Like Sheep

Once you were wandering like lost sheep. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls. (1 Peter 2:25)

On more than one occasion, the Bible compares Christians to sheep. I don't know if I'm really happy about that, because sheep are not the most intelligent animals on earth.

It would have been nice if God had compared us to dolphins. Now there's an intelligent animal. I once had the opportunity to talk to a man who trained dolphins. I asked him, "Are dolphins really as intelligent as they seem?" He said, "In some ways, yes, and in some ways, no. They are very intelligent in many ways, because a dolphin can read a symbol and understand what it means." That is amazing to me.

But Jesus didn't compare us to dolphins. He compared us to sheep. And sheep are some of the stupidest animals around.

They are easily spooked. They are vulnerable. They have no defense mechanisms to speak of. They can't run very fast. They are in constant need of care and attention. They have a horrible tendency to follow each other, even to their own death. It has been documented that if one sheep walks off a cliff, the others will follow.

The Bible says, "All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own" (Isaiah 53:6). Think about how many people have bought into the same lies, generation after generation. They fall into the same junk, the same addictions, and the same traps again and again.

We are like sheep. That is a fact. The question is, am I going to be a smart sheep or a dumb one? Smart sheep stay close to the Shepherd, and that is where we all need to be.

To be alone with you - Sufjan Stevens

I'd swim across Lake Michigan
I'd sell my shoes
I'd give my body to be back again
In the rest of the room
To be alone with you
To be alone with you
You gave your body to the lonely
They took your clothes
You gave up a wife and a family
You gave your ghost
To be alone with me
To be alone with me
To be alone with me
You went up on a tree
To be alone with me
You went up on a tree
I've never known a man who loved me

Surrender!

Letting Go!

Sometimes I just have to let go. When I hold on too tightly it nearly, if not entirely drives me to the point of insanity.I’ve found this to apply to all areas of my life. Letting go doesn’t mean giving up or forgetting. It just means releasing your grip, yielding control.I can’t control things.

I can’t control the grade I got on a paper in class or job evaluation that I felt was graded unjustly.

I can’t control the feelings and biases of others.

I can’t control love.

I can’t control death.

I’ve found that in my life, I’ve held too tightly. I have striven for perfection and foolishly become disheartened to the point of paralysis in the times I have failed. And I have failed miserably at times, mostly at accepting grace.Grace is a hard thing, particularly the grace that comes from Jesus Christ.I sin. And when I sin I feel so bad that I send myself the almost subconscious message that God cannot love me. A friend of mine put it best when he stated: “Man, I feel like I’m God’s bad little kid.” I know I am a child of God, that he has accepted me into his family. At times I feel like I’m definitely the bad one, that God is continually disappointed and is giving me the silent treatment.The thing is, he’s not as far off as I make him. It’s just about surrender.

The heart of my issue is that I am not accepting the fact that the blood of Jesus was sufficient to cover all of my sin, and when the guilt I feel over my sin paralyzes me, it is certainly not from Him. It is buying into the lie that the sacrifice Christ made was not enough.

That sickens me.

So I have to let go. Let go of my belief that I can be perfect in my own strength. Let go of the idea that I’ll never be good enough.

I am loved by God, and His love is perfect. Who am I to reject such an unfathomable gift? So my demon is definetly: Surrender! I am sure there are many laymen among us that do not comprehend the depth in the term "surrender" as well.

Thankfully dealing with Grace, love, Travis!

Clean - Inside Out

This is a devotion that I read recently and really enjoyed!

"You try to look like upright people outwardly, but inside your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness." (Matthew 23:28)
People make changes in their lives for many reasons. Often it is when they face a crisis in life. It might be a heart attack. It might be the loss of a spouse through death or divorce. It might some other crisis that hits them, and they begin to evaluate their priorities and take stock of their lives. They determine to make changes.
But often the same people who vow to change end up going back to their old ways. We often hear of celebrities being admitted to drug rehabilitation centers. We hear about the great changes they have made. They tell their stories on television and write books about it. But then a few months later, we read that they have gone back to their old ways. Why? Because they have made moral changes in their lives, but they haven't gotten to the root of their problem, which is the absence of God in their lives.
Jesus warned the Pharisees, "First wash the inside of the cup, and then the outside will become clean, too" (Matthew 23:26). Jesus was telling them that they were missing the point when they only concentrated on the outward. They must first take care of the inward.
The clear mandate given to the church from the lips of Jesus Himself was to go into this world and preach the gospel, because when people truly find Him, it will change their lifestyle. If, as believers, we allow other things to detract us from this calling, then we are also missing the point. As Jesus said, "First wash the inside, . . . and then the outside will become clean, too." That is where we must focus our efforts.

Great Birthday!

Ahhhh….another birthday! Whooppee! I have never been big on birthdays. I do not care for keeping track of age, etc! To me it is pointless! You are only as old as you feel! However, this year was a special one. C-mack is now in my life and I feel completely blessed! I do not want or need a gift! Heck, I spent my birthday shopping for Carson. What does that tell you????
But this year, I received a card from Carson. That was when it hit me! I am a father!!! I have just received the first of many cards to come. I actually teared up! It was absolutely great! Then I opened up the card from my wonderful and hot wife. It has a women in a night gown sitting on the master bed. The front said “This year I give you what you have always wanted!” and the inside said “24 hours of being right!”. So we had some fun with this! I began saying ridiculous stuff like “Honey, I think it would be best to buy a truck right now!” and my wife would look at the clock to see how much time was left until my 24 hours was up. And she would say “yes, your right!”. Honey, You know my life would be more meaningfull if you were not in it and she would look at the clock and let out a frustrated breath and say “yes, your right!”. “Honey, I know that your allergic to the grass but I think it would be a good idea if you mowed the lawn!” and she would look for the clock and say “yes, your right!”. We were having a lot of fun with this! She was talking about just giving it to me every year!