Listen and Obey

James 1:22 says "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

I was thinking this week how often I know what to do and choose not to do it. I'm not talking about the big things like the 10 commandments or other black and white issues that are clearly wrong to do. I am talking about when I feel in my heart that God is telling me to shovel my neighbors driveway or have a conversation with someone that I haven't talked to in a while. I was challenged with James when he says not to deceive ourselves with just listening to the word, but we need to step out and do what we know to do.

So what is it in your life that you know your are supposed to do today. Perhaps it is something that you have been putting off or told yourself that you'll do it another time. I want to challenge you that NOW is the time for action. Putting your faith into action could be the answer to someone's prayer today. Trust that when you step out and do what you know to do that God is with you and guiding you in your steps in life. He will give  you the strength and will to see it through

:)

 

Can't go back.

This week, as I was about to shave, I noticed how my chin is getting more grey hairs in it. My first thought was "I should've grown a beard more when I had dark hair there". It hit me right away, that I can never go back to a day when I have dark hair growing from my chin. And I realized, that time in my life is over and I must move on.

This can happen in so many areas of our life where we can wish that we did things differently or that we had a better outcome of something we tried before. The truth is that we cannot go back and change anything in our past. All we truly have control of is our reaction to our present situation. And within that we can make choices to set us up for success in the future.

I like what Paul says in the bible:

Philippians 3:13 "No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead"

He is not concerned with what happen in the past. In fact he forgets it and moves on to what lies ahead. It is the excitement of what lies ahead that keeps Paul going. And if we read on in the bible, Paul does quite a bit with his life.

So let's take a moment and forget the past. It could be positive or negative, but our past has got us to where we are today. It is not going to take us further. In fact focusing on the past can do the opposite in life and keep us from moving at all.

Let us instead look ahead to the plans that God has for us on this earth and make steps today to begin living that life!

Allow the seed to take root.

Acts 7:25 "Moses assumed his brothers would realize that God had sent him to rescue them"

There was something in Moses that gave him the assurance that he was going to be the rescuer of Israel. Something deep inside was telling him that this was his purpose in life. I believe that we all have something inside of us where we know that there is a purpose to our life.

One of the challenges, though, is that we go through the same thing that Moses went through. After his encounter in Acts 7 he finds himself fleeing to another land and spending 40 years living a different life. A life where he is not rescuing Israel from the hands of the Egyptians. He finds it so odd that he calls his son Gershom. Which means "I have been a stranger in a foreign land."

I think that alot of us can relate to this. We know that there is more to life than what we are experiencing. It is like we are living in a strange foreign land.

Let me encourage you with this. Just as a seed needs to be put into the ground in order to germinate and become what that seed is designed to be. So must we be put to the dirt in order for us to become what God has called us to be. I don't mean to be cruel. I'm just saying that most times there is some time between when we have that spark of desire and when it begins to happen. Alot of times we are not ready for what God wants to do through us so we need time to allow some roots to form and a healthy germination to take place before we can spring forth and be who God call us to be.

The beauty is that if we allow this process to take place and and then spring forth from the ground with a strong footing then there will be nothing that can stop us. We will see the impossible happen in our lives. If you read Hebrews 11 it talks of what it was like for Moses after his time "in the ground" When he came back to lead the people out, then there was nothing but miracles and life changing experiences and he did rescue the Israelite people just as he thought he would.

God has great things for you in this life. Allow the moulding to take place and you will see those great things come to pass.

Rom 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose."

Follow ME?????

In 1 Cor 11:1 Paul Says "Follow my example as I follow Christ.".

I used to read this and think that Paul was this great man and if we could just measure up to what he has accomplished then we would be doing alright. This, however put a lot of pressure on me. Paul was a man who wrote part of the bible. God used him to do monumental things in life and changed history. What I started to do instead was focus on the latter part of the verse. I  put more emphases on following Christ and not so much on following Paul. And what I found was that as I got closer to Jesus my life began to change. Not that everything became perfect, but slowly I started becoming more of who I was meant to be in life.

It was then that I began to realize what Paul was saying.

He was asking us to follow him in the way he followed Christ. Not to try and imitate all the actions that he did in life. We are not called to be a Paul. We are called to be a _______(insert your name here).
When we begin to live life this way then we can stand up with boldness and say to those that are around us "Follow me as I follow Christ". And living life as an example to others allows us to realize that life is not all about us. Others are affected by our actions. They say who we really are.

So as we go on in life from here, Let's remember that our neighbors, friends and colleagues are watching us. If you are a follower of Christ, remember that it is your example that shows others who you are. Paul's life was not perfect and yours and mine is not as well. 1 Cor 3:18 talks of how we are being transformed into Christ's likeness as we trust and follow Him. We are constantly learning to follow Jesus better and as we do, it is an awesome privilege to be an example for others to follow.

Goal Setting / Failure.

So a few weeks ago as I was getting ready for the new year, I took a moment to reflect on the past year. 2013 was a great year for us as a family and myself as a person. There are many areas where I can say that I have changed and am not where I was in 2012.

The one area though where I felt quite disappointed this past year was in my goal setting. I guess the goal setting part was not a problem. It is easy to set goals. Anybody can say I will do x, y and z in the next 6 months. The problem I had was more in the actual implementing of the goals. I can safely say that most of them started well. All them did not continue for the remainder of the year. And so, when looking back, I started to feel like a failure and did not want that feeling again this year. So I committed to setting one goal at the beginning of the year. And that goal was to be super easy so there was a very slim chance of failure. :)

As I thought about this more and more I started to think about how there is no growth without stretching. There is no win without work and sacrifice. Then after listening to our campus pastor talk about his goal setting and what it meant to him every year, I decided that this year was not going to be an easy year. I would rather look back at the end of the year and see failure of a goal that I didn't finish, than the regret of not trying anything at all.

And so I look forward to this year as a year of challenge once again. Is there a chance of failure? You bet there is!!! But I go forth anyway trying to overcome the temptation of failure and strive for the goal that will help to make me a stronger person.

There is no END without a BEGINNING

Happy New Year!!!

I was thinking about what it's like to enter a new year and how we generally enjoy making big plans for what we want to accomplish over the next little while. We tend to focus on the end result and say things like "I want to loose 15 pounds" or "I wan to make an extra $5,000 this year". What ever the goal is we will never achieve it unless we make the decision to START. I want to encourage you as you set out on your big goal this year (and I hope it is big) to make the small decision of starting.

If you want to go to the store to get some milk it does you no good to stay in the house and dream of someday having milk to drink. You need to start by going out the door. It is the same with any goal or dream you may have. Taking the first step is how you can make it to the next step which will lead you to the next one and so on.

So make 2013 the year that you do more than dream and goal set. Make this the year that you see the end result by taking the first step of Starting. :)

The girl in the bank!!

A little story from last year. When I was driving last year I would go down to Philadelphia once a week. I remember one trip where I was going to make it home in time to hang out with my lovely family for the evening. This is always a treat and I don't waste any time when coming home on days like that. In fact, on this particular day I was driving together with someone else and the race was on to see who was going to make it home first. When I got to Niagara I was excited from the drive and the fact that I was so close to home but, I had one stop left to make.

That was the bank.

Now, it was closed so all I had access to were the machines to do my transaction. When I walked into the abandoned building there was a girl sitting on the floor beside a small shopping cart. I assumed she wanted to get out of the cold for a bit and paid no attention to what she was doing. (Remember, I'm almost home. That is where my mind is.) As I begin my business at the ATM I hear a muffled something come out of her mouth. It sounded as though she was drunk. I turned to see what was going on and she was holding a card out to me. I couldn't help but think, Is this drunk girl really interrupting me as I'm trying to make it home to see my family. So, at that I raised my hand palm out in a gesture that clearly stated - You are bothering me and wasting my time and I will get to you when I'm ready. I finished what I needed to do and then turned around to leave preparing to face the girl. But, when I turned, she was facing the other direction. I was so relieved and thought that I could make a quick escape before she could yet take more time from my busy life. As I walked by her and went through the doors she didn't notice me leaving at all. What a score! My day of rushing to see my family has finally paid off. I will get to say hi to the kids before they're off to bed and the evening is mine.

When I turned around to get into my car I realized what just happened. The look on the girl's face as she looked at me leaving her was enough to break any man's heart. It took me a bit but it finally came to me that the drunk bothersome girl at the bank was not that at all. Instead she was a lonely deaf woman probably taking shelter from the cold and looking for a little help. The "drunken voice" I heard was her attempt at getting my attention. And the reason I made it out without her noticing was because she couldn't hear me opening the door and leave. And here I was, too busy with my life to spend an extra 30 seconds to interact with someone who possibly needed it at the time.

It took me quite a while to get over the fact that I did that. If you know me, it's not even character of who I am. And maybe that is what bothered me the most about it. And, no, I didn't go back in to see what I could do to rectify the situation.

Opportunity lost.

I'm sure this is a lesson that we have all been taught from time to time. Let's take some time today and notice those that are around us. Life is full of opportunities that are available everyday. It is up to us to keep our eyes open and take them when they come our way.

Enjoy your blessed life today!

Mark :)