Cereal & Milk

Terri has been out of town and while I am not helpless, I sometimes act like it. We (make that I) have been out of milk for 3 days. I could have gone to the store to replenish my supply but, I didn’t – I was just too lazy. The result is – dry cereal. Yuck! This morning I was hungry and about the only thing left to eat was raisin bran and of course – no milk. I took the plunge and spooned the stuff into my waiting mouth. Bad Plan! Some things go well together and some things just don’t work at all without the other. Cereal and milk fit in the second category. My wife and I fit in the second category too. We are way beyond just being good together – when we are apart, well – it just doesn’t work. It is more than just missing each other, we have been a part of each other for so long that it’s just unhealthy to be apart for more than a day or two.

I love my wife – she is my fuel – my energy – and my inspiration.

By the way honey, we’re out of milk…….

Asking For The Order

It is such a simple concept- ask for what you want.....if you don't ask for what you want, how can the giver give it to you........if you don't ask for the order, you'll never get it.
Fear is what keeps us from asking. Nobody wants to be rejected so we just don't ask.
The shame of all of this is, people expect you to ask and most of the time - if a compelling story has been told - they will give us the answer we are looking for. I keep learning this over and over - at work and even more important with TORCH. Last week I asked a friend to help with some houses and he is going to build 10! Ask for the order.
Our Father too has promised that if we ask - he will give. Infinantly more than we can imagine. He promised and all we need to do is ask for what we want and believe that He will deliver.
No - not like a winning lotto card - better, Infinantly More Than We Can Imagine. No, not for us but for his glory.

Bold

I like the description of the apostles witness in Acts...BOLD.
BOLD - not a word that I use very often. About the only time lately is when I describe the type on my computer. I like it though. BOLD!
It is a description of how ordinary men were completely changed.
Acts makes it pretty clear to me that these guys didn't complete the change unitl they met the Spirit of God. It was only then that they became BOLD. Even though they had spent years working, preaching, & learning from Jesus - they were inclear about what they believed and were afraid when they needed to be brave. It was the Spirit that made them BOLD.
I wonder if being bold is one of the gifts that the Spirit brings? Maybe I am not as bold of a witness as I want to be because I don't depend enough upon the Spirit.

Amazing

Anybody that knows me will know that one of my favorite scriptures is Ephesians 2:10

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Amazing! God knew before I was born exactly what he wanted me to be doing.

Sometimes though, I wonder how many things he planned for me that I’ve walked past or chose to ignore. How many times have I walked across the street so that I didn’t have to look at the man in the ditch? There is no doubt that every one of us has taken a pass on some of God’s plans for us – I just hope that he had a “plan B” so that the work that he had planned for me got done.

I do know that he has forgiven me for any of my past, present and future failures. He promised that in the verses just before Ephesians 2:10. My paraphrase of the text in verses 8 & 9 is – My grace is what saves you, there isn’t any good work that you can do to save yourself – none. This is so that you will know that salvation is a gift and nothing that you can earn. Amazing!

I’ve thought a lot about why our Father would want all of us to have servant’s hearts and the answer is so obvious that it’s almost funny. Can you imagine how boring and meaningless life would be if it was only about our own small selves? For this life to have purpose & meaning, we need to be doing more than accumulating stuff. With a servant’s heart, we open our eyes to the world around us and stop worrying about getting our fair share. With a servant’s heart we can own nothing and have everything. With the heart of a servant we become just like the Jesus that we have chosen to follow. We are no longer orphans looking for a permanent home. Simple and amazing….