Tag: Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

Today’s Word Is STRENGTH

Tue-Mar-3-2020

After you have made it through a tough time, a stressful deadline, a challenging crisis, or maybe just made it through the day, hopefully you get a chance to relax and breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe you begin to reflect on how this all worked out, what you learned, and where  the strength came from. As believers, we should know that giving ourselves the credit doesn’t really tell the whole story.

Listen to King David after a victory against an enemy:

I love You, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,

And I am saved from my enemies. (Psalm 18:1-3)

When King David says, ”I am saved from my enemies,” he means the battle is over and we won! Yes, we. Through it all, the Lord is our rock, our fortress, and our deliverer.

How good are you at giving God the credit? It is much easier to quickly acknowledge and thank him when we have started out confiding and trusting in him, asking for guidance in the morning and throughout the day. I have made much progress over the years, but I still sometimes find myself seeing a problem or opportunity and just taking off with my own solution. Carrying on that day-long conversation is a great habit, which can keep me from being too hasty and disregarding my greatest source of strength. Then when the job is complete, problem solved, success achieved, victory won – I am more prone to give thanks to God my Father for the strength.

A famous Budweiser commercial shows a young colt alone in the barn beside the huge wagon that the older horses pull as a team. He steps under the harness, puts his neck in place and tries to pull. At first it doesn’t budge. He pulls harder – then suddenly the carriage moves forward, and he starts walking!

Obviously, he is thinking – wow, I’m really doing it! Then the camera angle widens and you see that the wagon is being pushed from behind by one of the huge Clydesdales, which I take to be his Dad.

So it is with you and me. Whether small or large, the things we accomplish are made possible by the God who is helping far more than we often give him credit. It is actually by his strength that we accomplished anything.

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” – Jesus (John 15:5)

Give thanks and give credit,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is JOB

Mon-Mar-2-2020

Many years ago, the owner of a professional sports franchise hired a consulting firm to help evaluate their employees, including job descriptions, distribution of responsibilities, and organizational chart. The purpose was to see if they could improve their sports team’s effectiveness and reputation, as well as to make things more cost effective and improve the “bottom line.”

A selection of employees at every level, from high salaries to minimum wage, and from every part of the company was brought in for interviews. These persons were to describe what their “job” was. For example, “I am in the marketing department, and my job is to arrange for large groups to come to our ball games and receive special treatment.” Another might say, “I travel the country looking for prospective athletes for our team.” While another might say, “I am in the ticket booth selling tickets.”

One of the random names picked was a cleaning lady who patrolled the bathrooms during the games and kept them “fresh.” The interviewer began by asking her, “What is your job for this organization?” And without hesitation, she said, “I’ll tell you what my job is … my job is to help our team win the Super Bowl!” She went on to explain how people are happier, buy more “stuff,” talk up the team, and stay loyal fans if they are able to go to a clean, well-kept restroom. “Furthermore,” she explained, “happy fans are more enthusiastic and yell more, and that makes our team play better and win more games, which is what gets us to the Super Bowl!”

Wouldn’t you like to work side-by-side with someone who has this attitude about their job! I would imagine that lady was fun to be around, easy to work with, and accomplished a lot, while maintaining excellent relationships with the customers as well as co-workers.

No job is insignificant, especially if you are doing it with the highest of purposes. After all, your real reward is from the Lord!

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” – The Apostle Paul (Colossians 3:23-24)

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is WORRY

Wed-Feb-12-2020

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything…” – The Apostle Paul (Philippians 4:6a, The Living Bible)

Somewhere along the way I read that Wor-ry and Wor-ship have a common linguistic root, as if they are opposites. To worry is to forget for the moment that God is interested in you and capable of great, even impossible things. To worship is to declare that worry is not the answer, God is. Worship builds up our strength; worry drains it. Worship increases our joy; worry destroys it. Worship expresses our confidence in God; worry shows our fear of the future.

Looking at it in writing makes the choice look easy. But at the crisis moment, we often revert to the poor practices of our weaker days and begin to worry. It takes practice to recognize the influence of our old human nature and the power of bad habits. How do we train our minds to do that? After all, negative thoughts are a killer.

The late Nell Mohney was a great speaker and author of 13 books. Her husband Ralph was pastor of First-Centenary United Methodist Church, Chattanooga from 1965-1981. One of her credits was writing an inspirational column in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press for 38 years.

Nell once told my wife and me about a period where she was having negative thoughts frequently. So she devised a solution. She put a rubber band around her wrist and every time she caught herself being negative again, she would pull back and pop the rubber band. She said it didn’t take long to break that habit!

What if you could resolve today to make worship and prayer into your usual choice, rather than worry? For some of us, it might not be as easy as Nell Mohney’s rubber band! So first, let’s look at a substitute word for worry, and that would be “concern.” Whereas worry is an exercise in fear, being concerned involves trust.

I confess that I worry sometimes. But there is a difference between worrying occasionally and being a worrier as a “way of life.” This is what Jesus is teaching us to turn away from.

Jesus said: “… your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things…” (Matthew 6:31-34)

If you need a breakthrough, and you’re ready to take the leap, then you can declare for yourself, “I don’t want to be a worrier anymore.” I’m sure your family and friends will have to recover from shock and get used to the “new you,” if you decide to stop worrying. They may accuse you of not caring anymore. Or it may be that the reason they don’t worry is because you are the worrier for them. If they want an explanation for why you have stopped worrying, tell them, “Jesus said not to!” Then, stop saying, “I’m worried about…” but rather … “I am concerned about …” This may sound like a trivial distinction, but from God’s perspective, it is not.

Worry is a lack of faith; concern knows where to place its faith. Worry is generated by fear; concern is the result of love. Worry tears you down through despair; concern builds you up through hope. Worry believes that we can’t handle bad outcomes; concern knows that we can, because “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

It’s a choice … worry and fear … or … worship and concern. Choose well!

Have a blessed and “worry-free” day,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is BALANCE

Tue-Feb-4-2020

In the book Work, Play, and Worship in a Leisure-Oriented Society by Gordon Dahl, he proposes a theory that life is made up of these three aspects; and we are supposed to work at our work, play at our play, and worship at our worship. He then proposes that much of American life is out of balance … and we get into a pattern of … Worshipping our work … Working at our play, and … Playing at our worship.

Starting with work … It should be fulfilling in some degree, accomplish something useful, provide for our needs, and bless others. But the word “workaholic” was created by a Canadian newspaper writer in 1947 to describe the growing concern for people who value work inappropriately and thus hurt their families, destroy their own health, and define life by the wrong measures. In other words, they worship their work.

Then there is our play. Another name is recreation … it is supposed to “re-create” us, meaning relieve stress, evoke laughter, be filled with enjoyment, and refresh us. However, I have seen folks throw golf clubs, walk out of card games, throw a tantrum over losing, get livid at the Little League umpire for a bad call, and in general become miserable trying to “play.”

When my children were preschoolers, I bought them a “bolo paddle,” a wooden paddle attached to a long rubber band with a small rubber ball on the end. You hit the ball over and over as it stretches out on the rubber band and comes back. When I got home from work the next day, I got upset because they had taken it apart!

My son was using the paddle part as a hammer with some of his building blocks. He loved it! My daughter was out back with the ball and rubber band part, slinging it around the double stranded clothesline, which made it wrap round and round and round until it was tight. Then it would reverse and unwind around and around until it was back out straight. She loved it! They were having great fun with the toy I bought, but by my standards they were not doing it “correctly.” Thankfully, I resisted the urge to spoil their play and turn it into work. It struck me that they were truly playing and enjoying it.

Now for worship. This is a time, both private and corporate, to praise and thank our Creator. But very many Americans breeze through the worship time (which for some must be completed in a defined time period, such as one hour) and do not get impacted by the awesome idea and experience of communing with the Holy God of the universe.

Many people are too embarrassed to express openly their love for God, afraid others will think less of them if they laugh, cry, shout, kneel, hold their hands out or up to God, get lost in a moment of quietness and reflection, or get so consumed by the presence of God that they are unaware of their surroundings and unashamed to express openly their love for God. It is possible, you know, to worship without singing or to sing without worshipping!

There is much more that could be said, but you get the picture. Now you can reflect about whether you are in or out of balance. We can find a sense of greater peace when our work, play, and worship become what they are supposed to be … not idolizing our work, being refreshed by our play, and being fully engaged while focusing on God in our worship.

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Verse:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. (1st Corinthians 10:31)