God – Ramblings of a Christian Father

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

But I’m a good person

prayer

Over the past couple weeks our pastor has been doing a series called Grace too good to be true. This is been one of the most amazing message series I have heard in a long time.

It has been a reminder that we are all messed up, some more than others, but we were all once in the same place. We were all once outside of God’s grace and mercy. There are “good” people out there that do really amazing things, but they haven’t given their lives to God. There are people on death row that have realized the wrongness of what they have done, and have asked God for forgiveness and He has brought them into his circle of grace and mercy.

It’s not a matter of the things that you have done or the things that you do. The closer that you are to God and the closer that you draw into Him, the harder it’s going to be to sin or to look to sin. Many people will look around and say, “Well at least I’ve never _____,” “At least I’m not doing _____” Fill in what ever Holier than thou reference you want in these blanks. This is the problem with Churches and Christians today. So much time is spent calling out the sins, and belittling those that fit those molds. God poured out His grace on the cross for ALL not SOME.

John 3:16-17

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

I want to take a minute to brag on our church for a minute here as well. We recently changed our mission statement to the following : “ Helping people far from God find God.” This simple statement sums up what we are about. Out other big question that we always ask is: “If we ceased to exist, would our city miss us?”

At the end of the day, being a good person isn’t what it’s all about. Being a good person makes you likable. Being a good person may make you feel better about yourself. But what is your standard of good? Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever, looked at someone lustfully that wasn’t your spouse? Have you ever left work with a pen or sticky notes? If you answer yes to all three, you are a Lying, Thieving, Adulterer. This make you no better in God’s eyes than someone who is a murderer, a drunk, (insert your better than sin here). Your story shouldn’t be that, “I’m blessed by God because I do this, _______.” Your story should be, “ God has blessed me with this even though I’ve done this.” It’s not about what you can do for God, it’s more about what God can use you for. When you are doing His work for His glory, you may not be the best person, but you will be living a blessed life.

John 8:1-11

8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, 4 they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” 6 They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 7 But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them,“He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. 10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She said, “No one, [a]Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

Are you living you life comparing yourself to others or are you comparing yourself to Christ? Are you living up to the calling that God has placed on your life? Do you know the calling that God has on your life? Do you know that it is God’s grace that has saved you? You don’t have to get your life right before you come to God. He will help you through that. He will change you. You don’t have to worry about changing yourself, that will come.

January 15, 2016 by corymcglone