It's NOT about Us!

Life can get real frustrating when you have 4 children. They think the world is all about them. Everything we buy should be for them, everything we talk about should include them. When it doesn't you would think the world is about to come to an end. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and I would do almost anything for them, but there are times when I just want to have a conversation with my wife ALONE. So to do that we might go into a room and close the door. When those times occur, as rare as they may be, we had better talk fast because it won't be long until the kids realize that something is happening that doesn't include them. KNOCK, KNOCK "Mom, Dad are you in there? What are you talking about? Can we come in?" How frustrating!

The interesting thing about being a parent is that I have learned a multitude of spiritual lessons from watching the frustrating behavior of my children. You know the truth is we all treat God, our Heavenly Father, the same way. Everything God does must be about ME (US). We feel that "I" must be the very center of God's world. When we go to church our mentality is "What is God gonna give ME?" "What can I get out of this service?" "What can God do for ME?" We are very selfish when it comes to our relationship with God. In many ways our relationship with God is all about ME!

On my desk I have taped up a sign. It says "It is NOT about us. It is ALL about HIM!" On that sign there are 2 Scripture references: Galatians 2:20 and John 15:1-5. Let me just share those Scriptures with you. Paul wrote to the Church at Galatia in Galatians 2 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." NKJV

The Apostle John wrote in his gospel chapter 15 "I am the vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing." NKJV

What powerful truth! Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ..." I don't believe we really know what it means to be crucified. Do you know what it means? It doesn't mean just set aside, it means something is killed. In this case that something is me. In a very real sense when I came to Christ, I died. The "old" me that Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 5 has died and now it is not me who is doing the living but Christ who is IN me. So the life I live everyday is (or at least should be) ALL about HIM, because it is (or at least should be) Him who is doing the living.

The Apostle John also makes a powerful statement in John 15:5 he says that I can't do anything without HIM (Jesus).

So the way I see it is that my life is not about me, the glory I may receive or even the blessings I may receive. It is ALL about HIM! The glory HE receives, the Blessing of His name. When I sit and think about that it challenges me to live my life differently because it is not just ME that my choices affect, but HIS glorious name.

Think about how you live today. Who are you living for? You or HIM?


Pastor Chad

Out of the Mud.

Did you ever play in the Mud? I used to love to play in the mud. My mom hated it, but I loved it. Mud was fun. It was slippery, wet and it got you dirty. What a great combination. Then there came a time, when I realized mud wasn't much fun. It got me dirty and slimy and wet and whats worse is you can get stuck and I mean really stuck in the mud. Now I am not talking about stuck in the mud in a car (which is bad). I mean stuck in the mud at your feet.

Have you ever been stuck in the mud by your feet? It is a strange feeling. There you are playing and having fun and all of the sudden you feel a suction on your foot and you try to move it and get it out and all of the sudden you feel that foot sink deeper and your other foot begins to feel that suction. Before you know it, you're stuck. You can't move and the more you wiggle the "stucker" you get. All you can do is cry for help and hopefully someone hears. That is when mud stopped being fun for me.

The Bible tells us that a life outside of Christ is a life lived in the mud. It is fun for a while. But then something happens to that "fun" mud. We get stuck and before we know it we are in up to our nose in mud.

As I think about mud Psalm 40:1-3 comes to mind. Listen to what it says: "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth--praise to our God..."

Here we are, all stuck in the mud and some of us have realized we are stuck (and some haven't) and we cry out hoping someone will hear us. The Bible says, God heard. He "inclined" to us. That word "inclined" can mean a few things, but primarily it means to stretch out toward something or to bend down to something. So God heard my cry and He bent down toward me and He didn't bend down to ridicule me for being stuck but this Psalm tells us why He bent down. He bent down to bring me out of the mud and set my feet on firm ground and not just set me down on firm ground but He establishes our steps. That means as it says in Proverbs 3: 5 He directs our path.

Mud used to be fun, but I realized that mud is sticky. I was stuck! But Thank YOU GOD, I realized I was stuck and called out for help and HE heard me and bent down and pulled me up and set me straight.

How about you. Have you realized your stuck in the mud? And if you know your stuck have you realized that you need help getting out. My advice to you is just cry out and He will hear you and pull you out and set you straight.

What a Great God we serve!


Pastor Chad