Dad always talked about differences he would see in players. There are those who truly wanted to learn, that were coachable, and watched their character, not just their sport. There is also those who were there to just play, or go through their regiment, even if it was a committed one; they did it out of a feeling of necessity or just to look good to someone else. This difference between a shallow regiment and a heart of dedication to the practice made very impactful changes in how things ended up for that player. It changed their joy, commitment, desire, and possible next steps of their sport. The way we live life, our motivation towards it, can make those impactful changes as well. There’s always been the Christian battle of religion v.s. relationship. We are called to be in relationship with the Lord. The Bible constantly mentions the love of the Lord and our walk with Him. The Bible even explains how God is our father and we are His children; that calls for relationship. There is also mentions of all the religious and ritualistic patterns of the Old Testament and Jewish beliefs. It’s the do’s and dont’s, right and wrong rules of the Bible. Unfortunately I see all too often that people stay to one side so heavily, that we mix up the vocabulary. Relationship with God brings in all of the love, freedom, grace, and mercy but many become comfortable with taking that grace and forgiveness for granted. Religion shows reverence and respect for God, as well as a sense of dedication. However, the motivation for religion lacks in what God wants from us, which is our hearts. Again, our outlook of these words, and the negative connotations we can give them is the problem, at least in my mind. The ‘rules’ of the Bible, are honestly just a good way/guideline for anyone to live life. It is what God knows will bring us a better life. He loves us and desires for us to live a good life which is why He sent his son to describe to us and walk out what that should look like! Since we are all NOT Jesus and haven’t lived perfect lives as He has we are all in need of grace, but Paul says this about this relationship with grace in Romans 6:1-4, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Religion is often a mandatory and/or showy attempt to get right with God or show-off to God or others. It’s often found in selfish ambition or acted out with no love or genuineness. Holiness on the other hand is a pursuit to use freedom not for the sake of doing whatever you want, but to do what is right. Holiness is an act of gratitude for what Christ has done as we try to look more like Him. It’s not mandatory, and we will never be perfect, but it can be our active heart and mind's pursuit to honor God. Our sins have been forgiven, by the finished work on the cross. However, that forgiveness isn’t supposed to be a get out of sin free card. Our walk with the Lord, should not look like a friend always taking advantage of the others kindness, and never giving anything in return. If we constantly are going to God for forgiveness, and never try to live a life that honors Him, we won’t have a good relationship. Holiness should set us apart. It shows a dedication and desire to be in that healthy relationship with the Lord. Holiness and righteousness shouldn’t be ‘bad’ words, they should be motivations of ways to act out our gratitude and look more like the God who has saved us! Our salvation is set by what God has done, but our relationship and how deep that becomes is up to our pursuits.
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Battling To Blessing (7/22/24)
Are you in a place of life that you are praying for something to happen? Maybe it’s for a door to open, a door to close, a financial breakthrough, getting the job, etc. We all can understand that God isn’t a genie, we don’t have three wishes, He will answer your prayers, but it may not be in the way that you wanted or expected Him to. Many times we can get caught in the struggle of the fine lines in life. There’s a fine line between leaving something in the Lord’s hands out of trust, and fulfilling the command to go and make disciples, to not be lazy, and to do all things in a way that honors the Lord. It’s hard to figure out the balance. It’s like when I was in basketball. I wanted to be the best I could be, I wanted to honor the Lord in how I played, but I also rarely practiced extra, I didn’t always give everything I had at practice. I saw a quote that I think explains this thought well, “God doesn’t expect you to lean on a shovel and pray for a hole”. God says He will open doors for you, but He also says to knock. Right now my dad has been given the ability/ opportunity to heal and get well enough to come home one day. However, it wasn’t the type of miracle that skips the pain and let’s him walk out better than before. It’s going to take hard work, it’s going to challenge him physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Each day he is going to ache with the reminder of how much work he has to put into it, he is going to be sore from digging his way out of this pit. There are many days that he doesn’t really want to go to physical therapy, or answer the speech therapist’s questions, but he thinks of what he is doing them for. He pursues healing to honor God through his time here. He pursues healing for his wife, his kids, his grandchildren, and his friends. He even talks about healing so he can go and minister and preach the Gospel more. When the end goal takes a step of faith, maybe that step of faith is going to feel weighted or wobbly but it may be what works you so that you have the strength for His end goal. Peace about a decision or step is when people say to know it’s from the Lord, but if you are not having peace, make sure it’s that and not just discomfort; is it your own discomfort because you’ve looked at the effort it will take. I don’t mean that to make people think I am calling them lazy; hard work is never desirable and is rarely fun. That’s why there is the saying “work smarter not harder”. People want to get the work over with and reap the reward at the end. At least I know I do. That’s just it though, no one wants to, but if you do what other people do, you get what other people get. If you don’t put in the work to whatever you’re doing, your reward may only be worth how much effort you put in. Trust God, but also make it happen, take a step, and see what happens. Let peace be your green flag at the starting line to hit the gas.
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Worry or Worship? July 15, 2024
Lately life has felt like the story of Job. One thing after another, beat down, waiting for the next thing to go wrong. Job dealt with turmoil-losing everything in a day. I decided to look into Job’s reactions and try to find how to handle this time in my families life.There are a few things that really stuck out to me. God had confidence in Job, his character and response. We see that Satan accuses Job of not being true and genuine in his faith, but instead having more faith in his standing and blessings than he did in God. It makes me think of my own circumstances, and if Satan‘s accusations against me would be true; would God have that much confidence in me and the way I responded? Another thing I noticed in Job 1:12, and Job 2:6, God always made sure to keep an area of his life blessed/protected. Something he could hold onto in his time of struggle as a glimmer of hope and gratitude. God never left him completely high and dry, He still always had His hand in his life. I think it’s hard as readers of Job to notice that when you read chapter 1, verses 14 through 18, and see that one messenger couldn’t even finish giving the bad news before he was interrupted with another messenger with more bad news. It’s amusing to me that even us as readers have a frustration towards what Job went through even though Job did not react the way most of us would. Verse 20-22 shows his reaction- “Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.” (NKJV). He also mentioned in Job 2:10 something that has honestly become a mantra of motivation for me in this time- “But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” (NKJV). Again, I don’t think that would be my immediate reaction, mine would come from a much more selfish place, I know because I’ve had to check myself in my reactions to life plenty of times recently. My integrity has been challenged. People may know someone’s reputation, but integrity challenges who someone is when no one is looking, when it’s between you and the Lord. Even the Lord bragged on Job’s integrity in chapter 2 verse 3- “Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” (NKJV).
It’s almost funny how much I relate to the things Job went through, even down to what I wrote on about miracles not feeling miraculous unless they look the way we except/want. God protected Job’s life, and demanded that Satan not take Job’s life. That same blessing became something Job cursed and asked to be taken in his time of turmoil. It’s easy to neglect and forsake our fear of the Lord. We get comfortable with God our father but throw reverence for his holy power out the window or vice-versa. We make excuses for our sins and find comfort from worldly things and reactions when life challenges us. Job’s struggle with that was evident in chapter 6 verse 14 and chapter 7 verses 11-14.
In all of these takeaways, I ultimately was challenged to worship with fear of the Lord, and the comfort of the father. My circumstances don’t change the goodness of God. I can grieve, and feel, and still trust the Lord’s hand in all of this. I was telling my dad about what I was writing on and he said “it’s better to practice and prepare more than to stay in a pity-party”. It made me think, am I worrying more than worshipping? Even my dad was singing the song Goodness of God in the midst of his trials and often times pain. What a challenge, to look hardships in the eye and still proclaim God’s glory in action and speech. My dad always taught me the “no palms rule” in sports. I couldn’t throw my hands up at the ref or the coach and complain when my job was to just play, not to ref or coach. I need to treat God with that same level of respect and confidence. I need to throw my hands up in worship and reverence, not in complaint and questioning.
