This goes along with my post from the other day. It is from Steven Furtick's blog. Check it out!
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stevenfurtick/~3/bf_T0SuhXAM/
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
I am Dave
This morning at church we were singing a hymn and as I was singing I started to really think about the words. The part that got me was:
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
For some reason a picture popped into my head. It was a picture of someone I have only met once. I will call him Dave. Dave's parents died a few years ago and he has been adopted by other members of his family I believe. I can't remember his whole story, but I am pretty sure that Dave did not have a great family life and now that his parents are dead my understanding is he is living rather recklessly and not real appreciative of what these family members have done and continue to do for him daily even.
Any way, when I saw the picture of him the other day my first thought was, "What an ungrateful fool." Then I thought about how I am better than Dave. I am more responsible, don't drink as much, work harder, etc. For just a moment I may have been glad that Dave existed just so I could feel better about myself. Then today when I was singing God smacked me right in the face with the words to the song I was singing to him!
I realized that I am no different than Dave. I have been adopted by God through his son Jesus and far too often I am just like the prodigal son that Jesus told about in Luke 15. I may not do it in loud, public ways like Dave or the son in the story, but often I tell God in no uncertain terms that I want my inheritance and I don't really want a relationship with him and march off to do things my way.
My pastor put a little piece of paper on our chairs at church this morning and on it was written, "I am thankful for..." He said to really think about it and maybe even put it away for a while and came back to it later. Well here I am at 9:44 and I know what I am thankful for. I am very thankful for my heavenly father who waits and watches for me, who calls for me and when he sees me coming back home he runs to me with open arms, hugs me and welcomes me back home. That is what I am thankful for. Blessings...
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
For some reason a picture popped into my head. It was a picture of someone I have only met once. I will call him Dave. Dave's parents died a few years ago and he has been adopted by other members of his family I believe. I can't remember his whole story, but I am pretty sure that Dave did not have a great family life and now that his parents are dead my understanding is he is living rather recklessly and not real appreciative of what these family members have done and continue to do for him daily even.
Any way, when I saw the picture of him the other day my first thought was, "What an ungrateful fool." Then I thought about how I am better than Dave. I am more responsible, don't drink as much, work harder, etc. For just a moment I may have been glad that Dave existed just so I could feel better about myself. Then today when I was singing God smacked me right in the face with the words to the song I was singing to him!
I realized that I am no different than Dave. I have been adopted by God through his son Jesus and far too often I am just like the prodigal son that Jesus told about in Luke 15. I may not do it in loud, public ways like Dave or the son in the story, but often I tell God in no uncertain terms that I want my inheritance and I don't really want a relationship with him and march off to do things my way.
My pastor put a little piece of paper on our chairs at church this morning and on it was written, "I am thankful for..." He said to really think about it and maybe even put it away for a while and came back to it later. Well here I am at 9:44 and I know what I am thankful for. I am very thankful for my heavenly father who waits and watches for me, who calls for me and when he sees me coming back home he runs to me with open arms, hugs me and welcomes me back home. That is what I am thankful for. Blessings...
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The Big Rocks
Suzanne and I were talking this morning and we both agreed that we are simply feeling too rushed lately. We feel like we are running from one thing to another and are constantly feeling the stress of that and also I feel like we are being harder on the kids than we need to be because it too often feels like we are behind and need to go, go , go and the kids don't always feel the same way. They are usually seen as too slow, slow, slow. Homework needs to be done, shoes tied, baths given, errands run, etc and before you know it you find yourself shouting at a kid that is just being a kid or a wife that is trying her best to keep up.
A friend once passed along the organization principle to me of putting your "Big Rocks" in first, which means basically that you plan your week out and ensure that you make time for the most important "rocks" or things in your life and let the other stuff (the smaller rocks) fill in the cracks between the big rocks as space allows. Instead of letting the opposite happen, too often I let all of the little rocks just get dumped in and then my bucket can't hold the most important rocks or out of laziness I fill my bucket up with often meaningless things like too much TV, my Crackberry or countless other time fillers that really don't amount to much of anything.
The sad part too is that the things that get left out are usually the things that make a life meaningful. It seems that if I want to have a meaningful life with a better pace to it then I need to do what is counter intuitive when it feels like there is a time crunch. I need to slow down and ask myself a few questions like, "Am I spending time in my Bible, talking with Him, being helpful to my wife, what am I accomplishing here?" It would seem to me that as life picks up speed and you add more kids and more sports and more whatever committees and more volunteering and the fly wheel really starts to spin and momentum starts to build we need to hunker down with the one who knows us best and who really is the only one who can make our life meaningful. We need to inch our way back to the center of the wheel, not allow ourselves to get spun farther and farther out.
That is what Jesus did. Just when things seemed to really be turning the corner and more and more people were listening and momentum was building and people were wanting to do things like crown him king, he would head for the hills or make a left instead of a right or cross to the other side of the lake to get away and be with his father. To listen to him, to be filled by him and to get put back on track. I don't do that enough. Too often I flop right onto the couch to watch the TV or raise my voice or crack open a cold beverage, when what I really need to do is check in with the one who made me. Maybe I need to go to bed a little earlier and get up a little earlier. Put the big rocks in first and let the smaller rocks fill in where they will. Listen for His voice amidst all the other roaring voices that clammer for my attention and distract me daily.
I think if I can do that I will be a better dad, husband, boss and friend and I am pretty sure I will enjoy the ride a good bit more. Blessings...
A friend once passed along the organization principle to me of putting your "Big Rocks" in first, which means basically that you plan your week out and ensure that you make time for the most important "rocks" or things in your life and let the other stuff (the smaller rocks) fill in the cracks between the big rocks as space allows. Instead of letting the opposite happen, too often I let all of the little rocks just get dumped in and then my bucket can't hold the most important rocks or out of laziness I fill my bucket up with often meaningless things like too much TV, my Crackberry or countless other time fillers that really don't amount to much of anything.
The sad part too is that the things that get left out are usually the things that make a life meaningful. It seems that if I want to have a meaningful life with a better pace to it then I need to do what is counter intuitive when it feels like there is a time crunch. I need to slow down and ask myself a few questions like, "Am I spending time in my Bible, talking with Him, being helpful to my wife, what am I accomplishing here?" It would seem to me that as life picks up speed and you add more kids and more sports and more whatever committees and more volunteering and the fly wheel really starts to spin and momentum starts to build we need to hunker down with the one who knows us best and who really is the only one who can make our life meaningful. We need to inch our way back to the center of the wheel, not allow ourselves to get spun farther and farther out.
That is what Jesus did. Just when things seemed to really be turning the corner and more and more people were listening and momentum was building and people were wanting to do things like crown him king, he would head for the hills or make a left instead of a right or cross to the other side of the lake to get away and be with his father. To listen to him, to be filled by him and to get put back on track. I don't do that enough. Too often I flop right onto the couch to watch the TV or raise my voice or crack open a cold beverage, when what I really need to do is check in with the one who made me. Maybe I need to go to bed a little earlier and get up a little earlier. Put the big rocks in first and let the smaller rocks fill in where they will. Listen for His voice amidst all the other roaring voices that clammer for my attention and distract me daily.
I think if I can do that I will be a better dad, husband, boss and friend and I am pretty sure I will enjoy the ride a good bit more. Blessings...
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Lots of sugar
A couple of nights ago Matthew asked me if I would make him some cereal for dessert. He chose Rice Chex and I started to get the bowl out and get it ready. I know him well and knew that before I could even finish he would be sure to ask me to put lots of sugar on his Chex. I also knew that he would make sure to remind me that he likes the milk on first and then the sugar. He didn't fail me. As I poured the cereal he quickly reminded me of both.
As I performed my duties it made me smile. I love my son and love what makes him uniquely Matthew. His strengths, his weaknesses and everything in between. As I thought on this for a second I immediately thought of a couple of passages, Matthew 7:9-11 and Matthew 6:6-8. Both deal with the fact that God knows each of us intimately whether we want Him to or not and knows exactly what we want and more importantly what we need.
He feels the same way about you and I as I do about Matthew. You can trust Him. He knows just what you need when you need it. That is not always easy. Sometimes he allows hard things to happen in our lives to prune us or teach us, but sometimes he puts extra sugar on before he puts the milk in the bowl and sits back and watches us enjoy what he has made just for us.
As I performed my duties it made me smile. I love my son and love what makes him uniquely Matthew. His strengths, his weaknesses and everything in between. As I thought on this for a second I immediately thought of a couple of passages, Matthew 7:9-11 and Matthew 6:6-8. Both deal with the fact that God knows each of us intimately whether we want Him to or not and knows exactly what we want and more importantly what we need.
He feels the same way about you and I as I do about Matthew. You can trust Him. He knows just what you need when you need it. That is not always easy. Sometimes he allows hard things to happen in our lives to prune us or teach us, but sometimes he puts extra sugar on before he puts the milk in the bowl and sits back and watches us enjoy what he has made just for us.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Here we go...
I have been feeling like I need to be more thoughtful about my life, my marriage, my God, my kids....a lot of things. As I thought about that I felt like a blog might be a good thing for me. It would be a fun healthy challenge (I have to learn how to upload pictures onto my computer) and it would give me a place to sit down and think about what I am doing, how I am living and maybe help others along the way. It will definitely be a work in progress and I will probably borrow a lot from others. If you have any thoughts or helpful hints please let me know. So, here we go....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)