The opening of the movie Encanto is a song called
"The Family Madrigal." In the song, Mirabel tells village children
about her family. See the Madrigal family is special because most of them have
a special power.
These powers include healing, strength, the ability to
talk to animals, control of the weather, and more. Each member of the family
with powers has a job that helps the village thrive. And the village people are
grateful for what this family does for them.
You may not have a special power like this family, but
you do have a gift. Romans 12:6 talks about how we have spiritual gifts. It
says: "We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each
of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with
your faith." God created us all unique and gave us each a different
mission field. He gives us gifts to use for that mission and to reflect his
glory.
Think about it: you are so special to God that he gave
you the opportunity to be a part of His story. He gave you unique gifts and a
unique mission. Without you, someone may not be blessed. That's not to say that
God will not bless that person if you choose not to use your gifts. But it is
to say you have been given the opportunity. You are an important part of the
body of Christ. You are unique. You are loved. It is amazing to think about.
So, what are your gifts? Are you using them to reflect
God's glory?
In the movie trilogy The Lord of the Rings there is one character who seems to be not very good at his job and a little crazy. Denethor the 2 was the steward of Gondor. His job was to look after the kingdom of Gondor because there was no king. Now, if you've seen the movies, you know that Aragorn, a character in the fellowship, is the rightful king of Gondor. He just isn’t quite ready to take the throne.
Denethor the 2 had two sons. He favored the one over the other. He ate food while the people in his charge were under siege. He sent his second son, whom he treaded like a slave in some ways, out to face an impossible task. He refused to call for aid for someone to come help his kingdom. When his son came back injured, he didn’t have a doctor help him. He just assumed he was dead. Then, as the orcs entered his kingdom, he attempted to burn himself and his son alive.
Denethor the 2 was a very selfish man. He wasn’t using the resources he was given to help his people. Perhaps it was because he knew his reign as steward was coming to an end. Whatever the reason, he wasn’t doing his job.
Now that I've told you all about Denethor's shortcomings you may be tempted to judge him. Before you do that, check yourself. You are a steward as well. Maybe not to a kingdom, but you are a steward, nonetheless. 1 Peter 4:10 says, "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms."
God gives us gifts. In fact, he’s given us everything we own. Because he gave it to us, we don’t own it. We are borrowing it. God gave it to us to steward for the time we are here on earth. We can’t take it with us when we die. We only have it while we are here. Thus, we must treat what we have been given with respect. We must treat it as a gift.
So, how are you doing with stewarding what God has given you? How can you view everything you own as Gods and remember that daily?
If you haven't guessed by now, I enjoy writing. Well, I should say there are times I enjoy writing and there are times I need to write. By need to write I mean that writing is how I express myself.
I've kind of likened my writing expression to the song from the musical Hamilton. One of the lyrics says, "why do you write like you're running out of time?" That's how I feel when I need to write. If I don't get out that expression then, I will either forget that feeling or the words. Or I will explode depending on why I feel the need to write. Writing is one way I express not just my thoughts and feelings, but my creativity as well.
That's why I usually ask people who I meet this question: "how do you express yourself?" Some people express themselves just by talking. Others express themselves through science, art, or many other things. But the key is to find some way to express your creativity and emotions.
God created us. He CREATED us in his image. That means God is creative and the creator. Since we were created by him in his image that means we are creative as well. Even if you may not feel creative, you are because God made you. You just need to find what outlet you have for your creativity.
Now, if you are good at expressing yourself with your words you may not need to find an outlet. You may not need a way to tell others how you are feeling. But, if you have trouble with letting people in, with telling people how you are feeling, you must find an outlet. You must find a healthy way to get those feelings out. There are many ways to do that. You could write, paint, draw, do science experiments, work on cars, or whatever to show others how you are feeling. Then, you can tell others, "I created this so I can express this feeling I have."
So, do you have a healthy way of expressing yourself? What could you create for God today?
Have you ever asked the question: what is worship? The simplest definition I can think of is, praising God. Then, why do we think of worship time as just singing? Sure, worship can happen through song, but it can also happen elsewhere.
Worship can happen anytime, anywhere. You can worship in silence. You can worship by making sounds or listening to them. You can worship through dance. There are so many more ways as well. If there are so many ways to worship, how do we differentiate between worship and everyday life?
Romans 12:1 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." We are to present our bodies as living sacrifices. When one sacrifices, they worship. We are to show love to others and love requires sacrifice. Thus, we can worship in all we do. We worship by showing love, reflecting God's glory, and we can do it through all actions.
It is also important to note that when we do things each day, we can use them as acts of worship. We must remember who we worship as well. Each selfless act we do, should be pointed back to God in an act of worship. We should not be prideful and accept the credit, we should credit God with our gifts and possessions because he's the one who gave us them.
So, how do you worship God? How can you reflect God's glory each day?
You know, our bodies are amazing things. One of the most
fascinating parts of our bodies is our brain. Scientists are still trying to
figure out our brains. One area they just cannot seem to figure out is our
thoughts. Sure, you can see reactions in the brain when we have a thought, but
you cannot know exactly what that thought is. I think that’s one reason why
thoughts are so powerful, only you can control them and only you know what your
thoughts are.
Whatever thoughts you think about, I am fairly certain
that you sometimes have trouble controlling your thoughts. How do we do that?
Can we do that? It seems even if you have the best intentions and wish you
could stop thinking negative things, they just come back up. I have found that
thoughts can be fit into a few categories.
Surface level immediate thoughts: things you think about
that don’t have much meaning. I mean, while I believe the thought, “I would
really like a chocolate milkshake” is an incredible thought it doesn’t serve
much in the long run (other than maybe getting a milkshake).
Surface level future thoughts: this is when you think
about things you need to do. Like get groceries or get some things done for
that project at work.
Intelligent intellectual thoughts: this is my way of
saying deep thinking. Most of the time, I feel, our brains don’t go into deep
thinking unless we are in school, in a thought-provoking conversation, reading
a book, etc. (could even borderline throw overthinking in here). An important
note, this type of thinking can be considered both good and bad depending on
what you are thinking about.
Negative woe is me thoughts: when it is a rainy day and
all thoughts you have are just bad. Like, can things get much worse thoughts?
Not very healthy thoughts.
Godly grateful thoughts: Not that things are always going
to be amazing in our lives but there is always something to be grateful for.
While there may be some other areas of thought, many of
them could probably fit into these categories. Looking at these categories, ask
yourself which ones tend to go through your brain the most? I’m not saying that
there is any wrong category to be in the most. It’s okay if you have all these
kinds of thoughts. But I’m saying you should not be stuck in just one of these
areas of thought. Well, not stuck in all but one.
Godly grateful thoughts should be where we land most of
the time. It would be amazing if we were stuck (not in a bad way) in that area
of thought. But I’m thinking that much of the time that’s not where your
thoughts land. I’m the same way. How then do we change our thinking so we can
have more Godly grateful thoughts?
First off, I want to remind you that it is possible to
change our way of thinking lest you be tempted to say, it’s impossible (which
you should not say as nothing is impossible with God). 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
says, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the
contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments
and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we
take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” See, Satan has this
horrid habit of trying to get into our brains. He likes to tell us lies. He
likes to deceive. He likes to detain us. I think that’s why Paul told the
Corinthians that they can take their thoughts captive. We have the power,
through Christ, to tell Satan to get out!
Now how do we change our thinking? We think about
“whatever.” What do you mean “whatever?!” I already think about whatever I want
daily and that hasn’t helped me! I mean we think of the whatever verse.
Philippians 4:8 says “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be
any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” These are the
things our thoughts should be focused on. Focused on Christ-like thoughts.
Focused on His word so we can refute the lies of the liar. Focused on the truth
about how God feels about us. Focused on reflecting God’s glory in all we
think, say, and do. Because, while we may not be able to see and know your
thoughts, there is someone who does.
So, do you have a problem with thinking too many surface
level or negative thoughts? What will you do to change your way of thinking? I
encourage you to make an action plan today to help you change your way of
thinking.
Have you ever thought about the gifts that God has given you? Everything you have from where you live to your talents was given to you by God. God is such a good father that he gives us these things. We have a choice in what we do with these things. We can choose to use them for ourselves or for God.
We can choose to use our humor to be vulgar and crass, or we can make others laugh and share the gospel (God created laughter and has a sense of humor, look at the platypus). We can choose to use the car we have to transport only ourselves, or we can serve others by giving them a ride if they need it. We can use our gift of cooking to exalt ourselves and flaunt our talent, or we can make food for others less fortunate than us. We can use our bodies to be provocative and serve our desires, or we can glorify God with them by using them to serve others.
1 Peter 4:10 says, "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms." He says WHATEVER gift. That doesn't just mean we use what we have as extra. It means we sacrifice. We show the love of Christ who gave the greatest gift through his sacrifice by sacrificing as well. We take action to praise God for what he's given us and not ourselves. We take pride in who our God is by pointing to him through our actions.
So, who are you exalting? Are you showing God's love daily by using the gifts he's given you to reflect his glory?
One Thanksgiving I
sent out a blog that talked about how comparison is the thief of joy. That is
still true. We can look at what someone else has and say "I want that. I
won't be happy until I have that." This is the thief of joy. But, it goes beyond that. The wisest man who ever lived was telling us that we
need to be content with what we have before we even said "I want
that." In the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon talks about how many things are
meaningless. Here is the richest, wisest man in the world telling us many
things are meaningless. He had all he could ever want and yet he said pretty
much all of it was meaningless. Why? In chapter 6 Solomon talks about wealthy people. These people have much but
they never have time to enjoy it. Instead, when they die, someone else enjoys
their wealth. What is wrong with these wealthy people? They are not
content. These wealthy people look around and say I need that and I'll be happy. They
are not happy with what they have. They are not content. God gives us so much,
and yet we never seem to be content. Let me ask you this... when you die will
anything you own go with you? No! So then why are we always ungrateful for what
we have? This Thanksgiving I encourage you to look
at what you have. Take a lesson from the wisest man on earth and don't fall
into the trap of wanting more. Think about all that God has blessed you with.
Rather than choosing to look at what you want be thankful for what you have.
Remember to enjoy the special moments in life because, when we go to heaven,
it's not going to matter what you had on earth. What is going to matter is what
you did to reflect God's glory. So, will you continue to compare your possessions to others? Will you choose to
be content with what you have? Will you look around at the blessings you have
and be thankful? Will you reflect God's glory in all you do? I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! Philippians 4:11-13, 1 Timothy 6:6-8, 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Certain ideas for this blog were pulled from the book by Jud Wilhite called The God of Yes.
It is quite amazing how God created everything. He made things that work so well that it boggles our minds when we find out how they work. On the fourth day of creation God made the sun, moon, and stars. He made the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night. Now, the interesting thing about these items in the sky is how they get their light. The sun gives off light, just as all other stars do. But, the moon, does not give light through nuclear fusion like the sun and stars. How does the moon give light to the earth then? The moon is rock. What happens is the moon reflects the light of the sun. It's quite incredible if you think about it. God did not have to make anything that he made in the first place. He especially did not have to create the moon so that it would give us light at night. I mean, he already created light and darkness. Why do we need light at night when we should be resting? Perhaps God was blessing us with a reminder. 2 Corinthians 4:6 says, "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." See, like the sun gives off light, The Son gives off light as well. Like the moon reflects the sun's light, we are to reflect The Son's light. We are blessed to have eternal life though Jesus' work on the cross. However, just because we have eternal life does not mean our work is complete. We are called to make disciples of all nations (Mat.28.16-20). We are called to reflect God's glory to others just as the moon reflects the sun's light. So, are you doing your best to reflect God's glory? How can you reflect God's glory today? Image from here.
One day my co-teachers were mocking about how my
definition of fun is different from theirs. I was okay with that because I do
have fun but it's not the kind of fun they like to have. Then one said,
"oh but remember, she's a different person now because she has a
boyfriend." I was like, "I'm not different, I'm the same
person." She replied, "yeah you are, I'd never thought I would see
you with a boyfriend."
To be honest I was a bit shocked. I asked,
"why." She said because I never seemed interested in anyone. That's
when I realized that my coworkers didn't know me as well as I thought they did.
Now, I am a very open person. If someone asks me a
question, I answer honestly. But I realized that I didn't share about how alone
I felt at times. See, as Christians, we are to love others, reflect God's
glory, and spread the good news. But it's not always easy to share your
weaknesses. Especially when those weaknesses make others possibly question God.
I know that I'm never alone. I know Joshua 1:9 says,
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened,
and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever
you go.” I know that. But it's not always easy to feel that God is with you
when you wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep.
Usually I have found in those moments that I need to stop
focusing on my worries or fear. Instead I need to focus on God. I read the
Bible, pray, and change how I think. That made me not feel so alone.
So, when you feel alone, what do you do? How often do you
spend time with God?
When I played soccer in college there were 3 types of
goalies: goalies who really didn't know what they were doing/were new, goalies
who knew what they were doing and were cocky about it, and goalies who knew
what they were doing but were not cocky they were confident. I remember one
keeper in particular was particularly cocky. She would keep the ball at her
feet a long time until one of our players ran up to her and almost hit her. She
would yell in a mean tone at her teammates. She would run out at players to
scare them. She did more, but you get my point.
One day we were playing a game against them. It was our
Homecoming day and we had to defend our field. My team came out swinging. We
scored 7 goals that game against this keeper. She wasn't cocky that day. She
was angry. She was angry at her team. She came into that game thinking her team
was going to win and she would get another shut out. Instead she hurt her team
more.
That's the problem with being cocky: you think that you
are the greatest thing since sliced bread and you can't own up to your own
mistakes. Confidence is different. Confidence is different because of where, or
who, it comes from. If you are confident it is most likely because you are
doing something you've done for a long time. You have had practice because you
know what you are doing. But, did you know that you can have confidence in
everything that you do?
2 Timothy 1:7 says: "For God gave us a spirit not of
fear but of power and love and self-control." We have power in the Lord.
He walks with us each day. He guides our steps and wants us to follow him. If
we follow his ways we can have confidence that he is with us. Now, that doesn't
mean that we should be cocky because of this.
James 4:10 says: "Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will exalt you." If we exalt ourselves, then God will not exalt us.
Cocky is the opposite of humble. There's a very fine balance between being
confident in the Lord, yet humble, and being prideful. If we go around praising
ourselves all the time, that's not humility. If we expect things and people to
do things for us that's not humility, that's entitlement. You don't deserve
anything you have. The only thing you deserve is death. BUT (this is where hope
comes), because God sent his son to die for our sins we can have confidence. We
have been redeemed and that's why we can be confident. That's why we should
have confidence in the talents God gave us. That's why we should use our
talents to reflect God's glory. He deserves all the honor.
So, are you confident or cocky? Do you have confidence in
God or in your own abilities? How can you reflect God's glory by showing
humility today?
A coach is so much more than just someone who shows
someone how to play a sport. A coach is a teacher, sometimes a doctor, a
leader, an encourager, a friend, a role model, and so much more. One area that
I have found that coaches need to be more of nowadays is an encourager.
One year I was coaching a team that had lost every game
and we were halfway through the season. I saw a player sitting on the bench
after a game when all other players had gone home. I went up to her and asked
her what was wrong. She said she was discouraged because she felt she wasn't
playing well and she had never lost so much in a season. That's when I had to
put on my encouragement hat as a coach.
I reminded her that we were a brand new team. I had many
girls who hadn't played before. Many of the girls hadn't ever played with each
other before either. I said, because of my experience in soccer, I didn't
really mind losing. What I did mind is if we didn't put forth our best effort.
I then asked her if she had done her best in the game. She said,
"yes." I said, "that's all I ask."
I then pointed out that not only had she improve herself,
but we had improved as a team. We weren't losing by much anymore. And, we were
completing passes up the field in order to get scoring opportunities. I told
her "we will get there at some point. Stop doubting the team and your own
abilities. Try to focus on what we have accomplished as a team rather than what
we haven't. Make it your goal to get better every day. Then you will help us
reach our team's potential." She agreed and went about doing what I asked.
In life, we also will have doubts. We aren't perfect. We
are going to mess up. But, if we focus on what we cannot do or didn't do then
we are hurting ourselves. To make matters worse, we are not just hurting
ourselves but those around us who work with us and love us. These people care
about us and want us to succeed.
As if that's not enough if we doubt ourselves we are
hurting our creator. Philippians 2:13 says: "For it is God who works in
you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." God gave us our
abilities. He wants us to use them to reflect his glory. He doesn't want us to
grumble or complain about what we cannot do. If we fail or fall he is with us
to pick us back up. That's how much he loves us. That's why he doesn't like it
when we hurt ourselves by doubting our abilities. He gave us those abilities
and he wouldn't have done that if he didn't believe in us to use them.
So, do you doubt yourself too much? What can you do to
encourage someone today? How can you reflect God's glory today?
"You choose how much you give on the field. Be
motivated to give your best to make the team better."
I have coached at many different levels for soccer. One
time I was coaching a JV team. This JV team had many different level of
players. I had some players who had never played. Others had played for years.
Looking at my team's ability I knew I'd have to go back to basics.
One of the players on my team came to me about halfway
through the season. She said that she doesn't feel motivated or challenged in
practice. I asked her why she felt that way. She said she'd been doing
Brazilians and passing her whole life. She felt she was ready for the next level,
varsity. She also said she was having a hard time staying motivated during
practice.
Those things that she said didn't concern me as much as
the fact that she said she was having a hard time staying motivated. There are
certain things you cannot teach as a coach. One of those things is motivation.
I can't give my players a cup of motivation and it's taken care of. I can
encourage and I do. But, that doesn't always work for every player.
I talked to this player about what I was seeing and where
she needed to improve. Then I talked with her about motivation. If she's not
motivated in practice she needs to find a way to stay motivated on her own. She
needs to challenge herself. She needs to say I'm going to get at least 7 out of
10 touches back to my partner in this drill. Because, if she's not motivated,
she's not only not helping herself but the team as well.
In life it's the same way. Many of us go through our days
stuck in the same routine. We wake up, maybe eat breakfast, go to work or
school, come home, eat, do some things around the house, relax, go to bed, and
then get up and do it all over again. Doing that day after day may make it hard
to stay motivated. That's when you need to find a way to stay motivated. You
could help someone, encourage someone, or challenge yourself with something new
each day.
Another reason we should stay motivated is because we
aren't just doing the things we do for ourselves or others. We are doing them
for God. 1 Corinthians 15:58 says: "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be
steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in
the Lord your labor is not in vain." We are doing everything we do for
God. That should make us motivated to do our best every day.
So, are you stuck in a rut? How can you help someone
today? How motivated are you?
In soccer one moment can mean the difference between
winning and losing. The choices players make in games greatly impact their team
and the result of the match. As a goalie, I know many times I look back at
games and think about what I could've done differently. I do my best every game
but mistakes are bound to happen because no one is perfect.
My players know that I don't expect them to be perfect.
But, I do expect them to play their best for their team. In order to do that,
we've adopted this saying that we don't leave a game with regrets. Will the
players get tired? Yes. Will they mess up? Yes. But, that doesn't mean that
they should regret the way they play unless they don't do their best and put
the effort in.
This quote can also apply to life. I believe we should
live our lives without regrets. You choose how hard you will work every day. As
long as you try to do your best every day it will be very difficult for you to
have regrets. Will your best look the same every day? It probably won’t,
because every day you won't feel 100%. Yet, you can still do your best.
Titus 2:7-8 says: "In everything set them an example
by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and
soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may
be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us." These verses
tell us that we are to be good examples to others. We know if we call ourselves
Christians all of our actions will be scrutinized by others. That's why we need
to do our best. We need to try to live our lives without regrets, not for us,
but so that God's glory is reflected in us.
So, are you living your life with regrets? How can you do
your best every day? How can you reflect God's glory today?
Soccer is a very grueling sport. Some people who don't
know soccer or have never seen it played just assume that soccer is just
passing the ball up the field to score. Yes, the goal of the game is to score
in the goal but there is so much more strategy to it. What formation are you
going to play? Where are you going to play certain players? Should you contain
or step hard to the ball? Should you pass or shoot? There's more but I'll stop
there.
One area that I have noticed that is very difficult about
the game of soccer is the endurance it takes to stay in the game. I'm not
talking just running endurance. I'm talking body endurance too. For those of
you who don't know, soccer is a contact sport. Players need to take hits, some
harder than others, and still play the game. The only protection players wear
are shin guards. Thus, they get the wind knocked out of them a lot.
All of these things are the reason I began to say:
"your last one is your best one." This may seem strange. You may be
thinking, "wouldn't you want your first to be your best?" Yes, you
still want your first to be good but that's when you aren't so tired. I've
coached teams and been on teams that were doing well at the beginning because
they were not tired. Then they got tired and lost. If you don't do your best
through the whole game it doesn't matter how you do at the beginning of the
game. No one remembers about how you did at the beginning. It matters how you do
at the end. The result tells a story.
It's like this: when you first start a job you want to
prove yourself so you work really hard. Then as you are there longer you may
get tired of the trivial everyday tasks you do. If you start to slack off on
your duties what's going to happen? Do you think people are going to remember
you for what you did when you first started working there or how you worked
when you were there your last days?
Colossians 3:23 says: "Whatever you do, work
heartily, as for the Lord and not for men." If we are working for the Lord
then we should give our best all the time. Will our best be different on
different days? Probably, I mean if you are sick your best may only be working
as hard as you can even though your body is yelling at you. Nonetheless, we
should still give our best even if we are tired. Like I said before, people
probably won't remember how you started something but how you finished it.
1 Corinthians 9:24 says: "Do you not know that in a
race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to
get the prize." This verse brings home my message. If you run really hard
at the beginning of the race but don't do your best at the end you won't get
the prize. That's why your last one has to be your best. Because, when you
think to yourself, "oh I've worked so hard. I'll just slack off this one
time" that one time could cost you a lot.
So, do you work hard to do your best every day? Are you
running the race to win the prize? What area of your life do you feel you need
to work harder for God's glory?
If you go outside at night
and look in the sky, what will you see? You may see clouds or the moon. But if
you live in the country, you could see the stars. Stars have amazed people for
years. They are high in the sky, make patterns, are millions of miles away, and
still shine bright enough that we can see them here on earth. This year, at Camp
YoliJwa, the theme is shine like stars. The verse this is taken from is Philippians
2:15 which says: “so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God
without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among
them like stars in the sky.” In one of the classes, we
talked about love languages. I have discussed love languages on my blog before,
but I did not realize how much the camp verse connects with them. We are to
show love to everyone. That is the second greatest commandment that Jesus
talked about. Yet, that is not always easy to do. We all have different love
languages, and some are more comfortable for us than others. Also, we will get
along better with some people than others. But God calls us to love everyone. He
calls us to shine like stars. How are we to do that when we live in a world
filled with darkness and sin? How are we to do that when people are not kind to
us? We need to bear fruit. We
need to grow in God. We need to be more like Jesus in our actions. In the world
there is darkness. We can choose to let the darkness overcome us. We can choose
to join in the darkness by sinning. Or we can choose to shine with God’s love
and reflect his glory. What does that look like? It
may mean we have to start small. We begin by loving our immediate family. We start
by learning about Jesus, so we grow. That helps us know how to love others in
certain situations. It may be hard to do, but we need to remember in the world filled
with darkness. That means that even if we only give off a little light it will
be seen. People will notice and begin to wonder what is different about us. That
will lead them to learn more about Jesus and how much he loves them. And isn’t
that the whole reason we are here? We are here to shine like stars and reflect
the glory of God. So, are you shining for God’s glory? If not,
what can you do to reflect His glory? How can you show love to someone today?
Picture that you have just finished the last thing you
need to do after work. It is a Friday and you are ready to go home to your
family and enjoy the weekend. You grab your coat and pack your bag. You pull
your keys out and start to walk away when suddenly you hear your co-worker. He
asks you to help him finish part of this project.
Now, you had just put in a full day of work. You were diligent and finished all
of your tasks. Then this co-worker has the gall to ask you to help him! You
have a choice. You could stay and help him or you could make up an excuse and
say you had to get home. I just want you to think about what you would do...
Meanwhile let's look at what the Bible says about this. In Matthew 5 Jesus is
giving instruction to people. He begins to talk about the idea of "an eye
for an eye" in verse 38. He says that if someone strikes your right cheek
let him strike the other as well. He goes on to say "If someone forces you
to go one mile, go with him two miles" (Mat.5.40). Now, some of you may be
saying "what does that mean? How can someone force me to go a mile?"
Others may be saying "my coach, or trainer, would make me do that."
Still others may be saying "If I had to go a mile, let alone two, I would
fall over and God would take me to heaven!"
Let's look at the context of this verse. Back in this time the Roman Empire was
in charge. Roman guards had a lot to carry at times. It was legal for a Roman
soldier to pull someone at random to help him carry his things. The soldier
could only force that person to carry his things for a mile. Thus, Jesus was
saying to go another mile with that soldier. Think about that: it is an
inconvenience for you, it is a very hard job, and you are pulled away from what
you need to do.
Back to my first situation: what would you do? Would you have stayed to help
your co-worker? Jesus would say that not only should you stay but you should
also help him finish the project! You may be asking "why should I help?
What if my co-worker takes all of the credit?" He may do that but we
cannot control the actions of others. We can only control our own actions. Who
knows? Maybe your helping the co-worker out will lead the co-worker to
Christ.
So, when people ask you to help will you help? Will you follow the teachings of
Jesus? Will you choose to go the extra mile?
I attended Lancaster Bible College for 4 and 1/2 years.
While there, there was one topic that was always talked about. During Freshman
year I don't think that I was in a single class that did not mention at least
one part of this idea of a Worldview.
Every person has their own Worldview whether they know it or not. Your
Worldview is based off of people you know, your life experience, and so much
more. You may not know all of the parts of your Worldview but let me give you
an example of a situation where your Worldview would come into play.
Imagine you just had a long day at work/school and you knew you had another
meeting where you had to go back to work/school. You knew you needed a break
before your meeting so you went out to grab a bite to eat and your favorite
beverage. You come back to work/school fairly refreshed from your food but you
had some of your beverage left over. You go down the stairs and open the door
to work/school and pick up your beverage but your drink falls and spills all
over the floor. One of your fellow employees/school chums sees that there is a
mess. The employee/school chum helps you clean up the mess.
Now, you may be asking how in the world that situation has to do with your
worldview. I'm glad you asked. There are different parts of your Worldview that
would impact how you view this situation. 1. Your view of God-in this situation you could be thinking God hates me
because this happened even though I'm in a hurry to get to my meeting. Or, you
could be thinking thank you God for sending my fellow employee/school chum to
help me clean up my mess. Who knows, maybe because of that spill something good
happened. You could have impacted that person, you could have made a new
friend, you could influence that person to come to Christ, or you could have
avoided another disaster that would happen in the future.
2. Your view of the world-you could be thinking the world is a horrible place
because you lost your drink, you have this meeting, and it just isn't fair that
everything happens to you. Or, you could be thinking the world is such a great
place because it could have been much worse. I could have fallen down the steps
with this drink and gotten hurt, the drink could have gotten all over me, etc.
3. Your view of people-you could think that you wish another person would come
to help. You could also think that you can handle cleaning this up yourself
because you don't want to owe this person. Or, you could think that person was
so nice to help me clean this up. You could say thank you to that person and
strike up a conversation in order to make a new friend.
How you view God, the world, and people impacts how you act every day. Thus
this also goes as far as to say that how people treat you says what their
Worldview is like.
This is what I want you to think about: there is power in perspective. Getting
to know others and their Worldview helps you to walk in their shoes. It helps
you see who they are and why they do what they do. P.S. worldviews are always
changing because we change with experience.
So, do you know what your Worldview is? Are you trying to understand others
through their Worldview?
John 13:34 and Ecclesiastes 3
Have you ever met a person who seems to complain about
everything? I am talking about a person who could've won a new car but instead
of being thankful all he thinks about is the gas and insurance he has to pay
for. Okay so maybe not that extreme but you get what I'm saying.
I have seen this on the soccer field, and I'm sure you have as well if
you've ever played a sport. In soccer we typically played each team twice. If
we lost badly to a team we knew we would get another chance to play them. The
problem was if a team crushed us, swore at us, or hurt many of us we looked
back at that first game and thought "there is no way we can beat
them."
We were thinking like victims instead of victors. Victims look back at what
happened to them. Victors look ahead at what they are going to do.
It is a mental choice to decide if you want to be a victim or a victor. As I
grew I began to realize that I decided what my attitude was. I could look back
at how bad we played and say "we are going to get crushed again." Or,
I could say "it doesn't matter how we played last time. We can do better
this time."
The time in between games was a time of growth. Our team always grew, we just
had to decide if we would push past what happened last time or not.
It is the same way with life. You decide if you will look back at what happened
to you and sulk or maybe not even try. You also decide if you will press on,
grow, and keep trying no matter what. I don't know about you, but I would want to be a victor rather than a victim.
But, that means we must be prepared. We need to be in the word and spend time
with God. That way, when situations come up, we are ready for victory.
So, will you choose to look back at what happened to you or will you look ahead
to the victories? Will you be prepared for challenges that come your way?
Have you ever felt like you were at war with yourself?
You wanted to do something but you knew it was wrong or something told you, you
shouldn't do it? That may be your conscious telling you not to do something
because you know it's wrong. But, who or what is telling you to do the wrong
thing?
You may picture an angel on one shoulder and the devil on
another shoulder. Let me give you another example. In The Lord of the Rings
series there is a character named Gollum. This character has a very interesting
story and may have what some people would call Dissociative Identity Disorder.
In other words it seems like he has two personalities. One of them is Gollum,
who is obsessed with the ring. The other is Smeagol, who is a hobbit from the
Shire.
In the clip Gollum is having problems because part of his
personality is bringing him down. While is is true that Gollum probably
wouldn't be there at that point without the ring, Smeagol is tired of being
told what to do. He is tired of being reminded of all the wrong things he has
done. He tells the Gollum part of him to leave and never come back.
James 4:7 says: "submit yourselves, then, to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." While we may not have two
personalities like Gollum does, we do all have times where we feel like there
are two voices telling us what to do. At that point we have a choice. If we
choose the Devil, we may feel happiness on earth but will we actually have
true, permanent happiness? More than likely we will not.
If we choose to follow God we may not be happy when we
are on earth but we know that our heavenly Father is looking down and smiling.
Life on earth sure isn't easy but we aren't here to live life to the fullest
for ourselves. We are here to reflect God's glory, worship him, and tell others
about him. If we chose the Devil then we turn our backs on God. In turn, he
will turn his back on us when we get to heaven.
Please do not misunderstand me here; I am not saying that
God doesn't love you if you make a wrong choice. He still loves you, but when
judgement day comes will you be able to say with confidence that you are going
to heaven? Matthew 7:21-23 talks about how a lot of people call Jesus Lord but
only those who do the will of the Father will enter heaven. We have a choice
whether or not we will believe in Christ and follow him or not.
So, will you resist the Devil? Will you lean on God
through the good and the bad? Will you choose to accept Christ as your Lord and
Savior?
James 4:7, Matthew 7:21-23, Proverbs 3:5-6, 1 Corinthians
10:31
As a goalkeeper for soccer, I had to do many different
drills in order to get my skills as a keeper up to par. Some of those drills
involved had me having multiple soccer balls shot at me at once. In that drill
if I focus on all of the soccer balls coming at me then I could either get
hurt or miss stopping all of the soccer balls, which, in case you did not know,
the job of a goalkeeper is to stop the ball from going in the net. At this point you may be wondering why I am telling you
this. This situation relates to our lives in multiple ways. The first way is
that many times we are focused on what we don't have in life rather than what
we do have. In goal if I go to stop one shot but I take my eyes off that one
shot and look at another shot that is better I lose out on saving the first
shot. In life if we focus on what we don't have we will never be happy. Romans
12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect." The things of this earth are
temporary. If we focus on the things we don't have, the people we don't have,
or the looks we don't have we won't be happy and we won't be able to reach
others for God. We need to be transformed and focus on what God has blessed us
with. The next way this situation relates to you is leadership.
At some point in your life you will probably be asked to lead. Being a leader
is not always easy. Leaders make many choices and people under them may not
always agree with them. That's why leaders need to focus on what they do have
character wise and follower wise. If leaders focus on what other people have or
the people who stopped following them then they will not be as effective. A
leader's job is to do his work to the best of his ability. The leader must
focus on what God is calling him to do. So, are you focused on what you don't have? Are you using
the abilities God has given you to glorify him?
