Grace like Snow

Personally I don’t like the snow, mainly it is because I get stuck driving a plow truck at work for hours at end. Today though, today I loved the snow. I am finished plowing and today I was able to just spend a few hours sledding with the kids. It was wonderful and the joy and happiness on their faces was worth the price ofspending a few hours in a plow truck.  Then I got to thinking.

We have heard, well at least I have heard the phrase grace like rain (or maybe I am thinking the song) either way perhaps you have heard it too. But what if is more like grace like snow: pure, white, cleansing snow?

But what if we see it all wrong? Stuck at home. Can’t go to work. Can’t go shopping. Disabled vehicles. Working overtime. Complaints, gripes and bad attitudes abound in times of snow. How different is that from Grace, or at least or ideas of Grace?

I have to give up that? I have to work where? I have to… Throw in judgmental and bad attitudes and that is quite the storm.

What if we just admire the beauty and join in the fun and joy that is to be had? What if it isn’t about us or “I” but what if it is about what has been done? I didn’t cause it to snow; nothing I did or ever could do is going to cause snow. But I can join in the fun and joy of it. I can build snowmen and throw snowballs, make forts and go sledding. I can experience great joy if I accept it and change my attitude.

Grace like snow, it is nothing we have done and nothing we can do to make it happen but if we accept it and change our hearts we can have unspeakable joy. Merry Christmas to you all and enjoy the Grace that is available to you.

Diet and Exercise 3:16

So this post started out in my mind with a title of 60 minutes of freedom but the more I thought about what I wanted to say the more I disliked that title. So as of right now this is untitled but it will come to me eventually.

I spent the better part of an hour, o.k. Maybe more like two hours but anyway where was I? Oh yes, I spent over an hour reading blogs and posts on different things with God; some serious and some humorous and after I got done and went to shower, which is what I was neglecting while reading, I realized that I had spent all that time on the computer and I don’t recall being tempted once. No anger, lust, pride, lust, depression or lust. Yeah lust is a weak point where most of my attacks seem to land and it is tough, real tough but for that hour or so there was a calmness and freedom if you will.

I could chalk that up to a good evening or at least a good couple of hours or I could examine what happened in that time to curb the temptations. Now in no way am I saying that I am cured or that I have conquered temptation in fact I realize even more how real it is and that it is only through Christ that I can resist. Acknowledging weakness and a dependency on God is vital to overcoming temptations and I know that on my own I would consistently fail. And I would fail miserably. But I did realize something tonight, something I probably noticed before but how easily I forget.

It all comes down to diet and exercise. How many of you have dieted at one point or another? (Raises Hand) O.K. now, how quickly do the temptations arise when you are dieting? I may make it a day or two, if I am really lucky but the temptations come quickly when you start a diet. All those bad things that you had enjoyed so much start entering your thoughts and the world doesn’t help with the pizza commercials and sugary advertisements. Just writing the word pizza gets my taste buds doing summersaults and I’m not even dieting. So what happens when those temptations hit you? If you are like me I resist and resist then I cave and often I cave hard. Ugh. Now we get mad at ourselves and do one of two things. We either forget the diet altogether and continue to indulge or we shake it off as a blip in the diet and continue on. There must be something we can do to keep the temptations from being so intense. There is and it is called…

Exercise. Something happens when you team exercise with your diet, they go together like peanut butter and jelly; oh, wait I am talking about diets, how about broccoli and ranch. How often does a pizza or other goodness tempt you when you are sweating away on an elliptical or lifting weights? There is something about exercising that, at least momentarily, blocks the temptations and cravings. You are focused and it is more difficult for the cravings to enter your mind. Another thing happens as well. When those temptations come at you, you remember all the work and sweat you have endured and even if you do falter you are more likely to get back on track quickly.

So what does this have to do with God or sin? Well if all we are doing is eliminating bad stuff (sin) from our lives then we are essentially just dieting and we are more likely to fall harder when we do fall. (Yeah, I did say when, sorry but none of us are perfect and we will mess up along the way that is why God’s grace is so amazing.) We have to include exercise in with our spiritual diet. We have to exercise by being in the Word, praying and in community. When we are consistently exercising along with our spiritual diet it is easier and easier to resist those craving, those temptations that will come at us. And even when we falter our exercise regime helps us to get right back up.  But know that all the exercise and diet is of no use if we are not covered by the blood of Christ and using His strength. We can’t do it alone.

Grab a partner and lets start our diet and exercise in and through Jesus Christ.

Clouds the Son

The sun was shining brightly not long ago but now the grey clouds of winter have once again come and stifled out the warmth. It was so nice to stand outside just basking in the light and feeling its warmth on my skin. Now it just seems sadder out.

I wonder if that is how God sees us, those who call ourselves by His Sons name. Jesus Christ, the SON of God is shining beautifully and brightly allowing us to be warmed by His presence but then we come along and blanket it with our own clouds; clouds of fear, distrust, envy, anger, lust, selfishness and pride.

We are called to show the world the light of Christ that is inside of us. Are we allowing the clouds in our lives to stifle the light or are we allowing the Son to burst through even the darkest skies?

What is amazing to me is that some of the most spectacular showings of the sun happen when many storm clouds are present. I imagine the same is true of the SON. God’s more spectacular showings appear in our storm clouds. Will we let Him shine through?

On your mark, get set, …

If I were invited to run a marathon right now I would have to, well… laugh. I am overweight, I don’t run and the smoking probably wouldn’t help.  Now if I were asked to compete in a marathon in a year, or two, from now I would probably still laugh. Why? Why would I still not want to strive towards it?

Easy.

I don’t want to give up certain “things” and dedicate the time and effort required to be able to compete in such an event. The smoking would have to go immediately, it should anyway. My diet would need to see an extreme makeover. Not that all that I consume is bad but even some of the good foods when I have too much of them becomes a bad thing. I would also need to dedicate a set amount of time out of each day with the sole purpose of preparing for the race. It takes time, dedication and sacrifices to run such a race, it does not happen overnight.

Hebrews 12:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

We are called to run a race marked out for us according to God’s Word. Just as with preparing for a marathon it takes effort and dedication in running our spiritual race. We must give up sin that takes away our endurance and blinds us to the path. We have to get rid of some of the good stuff so that we may wholly focus on our goal. We have to dedicate time daily in preparing and training for the race.  We have to alter our diet and feed on the bread of life and eliminate the junk.

The worship leader at the church I attend has recently begun running and even competed in a 50+ mile race. I could not imagine running such a distance. But he didn’t start off with that race he started small. He ran a mile here and 2 here. Now I see his tweets that he ran 4 miles or ran 5 miles and “felt good”. Felt good. As he has dedicated time, energy and effort to running he has really begun to enjoy his runs. They make him feel good. I am sure there is a soreness and tiredness but there is also the great feeling of doing it.

The more we run and the more we dedicate ourselves to running the good race, the more we will enjoy it and want to run more. Obstacles will come, injuries and storms will arise but through Christ we can overcome those and continue on the race.

One thing that is different is it doesn’t matter your age, sex, past, physical condition or disabilities. We can all run this race that God has called us to do. And we can start right now. The starting gun fired when we entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We may tire and feel soreness but the more we keep at it and the more we rely on Christ as our strength the better we will run. And we will “Feel Good”

So let us lace up our running shoes and run the race that is marked out for us. God will pace you.

Too Quiet

Ever had those days when you really don’t have anything to do?

Today is Saturday. It is a very cold Saturday but the sun is bright so I am thankful for that. I had breakfast with a group of guys from my Church this morning.  We meet every Saturday morning but that is beside the point. I am on call for work today so there is a possibility that I will be called into work. I don’t like being on call but for now that is how it is. The kids are at their moms today so I have the place to myself.

It is quiet.

I have a book that I would like to finish today and I decided to do a bit of writing but besides that I have nothing planned.

When did we get to the point where if we have nothing busy to do we feel bored or lonely?

I think I have been filling my life with stuff to stay busy so I don’t have too much time alone to think.

No sports to go to, no children to watch, no calls to make, nothing necessary that needs to be done. That makes me restless.

Maybe that is why my quiet time with God is so difficult to me. I enjoy praying whole doing other stuff. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that but why do I struggle doing it if there is nothing else to do?

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still.

Maybe I feel like I am wasting my time, my life, if I am not doing something to fill the day. Maybe I need this time to just focus on God so that I am prepared for the busy season. That may be tomorrow.

I am trying to learn that it is O.K. to not do much and just spend time in the presence of my Lord.

So I will be getting off here and doing that. Something may come up to do later but for now it is quiet and I am going to try and take advantage of it and just be with God.

The quiet and stillness is not a bad thing.

The Buddy Jesus

I read an article this morning about a large (I believe one of if not the largest) church in China being ransacked and shut down with the pastors being thrown in prison. I am saddened but not surprised.

 How can I not be surprised?

 I am not surprised because this is exactly what Jesus said would happen and would continue to happen until His return.

 I am saddened though. Not because I feel the Christians over there are being robbed, in fact I believe they are more blessed in a way then many in our current Western civilization can be. Those followers of Christ knew the cost and they knew the risks they would take when they chose to follow Jesus. Following Christ was not something they decided they would do on the side it was The one thing they were going to do.

 I am saddened that my brothers and sisters in Christ are suffering but I think it may be something more then that. Maybe it is that I am saddened at myself that these people are wholeheartedly following Christ while I struggle with meaningless “sacrifices” that aren’t even really sacrifices.

 I said that I was not surprised but I believe that many people were and are surprised at what is going on. Why? Because we have been indoctrinated in Christianity that isn’t a reality or we have been fed what Christianity is without really looking at what Jesus called us to be.

 Wealth, success, affluence, health, freedom and a laundry list of other perks we feel we are to be endowed with by calling Jesus our own. Even if we don’t think we are entitled to these things we debate amongst ourselves on what we should do or what we need to give up, to follow Jesus.

 We ask if we really should give God our first 10% then we debated whether that should be before or after taxes.

 We ask if we can still follow Christ and hold onto a sin.

 We wonder how far we can go to the edge without sinning.

 We worship God on Sundays in our beautiful buildings without any fear of persecution and we say a prayer and then continue on with life as if God isn’t even there.

 We listen to Christian music and let the words slip through us.

 We listen to God’s Word and we don’t let it sink in, we don’t act on what we hear.

 I am saddened that we don’t really know Jesus like those persecuted in the story.

 I am saddened that we look at Jesus as a “buddy” someone who we want to get something from instead of seeing Him as a Holy, Loving, Majestic, Worthy of Praise, Redeemer, Great Judge, Lamb of God, King of Kings, Lord of Lords and GOD.

 Maybe it is time to change our perspective on who Jesus is and how worthy He is to be praised and worshiped above everything. Jesus needs nothing from us and yet He gave up everything for us. We should be doing all we can just to be near Him and worship.

Wishful Thinking

 I do not like the cold weather and every year, especially during the winter season, I wish/dream of moving or at least migrating to a place with much sun and warmth; Florida I am looking at you.

Work, sadly not too many people can say that they truly enjoy their job and I would be listed among them. I have often wished I could move and go to culinary school and just go from there. Again, notice the moving. Much of my time spent living here has been spent wishing I was somewhere else. Alas, I am still here.

I have been separated for well over a year and I have learned to accept that and find contentment, yet still I can find myself wishing to be with someone and usually that includes being someplace else. Hmm, there seems to be a pattern with moving. Is there anything wrong with wishing for something else, something “better”? I didn’t think so. I figured it was fine to wish for things but in retrospect wishful thinking has robbed me of the here and now.

Last night (well last night from the time I am writing this) I opened up the Bible to spend some time with God. Normally I will just use my NKJV study Bible and that is what I started out reading but somewhere along the line I chose to get The Message and read from that. As usual I started one place and ended up somewhere completely different in the Word and where I ended up is where I needed to be. It was also necessary that I read in The Message as it would not have had the same impact. Here is the passage I read that really jumped off the pages and gave me a massive “Aha” moment. Ok actually it was more a God smacking me to get my attention.

 1 Corinthians 7:17 (The Message)

And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life. Don’t think I’m being harder on you than on the others. I give this same counsel in all the churches.

               See? I figure I know what is best for me. I figured it is just mistakes of my past that have me stuck here and that God will move me where I want to be with who I want to be so that I can really start serving and worshiping God and really start doing the work He has for me.

“Where you are right now is God’s place for you”

               It is not the place I would choose but come to think of it, it has been my choices that have me where I am at. I need to embrace where I am and give it all to God. Maybe He will move me one day and maybe he will bring an insanely godly woman into my life in the future but I need to not worry or be wishful of those things. I am here, God is here and this is where He has me for the time. He knows the future not me. He knows the plans He has for me, not me. I do have desires to want to wish for other things but that takes away from my worship of God now. Now is what we have, it is what I have and I need to embrace it full force and leave it all to Him.

Help I’m Stuck and I can’t get Free

Work started off mostly normal the other day, clock in check email and get a list of any complaints that need to be taken care of.  Things changed quickly as the work truck I was riding in (make sure you notice I wasn’t driving) got stuck as we pulled off the road to check on a complaint. We were just barely off the street, in fact one set of the tires were still actually touching the curb, but regardless we were stuck. The ground, saturated from the days of rain, just pulled us in and wouldn’t release its grip it had on our truck. There were signs showing us that the ground was not safe to drive on but they were ignored and by the time I noticed we were sinking and told the driver to stop, it was too late; the damage was done.

Getting stuck didn’t bother me all that much, I actually found it somewhat amusing, but there were things we needed to take care of but for the time we were just stuck. We tried rocking the truck out, we attempted to shove what we could find under the tires for traction, we tried pushing it out but despite all of our efforts we just dug in deeper, the ground sucking us deeper in the harder we tried to get free. We ended up calling our boss to free us since we realized we were not going to get out on our own. Our boss brought the other truck, tied straps between us and pulled us out nice and easy. There were scars in the ground from our failed attempts of freedom and our truck bore the dirt and mud of the experience but we were free from its grip.

This experience made me remember all of the times I have gotten myself stuck in my relationship with Jesus Christ. The ground looks safe to go out on but upon closer inspection or retrospect the warning signs were always there. It doesn’t take much for sin to grab a hold and start pulling you in, you may just be right on the edge but that is all it needs to start sucking you in. Sin devours, engulfs and pulls you deeper and deeper and the harder you try on your own the deeper you get stuck. But freedom is there and it is closer then you may realize, all you have to do is stop relying on yourself and ask Jesus Christ, our boss, to grab us and pull us out.  There may be damage and scars from being stuck and we may be covered in dirt and mud but the blood of Jesus can and will cleanse us.

Are you stuck now? Are you trying on your own to free yourself but seem to just get pulled in even deeper? Maybe it is time for you to hand over the chains to Jesus and let Him pull you free.

In our own little world

               Texting, talking, updating facebook, tweeting, listening to music, changing the station, putting in a cd, taking out a cd, looking for a cd, playing with the iPod, thinking, dreaming, zoning out or just going through the motions of driving; it is no wonder people are oblivious in their vehicles. Everyone seems to be in their own little world and no one else exists to them.

                I have had drivers get mad at me for honking at them as they drift into my lane or just completely cut me off. Sometimes they are nice enough to wave, but upon further inspection they seem to only be waving with a single finger. Drivers block intersections when I am trying to get home from work, oblivious that I have even been sitting there with my turn signal, patiently waiting for an opening to go. In my job I am often out in the middle of a street and it doesn’t matter how many cones, flags, flashing lights, large arrows or signs we have out, people will still drive right on top of us and then get mad that they weren’t warned ahead of time that we would be in the way. It really does get aggravating and the sad thing is that this is a daily, often hourly, occurrence. I am not fault free on this either. I have daydreamed or got lost in thought or have just been distracted from all the stuff around that I have been oblivious to my surroundings at times. I am often in my own world when it comes to Jesus Christ.

               I go on with my daily life, with certain routines, and all along lost people are all around that I don’t see or at least don’t pay any attention to. I often drive down the road that is my journey with God and I don’t see the person that is hurting and alone just trying to get off the ramp; I end up cutting them off or blocking them in when if I would just open my eyes and see I could slow and wave them in. Or maybe it is the person who has just lost everything and I don’t see them because of all the distractions in my “world”. How many people have you cut off or blocked in today just because you were in your own world and didn’t see them?

               It is time for drivers to start paying attention and focus on the task at hand. Put down the phone, stop daydreaming and just pay attention to those other drivers around you. It is time for us, who are in a relationship with Jesus, to open our eyes and see those around us that we have so often passed over or been blind to. A smile, encouraging word or a wave to come on in front of you could really uplift their spirits and they may see a glimpse of hope, a bit of God through you. Let us put aside those things that distract us and focus on the task assigned to us, let us drive with purpose.