WWYD - What Will YOU Do?

I have been struggling these past few days about what to write about.  I feel that God has really been working on me lately and I couldn't be happier.  I am currently working on reading the New Testament and to my great joy God has allowed me to get more out of it this time than any other.  I have been feeling God each day begin to more consistently pull at me to do more to "get in the game."  I guess to really explain I will have to go back a couple months.

Earlier this year while my wife and I were living at the waterfront we began to notice more and more this homeless gentleman on our commutes.  At first, we were nervous and really didn't know what to do but we knew that we wanted to help him.  Eventually, we met him one night at the spot he always sat and I spoke with him and offered him a Bible and some change.  Come to find out he is a strong Christian who has just had a rough life and has a rough time adjusting to life as we know it.  In ways he doesn't mind the life he has except for the obvious struggles. It was in meeting him that I began to feel God tug at me to do more.  We see our friend every Tuesday and do what we can to help meet his needs.  His greatest and most consistent request every week is that we never leave him.  To him, having someone, especially fellow Christians, who are willing to spend time and invest in what he has to say means the world to him.  

Tonight as Ashley and I were spending time in the Scripture we read Luke 5:17-26; how Jesus forgives and heals the paralyzed man.  It really connected to where I have been lately.  

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man

¹⁷ One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. ¹⁸ Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.¹⁹ When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

²⁰ When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

²¹ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

²² Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”²⁵ Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. ²⁶ Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

This story is all about serving others so that they may know the love of God.  When we serve others, no matter friend or not, we are showing them love and by doing so sharing God with them.  Earlier I was watching an interview with Phil Robertson about his views on evangelism.  At one point in the interview he explained that if you are going to preach to others then you have to commit to do it; you cannot do it half-heartily. As he put it, "You have to love the human race more than you fear them."  This means even if someone will kill you for sharing the Gospel you have to trust God that you are doing His will and love that person enough to risk your life in the attempt to save theirs. 

I admit that I have been riding the bench more than I should be lately.  I feel like the kid who sits there just imagining what it would be like to step onto the field and make a play but as the coach calls for someone I act like I'm getting a drink of water.  Don't mistake me for saying that I don't want to do more but just like many out there I have been thinking that I am supposed to have some huge ministry to make a difference.  Lately, through study and prayer, God is reminding me that it is also the simple things that save lives.  Things like helping a friend.  Even if you aren't lowering your best friend through a roof, by praying for their struggles and offering encouragement it could be a deciding factor or boost in their walk with God. By simply living your life showing the love of the Father to others you could be displaying a life that the one secretly watching has so desperately been seeking.  

Just remember, the next time you feel like you aren't doing the Lord's work because you aren't in front of thousands think about that one that you could be beside ministering to and encouraging.  If you are willing God will use you.  

Stand Firm

I am a simple man.  I love God, my beautiful wife, my family, and friends.  I enjoy almost anything outdoors, working, and sitting down and having a good conversation.  My wife and I love more than anything else to eat dinner and talk about our day and to just enjoy the presence of each other. I do my best to talk to God throughout the day and try not to begin or end a day without sending thanks up to Him.  What does all of this have to do with anything?

During college, I used to blog a little about things that I saw each day or something I was going though that made me stop and think about my walk with God.  It was both a way to express myself and keep up with my thoughts while hopefully offering some encouragement to whomever happened to be interested.

Getting to the point, here lately God has been doing some work inside of me.  For the longest time I prayed to Him that I would be humble and that I would grow closer to him. In the past few months He has done just that; He has presented me with "opportunities" in which I was humbled and made to rely solely on Him.  Through all of this God has told me one thing that rings out clearer than any other lesson I have learned and that is that no matter what is to happen I can always fall on Him and He will always catch me.  I have always felt that even though God "was there" that I still had to carry everything on a day to day basis and that when I  was married that I was the one that had to support the family and bear everything.  That is the one thing that He has changed within me in the past few weeks.

Tonight, my wife and I went to see Sunday Night Live to see some close friends and to hear some amazing Christian music and preaching.  Roger Burns delivered a message regarding the daily trial we face against our sinful nature and the course that it takes on us and how Paul displays that pain in Romans chapter 7.  Each and every day we, almost more now in this time than ever before, are exposed to and burdened more in our Christian walk than ever. However, at the same time, we are more able to encourage each other.  Roger finished with the transition into Romans chapter 8 in which Paul declares that there is hope in Christ Jesus and that all who are buried and revived in Him have hope everlasting.  Take heart. Take heart each day when it seems that the world may be bearing down on you or that the struggle within your heart feels as though it will tear you apart and know that God is there with you, beside you, and within you to help you rise above.

The worst thing that you can do is to close God out and think that you can handle it on your own, believe me.  Take a moment and think that this is the Creator of everything you see, everything you know, and everything you have ever known and what He wants more than anything is to know you and to let you know that He loves you unconditionally and wants you to know Him more.  He wants the best for you.  The creator of all things wants the best for you.  Don't think that knowing Him more is a burden, it isn't.  Knowing and loving God opens up another aspect of life that is beyond anything possible without Him.  Start your day with a "thank you" and read a passage a day and start from there.  As you draw nearer to God you will discover a relationship more fulfilling and unlike anything you have and will ever know.


"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Romans 8:28