A little while

Children have no concept of time.  My daughter asked me a few weeks ago “When is Granddaddy’s birthday party?”  I replied “It’s a week from Sunday.”  Confused, she looked at me and asked “Is that a little while?”  As children, we have no concept of time.  We only know “a little while”.  

The disciples of Jesus were the same way.  In John chapter 16, we see Jesus preparing His disciples with the truth that He was going away.  Jesus knew He was going to the cross to die for our sins, and after a short period of time He would be resurrected and ascend to heaven to be reunited with His Father.  He was explaining to them in verse 16 that “In a little while you will see me no more, then after a little while you will see me.”  Even then, they were confused. 

The words that Jesus told His disciples are still relevant to us.  “In a little while” means:

• We will no longer live on this earth.  We will be dead.
• We will stand before God the Father and give an account for the life that we lived.
• If we don’t die, the Lord will return to set things right on this earth.
• Either way, we have a limited amount of time to make our lives count.

How are you living your life?  Are you living for yourself or following Jesus?  If you were to die today, where would you spend eternity?  Ignoring the fact that “in a little while” we will be before God doesn’t change the fact that it really is going to happen.

Today, come to terms with the fact that soon our lives as we know it will be over and we will be spending eternity somewhere other than here on earth.  If you are not a follower of Christ, give your life to Him today.  If you are a follower of Jesus, then spend the time that you have left for Him and His glory.

We are only here “for a little while”.

Our Daily Bread

Is it just me, or is it harder to make and keep money these days?  Every single day you can turn on the television and hear someone giving us their opinion of the latest trend in a down economy.  It feels like the wheels are constantly coming off the bus, and worry is always right around the corner.


As I was contemplating all of theses events last week, I remembered one of the most simple and basic prayers of all time:  The Lord's Prayer.  In Matthew Chapter 6 Jesus tells the people on the hillside "When you pray, pray like this."  We see the Lord give us a play-by-play example on how to talk with God the Father.  The most profound part of the prayer is when Jesus tells us to ask God for "our daily bread."


Then it occured to me that Jesus didn't tell us to pray for our annual bread.  He didn't tell us to pray for our quarterly, monthly, or even weekly bread.  He tells us plain and simple to ask God for what we need today and tomorrow, we ask Him again for what we need that day.  Plain and simple, we need to walk with God daily and rely on Him for what we need one day at a time.


As times get tough, our God gets bigger.  Don't worry about next week, just ask God for what you need today.  He will provide you with what you need.

"What you got in that box?"

One Sunday morning I was listening to a friend of mine preach from God’s word. He began to describe how we often try to put God in a box. Many times we try to make God into what we think He should be. We try to imagine what God would do in a certain situation, or even put words into His mouth saying “God would never do _____.” The Pastor went on to say that every time we try to fit God into the box, imagine God walking up behind us, looking over our shoulder and saying “What you got in that box?” In other words, God is God and we are not!


Paul said the very same thing to the people of Athens in Acts Chapter 17. In verses 29-31 he is explaining to Greek people that the living God they call “The Unknown God” cannot be contained by temples made by human hands. He cannot be served by humans because everything we have comes from Him in the first place. He made the first man, and ever since then He has even appointed the time each man lives and where he inhabits the earth. He sums it up by saying “In Him we live and move and have our being. Even your own poets have said that we are His offspring.” In other words, we can’t put God in a box.


How many times do we do this in our own lives? How many times do we do this in our churches? How often does our lack of faith limit us to see just how awesome God really is? We'll try to make God into what we think He should be to fit our own agendas, but it doesn’t work that way. We belong to Him, not Him belonging to us.


God is a gracious, forgiving and faithful God, but don’t mistake that for someone who can be manipulated. The Westminster Catechism says it in a great way: “God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness & truth.” In other words, God is God and He is going to have His will completed for His own glory, not our own.


God has unlimited resources and power, and can do anything He wants at any time. He conquered death and sin through His son Jesus so that we might have eternal life. He created the entire universe with words from His lips. He is alive and cannot be contained.


What box are you trying to put God into today? Chances are, He’s not going to fit.

The "Missing Hip Boot"

My family consists of me, my wife, my 9 year old son and my 7 year old daughter.  We also have two Labrador retrievers.  When I interact with each of them one on one, things usually run smoothly around my home.  When all of these characters interact with each other at the same time, things tend to get a little crazy.  Such was the case of the “missing hip boot”.

My son has wanted to start duck hunting with me this year.  In order to wade through the marsh to get to our hunting spot, he needed a pair of hip boots.  My friend Douglas had a brand new pair and he wanted my little boy to have them.  One afternoon he sent me a text saying that he left them under our picnic shed.

Here’s where the problem began.  Maggie (our lab puppy) is a kleptomaniac.  She will steal anything you lay on the ground in a matter of seconds and hide it.  When we walked outside to get the boots, one was lying under the shed and the other one was missing.  The chaos began!  We all walked around our farm looking everywhere for this missing hip boot.  We searched under the tractor, down by the garden, around the pond.  This boot was nowhere to be found.

The next morning I even road my 4 wheeler down the creek bank to see where she might have hidden it.  After 45 minutes I decided to give up the search.  I assumed Maggie hid it away for future chewing.  Then the craziest thing happened.  As I was parking my 4 wheeler, I looked up and saw the Hip boot hanging from a nail underneath the shed.  If I had only looked up in the beginning I would have found it in a matter of seconds.

Many times we are the same way in our own daily lives.  We have so many needs that we spend all of our time worrying.  We try to achieve them on our own.  We are looking down for them and not looking up for the answer.  In Matthew 7 Jesus tells us simply to just ask for what we need.  In other words, all we have to do is look up and God will take care of the rest.  It really is that simple.

Today, whether it is an exam, a job, money or just day to day needs, ask God for guidance and supplication.  Turn your requests over to our Father.  In doing so, you will see God work in many amazing ways.

Six Days of Marching

I am extremely impatient.  I always have been.  When I was growing up, I was always looking forward to the next thing, never fully enjoying the moment.

As I have grown older, I have began to pray for patience.  God continually puts me in a holding pattern to teach me different things.  Currently, I am in one of those times in my life where I know God is moving me in a different direction, but He hasn’t opened the doors for me to move through them yet.  Because of my impatience, it has been driving me insane because I am ready to move onto the next thing!

During a recent conversation with close friend I explained to him how I felt.   He reminded me of the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho.

Here were some points he made:

• God already promised Jericho to Joshua before he ever set foot on the perimeter of the city.  God has already done that for me too!  He already has in store for me where He wants me to be, and is preparing me during this “wait-and-see” time.
• God didn’t just give Jercho to Joshua, but told Him that he was to walk around the city six times.  God isn’t just going to give me my next thing, but is asking me to be patient and wait on Him to give me what He wants me to have.  Things happen in His timing, not ours.
• Joshua told his troops to be quiet.  In Joshua 6:10 he said “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!”  For now, God is requiring me to march around the city and be quiet.  When he tells me to shout, then I  can shout.  Until then, I am supposed to put one foot in front of the other, march quietly and be obedient!
• God does these sort of things so that we will give Him the glory, not glorify ourselves.

How sweet it will be when I finally get to shout.  God’s plans for me are so much better than the plans I make for myself.  I can’t wait until I see Him knock those walls down for me.  Until then, I will keep marching with my mouth shut and wait on the Lord!