Live The Life

  

  
     “For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.”  Hebrews 4:3.

      What is it with people today, choosing what level of Christianity they want to be?  While many agree that one must HEAR the message of God (Romans 10:17), BELIEVE that Jesus was sent as God’s plan of salvation (John 8:24), REPENT of your sinful life and wanting to live without sin (Luke 24:47), CONFESS with your heart that Jesus came to give us the chance to live in God’s kingdom (Matthew 10:32-33), and BE BAPTIZED (Mark 16:16).  Then what?
     First, it is one thing to openly say “I believe…”  BUT, did you say it with your heart?  Did you ask God to forgive you in your heart?  Sometimes, a child says “I’m sorry” to a parent, because they know that they are supposed to say it, but do they mean it inside?  How often does it feel that adults do the same thing when it comes to asking God forgiveness?  They do it because they are commanded.  Do they truly believe it?  Do they feel it? 
     If you have gone through these “steps”, let me ask you this:  what are you doing now?  Is life the same ol’, same ol’?  Life as usual?  OR, are you living differently than before?  I would challenge that if nothing has changed in your daily “routine”, then we are failing to be what God has asked and commanded of us.  All those prior steps are nothing unless we LIVE IT.  God gives us a choice, but tells us that there are rules to follow IF we decide to follow Him. 
     Think about it.  How often do we choose to listen to what people say about certain societal issues (especially due to network social media)?  Quite a lot!  Hey bub, I read what people post and share.  However, it seems that people choose NOT to listen to the One that matters…God.  What’s wrong?  Is the Bible just not snazzy enough for you?  Is it not as entertaining?  Sit down and read it.  There are some fascinating events that happened that Facebook will NEVER be able to top!  God speaks to the New Testament Christians and many just aren’t listening.  The “bare minimum” just won’t cut it.  Live it!
     Take a few moments and reflect on your life.  Ask yourself, “What am I doing different since I openly confessed my devotion and belief in God and the Savior?”  The Lamb willingly went to the sacrificial alter and was slain.  The Lion now roars, calling His people.  What are you going to do about it?  Here is a solution:

LIVE IT!

Let's Build Together

     “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.  Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”  Matthew 7:24-27

     Do you have all the answers to life?  Do you?  Who has the undeniable and undisputed correct outlook to life?  Who has THE answers to parenting?  Which among you have THE answers on teaching?  Which of you have the ONE TRUE way to live a proper life?  Have you learned it all?  If you have, congratulations!  I’ll go and make sure your reservation in the local cemetery is ready.

   Did I just lose you?  IF you have all the answers, that MUST mean that you have completed your life on this earth and it is time to push up daisies.  No?  Still kicking?  Hmm, then all of life’s answers have not been revealed.  Yet, we sure do act as if we know everything there is to know.  I will bet that you could ask my seventy-year-old mother and she will be the first to tell you that she is still learning (whether she wants to or not).  My daddy raised eight children, the oldest which is in his mid-sixties.  Before my daddy passed away, he and I talked (mostly he talked and I was listening) about his parenting.  In his own way, he admitted that his parenting skills were not perfect.  He spanned FORTY-SOMETHING years of being a daddy and didn’t have all the answers???  Do you know what that told me?  There is NO degree, diploma, or certificate of completion on the “knowledge of life”.  It is ongoing.  It is continuous.  It also reminds me that I am still alive.  God wants me to learn more.  He wants me to acquire new knowledge and new experiences, to share with my new family.

     Who can do it better?  Is there an answer to that?  I know this, we tend to resist being shown a different, maybe slicker way of doing things.  A defensive screen goes up as to say, “I’m not an idiot.”  We resist learning new methods.  It’s ok to admit it.  There are things that I struggle with on looking at a different approach.  Other things, I want to smack myself when shown something new, for not seeing it for myself.  It’s a thirst to learn something new. 

     When it comes to a new family, ONE way simply will not work.  Two minds that have different approaches to the same situation.  Neither are wrong, they are just different in execution.  What do we do?  Adapt to it, don’t resist.  The foundation of the house, represented in Matthew chapter 7, will not be strong with two “builders” working independently.  Their singular methods may not conform and the house will crumble.  NO BUENO!  Instead, it takes combining the skills, molding them into a united strategy. 

     Just prior to writing this, I caught an article about a family’s visit to Yosemite National Park and they saw a tree with a sign, “The Faithful Couple.”  They read the information plaque and it stated that two separate trees had begun to grow.  Over the centuries, the two trunks grew closer to the other, until they slowly merged into one large trunk.  Now, they stand together as one.  How awesome is that representation.   One tree did not dominate the other.  They both worked to “meet in the middle”, reinforcing each other. 

     As the countdown to my upcoming wedding to a beautiful Christian lady, I think about this “two-in-one” tree and pray that this is what God guides us to become.  Two hearts, loving as one.  Two minds, working as one.  Merging our ideals, skills, and personalities.  Joining together to strengthen one another, not only for this life but our spiritual lives as well. 

     For those with significant others, are you climbing and growing together?

Continuing Upward

     “He makes my feet like hinds' feet, and sets me upon my high places.”  Psalm 18:33

 My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay; though some may dwell where those abound.  My prayer, my aim is higher ground.  Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith, on Heaven’s tableland, a higher plane than I have found; Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

There are those who can live with the things they don’t believe in; they are giving up their lives for something that is less than it can be.  Some have longed for a home in a place of inspiration, some will find the emptiness inside.  By giving it all for the things that they believe, they believe.  Maybe it’s just a dream in me.  Maybe it’s just my style.  Maybe it’s the freedom that I have found.  Given the possibility of living up to the dream in me, you know that I’ll be reaching for higher ground.

     Both sound just a little bit similar, don’t you think?  Do you recognize these lyrics?  The first is from the familiar hymn, written by Johnson Oatman, Jr. “Higher Ground”.  The second is also titled “Higher Ground”, written and performed by John Denver.  The message seems pretty clear.  Life’s mountain stands before us, but many refuse to climb it.  They choose to just settle where they are, never aspiring to go further; to reach higher and see what opportunities lie in store for them.  Why would anyone want to just settle?

     God meant for us to climb higher.  He meant for us to keep the summit within our goal.  He meant for us to keep those dreams alive.  Granted, not all dreams are obtained exactly how we may have planned.  However, we may find so much more that the Father blesses us with, when reaching our goals tends to take a different route.  Those are the unexpected gifts.  That is God’s way of giving us a little “bonus” for keeping our aspirations alive.  When we tend to slip and fall back downward, we just steel our wills and become more determined to keep climbing.  Sure, we may have to recover a bit from the slip.  We may have to take a little time to regain our strength, but we press onward.  Instead of saying, “I’ll just stay right here.”  We should be saying, “I got this far and I’m ready to see what is up ahead.”

     Life is certainly showing me a different route to the summit, then I had planned and plotted before.  Being the journeyman that I am, you know that I map out my routes along the trails.  Be that as it may, unexpected detours come up, pushing us to take a slightly different way, while still moving toward the goal.  That is having complete trust in God as our Guide and Navigator. 

     For my family and I, we will all be reaching for higher ground.