Category: Thoughts

“Therefore, my dear ones . . . work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ). [Not inyour own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight” (Philippians 2:12,13)

“Hear this: I don’t think God wants you at war with yourself. He sent the prince of peace to soothe those tumultuous waters already. Self-depreciation is a cruel response to Jesus, who died and made us righteous. Guilt is not Jesus’ medium. He is battling for global redemption right now; his objective hardly includes huddling in the corner with us, rehashing our shame again. He finished that discussion on the cross. Plus there is no time for that. We’re so conditioned to being a problem that we’re actually the answer.” -Jen Hatmaker

Over the last couple of years I have noticed something about people and in particular followers of Jesus. It is easier to extend grace to everyone else, but when it comes to extending grace to ourselves that is something that is almost impossible. I work with teenagers, as many of you well know and the thing that really gets to me about teenagers is sometimes they surround themselves around people that may not have the best influence on them. 

Why?

Well I think I have come to realize that not just teenagers, but people in general invite people into their lives that they think they deserve. Which could be possibly why some girls have the worst boyfriends.

Why are we always so self-destructive?

Why is it so easy to invite destructive people into our lives but so hard to invite our Creator?

In some people situations they are haunted by what has happened in their past and a part of them feels that they are defined by what happened 10 years ago, but it was 10 years ago!

See this is the exact reason why God sent His son.

So that we wouldn’t defeat ourselves but that we would be redeemed and would live a life abundantly and not shackled. Christ died for all our lives so that we could have a fresh start, so that we can try again. In the same way He extended grace to us we are to extend it to the world and also ourselves because sometimes the worst critics of ourselves is in the mirror.

Here is the point. We let people that destroy us in but not God, but in order to truly experience the abundant life that is full of redemption we have to let God in. God is the perfect gentleman He won’t force Himself upon anyone. He wants us to choose to let Him in because when we make that choice then our very heart desires it as opposed to being forced. True disciples are developed through our own desire for God to come in and help.

May you let God in and may God truly show you the abundant life that He has for you.

Amen.

Today I started a new daily devotional for my morning time with God. It’s called, “New Day, New You” by Joyce Meyer. The topic for today’s devotional was willpower vs. God’s Power, and it brought some interesting reflection.

When you hit a rough patch what do you do?

As Americans we are brought up in a culture that says, “You hitch yourself up by your boot straps and you keeping going.” There is a lot of pride in this world and especially in the United States, but is one stronger when they bring themselves up by their boot straps or when they say: “Lord help me.”

We are commanded by God to be led by His spirit, in fact in John 15:5, John says that “apart from God, we can do nothing.” I would interpret that mean that without a relationship with God we exist but we don’t really live.

When was the last time you really felt that you were alive? Like really alive, the kind of feeling that gives you such passion for God and life and people, when did you last feel this?

I challenge all of us this week to search for God’s spirit and to embrace it no matter the circumstances.

Again, Thank You Lord for this amazing reminder of your presence amongst us!

There have been many things that I have loved since moving to Round Rock and working at St. Philip’s United Methodist Church, but one of the many that stand out is a practice that we do in staff meeting every Tuesday morning. We start every staff meeting with a question:

“Where are you finding Joy?”

Now at first I thought it was a neat way to start, but now that I think about it, it is a practice of soul care that deeply love. There is so much going on in our lives and the world spews such negativity at us that we don’t take a moment to really think about this. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 it says:

“Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Rejoice Always.

Pray Continually.

Give thanks in EVERY SITUATION

I don’t know about you but I don’t necessarily like this passage all the time. I find it annoying at times, because sometimes I just don’t want to be thankful or be joyful.

Have you ever felt that way?

Hear the Good News! Jesus our Christ loves us unconditionally and when you have times where you are annoyed, frustrated, and just don’t want to feel joyful that’s ok. Christ still loves you for you!

I would challenge however that when you feel this way to look around you, because God is doing amazing things all around you! Even during the annoying times God presence and His love and grace are ACTIVE AND ALIVE IN YOU!

May God always guide us to be mindful of our joy!

Amen.

I am in the process of organizing the Confirmation Class for the 2012-2013 year. This has brought back some memories of confirmation when I was confirmed and also my first couple of years when I was helping lead confirmation as a mentor at First Methodist in Mansfield.

It is such an honor to be a part of faith journey of sixth graders and up.

To teach them what we believe as Christians and as United Methodists and why we believe what we believe is a very powerful and amazing experience.

This year I have the honor and blessing of leading the confirmation class at St. Philip’s United Methodist Church as we are using the curriculum, “Credo: Know your Story, Confirm Your Faith, and Live Your Commitment.”

Know Your Story: Where do our beliefs come from? What is the story that leads us to where we are now? We seek God to guide and direct us through His word as we learn our collective story.

Confirm Your Faith: After we find our story and how are we are connected to we learn how in knowing that we learn how to confirm our faith in the author of our collective story.

Live Your Commitment: In knowing our story and confirming our faith we live it out!

I asked today that you pray for the mentors of this class and for the confirmands that will continue their faith journey with us this year. Pray also for the leaders, as in Dr. Dale Schultz, Rev. Steve Buchele and myself as we actively journey with these students over the next year. I am very excited to see what God does in us, through us, and even in spite of us.

Amen.

‎”What does it communicate when half the global population lives on les than $2 dollars a day, and we can’t manage a fulfilling life on twenty five thousand times that amount? Fifty thousand times that amount?” 

-Jen Hatmaker-

So I started reading a new book, because my awesome fiance told me that I should read it. I think that Amy is pretty dang smart so I listened and it only took for me to read to page 3 to realize that I am glad that I listened. The book, “7, an experimental mutiny against excess,” and it focuses on how much we really have. The above quote is from the introduction of the book. Here are some scary stats for you that she lists in the introduction a little bit before this excerpt that I have typed above.

“How can I be socially responsible if unaware that I reside in the top percentage of wealth in the world? (You probably do too: Make $35,000 a year? Top 4 percent. $50,000? Top 1 percent.)”

Now let’s think about this.

Over half the population lives on $2 a day.

How many of us like Starbucks?

If you know me even a little you know very well that I do. So with one cup you have spent what one person somewhere in the world spends in an entire day and if your like me, I spend that before 9 am.

Ouch.

I am more than sure that there will be more blog posts from this book coming in the very near future but for today I am just chewing on that little kick in the gut.

May God kick me in the gut when I surely need it and may He guide my thoughts so that I may know how to use my money not just for myself but for others as well. Life is too fleetly to just live it out of money, Life is meant to be so much more than that.

Thank you Lord for this gut check.