faith – Ramblings of a Christian Father

Reset, Reflect, Refocus

Welcome to 2017. I know I’m a few days late, and it’s been a while since I’ve posted. I’m looking forward to this year being a year of amazing things. 2016 was a 2016 of a year, but like all the years that came before it, it had its ups and downs. It’s all in how you want to look at the year you just left and the year you are going into. We are 9 days in as of today, and if you are reading this, guess what, you are alive and have the internet.

I challenge all of you reading this to change YOU this year. You are the only thing that YOU can control. I titled this post: Reset, Reflect, Refocus for this main reason, we are 9 days into the year, and many of us have already forgotten the resolutions that we made, or didn’t make, or life has been life already these 9 days in. So my challenge to you is to wake up everyday and reset your mind again. Wake up with the attitude that today is gonna be a good day.

Reflect every night and everyday about what God did for you during that day and the day before. Can’t think of anything? Are you somewhere warm and dry? Did you eat? Did you find a parking spot at the mall? Look back not only on the previous day, but on your previous days, months, years. Look back at your history book with God. The last time your electric was about to be shut off but wasn’t, the last time your car was running on fumes and you coasted into the gas station, the last time you were in the drive through and the person in front of you paid for your meal. When was the last time you did something for someone else? God, provides for us, not because we give to those we don’t know, not because we deserve it, not because of our actions, not because we are or aren’t “good” enough. God provides for us, because he loves us.

As we start out this year refocusing on what is actually important, we can make the best out of our lives and situations. Refocus your life, and check your priorities. Make sure that you know why you are doing what you are doing, and that you haven’t just become a cold machine, that goes through the motions of life. Look back on what you have been through, and figure out what you are going to let God do to improve the life’s of those that love you, and those that don’t even know you yet, through you.

Sometimes life is about taking the sourest lemons life has to offer and making something resembling lemonade…

January 9, 2017January 9, 2017 by corymcglone

Married Mondays – Dig a little deeper

Welcome to another Married Monday everybody. I apologize now to anyone reading this with kids, as you now have a song from The Princess and The Frog stuck in your head. If not you do now. Or maybe I brought up a bad memory of 2 days ago when you had to dig a little deeper just to find your car.

Where I’m going this week, is that we need to take our communications to another level. Many times we know that something is bothering our spouse. Over time we learn their tells, we know when something is off. Too many times we get caught up in our lives, we get caught up in doing things to take our minds off of things, we work to get away from things, we leave work to get away from things. But it is when we get home, when we try to veg out, when we don’t really want to get into what is going on outside.

If you or your spouse are they type that tends to shut down and veg out, when you’ve had a rough few days, don’t shut them out. When you see this start happening in your marriage, go ahead and give the other person a little time to relax open up on their own. But don’t let too much time pass. Knowing the other person, you can tell when things are just off. It’s at this point, if they aren’t opening up, you have to start digging. Use your words wisely, and dig carefully. Not because of what you will uncover, but to continue to be thoughtful, because no matter how long you have been together, sometime things are just hard to explain. Sometimes we will shut down and not really know that we are doing it.

Dig deeper whenever things feel off. It is your responsibility to dig. It is your responsibility to call the other person on their BS, when they aren’t fully saying what is going on. When you dig, and explain what you are seeing, the release will be better for both of you. You are a team, you are there to help each other through whatever is going on.

So I challenge you this week, to watch, to dig, and to keep each other accountable. Keep each other lifted up. Keep each other communicating. Be there for each other and listen to each other

January 26, 2016 by corymcglone

But I’m not a very good person

So in contrast to my other post,But I’m a Good Person, I want to flip things around for you a little bit. Again along the lines of Grace being for ALL not SOME. Many people feel that they have too much baggage for God. Too much wrong in their past for God to love or to use them.

So I wanted to give you a list of jacked up people in Bible:

Let’s start here:

Matthew 1:1-2, 6

1The [a]record of the genealogy of [b]Jesus [c]the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

2 Abraham [d]was the father of Isaac, [e]Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of[f]Judah and his brothers

6 Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by [h]Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.

Abraham — Yes, Father Abraham, didn’t believe God could make good on His promise of having a son, because his wife was barren. Had a son with a hand maiden. After his wife got pregnant, he sent off the hand maiden and her son. So here we have an adulterous dead-beat dad…

Jacob — Ever heard the story of Jacob and his brother Esau. Twin boys, Jacob was momma’s boy. Manipulated his brother into giving up his birthright. He also with the help of his mom, tricked his dad Isaac who was dying and going blind, taking his brothers family rights, and making his brother his slave. To the point that his brother Esau wanted to kill him.

David — David was a great man of God. He was a loved ruler of Israel. But verse 6 above says a lot. David had Bathsheba’s husband killed so that he could be with her, after he got her pregnant while her husband was away at war.

Genesis 9:20-21

20 Then Noah began [j]farming and planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.

Noah — Builder of the Ark, after the flood got drunk and naked.

Exodus 2:11-12

11 Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their [c]hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he [d]looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

Moses — Leader of God’s people out of Egypt, Holder of the 10 commandments; was a murderer.

Joshua 2:1, 8-9

1 Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and [a]lodged there.

Now before they lay down, [b]she came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have [c]melted away before you.

Rahab — One of a few women in the bible with her own story. She was a harlot. She protected the Israelite spies in Jericho.

Are you feeling any better about what is in your past yet? God has used murderers, drunks, prostitutes, tax collectors, and cheaters.

No matter what your situation is, no matter what you have done in your past, no matter how ruined you feel that you are, God can and will use you. All you have to do is listen to Him, when he is calling to you. He is waiting on you to call out to Him and ask for His grace and forgiveness. He is waiting on YOU to say, Lord I know I’m a sinner, and that I am far from you. I want you in my life. I want to receive your forgiveness and grace. Lord please forgive me and come into my life and make me new. Use me Lord, to reach those around me that are far from you. Clean me Lord and restore me. I know that it is only though you that I can be saved. It is only through you that I am made whole. Thank you Lord for making me whole and saving me. Thank you for your grace and your love and your mercy.

Remember that Grace will always win…

January 21, 2016 by corymcglone