What's it going to take?

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you have a task you want to finish, or a destination you need to get too? Or a person you desprately want to say something too? Yet no matter how hard you try you never get done what you need to get done. Something or someone always gets in the way. Those dreams are frustrating aren't they? Thats sorta how I feel about my current walk with Christ. It seems like no matter how hard I'm trying to stay in the word, to continue to burn with the passion for God, I fall off every time. If you believe in Freudian slips you'd probably find it interesting that in proofreading my previous sentence I had slipped an L into the word Word. That seems to sum up what I'm trying to say. I want to be part of Christ, not of the world. But it seems I keep getting dragged into the same old pitfalls and traps. I am so thankful for God's grace, for without it I would surely burn eternaly.

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

John 4:4-15

"  Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater thean our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

Jesus answered "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  "

     Who is the Samaritan woman in your life? Obviously this story isn't just about a man talking with a woman but more to the point of Jesus, a Jew, speaking to a Samaritan woman. A woman, AND a Samaritan at that. Jesus speaks with her and offers her "living water". Even though (if you read further you will see) she is an adulterer, a sinner, he tells her the news that he is the Messiah, the Christ that has come to explain everything and save them all.

     I know people who won't talk to someone because of their skin color. Or the fact that they may have tattoos or piercings, or the person does things they don't like or agree with. This story shows us that this exclusionary way of thinking and living is wrong. Jesus Christ himself broke these social rules and shows us that the good news of the Gospel is for everyone. Not just for the persons who look and act like we do. How often have we passed up an oprotunity to help someone in need, to be a light unto the world simply because they were different?

Father God be in my heart today as I go into the world. Open my eyes to the needs around me and close them to the hatred and fear that would otherwise hold me back. Help me to be more like your son Christ Jesus, for it is in his Holy name I pray. Amen

A call to follow.

A call to task.

This address was targeted toward students in schools all over the country. But I think there is a messege in this for us all. We all sometimes try and blame something, or someone for things that go wrong in our lives. We need to take a harder look at what WE are doing. When we try our best and still fall short, we need to learn from it, not let the failure consume us. When our lives hand us situations like poverty, like not having good role models, we sometimes give up, and use those reasons as an excuse to just stop trying. This world is tough. Nothing worth having is ever easy to get, and often is not easy to keep. You may not agree with President Obama's politics, you might not like the man he is, but the messege he delivered to our young people in this video is something that I feel is incredible. We/They (the young people) can continue to let outside influences guide them, or we can decide that we are in charge of our future. God doesn't make junk. I think it's time we stopped allowing the world to be our excuse, and become the masterpieces God created us to be.

Realization...

I saw a picture the other day that caused an emotional reaction I didn't expect. My wife was showing me a video. In the video there were pictures of little babies hands and feet and of their sleeping faces. They were with Daddies and it immediately brought me to tears. I did not expect that sort of reaction. When we lost our baby

I took it better than I thought I would. I think I was strong and sort of wondered where the tears I thought I should be crying were?

I never knew how much I was looking forward to being a dad than when I found out that I wasn't going to be one. The saying goes that you don't know what you have until it's gone. I didn't have a child to physically hold in my arms, I guess that's the huge difference between the woman and the man in a situation like this. They say the woman bonds instantly as soon as she has the positive test result and the "side-effects" that tell her she is pregnant. The man doesn't get that opportunity and instead bonds when the child is born.

My emotion was brought on by a combination of this new found understanding of the desire to be a father, and seeing those pictures of what I won't have... yet. I can't wait until we are cleared by the doctor to try again. I don't want to replace the child we lost, but I know that I will love and appreciate a child that much more now.

Dear God I need you so much in my life. I'm not strong enough to change on my own. Make me the man I need to be. In Christ name Amen

Faith...

"Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of faith is to see what we believe." Saint Augustine

The fields were parched and brown from lack of rain, and the crops lay wilting from thirst. People were anxious and irritable as they searched the sky for any sign of relief. Days turned into arid weeks. No rain came.
The ministers of the local churches called for and hour of prayer on the town square the following Saturday. They requested that everyone bring an object of faith for inspiration.
At high noon on the appointed Saturday the townspeople turned out en masse, filling the square with anxious faces and hopeful hearts. The ministers were touched to see the variety of objects clutched in prayerful hands- holy books, crosses, rosaries.
When the hour ended, as if on magical command, as soft rain began to fall. Cheers swept the crowd as they held their treasured objects high in gratitude and praise. From the middle of the crowd one faith symbol seemed to overshadow all the others: A small nine-year-old child had brought an umbrella. ~(Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul, pg 198)~

This reminds me of the story in Matthew of the centurion. A man who was not Christian came to Jesus because he had faith that his son would be healed by him. Jesus did not have to go and lay hands on the boy, the centurion's faith in Christ healed his son. I think all too often we look past how powerful faith is.


Father God I pray that you help me build up my faith in you. Lord I pray that you be with Grandma as she makes the transition from the earthly world. Give her peace that she need not fear death. Comfort her Lord and comfort the family. A mother is so special in a family God and losing her is going to be hard. Please be with us for we know that your yoke is easy Lord, and your burden is light. In your son Jesus Christ's holy name. Amen

Keep Saving me.

I have been thinking about something we Christians say, "I'm saved". Saved sounds like something that happened in the past. But what about the sins I've committed this month, this week, even today? Does that one instant save me for the rest of my life? I guess I'm not 100% sure that it does. I wonder if maybe we shouldn't be asking for saving every day? I remember reading that Jesus says something to the effect of "what good is salt that loses it's saltiness?". I read that and think he's saying that we need to continue to strive, continue in our quest to be more Christlike, but also continue to show God the respect and devotion that he deserves. With that I think asking him to save us many times, over and over again is part of it. It's not easy living life sometimes, but our Lord is always with us. I'm going to let this song be my prayer for today. Please God listen to my heart and guide me.