god

Impossible = I’m Possible

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It’s after midnight and I’m weary and ready for bed. I don’t have it in me tonight to do 100% completely original material, so I hijacked . . . I mean borrowed a guest writer to fill in for me.

This spoke to me the first time I read it way back in 2015. I still cling to the truths herein:

“Hey Soul? Feeling like it’s looking a bit impossible? BUT GOD!
Like there’s not a chance of change? BUT GOD!
Like there’s no hope for a different ending? BUT GOD!
‘But God, who is rich in mercy…’ Eph.2:4
Two Words, Change Everything: BUT GOD!
Change every internal conversation with those two words ‘BUT GOD’ —
and you change your life.
What looks impossible changes —
because when we pray to a GOD WHO IS ABLE —
He changes us & our impossibles into the impossABLES” (Ann Voskamp).

 

Refugees

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One of the most disturbing trends is how quick people are to react on social media to news events without taking in all the facts. I completely agree with Denzel Washington’s statement that if you don’t read (and watch) the news, you’re uninformed, and if you do, then you’re misinformed.

That being said, I don’t have a position on the current refugee situation. I don’t know all the details and I don’t necessarily trust all the news reports and how much they decide to include or leave out.

I do know a few things that have been on my mind lately.

I do know that God has a special place in His heart for the poor, the orphan, and the widow. God blesses those who look after the least of these. It’s all over the Bible.

I also know that every refugee is someone’s daughter or son or brother or sister or mother or father. Every single one is a person that Jesus loves and for whom Jesus died.

I remember that the Bible says that one time I was an alien and a stranger to the promise of God’s kingdom, but now I who was far away have been brought near. I truly believe that no one should be denied hearing the gospel of Jesus because of where they were born or what ethnicity they are or what language they speak or the color of their skin.

I remember that God told His people that He desires mercy above sacrifice.

I know that refugees are human beings and not a statistic that we can shut off or deny. The Christlike response is never one of fear or alienation.

I see the Statue of Liberty and I see the part written about giving her the poor, the wretched, those longing to be free.

I’m sure that people on both sides of the issue have valid arguments. I just can’t get away from how the grace of God is not limited to certain races or nationalities or cultures or people groups. It’s for all. It’s for everywhere.

Take it however you want. I’m too tired at this point to make lucid applications at this point. Well, maybe one. If you were the least of these how would you want to be treated. Better yet, how did Jesus treat you when you were one of the least of these.

Then go and do the same.

 

I Love my Jeep

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I recently had to take my 1997 Jeep Cherokee to Fitz-It Auto Repair. Anytime you have work done on an older car, there’s always the possibility– however remote– that the repairs could end up costing more than the car is worth.

Thankfully, all my car needed was a tuneup. Now it runs better than it has in a long, long time. In fact, driving the Red Sled, as I affectionately call my vehicle, is more fun than ever.

It won’t ever get mistaken for a luxury sports car like a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. It doesn’t get the ridiculously good gas mileage of a hybrid like a Toyota Prius. It’s “vintage,” which is another way of saying it’s OLD.

But how many 20 year old cars are still on the road? How many engines are still running after over 300,000 miles?

Contentment is loving what you already have and being brave enough to say that no, I don’t need more to be happy. I have enough. In this day and age, that’s a rare and radical mindset.

I may be an old fart for saying this, but I don’t see very many cars rolling out of the automotive plants these days that will have the staying power of those old Jeeps. Those Cherokee engines practically last forever if you routinely take care of them and do all the regular maintenance (like getting tuneups more than once every 20 years).

I think everyone should have at least one car in their lifetime that’s just fun to drive. Screw practicality and economy and safety ratings and just pick something that you can roll down the windows and turn up the volume on the music and enjoy the open road.

It helps if you have good music to go with your fun ride. That’s also a must.

 

More Declarations of Dependence

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“God helps those who cannot help themselves” (Charles H. Spurgeon).

The old saying that got passed around as Bible truth went something along the lines of “God helps those who help themselves.”

It’s often quoted as a verse out of the Bible when it actually is a quote by Benjamin Franklin, who was a deist and didn’t believe in a personal God who was actively involved in the affairs of humans and the world.

I’ve always wondered about the flaw in that statement. If we can help ourselves, what in the world do we need God for? It seems to me that if we’re truly self-sufficient, then we’re our own god.

The truth of the matter that I find out everyday is that I can’t help myself. In every sense of the word. I start out every morning with the best of intentions and end up looking back on a long list of messes and mistakes that litter my day.

God helps those who cannot help themselves, me included. You included.

God hears the cries of and delivers those who know their desperate need for God and proclaim it loudly every day. God is seeking out those who will make a declaration of dependence and throw their whole weight in faith on Him at every possible moment.

God is after blind beggars who cry out persistently for the mercy they don’t deserve but who never give up in seeking it even though everyone around them tells them to shut up and go home.

God is after the soldiers who count themselves unworthy for Jesus to even enter the door of their homes but who know His power isn’t limited by geography.

God is after those of us who never stop clinging to that old rugged cross and never stop holding on to faith in spite of our circumstances and who never quit believing that God is good all the time.

God helps those who cannot help themselves.

The end.

 

Chicken Noodle Soup for the Stomach

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I did my usual mecca to Chick-fil-A after Kairos and decided to go with soup because it’s 1) cheap, 2) still considered pre-blessed Jesus chicken, 3) good for you, and 4) the ultimate comfort food.

I got chicken noodle soup. It’s the first time in a very long time that I can remember ever voluntarily choosing chicken noodle soup when I didn’t have the flu or a cold. It wasn’t even that cold outside but just very grey and drizzly.

I was reminded how comforting such a simple meal can be. I don’t know if it’s psychological or not, but I immediately felt better after the first bite. Not that I felt sick or anything. Chicken noodle soup is one of the few non-lethally fattening foods that can give you the warm fuzzies.

I should order it more often.

Known Only to Him

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“You are still a promise, the heartbeat of God.
You may have forgotten, but He has not.
You are not your ashes, you are a flame.
Do not ask the shadows, the light of the world knows,
Knows your name” (Nicole Nordeman,  Name).

I find it fascinating that out of all the people in all the parables that Jesus told during His earthly ministry, He only gives one of them a name — Lazarus.

Lazarus is probably the one we’d be most likely to pass by while looking the other way. He was a beggar dressed in rags with open sores that the dogs would lick. He was longing for even the crumbs that fell off the table of the unnamed rich man.

The rich man is probably someone we’d hold up as the example to follow with his acute sense of business and wise investment portfolios. He’d be the hero in most of our stories. Obviously, our idea of blessed is quite different than Jesus’.

Lazarus dies, probably from his illness, and goes to paradise. I believe it was for a simple faith that persevered in the midst of great suffering and want. I like to think that Lazarus never wavered in his faith in the goodness of God and believed wholeheartedly that God would set all things right.

The rich man was the first century equivalent of Forbes’ 50 richest people, one whose name everybody probably recognized. Yet it takes him dying and going to Hades before he shows concern for anyone else but himself (see the NIV Study Bible notes on Luke 16:28). His neglect of Lazarus who sat right outside his gates is telling of what kind of man he was. But God remembered Lazarus.

If God knew the name of Lazarus, He surely knows your name. You are indeed not forgotten. You are still heir to the promise God made to you long ago, even if you have forgotten it.

The Light of the World still knows your name.

 

 

 

Feeling SUPER

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“For God’s Word is solid to the core; everything he makes is sound inside and out. He loves it when everything fits, when his world is in plumb-line true. Earth is drenched in God’s affectionate satisfaction” (Psalm 33:4-5 MSG).

I have mixed emotions about the outcome of Super Bowl LI. I was rooting for the Atlanta Falcons and hoping they could hold on and pull out the victory, but I was also very impressed by the poise and experience displayed by the New England Patriots in engineering the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history.

It’s probably a good thing I’m not a betting man. I’d have lost big time.

For me, the real victory is knowing that God is with me, for me, and in me.

He’s with me because He has told me that He would never leave me nor forsake me. That’s written down where I can read it and be reminded of it every day.

He’s for me. He promised He would finish the good work He started in me. That’s also written down for me for when I get forgetful and discouraged.

He’s in me. John 14:23 says that whoever loves God and keeps His commandments will be indwelled by all three members of the trinity. It’s not my own strength that will carry me through, but God’s power dwelling in me that enables me to live right and love well.

I’m happy for Tom Brady on winning his fifth Super Bowl. I also hope that he finds the ultimate victory when he comes to know and trust Jesus as his Lord and Savior (if he hasn’t already).

PS The best part about any Super Bowl party for me is always the snacks, and they were stellar. I probably need to go on a water and celery diet after to make up for all the calories I consumed, but they were delicious.

 

 

Grace for Today

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“My message, unchanged for more than fifty years, is this: God loves
you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because
nobody is as they should be. It is the message of grace…A grace
that pays the eager beaver who works all day long the same wages
as the grinning drunk who shows up at ten till five…A grace that
hikes up the robe and runs breakneck toward the prodigal reeking
of sin and wraps him up and decides to throw a party no ifs, ands,
or buts…This grace is indiscriminate compassion. It works without
asking anything of us…Grace is sufficient even though we huff and
puff with all our might to try to find something or someone it cannot
cover. Grace is enough…Jesus is enough” (Brennan Manning, All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir)

I had a decent sort of day. Not fantastic. Not horrible. Just decent.

On days like these, I need the grace of God.

I’ve had days where everything goes wrong and I have two left feet and I can barely remember my own name.

On those days, I need the grace of God.

I’ve also had days where all the traffic lights were green and I got the coffee/creamer mix just right and I was in rare form at work.

On those days, I need the grace of God.

There’s not a day that will ever go by where I don’t need grace.

My advice for those of you reading this. You need grace every day, so give grace every day.

Social media these days is filled with vindictiveness and spiteful words, mostly along the lines of my side is right, therefore yours must be evil and wrong and stupid.

Buck the trend by showing and giving grace to everyone, even those on the other side of the political aisle who say things you don’t agree with.

Give grace because you may one day need it from someone else.

Give grace because you have already received it in abundance from the God of all Grace.

I love grace because it comes to me when I don’t deserve it and is always more than I expected and always leaves me better than when it found me.

That’s God’s way. That’s grace.

 

Happy Birth-Month to Me: The Sequel

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Yes, it’s here again. February, my birth-month.

I decided that since I got gipped on having a birthday on a such a short month, I might as well milk it for all it’s worth and celebrate for all 28 days.

I’m thankful to be turning 45 this year. I have times when I wish I were still in my 20’s, but I’m in a better place mentally and spiritually (if not physically).

I wouldn’t want to go back to change anything, but sometimes I think it’d be nice to relive some of my experiences through 45-year old eyes. I have a feeling I might appreciate them a bit more than I did.

Regardless, I like who I’m becoming more and more because I realize more and more how God has been guiding and molding my circumstances all along to lead me toward Christlikeness. I truly see way more than I used to how He works all things (and not just the good and pleasant and comfortable things) for my good and His glory.

As usual, for my birthday I am accepting all major forms of payment. I also really like gift cards, especially to places where they have coffee. I won’t even mention my Amazon wish-list which gets bigger and more ridiculous with each passing day.

Seriously, I’m thankful above all for the gift of being alive. I know too many who didn’t make it to 45, so I don’t ever take it for granted.

I’m also thankful for every one of you reading these words. You have a multitude of other choices, plus a plethora of offerings on Netflix that you could be catching up on, but you chose to read my blog posts instead.

I’ve already bought my annual birthday present to me. I have a ticket to see Robert Earl Keen at the Franklin Theatre on March 23. I give myself such good presents.

Happy birth-month to all of you lucky enough also to be born in February. I think it’s the best birthday month.

 

Dealing with Spiritual Warfare

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I have some friends that are in the midst of some heavy spiritual warfare. I (and probably a lot of you) have been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.

I can’t say it was a pleasant experience. It was anything but. Looking back, I’ve found a few nuggets of wisdom that helped me to get through that dark night of the soul.

First of all, make Zephaniah 3:17 your mantra. Read it as often as you can in as many translations as you can. Write it down and post it in as many places as you’re liable to go  during the day. Memorize it. Let every word of that verse sink in deeply and meditate on the fact that God is speaking those words directly to you.

Next, I recommend praying out loud. I for one am normally not one to pray out loud when I’m alone. It feels strange and awkward. But there’s something about declaring with your voice the blood of Jesus and claiming the victory He’s won over the spiritual foes you’re facing.

I personally tend to shy away from prayers about how I’m going to take down the devil myself. I think of that verse where even in the book of Jude the archangel Michael didn’t confront the devil head-on, but instead said “The Lord rebuke you.” I know that by myself I am no match for Satan but under the protection of the blood and the name of Jesus, Satan has no power over me whatsoever.

Finally, I’d say to surround yourself with people who will encourage you, who will speak life into your darkness, who will pray unceasingly for you and be strong for you when you are weak. People who will gently correct you when you’re tempted to believe your overwhelming feelings above God’s promises.

I want to remind you that God is faithful even now when it seems like He’s a million miles away. God can take even this dark and dry season and turn it into something more than worth any struggle and pain.

God is good. All the time. All the time, God is good.