Running the race . . .

Today I had my first race since I hurt my knee a couple of months ago.  I had not run much in the last 4 weeks (a total of less than 1 mile), so I wasn't expecting much from the race today.  In fact, I was hoping not to embarrass myself too badly, and not hurt my knee too badly.  Not the highest of aspirations, I know.

So they called out "Go!"  And I went.  And I almost tripped over the walkers a few rows ahead of me.  And I went again.  I was judging speed by my Nike Speedband and my stop watch.  After about 1/2 a mile, I figured was running just under an 8 minute mile pace and breathed a sigh of relief that I would not be embarrassed as long as my knee held up.

Then I hit the 1 mile marker.  I looked at my Speedband, and it read .86 miles, just as they told me my time at the 1 mile mark was 6:56!  The knee was feeling good, and I had a second wind to run, so I kept going.  My legs wanted to quit because they hadn't worked like this for a while, but my breathing was calm and comfortable (at least considering I was running).  I hit the 2 mile marker at 14:10, meaning 7:14 for the second mile - I'm used to slowing down on the second mile, and this was less than normal, so I kept running.  I'm not sure what my time was at mile 3, but my finished time was 22:25, meaning around a 7:30 pace for the third mile and little bit.  Without thinking I could, I got a new personal best 5k time.

What is the point?  Well, I could have written off the race.  I could have walked when my legs got tired.  I could have given up and not even run today.  But I chose to run (Mostly because I didn't want to 'waste' the entry fee).

As a Christian, I have a race before me.  Sometimes, I don't feel like running.  Sometimes, I want to walk and take the easy way out.  But God wants me to run my race.  I don't have to worry about the results.  I don't have to worry about embarrassing myself.  I just have to run.  I hope we can each run our race that God has set before us in the coming week.  Won't you join me?

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

God's Way . . .

"For with God, nothing shall be impossible." - Luke 1:37

Sometimes, I understand this statement.  Other times, I think I may only be paying it lip service.  Have you ever looked at something and said, "Well, if God would do this, and this would change, I can see it working out."  We start figuring things out in how we can see it working, and we forget God's plan.

I recently heard of a young man who was studying in a Bible College.  His mother was fighting a battle with cancer and had just heard some bad news from her Doctors.  The young man had enough of the stress in his life and told everyone that he was dropping out of Bible College, and he was stepping away from his faith.  He was turning his back on God and could not understand how God could be considered love.

As I was processing the story, I 'knew' what needed to happen.  God needed to spare his mother.  Or maybe give her a chance to express her faith to her son and help him understand.  Or maybe . . . . .

A few days later his mother died.  In my small mind, this would have meant that all hope was lost.  He would never be in any church ever again.  Completely lost for the cause of Christ.  But not with God.  Through the mourning process for his mother, he came to understand God's love in more than a factual statement sort of way.  He experienced God's love as only a person who has lost a loved one can.  Rather than lose his faith, his faith was strengthened.  Rather than turn his back on God, he turned to God with more passion.

Life can get us down sometimes.  We can think that the only way out has passed us by.  That the only solution to our problem is completely out of our reach.  But the solution is never out of God's reach.  He never runs out of ways to make the thing work out.  Nothing is impossible for Him.  Nothing.

"Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, 

which he will shew to you to day: 

for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day,

 ye shall see them again no more forever."

 - Exodus 14:13

That was the big deal that Israel faced.  A pile of well armed, well trained Egyptians.  No human way out.  But God is a God of even the impossible.

Keeping Things Clean . . .

We have hard water at our house.  I am not a big fan of water softener water, but hard water has its drawbacks.  I notice orange stains building up in the bottom of the bathroom sinks over the course of time.  It isn't that we don't clean the sinks, but normal spray and the strength of my children means that hard water stains build up over time.  So every once in a while, I will use Borax / washing soda or Comet to scrub away the stains.

This morning, when I went to look in the shower, I noticed the hard water stains had made some less than attractive patterns on the inside of the shower.  You could see where the water slowly drips down the tub surround, leaving darker streaks of stains.  You could see the extra buildup around the tub mat where water tends to dry up rather than go down the drain.  It was time for a cleaning.  So I rolled up my sleeves (metaphorically, since I was wearing a t-shirt) and scrubbed the stains away.  Each time I cleaned an area, it revealed another dirty area that was hard to notice with the really dirty area next to it.  In the end, I cleaned the entire tub and surround, and cleaned out the drain.

 

 Some things get dirty much faster than the build up of water stains.  I took my van Monday to cut firewood with my dad and my two oldest children.  There is a gas well road leading to the woods where we were cutting, so we headed up the road that had just been wet down thoroughly by the rain.  To get to the top, we ended up partially sideways a few times, and mud was flung all over the side and back of the van.  From clean to caked on in just a few short minutes.

So today, I got to thinking, which type of dirt is more dangerous?  At this point, I guess it would be helpful to draw the spiritual parallel that was building in my mind.  As believers, there are two ways that we can get 'dirty', or mired by sin.  We can fall in a big way and cake big, thick, heavy sin on ourselves in a matter of minutes through a wrong choice or through willful disobedience.  The response to this type of sin is often a quick repentance and cleansing from the sin.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
                                         - I John 1:9

The other way we can get 'dirty' with sin is by allowing small sins to build over time.  We get so that we don't notice the sin, the slow manner at which the 'appearance' changes leads us to believe that we are still clean.  And then one day, while glancing in the mirror of God's Word, we realize how stained and disgusting our 'little' sins have led us to become.  The cleansing is the same, God is faithful.  But I've found in the physical world, and the spiritual world, it takes more effort to cleanse when the dirt has built up over time.  It is also more deceptive because we do not sense the build up of filth until it reaches our breaking point.

So, which is more dangerous?  I guess that depends on our cleaning schedule.  If I took a piece of bright white plastic into the tub surround every day to compare the surround to the clean plastic, the slow build up of filth would not be a problem, I would see it early on.  But if I neglect to compare the dirt to something clean, it can build up slowly and dangerously.  The truth is, they are both dangers to be wary of.  So what can we do? Just like comparing the tub surround to something clean and white each day would show me where work was needed, we need to compare our lives to a clean, white source.  God's Word is a mirror for us to show us our filthiness.  Jesus is the ultimate example, the pattern God is making us into.  To defend against all types of dirt means we need to compare ourselves daily to God's Word.  The written Word of the Bible, and the Word made flesh of God's Son.

As disgusted as we may get about dirt in our homes, we need to be more disgusted by that dirt called sin that slowly builds in our lives.  How is your cleaning schedule doing at keeping up?

God is good!

Life can get you down, but God can bring you up.  Subtitle for my blog, yet often we know the truth, but settle for less.  We let life get us down.  We refuse to let God bring us up.  So today, I just wanted to exercise my gratefulness remembering some of the ways God has blessed me.

I have a wonderful extended family.  We don't all see each other as much as we would like, but it is a joy to know each of them, and to know that each of them is there for whatever need.

I have a wonderful family that lives with me.  From my wife down to little Jonathan, God has blessed beyond measure.

I have a wonderful church family.  The blessing that they are to me and my family could fill a blog post in itself.  They love and care for us in a way that really shows the love of Christ they have for us.

He meets my needs.  I had clothes to wear, wood to heat the house, food to eat, utilities to make life more comfortable, a roof over my head, a vehicle to drive (and cart the whole family around), and several blessings that go far beyond need (working appliances, comfortable furniture, books to read, toys for kids and for adults . . .)

I am able to enjoy several hobbies.  I can run.  I am able to garden.  I can enjoy music through my guitars.  I can play games.  I can play around with wood working.  I have tools to work on my van.  I have plenty of food to cook / bake.

I have more money than I need.  (Please notice that if your definition of need is different than mine, you may get an unrealistic view of my finances from this statement)

I have hope.  Not the kind of hope that is a pie in the sky dream, but real, literal hope.  I have a security that my sins have been forgiven.  I have a security of being "In Christ," I have been crucified with him and raised with him to a new life.  I have the hope of heaven, Jesus has gone to prepare a place for me.  I have the assurance that the difficulties of this life cannot compare with the greatness of the joy that is to come.

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

- Romans 8:18

Looking up, and away from the plate.

Have you ever gotten a double whammy of conviction?  You know, found something in God's Word that hit you hard and then found the same lesson in a totally unrelated place in the Bible?  I know, all of the Bible is related, but I got hit several times by the same conviction over the past 2 weeks.  And that in an area I had already started to work on!  Of course, I had started to work on that area in the physical arena, and was neglecting the spiritual aspect of the battle.

How many times do we try to 'conquer' some area of our lives only to fall short?  With New Year's Resolutions, many people have already done that this year.  "I'm going to be more organized", "I'm going to get in shape", "I'm going to spend more time with my family", "I'm going to lose weight", "I'm going to read my Bible more", "I'm going to have a better attitude", etc.  And we put on our best 'game face' and try to accomplish it solely in the flesh.  And we would think we are doing the right thing because my organization, my schedule, my weight, and my health are all physical areas of concern.  God showed me that my weight is no where close to a physical area in my life these past few weeks.  Let me tell you how:

We are reading through the New Testament together as a family and as a church this year.  This involves reading 1 chapter a day on Monday through Friday.  The first week we read about the temptation of Jesus in the desert.  When tempted with food after 40 days of fasting, Jesus says "Man shall not live by bread alone."  I have always looked at food as something I needed desperately - several times a day!  How can Jesus deny himself something that his body needs like that?  I realized that Jesus placed his love for his Father above his desire for food, as Paul tells us "I buffet my body" to bring it into subjection.  I was challenged to work on the spiritual discipline of fasting.  No month long fasts for me, but baby steps means that I have skipped meals with the purpose of controlling my appetites, of subjecting my appetites to my love for God.

Last week, we came to the passage of "No man can serve two masters".  I was so glad I wasn't chasing after money the way Judas did at the end of Matthew.  You know, where he decided to betray Jesus after the waste of costly perfume that could have been sold.  Judas tried to serve two masters and failed.  He thought he could serve money and Jesus.  When he heard that Jesus was convicted, he 'repented', that is, he changed his mind about betraying Jesus.  He went and gave back the money and hanged himself.  His repentance did not lead to salvation, but he realized he had made a mistake.  I believe he thought he could earn some extra money and Jesus would get out of the trap as Jesus always escaped the religious leaders.  He thought he could serve two masters and win.  My master wasn't money, my master was the appetite for food.  I like to eat, I love to eat.  And I love the flavors that I can enjoy in my mouth.  I love the texture of a flaky pastry, the creaminess of cheesecakes and chocolate.  I love the satisfied feeling of a fully belly.  But I cannot serve this appetite and God.  God wants me to be a good steward of this body.  God tells me I can't live by bread alone.  God tells me I need to subject all my desires to him.  Even food.

In preparing for yesterday's opening sermon in the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon taught how pleasure cannot satisfy.  Pleasure is vanity.  And it hit me again.  If I eat for pleasure, I have no reason to stop eating.  As weird as that sounds, I've been there.  When things aren't going right, or when I was looking for satisfaction in food rather than God, I would eat almost all day.  I felt unhealthy, I knew I was getting heavier, I just felt bad most of the time.  But that food sure felt good going in.  I learned that I need to be careful not to eat for pleasure.  Am I taking seconds because I need more fuel for my body, or because it tastes good?  Am I reaching for a snack to keep my body in balance, or because I crave the joy of tickling my taste buds?  Don't get me wrong, I still want to enjoy what I eat, but my purpose in eating should be to strengthen my body, not to energize my taste buds.

For me, this is a battle that has gone on for years.  (Well, actually off and on for years)  One that I do not think will ever go away completely.  But, with the Lord's help, an area that I can live in victory when I follow God's plan.  If no one can serve two masters, I have to make sure the master I serve meets all of my needs.  The only one that does that is God.

"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you"

- Matthew 6:33

Whose Expectations?

There are times when expectations can be a wonderful thing.  We all love overwhelming someone's expectations and going beyond what they thought was going to happen.  Going the extra mile to help a friend.  Taking the time to make something extra special for someone.  Even just showing up when they expected to be alone.

The other side of expectations is that they can be a miserable master.  Almost no where in life do we find a place where expectations are used as the basis of what gets done.  The weather isn't metered out on some complex algorithm based on what people expect.  Businesses cannot possibly meet everyone's expectations.  If a business runs a promotion to give something away, people expect that they should win.  So if they don't, the business should give more things away until they win.  Expectations keep moving forward.  It does not take long for something that was just what someone wanted to become far less than ideal because of changing expectations.

How do we deal with such changing expectations?  If what is perfect today will tomorrow be less than perfect, and next year be completely wrong, how do we make decisions?

A business that succeeds will not look to meet every expectation.  It will focus on providing it's service to the best of its ability.  The truth is, to succeed, it will miss some people's expectations.  Even Apple does not meet everyone's expectations.  Some expect that they should get a free or less expensive price because of buying a product right before the new version comes out.  Some expect that prices shouldn't be quite that high.  Apple ignores some potential customers because they understand that they cannot meet everyone's expectations.

As Christians, we may face the problem of expectations from time to time.  It hurts when we find that we have failed at meeting someone's expectations of us.  So, how do we look up as the title of the blog suggests?  Easy, we do just that.  We look for what God's expectations of us are.  I have not been placed on this earth to please everyone, but to please God.  The expectations of others should have an impact, but much more important are the expectations of the God who loved me, called me, saved me, and is preparing a place for me.

I hope your day is joyful in the service of the King today!

Busy days . . .

In the 3 months since Jonathan was born, it seems like the days have moved at a rapid pace.  Just about a month after his birth, we had Vacation Bible School at the church.  We've had gardening, canning and freezing chores, a few small building projects and a long to do list that doesn't seem to get much shorter.  As soon as I get one item crossed off, several more have sprung up.  I've been doing some work on the van to get things in proper working order, which seems to be a never ending process as well.

In the midst of it all, God has been very good!  He continues to meet our needs as He promised.  He continues to grow, stretch and develop us.  He continues to surprise us with His goodness.  Want some examples?

Jonathan has been a better sleeper from early on than any of our other children.  What a blessing to have rest.

The garden hasn't produced well, but it has provided plenty of fresh food.

We got over 2 bushel of pears off our tree this year.  (Looking forward to when all the trees are producing)

Our KitchenAid mixer died, under warranty, and we get a new one delivered shortly.

Our KitchenAid food processor had a recall (11 years ago), I just found out about it and called to get a replacement blade.  They are shipping us a new food processor.

We picked over 3 bushel of apples this morning even though our trees only have a couple of dozen apples.

We are able to pay our bills.

We have plenty on our table, and even enough to share.

We enjoy the cooing & crying of babies every Sunday in church.

And on the list could go.  Even with the hustle of life, it is good to be constantly reminded of God's goodness.  I was challenged not too long ago with the question "What if all you had today were the things you thanked God for yesterday?"  I'm glad God doesn't keep track like that, and grateful for the added blessings I never asked for, and often forget to thank Him for.

Don't forget to notice His goodness today!