Category: Uncategorized

We are constantly bombarded every single day with things that distract us off of our focus or goals. We see it as we walked on the streets, we see it when we listen to the radio, we see it when we are watching TV, and we see it even when we’re in groups of friends and acquaintances.
But, what is your focus? That is what we have to think about on a daily basis. Our focus is either on serving our Lord, or not serving our Lord.

Have you ever thought about the things that cloud your mind and take away precious time on the goals you are trying to achieve? These distractions keep us from accomplishing those goals.  I can’t keep from thinking about the things that somehow make their way into my mind even when I am in prayer to my guide for when I am trying to study the Lords word. Somehow and for some reason I find my mind wandering off on other things that keep me away from my focus. Why can’t I take the intensity of trying to keep my mind focused on the Lord’s word in the Lords work?
Just
of trying to keep my mind focused on the Lord’s word in the Lords work?

Just think on these things about your focus of your goals and how to accomplish them daily.

Are the times that we are living in today really new and different than times of old?  What are the really important things in life?  Are we really better off than our forefathers by living our own way, following our feelings, living free, expressing ourselves by being different?  The world is different right?

I’m reminded of quotes by one of, if not the wisest man to live, Solomon.  In Ecclesiastes chapter 1. The famous quote here is “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.”  Vanity means, “excessive pride in or admiration of one’s own appearance or achievements.

Ecclesiastes 1: All Is Vanity

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north, around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said,    “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.

The Vanity of Wisdom–I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

So, what does this all mean?  I suggest we think about the real values of life that hopefully was imparted into us by our parents or grandparents.  What were the values they left with us?  Do we live by some of these core values?  If you think about those concepts, how different would we be living compared to our relatives from the past. Think about it. Think about your core values. 

If you have ever left home or some place you have lived a number of years and it’s been a very long time since you have been back, the journey back to your old stomping grounds can be both exciting and can bring back many memories. This weekend we traveled back to the town where our children spent several years of their childhood and where we created many wonderful memories as a family. We drove down the huge oak tree-lined roads with rock walls that created the boundaries of pristine manicured properties. We passed many places that we recalled from the several trips we had made to and fro. When we passed our former home, we could remember the times our kids ran up and down the driveway and back and forth across our property. Great memories from the past!

But those times are behind us and we must look forward to creating new memories by focusing on the road ahead.  Just what is around the bend and down the road for us? 

The Apostle Paul talked about what was ahead. He even longed for the hereafter. He had a hope for what was down the road.  In Ephesians 1:18, Paul stated, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.”  He is talking about what lies ahead in the hereafter and the hope we have in Jesus.  

Memories of the past are great to re-live but the destiny of our eternity lies ahead. Just as Matthew tells us in Matthew 6:19-20–“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  

Our daily footsteps we take today the things we strive for are to do this very thing. Let our daily deeds, our actions and the memories we are creating be more than the just memories but instead work daily to store up treasures for Heaven some day. 

I have always struggled with the scripture regarding taking up the cross daily. When you think about the context of what Jesus was saying, you have to focus on what your life is all about. I, by all means, do not fully understand how this practically works.  We have busy lives. We have things we have to do. We have family matters to take care of. We have a job that keeps us very busy. So, what does this all mean about the cross?

We must be ready in all situations of self-denial and patience with life’s circumstances.  We must live a life of denying ourselves and the contempt of this world that we come face to face with each day. How do we avoid the temptation of indulging ourselves and satisfying our own desires and wants?  These challenges puts us in a state where our human desires may keep us from really wanting to bear the spiritual desires that we should have by being in Christ. Every day we should desire the will of God to be complete in what we do, in whatever our call is regardless of our job/vocation, etc. We will frequently meet with the “crosses that need to be picked up” in our daily journey.  We must pick these up and carry them daily for our the cause of Christ. 

Luke 9:23-27–Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.  “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

Please consider this poem by Charles W. Everest:

“Take up thy cross,” the Savior said, “if thou wouldst my disciple be; deny thyself, the world forsake, and humbly follow after me.”

Stop and smell the coffee. Open your ears to hear the chirping of the birds. Listen to the waves that rush ashore.  In other words, pay attention to what is going on around you and don’t take even the small thing for granted. 

Is Jesus working in your life and are you really aware of His impact in your life daily or are you just taking everything in stride and assume that these things just happen normally?  Or, do you desire that your life is patterned after God’s plan?  Have you thought how God’s grace can have an impact in helping you cope with the daily needs you have?

The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9–But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Also, Ephesians 2:8,10–For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

If you are created in the image of Jesus and are part of God’s handiwork, are you aware of how God’s grace can touch you to be about His work?  Dwell on these thoughts by Jewell Monroe“Whitey:  HIS GRACE REACHES ME

Deeper than the ocean and wider than the sea. is the grace of the Savior for sinners like me. Sent from the Father and it thrills my soul. Just to feel and to know. That His blood makes me whole

CHORUS

His grace reaches me. Yes, His grace reaches me. And ‘twill last thru eternity. Now I’m under His control and I’m happy in my soul. Just to know that His grace reaches me

Higher than the mountain and brighter than the sun. it was offered at Calv’ry for ev’ry one. Greatest of treasures and it’s mine today. Tho’ my sins were as scarlet. He has washed them away. 

His Grace is Sufficient!!!

We are all faced with daily challenges that tend to weigh heavy on our hearts. We struggle with decisions that are difficult to make and feel like we are all alone.  And the lonesomeness of dealing with serious decisions makes us feel like we are truly alone.
Do you struggle with the burdens of life throughout each day?  Have you thought about how your faith in God through Jesus can pick up these burdens?  Walking alone and dealing with life’s struggles can be overbearing. However, Jesus has told us that he will help us and help carry our burdens through our faith in Him. 

Think about these lyrics:

LAY YOUR BURDENS AT THE FEET OF JESUS. LAY YOUR BURDENS AT THE FEET OF JESUS. LET HIM BEAR YOUR HEAVY LOAD. LET HIM LEAD YOU THROUGH EACH LONESOME VALLEY. AS YOU JOURNEY ON LIFE’S ROAD

TRUST HIS PROMISES AND DOUBT HIM NEVER. HE’S A SURE AND PRECIOUS FRIEND. LET HIS WILL BE GLADLY PRAISE HIM EVER LAY YOUR BURDENS AT HIS FEET. 

The difficult part is getting your mind around how you can actually lay these burdens down at the feet of Jesus, knowing that he will pick them up and carry them for you. This takes a strong faith and letting Jesus dwell in your heart each day.

Psalm 28:7–The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.

Have you dropped those heavy burdens at the feet of Jesus?

As I finished my morning run and walk, I can’t keep from seeing God’s glory and power surrounding me. From the beauty of the flowers that continue to bloom, the rain that comes our way to replenish the the needs of the flowers, and the singing of the birds, it reminds me of God’s creation every day.

We need to be reminded daily of God’s grace and God’s power and how God can influence our lives every day if we look to him. Walking with God in faith provides assurance that we are on the right path. Just as we know the route that we walk or run and the path that leads us home, we should know the path that leads us straight to God. However, we must get to know God to recognize the path that He tells us to take and not let them “side streets” get us off our route home. 

Have you found the “path directly to Jesus?”  As in 2 Corinthians 5:7–For we live by faith, not by sight.  We must walk by that faith towards the path that Jesus laid down for us. 

With all the twists and turns of life, we must continue to focus on that prize that is at the end of this life’s route.

Just as the Apostle Paul knew and recorded for us in Philippians 3:14–I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

It’s easy to get into a routine but is just as easy to get out of a routine. We have our regular schedule of work, school, errands to run, meetings to keep ….get the picture?  We even find ourselves in our car driving for miles and do not remember exactly how we made our way through construction zones, traffic lights or dozens of other obstacles. It’s a routine that we don’t even have to think about but yet we do this day in and day out. 

How is your prayer life?  Are you diligence about your private time with God and spending time with God in quiet time praying and talking to God? Do you do it routinely?  Do you go through your prayers and find yourself not remembering how you started your prayers, how you got through some of the thoughts but your mind wandered a bit and can’t recall what you just prayed about?  Maybe you have prayer-routine and your just in a routine and going through the motions. 

Think about the following:

Psalm 63: A psalm of David. 

When he was in the Desert of Judah. 1 You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.  I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.  I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. Those who want to kill me will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals. But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God will glory in him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Do you earnestly seek God and thirst for God?  Get out of a prayer routine buy into a routine seeking and thirsting for God. 

Have you ever been told a story, a set of circumstances about something or someone that was quite spectacular that you were in disbelief about what you were told?  Did you want proof before you would agree to believe?  Or, did your trust someone enough that you took them for their word?

We believe things that are easy to see, touch and feel, or that we can prove in some way. 

The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:  We are not to fix our eyes on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  

Most of us want to be closer to God and yearn for that closer relationship.  Just as the saying of “what’s measured gets done,” an analogy can be made about what we “fix our eyes on is what we seek and desire!”  Even if we can’t see, touch, or feel God’s presence each and ever day, we can have the faith that he is near us and guiding our path daily. Just as John tells us in 1 John 4:11-13–“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in him and he in us. He has given us of his Spirit.”  Also in Hebrews 11:6–the writer tells us–“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Be aware of what you “fix your eyes upon daily.”

It’s July 4, Independence Day, and maybe a celebration of a few other events as well. Most of us, at least in America, have been looking forward to this day. This means generally a holiday for most workers, a day for family gatherings, and a day to relax and enjoy time with your family.
Isn’t it interesting how we look forward to various events that are in the future. We plan for these days, we make sure we have all of the preparations in place, we may invite friends and family to join us, all to enjoy time together.
There is a Day coming when we will all be invited to this event. Many of us are trying to make preparations, hopefully, we are inviting friends and others to join us for this glorious day of the return of Jesus our Lord and Savior to come and get us.  
There were men in the Bible that were able to see Jesus’s assent up into the heavens. They, with millions of people since, have been anticipating this future coming.  The bible tells us in John 14:1-4: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”  Also in Mark 13:26-27:
“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
On this celebration day, as we enjoy being with our family and friends, after longing for a day off of work, a day away from our normal pace, may we also anticipate the Coming of Jesus to take us home to that great place He has prepared for us!  

Happy July 4th!