“Sacrifice is the willingness to see the greatness in something other than oneself.”
Loren Thornburg
Sacrifice is to surrender or give up for the sake of something else. In baseball this happens often with runners on where the batter will bunt, expecting to get out, so as to advance the runners and help his team towards scoring a run. However in life it is not always so easy or simple as in baseball. Giving up something often requires more than one at bat in a game but it requires much time and energy. Parents know this better than anyone in the time, money and energy they put into their kids. Sometimes it feels more like a sacrifice than others. But they do it for the sake of something else. They do it because they believe that what it costs is worth what will result. Again, unlike baseball the results don’t always come quick and you may not even see them. But true sacrifice is willing to surrender for the sake of something else, something greater even! This comes from knowing that which is greater. Without knowing we will not be willing and without the willingness there will be no sacrifice. Let us remember the greater that we would sacrifice ourselves.
“He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me…”
Psalm 50:24 NASB
“For the Egyptians are mere humans, not God! Their horses are puny flesh, not mighty spirits!”
Isaiah 31:3 NLT
Which is greater…our flesh or God’s spirit?! Seems like a no-brainer yet I find so often I live as if my flesh were greater. I trust in my flesh as truth rather than in the greatness of God. I am not willing to sacrifice that which I feel for that which I know is TRUTH. This is not to ignore the way in which I feel, but to truly acknowledge it as it is…my flesh. In the Psalms it speaks of the difference between sacrifice and true sacrifice. The practice of the people had been to sacrifice animals but God was calling them to something more, something true…the sacrifice of a heart that is thankful. He didn’t just want what they had He wanted who they were. He didn’t just want their acts of sacrifice but a heart that was willing to sacrifice as well; a heart that was willing to be thankful even when circumstances called for otherwise. The call of our God is the same today. He is asking us to sacrifice the ways that we want to feel for what we know is true…the goodness, greatness and faithfulness of our God. Isaiah speaks this same charge to the people who are tempted to rely on the Egyptians who are human, and their horses that are “puny flesh” rather than the mighty spirit of the Lord. Let us not fall victim to that same tendency! It will be a sacrifice at times to be thankful, but He is greater, He is good, He is faithful!! I can trade my flesh in its anger, sorrows, apathy, brokenness, emptiness, discouragement, despair for His spirit in all its joy!! Sounds like a good deal to me!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Unlikely Choice
“Possibility lies not in our likeliness but in our willingness.”
Loren Thornburg
The Sisters of St Joseph came to California with only 60 cents in their pockets. Those 60 cents have grown to care for the lives of millions of people each year through their many hospitals and health care services throughout the United States. In the early 1900s no one, probably not even the sisters, would have predicted that they would be the ones that would one day be responsible for the coming of today’s facilities that service and save the lives of millions. They may not have had the money or the resources to do such a thing, but what they did have was a heart to help and a willingness to let what they did have be enough. So often we make excuses for why we aren’t on our way towards our dreams. We tell ourselves we don’t have enough money, time, capabilities, or resources. Yet, the Sisters had only 60 cents! They were certainly not the likely choice for such a great endeavor. The unlikely can become likely when we start looking at that which we do have and reasons it could be possible.
“‘Who makes mouths?’ The Lord asked him. Who makes people so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak well, and I will tell you what to say.’”
Exodus 4:11-12 NLT
God is a god of the unlikely. Over and over throughout the bible we see time and time again that he calls the unlikely to do the unlikely. Our faith is founded on the power of the unlikely of Jesus; baby yet king, carpenter yet leader, executed yet savior. God loves to show up in the unlikely that we would have nothing to credit but Him. In Exodus we see the unlikely Moses called to lead the people out of Egypt. Moses, who after killing a man fled into exile where he tended sheep for forty years. So you can imagine his shock when God asks him to lead millions of people out of slavery and misery. He does as many of us would do and have done in that we look for reasons it can’t be us, because it seems unlikely and we see all the reasons it doesn’t make sense. Yet, God’s ways our not ours! He does not think like us and thus His ways do not make sense to us. Thankfully, His power does not lie in our understanding! He is the one who made us and has all power to do and accomplish His ways and His plans. So who are we to tell Him how He should do or who He should use? Let us stop looking at all the reasons not to and start looking to the One reason that far outweighs them all…the Lord. When we know who He is and that He is with us, we need look at nothing else.
Loren Thornburg
The Sisters of St Joseph came to California with only 60 cents in their pockets. Those 60 cents have grown to care for the lives of millions of people each year through their many hospitals and health care services throughout the United States. In the early 1900s no one, probably not even the sisters, would have predicted that they would be the ones that would one day be responsible for the coming of today’s facilities that service and save the lives of millions. They may not have had the money or the resources to do such a thing, but what they did have was a heart to help and a willingness to let what they did have be enough. So often we make excuses for why we aren’t on our way towards our dreams. We tell ourselves we don’t have enough money, time, capabilities, or resources. Yet, the Sisters had only 60 cents! They were certainly not the likely choice for such a great endeavor. The unlikely can become likely when we start looking at that which we do have and reasons it could be possible.
“‘Who makes mouths?’ The Lord asked him. Who makes people so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak well, and I will tell you what to say.’”
Exodus 4:11-12 NLT
God is a god of the unlikely. Over and over throughout the bible we see time and time again that he calls the unlikely to do the unlikely. Our faith is founded on the power of the unlikely of Jesus; baby yet king, carpenter yet leader, executed yet savior. God loves to show up in the unlikely that we would have nothing to credit but Him. In Exodus we see the unlikely Moses called to lead the people out of Egypt. Moses, who after killing a man fled into exile where he tended sheep for forty years. So you can imagine his shock when God asks him to lead millions of people out of slavery and misery. He does as many of us would do and have done in that we look for reasons it can’t be us, because it seems unlikely and we see all the reasons it doesn’t make sense. Yet, God’s ways our not ours! He does not think like us and thus His ways do not make sense to us. Thankfully, His power does not lie in our understanding! He is the one who made us and has all power to do and accomplish His ways and His plans. So who are we to tell Him how He should do or who He should use? Let us stop looking at all the reasons not to and start looking to the One reason that far outweighs them all…the Lord. When we know who He is and that He is with us, we need look at nothing else.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Isolation Illusion
There is nothing you can’t handle, nothing you can’t overcome, nothing you can’t get through…unless it’s just you.”
Loren Thornburg
Michael Moschen is a juggler credited for developing several ball isolations. These are illusions where the ball appears to float in space with the juggler’s hands moving around it. However, in reality the performer is supporting the prop. Appearances have a way of deceiving us. In this case the juggler creates the illusion that the ball can stand on it’s own without any source of help. We often believe that in life; that we can stand on our own, that we don’t need any help. We think it is best for us to isolate ourselves for many reasons. We all have them…either we don’t want to believe that we can’t do it alone, we fear letting others see our struggle, we believe we will be a burden to other people, or the many other reasons we come up with to justify not asking for help. With every reason we are being deceived. There is no freedom found in isolation. The only way out is to reach out.
"One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment." - Proverbs 18:1 (Holman CSB)
Isolation…selfish? It sounds so absurd to say that isolation is selfish. Usually we think we are doing others a favor by isolating ourselves when we are having a hard time. Either because we think we are sparing them from our bad mood, or fear letting them see us struggle, or that they are too busy or too burdened. It all sounds like sound judgment to us when we are the one having the hard time, yet we don’t feel like that about other people when they are having a hard time. And by that I can see the hand of the enemy; that is when something is only true for me and not for others. The enemy wants us to be isolated…away from the light and the truth that fellowship brings. If we stay isolated we keep the body from its fullness. For then the body is one less and those of the body can’t use the gifts they have been given to help us. So it goes both ways. We miss out and they miss out. We need others and others need us! Whatever sound judgment you think you are pursuing, if it includes isolation it’s all an illusion and a selfish one at that. Don’t miss out so others won’t miss out!
Loren Thornburg
Michael Moschen is a juggler credited for developing several ball isolations. These are illusions where the ball appears to float in space with the juggler’s hands moving around it. However, in reality the performer is supporting the prop. Appearances have a way of deceiving us. In this case the juggler creates the illusion that the ball can stand on it’s own without any source of help. We often believe that in life; that we can stand on our own, that we don’t need any help. We think it is best for us to isolate ourselves for many reasons. We all have them…either we don’t want to believe that we can’t do it alone, we fear letting others see our struggle, we believe we will be a burden to other people, or the many other reasons we come up with to justify not asking for help. With every reason we are being deceived. There is no freedom found in isolation. The only way out is to reach out.
"One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment." - Proverbs 18:1 (Holman CSB)
Isolation…selfish? It sounds so absurd to say that isolation is selfish. Usually we think we are doing others a favor by isolating ourselves when we are having a hard time. Either because we think we are sparing them from our bad mood, or fear letting them see us struggle, or that they are too busy or too burdened. It all sounds like sound judgment to us when we are the one having the hard time, yet we don’t feel like that about other people when they are having a hard time. And by that I can see the hand of the enemy; that is when something is only true for me and not for others. The enemy wants us to be isolated…away from the light and the truth that fellowship brings. If we stay isolated we keep the body from its fullness. For then the body is one less and those of the body can’t use the gifts they have been given to help us. So it goes both ways. We miss out and they miss out. We need others and others need us! Whatever sound judgment you think you are pursuing, if it includes isolation it’s all an illusion and a selfish one at that. Don’t miss out so others won’t miss out!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Who Woulda Thunk
“Unlikely is not impossible, improbable is not never, and hard to believe is not out of the question.”
Loren Thornburg
I love stories of things that once seemed impossible, dreams that once seemed buried, and hopes that seemed hopeless come to be possible, alive, and fill us with hope. Kurt Warner is one of those stories. From stocking shelves at the Cedar Falls Hy-Vee Food Store to making NFL history this quarterback has become an inspiration to many. Sports is filled with these stories where that which seemed impossible is made possible. Although Kurt Warner may have dreamed that one day he would become the football superstar that he is now I doubt that this seemed possible while he was stocking shelves at the grocery store. Who would have thought that he would one day make NFL history with records and rings. Our lives have stories like this too. Maybe they don’t end with records and rings but we all have moments big and small when things that seemed impossible become not only possible but true. Lets remember those as we dream, imagine and believe for that in our lives now that seems impossible, improbable and hard to believe. There is always hope regardless of the circumstance.
“Is anything too hard for the Lord? ... For who would have dreamed that I would ever have a baby? Yet I have been given Abraham a son in his old age!”
Genesis 18:14…21:7 NLT
God does things we never would have dreamed in ways we never would have dreamed!
Abraham was 100 years old when the Lord told him that his wife Sarah who was ninety would bear him a son. Can you imagine that today? It would definitely make the headlines… “91 Year Old Woman Gives Birth.” It seems impossible. People rarely live to be 100, let alone have kids at this age. Although there are stories of people living hundreds of years in the bible it still seemed impossible to Sarah that she would bare a child after years of being barren at such an old age. Yet, nothing is impossible for the Lord! These impossibilities take time that seems too long. This time is often filled with much hardship that seems too hard. This hardship is often filled with much fear and doubting that seems hopeless. Still though it seems impossible, it seems too long, it seems too hard let us remember He does exactly as He promises. There is nothing outside of that which He has the power to do…NOTHING! Sarah can attest to this! And we can too when we look back to ways that the Lord has done things in our lives that which seemed impossible. And the unlikely ways in which He does the unlikely. What has He done in your life that you never would have dreamed of…in ways you never would have dreamed of?
Loren Thornburg
I love stories of things that once seemed impossible, dreams that once seemed buried, and hopes that seemed hopeless come to be possible, alive, and fill us with hope. Kurt Warner is one of those stories. From stocking shelves at the Cedar Falls Hy-Vee Food Store to making NFL history this quarterback has become an inspiration to many. Sports is filled with these stories where that which seemed impossible is made possible. Although Kurt Warner may have dreamed that one day he would become the football superstar that he is now I doubt that this seemed possible while he was stocking shelves at the grocery store. Who would have thought that he would one day make NFL history with records and rings. Our lives have stories like this too. Maybe they don’t end with records and rings but we all have moments big and small when things that seemed impossible become not only possible but true. Lets remember those as we dream, imagine and believe for that in our lives now that seems impossible, improbable and hard to believe. There is always hope regardless of the circumstance.
“Is anything too hard for the Lord? ... For who would have dreamed that I would ever have a baby? Yet I have been given Abraham a son in his old age!”
Genesis 18:14…21:7 NLT
God does things we never would have dreamed in ways we never would have dreamed!
Abraham was 100 years old when the Lord told him that his wife Sarah who was ninety would bear him a son. Can you imagine that today? It would definitely make the headlines… “91 Year Old Woman Gives Birth.” It seems impossible. People rarely live to be 100, let alone have kids at this age. Although there are stories of people living hundreds of years in the bible it still seemed impossible to Sarah that she would bare a child after years of being barren at such an old age. Yet, nothing is impossible for the Lord! These impossibilities take time that seems too long. This time is often filled with much hardship that seems too hard. This hardship is often filled with much fear and doubting that seems hopeless. Still though it seems impossible, it seems too long, it seems too hard let us remember He does exactly as He promises. There is nothing outside of that which He has the power to do…NOTHING! Sarah can attest to this! And we can too when we look back to ways that the Lord has done things in our lives that which seemed impossible. And the unlikely ways in which He does the unlikely. What has He done in your life that you never would have dreamed of…in ways you never would have dreamed of?
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