Do You Believe? - A message that prods how deep your faith goes

Do you believe...in God/Jesus/Holy Spirit? In heaven and hell? That Jesus can make your burdens lighter? God will take care of you? He can heal all diseases? He will forgive ALL your sins (aka you are forgivable)? Someone you know wants to know about Christ? He will show you the way? And the list continues...

Do any of those questions start to step on your "faith toes?" They are ones that I have wrestled with in life. Usually, I guess if I'm wrestling with them, someone else will too.

Sunday, we looked at Matthew 9:27-34 as Jesus was healing two blind men. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

• Blindness ~ I think that any disability/flaw can become numb to the senses. In other words, it may cause us pain, but we become more and more comfortable with it. Maybe it is a chronic pain, over/underweight, disorder, scars, diseases, or disabilities. We can become figuratively blind to various areas in life, which can disable us from seeing the open doors around us to share our faith. Ask Jesus to remove that blindness so you can see the possibilities.
• "Yes, Lord" ~ Not all of life's questions are going to be easy to say "Yes, Lord" when we are posed with the question of "Do you believe I can take care of this?" However, for those hard questions, even if it is answered a bit sheepishly, may we have confidence in Him that He will take care of things and answer, "Yes, Lord."
• Don't Tell Anyone ~ Don't think about pink elephants. I would guess you started thinking about that or something pink or elephants. Jesus told the recipients of this blessing to not tell anyone and they told everyone. I hope you will take the chances to tell others about what Jesus has done for you. They need to have Him too!!!

I shared that sometimes the cross is like the sleigh bell from The Polar Express. The boy, along with some others, had a difficult time hearing it because they didn't believe. I hope that the cross will be come more "audible" to you as you go through life. Whether you need to believe on the tough issues or the easy ones.

Now it's your turn...what have you struggled in "believing?"

"I Give Up!" - Introduction - Luke 14:28-33

Giving up is something that comes easy when it involves something you do not care that much about.  Maybe it is because you lost your passion/interest in the area, so you decide to just give up.  There are factors that may contribute to the losing of interest.  Maybe it is because you thought you weren't good at doing something, so you gave up.  Maybe it is because you had been absent from your routine (going to a group gathering) so you gave up.

On the flip side, giving up is more difficult when it is something that you are more passionate.  Going on a "diet" could be difficult because you feel you must give up all the foods you used to like.  Quitting smoking, quitting drinking, or the cessation of drug use may sound good on the surface, but it is quite difficult to do when it comes to actually following through with it and sticking with the commitment.  Giving up on sedentary a lifestyle can be very difficult to give up as you have to take time to exercise, especially when your schedule has a hard time allowing you to fit in the exercise regimen.

Yesterday, we began a series called "I Give Up" where I challenged the people to think of something that they would be willing to give up, that was important, but wouldn't make them "moan and groan".  It is to try to realize that the void is to allow you to cause you to be drawn closer to Him.  Whether that void is described as not doing a certain activity or choosing not to eat something, let it be something that you can use to connect with Him.  Here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

1. Choose ~ First of all, you must decide what you will "give up" that falls under the parameters of "important, but won't make you moan and groan".  You are not doing it for others' benefit, but your's.
2. Pray ~ Whether or not it is that difficult, pray that you will be able to use this discipline for the purpose it was intended.  You will probably be a bit distracted throughout the time because you will be drawn to the thing you have given up, but use the times you are thinking about it to pray, as one option.
3. Encourage ~ Do you know of someone else that is participating in this discipline?  Take time to pray and encourage them as the go through the journey (even if you aren't participating).
4. Brainstorm ~ Think of alternatives from this discipline.  What can you do instead?
5. Don't give up ~ Sounds a bit like the opposite of the intent, but the point is that even if you mess up (hopefully accidentally) to keep up with it.  Don't quit the discipline even if you may make the occasional mistake.

Here are some options besides food to give up:

• Cell phone Usage - Certain time of day to turn off, unless emergency
• Profanity, Complaining, Gossiping - Watch your tongue - the little thing can do lots of damage!
• Internet Usage - Certain time of day to do something else or stay away from game sites (or worse)
• Television usage - Turn off either certain hours or days/nights so you can do something else

Maybe you can think of others. If so, please leave a comment with your idea.  I am looking forward to the journey to see what happens as I journey through this discipline.


You can also leave comments throughout the month to see how things are going as you journey through the next few weeks of this discipline.





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Going Green: Wind Power

When we lived in Illinois, we shared our experiences of the wind from growing up in western Kansas. The interesting thing was, that part of Illinois was not accustomed to receive much wind (except on an occasional storm), so many didn't believe that a 25-30 mph wind, wasn't a gust, it was much of a norm for a day (maybe a couple of days). Gusts could get into the 60's and just start to be on the brink of worry. Some days the wind would get even higher than that.

For you golfers, try playing east-west with a southern wind of 20-30 mph! What isn't fun is when then wind decides to die down a bit just when you hit it toward a side of a fairway and it doesn't come back to the fairway - like you thought it would!

God has created wind for various reasons. It is one 'fuel' which we can/have utilized so that other fuels aren't used up. It is almost unlimited! Especially, if you use it correctly.

As Christians, we have a fuel that is probably not utilized in most people, like it should, and this fuel is basically unlimited (we are the only ones that can limit this fuel). The 'wind' that drives our sails is the Holy Spirit. As we are "filled" with Him, we should take advantage of His guidance. As we looked at this "wind power" yesterday, here are some applications to choose to use this week...

1. Cooling Off - Ever worked physically hard away from a breeze, say inside a building? It is miserable! That is what it is like to work all your life's situations out without tapping in to the wind power of the Holy Spirit...it is miserable. Open yourself up to His power!
2. Sailing Away - Being a father of a young child, I am now watching cartoons. My son likes basically one cartoon. One episode has the group sailing, until they hit the 'doldrums'. There, the wind stops and they must row their big boat. A sailboat was created to utilize the wind. You were created to allow the "wind" in the Holy Spirit to fill your sails to take you through life...don't row, let Him take you places! Maybe some you never thought possible!
3. Transporting Seeds - We've all probably blown on a dandelion, causing the seeds to be blown all over. The wind of the Holy Spirit can act like that. What I'm getting at is that through you and the seeds you plant, the Holy Spirit starts to work in other places. We don't know where that seed will take root or after it grows, another seed will be spread. We may never see what comes of it...that is an awesome mystery of the working of Him...tap into it...relish in it...God is awesome!
4. Fuel Your Fire - Oxygen is an important ingredient in keeping a flame going. Air is fed into a fire to keep it going stronger. A quenched fire will go out. Don't quench the Holy Spirit as that will cause your fire to go out...open up the vent and allow the air to come in to your life to keep the fire going or build it up! Utilize the power of wind!

When people are using wind turbines to capture the energy of the wind, they are utilizing an energy that is natural and good for the environment.

When you allow yourself to tap into the power of the Holy Spirit, you, too, are utilizing an energy that is natural and good for your environment.

Capturing this 'energy' will cause your environment to be better. It will cause your outlook to be different. Your attitude to be different. Your faith to be different. Make someone else's environment cleaner by utilizing this 'wind power' yourself and make a difference in others' lives!

Enjoying the breeze...