Reality Check

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. (Ps 23:1) Not because there is nothing I want. Not because of how I feel. Not because of what I see around me. Not because of who or who not is in my life. Not because of my home, my job, or my friends. Not because of what I am or am not involved in. Not because of my heritage. Not because of where I live, Not because of how much or how little I have in my life. Not because of education or lack there of. Not because of full bank accounts. Not because of family. Not because of what I have or don't have. Not because or health, wealth, or power. Not because of anything I have or don't have of what this world has to offer.  It is because of a higher truth than what I see and experience in the natural realm. I lack nothing because the Lord God Almighty is my Shepherd and none is as capable as Him. So, if I am feeling or sensing a lack, I remind myself of my true reality - The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

Peace And Effectiveness

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. (Col 3:15) We are one body and different members of a body cannot war with one another and still function effectively. We are called to and must be at peace with each other in order to interact with each other and in this world in a godly, effective, and fruitful manner. The peace of God is to be the rule in our hearts. We are to pursue and follow peace, but this has nothing to do with letting things slide, not rocking the boat, nor not addressing things that need to be addressed. That is pseudo peace and will not last or produce righteousness.

Sometimes Dancing

Sometimes I dance...

Sometimes I hurt myself or others when I dance...

Sometimes, when I hurt myself or others dancing, I don't want to dance anymore...

Sometimes, even when I've hurt myself or others and quit dancing, I still dance...

Sometimes I dance, even though I have hurt or been hurt. Once you"ve danced with The Dancer, He turns you into a dancer. I dance because I am a dancer...

Being a dancer doesn't make you a good dance partner. Even dancing for the Dancer doesn't make you a good dance partner. Only dancing with the Dancer makes you a good dance partner...

I Don't Want To Leave Disappointed...

Last night I was watching a rerun of  Everybody Loves Raymond. It was an episode where Ray seemed to be having a midlife crisis. The dialogue went something like this:

Ray:  I don't have a vision for my life, I have no goals, there's nothing I want to accomplish...

Debra:  Ray, you have a good job, you're a good writer, you have a good family, you have a home, a wife who loves you, and three great kids. Maybe the reason that you don't have a vision is because you have already accomplished it ... you are living your vision!

Ray:  I have...?      Alright!              Then, this is all there is...?                    I'm dissapointed ...

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Inside of all that are at least semi-emotionally healthy, there is a sense of purpose, a since of destiny, a sense that life is greater than just existing. As a body is greater than the sum of its parts, so living is greater than the length of its years. There's got to be more...

I don't want to leave disappointed.

Instead of waiting for a local church to get it together and then jump onboard, maybe we ought to go ahead and get ourselves together. It's not like each of us doesn't already know what is needed in order to become what we should already be and in reality already are.

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

James 4:17

"Lay down sanitized, mess free Christianity and embrace the kind of undomesticated, primitive faith that chooses sacrifice over compromise, peril over safety, and passion over comfort. That ancient, primal, dangerous faith of Jesus that won't ever choose safety over significance. The kind of faith that will forever ruin you for the ordinary.". Craig -Vineyard Missions Conference.



He Dwells In Us

Jesus is absolutely passionate about loving on the maginalized, the outcasts, the rejected, the poor, the sick, the maimed, and those who exist on the outer fringes of society with no hope for the now or the future ... and He wants to do it through us. We are not very good at it ourselves but He is really good at it through us.

Good Enough To Be Saved

“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” (Jn 5:28-29)

Some people have the point of view that when you die, if you have lived a good life you will go to heaven and if you have lived a bad life you will go to hell. They could even yank the above Bible verses out of context and make a case for their point of view. However, we’ve only to look at one word in Jn 5:28-29 to get a better understanding of what these verses are really saying.

If we look more fully at the word translated good in verse 29 we will be able to see more of the essential meaning of these verses.

The word does not mean just being good, but of also having the ability to produce much more goodness through that special quality that it possesses. If it were describing soil, the soil would be described as 'good soil’ or fertile soil - soil that has not only great potential to produce but will produce abundantly. It’s soil that gives itself to the purpose of being useful, productive, profitable and dependable. It is soil that produces ‘much fruit.’

If this word were used to describe a fruit tree, the tree would consistently be a very fruitful and healthy tree with fruit that is always big, delicious and juicy. ‘Its fruit would never fail.’

This word does not mean just good, but it means a special kind of good. It is an excellent, distinguished, upright and honorable good that not only has the potential of doing or producing good, but does in fact do just that. It is a good that not only has promise and potential, but also has production and product with quality, quantity, consistency, dependability, and longevity.

Jesus tells his audience not to be amazed as He unfolds His most startling claim of all: “A time is coming when all who are in the their graves will hear his voice and come out-those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

What does it mean to “do good?” This is just a few verses away from where Jesus talks about the gift of eternal life. To “do good,” means to have received eternal life. Only those in whom the life of God is dwelling can “do good.” Those who have obeyed His word, walked in fellowship with Him, and shared His life are the ones who have “done good.” At the same time, those who have “done evil” are those who have refused His life, who have turned their backs on the truth. Even if they think of themselves as “good people” who do “good works,” they will come forth to the “resurrection of judgment” if they have not received the free gift of eternal life in Christ. (Ray Stedman)

By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. (Jn 5:30)

“In this passage,” writes Stedman “Jesus gives us a final reassuring testimony to the fact that even though we must all die and meet our final destiny, Jesus will do what is right and just. Jesus holds our destiny in His hands…Will He be our Savior-or our Judge?”

Stay Thirsty My Friend

One of my favorite TV commercials features 'the most interesting man in the world'. The commercials always end with him saying, "Stay thirsty my friend." That is why I like it. We need to remind ourselves to stay thirsty or we will become complacent.

In Jn 4:13, Jesus says, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” This brings up the question, "Since this verse says we will never thirst again, why do we need to stay thirsty?" This is a good question.

If we would but admit it, we ourselves still get thirsty. Maybe we, just as the 'woman at the well', do not really understand what Jesus was saying to her. Her response to Him was, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never get thirsty nor have to come [continually all the way] here to draw." She thought He was offering her something to make her life easier, when in reality, He was offering her something that would make her life better. She thought He was talking about water from the well; He was talking about the things she was doing to try to satisfy her empty life. She thought she would not have to make the trip to the well any longer; He was telling her she would not have to go to the broken cistern any longer that she was drinking from to try and give meaning to her life. She thought He was talking to her about coming to the well to get water: He was talking to her about a different well, a different source, a different drinking, a different life.

When we drink the water that only Jesus can give us we will never thirst again, but because we have access to the Rock from which the spiritual water that produces spiritual life gushes, but we still have to drink ... regularly

Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life." (Jn :13-14)

Stay thirsty my friend!