Sink or Swim

Sink or Swim

Have you ever been to swim lessons and watched a new swimmer's face as they stand on the edge of that pool? Maybe you can remember what you yourself felt as you peered into the water wondering if the person looking back at you was really ever going to jump in? Left by yourself, I am pretty sure several of us would have simply talked ourselves out of it! Would you agree?

But thankfully, there was always that person already standing in the water encouraging us to just get our toes wet, then when our hearts would settle down, they would encourage us to come a little further. You may end up holding onto the side of the pool that whole first day, but there was a little part of you that felt so accomplished and a little braver, totally ready to take another step the next week! And you know that it would have never happened had someone not helped show you how to succeed at it!

Never ever would you find a swim teacher standing on the side line letting someone drown, nor would you see them sitting there telling them just to get in, they will be fine. Every teacher I have ever known, even though they could swim laps around me, walked right beside, encouraging me the whole time. Teaching me the right way to breath, float, move my arms and kick. They never sat on the side line as a spectator, they got wet too.

How many of us know Christ? Many of us have for several years! We could easily tell people all about His Love and lead them to the Cross. Am I right? But the problem is, we often just sit there as spectators. Not one of us would ever literally let someone drown. I have watched grown men jump in fully clothed to get a kid that was sputtering in the water. But I have also watched people accept Christ and struggle to stay afloat because no one will come alongside them and teach them how to swim.

We are all called to make disciples. When I think about Jesus making His disciples I realize just how much time He put into them. He taught them how to stay afloat didn't He? He didn't stand on the sidelines and watch them sink…He got right into that water with them.

Is there someone in your life right now that just needs encouragement to keep going? Or maybe someone that needs to know how to even take the next step? Is there someone looking at his reflection wondering if he should even get in the pool when all he needs is someone telling him how awesome it is? Is that person you?

We are all here for a reason. You are all right here right now for some REASON! Could it be that there are people around you that need what you have? Take some time to pray for God to open your eyes to who may be ready to jump, clinging to the wall, or even sinking. You are called, and you are equipped, don't let someone drown on your watch!

Grocery Store

Grocery Store

The other day I went grocery shopping. It is one of my most dreaded pastimes, but something I am stuck doing. Inevitably, my list gets longer and longer the more I travel through the aisles. It is a challenge some days to see if I can get all the way through the store without adding anything to my list! One thing literally leads to another. I remember that I have to have another ingredient to make the recipe that I all the sudden have a craving for. 15 ingredients later, I am set for the week (o.k. that isn't true…I will be back 3 days later)!

This particular day, with my cart loaded with 7 extra items, I swipe my credit card, grab my bags and head home. I start unloading them into my kitchen when I am struck all the sudden with the realization that I have no clue how much I spent. Most of the time I could guess, round about even, but this time I seriously had no clue! The trouble is that just because I don't know, I still will have to pay for it in 30 days. No getting out of it, I bought the stuff, stocked my shelves with it, it's mine.

So let me ask you a question. How much did your sin cost you today? Have you stockpiled it, one after another without thinking? Did one sin lead to another until your load is too heavy to carry? Are you at a place where you really don't even know how you got here?

It's so funny how quickly that can happen. Just like in a store, there is something in you that is almost on autopilot. A certain smell, and you are at the bakery buying a cake. Which triggers your memory to something your friend made and you want to try, so off to another aisle to buy more stuff. Your mind almost just takes over and you feel as if you were in the twilight zone…30 minutes later you are standing in the checkout line with no recollection of how you got there. Yep, that describes how quickly unrepentant sin will take you down.

How many times do you find yourself thinking about someone in a negative way? Assuming that you know exactly what they are thinking about you? Assuming you know their motives because you just know. That little thought left unchecked will slowly lead into you getting mad at them, which left unchecked will lead into bitterness, which will lead into chains and pits and captivity. Wow that went fast didn't it?

Or how about this scenario: your buddies want to go have a good time! (We've all heard this before) They choose a bar, which you really don't want to go to because you know the temptation, but decide you can just shoot a few games of pool and leave. No harm done, right? Well of course you get thirsty, so you justify that one beer won't take you where it did last time. You WILL stay in control. But slowly and surely, the night goes on and on, and you find yourself being helped to a cab, worse yet, that cute girl is sitting beside you, taking you "home". The morning comes, the regret sets in and once again, the chains are wrapped tighter and tighter.

We can run through a million scenarios here. Every one of us has our vices that love to squeeze us tight! And every vice offers one thing: slavery!

But Jesus Christ is standing there, with His Hand held out offering us something quite different! He is offering a payment. Whether we want to admit it or not, all those little unchecked sins that we just do without even thinking, come at a cost. And the time is coming or has come to pay them. Most of the time we don't even realize what the price of accepting each of those sins is. We don't realize how high of a tab we have run up. But imagine getting a credit card bill in the mail that makes your stomach drop. That is what is facing us now. We don't have the "money" in the bank to pay it, the price is too high! The sins have literally piled up!

You are being offered a free payment coupon! All you have to do is look at Jesus, take His Hand and spill your guts! Tell Him what you are sorry for ask for forgiveness, He already knows what you have loaded your cart with. But man, aren't you ready to get rid of it all?

Take Him up on the offer! Take back your life, but giving it to Him. Stop running, stop trying to fix last week's mistake, stop piling up more and more sin! Just Stop! You really don't want the bill that is going to demand payment. HE is the only way to pay it in full. Now it's just your choice whether or not you will let Him pay it!

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
   to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a]

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
   and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn"

ISAIAH 61:1,2

Crippled Christian

Crippled Christian

If I gave you the option to choose between being blind, deaf, mute or crippled, which would you choose? Not great options, right? But you HAVE to choose one…so go ahead and think about it.

Now if I gave you one last option and that being NONE OF THE ABOVE…would you change your choice? Of course you would! I would venture to guess that you would even pay a lot of money to not have a disability. Am I right?

No one willing chooses not to see, or to hear, or to talk. No one volunteers to not be able to walk. Now, there are people that live with it and even have amazing lives, but I would guess that they would change it if they could!

So, here's something to think about: if we would do anything to have our physical bodies whole, why do we walk around spiritually blind, deaf, mute and crippled?

Does that sound harsh? It's kinda true though isn't it? That still small voice that tells us not to do something (or to get moving and do it), we ignore don't we? That person that may have needed a hug or a word of encouragement…do we walk right past like we don't see them? Are there people in your life that you know do not have Jesus? If you have Him, why do we NOT tell people about HIM? And why do we act crippled when Jesus clearly says "Go!"?

How have we become comfortable as a crippled Christian?

I want to challenge you to pray for God to open your eyes to see what He sees, your ears to be alert to His voice, your tongue to be on fire with the Word that saves and your feet to be fitted with a readiness to go win a world to Christ!

Are you ready to be healed? The price has already been paid, it won't cost you anything…just a simply answer of yes!

SUNSCREEN

SUNSCREEN

We are told that we will get wrinkles when we are older if we don't put on sunscreen...right? I know this to be true but yet I make all these excuses why I don't want to....stupid...you don't have to tell me that! There are times though that I put on SPF 4 or 8 just to feel better about myself. In reality those might help a little but I will still be pretty wrinkly later on in life. What would it be like if I wore SPF 80 all the time? Well I wouldn't be tan... But I also would have awesome skin later, no sun damage, and ultimate protection! Right??!!

Would it be fair to say that if we don't read the WORD there will be spiritual damage occur? Yes! You will be left totally unprotected with nothing to fight off the attacks of satan! Just like using NO sunscreen!

But you might be thinking , "I read a devotion every day"...I'm not saying that is bad...but it is kind of like putting on SPF 4 or 8. It will help but will only do so much!

The Bible, now that is SPF 80 kind of protection! And honestly, it's the only thing strong enough to actually work!

So are you applying it? Or are there more excuses of why you don't have the time? What is more important in your schedule that you seriously don't take 15 extra minutes to read a living Word? If I offered you a million dollars and all you had to do was read it every day for a year, I bet you would do it! So what if I promised you protection and help, peace and fulfillment…is that not good enough? It's time to rearrange our schedules and realign our priorities! It's time to make a change! Who do you want fighting for you, protecting you? I choose the ONE who we already knows wins! The odds are better that way! How about you?

What kind of "sunscreen" did you apply today??