A Fresh Perspective

May 16, 2019 by Leave a Comment

perception, blessings, thankfulnessThese days I make it a habit to stop by my favorite coffee shop at least once a week on my way to work.  The coffee is excellent, the service is friendly and I can pick up a bag of freshly roasted coffee beans while I am there.  For a coffee lover such as myself, it’s a great place to shop and that has as much to do with the product they sell as it does with the people who work there.

During my visit this past week, one of the regular employees opened the door for me as I entered the building.  As he opened the door he said, “Hey Matthew!” which was not only nice and appreciated but also quite surprising in that he remembered my name.  After I concluded my business at the counter I walked over to where he was working (he was in the process of roasting a fresh batch of beans which not only smelled amazing it was quite fascinating to watch) and struck up a conversation with him.

It turns out that he remembered me not only because I am a frequent customer but also because I drive my Mazda MX-5 Miata to work and he, being a fan who was thinking of purchasing one in the future, had noticed it.  Of course any time someone wants to talk cars I am more than happy to oblige in that conversation, being an enthusiast myself.  And the fact that this happened inside my favorite coffee shop with a fresh cup in my hand just made it all the better.  Here were two of my favorite things happening at the same time in the same place and I remember being very happy and thankful for the encounter.

We spoke for just a few minutes about the Miata and why he liked them and I have to say his enthusiasm was catching.  I walked back out to my car at the conclusion of the conversation with a big smile on my face, not only because I enjoyed the chat, but because it allowed me to see the Miata with a fresh perspective.  All of a sudden, I remembered all of the reasons that I had sought the Miata out and it was like I was sitting in it again for the first time and appreciating what a fun and and interesting car that it really is.  Seeing the car through someone else’s eyes and listening to their enthusiasm for it helped to rekindle my own.

Later that day, as I was thinking back on my experience, the Lord brought something to my mind.  It is part of our nature as human beings to take good things for granted once we become accustomed to them.  We do this not only to material possessions  (like I did with my car) but also to our relationships with the people around us.  And then there is that most important relationship, the one between us and God, that I fear we also tend to take for granted.

I know that I do, if I am not careful.  Unless I am vigilant I tend to take so many of the blessings in my life for granted and I know that it’s easy to just skim the surface of how awesome our God really is and all that He has done for us.  I know that unless I take the time to slow down and ask Him to give me a fresh perspective on who He is that I am likely to miss much of who He is and what He is doing.

For that reason, my prayer lately has been that God would allow my heart to grow and my spiritual eyesight to sharpen so that I might better perceive Him and His handiwork.  I want to know Him better and to be a better friend to Him because He has been such a great friend to me.  I can see how I was beginning to take some things for granted and I am so glad that God loves me enough to correct me and to show me a better way.

Sometimes, it takes an object lesson from life experience in order for God to teach us something.  Our responsibility is to be teachable and to be listening for when and how He speaks.  God is so amazing that He can use seemingly normal, everyday circumstances in order to reveal Himself to us.  My prayer is that we would be on the lookout for Him and be actively seeking to know Him better through it all.

 

 

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Worth Considering

March 4, 2019 by Leave a Comment

A few ideas worth considering for the beliver.

Throughout all the time that I’ve written here my posts have tended to be about one topic or idea but today I am going to do something a little bit different. Instead of four to six-hundred words on one topic I have a couple of ideas I would like to discuss in smaller segments and the reason is just because I feel this is the way the Lord would like me to go with this.

Marriage, Family and Friendship – My wife, bless her, is a very busy person. She has a heart to give and to serve and her passion for Samaritan’s Purse: Operation Christmas Child means that she is often meeting someone at a church about new drop-off locations or on the phone discussing plans for an upcoming event.

On one such evening recently where she came home from working all day, ate a quick supper and then readied herself to head off again for a meeting I assisted her as best I could. Even though we only had a short few minutes to talk before she left again I made sure I found out about her day and about what was going on in her life. I helped her take various bags and items to her car that were required for her meeting and I opened the gate that leads out of our driveway so that she would not have to get out of the car in the rain to do it.

Truthfully, these are the things that a husband should do for his spouse but honestly I sometimes mess up and miss these opportunities. Sometimes I overlook the needs of those who are closest to me (not just with my wife but also with my friends and family) and that is an area where I want to improve, not only because I am called to be a servant but because I don’t want to take for granted the time that God has given us to be together.

If something happened to me and I was called home to be with the Lord, would my wife, my friends and my family know how much I loved them by the way I treated them during my time here? It’s one thing to say “I love you” (and we should tell folks that they are loved) but it’s an ever better and greater thing to show it and to live it.

Breaking What is Already Broken –Have you ever had a day where you felt like you were under attack? Like you were being squeezed for all you were worth by life and circumstances? I think we all have days like that and they can really be difficult to endure and hard to understand.

We know that there is a spiritual battle that is being waged and if we are trying to live for the Lord then the enemy is going to come against us and do everything that he can to disrupt and discourage us. And how we act and react during those most difficult days can tell us a lot about our spiritual maturity and those areas in our lives where we still need work.

We are all broken and flawed beings. Our Father seeks to repair and strengthen those areas of brokenness and redeem our mistakes while our enemy seeks to make us fail and to break what is already broken. We have a choice during those battles to fall once again into old habits and old temptations or to surrender to God’s grace, admit our brokenness and let his strength be made perfect in our weakness. What will we choose during our next battle? We need to prepare now, before the storm and the crises and in so doing we will be ready to call on the Lord and to thank him in the midst of all trials.

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From a Position of Plenty

January 22, 2018 by Leave a Comment

blessings, thankfulness, Ephesians 1:3If you are a United States citizen then it is getting to be that time of year again.  And by “that time of year” I mean tax time wherein we get to take stock of our fiscal 2017 and see how much, if any, income tax that we owe both our state and federal governments.

For the last 5 years I have been in a position where I am paid a salary plus commission on sales.  Commissions, if you were not aware, are not taxed at the time that they are paid out, unlike salary.  And the tax rate for commission is 25% which means that one fourth of every dollar that I made in commissions in 2017 I now owe as tax.

This being my 5th year on the job my wife and I are well familiar with this process and have a savings account set up into which that 25% of every commission dollar gets deposited every week as I get paid.  So even though we know that we have taxes to be paid we have put ourselves into a position where we should have the resources that we need to make that payment.

Let me tell you, that is a far better position to be in than my first year on the job when we were unaware of how commission was taxed and how much commission I was going to make and were given a large and unexpected tax bill that severely depleted our savings account.  That was frightening and certainly not any fun and it is far better to be in a position of plenty (like we are now) than in a position of lack (like we were then).

I think for many of us who call ourselves Christians we don’t really understand or realize what a position of plenty we now have.  We are truly and richly blessed although many, many times we fail to acknowledge our blessings and even worse, we fail to take advantage of them.  God has promised to provide everything that we need as long as we continually place our trust and hope in him.  It really couldn’t be any more simple than that although the actual practice of doing it can be much more difficult than just understanding the principle behind it.  And in that respect, I can promise you that I am no better than anyone else!

We all fail to be as thankful as we should be and we all fail to take advantage of all that God has given us.  But aren’t we thankful that God is merciful and patient with us and gives us chance after chance to grow and become more like him?  Aren’t we thankful that sanctification is a process and that God honors our efforts to seek him and know him more?  And aren’t we thankful that, with our repentance, yesterday’s failures have no power over what God can accomplish in us and through us today?  I certainly am!

So as we go forward from today we need to realize, afresh and anew, how much God loves us and what an amazing position of plenty that he has placed us in.  No matter what our earthly circumstances might be and no matter how big or how small our bank accounts on earth are, our heavenly bank accounts are always filled to overflowing and we lack for nothing when it comes to being all that God wants us to be and doing all that God wants us to do.

We are blessed.  Now it’s time to do something with all that we have been given and to thank God for his love and care for us.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  Ephesians 1:3 (NIV)

 

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A Gift Not A Given

November 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment

thankfulness, grace, GodI met a remarkable fellow this week.  In my job doing internet sales I come into contact with people from all over the world.  Mostly these are fleeting encounters that only take as long as a single phone call and are quickly forgotten.  This one man, however, I hope I will not soon forget.

I am confident that this meeting was ordained and orchestrated by God.  The reasons for the sale, both our product and his need aligned so perfectly that he flew half the length of the country to come and meet us face to face.  In addition there was a circumstance that required his presence in our state that was completely separate from the sale.  That this circumstance and his need for our product could have occurred at the same could only be considered providential.

As we were wrapping up and he was preparing to leave he shared with me a little bit about his other reason for visiting our state.  A younger relative of his who no longer had any parents or guardians around had gotten in to some trouble with the law and was incarcerated on some serious charges.  As a retired pastor and minister of the Lord he felt it was his responsibility to go and visit this relative and pray with them and give them whatever comfort and wisdom he could.

This man was now in charge of a large non-profit ministry that fed and assisted the homeless in several communities across the northern part of the country.  Based on his own past experience and the trouble that his relative was now in he made this statement:  “If you can work and provide for your family and put food on the table and keep a roof over your heard then that is a gift, not a given.  We are all equal in God’s sight but we do not all have equal abilities and are not all equally capable.  Some people just need more help than others.”  Although it went unspoken I could see in this man that he felt that he had been called to help the helpless and I thanked God for his witness.

Later in the day I thought about my job and my home and all that God has provided me and I realized that I tend to take it for granted.  I don’t thank God enough for giving me the ability to work and a place to work.  As I look back on my forty years I realize that I have worked for over half of it and I have never had difficulty finding a job when I needed one.  God has always been there, looking out for me and making a way for me.  He has provided for my family and even in lean times we have always had enough.

When you really get down to it, God does not owe me or anyone else anything at all.  We’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory and God would be well within his rights to turn His back on us and leave us to our own devices.  Yet His love and grace is persistent and His mercy is new every morning and He delights in giving His children good gifts.  Woe to me if I begin to think that I am owed God’s provision or that I deserve what He so generously offers.

My prayer is that God would open the eyes of His children to see all that He has done for us and that we would not take any of it for granted.  I pray that He would keep us humble and help us to acknowledge Him in everything that we do.  God’s grace is given with every breath that we take.  Let us always remember that this is a gift, not a given.

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God Changes Us For The Good

July 27, 2015 by Leave a Comment

thankfulness, gratitude, praiseFresh out of bed and still bleary-eyed I stumbled into the bathroom to start my morning routine.  I would need to leave for work within the hour and I did not want to be late so I was already starting my mental checklist.

I glanced out the window at the early morning light that glowed and defined the tall pines and old oaks of the forest that began at the edge of our yard.  As I did so I was struck by the need to just be still and raise my hands towards heaven.  I began to praise God for His goodness and His love and I thanked Him for His grace and mercy and for including me in His redemption plan.

All of a sudden I was filled with an overwhelming sense of love and peace and I knew that just for a moment, I had touched the heart of God and that He had touched me in return.  I began that day with a smile on my face and a song in my heart that stayed with me and colored every moment and every interaction with joy.

Practicing gratitude and looking for opportunities to be thankful can open our eyes to moments like this.  A year or two ago I am quite sure that I would have missed the Spirit’s tug on my heart so soon after tumbling out of bed.  I would have been too focused on “me” and my needs and my dull spiritual receptors would not have tuned in to the call to praise.

The great news is, things are changing.  Rather, God is changing me and I am encouraged by His work!

I’m still not perfected, this is a process and a work in progress.  I still miss Him, sometimes, when He shows up and I am distracted and the flesh in me is in control.  That makes a moment like my spontaneous praise and worship all the more precious because it shows me that God is not through with me yet.  It is proof that He is changing me from the old man that I was into the new, holy child of the King that I want to be.

But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength;
Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For You have been my stronghold
And a refuge in the day of my distress. (Psalm 59:16) NASB

 

 

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How to Overcome the Negative, Nasty and Nervous

July 20, 2015 by Leave a Comment

gratitude, thankfulnessQuestion: What sneaks up on you more quietly than a whisper, is more infectious than the the flu and will taint your mind and attitude if left unchecked?  Furthermore, everyone is vulnerable to its attack and no one is immune to its effects regardless of race, background, wealth, intelligence, age or status.

The answer is Complaint.  Not complaint as in a singular fault or flaw but Complaint with a capital “C” that is a pervasive mindset and the opposite of gratitude.  A complaint may be valid and presented in a positive way.  Complaint (which I will refer to from now on with the capital “C”) is always ugly and self-centered.  There is generally very little love and very little in the way of Godliness in Complaint and for Christ followers who need to be a positive witness to the world that is a big problem.

Complaint infects for a variety of reasons but those reasons are almost always circumstantial.  As Christians we are to base our outlook and our attitude on our position in Christ which is eternal, unchanging and assured.  Circumstances are the opposite of that.  They are temporary, seasonal and constantly changing.

Unfortunately in the scheme of things we tend to forget or downplay our position in Christ and focus more on our circumstances than we probably should and in turn that gives our circumstances more power than they should have.  Those circumstances come to dictate our feelings to some degree and Complaint begins to grow.

Our attitude becomes one of pessimism (“they are out to get me!” “what next will go wrong?”), selfishness (“I don’t have enough as is, how can I give to someone else?”) and hopelessness (focusing on the bad instead of the good and basing one’s outlook on that).  When we are pessimistic, selfish and without hope we discourage those around us and miss chances to bless others and be blessed ourselves.

Worse still, Complaint is contagious.  So much so that it effects entire families, workplaces, teams and even the body of Christ, the church.  With very few exceptions once one person gives in to Complaint there will be others who begin to show the symptoms of negative thinking and negative speech.

How do we fight Complaint?  How can we defend against it?

Quite simply, we must practice and model thankfulness.  We need to be consistent with our praise to God and we to be visible and vocal about how we do it.  We need to be sharing with one another frequently about all the ways that God is blessing and has blessed our lives.  We must be encouragers to one another and we must be lifting our brothers and sisters in Christ up in prayer daily that they might be strengthened and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Living a life of gratitude requires discipline and conscious choices.  We can choose to give God our praise and thanksgiving even in the midst of tough times and difficult circumstances.  Circumstances will change and trials will come and go but our God remains and His goodness and faithfulness is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Let us choose to be thankful.  Let us choose to be grateful and to share our blessings with those around us in such a way that Complaint has no chance of taking root.

Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. (Hebrews 13:15)

 

 

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Thoughts on Thankfulness

December 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

thankful, praise, blessingsThankfulness as a way of living has been my theme for some time now.  Some days I am more successful with this than others.  It’s been easier this month with the Thanksgiving season upon us but that still does not lessen my responsibility to be mindful of my blessings.  As I sat down to write this week I seemed to have a jumble of ideas all centered around thankfulness so I thought I would collect them here.

1. Being thankful is God’s will for me. (1 Thes. 5:18)

2. Thankfulness is like armor.  It protects me from bad attitudes, greed and envy.

3. Thankfulness alleviates depression.  Count your blessings!

4. Pride can destroy thankfulness (when I am proud I feel I deserve more instead of being mindful of what I already have been given)

5. My thankfulness should be expressed often, verbally and by my actions.

6. I should be especially thankful for those that God has put closest to me: my family and my church.

7. Because I am thankful I am compelled to serve the Lord out of love for Him.

8. It is still difficult to be thankful for trials and tribulation but I am starting to understand how God uses those to shape me into a usable vessel for Him.

9. Difficult people are a blessing from the Lord that I should be thankful for.

10. The gift that I am most thankful for is my salvation and the hope that the Lord has given me for eternal life.

I hope that this month has caused you to think about all of the things that you are thankful for.  I hope that you understand how important it is to be thankful at all times and in all things.  I would ask you to stop and think of all the things that God has done for you and the ways that He is working in your life and then give Him praise for it.

 

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The Words That Make Me Most Thankful

November 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment

1 Peter, thankfulness, salvation3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)

I have a living hope, a hope that does not die and does not fade.  My hope is in Jesus and the work that He has already done for me.  My hope relies on the power of God and and I am so thankful because I know the He never fails and never falters.

6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1: 6 – 9)

I am thankful for the faith that God has given me because it is a gift from Him.  To my Heavenly Father, my faith is more precious than gold or jewels and it is His desire to refine it to perfection.  In order to do this He allows various trials to come in to my life that test me and strengthen me as I rely on Him.  Trials and tribulation are not comfortable but the end result is a life that gives praise, honor and glory to God.  In this I rejoice because I know that the ultimate expression of my faith is found in the salvation of my soul through Jesus Christ my Lord.

17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1: 17-21)

I will continue to call on my Father who loves me and sent His only Son to die for me.  I know that I have been redeemed at the highest possible price and that I must conduct myself in a way that pleases Him as I walk through this life.  God’s ultimate expression of love was shown through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who God chose before the foundation of the world.  Before I knew Him he loved me and provided a way for me to be with Him forever, both in this life and beyond.  I have been reconciled to God and made right with Him through that one precious, glorious act and I can do nothing but be eternally thankful to Him who saved me soul and redeemed my life.

Thank you, Father, for your words that always bring life!

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