Afraid of change

I have been crying out to God for change in some of my circumstances. But in being honest with myself, I realized that I am afraid of change. I am comfortable in my discomfort. It is stable, nothing unexpected really happens. Plenty that I don't like but it's not scary, my life doesn't require me to move outside of my comfort zone. So part of me wants to just stay put. Then something happens that reminds me that I cannot go on living this way.
I know lots of people like that. They hate their life, complain all the time but will do nothing to change it. Even when an opportunity literally falls in their lap, they won't reach out for it. They will stay in their misery.
I want to avoid the sin of Jonah. When God says move, I hope that I will move.

Be careful what you wish for

Lately I have been saying I just need a moment of peace, and guess what? My car died, my truck died, and now I have to wait for a mechanic to come fix my truck. Viola! My moment of forced peace.

Worship

If you're gonna  do it, may as well make a fool out of yourself from time to time. Only the whole hearted have the gift of looking like idiots.

The need for fathers

There is a cry in our world for fathers. So many men, oldermen are crying out for fathers. Why? You can not have a child without a man and a woman. If you are alive then a man and a woman was involved. Yet so many young men live without fathers in their lives. Not only those who have fathers walk out on them, but those who have fathers at home that have checked out and are not involved. One of the greatest men in history with the heart of a father was Jesus, who had no children, yet the heart of the father was in him. We need more men like that, men who have the Father's heart in them. Being a father in the natural is not a requirement. It is enough to have the father's heart beating in yours.
I don't care how young or old you are, there are men and boys out there who need a father. It's not hard, just ask God for the heart of a father, and the rest will take care of itself. People will smell that annointing on you and they will be drawn to you. If you have what people need, they will hunt you down.

When life sucks

Sometimes we go through a season that is difficult, full of trials. Sometimes there is demonic pressure, sometimes we are being attacked. Sometimes we have created the problem through our own sin. In the midst of this battle, whether the trial is external or internal, there is a tendency to fret, to wring ones hands in frustration. Or we are angry, yelling in tounges and waging "warfare ". It looks good, especially on Sundays in front of everybody else. But in reality its just a show to make us feel better.
I believe that real power is found in a peaceful clear mind and heart. In a place of surrender to the Lord we find peace. That doesn't mean we don't have battles to fight, but we fight them assured of victory, not fearing defeat. In that place we can have joy, because we know like we know the sky is blue that Jesus has already conquered the world. We can laugh when life knocks us down because our victory is assured, we know how all of this ends. With Satan, death, and all those who set themselves against Christ bound and thrown into the lake of fire. We can never fully conquer evil in this life, that's not our job.
It like gardening. You build the garden, plant and water it, then you have to tend it. Every day. Take your eyes of that garden for a minute and you'll have bugs eating it, the sub shrivelling it, animals eating it, all kinds of mayhem. But if you tend it with love, removing what takes life and pouring in what gives life you will be rewarded. If you find a weed or an insect that is eating your garden, remove it and move on. Find another? Do it again. The day you give up is the day you lose your garden.

A heavy cost

I feel as though my dreams are dying. When I reached for the big dream, my wife, my children, I did not know that it would cost me everything. I did not realize that ballet, snowboarding, travel, nightlife, friends, Starbucks, adventure; possibly even fencing would be sacrificed on the altar of my family. The question is, now that I know this, am I willing to pay it, or will I spend the rest of my life resenting my family, regretting the price that I paid? Or worse, will I try to return them, and sacrifice my family on the altar of my dreams, as so many men have done? As my father did? Again I feel the curse of my father reaching for me, whispering that I was made to be something great, and I am wasting away my life. But I know what my father did not, the value of a virtuous wife, of wild sons and a daughter who radiates royalty. My family demands the best of me; I cannot serve both my dreams and them.

I am something exceptional, I know it sounds arrogant, but I am. My potential has very few limits, without a family to care for I could reach any height I set myself to climb. But when I reach the summit and the glory of my name reaches into eternity, as I sit down as an old man to write the story of my life, everything I had accomplished would be nothing, without my joy, my glory there beside me. I want to look into her eyes as an old man and see love, love that has withstood the test of time, and when I see that I will know; that I am blessed, and that I had invested my life wisely.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

I am not going to say that this will be easy, or that I will always do this right. There will be days when my heart yearns for the selfish ambitions of youth. In those moments I will remember this; I vowed, on April 8^th, 2006 to trade all that I am, all that I could be for the dream, the priceless treasure that is my family.

“A heavy cost, I pay it gladly.”

Can or can't?

"I can't. " these words have derailed many dreams. So many people live in self imposed obscurity for no other reason than that they believe that they cannot obtain what is in their hearts. How do we break the chains of can't?

It's all in your head

Most of the time, the real battle lies within us, in our minds in our hearts. When something gets to you, as it often does to me, ask yourself,"Where is the real battle?"