If you can't say anything nice,......

We have all heard it, "if you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all". We are told that our words should only be used to compliment ohters, to build them up, to make them feel better. However, we soon forget; soon enough, we will be "ragging" on people or cutting them down, or even saying out right hateful things.

In James chapter 3, we are instructed on taming our tongue. Our tongue is compared to a rudder on ships, a bit in the mouths of horses, and even a spark that starts a wild fire. We are told that a world of evil among our bodies. Words that we say often times do more harm than any other action we could commit.

I encourage you today to stop and consider an appropriate "RESPONSE" rather than an evil reaction. We often times praise God, and then curse men who are made in the likeness of God. How can that be? How can we kiss our children with the same mouth that curses men? We really should always be cautious of our mouth, and more importantly, what comes out of it.

Die to Live

On Friday night, I heard a song written and performed by Louis Drapp. The title was Die to Live. The song talked about when we choose to follow God's ways, we have to "die" to our old ways of life. When we make a stand for God, we are suddenly in the spot light. Our friends, families, and co-workers all start watching the way we live our lives.

In Matthew 10:39, Jesus tell us "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it". We are told in this passage that God has to be our number one priority. When we are so arrogant as to say that we have found "life" outside of God, we will ultimately lose it. But, when we are willing to "lose" the life we have grown accustomed to so that we can follow God, that is when we actually find what life is really about.

I vow today to put God's ways first in my life. That means the old person has gone, and the new person is on his way, constantly being transformed by God.

Religion or Relationship

We all have our very own understanding of what "religion" should look like. Some may say, well "you can't have long hair, you can't wear shorts or hats, you can't smoke, drink, or cuss". Other may say "you have to do "service" at least two times a week, you have to give ten percent, and you can't eat pork".

I know some of these are silly, and I am just using them to prove a point. Sometimes, even in our times of fasting, we get caught up in rules (religion), and forget all about the relationship. Relationship is a noun derived from the verb meaning to relate with, or to involve yourself with. Relationships are not places for monologues, but rather conversations. They are not places for self-centeredness, but rather places for servanthood.

I challenge myself today to focus on my relationship with the creator of the universe. I have to remember that most "religious rules" are not found in the Bible. God created us to fellowship with Him always. Jesus can't be just a line item on our list of priorities, that is not what He wants. Instead, we have to put Jesus in the center of everything we do. He wants to walk through life with us.

in DEPENDECE

Independence, it's what we all so ignorantly seek. We think "well, if I can just get that job, or that house, or that car." We think that will make us able to fend off any ill-situations that may arise in the future. Men seek indepence, or self actualization more than women. This can be explained in the garden of Eden. Eve was cursed that man would be her desire, therefore, women are naturally better at relationships.

Consider this, in your mind, where do you spend the majority of your time? Past, Present, or Future? Most of us spend the majority of our time eith re-living horrible incidents from the past such as deaths of loved ones, or terrible relationships with loved ones. If not the past, we are always trying to make plans for the future. We might prepare for economic hardships, loss of jobs, some may even consider divorce before they are even married. HOWEVER, we were created to dwell in the present.

Independence is NOT our goal. We should strive to be DEPENDENT on God. We have to let go, and let God speak to us and guide our steps. How arrogant will we become before we completely surrender to Him? Surrender is the word of the year for the youth at the Landing Community Church. That means to willingly "give up" trying to guide our own lives, and to allow God's plan for our lives to unfold.

The main key to this is a relationship with Him. If we aren't familiar with Him, we won't know when he is guiding us. He desires a relationship with us just as He had with Adam in the garden. He said if we seek, we will find Him.

We should not attempt independence, but rather to live a life in DEPENDENCE on Him.

Do you get it????

We often times wonder why we can't remember what we have read or what we have heard. Have you ever attempted to read the Bible and stood up and said, "wow, I can't remember anything I just read."? Studies show that when we see/learn things 20-30 times, we are much more likely to "know it".

I guess that is why we are told that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. We have to "drill it into our brains. Learning by Repetition, that means over and over and over and over. We tell our kids, "practice makes perfect". However, do we really practice that? Why do we read the bible entirely once, and then never pick it up again? How can we "know" God without continually spending time with Him?

Lets tell ourselves today that we will read, and re-read, and re-read scripture until we "know" it. We will examine God's Word over and over until we "know" God.

Creature Comforts

You might ask, what in the world is that? Well,it is all the amenities that we have grown so accustomed to. I was encouraged yesterday, to think about the creature comforts that we all too often put in front of God's Will for our lives. First, we have to establish the fact that God has a plan for each and every one of us. Also, each of our individual plans come together with those people around us to form an even bigger plan.

As for the comforts, we often times eat because it feels good, rather than when we are hungry. Many of us have unused bedrooms in our homes, yet we think of excuses why they can't be used to house the homeless. Some of us even have chewing, drinking, or smoking habits that we continue; not because they taste good, or that they are heathy, but rather because that is what we have become comfortable with.

Comfort is no substitute for abundant living. People live with depression, obesity, eating disorders, maritial disarray, and even drug addictions. These people most often don't want this, but rather they have accepted it and became comfortable with it.

Today I challenge you to forget comforts, and look to be uncomfortable for God. As Rick Warren has said, God is more concerned with your CHARACTER than your comfort.

Recession Proof your life

We all hear about the recession our country is in right now. We may even be a little nervous or concerned. However, as children of God, we are told to worry about nothing. He will supply all our needs according to His riches. That is where we get things mixed up.

We all too often, get our needs and wants mixed up. Maslow has a hierarchy of human needs. They go something like this: Physiological needs, safety needs, the need to be loved or belong, the need for self esteem, and finally the need for self actualization. We often move the last to the first. We will forego some basic essentials and replace them with entertainment, nice cars, nice homes, nice clothes/shoes, etc.

We are commanded to take care of (be good stewards) what God has entrusted us with. That means we should take care of our family's needs with our paychecks, we should support our churches with our pay checks, we should give to charity with our wages. However, most of America, pays car notes, or buys their vice of choice, or goes shopping, or even thinks they are entitled to a night out on the town with the first fruits of his or her pay check.

We can recession proof our lives, if we will line ourselves up with God's way of handling money.