One Way Ticket?

Most of us think of life as a one way ticket. But as Christians our lives are actually a round trip ticket. We came from the One and will return to Him. Isn't that a great thought? Lots of people conceive this life as a one way ticket like the saying, "You only live once." Well, we only live on this Earth once.

Take a moment to think that wherever you are in your life, it is just a prelude, a blink even, to a new eternal beginning. We only live once on this Earth, but after death, our journey will just begin. We should make the most of this life, by preparing for our return to our Heavenly Father, where our round trip will be fulfilled.

Will of God

When I state the phrase, "Will of God", what is the first thing that comes to your mind? The death of a loved one, a natural disaster, the suffering from an incurable disease or a hard sacrafice. Most people will think of a dark thought in relation to God's will. Charles Allen in the book God's Physciatry states that, "Perhaps one cause is our Lord's prayer in Gethsemane, "Nevertheless not my will, but thine be done." (Luke 22:42). And from Jesus' surrender to God's will He was hung from the cross.

But what about the good, even great, wills of God? Sometimes we forget those. A sunrise is God's will. A sunset is God's will. We have far more of those than we do natural disasters. The will of God does not always need to be synonymous with the bad things that happen to us. His will needs to be also associated to the good that happens to us every single day. Simple things we take for granted as a good mood, a mild day, rain when we need it, and instead of death, the birth of a beautiful baby. The good in life is also God's will.

The Closer You Are to God

I truly believe that the closer you are to God, the smaller everything else seems.

God is everywhere, all the time. He is so massive that standing against anything and everything He overpowers them is size and stature.

As you grow closer to God, you realize that your fears, worries, obstacles and tragedies seem smaller because His presence, love, hope and grace overshadows those things.

If you cling to Him through the good and the bad of life - the good will be great and the bad will get better.

I often tell me people of a mental analogy I had when Addison died. In my head I would have this image of me drowning in this hurricane like sea of huge, crashing waves. An image of a raging sea of grief. But I also would see Jesus standing tall in that storm and holding me up out of the water. So I would see myself clinging to His arm. Now, I don't know why I kept seeing this in my mind, but I do know that it brought me more comfort than anything.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 (KJV)

Remember Who You Are

My maternal grandmother told me on one million different occassions to "remember who you are." She would tell me this before leaving her house almost every time I was there. I still think of that statement a lot. I need to more often remember who I am. And I believe people would be more inclined to walk a better path if they would just ... remember who they are.

We have a head to think of ways to be thoughtful and mindful of others. We have a heart to love and care about others. We have arms to comfort each other. We have mouths to console with encouraging words.

Often times we use these things for quite the opposite: our head for thinking hateful thoughts, hearts that grow cold and heavy, arms to hit or push away and mouths that spill words that sting and hurt.

We have to remember who we are. We are the children of God.

Remember who you are. The more we understand who we are the more we will understand why we are.

What Gets You Out of Bed in the Morning?

When the morning alarm goes off each day, what gets you out of bed? Before your feet hit the floor what thoughts are running through your head? The busy day ahead, the many errands that need to be ran, the appointments scheduled for later that day and the ongoing to-do list.

I know the feeling. I do the exact same thing. Sometimes I wonder, if I didn't have all these things to do would I even get out of bed?

I would like to think that I would. With our busy lives there is one thing we forget to do and it is the one thing that should get us all out of bed each morning - to live our lives for Him. That is the most important thing on our to-do list and sometimes it runs last on the list. If you are blessed to wake the next morning it has to be for a reason or purpose. If there were no reason or purpose you might not have woken up?

With that I want to make it a point to wake up each morning with the Lord in mind and what His will for me is that day. I want to make that the number one priority on my to-do list. I think if we all were to do this the daunting tasks of the day ahead wouldn't seem so bad. We could find opportunity in the daily tasks to live for Him. Even if it is something as simple as thoughtful acts as opening the door for someone, or picking up something someone dropped, or letting a car in the line at the light. The acts are endless and those simple acts I do believe show the nature of Christianity. It is also kind of like that commercial (I think it is AllState or State Farm but can't remember) where one kind act witnessed by a bystander leads to another kind act by that bystander and on and on. To serve God and follow His will each day are what I want to get me out of the bed each morning.

Incomprehensible Love

I will be the first to admit, that I am not a huge fan of Christian music. I have found a few bands that I really like and some songs that I really like, but overall I listen to a bit of everything. I did however find one song in particular by Third Day that gives me chills. It is a song simply called "Love Song". Now I am sure this song is old and most of you probably already know it or have heard it, but it is new too me. The lyrics literally move me. I listen to it everyday, sometimes multiple times a day, because it reminds me of the unconditional and incomprehensible love Jesus has for us. And it is a love so strong we cannot even wrap our minds fully around it. The lyrics are below.


I've heard it said that a man would climb a mountain
Just to be with the one he loves
How many times has he broken that promise
It has never been done.
I've never climbed the highest mountain
But I walked the hill of Calvary

Just to be with you, I'd do anything
There's no price I would not pay
Just to be with you, I'd give anything
I would give my life away.

I've heard it said that a man would swim the ocean
Just to be with the one he loves
How may times has he broken that promise
It can never be done
I've never swam the deepest ocean
But I walked upon the raging sea

Just to be with you, I'd do anything
There's no price I would not pay
Just to be with you, I'd give anything
I would give my life away.

I know that you don't understand
the fullness of My love
How I died upon the cross for your sins
And I know that you don't realize
how much that I gave you
But I promise, I would do it all again.

Just to be with you, I've done everything
There's no price I did not pay
Just to be with you, I gave everything
Yes, I gave my life away.

Friend or Acquaintance?

I often consider my relationships in two categories: friend or acquaintance? An acquaintance is defined as personal knowledge or a person with whom one is acquainted. Friend is defined as one attached to another by respect or affection.

There are times when I run into casual acquaintances and we may talk for a moment and catch up and then not talk to one another again until our next happenstance encounter. A friend is usually someone you talk to everyday or multiple times a day, depend on, cry with, laugh with and cannot imagine life without.

I always try to keep Jesus my friend in my personal relationship with Him. I used to have Him as just an acquaintance where I called on Him when I really needed him after life just happened to run us into one another. But now that I am cognisant of the type of relationship I want to have with Him I make it a point to talk to Him everyday, multiple times a day, lean on Him when I can no longer stand and cry to Him. And with our friendship, which is one million times the relationship I have with my best of friends, I cannot imagine my life without Him.

In my walk with Him, I never again want to have Jesus as just my mere acquaintance. And He did in fact sacrifice the most ultimate gift for me and you. Is there a better friend you can have than that?