It's funny how long it takes, how many times we have to read it, how many times we deny it, before we believe it's true. In an effort to help myself believe it, I'm recording as many verses as I can think of that speak to the fact that when we seek Christ and His Kingdom, everything else falls into place. If you can think of others, please add on! I am going to be putting one verse from each book of the bible to make the point obvious to all of us who continue to go our own way.
...Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time. He consistently followed God's will and enjoyed a close relationship with him.(we all know what followed that verse...he lived through the great flood that wiped out everyone else and he started humanity over)
Genesis 6:9
You must serve only the Lord your God. If you do, I will bless you with food and water, and i will keep you healthy.
Exodus 23:25
If you keep my laws and are careful to obey my commands...you will eat your fill and live secuirely in your land...i will look favorably upon you...etc.
Leviticus 26:3-12
Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart
Psalm 37:4
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
What God Blesses
"Stop asking God to bless what you're doing. Instead, simply do what God blesses."
If you've had a conversation with me in the last month or two there is a good chance that I have shared my story of how last year was a very frustrating, anxiety filled, depressing year. Not from the outside of course- from the outside everything was good. It was an inside problem. The problem was that I was pursuing lots of other kingdom's besides God's.
Worries about finances and meeting business goals (building my kingdom), expectations of others (building their kingdoms), and all the while knowing God brought us here for some reason...the message that finally saved me. Frustrated and tired, eyes swollen with tears held back all year, I sat on a bench in a local park and had a heart to heart conversation with God. Like most of these conversations, I spent most of the time yelling at God for all of my problems and asking Him what on earth He wants from me. And like most of these conversations, I was met with silence...
Silence.
It's really hard to hear someone else when you're screaming. So silence helps us to hear.
That's when God let me in on His little secret. "Matt, you're exactly where you're supposed to be. In the midst of your struggles, in a business that is having a hard time taking root, in a culture that encourages foolishness and scoffs at wisdom, in a place with few friends, and few to counsel you. You still have me. And I put you where you are. You aren't responsible for the circumstances you find yourself in...I put you here. You're exactly where you're supposed to be."
Like a spring of water to a man dying of thirst, this brought a rushing wave of rest for my soul and peace to my mind.
See, Kim and I had followed God's leading and moved. We had gone to where he intended us to go! Yet, I was taking the blame for the difficulties, the failures, the inadequacies that I found myself stuck in. But it was God who led me there! It was His path I walked- not mine! The beginning of healing was planted.
Fast forward two months and I find myself fighting against this knowledge. Because the world says you build your own business, you cut your own path, you reap what you sew. And although this is partly true, it is far from the entire truth. God doesn't follow the rules of man. Instead, He has other rules that govern His universe. Thankfully, He has let us in on a few.
One of those is to pursue His kingdom first (and His righteousness) and He'll add all things that we need after that (Matthew 6:33). OR we can try to build our own kingdom, living a life of stress and anxiety where we may have those things we need. His path provides rest for our souls (Jeremiah 6:16). Ours creates depression, anxiety, and fear. Any sane person would choose His path each time. But I am clearly not altogether sane. I doubt you are either.
May we all stop pursuing other kingdoms, and instead look only towards His. May we seek His righteousness. May we find all that we need and may we find rest for our souls.
If you've had a conversation with me in the last month or two there is a good chance that I have shared my story of how last year was a very frustrating, anxiety filled, depressing year. Not from the outside of course- from the outside everything was good. It was an inside problem. The problem was that I was pursuing lots of other kingdom's besides God's.
Worries about finances and meeting business goals (building my kingdom), expectations of others (building their kingdoms), and all the while knowing God brought us here for some reason...the message that finally saved me. Frustrated and tired, eyes swollen with tears held back all year, I sat on a bench in a local park and had a heart to heart conversation with God. Like most of these conversations, I spent most of the time yelling at God for all of my problems and asking Him what on earth He wants from me. And like most of these conversations, I was met with silence...
Silence.
It's really hard to hear someone else when you're screaming. So silence helps us to hear.
That's when God let me in on His little secret. "Matt, you're exactly where you're supposed to be. In the midst of your struggles, in a business that is having a hard time taking root, in a culture that encourages foolishness and scoffs at wisdom, in a place with few friends, and few to counsel you. You still have me. And I put you where you are. You aren't responsible for the circumstances you find yourself in...I put you here. You're exactly where you're supposed to be."
Like a spring of water to a man dying of thirst, this brought a rushing wave of rest for my soul and peace to my mind.
See, Kim and I had followed God's leading and moved. We had gone to where he intended us to go! Yet, I was taking the blame for the difficulties, the failures, the inadequacies that I found myself stuck in. But it was God who led me there! It was His path I walked- not mine! The beginning of healing was planted.
Fast forward two months and I find myself fighting against this knowledge. Because the world says you build your own business, you cut your own path, you reap what you sew. And although this is partly true, it is far from the entire truth. God doesn't follow the rules of man. Instead, He has other rules that govern His universe. Thankfully, He has let us in on a few.
One of those is to pursue His kingdom first (and His righteousness) and He'll add all things that we need after that (Matthew 6:33). OR we can try to build our own kingdom, living a life of stress and anxiety where we may have those things we need. His path provides rest for our souls (Jeremiah 6:16). Ours creates depression, anxiety, and fear. Any sane person would choose His path each time. But I am clearly not altogether sane. I doubt you are either.
May we all stop pursuing other kingdoms, and instead look only towards His. May we seek His righteousness. May we find all that we need and may we find rest for our souls.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Choose the Ancient Paths
Recently I run up against a wall. Full force, head on, wall. My struggle is that I'm spending so much time and energy thinking, doing, and planning for things of little value and worth. I cannot express the wasted time, energy, and brain power spent on my iphone or computer games or xbox or watching football or some other way we all entertain ourselves. It adds no value, none at all. Instead, it often faintly perverts. Hidden, as if a slow drug working its way through veins for months before it reaches the heart. I'm convinced that these technologies that we take for granted now have influenced us much more than we know.
My heart yearns for older times, for peace and for rest. Not older as in my younger days, or back when gas was less than $1 a gallon. I mean ancient times. Really old. (yes, this may be one of the subtle reasons I have grown out a beard...)
In Jeremiah 6:16 the Lord says "Stop at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths where the good way is (some versions say 'the godly way'), and walk in it. And you will find rest for your souls."
Now that's what I'm talking about!
Those ancients in scriptures, the ones like Elisha or Elijah or Enoch or Abraham or Noah, they walked a path unknown to us. Not because we haven't read their story or know what they did, but because we don't walk the same path. We are busy! We are successful! We have great homes and great stuff!
But do we have rest for our souls?
So how do we get on a different path?
Step 1: Stop. Stop....seriously, stop. Wait. Rest. Stop.
Now look. Take it in. Look at the paths before you. Ask for the Ancient one. Not the shiny, new, flashy, exciting, thrilling, entertaining one (what does this say about how we choose our churches). Ask for the Ancient paths.
Walk it.
And may we all find rest for our souls.
My heart yearns for older times, for peace and for rest. Not older as in my younger days, or back when gas was less than $1 a gallon. I mean ancient times. Really old. (yes, this may be one of the subtle reasons I have grown out a beard...)
In Jeremiah 6:16 the Lord says "Stop at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths where the good way is (some versions say 'the godly way'), and walk in it. And you will find rest for your souls."
Now that's what I'm talking about!
Those ancients in scriptures, the ones like Elisha or Elijah or Enoch or Abraham or Noah, they walked a path unknown to us. Not because we haven't read their story or know what they did, but because we don't walk the same path. We are busy! We are successful! We have great homes and great stuff!
But do we have rest for our souls?
So how do we get on a different path?
Step 1: Stop. Stop....seriously, stop. Wait. Rest. Stop.
Now look. Take it in. Look at the paths before you. Ask for the Ancient one. Not the shiny, new, flashy, exciting, thrilling, entertaining one (what does this say about how we choose our churches). Ask for the Ancient paths.
Walk it.
And may we all find rest for our souls.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Balance
If I die at age 100 and look back, I imagine that I'll have spent an entire life floating between a life of extremes, trying to grasp the balance that lays in the middle. We see this lived out for us daily in our lives...the way we spend money, the political rhetoric, talk shows, tv, movies, and we see it in the way we one day have plenty of energy and pretty soon are exhausted.
I'm exhausted.
For a solid 2 months now I've been working my tail off (and thank God!). It's been exceedingly busy this month with very productive conversations and meetings, but my mind and body are on the edge of failure. It's times like this that rest is so very important. And if I don't make time for rest, my body will- it will simply give out.
So, I cut out early today to find a little more balance between working hard and being wise. Wisdom tells us work diligently when the harvest comes, but do so in a way where we don't die in the process. So, I'll take that option and see if it doesn't end at a better destination.
I'm exhausted.
For a solid 2 months now I've been working my tail off (and thank God!). It's been exceedingly busy this month with very productive conversations and meetings, but my mind and body are on the edge of failure. It's times like this that rest is so very important. And if I don't make time for rest, my body will- it will simply give out.
So, I cut out early today to find a little more balance between working hard and being wise. Wisdom tells us work diligently when the harvest comes, but do so in a way where we don't die in the process. So, I'll take that option and see if it doesn't end at a better destination.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Fishing on the other side of the boat
If you walk in my office, you'll find a 3' x 3.5' painting of the disciples fishing out in a lake. On the shore you'll see a dozen footprints in the sand with the waves lapping up against them. This is from John chapter 21 where the disciples after fishing after Jesus' resurrection. After casting their nets out all night and into the morning, they have not caught one fish (since they're professional fishermen, this has to be a low point for them). Then what happens? Jesus walks up on the scene and tells them to throw their nets off the other side of the boat. They do, and their nets overflow with caught fish (as a side note, I'm kind of impressed that the professionals actually listened to some random guy on the beach telling them to do something as arbitrary as throw their nets off the other side of the boat; seriously, would you or me actually do this? I'd probably get frustrated and throw a rock at the guy. As if they hadn't tried that yet?!)
Years ago, Kim painted this picture for me to help me remember that my job is to simply throw out the fishing line and God will be the one to bring in the catch. It's helped me make it through trying times when it feels like the wheels are falling off and I've run out of steam entirely. It's helped me focus on my calling rather than the results of my occupation.
It's good to remember that we aren't responsible for success- God is. We are to walk the path He has given us and that is it. Whether it leads to success or failure, wealth or poverty, we are to walk the path He has provided. And by doing so, we experience the joy of living with Christ.
In April/May my business slowed dramatically as I began to run out of contacts in which to connect. I became frustrated and stressed, partly because of financials, but mostly because I had the desire and time to serve others, yet couldn't find anyone to serve! Then in June, I somehow received the idea (was it my idea, someone else, God's? I really don't know) to reach out to people I had never reached out to before. Largely through Facebook and other social networks, I began circling up with people from years and years ago. And what has happened? Suddenly there are plenty of people to reach out to and my boat is overflowing with fish!!!
It's so difficult to see God at work when we're in the midst of it. But, when we reflect we see the masterpiece of the story He is creating. 2-3 years ago Kim painted me this picture to keep me in the game. I had no idea that years later, God would ask me to throw my nets on the other side of the boat and bring in a great catch just like is illustrated above my desk.
It's a blessing that I get to serve so many great people. It's even a greater blessing that I get to serve simply because I listened to God telling me to call on people I had never called on before.
Is Christ moving you into a time where things are drying up? Maybe it is because He is leading you to step out in faith on a new path, for a new purpose, with a new group of people? Maybe He's putting you in a situation like me of frustration and desperation to also give you the joy of hauling in a huge catch which you had no part in creating. You just get to haul it in and then swim to the shore to meet back up with Him.
Years ago, Kim painted this picture for me to help me remember that my job is to simply throw out the fishing line and God will be the one to bring in the catch. It's helped me make it through trying times when it feels like the wheels are falling off and I've run out of steam entirely. It's helped me focus on my calling rather than the results of my occupation.
It's good to remember that we aren't responsible for success- God is. We are to walk the path He has given us and that is it. Whether it leads to success or failure, wealth or poverty, we are to walk the path He has provided. And by doing so, we experience the joy of living with Christ.
In April/May my business slowed dramatically as I began to run out of contacts in which to connect. I became frustrated and stressed, partly because of financials, but mostly because I had the desire and time to serve others, yet couldn't find anyone to serve! Then in June, I somehow received the idea (was it my idea, someone else, God's? I really don't know) to reach out to people I had never reached out to before. Largely through Facebook and other social networks, I began circling up with people from years and years ago. And what has happened? Suddenly there are plenty of people to reach out to and my boat is overflowing with fish!!!
It's so difficult to see God at work when we're in the midst of it. But, when we reflect we see the masterpiece of the story He is creating. 2-3 years ago Kim painted me this picture to keep me in the game. I had no idea that years later, God would ask me to throw my nets on the other side of the boat and bring in a great catch just like is illustrated above my desk.
It's a blessing that I get to serve so many great people. It's even a greater blessing that I get to serve simply because I listened to God telling me to call on people I had never called on before.
Is Christ moving you into a time where things are drying up? Maybe it is because He is leading you to step out in faith on a new path, for a new purpose, with a new group of people? Maybe He's putting you in a situation like me of frustration and desperation to also give you the joy of hauling in a huge catch which you had no part in creating. You just get to haul it in and then swim to the shore to meet back up with Him.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Giving Thanks
After a month of struggle and desperation to get the ball moving again, it's the little glimmers of hope that help me continue. I had another person today whom I haven't spoken to in years and reached out to this week say that they'd love to meet about planning. I'm so thankful to God for these moments. I feel like most of my time is spent in one long drawn out prayer of desperation, clinging to our Lord while doing all I can to do what He has asked me to do. And then the moments of hope enfuse my confidence in Him and the habits given me to do.
Thank you! May I continue to persevere in this time of dryness, resting under Your wings as often as I can.
Thank you! May I continue to persevere in this time of dryness, resting under Your wings as often as I can.
Monday, July 9, 2012
A Season of Prayer
It's been a while since I've written here, and what better way to get back into it than through prayer...
Lord, teach me Your ways and how to walk the path You've laid out for us. Make me to know and remember that it is You who provides for us, it is You who gives strength, it is You we serve. May we become little so you can reign in our lives.
Provide for us as You have promised; may we rely on you fully and yet work hard to plow the fields You've allotted us. May we not forget You or the great work that You have provided us. Bless us as we seek to do the best we can with what You've given.
Amen.
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