Krystal and I are excited to share our lives with you. As you probably know, there is a lot going on currently in our lives. While life brings both tough and wonderful times, we are excited about what God is doing and look forward to sharing this great journey of life with you.
I hope that you will enjoy visiting here. Posts will vary from sermons, studies, and devotionals to pictures of family and my own brand of quirky humor. You never know what you’ll find, so check in often and see what’s going on!
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7 weeks down! Next week will be 2 months! Keep it up!
We had a number of wonderful readings this week – from Isaac not learning his father’s lesson about lying about his wife to a shift in the readings in Isaiah to some narrative for a change, but I want to focus on our reading from Matthew and point out something that you likely missed. Jesus tells his disciples that the key to becoming the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven is to humble yourself as a child. Now in today’s society that hold children in high regard, this doesn’t seem to make much sense. If you are a parent, your life today likely revolves around your children and fulfilling their needs and encouraging them to grow in a number of ways. We fill our schedules with events and programs to benefit our children and help them grow into well rounded adults. But in the time of Jesus, this was not the case. Children were considered to be among the lowest of society and had no real value attached to them until they were old enough to begin to provide value – i.e. – able to help with the crops or animals or whatever the family business produced. Jesus’ call to humility wasn’t a call to place ourselves in a position of reliance alone, which kids today still need adults to provide for them. His call was also to discovering that our only worth is to our Heavenly Father – that the world around us places no real value on us unless we can produce value.
Our worth does not come in who we are or what we do, but in who God is. We have eternal worth because God has chosen to adopt us into His family. The world around us could care less about us outside of what we can do for the world. But God loves us regardless of what we can do. God’s love is what gives us worth. And it is being considered worthy by God that makes us the greatest in the Kingdom of God.
The church season of Lent has historically been a time of introspection and devotion. In order to highlight our dependence on our selves and our earthly desires, many Christians choose to forgo something during Lent as a way to sharpen their faith. The concept is to replace a dependence or desire for something earthly with a dependence or desire for Christ. Recently, some have also taken spiritual disciplines on during Lent – adding to their spiritual growth regiment either in addition or instead of choosing to give something up. As you approach Lent (which starts tomorrow!) here is a list of 12 things to either give up or take on to grow your soul this Lent.
Things to give up
- Coffee or Chocolate – These are traditional for many, but also very good at pointing out our desires & dependence on ourselves and the world.
- TV or Internet – While you may not be able to give these up completely (particularly if you need to email for work) but you can vastly limit your time.
- Going out to eat – Has a two part effect – easier on your pocketbook as well as helping you see a dependence.
- Radio – Use the silence of your commute as a time of prayer
- Excessive sports – No, I’m not saying to stop exercising, but if it is filling your schedule, this might be a place to look at to give that time to God.
- Video games – These can take up a lot of time and energy – what could you do for God in that time instead?
Things to take on
- Scripture reading – I’m a big proponent of learning about God and about yourself through scripture. It’s never too late to start. If you want to read along we me use this guide. We are on week 7.
- Exercise – If you are not in shape, how can you be ready when God calls you to serve? Take Lent as a time to start an exercise regiment and begin to get your body right.
- Scripture memorization – “Thy Word I have hidden in my heart that I may not sin against Thee.” – Psalm 119:11 – true words and a great Lenten discipline.
- Fasting – Nothing shows dependence stronger than fasting. Try starting with one meal a week and then move on to one day a week.
- Sacrificial giving – Best when used in conjunction with giving something up. Give the money that you would have used to fulfill your earthly desires for God.
- Silence – Turn everything off and learn to enjoy stillness and silence. Sometimes God’s whispers can only be heard when we are still and quiet.
6 weeks down! If you are on target with our readings, then you have read 143 of the 1189 chapters in the bible. That’s 12% – right on target!
Interesting story in Genesis this week that caught me differently than I have read it before. Abraham tells Sarah to pretend to be his sister to Abimelech. This is the 2nd time he does this – he did it earlier with Pharaoh. What caught me with this story is that Abraham – the father of faith – failed to trust God in the same situation that God showed him how He was faithful before. God had already shown how he would protect Abraham and Sarah and that he did not need to resort to lies and deception to keep safe. Yet Abraham still did it. Abraham still told Sarah to lie to protect them.
It’s both comforting and discouraging to see that Abraham does this. Comforting in knowing that when I fail to show trust in God after God has clearly shown me His is faithful that I am in good company. Discouraging in knowing that even Abraham, who could be said to be the very founder of faith, still struggled with trusting God. I would like to think that a day would come when I would finally learn to trust God completely and never falter. But when I read about Abraham, I see that faith is a constant journey of ups and downs throughout life.
What I can trust in completely is that while I may fail at times, God is always faithful. He isn’t expecting perfection from us, but he’s expecting our hearts to seek Him. And on those times when we finally learn and finally trust, God is there to bless us.
To balance things out – here are 6 great gifts for women and 6 great gifts for men for valentine’s day.
Gifts for men:
- Tool – No, not the band. PLEASE, not the band. Any guy can use a new tool, be it screwdrivers or a joiner/planer. Yes, guys think this is romantic.
- Fishing gear – Particularly on the coast, always a good choice. What? Your man doesn’t fish? You know what they say “Give a man a fish, he eats once. Teach a man to fish and he’ll spend his weekends with his buddies making up stories of the one that got away.”
- Bacon – Nothing says I love you down to your cholesterol clogged arteries than bacon. Did you know there’s a bacon of the month club?
- Dark chocolate – Real men don’t want their chocolate all sweet and silky with fancy centers and delicate designs on top. They want it dark, bitter, and in a plain wrapper. Here’s an example. Want some flavor? Fine, add some chili powder. That’s a man’s chocolate!
Have to make a substitute for chocolate – after further review, the replay booth says “whole bean coffee and a good coffee grinder” is a better gift. Or green coffee beans and popcorn popper, if your man is man enough to handle it.
- Tongs – Any man who cooks (and by cooking, I mean grilling or BBQing mainly) needs tongs. You only grab a hot steak off a fire with your hands once before you realize that tongs are a good thing.
- Anything to make a fire with – A creme brule torch. A propane burner. An outdoor fire pit. Man’s best friend may be his dog, but fire is his favorite toy.
Gifts for women
- Time – Best gift of all. She wants to spend time with you. I don’t understand it, but that’s why she loves you!
- Hand written love note – It doesn’t have to be long, but it does need to be sincere. Think about the day you met. Think about how much your love has grown. Think about the little things she does for you. Tell her you love her forever. (But don’t steal from a song. No one wants to read their note and hear a song in their head.)
- A day away – With you is best. Alone or with friends works. As long as the kids aren’t there you’re good.
- Chocolate – Good stuff. Not that cheap stuff you get at Walgreens. Something to be savored, not devoured.
- Her favorite flower – If it’s roses, fine. But think hard – is there some other flower she likes? Maybe a different color? Maybe a different scent? Look at her perfume and see if it has any flower scent to it – that’s a good hint.
- A snuggie – Ok, that’s only partly a joke. Really – something warm, soft, and comfortable for her to wear is always a good choice. Think cashmere. Yes, it’s a lot for a sweater, but she’ll love it.
Again, another substitute. After consultation with my fairer half, she suggested this. I think she may have been joking, but I’m not one to chance it. It must be popular, because it’s already out of stock!
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