When asked which commandment was the greatest Jesus responded by saying first love God, second love others, (Matthew 22:36-40) the key here is love, or as I like to say, do unto to others, or the golden rule.
There is a woman that I work with, and never would have guessed that she was a Christian. One night a few weeks back I had the pleasure of working with her, and she started to tell me that she trusted God to take care of her, and that she owes all of her blessings to the Lord, as she became widowed about 2 years ago. She also told me that she wanted to start reading her bible more, but didn’t really understand it. It turns out that she was reading the King James version.
I have never talked about my relationship with God to her before, at lease not to my knowledge, but I suggested to her that she get a different version of the bible since King James is even hard for me to understand. I told her about my current reading habits, reading 5 different translations. We had a good talk, but soon it was time for me to go home.
After what I had just learned, I felting a pressing in my heart to go to the Northwestern Bookstore the local Christian Bookstore and buy here a bible. But I didn’t just want to get a cheap $5 bible, I wanted to get a study bible which can be anywhere from $25 to $50. Than I began to think about our financial situation. As you may recall from a previous blog Jane and I started tithing a full 10% each week instead of our 7% which means that we are going to have to come up with an extra $200 a month, so we were pinching every penny that we can, where ever we can, and purchasing a bible wasn’t really in the budget.
It didn’t take long for me to realized what I had to do. Like Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40, love God and love others. So the next day my and my family went to Northwestern Bookstore, it’s always a fun place to go. I searched the bible for a while and decided on a Women’s Study Bible, NIV. It was also marked 20% off, of corse, I wasn’t going to worry about the money. God has always blessed my family, and he always will.
I wrapped up the bible, and brought it to work and gave it to this women. And I will admit I was a bit nervous, I did not know what type of a reaction I was going to get. If I had to explain it in a word, wow. She was so appreciative of the gift that her eyes started to tear up, and let’s just say that Gods will was done, and His hand was on it the whole time.
This is a condensed version, I left out a few details for time sake, but just seeing the reaction on her face brought a tear to my eye, and is something that I will never forget. I always pray that God will give me an opportunity, and this was definitely an opportunity. I am not telling you these things to bring glory to me, but to explain how God works, and to bring glory to Him. As a Christian, we need to reach out to the lost sheep when ever and however we can, our time here on earth is way short to not live by Gods will.
And off the record, all of the bills are paid this month, and we still have $200 to get us through the month. We don’t know how, but God is providing. And lets just say that out tax refund this year is a shock, way more than` we were ever expecting. Of corse the first 10% of that will go to the church. But I think that I will leave tithing for another blog.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Psalm 141 in part
Before I start my daily reading of the bible, I pray. This mornings prayer went something like this.
Father God, I am really good about spending quality time with you every morning, and than forgetting about you the rest of the day. Every day I pray that you will fill me with your spirit so that I make think about you all day, and do your will, and is it very discouraging to me that I seem to fail at this daily, what do I need to do to be filled with your spirit? I pray these things in Jesus name, amen.
After that my daily reading took me first to Psalm 141. I typed it out, and I am going to keep it in my car, so I can pray this Psalm daily. It reads:
Oh Lord, I am calling you. Please hurry! Listen when I call to you for help!
Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.
Take control of what I say, Oh Lord, and keep my lips sealed.
Don’t let me lust for evil things; don’t let me participate in acts of wickedness.
Don’t let me share in all the delicacies of those who do evil. Let the Godly strike me, it will be kindness.
If they reprove me, it will be saving medicine, don’t let me refuse it.
I look to you for help, o sovereign Lord, you are my refuge.
Keep me out of the traps they have set for me, out of the snares of those who do evil.
Father God, I am really good about spending quality time with you every morning, and than forgetting about you the rest of the day. Every day I pray that you will fill me with your spirit so that I make think about you all day, and do your will, and is it very discouraging to me that I seem to fail at this daily, what do I need to do to be filled with your spirit? I pray these things in Jesus name, amen.
After that my daily reading took me first to Psalm 141. I typed it out, and I am going to keep it in my car, so I can pray this Psalm daily. It reads:
Oh Lord, I am calling you. Please hurry! Listen when I call to you for help!
Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.
Take control of what I say, Oh Lord, and keep my lips sealed.
Don’t let me lust for evil things; don’t let me participate in acts of wickedness.
Don’t let me share in all the delicacies of those who do evil. Let the Godly strike me, it will be kindness.
If they reprove me, it will be saving medicine, don’t let me refuse it.
I look to you for help, o sovereign Lord, you are my refuge.
Keep me out of the traps they have set for me, out of the snares of those who do evil.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Jesus vs. the Desert
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6)
4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. Matthew (4:1-11)
As I was reading through the beatitudes in Matthew, I read the one about hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Even though is referring to always wanting to do what’s right, I couldn’t help but think about Jesus being tempted in the desert. Before Jesus went into his ministry he spent 40 days and nights fasting in the desert. I have read this verse hundreds of times, but I never really thought about it until now.
Have you ever fasted? If you have it was probably only for a day, or there may be a very select few that have fasted for a week. Why do we fast? When ever we feel the pain for food or drink, we overcome that need with thoughts of God, helping us to realized that without him, we are nothing. Can you imagine fasting for 40 days and nights? That part of the story is easy to comprehend, what what about the other things that are not so obvious.
In the desert, it gets very hot during the day, and very cold at night. Imagine spending the entire day walking around the desert sweating from heat exhaustion to death and dying of thirst. The sand is getting between your sandals, and you are probably getting blisters in your toes. Lets not forget about the sandstorms that can happen in the desert, that can easily be deadly. Than it night, you try to sleep, but where do you sleep? Maybe you make a little pile of sand for a pillow to lay your head on. I don’t know for sure, but I am guessing that Jesus didn’t carry around a blanket, and in the dessert it can get to freezing temperatures at night. On top of all this, there are lots of wild animals, and other dangerous things in the dessert, poisonous snakes, bandits, coyotes, etc.
So we have made it through one day, and we haven’t had anything to eat or drink yet. After about 3 days, you start to become fatigued, and you aren’t seeing straight, as you are walking through yet another sandstorm. After about a week, you can’t even feel your feet because the are covered in blisters, and you are so thirsty and hungry that you could just die. If you fall, or trip, who is going to help you up. You might just as well stay there.
Ok so 1 week down and 5 to go. Do you see my point? Imagine going through this day after day after day for almost 6 weeks. But, there was hope for Jesus, because God was there to help him, not physically, but mentally. Everything that Jesus had learned in scripture, he had to occupy his mind form the daily elements of the pain and suffering. But the story doesn’t end here.
Ok, so we are 40 days and nights into this thing, we are so hungry and thirsty, and fatigued, and we have probably lost weight, that we can’t even walk straight, and we probably don’t know which way is up, and we are probably starting to go a little crazy (remember what happened to out friend John the Baptist). And now who decides to show up, when you are at the lowest weakest point of your entire life? Satan.
He tells Jesus to turn some stones into bread, surly you could do that easily. I have to doubt that Jesus probably considered this. But, in the long run he knew better, 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Again, Satan to Jesus to a high place and said jump, God will not let you fall, you were not meant to end your life here, you are meant to die in a different way. Again, if you think about it, at this point, to Jesus, falling to his death probably didn’t sound like such a bad idea, he just wanted it to be over, remember, Jesus was 100% human. But again, Jesus new better. 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Again, the Satan to Jesus to the top of a mountain and told Jesus that if he bowed down and worshiped him, that he would give Jesus everything that he seen. 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. One other thought! Jesus very well could have been tempted more by Satan, and it just wasn’t recorded in scripture.
Lets stop there for a moment. Satan has the authority to give Jesus everything he seen? God is the God of the Heavens and the earth, he is the creator of the Heavens and the earth, but the kingdom of Heaven is Gods kingdom. Earth belongs to Satan. So yes, Satan did have the authority to give Jesus anything he wanted to on earth. Jesus also new than if he was patient, one day Satan would be cast in to the lake of sulfur and than Jesus was reign on earth for 1000 years. Good things come to those who wait.
There is one last part of the story that we don’t want to leave out, and that is verse 11. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. After all this suffering for 40 days and nights, he was able to defeat Satan. Yes, finally Jesus could eat right? Wrong! It says that the angles ministered to Jesus. So after all was said and done, Jesus sat with the angles to listen to their teachings, no coffee, of bagels, but the word of God.
Wow. What a story. What kind of things in your life have you suffered? Remember that Jesus suffered death on the cross so we don’t have to, he loves us that much.
4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. Matthew (4:1-11)
As I was reading through the beatitudes in Matthew, I read the one about hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Even though is referring to always wanting to do what’s right, I couldn’t help but think about Jesus being tempted in the desert. Before Jesus went into his ministry he spent 40 days and nights fasting in the desert. I have read this verse hundreds of times, but I never really thought about it until now.
Have you ever fasted? If you have it was probably only for a day, or there may be a very select few that have fasted for a week. Why do we fast? When ever we feel the pain for food or drink, we overcome that need with thoughts of God, helping us to realized that without him, we are nothing. Can you imagine fasting for 40 days and nights? That part of the story is easy to comprehend, what what about the other things that are not so obvious.
In the desert, it gets very hot during the day, and very cold at night. Imagine spending the entire day walking around the desert sweating from heat exhaustion to death and dying of thirst. The sand is getting between your sandals, and you are probably getting blisters in your toes. Lets not forget about the sandstorms that can happen in the desert, that can easily be deadly. Than it night, you try to sleep, but where do you sleep? Maybe you make a little pile of sand for a pillow to lay your head on. I don’t know for sure, but I am guessing that Jesus didn’t carry around a blanket, and in the dessert it can get to freezing temperatures at night. On top of all this, there are lots of wild animals, and other dangerous things in the dessert, poisonous snakes, bandits, coyotes, etc.
So we have made it through one day, and we haven’t had anything to eat or drink yet. After about 3 days, you start to become fatigued, and you aren’t seeing straight, as you are walking through yet another sandstorm. After about a week, you can’t even feel your feet because the are covered in blisters, and you are so thirsty and hungry that you could just die. If you fall, or trip, who is going to help you up. You might just as well stay there.
Ok so 1 week down and 5 to go. Do you see my point? Imagine going through this day after day after day for almost 6 weeks. But, there was hope for Jesus, because God was there to help him, not physically, but mentally. Everything that Jesus had learned in scripture, he had to occupy his mind form the daily elements of the pain and suffering. But the story doesn’t end here.
Ok, so we are 40 days and nights into this thing, we are so hungry and thirsty, and fatigued, and we have probably lost weight, that we can’t even walk straight, and we probably don’t know which way is up, and we are probably starting to go a little crazy (remember what happened to out friend John the Baptist). And now who decides to show up, when you are at the lowest weakest point of your entire life? Satan.
He tells Jesus to turn some stones into bread, surly you could do that easily. I have to doubt that Jesus probably considered this. But, in the long run he knew better, 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Again, Satan to Jesus to a high place and said jump, God will not let you fall, you were not meant to end your life here, you are meant to die in a different way. Again, if you think about it, at this point, to Jesus, falling to his death probably didn’t sound like such a bad idea, he just wanted it to be over, remember, Jesus was 100% human. But again, Jesus new better. 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Again, the Satan to Jesus to the top of a mountain and told Jesus that if he bowed down and worshiped him, that he would give Jesus everything that he seen. 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. One other thought! Jesus very well could have been tempted more by Satan, and it just wasn’t recorded in scripture.
Lets stop there for a moment. Satan has the authority to give Jesus everything he seen? God is the God of the Heavens and the earth, he is the creator of the Heavens and the earth, but the kingdom of Heaven is Gods kingdom. Earth belongs to Satan. So yes, Satan did have the authority to give Jesus anything he wanted to on earth. Jesus also new than if he was patient, one day Satan would be cast in to the lake of sulfur and than Jesus was reign on earth for 1000 years. Good things come to those who wait.
There is one last part of the story that we don’t want to leave out, and that is verse 11. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. After all this suffering for 40 days and nights, he was able to defeat Satan. Yes, finally Jesus could eat right? Wrong! It says that the angles ministered to Jesus. So after all was said and done, Jesus sat with the angles to listen to their teachings, no coffee, of bagels, but the word of God.
Wow. What a story. What kind of things in your life have you suffered? Remember that Jesus suffered death on the cross so we don’t have to, he loves us that much.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Mitchell Psalm 2
I was listening to a podcast some months back and they were talking about how anyone can write a Psalm. A Psalm is basically a prayer to God. This idea intrigued me. I wrote my first one on November 24th, and titled it My Prayer Oh God. From this point forward if I write a Psalm and share it with you, it will be a Psalm of Mitchell.
Oh God, your love is higher than the mountains and deeper than the sea.
I wake up every morning thanking you for the day.
Every morning I ask you for a new opportunity to love you and to serve you.
Every day I ask you this, and every day I fail.
I spend time with you each morning, as if we were having coffee,
Than I continue my day and forget about you until the next.
I fail you Lord every day, again and again yet you are still good.
You still love me because of what Jesus did.
You still bless me, because you are good, all the time.
Your love for me grows each day, when mine does not.
Lord, please help me to love you like you love me.
Please help me to love my enemies.
Please help me to love and serve others every day.
Please help me to not forget what Jesus did.
I come before you but a humble sinner.
Please help me to remember that from dust I came, and to dust I shall return.
Oh God, your love is higher than the mountains and deeper than the sea.
I wake up every morning thanking you for the day.
Every morning I ask you for a new opportunity to love you and to serve you.
Every day I ask you this, and every day I fail.
I spend time with you each morning, as if we were having coffee,
Than I continue my day and forget about you until the next.
I fail you Lord every day, again and again yet you are still good.
You still love me because of what Jesus did.
You still bless me, because you are good, all the time.
Your love for me grows each day, when mine does not.
Lord, please help me to love you like you love me.
Please help me to love my enemies.
Please help me to love and serve others every day.
Please help me to not forget what Jesus did.
I come before you but a humble sinner.
Please help me to remember that from dust I came, and to dust I shall return.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
What it means to follow Jesus
4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (2 Corinthians 6:4-10). NIV
23Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). NIV
I think that more things probably happened to Paul that any other person in the Bible. He went through a lot of stuff. However, it all could have been avoided if he wasn’t following Christ. It was because of his love for Jesus, that he went through all he went through. The question is, are we required to do the same? Well, I think that is up for you to decide.
We are very fortunate to live here in America, where we can freely practice our beliefs and religions. In other countries in the world right now, today, even this minute, someone is being killed, martyred in the name of Jesus. This is still happening today all over the world. Of corse most of us are so wrapped up in our chaotic lives that we don’t take the time to realize it. I would be willing to bet that every war that has ever been fought could somehow in some way be linked to religion.
However, that is not the point of todays blog. None of us will ever have to endure what Paul endured because we believe in God, and consider Jesus as our Lord and Savior. That doesn’t mean that we will never endure hardship because of our beliefs. As Christians, we will always have to deal with being made fun of, or laughed at, or being called names. I am sure that there are some out there who have suffered a beating or two, and maybe even a few that have been killed because they claim Jesus as their King.
I personally have been very fortunate in my life, I have not suffered more that a few name callings and a few laughs because of my faith. In hight school my nicknames were either bible banger, or preacher boy. I actually didn’t mind it so much. But, that doesn’t mean that I don’t suffer. Let me walk you through a typical day in the life of Mitchell.
My day starts every morning, 7 days a week at 6am. Monday to Friday I spend 5 minutes doing a quick devotion with my wife before she goes to work. Than I make myself some coffee and do a devotion, and study the bible until my kids get up. On the weekends, my wife and I don’t do a morning devotion together, but I am still up at 6am, I make my coffee and go straight into my devotions. My kids get up anywhere between 7am and 7:30am, so the longer they sleep, the more time that I get to spend with God in the morning. The point is that I give God the first part of my day.
When the kids get up, I spend the day with them. I feed them breakfast and lunch, I get them dressed, I take them on outings at least 3 days a week. We play games, read stories, and I am basically just a Dad attending to my kids needs all day.
At 3:00pm I leave to go to work. I work from 4pm to 12:30am. By the time I get home and get to bed it is 1:30am. I sleep for 4.5 hours and than I get up at 6am and I do it all over again. And I want you to know that I don’t regret any of it, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
In my very first blog “Prayer and Accountability,” I talked about how anything that you put before God is an idol, and what is the first commandment found in Exodus Chapter 20? You shall have no other gods before me! If you are not finding time to spend daily with God, than you are putting everything before God. I do my reading in the morning not only to put God first in my day, but that is when I can make time for him.
So what’s my point? My point is one, I do make time, and two that I suffer sleep because of my relationship with Jesus. People often ask me how I can live on 4.5 hours each night, and my answer is always, “I can’t.” Theoretically my body should be warn out and I should get sick but I don’t, and I will tell you why. Because God is good, that’s why. God knows, that my wife and I are working opposite shifts to save $14,000 a year in daycare costs, and as the head of my household, I will do what ever I have to do to provide for my family, and if that means only getting 4.5 hours of sleep each night, than so be it. God blesses me for that, and that is why I can do what I do without getting warn out. Please understand that I do get tired, and I do enjoy naps in the afternoon, and I do enjoy getting 9 hour of sleep on my 2 nights off, but the bottom line is that God is blessing me and my body for what I am doing.
We all have to make sacrifices if we are going to whole heartedly follow Jesus. But, if we are going follow Jesus, than we have to do it all the way, we can’t do it half butt.
What sacrifices have you made to follow God? What kinds of hardships have you had to endure? We will never suffer like Paul did, but if we aren’t suffering in something, than we don’t have a need for God. God puts us through hardships to bring us closer to him, and in the end, who cares what other people think. We only have a short amount of time on this earth, so you have to decide if you want to live for Christ or if you want to live for Men. If you do want to live for Christ, things are guaranteed to be more difficult, the the reward for your loyalty will be eternal.
23Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). NIV
I think that more things probably happened to Paul that any other person in the Bible. He went through a lot of stuff. However, it all could have been avoided if he wasn’t following Christ. It was because of his love for Jesus, that he went through all he went through. The question is, are we required to do the same? Well, I think that is up for you to decide.
We are very fortunate to live here in America, where we can freely practice our beliefs and religions. In other countries in the world right now, today, even this minute, someone is being killed, martyred in the name of Jesus. This is still happening today all over the world. Of corse most of us are so wrapped up in our chaotic lives that we don’t take the time to realize it. I would be willing to bet that every war that has ever been fought could somehow in some way be linked to religion.
However, that is not the point of todays blog. None of us will ever have to endure what Paul endured because we believe in God, and consider Jesus as our Lord and Savior. That doesn’t mean that we will never endure hardship because of our beliefs. As Christians, we will always have to deal with being made fun of, or laughed at, or being called names. I am sure that there are some out there who have suffered a beating or two, and maybe even a few that have been killed because they claim Jesus as their King.
I personally have been very fortunate in my life, I have not suffered more that a few name callings and a few laughs because of my faith. In hight school my nicknames were either bible banger, or preacher boy. I actually didn’t mind it so much. But, that doesn’t mean that I don’t suffer. Let me walk you through a typical day in the life of Mitchell.
My day starts every morning, 7 days a week at 6am. Monday to Friday I spend 5 minutes doing a quick devotion with my wife before she goes to work. Than I make myself some coffee and do a devotion, and study the bible until my kids get up. On the weekends, my wife and I don’t do a morning devotion together, but I am still up at 6am, I make my coffee and go straight into my devotions. My kids get up anywhere between 7am and 7:30am, so the longer they sleep, the more time that I get to spend with God in the morning. The point is that I give God the first part of my day.
When the kids get up, I spend the day with them. I feed them breakfast and lunch, I get them dressed, I take them on outings at least 3 days a week. We play games, read stories, and I am basically just a Dad attending to my kids needs all day.
At 3:00pm I leave to go to work. I work from 4pm to 12:30am. By the time I get home and get to bed it is 1:30am. I sleep for 4.5 hours and than I get up at 6am and I do it all over again. And I want you to know that I don’t regret any of it, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
In my very first blog “Prayer and Accountability,” I talked about how anything that you put before God is an idol, and what is the first commandment found in Exodus Chapter 20? You shall have no other gods before me! If you are not finding time to spend daily with God, than you are putting everything before God. I do my reading in the morning not only to put God first in my day, but that is when I can make time for him.
So what’s my point? My point is one, I do make time, and two that I suffer sleep because of my relationship with Jesus. People often ask me how I can live on 4.5 hours each night, and my answer is always, “I can’t.” Theoretically my body should be warn out and I should get sick but I don’t, and I will tell you why. Because God is good, that’s why. God knows, that my wife and I are working opposite shifts to save $14,000 a year in daycare costs, and as the head of my household, I will do what ever I have to do to provide for my family, and if that means only getting 4.5 hours of sleep each night, than so be it. God blesses me for that, and that is why I can do what I do without getting warn out. Please understand that I do get tired, and I do enjoy naps in the afternoon, and I do enjoy getting 9 hour of sleep on my 2 nights off, but the bottom line is that God is blessing me and my body for what I am doing.
We all have to make sacrifices if we are going to whole heartedly follow Jesus. But, if we are going follow Jesus, than we have to do it all the way, we can’t do it half butt.
What sacrifices have you made to follow God? What kinds of hardships have you had to endure? We will never suffer like Paul did, but if we aren’t suffering in something, than we don’t have a need for God. God puts us through hardships to bring us closer to him, and in the end, who cares what other people think. We only have a short amount of time on this earth, so you have to decide if you want to live for Christ or if you want to live for Men. If you do want to live for Christ, things are guaranteed to be more difficult, the the reward for your loyalty will be eternal.
Monday, January 11, 2010
What if Jesus showed up at your house?
Hypothetical question! You are at home watching TV, when your doorbell rings. You get up to go and see who it is. When you open the door, you see Jesus.
What would he find you watching on TV?
What type of pictures would he see on the wall?
What magazines would he find sitting on the end table?
What kinds of books would be find on your book shelf?
What movies and and CDs would he find in your movie and music collection?
What you he find if he went over to your computer?
If Jesus ever showed up at your house, would you let him in?
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Why I don't read the Bible
In my last blog, I promised that my next blog would be titled why I don’t read the bible. And I’ sure that you were thinking, “Oh the suspense?” Of course, it would be asinine for me to say that I don’t read the bible, obviously I do read it, because I quote it regularly in my blogs. What I mean when I say that I don’t read the bible is that I quit reading the bible and began to study it. There is a difference.
If you read your bible daily, that’s is great. You are doing better than most. Maybe you are doing a one year plan, where you read the bible in a year, or maybe you you read for 20-30 minutes a day and see how far you can get. This is considered reading the bible.
So what does it mean to study the bible? Studying the bible means that you read a part of the bible, and than you prayerfully consider what you read, and thinking about how you can apply it to you life. Let me give you an example of what I do to study the bible. I just began doing this about 2 weeks ago, and it has already been life changing.
I am currently reading five different bibles. I am reading the Message (MSG), the New International Version (NIV), the New Living Translation (NLT), New American Standard Version (NASV) and the New King James Version (NKJV). I am reading the bible one verse at a time, but in each of the five different bibles. I read the verse in one bible, and that the same verse in the next, and so on and so forth. Can I just say, wow. It is amazing at what you can get when you read different versions. By doing this I have been able to absorb what I am reading, and actually remember it, plus get a better understanding from the different translations, in apposed to just reading it through and not putting any though into it.
On top of reading the five versions, I also look up certain words that have deeper meaning in them, in the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, and Strong’s Complete Expository Dictionary of the Old and New Testament. These help to give a deeper meaning of some of the words that are translated from the original Greek or Hebrew, as we all know that things are always lost in translations. I also read cliff notes, side bars, attributes, etc that are found in my different bibles.
It took me that last 2 weeks just to read the first 3 chapters in Jeremiah. I never would have known that the Book of Jeremiah was not written on Chronological order had I been but reading through it, nor the story behind why it isn’t written in order. However, after a little simple research, I was able to find out how to read it in chronological order.
In closing, I have enjoying studying the bible a lot more than just reading it, it makes it a lot more interesting and fun to do. If you are simply just reading the bible, I challenge you to try studying it to see what happens. I you don’t have different versions of the bible, and you don’t have the funds to buy a new bible, all of the versions are available online for free. I am currently getting my NKJV, and my NASV on line.
Friday, January 1, 2010
The mind of a Child
In some of my past blogs, I have been referring to devotions that I have been reading. The book is called the Walk of Repentance, it is a 24 week Monday to Saturday study written by Steve Gallagher founder of Pure Life Ministries. I have really been getting a lot out of it as it is an interactive devotional book. You have to look up verses, and write down your thoughts on the verses that you read forcing you to think about what you read. But that is another blog, actually my next blog which will be titled Why I don’t read the bible.
Anyways, yesterday I sent about an hour studying about being teachable. Matthew 18:3-4 says, Then he said, “I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.”
Let’s look a little bit more at the word humble. Webster’s dictionary refers to humble as not proud or haughty. Not arrogant of assertive, reflecting expressing, or offered in a spirit of difference or submission. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary defines humble as, low-lying or of low degree. So in other words the word humble means to submit to authority, admit your faults, and never insist that you are better than anybody else.
Matthew 19:14 says, But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.” Psalm 103:13 says, The Lord is like a Father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
What does all this mean? You have read it and heard is read hundreds of times, but have you ever really stopped to ponder these words. Here is what I came up with.
Children are innocent and will believe anything that you tell them. They accept things for what they are, and their thinking is always simple. Once we grow up, we start thinking logically and stop believing in what doesn’t make sense. We stop accepting the truth and begin to make things much more complicated than they really are or have to be. We need to learn to come to Christ with the mind of a child. We need to accept the bible for what it is, and just believe it.
The kingdom of Heaven belongs to everyone, not only including the children, but especially the children. Children believe in God and Jesus without question, they accept it for what it is. Once we grow up and begin to think logically or rationally we start to question God in what he is doing in our lives, and we questions his motives. Psalm 115:3 says, For our God does what ever he pleases. It all about what God wants, not what we want.
Life was not intended to be easy, but if we keep that mind frame of a child, accept things for what they are, and know that God will talk care of us, and provide for our needs if we trust him, that life will be made a whole lot easier. Matthew 19:26 says, Jesus looked at the intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God, all things are possible.”
The bottom line is that we need to think more like a child when it comes to living a Godly life. The bible is black and white, we need to stop trying to find excuses (gray areas) to do wrong and not follow God. Children are innocent, they have not experienced pain or suffering. They always have what they need, food, water, shelter, hopefully love, and they don’t know any better, They just know that there needs are being met. They have not yet become subject to commercialism, peer pressure, and don’t understand the need of money for the basic necessities. All they know is that their needs are always met. Well my friends, think back on your life, and tell me when you needs were not met. You always had food, you always had drink, you always had shelter, and you are still here today with access to the internet to read this blog. God has always provided for you, and he always will.
This does not mean that life will be easy. God purposely allows bad things to happen, but he always turns a bad situation into good, it is always a leaning experience, and it always makes you stronger in the end. Romans 8:28, And we know that God causes everything to work together for the love of those who love God according to his purpose for them. Don’t argue with the bible, accept it like a child, and deal with the sufferings, and reap the benefits.
Anyways, yesterday I sent about an hour studying about being teachable. Matthew 18:3-4 says, Then he said, “I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.”
Let’s look a little bit more at the word humble. Webster’s dictionary refers to humble as not proud or haughty. Not arrogant of assertive, reflecting expressing, or offered in a spirit of difference or submission. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary defines humble as, low-lying or of low degree. So in other words the word humble means to submit to authority, admit your faults, and never insist that you are better than anybody else.
Matthew 19:14 says, But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.” Psalm 103:13 says, The Lord is like a Father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
What does all this mean? You have read it and heard is read hundreds of times, but have you ever really stopped to ponder these words. Here is what I came up with.
Children are innocent and will believe anything that you tell them. They accept things for what they are, and their thinking is always simple. Once we grow up, we start thinking logically and stop believing in what doesn’t make sense. We stop accepting the truth and begin to make things much more complicated than they really are or have to be. We need to learn to come to Christ with the mind of a child. We need to accept the bible for what it is, and just believe it.
The kingdom of Heaven belongs to everyone, not only including the children, but especially the children. Children believe in God and Jesus without question, they accept it for what it is. Once we grow up and begin to think logically or rationally we start to question God in what he is doing in our lives, and we questions his motives. Psalm 115:3 says, For our God does what ever he pleases. It all about what God wants, not what we want.
Life was not intended to be easy, but if we keep that mind frame of a child, accept things for what they are, and know that God will talk care of us, and provide for our needs if we trust him, that life will be made a whole lot easier. Matthew 19:26 says, Jesus looked at the intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God, all things are possible.”
The bottom line is that we need to think more like a child when it comes to living a Godly life. The bible is black and white, we need to stop trying to find excuses (gray areas) to do wrong and not follow God. Children are innocent, they have not experienced pain or suffering. They always have what they need, food, water, shelter, hopefully love, and they don’t know any better, They just know that there needs are being met. They have not yet become subject to commercialism, peer pressure, and don’t understand the need of money for the basic necessities. All they know is that their needs are always met. Well my friends, think back on your life, and tell me when you needs were not met. You always had food, you always had drink, you always had shelter, and you are still here today with access to the internet to read this blog. God has always provided for you, and he always will.
This does not mean that life will be easy. God purposely allows bad things to happen, but he always turns a bad situation into good, it is always a leaning experience, and it always makes you stronger in the end. Romans 8:28, And we know that God causes everything to work together for the love of those who love God according to his purpose for them. Don’t argue with the bible, accept it like a child, and deal with the sufferings, and reap the benefits.
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