How Dangerous Do You Dare?

Investigate my life, O God,
    find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
    get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
    then guide me on the road to eternal life.

Psalm 139:23-24 

If your life were open for everyone to see, every single part of it; every word, every thought, every deed...EVERY part....how would you feel?  Everyone has parts of their lives they want to keep private and secret (although with social media, I wonder sometimes).  Would you dare to ask even your closest friend to delve into the very corners and locked rooms of your life?

I've heard people proudly proclaim that they fear nothing.  Okay, I'm not one of those people, but I wonder how many of those "fearless" people would lay themselves bare and ask God to search them thoroughly, testing every thought and deed against His Measure of Truth and Purity?

One of the things I have to remind the Department Members I get to serve is, "I can't help if I don't know what's going on."  Yet God knows everything that is going on with us but sometimes He waits for us to decide to let Him deal with us about it.  

1 John 1:9 reminds us that "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Confession means we reveal to Him that we have messed up.  Are you brave enough to Dare to pray such a Dangerous Prayer and ask God to search your heart, mind and soul, and then help you correct what He finds?

It's frightening to think about, and it takes guts to do it, but the results will astound and comfort you. 

It Ain't Over Yet!

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.

1 Peter 1:6 

 

There's Good News and then there's Not So Good News.  Ever notice that Good News almost always seems to come with a catch?  

 

The Good News is that WONDERFUL JOY is ahead for believers. That's God's promise to us.

 

The Not So Good News is we will have to endure many trials for a bit before we get to the Joy.

 

I hear the groans and moans every Monday morning.  For some, I hear the moans and groans about having a quiet shift.  For some, I hear moans and groans about everything.

 

But God is telling us, through Peter, that we are to be glad because once we have endured (yes you WILL endure, so don't quit) you will receive God's promised joy!

 

Whatever you are enduring now, just remember that God has promised that it's not going forever, but His promised joy is forever! 

Just Thinking....

Be careful how you think for your life is shaped by your thoughts.

Proverbs 4:23

Remember the old computer adage "Garbage In, Garbage Out"?  Yeah, I'm old enough to remember that and you may stop chuckling any time now.  The reason I bring it up is so we can consider our minds.  Think about all that out minds absorb every single day.  Our eyes see things, our ears hear things, our nose smells things, out skin touches things, and the mind processes everything (whether we like it, understand it, or not).

I've noted before that one of my favorite theologians is George Carlin for the mere fact that he  made me think.  He got it right when he said, "The church was all about the mind.  If you think it....you've done it so save your cab fare!"  And he wasn't kidding.

Sun Tzu, considered the father of modern warfare, said: "Convince the enemy you are stronger then he and you have already won the battle."  Isn't that what our enemy does to us?  Doesn't he convince us that "it's just a thought, no harm, no foul"?  Yet consider this, Thought precedes action!  

In Philippians 4:8, the Apostle Paul reminds us where to focus our thoughts:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is TRUE, whatever is WORTHY OF RESPECT, whatever is JUST, whatever is PURE, whatever is LOVELY, whatever is COMMENDABLE, if something is EXCELLENT or PRAISEWORTHY, think about these things.

Be careful what you let into your mind.  That which controls your mind IS your god!

Imagine The Power

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them

Matthew 18:20 

 When you hear the word "Power" what comes to mind?  Perhaps political power.  Perhaps military power.  But what about the power that comes through Christ?  Let's think about that for a moment.  

For all the years of my life in which I heard this verse, I thought it applied to prayer.  And....it does.  However, if we limit it to just prayer, we miss so much more!  Imagine if two or three are gathered together in Jesus' Name to ENCOURAGE you.  Imagine of two or three are gathered in Jesus' Name to help you move or fix your car or cut your grass or take you to lunch or gathered to comfort you during a time of struggle.

The point I want you to see here is that there is true POWER when God's People come together in Jesus' Name! 

Down But Not Out!

There Will Come A Day

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
Revelation 21:3-4

Have you ever messed up so badly that you wished you could get another clean start?  Yeah, I have.  Sometimes, no matter what you try to do it just turns out wrong, and you wish you could start again.  Have you ever been hurt so badly that you wish the one(s) who hurt you would feel the way you do?  Yeah.....me too.

Now, look at today's passage again:  

     *  God will make His home among His people. 

     *  He will wipe every tear from our eyes.

     *  There will be NO MORE death

     *  There will be NO MORE sorrow

     *  There will be NO MORE crying

     *  There will be NO MORE pain.

"ALL THESE THINGS ARE GONE FOREVER!"

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to that day.  Each and every day we choose how to treat each other.......we CHOOSE!  Choose wisely! 

Leaving A Lasting Impression

1 In the past, God spoke through the prophets to our ancestors in many times and many ways. ² In these final days, though, he spoke to us through a Son. God made his Son the heir of everything and created the world through him. ³ The Son is the light of God’s glory and the imprint of God’s being. He maintains everything with his powerful message. After he carried out the cleansing of people from their sins, he sat down at the right side of the highest majesty. ⁴ And the Son became so much greater than the other messengers, such as angels, that he received a more important title than theirs.

Hebrews 1:1-4

When you think of the word IMPRINT what comes to mind?  Something I have learned during my tenure with the Sheriff’s Department is that everything we touch leaves our imprint on it. For example, my fingers leave an imprint.  This imprint identifies who I am.

But what has that got to do with Hebrews 1? 

Let’s camp here for a moment.  Think of all that have left a lasting imprint on you! Friends, relatives, books, music, movie scenes…..

Consider this:  When God made a model of His own likeness and breathed into it the breath of life...He left His lasting imprint of each and every one of us!

In the past, God spoke to us through many ways!  All we have to do is think for a moment, and that’s all I want you to do, just think for a moment.  God gives us His message in so many ways every single day.  

Do you think the universe just happened?  Do you think that everything on this spinning ball just happened by itself? No!  Look in verse 2: The Son is the light of God’s glory and the imprint of God’s being. He maintains everything with his powerful message. 

Everything and everyone is maintained by the very word of God the Son!  Every single tree grows, bears fruit, and falls because of the word of God the Son, who is the reflection of the glory and IMPRINT of God’s very being!

One of the people who left a HUGE imprint on my life was my Grampa.  My Grampa was proof to me that you didn’t need a lot of book learning to be wise!  Many of the things he told me have left an indelible imprint on my life:

· “If you walk through the pasture, you’re going to step in it, so leave your shoes at the door.”

· “If a snake drops in your boat, let him have it.  If you miss, let him have the boat.”

· “If you want to know if God loves you, check to see if you are breathing.  If you are, then you have your answer.”

You see, as we go through our daily lives, we leave imprints wherever we go and on every life we have contact. 

Will there be people who will not like the imprint we leave on them?  Absolutely!

Even Jesus had people who didn’t like Him or His message and could not care less about His sacrifice for them. But He didn’t let that stop Him from leaving imprints as He went through His life, did it?