Loyalty

Loyalty is so important in any relationship. It is what builds trust and creates an environment for honesty. I have seen so many who lack loyalty in their lives. Affairs, gossip and even an unwillingness to confront issues in a friends life often arises from a lack of loyalty and commitment. Loyalty is hanging tight with someone when their life is falling apart all around them. It is willing to listen and discuss the hard issues of life. It is open to constructive criticism because their has been a mutual, often unspoken agreement to be loyal to each other. It is knowing that they have your back. It is a foundation for what God calls Fellowship. That deep quality of friendship that David and Jonathan had. Willing to take a bullet for each other and stand up for the other in the midst of a barrage of criticism.

Where has loyalty gone? I think in our consumer driven culture we treet our relationships like our car insurance company. If we find a better deal, bam, we are gone. If things get a little tough or they get a little to close or say the wrong thing or speak into our life, bam, we are gone. Deep relationships require honesty and loyalty. You cannot have one without the other. Am I a loyal friend. I hope so.

Ultimate Network

Constant Conversation-pray without ceasing, same thing, yet we so often think of prayer as unattainable. In our day it may be said to stay connected. We do this with our friends through text, e-mail and cell phones. We are never more than a text away from our loved ones. I believe this is what God meant when He told us to pray without ceasing. To have a constant dialogue going. For me I have begun to use everyday things to remind me that I am never in a "dead zone" with God.

Today, seeing the beautiful sky, I said; Thank you, God, for the beautiful sky. This reminds me not only who is responsible, but also that God is with me. Being a friend with God means that I am connected by a network that can never fail. One established by Jesus and maintained by the Holy Spirit. Yet, to utilize it, I had to join, by admitting my need for forgiveness and accepting the work Jesus did. Then I became part of a network that never fails or drops any calls. God loves it when I use the network. It keeps us close and I am aware of His presence more and more in the ordinary, even mundane things of life.

Friends, family, beauty and even difficulties can keep the conversation flowing. Brother Lawrence in the book Practicing the Presence of God tells how everything we do can be an act of worship, if we do it for God. I'm "connected;" are you?

Live Like you were Dying

This is one of my favorite songs. Tim McGraw put so many of our thoughts into words. If we sould only live this way on a daily basis there would be less arguing, complaining and the constant struggle for more. There would be more time for caring, spending time with those we love the most and less worrying about things that don't matter. Day 4 reading in Purpose Driven Life sums this sentiment up well with Matthew Henry's words, “It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our final day.”

Most of my life has been spent living for the here and now, not for the future. True freedom comes when we learn to live with eternity in mind and can let go of the unimportant. In college i read a small pamphlet called the Tyranny of the Urgent. It laid out the premise that life is filled with important tasks and urgent tasks. The important are those areas that bring life the most meaning, such as; participating in our children's play, holding hands with the one we love, slowing down and enjoying where we are and who we are with. Instead we allow the urgent to run our life. E-mails, text and phone calls dictate how we spend our days. The urgent scream for our attention, while the important sits in the background waiting patiently for our time. So many of us have succumb to Tyranny of the Urgent and when we reach the end of our life we are filled with regrets. If we will turn these issues around and put the important first and relegate the urgent to follow our schedule, we will reach the end of our life filled with wonderful memories and with the people we love.

I am trying to "live my life as if I were dying." Funny thing is we all are and just don't act like it. That's a thought for another day.

I'm Back and Better than Ever

What on earth am I here for? This has some tremendous implications for me now since my recent brush with death. Or should I say the "shock" of death. Having a heart attack has given me so much to think about. It has driven home that we have such a short time to live and made me ask; is what I am doing really important, really valuable? Am I just taking up space or making an impact? How do we determine the answers to these questions? Who decides what is important and what is not? Can we know?

I think we can. God has made it clear that it is not what we do, but who we are that is important. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." He gives our life meaning. It is in how He designed us that causes impact, not how well we can do a cannonball in the pool of life. We are a masterpiece, created in His image, designed to fulfill His purpose, this is the answer. It is not about how much we do, but who we are that matters. You and I ARE God's masterpiece. When we live according to the way He created us we become a tool in His hand that can create. It is in this that we discover our purpose and meaning.

EXPERIENCING GOD

If God is all powerful and able to anything that He wants, then why do we not see more evidence of His working in our lives? Do we somehow say we believe yet in practice and lifestyle prove otherwise? These are issues that are raised in a book I am reading by Richard Blackaby. His book Unlimiting God, opens up the issue that God desires for us to know Him in His fullness and experience His power in our lives, yet because of our lack of faith, we limit ourselves to living mundane lives.

D.L Moody, once said that he world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully devoted to Him. I ask why is God able to use an ordinary man, greatly and often those with great gifts and talents remain mediocre. I agree with Blackaby that it is the choice of the individual. Each of us has the ability to be used by God. There is no insignificant task, when God gives us something to accomplish. Often we, I look for the grandiose to perform for God, when God wants us to submit and obey in the little things that He is able to mold into a grand masterpiece, one that only He receives the credit. Am I willing to join God in His assignment or am I waiting for some huge task? Am I following Him or trying to get Him to follow me?

I want to know the power of the resurrection. How about you? What am I willing to do to experience it.

How would you rate your marriage?

Several years ago, whiloe attending a marriage conference we were asked the question; rate your marriage from 0-10, with 10 being the greatest thing ever. I went first and thought that I would be a little conservative and say that I thought it would be between 7 or 8. Myra then went and said that in her opinion it was only about a 4. What a shock. I had no clue. This became the first of many steps in growing a great marriage. Have you asked you spouse how they would rate your marriage? Probably not. Go ahead and take the chance. Be willing to hear a difficult answer, and then be willing to begin taking steps to make it all that God intends for it to become.

Marriage????

What do you think of when you think of marriage? Happily ever after or does it cause you to feel disappointment, anger and frustration? How do we make this life together really work? It is often a mystery, the intertwining of two lives into a single tree reaching together for the stars. I am not nieve, neither do I have a perfect marriage (because I'm not perfect), I do know what it is to have a difficult marriage and now I know how great marriage can be. It has been a long journey for us, 26 years and counting. The first 18 were years of much battling and difficulties. In the last 8 we have entered into a time of joy together. I'm a slow learner, I guess. But, I am learning the secret to this beautiful union of two individuals called marriage.

Over the next several weeks, I will be exploring the secrets of marriage here and on Sunday mornings at JC3. Let's journey together toward marriage happiness.