Don't let life get in the way...

I have this saying that really is a lot more like an excuse when you think about it. "You know, sometimes, life gets in the way." I use this saying when someone tells me that someone let them down by not showing up somewhere that they promised to be, or they didn't do what they said they were going to do.

It's true. Life does get in the way. Sometimes we get busy with work, or family obligations. There is so much going on that it's difficult at times to not get distracted by what's going on in the world.

Nehemiah starts out the same way. Nehemiah is an official in the court of the King, but one day he sees someone that he knows and asks a simple question: "How are things back at home?"

And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. (Nehemiah 1:2-4, ESV)

When Nehemiah heard that things weren't well at home, he wept, mourned, fasted and prayed.

How many times do we hear things about friends, co-workers, or family and we just let it go? We don't bother to think about it emotionally? We just give it a casual, "Oh that's sad..." and move on?

As Christians, we are called to love on another. Loving one another means that we care about what is going on in the lives of others. When was the last time that you asked someone to pray with them?

 "Love one another" is mentioned 20 times or more in the New Testament. Let's not get so wrapped up in our own world that we let life get in the way. Let us struggle to keep our eyes open, let us love one another and care for one another.

What if no one is watching...

I remember reading a study a while back that said people were more likely to wash their hands in a public bathroom if someone else was in there. There are a series of studies that basically say the same thing. People behave "better" when someone is watching them.

Would you behave differently if your Pastor spent a week with you following you around? Would your language change, would what you listen to or what you watch on television change? Would the way that you interact with your friends change?

People usually fall into one of three categories when asked this question:

1. They would absolutely change and be on their best behavior
2. They would not change, because they live a very consistent Christian life
3. They would not change, because they know they are living incorrectly but think that their lifestyle is justified

The interesting thing is, that we forget that God has given us a part of Himself that dwells in us.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:15-17, ESV)

Let us struggle to be consistent in our walk with God at all times.

Life is full of choices. Although the Bible is our roadmap, you can always find people who try to justify what they believe by reading the Bible and trying to find shades of grey where the Bible does not explicitly say "thou shall not do [insert action here]".

I've had those conversations in the past. They are really unproductive because if people really want to do something, they will find a way to justify it.

The Bible does offer a simple litmus test. Jesus says:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

Is the action that you're about to take profitable? Will it help your relationship with God?

•  Is it good for you spiritually?
•  Is it good for you physically?
•  Is it good for you mentally?
•  Is it good for you financially?
• Is it good for you morally?

The list goes on and on. One of the areas that I have difficulty in submitting my life completely to God is in how I eat. I know that if I submit this area to God it will have a healthy impact on my life, but I consistently justify it.

I need to realize that God has a plan for me, and that as long as I make these bad decisions, which could have an adverse effect on my health in the long run, I am falling prey to an enemy that has a desire to steal, kill, and destroy.

What areas in your life are under the same kind of subtle attack? How different would your life be if we submitted those areas to God in order to experience abundant life?

Let us struggle to make wise choices in all areas of our lives so that God gets the glory.

How do you know where you're going?

My cousin told an interesting story last night, as we sat across from the table from each other eating dinner. He's a musician, who, before he made it big had to drive to wherever he could find work. One rainy night, he was getting ready to drive 10 hours to get to a gig, and his GPS fell out of his car, and almost landed in a puddle of water. At that moment, he realized that he was about to drive without a real idea of where he was going. He was dependant on the GPS, but didn't have a good road map!

It's really easy to listen to the voice of someone that thinks they know where they are going, but I think all of us have at least at one time or another gotten bad directions from our GPS. I was trying to find a venue the a few weeks ago, and my GPS stopped me in the middle of a highway!

If you ask a Christian ant of the following questions:

• where they are going?
•  or what their mission is?
•  how are you serving God?
• what does God want you to do?

you'll get a variety of answers, most will be tentative at best, very few will be positive about their mission.

As Christians, we should look at how Christ, who was very much God lived His life and try to do the same. Jesus answer to this question was simple:

I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. John 5:30

 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. John 4:34

 The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but the who seeks the glory of him who sent him is there, and in him there is no falsehood. John 7:18

...but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father... John 14:31 

We can see example after example of the map the Jesus followed. His map was set by God, and He followed it without deviation.

Let us struggle to get our directions from God and not try to make our own way.

Wildflowers are beautiful...

A few years ago, I was driving down a boring stretch of road and out of nowhere. The scenery was boring. The road was lined with trees and uncut grass that had grown too high. Then, as I rounded a slight curve in the road, I saw a splash of color! Someone had taken wildflower seeds and thrown them into this patch of grass. I was very excited to see the splash of vivid yellows, reds, and purples. The whole thing just brightened my day. Later on, I found out that this was something called the "wildflower project."

Life is the same way. People go through life like they are mindlessly driving down the road trying to get to the next thing that they are going to engage in until the time comes for them to go to bed and start the process all over again.

But every once in awhile, they encounter someone who truly believes in God, who brightens their day with an encouraging word or a prayer. If you look at the life of Jesus, that kind of thing happened all the time. Look at his conversation with Zacchaeus, the woman at the well, the rich young ruler, the man at the pool waiting to be healed... the list goes on where people have these wildflower experiences with Jesus and it changes their lives!

We should be those wildflowers. Unfortunately, all too often, we get caught up in everything that is going on around us, and we forget to blossom.

And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word.15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit,thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” Mark 5: 13-20

Let us struggle to not live our lives on rocky ground, or to let the cares of this world prevent us from blooming. Let's be open to God prompting us to have these wildflower moments with those people that we encounter.