Surprise Valley

My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  Colossians 2:2-3

In an effort to heal the pain of Iliotibial Band Syndrome or ITBS, a common runner's injury, I have been trying to incorporate cycling and swimming at the local gym in order to get some sort of cardiovascular exercise on the days that I don't run as much.  

Just the other morning, all lanes of the pool were being used and the stationary bikes I normally ride were taken at my local gym.  This was a minor inconvenience for me as I was up even earlier than normal to drive out of my way to make it to the gym to work out and get back home so that my wife could head out for work that morning.  Needless to say, I did not like having to change my normal routine, which got my day off to a bad start.  My bad attitude quickly changed as I was heading home that morning and witnessed one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen.

The sun was big and filled the Knoxville skyline and made me thankful that I had to change my routine that morning as I would have probably not seen it otherwise.  We must learn to approach each day with the desire to seek God.  He is good and faithful and blesses us in ways that we will miss if we are not diligent in searching for Him.

When you seek Him, you will find Him and all of His deep treasures all along the way-it may be the sunshine, an unexpected call from a friend, some flowers or an answered prayer.  Whatever it may be, God is always present in this broken world.

Send Your Mind

“The LORD your God is in your midst; he is a warrior who can deliver.  He takes great delight in you; he renews you by his love; he shouts for joy over you.”  Zephaniah 3:17

I must admit that I have struggled from writer’s block over the past few weeks.  I can’t pinpoint a specific reason, but can say that I haven’t spent as much time in God’s Word as I should have and for that very reason, I feel that my writing has suffered a bit...

I came across the above verse from Zephaniah in yesterday’s devotional by Sarah Young from “Jesus Calling.”  When I read the verse, a light bulb seemed to have turned on inside of me.  For far too long, I have let my mind get wrapped up in all sorts of thoughts and, sadly, have left God out of much of my ‘world-view’ lately.  This has brought me to a dark place and just hearing the words of comfort from our Loving Father has renewed my spirit.

God takes delight in all of His beloved children.  Even when we veer off-path, as much as he patiently waits to hear us cry for help, He will never step in and violate our freedom.  We must give up trying to ‘fix’ everything in our lives as none of us were ever created to carry our burdens on our own.

Let go and let God!

Indiscipline

"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you,because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son."  Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.  For what son is not disciplined by his father? Hebrews 12:6-8

I am not a betting man, but if I were, I’d bet that today’s Daily DEVO and passage of Scripture will be the least read entry of the entire week.  Why?  Well, it's probably because the topic of discipline is just not very popular with most people.  As a father, I do not take pleasure or enjoy disciplining our children, but know that I must lovingly discipline them to ensure that they learn right from wrong and grow up into fine young men. 

Who loves a child more-the father who allows a child to do something that will cause the child harm or the father that corrects and trains his child and then punishes the child to help teach the child right from wrong? 

If you ever need proof or confirmation that God loves you, look back into your past and the recognize the times where God has lovingly corrected you.  His discipline is a sign of His undying love for each one of us. 

Praise be to God, who disciplines those He loves!

Wait For You

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.  Psalm 37:5

The older I become, the more I understand that God's ways are not my ways and that I sometimes must wait before He sends His blessings.  Elijah is quickly approaching his 5th birthday this August, and looking back at how fast time has flown by has made me acknowledge the season of waiting I was in for the better part of his first year on this earth.  

Five months into 2015, and I am now in a much different season, but I learned a valuable lesson in learning to trust God fully and completely while patiently waiting for God's many blessings.

When we refuse to trust God with our needs, we will continue to live in panic, chaos, and fear because we do not cry out to the One who can meet our needs.  Jesus' disciples learned to trust Him on the Sea of Galilee during a frightening storm that had each one convinced that they would not survive.  Jesus walked across the water and commanded the storm to be still and the sea quickly became calm again.

If you do not trust the Lord, then who do you trust?  Jesus is waiting with His arms outstretched for you and will lift you up despite the tempestuous circumstances you may find yourself facing.

What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.  Psalm 34:18

Have you ever struggled for the words to offer a friend or neighbor when tragedy strikes and a loved one is lost?  I know that I certainly have and quite honestly, there is no easy cure for a broken heart, especially one that is in mourning.  There is no prescription you can take to make everything better and the healing process simply takes time.

A broken heart needs a different kind of healing. Generous doses of compassion, comfort, encouragement, love, and listening will eventually restore the joy and hope to a hurting soul.

We must never forget that God is the 'master healer.' As a loving friend, we can offer help, but none like the power that comes from our loving Father. When you are hurt and heartbroken, move closer to God instead of running away from Him. 

He is the greatest source of healing, peace, and joy; there is nothing this world as to offer that even comes close....

What's My Name?

God's gifts and His call can never be withdrawn.  Romans 11:29

One of the greatest features in our family mini-van is the built-in DVD player. An even cooler feature is that the van came complete with wireless headphones so the boys can watch their DVDs and I am able to listen to music instead of the audio from movies like ‘The Lego Movie, ‘The Avengers’ or ‘Wreck It Ralph.’ We try not to utilize the DVD feature unless on a longer trip, so our youngest son was mad at me for not letting him watch a movie the other day on our five minute drive over to Turkey Creek.  He was so mad that he demanded that his last name be changed to something else other than 'Fisher.'

It's pretty humorous, but God's call on our lives is much like our family name; even when you feel dishonored by your family, you still keep your family name.

The exact same principle holds true for our spiritual gifts, which are given to all believers upon accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.  Because we are children of God, we are given special gifts and are expected to use them to perform certain tasks for Him.  Sometimes, we squander away our time and we don't use our gifts to bring glory to God and expand His kingdom on earth.  Regardless, God does not take the gifts away from us; we just miss out on all of the good and blessings God has in store for us.

Every day that you greet the morning, you are given another opportunity to use your Spiritual gifts to live out God's will for your life-don't waste another day!!

Walking In Your Footsteps

To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.  O my God, I trust in You.  Psalm 25:1-2

I am proud to say that both Elliott and Elijah are following in the steps of their old man by embracing the realm of pretty much any and every 80s based cartoon, toy, comic, and movie that I loved growing up: from super-heroes (Marvel and DC) and Star Trek, to Star-Wars, Transformers, Legos, Thundercats, GI Joe, M.A.S.K. and Voltron-the boys are into much of the same things I enjoyed when I was growing up. 

A proud daddy moment occurred last weekend when I took the boys to their first Comicon in Knoxville...it was a blast from the past for me as there were multiple vendors selling old comics and collectible toys that were popular when I was growing up.   

Regardless of my extensive knowledge about the various characters and story lines that I have enjoyed since my youth, our oldest son, Elliott, sometimes questions me because he has heard something different from one of his buddies at school or in the neighborhood.  Keep in mind, we are talking about 1st Graders now...

We are all called by God to trust Him alone to meet our needs.  God's only requirement is that in addition to trusting Him fully and completely, we are also to obey Him.  We are foolish to ever think that our ways are better than the Good Lord's and I can't possibly recall the many times in my life where I listened to myself and failed to be obedient.

We must trust completely that He is good and His timing is always right and that things will be done according to His will.  It's when we fail to trust Him and do it our way that things fall apart.

Let go and let God!