Tag: thankfulness

Target Focused Dads and Husbands – On Paper

-Quick update here, I thought I had posted this back in October. I just found this post, that should have been the second post in this series sitting in my drafts. I’ve been behind on getting some things together for this series and even though this was supposed to be out before, this feels right 2 months in here in 2024. How are things going with your resolutions? How are things with your changes for 2024? Do you have any idea where you are going this year? Let’s take some time to reflect on how this year is going so far, and make sure we are still grouped, consistent, and On Paper.

If you’ve ever been around someone sighting in a rifle or maybe you’ve been the one doing it, one of your first hopes is just to hit something that you can see. You just want to get on paper. From there you can make corrections, but you just need to know that you are actually making it somewhere. Sometimes that is how we go through life. We might think we are going the right way, but we aren’t even coming close to hitting the what we think we are aiming at.

To figure things out, sometimes it takes moving the paper closer and making other changes. Another way to think about getting on paper is to truly get things down on paper. I’m sure that at some point you’ve heard that the only way to achieve goals is to write them down. The other thing to think about is taking time not only to write your goals but to write down a personal inventory of your strengths and weaknesses. Take the time, to be honest with yourself about your weaknesses and the things that you struggle with. Once we are honest with ourselves and acknowledge our problems, we can start to deal with them.

18And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.

Romans 7:18-19

Getting on paper in this series is, spending time getting into the Bible, get into God’s papers. For many of us, sitting down and taking 5, 10, 15 minutes to read the Bible is a challenge. We will spend hours watching videos, reading reviews on cars, trucks, guns, bows, etc., but when it’s the Bible, we struggle. God has given us the instructions, as much as we hate to read instructions, we need to take the time to find the things that God has laid our for us. At our church of the last few weeks, we have been talking about David moving the Ark of the Covenant back into Jerusalem. When he first started moving it, he did what he thought he should do, put it on a cart, and move it with his power as the mighty ruler that he was. This resulted in one of the people in the group dying when he accidentally touched the Ark. David decided to stop moving the Ark and placed it in someone’s house. When he went back to move it again, David consulted the law and history. God had already told his people, how to properly move the Ark, it should be carried by the poles inserted on each side. (2 Samuel 6:1-7, 12-15 and Exodus 25:10-15)

A good next step for many of us is to find a reading plan, a small 3 day or 5 day devotional using the Bible App on your phone, or look for a Bible in a Year/New Testament in a year Bible. The studies from UNCOMMEN, have been good thought provoking short sessions. These are only 5-6 day commitments at a time. If you miss a few days, you can catch up, or just pick it back up. Taking small steps and making small changes will build the habits that lead to a change in how you handle all things in your life.

Take time over the next few weeks, find a study to do, and do it. Make time for God, make time for your family, make time for your wife. Move things out of the way and get yourself on paper. Get to where you have some idea of you stand, where you are aiming, where you are going. From there you can start making the corrections and building the habits that I’ll talk about next time, when we talk about groupings and consistency.

—Cory

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.

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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.

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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…

by corymcglone

Married Mondays – Trust

Happy Monday everyone, and welcome back to another edition of Married Mondays.  This week, I want to talk about trust.  Trusting your spouse is not complacency or naivete.  Trust is not control or guilt.  Trust in a marriage is knowing that you are both looking out for the interest of the team.  You are taking care of your marriage, you are doing the things that you promised to do when you took your marriage vows.

When you begin thinking, “Oh that could never…” or “we don’t have to worry about that…” you run the risk of becoming complacent.  You run the risk of your spouse not knowing that you know they are worth fighting for.  You can more easily loose the spark in your relationship, when you become complacent.

Trust, to be is being open and honest with your spouse.  It comes back to communication.  Even the small things that are going on make sure that your spouse knows.  We all think differently about things.  Take this for example:

“Honey it’s me. I don’t want to alarm you but I was hit by a car as I was leaving the office. Paula brought me to the hospital. They have checked me over and done some tests and some x-rays.

The blow to my head was severe. Fortunately it did not cause any serious internal injury.However I have three broken ribs, a compound fracture in the left leg, and they think they may have to amputate my right foot.

Wife’s Response:    “Who is Paula?

Or this video:

 

But in all seriousness, in thinking about the Christmas story in the Bible and the events that led up to Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, there was some true trust in each other and trust in God.  A firm trust in God and what He has for you and your marriage, will push out any distrust between you.  The more you trust God the more you will trust each other and all of those in your life.

Matthew 1:18-24

18This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.
19Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
20As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
21And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
22All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”
24When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.
Trusting in God and trusting in each other, are the pillars that a marriage and your life should be built upon.  Let me also say that trust is not something to be abused.  If there are trust issues in your relationship, work to resolve them.  Trust issues and fights will break down your marriage, they will break you down as a person.  Not to be corny but, Honesty is the best policy, is truth. You are a team, you are together one person, you should have no secrets from each other.  If you scroll though your spouses camera roll/text messages/emails/(insert social media stream here), you shouldn’t be surprised by what you see.
Work with each other, talk out any issues that you have, with cool heads.  Listen to each other, fight for each other not against each other.  If you need to rebuild that trusting relationship.  Don’t hold past issues in the way of rebuilding that trust.  Yes broken trust is hard to repair but it’s not impossible unless you make it impossible.
This week, talk with your spouse.  Make sure that they know that you feel that your marriage is worth fighting for.
by corymcglone