Archive for July, 2011

Garbage?

Posted: July 26, 2011 in Life
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I recently went to Dunkin Donuts to get some coffee, because… I loves me some good coffee.  When they play those commercials that say, “America runs on Dunkin’” I know they are talking about me!

As I got out of my truck to go in, I saw some garbage, and decided to pick it up and go throw it away.  I threw it away and then headed in for my coffee. Suddenly, I realized that I didn’t have my wallet, so I went back to the truck to get it. But as I went back, I realized that I didn’t have my key to the truck. It wasn’t in my hand, it wasn’t in any of my pockets.  So I got my wallet out of the truck, then I checked all through out the truck, and still… no truck key!

Then, a thought hit me, could I have let the key go when I dumped all of the trash?  So I went to the garbage can, took off the lid, looked into see if I could find my garbage.  I recognized my garbage way down in the receptacle and reached in to pick it up. As I did, I saw it.  My truck key!

Unbelievable!

I was so happy!  However, I couldn’t believe that I just threw away something so valuable, with all of the garbage!

You know, in life it is easy to lose what is most precious, what is most valuable, what is a true treasure because of all of the garbage that can pile up in our lives.  We have the garbage of disappointments, of lost dreams, of broken relationships, of unexpected hardships, of hurts and offenses. Garbage, garbage, garbage!  And when garbage piles up, what is most valuable can be lost.

My truck key is valuable.  Without it, I am not going anywhere.  It doesn’t belong in the garbage.  It belongs with me, in my pocket or in the ignition, being used for the purpose it was created for.

You know what, we are all valuable.  We have all been created by God for a purpose. But, it is easy for us to get lost in the garbage and then, because we are surrounded by garbage, we can begin to feel like garbage.  It is easy to feel thrown away, forgotten, discarded, unusable.

The truth is… you are not garbage.  You are valuable, simply because God created you, died for you, and desires to have a relationship with you.

Check this out:

Luke 15:3-7 NASU
So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?   “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.   “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’

And here’s another…

Luke 15:8-10 NASU
“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?   “When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’   “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

God looks at each and every one of us as valuable.  To Him, we are like lost sheep to a shepherd, or a lost coin that is worth so much. And just like we read in these biblical parables, God is looking for that which is lost, he is looking for restored relationship with us, His creation.

We are separated because of sin, garbage.  But He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to pay for all of our sins, all of our garbage.  And He loves us in spite of the garbage! In Romans 5:8 we are told that God demonstrates His love for us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.  This is saying that on our worst day, in our worst moment, in our worst failure, God loved us and sent His son to pay the price for our lives.

So, no matter what Garbage you or I may be facing or dealing with, God loves us more than the garbage and is looking to reach into the garbage can and pull us out and hold us in His hands and then postition us in the place of purpose He created us for.

If I Ruled the World!

Posted: July 6, 2011 in Life
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Have you ever sat and daydreamed about what you would do, if you ruled the world. I mean… really ruled the world. Ultimate power, anything you wanted. Whatever you said would be done. I have thought about this and here are a few things I would change:

 First off, broccoli would taste like chocolate. In addition, so would every other vegetable that is supposed to be good for you but is the table nemesis of millions of kids at dinnertime. “Eat your broccoli… it’s good for you!” Well, if it’s so good for me then it should taste good… like chocolate! There is no way that something that tastes that putrid can be good for anything! Just saying! All of you broccoli fans just keep eating away… I’m holding out for the chocolate version… and it’s coming, because I’m going to rule the world!

Second, and I hope I don’t offend anyone with this, just being honest. I would make all “passing of gas” smell like flowers. Wouldn’t that be great?! I mean, no more blaming it on the dog, or on a child or relative. No more nervous stares in the middle of crowded elevators when the smell is passing by. Instead, people would turn to you and say, “Thank you!, I love the smell of roses!”

Next, everyone would be nice. There would be no mean people! Traffic jams would occur only because everyone was preferring each other, not because of road rage. Moreover, the court systems would go extinct because no one would be prosecuted and no one would sue anyone and everyone would just be nice!

Lastly, everyone would be a millionaire. There would be no poverty or lack of food for anyone. There would be no homeless people. There would be no sickness or need for doctors. All disease would be banished.

If I ruled the world, everything would taste good, nothing would smell bad, everyone would be nice, and no one would have a need.

Sounds like heaven doesn’t it? But… I don’t rule the world, and neither do you. But, God does and He has created a real heaven. Heaven…that place sounds real good. No wars, no disease, no evil, no sorrow.

The hard part to understand is, if heaven is so great, then why didn’t God just put us there to begin with? Because this place called earth is no heaven! There is death and disease and mean people and really bad days. So what’s the deal?

Think about this… if I never saw darkness, I would never appreciate light. If someone wasn’t mean to me, then I would never know when someone was being nice. If I had not experienced pain, I would not truly appreciate comfort.

The reality is if I ruled the world I would create a world without consequences and people would basically be robots who just did what I said, because that is the only way I could make everyone be nice and not let there be any pain! God wants a relationship with us… His creation. And He wants us to choose a relationship with Him. But if He makes us choose Him, then we do not have a genuine relationship. So, He gave us all a free will. And in our freedom to choose, we as people sure do bring a lot of pain, and heartache to one another, don’t we? But, we can also choose to follow God. We can choose to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We can choose to repent, say we are sorry for all of the bad choices we have made with our freedom and we can receive God’s forgiveness. And we can spend eternity in Heaven with Him. Heaven will be full of people who chose God. Who received His gift of forgiveness of sins through His son Jesus Christ. And it will be full of people who can appreciate His love, peace, kindness and forgiveness because they have experienced the pains of life.

The bible says in James 4:14-15, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

Our lives on earth are a brief moment in the light of all eternity. And I think we would all love to rule the world and have things our way. But, if we had everything our way, would we really appreciate what we have? Would we truly understand what a gift life is? And would we appreciate God – the true ruler of the world, who in His infinite wisdom does not give us everything we want, but does supply all that we need for now, and is preparing a place for us in Heaven.