Training Day
I have been watching the winter Olympics this week and have really been enjoying all the events. Lori and I were on the edge of our seats as Apollo Ohno took second place in the short track. Then there was Kearney Hannah who took first place in the ladies moguls as the last person to ski in the event. In total as of today there have been 6 gold medals won by the US. What an exciting time for all the competitors, families, friends, and Fans. Speaking of gold it took until day three of their third time hosting the Winter Olympic Games, but Canada has finally won home gold. Bilodeau Alexandre a Canadian moguls competitor won the first gold medal for Canada that has every been won on their home turf. The Canadian fans roared with excitement as his points came across the screen.
Amongst all the images following Bilodeau’s win, one stood out in my mind. That was the image of Bilodeau’s older brother Fredric.
Fredric suffers from cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair. When his little brother won Olympic gold, Frederic cheered and screamed madly from his wheelchair behind the fence near the bottom of the course.
The joy and pride on Fredirc’s face was unmistakable. Alexandre says that Frederic is his idol and best friend.
This is a quote from Alexandre’s feelings about his brother and his disability that sum’s it all up, “It puts everything back into perspective. I’ve got that chance to train, and maybe one day will be an Olympic champion, and I’ll take it. Even if it’s raining, I’ll take it. I’ll go train. He doesn’t even have that chance, and he has a smile. Every morning he wakes up, and he’s got all the right to complain, and he never complains.…We can learn from those people.”
God has a plan for all of us doesn’t he.
Have you ever thought about how different your life would be if you were born in another country? What about in another town? Or even if you were born just 3 houses down, how much different would your life be? What if you had some type of physical disability, would you be able to wake up everyday with a smile on your face happy to be alive?
We have been given the blessing of knowing Jesus our savior. Some many times we take it for granted though. If it’s raining problems in our lives we use them as an excuse to turn our back on God. If things are not just how we planned we use them as an excuse to point fingers. Sometimes we have no excuse and still we are determined not to take what God has given us and train to be a better Christian.
Let’s count our blessings one by one and train to be better Christian’s today. Let’s take our blessings and share them so that all of us can receive God’s gold standing on his podium listening to him award us with “well done my good and faithful servant”.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Just Five More Minutes
The alarm blaring startled me awake. Just five more minutes, I told myself, as I banged around on the headboard and finally found the snooze button.
I hit the snooze button another 3 times after that and when I finally did decide to get up I was way late.
Have you ever done that before?
I haven't decided if the snooze button is a great invention or a curse. I know it impacts me, because I'll play mind games with it. I'll set my alarm ten minutes early because, I can "sneak" a few extra minutes of sleep in when it goes off.
The quality of the sleep isn't very good, but it seems so much better because it is some sleep I've managed to "steal". Truth be known, I would have slept better if I had set the alarm for the right time and simply got up with it.
I wondered how often God has been calling us and we hit our internal snooze button instead. Just wait a little longer God, just a little longer, just a little longer. Suddenly were running way behind and missed out on the opportunity to listen or to serve.
God puts someone on our hearts and says give them a call or drop them a note. Okay God, just as soon as we get done with .... and then it's weeks later. You find out later they had been going through a crisis time and really could have used some encouragement.
We all do it. I think I do it less now than I used to earlier in my walk, but I'm far from perfect. I'm so glad He is a loving, patient and merciful God.
He's used to people putting other things ahead of time with Him or in obedience to Him.
Why do we do put God on the back burner?
When will you make time to listen and obey?
I hit the snooze button another 3 times after that and when I finally did decide to get up I was way late.
Have you ever done that before?
I haven't decided if the snooze button is a great invention or a curse. I know it impacts me, because I'll play mind games with it. I'll set my alarm ten minutes early because, I can "sneak" a few extra minutes of sleep in when it goes off.
The quality of the sleep isn't very good, but it seems so much better because it is some sleep I've managed to "steal". Truth be known, I would have slept better if I had set the alarm for the right time and simply got up with it.
I wondered how often God has been calling us and we hit our internal snooze button instead. Just wait a little longer God, just a little longer, just a little longer. Suddenly were running way behind and missed out on the opportunity to listen or to serve.
God puts someone on our hearts and says give them a call or drop them a note. Okay God, just as soon as we get done with .... and then it's weeks later. You find out later they had been going through a crisis time and really could have used some encouragement.
We all do it. I think I do it less now than I used to earlier in my walk, but I'm far from perfect. I'm so glad He is a loving, patient and merciful God.
He's used to people putting other things ahead of time with Him or in obedience to Him.
Why do we do put God on the back burner?
When will you make time to listen and obey?
A LETTER TO YOU FROM SATAN
I saw you yesterday as you began your daily chores. You awoke without kneeling to pray. As a matter of fact, you didn't even bless your meals, or pray before going to bed last night. You are so unthankful, I like that about you.
I cannot tell you how glad I am that you have not changed your way of living, Fool, you are mine.
Remember, you and I have been going steady for years. And I still don't love you yet. As a matter of fact, I hate you, because I hate God. I am only using you to get even with God. He kicked me out of heaven, and I'm going to use you as long as possible to pay him back.
You see, Fool, GOD LOVES YOU and HE has great plans in store for you. But you have yielded your life to me, and I'm going to turn your life upside down. This will really hurt God.
Thanks to you, I'm really showing Him who's boss in your life with all of the good times we've had. We have been watching bad movies, cursing people out, stealing, lying, being hypocritical, fornicating, overeating, telling dirty jokes, gossiping, being judgmental, back stabbing people, disrespecting adults, and those in leadership positions, no respect for the Church, bad attitudes.
SURELY you don't want to give all this up. Come on, Fool, let's burn together forever. I've got some hot plans for us. This is just a letter of appreciation from me to you. I'd like to say "THANKS" for letting me use you for most of your foolish life. You are so gullible, I laugh at you.
When you are tempted to sin, you give in HA HA HA, you make me sick. Sin is beginning to take its toll on your life. You look 20 years older, and now, I need new blood. So go ahead and teach some children how to sin. All you have to do is get drunk or drink while under-aged, cheat, gamble, gossip, fornicate, and live being as selfish as possible. Do all of this in the presence of children and they will do it too. Kids are like that.
Well, Fool, I have to let you go for now. I'll be back in a couple of seconds to tempt you again. If you were smart, you would run somewhere, confess you sins, and live for God with what little bit of life that you have left. It's not my nature to warn anyone. Don't get me wrong, I still hate you. IT'S JUST THAT YOU'D MAKE A BETTER FOOL FOR CHRIST.
Your Enemy,
Satan
Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. (I Peter 5:8)
I cannot tell you how glad I am that you have not changed your way of living, Fool, you are mine.
Remember, you and I have been going steady for years. And I still don't love you yet. As a matter of fact, I hate you, because I hate God. I am only using you to get even with God. He kicked me out of heaven, and I'm going to use you as long as possible to pay him back.
You see, Fool, GOD LOVES YOU and HE has great plans in store for you. But you have yielded your life to me, and I'm going to turn your life upside down. This will really hurt God.
Thanks to you, I'm really showing Him who's boss in your life with all of the good times we've had. We have been watching bad movies, cursing people out, stealing, lying, being hypocritical, fornicating, overeating, telling dirty jokes, gossiping, being judgmental, back stabbing people, disrespecting adults, and those in leadership positions, no respect for the Church, bad attitudes.
SURELY you don't want to give all this up. Come on, Fool, let's burn together forever. I've got some hot plans for us. This is just a letter of appreciation from me to you. I'd like to say "THANKS" for letting me use you for most of your foolish life. You are so gullible, I laugh at you.
When you are tempted to sin, you give in HA HA HA, you make me sick. Sin is beginning to take its toll on your life. You look 20 years older, and now, I need new blood. So go ahead and teach some children how to sin. All you have to do is get drunk or drink while under-aged, cheat, gamble, gossip, fornicate, and live being as selfish as possible. Do all of this in the presence of children and they will do it too. Kids are like that.
Well, Fool, I have to let you go for now. I'll be back in a couple of seconds to tempt you again. If you were smart, you would run somewhere, confess you sins, and live for God with what little bit of life that you have left. It's not my nature to warn anyone. Don't get me wrong, I still hate you. IT'S JUST THAT YOU'D MAKE A BETTER FOOL FOR CHRIST.
Your Enemy,
Satan
Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. (I Peter 5:8)
Wake up in your Fathers Arms
You know I have learned that with kids you don’t really need an alarm clock especially on Saturday mornings. They are hard to put to sleep some nights but in the morning they are ready to go. Most morning we are awaken by at least one of them.
What is really interesting to me about it is that when our kids wake up, they don’t wonder if we’ll be there in our bed. They come running and jumping, eagerly and expectantly to see us, Sleepy-eyed, bad-breath’d, and morning haried as we may be. They don’t wake up worrying about what they’ll wear today or whether they’ll be warm enough – they expect that they’ll be changed and dressed up nice and warm when it’s cold. They don’t worry about if or what they’re going to eat – they expect that we’ll know that they’re hungry and will serve them a yummy, nutritious breakfast. When they fall down (and mine do a lot) they look towards us – holding out their hands to receive our hugs and kisses to make it “all better”. It amazing how well that really works. They don’t question whether or not we love them – they’re sure of it! They have no worries. They expect that we will take care of their every need.
Don’t you wish you could go back sometimes? No worries – getting pampered and hugged and kissed. Well, I have good news for you… you ARE a baby! Stay with me on this. You are the Lord’s baby! We are his children and he loves us with an everlasting and perfect love. He cares for us just like we care for our little children – in fact, even much, much more than that! It’s hard to believe that God can love you more than your mom and dad or that he can love your own kids more than you do, but he does.
Start on the next morning and come to the Lord as we are – His Children. We need not to worry about anything. Our Father is waiting for the time when we put total trust in Him. He loves us and He knows every one of our needs before even a word is on our lips. Let’s practice putting our worries aside and determine to expect our God to meet our every need. Don’t forget to take some time out of each day to say Father, thank you for loving me.
Mathew 6:32-33
32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
What is really interesting to me about it is that when our kids wake up, they don’t wonder if we’ll be there in our bed. They come running and jumping, eagerly and expectantly to see us, Sleepy-eyed, bad-breath’d, and morning haried as we may be. They don’t wake up worrying about what they’ll wear today or whether they’ll be warm enough – they expect that they’ll be changed and dressed up nice and warm when it’s cold. They don’t worry about if or what they’re going to eat – they expect that we’ll know that they’re hungry and will serve them a yummy, nutritious breakfast. When they fall down (and mine do a lot) they look towards us – holding out their hands to receive our hugs and kisses to make it “all better”. It amazing how well that really works. They don’t question whether or not we love them – they’re sure of it! They have no worries. They expect that we will take care of their every need.
Don’t you wish you could go back sometimes? No worries – getting pampered and hugged and kissed. Well, I have good news for you… you ARE a baby! Stay with me on this. You are the Lord’s baby! We are his children and he loves us with an everlasting and perfect love. He cares for us just like we care for our little children – in fact, even much, much more than that! It’s hard to believe that God can love you more than your mom and dad or that he can love your own kids more than you do, but he does.
Start on the next morning and come to the Lord as we are – His Children. We need not to worry about anything. Our Father is waiting for the time when we put total trust in Him. He loves us and He knows every one of our needs before even a word is on our lips. Let’s practice putting our worries aside and determine to expect our God to meet our every need. Don’t forget to take some time out of each day to say Father, thank you for loving me.
Mathew 6:32-33
32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Are you hungry for Christ?
A question we should all ask ourselves is: Are you hungry for Christ? Almost every believer that is asked that question would say YES, of course I am hungry for Christ. But, let me ask the question again while you look at your heart, Are YOU hungry for CHRIST? Is it him who you seek daily? Is it him who you truly desire in your life? Or, is your hunger for what Christ can give you? There is a difference you know. Are you hungry from him or for the gifts that he gives? If the Lord were to visit you this moment and he brought no gifts; if he came to you empty handed having no miracle of healing for your sick body, or money for your finical burdens; if he came having no answer for your failing relationships; If he were to visit you this moment having NOTHING to offer you except his unfailing love, would you be ready to receive it? Or would you walk away in disappointment because your expectations were for something other than just His love. Throughout the Word of God there are countless promises of such that as many as would believe, they would receive, but what if there were NO promises other than the promise of His love? What if there were no promises of extra blessings, of healing, of help with our finical burdens, of blessing to fulfill our hearts desires, honestly ask your self would His love be sufficient? Would it be enough to sustain you? For you, would you choose his love OVER the things you seek from him? Is HE greater than your hearts desires? In fact, is He a part of your hearts desires? When you seek him, ARE YOU SEEKING HIM or something else?
During the time of Jesus ministry here on the earth, large numbers of people followed him everywhere (Mark Ch. 3). Thousands upon thousands came to only get a glimpse of him, to hear him, to just touch his clothes. What gave him such the popularity? Was it his great words of wisdom and teaching ability? Was it that they knew he was Christ the son of God? Was it because He was and is the way, the truth, and the life and just being with him brought peace and happiness to people? Was it their hunger and thirst for righteousness, or their desire to learn and know the things God had for them? It should have been all these reasons they followed Jesus, but sadly for most of them their desire for him was based upon what he could give them. They had heard of his miracles of healing people, they had heard of him bringing people back from the dead, they had heard of him feeding thousands of people, and they had heard of all the things they could benefit from him if they could only be in his presences. The people were hungry for the things that they could see, and not for the things that they couldn’t see, for what they could receive outwardly and not the benefits of the blessing received inwardly.
The song Standing on the Promises of God is true and there is nothing wrong with a believer standing on the promises of God for his/her life. The area of concern is when we get stuck on the promises of gifts and miss the Lord. To seek not the Lord, but the power of which he possess.
Yes, there are many promises and many blessing the Lord desires to give His Children, but you must seek him first. Don’t just see his hand with the gifts nestled in it, but see his heart consumed with LOVE for you. He will fulfill every promise he made in his word, but “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you…”
Love you all,
Joe
During the time of Jesus ministry here on the earth, large numbers of people followed him everywhere (Mark Ch. 3). Thousands upon thousands came to only get a glimpse of him, to hear him, to just touch his clothes. What gave him such the popularity? Was it his great words of wisdom and teaching ability? Was it that they knew he was Christ the son of God? Was it because He was and is the way, the truth, and the life and just being with him brought peace and happiness to people? Was it their hunger and thirst for righteousness, or their desire to learn and know the things God had for them? It should have been all these reasons they followed Jesus, but sadly for most of them their desire for him was based upon what he could give them. They had heard of his miracles of healing people, they had heard of him bringing people back from the dead, they had heard of him feeding thousands of people, and they had heard of all the things they could benefit from him if they could only be in his presences. The people were hungry for the things that they could see, and not for the things that they couldn’t see, for what they could receive outwardly and not the benefits of the blessing received inwardly.
The song Standing on the Promises of God is true and there is nothing wrong with a believer standing on the promises of God for his/her life. The area of concern is when we get stuck on the promises of gifts and miss the Lord. To seek not the Lord, but the power of which he possess.
Yes, there are many promises and many blessing the Lord desires to give His Children, but you must seek him first. Don’t just see his hand with the gifts nestled in it, but see his heart consumed with LOVE for you. He will fulfill every promise he made in his word, but “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you…”
Love you all,
Joe
Monday, January 5, 2009
Old Timer
Do you carry a pocketknife? Security concerns have made it a little more difficult to carry even a small pocketknife. I always carry one when and where I can because I've always loved the usefulness of knives. They can be very handy.
I once knew a great guy named Bobby Bramlett. Bobby was single, in his early forties, and he was left completely blind following a tragic accident. He was also quite a character. One year our church had a Fall Festival. Bobby wanted to sit in the dunking booth. He sat on the platform above a large container of water and waited for our festival-goers to toss baseballs at the target. When hit, the target would throw a switch and Bobby would fall into the water. In order to prevent disorientation, Bobby tied a thin rope from his waist to the side of the tank. All seemed well till the first dunk. Bobby flailed to the surface gasping and choking! His rope had become tangled round his neck, and disaster seemed imminent. Fortunately, I remembered my trusty pocketknife. With shaking hands I opened it, cut the taut rope, and Bobby was free. I'm glad I had it with me! The knife was a Schrade "Oldtimer."
Since that episode, I've acquired several knives by different makers, but they all have two things in common. First, they must serve a purpose or they are useless. Second, they all have an "edge." I keep them sharp.
After many years in ministry, I realize something: I'm an Old Timer. You may be one, too. And the same two principles of usefulness apply to us if we are going to effectively serve God.
First, we must serve God's Purpose for us. How are you useful to God? We can know His will for us. Here are a few things He wants of us:
• Do all things to His Glory (1 Corinthians 10:31)
• Bring others to Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20)
• Build one another up (Ephesians 4:13)
• Help others in Jesus' name (Matthew 10:42)
Second, God also has special and specific plans for each of us. (Psalm 139:13-16) He wants to use us in His service with our own special gifts, talents, personalities, culture, and relationships. Each day is an adventure of discovery as He reveals His special plans for us as we live through the struggles, challenges, opportunities, joys, and sorrows of our lives.
Finally, we need to keep our edge or we become dull and can't really serve His purpose. We stay sharp by letting His Word sharpen us each day (Hebrews 4:12), by the sharpening of others through genuine relationship (Proverbs 27:17), and by devoting ourselves to prayer and service to Him each day.
Take it from me, it's THE way to live! There's nothing better. No matter what age you are, make it your goal to become an Old Timer in His Service.
I once knew a great guy named Bobby Bramlett. Bobby was single, in his early forties, and he was left completely blind following a tragic accident. He was also quite a character. One year our church had a Fall Festival. Bobby wanted to sit in the dunking booth. He sat on the platform above a large container of water and waited for our festival-goers to toss baseballs at the target. When hit, the target would throw a switch and Bobby would fall into the water. In order to prevent disorientation, Bobby tied a thin rope from his waist to the side of the tank. All seemed well till the first dunk. Bobby flailed to the surface gasping and choking! His rope had become tangled round his neck, and disaster seemed imminent. Fortunately, I remembered my trusty pocketknife. With shaking hands I opened it, cut the taut rope, and Bobby was free. I'm glad I had it with me! The knife was a Schrade "Oldtimer."
Since that episode, I've acquired several knives by different makers, but they all have two things in common. First, they must serve a purpose or they are useless. Second, they all have an "edge." I keep them sharp.
After many years in ministry, I realize something: I'm an Old Timer. You may be one, too. And the same two principles of usefulness apply to us if we are going to effectively serve God.
First, we must serve God's Purpose for us. How are you useful to God? We can know His will for us. Here are a few things He wants of us:
• Do all things to His Glory (1 Corinthians 10:31)
• Bring others to Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20)
• Build one another up (Ephesians 4:13)
• Help others in Jesus' name (Matthew 10:42)
Second, God also has special and specific plans for each of us. (Psalm 139:13-16) He wants to use us in His service with our own special gifts, talents, personalities, culture, and relationships. Each day is an adventure of discovery as He reveals His special plans for us as we live through the struggles, challenges, opportunities, joys, and sorrows of our lives.
Finally, we need to keep our edge or we become dull and can't really serve His purpose. We stay sharp by letting His Word sharpen us each day (Hebrews 4:12), by the sharpening of others through genuine relationship (Proverbs 27:17), and by devoting ourselves to prayer and service to Him each day.
Take it from me, it's THE way to live! There's nothing better. No matter what age you are, make it your goal to become an Old Timer in His Service.
Discipline
Discipline is normally not an action that any of us like. Most of the time we think of being punished during discipline, things taken away from us to teach us a lesson. Parent’s use discipline to mold their children and the bible teaches Parent’s to use discipline. But the people who hate discipline the most are not children but those who are older. One of the main reason children are so ready to leave the nest is for all the freedom of choice and no discipline. Well if you think you are going to grow old enough to not be disciplined then you are completely wrong.
Look at it this way
As a person you are either a thermometer or you’re a thermostat. Thermometer people tend to reflect temperature of the people around them. If you’re hot, I’m hot. If you’re cool then I’m cool. If you’re nice then I’m nice. If you yell then I will yell to. If you are mean to people then I will be mean as well. What most of us would like to be is thermostat person – Someone who controls the temperature in our situation.
Your family, friends, and church need you to be a thermostat. Look at your friends, family, and people in this church and you know that they need someone in their life that has it all under control. There are not a lot of us that are willing to be thermostat people. Although we are all capable of it many of us are not willing to put forth the discipline.
How Jesus teaches us to be disciplined “Stressful Situation”
John 14:27 Jesus is talking to His closest friends on the most stressful night of his life, just before His arrest and execution. It’s on the edge of what is about to be the most stressful chapter in their lives. If stressful is a fair description of your life right now, these words from Jesus are for you, too.
His words exactly were: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
Another Time
Luke 5:16 Before any change in your life take time to stop and pray. Why is it that we don’t make praying a priority especially when faced with challenges in our lives? It was once said that when you think nothing is going to happen to you, you start thinking that nothing can touch you, and that’s when everything goes wrong. Make prayer part of you.
I think the key to being a disciplined person is knowing Jesus and knowing that you belong to him.
When you know you belong to Him, you can be a thermostat instead of a thermometer because you know you have an identity and a security that is rooted in something you can't lose. It is the freedom of knowing that whatever is at stake in this situation isn't all there is; you're anchored to Jesus Christ, His unconditional love, and His unstoppable plans.
It's the relationship you were made for, but you've been missing because your sin has cut you off from your Creator. It's the relationship that Jesus died to give you by paying for your sin on His cross. If you're ready to let Jesus bring peace to that storm inside you, tell Him you are trusting Him to be your Savior from your sin. Jesus can turn any thermometer person into a thermostat. He gives them inner power to be in control of all situations that they face.
Look at it this way
As a person you are either a thermometer or you’re a thermostat. Thermometer people tend to reflect temperature of the people around them. If you’re hot, I’m hot. If you’re cool then I’m cool. If you’re nice then I’m nice. If you yell then I will yell to. If you are mean to people then I will be mean as well. What most of us would like to be is thermostat person – Someone who controls the temperature in our situation.
Your family, friends, and church need you to be a thermostat. Look at your friends, family, and people in this church and you know that they need someone in their life that has it all under control. There are not a lot of us that are willing to be thermostat people. Although we are all capable of it many of us are not willing to put forth the discipline.
How Jesus teaches us to be disciplined “Stressful Situation”
John 14:27 Jesus is talking to His closest friends on the most stressful night of his life, just before His arrest and execution. It’s on the edge of what is about to be the most stressful chapter in their lives. If stressful is a fair description of your life right now, these words from Jesus are for you, too.
His words exactly were: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
Another Time
Luke 5:16 Before any change in your life take time to stop and pray. Why is it that we don’t make praying a priority especially when faced with challenges in our lives? It was once said that when you think nothing is going to happen to you, you start thinking that nothing can touch you, and that’s when everything goes wrong. Make prayer part of you.
I think the key to being a disciplined person is knowing Jesus and knowing that you belong to him.
When you know you belong to Him, you can be a thermostat instead of a thermometer because you know you have an identity and a security that is rooted in something you can't lose. It is the freedom of knowing that whatever is at stake in this situation isn't all there is; you're anchored to Jesus Christ, His unconditional love, and His unstoppable plans.
It's the relationship you were made for, but you've been missing because your sin has cut you off from your Creator. It's the relationship that Jesus died to give you by paying for your sin on His cross. If you're ready to let Jesus bring peace to that storm inside you, tell Him you are trusting Him to be your Savior from your sin. Jesus can turn any thermometer person into a thermostat. He gives them inner power to be in control of all situations that they face.
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