Factory

In a story that I came across the other day it talks about doing our best.  Many years ago in a factory there was a sign on the wall which read: "If your threads get tangled, send for the foreman." One day there was a woman who was new but was a hard worker, her threads got tangled up. She tried to get them straightedge out, but only made matters worse. After a while she gave up and called the foreman for his help. He came and looked then asked: "You have been trying to untangle them yourself, haven't you?" "Yes," she said. "Why didn't you send for me, as I have asked?" She said: "I did my best.”  He said: "Remember that doing your best is asking me for me."

How often in life have we tried to straighten out our own messes, only to make things worse, and certainly not to solve things? We think that a little more effort, wisdom, and hard it will be fixed.  Then God reminds us: "Doing your best is asking for me."  Is there something in your life that needs to be handed over to God.  If, so I stop using human effort and let God take control.  Hope everyone has a blessed and safe week.  Todd

Waves

This week I have been thinking about the beach. I guess because its been cold and rainy and the beach is hot and sunny.  I like the beach and love listening to the waves come crashing in. 

Life is really like the waves on the beach with all its ups and down, highs and lows, they go through in just one day. In the book of James we are taught to count everything as joy. The highs and the lows of life are all tests of our faith and we need to embrace them all with an attitude of joy in our hearts. A Joy for us to glorify God in both the ups and the downs of life.

Joy is powerful and it is not just a thing we need to overcome trials with, it is also something that we can receive from God. There is the Joy from worshiping God. There is the Joy from gathering with fellow believers of the church. There is even Joy found in the studying the scriptures and unlocking the love of God has for us. Joy goes hand in hand with God in knowing we have total peace in him.

The Joy from God is also gained in many ways. Joy is gained simply with the good things he allows to happen in our lives. It can be found in the little things such as the loving smile of a little child.  Even giving Joy is something that comes in many forms. One extremely important way is the Joy you give when you show love for one another. Let’s show joy today by showing God’s love to others as He first showed it to us.  Todd

Where To Look

Baseball player Satchel Paige once said in jest, "Don't look back, something may be gaining on you" In contrast, George Santayana, a Spanish-born American author said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"

Do we move on, never looking back, or do we learn from our past mistakes to avoid making them again?  The Bible seems to tell us that we should do a little of both. We do need to think back on our lives and learn from our mistakes. That’s part of the process when we confess our sins and asking God for forgiveness (1 John 1:9). Leading us to think about it long enough and then choose to “go and sin no more”  (John 8:11).  Forgiveness is God’s way of clearing the slate, but it’s up to us to avoid repeating the errors of our past. Look at  the apostle Paul, he looked at his mistakes from  his past  and then focused on becoming more like Christ each day (Philippians 3:13-14).

So, is it best for us to look back or to look ahead? We would be wise to do a little of both: We need to look back when comes to forgiveness, then look ahead, focusing on Christ and for future spiritual growth in his kingdom.  Todd

Starts with a Thread

Over the three-day weekend for my kids from school, I have let myself eat unhealthily.  It stated out slow a small piece of cake here till it got to a very large piece of cake.  Which lead to a coke which I haven’t had in for about six months.  It just started out with giving in a little bit, having the small taste of what I knew I didn’t need.  It like the story I ran across today, it starts small and can grow fast.  Here is the story: An athletic young man stood before his peers. An ordinary piece of sewing thread was cut from a spool and wrapped once around his torso and arms and tied. He was asked to break free from the thread. Like a young Samson in training, he easily broke the thread that bound him. The young man’s peers teased him, “Oooooohhhhhhh,” they chided, in chorus.

A longer piece of thread was wrapped around the young man. This time the thread was wrapped around his body three times. The young man, again, was asked to break free from his bonds. This time, it took real effort on the young man’s behalf, but he broke free of the threads. Again, his friends mockingly cheered, “Woohoo!” The young man struck a body-builders’ pose in response.

Finally, one last, long piece of thread was cut from the spool and wrapped around the young man. This time, the thread was wrapped a dozen times around his body. But this time, as he tried to break free, he struggled and struggled. His friends cheered him on. Soon, the cheers turned to laughter. This young man could not break the thread and finally gave up.

This story can serve as a good warning to us about the power of bad habits. All it took was me to say it will be ok today to get off my diet, which lead to two days, which lead to three.  Do we catch ourselves doing this from time to time?  Today I am stopping and getting back on my diet.  As important as my physical diet is, I need to make sure I never let my spiritual diet slip.  If your spiritual diet is slipping I ask us to stop letting it slip and get back on it today.  So today I have made sure I am on both of my diets and focused on not cheating and losing site of my goals.  This week hope each of look at our spiritual diets and if needed get back on them.  Todd

GYM

Over the last year I joined a gym. I have never really attempted to work out at a gym by myself for any extended period of time, but I felt like it was time to get in better shape so that I can walk my girls down the aisle instead of being carried by them. 

I decided on the gym that is close to my house and fairly inexpensive.  The gym is pretty neat. They have a bank of televisions (probably at least ten wide-screen TV’s) for you to watch as you walk/run on the treadmills. They have the biggest ceiling fans I’ve ever seen in my life. They have massage chairs, tanning beds, aqua massage, and showers. It’s a pretty great place, with a lot of really cool amenities that make it more fun to go work out.

And then I saw the Tootsie Rolls.  They actually have a JAR of Tootsie Rolls on the desk at the welcome desk.

What is going on here? I also noticed that they have free PIZZA night the first Monday night of every month, and free BAGELS on the second Tuesday!! What in the world is happening at this place?? Don’t they realize that Tootsie Rolls, pizza, and bagels are the REASON why I need to go to the gym?

They are also very big on being a “Judgment-Free Zone,” which evidently means that you aren’t allowed to make fun of other people who are working out around you, no matter how funny they look.

As everyone who comes in and starts back at the gym it takes small steps of getting where you want to be.  For some maybe it’s their first time or maybe have started and stopped many times over the years of going to the gym.  As they start back up they feel welcomed on their journey of recovering back to health.  So far, I have not taken a Tootsie Roll out of the jar. I haven’t had a bagel or a piece of pizza either. So, I thank the gym for providing everything I need for a great workout; and I also thank them for unwittingly helping me with my self-control.  This week I challenge each of us to look at our spiritual health and ask do I need to get back to the spiritual gym myself.  Have a great and blessed week.  Todd