Good Intentions

Here we are again, my last post was about two month ago. I always have good intentions to write more, but it just doesn't seem to happen. Have you ever been there? Good intentions just don't get it done. Now on something like this it is not really that big a deal. It is not a have to situation. But what about when it comes to important things? How many things do you have good intentions to accomplish and it just never seems to happen? I could make a list of things that get talked about but just never seem to get done. Are you like that? I think we all are in some areas of our life's. It is very hard to get past that, especially if it is something we don't like to do. So what do we do? I think we need to sit down and make a list and priorities. On things that have to get done that we are procrastinating we need to enlist help. Ask someone that can help us get motivated to give us a push (not to nag us - LOL). I listen to a gentleman named DR Randy Carlson. He has a Radio Show called Intentional Living. His suggestion is that when you get up in the morning you pick one thing that you will be intentional about today. Then you work on that one item. From there you move on. You can't fix it all in one day, you take just a little at a time.
Whatever way you choose to try to get better, it takes an effort, it will not fix itself. My prayers are that you can succeed and do better.

How do we get influenced?

Have you ever noticed a lot of Christians don't act like they are Christians at all? When you see them on Sunday in church they have on their church face. If you see them on a weekday they have on their "other" face.
This is not unusual. If we look in the mirror at ourselves most of us are no different. We too act different in different situations. Ever look at a person that thinks they are a Harley biker? They dress for the occasion (even if we smile at them). Runners dress for the occasion. Motocross people act and dress a certain way. Christians (at least on Sunday) dress and act a certain way. Everyone does it to a degree.

So what is my point? Everyone acts or plays their part. If you do it long enough you start actually thinking this is who you are.
The longer we act a certain way, the more we become that way. This is because we are influenced by what we do. So if you want to become a better Christian one thing you can do is spend time with other Christians.

It is late

Here it is almost 4 AM and I have been at work all night. This is not fun. I have been overseeing a critical installation to make sure nothing gets missed. Everything is going good, but I am getting tired. Oh well, not much longer and we will be done.
This reminds me of our Christian walk. We know that it is late. We are walking the walk and waiting for Jesus to come back. Is it as late as people say it is or will it be many more years before he comes back? Here at work I know when we will be done, when it comes to Jesus I don't know for sure. He told us in the Bible that no one knows the time of his return except for God. So do we get tired in our walk like we do at work? We can if we are not careful. It is important that we stay refreshed.
How do we do that? We make sure we stay in the word. We make sure we praise and worship Jesus and we stay around people that think and believe like we do to keep each other encouraged. If we do that we won't get tired, we will stay refreshed.

What does the New Year have in store for us?

Time sure flies. Here we are in February already. We pray that this year will be better then the last. We sure had a lot of obstacles to overcome last year. I do believe we are ready for the new year, all we need now is some warm weather. Another month or so it will be getting better (can't wait).
So what are we doing this year? In Mark 16:15 the Bible says: He (Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation". God knows we can't be everywhere, so he uses different people in different places and we will do the best to do our part.
So what does he have in store for us this year? The only way we can totally experience what God has in store for us is to do what he asks us to do. Will that come with challenges? Always. Can we handle them? Always. Why? Because he will equip us and help us. When we are in his will we know that he will be right there with us. We can not loose.
What will God have in store for you this year? There is one way to find out.

Making more Plans

I have been talking about how things don't always work out the way they are planned. As you know this year definitely did not go as planned for me and my family. All that is now behind us. Now what do we do? Do we give up and just hide out from here on? Well some people may do that, but I am not one of them.
So how do I move forward? I start by seeking God's will. Most of us usually know what we think we should do, but we have to make sure it is God's will. How do I do that? I pray and read the Bible to look for answers. God answers prayers. He may not answer them as quick as we like sometime, but he will answer them. The second thing I do is talk to my wife. If I think go and she thinks no go, there must be a reason. We make sure we both agree on what we are going to do.
Okay now that we believe God and us are on the same page we move forward.
What if we are wrong? Can that happen? Yes it can, because sometimes we want something bad enough we don't listen to God real good. Does that mean we will crash and burn? Not necessarily. God has it in control and if we are wrong, he will point it out and you will know. It is just a matter of listening.

Here is what God told the Isrealites:
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 29:11 (NIV2011)
Do you think we can apply this verse to us? I think if we are living for God we can. If we are living like we want? Probably not so much.

Things don't always go as planned!

Last time I wrote I was talking about how sometimes we get ready for something and it doesn't happen. Well this has been quite the year so far. Remember how we got rained out first race? Well the following week didn't go so well either. The weather was great but on practice day I crashed and broke my leg. Talk about things that turn out different then planned. Because of this other then riding a couple of practices I have not done any racing this year. The good news is that I am almost totally healed and riding last week did not irritate my leg. Sweet.
We don't always know why things happen the way they do. I sure don't know why I had to get hurt again (this wasn't my first time). So what do we do? We have to trust that things happen for a reason. That is easier said then applied. How do you do in situations like that? Usually it isn't that hard for me, but this time I really struggled, because it really messed things up. So what do I do? I keep reminding myself of what God promises in his word and I hang on to those promises. Does that explain why some things happen? No, but it does help us deal with them. In the end we know that God has our best in mind. It could have just been an accident, because Motocross is dangerous. You just never know.

Getting ready for nothing

Have you ever gotten ready to do something and then when you get all ready it gets cancelled? That's where I am today. Tomorrow is supposed to be the first State Race for this year. I prepared my sermon for church last night, then today I got the trailer and everything ready. The bike just needed loaded, but of course on the golf cart the starter solenoid wire broke so I got to fix it. After some custom engineering it was fixed and I got everything ready to go. I did forget to mention that its been raining this week and the track owner was still trying to make a decision to see if it was sensible to try to have the race. Well I finished, I cleaned up and then I got online to see if the race was on and guess what? It's cancelled. Bummer.
Some of us may feel this way about Jesus coming back. You keep hearing people preach about it. And the Bible definitely talks a lot about it. We get ready and wait. We get ready and wait. We get ready and wait. But Jesus doesn't come. What do you think? Do you think it may have been cancelled like the race was cancelled?
Don't get bummed out. It has not been cancelled, we just have to have patience. Lets see what the Bible says:
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8-9 (NIV2011)

So what do you think. Has it been cancelled? Praise God it hasn't. No chance of that. He is just waiting for our friends to come to know Jesus. Awesome.