Surrender

 

God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  Therefore submit to God.  James 4: 6-7

Our sons are both growing up too fast-Elliott graduated high school and is off to college soon and Elijah will be turning sixteen and driving, but along with all of the milestones, both capable of also showing child-like attitudes at any given moment. I feel like a ‘broken record’ at times, reminding them to clean their rooms and occasionally still to this day reminding them to flush the toilet. When they were younger, rounding the boys up for their sporting events was virtually an every week event day/night. Almost every lacrosse and flag football game of the season and it's like these two don't know that they need their uniforms, cleats, gloves, cups...you catch my drift. Despite our many efforts to stay on them, they are both stubborn and usually don't yield to what Alicia and I ask of them. 

 

The same principle holds true in our relationship with the Holy Spirit.  If a drowning man thinks he can help himself, he becomes dangerous to anyone who attempts to rescue him.  Until we surrender to God and give him full authority to reign supreme in our lives, we are not in any position to be helped either.  We may not realize it, but when we aren't following his lead, we are listening to ourselves and being disobedient.

To truly follow God, we must make his will our own and it starts by surrendering our own will!

My Father's Eyes

Take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your week knees.  Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.  Hebrews 12: 12-13

We all model something to someone else.  Being a father, this has never been more apparent to me in all of my lifetime.  There are times that I set good examples for our children; other times, I wish I that could take back something that I have either said or done.   The reality we now are facing is that our oldest is off to college in a few weeks,  and we are almost certain that we won't be able to enjoy having the four of us here at the house on a regular basis.

After almost 52 trips around the sun, I have really come to appreciate all of the wisdom, advice, and love that my father has given me through the years.  The Bible promises us the way we live our lives will influence others; it may be for good or bad, for Christ or the enemy, so ask yourself what kind of example you have been setting for others lately.

I hope that one day our two sons will look back and realize that I tried to set a good example for them to live by, just like my father has for me...

Amazing Grace

 

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  Romans 10:13

We celebrated our oldest son's 19th trip around the sun just yesterday. What is truly surreal is that he just graduated high school a few weeks ago and is off to college in a few short weeks. Equally hard to believe, is that our youngest will turn 16 in August and will soon be driving.  All of these major life milestones are happening way too quickly but reminds me of growing up which doesn't seem that long ago...  

I can still recall when my little sister got what seemed to be 'cool' gifts that I was always a bit jealous of when we were growing up.  My parents surprised her with a sweet Ford Mustang GT Convertible when she turned sixteen. One year, she was given a ATV/4 wheeler for Christmas from Santa Claus, and if I am being honest, I expected something similar or equally as 'cool' from my parents/Santa. 

To some extent, we are all childish with the gifts we expect to receive, but there is one gift that is given freely to each one of us-the perfect gift-the gift of God's grace. 

There is nothing you need to do to receive this gift other than calling the name of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and accepting that His death on the cross is that which saves you from sin.

If you haven't accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, what are you waiting for? 

People Are People

 

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 surpasses another in its beauty and brilliance.  1 Corinthians 15:41

As our two sons continue to grow up way too fast and the differences between the two brothers is astounding.  For instance, Elliott, while a great athlete on his terms, is much more into music much the way I was at his age.  Elijah, on the other hand, likes music, but is a natural athlete, just like my younger sister was.  Elliott who celebrates his 19th birthday today, still only enjoys vanilla ice cream just like his mother; Elijah, on the other hand, will eat any flavor; but prefers chocolate ice cream, just like me. Point in case, we are each uniquely made and thankfully 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 individuals 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!

With or Without Reason

 

“I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"  At this they picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.  John 8: 58-59

A long time ago when our two sons were much younger, I recall attempting to make a point to our boys and was at a loss for words, so I uttered something completely ridiculous: "Because I said so." It was the parent counter for " you are not the boss of me."

When Jesus spoke the words above from John 8:58, He spoke one of the most radical and powerful statements of His lifetime.  He boldly proclaimed His divinity when He said that He existed before Abraham was born.  In addition to claiming that He was around before Abraham, He also applied God's holy name-"I am."

Jesus' claim is one that demands a response and cannot be ignored.  The Jewish leaders attempted to stone Jesus for blasphemy, because He claimed equality with God.  Who do you say He is?  Is He truly God or just a great prophet that did nice things for other people?

If I was not a believer, I would certainly question some of Jesus’ outrageous claims, but the truth is that Jesus is God, so how do you respond to His claims?  

Maps and Legends

 

We are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  2 Corinthians 5:20

I work for an brokerage firm here in Knoxville and am blessed to be part of an awesome team that extends to Lexington, KY, Atlanta, GA to Nashville, TN and beyond.   While I’d like to think that 26 years of benefits experience has made me proficient in cranking out renewal/marketing analysis comparisons in Excel or whipping up presentations in PowerPoint, I must admit that I had quite a difficult time constructing a feasibility analysis  for a client recently. 

I won’t bore you with the details of the analysis, but the one thing I realized is that no graph, chart or analysis, as simple or as detailed as they come, is readable without a proper legend and/or markers. 

The same holds true for our lives.  You see, just like a graph with an understandable legend, we too are to lead others into a relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, by the way we live our lives.  If our legends and markers don’t include kindness, gentleness, patience, generosity, and love, then how can anyone possibly distinguish us as believers from the rest of the world?

We must allow God to shape our lives in such fashion that our lives guide others towards Christ.

Graduate

 

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:13-14

I am so very proud of our oldest son, Elliott, and all of his friends as they prepare to graduate from Hardin Valley Academy this evening.  We have had a great weekend celebrating Elliott with family and friends and just
witnessing the excitement from these young men and women reminded me of how I once felt graduating from high school; the excitement mixed with a little fear of the unknown about college and beginning a new chapter in my life...

I remember it like it was yesterday when I graduated from Springwood School back in 1993.  Those were certainly some exciting and memorable times.  I had been accepted to Auburn University and the one thing I knew for sure was the size of the college campus was 20 times bigger than what I was accustomed to at my small private school.  My orientation was interesting as I was bunched in with several hundred freshman and we all were given a tour of the campus.  We also attended a class to prepare us for the days that were to come. We learned how to register for classes, where to eat on campus, how to find the library, and were issued our student tickets for football, baseball, and basketball. 

When all of the student body had returned from summer break, the parking situation was pure madness and I felt a bit lost among the throngs of students on campus.  No matter how early I left for classes, I could never seem to find a parking space, so I racked up several parking violations my first quarter and my parents were not happy with me, to say the very least.  To be quite honest, the orientation was helpful, but I had to learn an awful lot as I went along.  I pledged a fraternity my first quarter and many of my Pi Kappa Phi brothers helped teach me what I needed to know about college life on The Plains.

While high school graduation is the end of a chapter of a young man or woman’s life, it is by no means their final destination.  Even after college, when the milestones are fewer and far between, we must all learn to ‘press on’ toward the goal that Paul mentioned in the above letter to the Philippians. 

As followers of Christ, we must make a daily commitment to walk with the Lord, understanding that we will never learn too much by attending church or reading Scripture to earn a diploma of sorts.  Regardless, we can be at peace knowing where our final destination is-heaven, and that is the ultimate goal/prize for all believers in Jesus Christ!