I have been thinking this weekend about some sort of way to keep myself on a schedule to make sense. First, I have said that this would be a personal journal of a sort, but I also want to be open to talking about my life and what has happened to me. So, I think that its only fair to give where I have been, my testimony so to speak. I think that it will both allow myself to be open but also give me time to reflect on where God has led me from.
So, in that thought, here is my new schedule:
Monday-weekend thoughts, personal study revelations
Tuesday-my personal journey from past to now (will take a few posts)
Wednesday-"Crazy Love" study thoughts
Thursday-where God is taking me this week
Friday-something lighthearted and thoughts for the weekend
That's my idea at least. Hopefully it will give me a bit more focus and hopefully give me some idea of what to type about. Thus, today I am talking about what has gone on this weekend and what I have been thinking about.
Yesterday was another great service and a great worship set. Of course, I am a bit partial due to my gorgeous wife showing her amazing voice and praising God. But, even if she hadn't been up there, I would have been blown away by the sound of God's people singing. I have talked about that before on here, but its something that always moves me. I hear a church full of people earnestly singing to God and it makes me just stand in awe. When I think about that will be a part of eternity, getting to stand in a crowd of fellow redeemed people and sing of God's glory directly in front of Him, it just floors me. I know that this is probably part of my absolute love of music. I think that it has a quality that oftentimes mere words can't illustrate.
Then last night at the men's bible study, while we were talking about Galatians, Jeff mentioned how he doesn't put anyone in a position of leadership unless he trusts them. This made me realize that I wouldn't be part of the leadership of our little small group unless I had earned Jeff's trust. I know that it seems like something that I should have noticed before, but it just never really was something that I thought about. Now, I know that Jeff's trust isn't the end all be all, but its something like what Jon Acuff spoke about on Wednesday, wanting to be good enough. We, as humans, seek that approval from others. I then started reflecting on my life and how even just a month before my wife and I started dating, I wouldn't have trusted myself to lead anyone. But, God moved quickly to make me more the man that I am now. He continues to make me the man that I need to be, but I am miles from the guy that I was before then.
So, this morning I took the time to pray for today to be God's day. I wanted to be deliberate about making today not about myself but about what He has for me. With every action, every thought, every word spoken, I prayed for God's love to be evident.
Today I focused on just verse 6-9 of Galatians 1. The wording is very blunt about the punishment to some one teaching a false doctrine. I found it interesting that Paul even goes so far to say that "even if we...should preach to you a gospel contrary to the gospel we preached to you, let him be accursed." To me, this spoke of Paul's understanding that both he was flawed and that the gospel of God is that important. Obviously this is something that we all know, but just loved the emphasis that even he would consider himself cursed if he was to start preaching a gospel contrary to the one that converted him.
Well, that's day one of a new format. Hope that it still entices you guys to check out this place from time to time. Tomorrow, the early days of my life and my being brought up in the church.
Showing posts with label humble. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humble. Show all posts
Monday, February 23, 2009
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Character
I started and then stopped a book by Andy Stanley called "Louder than Words". Its about real character and God's definition, not our own. That can be sort of hard to take, since we all claim to know what character is or at least what we want it to be. However, the whole giving up of control and listening to what God says we should do is a bit different.
I just started rereading this book and it really is a "stop and analyze yourself" type experience. We, or at least I, have the tendency to try and rationalize my actions. If I spoke out of anger, well it was because I was upset. I was upset because of what some one else did. What that other person did was unnecessary or in some way belittled me and thus I am justified. Thats how my mind works through those things. It doesn't stop and say, what did I do? That isn't the question to me, its more about what some one else did. Thats the first step, in my exercise, about trying to be a person of character. See, we are called to live a life that is different. God wants people to look at us and see there is a difference than the way that everyone else reacts. If that means that we have to humble ourselves and take responsibility when we don't feel like we are, thats ok. Its not the end of the world.
Here is the personal example. Monday I was doing the mail at work, which is a job that I am asked to do from time to time. I used to get upset when I had to do it, but that was petty and a couple things have happened and I am enjoying it more than I used to. So, I am getting past the anger over being asked to do a job that technically isn't mine. Well, on Monday, I get completely done with the mail when some one calls and says that I didn't pick up their mail and that I would have to get it and take it across to another location. It wasn't unreasonable, and I should have done it. Instead, I decided to get mad and tell them that I had never picked up their mail when I had done the mail in the past and that they should ask some one else to take it to the other location. I look bad in this situation and rightfully so. The past couple days it has been in my mind both because I knew that I had done wrong and that I allowed myself to get upset over nothing. I could only do one thing today, apologize. So, first thing this morning, I went up to the office that I missed and apologized for missing their mail and the way that I handled the situation. She said that it wasn't anything and didn't think anything of it. However, to me this was a question of how I wanted to live my life. Do I want to be the person who gets upset or do I want to be the person who admits their mistakes?
I don't tell that story for praise, because I could have easily avoided that by taking 10 minutes and walking the mail across the building. Instead, I am learning. And as often is the case when we are learning, we make the wrong decisions and have to do things the hard way. Thankfully, nothing really all that bad happened due to my decision. And I am hopeful that the next time that I am confronted with the same situation or a similar one, I will act like I should, like a person following God's character.
I just started rereading this book and it really is a "stop and analyze yourself" type experience. We, or at least I, have the tendency to try and rationalize my actions. If I spoke out of anger, well it was because I was upset. I was upset because of what some one else did. What that other person did was unnecessary or in some way belittled me and thus I am justified. Thats how my mind works through those things. It doesn't stop and say, what did I do? That isn't the question to me, its more about what some one else did. Thats the first step, in my exercise, about trying to be a person of character. See, we are called to live a life that is different. God wants people to look at us and see there is a difference than the way that everyone else reacts. If that means that we have to humble ourselves and take responsibility when we don't feel like we are, thats ok. Its not the end of the world.
Here is the personal example. Monday I was doing the mail at work, which is a job that I am asked to do from time to time. I used to get upset when I had to do it, but that was petty and a couple things have happened and I am enjoying it more than I used to. So, I am getting past the anger over being asked to do a job that technically isn't mine. Well, on Monday, I get completely done with the mail when some one calls and says that I didn't pick up their mail and that I would have to get it and take it across to another location. It wasn't unreasonable, and I should have done it. Instead, I decided to get mad and tell them that I had never picked up their mail when I had done the mail in the past and that they should ask some one else to take it to the other location. I look bad in this situation and rightfully so. The past couple days it has been in my mind both because I knew that I had done wrong and that I allowed myself to get upset over nothing. I could only do one thing today, apologize. So, first thing this morning, I went up to the office that I missed and apologized for missing their mail and the way that I handled the situation. She said that it wasn't anything and didn't think anything of it. However, to me this was a question of how I wanted to live my life. Do I want to be the person who gets upset or do I want to be the person who admits their mistakes?
I don't tell that story for praise, because I could have easily avoided that by taking 10 minutes and walking the mail across the building. Instead, I am learning. And as often is the case when we are learning, we make the wrong decisions and have to do things the hard way. Thankfully, nothing really all that bad happened due to my decision. And I am hopeful that the next time that I am confronted with the same situation or a similar one, I will act like I should, like a person following God's character.
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