Religion Trips Us Up
For years I lived under constant condemnation from the ‘laws’ I was brought up under during my childhood. My grandmother was a great lady, but very religious. Her religion affected everybody around her. Unfortunately, that attitude, coupled with a constant stream of hypocrisy, turned me away from the church in my teens. I walked away from the Lord because I was just a sinner and ‘going to hell’ anyways, so what did it matter?
In the early to mid 90’s, I was introduced to God’s grace and mercy. Actually, I was introduced to a loving Father who wanted the best for me. It would take me years to delete the religious upbringing etched in my DNA.
Empty Mangers
One of the biggest mistakes any person considering following Jesus can make is thinking they have to ‘get it all together’ before they make a commitment to follow Jesus. This was one of the reasons it took me so long to return to the Father’s house. I really thought I had to have myself all squared away in order to be acceptable to Him. I could not have been more wrong. Talk about walking into the glory of our Lord with a mess…
There is someone reading this today who is seriously considering following Jesus but does not think they are worthy or that God can forgive them…you think it’s just to much to ask. Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Giving Him the Key
A couple of years ago I read a book written by Kyle Idleman title, ‘Not A Fan’. In the book, Idleman describes the differences between being a fan of Jesus and being His follower. What he explained boiled down to the difference between being a Sunday Christian or daily follower of Jesus.
As Christ followers, we can not compartmentalize our lives. There can be no part of our life that is hidden from the Lord. Sounds almost amusing doesn’t it, trying to hide something from the creator of the universe. Open and transparent to our King allows light to shine into every nook and cranny of our lives. Yes, at times my past is deeply embarrassing, however, He uses that past to bring others to Him because of the depth of forgiveness I have received.
Battleground of the Mind
When you’re waiting for God’s timing, the enemy will work his hardest to bring doubt and condemnation into your mind. This is the place I find myself today, struggling with the ‘what ifs’ of tomorrow compounded by the ‘what dids’ of yesterday. The enemy will use the truths of your past to condemn you.
Yes, I did many things wrong in the past, things I’m ashamed of, things I wished had never happened. The truth is, they did happen. When I’m in a time of testing, a time of waiting on the Lord, the enemy floods my mind with those truths.
Casting Crowns “All You’ve Ever Wanted” LIVE
All He wants is our heart..sing His praises today!
Creating a Memory
What inspires you? For me, I’d have to say it’s when the underdog wins. I love hearing about how someone, against all odds, was able to accomplish something great in life. More often than not, it’s because they stuck it out through a tough period or had an idea that they knew would work, it was just a matter of pushing through adversity.
My grandpa use to say, “Anything worth having is worth working for.” Marriage, a new job and a great idea are just a few examples of something worth working for.
It’s My Problem
Several years ago the animated movie Robots was released. The story was about a young robot that wanted to grow up to be an inventor. He modeled his life after the character Mr. Bigweld of Bigweld Industries. Mr. Bigweld was always inventing something, his motto was, “See a need, fill a need!”
It’s said that most business are started because of one of 2 reasons, to fill a specific need or it grows out of a hobby/passion an individual has for a given subject or area. My passion for sportsman drag racing is what’s driven the creation of MMTV. Sportsman racers are the backbone of the sport. While the professional drivers may garner 90% of the publicity, the weekend warriors are the ones responsible for keeping the business of drag racing afloat.