 Wednesday, July 11 2018
DADs…the last three weeks we have been talking about how important it is to identify the MVP’s in your life… those people will motivate your character… value your soul & praise your journey! We found out that the first step towards finding your MVP’s… is “Acknowledging”the need for MVP’s in your life. Then we discovered that the second step was all about“Broadening” your perspective for who might be an MVP for you! Today we look at the final step…“Cultivating” the relationships that you already have! In plants the definition of cultivating means to: to prepare and use for growing crops; to till; to grow from seeds. With our MVP’s…”Cultivating" is defined as:to improve by care, training, or study; to promote the development or growth of; acquire and develop and to give one's attention to; to pursue! Romans 12: 9-10– Paul writes… “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves”. How often do we miss opportunities to “Cultivate"relationships that we already have? Why do we spend so much time seeking what can be literally standing right beside us? DADs...today…take time to “Cultivate"the relationships that you already have and are willing to be the MVPthat enables you to run with a winning team…God’s team. DADs…do not stand on the sidelines of life…get off the bench… “get in the game”…Today is game day…and so is every day…God gives you! So…C’mon DADs…Suit Up! Wednesday, July 04 2018
DADs...This week we have been talking about how important it is to identify the MVP’s in your life…those people will motivate your character…value your soul & praise your journey! Last week we found out that the first step towards finding your MVP’s…is “Acknowledging” the need for MVP’s in your life. Today we look at the second step…“Broadening”your perspective for who might be an MVP. You see DADs…there is always a reason why God puts certain people in your lives! We only need to open our eyes and look beyond our own beliefs, prejudices and simply just plain stubbornness, that often keeps us from truly seeing those MVP’s that would & will encourage our faith. Its always amazing who will or can influence you to be better! Proverbs 11:2– When pride comes – then comes disgrace – but humility comes wisdom. “Broadening" our perspective as to who will walk with us is essential to running with a winning team….God’s team. Is there somebody that crosses your path daily that if given a chance could be the very person that God purposely placed in your life to be your next MVP? DADs…do not stand on the sidelines of life…get off the bench…“get in the game”…Today is game day…and so is every day…God gives you! So…C’mon DADs…Suit Up! Wednesday, June 27 2018
DADs...A few weeks ago we talked about how important it is to identify the MVP’s in your life…those people who will…motivate your character…value your soul...& praise your journey! The first step towards finding your MVP’s…is“Acknowledging”…yes DADs…acknowledging your need for an MVP! Often times we want to go it alone… but DADs…we all need MVP’s in our life & acknowledging that fact sooner…than later…will assist you in your journey with Christ. In I Samuel 20:17– It says… “Jonathan once again swore to David in his love for him, because he loved him as he loved his own soul”. Jonathon & David acknowledged each other as MVP’s by their loyalty and their love. DADs who do you need to “Acknowledge”as your MVP? Your wife…your children…your friends…your parents… maybe a Christian brother or sister? Let yourself be available for the possibilities – we all need people in our lives and we all need to be needed. Acknowledgeyour MVP’s today… DADs…do not stand on the sidelines of life…get off the bench…“get in the game”…Today is game day…and so is every day…God gives you! So…C’mon DADs…Suit Up! Wednesday, June 20 2018
DADs...When I was in college, one summer I visited my friend that was attending summer classes at Baylor. He was living in a temporary dorm room for this brief summer session. Back then, the bathrooms were down the hall. So, in the morning and at night if you showered, you had to carry all your stuff to the showers, toiletries, towels etc. The dorm was full of junior high summer campers from all over Texas for a middle school aged retreat. So needless to say I had to “time” my evening shower appointment strategically. The second night there, when I turned out my light and laid in bed, I suddenly sat up reaching for my other hand and realized I was missing my ring…a National Championship ring I had just received for football that spring for the season before. You see I had this bad habit of taking my rings off and putting them on the sink when I washed my hands. So in the dark…immediately I ran down the hallway to the bathrooms to seek my lost ring. Gone. It was late. No one to call. Embarrassed. Told my friend. We searched every stall every shower. Gone. Reported the next day. Checked lost and found several times the next few days…eventually the realization that I had to go home. I got in my car to go home. Ringless.Our scriptures for today are about lost things too…
Luke 15:1-10
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.
*Interesting that tax collectors would gather around to hear Jesus!
In Roman times the tax collectors were loathed.
Reviled. They were like “varsity” sinners. Compared to the “regular” or JV sinners!
2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
*The Pharisees were as well in the same room! They considered tax collectors as “those people”
*Think about this…tax collectors and Pharisees both legalistic on opposite ends…both in their roles doing their jobs without compassion!
*What a great opportunity Jesus had before him! Before this time…Jesus had gone to them…but because of His ministry they have “gathered” themselves to hear Him.
Then the greatest story teller ever took full advantage of this opportunity.
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
*The Tax collectors understood this from a business standpoint…they understood that it was important to “protect” the investment
*The Pharisees struggled with this idea because they did not see God as this caring God but a more authoritarian God with rules. More like a King vs a savior. They cannot comprehend this idea of “inviting” others in!
5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home.
*My favorite verse!
*And it gets even better!
Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’
*Earlier I mentioned about my lost ring. Think about the most precious possession you have lost.
Thought it was lost forever!
You look and look.
Even finally reach the point of realization that its gone and most likely never to be found.
And then…you found it!!
You want to tell everyone!!
A party! You are relieved. You are grateful. You are happy. You want to celebrate. And it’s just a thing!
With God, we are more than a thing. We are His precious children. He yearns for us.
When we go to the depths of despair and it seems hopeless he cries with us.
When we experience a miracle of new life in a new granddaughter…He rejoices with us. We are not just a thing. We have been adopted into His Family.
7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the houseand search carefully until she finds it? 9 Andwhen she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
*God wants an active relationship with you.
How valuable we are to God! He cares about each and every person on this earth.
When we are lost, He pursues us.
When we wander, He pursues us.
When we run, He pursues us.
And He and all the angels rejoice when even one person comes to Christ.
I am daily the wandering sheep.
I am like the lost coin that falls on the floor and rolls under the bed into darkness.
I am like the one in the story later in Luke of the Prodigal son, that goes away from his father.
But like the shepherd with the one lost sheep, and the woman with the one lost coin or a father with the one lost son, God never gives up His seeking for us.
Romans 8:38-39 New International Version (NIV)
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
DADs...Ultimately, God is going to meet you where you are.
God’s grace covers all. We fight not for the victory, but from the victory.
Thanks, be to God, who runs to us with open arms, and is always ready to greet us with His kiss and pick us up over His shoulder and carry us home.
DADs…its SIMPLE…just surrender to Christ that is constantly SEEKING you, allowing you to be the DADGod has called you to be!!
Suiting up!
Jeff Wednesday, June 13 2018
This Sunday is Father’s(DAD) Day!
The History of DAD Day started in 1910 by Senora Dodd who had lost her mom when she was very young but had a great father, raising her and all her siblings! Dodd thought her DAD along with the many DADs needed a day to recognize all DADs everywhere that were more than just present but the DAD. Thus Father’s (DAD) Day got it's origin!
Remember, being a real DAD means:
D:Daily
A:Active
D: Devotion
DADs...When I was kid… my favorite toys were:
When my parents were together:
I thought the greatest gift was the next- toy
When they got divorced:
I discovered that the greatest gift was- Time…because I was with my Dad only every other week
Sunday nights…leaving my Dad
I would run to my room and turn on all the lights and radio
… I called my Dad every day… I worried about my Dad…I think I was sad, because I felt my dad’s sadness
Even now, on Sunday nights I feel sometimes anxious…
Not because of the new work week ahead, but because I still remember how hard it was to say goodbye to my Dad
When you are a kid, 2 weeks is a long- Time
Scripture: Matthew 6:21:
“For where your treasure is there your heart will be also...”
DADs...Where is your treasure?
God wants you to “treasure”above all…a relationship with Him, which is Time
I wonder if God feels the same sadness on Sunday nights or the many other times when we don’t take Him with us
How is it that we sometimes allow what should matter the least to substitute for what matters most?
How do we allow our stuff, our busyness, and our things, our broken relationships - to harden our hearts, our heart condition and affect our relationship with Him?
Scripture: Romans 12:2:
“Do not conform to the patterns of this world-but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will…”
Romans 12:2
(2) Questions:
DADs…on this Father’s(DAD) Day reflect upon your heart condition?
How is it with your soul?
Where are your Treasures?
Who or what needs MORE of your Precious Time?
Happy Father’s (DAD) Day men.
Thank you for being the DAD that God has called you to be!!
Suiting Up!
Jeff Wednesday, June 06 2018
DADs…as you know once every year the nation gathers around the TV to watch the Super Bowl. Even if you are just a casual sports observer…if nothing else you will watch to see the commercials! At the conclusion of the game…there is always the announcement of the MVP of the game. The Most Valuable Player… Every team needs a MVP to win. DADs…we too…in order to win…need to surround ourselves with MVP’s. People that Motivates our Character… Values our souls...& Praises our journey! Now those are the types of MVP’s that will equip us for victory in Jesus Christ. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (vs9) Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; (vs10) If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up DADs...you are not an island…even Jesus Christ had his huddle! DADs…do not stand on the sidelines of life…get off the bench…“get in the game”…Today is game day…and so is every day…God gives you! So…C’mon Men…Suit Up! To follow the “Suit Up” Movement…
Wednesday, May 30 2018
In 2010 I traveled overseas to Athens Greece. In the airport I noticed that one of the airlines at one of its gates had a sign that said “all fast track” customers enter here. It looked like the line was smaller with much less wait time. DADS...my first I thought was…I want to travel by fast track too…especially if it means that I can get on the plane first and sit in a bigger seat with more leg room!....Then I realized that those flying by fast track paid more for their ticket…a lot more! Fast track at a higher price…at second thought did not look so good anymore. Besides as far I could tell…I believe that our arrival time would all be the same! DADs one of the most important scriptures in the New Testament and the pure basis for Christianity is John 14:6: Jesus said, "I am…the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Now this is THE fast track worth paying for! The question reamains...is it "worth it to you to pay the price here on Earth for a seat later in heaven?" DADs...when it comes to your flight with Jesus…are you on the fast track to heaven or do you allow your environment, your desires, your temptations to move you to the wrong gate of life that is only filled with temporary comfort that fades and soon forgotten? DADS...get in the game. Get off the bench. Be the DAD God had called you to be! Suit Up! Jeff Wednesday, May 23 2018
The “Other” Room DADs, how many times do you find yourself in your house…and everybody in your family is in the same room except you? Maybe you brought work home to finish…maybe you have to pay the bills…OR just maybe you are watching your favorite game on TV…AGAIN! Every once in awhile…one of your children may ask the question…“where’s dad?" In unison…the other members together say…“dad’s in the Other Room.” Where else would he be? To truly be the man that God uses in the family…the father must be the dad…and choose to not only to be present…but to be actively engaged…to be the spiritual leader! In the book of Ephesians 6:4, Paul writes…"And DADs, don't stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." Men…we cannot encourage, train or instruct from the “Other Room.” Be resolved today to change! Stay away from the “Other Room.” Be the DAD today and everyday! DADs…do not stand on the sidelines of life…get off the bench…“get in the game”…Today is game day…and so is every day…God gives you! So…C’mon men…Suit Up! To follow the “Suit Up” Movement…
Wednesday, May 09 2018
DADS…Remember the old Sprite commercial’s slogan... "Obey your thirst”
I love that. I'm a goal setter…and I love to encourage others to follow their thirst…their passion!
But what if what you thirst for is not what God wants you to do?
Are you willing to obey and move to what God is calling you too?
For me its a struggle. Its ok to struggle as long as God is in the conversation.
The Lighthouse Story
One of my favorite stories! (Shared by Stephen Covey)
It was a dark and stormy night… The visibility was poor with patchy fog...
Captain, captain…wake up wake up…
What’s wrong? What is it?
Sorry to awaken you sir but we have a problem…
what is it?
There is a ship about 20 miles from us traveling in our sea lane and they refuse to move
Tell them to move.
We have…they won’t move...
Well I will tell them.
Signal goes out…MOVE starboard 20 degrees…at once!
Signal returns…move starboard 20 degrees yourself at once!
I can’t believe this…I am a captain…let them know who I am...I am important...
Signal goes out...I am Captain Horatio Hornblower the 26th commanding you to turn 20 degrees starboard…at once
Signal returns…this is Seaman 2nd class Carl Jones the 3rd commanding you to move 20 degrees starboard…at once
who is this guy? the arrogance
Doesn’t he realize we are a battleship and that we could just blow them out of the water?
Let them know who we are...
Signal goes out...
This is the mighty USS Missouri…the flagship of the 7th fleet…
Signal returns: This sir is the Lighthouse…
A true story!
When I think of this story…I associate us as the battleship…traveling and charting our own course
and I see God as the lighthouse…The great NAVIGATOR! The GREATEST NAVIGATOR!
So often we want God the creator of all things to move! Like the captain…after all its all about us…right?
What is one thing that you just have a hard time obeying?
The very things we sometimes complain about are the same things put into place to protect us
DADS…when I have found myself the furthest from God is when I know I am in the wrong and NOT living a life God wants me to…in other words NOT in Christ…not being obedient.
When I am in prayer. Reading scripture daily. Coming to church every time the are doors open…life is good.
When I am not doing these things…the distance between me and God is wide. Who is moving away when that is happening? Not God. He NEVER waivers…but He Waits for us!
Steps towards HOPE in Christ…Humility…Obedience…Prayer…Eternal.
These are not politically correct actions. Not always seen favorable by the world.
Why?
They are hard!
James 1:22 (NIV)
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV)
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.(3) Great examples of Obedience in the Bible (there are many more)
Jesus’ ExampleJesus always did the Father’s will, even when it was painful, like when He expressed in the Garden of Gethsemane the desire to have this cup pass from Him, but Jesus said, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). Jesus knew that “he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him” (John 8:29). In fact, Jesus said “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (John 4:24), and “even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Philippi to “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil 2:5-7), and so Jesus “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8). Who could be any more humble than Jesus Who washed his disciple’s feet, including that of His betrayer, Judas?
Abraham’s Call
When God called Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, we see absolutely no hesitation on his part to obey God. It says “the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Gen 12:1-2). Imagine this: Abram (later called Abraham) was to leave his family, his friends, his occupation, his home, and his worshiping of false gods to go to a land that he’d never seen before and called by a God who he had never known about before , but we see no hesitation in Abraham at all. He didn’t stop to think about it, stop to count the cost, or ask God, “Why.” It simply said, “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him” (Gen 12:4). How many of us would have dropped everything and left it all behind to go to a strange land and being called by a God that was unknown to him? Abraham also went to the most extreme ends possible in proving that he would obey when God asked him to sacrifice his only son of promise, Isaac. That is the best example of obedience that there is in the Bible, next to Christ’s.
Mary, Jesus’ Mother
I think you’ll be hard pressed to find a greater example of obedience than in Mary, the mother of Jesus. When she discovered that she would bear the Son of God, and as yet being a virgin, she could hardly believe it. It started “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:26-27), but “she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God” (Luke 1:29-30). Gabriel told Mary, “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:31-32). What was Mary’s reaction? Did she hesitate to believe it? Was she perplexed because she was still a virgin? All Mary said was “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her” (Luke 1:38). Mary never wavered in unbelief, but simply told Gabriel, “let it be to me according to your word.” She understood that she was a “servant of the Lord” and that made her joyful enough to give her “Magnificat” in Luke 1:46-55.
WHY OBEDIENCE?
Luke 11:28
But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
DADs…one of my favorite old hymns is “Trust and Obey”
Below are the lyrics. There is nothing like an old hymn to “bring home" the message.
DADS, beyond the first step of hope in Christ being “humility” is our willingness to “obey.”
Obey your thirst…just make sure DADs that your thirst is in the “right” things! BE THE DAD!
Suiting Up!
Jeff
Trust and Obey
Wednesday, May 02 2018
DADS. With the many things we often place our “HOPE" in, there is always a winner and loser.HOPE in friends…jobs...sports teams…parents…things. All temporary. All disappoint.Even placing all our HOPE in those that love us will at some point fall short and NOT be enough.Difference between being HOPEFUL vs HOPE-FILLEDHOPEFUL = Something we wish for
HOPE-Filled = Something we already have. Never leaves us. Never runs out. HOPE in Jesus Christ.
Romans 15:13 (NIV)
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