Bah! Humbug! Huh?! Christmas is coming!

I was at Jovon’s McDonald’s drive through yesterday and I told the lady at the window, “Merry Christmas!”  She had an awesome comeback.  She said, “I have the name for the season.”  I say, give her a raise and send her shopping.  She gets it!  Thanks Jovon for service with a smile.

OK.  I suspect there are some of you out there in blog land that are like the BIGGEST Scrooges of all time.  You don’t like to shop.  You don’t like to give gifts.  You don’t like crowds.  You don’t like people to make a fuss.  You cop the attitude that commercialization of Christmas steals from the real meaning.  Right?  Well take a look at this verse and tell me how you justify ignoring the word, “GIVE”.

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you.”

I understand you don’t have to buy to give, but buying gives jobs to a lot of people.  I suppose buying gives jobs to everyone when you think about it.  So this Christmas, I will like most Christmases, spend what I have and give all I can give.  Trusting God’s blessings on those that receive.

Surf to: http://www.freshc.org for a Fresh Connection…

“I fished all night and nothing. I’m cold. I’m wet. I’m tired. I wish I’d done more…” ~whipped

I’ve worked hard all my life, but it seems the net has come up empty.  I keep throwing the net out hoping this time it will be different.  The fish are jumping all around me.  It’s just that the net keeps coming up empty.  I don’t get it.  Ever felt that way? I have.  I feel that way, today.

But you know there is a something different about my life today.  The difference is in the hope.  I still fish hard.  I still come home wet, tired and cold, but there is hope for tomorrow.  I have hope that one day, Jesus will come along and tell me where to fish that my nets will come back full to overflowing.  Then, I will know what it is like to fish with Jesus.

“Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.” ~Jesus

“Simon answered him, “Master, we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the net.”  When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net was breaking.”~Dr. Luke

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“May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love, and joy of God’s presence,”~Andrew Murray

Murray’s ministry was in the 1800′s. He wrote hundreds of books and tracts. He passionately lived a life fully devoted to Jesus Christ. He desired that all people do the same, but noted obstacles to participating in the life of God.

“Murray wrote to interpret the Scriptures in such a way that Christians were free to believe and experience the grace of God. He believed that God had done everything necessary for people to live rich, productive, meaningful lives that participated in the life of God. The obstacles to such lives included half-hearted surrender to God, a lack of confidence in the anointing of the Spirit, and a deep-rooted skepticism about the power of prayer.”

I too, wish to live passionately and participate in the life of God. This brings me to consider the impact of his noted obstacles on my life. I must ask myself….

• Am I fully surrendered? Unlikely
• Do I lack confidence in the anointing of the Spirit? Probably.
• Am I a skeptic about the power of prayer? Maybe

This is all a bit frustrating. I have been a believer for 50 years and can’t confidently answer I am fully surrendered, fully confident in the anointing and equally confident in prayer. What happened?

I find myself crying out, “Father! What must I do? Help me! Remove any obstacles in my life. Allow me to live a life fully participating in the life of God… “

What obstacles are keeping you from living a life fully devoted to God?
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Identify your mission. Pick your target. Nail the objective.

Peer pressure is a funny thing.  Mostly, it snares those of us who are people pleasers.  We tend to be manipulated into doing things we really don’t want to do, just because we don’t want to make a scene and want everyone to be happy.  

Jesus encountered peer pressure.  ”Everyone is looking for you.”  That is a pretty strong statement.  My natural response would be to go back and try to help those looking for me.  Notice what Jesus did?  He kept going the direction He started out and didn’t let peer pressure interfere with His objectives.  

This is a good model for us.  Check with Jesus.  Pick your objective.  Don’t let others deter you from the task at hand.  Now go walk with Jesus today.  He likes the company.  

“Simon and those who were with him followed after him; and they found him, and told him, “Everyone is looking for you.”  He said to them, “Let’s go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because I came out for this reason.””~Mark

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Tips on keeping fruit fresh…

Working hard for Jesus is not all it is cracked up to be.  Imagine a tree that is meant to bear fruit.  You are the tree.  Now work hard for Jesus and for everything you do, you get a fruit to stick on a branch.  Before long your tree is going to look pretty cool for a short time.  You might have an orange stuck on the end of one branch and lemon stuck on the end of another branch.  Maybe even some pomegranates, figs, grapefruits and who knows what else.

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Pretty cool, right? But you know before long, the fruit begins to rot because just working hard and sticking them on the end of the branch does not provide nourishment.  The fruit all dies pretty quick.  It turns rotten and begins to stink.   There must be a better way.

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Consider an alternative.  Consider the possibility that Jesus resides in you and desires to produce His own fruit through you.  He really doesn’t need you to tell Him how to produce fruit.  He is the original fruit orchard creator.

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Take a step back.  Refocus.  Keep your eyes on the creator and let Jesus produce His own fruit through you.  The fruit will ripen in its own season and Jesus will keep it fresh and nourished.  Others will want to know what makes your fruit so much better…

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How many times will you look into the eyes of a people with fear?

So there was this guy Simon who just happened along…

“As they led him off, they made Simon, a man from Cyrene who happened to be coming in from the countryside, carry the cross behind Jesus.”~Luke

I have wondered what was Simon thinking? He’s coming in from the country and finds himself carrying the cross of Jesus. The Word says, “they made him”. It would be human nature to want to avoid the murderous mob with expectation of not getting involved. Yet Simon not only fails to avoid the mob, but finds himself in the middle of it. Simon likely is thinking this is not going to be good. You have to imagine fear is playing a major part in his mind as he picks up the cross.

As my imaginations consider Simon being forced to pick up the cross, I consider the possibility. As he kneels down at the feet of Jesus he looks up into the master’s eyes and sees a deep loving compassion that few in the world has seen. His heart melts beneath the cross and shoulders the burden of a Christ he has just met. As Jesus is further abused on the walk to “The Skull”, Simon may have winced in pain with the sound of each lash on Jesus’ back.

Somewhere in the walk, Simon likely became a changed man. How could anyone carry the burden of a cross for Jesus and not be a changed man? Have you looked into the eyes of Jesus? Have you picked up His cross. Has your fear of the crowd become insignificant in comparison to the love of Christ?

Sadly, you may have picked up the cross of Jesus only to set it down when you looked into the eyes of the crowd. It’s not too late. Once again, pick up the cross of Jesus and look into His eyes. The love you find will cover all fears and you will shoulder His cross with honor amidst the pain.

“Beloved, don’t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you, to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you. But because you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory you also may rejoice with exceeding joy. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.”~Peter

I love the thought of kneeling at the cross. Gazing up into the eyes of Jesus for the first time and seeing incredible love amidst the blood and gore. Picking up the cross and putting in on my shoulder as I cry out, “I’m not worthy! Father, forgive me. Holy is thy name! Sing praises to the King. Sing Hosanna. Sing!”

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God will use the “other person”. huh?

It is easy for us to think God will use the other person to fulfill His will and purpose.  It seems many times the other person is more qualified, has more money, is in position, has the better job or whatever.  It just makes sense God would use the “other person”.  I’d suggest God has you where He wants you and is ready to use you.

Take a look at Nehemiah.  He was nothing but the cup bearer for a king.  God used him in an incredible way and at great risk to Nehemiah.

“It happened in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad before in his presence. The king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.”Then I was very much afraid.  I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why shouldn’t my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?”

Then the king said to me, “For what do you make request?”

So I prayed to the God of heaven. I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you would send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may build it.”

So whether you serve tables, sweep floors or are some big corporate executive, God can use you.

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For more GodSpots – 37stories Enjoy!

There is hope and it is NOT in the church.

What impact does the church have on the way you experience life?  I mean really.  Does it change the way you act at work or how you treat your wife and family?  Does it encourage you to personally help the poor and less fortunate than you?  Does it care you suffer from depression?  Does it help you when you have lost your job?  Is the church even revelant to your life?  I think likely not.  The church is irrelevant to most.

Does that offend you?  I hope so.  If you are a believer you should be offended.  If you are a nonbeliever you should be offended.  I mean really. If you have the faith to be a NONbeliever then there should be distinguishing characteristics about you that the world can easily identify what group you belong to.  The same can be said for the believer.  If you have the faith to be a believer then the world should be able to easily identify you as such. 

Yet, six days and maybe even seven days a week we are no different.   We talk the same.  We eat the same foods.  We drink the same beverages.  We watch the same sports.  We take the same vacations.  We do it all, THE SAME!

Or at least that is the way it has been for generations, but there is change in the wind.  There appears to be a deep social and spiritual dissatisfaction with the way things are.  There appears to be an awakening from deep within our human consciousness to a driving desire for something more.  Do you feel it?  If you are honest with yourself, you know the feeling.  You may choose to keep it buried most of the time, but it is there. 

You feel it when you give change to the beggar on the corner.  You feel it when you hear of your friend’s child struggling with cancer.  You feel it when your spouse rejects you for someone else.  You feel it when your child is picked up with drugs.  There is within you a deep desire for something better. 

I want to encourage you with hope.  For you, it may not be in the local traditional church.  You may have already been let down or burnt by the church, but there is still hope.  The hope was never in the church to begin with.  The hope is in Jesus.  This is the change that is in the wind…

There are home churches springing up all over the state, country and world.  Members of these churches are unwilling to continue play acting the role of “good christian”.  The people of these home churches have taken seriously their social and spiritual conscious to do something positive in the world they live.  It is their total desire to be honest with themselves and friends while looking through the eyes of Jesus. 

The enlightened believe God is alive and well and desiring to do great things through each of them.  They are no longer passive participants in their faith.  They are actively, aggressively, sincerely and maybe even recklessly doing as God directs.  They are allowing God to shape their future, not letting others tell them what box they should live in.  They are part of the revolution. 

If you feel a similar dissatisfaction with your local traditional church, temple, mosque or cathedral experience, surf to: Fresh Connections and begin your journey, living a life with meaning and power!  God willing, Fresh Connections will have its first gathering in the new year.  God bless.

What if this is your last big adventure?

I think all will agree there is a time when we will die.  Most are anxious to put the idea out of our head.  But what if the thought comes in the forefront of your imaginations, because you know this is the last adventure you will have in service to God?  As Paul, he had run a good race, he had fought a good fight.  But God called.

 

Suppose uniquely, God reveals to you that the adventure you about to embark on may be the last.  Would the knowledge change anything in your life or your perception of the adventure? 

 

It matters not how young or how old you are.  The current adventure you are on, may be your last.  Think about the people where the adventure of life ended abruptly.  Think about Keith Green, Janus Joplin, Michael Jackson  and list goes on….

 

Each person unexpectedly encountered the end of the road.  The thought comes to mind as I consider the possibility of God working through me in Fresh Connections.  What if this is my last?  Will I have run a good race?  Will I have fought a good fight?  Will God say, “Well done.  Good and faithful servant.”

 

I hope so….

Surf to: http://www.freshc.org for a Fresh Connection…

 

If you put the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the ring to duke it out, which one would win?

Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it?  But aren’t we all just a little guilty of appreciating the grandness of one over the other.  Think about it.  When you pray, “Dear God, who are you talking to?”  God the Father as creator of all things, just seems to be the BIGGEST God. Think how confident you would feel and how BOLD you would be if the creator himself chose to live within and around you.  WOW! You’d feel unstoppable. Right?

Remember when Jesus was on the earth and He was preparing to leave?  He said something like I must leave so the Holy Spirit can come and He is even better for you.  It seems the Father, Son and Spirit are pretty evenly matched.  So think about this.  If you know Jesus and have exchanged your life for the life of Christ, you are engulfed by God, the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is every bit as BIG a gun as God the creator!

What are you waiting for?  It is time to get in the ring with a freshness found in Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  God the Father will cover your back! Start swinging…

Surf to: http://www.freshc.org for a Fresh Connection…