Haggai 1:9 (NASB)
9 "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little ; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why ?" declares the LORD of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.
I have had Attention Deficit Disorder for most of my life. As a child, my teachers were always after me to "stay on task." I get sidetracked with something that caught my attention and would end up neglecting the actual work I should have been doing. The end result was time outs in the corner, grades that were not stellar and a whole lot of frustration on everyone's part.
Unfortunately, many of us are also guilty of having spiritual Attention Deficit Disorder. We get so preoccupied with the things of this life that we end up ignoring the things God has put before us. This was certainly the case with the people in Haggai's time. They had allowed the Lord's temple to lie in ruins for years as they focused on building up houses and wealth for themselves. In a similar fashion to my teachers, God had disciplined them for their choices. Their crops were not as productive, they were working twice as hard for half as much as God sought to bring them back to His purpose for their lives.
Today you may find yourself feeling like a hamster on a hamster wheel. You are running and running, but not really finding yourself going anywhere. I would encourage you to step back and evaluate whether you are focused in on the tasks God has put before you. The stationary place you find yourself in, may simply be His way of getting your attention, so that He can direct you back to His plans and purposes for your life.
In the end, your decision to focus once again on the things of God will bring about greater blessings in your life.
Until next Monday, may God's richest blessings be yours this week.
Carl
Showing posts with label faith religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith religion. Show all posts
Monday, November 15, 2010
Monday, August 09, 2010
You Are Being Refined
Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.
Psalm 66:10 (NASB)
For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined.
We each go through times in our life where the heat of our circumstances is almost unbearable. We cry out to God for relief and yet we find the heat remains. It is in these times that we may even questions God's love for us. Why would he let me go through so much challenge?
What we later realize is that we were in the midst of God's refining process. God is transforming our lives into a thing of beauty that brings about His glory. Unfortunately the only way we purify anything in this world is by heating it up. We purify water by boiling it. We purify metal by melting it down and skimming the impurities. Heat is the mechanism of purification. As the heat is applied to our lives, the hidden darkness within us gets revealed as it surfaces. Once visible, God forces us to deal with that darkness and our purity increases.
Today you may find yourself in the crucible of refinement. Remember that God is purifying your life and that with each passing day you are becoming more radiant to the world around you.
Until next Monday, may God's richest blessings be yours this week.
Carl
Psalm 66:10 (NASB)
For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined.
We each go through times in our life where the heat of our circumstances is almost unbearable. We cry out to God for relief and yet we find the heat remains. It is in these times that we may even questions God's love for us. Why would he let me go through so much challenge?
What we later realize is that we were in the midst of God's refining process. God is transforming our lives into a thing of beauty that brings about His glory. Unfortunately the only way we purify anything in this world is by heating it up. We purify water by boiling it. We purify metal by melting it down and skimming the impurities. Heat is the mechanism of purification. As the heat is applied to our lives, the hidden darkness within us gets revealed as it surfaces. Once visible, God forces us to deal with that darkness and our purity increases.
Today you may find yourself in the crucible of refinement. Remember that God is purifying your life and that with each passing day you are becoming more radiant to the world around you.
Until next Monday, may God's richest blessings be yours this week.
Carl
Monday, January 25, 2010
Seventy x Seven
Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.
Throughout our lives we face times and circumstances in which we feel we have been wronged by someone else. Our natural responses can run the emotional spectrum from resentment to hatred, but for the follower of Jesus, the example of forgiveness has been clearly given. Even as He was being put to death, Jesus cried out for the forgiveness of those putting Him to death.
Forgiveness is never easy, particularly when we have been wounded deeply. Our desire to never be wounded by an individual again, leads to a vast array of defenses being erected in our lives. We simply do not want to give those who have offended us the opportunity to do it again.
Peter was wrestling with the need to extend forgiveness as he posed this question to Jesus:
Matthew 18:21-22 (HCSB)
Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven.”
Peter was looking for that justification to hold a grudge. His question was simple, surely there must be a limit to the amount of forgiveness that should have to be offered to someone who has wrong us? Peter gave a number that to him seemed generous. After forgiving someone seven times already, there should be no obligation to forgive again, if they wrong him again. Jesus instead responded that forgiveness needed to offered exponentially more.
This standard of forgiveness is in play in our lives each and every day. What if God placed an arbitrary number on His forgiveness? Suppose God's forgiveness was no longer available to you and I after our 500th offense, even our 1,000th offense. Most of us would have exhausted God's forgiveness before we were even out of primary school. The simple disobedience of childhood and the rebellion of youth would have exhausted that forgiveness supply. God continues to forgive us time and time again, that is the example we have been called to follow even though it is difficult at times.
When we refuse to forgive, we allow unforgiveness to control us. Rarely is the person who has offended us, affected by our resentment. That area of our lives is robbed of the peace that is rightfully ours and that lack of peace reflects in our actions and words.
Today, there may be someone who needs your forgiveness. Their actions may not warrant forgiveness, but true forgiveness is not based on the actions of the other person, true forgiveness is birthed within you, it is your act of mercy and grace towards them. As difficult as this step may be, it will be very freeing for you in the long run. By taking this step, you will be releasing the hold that unforgiveness has on your life.
Until next Monday, may God's richest blessings be yours this week.
Carl
Throughout our lives we face times and circumstances in which we feel we have been wronged by someone else. Our natural responses can run the emotional spectrum from resentment to hatred, but for the follower of Jesus, the example of forgiveness has been clearly given. Even as He was being put to death, Jesus cried out for the forgiveness of those putting Him to death.
Forgiveness is never easy, particularly when we have been wounded deeply. Our desire to never be wounded by an individual again, leads to a vast array of defenses being erected in our lives. We simply do not want to give those who have offended us the opportunity to do it again.
Peter was wrestling with the need to extend forgiveness as he posed this question to Jesus:
Matthew 18:21-22 (HCSB)
Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven.”
Peter was looking for that justification to hold a grudge. His question was simple, surely there must be a limit to the amount of forgiveness that should have to be offered to someone who has wrong us? Peter gave a number that to him seemed generous. After forgiving someone seven times already, there should be no obligation to forgive again, if they wrong him again. Jesus instead responded that forgiveness needed to offered exponentially more.
This standard of forgiveness is in play in our lives each and every day. What if God placed an arbitrary number on His forgiveness? Suppose God's forgiveness was no longer available to you and I after our 500th offense, even our 1,000th offense. Most of us would have exhausted God's forgiveness before we were even out of primary school. The simple disobedience of childhood and the rebellion of youth would have exhausted that forgiveness supply. God continues to forgive us time and time again, that is the example we have been called to follow even though it is difficult at times.
When we refuse to forgive, we allow unforgiveness to control us. Rarely is the person who has offended us, affected by our resentment. That area of our lives is robbed of the peace that is rightfully ours and that lack of peace reflects in our actions and words.
Today, there may be someone who needs your forgiveness. Their actions may not warrant forgiveness, but true forgiveness is not based on the actions of the other person, true forgiveness is birthed within you, it is your act of mercy and grace towards them. As difficult as this step may be, it will be very freeing for you in the long run. By taking this step, you will be releasing the hold that unforgiveness has on your life.
Until next Monday, may God's richest blessings be yours this week.
Carl
Monday, October 05, 2009
Responsibility for your choices
Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.
Our daily lives are filled with choices. At each crossroads of decision we evaluate outcomes and make a choice, based on a variety of factors. Some of these factors include: Impulse, training, past experiences, core values, goals, needs and the influence of others. There are times when our decisions are appropriate, and there are also times that we simply make wrong choices.
There are always consequences for the decisions we make, good or bad. Our willingness to accept responsibility for those choices is critical, in spite of our nature that seeks to shift blame.
Genesis 3:9-12 (NASB)
9 Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 And he said, “I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
12 And the man said, “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”
In the Garden of Eden, Adam had been given instruction about which trees he could eat from and at the same time he was forbidden to eat from one particular tree. These directions were given specifically to Adam, thus making Adam completely responsible for any decisions regarding the forbidden tree. Having this knowledge, Adam made a choice to eat from the forbidden tree.
Notice in the above passage, how Adam responds to the question of “his” actions. Adam blames Eve for giving him the fruit from the tree, but he also blames God for putting her in the garden. We might paraphrase it this way: “That woman YOU put here with me (I wasn’t looking for her, I might add), she handed me the fruit (so technically she took it first) and gave it to me, and I ate it….but remember, she started it.”
Accountability is not always enjoyable, especially in the face of wrong choices and willful disobedience; however, accountability is what God has modeled even in the Garden of Eden. Notice, God asks Adam: “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” Like it or not, Adam was personally responsible for his actions.
With accountability comes God’s grace. Yes, there are consequences for our actions, but there is also mercy in those consequences. For Adam and Eve, they were no longer allowed to remain in the Garden of Eden. The Bible also tells us that God provided animal skins to clothe Adam and Eve, covering the nakedness that had now become a source of shame.
Today you will encounter choices. Each choice is an opportunity for righteousness or selfishness. Those choices ride squarely on your shoulders and there is no one else responsible, but you. If you find yourself facing consequences of bad choice, remember in the midst of those consequences God also extends sufficient grace.
Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.
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