As a kid, I believed in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. When I grew older, I learned the startling discovery that none of them are for real.
As adults, we lean more often on our faith to help us cope with many challenges life brings. Is this faith we claim for real or is it just feel-good talk to keep us from facing harsh realities? What is real faith? In whom or what does real faith rest?
How can we be sure our faith is for real?
Today, we celebrate the life of my mom, Ann Duggan, who passed into the presence of the Lord Thursday evening. I want to share just a few lessons learned from the response of friends over the last four days.
Never underestimate the effect of your presence. So many times, we feel like we don’t know what to say in a given moment. But often, the words we say fade into the background of the fact that we are simply there. One of the most helpful tools to process grief is the opportunity to talk through how we feel. When it comes to helping people grieve, our greatest asset is not our mouth but our ears.
[Tweet “Never underestimate the effect of your presence.”]
A couple of years ago, I had to make a very difficult decision. The decision would not only impact my family and me, but also lots of other people. My initial reaction lead me to believe it would not work, it was not feasible.
I didn’t know how it would work out. The path would lead me down a road obscured by the fog of uncertainty. However, after prayer, I sensed God saying go forward and He would make it work. I am glad I trust Him. My decision blessed my family and me and I hope the other people impacted by it.
[Tweet “Faith is only as good as the object or person in whom you place it.”]
“That’s just the way I am. I can’t help it. I can’t change.”
Ever heard those words? Have you said them? Do you feel that way?
Probably not you, but some people use those words to justify unacceptable behavior. They realize their behavior is inappropriate, but try to absolve themselves of any responsibility for it.
The problem is that attitude is not Biblical…at least not for the believer. One of the most obvious indications of a relationship with Jesus is a changed life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 teaches that we are made new in Christ. Old things begin to fade away and new things begin to emerge.
[Tweet “One of the most obvious indications of a relationship with Jesus is a changed life.”]
A flag is great thing to have and to display. But what is the point, really, if we never notice it? A flag is a symbol, and a symbol only has meaning when we reflect on it and consider its meanings.
Most of us are aware that Betsy Ross sewed our first flag in May of 1776. But why the particular design and why the particular colors? Were these the only materials she had available to her? Were they just her favorite colors? The colors bear significance, and we do well to remember the significance every time we see a U.S. flag.
First, red reminds us of a price. Red is the color of blood and the red stripes remind us of the many men and women who have shed their blood to win, maintain, and spread this blessing that we call freedom. The price paid was expensive – no value can be assigned to a human life; and the worth of something is measured by the price paid on its behalf. So we remember that freedom – liberty – is of inestimable worth, because thousands of men and women have paid for it by their own lives. We must never take our freedoms for granted. In addition, having tasted that freedom for ourselves we must not rest until people everywhere have the same opportunity to enjoy freedom’s benefits.
The white on our flag reminds us of principles. Regardless of what those who attempt to rewrite history may say, the Founders established our country on God’s moral principles. God blesses us when we walk in His path. We enjoy today the benefits of a society firmly rooted and grounded in God’s principles of right, wrong, justice, and mercy. God said in Deuteronomy 30:19-20:
Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live! Choose to love the Lord your God, and to obey Him and to commit yourself to Him for He is your life.
As long as we uphold and live by God’s standards, His blessing will be upon us. Should we continue to choose to walk another path, live according to our own desires and understandings, the windows of heaven can and will close.
Finally, the blue on the flag reminds us of the product of the paid price and the principles on which we have stood. The product is our affluence. God has indeed blessed this country unlike any other on the face of this earth. I think it is safe to say that even the poorest among us have a better life than many who live on the earth today. Many who fall beneath the poverty line in our country would be worse of to trade places with most people in third world countries.
Our affluence carries with it two awesome responsibilities. First is the responsibility to be thankful – to recognize that God the source of all that we have. Unfortunately, our affluence often turns our attention to ourselves. We seek to gain more or at least protect what we have. We get a silly notion that our hard work, ingenuity, skills, or even just plain “luck” have provided for us. Nothing could be further from the truth. “The earth is the Lord’s and all the fullness in it,” the psalmist tells us. We would do well to remember that and to be thankful.
Our affluence also carries the responsibility of sharing our blessings with others. God made Abraham three promises: He would bless him, He would make him a blessing to others, and He would bless those who blessed Abraham and curse those who didn’t. I think that promise comes from the central nature and character of God. He also has blessed us so that He can make us a blessing. He has invested in us so that we can be His tool to bless others. Moreover, I have noticed that God has a way of protecting His investment.
We as individuals as well as collectively as a nation have the responsibility to use our affluence to reach down and lift those less fortunate. We lift them so that we can walk side by side shoulder to shoulder through this life. God has blessed us, we are thankful, and we should be proactively generous as well.
I challenge you, when you see the U.S. flag, remember the price paid for our freedom, recommit to the principles God has established for our good, and recognize our responsibility to share in the product of God’s blessing on our country.
May God continue to bless America so that we can be a blessing to Him and for Him.
My friend and softball guru, Bobby Simpson, shared an insight with me about competition that has captivated my mind.
Tony Gwynn was one of the greatest hitters in the history of major league baseball. According to Greg Riddoch, former San Diego Padres manager, what made Tony great was whom he competed against. He found no satisfaction in being better than most of the other hitters his era, but constantly competed against himself. He always wanted to be better than yesterday’s Tony Gwynn.
Some players find contentment being better than most other players. Most players would be satisfied being the single best in their field. Tony was never satisfied. He didn’t compare himself to other outfielders or any other hitters, but he constantly compared himself to himself.
[Tweet “The difference is not the start nor the end, but the meantime.”]
I must admit, my life lately has seen its share of uncertainty. Dealing with uncertainties on a daily basis can drain the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical energy from any of us. We can easily find ourselves overwhelmed.
Sometimes life is overwhelming. Happens to all of us from time to time. For you, it may be a seeming insurmountable circumstance that you feel you will never overcome. Maybe it is a pain from your past that never gives your mind a moment’s rest. Possibly, you face the prospect of an unpleasant future, and you do not know what to do about it.
[Tweet “I dread the school of piranhas more than the great white shark.”]
You may not have one big obstacle, but a collection of smaller yet numerous obstacles that leave you feeling overwhelmed. I have often said that I dread the school of piranhas more than the great white shark.
Whatever the case, I have FOUR WORDS of encouragement from God’s Word that I want to share with you. DO NOT GIVE UP.
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. – Galatians 6:9 (emphasis added, of course)
The phrase “grow weary” deals with more than just physical exhaustion. It means to lose motivation or heart to do the things that you once enjoyed. When we grow weary, we decide it’s just not worth it to do the things we used to do.
After the kindergarteners finished music time, our director let the boys race the girls one lap around the worship center. I decided to run with the boys to encourage them. As I ran, I flashed back to the thousands of voices I have heard in my lifetime. Those voices shouted the admonition, “don’t run in God’s house.”
I’ve always had a problem with calling the church building “God’s house.” The main reason is that it is NOT. At first in the Old Testament, God instructed His people to build a temporary structure called the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle had two purposes. First, it was the place where priests offered sacrifices to God. Second, it housed the Ark of the Covenant, which symbolized the presence of God. The Ark was only a symbol because God cannot be confined in a place.
In the time of King Solomon, God’s people built a permanent structure, the Temple, that served the same purpose. Again, God was not confined to that structure; it merely symbolized His presence. When the New Testament Church began to flourish, they did not have buildings. They met in homes and rented spaces. In their thinking, God’s didn’t have a house.
[Tweet “Early Christians met in homes and rented spaces. In their thinking, God’s didn’t have a house.”]
Before you label me a heretic and give up reading further, I understand the motive most have for their prohibition.
I love Snickers commercials where someone is being a monster until they bite into a Snickers candy bar. After that bite, they revert to their real selves. The idea is that hunger can make a person do some uncharacteristically bad things.
A similar fate befalls us spiritually as well. In Friday’s blog, we looked at what I call our Mental Metabolism. The thoughts we think first thing in the morning will affect our attitude and productivity throughout the day. We can intentionally choose thoughts each morning that sharpen our focus for the remainder of that day.
As the day wears on, however, we may find our thoughts lagging a bit. The demands of the day can wear down our focus and slow our productivity. When that happens, we may act kind of like the monstrous hungry personas in the Snickers commercials.
What can we do throughout the day to keep our thinking productive? Since we are what we think, how can we get our thoughts back into the realm of true and productive thinking?
Nutritionists will tell you that the most important meal of the day is breakfast. Eating the right kind of breakfast kick-starts your metabolism and prepares your body for the day ahead. The wrong kind of breakfast may satisfy in the short-term, but quickly looses its effect and leaves your body sluggish.
Wednesday, we determined that just as physically we are what we eat, mentally we are what we think. Knowing that, how can we use our mornings to optimize our thinking and prepare our minds for the day ahead?
Just as our breakfast determines our physical metabolism, so also our morning thoughts will determine our “mental metabolism.” The thoughts that start our day shape the way we focus our minds for the rest of the day.
[Tweet “The thoughts that start our day shape the way we focus our minds for the rest of the day.”]
If we wake up and begin stressing about the cares of the day, we start the day on the defensive. We allow ourselves to become victims of our circumstances.
Conversely, we can develop a morning strategy that helps us focus more productively on our day. The way we choose to think in the morning set our focus for the rest of the day.
Our mental metabolism is the outlook and attitude created by the thinking patterns we choose at the beginning of the day. We determine our own mental metabolism; we are not victims of our circumstances.
I have found four morning practices that help me “get my mind in gear” in the mornings. These four practices set my focus properly and start me in the right direction. They are most effective if I can practice them first thing, before my day gets started in earnest.
