You Enjoy Myself

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!  Serve the Lord with gladness!  Come before His presence with singing!  (Psalm 100:1-2)

We are all blessed to be on our very own journeys during our lifetimes, but I don’t think that many of us are actually enjoying the ride!  When I draw my final breath, I don’t want to look back on my life and regret not living every day to its fullest.  Being a follower of Christ is not always easy, but we should always take the time to enjoy ourselves along the way. 

We are each called to complete certain tasks and fulfill God’s will for our lives, but they should never come at the expense of serving God without joy and gladness.  Like the apostle Paul, we should remain focused on finishing the race, but we should do it with joy.   

No matter what you have been called to do or where you are going or despite your present circumstances, enjoy the journey you are on.  We can’t take for granted a single moment that the Lord has blessed us with and the time we have been given on this earth!   

Seek Me, Feel Me

Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining (against God) and questioning and doubting among yourselves. (Philippians 2:14)

In the six years that I have been in loving relationship with Alicia, we have had our fair share of arguments, debates, and differences.  Let’s face it, God has a sense of humor because men and women are just two completely different creatures. 

Some of the more memorable arguments have taken place over one of us doubting what the other one is saying.  For instance, when it comes to parenting, we both have completely different approaches and the worst time to grumble and complain is in the heat of the moment, especially when the children are present. 

When our feelings take a detour, we must learn to keep them from running our lives.  To take this a step further, we must submit our will to God’s will.   We have faced several ‘big’ decisions in our marriage and when we both sought God’s voice for the answers, were able to come to an agreement together.  It’s being stubborn and refusing to seek God’s will on the small and everyday stuff that proves to be more difficult. 

Seek God in all things, regardless of how you think or feel, and then do what He tells you to do.  God blesses and anoints those who are obedient to His will!

Good Advices

Oh, how I love Your law!  It is my meditation all the day.  (Psalm 119:97)

Our independent and sometimes stubborn four-year old often fails to listen or seek my advice before doing things.  For instance,  he was balancing himself between the edge of the table and chair in the kitchen the other day after I repeatedly warned him that he would fall.  He refused to come down, so I stepped into the other room for a moment and heard a loud thump followed by his crying.  I was able to make a good lesson out of this and it goes to prove that sometimes we just have to fail and learn from our experiences before we listen to other’s advice.

Anytime we are facing important issues or decisions, we should always seek our loving Father’s advice.  There truly is no topic to big or small that we cannot seek God on.  One of the best places to begin looking for advice is the Word of God, but often times, we seek other people’s input and advice and do not seek God in the process.

We must learn to read and study His Word and then learn to apply it to our lives, regardless of what issue or decision we are facing.  In doing so, we tap into His infinite wisdom and can learn how to respond to any and all situations that we will face during our lifetime.

Lose Yourself

The sun is glorious in one way, the moon is glorious in another way, and the stars are glorious in their own distinctive way; for one star differs from and supasses another in its beauty and brillance.  (1 Corinthians 15:41)

As our youngest son continues to grow and develop, the differences between him and his older brother are astounding.  For instance, Elliott crawled for the first time around 7 months and then quickly began scaling and walking.  Elijah, on the other hand, just started to crawl this past week and will be 10 months old in July.  Elliott hardly eats enough food to sustain life; Elijah is very much like his daddy and is a human garbage disposal.  Point in case, we are all created by God to be different from one another.

To truly live the lives God intended us to live, we are to accept who we are as indivduals and fit into His great plan rather than comparing ourselves with others and trying to fit into everyone else's plans. 

Each of has been uniquely made to fill a need and we are ALL part of God's master plan.  Make it a personal goal of yours to find out what you are individually supposed to be and then succeed at being yourself.  It's okay to be different, in fact, God made you that way!

Everywhere That I Go

Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.  (1 Peter 5:7)

If you are reading this, then I successfully survived being on my own Thursday night through Sunday with both boys at home while my wife went on a much needed girls' trip with all of her college friends.  When Alicia first mentioned going out of town for a long weekend, I didn't think too much about it.  This, of course, was also before Elijah became mobile and started crawling. Elliott has also been quite a challenge now that he is four and now knows everything, so I honestly became a little anxious as she pulled out of the driveway and headed out of town on Thursday.   

The time alone with both boys was wonderful.  We had an awesome "Dude's Weekend" and were never at loss for things to do. Our awesome group of friends gladly helped out at various points throughout the weekend, so I was able to get my morning jogs in and finish some small projects around the house.  When I reflect on all of the good things God has done/is doing in my life, it's hard to keep count.  

God's presence always surrounds us, in all times, every day.  He sends each of us countless blessings and He promises to take all of our worries and anxieties upon Himself. He promises us eternal life in heaven where there will be no more worries, pain, hurt, and fears. 

God is good all of the time, all of the time, God is good!

My Soul

God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him.  (Genesis 1:27) 

We are all concerned with our image to some extent.  I make it a point to exercise daily by either running, resistance training, playing tennis, or swimming,  so that I can stay healthy and fit into the occasional spandex super-hero costume.  I am not alone in my quest to look and feel great, in fact, many people spend countless hours every week in the gym or participating in some sort of exercise because they are concerned with their image. 

The Bible tells us that we are created in God’s image.  This not only means our outward appearance, but our spiritual and emotional being as well.  When you think about it, we put a lot of emphasis on our physical bodies, these temporary dwellings, that will be transformed when we leave this earth to spend eternity in heaven.  Our spiritual being, or souls, are with us forever and when neglected, we are neglecting the most important part of what God created each of us to be. 

Our spiritual well-being is the most vital part of our being; don’t  forget to take care of your soul too!

My Own Worst Enemy

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”  (Galatians 2:20)

I have heard the above passage from the book of Galatians several times over the course of my lifetime, but why I am so stubborn to accept the truth?  There are times I honestly feel defeated.  Imagine this scenario, you have had a craptastic week at work, your spouse is angry at you for coming home too late and you have missed dinner, you have a pile of bills waiting for you in the mailbox and you are struggling to discipline your children…sound familiar? 

It’s easy to feel defeated at times, but God never intended any of us to live a life characterized by defeat.  He paid too high a price for each one of us to let us live the rest of our lives in misery and failure.  We each have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, to help protect us from our worst enemy-ourselves. 

The Holy Spirit is just one of God’s many provisions to help us live in peace and be victorious.   Stand tall and know that Christ lives in you!