Victory

Did I notice all the fabulous things that are going on in my life today? It is easy to miss them sometimes because I am so focused on certain specific outcomes that may not have come to pass yet. Sometimes I catch myself being ungrateful and am ashamed. I want to be an example of what gratitude looks like. Please forgive me.

This week was amazing. Today was amazing. Thank you Lord for the gifts you have given to me. When we were taught to pray, Jesus said, "Give us this day our daily bread." That means each day is enough!

Let's just slow down a bit and not worry about tomorrow. Today's blessings are enough. Lord, please give us a place to stand today and that will be enough. Tomorrow we will begin again with the troubles and the victories. And again you will prove yourself to be sufficient for all our needs.

Thank you!

Pain and Confusion

I am hurting for three of my dearest friends. Today marked a kind of turning point for each one. They are smart and full of faith but questioning the events in their life because it isn't turning out the way they thought it would.

How is your life going right now? Are you just about out of resources? Are you confused by the fact that your faith has not unlocked the door? You are not alone. When Jesus was in the garden praying the night before he was killed by the mob, he earnestly prayed that this cup of suffering would pass him by, but it didn't. God had a better plan - but it was a more painful plan too.

When we ask God for something we have to accept the possibility that he will not do what we want. Is God deaf? Is he heartless or unfair?... Hardly. But God has a plan that is better than ours and he has never made a mistake. We can trust him completely.

I make mistakes all the time. Don't you? It's usually my mistakes that got me into the trouble I'm trying to pray myself out of. If I don't have to go through the situation I have created, I will not learn the important lessons I will need down the road to become what he wants me to be.

So I have a choice; get angry and frustrated with God for not giving me what I want, when I want it; or take my medicine because I realize it will make me better and prepares me for eternity. I want all the good stuff now, but he has a better plan and it usually has to do with deferring my pleasure until later.

Job said, "Though he slays me, yet will I trust him." I want to say that with all my heart. He may slay me, but I will not forget that my life is in his hands and I am "ready to do whatsoever my Lord the king shall appoint."

He is God and I am not. That is good enough for me. My pain and confusion are really just my way of not submitting to his plan with total trust and confidence in him.

Testing My Metal

I am in a battle; just as you are. What do we really believe? It's one thing to say we believe something, but when the situation demands that our philosophy be put into action, can we do it? That is the test.

If we fall apart under pressure, we are inauthentic and just a bag of wind. I don't want that - do you? If anything, I want to be more committed to my philosophy than I claim to be ... not less.

We are tested in little ways every day. Over a lifetime, the little tests develop into habit and eventually shape our character. Take a good look at yourself. Are you really two people? The one you want to be and the one you really are?

When you are battle-hardened and know what your reaction will be under fire, then you are worth something and very valuable as a leader.

So don't run from the test...Run into it!

Denial

Tonight Janice showed us all how duplicitous the human heart can be. If you are watching "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!" you know what I am talking about. I am torn between feeling badly for her and being nauseated by her shenanigans.

Any time I see something that reflects such base human behavior I have the same reaction... because that is me too. Here is the first "super model" who is beautiful on the outside but ugly on the inside. Please don't try to tell me that we are all basically good either. That argument just doesn't hold water if you read the news or live in the same world I do. So if we are all messed up, what's the use pretending everything is good when it isn't?

Well there is hope and here is how it works. God has given us a free pass on our ugliness if we will let Him. Granted no one is ugly all the time but if you served me up a three egg omelet using 2 perfect eggs and one rotten egg, what kind of omelet would it be? So to be honest we are all rotten and fall far short of perfection. Let's admit that much anyway.

I need God and so do you; to get us out of the mess we are in. He can do it and we cannot. So why all the stalling? Let's get down on our knees and beg for forgiveness and healing from the filth of our lives. And when we mess up and jump back into the dirt from which He pulled us, so what? I expect nothing less; knowing what kind of person I am. But I also know something about God and He will keep on helping us as long as we want Him to do so. His compassion and love are never ending.

There is a price to be paid for failure - but He paid it all for us. The only thing we need to keep in mind is that when we keep wallowing in the mud and filth, there will be a consequence and our growth into the person He wants us to become is slowed or stalled.

God places His Spirit in us when He adopts us into His family. So you can be sure that if you belong to Him, He will not let you rest if you aren't living right. But that's a beautiful thing; to think that He wants to help us that much.

So buck up Baby and when you see ugliness in other people, remember that's you too and only placing your trust in God will get any of us straightened out.

What is Baptism?

Tonight, my friend and brother in the Lord, Stephen Baldwin, baptized a young man on the reality show he is currently filming. As I watched, it occurred to me that for many this was a silly exhibition by a "born again" Christian; but as a matter of fact, it may not have been.

You see baptism is an outward expression to onlookers of an inward reality and transformation. Baptism does not change a person's relationship with or standing before God. It does not wash away your sin, nor is it a religious formality that has no real meaning.

When a person comes before God and acknowledges their need of forgiveness for their independent spirit and actions (sin) and expresses a desire to no longer live apart from Him, they are said to be "born again." This phrase comes from the New Testament story when a learned religious leader of Jesus' day came to him to find out who Jesus really was. In describing what it meant to be a follower of God, Jesus tells the Rabbi that he must not only be born in a natural way but also in a spiritual way - this is being "born again."

When we are baptized we are entering into a symbolic act that represents dying and coming to life again, just as Jesus did. The water is symbolic of death and cleansing. We go into the water as a lost and condemned sinner and come up out of the water as a new person who has been cleansed and brought into the life God originally intended - one of surrender and submission to Him.

No one in this life is perfect or even close to it, but being born again is how we secure a place in heaven based on what God has done for us. That is not something we earn but it is a free gift we simply receive from Jesus who provided the way by dying in our place on the cross of Calvary.

Baptism is how we broadcast our new relationship with God to the world. It is a powerful statement that we make to the world, staking out our covenant with God that has unconditionally changed us forever.

Some may be baptized as a religious formality, but to most this act means that something real and vital has taken place in our spiritual life and before God. I hope this clarifies what many saw on television in the jungles of Costa Rica tonight. If it was a genuine personal expression of faith, then it was a marvelous way to tell the world that something very significant has taken place in the life of the participants.

Check out this Trace Adkins video on YouTube: http://bit.ly/QD6B9

Timing Is Everything.

My dog Gracie and I have an agreement. We go for a walk at least once a day - sometimes twice. Now she doesn't wear a watch but her intuition is uncanny and she always knows when its time. The problem arises in that I am not on the same schedule that she is on. So she gets up in my lap and just stares at me as if to say, "Well? Let's go!"

A lot of times I am still wrapping up something I need to finish before I can oblige her - so she has to wait. She never gets mad, but she keeps bothering me until I relent. Then when we finally get out the leash, she goes bonkers with joy. It is a lot of fun to take her because it makes her so happy to get out of the house.

I have been waiting for the Lord a lot lately and discovered that just because I am ready doesn't mean He is. I am learning to be patient in the full confidence that God wants to answer my prayers but in His time which is not necessarily the same as mine.

I know He loves me and takes joy in giving me the desire of my heart but I must learn to take my watch off and just follow His lead. When He says the time is right, then we go. That is not easy but it is always the best practice!