Ready to go yet?

If your family is anything like mine, then you’ll identify with the following situation. You are in the lobby after church and your wife say’s “are you ready to go” and you say, “Sure, where are the kids?” By the time you locate one of your two children your wife is off talking to someone else. So you seize the opportunity to chat with a friend and before you know it twenty minutes have passed and you still don’t have any idea where the kids are. Lets call this scenario one. Now, scenario two is much different. Your wife say’s “I’m ready to go and I'll be waiting in the car” this means; find the kids at once and get to the car, lest you get text messages inquiring of your whereabouts.

As a well-seasoned husband, I understand that both requests may sound alike, but only one is worth my attention. I am concerned that to often our prayers are given in a similar way. “Lord please be with aunt Alice” or “keep us safe while we travel” While these may be valid prayers, are we sincerely seeking God’s help in these matters or are we just spitting out requests as our “christian” duty?  If rattling off insincere lists of things for God to do for us is our idea of prayer, then I don’t think we know how to pray. No wonder our prayer life is unfulfilling and fruitless.

Have you ever considered that while you are reciting your well-rehearsed prayers, God is also sitting on His thrown while a host of angles are crying out Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God almighty. The next time you pray for God to do something for you, make sure you equally committed to the request. You could say that fasting is kind of like saying “I’ll be waiting in the car for you”

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16b 

40 Day Fast

Have you ever fasted for an extended period of time? More than a day? Do you know anyone who has fasted for more than a week? I used to go to church with a man who would fast for the entire month of January with only water. Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness. Many people give up something during the 40 days of lent. Certain foods or drinks, activities like TV, computer or movies. My daughter gave up texting one year that is a sacrifice for a teenage girl these days.


How does the level of sacrifice effect a fast? I can tell you that I could give up spinach for a year easier than fasting from coffee for a single day. Although I have practiced limited fasting somewhat regularly, I am certainly not an expert on the subject. I have not studied it nor have I read any books devoted solely to it's topic. Perhaps I should.


Imagine your fasting from all food, it's the second week and you have two more to go. I'm not asking you to think about how famished you're feeling, because the hunger is likely much easier by now than at the beginning, but rather what are you expecting from your fast.


I'll admit that most of the times I fast is because I really want God to do something for me. Answer my prayer...now,...please! Fasting is a way of showing our commitment to a cause or desire. King David said that he would “not sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.” 1 Chronicles 21:24


Can we fast to change ourselves? If I fasted for 40 days, you bet I would want to be changed because of it. Education, study, exercise and diet are all purposed for the betterment of ourselves. Why are we willing to devote four or more years of our life, tens of thousands of dollars for an education, if we didn't value the outcome? A specific career or higher financial opportunities are our rewards.


If an extended fast, an overnight stay in a homeless shelter or a trip to a third world country could change our lives then why aren't we doing it? Are we willing to invest in Gods kingdom here on earth? Are we pursuing a life that is at the foot of the cross. Do our hearts break over the lost people we know? Do we long for just 30 more minutes of prayer before we have to go to work. Are we wanting a life that looks more like Jesus or are we doing OK for ourselves now? I personally want more, I want His kingdom to come here on earth and I want to be a part of it. This is not about legalism or works, it's about putting on the mind of Christ and walking in step with the Spirit. It's about falling in love with Jesus.


Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Each time Peter responded yes Lord you know that I love You, and each time, Jesus followed with “then feed my sheep”. When I get real honest, I think God wants a lot more from me than what He's been getting. He wants all of me and all of you.

Only one life soon will pass; only what is done for Christ will last.

"Spiritual Correctness"

We are all quick to Quote Matthew 6 to justify our spiritual motives. When giving, praying or fasting don’t be like the hypocrites…for they have received their reward in full.

As “good” Christians we sometimes fail to do what is good for the sake of our humble image.

Which is better; to do good even though others may see, or to do no good so that others can’t see?

To train for an athletic event you will have to condition your body for whatever sport you are preparing for. Lifting weights, exercise and diet can make you feel proud and arrogant with a much leaner and stronger physique. Making a big show of your efforts may give you temporary gratification. On the other hand, failing to prepare and not doing the work at the risk that others may take notice, gets you absolutely nothing. At least the first man will come prepared to compete.

Luke was told that this week everyone would be getting an unexpected bonus check in addition to the regular paycheck. He could wait to call his wife and tell her the good news. Things had been a little tight for them financially, and they both agreed that God was blessing them. Luke tried to plan how they would spend their bonus money, not just for bills but maybe something special like a plasma TV. On Wednesday Luke began feeling a nudge from the Holy Spirit to give it all away. They could bless others in a way they couldn't normally do. After all this was bonus money, they could go on as if they never even received it. He thought about the mission team going to Haiti, or a man from church that just lost his job again. Luke then remembered the verse about the left hand knowing about what the right hand was doing. You’re not supposed to let people know when you do good things, right? He was troubled because they had already told several people about the money. So because Luke did not want to receive his reward in full and make a show of his generosity, he said nothing and kept the money for himself.

Treasure

Matthew 13:44

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then with joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

Luke found a treasure in a field. He hid it again, and with joy in his heart thought about what a treasure it would be. He knew the field was very costly and would take all that he had. He still desired that treasure and spoke of it with a friend. His friend said that treasures and dreams are for people better than us. His wife called him a fool for suggesting they sacrifice what they already had. Luke’s priest encouraged him to think more responsibly and care for his family, making the most of what he has been given in life. Luke never bought that field.

I'm a Vegan...jk

I skipped church on a Wednesday night to go hear a mini seminar on “living foods”. I had heard an interview that morning on the radio and this lady claimed that of all the cancer patients that had went through her program and there were thousands, none had died from cancer. Not one. Incredible or too good to be true, I was willing to give up a night to find out.

At the end of the night there wasn’t really anything I could disagree with as far as the information or concept. I can concede that most of the junk we feed ourselves with is lacking nutritional value and filled with counterproductive ingredients. I know that eating healthier would no doubt improve my quality of life. Having said this I was not ready to say yes to this new and improved way of life.

Here are a few of my objections.

1.It sounds too good to be true

2.None of my friends are eating healthy and they seem all right, if it were really good everyone else would be doing it.

3.I don’t fit in with the “healthy” lifestyle. Would I have to start hugging trees or plaster my bumper with anti-war and animal rights propaganda?

4.This was just an infomercial trying to get me to cough up some of my money.

5.I not ready to give up a good steak for spinach and or tofu.

6.If I really got sick, I would change then.

Aren’t these the same excuses that non-believers offer to the church? We can talk a good talk, but at the end of the day are we really all that different from them? Knowing logically that eating better is a good thing, I can’t say I am ready to change my way of eating. There are only two things that I can think of that might persuade me to convert. The first is that I am diagnosed with cancer; after all desperate times call for disparate measures. The second is if a friend had been cured and was now living without disease, without aces and pains, and full of energy. I could be drawn to change myself and if my friend shared that giving up actually meant getting so much more in return I think I would want to change.

“There is no greater sermon than the evidence of a changed life.”

a love story

I’m sitting across from my daughter at our dimly lit kitchen table. It’s late, her tears from hours before are now gone but her sorrow is still brutally alive.

This love story began nearly two and a half years ago. It was Becka who first notice Luke at school but it didn’t take long for the spark of interest to become a steady flame. They were always either hanging out at our house to his, going out with friends and texting each other all hours’ of the day or night. Luke was always welcome in our home. He would never miss a game night and it was nice having him around. We would play dominoes until late into the night, all of us laughing and carrying on. I remember the first night Luke called to break his plans with Becka. It was a Friday night and Luke and “the guys” had plans the following day, there wasn’t enough gas in the tank for both, and of course he knew Becka would understand. She was disappointed but she soon got used to it. Luke would explain that “going out with the guys was important and it wasn’t the kind of thing you do with your girlfriend”. I guess that was the beginning of the end in some ways. Soon after, they just stopped going out just the two of them, the personal time together wasn’t a priority anymore. He was still over to our house a lot and game night never changed. Becka would continue to pray for Gods best for Luke. My wife and I were concerned about the changes we saw in their relationship, but honestly Luke was a kind and friendly boy, and not likely to get into any trouble, and we all loved him.

Tonight was the night of their senior prom. They didn’t go. Oh sure the dress was bought and the flowers were ordered. Luke had barrowed his uncles BMW and had spent the entire afternoon giving that car a meticulous cleaning inside and out. The stage was set for the perfect night, until Becka asked Luke to come over to talk. With a heavy heart Becka shared the truth of their relationship. Truth that Luke had never considered, or wanted too. She first shared how much she loved him, how much she enjoyed his company and longed for time together. “It’s wrong for me to keep you from what you want”. “You don’t love me, you barely know me, and honestly you haven’t even pursued me”. “You are more content to be around me than with me, I love you too much to let you stay with someone you don’t love back”.

Luke was a fixture in our home. We all enjoyed him, we still do, but just like the elephant in the room, he never needed a relationship with Becka. Being a part of our family and our activities was enough to satisfy him. Sadly, Luke never realized it.

“Not everyone who say’s Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 7:21a

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” Matthew 22:37, 38

Heaven is a place set apart for those people who love God. People who long to be with God and who desire to be like God. Going to church every time the doors are open is not necessarily the same as spending time with God. Hosting a small group in your home is not necessarily pursing God, and living a moral life is not necessarily serving God. There is no substitute for loving God except, loving God.