All posts tagged storming jericho

God Has The Power

Posted
October 11, 2011
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Sometimes you get news that breaks your heart. And while I’m not at a point where I’m able to talk about that news (due to the privacy of the other people involved), the bad news I received made me do a lot of thinking.

What I realized was that, two or three years ago, the news I’m talking about would have completely thrown my world off its axis. Despair would’ve taken over. I would have panicked and I would have ultimately spent at least a few nights contemplating the negatives of the situation and getting just about no sleep while I worried.

But as I’ve grown in my walk with Christ over the past year and a half, I’ve really started to realize how powerful His peace can be in my life. When I got that bad news a few days ago, my first reaction wasn’t despair or sadness. The feeling I felt instead was immediate hope and resolve. I knew that my first step had to be prayer and positivity, not negativity and panic. I never once asked God “Why?!”, but instead focused my attention on asking God for His healing and blessings on everyone involved.

It’s incredible what freedom we have in God. Every day, life presents us with circumstances that require a reaction. How we choose to react is a direct reflection of the faith we have in Him. You’re not wrong to feel despair when you receive heartbreaking news. But you are wrong if you feel like a situation is hopeless and God doesn’t have the power to turn it into something positive.

He does.

So stay positive. Trust in His plan. Believe  in His unending grace. There’s more power in that grace than any other force in the universe. And if you need prayer, don’t forget to visit Lindsie’s new Facebook group “The Altar” and let us know. Lots of praying going on over there, and we’d love to have you in our prayers too.

-Mike

Photo by Evan Courtney. Thanks!

Stop. Breathe.

Posted
September 21, 2011
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Every once in a while, things get crazy.

Life gets a little out of control.

Panic starts to hit.

 

Stop.

Breathe.

 

And remember that God can (and will) ease your stress.

“The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” (Psalm 9:9-10)

Remember that Jesus wants to relieve you of your burden.

“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.’” (Matthew 11:28)

 

Sometimes all you need to do is stop.

And breathe.

And give thanks that the Lord is with you.

 

-Mike

 
 
Photo by Shawn Rozzi. Thanks Shawn!

Simple Peace

Posted
September 20, 2011
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Today was one of those days where, even though nothing went wrong, stress managed to keep piling up. And as I reached the end of this slowly stressful day, and all of those individual stresses were adding up into one big knot in my stomach, I managed to save over the wrong file and I lost a document I’d just spent about an hour and a half working on.

At that point, I was starting to feel a little bit of despair. I would now have to go home, work on this work project in my free time at home just to finish it up on time, and that would end up pushing back a personal project I’m already working on in my free time.

As I walked in the door of my house, I wasn’t sure what I should even do next. It seemed that, no matter what action I took, it would culminate in some sort of stress for me. I mean, the rest of the day had gone that way, so why would it change now?

And for whatever reason, I decided that my next step, before I did anything else, was going to be reading my Bible. I figured it was the only possible thing I could invest my time in that wouldn’t end with me feeling worse about things.

I was right. I didn’t find the “perfect verse” to help me relieve my stress or anything like that. I wasn’t blown away or amazed by the two chapters I read in Isaiah. There was nothing about reading my Bible (this time) that totally rocked my world off its axis.

But it did help me clear my head. And I think that might be what God was going for this time. He doesn’t always have to rock us to the core to have an impact on our lives. Sometimes He just wants to remind us he’s there.

So thanks for being there, God. And thanks for being a blessing, not a stressing. (I know stressing isn’t a noun, I really just wanted that to rhyme.)

If you’re feeling stressed about something, open up your Bible. You might not find that “perfect verse” it seems like people in stories and sermons always manage to find, but you might be surprised at what you do find in there.

-Mike

Photo by Baer Tierkel. Thanks Baer!

Climbing Trees and Finding Opportunity

Posted
June 19, 2011
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Lindsie and I recently listened to a great sermon from Dave Kaufmann at Holy Life Tabernacle in Brookings, SD. Dave has a way of presenting the Word of God that makes you leave every service wishing he could preach for another hour. He was also the pastor who officiated my and Lindsie’s wedding. Needless to say, we’re fans of Dave (and his wife Jeanne).

Anyway, we were listening to Dave’s sermon from June 12, 2011 , and he was talking about the importance of pursuing the opportunities God puts into your life and making them into something more. He talked about Zacchaeus, who climbed up in a tree to see Jesus and was invited to have lunch with Jesus as a result, all because he saw an opportunity to get a better look at Jesus and he went for it. Dave emphasized that if Zach had just stayed on the ground like everyone else, Jesus might’ve just walked right by. But because Zacchaeus took the opportunity, it paid off.

Dave also mentioned other Biblical references to similar “making the most of opportunity” situations, but what it made me realize is how many times this comes up in everyday life. For example, in the past 2 weeks, I’ve come across two garage sales selling comic books. Because I took the time to search for garage sales selling comics, I was able to find valuable comics at a VERY cheap price. But, I had to look for the opportunity to find/buy those comics. If I hadn’t kept my eyes open to that possibility, the opportunity would’ve passed me by two Saturdays in a row. And I wouldn’t have known any better either way.

In the same way those comics were waiting for me to find them if I just took the time to search for them, God has opportunities waiting for us if we just take the time to search for them. More importantly, we have to be open to acting on those opportunities when they present themselves.

God wants to help us. He wants to be  with us. And He gives us opportunities every day to make that happen. It’s up to us to take the time and effort to climb the tree like Zacchaeus in order to make sure those opportunities don’t pass us by.

To hear more Holy Life Tabernacle sermons, go to www.holylifetabernacle.com and click the “Messages” link in the left sidebar.

Getting Back In Bible Shape

Posted
May 26, 2011
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There’s a funny thing about getting back into the habit of something when you haven’t done it in a while: sometimes it’s terribly difficult. Even when it’s something as good as reading your Bible.

Here’s some background. Lindsie and I started running again and it’s been a few days weeks since either one of us really did it with a purpose. And after two days, we can barely walk. Now is about the time when we could give up. Maybe “just take a few days off” until we’re not so sore. The problem is that it’s easy for a few days off to turn into a few weeks off. And suddenly you’re back where you started and the next time you go running, you’re sore again. The cycle starts all over.

The same thing can happen when it comes to your walk with God. I know it happens to me all the time. Specifically with reading my Bible. Although Lindsie is great at reading hers consistently, I sometimes struggle. With so many great comic books and novels out there to read, sometimes I just feel like using my “free time” for something more exciting…more entertaining.

The past two nights, along with running, we’ve been reading our Bibles together. And it should be easy. I’ve read the entire Bible once in my life, and I’ve read it off and on for years since then. It’s not like it’s a book written in some foreign language or something. But for whatever reason, I can only manage to get deeply involved with my Bible for a few days and nights before I’m ready for more entertainment again. I can somehow manage to find more time for a Captain America comic than I can find for God.

The trick is not to give up. The trick is not to take “just a few days off.” In C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, demons are personified as intervening in the spiritual lives of their “patients” (i.e. – humans). Their goal is to disrupt their patients’ spiritual walks in whichever sneaky, evil ways they can. Although what Lewis wrote was fiction, I do think that’s what truly happens to us. Demons can recognize when we’re really getting into the groove with our faith. And they’ll do whatever they can to throw that off in any way possible.

Like I said – the trick is not to give up. There’s some great stuff in the Bible. Truly entertaining, attention-grabbing stuff. Last night we read James, chapter 1 and it seemed like almost every word in that entire chapter was speaking right to me. There’s a reason that’s the case. Because God WANTS us to read his Word. He wouldn’t have written a cruddy, boring book just hoping someone might suffer through it out of obligation. He wrote something that is truly alive. Something he wanted us to want to read.

So if you try to read your Bible and you aren’t quite feeling it like you were hoping you would, please don’t give up. Just like getting back in shape after a long exercise hiatus, it’s never easy. Especially right after the start, when you’re most sore. Fight through the spiritual soreness and stick with it.

Eventually you’ll get back in shape. And I guarantee that’ll feel really, really good.

Photo c/o Frames-of-Mind. Thanks!

Busyness

Posted
March 21, 2011
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Unfortunately, over the past few weeks, Lindsie and I have been busy.

With Lindsie taking 18 credits this semester and working full time, she’s doing her best to keep her head above water.  On my end, I’ve got my normal job at ADwërks and a few projects on the side that I’m hammering away on.

All in all, this has left us with just about enough time to occasionally sneak in a movie and, once every few weeks, go out and get a nice dinner together.

But really, the reason I started this post with the word “unfortunately” is that our busyness has managed to keep us from staying as connected to God as we should be. Too many nights have been spent working on things that “matter” now, but really, in the long run, won’t matter at all. Too many mornings have brought the dread of waking up to a list of things to do rather than waking up with a list of reasons to thank God we’re alive.

I won’t sit here and make some bold, impossible statement like “But all that ends TODAY!” because the truth is, I can’t say that it will. It’s a daily struggle all of us deal with. When we’re simply trying to make time for life, how are we supposed to also make time for Christ? It’s so much easier said than done, right?

But we have to try. Whether that means holding ourselves more accountable to others outside of our immediate circle or whether that means getting on a set, immovable schedule for spending time with the Lord, we need to do what it takes to stay connected to God. Because he’s just sitting there waiting for us with the awareness that, if we’d just give it up to him, he can (and will) take care of it.

It’s easy to drown in life. But God is sitting there with us in the water, just waiting for us to realize that he’s already holding us. We just have to trust him to help us float.

Think about it. And try to spend at least a few minutes with God today. It’s amazing how helpful it can be when it comes to getting rid of some of the busyness of life.

-Mike

Photo by Kenneth Barker. Thanks Kenneth!

Angels In Our Outfield

Posted
March 6, 2011
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Lindsie and I watched a timeless classic last night – Angels In The Outfield. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing it, Angels In The Outfield is a 1994 Disney movie where a kid named Roger (played by a young Joseph Gordon Levitt) prays the last-place Angels will win the pennant. After he does, the head angel (Christopher Lloyd) sends a team of angels down to help the baseball team, leading to a bunch of Disney-esque shenanigans. I won’t spoil the rest of the film for you, but it’s a Disney film, so you can imagine how it shakes out.

The other premise of the film is that only Roger (the kid) can “see” the angels and thus tell the manager (Danny Glover) which players will have the help of the angels in the games. As a result, the foul-mouthed, ill-tempered manager must simply believe that Roger sees the angels. As the season goes on and more people start to hear about this kid who “sees angels,” people start to question both the manager and the kid’s sanity. Nobody really wants to believe there are real angels helping baseball players on the field.

Here’s the point of this post. In Angels In The Outfield, only one kid had the faith to believe the angels were there. At first, not a single adult believed it was possible. They all “knew better.” So why is that, when the Bible tells us about angels throughout its pages, we adults don’t believe angels could be here on earth with us right now? Why is it that children can believe in angels and have often described how “they saw an angel” when miraculous events occur, but adults simply “know better.” Why can’t we see things with a childlike faith that angels are with us when God tells us directly (numerous times) that they are?

In the movie, only one kid can “see” the angels, but his faith convinces first the manager, then the players, then the entire stadium full of Angels fans. None of the other people—even Roger’s best friend—can see the angels, but people are witnessing the miracles and are realizing there’s something going on, even if they can’t see it. When will the rest of us start to look around, witness the miracles happening every day and realize there’s something going on…even if we can’t see it?

There are angels in our outfields right now, whether we can see them or not. Whether we have the strength and the faith to believe it is up to us.

-Mike

P.S. – The film also features a pretty young Adrien Brody and Matthew McConaughey, which is kind of funny. Also: Tony Danza. Yup…all-star cast for sure.

Creating A Disturbance

Posted
February 13, 2011
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Once again, I’m going to refer to, and hopefully expand upon, some thoughts from Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost For His Highest. For a daily devotional, Mr. Chambers has some thoughts that go far deeper than most daily devotionals I’ve read, so I hope you get as much out of this as I did.

One of the topics Mr. Chambers discusses is creating a disturbance with your faith and asking for the Lord’s help instead of simply staying passive. Here are his thoughts on why creating a disturbance is importance (followed by my thoughts on his thoughts…lots of thoughts). Chambers refers to verses in Luke 18, in which a blind man in a crowd of people is healed by calling out and asking Jesus to give him back his sight. Chambers mentions the man’s persistence to keep calling out to the Lord even though the people in front of him in the crowd, as mentioned in verse 39, all told him to be quiet. To this point, Chambers advises us,

“Be persistent with your disturbance until you get face to face with the Lord himself… To sit calmly by, instead of creating a disturbance, serves only to deify our common sense… We think, ‘It is ridiculous to ask God to do this.’ If it is an impossibility, it is the very thing for which we have to ask… This man received his sight. But the most impossible thing for you is to be so closely identified with the Lord that there is literally nothing of your old life remaining.” (My Utmost for His Highest, Feb. 29)

The way I see it, a lot of people are afraid to make a disturbance with their faith. As Chambers mentions, we’ll find ourselves thinking “It’s ridiculous to ask God to do this.” So we let common sense tell us what to do. Common sense says God isn’t worried about this tiny facet of our lives. Common sense says there a million other people praying for something more important, so why even speak up?

Why we SHOULD speak up…

Let’s think about the man in the crowd whose sight Jesus restored. He was one of hundreds (maybe even thousands) gathered in Jericho that day as Jesus came through. And I’m willing to bet that he wasn’t the ONLY person gathered there who was suffering from an affliction of some sort. But all of the other people seemed to stay quiet, didn’t they? The only time some of them even spoke at all was to tell the blind man to shut up. Talk about approaching it all wrong.

Imagine how many other people might have been healed of their sicknesses and cleansed of their sins if they had been willing to create a disturbance like the blind man. None of them were willing to ask Jesus for what they considered to be “an impossibility.” Looking back on it, that blind man who was given back his sight doesn’t seem quite so crazy, right?

Out with the old, in with the new…

I also think the last sentiment Chambers reflects above is DEFINITELY worth noting. Can you imagine a life where we are SO closely identified with the Lord that our old life doesn’t even matter anymore? A life where you and Jesus have such a strong connection that your past actions and decisions are irrelevant, that the sins of your former life are forgotten and that everything in the world that kept you away from the Lord is lost to the past? Of course not. It seems impossible.

Which is exactly why we should be asking the Lord to get us to that point. Think about how much more enjoyable life would be if we were only concerned with God and his love for us. A little nicer than worrying about the stresses of our lives as they are now. At least, I believe that would be the case.

What do you think?

-Mike

Photo (“Stand Out”) by aeroix. Thanks!

Is God’s Cell Phone on Vibrate?

Posted
January 15, 2011
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I’m reading a book called “My Utmost For His Highest.” It’s supposed to be a daily devotional thing, but I read it in chunks of like, 8 days at a time. Anyway, Oswald Chambers is the author and he brings up a lot of interesting points throughout. Most I agree with, some I don’t, but it’s all thought-provoking either way.

One of the random things he talks about is from a verse in Isaiah (Isaiah 40:26, to be exact) that reads:

Look up into the heavens.
Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
not a single one is missing.

In the discussion element of this devotional, Chambers writes, “One of the reasons for our sense of futility in prayer is that we have lost our power to visualize. We can no longer even imagine putting ourselves deliberately before God.”

So here’s my question for all of us – myself very much included: When we’re praying, do we truly visualize ourselves standing (or bowing) before God? Or do we simply feel like we’re in a dark room, calling out to Him with the hope He’s hearing us? Because that happens to me, and my guess is that it might have happened to you once or twice as well.

But this is the thing to keep in mind: He’s always hearing us. He’s always there. As Hebrews 13:5b tells us, “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” Instead of talking to God as a friend, we call out to Him as if He can’t hear us or something. When really, that’s like desperately calling out to someone who is sitting next to you on the couch. They’re right there. There’s no need to panic.

From here on out, I hope you can try to treat prayer as if you are always in God’s presence. Because you are. He’s listening and waiting to hear from you. It’s not like He’s out of the house and you have to leave a message hoping He’ll call you back later. It’s not like He’s not out and about, not noticing his cell phone vibrating when you try to get in touch with him.

God is right there with you. Always.

{mike}

Photo by Oracio Alvarado. Thanks Oracio!
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