Sketch of My Blog

Our Journey in Life is more than we allow it to be.
We must all Be Ourselves to really enjoy what's all around us.
Take hold and learn from Life and Others.

I Follow the Way of Jesus.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Seuss-ism - Be Yourself

Theodor Seuss Geisel
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
  - Dr. Seuss

Now that is some sound advice if ever I heard some.  I think we seriously hamper our lives to much when we try to be someone we are not or say things we don't say.  I think more people would be happier following this advice.

I want to live life more abundantly and enjoy it too.

Have A Great Weekend and Be Yourself!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Strolling on the Water

I went strolling on water recently.  Actually I am trying to walk on water every day.  I relate water to the Word of God, the Bible.  Each and every day I am trying to read the Bible.  I feel that doing that is like taking a walk on water.

Have you ever noticed how everyone likes water.  I mean we use it for so many things.  We cook with it.  Everyone of our drinks has water in it.  We swim in it, sail and boat on it.  We drink it and play with it.  We enjoy looking at it.  It waters our gardens and it is the key source of life for just about everything on this planet.  Without water we would be a desert like mars or mercury.  Although we can not completely rule out the lack of water on those two planets or anywhere else.  Which is why we are constantly searching for more water, for more signs of life.

The Word of God is like water.  We need it so survive.  Other people think they don't, but they are dying of thirst and wonder why they don't live a life that they can fully enjoy.  One where they are not feeling like they are missing something.  I know what that feels like sometimes.  Sometimes even when I spend time in God's Word, I feel like I am missing something.  That there is more than what I am doing, but I don't know how to get there.  I don't even know exactly what it is.

And still I try to walk on water when I can.  Read the Bible that is.  Some days I stroll on the water and some days I sit.  Some days I watch the water and some days I just walk away.  I am a work in progress and am never perfect.  I criticize too much and do not give enough humility, grace or mercy.  I can grumble about traffic in a heart beat and about the weather or working situations or you name it.  I am my own worst enemy.  Now if I can Stroll in the Word of God more often and get the 2x4 out of my eye with out criticizing others maybe I can show more humility, grace and mercy and stop grumbling about whatever.  I need to show more compassion to those around me, even those in the vehicle in front of me and work on my lack of patience.

Try walking on water.  It is not as easy as it sounds.  Sometimes you just get stuck in the mud and sometimes you are just floating.  No matter what, it is always a challenge.

Friday, July 23, 2010

A Father's Son

Some people have great ideas or revelations in the shower.  Others have them while driving to work.  Still others have them on a walk or even just any old time of the day or at any moment.  I am of the last sort.  I never know when a great thought will hit me.  That is how this one came to be.

My family.  My teddy bears!
Left to Right:
Mom (Nancy), Wife (Rebecca), Son (Josiah), Dad (Marco).
I recently had to remind myself that I am my fathers child.  Dementia has taken who he was away some what.  Sometimes I see the old him, but most of the time he is somewhat different then he was.  So recently I have been reminded of the times in my life where my father really stood out for me.  He would play catch even though I would throw so hard it hurt his hand.  Good thing he had a glove on.  He would take walks with me to the local McD's or to a 7-11 or to the Fire station.  He would build things out of wood and help show me how to do that too.  And the day I chopped the tip of my finger with an ax he rushed me to the house and mom drove us to the ER.  He has done so much for me and sometimes I get so frustrated with how he is.  Then I look at my life and what I do with my son.  And I say, "You know what, you turned out to be a lot like Dad.  A little bit different in my own way, but a lot like Dad."  I am proud to say that I treat my family just like my Dad treated his family.  Now I have to accept Dad where he is at.  Remember the good times we had.  Cherish the moments we have now.  And try to do for my son, what my dad did for me.  Live a life worth living and enjoy my family.  Because that is what my dad did.

So I am going to live my life, enjoy my family and make the most of it.  That is all I can be expected to do.  I will be a living example for my son so he will grow up like me, who grow up like my dad.


John 10:10 (ASV) 
10 The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Time With God

How I feel on a Day
 without the Word of God.
I have learned that the more time I spend with God the more I want it when I don't spend time with Him.  I have also found out that when I spend time with God two things happen.  One is life seems so much more peaceful and smooth and comfortable to work through.  The other thing is that Satan tries to wreck life more and get things to be more a chore than they could be, adds stress and worry and tries to generally be a real pain in life.

So I know things are going well when he rears his evil head and tries to mess things up and add stress and worry.  I also know that I enjoy reading the Bible on a daily basis and listening to what God has to say through His Word.  I try to read the Bible each day and if it speaks to me, great.  When I just read it I am blessed not matter what the Word says.  Time with God is the most important thing to living life.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Strong Foundations

Foundations are very important.  They are important in relationships and in buildings and in everything we do.  In life and in work, in learning and in growing, in striving and in changing, in loving and in teaching, if we do not have a firm foundation to work with then we have an unsure place to put our feet.  It makes for a very unstable place to work from.  The bible speaks on this very topic.  Think about what Jesus had to say on the theme.  He talked about just following His teachings and being set on a firm foundation.

Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT)
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.
25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.
26 But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.
27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

How easy it is for many people in this world to tout that the thing to do is this, or the thing to do is that, or something else entirely.  We are constantly bombarded by all the things we should or should not do according to one person or another.  Why do people have to come up with the newest and greatest way to live and act?  Why not just follow and live by what Jesus taught, by what the Bible teaches all through out its writings.  Think about what it means to be built or to build on a solid foundation.  It means that we, in the Christian sense, are hearers, doers and followers of the Word.  The inspired creation of God.  All we are asked to to is hear, do and follow or act.  Be obedient to the Word and be a practicing follower of the Word.  The Bible sums up everything we need to know, everything we need to live and yet we try so hard to dissect it and rehash it into something else and to make up our own ideas about what we should be doing.

1 Corinthians 3:10-11 (NLT)
10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
 
Our business is not to build quickly, but to build upon a right foundation, and in a right spirit. Life is more than a mere competition as between man and man; it is not who can be done first, but who can work best; it is not who can rise highest in the shortest time, but who is working most patiently and lovingly in accordance with the designs of God.
Joseph Parker

Not only do I not want to build on sinking sand, but I want a strong foundation to grow from.  I am starting to study the Bible more and to implant its words in my heart and mind.  So I can carry them with me.  I am going to try and listen to what the Bible has to say and apply it to my life.  We are put on this earth for a short time.  Maximum life span around 120 years, if you are blessed to live so long.  We are put here to learn how to live with each other and to grow in such a way as to be an example to those around us and our children.  I want to grow slowly and deliberately.  I want to build my foundation slowly and carefully.  I have started with Psalm 119 and have memorized the first stanza (8 verses).  I am taking a stand in my life and striving to grow and change and be what God wants me to be.  And that means listening, learning, following and doing.  So each day is a new start for me.  Each day is a new step for me.  Each day brings me one day closer to God and one day closer to being what God wants me to be.

All I am doing is living and learning and doing.  I am doing the best I can with what I have.  I am learning each day how to be and live and do.  I am living each day as it comes.  Just doing what I can with what I have.  Not anything more than that.  Taking the Bible with me and doing what I can to make the most of what it has to offer.  I am far from perfect, but I am just doing what I can with what I have and being who I am and allowing God to work in me.  That is all we are expected to do, follow God and allow Him to work in our lives.  So that is what I am doing.  That is all I need to do.  Stay uncomplicated and build on the strongest foundation in the world - Jesus Christ.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Living Life by God's Word and Climbing God's Word Mountain

Psalms 119:1-8 (NLT)     Aleph
1 Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord.
2 Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts.
3 They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths.
4 You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully.
5 Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees!
6 Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands.
7 As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should!
8 I will obey your decrees. Please don’t give up on me!

Psalms 119 is very unique in that it is the longest chapter in the bible and the longest psalm.  Each section of the psalm is 8 verses long and is representative of the 22 letters of the Hebrew aleph-bet or alphabet.  God's word is mentioned through out the psalm.  So listening to God the other night I was told to start here.  Psalm 119 the longest chapter and psalm in the bible.  I said but that it the longest chapter and psalm in the bible.  God's response was "You want to learn? Then start here and listen and learn."

So here I start and I want to capture what it says to me.  It could say something completely different to you and that is okay, I agree to disagree and you may comment if you like.  We can discuss too.  But I am looking at it from my point of view, my life experience and my own views on life.  That is all I have and I believe that is all anyone has.  Sometimes that coincides with others and sometimes it does not.

I like the first two verses.  Why?  Because they make sense and I understand them so well.  Joyful you will be if you listen to God and follow Him.  I am sometimes not joyful, but I could be more joy-filled if I did what was right.  Not only in my own eyes, but also in God's eyes.  The next two verses tells us to walk righteously and keep God's commands.  Saying the same thing as the first two verses only using different words.  Then stating it again with the rest of the verses.  It is a repetitive stanza of 8 verses, but re-emphasizing it differently.

This first part of Psalm 119 is saying that we need to follow God's commands.  Do His will and walk upright and within His teachings.  Do that and we will be a better person.  That is pretty simple to me.  Listen to God, Do what is Right and you will be a better person.

Did you notice the ending?  "Please don’t give up on me"  Very interesting way to end a section.  A cry, a plea, a request.  Don't Give Up On Me, Please!  I want to scream it sometimes, just by the way I act and think and be.  God, I know I have screwed up, I know I am a sinner, I know I am a repeat offender, but (here it comes) Please Don't give up on me!  What more can you say to the ruler of All.  I am nothing in comparison to you God.  I know you love me and I know you care about me, but I also know that I wrong you daily and sometimes hourly.  I hurt you and do things that are not becoming a child of the King.  So Please, don't give up on me!  This section ends in an act of contrition.  We bow before our God and say have mercy, even forgive me.

This first section labeled Aleph says to me what to do to live by God's rules.  Tells me to listen to God and follow His will and His commands.  It also says to be contrite, humble and submissive.  I want that for my life.

So that is that, what do you think?