Saturday, December 16, 2006

LOSERS ALWAYS WIN!

Matthew Chapter 16

Scripture= Matthew 16:24-25

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

Observations and Applications=
WIN, WIN, WIN at all cost WIN! Everybody wants to be a winner and nobody wants to be a loser, ever. This is football season and championship time for everyone’s season is here or approaching. People are cheering and celebrating or are disappointed and talking about what could have been. We are obsessed with winning and I am not saying that I don’t like to win but how does our definition of winning shape our lives?

Does winning mean we are always on top of every situation? Does it mean that we have more than everybody else? Does it mean that we are always first or always right? Does winning mean that we have to beat out someone else or always be better than the other person?

How many times in our lives have we won and yet really we lost? For example winning an argument and losing a friendship. How many times have we realized that to lose really meant that we had won? For example when we have given preference to another and in doing so demonstrated our unselfish love for them.

This last year I have been presented with the alarming truth of how much I try to control my life and my circumstances. Somehow my mindset, no matter how surrendered to God I think I am, is to take care of myself and somehow preserve victory. I mean make everything turn out the way that I think it should; that means I win doesn’t it?

I have been overwhelmed at how much our Heavenly Father loves us and always has in His mind and in His plans what is best for us. It is awesome to learn to lose. To learn to surrender the illusion of control to the GREAT GOODNESS of our GOD. Everything that is good comes from God!

The concept of winning and losing is foolishness when we look at the omnipotence of our God. Without him we are simply lost and destined to lose everything! With Him we win everything we have no right to possess (righteousness and His life) and what we rightly deserve; to lose everything (physical and spiritual death) is in His mercy taken from us by Jesus own personal loss. (See Phil. 2:5-11)

Only the losses our Savior was willing to accept allows any of us to claim to ever win at anything! Can you and I walk in the same sense of winning and losing? Can we walk today in the truth of what Jesus has said?

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

The truth is this: THE LOSER ALWAYS WINS!

Prayer= Lord, help me lose myself today and find you in whatever you have planned for me. I am grateful Lord Jesus for your sacrifice of love. You are a good God and I will worship you today.

As I was writing this blog today this song has riveted my heart. It is by Casting Crowns and is from their Lifesong project and the song is entitled ‘Lifesong.’

Lifesong
empty hands held high
such small sacrifice
if not joined with my life
i sing in vain tonight

may the words i say
and the things i do
make my lifesong sing
bring a smile to you

let my lifesong sing to you
let my lifesong sing to you
i want to sign your name to the end of this day
knowing that my heart was true
let my lifesong sing to you

lord i give my life
a living sacrifice
to reach a world in need
to be your hands and feet
so may the words i say
and the things i do
make my lifesong sing
bring a smile to you

hallelujah
hallelujah
let my lifesong sing to you

Posted by Reality Check at 9:28 AM | | Comments

Friday, December 15, 2006

Made You Laugh!

Matthew Chapter 15

Scripture= Matthew 15:10-11
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' "

Observations and Applications=
When you were a kid did you ever play a game where the object of the game was trying to make someone laugh and then trying not to laugh yourself? This was such a good game that they made a television game show with the same premise. The contestants would try as hard as they could not to laugh while comedians were cracking jokes and doing comedy routines. If you laughed you lost and were out. If you kept a straight face and didn’t snicker you would go on to the next round.

Could you do it, could you make it to the next round? I had a pastor of mine that used to do this to me as a little kid. He would try to make me laugh and I would try as hard as I could to keep a straight face. I always broke and smiled or laughed. When I would lose it he would say to me, “you have too much happiness in you to stay sad.” He was right. I really didn’t know what sadness was all about. It wasn’t that my life was perfect; I had experienced a lot of illness earlier in my life with doctors, shots, lots of test’s and even hospital visits. But none of that trauma outweighed the love of my family, extended family and the other joys of my childhood. I was now healthy and filled with life and I couldn’t stay sad. My heart was filled with happiness and joy would bubble out.

Our lives are a lot like that game, no matter how hard we try to hide it or fight it; sooner or later the circumstances of our lives will bring out the true nature of the contents of our hearts. It doesn’t matter who you are, the truth is, you won’t be able to hold it in and sooner or later your heart wins and out comes your true self.

So what is in your heart? Would you be able to stay sad and not laugh? Maybe I should ask, “Can you stay angry with someone and not let it go?” Do you think that people purposely are against you? Do you feel that your life will never be what it should be? Whatever it is that is in your heart, understand that it is good if you can’t hide these things. In fact they ought to be allowed to be expressed; especially around the brothers and sisters of your church family. It is not that it is okay to just stay stuck in your stuff but it is okay to not hide it. Jesus said the sick need to find a place where they can be healed and no one can get any help whatsoever without first knowing that it is okay to admit it when they are sick. If we can find a loving body of believers that will love us and accept us and we will allow God to heal our hearts we will never be able to win 'the make you laugh game' and that would be all right with me.

Prayer= Thank you Lord for your GRACE and your MERCY and your UNCONDITIONAL LOVE and thank you for my brothers and sisters in Christ who love me and help me examine my heart.

Posted by Reality Check at 7:14 PM | | Comments

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Get Out Of The Boat

Matthew Chapter 14

Scripture= Matthew 14:29

"Come," he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

Observations and Applications=
Have you ever watched somebody else do something that you wished you had done? Have you ever sat back hesitant to get involved but wanting so badly to have the courage just to try?

We are so hard on Peter because he began to sink into the water but who else was even willing to get out of the boat? It is amazing to me that Peter even tried to walk on the water in the first place! This is like what people say about sky diving, “why jump out of a perfectly good airplane?” I wonder what I would have done, how about you?

Are we ready to trust Jesus and go where he asks us to go? I have often thought about this story and I wonder if Peter thought that it was safer in the water with Jesus then it was in the boat with the other disciples? Why are we so hesitant to believe the one who says that he would never leave us nor forsake us, really means what he said? We can always come to Jesus and know that he will be there for us if we fall. We just have to get out of the boat.

I wonder if Peter would have tried this again? What do you think?

Prayer= Lord, help me to trust you on the water rather than remaining in the safety of the boat.

Posted by Reality Check at 1:51 PM | | Comments

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Can You See What I See?

Matthew Chapter 13

Scripture= Matthew 13:13 – 15
This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
" 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.

Observations and Applications=
I remember as a child sitting in the doctor’s office and reading a magazine that had a page where you tried to find hidden objects in a picture. I can’t remember the name of the magazine but I loved the challenge and the hunting. Years later as an adult I remember something similar that was just as fun and even more challenging. You had to stare at a real complex picture and focus at a certain point and all of a sudden these hidden images would emerge into your eyesight. It was awesome! If you tried to explain it to someone they would get frustrated when they couldn’t spot the submerged images. They had to look and find the hidden pictures for themselves. Sometimes the harder you tried to find what was hidden the longer it took, that is if you ever found them. What you had to do was just let your eyes relax and your brain would start to discern the before hidden pictures.

When I read this chapter in Matthew I thought of these eye puzzles. At first you think you see all that there is to see within the picture but there are really hidden images that must be discerned. This is just like the parables that Jesus used to teach the people. You think you are hearing a simple story but there is a much deeper meaning that must be discerned. Sometimes you really have to concentrate and give your all to really find the hidden meanings. At other times you have to just relax and trust that the meaning will come to you. The scary thing is when we think we already see everything and quit trying to find the truth that God wants to teach us. All of a sudden even the simple things can become blurry and we stop seeing what counts. We settle for what we want to see or refuse to accept what God really wants to show us.

Just like searching the pictures that have hidden images we must never grow weary, bored or above seeing the truths that Jesus is trying to reveal to us. No matter the circumstances you might find yourself in, there is something to see and discover if we are willing to learn. The Kingdom of heaven is meant to be experienced here and now by those who will allow God to reveal from their everyday lives the hidden images (truths) of the kingdom.

What was the Holy Spirit speaking to you about as you read this today? Do you search for the hidden things? Are you ready and open to see them? Will you trust God to reveal them to you? Will you respond to what you are shown?

Prayer= Lord Jesus, I want to see what you see. I want to hear what you say. I want to always have a hunger to learn from you, a willingness to receive what you give me and a boldness to obey whatever you ask me to do.

Posted by Reality Check at 2:52 PM | | Comments

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

The Kingdom is Here!

BRAND NEW FEATURE!!!!

There is something I do want you to notice on this blog site that is brand new. (Actually, it has been here awhile I just hadn’t noticed it and I haven’t been writing any new post lately so I couldn’t say anything.) Now you can subscribe to this blog and receive the post like an email if you wish. Maybe that can help you as a devotional, a thought provoker or just an opportunity to read something from a silly middle age man. Whatever the reasons, if you are interested, just subscribe today and when there is a post it will be automatically sent to your email. Your email address will never be used for anything else and you can unsubscribe any time you want.

I am sorry for disappearing for the last two weeks. With Thanksgiving week I was in and out of town and then my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and I was away for that as well. Last week I was in New York and I did not have time to sit down and blog. I never meant to miss this much time without a single post and I really miss doing this and staying in touch with all of you. Hopefully I can get back on track. I will pick up the reading and posting today with the scheduled book of Matthew already in progress. (Ha, ha, ha; sorry poor television humor!)

Matthew Chapter 6
Scripture= Matthew chapter 6:10
"your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven."

Observations and Applications=
Our scripture passage for today is from a section of the Lord’s Prayer. I have always thought of this passage as simply relating to Jesus and his mission to save mankind. My thoughts centered around, “okay Father God do your thing and save us through Jesus so everything will be all right on earth like they are in heaven.”

Lately I have seen this prayer in a totally different way. I recently finished reading a book entitled Velvet Elvis ‘Repainting The Christian Faith, by Rob Bell (Zondervan Press, 2005). What an incredible read! I am seeing that the kingdom of God is not just about Jesus coming to earth and the crucifixion happening. The kingdom of God can be established by the followers of Jesus because Jesus came to earth, died, rose from the dead and ascended to glory. We are required to faithfully reveal and establish the Kingdom of God here until he comes.

I have to know what the kingdom of God is all about and make it happen here on earth as it is in heaven. If I look at this verse again I could understand it to say, “When I do God’s will, His kingdom will be seen here on earth as it has been established in heaven.
Jesus died to re-establish the kingdom of God here on this earth which will ultimately be consummated when he returns to restore and create a new heaven and earth. How are we establishing his kingdom? What does this look like? Reading the Gospels will take on a whole new meaning when you are looking for Jesus’ teaching and life examples concerning the kingdom. The body of Christ should be revealing the dynamics of the kingdom in our words and our actions. Our churches should be examples, models if you will, of God’s heavenly kingdom. The way we treat one another and our purpose to reach those who are lost reveal the kingdom.

Are there actions that you should do today to reveal the kingdom of God? The way I live should not be based on the dynamics or economics of an earthly kingdom but instead they should represent a kingdom that Jesus died to restore and establish right here, right now!

Don’t wait for heaven to someday bring the revealed kingdom of God to you, reveal heaven by bringing the kingdom of God to earth today.

Prayer= Lord Jesus, May I bring about your kingdom today by the way I represent you. I desire to reveal you and your kingdom by word and deed. Thank you for the redemption of mankind and I long for the redemption of all of your creation. Your kingdom come and your will be done here, through us on earth, in the same way that your will is proclaimed by heaven.

Posted by Reality Check at 3:08 PM | | Comments

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January 25 Genesis 25
January 26 Genesis 26
January 27 Genesis 27
January 28 Genesis 28
January 29 Genesis 29
January 30 Genesis 30
January 31 Genesis 31
February 1 Genesis 32
February 2 Genesis 33
February 3 Genesis 34
February 4 Genesis 35
February 5 Genesis 36
February 6 Genesis 37
February 7 Genesis 38
February 8 Genesis 39
February 9 Genesis 40
February 10 Genesis 41
February 11 Genesis 42
February 12 Genesis 43
February 13 Genesis 44
February 14 Genesis 45
February 15 Genesis 46
February 16 Genesis 47
February 17 Genesis 48
February 18 Genesis 49
February 19 Genesis 50


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