it's okay to not understand

I believe that one of the things that hold people back from having a relationship with Christ is the feeling that they for some reason think they have to understand everything. I would even say this is something all believers struggle with. It can be really hard sometimes to not have an idea what is going on in your life and the plan that God has for you. 

Trust me, I have been there more times than not. I feel like there have been so many seasons in my life where I know that God has a plan for me but I have no idea what that plan is. Same with what God is trying to teach me. I know there are lessons out there for me and things to learn but sometimes I just can't figure it out. 

The most recent question that I have had for God is something I have been praying about since the summer. Everyday I ask him what is he is trying to teach me because I still don't understand. 

If I was a betting man, I would say that there are people who are going to read this who are thinking the same thing. 

I was encouraged by Daniel this morning when I was spending some time in Daniel chapter 8. My hope is that you will be encouraged as well. 

I have been spending the past few weeks in the book of Daniel and one of the many things that has been the most eye opening is the discernment and understanding that Daniel always seemed to have. Whether it was interpreting the dreams and visions of kings, or facing challenges like being thrown into the fiery furnace or the lions den, Daniel always seemed to have an understanding on what was going on and why. In fact, nobody other than Daniel could understand these things. It's amazing! I would encourage you all to dive into the book of Daniel. 

In chapter 8, Daniel had a vision of a Ram and a Goat. I won't go into the details of this vision, but it was so extreme and full of detail that it really troubled Daniel. At the end of Daniel chapter 8 it says: "Then I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for several days. Afterwards I got up and performed my duties for the king, but I was greatly troubled by the vision and could not understand it." - Daniel 8:27

Daniel got up, and went on his day with usual. There are going to be many things we are faced with that we don't understand and that is okay! We just have to get back up, and continue to pray for God's favor and that we would understand at some point what God is teaching us. He is faithful and always has a plan for you. 

It's okay to not understand. I hope that encourages you with whatever you are going through right now. 

Why is there so much fear?

Why is there so much fear? Why do we let a couple powerful people in our country say things that causes us to change the way that we live our lives? Why? I certainly don't have an answer. I do think there are a couple sides to this though. Everything you see on your screens, whether it's your phone, computer, or TV can cause fear. We all look at those things a lot, so it's the perfect weapon for the enemy. If you are spending a lot of time out in the real word, and observing how people are living right now, you don't see as much of it. 

This is a little political yes. I used to run away from any type of political topics, but the truth has to be spoken. There isn't time to run away. 

I made my mind up that I am not going to live in fear. I know that God is faithful and has always and forever had a plan for my life. No matter what I have faced, God has always had a plan for me. At my worst of times and my best of times God is faithful. It's never about me, it's about the plan that God has for me. 

I was encouraged in the book of Daniel this morning. Daniel is one of my favorite books in the Bible. The story that encouraged me was the story about the blazing furnace. To summarize the story, King Nebuchadnezzar has issued a mandate that anyone who didn't bow to his golden statue would be thrown into the blazing furnace. There were three guys who didn't bow and their names were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The King was so furious that they didn't bow to the statue that he had the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual! When the guards through the three men into the furnace, the guards died because of the heat. Once the three were thrown into the furnace, the King saw a fourth walking around in there with them and it was God. The King was astonished and amazed that God has saved the three men. 

There are a few things I want to point out. The first is that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn't give into the fear that everyone else had. They weren't going to conform to the world. They understand that their lives were dedicated to God and not man. How often in today's world do we see people doing things just to fit in? People making decisions because they have to and they're fearful of the consequences. I see it daily. 

The second thing I want to point out is that God was with them. The three understood that as well. They had faith that God would rescue them from the fire. Where is our faith? God is omnipresent, meaning he is everywhere all of the time. Yet we fear greatly. 

I have fear. There are things that I have fear about daily. But my faith outweighs my fear. Sure I could be better, I could be way better. I've never been threatened to be thrown in a blazing furnace, yet there are times every day where I have more fear than Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ever had. I am sure you feel that way too.

I am nowhere close to perfect. That's why I need Jesus in my life. I can't do it alone and I will never be able to do it alone. You can't either. I encourage you to think about the faith and the courage that these three guys had. When everyone was forced to do what the King deemed they should do, those three guys stayed true to who they were. 

My challenge to you is are you going to do the same? Are you going to stand up for what you believe in? Are you going to have faith greater than your fear? Are you going to remember that God is with you? Because he is!! He will never fail us.  

Continue to stand up for the truth. 

tend the sheep

You never know how far a little piece of encouragement can go for somebody. Sometimes the best encouragement is completely unintentional. I was on the receiving end of some of the best encouragement I have heard in months this afternoon. 

I had happened to run into one of my coworkers this morning who is actually more of a mentor and friend to me than a coworker..We were talking and catching up and asking me how things were going with my new position I started a couple months ago. 

After talking to him about it for a couple minutes, he asked me if I remembered what King David did for years and years before he become King. I had no idea honestly...but he reminded my that David kept tending the sheep every day. 

Although it was a mundane task, and maybe not the most thrilling and exciting, David stuck it out because he was exactly where God wanted him, 

Shepherding was menial, unpleasant, and lonely work. It was such a low level position that when Samuel came to anoint the next King, David wasn't even invited to the ceremony. Samuel anointed Jesse's sons who he though would be the next king, but God had other plans. he told Samuel that He looks at the heart and not a person's appearance or stature.

"But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

I would encourage you all with this and this is for everyone! Never think because you are in a low level position or you are doing what others think is menial work that God cannot advance you. He is looking at how you handle your current responsibilities. He is watching your character. He is observing your commitments. 

Tend the sheep daily. 

Thomas family forgiveness

Aaron Thomas was the guest of my favorite podcasts earlier this week. (The Montgomery Companies Podcast) If you haven't checked out the show before I would highly recommend it. I was very encouraged by Aaron's story that he shared about his family. To make this post short, sweet, and to the point I am not going to go into detail, I just want to highlight the main point. 

As Aaron tells, on June 24, 2009, his father was murdered by a former player that he had coached in high school. Aaron's father was a legendary coach and a small town hometown hero. The murder was the first one in the town since 1923. 

It was later discovered that the man who committed to crime was suffering from severe mental illness. The man even came from a really good family. 

What inspired me is the way that Aaron, his mom, and brother responded to what had happened. Although being heart broken beyond belief, they forgave the man who committed to crime in the very first interview/press conference that they did.

That blew my mind but it was the most encouraging thing I have heard all week.

It just hit home to me because it seems like there are little things we hold over people's heads all the time. If someone says something behind are back, someone doesn't stay true to their word, etc. I believe it's time to forgive more often and quicker. 

I am not saying all wrongs are fine so just keep doing wrong and getting forgiven. But I believe that we can show the power and love of Christ Jesus better when we forgive others. Other than Jesus there is nobody perfect. Not one other human has ever been perfect in the history of mankind. It's time to stop expecting people to be perfect. We all make mistakes and we all sin. How are you going to respond next time someone wrongs you or someone close to you?

I hope you remember Aaron and the grace he showed next time you're in a situation that someone does you wrong.

cleanse ourselves

Sometimes we just need a complete cleanse. I know a somewhat popular cleanse might be doing something like a juice cleanse after a bad weekend of eating. Or maybe you are trying to change your diet completely. Rach and I are starting are sixth week of eating plant based this week. We haven't been perfect, but we both feel like we have cleansed our bodies with not consuming any meat. It's an incredibly refreshing feeling.

"Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God." (2 Corinthians 7:1)

There are many things in this world that can defile our bodies and spirit. Things like the news, social media, people, food, and whatever we consume. 

We must always be working towards completely holiness. We aren't perfect so we will never be completely holy here on earth, but we can work towards it daily! 

Let's commit to filtering areas in our life so that work towards the common goal. One thing I have noticed in my life, is that one I start to cleanse myself in one area, it because easier to cleanse myself in other areas. 

Another thing I have learned is that you have to be on guard. When you eliminate a distraction or temptation out of your life, you're most likely going to be tempted in different ways. It's a constant battle towards holiness.

I hope as you reflect on this, you think back to times in your life where you may have done a cleanse in the past and you remember how much better you felt because of it. Let's do this! I can think of no better way to get the week started than with a fresh cleanse. 

'but' clause

There can always be a 'but' statement...

I am full, but I could still eat dessert.

I am busy right now, but I think I can make that work.

I am tired, but am willing to stay up a little later and watch another movie.

You can use it with everything. It's kinda like a safety net. Whenever you use the word 'but' whatever words you say before that nearly become meaningless.  There are both pros and cons to using the 'but' clause. I like to look at the pros because that's where we have the safety net.

Paul endured a lot of hardships during his ministry. More than we have ever faced! Check out how he uses the word 'but' when he writes. 

We are honest but they call us imposters. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we will always have joy. We are poor but we give spiritual riches to others. (2 Corinthians 6:8-10)

If Paul doesn't use those 'but' clauses these verses are extremely negative. I love the honesty and how opportunistic Paul is. That's what I hope you take away from this post this morning. Things are never as bad as they seem. When you are faced with difficulties today, think about what else is going well. There is beauty in every situation. 

Oh Be Careful Little Eyes What You See: Rosemary Fisher

Oh Be Careful Little Eyes What You See

 

Who remembers that song? Back in the day, when I was a little kid, we learned that song in Sunday School. I don’t know if little kids are still learning this song or not? If you’re not familiar with it, It goes like this:

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

For the Father up above

Is looking down in love

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

 

Oh be careful little ears what you hear

Oh be careful little ears what you hear

For the Father up above

Is looking down in love

Oh be careful little ears what you hear

 

And there’s other verses about your hands and what you do, and your feet and where you go. Feel free to take a quit break and go listen to it!

 

Earlier this spring, this song came to mind, specifically the verse on ears: Oh be careful little ears what you hear. There had been something going on in our community that a lot of people had been talking about and I had chosen not to engage in any conversation about it. For one, I did not want to participate in gossip. But also, I did not want to listen to one side of a story and form an opinion without knowing all sides. But more than anything, I know that once you hear something, you can’t un-hear it, and I didn’t want my opinion of someone/or a group of people, to be impacted by what I was hearing others say about them.

 

 I’ve heard people, including myself, say flippantly, “Oh I can’t un-see that…” after seeing something gross or traumatic. But in reality, this is true. Once you have laid eyes on an imagine, it can always be recalled. Wouldn’t the same be true about what we hear? Once we hear something, isn’t it put in our brain and able to be recalled?

 

When my kids were very young, someone once challenged a group of us at church with these verses: 

Psalm 101:2-3

I will lead a life of integrity

In my own home.

I will not look at anything vile and vulgar.

 

I took this to heart, big time! If you ask my 2 sons, they will STILL laugh and roll their eyes at this, but I would order children’s DVD’s that were edited, so that the movies were even more “clean.” (I think Luke has blogged about this in the past!) But we are talking G-rated movies, like Toy Story, etc. But also, PG movies, so any cuss words or inappropriate scenes were removed. Even into high school, we would have movie discussions about what is appropriate to watch and what I would ask them to avoid. We would discuss movies, and I would look them up online to view content warnings before giving approval for them (and myself) to see.(www.pluggedin.com) I personally don’t like watching anything with cussing, nudity, or any sexually inappropriate content. But more importantly, I also wanted to model what I was teaching my children. 

 

I love Philippians 4:8

Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 

 

Is this hard to do ALL the time? Of course it is!! VERY! We live in a fallen world where sin and corruption is all around us. Often it seems unescapable. But that is where we must be intentional- not only in what we are thinking about, but what we see, hear and do. 

 

This all came back to me this morning. A few days ago, I had heard a clip of a song on someone’s Instagram story that I thought was really catchy. It had a nice beat, and I’m always looking for songs to put on my running playlist. This morning I looked the song up on Spotify, and it came back with an E for explicit lyrics. I have my Spotify setting locked against explicit content. Really??? Yes, I do. I just turned 50 a few weeks ago, and I STILL have safeguards in place in my life to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus and not HEAR things I don’t need to. I admit, I actually clicked on it to listen and determine if that was the song I was looking for, and a prompt came up, telling me it was blocked but I could go change my settings. I sat for about a nanosecond and debated doing it. Then everything I have written in this post came rushing at me. Verses flooding at me, specifically the ones above. I was quickly able to shut off my phone and avoid temptation because LONG ago I had decided what my decisions in these situations would be. A quote I heard a couple years ago says this: “For the person with true conviction, certain decisions have already been made.” I love that. And I have told a few graduating high school students this quote as both an encouragement, and a challenge, as they head off to college That knowledge does not make a person free from temptation, but it does give us a way out. Long ago I made up my mind about these things, and I’m not going to cave just because I liked the beat of a song and it might energize me when running.

 

What are your safety measures? Do you have anything in place to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus? Have you decided how you can avoid temptation when it is staring you in the face?

Oh be careful little eyes what you see…

 

Oh be careful little ears what you hear…

 

Perhaps you have other verses or methods that have worked for you. Feel free to share in the comments if you have a way to encourage others!