Tis The Season

You all know the song, "tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la. For me it's more like blah blah blah. This time of year is quite depressing for me. I used to really get into the Christmas spirit, but as I have gotten older, not so much. I think it's because I cannot afford to. No, really, think about it. How much do you spend for your kids on Christmas? No take that number and multiply it by 5. Not to mention all the decorations. It is estimated that the average American will spend around $935 on Christmas each year. It also stated that the average credit card balance carried by those people is around $8,562. This is all according to the American Consumer Credit Council. That is crazy. The average American family was a husband, wife and 2.5 kids. I still want to see what that .5 kid looks like. Poor thing, must be tragic to be a average American kid, lol. All kidding aside though, how did we get here?

I don't want to get on one of those Jesus is the reason for the season, rants. I agree with that, but it is so cliche how we portray it to non Christians. I hate where this holiday has gone. It's no longer about celebrating the birth of a savior, it's about things. This ties into what I talked about yesterday. Your treasure is where your heart is. And for many of us this time of year it looks like our heart is on a shelf at Wal-Mart. Don't get me wrong, I love getting gifts, and I love giving gifts even more, and I have been caught up in the madness before. I mean my Black Friday record is flawless. No one was going to stop me from getting what I wanted. I saw a post on Facebook about Black Friday that I wanted to share. It seems to sum it up quite well.

Bottom line is, we all mess it up, and miss things that are truly important. That is why I am posting this today. First I think that it has helped me recapture what it is all about. It has always been about gifts being given, just not in the way many of us think. It was on that night that God gave us the most amazing gift that could be given. His Son!

Now think about this, those of you with kids, how many would be willing to give any of them up, knowing that they would be beaten, abused, spit on, battered, stabbed, and ultimately killed? I can stand in confidence knowing that not one of you raised your hand. It's a concept that we cannot grasp. Oh we have heard it time and time again. So many preachers and pastors have told it so many different ways, it's almost cliche', except its not. It really happened!

In my next few blogs, I am going to cover the Christmas story and try to break down the reality of how it applies to you.

Don’t Be Anxious

Luke 12:27-34

22 And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.  23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?  27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

32 "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

This scripture has been on my heart today, maybe because I am struggling with a few things and I start to get worried about how I am going to make it.  That is the cool thing about Jesus.  He knew what we would have problems with. That is why his parables are so powerful to me.  They were told over 2000 years ago, and yet they speak directly to me.  Let’s break this down.

In my bible this is listed “Don’t be anxious”.  How many of us do that.  We worry about so many things from “how we are going to pay the bills?” to “will I ever get married?”.  I know that I have struggled with anxiety my entire life.  In high school I worried so much about what people thought of me.  It would literally make me sick to my stomach when someone didn't like me.  You see I am a control freak.  I can’t stand it when something is out of my control.  I worried so much about what others thought of me, that I forgot what I thought of me.  Now today as a parent and husband, I have a whole new set of worries that eat away at me.  Financial worries, safety worries, just worries period. 

Jesus tells the disciples that they are not to worry about anything.  He even compares us to ravens and how they don’t worry.  This is powerful to me, because the raven is known for being a selfish, unclean, scavenger type bird.  They were and still are not looked upon kindly by most people.  The raven is used as an example a few times in the bible.  For Jesus to say “look you see that God even cares for this bird that most despise, do you not think that you are at least of equal importance?” Then he starts to talk about the lilies in the feild. That they don't toil and spin.  This is so true. We as humans I feel have let our ability to rationalize and process information, have blown some of the simplest things out of proportion.  It is a simple concept.  God created us, and also will provide for his creation.  There is no need to worry about things that we have no control of.  To put is in a even more simple, man, way.  Its like watching a football game on television.  The referee makes a horrible call.  What do you do?  Well if you are like me, you politely stand up and go into the kitchen and fix a snack, right?  Yeah right, you start screaming at the ref, making all kinds of fuss over that horrible call.  We do this because we are passionate about things.  God gave us passion for a reason, we just dont understand when to use it correctly.  

Just like screaming at a ref that is hundreds of miles away, and couldnt hear you if he tried. We spend too much time raising a fuss about things that are not in our control.  

He goes on to say that "For all the nations of the world seek after these things and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.".  

Now lets break this down a little. It as plain as day says that God already knows what we need.  We need not tell him about it, because like a good father He knows what his children need.  We are to seek His Kingdom, and all these things will be added.  That statement was always kind of confusing.  I always wondered how I was to seek His Kingdom.  Was I supposed to go out like Indiana Jones and look for an actual kingdom.  Was I just supposed to believe in God and that was enough.  NO.  I saw it put in a way that made sense to me.  God’s kingdom is the rule and reign of Jesus Christ in our personal lives.  We are to seek to have a relationship with Jesus in our lives.  We are to live the way that he taught.  Because he is the example of the Kingdom.  You see, its when you seek to be like Jesus, that the things in your life kind of fall into place, so to speak.  God's favor sets you up with a hook up that is like no other.  Gods favor in your life is beyond awesome.  

Then he speaks about a hard one. Selling our possessions. Now does God want us to be a nomad that has nothing and wanders around giving everything to the poor?  Well maybe, at least for some.  However that is not what this passage is trying to convey.  It is trying to teach you where you place value in your life. What is your treasure?  Is it in your things.  Do you love your iPad, Kindle, TV, Laptop, Etc..., more than you love others.  Is your desire in life to make more money so that you can buy new things?  Jesus says that those riches are worthless in the long run.  Sure you might be ecstatic that you got a new toy, but that feeling always goes away, and then you need to fill that feeling with something new.  Its really a viscous cycle. And then comes that kicker, when you get to heaven those "things" won't be there. There will be no need for them, you are in Heaven.  

Then the big one. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  What you value is what your heart really is.  There are really two types of hearts in this instance, selfish, and selfless.  Either what you love is for your benefit  or what you love is for others benefit.   

So in these lines of scripture Jesus kind of covers the whole thing in very simple terms. There is not need to worry, because that is not in our control, but what is in our control is what we value, and if you seek God by learning to value The Kingdom, then we will in turn receive the things that we need.  

I hope that this helps someone out there.  If anyone has topics that they would like covered, please let me know.  Also tell your friends about this blog.  I want to reach as many as I can.  I have a heart to share.  

Who I Am

In case you can't tell, I am starting this blog to share my faith with others.  I have been ignoring the need to blog for so long.  I have known for some time now that I need to share my testimony with others to really make a difference.

I have always been drawn to the ministry, however I have always considered myself a Common Man.  I thought that you had to be charismatic and have a silver tongue  to be in the ministry.  I was thinking today that there are many other people out there like me, and maybe they needed to hear the gospel in a common tongue.  Now let me say this,  I am not a preacher, however there are some things that the Holy Spirit lays on my heart, that you might not know the difference.  So if I get all preachy, fear not, I will come back down from my soap box.

I am dedicating this blog to my savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.  If not for him, then I would not even have anything to talk about.  Please stay tuned to the upcoming blogs about my walk with Jesus.  They may be uplifting and they may be slightly depressing, but they will always be real.  That is all that I can do, and I hope that there are others out there that can relate with me.