I got a call from a friend of mine yesterday evening telling me he was sick and tired of reading my "I deserve this" post...so this one's for you buddy, and oh how it worked out so beautifully!
Over the past year or so I've been reading alot of great books. When Star and I go out on our weekly date, we usually end up at Barnes and Noble for a cup of coffee. If we are fortunate enough to get a "comfy chair"...life is good, and so is our read time.
I love to read...everything! I've even read 1 fiction book, which I would highly recommend...Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. Don't let the romance novel title fool you. It's flat out a great book. You won't be able to put it down. Want a picture of what God's love looks like? Read this book...this weekend!!
Enough Jibba Jabba...so anyways, when I look back over the past 2 years and look at what I've read, I have read more and more books, blogs, and encouraging emails, and less and less of the Bible. I don't want to get legalistic or anything, but I am beginning to see this as a problem. I don't know about you, but sometimes I get deceived that what I'm reading in God's word is not relevant to my everyday life. Recently I have had to be very purposeful in picking up God's word before any other book.
So lately I've been trying to read a Proverb every morning for the corresponding day of the month. Today is the 11th, so this morning I read Proverbs 11. Get it?
I start reading this morning, and I'm already seeing how God is using this chapter to give me instruction and encouragement for what lies ahead of me today. Today God's word is relevant.
And then I get to Proverbs 11:26:
"People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell."
Right after this verse was a word I had written a couple years back..."Monopoly". I cracked a smile at what God was up to. Read on...
The friend who called me last night and I used to get together with some other friends and play Monopoly. Some of our games would go way into the night...buying...selling...forming alliances, etc... Towards the end of our games it seemed like my friend was always trying to convince me to sell some of my properties. Even if I was broke, I saw my property as the only possibility of generating future revenue for a chance to win the game...so I would very rarely sell. Admittedly, I should have sold sometimes.
One night as I was being stubborn about selling my properties, my buddy cracked a smirk (I'm still considering he was seriously a little frustrated) and told me I needed to read Proverbs 11:26. I asked him what it said, and he told me to just read it on my own.
So I read it the next morning, laughed a little, and wrote the word "Monopoly" next to the verse.
Fast forward to this morning again, and I think God answered definitively that His word is relevant to my life...even in the game of Monopoly!
"All scripture is God breathed, and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness..."
2 Timothy 3:16
H
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Thursday, October 4, 2007
I deserve this!
I ran across this quote today by Randy Alcorn. Unfortunately I struggle with thinking I deserve alot more than I really do.
"We are never grateful for what we think we deserve. On the contrary, we gripe and complain and think God and others are unfair if it doesn’t come to us. Thank God we DON’T get what we deserve. Christ took upon Himself what He didn’t deserve, so that I would not have to get what I deserved."
H
"We are never grateful for what we think we deserve. On the contrary, we gripe and complain and think God and others are unfair if it doesn’t come to us. Thank God we DON’T get what we deserve. Christ took upon Himself what He didn’t deserve, so that I would not have to get what I deserved."
H
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
The hour I first beleived...
I've heard it said that the biggest opponent of faith is forgetfulness.
I didn't feel like going to work today. Embarrassingly, I didn't feel like going in because today was our national day of prayer for our ministry.
I have experienced several days of prayer similar to this, and every time I walk away refreshed and with a much better perspective on life. But today, I didn't feel like going. I had way too much to do at the office, and I felt like I was too busy. Although as Bill Hybels would say, I was really, "Too Busy NOT to Pray"!
To kick things off we started singing some old songs that I felt were going to put me to sleep! Hymns don't always put me to sleep, but keep in mind I didn't want to even be there this morning.
Anyway, we all (not I) sang:
"Lord I Lift Your Name on High"...and I'm thinking, can't they pick something newer?
"Great is your Faithfulness"...I felt like I was singing around a piano in a retirement home.
and they started to sing..."Amazing Grace"
I have to admit, even though Amazing Grace is an old hymn it always gets me a little choked up. So as everyone else started singing, I started to almost enjoy this song. I started to sing half heartedly and under my breath...
"Amazing Grace
how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see"
...I started to remember how blind I was as a teenager. My lifestyle was wretched. And what's worse, I had no idea how wretched my lifestyle really was. I was truly blind.
The song went on...
"T'was Grace that taught
my heart to fear
And Grace, my fears relieved
How precious did that Grace appear
the hour I first believed"
...I started to remember the first time I entertained the fact that someone loved me completely despite the wretched lifestyle I was living. This love that I was introduced to never gave up, was selfless, put up with anything, didn't demand anything in return, and was endless.
When I sang the line, "How precious did that Grace appear the hour I first believed", I was immediately brought back to the hour I decided to give something back to the person that gave me the love that never demands anything in return. I remembered when I gave my life to Jesus.
I'll never forget driving away from the church that day wanting to shout out the window the perfect love that was available to everyone...even people like me! I was as close to heaven then as I've ever been.
13 years later, I have been through some spiritual highs and some spiritual lows. When I got up this morning, I was not real excited about Jesus. But then I remembered how sweet his love was and is still today.
I do think one of the biggest opponents of my faith is forgetfulness. This morning I forgot, but now I remember!!
Psalm 51:12
"Restore to me the joy of your salvation"
1 Chronicles 16:12
"Remember the wonders he (the Lord) has done"
H
I didn't feel like going to work today. Embarrassingly, I didn't feel like going in because today was our national day of prayer for our ministry.
I have experienced several days of prayer similar to this, and every time I walk away refreshed and with a much better perspective on life. But today, I didn't feel like going. I had way too much to do at the office, and I felt like I was too busy. Although as Bill Hybels would say, I was really, "Too Busy NOT to Pray"!
To kick things off we started singing some old songs that I felt were going to put me to sleep! Hymns don't always put me to sleep, but keep in mind I didn't want to even be there this morning.
Anyway, we all (not I) sang:
"Lord I Lift Your Name on High"...and I'm thinking, can't they pick something newer?
"Great is your Faithfulness"...I felt like I was singing around a piano in a retirement home.
and they started to sing..."Amazing Grace"
I have to admit, even though Amazing Grace is an old hymn it always gets me a little choked up. So as everyone else started singing, I started to almost enjoy this song. I started to sing half heartedly and under my breath...
"Amazing Grace
how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see"
...I started to remember how blind I was as a teenager. My lifestyle was wretched. And what's worse, I had no idea how wretched my lifestyle really was. I was truly blind.
The song went on...
"T'was Grace that taught
my heart to fear
And Grace, my fears relieved
How precious did that Grace appear
the hour I first believed"
...I started to remember the first time I entertained the fact that someone loved me completely despite the wretched lifestyle I was living. This love that I was introduced to never gave up, was selfless, put up with anything, didn't demand anything in return, and was endless.
When I sang the line, "How precious did that Grace appear the hour I first believed", I was immediately brought back to the hour I decided to give something back to the person that gave me the love that never demands anything in return. I remembered when I gave my life to Jesus.
I'll never forget driving away from the church that day wanting to shout out the window the perfect love that was available to everyone...even people like me! I was as close to heaven then as I've ever been.
13 years later, I have been through some spiritual highs and some spiritual lows. When I got up this morning, I was not real excited about Jesus. But then I remembered how sweet his love was and is still today.
I do think one of the biggest opponents of my faith is forgetfulness. This morning I forgot, but now I remember!!
Psalm 51:12
"Restore to me the joy of your salvation"
1 Chronicles 16:12
"Remember the wonders he (the Lord) has done"
H
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