Note To Self: I Am OK

The more I learn about discipleship the more I love God and who He truly is. Two years ago I was chained to my need to climb the corporate ladder and see more zeroes on my paycheck. When I felt God saying it was time to leave my job--the only job I had had since I was 19--I admittedly started panicking. With each confirmation I received that I had heard correctly I challenged the idea even more. I had grown accustomed to the lifestyle that my job had allowed me to lead. I never had to tell myself no if I wanted something. When I finally said OK give me peace and I'll take the step--He did. A job that I loved I was suddenly filled with contempt for. When I thought about the money part of the decision, again I was accustomed to my lifestyle, I was almost instantly filled with peace. The words that gave me the peace that quieted my fears? "You were born in this earth to be the righteousness of God. My word says 'I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed out begging for bread.'" I know now that the reason I had to leave the job I once loved wasn't only because God was calling me, but because it was becoming something that I could have ended up worshipping and serving. I also know now that the more I stayed at that job the closer I was to bringing my life to an early end. I was literally working myself to death. It wasn't until I stopped working that my body was able to tell me just how ill I truly was. It had been living off of ambition and stress. When those two components were gone it was like the tape coming off a broken window pane. A little more than a year and a half of not working and just studying the word of God, and I am still learning my call and my direction I am to follow. I bless God because of His faithfulness, Love and provision. I love him and am truly indebted to Him for His life changing nature. My way to pay off this debt I feel towards Him? Offering my life to Him to with as He pleases. Two years ago I would have said I was nuts. Today I am OK with that. Even more than OK--I am excited. No income coming in right now. But that is OK too. I can honestly say that I have not missed anything. He has truly changed my priorities. The most awesome part about that for me is that the less I have, the more that I have been able to give--and give with faith knowing that my Father is going to take care of me. I know there isn't a need (past, present or future) that my father doesn't know about and that He won't be faithful to provide for. It is amazing to me to think that even if I don't have money or things to give, I will still be able to give something amazing away. Peter taught me that. Acts 3:6 was my lesson: "But Peter said, 'I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!'” I love the verse in The Message too: "Peter said, "I don't have a nickel to my name, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!" He grabbed him by the right hand and pulled him up. In an instant his feet and ankles became firm. He jumped to his feet and walked." I don't know why I am writing this today...Maybe for you or maybe it is just a message to myself that I need to read when I get it in my email today. If the second option is the reason then pay attention Mike and keep this message near the top of your email so you can reference it when you need to remind yourself that God is faithful, you are more blessed than you ever thought was possible, you are happier than you ever thought was possible, and of course, you are OK.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

The Fog

Some days I feel like I am maneuvering through the fog. I don't know where I am going, the road may seem familiar, but I cannot be certain for sure if it is. Though I may have been down the road before I still move apprehensively not knowing if something new will be in my path. I travel uncertain of what lies in the whiteness that is in front of me, separating me from my destination. The blessing in moving through the fog is that I am moving at all. That I still get up and move through the fog without having to fight myself is a miracle in itself. That is progress in my discipleship walk, I think. Discipleship is allowing yourself to be led blindly to someone else's purpose for your life, at least the faith part is. Thank God for foggy days and the revelation that comes with them.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Mike

Walking Through Philippians

I am reading through the book of Philippians tonight. I have read through this book times before, but tonight there is just so much that is jumping out at. I love how faithful God is. It always seems that I am in a spot in my life where I am crying out for a good word of comfort or direction and He always takes me to His word and gives it to me. I mean I can have read the passage over and over and over again a hundred times before and then read it when He leads me and it is like I am reading it for the first time thinking "I didn't know this is what it said!" He really is faithful to meet me right where I am at.

One of my favorite verses is in the first chapter of Philippians. 1:6 (NLT) "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." I like it in The Message version as well: "There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. "

I like the verse in the NLT because it uses the word "finally." The word finally, to me, represents the fact there was a process involved in the undertaking of some task that had to be completed. To me it gives justice to the fact that most processes involve work that sometimes includes struggle. I know that the work that Jesus has begun in me has been a struggle at times, especially when it involved me changing. Change is not an easy thing for me, especially when I had to learn to redo things in my life after I had been decades doing them the wrong way. I had to learn to trust my destiny and life to someone else that I couldn't see. If that doesn't involve struggle then I am not sure what would.

I like the verse in The Message because it has a more celebratory feel to it. It tells of a "flourishing finish" to the work that Jesus has begun in us. When we have accomplished all that we have been called to accomplish, or we have been found faithfully working to accomplish what we have been called to accomplish when Jesus returns we will be greeted with a "flourishing finish" to our work--a celebration for a life time of work that has been successfully completed. I also like this version because it is more definitive in the words it uses to describe the author's certainty of the fact of Jesus' faithfulness to watch over His work in us. "There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind..." sounds more secure in the knowledge of a fact than simply "I am certain..." To me the first method of explaining certainty is more emphatic than the second.

Beyond the wording of the verse in the two different versions, it is one of my favorite verses simply for what it says. It says that Jesus has made an investment in our lives, and just like any good investor, He is going to diligently watch the investment to make sure it accomplishes what it is supposed to. His investment is going to achieve the purpose He had planned for it. It is exciting to me to think that Jesus believes in me that much and that He cares about my success in His kingdom enough to personally watch over what I have been called to do. When I stumble He doesn't sell all the shares He has invested in me, but rather He redirects them to get me back on track to make me profitable again.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Broken...And It's OK

I was going through my files to see if I had a picture to help me describe brokenness. I did. It is a picture of me. I am learning more and more about myself lately. I am learning all the masks I had to wear and chose to wear. I am learning to take them off. I am learning that underneath it all I am broken. What I am learning even faster is that it is ok to be broken; in fact we are called to be broken in our discipleship walk with Christ. Like the fish and the loaves. Blessed. Broken. Given. That is my quest, my highest goal each day.

Be Blessed. Be Broken. Then be Given.

Mike

Free....To Be a Slave

This morning I was wandering through the book of Galatians, just wondering what the Lord would say to me through His word. Usually He is faithful to bring it up pretty early with me as I am reading because I think I am developing a touch of ADD when reading :) But that was not the case--it wasn't until t he 5th chapter that the words popped out at me.

Galatians 5:13-14
13For you have been called to live in freedom—not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. 14For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

We have been called to freedom--not freedom to do as we please or live our lives the way that we want to, taking pleasure in all the pleasurable things of this world; rather we have been called to be free to serve each other in and through love for one another. Paul is addressing the Galatians here and he is specifically talking to those who are falling back into the bondage of the law. They were craving the law and to be a follower of it--so he met their need and summed it all up into one statement for them--Love your neighbor as yourself.

That is a powerful statement. I know there are people out there who suffer from depression and self esteem issues, but I don't fall into the category very often. I happen to love myself. I love myself almost too much sometimes. I have had to battle with selfishness since my high school age when I discovered myself. I have been selfish with my time, my energy and even my words. So to tell me that I need to love everyone else as much as I love myself is quite a big statement. Can you imagine the possibilities of loving someone as much as yourself? Or if there is difficulty in that area of self love and appreciation for you, then can you imagine loving someone else the way that you want to be loved? That is an awesome thought.

Today was a particularly good word for me. For two days God has been speaking to me about changing the course of my ministry and has laid some big ideas on my mind. This is the second day in a row that He has taken me to a place in His word that deals with what He is talking to me about. I'm listening God!

Love someone today in a way that you want to be loved!

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Attitude Adjustment

1 Peter 4:1 "1So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you are willing to suffer for Christ, you have decided to stop sinning. "

I have thought about sacrifice and discipleship together ever since I was touched with the desire to take a discipleship walk with Christ and become a student of His teachings. It only seems logical that sacrifice would become a big part of the discipleship walk because you are undertaking someone else's plans for your life as opposed to your own. Naturally in this situation there are going to be things that you would want to be or do that do not fit in with the lifestyle you have decided to undertake and you will need to sacrifice these things for the sake of remaining true to your decision to become a disciple. When I read this verse this morning something else came alive in me.

I have always known in the back of my mind that discipleship would also entail some sort of suffering. My idea of discipleship has always been of the idea that the decision to become a disciple is self imposed; therefore all the parts of my life that I would need to lay to the side or sacrifice for the sake of remaining faithful to my decision would be my choice as well. I saw that line of thought this morning in a new not so positive light. When I make it my decision to sacrifice something in my life I am in essence still retaining control of my life and not completely resigning that control and decision making ability to the One that I am following. It was almost as if I decided how I was going to suffer on this walk. Christ did not have that attitude when He came to earth to walk among men. He came and did what He was called to do.

We need to have the same attitude that Christ had when He came to suffer for us. His suffering was selfless and love oriented. Peter says that when we take on this attitude we are in essence making two decisions--we are deciding to follow Christ and be led to accomplish what He has called us to do, and secondly we are deciding to stop sinning. Discipleship to Christ is the complete resignation of control of your will for your life so that you can become as Christ-like as possible and move in the direction He has called you to move in to accomplish what He has called you to accomplish. Being willing to suffer along this walk with Christ is adjusting our attitude from being selfish (no longer chasing after the desires of the flesh) to being selfless (being anxious to fulfill the will of God, and not your own, for your life).

Idle Hands...

We have all heard it before..."idle hands are the devil's playground!" When we have nothing to do, or rather when we are doing nothing, then we are more susceptible to doing just anything. What I am trying to say is that we need to be focused on something. If we are not focused then we run the risk of doing anything to keep ourselves busy. When we are not grounded in the word of God or in finding His purpose for our lives then we are in danger in doing something that is not in His will for our lives. We need to strive to do the work that He has called us to and to live the lives that we are ordained by Him to live; otherwise we are just keeping busy and not accomplishing what we we are purposed for. The other way I read that old saying is this: "The devil loves idle hands." he loves them because if they are idle then they are not working against him. They are not furthering God's kingdom and therefore are not working against the kingdom of darkness.

2 Thessalonians 3:6
6And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command with the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from any Christian who lives in idleness and does not follow the tradition of hard work we gave you. 7For you know that you ought to follow our example. We were never lazy when we were with you.

Paul tells this church to stay away from the Christians who have become idle and don't follow the tradition of work that they were taught. Being a christian should not be easy--in fact it should be the hardest thing that we have ever done in our lives. It requires us to make the hugest sacrifice we could ever make in our lives; we have been called to lay down our very lives in the advancement of the kingdom of God. Being a disciple of Christ is not something that can be done part time. It is not something that can be done passively or in a group. Being a disciple of Christ is not something that you are sucked into or a title that is automatically given. It is a very personal decision that we have to make on our own. Each of our discipleship walks with Christ is different as we are all called to accomplish different things for the kingdom of God.

The people who sit idle in the pews of the church today are a problem. The lack of activity they demonstrate is a hindrance to what the church has been called to do. Their lack of participation in the kingdom calling is more that the brothers and sisters on the front lines doing the work of God have to pick up. It only makes me wonder if they cannot hear Jesus calling "follow me!" or if they are simply ignoring it. Idleness is contagious. We can catch it by surrounding ourselves by infected people until we simply just become one of them. We can also catch it by working ourselves into weariness and burnout if we focus on those around us who are inflicted with idleness. Paul has it right when he instructs the church, those who are actively pursuing the calling that God has placed on their lives, to just steer clear of the idle.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Put In My Place--Biblical Style

17You have wearied the LORD with your words.“Wearied him?” you ask. “How have we wearied him?”You have wearied him by suggesting that the LORD favors evildoers since he does not punish them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

I know we all have done it. We see the horrible things happening in the world around us and we wonder where God is. We wonder why He hasn't stopped those bad things from happening to the innocent people--the good people. I know I do. I often wonder where the justice is when I see people get away with horrible crimes and actions. That bothers me. Well actually it frustrates me. It seems sometimes like the evil in the world prospers more than the good does. I was thinking about this hard the other day and this was the verse that God led me to. It would seem that I am not the only one who gets frustrated and tired of seeing what I see, but God also gets tired of people questioning His ability to be sovereign and to the only Judge. Reading that the first time put me in my place. reading it the second time made me officially whooped and repentant. God is God and God alone. He is sovereign over all things to do with them as He wills when He wills. 'Nuff said!

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Habakkuk Is Still Speaking

This past week I have been reading through the minor prophets. I have gone back through some of my notes and one thing that is sticking out is in the book of Habakkuk.

Habakkuk 2:2 "Then the Lord said to me, 'write my answer in large, clear letters on a tablet, so that a runner can read it and tell everyone else.'"

I try to write things down if I think I am going to have the tendency to forget them. When I am going through some rough times I am not going to be sharp enough to remember all the good things that God has promised me. The first things that come into my head are not going to be all the reasons why these hard times will not last forever. I am sorry to admit that, but it is true. That is why I am sure that God had Habakkuk write down what He was going to say. When God promises restoration or judgement we need to remember that something has to be gone through to have the need to be restored. There is always an outcome or an end to a situation and for those of us who believe in the grace and goodness of God, we know it will always be for our betterment, He always has our best interest in His interest. I am going to start a promise book. Where I fill it with the promises of God, spoken through the bible or from those who speak encouragement into my life. When the rough times comes, it will help me focus and have faith in the outcome and maybe make it a little easier to walk through, knowing the ending.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

My Boy Habakkuk

I opened the book of Habakkuk last night because I had been feeling the urge to read it. I mean a name like Habakkuk as the title of the book it must be God right? It most absolutely was God! It ministered to me in what I am going through this season in my life. I will write more later but what has touched me the most is this:

2:14 For the time will come when all the earth will be filled, as the waters fill the sea, with an awareness of the glory of the Lord.

That is so amazing to me. That verse just echoed in my spirit all night last night. So prophetic.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

No More Smiley For Me

Today is the first day that I am officially with out a job. I have worked for the same company--The world's biggest retailer since I was 19 years old. I worked my way up the ranks until I was pretty high in the store level and making a more than decent living. I allowed myself to be worked until I was sick. Months at a time with out a day off working 16+ hours a day. My body finally said no more and I had to go out sick. The timing was a blessing because my mother also got sick at the same time and I have been able to spend time with her as she is getting better. I received a letter two weeks ago from the corporate office not thanking me for my service or checking on my status but rather it notified me of my administrative termination. It seems that I am too sick to go back to work and they no longer have a need for me. They also have no desire in paying for my recovery or even admitting that I am indeed sick. I know all things work out for good and I stand on that. I thank God for the time I have had to regain my sanity and to truly see the corporate giant the company swears it is not. Even so, Lord I pray according to your will, Bless them and all they do.

Here is to today as the final day of being able to identify with them. And more importantly here is to tomorrow which is the first day in following a new plan and new direction that my Father God has for me.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Word Marinating

I came across this scripture last night as I was cleaning out some of my saved links. Right now it is speaking volumes to my heart. I will just let it marinate until it is done.

1 Samuel 14:7.

NIV "Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."

MSG His armor bearer said, "Go ahead. Do what you think best. I'm with you all the way."

NLT “Do what you think is best,” the armor bearer replied. “I’m with you completely, whatever you decide.”

NKJV So his armorbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.”

Singing....I think....

I am not a great singer. I am not one to criticize usually because it takes guts to get up and sing in front of people--even when you are a good singer. But I am a fan of embarrassment intervention--you know someone who steps in to make the blind and deaf aspiring stage performer aware by saying "hey maybe music is not your gift...." My question is where was this girls family or friend who should have intervened before her moment of fame was captured in perpetuity on You Tube? Can it really be that bad? Have a look for yourself:




It was that bad, huh?

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing--Stop a friend from doing this to themselves!
Mike

10 Good Reasons...

I am not a kid person, but there are definite times in my life when I start to feel a little longing to have a little me walking around. I am around my nieces a lot and as much as they can get on my nerves they can correct a thousand wrongs and melt my heart with a smile, a laugh or a nice thing said. Just when I am close to being worn down about my not having kids, I come across this article. It is what it is and I imagine it was written with a tongue in cheek spirit (although I imagine it doesn't have to be taken that way).

Enjoy the article here: 10 Good Reasons You May Not Want to Have Kids!

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

In Reference to the Bible...

"This Book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this Book."--D.L. Moody

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing
Mike

God--The Show Off

"There is a pattern that I see repeated throughout the Scriptures: Sometimes God won't intervene until something is humanly impossible. And he usually does it just in the nick of time." --Mark Patterson, In a Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day

Isn't that the truth. Doesn't it always seem like God doesn't move in a situation that is rough on you until it seems there is no possible way out. It is almost like being in the deep end of the pool and not knowing how to swim and feeling yourself going under. You have gasped your last breath of air and have just about resigned yourself to the fact that this might be the last breath you will take, and then from no where someone jumps in and saves you. The bible says in Jeremiah that at just the right time God hears our cries for help and reaches down to save us. That is the hard part of this thing called faith. We have to trust that God knows exactly when that right time is. It would seem like the situations that help form our faith are the ones that are the roughest on us; the ones that push us beyond our known limits of endurance without completely breaking us to the point of no return. We come out of those situations with a deeper faith and trust in God than we had before we entered our rough times--that is if we maintain our trust in God and don't give up before we have had the chance to let God be God in our situations. I think the best part of being God must be the ability to show off when ever you want to. He lets us get to the point we are almost at our breaking point and then intervenes and puts everything back in its right place and restores order in our lives. I am Glad I serve a God like that. He allows me to get pushed out of my comfort zone and into situations where I have rely on Him for bigger and bigger intervention so my faith is built up and my relationship and dependence on Him increase.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Tomorrow Never Comes

Driving home from an appointment today I had a random thought about tomorrow. It never comes. Yesterdays always happen. Another one is added every time we go to sleep and wake up again. It is always today. I am sitting in Starbucks right now waiting for my truck to get its new tires on--today. I am not in Starbucks tomorrow. I may plan to go to Starbucks and write tomorrow, but if I do make it there I will be doing it today again. I never get to work in tomorrow. Every time I am doing something I was going to do tomorrow, it is always today. Maybe that is why the bible says not to worry about tomorrow. Its pointless...it never comes.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing TODAY!
Mike

Not Why But Who

"The question we need to ask ourselves when God allows us to go through hard times is not why but who? In the mind of God, pain always has two intended recipients: us and someone else. If we choose not to take what we've experienced and find some way of using it to help other people, we miss a large part of why God allowed us to suffer in the first place." --Brian Jones, Second Guessing God

This switch in the mode of thinking can be powerful. It changes our situation from "poor me" to who can I help with my my learning through suffering. It puts us into the service oriented line of thinking that we are taught as disciples. It allows us to have some power in our suffering instead of us feeling completely worked over and powerless.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

New Car Smell of Faith

I have always believed that there was more to being a follower of Christ than just saying a cute little prayer. It has been an annoying presence in my life to think that the church has failed new Christians in huge ways by not telling them of sacrifice and service. We promise them that their lives will be changed, but often times it is not the immediate change that they were expecting. They get through the honeymoon period of salvation where they tell all their friends and family that they are saved and how their lives are changed and then that feeling ends. The salvation buzz wears off and they realize that the changes they were expecting to see haven't happened yet and the miracles they were waiting on haven't manifested themselves yet. Brian Jones in his book Second Guessing God says that for him when he started having doubts it was like the new car smell wore off on his faith.

By the third page of his book I knew I had found a new favorite author. The first of the best passages in the book (and there are many) comes from a conversation between him and one of his mentors.

Brian: "My faith in God right now is like a walk on the beach. Ive taken off my shoes, and as i stand at the water's edge, the tide has started to roll across my feet. It feels wonderful. Up to this point my spiritual journey had been incredible, but in the last six months doubt has begun to paralyze me. It's like when the water goes back out to the ocean. It is washing away the sand underneath me, and my feet keep sinking lower and lower and lower. If this keeps up, there wont be anything left to stand on."

Mentor: "Brian, I have stood where you're standing. Ive felt the water cascade across my feet. I know how wonderful it feels. But Ive also had the water go back out to sea. I've felt the sand get washed out from underneath my feet...When the last grain of sand is finally gone, you're going to discover that you're standing on a rock."

That is awesome. First to know that we don't go through things that others around us haven't been through. Second to know that as deep as the sand around us might seem, we have a foundation that we have built our house and our faith on. When it seems like we are sinking and have no hope left we will hit our rock and that will keep us from sinking any further. Sometimes I think those rough times hit our lives because we need to get back to the basics of our faith and our walk with Christ. those times usually help us get closer to Him and reinforce the faith that helped us start our walk with Him to begin with.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing

Quotable Quotes--Seth Godin , The Dip

"Persistent people are able to visualize the idea of light at the end of the tunnel when others can't see it. At the same time, the smartest people are realistic about not imagining light when there isn't any."--Seth Godin, The Dip

There have been times in my life when I wanted to make a name for myself and thought that I had the perfect idea or project that would help me do just that. I focused most of my time and my energy on the creation and implementation of that idea. Not only that I would invest the time and energies of the people that I had working for me on my pet project. When it became even possible that the idea wasn't going to be successful, I focused more of my energy and time and more of my resources (human and otherwise) on the success of my great idea. I had Wizard of Oz syndrome--Pay no mind to what's behind the curtain. I tried to force myself and those who were working on the project to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Putting a spin on a slowly or rapidly failing idea was a lot easier than admitting that it was a failure. In the process I wasted (squandered really) my time and energy, and that of the people I had working on the project, on a project that would have been better being sent out to pasture with the other well intentioned but unsuccessful ideas. It would have been better to accept the idea as a failure and move on to the next one. How can I apply this to the spiritual life?

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike