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“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭48:17-18‬ ‭ESV‬‬ http://bible.com/59/isa.48.17-18.esv

God’s way is better (understatement). God’s law is good. This scripture references the idea of the “easy yoke”. This flies the face of the line of thinking (that originated in the garden) that God is holding out and/or doesn’t know (or desire) what’s best for us. There are numerous stories illustrating this point (ex. Rich young ruler, prodigal son, man that buys a field, etc.) God’s way is better. What if all of my sin flows from belief in the lie. I sin b/c I don’t trust God’s heart and therefore don’t trust His law. “Help my unbelief.”       

This is why the gospel is preached/taught! Because it is good news! God’s way is better can be the premise for all life change conversations (sermons). If the Bible is true, it is better (for me) to give than to receive. If the Bible is true, it is an honor (for me) to suffer in the name of our Savior. God’s way is better. On a bit of a side note, while God’s way benefits me, I am not to follow simply for my benefit. God’s laws are to honor and glorify him. God’s laws are true and good, therefore they are true and good for me. 

Be warned that this line of thinking can be difficult in the short term. It is very easy to drift into thinking “God’s laws don’t coincide with my plan for my life, therefore God’s laws may not be true and good (at least for me in this scenario).” It would have been easy for Paul, who was beaten, shipwrecked, snake bit, and frequently in prison, to think “I don’t think this is the “easy yoke” that I was told about.” God’s plan is a big long plan. Sometimes adherence in the here and now can be hard or downright painful. But God’s way is good. 

This completely changes the “attitude” of correction. This mentality (should) eliminate condemnation from correction. What if instead of condemning people for their sins, we lovingly try to encourage them to the Father. I am reminded of the old hymn, “Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling… calling O sinner, come home.” My sins are both an offense to a Holy God and bad for me. I am eternally grateful that my Savior still call to me, “O sinner, come home.” 

“In a general way we concede that God made the world out of joy: He didn’t need it; He just thought it was a good thing.” – The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon

Why did God create the world? What a question? I wasn’t really thinking very deeply (I was watching Spider-Man while reading a theological cookbook) until I just read the line above. I like the line from Capon’s book. “God made the world out of joy.” I like to believe that God was (is) so good, so beautiful, so much pure love, that he wanted to share. He wanted others to get to experience his goodness, his beauty, his love. 

When’s pray I pray in the mornings, I try to always start with adoration. I got this from a sermon that I heard from Rick Warren where he suggests using the acronym ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanks, and Supplication). 

However, When starting with praise, I often feel guilty or unworthy. I hear that old devil whispering in my ear;

“Your such a suck up. He knows what you did, what you thought, what you said, what you saw. How many times do you think he’ll forgive you for that failure. Haven’t you prayed this already?” 

When I listen to him, I am more prone to be distracted (while praying) and that happens more than I want to admit. Please pray for me. 

Today is a big day! When I woke up all I could thank about was how incredibly excited, nervous, scared, and thankful I am. Below is what I read from a devotional that I love. The following excerpt is not today’s reading, I was actually backtracking to read some that I had missed and stumbled upon the gem. As soon as I finished, I knew I should share this. Enjoy.

Morning – Day 16
“I will help thee, saith the Lord.” (‭Isaiah‬ ‭41‬:‭14‬ ESV)

This morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us: “I will help thee.” “It is but a small thing for me, thy God, to help thee. Consider what I have done already. What! not help thee? Why, I bought thee with my blood. What! not help thee? I have died for thee; and if I have done the greater, will I not do the less? Help thee! It is the least thing I will ever do for thee; I have done more, and will do more. Before the world began I chose thee. I made the covenant for thee. I laid aside my glory and became a man for thee; I gave up my life for thee; and if I did all this, I will surely help thee now. In helping thee, I am giving thee what I have bought for thee already. If thou hadst need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it thee; thou requirest little compared with what I am ready to give. ‘Tis much for thee to need, but it is nothing for me to bestow. ‘Help thee?’ Fear not! If there were an ant at the door of thy granary asking for help, it would not ruin thee to give him a handful of thy wheat; and thou art nothing but a tiny insect at the door of my all-sufficiency. ‘I will help thee.'”

O my soul, is not this enough? Dost thou need more strength than the omnipotence of the United Trinity? Dost thou want more wisdom than exists in the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is manifest in the influences of the Spirit? Bring hither thine empty pitcher! Surely this well will fill it. Haste, gather up thy wants, and bring them here–thine emptiness, thy woes, thy needs. Behold, this river of God is full for thy supply; what canst thou desire beside? Go forth, my soul, in this thy might. The Eternal God is thine helper! “Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismay’d! I, I am thy God, and will still give thee aid.”

C.H. Spurgeon
Morning and Evening
http://goo.gl/3sbxr1

Around about the end of July, Faye and Lucy were born. We were headed to Fayetteville for Brody’s party and so we decided to shoot down to Fort Smith to see the new babies. While we were down there, my mother told me the story of how Josh and Whitney prayed for twins and had twins. I thought wow, that’s pretty awesome. While at the hospital, we got to talk to Whitney and Josh for a little bit, but we didn’t get to see the babies. So We went to Brody’s party and afterwards Bailee and Evie stayed with Mom and Dad. Lacey and I spent the night in Rogers and woke up and went to church in northwest Arkansas. So while we were sitting there visiting a church in Rogers, I thought, “I’m going to try praying for a baby.” So during one of the prayers during the church service, I did pray for a baby. After church we went out to lunch and I didn’t really think about it again. Monday morning, I was upstairs (for some reason) and heard Lacey scream, “JUSTIN!!” I came running down the stairs asking if she was ok as I ran. I walked into our bedroom to see 3 pregnancy tests lined up next to the sink. I asked again, “are you ok,” and Lacey replied, “I’m pregnant!” I was in awe… Wow that worked fast.

We got lined up with our doctor and started the baby doctor appointments. We went to one appointment and after our appointment they scheduled the dating ultrasound at the hospital for the next morning. The morning of our ultrasound, I was shaving and I remember praying something to the effect of, “Lord, I sure would like to have some twins.” I didn’t tell Lacey what I was praying for. We went into the little dark room at the hospital and the Ultrasound tech started her scanning. I was standing over Lacey, excited about getting our first pictures of our baby. Then the ultrasound tech said, “there’s one…” which Lacey repeated some what puzzled, “there’s one??” and the ultrasound tech followed with, “… and there’s the other! Your having twins.” I was glowing, and I almost passed out. Then I laughed and told Lacey (somewhat hysterically), that I had prayed for twins that very morning.

Fast forward 6 months (or so) to yesterday, Lacey and I go in for a baby appointment. After checking Lacey out our doctor said, “you’ve been contracting, your blood pressure is high and you said that you were seeing spots, your going to the hospital. We were in the hospital maybe an hour and we got a call saying, “your going to Fayetteville and you probably won’t be coming home until the babies get here.” I headed home to get our hospital bag, that wasn’t in the car. I was scared. I cried and prayed. The ambulance was going to drive Lacey over so they could keep an eye on her blood pressure, so I was going to follow. My dad agreed to ride over to the Hospital at Fayetteville with me. As I drove, I kept thinking of one of my favorite stories,

“And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.” (‭Mark‬ ‭9‬:‭20-27‬ ESV)

Now, to tell the truth I kind of mashed two stories together in my head as I was praying, (or maybe it was just Jesus speaking to me). I recited the part about the father asking Jesus to heal his son, and Jesus replied, “do believe that I can heal your son,” to which the father (and I) said “I believe! Help my unbelief! I prayed this went over this dialogue numerous times in my head between Harrison and Fayetteville, and even while we waited for the specialist, Tuesday night. So he came in and said that it looks like pre eclampsia. He expected us to need to deliver in a week or so but was optimistic because the boys were doing so good. So Tuesday night and Wednesday we were talking to people, and letting everyone know that the boys were coming early, but that it was ok because every thing looked ok. The baby specialist said that even if we delivered at 33 weeks, the boys looked good and would be fine.

Wednesday night the baby specialist came back to check on Lacey and the boys again. After he looked at the boys he said, “you don’t have pre eclampsia, you can go home.” He said that we had all the symptoms yesterday. All the labs looked good. The protein in her pee looked good (that’s one way that they check for pre eclampsia). I believe that God answered our prayers and healed Lacey.

I have started reading a book by Rick Warren called Bible Study Methods. In the back of the book there is a 5 years study plan that I am going to attempt to follow. This first week I am reading Psalms 15.

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. (‭Psalm‬ ‭15‬:‭1-5‬ ESV)

At first glance, I turned it into a checklist. My initial outline looked kind of like this,
• Who shall come near the Lord?
o He who is blameless.
o He who does what is right.
o He who is honest.
o He who does not slander.
o He who does no evil to his neighbor.
o Who does not get back at a neighbor.
o “…in whose eyes a vile person is despised…”
o “…who honors those who fear the Lord…”
o Who doesn’t take advantage of people.
• “He who does these things shall never be moved.”

In the book it references the importance of applying what you read. This was right up my alley, I love checklists. So my goal was to apply these concepts. This wasn’t thought out very well. To start off let’s take being blameless off the lists. I found myself slandering before lunch time. I didn’t “honor those who fear the Lord.” I wasn’t doing a very good job on my checklist.

I read this chapter again today and the Holy Spirit led me to a different conclusion. Instead of making a checklist, I asked myself the points as questions,
o Am I blameless? Undeniably, no!
o Do I do what is right? Not all the time.
o Am I honest? Not all the time.
o Do I slander? Yes.
o Do I do evil to my neighbor? I don’t think so.
o Do I get back at people? Yes, sometimes.
o Do I stay away from vile people? I try to. I’m not sure about this one.
o Do I honor those who fear the Lord? Not as I should.
o Do I take advantage of people? I think I can say no to this one.

According to my count, I have failed. Nuts. So I am (shockingly) unable to perform the tasks necessary to sojourn in the Lord’s tent and visit his holy hill. Good thing I know someone who is able. Good thing he is willing to take all my failures and give me his success. This scripture isn’t about me it’s about Jesus.

I just started reading Tullian Tchividjian’s book One Way Love. In the first chapter I came across this gem. “The Bible is one long story of God meeting our rebellion with His rescue, our sin with his Salvation, our guilt with His grace, our badness with His Goodness. The overwhelming focus if the Bible is not the work of the redeemed but the work of the Redeemer.” The Bible is a story of God continually coming and “cleaning up” humanities (or my) mess. 

I am reminded of the scene in “The Incredibles” where Mr. Incredible says something to the effect of sometimes he feels like “the maid”, saying “I just cleaned up in here” his frustration with the world just won’t stay saved. 

But Gods love is deeper than just cleaning up after His messy children. He loves us and pursues us in the middle of our rebellion and spite. The apostle Paul was in the middle of trying to eradicate God’s people when God recruited him. This is so profound (and unnatural). It’s a good thing that Gods love is patient 
and kind and long-suffering. 

I recently read a recent review of “The Giving Tree.” The reviewer stated how dysfunctional the trees relationship with the boy was. If you don’t know the story, the tree kept giving more and more of herself and the boy kept taking more and more. This kind of love can be viewed as toxic in our cause-and-effect, quid pro quo world. Society says that the Giving Tree should of stopped giving. She should of required something in return. She allowed the boy to use her up. I have heard that this story is a parable to illustrate the love of Jesus, who “emptied himself” (Phillipians 2:7) for his defiant children. 

Much like the boy in the Giving Tree, I (a most defiant child) must continually return to Jesus and ask for more grace and forgiveness. It’s so great that Gods love is patient and kind and long-suffering. 

I like to read. One of the reasons that I like to read is that I want my children to see me reading. I didn’t read before I had kids. Most of what I read can fit into two categories, either Christian self-help books or leadership books. My goal behind reading these types of books is growth. I want to be a better person and a better leader.

I just finished the War of Art by Steven Pressfield. If is a very interesting book. It is a book that I read (or heard) someone reference as a book that you should read (which is how my book shelf and amazon wish list has been filled). The book took me a little while to get into. The first 50 pages (or so) took a me couple weeks, reading a little every night. The last 100+ pages, I finished this afternoon. The second section of the book is started of with a profound quote that really struck me. The quote is by Telamon of Arcadia, a fifth century B.C. Mercenary, and it reads’ “It is one thing to study war and another to live the warriors life.”

It reminded me of something that keeps coming up in my life. It’s (apparently) a concept that the Holy Spirit really wants me to grasp. A few weeks ago I was reading the writings of one of the wisest men to ever, “In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty” (Proverbs‬ ‭14‬:‭23‬ ESV).

I think in my desire to be seen as a reader, I am trying to drink from a fire hydrant. I like checking off boxes. My goal each time that I open a book is the last page. Which is an issue in and of itself. Many times in my mad dash to finish a book, I may overlook or speed through the good stuff.

The point here is that I need to do something. That change takes place through actions, not books, not conferences, and not podcasts. All of these things are fine and good but they only provide ideas or suggestions. I need to put what I am learning to practice. For a book to be life changing, your life has to change!

When I was a teenager I adopted a bit of motto, “no excuses, no regrets”. This sounds like a good motto. It wasn’t.

At that time in my life, it was an example of selfish pride. Why does someone make excuses or regrets? Excuses are made in an effort to explain (or excuse) an action. Regrets are associated with the negative feelings that typically follow a bad decision. My sentiment behind my juvenile statement was that excuses and regrets served no purpose. I would tell people something to the effect of, “There is no point in excuses, what’s done is done. There is no point in regretting things, what’s done is done.” What an appalling attitude.

In my vanity, I completely disregarded that decisions have unintended consequences. By saying “no excuses, no regrets” I was communicating that I don’t even need to explain myself, if you don’t like my decisions, tuff taco. By saying “no excuses, no regrets” I was communicating that I don’t have to feel remorse, if you got hurt, that’s your problem. What an appalling self-centered attitude.

I have recently rethought the motto. Maybe the motto by itself isn’t that bad, just the way I was applying it was bad. What if “no excuses, no regrets” is a better goal than a motto. I want to live everyday intentionally trying to do things and make decisions that I won’t have to make excuses for. I want to live everyday intentionally trying to live in a way that I will not later regret. I think that the best way (or at least one way) to live with “no excuses, no regrets” is to give and love and help people.

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. (Proverbs 18:2 ESV)

Pow! Like a punch in the mouth. This is my 6th time to read through Proverbs in the last 12 months. I don’t know how I have missed this verse. Unfortunately, this is frequently me. 

While I consider this verse, my brain (or maybe my heart) is trying to put together a defense. When I read the verse, I instantly feel convicted, knowing that I am regularly guilty of this. At the same time, my heart says, “You are not so bad. It isn’t that you (I) “take no pleasure in understanding,” i’m just too busy. It isn’t that I am only interested in “expressing my opinion,” it’s just that my opinion is so good.” 

Wow, what a proud (selfish) statement. Both statements illustrate the true nature and tendencies of my heart (Jeremiah 17:9 ESV). Today I will put less stock in expressing my opinion and more time and energy in pursuing understanding.