1 Tim 4:16 7/26/2016

1 Tim 4:16 "¹⁶ Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."

How much time do you spend thinking about what you believe, and how you live it out?

First Timothy says it matters.  And not just for you, but for your family, friends, and anyone who's watching.  It is dangerous to let the urgent push out the important, and evaluating what you believe and how you walk is important.

Are you deliberate?   Do you have a plan?   Is it written down?  How often is it evaluated?
My guess is we spend more time researching big purchases then we do our theology.

We would never run a team, or a business without a mission statement,  but we tend to live life one escape after another, going from one crisis to the next, just trying to survive until the weekend. The tyranny of the urgent robs us of real progress, and suddenly it's New Years Eve and we realize we haven't moved forward.

 Like Peter -  when God has called us to walk on water - our shortsightedness causes us to be distracted by a wave...and the inevitable result is we sink.

Let's make a change.  Write down some goals and a plan.  You can start small but write it down. Then the first of every month spend some time praying, evaluating, tweaking,  and recommitting to your goals.  If you're really serious, involve a friend and hold each other accountable.

Whatever you do, commit to it.  Stop treading water, and start making progress, and that starts with examining what you believe - and what you're doing about it.  It will impact your life, and the lives God has placed around you.

"We are called to live this way and it will impact others for the Kingdom of God. Now that it's all over, what did you really do yesterday that's worth mentioning?"
 ~Coleman Cox

Matthew 6:34 7/19/2016

Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own"

For some reason when there is trouble we all either become historians or prophets. Invariably when something goes wrong we say "it has always been this way" or " it's never going to change".

Neither statement is true, and in this verse, Jesus says we should live in the present.

Doesn't it make sense to simply deal with the problem at hand instead of magnifying it with some imaginary prediction, of exaggerated observation? Each day has enough to do ... we don't need to worry about the past, or the future.

Fight the battle at hand. Rest, relax and fight again tomorrow.

As players in a football game your job is to run the next play. The coach will deal with the scoreboard and strategy. When the play is sent in, you run it to the best of your ability. When it's over you forget it, re-huddle and get ready to give your best effort on the next play. Any other attitude will disrupt you concentration and reduce your performance. The same applies to your spiritual life.

There is a peace and positiveness that comes from faith and contentment. It is produced from the knowledge that your Heavenly Father has been where you are going, and He will provide you with strength as you need it. This will give you the ability to rejoice in your position as a child of God, and not let imaginary future or past events wash over you with negativity.

So "run to the battle" mindful of what it takes to perform the play that has been called. Don't complain, don't second guess, focus on today. Tomorrow will worry about it's self.

"You can't make it tough enough for me to complain" Keith Chancey

Mark 5:30-32 7/12/2016

Mark 5:^{30  "}At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” ³¹ “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³² But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it"

Are you part of the curious crowd around Jesus, or did you come here to be healed? 

To actually access the power of Christ you must reach out.  It is a deliberate act,  born of the awareness that you are sick, and He can heal you.  As Jesus pressed through the curious onlookers and paparazzi of the day, someone desperate for change, reached out and  grazed his cloak, and something happened.

Immediately He asks "who touched my clothes?"...  then He ignores His disciples since they clearly didn't understand the question.

Hanging around Jesus, bumping into Jesus, being curious about Jesus, is very different than reaching out in your uncleanness, and hoping to touch His garments because you know it will change you.

One woman in a crowd of hundreds was there to do business with God.  She was painfully aware that the span between His righteousness and her sin was so wide that even approaching Him seemed presumptuous. So she grazed his garment with her hand ... the smallest act of faith, and everything changed.

God Himself stopped in His tracks ...and commended her belief.

So again, are you curious or are you hear to be changed?

Have you realized your need and come to the only place you know you can be healed?
The smallest act of faith born from the realization that you need redemption is all it takes.  Your tiny belief will get God's attention, and that is all you need.

She touched His garment .. He did the rest.

Evaluate why you approach God. Don't come to be in the audience.  But dare to reach out and in faith and touch the hem of His garment ... and like this woman , you too can be changed.


“I have a great need for Christ: I have a great Christ for my need.”
― Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Proverbs 26:17 7/5/2016

Proverbs 26:17  "Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears."

Have we completely forgotten how to mind our own business?

This verse says it is a sign of  foolishness to rush into other peoples issues. It is a foolishness born from pride. Apparently sticking a keyboard and a monitor in front of someone, suddenly makes them an expert in every topic known to man.

Some kid gets away from his mom for twenty seconds at the zoo and we all become parenting experts..

A family mistakenly tries to help a baby buffalo -  and suddenly we are all Jack Hana.

Some lady gets rich for laughing with a Chewbacca mask on, and we pummel her like Simon Cowell

 ... and the list goes on and on.

Is that necessary?...We take a slanted "snip-it" of a news story and suddenly think we have all the answers, and the world needs to hear it.

Have we become so arrogant that we cannot hold our tongues?  We have no empathy and no desire to acquire any. And every topic needs our input .. We vent our opinions and defend our position without a hint of decorum or politeness.

The greatest commandment of all contains the phrase  "love your neighbor as yourself".  Perhaps we should re-focus. Maybe empathy and compassion have become endangered species.  It's time to re-introduce manners and common kindness.

Let's start this week by being quick to listen, and slow to speak, and even slower to type...and let's reevaluate the virtue of minding our own business.

"Never miss a good chance to shut up.”
- Will Rogers