Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Philippians 4:8)
This is one of my favorite verses. It's such a wise admonition: Think about good things, not bad things.
Do you know how many people's lives (mine included) would be more joyful and spirit-filled if they followed this one directive?
Instead of focusing your thoughts on the latest gossip or what you "really" want to say to the person who hurt you, or what could go wrong in your life, keep your mind on positive things. See, God is a fan of a positive outlook. He may not tell us to imagine whatever we want and it will come to us, but we certainly would do well to keep our thoughts on good things. Instead of thinking about how she hurt you, think about how beautifully she sings. Instead of worrying about what will happen if you aren't able to pay that bill on time, think about the plans you have to organize your money so that you will not have to worry about late bills again. Instead of thinking "If my boss does this one more time I'll quit," think about everything that you love about your job (and even your boss!)
If we keep a positive outlook by shepherding our thoughts back always to good things, we will see our lives change. For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
What kind of person do you want to be today?
February 26, 2010
February 25, 2010
Study the Word
You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. (John 5:39-40)
This is such an interesting scripture verse. I would hazard the guess that most people, if they feel they should become "a better Christian" or "See what this Christianity thing is all about" would pick up a Bible to study it. Not that they shouldn't! I've been going through my daily Bible studies because it is imperative to know the living Word of God.
But what this verse does is remind us all that the true purpose of studying the Bible isn't just to "know" it. If you can quote every last word of scripture, but you don't have a personal relationship with Christ, what good is the Bible going to do you?
So this is my brief thought today. Study the Bible, for it is the Word of God. But study it with the purpose of getting to know God, the author and perfector of our faith, our creator, our loving father, our savior, lover and redeemer. That's what you should be taking away from the Bible.
This is such an interesting scripture verse. I would hazard the guess that most people, if they feel they should become "a better Christian" or "See what this Christianity thing is all about" would pick up a Bible to study it. Not that they shouldn't! I've been going through my daily Bible studies because it is imperative to know the living Word of God.
But what this verse does is remind us all that the true purpose of studying the Bible isn't just to "know" it. If you can quote every last word of scripture, but you don't have a personal relationship with Christ, what good is the Bible going to do you?
So this is my brief thought today. Study the Bible, for it is the Word of God. But study it with the purpose of getting to know God, the author and perfector of our faith, our creator, our loving father, our savior, lover and redeemer. That's what you should be taking away from the Bible.
February 24, 2010
Transparancy
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Peter 3:15b-16)
This morning the word "transparancy" was on my mind. Of course, there are no occurrances of "transparancy" or "transparant" in the Bible--not in the NIV anyway. So I looked for a synonym: "Clear." On that I was much more successful with 70 results. So here we are, in First Peter.
What really speaks to me in this verse is "keeping a clear conscience." It might be easy to get tripped up on the first part. So for right now, let's replace the whole talking with Jesus thing with "in all that you do, keep a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed or their slander."
That kinda puts a new spin on it, right? I was thinking about this yesterday because, well, I have a problem getting to work on time. The whole concept of showing up five or ten minutes early so I can take off my coat, say hello and turn on my computer in order to start working at 9am is really quite foreign to me. Always has been. I'm more the "yay, I'm in the building at 9am, that counts, right?" type of person. Of course, ask me how late I work and you'll know that I make up those few minutes every day because I almost never leave right at six.
But unfortunately I am not currently at a place that sees that as totally ok. Without getting into a whole diatribe about this let me just use it as an example: I do not show an adequate representation of Christ to my boss when I show up late because her value system puts high marks on being on time if not early. Knowing that, I cannot in good conscience breeze in 7 minutes late every day and still feel that I'm performing completely up to her standards. But, should I be on time every day, finish my projects on time, all that stuff that a "good employee" does, then she will not have cause to complain about my work.
Get that?
I wasn't really planning on using such a detailed example. The real theory here is that if we do our jobs, if we do parenting, if we do friendship the best we can, so we may have a clear conscience in it, then people who would complain about us would not have a leg to stand on. Be transparant in your goings-on, and no one will be able to accuse you of secrecy.
Let's all try to be transparant today. Of course, that may mean dealing with a few things. Like getting to work on time. Or stopping the gossip, or refraining from surfing the net when you're avoiding work, or speaking to the person who hurt you in order to clear up any misunderstandings.
When we get our life in order, or even if we can be clear that we're trying to get our lives in order, no one can tear us down by their words, for they would be false, and God does not uphold falsehoods. Always remember: the truth will out. So we may as well be as open about ourselves now as we can be. Transparancy kinda takes the carpet out from under the enemy, because he will realize he doesn't have a leg to stand on.
This morning the word "transparancy" was on my mind. Of course, there are no occurrances of "transparancy" or "transparant" in the Bible--not in the NIV anyway. So I looked for a synonym: "Clear." On that I was much more successful with 70 results. So here we are, in First Peter.
What really speaks to me in this verse is "keeping a clear conscience." It might be easy to get tripped up on the first part. So for right now, let's replace the whole talking with Jesus thing with "in all that you do, keep a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed or their slander."
That kinda puts a new spin on it, right? I was thinking about this yesterday because, well, I have a problem getting to work on time. The whole concept of showing up five or ten minutes early so I can take off my coat, say hello and turn on my computer in order to start working at 9am is really quite foreign to me. Always has been. I'm more the "yay, I'm in the building at 9am, that counts, right?" type of person. Of course, ask me how late I work and you'll know that I make up those few minutes every day because I almost never leave right at six.
But unfortunately I am not currently at a place that sees that as totally ok. Without getting into a whole diatribe about this let me just use it as an example: I do not show an adequate representation of Christ to my boss when I show up late because her value system puts high marks on being on time if not early. Knowing that, I cannot in good conscience breeze in 7 minutes late every day and still feel that I'm performing completely up to her standards. But, should I be on time every day, finish my projects on time, all that stuff that a "good employee" does, then she will not have cause to complain about my work.
Get that?
I wasn't really planning on using such a detailed example. The real theory here is that if we do our jobs, if we do parenting, if we do friendship the best we can, so we may have a clear conscience in it, then people who would complain about us would not have a leg to stand on. Be transparant in your goings-on, and no one will be able to accuse you of secrecy.
Let's all try to be transparant today. Of course, that may mean dealing with a few things. Like getting to work on time. Or stopping the gossip, or refraining from surfing the net when you're avoiding work, or speaking to the person who hurt you in order to clear up any misunderstandings.
When we get our life in order, or even if we can be clear that we're trying to get our lives in order, no one can tear us down by their words, for they would be false, and God does not uphold falsehoods. Always remember: the truth will out. So we may as well be as open about ourselves now as we can be. Transparancy kinda takes the carpet out from under the enemy, because he will realize he doesn't have a leg to stand on.
February 23, 2010
Go Ahead and Boast
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. (2 Corinthins 11:30)
You really have to read this whole chapter to understand why Paul talks about boasting. He essentially calls himself a fool, with the understanding that people generally will tolerate what a fool says, because he doesn't know any better. But they still condescend to allow him to speak. So Paul decides to boast as if he were a fool, so that he could lift up God's glory. This is in sharp contrast to the "false teachers" who have followed Paul and tried to get for themselves glory by being "better" apostles than him.
So Paul says that he will boast of things that show his weakness, in order to put the focus on God, who is Paul's strength.
We really don't do that enough, do we? We so often try to build ourselves up and can get totally caught up in "false teachings" just to make ourselves look good. Or even if it's not false teaching, it's a false understanding of our gifts. God did not give us abilities so that we could garner fame and glory, but so that we could glorify Him.
So today let's try something new... let's boast only of God. Let's boast about how He has done amazing things in our lives--despite us. Try it, and let me know how it works out. :)
You really have to read this whole chapter to understand why Paul talks about boasting. He essentially calls himself a fool, with the understanding that people generally will tolerate what a fool says, because he doesn't know any better. But they still condescend to allow him to speak. So Paul decides to boast as if he were a fool, so that he could lift up God's glory. This is in sharp contrast to the "false teachers" who have followed Paul and tried to get for themselves glory by being "better" apostles than him.
So Paul says that he will boast of things that show his weakness, in order to put the focus on God, who is Paul's strength.
We really don't do that enough, do we? We so often try to build ourselves up and can get totally caught up in "false teachings" just to make ourselves look good. Or even if it's not false teaching, it's a false understanding of our gifts. God did not give us abilities so that we could garner fame and glory, but so that we could glorify Him.
So today let's try something new... let's boast only of God. Let's boast about how He has done amazing things in our lives--despite us. Try it, and let me know how it works out. :)
February 22, 2010
Resist and Draw Near
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. (James 4:7b-8a)
It's almost funny how easy it sounds, isn't it? Resist the devil and draw near to God. Oh, ok.
But the problem is that the devil isn't just sitting there waiting for us to walk away from him. He's actively trying to mess with our heads and our hearts. Plus, God isn't exactly swooping in to resist the devil for us. We must draw near to Him first. Do you see the part where we have to actually act? There are two action words here: Resist, and Come. We are in control of how we respond to both God and the devil. Even choosing to do nothing is making an action choice, because either you're merely delaying making a choice, or you're actually making the choice by not resisting the devil.
So let's be people of action words today. Resist, and Draw Near. And always remember whom you are resisting, and to Whom you are drawing near. :)
It's almost funny how easy it sounds, isn't it? Resist the devil and draw near to God. Oh, ok.
But the problem is that the devil isn't just sitting there waiting for us to walk away from him. He's actively trying to mess with our heads and our hearts. Plus, God isn't exactly swooping in to resist the devil for us. We must draw near to Him first. Do you see the part where we have to actually act? There are two action words here: Resist, and Come. We are in control of how we respond to both God and the devil. Even choosing to do nothing is making an action choice, because either you're merely delaying making a choice, or you're actually making the choice by not resisting the devil.
So let's be people of action words today. Resist, and Draw Near. And always remember whom you are resisting, and to Whom you are drawing near. :)
February 19, 2010
Serve One Another
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. (John 13:14)
I'm sure most of us are aware of the story of how Jesus washed the disciples' feet, right? They lived in a land where everyone wore sandals and you got dust all up in your toes whenever you were outside. So when you go to a person's house, their slave would wash your feet.
So of course when Jesus humbled himself to wash his disciples' feet, they were shocked, especially when they had just been debating which one of them was the greatest.
As a note, isn't it funny that Jesus had already done the big huge humbling of leaving the Godhead and becoming a mere human, and yet this little foot-washing thing just blew people's minds.
But the reason I only put that one specific verse up there is because I don't always remember reading it in the story. And I think we need to see this more often, because Jesus is very specificially telling us to serve each other. Yes, there are many many places where he discusses this (possibly because we're a bit thick?), consider this one more. Except for how insanely clear it is. This isn't a parable. It's a tiny bit of a similie, which means that we should apply the concept of serving to other things, but it also is specific to the disciples to literally wash each other's feet. There were times when they were places where no one liked them, where they would actually be called to shake the dust of a city off their feet. These were times that, if they had another person there with them, they would need to serve each other by washing each other's feet because no one else would.
And so we are called to serve one another, in what might seem the lowest forms of servitude, like washing one another's feet. But if we do it with a pure heart God will give us joy and peace and blessings. And besides, Jesus told us to do it.
I'm sure most of us are aware of the story of how Jesus washed the disciples' feet, right? They lived in a land where everyone wore sandals and you got dust all up in your toes whenever you were outside. So when you go to a person's house, their slave would wash your feet.
So of course when Jesus humbled himself to wash his disciples' feet, they were shocked, especially when they had just been debating which one of them was the greatest.
As a note, isn't it funny that Jesus had already done the big huge humbling of leaving the Godhead and becoming a mere human, and yet this little foot-washing thing just blew people's minds.
But the reason I only put that one specific verse up there is because I don't always remember reading it in the story. And I think we need to see this more often, because Jesus is very specificially telling us to serve each other. Yes, there are many many places where he discusses this (possibly because we're a bit thick?), consider this one more. Except for how insanely clear it is. This isn't a parable. It's a tiny bit of a similie, which means that we should apply the concept of serving to other things, but it also is specific to the disciples to literally wash each other's feet. There were times when they were places where no one liked them, where they would actually be called to shake the dust of a city off their feet. These were times that, if they had another person there with them, they would need to serve each other by washing each other's feet because no one else would.
And so we are called to serve one another, in what might seem the lowest forms of servitude, like washing one another's feet. But if we do it with a pure heart God will give us joy and peace and blessings. And besides, Jesus told us to do it.
February 18, 2010
Written in the Dust
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water. (Jeremiah 17:13)
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:7)
You know, I never really cared much what Jesus wrote in the ground that day when he saved the woman who had committed adultery from being stoned. I know that men and women have thought about it, debated about it, and probably written about it ad nauseum.
And I'm sure I'm not the only person to come upon Jeremiah 17:13, but this, this I've never heard referenced before. Do you suppose it's connected? Christ came to fulfill the prophesies of the Old Testament, which he did. Could he have also written their names in the dust?
Of course I also just looked at the New Living Translation of Jeremiah and it said "will be buried in the dust" so perhaps I'm totally wrong. But I rather like the idea that Jesus was writing their names in the dust, to fulfill the promise to those who were familiar with the scriptures.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:7)
You know, I never really cared much what Jesus wrote in the ground that day when he saved the woman who had committed adultery from being stoned. I know that men and women have thought about it, debated about it, and probably written about it ad nauseum.
And I'm sure I'm not the only person to come upon Jeremiah 17:13, but this, this I've never heard referenced before. Do you suppose it's connected? Christ came to fulfill the prophesies of the Old Testament, which he did. Could he have also written their names in the dust?
Of course I also just looked at the New Living Translation of Jeremiah and it said "will be buried in the dust" so perhaps I'm totally wrong. But I rather like the idea that Jesus was writing their names in the dust, to fulfill the promise to those who were familiar with the scriptures.
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