Tag: God

Forgiveness As You Forgive

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those you trespass against us…

Want forgiveness from God? Start by forgiving others. You can’t ask for forgiveness if you don’t first forgive. And it’s measure for measure. Forgive a little or selectively and don’t expect forgiveness a lot and completely. This is simply another simplicity of life.

Jesus came so that our sins—past, present, and future—are forgiven. Forgiveness is always there—completely—for the taking. But you will never feel that forgiveness if you don’t first forgive. Simple.

Have a GREAT day forgiving!!!

Are You Passing Lazarus on the Street?

Last week I went from Washington, DC to Chicago. What I noticed was more people on the streets of both cities begging—in one case a mother with a small child. And the other thing I noticed was north of 99.9% of people totally ignoring those people. Reminds me of Jesus talking about the story of Lazarus:

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. Luke 16:19-21

What happened? Lazarus died and went to heaven. The “rich man” died and went to hell. He lamented not having stopped and helped Lazarus when both were alive on earth.

Are you passing Lazarus on the street?

One more thing to think about that Jesus said:

Give to everyone who begs from you. Luke 6:30

Do you?

Have a great day!

Shine Some Light Today on a Dark World!

I am not a doom-and-gloom sayer but look around you—the world is a pretty dark place these days. Bombings, stabbings, shootings, and lots of animosity. It’s a rare day when we aren’t hearing about something bad happening. I am afraid the world is getting darker.

That’s where you and I come in. Today is a day to shed a little light on our dark world. It’s simple. Start with a smile, show some kindness to a stranger, and help someone in need. It’s not difficult. Just spend some time today thinking more about others than yourself. Let that light of God that is in you do some shining today.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

Smile. Do good. Go out of your way for others. It’s not hard to let your light shine. Don’t keep your light under a basket today. Let it shine! The world needs your light!

Have a GREAT, shining week!

Every Day is a New Day in Christ

No—not more “religious” mumbo-jumbo. Very simply, in a very real way, Jesus was humbly born, lived even more humbly, and in the ultimate act humbly died a terrible death. Why? Simply so your sins—yes, you!—would be forgiven. No matter what you do wrong, acknowledge your faults, give in to Jesus, and you are forgiven. A new day!

Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit. 1 Peter‬ ‭3:18‬

Get rid of yesterday and start a new day in Christ. And have a GREAT one!

No One is Better Than You (And You’re Not Better Than Anyone!)

Paul sums it up in his letter to the Romans:

God shows no partiality. Romans 2:11

We are all totally equal in the eyes of God. If that were not the case, God would not be true God. He’d be like the jealous, vindictive, petty gods of myth.

God looks at you exactly—not somewhat, but exactly—like anyone else. That means you need to look at yourself exactly like anyone else. No worse or no better. You are equal.

In today’s world, maybe more than ever, we measure equality with things—money, houses, cars, clothes, etc. Well, I have news for you in case you don’t know it. God’s eyes see equality in a totally different light. Your eyes need to do the same.

No one—and I mean no one—gets to take those things along with them when they die. We all exit this world equally. We need to start living it equally.

Take a look around you as you walk down the street today. Equal. Equal. Equal. No matter who you see.

God shows no partiality. Shouldn’t you follow God’s lead?

Have a GREAT day and even better weekend!!!

God is Not Religious

This is pretty simple. God is God. He is not “religious.” We are the ones who tag God as “religious.” Then, we do everything to separate “religion” from everyday life. Translation: We want to separate God from everyday life. The problem with that is God is life.

We need to stop all the tags we associate with God—”religion,” “spiritual,” “holy,” etc. God is simply God. God created life and gives us life. To repeat, God is life.

This doesn’t mean we walk around religious, spiritual, and holy. It simply means we listen to God on how to live our lives. And, I’ll repeat once again, God gives us one very simple command on how to live life: LOVE!

How can life be any simpler. LOVE!

God, life, love. Have a wonderful day living!

Be Humble or Be Humbled?

You have a choice: Be humble or be humbled. Jesus said it pretty clearly:

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Luke 14:11

And that’s coming from someone who was the model of humility. Born in a stable to unassuming earthly parents. Worked as a carpenter for 90% of his life in total obscurity. Died the most humble of deaths after being tortured, spit upon, and insulted. Now, that’s humility!

Jesus doesn’t expect us to top Him. But He is the model of what true humility looks like. And even when they wanted to coronate Jesus as king He snuck off in humility.

Exalt yourself and be humbled. Humble yourself and be exalted. Interesting choice.

Have a GREAT day and even better weekend!

The Jesus Model of Service

In this country we talk about political “service.” It’s anything but “service” as intended by the founding fathers. Politics today is some combination of get-rich scheme and massaging egos. It’s not true service to others. Want to see real service in action? Look to Jesus.

Jesus came simply to serve. When they wanted to make him a king he snuck away. He simply lived for us and then died for us. He started humbly and died more than humbly. He played no favorites, especially those who wanted political advantage from him. He simply served.

There is no better model of service than Jesus. Every politician—especially those self-proclaimed “Christians”—should be reading the Jesus playbook on service. If they did this country would truly be in a better place, not to mention a better world.

Have a GREAT day! And trying serving today!

Your One-Word Summary of the Bible?

Some may summarize the Bible in one word as “God.” Others may say “Jesus.” I think the clear one-word summary of the Bible is “love.”

In the Old Testament, God commands us to love Him by loving others (“Love your neighbor as yourself” Leviticus 19:18). We didn’t do such a good job listening to God so He gave us His Son to walk in love for us. Before His death, Jesus repeated the command to “love” (“Love each other as I have loved you.” John 15:12).

The Bible is fundamentally all about love because life should be about love. Why? For starters, God commands it and Jesus lived it—to His death out of love for us.

Live a little—no, make that a LOT—in love today. And not just those who it is convenient to love!

Golf & Faith: Need to Swing Through!

A week off really helped to clear my head. It may not sound so comparing golf and faith, but I see the comparison between the two clearer than ever.

If you really want to hit a golf ball pure and long, you have to swing through the ball, completing your swing. Stop short of accelerating your swing and not completing it and you are not maximizing how far the ball goes.

The same is true with faith. You have to “swing through” on faith not stopping short but going all the way. For example, Jesus lived and died to deliver His very simple message to love everyone. His command to love is the same command that God the Father gave us but we ignored. It took Jesus to live and die a bloody death to bring the “love” message to life.

Well, you can’t kind of love or sort of love. You have to love completely. Totally and completely. You have to swing through on love. If not, you are not maximizing your faith. You are not a total follower of Jesus. Not a total Christian.

I can go on and on about this but will stop here. Want to succeed at golf and faith? Then simply swing though all the way!

Have a GREAT day! And swing through!!!