Christmas is For Others

As the big day approaches, our house has been filled with a mixture of complete jubilee and great frustration from the waiting. My young son Cecil asks each morning, "Dad, is three days a super long time?"

I have been enjoying the wonderful baking Treasa has so graciously filled us with. I laugh as I listen to the kids discuss the uniquely shaped gifts under the tree, each one offering their guess as to what treasure is hidden within. It has really been an amazing season.

One thing I am sure many Dads or Parents can attest to, is that once you have kids, Christmas is all about the kiddos.

As you prepare your house, as you think of the perfect gift for each kid, then wrapping and placing it under the tree, each trip to the store, every gift purchased, each part of preparation, all of this work is driven by your love for them. You want your kids to feel special and loved.

The last thing on your mind as a parent is what you are going to get.

I remember as kids we would count the gifts under the tree to see if one of us had more than the others. We viewed this as a sure sign that our parents loved that child more. What a terrible thing we did to my parents. Yet each year, they rose to the occasion, and made sure every Christmas was so special.

My focus back then was getting what I wanted. How different that focus is today.

It's a natural transition. It wasn't a conscious choice I made to no longer enjoy gifts. It is a natural shift that happens when you love someone so much, so completely. They become your priority. You love them more than yourself.

The gifts you get that they made for you in school, or the gifts they created during the Christmas break, are pure gold. They are greater than any other gift.

In a way, this relationship between parent and child, is a reflection of God's love toward us.

In Matthew 7:11 says this, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

As hard as we try, as much work as we put in to giving to our kids, it is so small in comparison to God and His love for us, and the gifts He gives us. God, our Father, loves us so deeply that He gave the ultimate gift of His Son. He looked at us, saw our need, saw our desires, and was compelled to give us the most beautiful gift. The gift of life.

I imagine, when God sees us as parents, selflessly loving our kids, He feels a similar joy we do, when our kids bring us a gift they made themselves. There is great joy found in seeing your kids choose to show love to others.

In light of all of this, I want to leave you with a couple thoughts.

First, remember what this Christmas season represents. It represents God's love for you, God's love for everyone. This great love compelled Him to give us the greatest gift of all. Take time to thank Him, and consider what love He must have for you, to offer you such a gift.

Second, remember that Christmas isn't about you. It isn't about you getting your share. It's about you giving to others.

So live that out well. Focus your heart, your mind, and your actions on others. Give to them. Give them grace, give them forgiveness, give them patience, give them a smile, give them help, and sure, give out a few gifts too!

I pray God bless you and your loved ones during this season.

Merry Christmas!

Throw It Out There, See What Happens

The Christmas Season is a time when it is easy to become overwhelmed by our packed schedules.

There are shopping lists, Christmas dinners, work parties, ugly Christmas sweater parties, decorating the house, putting up lights, getting the tree, and many other things that come during this time of year.

Some years, the month of December is a racing blur of activity that happens so fast, we don't get a chance to slow down and enjoy it.

We hear messages at church, see pictures on social media, that talk about the "real reason for the season," but usually our focus remains on the many things we have on our calendars and check lists. 

I am not going to attempt to change everyone's mind about how they spend their time during this season. 

I am however, going to challenge you to do something as you run your errands and go to your events. 

I would like to challenge you to be good to others each time the opportunity presents itself. 

There is a verse found in Ecclesiastes 11:1 which states, "Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days." 

There are many explanations to this passage, but I will share with you my favorite, and the one I believe to be true. 

During the time this verse was written, farming was done quite a bit differently than today. You didn't have all the expensive equipment, and the ability to plumb water to areas far away from natural flowing water. So of course, most of the farming land was very near to rivers and streams. 

During the rainy seasons, the rivers would rise and flood the farm land. So instead of having a beautiful field ready for planting, you would have a great big mud puddle. 

There was a particular type of seed that was perfect for such a circumstance. This seed was most fruitful when it had time to soak in muddy water, or shallow standing water. As the floods receded, and the water returned to its normal path in the river, yet the seeds would then remain in the soil. 

What seemed like a waste of land, and a waste of seeds, was now positioned to become a rich harvest.

The scary part of this process was, the farmer was looking out at a land that was flooded, and by faith, he had to throw those seeds out on the water, hoping they ended up producing a crop.

I think there is a similar feeling of doubt when we consider showing kindness or help to others. 

What difference will this one moment make? What change will I really bring by helping this one person?

We look out at a sea of people, and it is difficult to believe that by throwing out our seeds of kindness, change will come from it.

Let me encourage you to have faith like those farmers. It may look like flood waters, or a task so large, that one person could never make a difference.

Yet this verse shows us, if we are faithful in casting our bread, or casting our seeds out on the water, we will see the return. It may be a while before we see the full return, but we are promised, it will return to us. 

So as you shop, as you look for parking, as you sit in traffic, throw your seeds out there. 

Be good to others each time the opportunity presents itself.

If you are willing, you will see the return of your effort.

I Just Want To Know What Is Next

Sometimes I get frustrated that God doesn't take the time to tell me what is coming next in life.

I would like to know if I am walking into a season of good things, a season of hard work, or a season of rest.

I would also like to know what my future looks like. Do each of my kids grow up to be Doctors? Do I travel the world? Do I achieve all the dreams I have stirring in my heart? Do Treasa and I retire in a beautiful home on the ocean, living out the end of our life, spoiling grandkids and great grandkids, celebrating all God has done?

If I am honest, I really hate not knowing what happens. It stresses me out.

Treasa doesn't like watching suspenseful movies with me because I have to fast forward during intense scenes in order to see how it works out. Then I rewind back to where it was, and watch with peace, knowing how it ends.

For the record, because I love my wife, sometimes I just go to the spoiler websites and research how it plays out so she doesn't have to endure the constant starting and stopping of the movie.

I want to know what is coming. I don't expect it to be perfect or easy, but I want to know what is next.

So again, back to my frustration with God's refusal to reveal my entire future to me...

There have been a few times in my life, where God has pulled back the curtain of my future and allowed me to see a glimpse of what is to come. He shows me a picture, through a dream, through time in prayer, or during worship. A picture of some moment, some event somewhere in my days and years to come.

You would think that my response would be gratitude and appreciation for His answering my prayer; however, my response looks a lot more like panic than thanksgiving.

When God reveals even the smallest of pictures of what is ahead of me, I panic and begin to worry.

"How am I supposed to get from where I am to there God?" "How could I be a part of something like that?"

Truth is, my future is too much for me to handle. It is impossible for me to understand, or grasp.

If you are like me, and want to know what's coming, I completely understand how you feel.

Let me offer you a perspective that has helped me.

The things God wants to do in your life down the road, are more than you can handle today. The work God wants to accomplish through you, is more difficult than what you could accomplish today. The way God wants to use your gifts and talents ten or twenty years from now is a stretch for you to believe today.

Take heart my friend, you don't need to be ready today. You will be ready when that season comes.

I am working at living with this new perspective.

I may not know what my future holds, and all that God will place before me; but He knows.

I may not know how to prepare myself for the seasons that I will walk through years from now, but God knows exactly what I will need.

So instead of worrying about what is coming, I am choosing to stay focused on what is in front of me today.

I believe with all of my heart, that if I put my hands to the work in front of me, if I give my best effort today, and if I pour my heart into the people around me today, I will be ready for tomorrow.

If I trust God with my today, and live faithfully with the tasks before me today, God will work through those tasks to prepare me for tomorrow.

If I stack enough todays together, I will have all the preparation and experience for that someday I have been worried about.

In Matthew 25:14-30 we find a story that Jesus told to teach a few principles.

In the story, there is a rich man who goes on a journey, and leaves some money behind with three of his employees. To one he gives five bags of talents, to one he gives two bags, and to the third he gives one bag.

When the rich man is gone, the first two men, the ones with five and two bags, went and invested the money wisely. They both doubled what they had.

When the rich man returned he was pleased with both of them, and gave each of them even more.

The third man however, did nothing with his bag, he simply buried it and waited for the rich mans return.

The rich man told the man with one bag, that he was wicked and lazy. He then took the one bag he had been given, and gave it to the man who had doubled the five bags.

It is a great story, you should go read it.

Like the men in this story, we have a choice. We can do something with what is in front of us, we can do something with what we have been given. Or we can become paralyzed with fear, not knowing what to do, or what will happen, and simply bury our talents, bury what we have been given.

Like me, you have to accept that you will never know all that life will bring. That's okay, if we did know it would just stress us out anyway.

So let's pour into what is in front of us today. Let's give all our all to the tasks in front of us today, offering the talents we have now, and trust that God will prepare us for tomorrow.

Don't Stop Now

There have been quite a few times in my Christian walk when I began to wonder if I was making any difference at all.

I look at what I want to accomplish, and what I actually have accomplished, and the space between those is vastly wide.

I consider what others around me have been able to do, what success or what fruit they have, and I begin to wonder if there is something seriously wrong with me.

I remember a real turning point for me, came when I was speaking with my Pastor at the time, Burney Heath. We were talking about life, and the ups and downs that come along with it. He explained to me how he found comfort in the story of Elijah. Elijah was a man of great faith, who stood toe to toe with 450 of the leaders of the false god Baal. They prepared two offerings and each called their own God to bring down fire. As you may know, the story ends with God showing Himself true through Elijah, and the false god Baal being shown as false. Elijah is the victor, and the false priests are all killed. It is an amazing and powerful story. You can find it in 1 Kings 18, you should go read it, it's awesome.

As Pastor Burney was describing the story to me, I did not feel encouraged. I am embarrassed to say this, but what I felt was envy.

I wished I had that kind of faith, I wished I had that kind of a story.

That's why I am so glad that Pastor Burney did not stop at that part of the story. He continued to tell the rest of Elijah's story.

After Elijah was part of this amazing miracle, he heard that the priest's queen wanted to kill him; and can you guess his response? You might think he responded with the same faith he showed before, but he didn't, Elijah ran. He ran, he hid, and wished he was dead.

This part of the story changed my life.

Elijah did great things, but he also got scared and quit. He felt fear, and had doubt. He was like me, imperfect.

My Mom had this picture on our fridge growing up. I remember looking at it, and as silly as it may be, it gave me a perspective I really needed. I need to keep going, even when things seem to be at their worst.

We find in Acts Chapter 18 Paul is speaking to his peers, the Jewish people in Corinth. He is preaching his guts out, and no one seems to be receiving it. In fact, people were so unreceptive, they became angry and violent with him. Things seemed to be at their worst for Paul. So Paul throws his hands up and says, "Fine, I'm leaving!"

Have you ever felt so discouraged you just want to throw your hands up and surrender?

So did Paul, so did Elijah, and so have I.

Just after Paul feels like quitting, we see in Acts 18:9 God speaks to Paul in a dream, "One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent."

If you are in a season of ministry or ministering to others where your get-up-and-go seems broken, let me encourage you with the same words that God encouraged Paul.

Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. What you are doing matters.

Elijah's story, Paul's story, and my story did not end in those moments of frustration; neither will yours.