Don’t Let Your Faith Become ‘Bland’

Do you feel that your faith brings ‘energy’ to your life?  Does it make you ‘more confident’?  Does it bring a sense of ‘optimism’ to you?  I’m afraid that many would have to confess that their faith has become ‘dry’, ‘routine’, ‘boring’.  I don’t believe that our faith is meant to be that way!  I believe our faith is to bring zest, vitality, adventure, and flavor to our life.  That’s what salt is, and does! 

Jesus told His followers, “You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13).  In other words, as a Christ-follower, my relationship with Jesus is to bring something positive and life-changing to my life.  And, my faith should bear influence in how I live every day, how I make decisions, how I relate to people, how I handle stress, and how I care for others.  Too many Christians are just “going through the motions”, without any real life-changing power that is making a difference.  Jesus doesn’t want my faith to be ‘bland’, he wants my faith to add flavor and zest to my life!

Why not ask Jesus today to make your life salty so that others will thirst for Him!  

I want my life to impact my world for Jesus!  I want others to come to know His love.  I want others to be transformed by His grace.  I want others to know His resurrection power in their lives!  These are exciting days to live as a Christian and let our influence for Christ be felt!    We need to set the pace with our living, and not just our words!  People need to see our faith in action!  Salt is not made to stay in the salt shaker–it is meant to be poured out!  Give yourself in love and service to others!

Lift Your Voice in Praise to God!

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday.  Historically, this was the Sunday when Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and a multitude of people spread their garments on the road and waved palm branches as He rode by.  The multitude of people lifted up their voices in song singing, ”Hosanna!  Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!”  As Jesus rode into the city it was a time of great rejoicing and giving God praise.

That same day there were others in the crowd who did not join in this festive time of celebration.  In Luke 19:39-40 we read, “And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’  But Jesus answered them and said, ‘I tell you, if these [people] become silent, the stones will cry out.’“  Did you catch that?  Jesus said that if this crowd did not lift up their voices in PRAISE to God, the very rocks in the road would cry out in PRAISE to the KING OF KINGS!

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want ‘rocks’ giving God the PRAISE that I should be giving!  So, I’m going to praise the Lord today for His goodness, His faithfulness, and His mercy in my life!  I’m going to give a witness to others about His kindness and grace.  I’m going to tell others that knowing God will  transform their life, and bring them meaning and hope to them.  And–I’m not just going to give God PRAISE  with just my lips, but with my life and my actions! 

Will you join me?  No matter what you’re going through today, let  your life resound with PRAISE for God!  I believe it will make a great difference in your day!

“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.  My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear it and rejoice.  O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”        Psalm 34:1-3

Courage

 

“People cannot discover new lands until they have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”     Andre Gide

A Word That Is Important To Your Success

Do you want to be an achiever?  A success at what you do?  Do you want to maximize your talents and passions?  There is a word that will help you in this endeavor.  That word is ‘yes’!  Saying ‘yes’ to opportunities that come your way will have a tremendous impact upon your career.

Carrie Underwood made a guest appearance on American Idol last evening.  For those of you who are not familiar with Carrie Underwood, she is one of America’s top pop singers and songwriters today.  Carrie is a multi-platinum recording artist and a Grammy Award winner.  In May of 2008, she was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. 

Carrie was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma and was raised on a ranch.  Carrie loved to sing as she was growing up.  Although, singing was a great love of hers, she never believed that a career in music was possible.  It was during the 4th season of American Idol that an opportunity presented itself for Carrie to participate in an audition before Randy, Paula, and Simon.  Carrie said, ‘yes’, to the opportunity!  

Not only did Carrie do well in the opening weeks of the season–she went on to be voted as the winner of American Idol’s 4th season!   Saying ‘yes’ to that opportunity has totally changed her life!  

Many people today never achieve their dreams, or do what they are really passionate about, because they have never said ‘yes’ to some opportunity that came their way.  Achievers are risk takers.  Achievers know when to ‘act’.  Achievers would rather ’stick their neck out and try something’, than see great opportunities pass them by!

If you want to be succeed in life–learn to say ‘yes’ to opportunities that will call forth your best and allow you express the passions of your heart!

It May Be Time For Some Star Gazing!

If you’re like me, you can think of times when you felt ‘overwhelmed’ by things going on in your life.  You tried as hard as you could to think things through, or reason things out, but you just could not come up with answers to the delimmas you were facing.  Sometimes we feel as if we’re ‘boxed in’ by life’s circumstances, and we do not know which way to turn.  There are other times when we feel like we’ve taken a turn onto a ‘dead end street’ and do not know how to get ourselves turned around.  Ever struggle with times like that?

When our problems appear so ‘large’, everything else seems very ’small’.  In difficult times, God can seem ’small’ compared to the ’colossal obstacles’ that stand like giants before us–taunting us, snearing at us, and mocking our efforts to overcome them.  When God seems ’small’, we tend to lose heart and wonder whether we’ll make it through the difficulties or not.

It may be time for star gazing!  What do I mean?  In the Old Testament we read about a man of great faith called Abraham.  God called Abraham to pack up his family and head out to a new land that God would direct him to.  This journey most certainly had it’s adventure, but it also had it’s adversities and difficulties.  There must have been times when Abraham wondered whether he was going to make it!  On top of that, God had promised Abraham that even in his old age, he and his wife, Sarah, would have a baby boy.  Boy, talk about trusting God!

One night, when Abraham was going through a period of doubting and questioning his ability to trust God for the impossible, God said, “Abraham, let’s go for a walk under the stars.”  As Abraham looked up into the dark night sky God said to him, “Abraham, look up and tell Me how many stars are there.”  Why, there must have been billions, maybe trillions of stars!  As Abraham focused his gaze on the myriads of stars, he was reminded of how BIG GOD IS!  How POWERFUL GOD IS!  How ABLE GOD IS to do what He has promised!

When you feel overwhelmed by life, and don’t know which way to turn….take a walk in the night and look up…do some star gazing…let the AWESOMENESS of the heavens fill your heart…remind yourself HOW BIG GOD IS…and trust Him with everything in your life!

Signs of Spring

Today it got up to 78 degrees here in Evansville, Indiana.  It was so nice outside I decided to go for a walk.  Ocassionally, I need these special times just to think and pray about things.  I have a favorite place I like to go.  There is a small lake right in back of the Cracker Barrel restaurant out by the by-pass.  It is a beautiful setting and makes for a nice place to walk and think. 

There were quite a few ducks swimming in the water.  Their colors were gorgeous!  Several of the trees lining the outer edge of the lake were beginning to bud.  As I walked by the trees with their new “buds” bursting forth, I asked myself, “Is there any signs of ‘new life’ in me?”  As people look at my life, do they see signs of growth and newness?  Or, do they just see the ’same ol’ person’?

Every day is a new opportunity to grow, learn new things, expand our vision, develop new skills, stretch our abilities. let our creative juices flow.  I want to become a new person!  I want my life to be characterized by change and transformation.  I want to see fresh ideas, new thoughts, and new challenges take hold of my life.  I don’t want my life to be ‘predictable’.  I don’t want my life to get ’stuck’ in the same ol’ ruts!

Those beautiful little ‘buds’ bursting out on the trees–spoke to my heart today about the continual need for life, growth, change, and transformation in my life.  I am thankful that as I allow Jesus Christ to live in my life, He promises to bring those very things to me! 

Jesus said, “He that believes on Me, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.”   John 7:37

Be Yourself!

Everyone has a person, or persons, that they have admired and looked up to through the years.  Often, we try to imulate those persons by using the same “voice inflections”, “gestures”, and “mannerisms”.  It is not unusual to find yourself walking like another person, talking like another person, acting like another person, even picking up similar idiosyncries that those persons had in their lives. 

Many times we pattern our lives after others.  Especially, if those persons have had a measure of success in their life.  Now, there’s nothing wrong with looking up to others and trying to embrace the best part of their lives into ours.  However, we must not negate the God-given talents and abilities that are unique to us!  God made you special!  There’s no one else on earth like you!  God has a special purpose for your life.  He wants to use your life, your gifts, your personality in a special way.  God believes in you!

Too many people get caught up in a “copycat” kind of life where they feel they can’t function unless they act, think,  dress, or behave like someone else they know.  Don’t get caught up in that!  Be yourself!  Express who you really are!You are gifted!  You are special!  You have abilities to contribute with your life that are unique to you!  Don’t try and be someone else–be yourself!  Celebrate yourself!  Celebrate the person that God made you to be!  Don’t let other people try and “squeeze you” into the person that they think you should be.  You become the person that God wants you to be!  Follow your heart, and let the Holy Spirit direct your life. 

You can be successful!  You can achieve your dreams!  Give up trying to “mimic” someone else, or trying to be like someone that you are not.  God wants you to explode with confidence at who He has made you to be! 

The world is waiting for the leadership that only you can bring!

“For we are His workmanship, created  in Christ Jesus for good works…”     Ephesians 2:10

Learn From Your Times of Suffering

None of us would ever desire to go through hurtful, painful times in life.  In fact, if we had the choice we would avoid such experiences.  However, life has taught us that there are many profitable lessons that can be learned when we go through times of suffering and pain.  We learn a lot about ourselves, our values, our convictions, and our faith.  There is probably not a one of us who cannot look within his/or her heart today and see valuable things that we have learned through difficult times in our lives.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was a survivor of the Jewish death camps during WWII.  The atrocities and cruelties he experienced while there were unspeakable.  The stench of death and the daily suffering of those incarcerated at the prison camp were experiences that the survivors would have to live with the rest of their lives.  

Many who survived the horrors of these prison camps made every effort “to forget” the gruesome experiences they were put through day-after-day.  Solzhenitsyn was different.  He didn’t want “to forget”!  Oh sure, there was a part of him that wanted to forget the death and horror of the daily cruelty that was meted out to him and his fellow prisonmates.  But there was another part of him that did not want “to forget” the suffering that went on there.  There was a part of him that wanted to learn valuable lessons from this suffering that could enable him to live more passionately and lovingly after being released.  And, he wanted to share these lessons that he learned with others so that these same “sins” and “cruelties” toward fellow humans would not be repeated. 

Some time after being released from the prison camp, Solzhenitsyn tells us that he established “a zek’s day” as a way of reminding him of the suffering he experienced in the camp, and helping him remember to treat his fellow man with patience, kindness, mercy, and compassion.  In the morning he would cut off 650 grams of bread for his daily ration and for lunch he fixed himself some broth and a ladelful of thin mush.  He says as he ate the bread, the broth, and the mush “the old sensations would rise vividly in his mind.”  He did not want to become numb to the suffering that he had experienced.  He felt there were divine lessons from those times of suffering which would help him become a better person.

Have you been going through times of suffering?  pain?  disillusionment?  All of us have.  Look deep into your heart and ask God what He would have you learn from those times.  There is something valuable we can take from every experience in life, even the most difficult ones.   Ask God for His strength to help you move through those tough times in your life.  It may be that you will want to ask God for His healing in your life.  It may be that you have learned something in your pain that will help someone else with theirs.  Maybe there has been some way in which you have seen growth and maturity in your life come through a time of suffering.  Share this with someone else.  Someone else may need “just the words you can offer” which will be the strength and blessing they need to carry on.

If we will set our hearts to learn from life’s experiences, there will always be something of value that we can share with others.

“All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah!  Father of all mercy!  God of all healing!  He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.”                               2  Corinthians 1:2-3    The Message                        

3 Pennies And A Dream

Agnes had 3 pennies.  She also had a dream of doing something significant with her life.  How on earth was she going to realize her dreams with only 3 pennies?  What could she do with so little? 

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu felt called to ministry as a young girl and went through ministerial training in Ireland and India.  When she graduated from her training her heart was “on fire” with a burning passion to serve God and love people.  One day she approached her superiors and announced, “I have three pennies and a dream from God to build an orphanage.”  Her superiors could not believe what they were hearing!  After laughing at her, they said, “You can’t build an orphanage with three pennies.  With three pennies you can’t do anything.”  Agnes just smiled and replyed, “I know.  But with God and three pennies I can do anything!”

For fifty years this woman worked among the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, India.  We know Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu as Mother Teresa who endeared herself to thousands of people.  She literally gave her life away in sacrifcial love to others.  Mother Teresa did not have the “material” things that many have today, but she had a passion which gave her life meaning and direction.  The impact of her love and kindness impacted millions around the world!

She only had 3 pennies and a dream that burned in her heart.  That was enough!  She felt the hand of God was upon her life and He would open up the way, and provide all she needed.  She would not be deterred by negative voices, or meagre resources.  She would instead place the dream, and the passion, in the hands of God and let Him work things out for His glory.  We can learn from that.  Let God be God!  Trust Him to be your provider, your guide, your strength.  Let Him work out the dreams that He has placed in your heart.  He knows what’s best!  He knows how to bring it about! 

“To him who believes all things are possible.”     Mark 9:23

Jon is 29!

Today is our oldest son’s birthday!  Jon is 29.  He was born during a snowy February in 1980.  We’ve had a great time celebrating his birthday today.  Jon and I played some baseball out in the back yard this afternoon, and tonight we all enjoyed some delicious ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery!  Yum!  Yum!  (I think there’s some left over.)

It is so rewarding to see how Jon is growing into a great young man with many talents and leadership abilities.  Jon has been spending the last several weeks writing some new music and doing some recording.  He’s hoping to put together an EP with 5 or 6 songs on it.  It will be nice to hear when he’s finished.  I appreciate so much Jon’s positive attitude in life and his sincere desire to make a difference in this world.  I know he has already impacted many lives with his faith and contagious spirit.

Happy Birthday, Jon, we’re so proud of you!