Walking The Walk

Sometimes we don't spend enough time looking in the mirror. We know that in our hearts we're saved. We go to church on Sunday. We try and do the right things in our life. We believe in Jesus. The question is--are we followers of Jesus? Jesus set us an example not only to read about and to acknowledge, but to follow. As we mature as Christians, we should aspire to become more and more like the model Jesus set for us. Do you? It's not easy being a Christian, because we live in a world that's contrary in so many ways to what we believe. To be a Christian, we have to accept this idea that we're living in the world, but we're part of a very different world. We're members of God's Kingdom.  And God's way is a very different way that the way of the secular world. We have a tendency sometimes to overlook areas of our life that are inconsistent with our faith. We give ourselves "carve outs."   Maybe there are things in your job that put you in awkwa...

A few years ago, a friend of mine decided he was going to retire.  He'd put in his 30 years, and he was the right age, and he decided it was time to go.  I asked him what he was going to do after he retired.  He said, "not work!"  He said he'd spent all of his life working, and he wanted to spend the rest of it relaxing.   I hear people say this a lot.  How they've "spent" their life.  How they're going to "spend" the rest of it.  There was always something about that idea that bothered me, but I could never put my finger on what it was.  Until now. Because now I'm that age.  I've put my time in.  And I'm old enough I can retire.  I'm thinking about these things.   With one difference. I don't plan on "spending" the rest of my life.  I've not "spent" my life up to this point.  I have a different perspective about life.  I've always looked at life as something we should invest in, not spend. I...

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.  ~Ecclesiastes 1:9  One of the most difficult challenges we experience, is navigating the constant and continual changes we experience in life.  Just about the time we get used to things being one way, something changes.  And there's a mix of good changes, and bad changes.  Things that bring us joy and things that bring us sadness.  Sunshine and rain. We celebrate a new job.  There's a new baby in the family.  Maybe we move to a new town and begin a new adventure.  Those are all things that can bring us joy.  But sometimes we suffer losses as well.  Somebody we love passes away.  We find ourselves in a bad situation in our finances.  We have a relationship that begins to fail.  We have a medical issue we're dealing with.    And sometimes we will get into a cycle in life where we become overwhelmed with all...

" Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."  ~Ephesians 4:29 It's always better to be part of what's right with the world, than part of what's wrong. And it's easy to tell which side your on by just looking at how you interact with other people.  What your attitude towards things are. How you live your life. If you're complaining all the time, you may be part of the problem. If you're unhappy all the time, you may be part of the problem. If you spend more time focused on and pointing out what other people are doing wrong than on what you're doing . . . you guessed it.  You may be part of the problem. We spend an inordinate amount of time focused on what we don't have.  Focused on people that make us mad.  Thinking about the things that aren't going exactly right instead of appreciating the things that are. What if...

" Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things." ~Philippians 4:8   When was the last time you left the house without your phone?  Or your iPad?  Or your iWatch?  When was the last time you were in an environment where there wasn't a screen within easy reach?  Or there wasn't a radio on, or music playing through your earbuds, or a TV playing in the background?   I was in a ZOOM call just over a year ago, and I was at the same time carefully wording an email response to an delicate inquiry on another screen, AND texting back and forth with my co-worker on something that was going on in her area she needed help with.  And then somebody asked me a question in that ZOOM call . . . and I'd only half-heard the question, and of course answered a question that was...

"A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself." ~Proverbs 11:17 What if you wrote down every good thing that happened to you in a day.  And then you wrote down every bad thing that happened to you in a day.  Which list would be longer?   I think it would depend on what kind of day you'd had, right?  If you've had a rough day, you're likely to be focused on those things that happened that were bad.  If you've had a great day, you're probably thinking about all the good things that happened to you. Now think about this. When we've had a good day, has nothing at all bad happened that day?  Was every single part of our day good?  Or was there one or two things that weren't great that we've forgotten about because we were focused on the fun we were having.  We were focused on the outing.  We were focused on the entertaining event.  We forgot about the lousy sandwich we had for lunch.  We forgot about the driver that ...

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” ~Luke 6:37-38 We are so quick to judge others today.  We're so quick to condemn.  We are so slow to forgive.  I've never seen things the way they are today.  The complete opposite of what Jesus taught is what we're seeing today.   We talk so much about being "tolerant."  But then we're only tolerant of people exactly like us. We talk so much about being "inclusive."  And we accomplish that by dividing and excluding entire groups of people based on factors they have no control over.  We talk about being understanding and forgiving and kind and generous.  But we only show these things to people we like.   We talk about lov...