We Have a Lot to Learn From Dogs...

Many of us have pets and probably a majority of us pet owners have dogs. Dogs are known for their loyalty, obedience, and discipline. Dogs are cool. They don’t ignore you, they appreciate attention, want to be with you and generally make their owners happy. Cats on the other hand are quite the opposite. Cats do everything out of selfish motivation. They may act sweet, but there is a selfish, little Satan motivation under those “Puss in Boots” eyes. Dogs are cool though. Get a dog.

What I’m getting at is that we humans have a lot to learn from animals. Not cats, but dogs. Cats suck. This actually has nothing to do with cats. But back to what I was saying.

What are the positive qualities that people look for in friends? What about employers in their employees? Loyalty, listening skills, obedience, teach-ability, faithfulness, discipline, patience, trustworthiness, etc., the list goes on and on. All of these things are positive qualities. It’s funny because these are often qualities that are displayed in dogs.

We had our dog Precious for 11 years. She was a family dog, but if you were to ask anybody they would tell you that she was my dog. She displayed many of those faithful qualities I mentioned before. There were certainly times she was stubborn and lethargic, but she was an extremely faithful dog. We found out she had cancer throughout her body just four days before we had to put her down. It came as a shock to the whole family and we were all heart-broken. I remember coming home from school those four days before she died and seeing her just laying on the floor. She could barely keep food down and would stay in the same place all day. I specifically remember, though, that every time I walked in the door during those four miserable days, that she would wag her tail softly and do whatever she could to acknowledge that she saw me. You see, when she was healthy, she would wag her tail and come to the door to greet me. It may have been a sniff-and-go event on occasion, but it was an acknowledgement of her loyalty to me as her master. Now, in her final days, her wagging tail and slow gestures to acknowledge me were the best she could do to show her loyalty. She was dying but did the very best she could to acknowledge me as her master.

Dogs lovingly submit to their masters until their dying day. Precious did, I’m sure my current dog Daisy would too. But this leads me a troubling question: Why don’t we give God that kind of attention and loyalty in our lives? My current dog Daisy freaks out EVERYDAY whenever I get home to the point of peeing all over the floor. She has literally peed all over the floor when I or someone else in my family has arrived home. It’s like she’s on a crack high. Now I’m not saying to pee all over the floor and be on a crack high for Jesus, but why don’t we ever get so excited about Jesus that we just about lose ourselves? We live our day-to-day lives and barely give our creator the rightful credit he deserves.

What’s really sad about this is that we don’t treat our pets anywhere close to as awesome as God treats us, yet our pets show more loyalty us than we show to God. We annoy our pets and some people beat their pets, but our pets keep faithfully coming back to us, their masters. God, on the other hand, loves us more than words are capable of describing, yet we treat him like the town drunk.

Isaiah 1:3 says:

"The ox knows his master,
the donkey his owner's manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand."

Animals know that they are subject to man and accept that as their place. They instinctly know that their place is at the reins of their master. You’d think we would realize this with God, but instead we try whatever we can to be our own god. We don’t accept that we are powerless to our struggles and that without God, our lives are become unmanageable.

What’s amazing about this is that our domesticated pets are already a step ahead of us. They know that they are subject to their masters. ANIMALS ARE WISER THAN WE ARE! We are so obsessed with being the gods of our own lives that we forget that we are subject to the one who created us; the one who knows what is best for us. If my dog acted as disobediently toward me as I do against God, she would end up in the pound. Yet we as God’s creation purposefully put ourselves in the pound everyday of our lives. What’s even better is that God forgives and keeps us, even when we are disobedient to him.

Matthew 11:28-30 says this:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

We don’t even have to do the brunt work. I mean seriously people, farmers use oxen to plow the fields FOR THE THE FARMERS. God plows the fields FOR US. It's reversed. God as the master does the heavy lifting, not us as the servant. When we follow him and are obedient to him as the master of our lives, he does the rest. There is nothing else to it. Sure, we will have difficulties in our lives and being a Christ follower is not an easy task, but the strength and trust in God that is produced by following him will get you through any and all trials you will face.

Living for your self is easier in the short run. Things like sex, drugs, and alcohol make life easier. That’s why so many people turn to them. But when life takes a turn for the worse and those problems are put to the n^th degree, those temporary fixes begin failing around every corner. They become the things that bring you down. Life becomes hard and unmanageable.

Living for God on the other hand is tough. It’s tough to say that I’m weak. It’s tough to say that I am incapable of living my life on my own apart from God. But when we do admit those things, we get to see him lead our lives FOR us. Life becomes easier. The really tough stuff becomes manageable, because we are no longer the ones managing it. When the mountainous walls of life come straight out of the ground in our paths, we see that our faithful God is there to carry us over them.

In the craziness of life we tend to forget one of the most comforting phrases in all of scripture:

“Be still and know that I am God.” –Psalm 46:10a

It gives me the chills when I hear that. God is basically saying, “Hey, ADD boy, it’s okay, I’ve got this. You have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

And we don’t have anything to worry about. Our lives here on earth are temporary and short. There is something bigger waiting for us in eternity. Even in death, we can see that there is victory. If we are willing to trust God with our lives and admit that he is the master, he will reveal his already present love that has always been there for you in ways that words can’t describe.

So will you be like my Precious, showing trust and loyalty even when the pains of life come over you in unbearable ways, or will live in denial of God’s love and witness his blessings slip through your fingers like sand. I think we have a lot to learn from animals.

God Never Wastes a Crisis

God never wastes a crisis. It's a deep thought, but one that many Christians don't understand. Having been in what I would definitely call a crisis, I can definitely see how God is not wasting it. God uses the crises that we go through to bring us closer to Him. As we'll see, it is how he tests our faith.

When most Christians in general look at a crisis, they fail to see that God is at the very center of it and that He wants to see you, His child, come closer to Him during that time. Everyone dreads a crisis, but many fail to see how we often become more unified with others and God when we are in crisis.

That’s why James puts it this way in the first chapter of his book:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

It is so tough to look at any crisis in our lives and “consider it all joy.” I mean, what was James thinking when he wrote that? Who would ever consider it joyful to face a trial?

The answer has many parts to it:

One is found in the second part of that verse. It is developing perseverance. Perseverance is the ability to push through any trials or temptations that come our way and to remain strong in Jesus Christ. It is often that we are at our weakest when we experience trials, but that is what God wants. God wants us to be weak so that He can show us how strong He really is. Notice that I did not say to be strong in ourselves, but that God shows His strength in us. If we try to be strong in ourselves we are going to fall face first into the mud. We need Christ who has already been drug through the mud for something He didn't do to pull us through. We do not develop perseverance by ourselves, but God gives us perseverance to trust in Him. That is what gets us through.

Second is that it helps to strengthen our faith. Whenever we come across trials and tribulations, we have to put our complete faith in the God who never fails. We can't put it in others. Every single person we know can let us down. Friends and family will not always be there for us. God is the only one who is ALWAYS there and will NEVER fail. Not only do some people simply let us down, but the people we love will not always be there for us. Death is a reality. If you have placed your faith in a person, you have placed your faith in a mortal being. When they die, the glue that keeps you stuck to that faith is gone. That faith disappears with them. That is why we need faith is Christ.

*Please note, I am not saying friends and family are not trustworthy or faithful. I'm just saying that our faith needs to be rooted in Christ first.

We need to have faith in Christ because He already knows the outcome. He allows the crisis to happen and He knows how He will pull us through. He will never let us down. This is why we can have faith in Him. 2 Corinthians 4:18 says:

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

If we focus on what is seen in our trials, we will be like Peter sinking in the water. It will be too big to handle. But if we focus on what is unseen, the faith that God will get us through, then we can have assurance that we'll be okay because God is in control. In my favorite sermon, Jon Mourglia, a potter, says that faith is the raw material God uses to mold us into the men and women He wants us to be. Faith is God’s clay. If we give Him that faith and let Him mold us, He will make us into beautiful pots that display His majesty and overflow with His love. We don't think of a beautiful pot when we see a lump of clay, but God does. Give that lumpy mess to Him that you don't understand and He'll make something beautiful out of it.

A crisis is also a way for God to bring glory to His name. I know something that was always difficult for me to swallow was how I see God in many places in the Bible bring glory to His name by putting someone else through a trial. The most common example is Job. When I read Job, it feels like God is playing a game with him. I mean seriously, God and Satan basically make a bet about whether Job will curse God's name. It is difficult to see why a loving God would do such a thing.

Here is where it is actually pretty cool. God allows Job to experience pain as a way of showing how powerful He (God) is and how He (God) is in control. God is not saying to Satan, “Oh yeah, well I bet you $20 Job won’t curse me?” What God is really telling to Satan is, “I KNOW that Job won’t curse me. You can do whatever you want to him, but this man won’t curse me. Job understands that I never do anything without a reason.” God allowed crisis to happen (notice I say allowed) so that Job could see God’s faithfulness and so that it would bring glory to God’s name. And it is a story that still brings glory to God's name even thousands of years later. God's glory transcends time. Yeah, He deserves the glory.

So whenever you are going through a crisis, remember this one passage.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7

Don’t worry. Be joyful. Make your requests known to God. He already has it under control. This crisis will develop perseverance, it will develop faith, and it will also bring glory to Christ’s name. Just don’t forget to go to Him. To quote Bob Marley, “Every little thing, is gonna be all right.”

God Bless everyone!

Control

Spring break is approaching! Only two more days of classes and I am home free. I could definitely use that time to catch up on sleep and everything else I feel I am behind in.

One really awesome thing about God that has not ceased to amaze me about throughout this past month is that whenever I feel like I need peace the most, He provides it. When I don’t know what I need, He provides it. He goes above and beyond anything that I could want from Him. He really is the God who provides.

Last time I shared how I felt God was teaching me what true selflessness was. This time I want to share about how I feel God has been teaching me to give over the things in my life I ASSUME I have control over.

During this past month, I have really been challenged to examine what in my life I have control over. It seems like a simple question at first, but when you really begin to digest it and mull over it, it becomes quite obvious that there is very little in life we have control over. If anything we have influence. Let me explain by making a list of things that I never realized I had little to no control over:

· Relationships: I cannot control how people act or react to me in the various relationships in my life. I can’t control what they say and I can’t control what they do. Sometimes we think we can change people, but, in all honesty, we have absolutely no control in that matter. It’s all up to them.

· Work: If you think you control your work then I’m gonna go ahead and just say that you are a fool. No offence meant by that, but seriously, if you really think that than you better get ready for a world of hurt. You have no control over your boss, coworkers, etc. Even if you are self-employed you don’t have any real tangible control. You are completely dependent on your customers. You can’t force them to buy your product, but you can influence them. Understand the difference.

· Family: This goes along with relationships pretty well, but you cannot control the people in your family and the stupid things they do. I’m not saying my family or even anybody else’s family is doing anything stupid (even though there are certainly people out there who feel that way), but you can’t control those loved ones close to you even if you want to. At the heart of it all, they can do something retarded regardless of how much they say they love you. The fact is that if Grandma wants to go gamble away $500 on the Riverboat every Friday night because, Lord knows, fish sandwiches are half off and you can get Bailey’s for free, then by golly you can do very little to control her. You can INFLUENCE Grandma not to go to the Riverboat and you have the ability to not ENABLE Grandma, but you cannot CONTROL Grandma (Like I said earlier, I’m not directing this directly at anybody. Just making an example….).

· Nature: I really wish I could use the words of our convo speaker today without being a dirty, heathen, sinner, but man there are times when “stuff” happens (notice the quotations) in our lives and that we have no control over. I’m not gonna assume that the people in Haiti knew that when they woke up that morning that their worlds were going to be flipped up on their heads by day’s end. Sometimes things happen that we have no control over.

That’s a pretty basic list that covers a lot, but this last one is the one that really kicked my butt. I have little to NO control over….. ME!!!

That’s right. I don’t even have control over my own life. There are things in my life that I have no control over because I cannot deal with them on my own. I am dependant on so many things just to make it through the day. And you know what, there I are SO many things that I am dependent upon God for that I don’t even recognize. It’s really mind blowing when you begin to think of it. I’d go out on a limb and say that the only things I have control over are the decisions I make. After that I’m in the hands of someone else and I certainly hope they are God’s.

I hope that is as humbling to you as it is to me.

So how do we respond to that? To me there is only one way we can respond. We acknowledge that it is all in God's hands. Most people would say that you have to give control to Christ, but I’d say that it was never yours to give because you never had it in the first place. He’s always been in control. The matter of the issue is whether you’ve acknowledged He’s in control. We can think we run our lives, but all it takes is someone (God or not) throwing something into the spokes of our wheels to throw us tipsy-turny. It’s kind of like when Indiana Jones threw the flagpole into the fat Nazi’s motorcycle spokes. We’ll blow up and tumble to a complete skidding halt and we won’t get back up again on a new bike until we realize that we ultimately have no control.

God wants to be in control of your life because He already is. We just need to acknowledge it. You see, God knows you better than you do. Now put that in your pipe and smoke it. He sees everything so infinitely clearer in our own lives than we ever could. Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the best verses in the Bible to describe this:

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

He’s already got it all figured out. He had it figured out before you were born. This quote from Steve Farrar’s book, Battle Ready, I feel really sums up how God is in control.

“He knows everything about everybody all the time… He knows the future no less than the past and present, and possible events that never happen no less than the actual events do… Nor does He have to access information about things as a computer might retrieve a file; all His knowledge is always immediately and directly before His mind.”

I don’t know about you, but I almost didn't make it to the bathroom first time I read that. I mean, my goodness, who WOULDN'T someone like that running their life? God can see all the Giants coming because He’s the trump card to all those Giants. It’s like the Staples’ Easy Button. Whenever a problem comes your way, just hit the easy button and God will come and take care of it.

Now I’m not saying that we should use God just as our crutch. What I am saying is that He DESERVES our heartfelt worship and admiration. I mean, He makes Goliath look like Tickle-Me-Elmo (Which by the way, I’m pretty sure is Satanic anyway. Seriously, every time I touch that doll I think it’s gonna say, “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, you’re funny… You’re not gonna wake up in the morning… Sorry, back to what I was saying…). Our God is so huge and powerful that the only thing I can think of doing is saying,

“God, it’s all Yours’. It was never mine. Please lead me and guide me because I have no control over my own life. I want to give you the praise and glory because only You can truly lead me.”

We’ve got an awesome God who wants to take over our problems. Just read Matthew 11:28-30. He wants us to see recognize that we have no control, because we don't. So why act why we do? We’ll feel like we have true direction when we realize that God is in CONTROL. He is never going to leave us nor forsake us.

I hope this blesses your evening. Until next time,

Dan

So this is new...

So yeah, this is my first time at this... I apologize beforehand for what at times may be unnecessary wordiness, incomplete thoughts, spelling errors, mindless wandering into the abyss' of my mind, grammatically confusing sentences and any other type of seemingly obvious mistake or incongruity that I may not pick up on. I'm sorry.

So let's start this sucker....

As some of you may already know, this past month has probably been the most trying of my life. God has tested me in ways that I have never experienced before and it has stretched me to my very limits.

*Quick Note: I am going to limit my conversing on the specifics of this subject at this time until I feel more comfortable sharing it with the masses. If you feel compelled to ask just send me a facebook message and I'll respond appropriately.

Back to what I was saying... I hope through this blog to share with you the things that I feel God is leading me in and teaching me in the midst of the various trials He is bringing before me.

It is amazing to me sometimes how focused we can be on ourselves. If I have learned anything through this time it is how selfish I can be and how blind I am to it. It is so easy sometimes to look at the "good things" you do for others and see yourself as being selfless because of it. I know one thing for sure that has slapped me across my chubby, bearded face during this time is that I am often not able to see how my acts of kindness towards others are selfishly motivated. I'm not saying that all my acts were done for that reason, but a lot of them were. True selflessness is wanting NOTHING in return.

When I look at my actions towards others, I see a sad correlation. I want people to think I am a nice guy. I guess that doesn't seem so bad, right? Most people would probably say that there is nothing wrong with that. Maybe they are correct to an extent, but here is where I think it is a problem: My actions are often not motivated out of a love and desire to see God glorified. Plain and simple. If I am really being selfless, I would be motivated to please God with my everyday actions REGARDLESS of what people think of me.

Look at Jesus in John 13. Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. He got down on His hands on knees and washed the feet of His closest companions. The ultimate sign of service because it was a job that was supposed to be done by a servant. You may be thinking, yeah I understand that, what's your point? Here is the thing we often miss about this passage: Exactly whose feet did He wash? Well duh, the disciples. Yes, but WHOSE feet did He wash?

Jesus washed the feet of the man who betrayed Him that very night. He washed the feet of Judas. Our Lord and Savior got on His hands and knees and washed the feet of a man who sold him over to the pharisees for 30 pieces of silver. Think about that for a second.

.....keep thinking.....

If you knew that someone was plotting to kill you, would you still get down on your knees and wash his/her feet? Some of us may tell ourselves, "Well yeah I would." Here is my question though, do you really believe that?

I think that in the heart of our hearts most of us would avoid that person at all costs. We would want to stay as far away as possible. To an extent that might not be a bad idea, but you get what I am trying to say.

What Jesus did was say to this man, "I know you are going to betray me and that it is going to lead to my death, but I still love you. Let me do this for you." Your jaw should be on the floor right now. Now tell me that isn't something awesome? I know I'd be like, "Uh, sucurity, su-curity! Uh uh, this guy needs to go!" We would all probably be like that. But Jesus wasn't. He was so selfless that not only did He wash Judas' feet, but He also died for Him.

We are SOOO depraved at the center of our being. We can put on happy faces and look all pretty for others and be all nice and helpy, but we are seriously so selfish. We do things so other people think better of us! It's all for a self image! What we need to be doing is thinking, "How can I do this with an attitude that glorifies Christ?" On the outside our actions may look the same to others, but we'll know on the inside that it is all for Him. You know what else is cool about that too? We'll have a better self image because it will not be what others attribute to us, but what God attributes to us.

He is never failing of fleeting. The praises of others pass like the seasons, but the love of our God stretches from eternity to eternity. IT IS NEVER ENDING AND NEVER FAILING!!! Isn't that awesome? When we are obedient to Him and when we do everything out of a love for Him, his perfect love is made clear to us. He is so Good!

Remember that He is always there and that when we do things out of a love for Him, he blesses them in ways we could never imagine

God Bless,

Dan

PS-I apologize for the almost certain errors I have in this post. Hopefully they're not too bad.