More Than Just a Stray

You find the stray dog sitting, half frozen - shaggy and starving - on your back step. You are filled with compassion and take them in. But you do more than just open the door, you feed them, clean them up and take them in as part of your own family. As such, house train them, wash them and train them - removing bad behaviors and habits. You are not content to just have them in your home, no, you seek to make them more than they were and to give them a life they may have never known possible before.


Jesus will accept you were you are - shaggy, half starved, frozen - it does not matter where you are in your life or what you may have done or why you did any of it. He does more than just 'open the door' for you; He welcomes you into His family. But like the stray, He is not content to leave you as you are - He desires you to be more than you ever fathomed possible.


So if you think God would never accept you, you are dead wrong my friend.


And if you already have found salvation through Christ remember this: He accepted you where you were but He is not content that you should stay there.


"Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" ~  Romans 6:1-2

If Only I Were...

Why me?  I mean really, why me?  Why should I have been the one to get saved? Why would God ever choose me to do anything?  After all, I know who I am.  I know what I have done.  I know all the times I did not listen to Him and there have been oodles upon oodles of those. So why would He bother with me?  Maybe, maybe He made mistake.  No, that can't be it, God does not make mistakes.  Oh, wait, I know.  It was no mistake at all.  I am "Judas" or "Pharaoh" - created for destruction.  An example to those who would come after me for what not to do and what not to be.  That must be it.  It is the only thing that makes any sense, after all.  Like I said, I know who I have been, I know what I have done and whom I have done it too. And hey, it is not like other people do not know too so none of this should be any surprise to them.

Ever have one of those moments? Maybe it was longer than a moment, maybe it was a whole day, week or month...maybe it was longer.  Maybe you had this view, not of yourself, but of someone else. Do not kick yourself too hard because I am here to let you know that you are very much not alone.  I have been as well, more times than I really want to think about.  And, to be honest, it was no great truth about who I am that brought me out of it but rather, a bit of insight into some other rather well known people that did so.

David, slayer of the giant Goliath, and the earthly king by which all other kings of Israel were measured has been called a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22) in the midst if his reign (not the beginning, nor the end) not only commits adultery but has the woman's husband killed (Samuel 11:14-15). Far more than a "slight indiscretion".

How about the Apostles? Now there was a well groomed, well educated, well respected group of individuals who never, ever made mistakes. Yeah, right.

Four of them were fishermen - a group who worked long hours, doing hard manual labour who, while skilled, were not exactly well educated.  While I have never been to ancient Israel to "hang out" with them as they slaved away day in and day out, I have been around groups of people who were doing work of that manner and, if I recall correctly, the "language" did not tend to be made up of psalms and well wishes. That said, there is a good chance that these guys were hardly standing firmly upon what would have been considered the moral high ground.

It does not end there though.  One of them, Simon, was a Zealot and the best modern day understanding of what those were would be either be a terrorist or "freedom fighter" depending on what side you are on. Or Matthew (the same one who wrote the Gospel of the same name) who had been a tax collector - viewed as being both a traitor to the Jewish people and a thief. Consider the initial "fun" of these two working together.

How about the Apostle Paul, formerly known as Saul who used to spend his time not merely saying "unpleasant" things about the Church but actively hunting down its' members with the intention of, at the very least, imprisoning them and more often than, killing them. Let us not forget the Apostle Peter, whom, well after the Day of Pentecost, gets publically (and rightfully) rebuked for being a hypocrite (Gal.4:11-14).

The long and the short of it is simply this:  who are you to argue with what God has said?  Seriously.  If God has called you up and out - which is exactly what He has done if you are, indeed, a believer - then there is a reason for it.  There is something that He sees that you cannot.  Make no mistake, none of people above ever thought they would do and become what they did.  They all knew how flawed and screwed up they were.  None were perfect, not one - but God choose them anyway, in spite of their fears, failings and yes, even their own humanity.  The only thing they ever did was answer when He called.  It is not about what you have or who you (or any other person) thinks you are - it is all about God and it always has been and He is easily bigger than any short coming you (or anyone else) have ever previously had, currently have or ever could have... and He is the One who has called you up, out and as His very own.

"The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you..." Deut 7:7-8

Oh, Have Mercy...

It is almost a bit of a sobering thought to think that the demonic actually know God - on a character level - better than we do. In the Book of Mark, a "group" who called themselves Legion asked Jesus for mercy and GOT it. Considering who we are talking about here, there is a good chance that they would not have asked for it if they did not think they would get it. So what does that say about us? You know, we who refuse to ask because we tell ourselves we do not deserve it for one (or more) of any myriad of reasons.


Did Legion deserve mercy? No. Do we deserve it? No. But mercy is not now, nor ever has been, about what you deserve at all. Point blank, you do not have because you do not ask. Now, I am not talking about asking for the winning lottery numbers but rather with regards to whatever problem or situation you find yourself in right now.


So go ahead...ask Him. Just ask.

How Sweet the Sound...

Grace, grace, grace - if you are a believer, then you should love that word for we are covered and dependent upon it. Not just any grace either but the very grace of God.  But grace to do what?  Is it grace just for the sake of sake grace? Not likely. Is it grace to live however we want to live - that is, to sin our little butts off? Probably not (for 'we' may be justified, but 'sin' never is).

Let us say you are interested in science. You do not have a PhD or anything of the like but it is a serious interest of yours.  Now then, all considered, do you think you would deserve becoming an apprentice to someone like Stephen Hawking? Or perhaps you like to sing along with your favorite song? Do you think you deserve to be taken under the artists' wing?  Of course you do not.

Are you aware that not one of us is worthy to be a disciple of Jesus?  Not one of us deserves or has earned the right to follow Him? He never said come to me, get forgiven, dunk your head then just carry on with life as you want to live it. He said "follow me", not "go your own way and I'll just tag along". He said come to me for my yoke is easy - a yoke hooks two together - you and Him. But as flawed, frail, screwed up and totally unworthy as we are, how could we ever follow Him? How could we ever be His disciple?

Grace.

By grace we are allowed to do that which we otherwise would never, ever be allowed to do. God's grace allows us to follow Him. Sure, it is by the grace of God that we have a total, undeserved forgiveness but more importantly again, it is by grace that we are permitted to follow Christ! Not follow like the thousands did, but follow like the 12.


By grace, we have been given this amazing wonderful gift: to learn everything anew from the Master.

Storms Bring Rainbows

This posting is from my social media page however, the three posts all came within a single 9 hours period, so I thought I would share on here as well.
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"I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you" ~ Matthew 5:44 (NKJV)

Now then, take a cue from the book of James here and do not merely read that and then just forget about it (James 1:23-24). The Word of God is meant to change you - the way you think, respond and act - it is not meant to be merely glanced at, acknowledged with a head nod and a "yep" and then forgotten about five seconds later.

I do not know what they did to you. I do not know what they have said about or to you, the slanders against you, the way they betrayed you and your trust or anything else, any more than you know mine. I do know that when the early Church practiced doing this, they were being hunted and killed like animals (and sometimes by animals). So am thinking, if they could pray for those people then, maybe we can for the ones who have hurt, used and betrayed us as well.
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Now here is an interesting exercise/undertaking to try.

Take a look at the people currently - or previously - in your life. Not the obvious good influence people though (like that teacher who encouraged you or whatever). No, look at the ones who have hurt you, betrayed you, lied to and about you, used you and so. Now take a look and see what you got from them. See what it is that God showed you about yourself, others or Himself through your less than wonderful experiences with them. If you are a believer, then there most likely is something good in there - although you may have to be intentional to see or find it (If you are not a believer, try it anyway - may find a surprise or two hidden beneath the pain).
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So with the previous status in mind, I would like to write a little thank you note (no names obviously) to those who - with God's help - helped make me whom I am today.

A thank you, to the one who pretended to be a friend to my face but was anything but when apart from me. By the grace of God, I was still a friend to you so I have learned that I can offer help, friendship and trust to those whom have not earned it and that I am capable of overlooking minor offenses.

A thank you to the one who betrayed my confidence and my trust. By the grace of God, I did not return the favor and respond in kind. So I have learned that I can keep another in confidence, even when it would serve my wounded feelings to not do so.

A thank you to the one I loved who merely used and abused me because you could so. By the grace of God, I loved you in spite of it all. I learned I can actually truly love another human being without them having to earn it somehow.

A thank you to the one who took advantage of my heart, passion and compassion. By the grace of God, I did not withhold anything from you, even though I knew what you were doing. I learned that I would rather have my heart on my sleeve and risk the pain, than to wall it in and feel nothing.

For each of these, I say "by the grace of God" for it is Him I credit with good coming out of things and events which most certainly were not. I say thank you to the "one" but there has surely been more than one. Oh, one more thing I have learned: that my God will never, ever leave me.

PS: No, I do not want to have any more of any ill thing or event in my life, if that is all the same to you - just worth the mentioning.

It is almost a shame that our faith grows and our character is forged faster and greater when we go through the storm than when we are laying comfortably on the beach. Still, not about to go chasing storms.

One final note:  I do not say or offer any of those "thank yous" in a hateful, "holier than thou" or smug manner - each is sincere. For if they did not provide the storm, I never would have seen the rainbow.

Hey, Buddy!

Now while no few of us know that our faith is relational, I ponder if perhaps some of us may have that relationship a bit skewed.  For instance, while God does call us friend that does not make us equals.  It is not the same as you accepting your friend and them accepting you, each as you are and then just carrying on with life from there. We may be accepted as we are but God is far from content with the idea of us staying the way we are nor is He going to meet us in the middle as far as character goes.  He is not about to say "well you gave it a shot and missed so just carry on with life and I will lower my standards for you".  God does not change after all, but He does expect us too.

Biblically speaking, the most common relational term for God is Father and I believe it is safe to say He chose that term for a reason.  While not all of us (any of us?) have had perfect parental relationships, I think we likely have an idea of what the ideal looks like even if not from our own experience. With the parent being yes, a friend in many ways, but also protector and provider as well as being the one who attempts to shape our characters as we grow as opposed to just letting us "run wild". In this, we see the relationship between us and God all the clearer.  We may often want Him to  just "be our buddy" but He is Father first and foremost in the relationship between us. Unfortunately, far too often,  we do just look at Him as aquaintance or buddy most of the time and only look for Father when we want something or we have gotten ourselves into a mess (again).

Consider Tom and Bill, life long friends, even though Tom is a bit older than Bill.  Now then, Tom is an officer in the military - a colonel to be precise.  Bill, after he graduates from high school, decides to enlist in the army himself and, as luck would have it,  Bill and Tom find themselves assigned to the same base. Now Tom is an "officer's officer" - all business and thorough as they come when it really matters. Bill on the other hand, well, let's just say his work ethic leaves something to be desired by times. So needless to say, military life is a bit of a shocker to Bill.  But hey, his best buddy ever Tom is here and he has some real pull so he can get him out of all kinds of things - at least that is what Bill is thinking.  The reality though is that Tom seems to be a bit harder on Bill than anyone else on the base is, which causes some internal confusion for poor Bill - enough so that he goes to Tom's office and asks for permission to speak freely...and gets it.

Bill puts it all out there.  He and Tom have been friends forever and Tom knows what Bill is like. He also knows how hard a lot of the stuff he has to do really is so why, why is Tom not bailing him out of it.  For that matter, why does it apprear that Tom is actually being harder on Bill than on anyone else.

Tom explains that he is indeed Bill's friend and that they are likely each other's best friends ever.  On the base however, Tom is first and foremost an officer.  He holds the life of all those beneath him in his hands. If he fails at his role, then people may die.  And if he allows Bill to take an easier road than the others, or if he allows Bill to just coast through, then his best friend in the entire world may wind up dead - and it would be his fault because he choose to be his buddy instead of being his commanding officer.

Let's be honest here, most of our lives on this world we are Bill.  We want the easy way out and really do not want to have to change anything about ourselves. Sometimes we may find ourselves in a "Tom position" but mostly we are just Bill and with God, we are always just Bill.  We just want Him to be our buddy and not our Commanding Officer.  But that is not the reality of things.  He is indeed our friend but the Lord of Heaven's armies (Jer. 44:25) is, first and foremost, our CO.  He knows what is on the line far better than we do.  He knows what horror will face us should He allow us to just coast along unchanged. He knows when trouble and battles (life, temptations, habits, etc) come our way, we will be quickly over run so He knows we must be changed in order to stand any of it at all.  But He does not throw us out of an airplane onto the battlefield the day we enlist either - He knows we are slow to learn, slow to change - stubborn as the day is long, in a lot ways. Is okay, there is no greater nor more patient Teacher than He but do not expect Him to stop teaching or to suddenly become content with you being where you are - if He did that, He would not be much of a teacher (or friend) at all.

So please, do not make the mistake of thinking that because you were intially accepted where you were that God wants or is willing to have you stay there. We are all being formed into the likeness of Christ remember (2 Cor. 3:18) and, until we get there (none of us on this planet have by the way), we cannot think or believe (with any accuracy that is) that God is content with where we are. Jesus is the standard by which we are compared, no one else and that is Jesus as He is, not how we want Him to be.

That said, is there something that Dad has been trying to change in you or get you to either do or stop doing that you have been ignoring Him on, hoping that He is going to forget or not ground you for the weekend or put you on KP duty about - you know, because He is "your buddy".

Long Days Snipits

Media Updates
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I have no clue where you are in life or what is going on in your world at this very moment. I do know some things though. I know, personally speaking, that there are things which God has told and shown me about a fair few things in the realm of the "yet to come". I do not mean like end of the world stuff, I mean personal things, situations, circumstances, etc. Now, like most, I want to be there now for some, if not all, of these. Yet I do realize that there are things which must happen first - things which cannot happen instantly no matter how much I may want them too sometimes. And while I would love to say I have always hung on faithfully and patiently waited, I really cannot do so. There have been times in which I have looked at where I am at now or circumstances that seem impossible and have tried to look away from what I know He has said - yes, I admit that I, in some of those moments of doubt, have tried to harden my own heart and close my eyes to what God said about <whatever>. The result: frankly each time left me feeling quite "icky" for lack of a better way to put it. That is, until I realized that I was looking at people, events and circumstance from my own limited point of view and put my faith back where it belonged in the first place: in God. If He said it, He will do it.

So today, should you find yourself feeling discouraged or starting to think "maybe God did not say..." or "what's the point, it will never happen" or whatever, take a bit of encouragement from this. One, you are not alone since obviously at least one other person (yours truly) has been there more than once. And two, that God does not change - He did not change His character suddenly 'just for you' and decide He lied or was just yanking your chain. You knew what He said before, remember today Who it was that said it and put your faith in Him, not in what you can see from where you are right now. Our God "is" faithful and He "will" come through for us. Every time.
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"After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before." ~ Job 42:10

We all have periods of trouble in our lives - some that others can see, some that are only known between us and God. And during these times, we can easily get caught up in constantly praying for ourselves, forgetting all about everyone else in our world. So it may well be worth the note that it was not after he pleaded and begged for help for himself that God restored Job, but after he had prayed for his friends.

So if you find yourself in a place of turmoil today and find your prayers seem somewhat self centered, perhaps a change may be in order

Hey! If you are reading this, then that means you are on Facebook (or some other social media) and likely have a friends (or contact) list filled with people who could likely use a word of prayer even if nothing more than asking for the Lord to bless them. Just a thought.
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God is the God of today so stay here, in the now, with Him. Do not spend every moment reliving past mistakes or glories for you shall not be able to see where you are at now or where you are going. Neither spend all your time dreading a future you can neither see nor even know you shall be in at all, for again, you shall miss all that is the present. Accept and learn from your past, have hope and faith in God for the future, and live, with Him, in and for today.
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