When I was younger I had a passion as a lot of my friends to collect baseball cards. We would buy tons of them from the store, get them as gifts for our birthday and Christmas, and trade them with one another. I stored all of my cards in three ring binders with protective sleeves. That was the cool thing to do back then and we all loved it.
I would keep my most prized cards locked up tight and only bring them out every once in a while to show off. I remember several Saturdays we would all sit around going through the cards and putting a value to each of them using a price guide. I had several Nolan Ryan’s being a big fan of his. I think the most valuable card I had was worth around $10, but it meant the world to me.
While at my grandparents house my brother and I had just bought a box of cards together and we were going through them talking about them. My grandfather walked in the room with us and talked about the cards. Right off I guess he could tell the importance the cards were in our lives. He left and then soon after called us into his office. When we walked in the room he handed us both an envelope. Inside the envelope were baseball cards that he had. I opened my envelope and there was a 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax Rookie Card. I remember grabbing my pricing guide and at that time it was worth over $200.00. I couldn’t believe it. I gave my granddad a big hug and my brother and I were so excited about the cards that we talked about it for weeks. We showed the cards off to our friends and then I made a special place for it in my locked cabinet. To this day I still have most of my cards including this one and from time to time I will take it out and think about my granddad and the gift he gave me. There was no way I could pay for this card; there was no card or cards that I had that would be the same value as this card. It was an extravagant gift of love.
The resurrection of Jesus was an extravagant gift of life. Make no mistake—it was not a fair exchange. God saw the distress of his people, their brokenness, their hopelessness; and God gave them the one thing they needed: Jesus.
We can give our money, gifts, and time. We can dress up and go to worship on Sunday. We can offer our services to the poor and needy people in our town. We can give gifts to people that will change their situation for the better. We can give gifts to the church in order to progress God’s work, and we can be sure they bring joy to God’s heart. But the gift of Jesus, God’s son, is a no-trade-possible gift. All we can do is receive the gift and then latch on to the giver in some attempt to say thank you.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
It is part of your nature to forgive
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Devotional
The Lord has commanded us to Love one another. Although people may hurt us, and at times we my feel rejected by them, we have been instructed to forgive 70 x 7 times. If someone is continually hurtful to you, your responsibility is to forgive them. Take the opportunity talk to them about how their behavior is hurting you. This is a task that when written in black and white seems so easy but when done in life can be one of the most challenging thing we do.
Forgiveness is something that is vital to us as Christians. God tells us that he will forgive us just as we have forgiven others. That makes forgiveness high on the priority list for us. When someone does something wrong towards you immediately find a way to forgive them. Remember like most things in our lives practice makes perfect.
I have heard people say it’s completely against our nature to not retaliate on those who harm us, but it just can’t be. God made us in his image and he has forgiven sins beyond belief. He has created you with the will and the strength to forgive others when they do wrong to you. Take that as your encouragement as you work on forgiving others.
Devotional
The Lord has commanded us to Love one another. Although people may hurt us, and at times we my feel rejected by them, we have been instructed to forgive 70 x 7 times. If someone is continually hurtful to you, your responsibility is to forgive them. Take the opportunity talk to them about how their behavior is hurting you. This is a task that when written in black and white seems so easy but when done in life can be one of the most challenging thing we do.
Forgiveness is something that is vital to us as Christians. God tells us that he will forgive us just as we have forgiven others. That makes forgiveness high on the priority list for us. When someone does something wrong towards you immediately find a way to forgive them. Remember like most things in our lives practice makes perfect.
I have heard people say it’s completely against our nature to not retaliate on those who harm us, but it just can’t be. God made us in his image and he has forgiven sins beyond belief. He has created you with the will and the strength to forgive others when they do wrong to you. Take that as your encouragement as you work on forgiving others.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Do it Yourself Plan
We all know that if you want to get better at something you practice, surround yourself with people that support you, find someone to teach you, and sharpen your skills daily. We see it with people who are successful in sports, with their work, with school, and with life. We understand that practice makes perfect or at least real close. We all believe in theory, because we have seen it work time and time again. The problem is we don’t often bring that same thinking into our Christian walk.
How do you feel you will become the best follower of Christ? Will you face all the struggles, temptations, and fears all on your own? Or will you put into practice the act of sharpening your skills, surrounding yourself by people who love you and support you, attend class so that someone can help teach you, attend worship to be encouraged and to encourage others? What is your plan to follow Christ? Will you try the “do it yourself plan”? God never intended us to be “do it yourself” people. He tells over and over to surround ourselves with other Christian people in order to overcome the sin in the world.
Proverbs 27:17
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another.
If you haven’t been to church in a while know that your church family is missing you. They are waiting with open arms for your return. If you are waiting for the right time, the right Sunday to come back, make it this Sunday.
Hope to see you there.
Love,
Joe
How do you feel you will become the best follower of Christ? Will you face all the struggles, temptations, and fears all on your own? Or will you put into practice the act of sharpening your skills, surrounding yourself by people who love you and support you, attend class so that someone can help teach you, attend worship to be encouraged and to encourage others? What is your plan to follow Christ? Will you try the “do it yourself plan”? God never intended us to be “do it yourself” people. He tells over and over to surround ourselves with other Christian people in order to overcome the sin in the world.
Proverbs 27:17
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another.
If you haven’t been to church in a while know that your church family is missing you. They are waiting with open arms for your return. If you are waiting for the right time, the right Sunday to come back, make it this Sunday.
Hope to see you there.
Love,
Joe
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Google It
I often say to people when asked a question about something, “I don’t know the answer, but we can Google it”. It’s become a part of my everyday life when I run into a problem with technology, when I have a question about how to fix something, when we need a recipe, when we want to see what movies are out, when we want directions to somewhere, if we need a phone number, and the list goes on. I say the phrase “Google it” so often that the people around me have made comment’s about it. They say things like “I think you Google everything or is there anything that you haven’t looked up on Google”. With the internet at our finger tips a large percentage of the day for a lot of us it’s become our way of finding information to help us make better decisions.
When traveling to Bryan the other day my son asked if Lori and I knew the answer to a question he had. It was something about a Nintendo game and we both were stumped. We said no, and he responded with… you guessed it. Why don’t you “Google it” Dad. Laughing about his response I started thinking that I probably look at Google more then I look at my bible. When looking for direction in my life my goal should be to not look at Google but look at the bible for my answers. Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not saying that Google is bad, but what I am saying is maybe we should all start taking more time to look at the bible for answers about how we should live our life. God has given us every answer we need and all the information to be a loving and faithful Christian. Maybe the next time you are wanting to know how to do something the right way, or which path to take along your journey in life, or what the answer is for a question we will turn to God’s word and Bible it. “Bible it” let’s make that our new response when question come to us in life.
Joe
When traveling to Bryan the other day my son asked if Lori and I knew the answer to a question he had. It was something about a Nintendo game and we both were stumped. We said no, and he responded with… you guessed it. Why don’t you “Google it” Dad. Laughing about his response I started thinking that I probably look at Google more then I look at my bible. When looking for direction in my life my goal should be to not look at Google but look at the bible for my answers. Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not saying that Google is bad, but what I am saying is maybe we should all start taking more time to look at the bible for answers about how we should live our life. God has given us every answer we need and all the information to be a loving and faithful Christian. Maybe the next time you are wanting to know how to do something the right way, or which path to take along your journey in life, or what the answer is for a question we will turn to God’s word and Bible it. “Bible it” let’s make that our new response when question come to us in life.
Joe
Monday, February 22, 2010
Pure Gospel
Most of us drink at least 1 bottle of water a week. For some of us its at least one bottle a day. Others its 3 and 4 bottles a day. As I bring another case of water home from the store this past week I had to ask myself why is it that we buy bottled water? Why is it that most people buy bottled water?
Of course it because we want pure water, free from impurities or anything that would give it bad taste. I honestly like the way our water taste that comes directly from the tap (and I drink it often), but I’m uncertain about the impurities and chemicals that’s put in the water.
When I buy water the first thing I do is look at the label, to see where it is from, what is the source of the water, and if anything is added.
You have to do that anymore because of the bottled water industry and the turn they have taken. Instead of only pure water, you can now find all kinds of bottled water with all kinds of things added to it. Such things like flavoring to give it a different taste, coloring to make it look pretty, and chemicals to make it last longer.
The gospel of Christ also started pure. The source was Jesus himself. But men tried to change the gospel of Christ too. In Galatians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul said he was astonished that the brothers were turning to a different gospel that was created by man. He gave a warning, “If we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.”
Paul had a servant’s desire to keep the gospel pure, free from additives or alterations. You may call him the Gospel Quality Control Apostle. There is but one gospel, that which came from Jesus himself and as preached by the apostles. Any different gospel preached by anybody or revealed to anyone after that is not from God, but is from man. We must only put our faith in the pure gospel of Christ.
Live your life this week purely for God.
Of course it because we want pure water, free from impurities or anything that would give it bad taste. I honestly like the way our water taste that comes directly from the tap (and I drink it often), but I’m uncertain about the impurities and chemicals that’s put in the water.
When I buy water the first thing I do is look at the label, to see where it is from, what is the source of the water, and if anything is added.
You have to do that anymore because of the bottled water industry and the turn they have taken. Instead of only pure water, you can now find all kinds of bottled water with all kinds of things added to it. Such things like flavoring to give it a different taste, coloring to make it look pretty, and chemicals to make it last longer.
The gospel of Christ also started pure. The source was Jesus himself. But men tried to change the gospel of Christ too. In Galatians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul said he was astonished that the brothers were turning to a different gospel that was created by man. He gave a warning, “If we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.”
Paul had a servant’s desire to keep the gospel pure, free from additives or alterations. You may call him the Gospel Quality Control Apostle. There is but one gospel, that which came from Jesus himself and as preached by the apostles. Any different gospel preached by anybody or revealed to anyone after that is not from God, but is from man. We must only put our faith in the pure gospel of Christ.
Live your life this week purely for God.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Training Day
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”.
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”.
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?
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