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Cigarettes and a Mountain Dew

While I was out on my morning run today, I noticed a man walking towards the direction I was running.  He was dressed in a shirt and jeans and I guess some sort of shoe.  As I approached him he raised his hands up and said ” A cigarette and a Mountain Dew, I’m getting in shape too!”.  LOL!!  I almost had to stop running, it was so much better then someone yelling “Run Forest Run” out of their car window.

This poor guy had no idea he would be part of an object lesson today.  Sometimes that’s how I think we approach our spiritual walk.  We are out in the wrong clothes (state of readiness), with a cigarette ( secret addictions) in on hand and a Mountain Dew ( sugary drink that gets you going to short periods of time, but does not sustain) in the other.  And then we wonder why our lives are not in order, and why we feel so out of shape and so far from God.

hm.  What is your cigarette and Mountain Dew today?  Can you set those down?  Can you put those aside to focus on the good and better things?

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV

and then the always though provoking Message:

1-3Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! (Hebrews 12:1-3, The Message)

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Almost Perfect

As you know last week I was blessed to be able to spend a week on the Gulf coast at one of my most favorite places – the beach.  Oh the sun, the warm sand, the soft waves.  No. not at all.  Because of the recent Hurricane Alex, we spent most of the week being drenched by the feeder bands and then the remaining parts of the hurricane after it come upon shore.  It was really disappointed, and quite thought provoking.

One day after spending a little too much time at the house ( even though I really can’t complain, the porches and the porch furniture at this house provided a very relaxing setting for a rainy day) I decided to take a rainy walk on the beach.   As I walked on this lonely rainy beach, and I listened to the roar of the waves and watched the dance between the sand and the water, the beauty of this tainted day become very apparent.  Also, during the trip I found two shells.  Two shells that were almost perfect.  One a Nautilus and the other a nice conch-type shell.  Both just a little bit broken or covered with ‘junk from the sea”, however both are still very beautiful.  It was in these shells that I finally realized something I have always thought – that the beach is so much like our lives.  Everyday its different, and even what seems to be the most disappointing of times there is beauty.

Today, you may be dealing with disappointment in your life or in your work, or in your relationships, or maybe even in the mirror. Look past the imperfections and look for the beauty.  These two shells are the only two I brought back this year and I hope that each time I glance over at them, I will remember that even when life is full of apparent disappointments that many blessing still exist.

24 This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 (New International Version)

Be Salty!

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Off Day

Today is an off day.  Its 106 degrees outside ( heat index),  its my off day from running this week, and it’s one of those days where I have a half dozen half baked thoughts, but nothing that is quite ready for a complete idea.  This is just one of those summer day’s when you just want to lay around and do nothing but ‘catch the cool’ as they say in the Bahamas.  It’s a day to just keep going, and just keep focused. No real new ideas except for getting another glass of sweet tea.

So stay cool and stay focused and refresh yourself in the Lord.

6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.  Psalms 19

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Being Watchful

Last week on the beach there were people crawling all over it – people with a job to do, not people relaxing.  Up and down the beach in their gators the Florida National Guard would travel looking and watching.  Out in the bay, there were 5-6 boats full of workers being paid by BP watching and waiting. All of these people where looking for the oil to arrive. Fortunately it had not arrived at this beach yet. But there were they – diligently watching for the looming disaster.

I thought about them, and the beauty that surrounded them.  As I watched the guys in their fatigues driving up and down the beach talking and watching the tourists, I wondered.  As I studying the guys on the BP boats and watched them sitting on the rails talking and driving around in circles, I wondered.  ( Incidentally, I also found the job I wanted.  In this group of boats there was one pontoon boat with a port-a-potty strapped on board.  That’s the job I want – to drive the potty boat!)  Anyway, I wondered, will these guys be so lulled to sleep by the beauty that surrounds them that when the oil shows up will they miss it at first?

And then I thought about our lives, and how easy it is to be lulled to sleep by the “beauty” that’s around us, that we miss what we are looking for.  (I know this analogy breaks down here, as the things around us are more like the oil and what we are looking for is more like the beach!)  But really, I think we can get caught up in the everyday stuff and miss the goodness that we are blessed with.  So today, be diligent and watchful, not only for the return of our Savior, but for the blessings of life that are right around you today.

32“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Mark 13:32-34

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Jesus Didn’t Tapout

Over the weekend while I was traveling back home, I saw on a small church sign in the backwoods of the Florida panhandle the words “Jesus Did Not Tapout”.  My initial reaction was like, what does that mean?  Isn’t tapout some MMA fighter stuff?  Sure Jesus fought.  He fought more then we can ever imagine.  So I decided to look this tapout stuff up.

To my surprise, to tap out means to give up.  It’s the sign of surrender in MMA or even in just plain ol’ wrestling.  Of course that makes me wonder why all these rough and tough MMA guys wear TapouT clothing – since it essentially says “Give Up” on the clothing.  As I kept digging to find out what this church sign could be referring to, I found that there is also Never Tapout clothing for MMA followers, and even a Jesus Didn’t Tap website.

So, even though my initial reaction was one of “what are you all talking about”, I agree with that little sign on this church.  It’s not that Jesus would be a big MMA fighter dude.  I don’t think that at all.  Actually, I am not a big fan of the MMA, and not a hater – just neutral.  But that’s not really the message here today.  It seems this message fits the idea of buffeting your spiritually body daily. The idea that Jesus did not give up.  He was presented with trials and temptations bigger then we will ever face, and he did not give in. He did not tap.  That’s the idea.  One of persistence and focus and forging ahead no matter what was in his way.  When Jesus came to this Earth he had a very challenging mission and he fulfilled it.  That’s not to say he didn’t grow weary, or even dread it, but he continued to move, continued to fight and didn’t “tap out”, as they say.

How about you today. Will you tap out, or will you stay focused on your mission?

5-8Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. (Philippians 2:5-8, The Message)