Thankful for You

I’m thankful that you are you and not me. Don’t get me wrong. I’m thankful for me, too, but I’m glad there is only one of me. I’m not sure the world could handle multiple Gregs running amuck and causing all kinds of chaos.

I’m thankful that you are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God and that you carry His signature on you. You are not a mistake. You are not an afterthought. You are not a copy of anyone or anything else that has ever been or will ever be. You are uniquely you (try saying that five times fast).

Just as unique is God’s plan for you. Don’t get caught up in comparing your life to someone else’s. Maybe you’re not married. Maybe you’re still living at home with the folks long after you thought you would be. Maybe you’re still wondering what you’ll be when you finally grow up.

That doesn’t make you a failure. It means you are not satisfied with the status quo, but you are wanting to find out what you were born to do and what makes you come alive.

Be patient. God’s promises may not happen according to your timetable, but they always happen in His perfect timing. I believe that if you can hold out a little longer, you will be surprised and amazed at what comes next. God is anything but predictable. But I know it’s gonna be great.

Remember that no matter what happens today, no matter what anybody else says to you or about you, no matter how impossible your life seems right now, that I am thankful for you. I’m rooting for you. So is God. And like I’ve said before, what seems impossible to us is not even remotely difficult for God (thanks to Pete Wilson of Cross Point Church for that one).

 

 

Kairos Revisited

Tonight’s guest speaker, Pete Wilson from Crosspoint Church, spoke about idolatry in relation to the American culture.

We don’t have actual wooden and golden and stone idols that we physically bow down to, but we have idols, nonetheless. Our idols are internal, and are anything that we expect to give what only God can give.

Two of the biggest areas of idolatry are accomplishment and approval.

Accomplishment says that if you can get that raise or that promotion, you will find meaning. If you work more hours and earn more accolades through your job, you will have value.

Jesus says, “I give you meaning and value merely because you are Mine.”

Approval says that you spend your life trying to make other people like you and notice you. Approval dictates how you dress, look, speak, and live your life.

Jesus says, “I approve of you because you are My beloved and I have eternally set my affection on you.”

If you seek fulfillment in these idols, it’s like being on an endless treadmill where you’re always reaching and striving because nothing you do is ever quite good enough. It’s exhausting.

Jesus says, “Come to me, all who are weary and overburdened and who work to the point of exhaustion, and I will give you rest.”

I really liked his definition of authenticity. It’s the practice of letting go of who you think you should be and who everyone else thinks you should be in order to become who you really are.

Authenticity is rare, so rare that those who dare to be their true selves will stand out like colors in a greyscale world.

As a recovering approval-addict, I appreciated tonight’s message. If I were honest, I’d have to repent on almost a daily basis of idols I have let slip into my life and given my time and attention to rather than God.

I think I for one want to step off the treadmill and find rest in my Abba as my only true source of contentment and fulfillment. Will you?

 

Strange Songs to Get Stuck in Your Head

I have songs running through my head all the time. It’s better than listening to the radio. I never know what song will be next or where it will come from or what will inspire it. Like the one that’s in there now. It goes like

“My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do for you.”

That’s the whole song. It’s deceptively simple and easy enough for toddlers to sing, but profound enough to blow the minds of the most seasoned believers.

There’s so much truth here if you let it sink in. If you dismiss it as a simple children’s song, you miss out on some very deep truths.

God is so big. He’s bigger than you, bigger than your dreams, bigger than what you’re afraid of, bigger than what you’re facing. He’s bigger than what the world says you can’t do or be or overcome. He is so big.

God is so strong. He’s strong enough to reach down to wherever you are, no matter how low, and pull you out. He’s strong enough to break through any barrier or stronghold or even the hell you’re in to find you and rescue you. He is so strong.

God is so mighty. He’s mighty enough to keep you safe and secure from all alarms. He’s mighty enough to finish what He started in you and make you into the person He created you to be. He is so mighty.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that God cannot do for you. What’s impossible for you is not even remotely difficult for God (yes, I stole that from a good sermon I heard, but I don’t think he’ll mind).

If you had these words running through your mind all day, imagine how much more confidence and courage you would have. If you believed it enough to step out off the ledge in a leap of faith. If you went to the dangerous and messy places that Jesus went to in order to bring a cup of cold water and a message of hope to the lonely, the broken, the hurting, the outcast, and the thrown-aside.

My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty. He’s stronger than cancer. Stronger than divorce. Stronger than unemployment. Stronger than moral failure. Stronger than addiction. Stronger than the death of a child. Stronger than depression. Stronger than chronic pain. Strong enough to get you through anything and make you stronger on the other side.

There’s nothing my God cannot do. For you.

My One and Only Inspirational Sports Blog

I normally don’t blog about sports. In fact, I never blog about sports. Famous last words. This blog is about sports. Go figure.

The St. Louis Cardinals are the world champions in baseball. Big deal, you say. What does that have to do with anything? Let me nerd out for a bit and give you some stats. The Cardinals were 10 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot on August 25. They barely made it on the last day of the regular season.

They reached the world series and were trailing the Texas Rangers in game 6. In fact, twice they were ONE strike away from elimination. I saw all kinds of facebook posts saying how the game was over. No chance for the Cardinals. But as with any sport, the game ain’t over ’til it’s over.

Here’s the point. Don’t ever give up. Even when it seems past hope, keep believing. Other people may count you out and quit on you, but God never has and never will. Some will stop believing that you are worth the effort of loving, but God never will.

You may be down to your last out, down to your very last strike. But if you’re still breathing, you’re not done yet. I heard this from a pastor and I’ve referenced it before, but what is impossible to us isn’t even remotely difficult for God.

It’s not too late to change. It’s not too late to start dreaming. It’s not too late to believe what God has dreamed for you. It’s never too late to give God control and let Him do what only He can do: make you who He always meant you to be.

Like I said before, no matter what others have said about you or what you’ve said about yourself, the only opinion that matters is God’s. No matter what names you’ve been given (or what names you’ve given yourself), the only name that counts is the name that God has given you. That name is still BELOVED.

Take heart, dear friends. Hope never dies and you’re never too lost or to broken or too late for God to save, redeem, and make beautiful. I needed that reminder tonight, and I hope you did, too.

Who You Are

“Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete” (1 Cor. 1:20-22).

The Bible says that whoever is in Christ is a new creation. Not just an overhauled creation or a rebuild creation or a refurbished creation. A completely new, never before seen creation. I think this is what that means.

You are God’s YES to the world, when the world asks can anyone really change and can anything good come out of a bad situation.

You are God’s AMEN, an exclamation point to the story of God’s power to change lives and redeem lost causes.

You are God’s POSSIBLE, for what is impossible for us is not even remotely diffucult for God (thanks to Pete Wilson for that one!)

You are God’s I CAN, when people say it can’t be done, that there’s no way, that it’s too late and I’ve screwed up too much for God to use.

You are God’s AMAZING, a testimony to how God can make brokenness into beautiful and He can even make the brokenness itself beautiful by how His strength is made perfect in it.

You are God’s LOVE STORY, His epic whirlwind romance about how He went to every length and never gave up in His pursuit to win your heart and how now your name is BELOVED.

You are GOD’S OWN, precious to Him and safe in His everlasting arms always. He’ll never let you go or give up on you or decide you’re not worth it.

That’s WHO YOU ARE.