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Have a Great Day!!

Reflections-21 days

We are doing a study on the book of John at my church. We started yesterday so we will have “21″ chapters to read in “21″ days.

Well, as you can see, I kind of put a little extra emphasis on the number 21. Over the past couple of weeks God has been pounding me on the head with sacrificing. It is so amazing how much you can hear from God if you are listening!
Well, looking at the web sight one of our pastors set up for the Reflections, I saw the number 21 and I started thinking about how the number 21 can help us remember how we must deny self and follow him. Let me explain, because I’m sure you’re thinking I’m crazy. But, when you look at the number 21 the first number is 2. When we are not following the plan God has set out for us there are “2″, me and God. When we start doing what God wants or what He tells us to do, there is “1″, because we are “1″ with God.
So the next time you see the number “21″, exam your walk to see if there is “2″ or “1″! Hopefully when we re-examine our walk with God the only number we will see is “1″!!!

Jesus, our Lighthouse

I was reading about lighthouses today and I found some rather interesting information (at least it was to me)! As I was reading I found out that there are about 680 lighthouses remaining in the U.S. I also found out that the lighthouses are painted differently. So why are lighthouses painted differently and, do these designs represent something? Lighthouses are painted different colors and designs to make them daymarks. So if you saw black and white swirling stripes down the lighthouse you would know you were by Cape Hatteras. Or say you saw a lighthouse that had black and white diamond shapes on it…you would know that you were farther south by Cape Lookout.

OK, so how can you tell where you are if it is dark. Well, each lighthouse flashes a different sequence of light for the exact same reason.

Another tid bit of information is, which lighthouse is the brightest in the United States? Oak Island lighthouse in North Carolina (pictured above). When all lights are lit it produces an astonishing 14 million candlepower and can be spotted at about 24 miles out to sea.

After I was finished reading about lighthouses I started thinking about me as a Christ Follower, being a lighthouse for the world to see. I asked the same questions, how do people recognize me as a Christ Follower during the day and night? By the clothes I wear, the things I do or say? Is there a glow that is shining around me so others can see Jesus during the night? I know there is, but how bright is my light shining? Can others see me from a distance and tell I am a Christ Follower?

We need to be a lighthouse for the lost. The light coming from the lighthouse by the sea is sometimes blocked by fog and rain, but the closer the ship gets to shore the light begins to get brighter. Just like our light, it can be blocked by fog or rain (sin), but as we get closer to God the brighter our light will shine.

We need to make sure our lenses on our lighthouse are cleaned, so our light will shine bright when others are looking.

“In God We Trust”

When you hear the word Trust what do you think of? The meaning of trust according to Webster is to place confidence in, to rely on, or to confide in.

We seem to put trust in people and confide in people that really can’t help us in any way. All we are doing is telling someone our problems and hoping they won’t say anything to anyone.

Who are the people we put our trust in? Your wife/husband, close friend? When we say we trust someone, we are essentially saying we are placing some type of confidence in them. We rely on them and just like the definition says we confide in them. But, yes this is a BIG but, no matter how much we trust someone they may still disappoint us.

We should know that if we put our trust in God we can confide in him and he will always be there.

So here is the million dollar question. Why don’t we trust in God? He says he will take care of us if we trust him. Why can’t we put the same kind of trust that we put in our friends, in the one who can fix everything? The reason is, we can’t wait!! We want a quick fix!

Totally
Rely
Upon
our
Saviors
Timing
Here is an acronym that I thought says it all. We need to trust in God’s timing and trust him more!!

We have “In God We Trust” on all of our money. So most everyone in the world can see “In God We Trust” but we are far from putting all our trust in God.

In Proverbs 3:5 it says trust in the Lord with all your heart. We should put our trust in the one we can truly trust!
Put your trust in Him!!

The Life of Basketball.

I don’t know why I like using analogies so much, I guess it’s because my little brain can’t understand stuff without them!

After I was finished reading my bible this morning, I was sitting in my car, reflecting on the day ahead and letting God show me how I was supposed to apply what I had just read to my life. As I was sitting there, I began to think about the Northside/Warner Robins basketball game I worked last night. I began to think about the game of basketball and all of the things involved in the game. I know everyone knows the basics of how to play basketball (at least I hope you do) I mean, all you have to do is put the orange thing in the hoop, right?
But as I started thinking I began to see some similarities between my life and a basketball game. In the game of basketball you have 5 players who control the ball and the game clock, to a certain degree. The players are runing down the basketaball court trying to get the ball in that small hole! Then as time or clock runs down, the players and the coach try to make the last minute of the game last for 30 minutes. (I think the last minute of the game last night lasted about 10 minutes!)
So you might be wondering, what are the similarities? Well I’ll start off with-
The Basketball Court vs. life:
The Basketball Court, has 10 people running up and down the court playing, trying to score points to be put on the score board.
Life: We are the players walking/running up and down this road called life. Most of us as Christ Followers are trying to score points so they can be put on a score board for others to see how we are playing this game called life.
Next, look at The Ball vs. Our Problems:
Ball: in the game, the player is controlling the ball, passing it, throwing it, running with it, again trying to figure out a way to put the ball in the hoop.
Our problems: we as the players in life are running up and down the court of life with our problems trying to figure out what to do with them.
Game clock vs. life clock:
Game Clock:In the game of basketball the players are trying to beat the game clock or the shot clock. In the game, the players are always competing against the clock, trying to beat the buzzer.
Life clock: We are competing against a clock called life, We have in our minds we have to do xyz before we die.
Finally, Referee vs. Jesus:
Referee: is in control of the game, he makes the calls and gives out the fouls.
Jesus: makes the only calls that matter, the ones that last eternity.

As Christ Followers we need to give our problems over to the only referee that makes the call, and that is Jesus. We run up and down the court of life trying to score points that won’t make a difference in eternity. We need to give our problems over to Jesus so he can make the call, not us.
When we try to run the “court” we either get a foul for “charging” into the problem without Jesus or we score and think we scored but really Jesus is the one who scored not us!

Let’s get Jesus in the game now, we don’t need to wait until we are down by 20 to put Jesus in, it might be too late. We also don’t need to be a ball (problem) hog give the ball to Jesus let him be the one who makes the winning basket!!

Get in the game!

We are “Gangsters”?

When you read the title of this post you might be wondering, what’s he talking about, I’m not in a gang.

Well, since my job gives me the opportunity to take classes on different areas of law enforcement, I have been able take some classes on gangs. There are several shows on TV that talk about what gangs are but nothing is as good as the real thing. I have noticed in the classes I have taken the teachers always mention that once people join a gang they are told that they have a new family now. They think that the “gang” will be there for them through thick and thin. For the most part, what they are saying is true. They are there for each other, until they tell on each other because they don’t want to go to jail.

Georgia law says that a street gang means: any organization, association or group of three or more persons associated in fact, whether formal or informal which engages in criminal gang activity. With the defintition of a gang fresh in your mind let’s look at Mathew 18:20. It says: For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among them. It sounds a little like the gang law doesn’t it? Minus the criminal aspect, we as Christ followers are in a gang according to the Georgia law. But here is the big question, do we act like we are in a gang with other Christ followers? No. What do we do when someone is in trouble or falls spiritually? We kick them to the curb, talk about them, make fun of the troubles they are in and we don’t treat them like one of our “gang” members.

We could learn alot from the gang culture. People join gangs because they are looking for acceptance from someone and the gangs will accept them. We as Christ followers need to help each other when we are going through tough times. We need to love on our brothers and sisters in Christ not talk about them. We need to help them when they are down and accept them into the family regardless of their problems. Let’s be more like “gang” members, and accept more people so they can feel like they are a part of the Lord’s gang!!

We Are Free!!

Look at this picture, what are these things? Yes, it’s a pair of handcuffs and two keys. What do you use handcuffs for? They are used to keep someone locked up, keep them from being free. When you have a pair of these things on you really can’t move that much. They are very uncomfortable especially when they are tight and the only way out is to use a key.

Now, what’s a pair of handcuffs got to do with you, right? Well, when we as Christ Followers let problems or sin creep into our lives, this is what we have on, a pair of handcuffs. The sin keeps us locked up, it’s uncomfortable and you can only get out of it if you have a “key”.

Stay with me, I promise this will make since!!

Now look at this Picture, what do you see? There is a pair of dirty handcuffs with a nice pretty heart in one of the “unlocked cuffs”. You can compare our sin filled life to the dirty looking handcuffs and the love of Jesus to the pretty heart. The heart in the “unlocked cuff” represents Jesus coming and unlocking the “dirty” sin that has us locked up!

If we want to get rid of the sin in our lives that “lock” us up, we need to let the love of Jesus (heart) free us or “unlock” the handcuffs that keep us from being free.

You see, Jesus is the “key” to setting us free. Even as Christ followers we can still be “locked” up. We think that the unsaved or the people “we” think are bad are the ones that are “locked” up, or in some type of sin, but we are fooling ourselves if we think that way.
We need to pray that Jesus will free us or “unlock” us from the cuffs of Satan.

Lord, help me be free from the sins of the world. Help me let you unlock my cuffs. You are the only “key” I need!!!

Let’s let Jesus free us today!

“Are you happy now”?

What does the word “Happy” mean to you? I’m sure there are alot of different meanings out there, but your meaning is…….., you fill in the blank.

In Philippians, Paul tells us what happiness is, it is unwrapping those gifts at Christmas, being surprised on your birthday or getting that raise. But if happiness depends on these things, what happens when you don’t get that certain gift or don’t get that raise? You wouldn’t be very happy, would you?

Happiness depends on the circumstances we are in. Happiness is like a rollercoaster, we have our ups and downs. So in turn, our happiness is, shall I say, a rollercoaster!

When we look at Happiness versus Joy, there is a huge difference if you know the meaning of them both. You see, if we have the “Joy” of Christ in our lives, it doesn’t matter what we are going through. Yes, there will be times in our life we aren’t happy but there is still that joy that comes from knowing Jesus on a personal level.

Let’s not get bogged down in the daily routines we are often thrown into. Let’s show the joy in our lives no matter what circumstance we may be in.

Lord help me to show the “joy” of Jesus. Help me not to be “happy” but to be “Joyful”, because you love in me!

Be an example

If you have children you know they are always watching you. They will always catch you off gaurd when you are out in public too. Think of the times they say something you have told someone else, but didn’t realize they were listening!! Boy, that can be embarassing huh? I’m sure we all have similiar stories.

As Christ followers we have the same problem, we always have people watching us, to see how we are going to react in certain situations. We get mad or we can be talking to our friends but before you know it, others hear what we are saying and think “I thought they were a Christian”. We need to be sure we are setting a good example not only to our children, but especially to those who we come in contact with on a daily basis.

Lord help me to be aware of what I am saying, let my words be pleasing to you. Help me be an example of someone who reflects your image, not mine.

Are we there yet?

When ever we go on trips with our kids it never fails, “Momma, Daddy are we there yet”? And of course we tell them “no, just a little longer”, knowing it’s going to be several hours until we get there.

I believe some of us think we have “arrived” spiritually, we often look at our past achievements and say “look at what I did”. We get on a long string of having a quiet time and say, “well, I’ve been reading my bible and praying now for 30 days straight”. We often let our achievements to get in the way of our relationship with Jesus. We think we are better than others or more “spiritual” than others becuse we have done a certain thing or like I said earlier had a quiet time for a certain amount of time.

When Jesus looks at us, he doesn’t care about our accomplishments. If we were honest with ourselves, we would know he is the one who let us have those acomplishments in the first place. We need to be sure we don’t get caught up with worrying about what we have done and thinking we have arrived, and focus on our relationship with Jesus.

If we want to know whether we have arrived yet ask Jesus he will tell you!

Lord, help me to see I will never arrive, because when I think I have arrived that’s when I’m in trouble. Help me see the importance of having a closer relatioship with you, rather that trying to impress