Mid Weed Blogs

Wednesday - Not much to say, but much moving in my mind.

Thursday - Less to say, but more moving in my mind

It's A Monday

Yesterday morning as I entered a local restaurant to meet with a couple of pastors I asked the kind people behind the counter if they were having a good day. There reply was, “It’s a Monday!”. What does that mean exactly. Are Monday’s harder than other days of the week? I know for me Monday’s are the hardest day at the gym. Could it just be that when we get out of bed we begin to tell ourselves that its Monday and we are going to have a Monday. We spend the weekend not wanting to think about or talk about Monday. Monday means work, routine, and making up for stuff that happens over the weekend. Then there is the weekly post by some, “TGIF”. I do not think they mean “Thank God I’m Forgiven”. I think they are saying “Thank God It’s Friday”. So, Friday we are excited and Monday we are not. Why? I believe it is because we feel free on the weekends. We can do what we want. We do not have to be at a certain place at a certain time. We are free. Freedom brings a multitude of responses: joy, reflection, celebration, relief, etc. “It’s a Monday” could become a positive statement if we could find a way to make it a time of freedom. So, this week seek to change your mind. See everyday as an opportunity to be a child of God revealing the loving nature of His father. We don’t have to go to work. We get to go to work. We don’t have to have a routine. We get to have a routine. We don’t have to go to school. We get to go to school. We don’t have to go to church. We get to go to church. We don’t have to enjoy Monday. We get to enjoy Monday. “Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Phil 2:5). Change your mind and realize what you get to do today and enjoy the freedom.

How About a Gift Card to Cracker Barrel?

Friday I posted the following statement on Twitter and thus Facebook. “Agape is something we know how it is defined, but do we know how to express it?” Agape defined simply: “a willful others centered love”. Yes we could give a definition that is more comprehensive but that is it. “A willful others centered love.” Matthew 22:37-40 says we should love God and others with agape. I believe most of us have the definition in our memory, but do we have the lifestyle? How far will you go for someone else? I do not mean this in any disrespect but we will send $10 to Haiti but will we give the homeless that same amount of money? Will we buy a case of water to give to the thirst in the hot summer? Will we give a gift card to a transient to Cracker Barrel (they can find them beside the interstate all over the south)? Will we forgive someone who hurts us? Will we go the extra mile? If we are not doing these things what is the problem? I submit the problem is that we have not given ourselves to God first. God is jealous and wants to be first in your life. God does not want anything before Him. The commandments whether Old or New Testament say give yourself to God first. So, today give yourself away to God. Release it.

Who Are You?

It is in the most difficult situations that we really find out who we are. The church at Corinth had experienced some tough times. Paul writes of a group that just simply did not have much means. However, they begged to be part of the great work of Paul. When was the last time you begged to be part of God’s work? I have heard people through the years say they had not been asked to do this or that in the church and so they were hurt. These people were “begging us earnestly for favor in taking part in the relief of the saints”. WOW! However, notice this point, “They gave themselves first to the Lord”. I guess when you give yourself first to the Lord you cannot help but beg to be part of His work. Last thing! “Then by the will of God to us”. They gave themselves to Paul and his disciples. These were begging followers of the Lord. WOW! AMAZING!!!

2 Cor 8:4-5 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

Is the End In Mind?

Begin with the end in mind. I have heard this statement all my life but have not adhered to it in many areas. If I had many things would be different. I would weigh less than 200 pounds, I would be debt free, my children’s college would be paid for, my wife would not have to work, I would have led more people to Christ and in a deeper relationship with Him, I would have spent more time with my mom, dad and brother. I have seen the movie It’s A Wonderful Life, so I understand that side of things. But what if we approached our Christian life with the end in mind. I want to be a faithful follower of Christ. I want my wife to be a faithful follower of Christ. I want my children to be faithful followers of Christ. I want my friends and family to be faithful followers of Christ. I want to see our community become faithful followers of Christ. But, from where I stand it does not appear that these things just happen. Our church needs to approach every move we make with the end in mind. What is the end? Following Christ in all areas of life. Jesus, Paul, Peter and many more clearly understood the end and made their decisions with the end in mind. I go to the gym with the end in mind. I change my eating with the end in mind. I study God’s Word with the end in mind. On a day-to-day scale I see little change but as I look at it from a broader perspective there is a difference. Today, begin to live your life with the end in mind.

Plans Change

Do you ever have plans that you know are good? They may even be godly but God changes them? There have been times in my life when I knew I was headed in the right direction but God changed it. Sometimes I just do not understand why God is changing them and sometimes others do not understand why they change. Is it that we simply were not listening? I think not. Paul had made plans to go to the Church @ Corinth but God led him a different direction (1 Cor 1:12-24). It was not that He was not listening to God. He was making plans that excited him. He was looking forward to seeing the grace of God do more work in Corinth. However, God changed His direction. He was listening to the voice behind him (Is 30:21) that was telling Him which way to go. He begins his letter to Corinth with an explanation as to why he did not return. You and I can live our lives with good and godly plans but we should always give God the latitude to change those plans as He see we can be most useful for His glory. Plans Change.

You Can Do It!!

People can do amazing things. As we look back in history, people just like you and me were able to accomplish some pretty great things. The Bible was put written by ordinary men moved by the Holy Spirit. James wrote, “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years” (James 5:17). He is speaking about the prayer of an ordinary man. Nehemiah was an ordinary man who was able to lead the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem in 52 days. He used ordinary men and women, dads and moms, boys and girls to accomplish this great feet to restore a region. Shamgar was able to kill 600 people with an oxgoad (Judges 3:31). History gives us so many stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. God is calling me and you to do some extraordinary things. You can do it! You have the power of the Holy Spirit working within you. You are more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ our Lord. This week take care of what God puts in front of you and do not worry about what He puts in front of someone else. Let us rebuild the walls.