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| No New Thing Under the Son
It is so easy to assume that the current technology, the current events, the current political snares, the current whatever are something fundamentally different than what is in scripture.
Because the worldly view seems to be something along the lines of "This dusty tome applies not to me."
Be aware that it does! And God cares about it all - every single tittle of a decision you address.
Remember: God has seen it all, including stuff that hasn't happened yet!
Ask Him for help - he has all the right answers and wants you to trust Him!!
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| How well do you know your best friend's father?There is an expectation that visits upon those believers who delve deeply enough into His Word: The need to confess your walk.
This might be as simple as admitting a kind of addiction:
Hey! I read the bible in my spare time
To a full blown admittance and acceptance that Christ Jesus is in control and because He is in control, the only real way to be a blessing to someone is to share what you know of Him:
I have THE best friend - He loves me so much that He died for me. Please let me tell you about Him!
This is a simple and pure thing and when expressed in context and with God's grace and timing - a truly remarkable thing.
The problem often can come when you, as a believer, become a bit jaded - and begin to believe there is some reason to not share your faith. Perhaps your have learned to tolerate or befriend those whose ideas make you feel awkward about your faith. Perhaps you have never spent time around people who you can fully convey your love of the Lord. Or perhaps you have maintained your existing relationships, but you have begun to feel as if you could not, in good conscience, convey the majesty of your Lord and Savior because you're not good enough to share what He has done or who He is.
Remember that Christ died for YOU. His blood covers you. You not only have the authority to share what He has done in your life, but if you ask Him for help, He will give you opportunities to share with others exactly what He has done!!
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| The March
My goal for the next thirty days - the month of March to be precise - I wish to catalog my daily walk with God.
The reason is simple. I believe God is active in my life ... but I don't always perceive it. I thus have an opportunity to kind of trip over God here - by listing whatever God places in my heart and in front of my eyes, I should better perceive, observe, and associate God's actions therein.
I challenge you to do the same.
It doesn't have to be a burning bush. Don't assume that He will move mountains just to point out a cheeseburger on the left. By the same token, don't assume He won't.
The implementation is to anticipate He will do those things appropriate to your needs in His appointed time.
Start today - What did God do in and around your life today?
Today He helped me not get lost on the way to pay off a bill.
Today He helped me take joy in the environment - the weather was amazing.
Today He helped me recognize the recursive nature of the Bible in a way I had not been aware of.
Today He gave me grace.
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| Is there such a thing as a rhetorical christian question?One of things I run across are questions people either take for granted or into which others don't delve. Sometimes the cause is simply the questions are difficult to frame clearly. Sometimes the questions are so fundamental and obvious people do not give them serious consideration. Sometimes the questions are so seemingly meaningless that there will probab ly never be a reason to actually consider them. Certainly I am not immune to this phenomena ... although, because I'm looking for the questions, I'm not as oblivious to some of them.
Thus, the following posts will focus on questions I believe a mature christian* should be able to answer for themselves. I am not saying I DO have the answer to any question, but given the fact its here on my blog, I may have given it more thought. At the very least you have an opportunity to agree/disagree with me via comment.
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* By christian, I DO mean someone who believes in Jesus Christ as their
Lord and savior, believes that He lived a little over 2000 years ago,
died, came back three days later (by Hebrew count), and actively
forgives the sins of those who believe on him. I also mean those who
believe scripture is the word of God.
By christian, I DO NOT mean someone who worships the bible (regardless
of its translation). Nor someone who worships representations of the
bible or Jesus.
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| Phil's 48 So you're having a bad day, and something seems off, unbalanced, and you are seriously considering flying off the handle, chiefly because someone is irritating you, or you're scared, or nothing seems to matter. Even worse, things matter too much and you're not able to put them into perspective. Rather yet still worse, your pulse is on the very heart of events surrounding you, and it seems that you are essential to many a person's life, and thus their problem is now practice for your problem solving skills!
I have a challenge for you. It won't be easy nor will the rewards be immediately obvious. No banners will mark your path, no parade, medal, or raise will herald the choice. And yet YOU will note the difference. And it will give you a powerful tool in the years to come.
CHALLENGE: Describe how amazing your day is going from the point of view of everything you think is wrong going right.
Example: If today is unusually hot, and you're prone to excessive personal overheating, such that the heat itself seems personally oppressive - write a poem, short story, or novel about the effect of the ice cube industry on small farms in Africa. Write about how they discovered a profoundly new animal in the arctic circle that survives on penguins. Describe that day, perfect in all its golden detail, which was the coldest and harshest in recorded history. Act as if I am walking the day with you and describe aspects of it that I might have missed because I was distracted by the very thing you despise about the day.
My challenge, reworded, is simply: choose the ability to make the choice of what you focus. Don't let circumstances or irritations choose your foci for you.
I promise you: if you master this, your life will never be the same.
Note: if you wish some Biblical guidelines about how to choose your focus, I suggest the passage suggested in the title of this piece.
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