Just thinking

The other day I was talking to a friend and had realized that it's been a while that I have sat down and worked on my blog. So today is the day.

I was trying to figure out why it was that I have not written and then it kinda hit me. I’ve been so busy that I have not made it a priority. I have been working day and night. For those of you who know me might say yeah so? But over the last 4 weeks I have been moving our Children’s ministry to a new location, redecorating it, then starting a new lesson series. We then had a chili cook-off and a dedication of our new worship area. Lets see normal family stuff plus some extra stresses of finances. Turning the page in life with another birthday and the list goes on and on.

Looking at this I breath deep and slouch in my chair and say I’m tired! It’s not that sleepy tired either it’s the kind of tired that you say “Lord, Jesus how long will you take?” it’s a tiredness of the spirit. This is beyond physical and way beyond emotional. This is area that I think of that poem footprints was written about. It’s a humbling place to be. I’m glad my God is so big that he can handle anything that comes my way.

You see I’m in a place where God is teaching me what it means to depend on Him to supply all my needs spiritually. You might say duh that’s what He’s good at. Yeah, I know but you see we actually turn to God for our physical needs and emotional needs quicker than spiritual. Think about it when we pray we are so quick to ask for the obvious things money food things then help with those who are hurting but we don’t highlight the need to be crucified with Christ or ask God to help us to understand that or help me die to my selfish ambitions so I can be free to follow you.

It’s not easy to seek God in this way consistently. When I became a Christian I never thought I needed to die to my hopes and dreams to receive the blessings God has for me.  Just didn’t click. I understood the death burial and resurrection in head knowledge but when you get it in your heart and follow that way you’re not the same ever.

I find myself watching God move in people’s lives and the well of the spirit starts to flow down my cheeks. My Honduran friends say this is the Holy Spirit overflowing. I like that it makes me not feel like such a goofball. It’s so cool to watch God move and truly be happy for the person God is blessing. In this I find myself blessed and encouraged.

I’m finding that it can go the other way too. When the poor and underprivileged are abused or taken advantage of or if something is a roadblock to God’s Holy Spirit It kills you. I’m not a radical or even close but if God’s people really stood up for those who need an advocate this world would change.

Arron Chambers said this in his book Eats with Sinners “This world will be changed when Christians resolve to make life, help, hope, peace, joy, truth, and love more accessible.” (pg32)

Basically if we take care of each other instead we look out for number one and choose to ignore the fact that everything we have belongs to God and we are just entrusted to be stewards of it. I’m not saying that we can’t have things but we need to be open to Gods Spirit to use what we have and our resources to help our brothers and sisters.

I was asked how much to give? Till it hurts or till I have nothing left? I say till God says that’s enough. We need to really remember that the more we are given the more responsibility we have to give account for what we did with it. I would want to be on the side of being very generous with the blessings I have been entrusted with. Matthew 25 yikes!!

So… I’m under the broom tree sitting (1 kings 19:1-9 ) and I’m being cared for.  I thank God that He knows what is coming next because if I knew I might not be so willing to make the journey.

So I take a deep breath and slump down and thank Jesus for everything.

Just thinking… 

Not Connected

So I have been traveling in the last month. Since I’ve been traveling I have had to be able to access my e-mail, Facebook, text messages, and of course phone service. With work and family I need to able to stay connected. So, I was in Springfield IL the other day to do a VBS presentation. I was staying in a hotel that said it had internet service what I didn’t notice is that you had to pay for it. That always bugs me. I have a data plan for my smart phone but can’t use it to access the web with my laptop. So looking at a small screen is getting harder and harder.

Some of you know what I mean. I need to be connected and when I can’t ….. I can be a bear with a sore paw.  If that’s not bad enough if the 3G is not working it’s like the end of the world. Okay maybe not that bad but it does drive me nuts. So I start to look for the free areas where I can get a connection. Like Panera or some hotels you have to go all the way down to the lobby. How inconvenient right to think I would have to go all that way.

Okay so I was thinking while I was unhooked just a few years ago most of this was not possible let alone thought of all of it. Then I was thinking what did we do before all this we would pick up a pen and write some one or go visit them. We had to make more of an effort to communicate. Its really crazy how far we have come and how disconnected we are from people.

All this lead to a few thoughts one is about our relationship with God we always have had a wireless communications with Him. He has the most intricate network blows 4G out of the water and it’s so amazing that He knows our thoughts our feelings everything about us and His system never drops a call or is overloaded. You can never go out of the coverage area. He is always there to give you assistance and the web has nothing on Him.

Thinking all about this lead me to think about our (my) need to be connected. We desire to be connected to someone who will listen, someone who cares. We want to be able to handle anything that comes our way. We would love to move mountains if we had to.

Well, you may know where I’m going with this. God can handle all this and more and we don’t want to be connected with Him or don’t take the time. Those who do want to be connected just want a once a day a status update. We don’t want a letter or hour by hour update from God. The thing is though He wants that from us and wants us to give Him the same attention.  Here are a few verses to ponder.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing;”

Psalm 139:1-3

¹ O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.² You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away³ You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do

So here is my challenge or encouragement… spend some time with God today grab a God update and spend some time commenting on what He’s doing in your life or those around you. Try opening a chat box with Him and spend some time with our creator and see how He can handle our challenges. I would be willing to think God will handle anything you throw at Him way better than we could ever do. So when we need to be connected with our busy lives don’t forget to include Jesus in on what going on. Stay connected!