Forever Man

 

Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.  The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  2 Corinthians 5:17

I truly enjoy looking at old family pictures…Alicia and I look different now than when we first met and to see how much both of our boys have grown up and developed is truly remarkable.  Needless to say, change is one of the true constants of life.

The Bible teaches us two very important truths about change: The first being, despite living in an ever-changing world, God NEVER changes and is ALWAYS dependable.  The second is that when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we experience a change of heart (repentance) that produces a change in our outward lifestyle.

Sure, there are times that I look back on my life and miss certain things and activities from my past that I know are wrong, but  my heart has been changed and I remain faithful and obedient to God, not because I have to, but because I choose to, out of love.

My life has changed because of my love for Jesus and  I am a blessed man; I have a beautiful wife and children, a wonderful family, awesome friends, a promising career, good health, and my life will remain forever changed because of my relationship with Him.

The Beautiful Letdown

 

What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man.  Luke 6:22

Children can be hurtful to one another, especially when it comes to excluding someone from a group.  I recall being mean to one of my classmates in 3rd grade on the playground during recess one afternoon, back in 1983.  For some reason, my group of friends wouldn't allow him to join in our game of kickball.  He did have a rather large head and I distinctly remember changing the words of the Madness single "Our House" to poke fun and say, "_____'s head, in the middle of the street..."

Just knowing how bad he must have felt still makes me feel guilty to this very day and I am always reminded of that playground instance when I feel like I am being excluded from a group or being ridiculed for my faith.

Jesus clearly states that it is actually a blessing when you are made to feel like you are an outsider that doesn't belong on this earth.  WHAT?!? It sure doesn't feel like it.

The truth is, as a Christian, we are outsiders and we don't belong on this earth.  We must endure hardships and trials among the many blessings during our lifetimes, but God promises that we will all one day reach the place that we truly belong.

We can all look forward to receiving God's blessing for the ridicule we endure for our faith today.

Happy

 

Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is he who has forgiveness of his transgression continually exercised upon him, whose sin is covered.  Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit.  Psalm 32:1-2

I recently heard a fantastic presentation at work about stress management.  One of the keys to living a "less-stressed" life was to be grateful more often... 

God created us to live an abundant life-so much so that His Son died on the cross to save each one of us.  Just knowing that our sins are forgiven should be enough to satisfy us and make us all happy, but sadly, many of us are not. 

If you are like me, much of your time may be devoted to doing good and noble things such as serving God, but we can also burden ourselves and miss the simple blessings that He has in store for us.  We need to slow down and take the time to just be grateful for the mercy and forgiveness we have all been freely given. 

I think that God is less concerned with how much we 'do' as long as He knows that we love Him first and foremost in our lives.  Just knowing that He extended His loving grace to each of us by paying the ultimate price should be enough to make us all happy.  He loves us, so let's enjoy it more!!

Stormy Monday

 

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

When I read the story about the disciples who were on the boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, who panicked and were fearful of the storm that engulfed them, I am reminded of the seasons in life where God wants me to trust Him and patiently wait on His blessings.  

We are all familiar with how Jesus walked across the water to the disciples and calmed the storm with a simple command.  His words made the violent waves and wind to be tranquil again.

What an analogy for us to recall during life’s greatest storms.  The disciples on the boat learned to trust in Him during the most terrifying of situations and even in the worst possible situation that you and I may face, He is waiting for us to reach out and take His outstretched arm.

The Heart of the Matter

 

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.  Ephesians 4:32

Our youngest son, Elijah, has been learning some valuable life lessons recently on forgiveness.  It seems tough in our house with two boys, but I digress. In the best way that I could possibly explain to a rising 6th grader, I told him that we all make mistakes or bad choices that hurt other people’s feelings at times.

Forgiveness as I understand it, means letting go and letting God.  Sometimes, we may not receive the apology we seek from someone who has hurt us.  In those instances, we must turn that situation/conflict/person over to God and let Him deal with it.  When we turn it over to God, we must trust Him to handle things His way and NOT our own.

It makes no difference if someone asks for forgiveness or not, we must learn to extend forgiveness at all times.  Too often, I have held onto my hurt feelings for long periods of time, often escalating the issue/conflict and as a result, causing myself more sorrow than it's worth. 

The sooner that we forgive, the sooner that God begins His good work and the healing process in us.

Turn On Your Lovelight

 

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.  Proverbs 23:7

Before making a cold call to a prospective customer, sales experts say to ‘smile’ while on the phone or the person on the other end of the line will detect that you are less than enthused about making the call and your sales results will be dismal.  Just like smiling on a cold call, our thoughts can affect other people around us in a profound way.

There have been times in my life where my people in my circle of family and friends have made me angry or upset and rather than discussing the issues openly, I allowed them to well up on the inside, which ultimately impacted my thinking and the way I acted around them.

You see, if we think loving thoughts about others, we become loving individuals, but if we are thinking negative thoughts, it is near impossible for us to act in a loving manner towards others.

We are all called to be a blessing to other people and love them into a relationship with Jesus Christ.  If we can learn to control our inner thoughts and love more with our thoughts, we will be more loving as individuals, and love is what this world needs now more than ever!

Roll With It

 

We are assured and know that all things work together and are for good to and for those who love God and are called according to His design and purpose.  Romans 8:28

Our youngest son, Elijah, said something to me the other day that got me to thinking...very innocently, he said, “Granddaddy is so old that he knows everything!”  With a smile on my face, I kindly corrected him and said something to the effect of: “as wise as his granddaddy is (and he is far wiser than me), we all will continue to learn new things each and every day the rest of our lives on this earth, even him too.” 

I still learn something new each and every day in my walk of faith, and agree with the apostle Paul in stating that all things are certainly not ‘good’ but somehow all work together for good.  God is continually working on me giving up the control over my life so that I understand that His ways are far better.

When things don’t go as we planned, we can let things fall apart, or we can roll with it.  It’s hard to relax and let the chips fall where they may, but I am a firm believer that all things work for God’s greater good and we will never fully understand or grasp why certain things happen the way they do.

Trust that God’s design is better than your own and let Him work out the details of your life-He always knows what is best for each of us!