Taste more Settle less

“Why settle for less when you can taste more?”

Loren Thornburg

We miss so much in our willingness to settle for less. There are many kinds of settling but what I’m talking about is when you are accepting something that is less than satisfactory; when you are okay with less than okay. We are getting robbed of joy, of peace, of life. I mean if someone stole your money, your car, your phone you would be upset and do what it took to find it or at least find justice. Yet our joy is being stolen and we act like we are living like that’s okay. It happens with a little something here and little something there until it becomes our way of life. Now I am not saying that we should be excited about everything that happens in life. For there are things that happen that bring much sorrow and struggle. But, what I am saying is don’t settle for staying there. I’m saying you don’t have to live a life without joy, without peace, without life. There is more. So join with Sugarland in singing… “I ain't settling for just getting by; I've had enough so so for the rest of my life; Tired of shooting too low, so raise the bar high; Just enough ain't enough this time; I ain't settling for anything less than everything”

“The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we'll never settle for less.”

2 Corinthians 5:5

God has given us what we need so that we’ll never settle for less. He’s given us His Spirit! And we need Him!! We are in a battle. The enemy can’t steal the salvation that is in store for those who believe but he can steal the life on the way...and he’s not dumb. He is very sneaky and smart in the ways that he does it so that we don’t even know it’s happening. Yet, God has given us all that we need so that we won’t settle for the enemies plans to steal our life, joy and peace. He provides in all sorts of ways...His Spirit in us whetting our appetite, the word of God calling us to truth, the people around us raising us up, the miracles and wonders of creation, and so much more. It speaks to us saying, ‘you don’t have to stay there’. We have Jesus who is with us, we have the Spirit who lives in us and we have the Father who is for us. No, you don’t have to stay there. It may take time but it’s worth the fight. Don’t settle any longer for anything less than joy, peace, and life.

Take the Limits Off

“Although we may be products of our past, our past does not predict our future.”

Loren Thornburg

We all love a good story. But, what I find even better is the good story that is true. Like the recent movie Blindside of the family that took in a young man, Michael Oher with no family and no place to go who is now a professional football player. The movie may have taken some dramatic liberties yet the story line remains the same that a young man’s life was changed in a way he never dreamed possible. Who he was when that family took him in was very much a product of all that had happened to him growing up. Who we are is largely impacted by the things that have happened to us and the ways that they have molded us. Yet his past did not determine his future. Change is possible. It’s not just in the movies. It’s happening all the time. The seemingly impossible that becomes possible. Sometimes it comes and gets us but other times we have to go and get it. Either way it is possible. So either way we can live outside the limits of what has been. We can take the limits off of ourselves. Think beyond your past, dream beyond where you’ve been, see beyond your limitations. Take the limits off for what’s been does not mean what will be.

“They will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities long ago destroyed. They will revive them, though they have been empty for many generations.”

Isaiah 61:4 NLT

We have been called despite our past. It’s easy to look back and see all that hasn’t happened and almost without realizing it assume that it couldn’t happen. When you have known things one way for so long it can feel beyond possible to have things any other way. We all have our things whether it be things we’ve longed for that have not come to fruition, dreams that have died and so we’ve stopped dreaming, lies we’ve believed, addictions we’ve been caught in, depression that we’ve lived under, the list goes on and on. Yet the Lord can revive the ruins, the emptiness, the destruction. Time is not a factor for Him no matter how long things have operated in a certain way. Although it feels like it has been this way for so long and there is no way it could ever be different that is not as great as the ancient ruins that God rebuilt and not as great as the greatness and power of our Lord. His work is not at all dependent on what has been. So take the limits off of our God and off of what He can do through you when you are holding onto Him.

On the Way

“On the way to where you’re going

on the way to what’s ahead

there’s signs and wonders all around

if you will only lift your head.”

Loren Thornburg

We are all on our way somewhere...on our way to work, on our way to the store, to the bank, through our to do list with no time to stop. We can’t stop if we want to be on the way to a promotion, on the way to getting married, to dreams, to hopes of what will be our next reality. Sometimes we are so focused on getting there that we miss all the life that happens on the way there. There is beauty to be enjoyed, interactions to bring us hope, and opportunities to help. They are all around you. You don’t have to schedule it in because it is happening on the way to where you’re going. The beauty of the sky on your way to work, the friend you haven’t seen on your way to the store, the neighbor, the stranger in need of help. It’s there if you will lift your head from the business and worry to see it on the way. It may be the very thing that helps you get where you were on the way to...the promotion, the marriage, the dream. Don’t miss the life on the way to where you’re going.

“How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their "God projects" that they didn't notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road...Careful! I've put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion, a stone you can't get around. But the stone is me! If you're looking for me, you'll find me on the way, not in the way.”

Romans 9:32-33 MSG

Jesus is an 'on the way' God. Much of what He did happened while He was on the way somewhere. It was on the way to Galilee that He ministered to the women at the well because Samaria was on the way (John 4). Can you imagine how different life must have been for that women and all who came to believe because Jesus stopped on the way? And knowing the heart of God, there is much joy that came to Jesus and the Father in seeing the women and all those in the village who came to believe. All of this, which happened on the way to somewhere else. There are many much like this woman in need of hope that God is putting on your way to where you are going. Just the same there are many God is putting on your way to speak hope to you. Will you be willing to look? Will you be willing to stop? Will you be willing to find that God is on the way to meet them through you?

Time to Praise

“When we see past our expectations into possibilities then we can praise.”

Loren Thornburg

I don’t know about you but life does not look quite how I thought it would at this point in my life. We have this picture in mind of what it will be like. It’s good to hope and dream, but it’s the expecting that gets us into trouble. Often we have seen how what looks to be a disaster can turn into something better than we had ever imagined. You’ve seen it in your life time and time again. Yet still we despair when things don’t go our way or turn out the way we thought it would. It’s easy to do. It feels right too. But what if we stopped just for a moment to see other possibilities, to see there might be something else going on here, something bigger beyond what we thought or what we can see. There, in our stopping, we can acknowledge all that is to our benefit, all that could be good, even better, and there we can begin to praise. There we will find it’s time to praise even when things don’t look as we thought they would.

“She became pregnant yet again-another son. She said, ‘Now maybe my husband will connect with me’...She became pregnant a final time and had a fourth son. She said, ‘This time I’ll praise God.’ So she named him Judah (Praise-God)…”

Genesis 29:34-35 MSG

Talk about a bad deal. Leah found herself married to Jacob, the same man as her sister, yet unloved and unwanted and nothing like she had thought things would turn out. She was however blessed with giving Jacob children which she thought would make him love her, connect with her, and want her. Each child she hoped would change things, but with each one she found her expectations unmet. I love what she comes to see with her fourth child as she says, “This time I’ll praise God.” It seems she came to the point where it wasn’t about having expectations met, it wasn’t about finding praise or adoration from people, but it was about God. She came to the place where she chose to believe that even when nothing looked like she had hoped it would that she trusted that God was still writing a great story in her life. You can believe that too, because it’s true. God is writing a great story with your life...even when it doesn’t look like you thought it would. That’s why we can join with Leah in the midst of disappointment and despair, ‘This time I will praise the Lord.’

Never doesn't mean Never

Never doesn’t mean Never

“Never has doesn’t mean never will

hasn’t been doesn’t mean can’t be

what was doesn’t mean what is to come

and who you’ve been doesn’t mean who you will be.”

Loren Thornburg

It’s true that the past is often a good predictor of the future. In sports we study and predict what our opponents will do based on what they have done. In relationships we know friend’s tendencies to be late, to respond a certain way, to say a particular phrase based on what they have done. In life we are creatures of habit often clinging to the familiar ways of how it’s been. There are many times where this is true. ...but not always. Just because something has always been one way doesn’t mean it always will. Change is possible. The baseball team that usually struggles with the off speed can learn to adjust or the friend that usually flakes can be dependable. The same is true for us. We can change...from insecure to secure, from timid to bold, from foolish to wise, from depressed to joy, from lost to found. Who you’ve been doesn’t mean who you will be. Let us give ourselves and those around us the freedom to change knowing never have doesn’t mean never will. Though it’s been never, it’s possible.

"Sing, O childless woman! Break forth into loud and joyful song, O Jerusalem, even though you never gave birth to a child. For the woman who could bear no children now has more than all the other women," says the LORD.

Isaiah 54:1 NLT

God is a God of the impossible and He loves to show up in our impossibilities! He makes the impossible possible and He goes big when He does it!!! We see this here in Isaiah. He is saying not only will you have a child, you who have never had a child, but you will have so many, even more than all the other women. He says I won’t just meet your desires, I will exceed them. The same He is speaking to you, ‘Believe in me, child. I see your desires, I hear your pain. Don’t lose hope or be discouraged. Instead, Sing! Sing loud and joyful! For even though it seems impossible, even though you feel your desires have never been met I will exceed them beyond what you hoped or dreamed. So sing! For what was is not what will be when you believe in me!’

More than Not

“Faith is more than not fearing, not worrying, or not doubting...

it’s trusting, it’s relying, it’s believing.”

Loren Thornburg

So many times I am trying so hard “not to do” things that I forget “to do” things. I tell this to my pitching students all the time, I guess I should listen. It’s a simple sports psychology lesson of the way the mind works. Your brain doesn’t hear the don’t so when you say, ‘don’t strike out’ it hears, ‘strike out’ and so you end up telling yourself the opposite of that which you are trying to achieve. So while it is good not to strike out instead it is better to focus on hitting the ball. The same is true in life. It is good not to fear; it is good not to worry; it is good not to doubt; but, that is not the answer. Simply trying not to do these things seems to only replicate them for our focus remains on them even if in desiring their absence. We don’t learn to walk by trying not to fall, nor will I learn to walk in faith by trying not to fall by the way of fear, worry, doubt or any other way that we fall. While it is good not to fear if I trust I will not fear. While it is good not to doubt if I believe I will not doubt. So do more than not, think more than not...trust, rely, believe and you will find the more you were hoping for.

“The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the worlds ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.”

1 John 5:5 Message

Faith is what allows us to have peace in the midst of the storm, to bring the world to its knees when it seems over our heads. Now what it doesn’t say is just make sure you don’t fear, focus really hard on not worrying or try as hard as you can to not doubt. No, the conquering power is FAITH. Faith and fear are in contradiction. The latter is an abandoning of a former loyalty while the first is to remain loyal to your conviction, to the truth. Often I get focused on fear even in simply trying not to and I only fall short of the faith that I long for. I have not been called to not fear but to walk in faith. Not in faith alone as a nice idea but the real victory, that which brings the world to its knees is from God through Jesus Christ. As I walk in faith believing in who He is, believing He is the one that saves me from fear, believing that He loves me and loves to care for me...then I can walk in faith! As I walk in that faith the fears begin to subside; they have to for Jesus is in the midst!! Victory is more than not losing it is believing! Lets do more than not, lets bring the world to its knees, lets walk with Jesus by FAITH!!

Reigning Reins

“The one who holds the reins, reigns!!”

Loren Thornburg

It’s not so much the reins but the one who holds them that reigns! Reins are narrow straps used to guide and control horses. In and of themselves they don’t hold much power, yet they cause the horse to change direction, to stop or slow down by pulling on them. They are used to keep the horse under control. So it is the power of the one holding them, the one who used them that gives the reigns their power. Reign adding just a g, means something so different yet so the same. Reign is to hold a royal office or a particular title yet also to prevail or be the strongest. While a narrow strap and a royal office seem miles apart they both hold an element of power and control. Just like the horse is subject to the reins so the people are subject to the royal office’s reign, and still so are our lives subject to that which holds the reins, that which holds power and control over our lives. At times that is another person, at other times that is our thoughts whether positive or negative and at times that is the circumstances in our lives. So the question is who holds the reins of your life? For that which you give the reins will reign!

“as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 5:21 NASB

And so our choice remains what will have the reins over our life. What will have the highest influence and control? Will it be sin or God’s grace? If it is sin we are brought to death. But, if God’s grace and kindness rules and reigns then we are given right standing with God and eternal life because of Jesus. When you see it like that the choice seems easy!! Yet how often do we let sin take the reins and reigns in the ways that we allow the ways we miss the mark to be the one that holds the reins? I know I do! I let lies be in control of my mind, I let selfishness and pride be in control of my actions, I let my emotions be in control of my heart. Still, we have a choice, still Jesus has defeated the grave, still Jesus Reigns!!! It is because of Jesus that we can reign over lies, we can reign over pride, we can reign over our emotions! It is when we give Jesus the reins that we can reigns with Him! When we let Him take control, when we let Him take the reins when we let Him be the one of highest influence and control of our lives He reigns and we reign with Him!! Though the choice that sounds easy is not always, but it is possible, and the choice that is possible is worth it! So let Jesus hold the reins so that He may reign! For when He reigns there is Freedom, there is Grace, there is Life! Choose His Reins! Choose His Reign!!!