I was siting here thinking about how many of us are “working for the weekend!”  A lot of my friends on Facebook or Twitter will put comments like TGIF = Thank God It’s Friday, Finally Friday or Woo Hoo – It’s Friday!  We love Fridays, because it means that we hopefully are going to get a break from the Monday through Friday routine!  What do you do with the Friday Evening through Sunday night time slots that causes you so look forward to it?  I want to suggest three steps to make it even more special in the days ahead!

Step One:  Let Go!  Before you embark on your weekend of rest, relaxation and rejuvenation, take a few moments to think about whatever challenges you are facing, make sure that you have done whatever you can do, to help make these things better and then, let them go.  Sure they may still be there on Monday, but on Monday you will have fresh eyes, a purer heart and a stronger Spirit to face them with!

Step Two:  Let God!  Make sure that as you enjoy being outside to take in all of God’s creation or inside working on some home improvement project or just enjoying some rest, that you take time to remind yourself of God’s goodness.  Whatever it is that you love and enjoy about the weekend – at it’s heart is the fact that God has given you a gift of being able to lay it all down for a few moments, so that you can just enjoy being yourself!

Step Three:  Worship!  When you really come to the place where you let go and let God, then you can’t help but to worship!  God is worthy and deserving of our worship.  We need to worship Him in private and in public!  We need to take time everyday, all throughout the day to lift God up as “Number One” in our lives.  And we need to come together with fellow Believers and remind ourselves of God and His goodness.  We need to take time to re-focus our lives on Him!  Don’t just go to church this Sunday – go to church with the right attitude, not an attitude of checking something off of your to-do list, but an attitude of wonder and worship as you appreciate your God, who loves you with an amazing love!

I hope that you enjoy the amazing weekend that God has blessed you with!

Good morning!  I am on the road, so I want be able to post a video until a little later today!  I will try and get something up this evening or tomorrow!

In Colossians 1:1 of The Message it says “I, Paul have been sent on special assignment by Christ as part of God’s master plan.”  This is a great description of what it is that you and I have been called to do by God, for this world!

We are on “special assignment!”  Wherever you are and whatever you are doing – if it is the place and the thing that God has called and gifted you to do, then you should be fulfilled and excited to be a part!

What is it that Christ has saved you for?  It is our relationship with Him that gives our life meaning and purpose!  What is your assignment from Him today?  Figure this out and get busy doing it and you will be amazed at what a difference it will make in your life as your life makes a difference in and for others!

No matter what – always remember this:  YOU ARE A PART OF GOD’S MASTER PLAN!  Wow – now that really is amazing!  Let’s get busy and really make this day count for God’s glory and everyone’s blessing!

I am sitting here waiting! I thought that while I was just sitting here waiting that I might try to type my blog from my iPhone! So here goes!

I am not sure how this will turn out, but I will give it my best shot! Why is it so hard for us to try something new or different? When we were kids, our parents would get something on the end of their fork, shove it in our face and say “Just try it!”. Maybe we always thought “I can’t wait until I get old enough to not have to just try it!” And sure enough when we get old enough we stop “just trying it!

What do you need to “just try” today? I encourage you to try some of the new things that God puts in front of you! You might just be surprised!

1.  Know And Grow!  What is it that God has you doing with your life?  Whatever it is that you are doing – make sure that you are doing it better than anybody else!  Study and learn all you can about the field of your service!  Think everyday about how you can do whatever it is that you do better!

2.  Make People Matter!  Value people and relationships!  The old saying is true:  ”People do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care!”  Take advantage of every opportunity that God gives you to add value to other people’s lives!

3.  Enjoy The Experience!  Find what God made you for and jump in with both feet.  Stick with it and give it your all everyday.  Take time to evaluate what is going on in and with your life and make sure that you are learning from your successes and your failures!  Enjoy your experiences, but don’t get stuck on or in them!

4.  Create Creativity!  Get some people around you that can help you think and dream in creative ways.  Ask yourself:  ”Is there a better way?”  Look for people that are doing what God has called and gifted you to do and learn from what they are getting right and wrong!  Get out of your comfort zones and go to some new places and do some new things!

5.  Pursue Passion!  Look for what you are good at and for what you love and then give yourself to it completely!  Look for people that you can get around that will lift you up!  Stop spending so much time with “downer people”!  Invest your time with people that have passion and grow your passion, so that you will have some to give to others!

Live life long enough and you will get thrown more than your fair share of curve balls!  Every now and then life will ping you with a foul ball!  But always remember this:  There is nothing that life can throw your way that God does not already know about and have a plan for!  It does not matter what your circumstances are – God and His plans are bigger!  It does not matter how big your problems are – God and His plans are bigger!  It does not matter how impossible it all may seem – God and His plans are bigger!

Anything that life throws your way, will have to pass by God before it gets to you!  If God allows it to go past Him to get to you, then you know that there is a purpose in it!  You may not understand it and it may not make sense, but there is a purpose!  God is always up to something in your life.  God uses the situations and circumstances of life to mold and shape us into wonderful creations!

Don’t get anxious and don’t worry!  Take your eyes off of your circumstances and make sure that you place and keep them focused on Him!  Remember:  God has some special purpose and plan and you do not have to understand it for it to become a reality in your life!  

There is no grief that you will ever face that God is not in it – growing you for and toward His purposes.  There is no sorrow that you will ever encounter that God is not in it – bringing healing that will lead to fulfillment of His purpose.  There is no trial that you will ever face that is bigger than God and His plans for your life.

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and don’t let your own limited understanding get in the way!

I love this story!  The story is told of a businessman who was getting off of a cruise ship at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.  Seeing several large fish inside the small boat, the businessman complimented the fisherman on the quality of his catch and asked how long it took to catch them. “Oh, just a little while”, the fisherman replied.

A little surprised, the young business man asked, “Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”   The content fisherman said, “This is enough to feed me and my family and take care of our immediate needs.  I really don’t need any more.”   “But what do you do with the rest of your time when you are not fishing?” asked the confused young man.   “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a walk with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I have dinner with friends and play guitar with my buddies; I have a full and busy life.”

The lad scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could really help you out. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds from the extra fish buy a bigger boat.   With the proceeds from the bigger boat and all of the extra fish that you bring in, you could buy several boats and hire other people t help you fish, and eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.  Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, and could eventually open your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution!  You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to New York City where you will run your expanding, growing and profitable enterprise.”

The fisherman asked, “How long will this all take?” to which the young man replied, “15-20 years.”  “But what then?”  The business man laughed and said “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”

“Millions, sir? Then what?”

“Then you would retire, move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a walk with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could eat dinner with friends and play your guitar with your buddies.”

Makes you think doesn’t it!

Flying High!

Life Quality Number One:  MERCY!  On a good day – life is hard.  Live life long enough and your life is going to get turned upside down.  It is important to remember that all of us living life are going through and facing similar things.  The Golden Rule says “To do unto others as you would have them to do unto you!”  We are all in need of some mercy!  When I was younger we used to play this game called”MERCY” where we would interlock our fingers and see who could bend the other person’s fingers backward.  The way to win the game was by getting the other person to say “mercy”.  We should show mercy to others without them having to ask for it.  We should show it, because we need it!

Life Quality Number Two – Faith!  Faith is about trust and we all need to grow some trust into our lives.  We especially need to learn to trust God.  Do you believe that God loves you?  Do you believe that God has a plan for your life?  If you really believe that He loves you and has a plan for your life, then it is very important that you learn to trust Him!  When we trust God, we arrive at His promises and His purposes for our lives.  Fear is the enemy of faith.  It is not always easy or convenient to trust and have faith in God, but it is always necessary!  Faith is like a muscle – the more you use it, the stronger it grows!

Life Quality Number Three – Obedience!  Obedience always follows faith!  You know that your faith is growing when you find yourself obeying God’s direction for your life.  You cannot obey without faith and you cannot have faith without obeying!  It is important to remember:  There is a bigger plan than your plan!  Open your heart and life to God and follow His will by being obedient in all of your steps for Him and His glory!

Take a few moments today to:  RECEIVE God’s Mercy and forgiveness and make sure that you are also sharing mercy and forgiveness with others!  TRUST God, overcome fear and experience victory!  START making steps of obedience that take you into God’s will for your life!

 

 

A Weed Or A Flower?

Jesus commanded the church to “Make Disciples!”  in Matthew 28:19-20.  With that in mind, my staff and I have been working to try and figure out what our process for making disciples as a church should look like!  We have not even got close to the process part yet!  We began by trying to answer the question:  ”What is a disciple?”  We wanted to answer this question so that even a non-disciple could understand.  This is our rather lengthy definition:

A disciple is a person who has entered into a change relationship with God through Jesus and is in process of ongoing change to become more like Jesus everyday, who when confronted makes the choice to not sin, out of love for Christ and out of that love shows love to others by sharing the Gospel that has changed their life and eternity!

So what do you think?  Do you have anything to add or take away?  We really want to get serious about Northwood being disciples and making disciples!  Thanks for your insight and prayer!

Tracks Through Greer!

Do you love God or do you love loving God?  I think that a lot of people would say that they love God, but I think a more truthful statement may be that they “love loving God.”  Many people think and say that they love God, but the reality is – they love the idea or concept of loving God.  We should love God and we should appreciate being loved by God, but if we really love God and appreciate being loved by God, then we will show it by the way that we live in relationship with Him!

Stop and take a few moment to think about who or what you are really loving.  Are you really loving God or loving the idea of loving God?  If you find yourself loving the idea of loving, then take a few moments to get yourself re-adjusted so that you can enjoy being loved by Him and so that you can begin to grow your love for Him.

You will know that you are getting this “love thing” right, when you find yourself looking and acting more like Jesus!  Just a little something to think about and hopefully in your thinking, a little something to help you grow your love in the right direction!