Why Worry?

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" - Matthew 6:25-27

I had a night all to myself, being that Evan was at school. So, I wanted to get out of my house for a little while since it was such a gorgeous night, so I decided to pack up my bible and a blanket and go to the park to have some quiet time with God. I sat myself down on a bench between two big shade trees, facing a pond. As I was sitting there reading through my bible, I looked up a noticed a little goldfinch sitting on the branch of a tree that had fallen into the pond.Every now and again, he would fly up into the air, flutter around, and land back down on the tree. It took me a minute to realize what he was doing, but I figured out that he was catching bugs in mid-air. Sometimes he would catch two or three in the same flight. I watched him for a good five minutes and was fascinated by what was happening right in front of me.

As I was watching this adorable little goldfinch catch his dinner, Matthew 6:26 came into my head. I started thinking, "Here is this little bird, who doesn't have any real purpose to his life, and yet God is providing food for him to stay alive." I had not eaten dinner yet, and I thought to myself, "I am going to go home shortly and I am not worried whether or not there will be food for me to eat when I get home. I know I have food at home. I know I also have clothes to wear, and a house to live in." I had to stop and say a thank you prayer to God. God takes care of my little goldfinch friend, and He takes care of me. I have nothing to worry about.

Just then, a beautiful blue heron swooped down out of the sky and flew across the pond. Blue herons are probably my favorite birds in the world because they are so majestic and beautiful.
The blue heron landed on the bank of the pond and out of my line of sight. A few moments later, he swooped back to the middle of the pond, right in front of where I was sitting and stood in the water, perfectly still. I could see him peering into the water and every once in a while he would move ever so slightly to get a better look. He was hunting for fish. So, now I had two completely different kinds of birds being fed by my Heavenly Father!

I was so moved by this seemingly ordinary scenario. I was so thankful to be sitting there witnessing all this. We have nothing to worry about because our Heavenly Father takes care of us, just as he takes care of the birds of the air. Thank you Jesus!

Jesus' Prayer for You and Me

John 17:20-26
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

Read It For Yourself

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11

Think back to when you were a child, sitting in Sunday School, listening to the teacher tell you about all the best Bible stories: Adam & Eve, Noah & the ark, Moses & the Red Sea, Abraham & Isaac, Jesus & the 12 Apostles...the list goes on and on.
Now think ahead a little...you're sitting in church, listening to the preacher tell you those same stories, and many others, just a more "grown-up" version of them. Now let me ask you this: has most or even all of what you know of the bible and of God been told to you by someone else? Or, have you read and studied the bible for yourself, drawing your own conclusions, and asking God to reveal His truth to you?

For most of my life, the former question was true of me. Most of what I knew about the bible and God came from what other people had told me, only occasionally reading the bible for myself. It wasn't until the past couple of years that I actually started really reading the bible for myself, asking God to write His word on my heart, and help me to understand what the text is saying. How many times have you been reading a passage, and you just breeze through it without actually taking the time to understand what it really says?

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not a big fan of Christian books. Not that they are bad, and that they shouldn't be read, but I am very wary of them because they are just one person's opinion and interpretation of something. Anyone can write a book. My problem with books is that often, people will place higher importance on those books than on the bible itself. Just because they read something they happen to like or agree with, then it must be the truth. This is a tremendous mistake. The only absolute truth out there is the written word of God - the Bible.

Reading the bible for ourselves also helps us identify false prophets. If we know what it says in the Word, we will know when someone is misinterpreting or misusing it. It will also help us to be able to respond when people ask about our faith. 1 Peter 3:15 says "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."

God's word tells us everything we need to know. But we have to read it for ourselves. We cannot go through life depending on other people to feed it to us. Not your parents, not your siblings, not your friends, not even pastors. It's good to listen to your pastor, and to others, but ultimately, we answer to the one who resides in heaven. Reading the bible is one of the best ways for us to grow closer to God. It helps us understand his character, and how we should be living. If you are doing something that doesn't line up with what it says in the bible, you know you are not behaving the way God wants you to. Bottom line: read it for yourself.

What's Mine is Yours....or is it?

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6:19-20

I recently had a conversation with a coworker about having kids, which morphed into a conversation about having someone to whom you can pass your stuff and your money to when you pass away (i.e. your kids). We were talking about having kids vs. not having kids, and she said something to the effect of, "I like to know that I have someone that I can pass on my things to when I die, and that it doesn't go to just anyone, like my next closest relative or something." She then asked me if I agreed.
I immediately answered, "I really don't care. When I'm gone, I'm gone, I really don't care what happens to my stuff. It's just stuff anyway - even the money."
She seemed a little taken aback by my response. Nevermind that she was trying to convince me to have kids, I think she was shocked that I would have such a blasé attitude about my stuff. While I didn't get a chance to get into a whole spiritual discussion with her, I tried to explain that stuff is just stuff. I can't take it with me when I die, and when I do die, I'm not going to care either way who gets my stuff because, well, I'll be dead and partying with Jesus up in Heaven!
She then replied, "Yeah, I know it's just stuff, but it has memories attached to it." To that I said, "The memories are in your heart and in your head. Even if that thing that has the memory is gone, the memory is still within you." Now, I know a lot of people like that sentimental value that certain items have, and I do too, to an extent. There are things that I have saved from my past because they are tied to a nice memory, or someone gave it to me as a gift and I don't have the heart to throw it out or give it away. But in the end, what is it really worth? Will my life be any worse if I were to give those things away, or throw them out? There are plenty of things I have thrown out over the years that had great memories attached to them, but I do not wake up every day regretting that I ever got rid of them. Life goes on, and I am not ruled by my stuff. In fact, Evan and I are getting rid of a lot of our stuff (DVD's and CD's especially), because we realized that we don't need them. Sometimes what we will do is sell the DVDs and CDs back to a store or on Amazon, and then give the money we get to someone else who needs it. We're not trying to brag, we are just doing what the bible says: "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" - 1 John 3:17 and "Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need." - Acts 2:45
Stuff is just stuff. There are so many people in the world who hardly have anything, so who are we to worry about where our stuff will end up when we are gone? I have more in my cubicle at work than some people have altogether. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that having stuff is bad, but I am saying that ultimately Jesus is all we will ever need. There are people who have literally risked their lives just to have more of Jesus. There are people who have died because of their belief in Jesus. Do you think those people are concerned about stuff? I doubt it.

Heavenly Father, I pray that we would all recognize that our stuff is just stuff. I pray that we would realize that YOU are all we need to survive, and that you provide for us everything that we need. You have said that we are much more precious and valuable than the birds of the air, and yet even they are not worried about food, clothing or shelter. Thank you for all that you give to us, and thank you for the opportunities to help those who are in need. In your most holy and precious name, amen.

My Dog Ate My Homework

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20

I heard someone say recently that when we and/or if we get to heaven one day, God is not going to ask us to give an account for everything we did while we were on the earth, but rather, He is going to ask how many people we brought with us.
So, I ask you, how many people are you bringing with you to heaven? Because that, friends, is the assignment. Jesus gave us a very clear assignment to complete during our short time here on the earth. We are to make disciples of all nations, not just a few of our closest friends.
But what does "make disciples" mean exactly? Well, a disciple is defined as "a person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another; a follower." So based on that, we are supposed to get other people to follow Christ, just as we do. But let's not ignore the second part of this command, and that is to teach them to obey everything I (Jesus) have commanded you. Did you catch that? Teach them to obey EVERYTHING. Not just some of God's commands, ALL of them. And those commands are clearly laid out for us in the bible.
Matthew 28:19-20, known as "The Great Commission," is the last thing that Jesus tells us to do during his time on earth. To me, that signifies that it is one of the most important commands that he gives us.
Imagine that one day you were walking along, and you found a key on the sidewalk. Attached to that key was a note that read, "This key opens a door to the greatest and most valuable treasure known to man, and it can be yours absolutely free. If you open the door, you will never have a need for anything ever again. Everything you will ever need is behind that door. However, once you open the door and see what is behind it, you must share it with as many people as you can and invite them to come with you." How would you respond? Would you keep it to yourself? Would you share it with others? Our society has bred us to be very protective of our valuables. What's mine is mine, and I don't have to share if I don't want to. But God's word tells us quite the opposite. What God has to offer us is the greatest and most valuable treasure known to man, and that is salvation. It is given to us for free, but the catch is that we have to tell everyone about it. That is our homework.
So, how many people will you bring with you en route to heaven? One is better than none, but none is unacceptable. Greater things have yet to come...but let's not keep that to ourselves.

What are You Willing to Give Up?

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23

You have probably heard this verse many times in your life, and never really thought anything of it. Or, if you have thought about it, you're not really sure what it looks like to "take up your cross" and follow Jesus.
As Americans, we are among the richest people in the world. Sure, there are times when we don't feel rich, but trust me, we are. Most of us have a house to live in, at least one TV in that house, at least one computer, maybe a video game console or two, cell phones, one or two cars per household...you get the idea. We have it all. We live in a society which tells us, "He who dies with the most toys, wins." But think about that statement for a moment. When you die, are you taking your toys with you? Will your toys even matter to you once you're dead? Sure, it will give people some nice things to say at your funeral, and you may be remembered well, but what does it all really count for? So what's more important to you - how many "toys" you have, or where you will be going when you die?
Friends, there is no "toy" on this earth that is greater than what God has to offer us. God is offering us an eternity in heaven with him, and salvation from the fires of hell. So, I ask you, what are you willing to give up to follow him?
If I were to ask some of my youth group students, I might ask if they are willing to give up their cell phones, or maybe their Facebook account. I have a feeling that most of them would be hesitant to give those up. Are you willing to give up watching TV, or watching movies? Are you willing to give up the things that other people in the world would consider luxuries? Making the decision to follow God is probably the most important decision you could ever make, and if you haven't made it yet, I encourage you to do so.
Matthew 13:44-46 talks about the Kingdom of Heaven being like a hidden treasure, or a valuable pearl. When the person in the story found it, he sold everything he had just so he could have the treasure, or the pearl. That is because the treasure is so valuable, so precious, that there is nothing on earth that could compare to it. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, there are many things that take our time away from God. But God is saying that we must give up those things in order to follow him. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to follow God, even if it meant giving up some or all of things you love?
I know I have a hard time committing to that. We are creatures of habit and comfort. We don't like to do things that are outside of our comfort zone. But God wants us to step out of our comfort zone. He wants us to take up our crosses daily and follow him. Are you willing to do that? Do you believe today that the Kingdom of Heaven is like the greatest and most valuable treasure you could ever find, and are you willing to sacrifice everything to have it? You can't take anything with you when you die except your soul. So, is your soul destined to spend eternity with God in heaven, or are you doomed to spend eternity in hell, forever separated from God?

Can't Talk Now, Too Busy

I have heard it said once that BUSY can stand for Being Under Satan's Yoke. What does that mean to you?
When someone asks me what I have been up to lately, I find myself telling them often that I am "busy," or that I am "too busy" to do something. That something is usually spending time with God. I make excuses. "I can't read my bible/pray right now, I have to make dinner (or fill in some other activity that could most likely wait.)" I think about all the things I do during the day: work, check e-mail, check Facebook, check the weather, check other websites, etc. Once you add up all that stuff, there seems to be very little time left for God.
I heard a quote today from Pastor John Piper - "One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove on the last day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time." Reread that statement. I don't spend a ton of time on Facebook, but I probably spend more time on it than I do with God.
I am a creature of habit and routine. A typical day for me looks like this:

7:15am - wake up and get ready for work
7:45am - leave for work
8am - arrive at work
8am-8:15am - check various e-mail accounts, Facebook, weather, etc.
9am - eat breakfast
9:15ish-1pm - work stuff, occasionally taking breaks to check e-mail Facebook and other stuff
1pm-2pm - lunch (most days)
2pm-4pm - more work stuff
4pm - leave work and head home
4:15pm - arrive at home
4:15pm-anywhere between 4:30 and 5:30 - veg out, watch TV, talk to Evan
5:30ish - start dinner
6 or 6:30pm - eat dinner
7pm - watch Jeopardy with Evan
7:30pm and onward - watch TV, possibly go somewhere, talk to Evan, go on the computer to check e-mails, Facebook, etc.
Sometime during the evening - take a shower
11pm - go to bed
1am - lights out

That is the routine I am used to, and it has been that way for a little more than 3 years. Of course, weekends are different, but this is the usual M-F routine for me. Doesn't seem like there would be too much room for God in there does it? (You may also notice, there isn't much time for exercise either). Well, in a way, I have purposely made it that way. I get thrown off when I do something "outside" of my normal routine. If I tried to spend time with God before work, that may mean I have to wake up earlier that 7:15. My lunch hour is never consistent, so it wouldn't be the best time to spend with God. When I get home I am tired, and I want to relax and unwind by watching TV or talking to Evan. Then we need to eat, so I have to cook dinner - no time there. After that, I have to take a shower and watch all my shows. No time for God there either. Once that's all done, it's time for bed and I am too tired to talk to God at all. I'm just too busy!
Does any of this sound familiar? Do you say the same things to yourself? Are you "too busy" for God?

Back in May, I put myself on a bible reading plan that would take me through the bible in one year. It helps me to have daily reminders that I have to read the bible. They say it takes doing something 20 times to make it into a habit. I have officially made this a habit, and I love it. The actual time of day I spend reading my bible varies from day to day. Sometimes I have a few minutes before work to read a few chapters, sometimes I read during work or on my lunch break, sometimes I read after dinner. But the point is, I do it. I have even gotten so excited about it, that I am going beyond what the daily reading might be because I just want to be immersed in the Word. Proverbs 2 says: If you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
The only way to come closer to God is to read His Word for yourself and ask him for wisdom and understanding. You must also pray.

My prayer life is another thing that I claim to be "too busy" for. Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek church says that prayer is unnatural for us. It's not something we as humans are used to doing. We are accustomed to talking to people whom we can see and hear. For me, prayer also doesn't fit in my daily routine. There's no time. The bible says that when we pray, we are to go in a room, shut the door, and pray alone with nothing to distract us. Who has time for that? I've got to get to work! I've got to go to bed! I've got to...you get the idea. Occasionally, I will pray if I'm concerned about something, or if I've got a big meeting coming up, or something like that. So, I generally feel like I only talk to God when I need something. That's not the relationship we are supposed to have with God. I try to think of my relationship with God the way my relationship is with Evan, (Or at least, that's how I want it to be). I can talk to Evan about anything, I feel comfortable with him, I love spending time with him, in fact there is no one in the world I would rather be with than Evan. That's where I want my relationship with God to be. Right now, God is more of an acquaintance to me. He's like a relative that I only see a few times a year. I love him, but we don't talk all that much.

Gosh, the time I have spent writing this blog could have been time spent in the Word and in prayer. But we are constantly filling our lives with "busy work" and we are not leaving any time for God. Take stock of your own life. Seriously, write it out and add up the numbers. How many hours (or minutes) do you spend on your computer every day? How much time do you spend at work? How many hours of TV do you watch everyday? How many hours do you spend sleeping typically? Now how much time do you spend reading the bible? Praying?

Is God getting the lesser of your time? I am not saying that doing other things is bad, but I am saying that the less time you spend with God, the less of a relationship you will have with him. What can you cut out today? What can you do to make God the #1 priority in your life? Or are you too busy to think about it...