Have you ever tried to grab water? No, not a bottle of water or a glass of water, but have you ever tried to grab water? If you grab water, the tighter you squeeze it, the less you end up with. If you want to hold water, you have to hold it WITH OPEN HANDS.
I often find myself trying to grab God's blessings. When God blesses me with peace, joy or any other blessing, I grab it with all my might, pull it close to my chest and try to make sure that it does not leave me. He hands it over to me and I try to devour it and control it. As I pull it closer and closer and clench it tighter and tighter, the blessing disappears out the creases of my hands. Basically, I smother God's blessings.
As I was contemplating this principle, I thought of one exception. I want to love, adore and hold my kids as close as I can. They are a blessing from God, but they need someone to hold them tight. Really, though, if I keep holding them so tight as they grow older and do not begin to let go, they are going to rebel. At some point, I will need to open up my hands and let them go.
So, I find myself with this deep desire to grasp something. I have a craving inside to grab ahold of something will all my might, but if I grab onto anything too tightly, it acts like water and disappears.
This puts me in quite a predicament.
What I have found is that it is no accident that I have this deep desire inside to grab onto something. If I grab onto God with all my might and squeeze him close to my chest, he only increases in my life. The tighter I squeeze and the closer I pull, the more he reveals himself to me.
Therefore, my suggestion is: Grab GOD (not religion, not Church) but GOD himself with all of your might and hold all of his blessings WITH OPEN HANDS.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Not Quite Enough
The Essence of all advertising is You are Not Quite Enough if you do not have what we are Selling.
As the New Year has rolled over, Missy and I are beginning to focus on that subject that is so difficult at times but is so intertwined in every aspect of our lives: MONEY MANAGEMENT
This year I am trying to not just look at the symptoms: Impulse Purchases, Those little everyday purchases that compound over time, or just the lack of managing the money that I earn. This year I am trying to get to the bottom of it. I am trying to answer the questions: Why does my spending not reflect my values? and Why do I buy things that I don't need, don't want or just for all of the wrong reasons?
Part of what I have discovered is that it is not just money. It is a spiritual issue.
As I walk into a store like The Buckle, the air is filled with a great scent. That scent of some new cologne draws you deeper into the store. On the shelves are layers of jeans, leather shoes, and shirts of all different styles and colors. Some young salesperson walks over in his or her fancy clothes from head to toe, jewelry and a bright smile. Basically, the whole message that they are trying to give me is: If you want to be cool or feel good, you need to buy these jeans for 109.99. If you want to really be cool, you can buy those jeans for 109.99 and add a shirt to go with them for 65.99.
I am not saying a word against stores like The Buckle. I really like the store and love the way the jeans fit. The problem happens when I am making purchases because I don't feel good enough with what I have or what I am. As the advertising industry spends millions and millions of dollars pushing this one message, it is quite clear that it has an effect on most of us.
My focus this year is on CONTENTMENT. With Jesus, I am enough. In him is my fulfillment. There is nothing else in this world that I really need. Therefore, I can walk through these advertising messages knowing that I don't really need this product to be fulfilled. I have enough when I begin with Jesus.
If I can find this contentment, I think I am well on my way to finding the victories over money management that I am seeking.
*If you read this Danny, sorry, but I had to steal the idea from our conversation on Monday evening. LOL..
As the New Year has rolled over, Missy and I are beginning to focus on that subject that is so difficult at times but is so intertwined in every aspect of our lives: MONEY MANAGEMENT
This year I am trying to not just look at the symptoms: Impulse Purchases, Those little everyday purchases that compound over time, or just the lack of managing the money that I earn. This year I am trying to get to the bottom of it. I am trying to answer the questions: Why does my spending not reflect my values? and Why do I buy things that I don't need, don't want or just for all of the wrong reasons?
Part of what I have discovered is that it is not just money. It is a spiritual issue.
As I walk into a store like The Buckle, the air is filled with a great scent. That scent of some new cologne draws you deeper into the store. On the shelves are layers of jeans, leather shoes, and shirts of all different styles and colors. Some young salesperson walks over in his or her fancy clothes from head to toe, jewelry and a bright smile. Basically, the whole message that they are trying to give me is: If you want to be cool or feel good, you need to buy these jeans for 109.99. If you want to really be cool, you can buy those jeans for 109.99 and add a shirt to go with them for 65.99.
I am not saying a word against stores like The Buckle. I really like the store and love the way the jeans fit. The problem happens when I am making purchases because I don't feel good enough with what I have or what I am. As the advertising industry spends millions and millions of dollars pushing this one message, it is quite clear that it has an effect on most of us.
My focus this year is on CONTENTMENT. With Jesus, I am enough. In him is my fulfillment. There is nothing else in this world that I really need. Therefore, I can walk through these advertising messages knowing that I don't really need this product to be fulfilled. I have enough when I begin with Jesus.
If I can find this contentment, I think I am well on my way to finding the victories over money management that I am seeking.
*If you read this Danny, sorry, but I had to steal the idea from our conversation on Monday evening. LOL..
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Follow Jesus, Not his Followers
Follow Jesus himself, because if you follow his followers too closely, you may be led astray.
The College Years (18-early 20s) are a very challenging and important part of developing into Adulthood. When I first packed up and headed off to Wayne State College in the Fall of 1999, I was full of excitement and fear.
I knew no one at the College and am an introvert by nature, so the idea of being in a brand new place, where I would need to make brand new friends, was pretty scary. Nevertheless, at the time, I felt very strong in my faith. I had had an important year of spiritual growth in my senior year of high school and was very excited to continue that growth as I started college.
I was convinced that I wanted to find a Bible Study at the Campus where I could find other believers who were as passionate about growing in Christian Faith as I was. I found a group that met once a week in a room next to the cafeteria on campus.
What I ended up finding was a very legalistic, fundamental Christian group that taught that their strict beliefs were TRUTH and all of the other Christians were wrong. As I attended the group week after week, my heart began to be filled with Fear, Confusion, Anger and Resentment. I hated going to the group so much, but I was scared not to go. They believed that we needed to quit celebrating Christmas with Christmas trees, and begin preaching on the corner of campuses. "Me, preaching?", I thought. That just isn't me. But, they tell me that I need to.
After about 10 weeks, I finally had had enough, and said forget it. I never went back to the group after that. I also decided to quit pursuing my faith. I had stuck my neck out searching for God, and been burned. I decided from then on out I was going to go through the motions, but that was it. I totally associated THAT group with God himself, and decided that if that is God, then I don't want anything to do with him on a personal level.
This turning away from God led me into a dark 8 year period of addiction, anxiety, depression, rage, and spiritual bankruptcy.
When I finally came to an end of myself and surrendered again to Jesus, I had a resentment that I needed to deal with. I sat down with a dear friend and said "Why did God lead me astray back then? I was passionate about growing closer to him, but I ended up with confusion, anger and resentment. How could he do that to me?"
My friend looked over at me and said, "Just because you were led astray by a Christian Group does not mean that you were led astray by God himself. He was there for you the entire time: Walking you through your pain."
I sorta understood what he was saying and it helped a little bit, but I still resented God for allowing that to happen to me. I also remained very weary about pursuing a close relationship with God again.
About 2 years later, I heard something on the radio that gave me the healing that I needed. Follow Jesus, Not his Followers because his followers are not perfect and they get it wrong sometimes.
From this I have been able to again pursue Jesus, but this time, I am pursuing him on a personal level. YES, I need to be in fellowship with others, but if I don't agree with a particular group or person, that's alright. And if I try out a particular Christian Fellowship and I don't agree with a lot of what they teach, I can just choose another one.
The fact of the matter is: The Bible is complicated and difficult to understand. I believe there are a lot of things about the Christian Faith that we were never meant to understand right now. I do know, however, that if I pursue Jesus personally, setting aside all OPINIONS ABOUT him, then I will never be led astray.
The College Years (18-early 20s) are a very challenging and important part of developing into Adulthood. When I first packed up and headed off to Wayne State College in the Fall of 1999, I was full of excitement and fear.
I knew no one at the College and am an introvert by nature, so the idea of being in a brand new place, where I would need to make brand new friends, was pretty scary. Nevertheless, at the time, I felt very strong in my faith. I had had an important year of spiritual growth in my senior year of high school and was very excited to continue that growth as I started college.
I was convinced that I wanted to find a Bible Study at the Campus where I could find other believers who were as passionate about growing in Christian Faith as I was. I found a group that met once a week in a room next to the cafeteria on campus.
What I ended up finding was a very legalistic, fundamental Christian group that taught that their strict beliefs were TRUTH and all of the other Christians were wrong. As I attended the group week after week, my heart began to be filled with Fear, Confusion, Anger and Resentment. I hated going to the group so much, but I was scared not to go. They believed that we needed to quit celebrating Christmas with Christmas trees, and begin preaching on the corner of campuses. "Me, preaching?", I thought. That just isn't me. But, they tell me that I need to.
After about 10 weeks, I finally had had enough, and said forget it. I never went back to the group after that. I also decided to quit pursuing my faith. I had stuck my neck out searching for God, and been burned. I decided from then on out I was going to go through the motions, but that was it. I totally associated THAT group with God himself, and decided that if that is God, then I don't want anything to do with him on a personal level.
This turning away from God led me into a dark 8 year period of addiction, anxiety, depression, rage, and spiritual bankruptcy.
When I finally came to an end of myself and surrendered again to Jesus, I had a resentment that I needed to deal with. I sat down with a dear friend and said "Why did God lead me astray back then? I was passionate about growing closer to him, but I ended up with confusion, anger and resentment. How could he do that to me?"
My friend looked over at me and said, "Just because you were led astray by a Christian Group does not mean that you were led astray by God himself. He was there for you the entire time: Walking you through your pain."
I sorta understood what he was saying and it helped a little bit, but I still resented God for allowing that to happen to me. I also remained very weary about pursuing a close relationship with God again.
About 2 years later, I heard something on the radio that gave me the healing that I needed. Follow Jesus, Not his Followers because his followers are not perfect and they get it wrong sometimes.
From this I have been able to again pursue Jesus, but this time, I am pursuing him on a personal level. YES, I need to be in fellowship with others, but if I don't agree with a particular group or person, that's alright. And if I try out a particular Christian Fellowship and I don't agree with a lot of what they teach, I can just choose another one.
The fact of the matter is: The Bible is complicated and difficult to understand. I believe there are a lot of things about the Christian Faith that we were never meant to understand right now. I do know, however, that if I pursue Jesus personally, setting aside all OPINIONS ABOUT him, then I will never be led astray.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
As You See Me
If only my view of myself on the inside was as clear as it is on the outside as I glance into a bathroom mirror.
When I look at the internal mirror of my heart, it is as if steam fills the bathroom from a hot bath. The steam gathers as fog on the mirror. I end up with a blurry view of myself
Often times, I see myself with such contempt. I look at my failures, my weaknesses and my shortcomings. I also compare myself to other people and seem to never measure up. I see the success and confident appearances of others and cannot hardly even look them in the eye. How can I, with all of my fears, even look at a confident man in the eye.
At other times, I see myself with such arrogance. I see myself as the center of the universe and so much more important than my fellow man. I succeed at something and think that I am the most powerful man on the planet. I look at other people with judgement and pride. I feel bad for my fellow man because he does this and that. I look at the speck in my neighbor's eye forgetting the plank in my own.
My prayer to God is:
LET ME SEE ME AS YOU SEE ME. When you look at me, you see so much potential. You know who I can be if I stay close to you. You see my weaknesses, but you see that they can be overcome. You see my fears, but know that they are no match for your strength. You love me so dearly, but no more or less than others. You see me beat myself up sometimes and see right through my inferiority complex. You can also see through my pride and arrogance and know that they are just a means to hide my fears.
Lord, wipe away the fog from my heart and give me your eyes so I can see me for who I am made to be and who I can become. If I can really see me through your eyes, then I can be used for your purposes instead of wandering around aimlessly in the confusion of my fog.
When I look at the internal mirror of my heart, it is as if steam fills the bathroom from a hot bath. The steam gathers as fog on the mirror. I end up with a blurry view of myself
Often times, I see myself with such contempt. I look at my failures, my weaknesses and my shortcomings. I also compare myself to other people and seem to never measure up. I see the success and confident appearances of others and cannot hardly even look them in the eye. How can I, with all of my fears, even look at a confident man in the eye.
At other times, I see myself with such arrogance. I see myself as the center of the universe and so much more important than my fellow man. I succeed at something and think that I am the most powerful man on the planet. I look at other people with judgement and pride. I feel bad for my fellow man because he does this and that. I look at the speck in my neighbor's eye forgetting the plank in my own.
My prayer to God is:
LET ME SEE ME AS YOU SEE ME. When you look at me, you see so much potential. You know who I can be if I stay close to you. You see my weaknesses, but you see that they can be overcome. You see my fears, but know that they are no match for your strength. You love me so dearly, but no more or less than others. You see me beat myself up sometimes and see right through my inferiority complex. You can also see through my pride and arrogance and know that they are just a means to hide my fears.
Lord, wipe away the fog from my heart and give me your eyes so I can see me for who I am made to be and who I can become. If I can really see me through your eyes, then I can be used for your purposes instead of wandering around aimlessly in the confusion of my fog.
Friday, December 16, 2011
The Light Behind
As I pulled up in my driveway today after work, the Sun had set and a darkness was overcoming the land. I climbed out of my car and glanced up, which I do nearly every day this time of year. Up in the sky was a spectacular landscape of bright stars shining down. The stars are one of the things I like most about being back out in the country.
A few hours later, after the kids were in bed, I took the garbage out as we finished up the dishes. As I opened up the trashcan, which was nestled up next to our garage, I decided to look up again and see one last view of the beautiful stars. As I looked up, our bright porch light blinded my eyes. No stars could be seen through that bright, piercing porch light. I knew the stars were out there, but I absolutely could not pick them out. I then looked back away from the bright light and again was blessed with the beautiful stars.
How many times, when staring at the problems in my life, do I feel like God is not there. As I keep my eyes focused on my problems, I cannot see God at work. Even though he is there transcending my problems, my eyes cannot see him because I am too focused on my problems. When I look away from the problems and focus on God, I can then again see his Light and gain strength to deal with my problems.
There is no doubt that taking our eyes off of our problems and acting like they are not there is not going to solve them. This is stepping into denial which gets us nowhere.
Instead, this situation challenged me to look away from the problems from time to time and look straight at God forgetting everything else. When I do this, I gain the strength needed to look again at my problems and find the solutions to them.
A few hours later, after the kids were in bed, I took the garbage out as we finished up the dishes. As I opened up the trashcan, which was nestled up next to our garage, I decided to look up again and see one last view of the beautiful stars. As I looked up, our bright porch light blinded my eyes. No stars could be seen through that bright, piercing porch light. I knew the stars were out there, but I absolutely could not pick them out. I then looked back away from the bright light and again was blessed with the beautiful stars.
How many times, when staring at the problems in my life, do I feel like God is not there. As I keep my eyes focused on my problems, I cannot see God at work. Even though he is there transcending my problems, my eyes cannot see him because I am too focused on my problems. When I look away from the problems and focus on God, I can then again see his Light and gain strength to deal with my problems.
There is no doubt that taking our eyes off of our problems and acting like they are not there is not going to solve them. This is stepping into denial which gets us nowhere.
Instead, this situation challenged me to look away from the problems from time to time and look straight at God forgetting everything else. When I do this, I gain the strength needed to look again at my problems and find the solutions to them.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Unresolved
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to GOD and the PEACE of GOD which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 6-7 NIV
Unresolved, unfinished, lacking, incomplete. These are all synonyms of how I feel at times.
I have spent so much time planning, envisioning and daydreaming about THE DAY that I will finally reach that place of Nirvana. I will reach this or that particular goal, and I will feel complete. Life will make sense, all of my struggles will be gone and all my relationships will be how I want them to be.
I would set a particular goal. I would plan exactly how I was going to get there, and I would dream of the day that I reached that particular goal. The next day, I would wake up, something would go wrong and mess up my perfect plan and I would throw my hands up. It didn't go EXACTLY like I wanted it to, so I would give up and forget the whole thing in anger and frustration.
Life is not Perfect. It does not always go like we plan it to. In fact, in my experience, it never goes like we plan it. Life is full of errors, defects, mistakes, and alternate paths.
So what does this have to do with Peace which transcends understanding. This verse tells me that we can live with unresolved issues in a imperfect world. I can have peace when the world is full of chaos and when I have unresolved conflicts in my own life. I have issues that are not resolved. I do not understand what causes Devan's autism. I have relationships with loved ones that are not what I want them to be. When I look at these issues and then examine my abilities to deal with them, I become overwhelmed. I do not have the resources to handle them all or actually any of them on my own.
God meets us in the Middle. Where we are lacking, God takes up the slack. Where we do not understand, God directs our path until we get it. When we screw up, God offers forgiveness. Therefore, we CAN have peace which transcends all understanding even though our human nature says otherwise. We can be OK, even though our lives aren't exactly the way we wish they were.
TIP: Every few months, take a glance back at where you were then and where you are now. Do you notice patterns? Are you moving closer to where you want to be or futher away? This glance back can often bring some interesting surprises. You just may be making more progress than you thought you were.
Unresolved, unfinished, lacking, incomplete. These are all synonyms of how I feel at times.
I have spent so much time planning, envisioning and daydreaming about THE DAY that I will finally reach that place of Nirvana. I will reach this or that particular goal, and I will feel complete. Life will make sense, all of my struggles will be gone and all my relationships will be how I want them to be.
I would set a particular goal. I would plan exactly how I was going to get there, and I would dream of the day that I reached that particular goal. The next day, I would wake up, something would go wrong and mess up my perfect plan and I would throw my hands up. It didn't go EXACTLY like I wanted it to, so I would give up and forget the whole thing in anger and frustration.
Life is not Perfect. It does not always go like we plan it to. In fact, in my experience, it never goes like we plan it. Life is full of errors, defects, mistakes, and alternate paths.
So what does this have to do with Peace which transcends understanding. This verse tells me that we can live with unresolved issues in a imperfect world. I can have peace when the world is full of chaos and when I have unresolved conflicts in my own life. I have issues that are not resolved. I do not understand what causes Devan's autism. I have relationships with loved ones that are not what I want them to be. When I look at these issues and then examine my abilities to deal with them, I become overwhelmed. I do not have the resources to handle them all or actually any of them on my own.
God meets us in the Middle. Where we are lacking, God takes up the slack. Where we do not understand, God directs our path until we get it. When we screw up, God offers forgiveness. Therefore, we CAN have peace which transcends all understanding even though our human nature says otherwise. We can be OK, even though our lives aren't exactly the way we wish they were.
TIP: Every few months, take a glance back at where you were then and where you are now. Do you notice patterns? Are you moving closer to where you want to be or futher away? This glance back can often bring some interesting surprises. You just may be making more progress than you thought you were.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Break My Heart, Lord
Break my heart for what breaks yours. Those words in a popular song by Hillsong United often resonate with me. I have found myself thinking intently about them lately and trying to figure out what they really mean.
With 24-Hour News, internet and cell phones w/ internet, we are exposed to story after story after story that could and probably should break our hearts. There are earthquakes, starving children, tornadoes, domestic abuse, disease, cancer, death, greed, and all kinds of cruelness in our world. And more than ever before, we are exposed to all of these facts of life every single day.
I am fully convinced that all of these things do break the heart of God. He did not create us to go through all of this pain, and did want our world to be so BROKEN. The fact of the matter is, however, that we do live in a broken world and bad things happen.
As a Christian, I often feel guilty because my heart is not always broken when I am exposed to these things. So many times I hear about these horrible things and my heart turns callous. I get down on myself because I can hear about the earthquake destruction in Japan or Haiti, and not feel the pain and loss that I should. At times the thought quickly disappears and my mind moves to some small thing in my own life.
I have finally realized that as a human, I honestly cannot take all of that pain on myself. It would bury me. If I would internalize and have a broken heart for all of the pain and loss that I hear about, I could not survive the pain.
Lord, Break my heart freely when you want it to be broken. My prayer is that I am in sync with God enough that my hard, callous heart can be broken when it needs to be. When I need to feel and internalize pain of others, I pray that God will break my heart when he wants to and in turn spur me into action to do my part.
Again, my focus needs to be on knowing God and spending time with him and not on trying to conquer the world in his name. I do not understand or have the answers for all of the pain in the world, but I know the ONE that does. I can stand on that.
With 24-Hour News, internet and cell phones w/ internet, we are exposed to story after story after story that could and probably should break our hearts. There are earthquakes, starving children, tornadoes, domestic abuse, disease, cancer, death, greed, and all kinds of cruelness in our world. And more than ever before, we are exposed to all of these facts of life every single day.
I am fully convinced that all of these things do break the heart of God. He did not create us to go through all of this pain, and did want our world to be so BROKEN. The fact of the matter is, however, that we do live in a broken world and bad things happen.
As a Christian, I often feel guilty because my heart is not always broken when I am exposed to these things. So many times I hear about these horrible things and my heart turns callous. I get down on myself because I can hear about the earthquake destruction in Japan or Haiti, and not feel the pain and loss that I should. At times the thought quickly disappears and my mind moves to some small thing in my own life.
I have finally realized that as a human, I honestly cannot take all of that pain on myself. It would bury me. If I would internalize and have a broken heart for all of the pain and loss that I hear about, I could not survive the pain.
Lord, Break my heart freely when you want it to be broken. My prayer is that I am in sync with God enough that my hard, callous heart can be broken when it needs to be. When I need to feel and internalize pain of others, I pray that God will break my heart when he wants to and in turn spur me into action to do my part.
Again, my focus needs to be on knowing God and spending time with him and not on trying to conquer the world in his name. I do not understand or have the answers for all of the pain in the world, but I know the ONE that does. I can stand on that.
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