2×4 Time

This was the reading at Hosanna (my Church) several weeks ago.  I remember these first verses being a 2×4 to the head (think ‘Tommy Boy‘).  How often do I find myself using God’s grace as an excuse to sin…  I think we are all guilty of it from time to time.  Or maybe there is that one specific sinful addiction that you can’t seem to break.  The one that has be come so habitual that you’ve stop trying.

Romans 6:6 ⁶Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Slaves to???

Paul makes a good point about the dedication we need to present in our lives.  Just as Christ was obedient unto death for us, we are asked to due the same out of joy and gratitude for what has been done for us.  This is something we should strive for daily…even if yesterday was a bust.  We can make the effort and pray for obedience to Christ and His will be done in our lives.

Mark 10:27 ²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible,but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Prayer

My Father,

I pray for obedience today.  For obedience to your will.  For your newness of life to overtake my purpose and grant me the freedom from sin that your grace brings.

In His most Holy Name,

Amen.

Another amazing insight from the book of Proverbs. In my life…this rings true on a regular basis. Sometimes God gives me some foresight into the road ahead…but more often then not, I see the plan in the ‘rear-view’ as I continue my journey to the next part of His plan.

I’m sure there are plenty that will argue that free will is what governs us. I’d challenge you to think of this for a second. A master luthier (guitar/stringed instrument maker) spends months shaping and forming his next creation. And when the finishing touches are put on it and he sits down to play it…wouldn’t it be an absolute shock it the first string plucked sounded like a trumpet… My point is that God made you. He knows every aspect of you. Every facet of your personality, your mind, your being. To often our minds take the phrase ‘God made me’, and turns it into the visual of God piling up so dirt…mushing it into a humanoid shape…and then ‘say the magic words’…PPoofF! We have human. God created more than that. He created the way you perceive things, the environment you’d be exposed to, your ability to interpret things…and the way you see the world. With a hand in creating all of that…it would probably be pretty easy to create us so that we were prepared to take the journey He had in mind for us.

Prayer

Lord,

I praise you for I am ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’. Some days I feel overwhelmed with the tasks set before me. Help me to use the abilities that You have created in me to accomplish the tasks that You have given to me. I love You. I know I don’t say that enough. I love You. Thank You for loving me first.

Amen .

²⁸“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ²⁹” ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

³⁰“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

³¹“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³²For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

The context of these verses involves Jesus speaking with some of the Jewish leaders. He proceeds with a few parables that very much fly in the face of these leaders. Being told that you would enter the kingdom of God behind prostitutes and tax collectors didn’t sit very well with these leaders either.

The main point I pull out of these verses is that ‘change matters‘. The one son immediately said he wouldn’t go. That, to often, reminds me of myself. My initial reaction to a lot of things, probably isn’t the best/right one. I’ve gotten better about ‘digesting’ something before I ‘weigh-in’ on a topic. Still, there are times with things I’m most passionate about that I just say ‘No…I’m not doing that’, or ‘Sure I can’ only to end up regretting it. The beauty of these pages though, is that Jesus is telling us that we can make mistakes…and although we can’t ‘take them back’…we can change.

I’ve been posting a lot about change here lately. My life is in a bit of a ‘changing’ stage. Getting married…starting a life with someone…feeling excited and nervous at the same time. I think change always feels like that. Embracing something new and different. The tag line for this blog…”Today is a New Day… Today I Pray for Change… Today I Begin My Change…” is something I hope to live by each and every day.

Prayer

Father,

I know ‘change’ will come in my life. I know that your will for me involves that. Thank you for the struggles that strengthen me. Guide me so that ‘change’ is not something I fear…but something I embrace and become closer to You through.

In Jesus Name,

Amen.

What are you living for? Have you asked yourself that question today?…”What am I truly living for?”…That can be a sobering question on some days. I heard a story once about an airline that had a huge meeting to discuss the issues facing the company. They brought in representatives from the CEO down to the janitorial staff. They began the meeting and everyone started talking about the crisis they each had on their hands. Accounts dealing with tracking records, security handling all the customers, janitors with having to clean up after those millions of people… everyone had something that needed ‘urgent and immediate’ attention. After hours of going around and around on all these various crisis, someone noticed that one of the pilots hadn’t said a word. They asked if he had anything to add. “Well…everything everyone said here is very true. The only crisis I really ever have to deal with is losing an engine at 35,000 feet with 100+ souls aboard.” Needless to say, that statement helped give the meeting the perspective it needed to get some things done.

The verse from Proverbs (one of my favorite books from the bible) gives us some good perspective on things today. I often times find myself striving… struggling… stressing… for a few more dollars in the bank account. Verse 5 of this chapter goes on to say:

“⁵Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.”

It is so easy to let the world convince us that money is what we live for. This blog was in fact started partly with that in mind. I hope that more than that, it was started to help me grow and strengthen my relationship and faith in God, as well as being a ministry resource to those of you on the web. It’s tough to fight the fact that ‘earning a living’ has been ingrained in us from the time we’re old enough to help around the house.

The turning point is shown to us in Matthew 6:33 – “³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. “

If we seek His kingdom first…our reward will be given us. That’s the perspective we need. His glory before ours. His commands before our desires. With this perspective… life just starts to make a little more sense and seems to be a little more worth living.

Prayer

Father,

I want Your Perspective…need Your Perspective in my life. Help me to find that in every aspect of my life…work…family…community… Let Your will for me be made known in my life. Let Your Word guide my steps and show me the ‘True Perspective‘…that Your Son suffered, died, and lived again for me. Let that be my ‘Window of Perspective‘ to the world.

In Jesus Name,

Amen.

Comment Collaboration: What helps You keep your Perspective?

Your Word is sufficient for me…

Prayer

Our Father, who art in Heaven,

Hallowed be Thy Name.

Thy Kingdom come.

Thy will be done,

on earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,

For ever and ever.

Amen

You have been chosen. You have been called by God to belong to Him….’a people belonging to God’. He chose you for His own.

The word ‘Belong‘ is a powerful word. Everyone, from the time they are born, searches for a sense of ‘belonging’, or another way to put it, ‘a place to call home’. I think one of the biggest struggles that a young adult faces is this. If it isn’t found at home, it will be sought out elsewhere. This scripture is a comfort to all seeking that place to just be and be at peace. For me, it’s usually not until I go back to the farm place that I grew up on, do I truly feel at home. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been away. Whenever I’m there…I just feel more like me. The other place that I feel like this is at my church. The thing I’ve decided though is that it’s not about the building…it’s about the people that are there. People that I love and care about and that love and care about me.

Do you have a place to ‘belong‘ to? If not, know that God has chosen you and you belong to Him. If you still have other desires to ‘belong to a family’, ‘belong to a church’, or ‘belong to a significant other’, realize that God knows these desires. He placed them within you. He intends to fulfill them in His time.

Prayer

Father,

I belong to You. Praise be to Your blessed name. Thank You for choosing me to be Your child. My identity as belonging to You is the best thing that could ever happen to me. Remind me during the times where I struggle to find a ‘sense of belonging,’ that Your will for me is perfect, that Your love for me is immeasurable, and that Your Son Jesus bought me with the sacrifice of His life.

In Jesus Name,

Amen.