Addition

It has been said, “Being well is more than eliminating the negative.  Rather, it requires the addition of the positive.”  

When I read that statement I thought of our walk with God.  Many times we are tempted to read the Bible as a book of “don’t”s.   I need to stop doing this... quit that... get rid of this habit or that behavior.   And while there are many things God asks us not to include in our lives... only subtracting the bad leads to a life that is one-sided and lacking.  Scripture tells us that alongside the “no”s, we have to have some God-honoring “yesses”.  Colossians 3:10 says to “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him.”  Want to grow more like Christ?  Be more spiritually healthy?  Get rid of what is holding you back.. and in turn.. fill your heart with things like love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and patience.   Out with what’s bad and in with what’s good.  And before long both mind and heart will be healthier (and more Godly) than ever.  

Home For Christmas?

On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first flight of an airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On their 5th attempt, the plane under the control of Orville, embarked on a 12 second flight. 

Wilbur rushed to the local telegraph office and sent the following message – WE HAVE FLOWN FOR 12 SECONDS - WE WILL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!

Upon receiving the telegram their sister, Katherine went to the newspaper office, told the editor of her brother’s new flying machine, and informed him, they would be home for Christmas, if he would like to set up an interview.  He told her that was nice, and he would be sure to put something in the paper regarding the boys.

On December 19th, the local paper placed the following headline on the 6th page of the paper: “WRIGHT BROTHERS HOME FOR CHRISTMAS”

It was the most important story of the year... and the editor of the paper missed it.  

To him it was just another day... another news item... just another thing to live through.  He was focused on the wrong thing.   

If we’re not careful, and we take our eyes off what is important, the uncommon will become common... 

God will cause hurting marriages to heal...

Weak hearts to beat stronger... 

Stage four cancer to “go away”...  

Unbelieving people to come to Christ...

Waters to be filled with those getting baptized...

And If we lose focus, we will highlight the wrong headline.  

Instead of printing the words:  “GOD CHANGES LIVES”

We’ll push it to page 6 and write ... “Life happens...”

Without realizing it, God-sized things become ordinary.  normal.  standard.  typical.   

And if we’re not careful...

We’ll begin to think we’ve earned salvation.

Or we deserve His mercy.

Or His grace is automatic.

Everything God does for us is because He loves us and chooses to do it.   We don’t control Him by making deals with Him.  We don’t earn more favor because we’re not as bad as our neighbor.  We don’t get special privileges because we are nice to the people who are nice to us.  

No... God is amazing.  His favor for us is unmerited and impossible to understand.  He does miracles... major ones and minor ones because we are His masterpiece.

And He loves us.

Today... thank God for those miracles in your life... The first breath you took this morning.  The health of your children.  The job you have.   The successes of yesterday... or the growth that came through the challenges.  

The enemy will tempt you to overlook the headlines of God’s goodness.  He’ll try to convince you that God gave up doing miracles long ago.  Don’t let him.  Our Heavenly Father is FAR from common... and what He does in our lives should always be on the front page of our hearts.  

Keep Running

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”  Galatians 6:9

On March 6, 1987, Eamon Coghlan, the Irish world record holder at 1500 meters, was running in a qualifying heat at the World Indoor Track Championships in Indianapolis. With two and a half laps left, he was tripped. He fell, but he got up and with great effort managed to catch the leaders. With only 20 yards left in the race, he was in third place -- good enough to qualify for the finals. He looked over his shoulder to the inside, and, seeing no one, he let up. But another runner, charging hard on the outside, passed Coughlan a yard before the finish, thus eliminating him from the finals. Coughlan's great comeback effort was rendered worthless by taking his eyes off the finish line. 

It’s so tempting to let up isn’t it?  Pull back a little... take it easy.

It happened to Eamon Coghlan and it happens to people you know.   Here’s how the trend usually looks:

Something unfavorable happens in life.

We cry, beg, and pray to God to intervene and help us.

We read our Bible, go to church, serve others, etc.

The situation changes.  

God comes through (as He always does)

We say a quick “thanks” to God and move forward with our lives.

We think we don’t need God as much so our bible reading decreases, we go to church every so often, and we stop serving.

Prayer only happens before meals if at all.

Fact is... some people only run with God when they need Him for something.  When times are good... they pull up... they let God run along and depend on themselves.

After all, who needs God when we can do it ourselves right?

That is NOT what God had in mind when we were created.  I say it many times when I teach… each of us are knit together with a specific purpose.  We are to run hard in life’s race.  Sprint through tragedies while leaning on Christ’s strength when ours falls short.  Courageously dash into challenges because we know that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.  Shrink back from adversity?  Slow up when it hurts?  Push away when we don’t know what to do?

Not part of the plan. 

If you are a Christ-follower, the moment you accepted Him as your Savior, you were given a brand new pair of track shoes.  Top of the line.  Designed to allow you to run hard your whole life... giving glory to Him along the way.  I love the way Isaiah 40:31 puts it... those that trust God will “run and not grow weary”   Hebrews 12 says “let us run with endurance the race that is set before us...”

Run with endurance.

Run and not grow weary.

Keep running forward... don’t let up... don’t base your relationship with God on the way you feel or the circumstances of your life.  You were created to be in perfect step with your Lord... running toward a Heavenly finish line.  As we talked about last week, the devil’s in good shape and he’s trying to catch up to you... 

Slow down?  Nope.  We were created to finish the race strong.

Feeling tired?  Maybe.  Let God carry you 

Want to stop?  You can’t.  You were given one life to make a difference for Christ.

Keep moving forward... stay connected to God in both the good AND the bad times... and never ever quit.

You... yes you... are a winner.  

Run hard and cross the finish line of life as the champion you were created to be.    

Giving Something Up

If you’ve ever been to the circus, you’ve probably seen it for yourself.  The lion cage... kings of the jungle... ferocious and growling at all who pass by the thick bars of their cage in the center ring.  The lights dim and a daring trainer makes his way to the door of the enclosure.  A nervous hush sweeps over the crowd...

Is he really going in there?  Yep.

He opens the creaking door and steps inside.  You can hear people gasping as the predatory cats snarl and lunge at the source of the intrusion.  Wait... what’s that in the trainer’s hand?  A whip?  That makes sense... but what is that other thing?  It’s a stool.  

Small, unimpressive, and hardly intimidating.  Just a few dollars at your local store...

And THAT’S going to stop a killer cat?

Yes.

The lion tamer knows that when he waves the four-legged stool at the cat... it attempts to focus on all four legs at once.  In doing so, it goes through a kind of paralysis... a confusion that overwhelms it.  The once scary roar becomes a tame and weak purr as the crowd cheers approvingly.  Simply put... the lion becomes ineffective when it tries to focus on too much.  

We are the same way.  

Fortunately for us, the Bible gives us a great way to draw our spiritual lives, our challenges, our strengths, our weaknesses, and our opportunities into very clear singular focus.... fasting.

The Bible is replete with scripture about the importance and significance of fasting... here are just a couple of examples.

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”  Matthew 6:16-18

“So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.”  Ezra 8:23

But what IS fasting?  It is giving up something that you would normally do in order to use that time to focus on prayer and gaining intimacy with God.  Meditation in it’s purest and most effective form.  Biblically, food was most often given up... but in today’s era, it might be something like the internet... or a hobby... or tv...  It should always be something that will be dearly missed.  I talk to some who say “I’m fasting from cleaning out the garage... or I’m fasting from healthy food”   This is not what God had in mind.  

 When someone is fasting and feels the urge to partake of what they’ve temporarily given up, they are to spend that time in prayer...seeking God’s will for their lives... memorizing scripture... making every effort to get closer to their Heavenly Father.   Fasting brings focus like no other discipline.  In fact, Jesus Himself did it when the devil took Him out to the wilderness and tried to tempt Him to compromise His mission.

How long and from what you fast is up to you.  Do you need 40 days away from TV to help you grow closer to Christ?  Maybe.  Is a week apart from your iPhone worth a week connecting to God like never before?  Could be.  Can an empty stomach remind you to pray and internalize God’s word?  Yes it can.

Whatever you feel convicted to temporarily give up to have intimacy with God... make the commitment this week to do so.  Fasting is a discipline and as such, won’t necessarily be easy.  It’s worth the struggle... and may just bring you closer than ever to finding God’s plan for your life.  

God's Lens

An anonymous writer once penned, “Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a seed.”  

Often we see life just like this simple statement.  We perceive what’s right in front of us: the pile of bills, the deadlines, the obligations, and the challenges.  It’s pretty easy to count what we have stacked up against us.   But God has a different field of vision.  Where we see trouble, He sees opportunity for growth.  When we feel pain, He provides  healing and breakthrough.  God’s view of our lives is much different than our own.  He watches our time on earth unfold from the finish line instead of the starting gate.  And it’s because of this that we can trust Him.   

God loves you.  He believes in you.  He has placed air in your lungs and started your heart beating for a reason!  If you ever feel the urge to count troubles... resist.  It’s an easy thing to do and causes more heartache than you were meant to bear.  Instead, stop and remember that God saw those same obstacles and created you anyway... because He knows that you have potential for greatness.  He put it there.  It’s simply a matter of remembering to view your life through God’s lens and not the world’s.

Fully Engaged

An insurance company studied 65,000 fatal crashes over a two-year period.  The results?  One in ten wrecks were the result of distracted driving.   Before you quickly blame texting or talking on the phone… 62% of those accidents where someone died came as the result of…

Daydreaming.  

Staring blankly into space… letting the mind wander… just letting go and mentally coasting.   It was daydreaming that killed 6 out of 10 in those crashes.   Psychologists tell us that when we are in a daydreaming state… our conscious “wanders off” and we let our sub-conscious take the wheel.  Has that ever happened to you?  Have you ever stopped at an intersection and wondered how you got there?  Asked yourself… “did I stop at that stop sign back there?”  Or the ever-popular “Where am I?”

It happens… but it shouldn’t.  Scripture tells us to be alert at all times.  Not just in traffic… but in other things.  Do we let our mind wander as we stare at a co-worker of the opposite sex?  Do we allow our brains to drift as we spend time in church?  Are we completely focused at our job?  In the classroom?  In conversations with our spouse or kids?  But who cares, right?  After all… daydreaming in those situations won’t cause a fatality…   

Well maybe not a physical death… but not focusing can cause a marriage to crumble…grades to fall… faith to be shaken…job loss…and so much more.  Scripture tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 that we should be “sober-minded” and “watchful.”  Why?  Because the enemy is simply pacing back and forth waiting for us to let our guard down… then he pounces like a roaring lion on our lives.   Take a few minutes today and evaluate your ability to pay attention to what’s important.  Pray that God would remove distractions, remind you of why concentrating is in your best interests, and give you the strength to overcome the pull towards lethargy.   You’ll live a safer life… and you’ll get to enjoy the benefits of being fully engaged in every moment of it.

Focus

On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first flight of an airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On their 5th attempt, the plane under the control of Orville, embarked on a 12 second flight. 

Wilbur rushed to the local telegraph office and sent the following message – WE HAVE FLOWN FOR 12 SECONDS - WE WILL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!

Upon receiving the telegram their sister, Katherine went to the newspaper office, told the editor of her brother’s new flying machine, and informed him, they would be home for Christmas, if he would like to set up an interview.  He told her that was nice, and he would be sure to put something in the paper regarding the boys.

On December 19th, the local paper placed the following headline on the 6th page of the paper: “WRIGHT BROTHERS HOME FOR CHRISTMAS”

It was the most important story of the year... and the editor of the paper missed it.  

To him it was just another day... another news item... just another thing to live through.  He was focused on the wrong thing.   

If we’re not careful, and we take our eyes off what is important, the uncommon will become common... 

God will cause hurting marriages to heal...

Weak hearts to beat stronger... 

Stage four cancer to “go away”...  

Unbelieving people to come to Christ...

Waters to be filled with those getting baptized...

And If we lose focus, we will highlight the wrong headline.  

Instead of printing the words:  “GOD CHANGES LIVES”

We’ll push it to page 6 and write ... “Life happens...”

Without realizing it, God-sized things become ordinary.  normal.  standard.  typical.   

And if we’re not careful...

We’ll begin to think we’ve earned salvation.

Or we deserve His mercy.

Or His grace is automatic.

Everything God does for us is because He loves us and chooses to do it.   We don’t control Him by making deals with Him.  We don’t earn more favor because we’re not as bad as our neighbor.  We don’t get special privileges because we are nice to the people who are nice to us.  

No... God is amazing.  His favor for us is unmerited and impossible to understand.  He does miracles... major ones and minor ones because we are His masterpiece.

And He loves us.

Today... thank God for those miracles in your life... The first breath you took this morning.  The health of your children.  The job you have.   The successes of yesterday... or the growth that came through the challenges.  

The enemy will tempt you to overlook the headlines of God’s goodness.  He’ll try to convince you that God gave up doing miracles long ago.  Don’t let him.  Our Heavenly Father is FAR from common... and what He does in our lives should always be on the front page of our hearts.  

Fully Engaged

An insurance company studied 65,000 fatal crashes over a two-year period.  The results?  One in ten wrecks were the result of distracted driving.   Before you quickly blame texting or talking on the phone… 62% of those accidents where someone died came as the result of…

Daydreaming.  

Staring blankly into space… letting the mind wander… just letting go and mentally coasting.   It was daydreaming that killed 6 out of 10 in those crashes.   Psychologists tell us that when we are in a daydreaming state… our conscious “wanders off” and we let our sub-conscious take the wheel.  Has that ever happened to you?  Have you ever stopped at an intersection and wondered how you got there?  Asked yourself… “did I stop at that stop sign back there?”  Or the ever-popular “Where am I?”

It happens… but it shouldn’t.  Scripture tells us to be alert at all times.  Not just in traffic… but in other things.  Do we let our mind wander as we stare at a co-worker of the opposite sex?  Do we allow our brains to drift as we spend time in church?  Are we completely focused at our job?  In the classroom?  In conversations with our spouse or kids?  But who cares, right?  After all… daydreaming in those situations won’t cause a fatality…   

Well maybe not a physical death… but not focusing can cause a marriage to crumble…grades to fall… faith to be shaken…job loss…and so much more.  Scripture tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 that we should be “sober-minded” and “watchful.”  Why?  Because the enemy is simply pacing back and forth waiting for us to let our guard down… then he pounces like a roaring lion on our lives.   Take a few minutes today and evaluate your ability to pay attention to what’s important.  Pray that God would remove distractions, remind you of why concentrating is in your best interests, and give you the strength to overcome the pull towards lethargy.   You’ll live a safer life… and you’ll get to enjoy the benefits of being fully engaged in every moment of it.  

Focus

When I was first starting to learn how to drive, I was nervous.  Hands at 10 and 2 o’clock… feet on the brakes… mirrors adjusted to the right position.  I studied the handbook and knew the proper following distances and sign shapes.  Yes… I was ready… but one thing kept me uneasy… the speed limit.  After all, how was I supposed to look down at the speedometer and up at the traffic at the same time?  What if I wasn’t looking down and started to go too fast… and got pulled over for speeding… or I was looking down to check my speed and rammed into the car in front of me?  I couldn’t keep my eyes on BOTH places at the same time… so what was I to do?

So many times in our walk with Christ we get nervous for the same reason.  I want to keep my eyes on Him… but what if something needs my attention in life?  What if I’m looking to Him for guidance and bump right into a crisis?  The Bible tells us that our eyes are to be in one position only:  Hebrews 12:2 says, “"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith ..."  Unlike driving,  we only have to look in one place to stay safe… and that’s facing God.   Life swerving?  Look and pray to God.  A bad diagnosis?  High tax bill?  Failing in school?  Look up.  Marriage trouble?  Losing your authority over your kids?  Don’t stare at the dashboard of your life trying to figure out your speed… look to the One that knows how to steer through the danger!   It’s when we take our eyes off of Christ and put them on our troubles… that the real trouble begins.   

God Made Today

Unpaid bills, children who don’t listen, a boss who doesn’t get it, a grouchy spouse, and that pain that just won’t go away... sometimes it’s hard to remember that we are supposed to live out Psalm 118:24 It says, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Rejoice?  How are we supposed to be overjoyed with so much going wrong?  Easy.  God made today.  Just for you.  He gave you air in your lungs and kept your heart beating so you could experience every second of it.  When trouble comes, He’ll be there.  Feeling alone?  Hurt?  He will never give up on you.  Short of money?  Stay generous...and watch Him provide for every need.  It’s all about perspective and a committed focus on God’s goodness!  You’ve got another 24 hours to change the world... make the choice to rejoice!    

Focus

An insurance company studied 65,000 fatal crashes over a two-year period.  The results?  One in ten wrecks were the result of distracted driving.   Before you quickly blame texting or talking on the phone… 62% of those accidents where someone died came as the result of…

Daydreaming.  

Staring blankly into space… letting the mind wander… just letting go and mentally coasting.   It was daydreaming that killed 6 out of 10 in those crashes.   Psychologists tell us that when we are in a daydreaming state… our conscious “wanders off” and we let our sub-conscious take the wheel.  Has that ever happened to you?  Have you ever stopped at an intersection and wondered how you got there?  Asked yourself… “did I stop at that stop sign back there?”  Or the ever-popular “Where am I?”

It happens… but it shouldn’t.  Scripture tells us to be alert at all times.  Not just in traffic… but in other things.  Do we let our mind wander as we stare at a co-worker of the opposite sex?  Do we allow our brains to drift as we spend time in church?  Are we completely focused at our job?  In the classroom?  In conversations with our spouse or kids?  But who cares, right?  After all… daydreaming in those situations won’t cause a fatality…   

Well maybe not a physical death… but not focusing can cause a marriage to crumble…grades to fall… faith to be shaken…job loss…and so much more.  Scripture tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 that we should be “sober-minded” and “watchful.”  Why?  Because the enemy is simply pacing back and forth waiting for us to let our guard down… then he pounces like a roaring lion on our lives.   Take a few minutes today and evaluate your ability to pay attention to what’s important.  Pray that God would remove distractions, remind you of why concentrating is in your best interests, and give you the strength to overcome the pull towards lethargy.   You’ll live a safer life… and you’ll get to enjoy the benefits of being fully engaged in every moment of it.  

Turning and Stopping

If you’ve ever gone skiing before, you know how exhilarating and beautiful it can be.   However, strapping two pieces of wood to your feet and plummeting down a mountain is not for the faint of heart... so it’s important to learn how first.  The problem with beginning skiers isn’t the forward movement... it’s turning and stopping.  Many rookies wait until they want to move right and then try to turn hard with both feet.  That just doesn’t work and often frustrates them.  What they quickly discover is that they simply need to look to the right and their body will naturally turn that way.  Where they look is the direction they go.  

Scripture tells us similarly that what we see steers us toward what we will do.  In Matthew 6:22, we read ““The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,”   Want to think Godly thoughts?  Put yourself in environments where Christ is seen and lifted up!   Need to steer yourself to a life of obedience?   Put things in place that visually remind you to prioritize your relationship to God over any other.  Keep your head up and your eyes focused on God and His direction for your life... and you’ll find yourself racing down the mountain toward greatness.  

Learning to Drive

When I was first starting to learn how to drive, I was nervous.  Hands at 10 and 2 o’clock… foot on the brake… mirrors adjusted to the right position.  I studied the handbook and knew the proper following distances and sign shapes.  Yes… I was ready… but one thing kept me uneasy… the speed limit.  After all, how was I supposed to look down at the speedometer and up at the traffic at the same time?  What if I wasn’t looking down and started to go too fast… and got pulled over for speeding… or I was looking down to check my speed and rammed into the car in front of me?  I couldn’t keep my eyes on BOTH places at the same time… so what was I to do?

So many times in our walk with Christ we get nervous for the same reason.  I want to keep my eyes on Him… but what if something needs my attention in life?  What if I’m looking to Him for guidance and bump right into a crisis?  The Bible tells us that our eyes are to be in one position only:  Hebrews 12:2 says, “"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith ..."  Unlike driving,  we only have to look in one place to stay safe… and that’s facing God.   Life swerving?  Look and pray to God.  A bad diagnosis?  High tax bill?  Failing in school?  Look up.  Marriage trouble?  Losing your authority over your kids?  Don’t stare at the dashboard of your life trying to figure out your speed… look to the One that knows how to steer through the danger!   It’s when we take our eyes off of Christ and put them on our troubles… that the real trouble begins.   

Daydreaming Believer

An insurance company studied 65,000 fatal crashes over a two-year period.  The results?  One in ten wrecks were the result of distracted driving.   Before you quickly blame texting or talking on the phone… 62% of those accidents where someone died came as the result of…

Daydreaming.  

Staring blankly into space… letting the mind wander… just letting go and mentally coasting.   It was daydreaming that killed 6 out of 10 in those crashes.   Psychologists tell us that when we are in a daydreaming state… our conscious “wanders off” and we let our sub-conscious take the wheel.  Has that ever happened to you?  Have you ever stopped at an intersection and wondered how you got there?  Asked yourself… “did I stop at that stop sign back there?”  Or the ever-popular “Where am I?”

It happens… but it shouldn’t.  Scripture tells us to be alert at all times.  Not just in traffic… but in other things.  Do we let our mind wander as we stare at a co-worker of the opposite sex?  Do we allow our brains to drift as we spend time in church?  Are we completely focused at our job?  In the classroom?  In conversations with our spouse or kids?  But who cares, right?  After all… daydreaming in those situations won’t cause a fatality…   

Well maybe not a physical death… but not focusing can cause a marriage to crumble…grades to fall… faith to be shaken…job loss…and so much more.  Scripture tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 that we should be “sober-minded” and “watchful.”  Why?  Because the enemy is simply pacing back and forth waiting for us to let our guard down… then he pounces like a roaring lion on our lives.   Take a few minutes today and evaluate your ability to pay attention to what’s important.  Pray that God would remove distractions, remind you of why concentrating is in your best interests, and give you the strength to overcome the pull towards lethargy.   You’ll live a safer life… and you’ll get to enjoy the benefits of being fully engaged in every moment of it.  

Learning to Drive

When I was first starting to learn how to drive, I was nervous.  Hands at 10 and 2 o’clock… feet on the brakes… mirrors adjusted to the right position.  I studied the handbook and knew the proper following distances and sign shapes.  Yes… I was ready… but one thing kept me uneasy… the speed limit.  After all, how was I supposed to look down at the speedometer and up at the traffic at the same time?  What if I wasn’t looking down and started to go too fast… and got pulled over for speeding… or I was looking down to check my speed and rammed into the car in front of me?  I couldn’t keep my eyes on BOTH places at the same time… so what was I to do?

So many times in our walk with Christ we get nervous for the same reason.  I want to keep my eyes on Him… but what if something needs my attention in life?  What if I’m looking to Him for guidance and bump right into a crisis?  The Bible tells us that our eyes are to be in one position only:  Hebrews 12:2 says, “"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith ..."  Unlike driving,  we only have to look in one place to stay safe… and that’s facing God.   Life swerving?  Look and pray to God.  A bad diagnosis?  High tax bill?  Failing in school?  Look up.  Marriage trouble?  Losing your authority over your kids?  Don’t stare at the dashboard of your life trying to figure out your speed… look to the One that knows how to steer through the danger!   It’s when we take our eyes off of Christ and put them on our troubles… that the real trouble begins.