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!

 

our goal is to please him

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down, we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not be human hands." (2 Corinthians 5:1)

The first part of 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 is about awaiting a new body from Christ because our earthly body will one day be destroyed. Paul said that we will one day have a heavenly home that is unlike anything on this earth. 

Paul also writes about how God is rebuilding a house of eternity in Heaven which He is preparing for us. He said that when we are in our earthly bodies, we are burdened by things of this world. That, according to Paul, is why people crave for their new heavenly dwelling. 

When people are with their earthly body, they are away from the Lord. That is why people who are in Christ would prefer to be with the Lord and away from their mortal bodies. They are the ones who live through faith rather than only by what they can see.

These are the true believers who have accepted Christ. When the Day of Judgement comes, Paul wrote that each person must come before Christ and receive what is due to them. 

"For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body." (2 Corinthians 5:10)

Our ultimate goal is to please him.

All the things we do are going to be judged so let's please God while we are in this temporary body while we await eternal glory. 

slow down and look up

I believe that one of the best ways to give God glory is to take a pause, and be thankful for all that he has created. This morning was the perfect example of it for me..

I am fairly sure I have a type A personality. I'm not a perfectionist, but I am go-go-go. I can hardly sit still. I am really bad a watching TV shows because I can't pay attention. In all areas of my life I am that way. No matter how much time I have in the day, I am always filling it up with things to do. I don't think it's bad, but I don't give myself a chance to slow down and appreciate God's goodness and creation.

The past few nights, it seems like serious thunderstorms just keep ripping through Northern Indiana. I run really early in the mornings and I don't usually let anything stop me from running unless there is a very serious storm..I really don't want to get struck by lighting or have a huge tree get blown down on me. But today was a little different. There was a storm coming but I had time to get my run in before it hit. This mornings storm had me in awe. The sky was filled with beautiful lightning. For about 45 minutes lightning  would flash through the sky has the storm approached. It was breathtaking.I wanted to stare at the sky the entire time. 

It was the perfect morning run. Except for one thing, the storm was behind me as I began my run. So the only way I could watch the lighting was to keep turning around every couple minutes. I didn't have any problem doing that, but I was highly motivated to get to the halfway point so I could run into the storm on the way back. 

As I turned around and finished my last couple miles towards the storm I was in awe. I still don't know how safe I was, but I didn't care because it was the most beautiful lightning I think I had ever seen. After a few minutes, it started to rain and the wind started to pick up. I don't mind running in the rain, but it was raining so hard that I could hardly keep my eyes open and could barely see the lighting anymore. 

So quickly, everything changed. If I wouldn't have taken the five minutes before my run to take everything in, I would've been disappointed in myself.

How much is our relationship with God like that? All we need to do sometimes is slow down and take the time to get into the word, pray, be thankful, and give all the glory to him! But life throws distractions and things that get into our way all the time. My encouragement for you is to slow down...I have talked about Jesus pace before, but I mean it so much. Even if you just give yourself 5-10 minutes before you leave for work or get your day started, your day will start and go so much better. 

Slow down for what matters most...and that's a relationship with Christ Jesus.