Run, Run, Run!

"Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!"
-- 1 Corinthians 9:24

"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."
-- Vince Lombardi

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
-- John 16:33

"Run, run, run, till your daddy takes your T-bird away."
-- The Beach Boys

Whether you realize it or not, each of us has been blessed in this life with far more than a "T-Bird." Consider that for a minute.

You have life!

Whether you believe you were given that life for a purpose, or aren’t sure what you might be here to do, or are capable of doing – you have life! Use it.

Be a world-changer, not a dust collector.

Use the life God says He has given you. One day you will no longer have this life. It will be gone. It could be tomorrow – God warns us of that very possibility.

He could take your life, or your “T-Bird” at any moment. Use the breath He’s given you, and do something worthwhile with it. He wants you to.

I urge you to run, run, run -- Until your daddy takes your T-Bird away!

Even the Pharaoh Was Put There By God

 

"Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)(NIV)

That's an interesting verse that showed up in my inbox this morning. Considering that many Christians, myself included, are griping and moaning -- and being way too typical -- simply because the person God allowed to be put in office was not our personal choice.

But as He always seems to do, He’s humbled me with a gentle tap upside my noggin, bringing me back to Him (Thank You, Lord). You may think your leaders & politicians are not God's servants, but, consider that even the Pharaoh was put there by God, for His glory ultimately.

 

Romans 13:6-7 --

"This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor."

Lastly, consider the Apostle Paul's words, and how they might be relevant to you each day. He said:

 

"I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish." (Romans 1: 14)

We have an obligation to God, to be lights -- not to be typical of the world. Now, please, my brothers and sisters who strive to, and say they want to, be Christ followers -- let's get back to being lights for Christ rather than candles under a bucket. ;-)

 

Thank You, Father, for being the One, true, Almighty God. Thank You, Jesus, for being part of the Trinity -- for being One with God. Please, strengthen your people in the coming days and coming years. Be in the middle of it all in our lives, Lord. Thank you for loving us. We love you, Lord. Amen.

Yes, There's John 3:16 -- But What About 17 & 18?

First, I want to apologize. I've not shared anything here in almost 4 months. Still shared some on Facebook, but not here. In those 4 short months, I've moved to Colorado, gotten married, and started back to college.

Life changes... thankfully, God's word, God's promises, God's faithfulness, do not.

Okay, I'm not clear on the differences of beliefs, but I'm asking for clarity, here, today. If there are Jehovah's Witnesses, I'm asking kindly and hope any will answer the same. Also, I know I have a few friends here that are Mormons. So I'm asking about John 3:17-18?

If I'm wrong on what I think I roughly understand both Jehovah's Witnesses & Mormons to believe, I apologize, please forgive me. I think I understand Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses believe something to the effect that Jesus and Lucifer were brothers, and Jesus is not God incarnate. If that's the case, how then do you answer the questions the following 2 verses bring up, please?

I'm asking in sincerity here, wishing to understand better. Thanks to any who care to try to clarify:

This is Jesus speaking to Nicodemus, teacher of the Jews, here:

John 3:16-18 --
16 “For God so loved the world,[i] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Now, it says twice there in 3 verses, "only son." So how exactly are Jesus and whoever else, thought to be brothers, please?

Thanks to any who care to discuss this civilly.

A Prayer for Every Day

"I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Holy Spirit."

(Ephesians 3:16)(NLT)

That They May Seek Your Name

"As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane! Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Lord." (Psalm 83:14-16)

My Prayer for You

The Apostle Paul, who has on his resume that he wrote about 2/3 of the New Testament, prayed for others -- as it shows us in the book of Ephesians. His prayer is my prayer for you today, and every day:

"I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called."
(Ephesians 1:18)

Whom Have I In Heaven But You?

For me it is good to be near God, indeed. I can no longer see any other real possibility. What about you? Read below, then contemplate that question.

Psalm 73:25-28 --
"Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works."

Thank You, Lord, for your wisdom, for your overflowing love, and most of all for your abundant grace. Thank you, Father, for Jesus. Amen.

A Prayer for Today

Here's what I pray for -- and ask you to pray for as well -- today:

Psalm 72:4 (ESV) --

"May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!"

Thank You, Father, for Jesus. Amen.

My Prayer for You

This is my prayer for you today -- and every day:

"I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called."
(Ephesians 1:18)

Jesus May Not Be Santa Claus, But...

I've heard it said that "Jesus is not Santa Claus." Meaning He is not there simply to give us stuff. While I know that's true, still, there are these verses to contemplate:


Psalm 5:3 says:

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."

There's also James 4:2, which says you do not have because you do not ask.


Thank You, Lord, for your love and your guidance -- and for all your blessings.

Two Apostles Named ‘Judas’

I don't know about you, but I often forget that there were 2 apostles named Judas. More often, my thoughts are along the lines of, 'I feel bad for anyone named Judas, after a bit of history like that.' But there was a ‘good’ Judas!

Poor guy. He gets a bad rep, I'm telling you. Far more people I'm sure, remember the Judas who betrayed Christ. But there were two apostles named Judas.

Thank You, Lord, for the reminder.

The Twelve Apostles
(Luke 6:12-16)

"In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor."

Come & Listen, All You Who Fear God

Psalm 66:16-20 --

"Come and listen, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
but God has surely listened
and heard my voice in prayer.
Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!"

A Book of Wisdom, the Book of Proverbs

Sometimes I can't help but smile at the simple truth, wisdom, that the Book of Proverbs overflows with...


Proverbs 11:22 says:

"Like a gold ring in a pig's snout
is a beautiful woman without discretion."

10 Commandments... Boiled Down to Just 1

The Book of Romans, chapter 13, verses 9-10 says:

"The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not covet," and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."
(Rom 13:9-10)

Worth Repeating

"Love your neighbor as yourself."

"Love does no harm to a neighbor."

"Love does no harm to a neighbor."

"Love does no harm to a neighbor."

Prayer for Today

Thank You, Jesus, for clarifying your law -- while making it amazingly simple to understand.

Please, Lord, help us to love all of our neighbors better. Even those reading this who may not be sure just what they believe, yet.

Help us to overflow with your grace and your love, Lord. Moreso than our own selfishness and uncontrolled emotions.

Bless us with your Godly wisdom, please?

Thank You, Father, for loving us so much. Thank You for Jesus. Amen.

Addendum --

I posted the scripture above on my personal Facebook account recently. Below is a comment from a friend on their struggles with loving their neighbor.

What follows is several responses by me, to try to help. As I said to him below, this is much more of a universal problem than a 'just him' sort of problem.

I've added our conversation on FB to this blog post, hoping the additional scripture and thoughts might prove helpful to others as well.


DC (My Friend): "Hmm. Romans is a very difficult book to interpret for me, yet in some areas I understand it completely and find it enlightening. But as in Rom. 13:9-10, it is difficult to love my neighbors when they show not the same to me, when they don't deserve my love. Yet I have to bite my lip and turn my heart from not loving them. Because when I read the bible I think about the fact that god sent his only son to die for the sins of wretches like you and me when we did not deserve his love."


***

Me: Ah, but it's only hard to understand when our pride gets in the way, Dude. Seriously. Look at what you just said, for example. But... do we deserve constant forgiveness by God? Do we deserve His unwavering love after all we've ignored him,... hurt him, etc.?

Be real, man, and you know the answer is the same for us as it is for your neighbors.

Yet He does. And we are to strive to be like Him. Not like them. Not like, well, ourselves. But more like Him, day by day.

Jesus asked the Father to FORGIVE the men who had just hammered nails into him. They'd (already) whipped him unrecognizable, and were at that moment mocking him and spitting on him -- and he prayed for them.

We are to be like Him, D, not them. Hard? Yeah -- duh. If it was easy, everyone would be doin' it, y'know? :)


***

Me: Some specific helps that the bible shows we can pray for, as the Apostles did:

Ask for strengthening of your faith, for His peace to be in you, for His wisdom - to overpower our damnable 'streetsmarts' and worldly influences, and for His love, Dude. Pray for His love and His grace to overflow from you, every day.

These are just some helpful things we can pray to God for, to help us through each day.


***

Me: Here's 1 last thing that might offer some wisdom. I posted a quote earlier today. It's relevant to this point you bring up:

"If you want the rainbow, you've got to put up with the rain."
-- Steven Wright

Cliches become cliches because they're said so often. They're said so often because they're (usually) true.

A couple of relevant cliches here would be: You've got to take the good with the bad, and, Nothing good comes easy. :)


***

DC: "I know it man, but sometimes it is very hard for me to love someone who is a porcupine and doesn't deserve my love but I give them my love whether or not they deserve it. Because god gives his love to us everyday yet we do not deserve it."


***

Me: That's it, man, that's it. It's the better way, truly. It's a choice, a direction to take. Like on a map. It shows many times throughout the New Testament that before it was referred to as, 'Christianity,' it was called, "The Way." :)


***

Me: Also, lastly, was reading through 1 John chapter 4 this morning. Something else led me there. A verse stuck out that I wanted to share on this point. It's just a reminder of the truth. Since God gave it to me, I give it to you:

1 John 4:12 says:

"...if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."

A quote from the old Humphrey Bogart movie, The African Queen, often helps me remember this point, about loving people who seem hard to love. Katherine Hepburn says to the drunken riverboat captain (Bogart), "Nature, (Mr. So-and-So), is what we are put in this world to rise above."

I take that to mean we are to rise above our natural urges, our 'natural' emotional response - and choose the better way, the loving way (or, "The Way").


***

Me: Hey D, the problem you brought up, it's a universal problem. It's THE problem, you could say. How to be more like God, like Christ, when we are naturally more like the neighbors we at times despise.

It's not just you, no way no how. It's (all of) us, in our natural state. But keep in mind Katherine Hepburn's comment, above.

Maybe because it's so important and yet so common a problem, I can't seem to get it out of my head for now.

So here's a prayer I just read that can help - straight outta scripture:

"Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Saviour,
and my hope is in you all day long."
(Psalm 25:4-5a)

A Learned Man, With A Thorough Knowledge

If I could pick any role-model, this man -- Apollos -- is on my shortlist. :)

Acts 18:24-27 --

"Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ."

Worth Repeating

"...a Jew named Apollos ... was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures."

"...proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ."

A Prayer for Today

Thank You, Lord, for your wisdom, for your guidance, and for your glory.

Please, give us more believers like Apollos on this earth to vigorously refute those whose eyes are not yet open. And Lord, please, open more people’s eyes. Open the eyes of their hearts, Father.

Reveal yourself to them, Jesus. Rise up your people. Bring them out of their darkness. Remind them, show them, that they are yours.

Please bless each of us with your Godly wisdom, to overpower our street smarts and worldly influences.

Thank You, Father, for Jesus. Amen.

More Than Just A Prophet Or Miracle-Worker

Jesus shows us many times throughout the Gospels (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John, the first 4 books of the New Testament) that he is far more than 'just' a Prophet or a miracle worker.

He not only says quite clearly, but shows us again and again, that He is the Son of God, and One with God.

Jesus tells us and shows us that He is the Messiah foretold of in the Old Testament. Here's just one example:

Mark 2:1-12 says --

“And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (ESV)

Cheer for Your Favorite Team!

Martin Luther King Jr. shared a dream he had. With God's help, he brought that dream to fruition in many ways.

Much like MLK Jr., I too have a dream.

I dream of a day when people will, without being hindered or concerned, get up off their seats and cheer and chant and scream their heads off with joy and competitiveness and love for God -- as they now do for their favorite sports team.

With pride, love, and passion for the lover of their souls.


Enjoy the Superbowl this weekend, all of you who will take part in the many celebrations involving it.

But please, also consider -- if you claim to love God -- why you show more passion and zest and zeal for a sports team than for your Almighty God?

Born-Again Christians -- There's No Other Kind

I find that phrase which so many people use, "Born-Again Christian," a silly thing. Here's why: There is in truth no other kind of Christian.

To be a Christian is to believe that Christ is the Messiah, to be a Christ-follower, to consider Him your Lord as well as your Savior.

To truly believe this is to have the Spirit in you, thereby being born again. There is no other kind of Christian.

There are many who are 'Christian' in name only. But I can call myself a Chevy, I can even sit in my garage every Sunday morning, and that won't make me a Chevy.

What Jesus Actually Said

To grow your understanding of the simple truth of it all, please, READ THE GOSPELS FOR YOURSELF. They are the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

These are 4 Apostles' accounts of walking with Jesus, giving account of what He said and did.

If you haven't read at least 1 of these 4 books for yourself, and have only for the most part listened to what others say the Bible says, I urge you -- I'll beg and plead with you -- to read any one of them for yourself.

Don't be typical and simply rely on what I or anyone else says it says. The world has a funny way of changing ever so slightly the meanings and intent of Jesus' actual words to us.


Go here now and begin reading for yourself, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. They're in the New Testament, and are referred to as, "The Gospels."


May God bless you mightily through your efforts and reading, if you choose to learn the truth.

Forcefully Advancing

I do not need to add anything to this. I just felt compelled to share. It's a great reminder and a great question...

"From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the kingdom of God has been forcefully advancing,
and forceful men lay hold of it."
(Matthew 11:12)(NIV)

Meditation:

Christianity is not a sit-back religion. Stand up and do something for God today. How are you advancing the kingdom of God?


(from the Bible League of Canada)