"JUST DO IT!"

REMEMBER THAT FAMOUS NIKE SLOGAN?

I have spent time over the past few weeks enjoying dvds that I just randomly chose from our church library. They were movies about men that I knew little about, so I decided to watch them and learn. As I began to watch these movies one by one, God began to show me that the movies that I had chosen were not just random choices at all. Every movie that I had chosen gave thorough detail of men who had devoted their life to making a difference in the world. Not just part time or on holidays, but literally full time commitment to reaching a lost and hurting world with the truth and hope for a better life.

In the past week as I was talking with my most confident friend, I shared my inner most feelings about the things I had seen in the dvds and how it made me feel. I have to say openly that I felt as though I had done so little for others in comparison. My life has been mostly devoted to the building of my own security and gain up to about two years ago. God got a hold of my heart and allowed me to see how uncaring the world and the church in general could be to those in desperate need. God showed me this by allowing me to experience what life felt like on the other side of the fence where the grass doesn't even grow and the rivers are dried up. Through the valley of disappointing experiences where I shared my need with others and received only a pat on the back or a promise to pray, I began to see what God wanted to reveal to me. Every one of the people who didn't respond to help with my or my families need for food, shelter, medicine, comfort and compassion reminded me of myself! That's right!  That is exactly how I acted for many years when anybody else shared their needs with me. When it finally sunk in that what I was experiencing was the same way I had treated others for so long, I got down on my knees and cried out to God for forgiveness.

From that moment forward, whenever I saw other people turn and walk away from a person in need of help or encouragement, my God would emphatically remind me, "DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT!", "DON'T LET THAT PERSON CRY OUT TO ME WHEN I HAVE MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO GIVE, ENCOURAGE OR PRAY WITH THEM!".

Since then, I have had the blessing of helping and encouraging others who are going through a crisis or spiritual battle in their personal life, but my actions haven't even scratched the surface of what God can do when I, like those men who surrendered themselves totally to His service in this world, do just that!

God wants me to give all I have to His service on this earth and for His glory on earth as it is in heaven. Our reward is promised in heaven if we don't make our treasure on earth.

 God has his own way of showing us the way we should go and the things we should do, but we all have a commission by Jesus to spread the word and care for the hurting. Some will be able to buy the seed, some will plant it, others will water it and a few will go out and harvest it. Jesus knew that the word was already out there when he told his disciples that the fields were ready for harvest. That's why he also said that the world will know his disciples by their love for each other.

What can I say today that would cause my brothers in Christ to show love, except to check your hearts and see if there really is love enough to make a difference. I would exhort you to really seek God to be used to make a difference and God will reveal His will to you. When He does, as Nike urged the world for years, "JUST DO IT!" Here is a short video of a man who has done just that. His movie is available at Redbox called "Machine Gun Preacher". You may not totally agree with all of his ways , but God said, "your ways are not my ways". What will You do?

CRISIS IN CHRIST CHURCH

Posted on Feb. 22,2011 @focusontheheart.org

message for "heart for the home" page

There are many still missing, thought to be trapped under the rubble. At 12:51 the earthquake occurred in Christchurch, so as you can imagine it was a busy lunchtime period, there was a lot of people out and about.
This is the news this morning as we awake from our nights sleep in America. Yes, the people of Christchurch, New Zealand were shocked by yet another earthquake. It was the second major quake to hit Christchurch, a city of 350,000, in five months, though Tuesday's 6.3-magnitude temblor caused far more destruction than a stronger September quake that struck before dawn on a weekend. More than 100 people, including as many as a dozen visiting Japanese students, were thought to be trapped in the rubble as darkness — and drizzling rain — fell Tuesday night. The Prime Minister John Key rushed to the city and describes it as a scene of utter devastation.
Sidewalks and roads were cracked and split, while thousands of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens and car alarms blared. Ambulance services were quickly overwhelmed, and groups of people helped victims clutching bleedings wounds, and others were carried to private vehicles in makeshift stretchers fashioned from rugs or bits of debris. "The government is willing to throw everything it can in the rescue effort," Deputy Prime Minister Bill English said. "Time is going to be of essence."
Troops were deployed to help people get out and to throw up a security cordon around the stricken area, and residents throughout the city were urged to stay home or with neighbors and conserve water and food.

As I was reading this article in the comfort of my home this morning, my heart went out to those suffering in the midst of this crisis, but at the same time I felt helpless. I know they are suffering and that they are experiencing the worst day of ther lives, but I don't know how I can possibly help them. As I began to process this, it occurred to me that this is exactly what we are experiencing in our homes across this country of ours. Lives are being devasated by crisis upon crisis in the home and we don't know where to begin to help, so many times we just stay out of it. The last part of the article I read said that troops were deployed to help and the residents were being urged to stay home.


God help Americans to get out of this rut in the church! Sadly, this describes exactly what the majority of the people in the church are doing today! Why is this? Who told us to stay home and let the pastors go out and rescue the perishing? Can we find insructions in the Word of God to live this way? If you can find it, let me be the first to know about it, ok? Where has the sense of urgency gone for the homes in crisis? How many times do we walk into and out of church on Sunday without even looking for someone who is going through the worst day of their life? Why do we tell people to go to church when their lives are falling apart? As I read this article, I began to think about the people I met and talked to yesterday at the Community Kitchen in downtown Chattanooga Tennessee and saw how many lives have truly been touched through this effort. I talked with those volunteers who have given of themselves to reach a life in crisis. Yes, the homeless are all alone in their individual world of crisis. Every day for them is a struggle for survival, yet many of us go about with our lives as though there wasn't a problem in the world; with our earplugs in and playing our favorite songs completely oblivious to the world around us.
I'm here to tell you mother, father, brother and sister, "It's time to pull out those ear plugs and get out of our recliners and off of the computers! It's time to help the suffering people that are in our own churches, communities and cities who are experiencing crisis in their lives today!"

People who are going through the worst day of their lives without anyone to reach out to for help are out there and sadly enough, they are also in our homes sitting in the next room. Yes, just as the children in this picture have lost their parents in the quake of Christchurch, New Zealand; their are children who have lost parents right in our own churches and homes. How do feel right now for these children who have lost a mom or dad or maybe both in this awful earthquake today? Does your heart reach out to them? If so, you can do something about it! Yes, it's true, I too can do something about the compassion that I felt in my heart as I talk and prayed with the poor and sick men, women and children yesterday at the Community Kitchen.
Let your God given compassion drive you to reach out with with ever you have, to offer hope to the children; the women and the men who have recently lost a job, a spouse, a parent or best friend.

"Where are they?", you may ask. They're at your church on Sunday, at your job on Monday and even at your very own house every day of the week! Take the time to notice them and then do something to help them; offer them hope today! I challenge you tonight to ponder, "Did I really show compassion today?"

"YOUR FAITH WILL CARRY YOU"

Posted on March 1,2011 @ focusontheheart.org
Hope for the Heart page archives

Have you ever had a really great day when everything went better than you had planned? You had your time alone with God and your day was productive from the standpoint of accomplishing your goals; you felt so good that you couldn't help humming or singing a tune in the car on the way home. Then it happened!


Suddenly out of the blue, you get a phone call with bad news or you suddenly realize you've lost something very important; or someone dear to you gets hurt; or someone you care about disappoints you! This is a really good time to do a faith check! It is at this moment that we will usually either panic or stay calm. The faith that you have in Christ will make the difference at a time like this!

The disciples found themselves in just one of those moments in chapter four of Mark when their ship had filled with water in verse thirty-seven.

"And there arose a great storm of wind,(like a hurricane) and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full."

I could see in this passage that the ship is now full of water and Jesus was asleep on a pillow in the back part of the ship. The disciples had ran around in a panic before they went and woke Him up from His rest. Jesus had been teaching and healing people all day long and the disciples needed Him to do something to save them. Let's take a look at what they said to Him.

"And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, "Master, care thou not that we perish?" ~ Mark 4:38

We see in this verse that they addressed Jesus as their Master, which in the Greek means "teacher". Those guys were afraid that their end was near and they would soon be sucked up by the sea! They needed someone to give them a plan of action; a "master" plan, so to speak.

Yes, I believe that these men were pretty much in a state of panic and they wanted Jesus to either come up with a solution or to at least, panic with them!

They asked Him, "Don't you care that we are going to die?". Their understanding was blurred by the circumstances and they were past the reasoning and understanding that they were on a ship in a storm with the Son of God! The same One who had spent days and weeks teaching them about the power of faith and exercising this faith in many different ways.

Can you imagine a team of men in a large ship and the waves are crashing over the deck and filling the ship up faster than they can bail it out? Imagine the wind tossing their boat in every direction and the rain beating down on them as they bail faster and faster to keep the boat afloat.
They have been battling this storm for maybe an hour or more and they're loosing the battle. The boat is quickly sinking under the added weight of the water on board. They probably could hear the boards of the ship beginning to creak and move under the stress and they felt as though there was no hope for survival.

Finally, in this moment of total despair, I imagine someone shouted out,"Wake up Jesus!".

When we read what happens next, it is very clear to me that they didn't wake Jesus up for the purpose of stopping the storm. They didn't wake Him with the purpose of delivering them from the circumstances either, as they believed that they were going to die. I believe they were really upset that Jesus was sleeping and they were all bailing water and they just couldn't stand to let Jesus rest so peacefully while they were fighting for their lives! They acted as though they felt that the calm, peaceful sleep that Jesus was experiencing was a sign that He didn't care about them. They had forgotten all the lessons that Jesus had taught them about the battles and struggles of life's difficulties and they were acting purely on human instinct!

How many times do we do this very thing when something catches us by surprise? Do we feel we should battle our way through it and wait until we are about to sink before we run to get help from our Lord? Why do we wait? Some people will tell us that we should do all we can and that God expects that from us, but I believe that too many times we wait until our boat is full of water before we will call out in prayer!
What do you think would have happened if the disciples had woke Jesus when the storm began? Would this have been a good sign that their faith in Him was strong? Would Jesus have responded to their faith earlier in the storm? I feel sure He would have and we see this in the next passages that follow. Let's look at the next two verses together,


And He(Jesus) arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, "Peace, be still". And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, "Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" ~ Mark 4:39,40

The same power and authority that we see displayed here when Jesus spoke to the wind and the sea was also available to those pitiful, scared disciples already! Earlier in this passage written by Mark, the disciples were given the power to perform miracles by faith. Jesus had taken them up onto a mountain and ordained them to preach the gospel and to heal the sick and to cast out devils! Jesus had told them that they could ask anything if they had faith. (Even moving mountains!) Faith is a powerful thing to have and to understand! We excuse our lack of the power of faith in our lives many times by counting ourselves weak and vulnerable as humans. That isn't what Jesus wanted for His children as messengers to the rest of the world.
To Be Continued....