Matthew Gaither – Page 23

If You Know Nothing Else, Know This One Thing

November 20, 2013 by Matthew Gaither

Ok, I admit it. I am not as well-adjusted as I look. I am prone to bouts of worry and I tend to over think and over analyze just about everything. I regularly spend so much time focused on the thoughts and ideas that are banging around inside my head that I miss what is going on right in front of me.

I’ve also been known to fall victim to my own fears and doubts. I fear failure, both for myself and my endeavors, and I doubt my ability to do what’s required of me. Can I really be the faithful follower that God has asked me to be? Can I really love my wife as I should; unconditionally and without reservation? And can I really continue to write and speak about the Truth when I am so often persuaded by a lie?

Spoken more plainly, why does God choose to use us to carry out His plans when we are so weak and prone to failure?

The answer, I am learning, has far more to do with the nature and character of God than it has to do with anything about us.

From a personal perspective, the more I get to know Him, the better I see His nature and understand His character. And if there is one awesome truth that God has given me a glimpse of lately it is that He cannot fail, He cannot lose and He is always faithful. He is constant when I am wayward. He is loving when I am unkind. He is victorious through the most horrific of circumstances and there is absolutely nothing that He cannot do.

God is not surprised. God is not overwhelmed. God is not tired. And God’s purposes are always accomplished in His time and in His way.

To know that I am privileged to be a part of His divine plan for redemption and that He is patiently working through me is a marvelous thing. Although there is still so much that I don’t understand I am beginning to realize that as I am faithful and obedient, God will provide me with exactly what I need to do His work, when I need it. Instead of focusing on my weakness, my fear and my doubts, I will instead focus on His strength, His glory and His love.

This is a fundamentally important and necessary shift in my perspective that must take place if I am to walk in a manner that pleases God. What does the writer of Hebrews say?

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NASB)

We must have faith in the character and nature of God. The only way to have that faith is to get to know Him and to let Him be Lord in every area of our lives. We must continually seek Him and never stop following hard after Him.

“Lord, may we strive to know you ever better. May we be faithful followers. May we seek you first and always. And may the desire of our hearts be to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ our Savior. Amen.”

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: faith, God, wisdom

The Everything from Nothing Exchange

November 19, 2013 by Matthew Gaither

“And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NASB)

The weakness of the flesh is always there. On some days it is less apparent and we feel energetic and strong, like we could touch the sky. On other days, it stands in our way and tries to block us at every turn, becoming a weight on our backs and pain in our bodies.

We don’t like being weak. It makes us feel “less”. We don’t like how it slows us down and holds us back. “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” says the Good Book. And yet we wish that it were not so.

From a personal perspective, I struggle with mental and physical exhaustion on a weekly basis. I think “if I just had more time and energy, I could do so much more and be so much more!” But I am starting to learn that this is not necessarily God’s way. The way He works is somewhat different, and altogether better.

Hypothetically, let us say that we were granted with an endless supply of energy. What could we accomplish and what we could we do? Would we really be more effective and productive day to day or would we simply waste more time and make more mistakes due to our fallibility? With unlimited energy would we depend on God more than we do now or less than we do now?

I think both you and I know the answer to that question, and so does the Lord.

Make no mistake, our weakness and fallibility is a direct result of our sinful condition and the fallen race that we belong to. God does not intend for us to remain this way. Even now, the process of redemption and reconciliation is being carried out in our spirits and one day soon, in our bodies.

But until that day, our weakness will remain. And in our weakness God grants us a miracle. God gives us His strength, His presence and His power. Instead of struggling against our weakness and our limitations God wants us to glory in His might and in our dependence on Him. It is when we realize that only He is pure and good and that our best efforts can never match what He offers that we finally surrender and let Him be God in our lives.

In our sin, He offers us grace. In our weakness, He offers us strength. And in our nothingness, he offers us everything.

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: God, grace, strength

You Need Me and I Need You

November 18, 2013 by Matthew Gaither

Believe it or not, you are surrounded. You are surrounded by ideas, by influences and by people. And you are surrounded by spiritual forces working for your good and for your destruction.

There is a battle being fought for your heart and mind every single day that you live on this planet. Some of this you are aware of and some of it is out of the realm of your perception. The goal, however, remains the same: your allegiance.

We’ve been given the awesome gift and responsibility of free will. Choosing Jesus and placing ourselves under His Lordship creates a great force and influence for good. Human beings who humbly submit themselves to Him and repent from their sins can be used in mighty ways to the glory of God and to the great blessing of others.

The opposite is also true. Choosing a life of selfishness, gratification and adherence to the god of this world creates painful consequences and ruined lives. Sin is sweet for a season but the ultimate fruition is much worse than the brief pleasure that it brings. Choosing such a life creates a force and influence for evil, always to the detriment of everyone it touches.

We human beings are easily influenced and will model what we have been taught and what we have seen in others. And what are we seeing all around us right now? Lives destroyed by adultery, poverty, drugs, greed and every sin under the sun. Consider this:

“What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” C.S. Lewis

With so much evil receiving so much attention and glorification in this world we have never needed each other more than we do right now. I desperately need to see Christ in those around me and those around me need to see Christ in me. We must make it a priority to lift each other up in every way that we can and to show God’s love every opportunity that we get.

“So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.” (Galations 6:10 NASB)

The apostle Paul knew the importance of this and he exhorted the Galatians to take make the most of every single opportunity they were given to love each other. In doing so they would act as visible examples of God’s love and grace to those who needed that encouragement the most; their brothers and sisters in Christ.

It is no different for us today. We are hard pressed by our enemy and we need every ally that we can get in this fight for good. By your decision to take a stand for what is right and live a life that visibly glorifies God, you may be the light that helps an ailing brother or sister find their way back home. Your witness will be the blessing that God uses to strengthen and encourage those around you and to ultimately edify the body of Christ.

We must stand together. We must pray together. We must love each other as Christ first loved us and we must be lights first to each other and then unto the whole world.

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: discipleship, fellowship, friendship

Friday Favorites 11/15/13

November 15, 2013 by Matthew Gaither

Friday favorites is a place where I can talk about and recommend some of my favorite things. From food to music to technology to great ideas, Friday favorites will feature them all. If you have feedback on something that’s deserving of a Friday favorite, please don’t hesitate to use the comment section or send me an email at matthew515blog@gmail.com. I want to hear about your favorites too!

Today I am featuring another recipe from our recent Daniel Fast. This recipe surprised both my wife and myself with how flavorful and filling it was and with how well it reheated for leftovers the next day. The original recipe called for serving this over flatbread but we prefer rice; either way it is going to be tasty and satisfying.

Moo Shu Vegetables with Hoisin Sauce over Rice

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons sesame oil –
3 scallions, thinly sliced –
3 cups thinly sliced bok choy –
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced –
2 carrots, thinly sliced-
1 block tofu, crumbled –
3 teaspoons grated fresh ginger –
2 cloves garlic, minced –
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce –
1 recipe homemade Hoisin Sauce (see next recipe) for every 2 cups of rice

1. Heat sesame oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat; add scallions, bok choy, red bell pepper, carrots; stir-fry vegetables 3–4 minutes until crisp tender.
2. Add tofu, ginger, and garlic and continue cooking 2–3 minutes until sprouts are soft. Stir in tamari sauce.
3. To serve, create a layer of rice in the bottom of your favorite bowl and add a generous helping of vegetables and Hoisin sauce to taste.

Hoisin Sauce
Here is the sauce for your Moo Shu Vegetables. You may choose to make it in a larger batch and then refrigerate it for another meal.
INGREDIENTS –
4 tablespoons soy sauce –
2 tablespoons 100 percent creamy peanut butter or black bean paste –
1 tablespoon apple juice concentrate –
2 teaspoons white vinegar – 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder –
2 teaspoons sesame oil –
20 drops Chinese hot sauce (Sriracha)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend well.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: Daniel Fast, friday favorite, recipe

Whose Footprints Are These?

November 13, 2013 by Matthew Gaither

We live in a world that enjoys unprecedented ease of access to information. At a moment’s notice, we can summon forth the entirety of The Gettysburg Address on a smartphone or Tablet PC also while catching up on the latest news and weather. The internet savvy person can accomplish in a day’s time what would have taken his or her ancestor months or years to accomplish, and we are so accustomed to this that we often times don’t even realize the speed at which we are living.

With this kind of access to information and ideas, we often find ourselves more confused and less clear about what’s really important instead of the other way around. Everyone has an opinion and with the explosion of social media, all of our opinions and ideas can be readily seen and heard (the irony of this statement is not lost on me, I assure you) be they good, bad or indifferent.

The problem is, no matter how politically incorrect it is to say it, there is a lot of garbage and noise out there from a lot of well meaning people. I’m reasonably certain that most of the people that promote self-help, coaching and therapy would not tell us that their advice is going to send people to hell but in many cases, that’s exactly what it’s doing.

We all have a sin problem. I don’t care who you are or where come from. If you were born into the race of Adam (the human race) then you have inherited a fallible, self-driven, sin prone nature. This sin problem is a death sentence. Not just physically but spiritually as well. Without a solution to the problem of sin, no amount of therapy, self-help or coaching is going to ultimately reclaim your life.

Only one person can do that. There’s only been one human being who had the capability to defeat sin and death and reclaim humanity for God the Father. That person was Jesus Christ, and until we submit our lost, sinful selves to His precious redeeming blood we are without hope.

I want you to look down, right now. Look at your feet and where they are taking you in the life that you are leading. Whose footprints are you following? Who made the path that you now find yourself on? Is it a Godly path, trod by our Savior and leading to Glory? Or is it the road to hell, paved with good intentions and good advice?

By all means, improve yourself. Learn all you can and gain as much knowledge and wisdom as you possibly can. Be wise and not foolish. But in doing so, make sure that you have the assurance that you have come under the blood of Jesus Christ. Make sure that you know Him in a personal way and are daily walking in His footsteps and only His footsteps.

He is the Master Carpenter, the only true builder of people*. We provide the material (ourselves) and He does the construction. Let Him build you as you walk His path. Remember friend, all other roads lead to destruction.

*I have to credit Pastor Alan Daniels for the idea of Jesus Christ as a Carpenter of human beings. What a fantastic viewpoint.

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: blogging, Jesus Christ, sin

The “Stop Playing and Look at This!” Moment

November 12, 2013 by Matthew Gaither

Over a decade ago and not too long after Vicki and I were married, she said something to me that we still chuckle about to this day. At the time, it was somewhat surprising and unexpected but it was also exactly what I needed to hear. It made an impact on me then and even now it serves as a reminder of the wisdom of my wife and the need to keep my priorities in order.

In college, I had gotten into a routine that consisted of studying, socializing and spending my free time in front of a computer. I was an avid internet gamer and unfortunately I carried this habit (truthfully it had become an addiction by this time) into our marriage.

One evening, as I sat in front of the computer playing, Vicki came in and began to speak to me and seek my input on various topics. Being quite distracted and trying to divide my attention, I gave short, one word answers and grunts. As she continued to try and communicate with me I continued to play and give her less than my full attention.

Finally, she came and stood in front of me and said “Stop playing! Look at this!’ She was holding something in her hands that she had been desperately trying to show me for several minutes while I sat there obliviously.

Her actions worked wonderfully for a couple of reasons. Vicki almost never raises her voice and almost never makes demands of anyone besides herself. She’s the sweetest person I’ve ever met and probably the most selfless as well. For her to interject herself in front of me and verbally command me to put my attention where it should have been all along was eye opening and very effective.

I immediately realized what a jerk I was being and how unfairly I was treating her. I had let bad habits from my past creep into our new relationship and life together and they were jeopardizing the marriage that we were tying to build.

Needless to say, “Stop playing! Look at this!” became a rallying cry for me to remember that the relationship between Vicki and I is the most important relationship that I have on this earth and is second only to my relationship with the Lord. As long as I am on this earth it is my privilege and responsibility to honor my wife with my time and full attention whenever she needs it.

I wonder how many of us take a similar approach in our walk with God. We bring bad habits and old ways of doing things into our new relationship with our Heavenly Father and when He speaks, we only half listen if we listen at all.

Brothers and sisters, this ought not be so. God not only deeply desires our undivided love and attention, He truly deserves it. Don’t let it come to a “Stop playing! Look at this!” moment between you and the Lord before you decide to love Him with your whole heart and give Him everything you have. There is deep joy and abiding peace in full surrender to the Lord Jesus. Come willingly, come gladly and come before it is too late.

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: joy, Submission, surrender

Friday Favorites 11/08/13

November 8, 2013 by Matthew Gaither

For the next few weeks on Friday favorites, I want to highlight the recipes from our recent Daniel Fast that we really thought were delicious and will continue to eat as part of our regular menu. Today I’m going to start with a snack that you probably have at least some familiarity with, and hopefully show how with just a few tweaks this snack goes from boring to delicious. In fact, I like these so much that I now eat about one per day and have yet to grow tired of them. And, being a Daniel Fast item, they are all natural and have no added sugars or preservatives. Your really can’t get any better than that!

I will also state, for the record, that I very much doubted that I would ever like these when my wife first offered me one. If you, like me, find yourself doubting that these could be be any good at all then all I have to say is “try them”. I completely changed my mind within the first few bites and you might also.

Brown Rice Cakes with Natural Peanut Butter and Raisins

I start with a whole grain brown rice cake. My local Kroger carried Lundberg Organic Brown Rice Cakes and I found them to be much superior in terms of texture and crunch versus a normal puffed, white rice cake. In my opinion, the normal white rice cakes have the texture of styrofoam and a similar squeak when broken so I avoid those whenever possible.

Next, add a nice layer of your favorite natural peanut butter. I’ve used both crunchy and smooth and I like them both equally, so go with whichever you prefer. This one would be a great choice. I stress natural peanut butter because the normal stuff has all kinds of additives that you don’t want or need as well as some really unhealthy, unnatural fats. All you really want to see on your peanut butter ingredient list is peanuts and maybe salt. That’s all.

Once you have that done, it’s time for the raisins. I use a couple of spoonfuls for each rice cake but you can adjust the amount to your liking. I like my rice cake to be pretty well covered in raisins but not so many that they are stacked on top of one another and falling off. Make sure each one has some contact with the peanut butter and you’ve likely got it just right.

Why does this snack work so well and why is it so delicious despite being so simple? The secret lies in the ingredients. You’ve got the crispy crunch of the rice cake. You’ve got the creamy richness of the peanut butter. On top of those you are adding sweet, plump raisins which have an interesting texture all their own. The resulting combination hits all of the right notes in your mouth: salty, sweet, crunchy, smooth. It really is delicious!

By the way, bring a napkin and a smile. You will likely use both of them.

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: friday favorite, recipe, The Daniel Fast

Humility, I was Wrong About You

November 6, 2013 by Matthew Gaither

The humble bumblebee

How did I never see this before? How have I lived thirty-eight years on this earth without ever reading this marvelous quote by C.S. Lewis. “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less”. If ever there was an accurate picture of Biblical humility, this is it!

My thinking about humility and what it means to be humble has been all wrong. I mistakenly connected humility to someone who is low, abased and meek. And while practicing humility may take us places where we are low, where we have been abased and where we need to be meek, it really isn’t any of those things. True humility is selfless. It is in actuality, less of self.

This discovery and new definition coincides nicely with the direction that the Lord has been taking me in recent weeks and months. It started the way that it usually does with Him; through a gentle nudging by the Holy Spirit that I needed to pay attention to something. That something was the way that I was praying and the way that I was thinking. I had become (and perhaps always have been) very “me” centered.

You can’t be me centered and strive to walk closely with God for very long before He points it out to you.

It’s not that I lack the ability to be selfless or fail to recognize how I must submit to Him if I am to be of any use to the Kingdom. Submission is a topic with which I am well familiar because it wasn’t too long ago that I finally told God that everything I have and everything I am belongs to Him. I believe it is precisely because of that first and most important submission that I am now able to hear Him speaking to me about how I must go further down this road.

It is not enough for me to say that I am submitted and to start the journey if I am not then willing to pay attention to what He has for me as we walk together. If I have come under conviction about something, and I most certainly have at this point, then I need to confess my sin and ask my Lord to show me a better way; His way. In this case, His better way is beautifully explained by the C.S. Lewis quote that we began with: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less”.

My prayer is now that I would fully and completely understand how well God is taking care of me and how He is always in control. That sounds rather basic, and it is, but if we really and truly believed it would we still spend as much time thinking about ourselves and our circumstances as we currently do? Or would we finally concede that if God really is who He says He is then the last thing I need to be thinking about is me because He can lead me far better than I ever could!

God has a plan for redemption (thank you, T. E. Hanna) and reconciliation that is so much bigger and better than me. And I praise God for that. I want to be involved in what He is doing and I want to be used by Him for His glory. I want to be the instrument that He uses and I want to work alongside others of like mind. And having made that decision I hope you will agree that I simply have no time anymore for “me”.

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: conviction, humility, self

The Lesson I Learned from a Tiny Frog

November 5, 2013 by Matthew Gaither

Mr. Frog could comfortably sit on that quarter with room to spare.

One evening not too long ago as I sat in my recliner, laptop in hand and working, I decided that I needed a short break to stretch my legs. I headed towards the kitchen for a glass of water and a snack but didn’t make it too far in the doorway before I stopped short.

There on the floor, just out from the fridge, sat something very curious looking. Because of its small size and grayish color my first assumption was that it was a ball of fuzz (a dust bunny) that just happened to be in the shape of a tiny frog. The only puzzling aspect of my conclusion was that I had been in the kitchen not two hours before and had since been alone in the house. Since dust bunnies normally originate from underneath the refrigerator, I was confused as to how one had gotten to it’s present location which was several feet away.

Thinking that I should definitely tidy up before my wife made it home I took a few steps closer and was amazed to discover that the “dust bunny” was actually the smallest frog that I had ever seen. Noticing his dusty feet, I guessed that he must have been hiding underneath the fridge until very recently. And he was now sitting in my kitchen floor!

Not wanting to miss the chance to record the little guy for posterity, (mostly to show my wife later) I ran and got my digital camera. After a couple of pictures in which the tiny frog posed obediently and without protest, I realized that without some sort of familiar object the sense of scale was lost. There was really no way to tell just how small the frog was from the picture. That was when I had the bright idea to introduce some spare change to the situation.

You can see from the picture that accompanies this post that the tiny frog would have comfortably fit on top of a quarter with room to spare.

Not wanting to endanger the frog’s life when we let the cat back in later in the evening, I decided to embark on a rescue mission. I grabbed the smallest cup that I could find and gently placed my hand behind the frog with the cup in front of him. Thinking the frog would jump into the cup I was very surprised when he suddenly jumped up onto the lip of the cup and seemed to be very contented to say there.

For the short trip through the kitchen and across the porch to the edge of the sidewalk the tiny frog sat very regally on his perch until I lowered the cup to the ground. With a quick series of motions he hopped off of the cup and disappeared into the dewy dampness of the lawn. Feeling quite pleased with myself, I turned to head back inside the house when I got the strangest impression in my mind.

I was just like that tiny little frog.

Like my little friend, in the trials of life I often loose my way and end up in places that I have no business being in. How often had I been completely and hopelessly out of sorts, stuck somewhere unfamiliar after coming through dark times and dirty places? How many times had I looked up and realized that I was so tiny and the situation that I was in was so big and so much beyond me that I couldn’t even hope to see the end? And how many times has my Heavenly Father stepped in to pick me up and bring me back to where I needed to be, gently and with loving care?

Every single time. That’s how many.

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: faith, hope, Love

October 2013 recap

November 1, 2013 by Matthew Gaither

Another month of blessing, surprises and new discoveries in our journey of faith. Isn’t it good to be a child of God? I hope that you know that it is a very good thing indeed!

With the “official” launch of the site several months back I decided I would record, for accountability and posterity sake, several different statistics and compile them in a recap post on the first of the following month. It gives a good snapshot of how the site is doing in terms of traffic and growth and also gives me a chance to publicly show any gifts received or income made.

At this point I should note that income is very secondary to what Matthew515 is all about. My prayer is that the site would be self-sufficient (hosting costs are not large but are an ongoing expense) but even if it isn’t, my God owns the cattle of a thousand hills and I trust Him completely. He will provide through other avenues so long as I am faithful to do what He has called me to do.

If you would like to help support the site there are a couple of very easy ways that you can do that. I have affiliate status with both Amazon.com and Dayspring.com and there are banners for both companies on the site here. If you click on one of those banners it will take you to that company’s website; Amazon banner to Amazon.com and Dayspring banner to Dayspring.com. If you happen to make a purchase after clicking on the banner from Matthew515 then a small percentage of the price of the product you buy will be given to Matthew515 as a referral fee. It doesn’t cost you anything extra to do your shopping this way so it’s a win for everyone.

And now for the numbers:

Unique Visitors: 1,120 (957 last month) +17%

Number of Visits: 2,441 (1,871 last month) +30%

Pages Viewed: 10,439 (8,363 last month) +25%

Income: Amazon Affiliate sales $2.60 ($1.45 last month) +79%

October was a month of lower lows and higher highs than September in terms of weekly and daily visits and views. Up until the very last week the overall numbers were very close to last month but then the site hit two attendance records on back to back days on the 29th and 30th. This helped end the month on a very positive note and was very encouraging, especially in light of Mr. Denver Harris’s post on the 30th.

If you’ve read any of my previous monthly recaps then you know that I have a giant goal for this site that is frankly far beyond my ability. That goal is for the site to one day hit 10,000 unique visitors in a month. And it’s not a goal that I have set simply because I want a lot of visitors to the site, although that would be a fine thing as well. It’s a goal that only God can accomplish, in His timing and in His will, as long as I continue to work like it’s up to me and pray like it’s up to Him.

I will continue to sow and I will leave the increase up to Him. Thank you for reading and God Bless!

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: goals, recap