Volume

In Jonah 2:8 it says "those who cling to worthless idols, they forfeit the grace that could be theirs." This week I found out that the word Grace here is, in the original language, Hesed. It means loving kindness, or it means, very literally, the pursuing love of God. It says in this verse that those who cling to the stupid, worthless, unimportant, insignificant things of this world that do not matter, they forfeit the Hesed, very litterally, "The pursuing love of God". So I asked myself this question. "What have I put in my life; what idol, what worthless thing stands between me and God. Wow it's amazing how such a little thing can keep us from trully obtaining all that God has to offer. Sometimes it is the smallest changes that make such a large difference. If I just change or remove some of the things that I have put in your place I am able to realize how much you love me. VOLUME, if I change the volume of my life, if I turn down the things that block me from you I realize how much you love me... if I Rearrange the volume in my life I get ULOVME

You

I woke up this morning took a sip of coffee and said to my self. "You can do it. You can make it through the day even though your exhausted. You can keep a smile on your face even though you've had a hard week. You can love others in a way that would please God. You can ignore the headache you've had for four days. You can be a husband to your wife, a father to your kids, youth pastor to the students, you can conquer the world for Chirst without missing a beat. You can do it."
Then it hit me. I will never be able to transform the world through programs, personal ventures, or 60 hour work weeks. Even though these things can be used at times, things done in the flesh are doomed to fail. I thought to my self as I drove to drop my kids off at school. "Without Christ YOU won't be able to live the life he's called you to."
Then my wife looked at me as if she was listening in on the conversation I was having with myself and asked, "Are you depending on God or Yourself?" Right about that time Landon, my youngest son, asked if I would turn the CD to song 1. I skipped it back one song and then it hit me. "Which song am I living 2 or 1." and then I thought of the scripture that says, "If any one would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Wow I thought "I'm living for two, for me and for YOU. I need to change the song of my life from 2 to 1." Thank you Brook, my "Bambie", for reminding me that it is all about 1.