Old Hurts....Dig Deep

Matthew 18: 23-35 (NCV) The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. When the king began to collect his money a servant who owed him several million dollars was brought to him. But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant’s wife and children. Then the money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed. But the servant fell on his knees and begged, “Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.” The master felt sorry for his servant and told him he did not have to pay it back. The he let the servant go free. Later that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant grabbed him around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!” The other servant fell to his knees and begged him, “Be patient with me and I will pay you everything I owe.” But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed. When the other servants saw what had happened they were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened. Then the master called his servant in and said “You evil servant! Because you begged me to forget what you owed, I told you that you did not have to pay anything. You should have showed mercy to that other servant, just as I showed mercy to you.” The master was very angry and put the servant in prison to be punished until he could pay everything he owed. “This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother and sister from your heart.”

Do you have a hole in your heart? Perhaps the wound is old…and you’re angry. Or perhaps the wound is fresh and you’re hurt. Part of you is broken, and the other part is bitter. Part of you wants to cry and part of you wants to fight. The tears you cry are hot because they come from your heart, and there is a fire burning in your heart. It’s the fire of anger. It’s blazing. It’s consuming. Its flames leap up under s steaming pot of revenge. And you are left with a decision: “Do you put the fire out or heat it up? Do I get over it or get even? Do I release it to resent it? Do I let my hurts heal or do I let hurt turn into hate?

Are you allowing your hurts to turn into hates? If so, ask yourself: Is it working? Has your hatred done you any good? Has your resentment brought you any relief, any peace? Has it granted you any joy? Allow the hole in your heart to heal. (Lucado)

I read this passage from the bible and Max Lucado’s comments this morning. We all struggle with “Old Wounds”. What happened to our forgiving spirit? The church has become so self sufficient that we don’t rely on the example of Jesus to lead us. The church board made a decision you don’t agree with, someone posted a comment about you on Facebook, someone lied to you…the list goes on. How do you react to these wounds? Jesus says that “This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother and sister from your heart.” Forgive from your heart! Dig deep…move past…love…and forgive! Each time that we don’t forgive it’s like saying to Jesus, “your gift is not sufficient”. Jesus has wiped away the debt that you owe Him. In a society that is hurting it is time for sons and daughters of God to embrace forgiveness. We will then be honoring God for the debt he forgave from us.

Dig deep…move past…love…and forgive FROM YOUR HEART!

Ninety, Pregnant and Trusting God

God has a plan for you….and me. I was reading today in Genesis. Thinking back to when Sarai was told by God that He would bless her with a baby. I remember when I found out I was going to be a dad for the first time. The baby room was started right away and we picked out clothes (even though we didn’t know if it was going to be a boy or girl). Sarai was 76 when God told her this! Regardless of her age she was excited as I was at the age of 31. The problem lies in the fact that for 14 years she didn’t get pregnant. Can you imagine her disappointment? I’ll bet she told all her friends she was going to have a baby, I bet she worked on the baby room and started getting things around for this baby that she wanted her whole life. After all she heard it from God himself…it has to be accurate…right? Imagine the defeat she must have felt as year after year the hope just dwindled away. Do you think she started to wonder if God forgot about her? I’ll bet she did….

Then at the age of 90 (Abram was almost 100) God informs them that they are going to have a baby. And the laughed…they laughed…and they laughed. Was this some kind of joke? They laughed because they had given up hope, and hope born again is always funny before it becomes reality.

Isn’t that what we do when someone says they can do the impossible….Laugh? God is still in the business of doing what he does best…THE UNBELIEVEABLE!

For Abram and Sarai their faith grew leaps and bounds. Do you think they ever had a problem truly trusting God again? God gives us answers to our prayers and cries every day. God will follow through when the time is right. Sometimes the answer comes immediately and sometimes the answer comes when you are 90 years old and find out your pregnant.

Stop rushing God and trust Him. Listen to Him and he will change the way you define the work “impossible”. God is still very much a part of our lives. Our lives just need to slow down to be very much a part of God.

Fawns, Mailboxes and Trusting God

Today a Facebook friend posted this, “The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, "Glory!" holy crap! That's power!

I have been thinking about this all morning. First of all my mom will probably yell at me for using the word “crap”, but I have to clarify that I copied it word for word from someone else’s status mom. As sons and daughters of “Father God” do we recognize the power that we have access too?

Recently I was having a similar discussion with a friend that is struggling with the concept of “trusting the Lord…completely.” I was sharing a story of when I was a teenager my youth leader did a devotion on having faith. If I have the faith the size of a mustard seed I can move mountains. I went home that night thinking that I may not have the faith to move a mountain but I definitely have faith. I prayed that night, with all the faith that I had that God would move our mailbox across the road. I may not be able to move a mountain…but a mailbox…YES SIR! The next morning I woke up, jumped out of bed and ran to look outside. Much to my disappointment the mailbox had not been moved. I remember as a teenager that this devastated me and my faith. I was so insignificant that I couldn’t pray a mailbox across the road. I remember confronting my dad later that night about my frustration. He shared with me two very important things. First of all, if I really had the faith that I said I did, and if I truly believed that God would move that mailbox, why did I go check in the morning to see if it was done? Secondly, what benefit could possibly arise from having our mailbox on the opposite side of the road as everyone else. It would only confuse our mail lady.

You see, we tend to trust God in our words, but do we REALLY trust Him with our lives and all the circumstances that surround us. How often do you “check to see if the mailbox is across the road”? Why do we live in a society that is so amazed with miracles? Has God changed from the bible times? I don’t think so….

God guided the Israelites in the wilderness with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The cloud and fire moved according to God’s will. When they moved the people moved, when they stopped the people stopped. We honor God when we trust him completely regardless if we know the plan. The Israelites didn’t have prerequisites when they started walking. God has a plan...period. It is time that we start trusting God with everything. It is time that we stop questioning God and making sure that he “knows what he’s doing”.

So we serve a God that is HUGE, we serve a God that is powerful. He is so powerful that his voice makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, "Glory!” This God that can do these things with His voice is taking care of you…He has a plan and you don’t need to know it. Trust Him….completely!

Sorry Mom…..I have to say it “Holy Crap! That's Power!”

Betrayal, A Warm Fire and Fish...

We have all failed. And I think if we all took time to seriously evaluate our lives honestly we would find that in some caliber we have failed in a pretty extraordinary way. I was reading in John this morning, in the 21^st chapter (verses 1-11) we hear the account of Jesus appearing to his followers for the third time. What I find so captivating about this story is that Peter was there. Jesus appears to the man that denied him not once, not twice…but three times. And how did Jesus handle it? Here was Peter standing face to face with the Son of God, the same Jesus that he spent most of his life following. The same man that watched miracle after miracle…The same man that he denied even knowing Him…

Jesus didn’t take this opportunity to teach him a lesson (the hard way); he didn’t even seize the moment and whip out a parable. Nope he simply offered Peter a warm fire and some breakfast. What kind of love is this that even when one of his closest friends betrayed Him…he still loves him…unconditionally? Peter failed…and so have I. The hope that I have is the same as that of the fisherman and disciple from years ago. I have the hope in a Father that wants to have a LOVING relationship with me. Even when I fail him…he is waiting with breakfast and a warm fire. My prayer time today was spent praying for you. Praying for our churches; my prayer is that we would find this sort of compassion for not only each other, but also for the lost that are looking for this hope.

I was talking to someone the other day that told me of this “list” of people that had hurt them in our church for one reason or another. This reasons stemmed from “We watch their kids and they don’t watch ours.” to “They never take the initiative to be my friend.” How sad it is that we have allowed our “feelings” to come between us. Can you imagine the love and compassion that our churches would have if we provided breakfast and a fire for those that betray us…for those that fail us? Can you imagine how many more people would be in our churches if we showed them that Jesus loved them instead of telling them?

I don’t think our buildings could contain the revival that would take place. That’s how Jesus changed the world…one person at a time. How are we doing at changing the world? Are we truly loving people in our churches and in our communities the way that we expect Jesus to love us?

My challenge to you today…go find someone that has betrayed you and give them breakfast and a warm fire…you’ll be glad you did…and so will they.

The Hill and Storms...

At the lake that I grew up there is road that winds through the park. About half way through is a hill. My grandparent’s lake lot was at the bottom of “THE HILL”. Everyone referred to this as “THE HILL”. Anyone that reads this that knows the lake I’m talking about knows what “THE HILL” is.

I remember as a child that this hill was huge. I had to get quite the running start to make it up the hill. I remember watching many kids push their bikes up this hill. I was having a conversation with a friend the other day. We were talking about what things must look like through the eyes of a little child. Everything must look huge! Simple trees probably look like Redwoods; dogs must look like the size of woolly mammoths, and a plate full of food sure looks like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Can you remember the days when everything around you looked so big?

When we stand in the presence of an Almighty God do we still feel that way?

Exodus 4:1-6 (NCV) One day Moses was taking care of Jethro’s flock. When Moses led the flock to the west side of the desert, he came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire coming out of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up. So he said, “I will go closer to this strange thing. How can a bush continue burning without burning up?” When the Lord saw Moses was coming to look at the bush, God called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” Then God said, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your ancestors – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.

This encounter must have made Moses feel so inadequate. The scripture goes on not to talk about how great of a man that Moses was, but it shows how BIG God is. I know we aren’t kids anymore. I know the trees don’t seem so big, most of us have to sit down to pet a dog and a plate of food can disappear in minutes (especially if it’s nachos). As a matter of fact, last summer I went back and climbed that hill at the campground where I grew up. It’s not that big. It’s time that we enjoy the Almightiness (is that a word) of God. It’s time that in the midst of our trials we stop and look at just how huge He is. Recently a friend shared a saying with me, “It’s time to stop telling God how big your storms are and start telling the storms how big your God is!” Imagine yourself walking in the woods and God shows up, like he did to Moses that day. It’s easy to imagine…look around you. God shows up every day of our lives. When was the last time you watched a sunset? When was the last time you saw God heal someone? When was the last time you saw God deliver someone from an addiction? How about God protecting a child?

God is big…and our struggles aren’t….

Freedom...there are no words!

To the American Soldier and your family….Thank You!

What Else?

I have been in the fire service now for almost 8 years. I enjoy helping people in their time of need. Sometimes when I get talking about the fire service it is hard to stop. Tonight I had a conversation with a 4 year old named J.J. He is cute and very interested in a lot of things. We got talking about the fire station and he asked me what was at the fire station. I told him we had 6 trucks, a trailer and an ambulance at our station. Then he said eagerly, “what else?” I told him about the hose, “With even more intensity he asked what else?”, I told him about the Jaws of Life, “what else?”, I told him about the thermal imaging camera, “what else, do you have a Dalmatian?”…you get the point, this conversation went on for about 30 minutes. I love talking to kids about fire safety, but sometimes when you talk to 4 year olds it’s easy to forget that the two questions “what else?” and “why?” can be asked over and over. It was a great conversation and his parents are becoming pretty good friends of mine. When I got home I was thinking about my conversation with my buddy J.J. and two thoughts have captivated me tonight.

Here I am willing to spend an evening talking with J.J. about fire trucks and hoses, but how willing am I to talk to people about my God. Mark 16:15 (NIV) says “He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” How are we doing? Are you going to your jobsite, your chemical plant, your grocery store, your fitness center, your school and even your churches and preaching the good news to ALL creation. In my opinion the church today has become complacent when it comes to evangelism. We tend to lick each other’s wounds in the church with a “take care of our own” attitude. All the while, we ignore our neighbors, friends and family members that need not only to hear about the love that God has for us, but they need to experience it firsthand. I would have answered any question that J.J. had about the fire department tonight, and I did. The more he asked, the more excited I got and the more I answered the more excited he got. It can and should be that way when it comes to God. We live in a time that people are hurting. They have been abused physically and emotionally for years. Some have dealt with some pretty substantial losses, including family members, jobs and friends. We live in an economy that is causing people great stress and anxiety nearly every day of their lives. There are people in our neighborhoods that are waking up without any hope. We have the answer…it’s not drugs, it’s not working more hours, it’s not alcohol…it’s a Heavenly Father that wants to help them. Are we doing our part to fulfill the request of Jesus? He said go into ALL the world and preach the good news to ALL creation.

Secondly I was amazed at how captivated that J.J. was with the whole fire service thing. It was like one question and answer led to five more. It was like he couldn’t get enough information from me. I got thinking, are we that way with God? I recently have been reading a book called He Loves Me by Wayne Jacobson. The first chapter of this great book talks about how we play “Daisy Petal Christianity” with God. He Loves Me…things are going good. He Loves Me Not…things aren’t going so good. You get the picture…but why can’t we learn to be so captivated with our God that we can’t get enough of him. We delve into our occupations, families, addictions and tend to give God what is left over in our lives. Sometimes it might be a prayer at the end of the day. Maybe we spend 10 minutes during the course of the week in true quiet time reading the Bible and seeking His purpose for our lives. Most Christians that I know can relate to this lifestyle. Between ballgames, friendships, hobbies, church, school, board meetings, etc. we forget to include God in our lives. The cool thing is…it can change.

Before tonight J.J. wasn’t that excited about the fire service. As a matter of fact he told me that he wanted to be a cop when he grew up...I got a few years to work on him. But by the end of the conversation and discussions of making a trip to the fire station I think that he was a pretty hyped up about the shiny red trucks with the miles of hose. Maybe it’s time for us to do the same with God. Maybe instead of reading our bible or having a bible study because it’s the right thing to do we should spend some intimate time and slow down and actually listen to what God wants for us. I have started to do this over the last year. I thought I had it all figured out…and let me tell you, since slowing down and listening to God I have realized I had it all wrong.

So, I’d like to challenge you with two things…

Go tell somebody about Jesus. Someone who’s live depends on it.

and

Slow down and listen to God. He is more important than anything that is on your planner for tomorrow.

Oh and if you are excited about joining the fire department because J.J. got you excited too…contact your local fire chief. Thanks J.J. for the life lesson tonight, at four years old you taught me a lot more about life than I taught you about fire trucks.