Spirals of Life

In the last couple days I have had trouble getting up on time.  I don't know if my body is trying to tell me I need more sleep or if I have just thrown my sleep schedule off kilter from staying up to late.  Have you ever had those times where you were thrown off your rhythm?  It is amazing how we can do the right thing day after day and all it takes is one small stumble to send us spiraling down.  It seems like it is so hard to walk upright in Christ daily and so easy to fall into sin.


James 3:2 says, "For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body."  Oh how I long to be the perfect man who is control of my own body but the Bible is clear that the only perfect man who has lived on this earth is Jesus.  In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul says, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."  Jesus knew that we could not be perfect on our own.


I am so thankful that Jesus came to set us free from the bondage of sin.  I am so thankful that His purity serves to reflect before the court of God as the righteousness that allows me into heaven.  1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  He cleanses us through His action on the cross not because of our own worthiness.  So the next time you stumble, fall on your knees and let Jesus lift you up to Himself.  Feel the gentle grace and love He gives as He helps gently brings you once again to "paths of righteousness."  


Blessings,


Greg

Walk as a Wise Man Today

One of my greatest struggles, is trusting God when a situation arises that will cost me time and/or money.  In these situations, I struggle greatly with showing grace and speaking love.  I experienced one of those situations today and like usual I spoke out of frustration and worry instead of speaking encouragement and grace.  Have you ever struggled with that?

In the Bible, it is made clear that we are to be very careful what words we speak in reply to trying situations (Matthew 12:37, Proverbs 15:1, Proverbs 17:27, Ecclesiastes 10:12-13).  The Bible is also clear that we are to be gracious and loving to those involved(Matthew 5:43-48, 2 Timothy 2:25, Ephesians 4:1-16).  Knowing how we are supposed to act Biblically, why do you think so many of us struggle to live and walk this way?  It is easy to blame the devil and the world for our folly but the Bible also seems to be big on self discipline and self control (Proverbs 25:28, Galatians 5:22-23, 2 Timothy 1:7).

I do not write this to judge or chastise anyone who struggles in this area.  I am indeed one of them.  I do hope, in writing this blog, you can find the strength to over come your weakness but putting your full faith in Jesus.  I hope you will strive to change your previous behaviors and habits in hopes of demonstrating Christ to the rest of the world through your actions.  An important part of demonstrating Christ to the world around us include being able to apologize, to ask forgiveness, and seek reconciliation when you speak in anger and frustration to someone.

This is exactly what I had to do today.  I find it so hard to humble myself by asking forgiveness at times yet I feel so much closer to Christ each time I do.  He gives me the strength to apologize and He also gives me the tools I need to choose the path of the wise man the next time.  I know this blog is different than others I have written recently but I hope that it is encouraging and helpful to you all the same.  I hope Jesus lifts you up by helping you to walk closer in Him today.

Blessings,

Greg

Shoveling Poop

At my job, I have learned a lot of things about horses.  I have always loved horses but I honestly had not had the opportunity to have much contact or time with them till I got this job.  Today, I needed to work in the field because one of the things i have learned about horses is that though horse poo is considered black gold to gardens, too much of it can be bad for the pastures and unsanitary in the outbuildings.  So one of my weekly duties at my job is shoveling poo from  the outbuildings and pasture.

The holidays have put a damper on my coworker and I being able to complete this task.  We have had weeks of rain, vacations, and alternating busy schedules that have hampered us from doing this task.  Well we had planned to work on the pasture Wednesday but I saw the forecast this morning and it called for rain all day Wednesday.  So I decided that I needed to go out and clean up what I could myself.  Really it was a great day for doing this job because it was 50 and sunny, which is not the norm for winter in Indiana.

As I was sizing up my job, I began to realize how big a task I had before me.  I have to say that I am incredibly grateful for the person who invented the tractor.  I don't believe I could've made any sort of dent in the pasture without this handy farm device.  The shovel helped me to clean up large areas quickly, which is good since the pastures needed a lot of help.

I had plenty of time to think about life and God as I worked on cleaning up the pasture and I thought about all the times I had allowed my life to fill up with crap.  It is always so amazing to me how fast this can happen.  I try to walk faithfully in Christ and yet there are many times I let other things clutter my life and heart.  It is in these times that I have to surrender my heart back to Jesus and He helps me to remove the crap I have piled in my heart.

Have you taken your eyes off Jesus recently and allowed your heart to be filled with the crap of this world?  Come to Jesus today and allow Him to clean up your heart.  All you have to do is ask Him to forgiveness you for the sin that you have allowed to enter your heart.  He will not be harsh with you or rub your nose in your sins or failures but will gently and compassionately work to help your heart be restored to purity in Him.

Jesus is such a kind and loving Savior.  Though He can't tolerate blatant and unrepentant sin in our lives, He will always accept, with open arms, anyone who humbly comes to Him with a broken and repentant heart.  If you do not know Him as your Savior today, I hope today will be the day.  I promise that He will never fail you and that you will never regret trusting Him with your heart.

Blessings,

Greg

Three and a Half Hours Later

The ominous entrance into the crawl space and my tools.

Last night, I spent three and a half hours attempting to unclog a drain that I had clogged.  My story begins with me setting up a romantic evening with my wife on Sunday.  I knew that we did not have the money to go out so I wanted to be able to create a romantic atmosphere at home.  My idea was to grill hot dogs, prepare sweet potato fries, and light a bond fire in the back yard.  I setup small tables so that we could eat outside and bask in the warmth of the bond fire on a cold winter night while talking and enjoying each other's company.  The night ultimately was a hit but there was one thing I didn't consider.

I did not consider that the ground would still be soft and muddy.  I had prepared all of this in my good tennis shoes and as the night went on I realized that I had caked my tennis shoes in a thick layer of mud.  After realizing the damage I was doing to my shoes, I quickly switched into my work boots and solved the problem.  My wife apparently did not have the same issue I had and ended up with her shoes being fine.  Well a couple days later I decided that I wanted to wash my shoes and take off the layers of mud to hopefully restore them to their former glory.

The kitchen sink seemed like the perfect candidate for accomplishing this task since it was freezing out side.  I was able to clean the first shoe with no problems but did not have time to get to the other shoe.  There was quite a bit of mud and debris going down the drain but the drain still seemed fine so I figured that everything was okay.

Well yesterday, after a long day at work, I decided to finish the other shoe before my wife got home from a late night of grading at school.  The shoe was cleaning off with no issues just like the first one until I noticed that my sink had stopped draining.  I thought maybe it was just a simple clog and proceeded to try and plunge it in hopes of a quick fix.

Needless to say the clog was by no means a quick fix and three and a half hours later, I was covered in a filth I can only describe as disgusting, I had been both under the sink and under the house, and I was no closer to unclogging my clog.  I finally gave up around 1am, took a very long and thorough shower, and proceeded to dream of the hundreds of dollars I would be paying to a plumber in the morning.

After a very slow start this morning, I finally bit the bullet and called the plumber to help me with my problem.  They were able to come out immediately and the plumber easily cleaned out the clog making me wish I had called him in the first place instead of wasting my time trying to repair it myself.  I was so thankful for his help and grateful that the visit was quick, effective, and relatively cheap compared to my nightmares of a large plumber bill. ;)

Through this Jesus was working hard on my heart to teach me the lesson that there I can't do everything on my own.  Many times in my life I have been able to get by on my own and I struggle with letting others help me.  This is also true in my Christian walk.  I think that I can get by on my own and be a good person without any help.  I tend to take my life in my own hands instead of allowing Jesus to lead me.  It is very hard to humble myself, admit i can't do it alone, and ask for help.

I am so thankful that Jesus understands and loves us even when we are prideful and stubborn.  He is patient even when we are not.  He has compassion with us when we out in exasperation.  He never puts us down in our failure but lifts us up in His strength.  I have to admit that I am so grateful that Jesus' grace is sufficient for me and that His power is made perfect in my weakness, 2 Corinthians 12:9.  

In whatever you are struggling with today, give it to the Lord.  Trust Him in your every struggle.  Don't end up three and half hours in or more and covered in filth before realizing you can't do it on your own like I did last night.  There is no struggle to big for Jesus to handle and no struggle to small for Him to care.

Thank you Jesus for your love and grace in my life.

Blessings,

Greg

Endurance in Christ

Today, I spent a majority of my day cleaning because my wife's sister and her husband are coming to visit this weekend. I have to admit that the house may be cleaner tonight that it has been in a very long time. I even dusted the house, which I have to admit does not get done very often. There is something so wonderful about a clean house once everything is said and done. To be able to walk through the house with clean floors, counters, and furniture, is simply delightful.

Though a clean house is wonderful, having the motivation to clean the house is not always present. This is especially true when the house has been let go a little too long. It can be quite a task to completely clean the whole thing. You have to commit to continuing even when your tired and aching. Honestly there were plenty of times I wanted to quit today and just let my family deal with my house how it was but I compelled myself to finish the job.

There have been many times in my life where I have given up on a difficult task. I have learned as I get older that just because I want to quit doesn't mean I should. I have to fully lean on the Lord for strength and direction daily. I truly believe that without Jesus I couldn't accomplish anything. He is my strength. He is my direction. He is all I will ever need in this world.

Blessings,

Greg

Painting My Heart A Fresh

For the last three days, I have been painting a room in the place where I work to refreshen it to make it a new office.  First off I have to admit that it has been a long time since I last painted a room and it was not at a place I worked.  Painting a room at your job is quite a different task than painting a room at home.  I wanted to be sure that I did everything as professional as possible.  Painting a room this way involves many steps.  Each one is essential to producing professional results once finished.

Working on a room at a professional level requires quite a bit of heavy work.  Painting a room involves a lot of taping, mudding, sanding, cleaning, painting primer, painting the color, and possibly painting another coat.  As I did each task, I thought about how the room of my heart looks and the work that is needed to make it fresh again.  I am sure that my heart is filled with marks, holes, scratches, cracks, and more.  I would even venture to say the walls of my heart have probably been sprayed with layers of graffiti.

Each one of these blemishes requires quite a bit of time and hard work to repair.  In Ezekiel 36:26 it says, "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."  To me this says that God will take the room of my heart and make it new.  Through Jesus your heart becomes as if it is new and perfect instantly allowing you into heaven through the grace of Jesus also called justification.  The Holy Spirit continues the hard work of repairing your room and to bring you into the likeness of Christ called sanctification.  This is a long process and is one that is not completed while you are alive but there is such peace knowing that the Holy Spirit is constantly working in you. 


The Holy Spirit has so much work to do in my life.  There are so many ways that I don't look like Jesus.  I am a work in progress.  I'm not even sure the Holy Spirit has made it past the mudding phase especially since I keep putting new divots in the wall.  Though I have so much farther to go in my pursuit to walk like Christ, I find peace in knowing that the Holy Spirit is not done with me yet.  I am a work in progress and everyday through the work of the Spirit I become more like Jesus.  This doesn't mean I won't have my days of absolute failure but it does mean that I will never without the saving grace of Jesus or the renewing power of the Spirit.  In these assurances, I rest.


Blessings,


Greg