SIMPLY FORGOTTEN

Recently, I have become more and more concerned with the moral state of our country.  The nation that I was raised to love and fight for just don’t feel the same anymore.  Sure it still resembles the America I grew up in on the surface, but underneath, something has changed.  We have simply forgotten our God and we aren’t the first people to do this.

Moses warns the Israelites in Deuteronomy, “Be careful that you don’t forget the Lord your God by failing to keep His command – the ordinances and statutes- I am giving you today.  When you eat and are full, and build houses to live in, and your herds and flocks grow large, and our silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God.“  He goes on to tell them the consequences if they do forget God.  Moses says, “If you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will perish.”

So……We have forgotten and if we don’t turn back from the idols we are worshiping, the writing is on the wall.  Or should I say, in the Word of God.

1.22.2010

^“For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his life?  What can a man give in exchange for his life?”  Mark 8:36-37

You are answering that question today!  So what are you exchanging your life for?

1.21.2010

Get control of the noise in your life.  Until you do, you will not hear the quiet whispers of God that are around you all the time.  The world recognizes the power of silence and solitude and it is doing everything it can to keep us from finding it!  So…..Push back the noise and listen!  Who knows, you might have a destiny that Christ is waiting to communicate to you!

“Not merely an absence of noise, Real Silence begins when a reasonable being withdraws from the noise in order to find peace and order in his inner sanctuary.”  ~Peter Minard

1.13.2010

Recently, I read Romans 6:13.  I really liked the reference Paul made concerning our bodies as weapons.  Paul writes, “And do not offer any parts of it (the body) to sin as weapons of unrighteousness.  But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourself to God as weapons of righteousness.”

Paul instructs us that we are to give all of ourselves to God as war weapons.  Our minds, souls, physical bodies, and everything in us must be offered to God for His use in the war against Satan and the powers of darkness.  So for me, I must repent and recommit all of  myself to Christ daily in order to be used and empowered by Him to fight and push back the enemy.  My body is a weapon! Whose weapon will I chose to be?

1.4.2010

Well, the holidays are over and the new year has begun.  We are already 4 days into this new decade.  My family and I anticipate great change this year and throughout the next 10 years.  Honestly, we are getting so close to some major adjustments that I am struggling to maintain my faith in God for His provision.  I found myself looking at the ceiling last night while my wife slept.  My mind was racing with all of the things that had to happen as we position ourselves for the welcoming of a new child and our move around the globe.  In my journal I wrote to God and ask him to help me better control my thoughts in 2010.  I am becoming more and more convinced that I struggle with an undiagnosed case of A-D-D.  I tend to bounce around like a pin-ball and it is often counter productive. 

This morning I fittingly read Psalms 34 which says:

⁸ Taste and see that the LORD is good;
       blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

 ⁹ Fear the LORD, you his saints,
       for those who fear him lack nothing.

 ¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,
       but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

Man was this passage refreshing!  Now if I can just keep it in mind today as the devil tries to run me down!

12.23.2009

Well….Seventy-two hours from right now, Christmas 2009 will be a distant memory and we will be preparing for our  New Year’s Day festivities.   If you ask my wife, she will tell you that I am easily frustrated this time of year with all of the Christmas hub-bub.  I watch as people go crazy buying gifts, fighting over parking spots, and trampling each other in a rush to get what our society says is the “must have” of the year.  We rush through this time of year leaving ourselves very little time to meditate on the birth or our Savior and what it means to our faith.

I got a card from an employee today and on the outside it  read, “Christmas….it’s all about Jesus.”  When I opened it, the inside simply stated, “When you get right down to it, He’s the only thing that really matters.”  This year more than ever, I have been trying my best to keep my family focused on the birth of Jesus Christ.  As I type this post, I am overwhelmed by the thought that God loved me so much that He sent His Son to earth for me! 

Merry Christmas!!!!

12.08.2009

As everyone has noticed, I have not been posting much lately.  This is in large part due to my new role at TLC Medical.  I have been helping in our warehouse and delivery department for the last two months.  Courtney has commandeered my laptop so I have limited access to the internet. 

In 1948, as Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in World War II, Dwight Eisenhower wrote:

“History has proved that nothing is more difficult in war than to adhere to a single strategic plan.  Unforeseen and glittering promise on the one hand, and unexpected difficulties or risks upon the other, present constant temptations to desert the chosen line of action in favor of another.”

President Eisenhower penned these words while facing many pressures to give up his primary goal to use the beaches of Normandy for an all-out invasion of the Nazi empire.

God has the same unwavering resolve to see His plan come to completion.  He will not turn back from reclaiming what is rightfully His.  Often times, we get so caught up in the comings and goings of this world that we fail to realize that we are an integral part of helping bring God’s plan to completion.  This Christmas Season, play your part!  Merry Christmas!!!!

11.5.2009

Reading to my kids the story of Jonah this morning, I came across verse 8 in chapter 1 which says, “Those who cling to worthless idols forsake faithful love.”  This verse was part of the prayer Jonah prayed while in the belly of the whale. Jonah had 3 days of ordained reflection were he mulled over his life and realized he had forfeited the faithful love of God by clinging to the worthless idols of the world. 

As I read his prayer, I again pondered how our circumstances and attitudes are reflected in our prayer life.   Jonah’s prayer would not have sounded the same if he had made it to Tarshish!  He would have missed the blessing of the revelation that changed his life.

Thank you Lord for the times in our lives that are tough but that sharpen us and mold us more into Your likeness.

11.3.2009

“Today, recognize and keep in mind that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other.” Deuteronomy 4:39

I met a man this morning who shared this scripture with me.  I appreciated him doing so and felt led to pass it on!

10.29.2009

This morning God gave me the opportunity to witness something I will never forget.  I need to set the scene up for you by giving you some background.  I have an employee in his mid 20’s who has had some tremendous adversity in his young life.  I could see that he was hurting and searching for something to ease his pain and bring meaning to this life.  Recently, I have been able to share the story of my faith journey and what it means to my life daily.  These conversations where sometimes difficult for both he and I.  I really felt burdened for him and began to pray for him and then  invited him to go to Kairos with me. (Tuesday night service at my church!)  He started going about a month ago and made statements that he was really enjoying it. 

Yesterday I got a text from him inquiring where I was.  I text him back and told him I was out of pocket to which he replied, ” I need to get with you.  I have a box with some symbolic things in it that I need you to help me through in the dumpster.”  I text him back and told him I would follow up.  This morning while I was in my corporate office my phone buzzed.  When I looked at it, the text simply said, “Are you at corporate?”  I replied, yes…come by and see me!  Within a minute a reply came back letting me know that he was pulling in the parking lot.  I went out to greet him and what followed I will never forget!

He greeted me with a handshake and said, “Since you were a part of me coming to this place in my life, I wanted you to be a part of what I am fixing to do.”  I followed him to the van where he took out a wooden box with a lock on it.  It was painted and had the initials R.I.P. on the outside.  He handed it to me and I proceeded to lead him to the dumpster.  As we got to the dumpster, I looked at him and could see the emotion in his eyes.  I said, “You know I can’t help you throw this locked box in the dumpster without asking you what’s inside.”  What he said next is what I will never forget!!!!  “Joey, In this box are pills, drugs, and other things that plagued my life until Tuesday night.”  I immediately asked, did you asked Jesus into your heart?  “On Tuesday Night!”, he replied with a deep sigh of relief.  I grabbed him and we just stood there and hugged with the wooden box laying at our feet.  I asked if I could pray with him before we proceeded with throwing Satan and his lies in the dumpster.  We prayed, picked up the box, and together we threw it as hard as we could against the back wall of the dumpster.

I can’t tell you the emotions ran through me in that moment.  I put one hand on his shoulder and raised the other one towards heaven and said….”To God be the Glory”.  It was all I could say in that moment!   

Today, I witnessed one of the purest pictures of the freedom Christ brings when He enters into a life ravaged by Satan and his demons.  Hallelujah!!!

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened by a yoke of slavery.”   Galatians 5:1.