The Unquenchable Thirst

You know those days that you don’t drink much water and at the end of the day you go to take a sip of something and realize “I’m really thirsty!”?  Maybe you were so busy during the day that you didn’t have much time to stop and get a drink.  Maybe you were so busy that you didn’t even realize that you were thirsty.  But when you take that first sip of water you realize “Man, this is some good stuff.  Why didn’t I have more of this today?”  I know I’ve had days like that.  Spiritual thirst is no different.

Psalm 143:6 – “I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.”

With the hustle and bustle of today’s life style, a lot of people forget to take time out of the day to spend time praying or in the Word.  This is definitely something I struggle with.  It’s hard to live the busy American life and still make time for God when you start to forget that you are thirsty for Him.  But after some time without going to our Heavenly Father, taking that sip is so refreshing.  Then you realize, this is good stuff and you want more of it.

A lot of the time, it’s easy to forget how thirsty we are for Him to fill us with His living water (see John 4:14).  Spending time in the Word and keeping a constant prayer line open with God is the best way to fill yourself with His living water.  I would like to encourage you to begin a routine and set a certain time each day to spend time with God.  You will never regret time spent in His presence!

They’re just words… ‘till you let Him fill you with His living water!

Where is His Love?

Rom 8:38-39

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A good friend shared this scripture with a few of us recently in a men's group. While he was sharing, I got lost in my own thoughts and questions. If nothing can separate us from His love, what does that mean? If He loves me so much, where is He when I'm getting pummeled? 

I love it when God uses every day real life moments to reveal himself to me. This became one of those moments. 

Our youngest son is 11 years old and is playing football again this year. How do I, as his father, show my love for him when he plays football? I can't be on the field for him even when he may be getting pummeled by the other team. However, that doesn't mean I don't love him. I've shown him that I love him by how I've equipped him for success before he went out onto the field. I got the best gear; cleats, shoulder pads and custom helmet. I then signed him up with a good league and surrounded him with good teammates to support him during the battle. Once he takes the field and the battle starts, it's up to him. Will he use the training, teammates and equipment that he's been given and fight to win or will he get down in his three point stance looking at his opponent and ask where am I in this moment?

Of course I would storm the field and stop anything that I thought was dangerous. But, for the most part, when the ball is snapped he's been prepared/equipped to win and it's up to him.

I'm thinking just maybe that the reason that I sometimes feel that God isn't showing His love to me by bailing me out of stuff is because He's done what a good loving father should have done and prepared me going in. He knows that I'm equipped with the right gear and team to win. He knows now that even though He will cringe every time that I take a lick and get knocked on my butt, He can't bail me out. He must let me battle. He knows that I can do it and I should know that His love is cheering for me and will stop the battle if it appears that it will destroy me.

Where is His love in your life right now? Maybe you're not as alone in whatever battle you're facing right now as it feels. Maybe as you get down into your three point stance and wait for the ball to snap and you look at the challenge that you're lined up against, you should realize that God has equipped you with the right gear and the right team to win. His love is not just Him climbing on the cross to take your place in every struggle you have. His love is also in the equipping of you to go into the game. He selected the right gear and your team that surrounds you. It's now up to you. It's game time!

They're just words... until the ball is snapped

Close Your Umbrella

My mom died in February of 2004. That year was full of emotions. In December of that year, I felt like I needed to retrace the path of her funeral procession and visit her grave site. 

All the way from LaVergne to White Bluff it rained. I kept praying asking God to stop the rain. The last thing I wanted to do was stand out in the rain. When I got to the church, I was very frustrated to see that God hadn't stopped the rain and it didn't look like he was going to. I fussed at God and told him that I was tired of feeling like there was something that He wanted me to do and then the entire time that I'm doing it I'm getting "rained" on. This time it just happened to literally be rain. 

I drove on to the grave site and stood in the rain with my umbrella. After an hour had passed, I could see the blue sky off in the distance but the clouds were coming from another direction. How frustrating to see relief from what is pounding you but that relief is not coming your way. 

I started to feel God prompting me to close my umbrella. I argued more with God. I continued to ask him to make the rain stop. God told me to close my umbrella and trust Him. I hadn't been able to trust Him to stop the rain up until this point, why should I start now. However, I finally did close my umbrella and seconds after I did, the rain stopped! 

As I'm standing there with umbrella still in hand but now closed, I'm awakened to a deeper meaning of the rain and my umbrella that day. I had umbrellas in my life that I had strategically placed within a short arms length just in case it started to rain in my life. God showed me that day that I had been using those umbrellas to shelter me from the rain and life's storms in place of trusting in Him. He was calling me to a deeper relationship with Him that day. A relationship of trust and dependence.

What umbrellas do you have lying around? Do you have one to shield you from financial stress? Maybe one to block the attacks of bullies? Maybe even one to protect you from people getting too close? Disappointment, failure, rejection, love, peace; the list of things that we shield ourselves from with our umbrellas goes on and on. Close your umbrella! There's no faith in waiting until the rains stops for you to close it. Close it while it's raining and ask God to be your shelter. 

They're just words... until you trust Him enough to close your umbrella

You're Not Worthless

For anyone dealing with self-esteem issues, I hope and pray that this blog will help you see how God sees you.  In His eyes, you are perfect!  Here’s some scripture to prove it.

Genesis 1:26 & 27 “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

In the 26^th and 27^th verses of the Bible, God has already declared that you are made in His image and after His likeness.  This was before the fall and before we needed Christ to redeem our sins.  Since sin entered the world, we need a savior to bring us back to perfection and unity with God.  That savior is Jesus Christ.  (For further reference; see Genesis 3, Romans 3:23, John 3:16, and John 14:6)  Accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, and the following will become true of you.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

No matter what you have done in the past, accepting Christ wipes your slate clean and gives you a new future.   One of hope, knowing that nothing from your past can keep you away from salvation. 

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

God has chosen us.  We are God’s possession!  Why would a perfect God want to have something that is imperfect, broken, useless, or worthless?  Because He sees you as His perfect child who is like Him!

John 1:12 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Ephesians 4:24 “And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

The best part about this whole deal is that the only thing you need to do to accept this new identity as a perfect, holy, righteous child of God, is to believe that Jesus is your Savior!

Ephesians 3:12 “(Christ Jesus our Lord), in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.”

Our faith in Jesus Christ alone gives us such a beautiful identity.  One of the many things that I love about our God is that you don’t have to be good enough for Him to accept you.  He accepts you through Christ.  Whether you feel that you aren’t attractive enough, smart enough, talented enough, you’re too big a failure, or anything else doesn’t matter to God, because Jesus was perfect.  With Jesus in your heart, God sees you as perfect too.  The insecurities just mentioned are all ones that I have struggled with in the past several years.  Honestly, this blog began as God comforting me and turned into the thing you’re reading now.  I hope this helps you as much as it did me!

If you don’t have Jesus in your heart, then all you have to do is pray and ask Him to be your Lord and Savior.  Personally, if God sees me as perfect, then all of my insecurities about how people view me become irrelevant.  THE LIVING GOD THAT CREATED THE WORLD AND DETERMINES YOUR ETERNITY CAN SEE YOU AS PERFECT!!  If that’s not absolutely incredible, then I don’t know what is.

Father, I pray that I would be able to see myself as you see me, perfect and created in your image.  Make these insecurities and failures stop governing how I see myself.  In you I am perfect.  You are all I will ever need and I am forever grateful for that.

They’re just words… until you accept Christ and let His image also be yours!

Q & A (from: What to Know Before Attending College)

I opened up the option for several people who will be starting college within the next couple of years to ask me questions about what college is like, so here they are along with my attempt to answer them.

Q:  What is dorm life like?

A:  This really depends on where you go.  For me, dorm life was pretty awesome.  I had an amazing RA and met the guys that have become some of my closest friends.  My advice: don’t be shy.  Leave your door open when you’re in the dorm, introduce yourself to people, and hang out with complete strangers.  Just don’t become a hermit that spends all of your free time alone in your dorm.

Q:  What do you wish you did before college and what are you glad that you did?

A:  This is kind of two different questions, but they both have the same answer.  I wish I had spent more time with family and friends from home before I left, and I am glad that I spent the time with them that I did.  You realize how important someone really is in your life when you don’t see them as often as you used to.

Q:  What is there to do outside of school work?

A:  This really depends on your hobbies and the town that your college is in.  I would suggest learning as much about the community around your school as possible.  For me, there is a lot of outdoorsy stuff to do around Cookeville.  I love being outside, so a lot of the free time I have is spent at a park or a waterfall.  Make friends with some locals too so that they can show you around and give you an idea of what there is to do around town.

Q:  How can I make friends and what kind of stuff is there to get involved in?

A:  Be friendly and be outgoing.  Feel free to talk to people before class starts.  Find clubs and organizations that focus on things you like to do.  If you like sports, intramurals are an awesome way to meet new people.  Sororities and fraternities can be a good way to meet people too, but if you’re gonna go that route, find one that isn’t just one big party.  Find a sorority or fraternity that gives back to the community or that focuses on God (those may be hard to find but they do exist).  I mentioned it in the previous post, but get involved with a local church or campus outreach program, or both!  More than just attend it, find a way to volunteer.  Trust me; this will benefit you as much as it does them, if not more.

Q:  How much free time will I have?

A:  This was covered a little in the previous blog also, but I will restate what I said earlier.  This depends on your major, how many credit hours you take, and what you involve yourself with outside of school work.  My first semester I tried taking 18 credit hours and working 32+ hours per week at two different jobs.  I highly recommend NOT doing that.  I had absolutely zero free time and not a whole lot of sleep.  After the first couple of weeks of school, find a good rhythm.  Get into a groove and try to follow somewhat of a schedule with homework, sleep, and food.  Managing your time well will open up a lot of free time.

Q:  Am I going to be in debt forever?

A:  I hope not.  Whatever you want to do after college, find a school that has a good reputation in that field of study and isn’t insanely expensive.  Apply for tons of scholarships!  The school’s financial aid office should be able to help as well.  Just be smart with money both during college and after.

Q:  How do you room with someone that is not a family member, even if you were friends with them beforehand?

A:  Being roommates with someone can be a dangerous situation.  This is where you really, REALLY get to know who the person is that you may have thought you knew beforehand.  You get to see all of their flaws and mistakes, they get to see all of yours, and you both get to get on each other’s nerves.  For me, my situation with my current roommate is pretty awesome.  We were friends before we lived together, and we are some of the only people that I know that actually got closer while living together (instead of the average which is learning to hate the person you used to like).  There has to be a huge level of respect between the two of you.  Spending time with your roommate is a good thing, but you don’t have to spend every waking moment together.  Space is a good thing too.  Respect them and respect their stuff and everything should be fine.

Q:  Is the food averagely good?

A:  This question makes me laugh, especially knowing who it came from and their love of food.  At Tennessee Tech, it’s okay.  Some days are better than others.  The only other college that I have eaten at was Christian Brothers University in Memphis, and it has been the same as TTU, so I assume all the others are the same.  You might get bored of it after a while, but it’s not horrible.

What to Know Before Attending College

Before I say anything, I want you to read this verse.

Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (ESV)

Don’t let college make you anxious!  Okay, now for the fun stuff.

Find A Local Church

Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (ESV)

Even if school is only 45 minutes away, this can be a critical step, and needs to be a priority.  Every person I talked to that went through college before me said the same thing, and I’m about to say it: Find somewhere to get plugged in.  If you do not “plug in” (meaning find a club or organization, sport, etc. to get heavily involved with) you are setting yourself up for severe homesickness and failure.  I want to agree with that statement and take it a step further: Find a CHURCH to get plugged in!  Whatever else you get involved in, use that to reach people who are hurting, but don’t allow darkness around you to keep you from shining your light.  Be a light into the darkness!

Crazy Preachers

There are plenty of false prophets that wander around from campus to campus, some worse than others.  You may see them with bullhorns, big banners twisting scripture around to fit their agenda, or just yelling somewhere on campus.  There are a lot of different reasons that these people come to campus and the best way to deal with them is to ignore them.  A lot of them are actually distorting God’s word on purpose, hoping that someone who knows the truth will engage in an argument with them and they can try to engage in a physical fight.  The “preachers” (I use that term very loosely, they’re really just scum) that do this sort of thing are only on campus in hopes to be hit so they can sue the school.  As much as you may want to, don’t give them that privilege.

Destructive Down Time Vs. Relaxing Free Time

Down time is very important to rest your body and mind, but it can be very destructive as well.  The amount of free time you have can depend on the amount of hours you take, homework, your job if you work, any sports you may play, club events, alumni dinners, the list goes on.  The problem is, even very little down time at all can be just enough time to pick up bad habits.  Free time will happen; it’s how you use that time that will affect you.

A friend of mine put it this way.  Sure there are the big bad temptations that everyone knows you should try to stay away from if you want to live a Godly life (alcohol, drugs, sex, so much more. And yes these things are everywhere).  But where it can be easier to trip up, and you don’t even know you’re doing anything wrong, is when you find yourself eating because you’re bored, or watching too much TV, or surfing through the internet looking for something to entertain you.  While all of these things can be innocent and may not necessarily be sins, what are you gaining from them?  There are so many things (seriously, an unlimited amount of things) that can start to take place of your school work or time with the Lord.  That’s where these things become destructive. 

Stay On Top Of Homework

Homework in college can build up pretty quickly, and after just missing a few days you can suddenly feel swamped and completely overwhelmed.  Adding this kind of stress is unnecessary and can be very discouraging.  I have personally let homework go until I reached the point that I felt hopeless and like the semester was a lost cause.  Don’t let it get to that point.  Take care of homework sooner rather than later, and you can save yourself a lot of stress.

Dealing With Strong Temptations

Temptations are everywhere in college.  The question is not if you will be tempted, it’s where, when, and how you will deal with it.  It is so much easier to resist temptations if you make a decision before you are ever tempted about what you will and will not allow yourself to do.  That was pointed out to me by a friend, and once he mentioned it, I realized how right he was in saying it.

Spend Time With God

This may be the last thing mentioned, but it is by far the most important thing to do.

Psalm 73:26 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (ESV)

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (ESV)

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (ESV)

I can tell you from personal experience: time with God does not make any of the struggles or stress (and there will be of both of those in college) go away.  What it does do for you, is give an unexplainable peace of mind, the power to push through hard times, and the clarity to think through whatever situation you may be in.  Not to mention, is an amazing way to spend the down time that I mentioned earlier.  A phrase I try to live by is this:

                Read daily, pray hourly, love every second.

These seven words are super loaded and I will explain them in further detail in another blog.  But for now, here’s a condensed explanation.  Your Bible is one of the ways God communicates with you.  He has so much advice that is far better than mine and it is all written down begging to be read.  Keep an open line of communication with God.  He wants to hear from you!  Finally, let love radiate from you. 

Heart and Lungs

Rhythmic steps; breathe in, then out; heart beating strong as blood and air flow throughout my body on a beautiful spring day. I’m feeling alive and strong. I’m running, when God decides to capture my attention for a moment and remind me of how I exist physically and how he hopes for me to exist spiritually.

Genesis 2:7- then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. (ESV)

I was reminded that day that when I run, I experience an expansion of lung capacity. The more I run, the more easily I am able to move air. Likewise, my heart is a muscle which is strengthened by this exercise making it possible for life giving blood to flow through my body at a healthy rate due to a strong heart muscle at work.

What does my spiritual heart beat for? What breath are my spiritual lungs pushing? The Bible refers to God as the giver of life and the breath of life. Does my heart beat for Him? Do my lungs push His life giving breath to others around me? I must exercise my spiritual heart and lungs. He desires for me to experience a strong heart rhythm that beats with a sole purpose of bringing all of His children back in relationship with Him. He desires for me to have the capability of pushing so much of His air through my spiritual lungs that others around me will experience life because of His breath.

Father, I pray that my heart beats in perfect rhythm with yours; a heart that cries out for your lost children and rejoices when they find their way back home. I pray that your life giving breath flows through me and out to those around me that they may too feel so alive.

They’re just words…    until His breath flows through you!