Holly Teaches

During the Christmas season, greens and reds seem to be everywhere. Christmas trees, wreaths, and cookies all sport the festive colors of the season. But none of those bring us their colors naturally like holly does.

Today's story is brought to you by God, and the holly plant that He created. It's an interesting story about their amazing natural defense system. 

Here's a picture of two leaves - one smooth and one all pointed and prickly. Both came from the same plant. A holly plant.

Rabbits and deer nibble on the plant's leaves during the winter. In the spring the new growth changes and becomes armed with sharp spines to protect the plant.

The smooth leaves are up high and out of reach. The prickly ones are down low where they get easily consumed.

We humans can put up 'sharp prickly defenses' of our own if we get attacked and picked on by others. Only we don't change our outward appearance. We change internally.

Jesus can help us with our emotional pain. The secret to accessing the cure is simply to trust Him with it. If we trust in Jesus, that pain retreats and we gain peace in its place. Only then can we change - for the good.

If you find yourself hurting this Christmas season and have a case of the 'pricklies,' trust in Christ and ask Him to take over your aching heart. Then you can have that smooth and peaceful Christmas you were hoping for.

Try to spend time focused on 'things above' where you are out of reach from the things of the world below. And try not to get consumed by the things that bring you down. And rejoice!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7

Can't Sleep?

Some people have trouble falling asleep at night. Not me. My problem is waking up in the middle of the night THEN trying to get back to sleep. How about you? What keeps you up at night?

For me, once my mind gets going at two or three AM, it's hard to shut it off. I find myself thinking about one thing after another. Next thing you know an hour has gone by. How about you? Do you find yourself awake at night when you really don't want to be? What do YOU do?

Sometime during my nocturnal awake time I invariably ask myself. "What are you doing? What are you thinking about? It's 3AM!" The keyword is "focus".

That's when I pray - to get my mind off things of this world and re-focused on things above.

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." - Colossians 3:1-2

When I begin praying about the people in my life or the thankfulness I have for all that God has done, I find that my singular focus calms me and reigns in my brain to the point where God alone is in my head. That is a wonderful place to be. And that's where it should be.

Dreaming of Eden - Skillet

Human Curling

Do you know what curling is? According to Wikipedia, "Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice towards a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles." A sport? That sounds more like a bunch of bored people on a Friday night, making up a game to entertain themselves. Just kidding!

When I was in high school my mom had a miniature curling "stone" on her dresser. It's probably still there. I wasn't sure why until I found out the sport was first played in Scotland. My mom is Scottish and rather proud of that fact.

Recently on Facebook I was reminded of "a special memory" that Facebook thought would be good for me to see again. It was from seven years ago when I was a youth leader at church. It was a video I filmed of a youth group game I invented called Human Curling.

That sounds crazy enough to be an AMAZING youth group activity all by itself, but my game also carried a message along with it. I equated the sport of curling to the lives we live while we are here on earth. There is a beginning point and an ultimate goal, and then, in between those two points, there is a whole lot of stuff that happens that can ultimately change our final resting spot.

After we our born (our beginning point) we are directed towards our destination. Often, those effecting our outcome in life are our parents, our teachers, our friends and family members. But we can also be directed by our experiences, our highs and our lows, and even by those who oppose us.

I have a young friend who, I'm sure, was an amazing child. Interactions with friends and foe shaped her early life. But one day her parents got a divorce. I'm sure my friend witnessed many a battle in the living room or the kitchen. How can a child witness those things and not be re-directed in life.

We all have had similar experiences, similar life direction changes. As we travel through this life, how can we possibly end up on our intended target? Where we always wanted to be?

I forgot to mention earlier someone else who has the power to re-direct our lives. His name is Elohim - God. Once we have veered off life's path, He is the only one who can change our ultimate destination. You name the sin, God has the power to overcome it.

Our ultimate target in this life is that, when we come to the end of it, we will have placed our faith in His Son, Jesus. It is by our faith in Him that we are saved and get to proceed to game #2 - eternal life.

The curling rink of life has seen many "stones" thrown down the ice. The side boards are littered with them. But only a few arrive at their final destination. Only a few stay on target or are directed there by our Savior.

Where are you on the ice of life? Has your aim strayed from the target? Is your life going some place it shouldn't be? If it is, it is not too late to call for assistance.

"In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." - Proverbs 3:6

"Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you." - Proverbs 4:25

Human Curling

Being Intentional

Do you ever get those moments in life when something becomes abundantly clear, when before things always seemed cloudy and uncertain? That happens to me quite a bit. What causes the sudden certainty in our lives? Why, and how, do things suddenly become clear?

Perhaps it's some random thought that has been bouncing around in our head for a while and then, one day, we just finally figure out what to do with it. It could be God directing us to do something I guess, where He puts thoughts in our heads? Or maybe it's Satan doing the same thing. How do we know for sure if we should take a leap of faith

I was talking with a friend over the weekend (I think I mentioned this in my last blog post) about being intentional in our lives. What does "being intentional" look like in the world we live in? We can be intentional about taking our the garbage just like we can be intentional about prayer or going to church.

I think that if we are desiring to be intentional about doing something, that desire comes from us NOT doing something. Like eating healthy for example. Nothing makes me want to be intentional about dieting like stepping on the bathroom scale and weighing myself!

What about intentionality in our spiritual lives? Why do we read our Bibles some days and then others we let it slide? Are we too busy? Or are we just unintentional in our reading? And what about our diet? What makes us "tip the scales" in our minds about changing the way we eat or exercise?

I think we want to become intentional when things get bad enough or drift to an extreme to the point we wake up and say, "I have GOT to change something!"

What is the one thing you need to be intentional about? Is it your prayer life? Is it serving others in your community? Or maybe its time to start eating healthy or exercising more than you do. Everybody's got something they could change.

So what's holding us back?

Ourselves.

Our selfish desires.

"That chocolate cake looks SOOO good!"

No!! Be intentional about eating healthy!

I really don't feel like reading my Bible tonight."

Hey, this is God's Word. Perhaps He will reveal something in the scriptures that will change your thoughts . . . like being intentional! LOL!

Can I ask you a question? What made you choose Christ? And, if you haven't yet, why not? What suddenly makes it abundantly clear that we need Jesus in our lives? Are we intentional about seeking Him? Are we intentional in our faith today?

And finally, was there anyone more intentional that Christ? And if we are to become more and more like Him in the things we say and do, shouldn't we also become more intentional in our faith? In our actions? In our love? May we be more intentional today than we were yesterday. And may we be more intentional about sharing God's love and His message today than we have ever been.

Did you ever see the movie Facing The Giants? Remember the scene with the "death crawl"? Brock was intentional about only going a few yards, but his coach was intent on Brock going farther than that. Do you think God is happy with where we are with our faith right now? Or does He want us to be more intentional in the way we do things? DOes He want us to make it to the goal line? Perhaps we should ask Him.

"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." - James 1:12

"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:14

"Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall." - 2 Peter 1:10

The Intentionality of Christ's Love and The Intentionality of His Death - John Piper

Death Crawl - Facing The Giants

Passion

There are few things that embody the word "passion" like an Olympic athlete. The drive they have! That focus of purpose. A sense of direction and the strength of desire to reach a goal and a desired outcome. Can the same be said of us?

Look at this picture of Michael Phelps. Would you say he has a passion? I would. Look at that face! Look at his focus. He's not looking to the right or to the left. He is focused on his goal and nothing is going to get in his way or keep him from accomplishing his mission.

Have you ever seen the movie Passion of The Christ? Why is the word "passion" used when talking about Jesus? Surely, He could not have had a desire to die on the cross and endure a savage beating. Surely His passion was not to suffer, to be humiliated and spat upon, mocked and ridiculed!

Wrong.

As much as it was Michael Phelps passion to be the best swimmer in the world, the passion of Jesus was far deeper and meaningful. The passion of Christ was to the death. Jesus' passion was to obey the will of His Father. He sacrificed everything for Him.

Do we have that kind of passion in our worship? In our serving others? Do we have that kind of passion in our jobs or in our relationships. No. But what if we did?

Look at both pictures of these men. See any similarities? Both are men. Both have an intense expression on their faces. Michael is in a pool of water. Jesus is in a pool of His own blood. Each of them has their arms outstretched to accomplish their mission. Both inspire others by their accomplishments. But that is where the similarities end.

While Michael Phelps earned a few gold medals and got his name printed in a record book some place, his passion is about something he accomplished of a personal nature. Jesus accomplished WAY more than any mere human could ever even think about.

Jesus has a passion for two things. He had a passion for His Father in heaven. The other thing He had a passion for, and STILL has a passion for, is for you and for me. He sacrificed Himself so that we might have life. He sacrificed Himself because He had a passion to do His Father's will. Even though it cost Him His life.

Jesus accomplished for us what we could NEVER do for ourselves. He took OUR place on that cross, dying for OUR sins.

The question that eats at me, that should eat away at EVERY Christian, is How have we repaid Him for His passion? What have we done to honor our King, whose passion was not for Himself but for God and for others. May each of us wrestle with that question. And may we answer it with passion.

³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” - John 13:34-35

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” - John 6:35-40

Passion - An Olympic Rugby Player

Focus

Why is it so hard for us to focus on things - especially the very things that are the most important to us? Here's a hint. The answer can be found by looking right in the mirror.

I asked a young adult recently what her biggest struggle was in life. She answered, "Focus." But it's not just her. We ALL struggle with maintaining focus.

Our lack of focus all began in a garden a long, long time ago.

"15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

"3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths." - Genesis 2:15-17 and Genesis 3:1-7

Something happened between verse three and verse six. It changed the course of all mankind. Eve lost her focus.

God commanded one thing - not to eat "the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden ". . . neither shall you touch it."

Eve lost her focus on God and His commands. She turned away from God. She was distracted by listening to Satan's words instead of God's. And that's ALWAYS where things begin to go bad.

We are no different than Adam and Eve. We become easily distracted when we think of ourselves and our selfish desires. Let me give you some examples.

A young guy is going out on a date with a beautiful woman. He arrives at her apartment to pick her up. He knocks on the door and it opens. Wow!! She is wearing a tight-fitting dress with a very low neckline. Opening the door a little wider she asks, "Would you like to come in for a bit?" Yeah, that guy's dead. He's lost his focus . . . or has he?

A woman is out on a date with a really nice, handsome young man. She really likes him and knows he's been seeing other women so she decides to show him the extent of HER love for him and she starts to unbutton her shirt. She's dead and the guy's dead. When we focus on worldly things we end up becoming a part of it. But scripture tells us we are to be "in the world but not OF the world" (Romans 12:2).

If we actually died each time we committed a sin there would be nobody left on the entire planet. From Adam right on down the line, we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We have ALL lost our focus, our purpose, our reason for living - God.

There is one God, and we are not it. The biggest problem with this country is that God is systematically being removed from everything. Ironically, God is the only one who can fix this country . . . and we're removing Him from power. Repentance is in order in this country, but we won't repent. We have lost our focus . . . and have become blind to sin.

Heavenly Father, we have fallen so far as a country. We are sacrificing our babies  on the altar of convenience, we are turning our backs on our Savior and King. The very cure we are in such desperate need of is being thrown our with the trash. Refine us, break us to the point of repentance. Hear our prayers then and have mercy. We have lost our focus, God. Help us return that focus to You. It is in your merciful name we pray.

Squirrel! - Up