What's a BIG DEAL!?

Who at this point hasn't had some thing happen that was a really big deal? I think everyone has. Let's  look back in time and I mean, lets go way back. How about High school, far enough?

When I was in High School I was ultra self-conscious, at least till I was a Senior. But I can remember some things that happened that were really a big deal. Like not having enough money to go to the movies with friends or having to take my lunch when I was a freshmen, thought that was a big deal. Basically anything that didn't go MY way was a big deal.

But what is a big deal to God?

I have seen loved ones die after years of illness. Is this not a big deal? I have seen friends lose their children before they take their first breath, is this not a big deal? I have seen my own family struggle through difficulties, is this not a big deal?

One thing I have noticed over the years, is that God has changed my perception of what is a BIG DEAL. Most things that are currently a big deal, focus on me. I'm focused on my problems and I am only looking at them through my perspective.

Nothing has happened or will, that God has not known. My life has one main purpose, to be conformed to the image and likeness of His son.  Through that statement, it is a life of gratefulness, thanksgiving, love, and compassion.

I do not know hardship or suffering compared to what others throughout the world do. Nor does it compare to the Love that God himself showed for me. While I was wrapped up in a BIG DEAL, wrapped up in self, wrapped up with the concerns of this world, wrapped in sin, Christ died for me. 

As I look back on those things that were a big deal at the time. I see God provided and delivered and moreover LOVED me through all these things. Furthermore, I couldn't show the kind of compassion and comfort to others I should, had i not endured and been brought through these things. Since I was comforted, I can better show comfort to others. 

I hope the next BIG DEAL that comes along I will have a better handle on it. That I will have less self in it. That I will immediately turn my face toward Abba, our Father in Heaven, and glorify His name. For nothing is out side of His ability, His Love, His Faithfulness.

What's a big deal to God, You, more than your physical well being, it's your spirit, a Big Deal is your eternity.
May the God of Peace wrap you in His unfailing Love- David



AWAKE

I don't know about you but sometimes it seems like I am on a train that keeps making the same trip over and over. I get used to the bumps, the curves, some unexpected stops to let people on and off. I have even gotten used to the noise. This week I heard on a local radio station, this Hip-hop bible verse thing, really loved it. It was called "Streetlights Project".  It is a free download by the way.

But any way, the verse they played on the radio was Eph 5: 1-21. After I downloaded it, I have listened to that one passage many times. There was just something in it that was entangling my mind. Although that might not take much, it was still happening.  Actually one little part, a couple words, from one verse.

vs. 14

“Wake up, sleeper....

There was something in those word that called out to me. They made me want to listen more and read that passage again.  But I am not a sleep am I? I have accepted Christ, is this for me?

But maybe I have been napping or sleep walking. We had a message at our church months ago that said "just because something isn't bothering you, doesn't mean it shouldn't be."

Maybe that is me. I have lost the seriousness of the situation. That all things are either good or bad. There is not a gray area with God. There is Truth or a lie, Light or darkness, Life or death.  

God this week, I need your help. Eph 5:1-2 - Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Help me to follow your example, help me to be an imitator of your love, compassion, and grace. Give me your thoughts, your insight, let your Spirit flow through me, through all of us.  And God, thanks for the Wake Up call.

Love- David.

YOUR IMPACT: HIGH

One of the things that I sometimes struggle with is where I am in life. I was really bad about this but have slowly been changed over time. I used to say God if I had this Job, this House, this Money, this and that. It was beyond being content. I was happy I just wanted more of God and determined I knew the way to grow that relationship. That my usefulness to God some how related to the circumstances I find my self in.

So in this growth the scripture that God led me to is in Corinthians. Paul is addressing marriage, circumcision, and slavery but it seems to apply.

1 Corinthians 7:24

²⁴ Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

So now I know it is not where I'm at nor is it what I'm doing. Another verse tells us do everything as unto the Lord. I think God wants people everywhere, almost like we are infiltrating the world. You might think your job is a low position in society. Or maybe that your just a new christian and don't know anything, so God can't use you. As far as I can see, you need to know this. God loves you and everyone else. Jesus died for all of us, and God raised Him from the dead; and acceptance of that is the only way to heaven. Love God and love others. TA DA. Let God do the rest.

That's not to say there won't be other changes in your life, but God is the potter we are the clay. Our church has a thing they call the code, this is one of them.



We will do anything short of sin to reach people who don’t know Christ. To reach people no one is reaching, we’ll have to do things no one is doing.

So today my family, an extension or as ambassadors of God, we are going to a car show.  We'll be handing out "church" invites but more than that we will be showing God's love for all the people of the world.

Good luck and God Speed- David.

Imaginary Friends

My oldest  son asked me this week if I had an imaginary friend.  I of course said yes! Then I said well the older I get the more I seem to talk to myself anyways. I think I scared him a little. But that's good parenting right there!

As I thought about the question he asked I began to recall many people that have crossed my path. Friends seem to change over a life time. Some just because you drift apart, your thinking changes, time restraints, there are many things that move friends around.

I've always thought there were three things that test all your friendships.
1. Get married. 2. Get divorced. 3. Get Jesus.
But as life moves, so do friends. Friends have been there through good times and bad. They've "caused" the good times and the bad. But they have not been imaginary.

I also developed (of course) a different view of what these people are in my life.

Whether Friend or Foe, they are instruments of God. You see in scripture God used non-believers, like Pharaoh, to advance the Gospel through adversity. God also used the death of a best friend and the sorrow of a family to show His power, when Lazarus was raised from the dead. The prophets of God generally didn't show up and just say how awesome people were. They told people where they could improve and where they were doing well.  Consider the new testament Paul where in Ephesians he commends them for their faith, but tells them no unwholesome talk would come from you.

I love my friends past, present, and future. I view them differently because God has placed them close to me. In nearly constant contact with some of them. Some I speak with only on-line, others I see occasionally, and yet some we are intentionally connected friends. God has given us time to see each other every week, to share our struggles and successes. To live life together, our church calls it a Life Group. It is my inner circle, which is a model that Jesus shows. God placed them there, not by accident, but with purpose.

All of you, everyone I would call friend, know you are an extension of God. You are being used to change my life. To those of you God will use through adversity, well your probably not reading this anyways.................but God loves you and I am able to love you through my trust in Him. There it is I'm a hippie, Love for everybody.