Our Constant Hope In A World Of Variables

“Our Constant Hope In A World Of Variables”

Psalm 33:20-22 NLT

We put our hope in the Lord.  He is our help and our shield.  In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.  Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.

A few weeks ago for Black Friday, I joined some of the guys from my wife’s dad’s side of the family for a full day of high school championship football games, which is Prep Bowl, at US Bank Stadium.  I started attending with them a few years ago knowing they’ve had this tradition of going for many, many years.  It’s a very long day, but it’s fun to watch the talent of so many high school guys playing the game. 

As I sat there that day watching these games, it reminded me of all the times I’ve watched football games and now this sport is so full of varying factors.  I’m not an expert regarding football and probably never will be.  I just really enjoy watching and seeing the many different scenarios that can take place during a game.  Things can change so quickly and without any notice at all, which often makes the games very interesting and tense!  My wife and daughters will often get on to me for being so loud when watching football and yelling at the TV! 

As I think about football, there are so many variables to this game and many other sports that you have to expect the unexpected.  As I thought more about the games that day that I was watching and football in general, I thought so much about how life is like this.  We live each day not knowing at all what is going to happen.  We so often put our trust and hope in earthly things and people and they always somehow fail us because we are not to put our hope and trust solely in them.  As football has so many variables, so does life.  Life often takes us by surprise and we’re so often not ready for those changes. 

The only constant thing about football and sports in general is that things are constantly changing.  The same is true about life and we all know this, but so often we don’t deal that well when things change.  We want consistency.  We want to know things will go a certain way, but often they don’t. 

I find great hope and trust knowing that God is always consistent in His love for me even though life is so unpredictable.  When life gets me down, I have to remind myself that God is still there with me and is guiding me through all of the challenges and frustrations. 

I hope this serves as a reminder to us all that we need to put our total trust and hope in God while we live in a world of constant variables. 

The Son Makes All The Difference

 “The Son Makes All The Difference”

John 15:5 NIV

I am the vine, you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

I try to usually go on walks outside during my morning and afternoon breaks at work each day.  In the summer, I usually don’t have much of an issue getting out to enjoy the weather on my walk, provided it’s not raining.  When it gets to later in the Fall and Winter season, it gets a little more tricky.  Some days are nicer than others, of course and I’m usually watching the weather conditions on my phone to see what the wind chill is and if it’s decent enough to go out for a walk. 

There are some days when I see the cold temps and notice it’s sunny and decide to give it a try.  I’ve recently found myself being amazed many days when I’m prepared for a cold gust to hit me, but instead find a soothing feeling when the sun hits me as I walk outside.  It’s still chilly, but I quickly think, “The sun is making all the difference”.  Without the sun shining down, it would be colder and not as pleasant of a walk. 

I cannot help but think of our walk with Christ and how life would be like if we didn’t have the Son in our lives each day.  Just as the sun shining on a cold day can really make a surprising difference when going on a walk or just headed out for work or errands, we need to be reminded daily that if we didn’t have the Son in our lives, we would be in a constant state of bitterness in our spiritual lives.  Life is challenging enough in general and I cannot even imagine how unbelievers find comfort and strength through hard times. 

Having Jesus in our lives truly makes all the difference in the world.  He’s with us wherever we go and no matter what we are doing.  When times get tough, He’s there to comfort.  It’s a simple concept, really.  However, are we sharing this with other people so that they can come to experience that the Son really makes all the difference in the world? 

Jesus is our true vine, we are the branches.  Apart from Him we can do nothing.  When we are staying connected to Him, He makes all the difference.  When we are apart from Him, we cannot thrive and cannot survive long doing our own thing.  We eventually get swallowed up in the bitterness of this world and it grows dark. 

When we remain connected to Jesus, He truly makes all the difference!

Don't Copy Cool

“Don’t Copy Cool”

Romans 12:2 NLT

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about working with computers is using the copy code.  I’ve used this so many times through my life and it saves so much time from having to write things out each time.  I can just copy and paste.  I’m sure many of you as well really enjoy using this feature.  I have used it many times with various jobs I have and I use it daily in my current office job. It is so convenient just copying the info I want to move to a different place instead of taking the time to type everything out all over again.

While this copy feature is amazing, I cannot help but think how this carries over into my life and walk with God.  I have so often become so accustomed to copying so much over into my life that seems way easier than doing what God asks me to do.  I see so many things in life that look way cool and I just copy and paste it into my walk with God.  However, many of these things He does not like.  I tend to copy a lot of customs and behaviors from the world into my life that I shouldn’t. 

I find myself so often copying what the world does and then I wonder why my walk with God doesn’t improve.  This is a daily challenge and I’m sure it is for so many of you as well.  It is so much easier to just copy what the world does instead of going against the flow and being transformed as God wants us to be.  We all know it is much wiser to do what God wants, but our flesh often wins over and we slip the customs and behaviors of this world into our daily lifestyle.  We do what we shouldn’t do, go where we shouldn’t go and say things we shouldn’t say.  We just blend right in and we copy the world’s version of “Cool”.

Friends, we are called to not copy the “cool” of this world, but instead being transformed and set apart.  We cannot just mimic what the world does because it’s more convenient to fit in.  God wants our lives to be dramatically different than the world.  Our lives need to look totally separate from the rest of the world. 

As much as I like the copy and paste feature of computers and it brings much efficiency to my daily work, this should never flow into my walk with God as I’m so often tempted to just copy and paste the worldly values and fit in. 

Don’t copy “cool”.  Instead, be transformed and renewed. 

Running With A Purpose

“Running With A Purpose”

1 Corinthians 9:25-27 NLT

All athletes are disciplined in their training.  They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.  So I run with purpose in every step.  I am not just shadowboxing.  I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should.  Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. 

This past Sunday in our small group Bible study, we were discussing how we need to be missional in life and get things done instead of just talking about doing them.  It was a powerful lesson we all took in and as we read this passage, I was focused on the part of ”So I run with purpose in every step”.  I thought about all the things I do each and every day and why I do them. 

I thought about all I do each day from the time I get up in the morning to the time I lay down to go to bed at night.  What is my purpose behind each thing I do and each place I go?  Am I living to just get the day of work over with to get home to be with my family?  Don’t get me wrong that it’s great to look forward to being home with my family each night.  But, there’s more to each day of life.  Whether I am at work, at home with my family or going somewhere, I am called to live and run with a purpose. 

I used to be a cross-country and track runner and I remember how focused I was on doing the best I could.  I remember the pain I often went to in order to get my body in shape.  It was so challenging, but I was determined to stay in shape so that I could run my best.  I needed to stay determined and committed so that I could run the best I could.  I ran with a purpose to do my best and achieve my best. 

Friends, this is why we need to train each and every day to be the best God wants us to be.  We are living and running each day from this to that.  Do we ever really stop to consider what we are doing and why we are doing it?  I sure hope so.  And, if we’re not….we need to START! 

I want to be missional in my life to not just live each day in a normal routine.  I want to be the best God has asked me to be and take advantage of every opportunity to do what He has called me to do. 

Are you and I living and running with a purpose?

The Greatest Imitation

“The Greatest Imitation”

Ephesians 5:1-2 NLT

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.  He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

I’ve always been impressed when I hear people try to imitate an actor or actress.  Some people I’ve heard are pretty good at it, while others really need some work!  I’ve watched many comedians throughout the years imitate different people and some of the imitations are mind-blowing!  It’s amazing when your jaw drops as you say, “Wow, that is a great impression!”  I’ve also heard different friends, family members and others who have tried impersonating someone else and it sounded very genuine!

I think we all enjoy hearing someone do a great impression of someone else.  It’s quite entertaining to hear these impressions and often times we want them to keep going and going to keep us laughing!  So often we or other people put much effort into imitating others and getting that talent down just because it’s so impressive.

The other day, when I read over this passage as I have so many times, it reminded me of how it is so important to imitate God.  It’s quite funny to witness good impersonations and gives us a good laugh, but I can’t help but think about our effort in imitating God.  How much effort do we actually put into imitating what God wants us to do? 

The greatest imitation we could ever put on is to do exactly what God wants us to do.  He calls us to be just like Him in everything we do.  Think about the first part of this passage of Paul’s words, “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do”.  Doesn’t that say it all???  Everywhere we go, everyone we talk to and whatever we do, we are called to imitate God.  When we do this, we will live a life filled with His love.  That is exactly what God calls us to do. 

That is the greatest imitation! 

Create In Me, O God

 “Create In Me, O God”

Psalm 51:10

NIV- Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

NLT-Create in me a clean heart, O God.  Renew a loyal spirit within me.

 

Father God, create in me a pure and clean heart when I…..

Treat my wife and daughters in ways that do not honor You.

Say things to my wife and daughters that I really regret later.

Think things that are not appropriate and tempted to be immoral.

Say things and treat my co-workers in ways that are not Godly.

Say things about other people that do not glorify You.

Lose my temper and sometimes let words fly that I shouldn’t say.

Get upset in traffic and treat others in a very non Christ-like way.

Get so wrapped up in my own ways and neglect to love on my family as I should.

Get so focused on what I want that I forget to show Your love to others.

Become so self-centered that I forget to serve others and meet their needs.

 

Father, help renew a steadfast and loyal spirit within me when I want to give up and do life the easy way.  Father, I desperately need You to create in me a clean and pure heart so that I can stop focusing on the things of this world and my own selfishness and just totally focus on You.  Lord, as I heard this passage this morning in church, it reminded me how so much I need You to cleanse me from my sins and how I need to be renewed and restored.

Father, I need to be renewed with a steadfast and loyal spirit so that I may better serve You and completely surrender to You.  From this day on, I want to be more committed, no matter how challenging life becomes.  I want to show and lavish Your love in my home and encourage my wife and girls instead of hindering them as I so often do with my selfishness. 

Father, please create in me a very pure and clean heart and forgive me.  May others see You through me day in and day out. 

Amen.

Can't You See It?

 “Can’t You See It?”

Isaiah 43:19 NLT

For I am about to do something new.  See, I have already begun!  Do you not see it?  I will make a pathway through the wilderness.  I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

Do you all remember those pictures from years ago where you had to adjust your eyes and focus on what was in the “dots”?  It was pretty challenging and I often couldn’t focus my eyes just right to see the picture within the frame.  You had to adjust your eyes just right and then the image would just form or pop out at you!  If you remember those, you either remember the joy of actually seeing what you couldn’t see before or you remember the absolute frustration of trying to adjust your eyes, but to no avail! 

Some things in life are naturally easy to see.  We have hundreds, if not thousands, of things we have all seen easily in our lives.  Some things are very easy to point out and can be seen by almost anyone.  Then there are some things that you might have to actually take the time to stop and look for in a different way.  Maybe something is seen better in a certain angle or in the light or dark. 

Sometimes it’s good for us to have someone say, “Can’t you see it???” as we try hard to focus on what is in front of us or across the way a bit.  Sometimes we need the challenge of someone coaching us to look at things in a different way.  Sometimes it just takes a bit more focusing to see something.  A lot of things in life are this way and so many of us won’t or don’t take the time to see with a different perspective. 

As we are all going through tough and challenging times of life in various ways, we all need to be challenged as God often says to us “Can’t you see it??”.  So often He is working in some amazing ways, but we fail to see.  We are so wrapped up in our own ways and our own ideas that we just don’t take the time to look with a different perspective.  God is trying to show us things every day and we fail so often to see these wonderful new things.  So many different things can cause us to lose sight of these great and wonderful things. 

No matter what we might be facing, God is definitely working on something new and He wants you and I to see it!  Sometimes it’s easy to see, but often it takes looking from a different angle or perspective.  Then, when we do see what He wants us to see, it blows our minds! 

Next time someone asks you, “Can’t you see it?”, think of all the new things God is trying to show you as you live each day.