Going Green: Choosing the Right System

Have you ever noticed how enjoyable it is to go shopping for hot water heaters, central air conditioner units, or sump pumps? I would guess that most of you are thinking there is nothing enjoyable about shopping for those. They are usually bought out of necessity when a previous one quits working. You may look for warranties, life-expectancy, or some other feature. However, you generally do not look for style. Most people who ever come into your home will never see them.

You can go a cheaper approach, which may work out. However, with some products, getting a little bit better model can make a difference. I've had a experiences of both.

Regardless of cost, it is important to choose the right system. When it comes to systems that affect the environment (pollution, noise, smell, etc.), you need to choose the right one so that it will enhance the environment, instead of causing the environment to be degraded.

Yesterday, we looked at our second lesson in the "Going Green" series, taken from I Kings 18. As we are working toward 'altering our environment for positive change', we must choose which system we are going to use. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

1. Ponder what may be the 'lord' of your life. Is it money/debt, self, temptations (gossip, eyes, not share Jesus, etc.), greed, glamor, legalism, grumpiness, health, materialism, addictions...
2. Think about why you would choose a different 'system'. Different systems will affect your environment in a negative way
3. Choosing a different system, other than God's, will cause "sacrifices not to be burned". So, ask yourself, what makes a different system worthwhile?
4. Investing in His system will allow you to see surprises that you normally might miss. Allow yourself to invest in His system so that you will see surprises, one which may be to see "rocks melt", which is what they saw in the text.

Let God's system be the "AC" unit you need for 'green' cooling. It will keep you from having to get hot and it will be great for your environment! Others will benefit too!

Go green and choose the right system that will enhance the environment you are in!

Going green...

Life Under Control

I don't know how many times I said something like "Well, Chris's mom and dad let him go". Then my parents would respond, "We're not concerned with Chris, we're concerned with you." Ugh! My life was temporarily ruined! I didn't get what I wanted and I had a fight with a parent that "didn't understand me" anyway. Or, there were the times that someone else made me do something, be it a dare, being called a degrading name, or some other "reason" for causing me to go through with an action. It was "out of my control" to do it, right? That might have been what I thought, but it isn't what was actual.

Oh, those were the days! Learning who is in control of your life and following through with it. Even adults like to make excuses for why things go the way they do. That brings us to this week's quote...

Everyone's life is under someone's control - it might as well be under your own so that you can direct your destiny. ~ Harry Tucker

Whose control are you under? Have you had your temporary "peer pressure" moments when you caved to someone else, essentially being under their control? Had those "can't say no" moments? We've all been there.

The valuable lesson to learn is to understand when we need to be under the control of someone else and when we need to decide things for ourselves. I am not speaking of being under the control of God, that is a given. I am simply talking about the control we're under in different situations here, on earth.

Sometimes we need to get a backbone and stand up for what we believe in, in any given situation. Understand when you need to say no and when you can agree to something. Don't let people govern your life (guidance in life is OK).

Live your life under your control, where you decide the outcome and are pleased with the choices.

Gaining control...

“Up”: Don’t Forget the People You Pass

Last week, my family had the privilege of going to see the movie “Up”. A simple movie about a guy who fulfills a promise. Along the way he encounters different problems that were not in the original plans of accomplishing his goal. Isn’t this how life tends to treat us?

As I watched the movie, I wondered about the concept of getting to your goal and the different situations that come to you as you pursue that goal. Often times we are so caught up in being on time, graduating, making a good appearance, or bettering our career that we fail to see the little things that are going on all around us. Once we arrive at the goal, we may look back and see all the things that were behind us that we failed to see during our journey to our goal.

As mentioned, in the movie, the guy is heading toward a goal of fulfilling a promise. He is within eyeshot of his goal when a snag takes place (not the first in the journey). He then has to take an alternate route, with time being of the essence. During the alternate route other snags are encountered.

Fast forwarding a bit, he accomplishes his goal. He is ready to relax. However, another snag comes into play. This causes lots of “Oh, brothers” and rolling of the eyes as this was certainly not in the plans. After all, the reason behind this snag is because of previous ones.

The movie ends on a great note. I think that the main character learned this lesson. Sure, it isn’t the only lesson from the movie, just the one I came away with.

So, if you want to further your personal endeavors, don’t forget to see the blessings of snags. If you are trying to share Jesus with someone, don’t forget to be so focused on your goal that you put their feelings aside and do anything to accomplish your goal.

Remember the snags, they can help us too…

Going Green: Altering Yourself to Help Your Environment

"Going Green" has been a hot topic for the last few years. With more and more people becoming aware and concerned with the environment, the craze continues to gain ground. Though I am not an environmentalist, I do get concerned with throwing so much trash away and thinking about the earth and generations to come.

When I was investigating the concept of "going green" I found out something interesting, at its essence. One simple explanation was "altering your activities to help your environment". When you enter a room/environment, we are going to affect that environment. What effect will you have when you enter your workplace, your home, a store/check out line, a restaurant, etc.?

This "Going Green" is not so much the global environment, but more the unseen environment/atmosphere. We looked at five of the seven churches in Revelation, chapters 2 & 3, to get an idea about how a bad environment is not very appealing to God. Here are some applications to choose from this week...

1. Reflect back over the past few hours or days of work. How did your actions pollute or improve the environment?
2. Reflect back over the past few hours or days at home. How did your actions pollute or improve the environment?
3. Be conscious of trying to improve an environment which you enter in to. So, the next time you go shopping, try to improve the environment by helping someone, saying something nice to someone, calling your cashier by name, buying a cashier a candy bar - to say thanks, or some other way that may help the "environment".
4. Pray that God would help you as you aspire to help the various environments that you are in.
5. Self-reflect different areas that you need to clean up your body/mind "environment". Is there negativity toward someone? What do you need to do to "go green" and positively alter that environment?
6. Pray for your church family so that we can have a positive environment for which God to work and that He will be pleased to "digest" our service and worship to Him.
   

Recycling, planting trees, reducing hazardous materials, and many other things will help the earth to not be polluted. It will also save many natural areas and habitats.

With these same concepts, we can "go green" and create an environment that is reduced from pollution and allow our environment to not be "polluted".

Remember the catch phrase from Woodsy the Owl..."Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute!" Click here to recall one of those commercials.

Doing Small And Unimportant Things Well

What have you done lately that would put you into any record books? Most all of us would answer that question with "Nothing". Whether we were just going about our lives or we don't feel that what we do has much significance will cause that answer to be "Nothing".

Whether it is being evangelistic, going to our job, going to school, or just going about our lives, many of the things that we do in life are small things. Small things are hard to see. You don't see all the dust in our houses, cause it is small. You don't see the "fine print", cause it is small. You don't notice the quiet person who doesn't speak to anyone, cause they are not out in front. Small things don't get noticed. Small things can lead to bigger things. That brings us to this week's quote...

No matter how small and unimportant what we are doing may seem, if we do it well, it may soon become the step that will lead us to better things. ~ Channing Pollock

What you have done lately may seem insignificant to you. It may seem insignificant to your life. In fact, they may actually be insignificant, at this point. Just like the snowflake is small, but many insignificant snowflakes together can make a huge impact.

So, if you think of your actions as insignificant, think again. If you think you can't make a difference in someone's life by doing something small, think again. God takes the small, weak, and insignificant things in your life to do something great! Nazareth was insignificant, as Nathanael asked, "What good thing can come out of Nazareth?!" The answer, JESUS!!!

What you are doing today can lead to a better thing that you ever imagined! Just look out...you never know when it will let itself be known.

Looking forward to what my insignificant things will become...

Living Wide Awake: Enjoy

Thrills, chills, and spills are ways I would describe the life I am privileged to live in Christ. A lot is packed into making this life thrilling. Meeting people, impacting people, and anticipating what is around the corner makes for a thrilling ride! Along with that comes the chills. Looking at how God connects the dots to lead people my way causes me to just be in awe and sends goose bumps up my spine. We all take a fall from time to time as we "learn". Sowing seed is always a learning experience, so the spills are expected. Regardless of the spills, they don't prevent the anticipation of God's interaction in my life.

These are a few of the reasons that the life of a Christian should be enjoyed. God has given us so much to appreciate that we often are going so fast on the road of life to "see the signs" that would lead us to appreciate. Or, we are slumbering around and are too "drowsy" to see anything of appreciation.

Sunday, we concluded our Living Wide Awake series by looking at enjoying life. Here are some applications to choose from to use...

1. Thank God for giving you this day - air to breathe, things to see, house to live, family to care for, job to go to, etc.
2. Ask God to make it known how you should be used this day/situation.
3. Look for opportunities to be uncomfortable for Him and see what impact you can make.
4. Open your eyes for people who may need your interaction - those having a rough day, losing a loved one, frustration, complaining, etc.
5. Feeling weak? Count your blessings and get strength from Him as you look for the joy that comes from being a child of His. (The joy of the Lord is my strength - Nehemiah 8:10)
6. Be joyous for someone else to lift them up so that their day may be lightened.
7. "Say 'Hey, it's a good day', even if things aren't going my way. Jesus is alive and I am saved so, say 'Hey, it's a good day.'" - A Line From a FFH song

Enjoying life energizes you and dreading life drains you. Which choice will you make? As you read this you may give your pat answer of choosing the first one. However, when it comes right down to it, in the heat of a matter, it will be more difficult to choose the first one.

One thing that energizes me a lot is to hear of people who God has been working through! Whether I learn from what they've done or are experiencing, or I am simply encouraged, I love both situations!

May you be able to enjoy life this week, more than ever, as you take time to see what is going on around you. Look for God to be putting you in places where you can make an impact for the Kingdom - some places/people you may not even realize the potential of impact you can make!

Enjoying Life Wide Awake...

And the Winner is...

A popular phrase that is said a lot where they are handing out awards. In fifth grade I entered a science fair. I worked on creating an ear model. It was to show how the ear worked. My dad and I worked and worked on that. Then, we took it to the science fair. I was proud of that project. I can’t remember how I did with the speaking part to explain the model to the judge. However, I do remember the anticipation I felt when we went to the awards ceremony. “Is it me? Did I win?” were my thoughts. I also remember the utter shame and foolishness that I felt when my name wasn’t called for third, second, or first place. I had my dad take me home immediately after I found this news out. I didn’t want to have anything to do with that ear model again. I didn’t enter the next year.

This last week, the Powerball lottery was up to $222 million dollars. That isn’t pocket change for anyone. (As I am writing this before the drawing, I don’t know if anyone won or not) That money will make a difference in everyone’s life. Managed well, you wouldn’t have to do anything for the rest of your life. But what about all of the people who put in their one dollar, two, five, or ten dollars, that didn’t win? Will they play again? Most probably will. If no one won this drawing, there was another one last night (Saturday). Someone will eventually win and they will be financially set for life.

In our Christian walk, we sometimes feel like there is only one winner. Only one who “wins the race”. They see all the good things happening to everyone else, and just see their life as creeping toward miserable. Friends, that is not the case at all. The race is there for everyone who is “in Christ” to be able to finish. The finish line is put up again after each person has crossed it. We all get the chance to finish the race. We all can be winners in His kingdom.

Jesus continually holds an awards banquet and He has stacks and stacks of envelopes with cards inside with names on them. Jesus stands at the podium and says that infamous phrase, “And the winner is…” YOU! You are a winner! You have been given the honor of being a part of something great. Then, when all is over, you get to go and be with Him to an even better place, as He considers you a “good and faithful servant”.

How exciting and awesome is it to see yourself a winner! You don’t have to sit in the audience and wonder if your name is going to be called. He’s calling it continually. Relish in the fact that as a child of His, you are a winner! Kick up your heels, get a bounce in your step, puff out your chest because you are a winner! Show it off proudly but in a way that you want others to win, too. Who will you show your winning trophy to this week? Who do you want someone to hear their name mentioned after the phrase “And the winner is…”? Go, help someone else win, too!