I've been growing my hair out for the first time in years. I typically have a shaved head and I felt like a change. I wanted to get a greaser look going, but now that Laurel understands what I mean by that, it's been vetoed.
So it's finally getting a little longer and I've been mostly having it stick up in funky ways, because I like it. And when I told Laurel that some people had complimented my hair, she couldn't believe it, but proceeded to tell me that she's realizing, now that I have hair for the first time in years, that it is thick and volumptous. She said that most women would love to have my hair.
Then the next day I was leaving a message for a friend and ended with, "I love you, dude." This is not the first time I've done this. I've done it to several guy friends in the last few months. It just comes out. I don't plan on it or even think about it. As soon as I hung up, I thought that he's going to think I'm a little out there.
Not sure what this all means. Am I just getting in touch with my feminine side? I know that guys are definitely going to have odd reactions when I say, "I love you, dude", but I can't help it. Like I said, it just comes out.
I think that as I grow in my walk with Jesus, I don't care as much about what others think. He just comes through in life. He is Love. And I know we are in a culture that does not express it verbally to each other unless we are talking with our mom, spouse or about In-N-Out animal style cheeseburgers, but it needs to be said. It needs to be expressed.
The reality is that Jesus said, "There is no greater way to love than to give your life for your friends" (John 15:13, The Voice). I want to live for Jesus and that means that I need to love people. That means that I should be willing to lay my life down for others. I know saying, "I love you, dude" is not considered very manly in our culture, but dying for someone else is the ultimate manly act.
So let's just say that when, "I love you, dude" comes out of my mouth, it really means "I'm willing to give up my life for you"...which ultimately means, "I love you, dude."
Maybe I should just get a haircut...
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
40 Days with Jesus...
Romans 12:1-2
Lord, knowing your mercies...your grace...your love...your sacrifice...You. I give myself wholly to You. I want to worship you with my entire being...to love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength. Whatever I have is from you and I'm releasing it back to you...to honor you...to glorify you...to worship you.
Keep this world from molding me. Don't let it's influence grab ahold of me and use me. Transform me, Lord Jesus. Renew my heart and my mind. Take my brokenness...my everything and make me new. Make me Yours. Place me into your story so that you will be known.
I am yours, Great I Am...Savior.
Amen.
James 1:1-12
Lord, don't let me run from hardship. Let me learn and grow in the midst of it. Help me to learn complete reliance on You. It's so easy to be swayed by the world. Human wisdom makes sense. It's what we know. It's difficult to step out with your wisdom. It look foolish to us. But I know that every single time that I step out and follow Your wisdom, it makes so much more sense when I look back on it all.
Give me Your wisdom, Lord Jesus.
Don't let me be swayed by every new thought and idea...by my own human understanding and reason. Give me Your wisdom. Make me look foolish to the world in following you.
Give me a single-minded commitment to you, Jesus. You know I'm obsessive. Make me obsessed with you.
Give me the strength to stand tall under trials...under the weight of this world. I am weak. But I know you are strong. I will find all that I need in You. I know that, Lord. I don't want anything else to come between my relationship with you. Forgive me for so easily being swayed by the tossing waves. Make me move with you, Ruach Yahweh.
I love you.
In Jesus' name,
Amen
James 1:13-18
Lord, keep me from being consumed with desire. I'm sorry for living for anything other than you. You are God and I want to worship you alone. I'm sorry for giving up the freedom that you've given us by being enslaved to sin. Forgive me, Lord.
I want You.
Thank you for the gift of freedom. For life. I feel more alive today than I have in a long time. I'm enjoying life more than I have in quite a while. It's all because of You. The Giver of Life. Redeemer. Savior. You've made me new (again...for the I don't know how many times). I'm excited to be with you...to spend time with you...to be consumed by you.
You are everything.
Lord, use me. Use me in any way that you see fit. Use me to bring glory to yourself. Use me to help others know you...to share the gift of life that you exuberantly offer to all of us.
Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for this desert time. I feel I am beginning to know you in new ways. To trust you. To rely on you. Lord, prepare me for your work. So that I will speak volumes for you. So that I will actively live for you in every aspect of life.
Thank you, Jesus. You are amazing. I love you. I am yours. Amen.
James 1:19-27
Lord, this passage hits close to home. When I read about the last verse in this passage about caring for orphans and widows who suffer needlessly, my heart breaks. I know your heart breaks for them as well. I want to live out the love and grace that you've freely given. Help me to help those who hurt. Use me to reveal you to the world. Use me to give a home and a family to those who have none. Help me to love as you love.
Thank you for my boys, Lord. Thank you for your redemptive healing presence. Please continue to work in their lives...to heal them...to use them in mighty ways for you. For your glory and honor.
You've shown us in Scripture that the orphaned have a special place in your heart and that you use them to do amazing things for your Kingdom. Use my boys. They are yours. Use me to raise them up in you...to show them how amazing you are...how exciting it is to follow you...to show them that you are LORD...that you are enough...that you are THE HEALER...REDEEMER...LIFE-GIVER... SAVIOR. That YOU ARE our HOPE and our LIFE...that you are EVERYTHING. Thank you, Jesus. I love you. I can't wait to see you work in their lives and in my entire family's. In Jesus' name, amen.
James 2:14-20
Lord, knowing your mercies...your grace...your love...your sacrifice...You. I give myself wholly to You. I want to worship you with my entire being...to love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength. Whatever I have is from you and I'm releasing it back to you...to honor you...to glorify you...to worship you.
Keep this world from molding me. Don't let it's influence grab ahold of me and use me. Transform me, Lord Jesus. Renew my heart and my mind. Take my brokenness...my everything and make me new. Make me Yours. Place me into your story so that you will be known.
I am yours, Great I Am...Savior.
Amen.
James 1:1-12
Lord, don't let me run from hardship. Let me learn and grow in the midst of it. Help me to learn complete reliance on You. It's so easy to be swayed by the world. Human wisdom makes sense. It's what we know. It's difficult to step out with your wisdom. It look foolish to us. But I know that every single time that I step out and follow Your wisdom, it makes so much more sense when I look back on it all.
Give me Your wisdom, Lord Jesus.
Don't let me be swayed by every new thought and idea...by my own human understanding and reason. Give me Your wisdom. Make me look foolish to the world in following you.
Give me a single-minded commitment to you, Jesus. You know I'm obsessive. Make me obsessed with you.
Give me the strength to stand tall under trials...under the weight of this world. I am weak. But I know you are strong. I will find all that I need in You. I know that, Lord. I don't want anything else to come between my relationship with you. Forgive me for so easily being swayed by the tossing waves. Make me move with you, Ruach Yahweh.
I love you.
In Jesus' name,
Amen
James 1:13-18
Lord, keep me from being consumed with desire. I'm sorry for living for anything other than you. You are God and I want to worship you alone. I'm sorry for giving up the freedom that you've given us by being enslaved to sin. Forgive me, Lord.
I want You.
Thank you for the gift of freedom. For life. I feel more alive today than I have in a long time. I'm enjoying life more than I have in quite a while. It's all because of You. The Giver of Life. Redeemer. Savior. You've made me new (again...for the I don't know how many times). I'm excited to be with you...to spend time with you...to be consumed by you.
You are everything.
Lord, use me. Use me in any way that you see fit. Use me to bring glory to yourself. Use me to help others know you...to share the gift of life that you exuberantly offer to all of us.
Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for this desert time. I feel I am beginning to know you in new ways. To trust you. To rely on you. Lord, prepare me for your work. So that I will speak volumes for you. So that I will actively live for you in every aspect of life.
Thank you, Jesus. You are amazing. I love you. I am yours. Amen.
James 1:19-27
Lord, this passage hits close to home. When I read about the last verse in this passage about caring for orphans and widows who suffer needlessly, my heart breaks. I know your heart breaks for them as well. I want to live out the love and grace that you've freely given. Help me to help those who hurt. Use me to reveal you to the world. Use me to give a home and a family to those who have none. Help me to love as you love.
Thank you for my boys, Lord. Thank you for your redemptive healing presence. Please continue to work in their lives...to heal them...to use them in mighty ways for you. For your glory and honor.
You've shown us in Scripture that the orphaned have a special place in your heart and that you use them to do amazing things for your Kingdom. Use my boys. They are yours. Use me to raise them up in you...to show them how amazing you are...how exciting it is to follow you...to show them that you are LORD...that you are enough...that you are THE HEALER...REDEEMER...LIFE-GIVER... SAVIOR. That YOU ARE our HOPE and our LIFE...that you are EVERYTHING. Thank you, Jesus. I love you. I can't wait to see you work in their lives and in my entire family's. In Jesus' name, amen.
James 2:14-20
Sunday, February 10, 2013
I Feel Weird...
I think I wierded my wife, Laurel, out the first time I told her this. She immediately responded with, "What do you mean?" with a perplexed and unsure look on her face. For quite a while I wasn't sure myself, other than I felt out of sorts. I felt down, irritable, depressed...I'm not exactly sure, maybe I could simply say that I felt, "blah". But I'd tell her that this didn't fully express what I was feeling.
Eventually, I would realize that what was really happening was that I was being attacked spiritually. This may sound strange to some people, but it's a very real thing (1 Peter 5:8). The Enemy (satan, the devil, etc.) is looking for prey at all times. He wants to "devour" us. We are in spiritual warfare and it is terribly real. Even Adam Sandler seemed to understand this in his movie, Little Nicky.
In the movie, Sandler plays one of three sons of the devil. The other two sons convince the people in New York that they can do whatever they want without consequence. In the climax of the movie, the worst of the three sons, Adrian, is speaking to a crowd that had gathered and he says:
Welcome to the party! It's so nice to see you all here! I'm so proud of
you. You've taken to sin with such minimal prompting. You're acting
as if there is no heaven or hell. Well, I've got news for you. There is
most definitely a hell and you're all gonna go there when you die.
He was roaming around looking to for people to devour just as the passage talks about in Scripture. It's real. It's happening. It was happening to me today.
I felt down and irritable all day. But, again, it was more than that. I thought at this point in life, I would've caught on sooner, but it wasn't until this evening as I was on my knees before the One, True God that I realized that "I felt weird today...that I was being attacked."
My prayer time was really about what God wants in me...how He wants to use me...what He has planned for me...how He has had you and me in mind since the beginning of creation to take part in His work of saving the world through His Son, Jesus. I was on my knees giving myself fully to God to use me in any way that He may see fit for His glory...for His honor...to further His Kingdom, when I realized (or, more probably, when God revealed to me) that the Enemy was on prowl because he did not want that to happen today or any day. He doesn't want me in the battle. He wants me to sit back and settle into the life that I want...the life that I've created for myself. That life looks good to him. That's the life that the devil wants me to live. It's the unfruitful life. It's the life that steps out of the battle and does nothing to help others find the saving grace of our Lord, Jesus.
I don't want that life.
I want adventure. I want meaning. I want to follow the One, True God. I want my life to have purpose in Him. I want to lay everything that I want (I realize the irony here) at His feet and to be used in whatever way He sees fit. I want these things not because it's the most fun...truthfully, it will be the most difficult...but because He is worth it. This life is not about me and my wants. It's about Jesus. End of story. And to truly live for Jesus means that I better get ready for battle. We follow a Warrior God who is willing to lay everything down for us and to stand up against the devil on our behalf. I'm ready to follow Him into battle. I'm putting on my armor (Ephesians 6:10-20) and following the only One worthy of following in this life. The Purpose of this life.
“The Lord is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
-Exodus 15:2-3
Eventually, I would realize that what was really happening was that I was being attacked spiritually. This may sound strange to some people, but it's a very real thing (1 Peter 5:8). The Enemy (satan, the devil, etc.) is looking for prey at all times. He wants to "devour" us. We are in spiritual warfare and it is terribly real. Even Adam Sandler seemed to understand this in his movie, Little Nicky.
In the movie, Sandler plays one of three sons of the devil. The other two sons convince the people in New York that they can do whatever they want without consequence. In the climax of the movie, the worst of the three sons, Adrian, is speaking to a crowd that had gathered and he says:
Welcome to the party! It's so nice to see you all here! I'm so proud of
you. You've taken to sin with such minimal prompting. You're acting
as if there is no heaven or hell. Well, I've got news for you. There is
most definitely a hell and you're all gonna go there when you die.
He was roaming around looking to for people to devour just as the passage talks about in Scripture. It's real. It's happening. It was happening to me today.
I felt down and irritable all day. But, again, it was more than that. I thought at this point in life, I would've caught on sooner, but it wasn't until this evening as I was on my knees before the One, True God that I realized that "I felt weird today...that I was being attacked."
My prayer time was really about what God wants in me...how He wants to use me...what He has planned for me...how He has had you and me in mind since the beginning of creation to take part in His work of saving the world through His Son, Jesus. I was on my knees giving myself fully to God to use me in any way that He may see fit for His glory...for His honor...to further His Kingdom, when I realized (or, more probably, when God revealed to me) that the Enemy was on prowl because he did not want that to happen today or any day. He doesn't want me in the battle. He wants me to sit back and settle into the life that I want...the life that I've created for myself. That life looks good to him. That's the life that the devil wants me to live. It's the unfruitful life. It's the life that steps out of the battle and does nothing to help others find the saving grace of our Lord, Jesus.
I don't want that life.
I want adventure. I want meaning. I want to follow the One, True God. I want my life to have purpose in Him. I want to lay everything that I want (I realize the irony here) at His feet and to be used in whatever way He sees fit. I want these things not because it's the most fun...truthfully, it will be the most difficult...but because He is worth it. This life is not about me and my wants. It's about Jesus. End of story. And to truly live for Jesus means that I better get ready for battle. We follow a Warrior God who is willing to lay everything down for us and to stand up against the devil on our behalf. I'm ready to follow Him into battle. I'm putting on my armor (Ephesians 6:10-20) and following the only One worthy of following in this life. The Purpose of this life.
“The Lord is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
-Exodus 15:2-3
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