Take Time To Live!

Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
    so that we may grow in wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

Have you ever had someone you love die?  Do you miss them?  Do you ever think about things you should have said....should have done?  Ever wish for another chance to spend time with them?

When my Grampa died, I would have given anything to spend one more day with him listening to his stories, smelling his pipe as he smoked Carter Hall tobacco, learning him, seeing life through his eyes.  Just one more time.

I think I speak for all of us when I say we tend to take life for granted!  We put things off until "tomorrow."  We don't say the things that are important because we just KNOW we'll have that chance "tomorrow."  We care too lightly.  We take ourselves far too seriously.  We let the people who drag us down stay in our lives far too long!  We waste far too much life focused on the negative aspects of everything.

A wise person once told me, "Life is far too brief to waste on inconsequentials! If someone is dragging you down and sucking the life out of you, CUT THEM OFF!  Stay close to those who truly love you! Laugh! And for goodness' sake, LIVE!"

You see, we are not guaranteed tomorrow!  Scripture tells us to plan for it but don't count on it (Matthew 6:34)!

I challenge each of you to LIVE LIFE ON PURPOSE!

     *  Remove those who drain you!

     *  Build up those who love you!

     *  Carry only the burdens worth carrying!

     *  Laugh a LOT (especially at yourself)!

     *  Love passionately!

     *  Live on purpose every moment of every day!

Every single moment of every single day is God's gift to you!  It is YOURS!  Invest it wisely!

We Really ARE One....When We Want To Be!

Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. 

~Hebrews 12:14-15

During the flooding which overwhelmed the residents of Columbia this past week, people worked together to help each other.  Entire communities reached out to those who suffered.  First Responders worked themselves to the point of exhaustion and still pushed on, because we became a single community of people.

Never once did I hear anything about race, beliefs, gender, preferences or any of the other irrelevant barriers WE have put in place.  For once, we realized that we all are part of the community of humanity.  People pitched in with manual labor; jumping right in to help with the clean up.  People opened their bank accounts and pantries to help provide for those who were without.  People gave and gave and gave!  

True, there were some who sought the spotlight, there were also some who became greedy, and even some who took this disaster as their opportunity to take what wasn't theirs.  But overall, people banded together; prayed for and with each other, accepted each other, cared about each other.

If God intended for us to be all the same, He would have stopped with Adam or Eve.  But God created us to join together as community, showing love to others regardless of our differences.

My question and challenge to ALL of us is this: When things return to normal, will we continue to see each other as a community or will the irrelevant divisive issues return?  

So...You Like To Argue?

Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools,
    or you will become as foolish as they are.

Proverbs 26:4

Ever know anyone who enjoys arguing just for the sake of arguing?  No matter what the issue, they will take the opposite stance of everyone else, just for the sheer enjoyment of arguing.  And guess what?  We fall into their trap time after time after time.  

Let's face it, we don't like being wrong!  We don't like being anything but right! Why? Because we are just that full of......we can call it "pride" if you want, but we know what we are truly full of stinks and makes pretty good fertilizer.  Yet we will quite literally beat each other to death just to prove that we are "right."

A number of years ago, Monty Python's Flying Circus did a skit called "The Argument Clinic" that does an outstanding job of showing how arguing just for the sake of arguing is among the most idiotic exercises in futility ever. I have talked with several people who love to argue and have not been given a reason why they get so much enjoyment out of just being disagreeable.

But notice what Solomon tells us: If you engage in stupid arguments then guess what that makes you?

We need to reach the point where we are wise enough to concede that we are wrong (if we are truly in the wrong) and apologize.  BUT we also need to become wise enough to understand that not every argument is worth the fight.  Sometimes the best way to settle a petty argument is to simply smile and walk away.

What Do You Mean I'm A 'Captive'?

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

~Jeremiah 29:11-14 

 

We like to quote verse 11 of today's passage where God tells us that He has incredible plans for us that will be good for us and bring us hope.  But we don't usually bother to read beyond that because, after all, we cling to the promise and are content to wait for God to rain down His blessings on us.  But read the rest of the passage!

 

God does have plans for us that will be good for us and will bring hope for us, but He also ways WHEN YOU PRAY, I will listen.  When was the last time you and God had a heart to heart chat?  Did you do all the talking?  THEN God says, "IF you look for me WHOLEHEARTEDLY, you will find me."  Before you ask, NO God is not hiding from us.  Let me put it this way, if I am wearing my sunglasses I cannot read my radio display even though I am looking directly at it and it is less than a foot away.  Why, because my sunglasses filter out the color of my display.  The same applies to us when we "look" for God and can't find him...we casually look expecting to see the bright light and mighty powerful warrior ready to smite those who have hurt our feelings.  But we don't see that God has sent someone to help us who is rather ordinary, because we are not looking for ordinary, we are looking for nuclear fireworks!

 

God promises that if we seek Him will all our attention and desire, we will find Him AND He will end our captivity.  WHAT? Captivity here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?  Yup! We are captive to our STUFF!  We are captive to our CAREERS!  We are captive to our BANK ACCOUNTS!  We are captive to our SPORTS!  We are captives because we find so many things (which will eventually end) to hold our attention rather than God!  How many people do you know who can quote the latest stock trends but can't remember a single verse of Scripture?  How many people do you know who will faithfully attend every single football game and have had season tickets for generations, but "don't have time" to talk with God about their marriage falling apart or their children who have gone wild for lack of parenting?  WE ARE CAPTIVES!!  We are held captive by our own desires!!!

 

A gilded cage is still a prison!

But What Do I DO With It?

You keep track of all my sorrows.
    You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
    You have recorded each one in your book.

~Psalm 56:8

November 17, is a date that has become, and continues to be, one of the most painful of my life.  You see, it was on November 17, 1981 that my conversations with my Grampa ended.  God called him home and my life changed that day.  

To say that I was angry would be such an understatement!  I was angry with him for leaving me.  I was angry with everyone who told me that "it was his time" or "your pain will end."  I was angry at those who piously quoted Scripture to me as if that was supposed to remove the pain!  I was especially angry at God for taking my Grampa from me.

I was angry for YEARS and YEARS!  With every single loss I endured, I grew more angry.  Did I talk with anyone about it? Of course not because "men don't talk about feelings."  So what did I do with all that pain? Just kept stuffing it down and, on the outside, pretended everything was okay.

It wasn't until I was almost 45 years old that I heard something that finally broke through the pain and anger.  I don't remember the speaker's name, but what this wise person said was: "Let's say you have a broken arm with the bone protruding.  It hurts like nothing you have ever experienced.  Are you going to sit there and be angry and upset that it's broken?  Not a good idea, because it will get infected and cause you even more problems.  You could dull the pain with alcohol and self medicate, but does that fix your arm? Nope!  Your BEST course of action is to go to the doctor who can fix your arm.  Setting the arm is going to hurt, no doubt!  And it will take a long time before you can use it again.  And you may not be able to use it the same way you did before.  But over time the pain will subside."

It was at that moment that I realized that God was reaching out to me.  My heart was broken and I had spent all these years being angry that it was broken instead of going to the Great Physician who could help.  

Now, have I recovered?  Not completely, but I'm better than I was.  Does it still hurt? Yes, very much.  And each time the pain comes, I run to the Great Physician and pour it all out to Him.  Am I still angry? I have my moments.

God records our every tear.  God records our every pain.  God loves us so much that when we hurt, so does HE!

"In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation." - 1 Peter 5:10

 

If you are hurting, take your broken heart to the Great Physician.  Show Him your pain! Show Him the broken pieces of your heart!  Show Him the flood of tears your soul has shed!  Let Him comfort you!