Great suffering

When you suffer do you have people around you who are willing to suffer with you?

When times are toughest and it seems like nothing is going your way, do you have friends who will come see you?

I want you to also think about it this way. Are you that friend? Are you going to be the friend that spends time driving to be with someone who is really struggling or do you put your agenda above theirs.

As humans we feel things, we get sad, we mourn, and we grieve. No matter how hard you try to be happy all the time, you just can't do it. We long to have people that we can talk too.

In Job chapter 2, he is continuing not to sin no matter how hard things are for him.

When Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was. (Job 2:11-13)

Are you the three friends that traveled to console their friend who had lost everything or do you just send a nice text and hope that they feel better? For me I have been both. Yesterday I drove to Warsaw to grab lunch with one of my friends because he had gone through a break up this past week. He really made it know how thankful he was that I came down to see him. I could've sent him a nicely worded text that would've made him feel a little better during the 10 seconds it would take him to read it. Plus, he probably would've forgotten about the text as soon as he shut his phone off. I wanted to encourage my friend in the best way that I could, and that was driving to grab a meal together and investing my time in him. Sometimes we might not be in driving distance, but are you sending a text or making a phone call? The way in which we encourage someone is more important than the encouragement itself.

A lot of times, we struggle with what we should say. Being only human we only have so many good things that we can say to help someone feel better. Sometimes the best way to make someone feel better is silence. Job's friends sat with Job in silence for seven days and seven nights. I can't sit in silence for more than 10 minutes, because it just gets awkward. But I try and I am working on it. When we struggle with what to say, perhaps what he or she needs most is our presence, showing that we care.

Next time you have a friend who is going through something tough, I hope that you remember this post and remember the sacrifices that his friends made to show that they were there for their brother. They traveled the distance...and spent seven days and seven nights in silence to show that they were there for him. I know we are busy, but I am sure that you have some time that you can offer.

Like Job did

I want you to think about how you react when you hit rock bottom. One thing about rock bottom is that it is different for everyone. For some, it's failing a test. For others, it's a break up with a significant other. For the rest, it's when things just seem to not go your way.

When those things are happening how are you reacting? Are you looking to get pleasure from something else? Do you curse the Lord? Do you have bad intentions to do something you're going to regret?

It looks different for everyone. For some reason, the story of Job was one of those stories I remember learning as a kid and I will never forget it. I always thought when I was growing up, that it was pretty unique that I remembered this story rather than other well known stories or characters in the bible.

I believe the reason for me remembering such an important story was the meaning behind it. I remember thinking to myself, if I lost everything I would freak out. What I remembered most was that no matter how bad things get in life, never blame God.

Who is Job? Some of you might not know....Job was a wealthy man of upright character who loved God. Yet God allowed Satan to destroy his flocks, his possessions, his children, and his health. Job refused to give up on God, even though he did not understand what was happening to him. We, too must trust God when we do not understand the difficulties we face.

Job was said to me the greatest man among all the people in the East. He feared God and shunned evil. He has seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three hundred camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and give hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants.

As we take a look at the book of Job in my next couple of posts, we have information that Job does not. We know that Job lost everything he had through no fault of his own as he struggled to understand why all this was happening to him, it became clear that he was not meant to know all the reasons. He would have to face life with the answers and explanations held back.

We must experience life as Job did - one day at a time and without complete answers to all of life's questions.

One of the most interesting details about this story is that God and Satan have a conversation. God brings up Job and tells Satan about how blameless and upright he is. Satan makes a remark at God about how Job will certainly curse God if Satan takes away everything from him. God said go ahead, "everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."


This conversation between God and Satan teaches us an important fact about God - he is fully aware of every attempt by Satan to bring suffering and difficulty upon us. While God may allow us to suffer for a reasons beyond our understanding, he is never caught by surprise by our troubles and is always compassionate.

So what ends up happening to Job and how does he react?

In a matter of a day...here is what happened:

- the Sabeans attacked and made off with all of Job's donkeys and oxen, and killed all the servants who were watching over them
- a fire burned all of his sheep and the servants watching them
- the Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on all of Job's camels killing them and the servants watching them
- Job's sons and daughters and their families were feasting and drinking and their house collapsed and killed them all

Everything that Job had worked for and that he had been given by God was taken away. That is rock bottom. What Job does next is astonishing.

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: 

"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord had taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised."

In all this, Job did not sin by charing God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:20-22)

Job did not hide his overwhelming grief. He had not lost his faith in God; instead, his emotions showed that he was human and that he loved his family.

God created our emotions, and it is not sinful or inappropriate to express them as Job did. If you have experienced a deep loss, a disappointment, or a heartbreak, admit your feelings to yourself and to others, and grieve.

When you hit rock bottom it's fine to admit that you need help and are hurt. That is a sign of humbling yourself before God and really showing that you need God and rely on Him to get you back on your feet.

More than tearing his robe and shaving his head, Job falling to the ground was the ultimate grieving moment. When we are on our feet, we can run from our problems. We can walk to our cars and drive away from our problems as well. When we are on your feet that is a sign of you trying to act like you are okay. It is okay to fall on the ground and grieve over something that is sad. It's the ultimate sign of  saying, "I need you God."

With that, I challenge you to live like Job did. It will be tough, but he never once blamed God when he lost everything that he had. Instead, he recognized that the Lord gives and the Lord takes, and that we should always praise the name of the Lord.

Go and make disciples

God gave Jesus authority over heaven and earth. 

I want you to realize that and remember that...On the basis of that authority, Jesus told his disciples to make more disciples as they preached, baptized, and taught. With this same authority, Jesus still commands us to tell others the Good News and make them disciples for the kingdom. 

That is such a big responsibility for us that we rarely make an effort to even do. When I think of my life, there has probably been like three times where I sat someone down, who didn't know anything about Jesus and I shared the gospel with them.

That isn't very good considering I have been alive for 22 years. In all honesty, that isn't the only way to go and make disciples. We all kind of do this in different ways. My way of sharing Christ's love for us is through my writing. I have also been fortunate enough to overseas a number of times. The things I do aren't what I want people to be encouraged by, it's why I do those things. For others it might be strictly serving, missions trips, street evangelism etc. Not everyone does it the same. In fact, we all do it different. 

But my question to you is are you doing something that is beneficial to the great commission of making disciples of all the nations? Or are you leaving that up to someone else because they are better at it than you? Think about this, if we all just push our mission to the side, nobody will ever be doing anything to help make disciples.

I kept this post short because there really isn't that much more to say. I can't sugarcoat this. Jesus tells us loud and clear that we need to go and make disciples of all nations. When Jesus tells us to do something I want to do it because I want to become more like Jesus every day. 

My challenge to you is to impact the lives of the people around you by loving others just as Jesus loves you. 

Washing your hands doesn't make them clean

One of the biggest things that I have always put a lot of focus on is admitting my mistakes. I will always take full responsibility for the decisions that I make. Whether they're good, bad, ugly or in-between.

I recognize that I am nowhere near perfect, I sin, and I make mistakes all of the time. Sometimes it might be hard for you to admit a mistake because you know it might have hurt someone, but when you admit that you were wrong, you free of a lot of the guilt that you were feeling. You also make things right with the person that you might have done wrong too.

It might not seem like it, but people will be more appreciative when you make a mistake and admit to it rather than you making a mistake and just letting it slide. I challenge you to admit that you made a mistake next time you are wrong about something...which will probably be today.

When Pilate was the one who ultimately made the decision to have Jesus crucified, he washed his hands, because he thought that would clean him for his sins.

"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor.
"Barabbas," they answered.
"What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" Pilate asked.
They all answered, "Crucify him!"
"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's
 blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" (Matthew 27:21-24)

Pilate recognized that Jesus had done nothing wrong, but insisted that the people make the decision. He was more worried about a riot and losing his power than making the decision that he knew was right in his head. Pilate thought that washing his hands would clean him of the decision that he made, but that was not the case.

In making no decision, Pilate made the decision to let the crowds crucify Jesus. Although he washed his hands, the guilt remained. Washing your hands of a tough situation doesn't cancel your guilt. It merely gives you a false sense of peace.

We can't ever make excuses - we must take responsibility for the decisions we make.

Next time you are wrong about something, just admit it. That's pleasing to God.

Greetings...friend

Every time that I read a passage in the Bible for a second, third, fourth, or maybe even fifth time I always seem to learn something new. Most of the time, that something new could be a single word that sparks my imagination to write a blog post about it.

Yes, the reasoning behind this post is noticing one word that I have never noticed before.

Matthew chapter 26 walks the readers through the end of Jesus's life. For those of you who don't know, one of the twelve disciples betrayed Jesus. Judas Iscariot was the one who did that. Judas accepted 30 silver coins in order to betray Jesus...the price of a slave.

While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him." Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Greetings Rabbi!" and kissed him. Jesus replied, "Do what you came for, friend." 
(Matthew 26:47-50)

Jesus called Judas his friend - let me remind you, Judas was one of Jesus closest friends and betrayed him and now he had a large armed crowd with him ready to arrest Jesus. This man was the reason that Jesus was betrayed and arrested...

Yet, he was still a friend to Jesus.

Jesus was a friend to everyone...Judas went from a friend to an enemy in our eyes, but in the eyes of Jesus he was still a friend. I think that is crazy!

We are called to live like Jesus. Who in your life has betrayed you that you wouldn't call a friend right now? I bet that a lot of people come to mind....Remember those people! Refer to them as a friend when you have to talk about them. When you think of them, forgive them for what they said or did and refer to them as a friend.

Jesus teaches us to love our enemies. Jesus teaches us to love one another as Christ loved us. The theme? Love others no matter what they say about you. If you get caught in the trap of worrying about what others have said, you will become mentally worn out for no reason. Who cares what other people think.

Friends are everywhere. My challenge to you, live a life where everyone is your friend. You can't fake it either, this has to be sincere and this will take effort. When we love others...that is pleasing to God.

Greetings...friend

God rewards faithfulness

God will reward you for your willingness and faithfulness to serve him with your gifts and talents. When you take a look at people around you I am sure that you have noticed there are people who have the ability to do things that you can't and when those people look at you they probably think the same thing.

God gifts us with wonderful talents that we can use to glorify him and serve the kingdom of God. How are you using what God has given you? When I played basketball, my coaches would tell us to focus on what we do well. When everybody did what they did well, the team was very successful.

When we use our talents well, we could have something like heaven on earth.

There is a parable that Jesus tells in Matthew chapter 25.

In this parable there was a wealthy man who was going on a journey and he entrusted his wealth to his servants. To one man he gave five bags of gold, to another he gave two bags, and then a bag to another. The man who was given five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received bag went off, dug a hole in the gourd and hid his masters money.

When the master returned he settled accounts with the servants. "Well done good and faithful servant." That is what the master told the servant who gained back five bags and the servant that gained back two bags.

What I want you to pay attention to is what the master said to the servant who hid his masters money.

"You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest." (Matthew 25:26-27)

What does this mean? The master divided the money (talents) among his servants according to their abilities. Nobody received more or less than he could handle. If he failed his assignment, his excuse could not be that he was overwhelmed. Failure could come from laziness or hatred toward the master. The talents represent any kind of resources we are given.

God gives us time, gifts, and other resources according to our abilities, and he expects us to invest them wisely until he returns. We are responsible to use well what God has given us. The issue should never be how much you have, but how well we use what we have.

How does this tie into faithfulness? Jesus is coming back - we know this is true. This means that we are to use our time, talents, and treasures diligently in order to serve God completely in whatever we do. Basically - this means doing our daily work out of love for God.

With whatever you are doing right now - you can do out of love for God. Whether you have a part time job for the summer, a full time job, or aren't working at all. We can always do whatever it is we do out of love for God.

We cannot fall into the trap like the servant who hid his masters money. That guy was only thinking of himself. He hoped to play it safe and protect himself from his master, but he was judged for self-centeredness. We can't ever make excuses to avoid doing what God calls us to do. If God truly is our Master, we must obey willingly.

Our time, abilities, and money aren't ours in the first place - we are caretakers, not owners. When we ignore, squander or abuse what we are given, we are rebellious and deserve to be punished. We deserve to be called a lazy wicked servant.

A cool way to think about it is that we are all walking gold mines full of potential. Deep down there is so much value that we can use to honor and glorify God in all that we say and do.

I encourage you to not waste the talent that God has given you. When you use that talent to glorify God, he will reward you for your faithfulness.

1:2

If you are reading the right now I really hope that the unique title caught your eye. If it did, that is why I made it so unique. 

What's that number? 1:2...1 out of 2 is 50%. You know what else is 50%? 

- 5:10

- 50:100

- 500:1,000

- 5,000:10,000

- 50,000:100,000

- 500,000:1,000,000

You get the point. At first, that 2:1 doesn't seem like that is a big deal...but over time you see the significance. The point of this post is to hopefully cause a little conviction and to remind you that there will be no opportunity for last-minute repentance. 

When God comes back for the second time we have to remain watchful. Nobody is going to know when it will happen. The angels in heaven, the Son, etc. Nobody knows except the Father. 

Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. (Matthew 24:40-42) 

Now think about this, the two men in the field who were working had no idea. The man who was taken didn't know that he would be taken at the moment in time. Same with the women who were grinding with a hand mill. Those who were taken didn't know more information than the ones who were left, they just had made a decision to commit their lives to God so when that time came, they were ready. Unfortunately, the ones who were left didn't make that decision and didn't have time to do it quickly. 

I can imagine that at a blink of an eye, the ones who were taken were gone. Imagine being that person who was left. There is literally no hope for you. You are stuck. I don't want you to be that person! It's either heaven or hell and I don't ever want anyone going to hell.

My encouragement to you is to make that decision and if you know others who haven't, pray for them and their hearts so that they are not left. No one should ever be left behind, but that is how it is going to be. We have the responsibility of bringing as many people along with us as we can. 

I want you to think about the people that you interact with on a daily basis. Some of these people might be your best friends and you might not know if they've committed their lives to Christ. Do you want to be sitting with them and talking someday and all of a sudden you are taken and they are left? Do you want you friends, co-workers, family members left here to suffer? Absolutely not! 

What do I want you to remember? Christ's second coming will be swift and sudden. There will be no opportunity for last-minute repentance or bargaining, the choice we will have already made will determine our eternal destiny. 

False teaching leads to false anxiety

Anxiety is a killer. One moment you feel like you’re on the top of the world with no stress at all. The next your wrapped with anxiety. It plagues your mind. Consumes all your thoughts, and you would do anything to get rid of it. Anxiety leaves knots in your stomach and makes you feel like their is something in your throat. It becomes hard to breath and difficult to control your thoughts.

Where does anxiety come from? I’m not 100% sure. I know for a fact that it doesn’t come from God. I believe anxiety comes from the world and a lot of the things that we are thought to believe that we necessarily shouldn’t.

There is an unfair pressure that the world puts on us. It becomes easy to believe that we should live according to the world’s standards vs. God’s. There is a pressure and a certain way that seems like the way you’re supposed to live. We look at other people and think that is how our lives should look.

We are all blessed with the opportunity to learn new things everyday. We spend the first quarter of our lives in school learning and when school is over and you begin to work, the learning starts all over again. It’s not a bad thing, it’s actually really good. We need to learn in order to be successful with what we do in life.

What does this success look like? In the book of Ecclesisates, Solomon writes over and over again how it’s our responsibility to enjoy what we do. No matter what we do in life, as long as we are happy with it, that is pleasing to God. Usually, when we are doing something that is pleasing to God, we are pleased ourselves. In my life right now, as I’m trying to get my license, I could look at other people in the office or my friends who are working and I could think, that should be me. But going through Ecclesisates again really reminded me that as long as I am happy with where I am at right now, God is pleased.

That’s something I want everyone to know. We spend way to much time comparing ourselves to others and trying to live a life that looks good to everyone else in the world. The world is the false teacher. We learn valuable things, but not the truth that you find in the word of God.

In Matthew chapter 28 Jesus is warning against the religious leaders.

He says this: So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie of heavy cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to life a finger to move them. (Matthew 23:3-4)

Jesus is instructing us to not do everything they tell you. They don’t practice what they preach. They tie up a cumbersome load and put it on peoples shoulders but don’t do anything themselves. 

When I was reading this scripture this morning, all I could think about was anxiety and where it comes from. Rachel and I talk all the time about anxiety and how we can better get rid of it. Like I mentioned before, I talked about where I believe anxiety comes from. The false teaching of this world. The false expectations. The false reality of how we should live. Like I mentioned before, all of those teachings we learn are beneficial but we will never be fulfilled when that is the only teaching we abide by. 

False teaching leads to false anxiety. I encourage each one of you to remember where the truth comes from. The truth comes from the Word of God. When you are feeling anxious remember where the cure from anxiety is found. It’s found in Jesus Christ and fulfillment through him. It’s remembering that only God can fill all of our desires to the fullest. All of the feelings you get where you’re feeling anxious, God can cure those. It’s hard though. Even with knowing where fulfillment comes from, it’s tough to remember that when anxiety hits you hard. 

My prayer is that you don’t listen to only the false teachers...the teachers of this world...the trust comes from the Word of God. Embrace yourself into the Word. Remember that you are not alone. Everyone experiences anxiety. Let’s conquer it together. 

A wedding garment

In Matthew chapter 22, Jesus tells the parable of the wedding banquet. It's fitting that I read about a wedding parable after just being at a beautiful wedding tonight. (S/o to the beautiful bride...my dear friend Erin Erbskorn)

I will get straight to the point with this post since it's pretty late at night! With the culture back in the Bible times, two invitations were expected when banquets were given. The first always asked the guests to attend; the second announced that everything was ready. In the story of the parable that Jesus tells, the king invited his guests three times - and each time they rejected his invitation.

Now think about that. Imagine getting an invitation to a wedding and throwing it away. I can't ever imagine rejecting a wedding invitation. Weddings are wonderful.

Now think about this, God wants us to join him at the wedding. That's why he sends us invitations over and over again. Do you realize that? God is inviting you and I to spend eternity with him over and over again. Have you accepted the invitation?

Back then it was customary for wedding guests to be given garments to wear to the banquet. I wish I would've been given some clothes for the wedding tonight. That would've made getting ready way easier! Imagine if everyone who walked into the wedding was given something to wear in honor of the bride and the groom. It would be so disrespectful to not wear what we were given. Well at this banquet, it was unthinkable to refuse to wear the garments that were given to them. That would insult the host, who could only assume that the guests were arrogant and thought that they didn't need these garments, or that they didn't want to take part in the wedding celebration.

Here is what Jesus was saying about the wedding garments and what they represented. The wedding clothes picture the righteousness needed to enter God's kingdom - the total acceptance in God's eyes that Christ gives ever believer.

Christ has provided that garment of righteousness to everyone, but each person must choose to put it on in order to enter eternal life. There is always an open invitation, but we must be ready. We can't be too late to put on the garment of righteousness.

Keep your word

One of the most valuable things in life is keeping your word. When a friend, acquaintance, co-worker, or coach, etc tells you that they are going to do something for you, you expect them to do it right? In your life has anybody not kept their word in regards to something that they told you?

I know that I can think of quite a few times where this has happened. When someone didn't keep their word it would drive me crazy. But I can't control what other people can say now can I? 

When I sit here and think about it, I would rather have someone just tell me no, or not do something rather than get my hopes up.  

The past two years there were some things that my teammates would want to do and they would always ask me to do those things with them. For about a year and a half I would always just tell them maybe. Or I would tell them that I will think about it. Eventually it got the point, where I would get asked and just tell them no. It seemed a little brutal, but it was better for me to be honest with them and it was good for them to know my answer rather than waiting on me two make a decision. 

Jesus tells a parable of two sons in Matthew 21:

"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said,

'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'

"'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and wrnt.

"Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,'but he did not go.

"Which of the two did what the father wanted?"

"The first," they answered. (Matthew 21:28-31) 

I want you to take a look at this from a deeper level. When you are asked about your relationship with God, how do you respond? 

Are you honest and talk about how it's not where you want it? Then you do something about it?

Or

Do you say that it's never been better but you are lying?

The son who said he would obey and didn't represent the many who say that they want to do God's will, but they constantly disobey. They were phony, just going through the motions. It is dangerous to pretend to obey God when our hearts are far from him because God knows are true intentions. Our actions must match our words. 

The way you live your life shows if you are keeping your word or not. 

Keep on working

I am someone who wants to be up by 6:30 every morning. When I wake up, I immediately do something productive. I try to workout, do devotions, are some sort of busy work. I don't like free time. If I have 45 minutes of free time, I struggle big time because I can hardly let myself do it. Out of those 45 minutes I will take about a 10 minute nap, and the other 35 minutes I will try to do something to prepare myself for the rest of my day. When I work from 8-5, I take a short break for dinner, and then it's right back to being active for the rest of the night. I feel productive when I have something to do all day rather that something for half of the day.

Being wired like this is a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because it allows me to get a lot done and it's a curse because I struggle to enjoy any free time I might have.

Every day there are multiple things that I devote my time too. I devote my time to work, networking, reading, and writing. I don't want to be consumed by just one thing. If all I worry about is work, I would be a pretty stale person. Yeah, I would be good at what I do, but I wouldn't get to experience multiple sides of me.

I am not trying to make this post about me, but I think I can be a good example for what I am trying to encourage you with.

Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let your hands not be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well. (Ecclesiastes 11:6)

It's important to do multiple things and to not let your hands be idle. It's hard to know what we are going to do well when we stick to only one thing. When we learn how to do other things well, the opportunities that will open up are much more greater than if you only focused all of your work on one thing.

I want to be clear with this. When we work at multiple things, we must be fully committed while you do those things. When I am at work, I cannot be thinking about what I am going to work on after. When I am writing, I cannot be thinking about work the next day.

One of the greatest things about constantly being at work doing different things is that you could do all of those things very well. How awesome is that? Being well-rounded gives you amazing possibilities.

I hope this post made sense to you. If you can take away one thing, I hope you never short change yourself. I don't want you to miss out on some pretty cool opportunities that you could be faced with.

This whole idea is something that means a lot to me because I was able to find enjoyment in something that I never thought I would and that is writing. I never thought in my life I would enjoy writing a blog post everyday, but it's one of the highlights of my day.

Trust God and he will show you something new about yourself when you surrender it all to him. Never be afraid to try something new.

A favorable return

I think we often fear giving up things in our lives because we don't think we will get those things back. These things we give away could be material or even sensory things. Maybe even both.

There are things that we have to give up when we make a decision to surrender everything to God. If there are things that we do that are sinful, but we continue to do them over and over again, we have to do our best to pray to God to give us the self-control to not do those things. There are hundreds of things that we see and do on a daily basis that take our attention away from God. God might not even cross your mind.

This is wild to think about...but I have definitely lived more days where I didn't think about God at all, compared to days that I did...

Ever since I started reading my bible on a daily basis, God crosses my mind everyday. In the past two years, there were probably only a handful of days where I didn't think about God at all. In order for me to find time to spend in the word, there were things that I had to get used to giving up. Maybe less video games, time on my phone, time spent at the gym, etc.

Those are just some of the ways I spent my time in college. Some of those things were hard for me to give up. For example, this past year, there were times where I had some free time in the evenings, and instead of going to the gym to get shots up, I went to the coffee shop to read and write. It's funny, if someone would've told me that I would be reading my bible and writing instead of getting some extra shots of my senior year of college I would've laughed in their face.

I started to learn that life was more than just basketball during my sophomore year of college. I still loved basketball and the extra time I spent working on my game was something that was very valuable to me. It took me two years to learn and understand that giving up that time for something that would last forever was the best decision and I could tell from the fulfillment I felt.

I am not telling you to give up on things that you love because it's important to do those things, I am encouraging with the fact that God has a favorable return for all of the things that you give up for him.

One of those things you can give up is simply your time.

Check this scripture out that really encouraged me to write about this today:

Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first." (Matthew 19:28-30)

Jesus is telling them that that those who give up the things that are most important to them for his sake will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. Not only are we receiving a favorable return for what we give up, but most importantly, we will inherit eternal life!

You might ask the question: If I accept Christ and my family rejects me, what is going to happen? When you accept Christ into your heart, you gain huge new family of believers.

I know there are a lot of things that we don't want to give up. We are humans and we have busy lives, how could we ever find some time for Jesus? You find the time by making a choice. You decide to read your bible instead of watch an episode of Netflix. Instead of sleeping in until you absolutely have to, wake up 20 minutes early and read your bible. I could go on and on and on...

15 minutes a day can change your life. It's never short-term fulfillment right now, it's always about eternal life with God. Your return for giving up things for Jesus and finding time for him is eternal life with God in heaven someday. If you ask me, that is a pretty favorable return...

I don't understand

There is been a commonality about my life the past month and it's the life and health insurance exam. I seem to keep talking about it over and over again. I think that is because everyday something else seems to happen and because God is teaching me a lot through this whole process.

When I look back at this moment in my life in a couple of years, I know I am going to laugh at the fact that it took me so long to pass this exam. If I would've passed it the first time, my life would be different right now. The training, traveling, meetings, and work days. It would've all been different. I continue to try and find the bright side throughout this mess.

I drove down here to Indianapolis this morning and will be spending the next couple of days here at the Montgomery School of Insurance. After some talk with people at the office, coming down here to get trained for the exam was the best thing for me. I have to pass this in order to work.

This class lasts through Thursday and I was planning on scheduling my exam for Friday. After one day, I was already feeling so much better about Friday. I was sure that I was going to pass it. During my study time tonight, I remembered that I needed to schedule it. I stopped what I was doing and started to sign up to take the exam again.

I found the location, and the date that I wouldn't to take it. When I went to order it, I received in alert that told me that you can't take the same exam more than 3 times in a 30 day period if you haven't passed. Since I took it yesterday, that means I have to wait until July 17th to take it again.

I was shook. Another month to wait? I still cannot believe that I have to wait so long again. All evening my mind has been in a whirlwind. My studying went poorly, my time in the word wasn't the same, the focus hasn't been here.

Sitting here thinking about everything, I just don't understand.

Then I remembered that it's okay to not understand. It's okay for me to not understand and it's okay for you to not understand anything either. We don't ever have to know everything because we aren't capable of that. We also should never be upset at ourselves for being slow to understand everything about Jesus. After all, the disciples were with him, saw his miracles, heard his words, and still had difficulty understanding. Despite their questions and doubts, however, they believed. We should never do any less.

I hope this encourages you to be okay with not being able to understand Jesus. If we knew everything about Jesus, there would be no need and hunger in our souls to learn more about our creator. Not being able to understand everything about Jesus is the perfect reminder about the significance of God.

Host brother: Mark Turner

My hope is that this post causes some conviction. I know that is a weird thing to start with, but when you feel convicted about something, you usually want to make a change. 

When was the last time that you recognized God to be above anything else in your life? The things you do, the things you consume your mind with, etc? 

Think about how your society as a whole acts. Think about everything that is talked about before God is talked about. It's literally everything. The media throws a frenzy over things that seem to matter, but in reality only matter here on earth. 

I want you to think about how crazy we go for people who are famous. If I saw LeBron walking through downtown South Bend right now while I am sitting here writing this post, I would get so hype! I would run straight for him and ask him what's up! Actually I probably wouldn't know what to say, but I can imagine what I would feel like and I get excited just thinking about it. 

I can't remember the last time I recognized God in such a way that would leave me feeling the way I would if I saw LeBron. How wild is that? I should be saying the opposite! 

In Matthew chapter 17, God's voice from a cloud said this to the disciples: "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" When the disciples heard this; they fell facedown to the ground terrified. (Matthew 17:5-6)

The disciples heard God's voice and fell facedown. God has done some amazing things in my life. Yet, I can't remember the last time I recognized God in the way that I should've....until tonight. 

Honestly, the way I feel right now is the same as those disciples felt. I am blown away by the ways in which God acts...what just happened wasn't just by circumstance. It was God showing his power and how he should be recognized above all else.

So why do I feel this way right now? Today I failed my exam again for the third time. I was really disappointed because I wish I would've passed that crazy thing by now. I got to the parking lot and sat on the curb for about thirty minutes contemplating everything. I was shocked that after a month I was still 0/3. 

I knew that this must have happened for a reason...I thought long and hard all day about this. When I got back to the office, everybody was super supportive. This was just what I needed. I didn't want anyone to be upset with me for not passing this exam. I was relieved by their support but I knew there was still another reason why I failed my exam today...

I got to the cafe where I am at right now about two hours ago. This is actually the second one I was at, I needed up leaving the first one...

I opened my journal and there is a space where I write down a question that I would ask God if he was sitting here. 

Here is the question I asked today: Did I fail this test for a reason? 

I usually don't get answers to all of these questions, but tonight it was answered. While I reading my Bible I felt a tap on my shoulder. A man told me to stop thinking so hard as I was starring off into space. 

 

I said come on man and I laughed. I thought this guy was just someone saying what's up to me in the coffee shop. Mark wasn't just any coffee goer. Mark was homeless. 

Mark sat down next to me and him and I started talking. He asked me if I had a dollar to help him buy a chicken sandwich. So I was like sure! I asked him what his name was and he told me that his name was Mark Turner. 

Then he started telling me his story. Mark applied for a job up here in South Bend and the company accepted his application and he was all set to work. He took the greyhound to South Bend from Fort Wayne on Friday. When he arrived at the job they told him that in order to work he had to have a place of residence. He had brought all his stuff with him so now Mark is a couple days homeless. 

My heart felt for this man, his boldness to approach me and talk to me stood out. He was kind, considerate and polite. He asked me a little bit about my story and where I am currently living and I told him about my wonderful host parents. His face lit up. Mark thought that this was the best thing ever. We talked about how much better the world would be if everybody was loving and compassionate. We both could only wish for a world like that.

He told me how he wish he had some host parents like I did. He decided that he was going to call me his host brother. It was a great feeling to be called a brother from a man I had just met. 

Mark and I sat down and spoke with each other for about 25 minutes and it was a lot of fun getting to know him. When Mark and I said goodbye to each other I felt like I should buy him some food. When we were talking a worker brought out a flatbread to another customer and I wish you could've seen Mark's eyes light up. He thought the flatbread looked like the best thing ever. 

About two minutes after he left, I felt like I should buy him that flatbread I could tell he wanted. I quickly ran after him and I told him I would buy him a flatbread and anything else that he wanted. He wanted that flatbread and another sandwich for latter so I got that for him. He was so excited. 

I told the worker the food was for Mark and I went back to writing my blog post. About 5 minutes later, another tap on my shoulder. It was Mark again. He said, "my brother, you have to try this flatbread, it's just what I needed." 

Here is Mark. He is homeless and he is offering me the food I just got for him. I was blown away by this. So I went over and sat by him on the couch and we enjoyed the flatbread together. He kept telling me about how tonight was just what he needed and to see the joy on his face meant more than any feeling. 

We parted with a hug and he said "see you later host brother." 

When I think about what just happened tonight, it makes me recognize God for being above all. Only God could've orchestrated something like this. I really can't put into words how crazy it was for me to  go to a coffee shop, then go to a different one, ask God if I failed my test for a reason...open up my bible and feel convicted for not recognizing God like the disciples did by falling facedown...Mark taps me on the shoulder...I come to the realization that I would not be in here if I would have passed my test earlier...and this all...and then I am absolutely in awe when I realized that the reason I failed my test today was to meet a new friend...Mark Turner.

How are we able?

I think the title of this blog asks a pretty big question. How are we able to do the things we do? How are we able to do the things that we want to do? How are we able to do anything? Simply, how are we able?

I believe there are lots of ways that we are able to do things. But only one way allows us to truly do the things that we want to. 

The answer to that question is keeping you eyes up...

Last Sunday in church our pastor was preaching and gave an example of this and I have not been able to get it out of my head all week. 

Have you ever held a broom, and put the end on your fingers and tried to balance it? I hope you have at least tried it once, if not, I don't know what you were doing as a kid! Think about when you were trying to balance it. The only way was to keep your eyes focused on the top of the broom. Whenever you wold look at your hand or even the ground, the broom would fall over almost instantly. 

Because you kept your eyes up, you were able to balance the broom. 

The same goes for every day you open your eyes and get out of bed. The only way that we are going to ever be able to do the things that we want and be satisfied with is to have our eyes set on our heavenly Father. 

You could go do this life and have major success in everything you do, but if you don't have a focus on God you'll never feel fulfilled. You might for a short time period, but never to the full extent. The pleasures we get from this life when we don't have our eyes and hearts set on God are meaningless. 

How am I able? I like to think I live a pretty busy life. I am able because what I do is rooted in Christ. My thoughts, actions, and words. When I wake up every morning, I have to tell myself that I am not waking up for me to do what I need to do. I am waking up because God has a plan for my day. There are interactions that he knows are going to happen because God is all-knowing. My job when I wake up is to be obedient to what God wants for me. Do I do that everyday? Of course not. I am not even close to perfect and I mess up over and over again. Have I gotten it figured out? Absolutely. I've learned that time spent in the word, reflection time, devotionals, talking about the Jesus with others, praying, and having a good attitude is how I am able. All of those things I just listed require me to seek God first above all things. In other words, I have to keep my eyes up.

I am able to live the life that God desires me to live when I keep my eyes on him. With God, all things are possible. 

15,000 - 20,000

I want you to think long and hard about the last time you celebrated an event with a large meal. Given that it is June, the last time you most likely celebrated something like that was either Easter or a couple graduation parties.

Before I go any further I want you to remember these numbers:

Loaves of bread: # 12
Fish: # 5
People: # 15,000 - 20,000

Think about how much food you needed for that. If you have a large extended family and get everyone together for Easter there is most likely a large plethora of food. I don't know what you have for Easter but when we eat there is an abundance. Definitely more than what you could get with 12 loaves of bread and about 5 fish.

One of my favorite parts about the months of May and June are graduation parties. Free food and lots of company. Most likely, a couple hundred people come to grad parties and there is usually more food than you know what to do with.

So what's the 15,000 - 20,000 number? That is the number of people that Jesus fed with about 12 loaves of bread and roughly 5 fish. I don't know about you but I can't mentally wrap my head around this.

In Matthew chapter 14, Jesus feeds five thousand men. When you add in the women and children, that 5,000 becomes 10,000 -15,000. In Matthew chapter 15, Jesus feeds another 4,000. In both of these instances everyone was full from the food that was provided to them from Jesus. Simply amazing.

In both instances the disciples doubted what Jesus could do. The first time, I understand. I would've thought he was crazy as well. But the second? You would think that they would remember what Jesus did the first time. That wasn't the case.

How often is our faith like that? God does something amazing in our lives and we are absolutely in awe of how amazing God is, and then when something else happens in our lives that isn't so good, we immediately question God like we did the first time.

It's way too easy for us to forget that God has cared for us in the past. No matter what is thrown at us. Somehow we forget...Next time you are faced with a difficult situation, remember how God cares for you and trust him to work faithfully again.

I want you to remember two things about this post. The first is that God is constantly at work in our lives doing more amazing things than we could ever comprehend. Second, God is faithful. His love never fails for you. Everything always works out according to God's plan...not ours.

A beheading in the Bible

As I sit in McDonald's writing this blog post, I am blow away by what I find when I read my Bible. I was reading Matthew 14. In Matthew there are two of the most popular stories about Jesus. 1. Jesus feeding the 5,000 & 2. Jesus walking on water. 

Ask almost anyone and I am sure that they most likely heard that story before. I've read through Matthew a half dozen times and those are always the stories that catch my eyes. Those are the stories that I want to read more into, trying to find something new that I have never read before or even thought about. 

Tonight, I was fascinated by a different story in Matthew 14 that I didn't realize happened. It was new to me, it was vicious, and crazy.

Philip, Herod's half brother, was another of Palestine's four rulers. Philip's wife, Herodias, left Philip to live with Herod Antipas. John the Baptist condemned the two for living immorally... 

Fast forward a little bit, and on Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests that pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Promoted by her mother, she said, "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist." 

Herod was distressed by this. He didn't want to kill John the Baptist. But because of his oath and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in prison. His head was brought out in a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her matcher. 

How terrible is that? I hadn't heard this story before. I didn't know a man who prepared the way for Jesus in so many times was gruesomely killed like he was.

I find it interesting that Herod didn't actually want to kill John. He didn't want to be embarrassed in front of his guests. Think about how easy it is to give into a crowd and to let ourselves be pressured into doing wrong. 

I think a lesson we can take away from this is to not put ourselves in a situation where it will be too embarrassing to do what is right. We must determine to do what is right, no matter how embarrassing or painful it might be. 

Sometimes lessons have to be taught through stories like this, and I am okay with that. Not everything in the Bible is butterflies in rainbows. The Bible is real, there is hurt and there is happiness...there is love and there is hate...most importantly it's the story of Jesus. 

Next time you read through something that you may have read before, try to find something new, because you might have been missing out on something for years. Not that I was missing out on the beheading of John the Baptist, but the lesson that we can learn from that story and Herod - and that is to not be in a situation where we are embarrassed about doing what is right. 

Rejection in your own country

I come to find that over and over again, I learn something brand new. I've read in the Bible before that the teachings of Jesus and Jesus himself had been rejected, but never in his own country. I had assumed that when Jesus was rejected those who were from other countries were the people who rejected him.

I learned today that Jesus was rejected in his own country.

Jesus says this: "A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home." (Matthew 13:57)

The residents of Jesus' hometown had known Jesus since he was a young child and were acquainted with his family; they could not bring himself to believe in his message. They were too close to the situation.

Would have you felt the same way? Sometimes I think about that if I lived when Jesus lived, would I believe his miracles and in everything that he was doing. I think that is a fair point to make. Imagine somebody from your town healing the blind, curing diseases and performing miracles. It just wouldn't seem real.

I share this with you today because I don't ever want you to not have confidence in what you are doing. Jesus was being obedient to God with everything that he was doing. No matter how many people wanted to kill him and how many people rejected him, Jesus was still obedient.

Those close to you might think you're a little different because you're acting as Jesus would. People from Jesus's country rejected him. That didn't stop Jesus. If you get rejected, don't let that stop you from being obedient and acting as Jesus would.

My hope and prayer for you is that you never let other's options affect what you say and do.

Don't let fear keep you from doing good

Fear is one of our biggest enemies. We let fear get in the way of so many possibilities. I have let fear get in the way of things that I have wanted to do my whole life. I am sure that you feel that way too. One of the biggest secrets to success is overcoming your fears.

One of things that happens is fear creeps up on you. One of the ways fear creeps up on me is when I wake up in the middle of the night. Every so often before I go to bed I will get anxious about something, and when that anxiety goes away, I finally fall asleep. I sleep wonderfully and then all of a sudden I wake up in the middle of the night and remember what I was worried about and I feel like there are knots in my stomach.

Maybe that is just me though...

I believe fear often keeps us from doing good because we are scared about what other people think or we are actually fearing someone or something. In the book of Matthew, Jesus was going all over the place...he made the blind receive sight, he made the lame walk, those who had leprosy he cleaned, he made the deaf hear, rose people from the dead, and proclaimed the good news to the poor.

I read something today in Matthew about Jesus that was encouraging to me and I hope that it can be encouraging to you too.

Aware of this, Jeuss withdrew himself from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. (Matthew 12:15)

Up to this point, Jesus had been aggressively confronting the Pharisees' hypocrisy. Here he decided to withdraw from the place where he was at. He did not want a major confrontation to happen because it was not time for him to die. Jesus still had so many lessons to teach his disciples and the people.

What's the big deal about fear and this verse? Jesus new that people were plotting to kill him and he didn't fear. Jesus continued to heal all who were ill.

I know that is just one sentence in the bible and it's just a couple of words. But there is great power in those words. People wanted to kill Jesus! We let fear of what other people think keep us from doing good...

Time and time again I am blown away by the things that Jesus taught us.

Next time you fear something, remember that Jesus continued to heal all who were ill in a time where people wanted him dead...and he never feared one bit...he never even worried.

A cup of cold water

Doing something kind for someone never goes unnoticed by God. The person you did something kind for might not notice, the world might not notice, but that's totally fine. God knows what you did.

I want to keep this post short and to the point tonight. My challenge for you is to do one small random act of kindness for someone else. It doesn't matter who. Your parents, significant other, friends, and maybe even your pets.

The nice thing about doing a good deed is that sometimes it doesn't take very long at all. Holding a door for someone takes like 10 seconds at most. Unless the person is a like 50 feet away and you awkwardly hold it and they awkwardly jog to you because they feel bad. Take out the trash for your parents. Give your grandparents a phone call. Text a good friend and tell them you're thinking of them. Write a letter to someone you care about. Give your pet an extra snack, like some cat nip, or human food.

What's the catch? You must do this with the intent that you aren't just doing it to be noticed. Do this out of the kindness of your heart because you really care for the person...something little can change somebody's entire day.

I was encouraged by this verse in Matthew this evening. Really pay attention to the fact that this is something that Jesus said. Jesus was the perfect teacher...

"And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward." (Matthew 10:42)

How much we love God can be measured by how well we treat others. Jesus' example of giving a cold cup of water to a thirsty child is a good model of unselfish service. A child usually can't or won't return a favor. God notices every good deed we do or don't do as if he were the one receiving it.

Gods got you

How many times in your life have you asked God for something or prayed about something and that prayer didn't seem to come true? Or even what you asked never seemed to happen. When it comes to the phrase "Gods got you" it's all about your perception.

Perception is defined as someone being aware of something that is happening or has previously happened. 

For those of you who keep up with my life and my writing, you've probably read in a post or two that I accepted a job. I accepted a job with Northwestern Mutual in Mishawaka, Indiana. I will begin my career as a Financial Representative and then transition into becoming a Financial Advisor. In order for me to do this job I have to pass the Indiana Life and Health Insurance Exam.

Up until this past May, I did not know a single thing about life and health insurance. When we left for  vacation almost a month ago I decided to take this job and I knew that I was going to have to pass this exam. I purchased a self-study and have put hours of studying in everyday for the past three weeks. There is so much that I am learning now and I love seeing the hard-work payoff.

The long hours I have put in haven't paid off completely yet. I am 0/2. Yes, I have failed my exam twice. The first time I took it was this past Monday and I was 12% away from the passing score that I needed. I was extremely discouraged by the outcome, but was reminded from a lot of the people around me that all of this stuff is brand new to me and that it is okay that I didn't pass it the first time.

So it was back to the drawing board. I rescheduled my test for today so I had three full days to study again. I was blown away by the progress that I was able to make this week in regards to what I was learning and finally being able to retain.

When I woke up this morning, I was feeling extremely dangerous. (S/o to Baker Mayfield) I was fully confident that I was going to pass my exam. I was telling myself over and over in my head that I was going to pass and was already looking forward to the feeling I was going to feel when I saw the word "pass" on my exam.

All week I prepared myself for the feeling of finally passing. In every conversation I was having I would talk about how I was finally going to pass it and that I was so confident.

When I sat down to take my exam this afternoon I looked at the scrap sheet of paper they give you to write on if you have anything that you need to write out. The last time I took the exam I just let it sit there...this time I knew that I needed to write something on it that was going to be encouraging and uplifting.

On the top of that paper I wrote..."Gods got you." That is how confident I was in passing this exam. Every time I was stumped on a question or started to feel anxious I looked at that paper and was encouraged and knew that everything was going to be okay.

When I completed my exam, I even walked to the printer to get my results in a confident manner. The instructor had my results sitting facedown on his desk and I could see the graph and it looked like I had done really well. He handed me the results and I was 6% away from passing. I was super bummed out. I was so confident that I was going to pass it that I didn't even really feel like I had just failed again. I was at a loss of words...

After calling my girlfriend, I drove home without listening to any music. Which for me means that I am not in a the greatest of moods at all. Driving home with no music on allowed me to hear what was going on in my head better than normal. I was thinking about what I had written on my paper and how I was confused that if "Gods got me" why did I just fail again?

While I was driving I got a couple texts and calls from close friends and a lady from work. They were all very encouraging and not upset with me at all. Each person brought up others who had failed the test multiple times and now those people are very successful with Northwestern Mutual. I really felt better thanks to the encouragement I was receiving.

Then it hit me..."Gods got you." I didn't need to get a passing score to show that Gods got me. I need a passing score to get my license, and I know that will happen next time. I know that Gods got me because of all the kind words that were said to me on my drive home following the test.

Due to my perception and being aware of what was happening other than my test, I understood that Gods got me. When that thought reached my brain while I was driving, everything made sense now. Then I thought about other people's lives. We too often don't get what we ask God for and we get all flustered and mad because we thought the prayer had to be answered in the exact way we wanted it to! NO! Most of the time God doesn't answer our prayers in the ways that we want him too.

It's all about your perception. When I saw that I failed my exam today I could have been extremely disappointed in myself if my exam was all that I was thinking about...God isn't just doing something or focusing on one part of your life. God is control of your entire life and that is how we should perceive things.

God is fully in control, even when we don't get the results that we want.

Here piggy piggy

Every day that we live and walk this earth we see all different types of people. There are so many different types of people and everybody is different. We all look different (besides twins), we all think different, and we all have different personalities.

There are attractive people and not so attractive people. There are people will cool hair and people with no hair. There are tall people and there are short people. There are people who smell good and others who don't. There are people who dress nice and those who cannot. There are people who like sports and people who don't. There are people who love music and people who don't. There are people who like to travel and those who don't. There are popular people and people who are not. There are rich people and those who are poor.

Do you get my point here? We are all different but we all matter just as much. We let some of these things get in the way sometimes when it comes to what we think about people. We see someone who might be poor and we let that affect how we think about that person. We see someone who is tall and we immediately think they play basketball. (trust me, I get asked everyday) Our perception cannot be our reality.

God created and loves each and every person who has ever walked this earth, who walks it now, and who will walk it in the future. Why? Because in God's eyes, every human individual's life matters. We ALL need to be touched by God's love.

I read about a story in Matthew earlier this afternoon about Jesus sending demons into a herd of pigs. (hence...here piggy piggy)

When he arrived at the other side of the regionals of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. "What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?" Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs." He said to them, "Go!" So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. 
(Matthew 7:28-33)

Why am I talking about how we all matter and need God love and then talk about demon possessed men? 

I want you to think about something. According to Jewish ceremonial laws, the men Jesus encountered were unclean in three ways: they were Gentiles, they were demon-possessed, and they lived in the graveyard. What did Jesus do? He helped them anyways. 

We should never turn our backs on people who are different than we are. We should never turn our backs on those who are repulsive towards us or who violate our moral standards and religious beliefs. Instead, we need to realize that every human individual is a unique creation of God, needing to be touched by his love. 

When we understand the every human individual is a unique creation of God, that should provide a glimmer of hope. We were created to love God and to worship him. I encourage you to not let your feelings get in the way of what you think about people. Love everyone. Be a light to those who are different, because you will never find someone exactly like you. When you love those who are different you are loving everyone. 

The narrow gate

In my lifetime of 22 years, I have come to learn that the things that are most important and meaningful are the most difficult to achieve. I think about the successful basketball teams that I have played on throughout high school and in college. To have the success we were able to accomplish we had to go through hell. We had to trust the process every day.

Trusting the process was something that I really didn't learn until I got to college. As a college basketball player, every single day was a part of the process. Whether it was conditioning in August, a two-a-day in December, or a shoot around on a Saturday afternoon. If we didn't do those things with a high level of focus and energy we weren't going to succeed.

Our goal every single season was to hang a red national championship banner. We weren't fortunate enough to do that, but each year we put our self in a great position by earning a spot in the NAIA National Tournament.

I want you to take a look at this scripture that I read over today...

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road the leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)

With Jesus saying that, there are a couple things that come to mind. I think about how hard it was to earn our spot in the National Tournament. It was hard and tiring work, but what made it easier was everyone collectively trusting the process. We knew that if we gave everything we had and some more in all that we did we were going to be able to put ourselves in a great spot.

I want you to focus on what made it easier. What made it easier was understanding the work that we had to put in. When I think about entering through the narrow gate, I fully believe that it will be easier to enter through the narrow gate when you accept the challenge and commit to trusting the process. It's all about the mindset that you want to have and the things you will do to accomplish something worth it.

I believe that we make it too difficult on ourselves based off distractions. Wide is the gate that leads to distraction because we are distracted by so many things! We overcomplicate so many things based on what we treasure, our interests, and what the world wants.

When I think about overcomplicating things, an example comes to mind that just happened to me this past weekend...I was at my girlfriend's house with her family and I was sitting at their dinning room table studying. Their dog, Lilly is the sweetest dog ever and I could tell that she needed to be let out to relieve herself...aka use the restroom. In their neighborhood there was a wedding going on and I was instructed that if she needed to be let out that she had to wear a collar so she doesn't go wedding crashing...and I guess Lilly's best friend was over at the wedding as well. I had no idea where the collars were at so I went out into the garage, I made sure the garage door was closed and I begin to look for collars. I dug all over the place and had to untangle a couple of them and when I looked up, I saw Lilly's rear end walking out of the doggy door. Of course they had a doggy door I thought to myself! I quickly opened the human sized door and ran after her because I was not about to crash the wedding with her....long story short, I chased her all over the yard until I was able to make her go back inside the house. Luckily, Lilly is nearly an elderly dog so I was faster than she was.

How does this relate? In the story I just enlightened you with. Picture Lilly being our hearts when they treasure the right things, and myself being our minds. Lilly had one goal in mind. All she needed to do was walk out her little doggy door, stroll to her favorite spot in the yard and relieve herself. When our hearts have Jesus as number 1, the narrow gate should be something that we are so set on that we just do it. Sure it will be hard, because nothing worth it is ever easy. But when our hearts are in the right place, we make things easier by taking action. How I acted was like our minds do everyday. I didn't even look to see if there was a doggy door. I found multiple leashes but didn't know which one would work best. How often do we not observe what is around us, and how often do we become distracted by so many things that we forget what is easy. We forget the mission at hand because we just seem to make everything so complicated.

My prayer for you and encouragement to you is that if your heart is in the right place, and you are treasuring the right things. Get after it! Pursue righteousness. Set your mind on the mission at hand and do it.

On the other hand, if your heart isn't in the right place yet and you're in a spot in your life where it's easy to go with the flow, I encourage you to pray and being to prioritize things in your life. Look at what is horning to God and what isn't. When you come up with a list of things that is honoring to God, expand that list and keep doing those things.

The narrow gate can be easy...

Your treasures

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21)

Tonight, I want you to think about the things that you treasure. What means the most to you? Who means the most to you? How do you spend your time? What are you thinking about? What do you do everyday?

In the world that we live in today, it is easy to treasure popularity, fame, and money. We base our status and importance based on our social media platforms. Getting a lot of likes feels good. Sometimes when I need to feel better, I will post a picture on Instagram just so I have something to do on my phone. I want to be loud and clear with you, I am not saying that having and using social media everyday is a bad thing. I am saying that it becomes bad when we use it as validation.

When don't need to be popular on social media for others to love us, and most importantly God.

My favorite basketball player of all time and someone that I look up to in view areas of his life is LeBron James. He posted a picture of a sign on his Instagram account today that said. "F *explicit* social media. I'm dope in real life." Now he wasn't saying this about himself, but for something that everyone can see. He has millions of followers and that picture most likely got a lot of people thinking.

There is some questionable language in there but it's so true. We don't need social media to be dope in  real life. Social media just makes things more fun sometimes and it's a great way to share what is going on in your life with other people.

Money is something that we tend to treasure as well. We can't really do a whole lot if we have no money am I right? I believe that there is a tendency to believe that our success and the way that people look at us is based off of the amount money that we have. Don't get me wrong, I will do whatever it takes to make a lot of money some day, but money will never define who I am. It's important but it's not something that I will treasure.

The verse above follows the verse about storing treasures in heaven. Storing treasures in heaven is not limited to tithing but is accomplished by all acts of obedience to God. Our intention should be to seek the fulfillment of God's purposes in all we do, not merely what we do with our money.

I use this as encouragement to you because when you figure out what to treasure on a daily basis, your heart, your mind, and spirit will be right. I am not perfect but there are a couple of things that I treasure everyday. I treasure the moment when I wake up and get out of bed every morning. I absolutely love mornings and everything about them. It's the begging of a new day. It's a chance to grow, learn, and be productive. I also treasure relationships. When I get the chance to better/strengthen relationships with people that have a special place in my heart, I experience a great deal of fulfillment. Everyday you wake up you have the opportunity to pour into someones life and that is something that I treasure. I also treasure working out. Any chance that I get to spend some time working on my body, my mind gets a break. I value that a ton. Most importantly, I treasure my time in the Word of God. I don't feel like I had a fulfilling day unless I get to strengthen my relationship with Christ and then share what I learn with whoever reads what I write.

These things that I treasure everyday is a direct representation of where my heart is, because where your treasures are, your heart will be there also. These treasures have led me to being comfortable in who I am everyday. There is power in that! Being comfortable in confident in who you are is a recipe of success. It causes you to not get too high when things are going well or too low when things couldn't be any worse.  When you're confident in who you are, other people will notice. It's not about getting likes or having a lot of followers for me. I don't need that. I don't treasure money above other important things. You can't take possessions from earth to heaven with you someday, but you have the opportunity to bring others with you when you are a light and share Jesus.

Treasure what lasts forever. There aren't many feelings better than being comfortable in who you are because of where your heart is at.

A light on top of the hill

When I think of a light that everyone sees I think of two things. I think of lighthouses and the lights you see on top of hills or mountains in the distance. Those lights have a tendency to draw people to them. A lighthouse functions so that boat captains know that there is land. Lighthouses were built because they're meant to be seen. Lights on top of hills and mountains help people see that there is life up the hills and mountains. Again, these lights are meant to be seen.

When God created us, he did so that we could be seen. When we make the decision in our lives to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become a light to the world. A light that is meant to shine brightly so that others can see that there is something different about us.

The light from a lighthouse and the lights from the hills and mountains never go away. Those lights are always going to shine brightly for the protection of many people. Christ is always going to shine in us. When we accept Christ into our heart that light will never go away. 

The problem we run into as Christians is that we have a tendency to hide our light. We hide our light be being quiet when we should speak, going along with the crowd, denying the light, letting sin dim our light, not explaining our light to others, and ignoring the needs of others. 

In the Sermon on The Mount, Jesus preaches this: "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill that cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its strand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)

I encourage you all to not hide your light. Be a beacon of light and let your light shine. Don't shut your light off from the rest of the world. Think about the beautiful light houses and the lights on the mountains...those lights are meant to shine and nothing stops them...the storms they endured, the age, the weathering, etc. Light your light shine and be a glimmer of hope for those who need it most.