There is a commercial I have seen about an electric company that is looking for someone in a remote area of the world and the person in this area is waiting for them. Their comment when the company finds them is "We've been waiting." The world you and I live in is also waiting for Jesus to show up in our life so they can live as God intended them to live.
Is anyone asking you and me questions about why we respond to challenging stuff in such a different way than they do?
Do we want them to ask? Are we responding differently?
What do you and I need to believe about God and his involvement in our lives that we are not presently believing?
THINK ABOUT THIS: People are starving for answers.
Faith is never tested in the Christian bubble.
Not only do we usually not like close examinations of our medical condition but often we do not want those who do not know Jesus yet to look too closely at our life...especially during difficult times in our lives.
James 1:2-3 in the Message "Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely."
You and I have the opportunity to show the world a different way of doing life. God uses these tests in our life to reveal to those who live close to us or who work with us that there is a way of living that looks very different from what they are used to. But the trick is we must respond to these situations in a way that shows we believe God is not sleeping but is in control of everything we experience. He allows some and engineers some of the things we experience.
In order for God to be visible in our life to those without Jesus however, we must be close to them. We cannot feed hungry people, clothe them or visit them from a distance. We must live close for them to examine our lives-kind of like going to a doctor.
There is a commercial I have seen about an electric company that is looking for someone in a remote area of the world and the person in this area is waiting for them. Their comment when the company finds them is "We've been waiting." The world you and I live in is also waiting for Jesus to show up in our life so they can live as God intended them to live.
Is anyone asking you and me questions about why we respond to challenging stuff in such a different way than they do?
Do we want them to ask? Are we responding differently?
What do you and I need to believe about God and his involvement in our lives that we are not presently believing?
THINK ABOUT THIS: People are starving for answers.
Faith is never tested in the Christian bubble.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
I dare you to jump!
When was the last time you did something daring? The entrance and exit from Colorado highway 34 and Interstate 25 is worth avoiding if you can. It can be scary but usually you can negotiate it and breathe easy. But if this is the most daring event in your life for the week or month or...does it really qualify as daring?
Jesus was not only a teacher but he was also a revolutionary. What do you think following Jesus as a revolutionary meant while he walked the planet? How about today? The disciples were often left scratching their head as to what Jesus would do next. Maybe they breathed a sigh of relief when he just wanted to go fishing...or maybe not. Maybe danger and adventure was part of their DNA and they expected to be stretched not only in their thinking but also in their lifestyle. Remember, these guys left their vocations to follow Jesus. For the most part, we go to school or our job and then only occasionally think of what it means to follow this revolutionary man. Following Jesus like this would mean giving up consumerism, greed, self-centeredness, violence or whatever else that was not part of Jesus' lifestyle.
Think about Luke 6:46,47 (Message) "Why are you so polite with me, always saying "yes, sir" and "That's right sir", but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on."
I imagine Jesus throwing a Frisbee with the disciples on the road to wherever but in Luke 6, he takes deadly aim at our comfortable hopes of what it means to follow Jesus. Anytime he intersected the life of a person he would either make a statement or ask a question that altered that person's understanding of what was important in life and required a decision that would change their lifestyle if they bought in to what he challenged them with.
I keep thinking about what I have done lately that proves I am following this revolutionary man. I have done many daring things overseas, but I live here. Can Jesus really mean there are some daring aspects to following him in Windsor? I showed up to help lay sod at a park in Windsor...a really scary deal! I go to Loodles coffee shop and meet someone I did not previously know...maybe this is a big deal! However, I want to learn something here. I really want Jesus to introduce something into my life that takes courage on my part to do...or do I? How about a Mini?
FOCUS THOUGHT "People who change the world climb through windows rather than walking through doors. These are the risk takers." Shane Claiborne
Jesus was not only a teacher but he was also a revolutionary. What do you think following Jesus as a revolutionary meant while he walked the planet? How about today? The disciples were often left scratching their head as to what Jesus would do next. Maybe they breathed a sigh of relief when he just wanted to go fishing...or maybe not. Maybe danger and adventure was part of their DNA and they expected to be stretched not only in their thinking but also in their lifestyle. Remember, these guys left their vocations to follow Jesus. For the most part, we go to school or our job and then only occasionally think of what it means to follow this revolutionary man. Following Jesus like this would mean giving up consumerism, greed, self-centeredness, violence or whatever else that was not part of Jesus' lifestyle.
Think about Luke 6:46,47 (Message) "Why are you so polite with me, always saying "yes, sir" and "That's right sir", but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on."
I imagine Jesus throwing a Frisbee with the disciples on the road to wherever but in Luke 6, he takes deadly aim at our comfortable hopes of what it means to follow Jesus. Anytime he intersected the life of a person he would either make a statement or ask a question that altered that person's understanding of what was important in life and required a decision that would change their lifestyle if they bought in to what he challenged them with.
I keep thinking about what I have done lately that proves I am following this revolutionary man. I have done many daring things overseas, but I live here. Can Jesus really mean there are some daring aspects to following him in Windsor? I showed up to help lay sod at a park in Windsor...a really scary deal! I go to Loodles coffee shop and meet someone I did not previously know...maybe this is a big deal! However, I want to learn something here. I really want Jesus to introduce something into my life that takes courage on my part to do...or do I? How about a Mini?
FOCUS THOUGHT "People who change the world climb through windows rather than walking through doors. These are the risk takers." Shane Claiborne
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