Eyes on the Prize

Friday July 27, 2012 has a big red circle around it on my calendar.  Actually, there should be a blue, yellow, black, green, and red circle to represent the five parts of the world that will gather together in London for the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics.  Yes, the Olympics are only eight days away.   I can hardly wait to watch as the top athletes from around the world gather together to compete.  

Of course, I want to watch gymnastics star, Jordyn Wiebe, and the swimming rivalry between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, but I will also watch wrestling, archery, and trampoline and anything else that I am able to tune in.  It doesn’t really matter what the sport is, I am captured by the commitment, dedication, and perseverance to a goal.  It is all glamorous and exciting and enthralling.  The games will begin and the eyes of the world will be on these athletes who have reached the pinnacle of their sport and now compete to see who will win the coveted gold medal and stand on the podium as their country’s national anthem is played  and all of us sitting at home in our pajamas cry.  All the long hours of practice, all the disappointments, all the injuries, and all the setbacks that had to be overcome were endured for this glorious moment. 

But then we begin to hear their stories. We hear the raw struggle to survive the process. Stories like those of  Lopez Lomong who  was born in a small village in South Sudan.  He was abducted at the age of six.  He nearly died in prison but managed to escape with three other boys who ran for three days through treacherous terrain until they finally crossed the border into Kenya. Remember he was six!  Lopez would remain in a refugee camp for ten years and then was resettled in the United States through the Catholic Charities Lost Boys of Sudan project.  Running would remain a part of Lopez’s life through High School and college.  He went on to be the division 1 NCAA indoor champion at 3000 meters and the outdoor champion at 1500 meters.  On July 6, 2007 he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.  In 2008, he would be on the US Olympic team and carry the flag in the opening ceremonies in China. In eight days Lopez will once again be entering the Olympic arena running not just for gold or the United States but also for the Sudan and all those who are still living under the oppression of civil war.  His running has taken on a higher calling.  Now he runs not only for personal achievement, and national pride, but for the greater good of mankind.  He runs for those he left behind but has not forgotten.  He runs for all the boys still lost in the Sudan.

The stories are why I love the Olympics.  The courage, sacrifice, perseverance that has been extracted in order to attain a goal inspires and overwhelms me.  I am amazed at the depth of commitment these men and women exhibit.  It is then that I hear the voice of Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:24-26

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.

Then it hits me - I am called to be a runner in the Olympics of life.  I am called to be a runner on a quest to receive a prize that will not fade away but is eternal.  I am called to overcome every obstacle that would keep me from obtaining my eternal prize.  Heaven is my Olympic stadium and Jesus awarding me the crown of righteous is my podium moment.  I am called to get up off my couch, out of my pajamas, quit crying about how hard everything is and grasp hold of the reason I am called to run.  I am challenged by Lopez to look beyond my self to the greater good of mankind.  I ask myself where I can make a difference here and now as I run toward the prize.     

2 Corinthians 4: 16-18  So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.

As I focus on my eternal goal, I am made aware that nothing I suffer is in vain.  Everything that God allows into my life is for a purpose.  No sacrifice too great and no discipline too severe.  There is nothing that will keep me from obtaining my crown. 

1 Corinthians 15:58  With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.

Anyone who thinks the way of the cross is glamorous and easy is just watching from their couch on the sidelines of life.  Those engaged in the struggle to reach their eternal goal know how discouraging and wearisome the way can be.  They also know that there is no greater call in life than to know Christ and to spend eternity with Him.  It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.   

2 Timothy 4:7-8   I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.

Until then

Eyes on the prize!

The Voice

Have you ever thought that your voice may be speaking louder than your words?  What am I talking about you ask?  Check this out -

 “The fact is, everyone's voice is distinct. Just as each fingerprint is uniquely yours, so is the human voice and speech pattern. We may not realize though that the quality of our voice speaks louder about who we are as it reveals certain aspects of our personality.” http://lloydluna.tigblog.org/post/16893

And this -  “Your voice can reveal many things about you. Just by listening to you people can discern your gender and age. They can also ferret out your true feelings by paying attention to the tone of your voice. You can choose the words that you want to say, but the tone of your voice can still reveal what you really feel.

Voice can also reveal things about your personality. It not only shows your level of confidence while you speak, but also reveals what kind of person you are. In a study, experts discovered that extroverts usually have a louder and faster tone while introverts have a softer and slower tone. They also discovered that people tend to like listening to a voice that sounds similar to theirs.”  http://watercoolerselling.com/cooler-talk/what- your-voice-reveals/

Maybe that is why I am fascinated by the TV show “The Voice”.  It is a singing competition with the twist that the judges sit in chairs that look like a turtle shell that wraps around them as they face backwards so they cannot see the contestant and only judge the audition on the basis of their voice.  When they hear a voice that stirs them, they turn to face the contestant.

Do you remember Susan Boyle?  She was a singing contestant on the British show Britain’s Got Talent.  She walked onto the stage and no one anticipated anything special to come from this unassuming middle aged woman whose hair had not been styled and wore a simple modest dress.  And then she began to sing “I Dreamed a Dream” and every jaw in the place dropped.  Her voice was angelic and powerful.  Her appearance was transcended by her voice.

I wonder if I do that with God?  I think of God being the Good Shepherd.  I think of Elijah hearing God’s voice as a whisper.  Maybe I make God way too small and tame and maybe like the people did not expect anything great from Susan I don’t really expect the miraculous from God. That got me thinking and wondering if God’s voice would cause me to turn?  Does God’s voice make people turn?

Job 37:4  After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back.  5 God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.

And Job turned.

Exodus 19:16  On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.

And Moses turned.

Psalm 29:3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters.

4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

5 The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.

6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.

7 The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire.

8 The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.

And David turned.

There will be a day when God’s voice will be heard by all the earth.  John gives us a preview of that voice.

 Revelation 1:10-13 It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast.

And John turned.

God’s voice roars.  His voice thunders with majesty.  His voice thunders in marvelous ways. His voice resounds and holds nothing back.    His voice is like the sound of many waters.  His voice is powerful.  His voice breaks the mighty. His voice divides.  His voice shakes the earth. One day, like John, we will all hear His voice.  Not His still small voice.  Not His loving Shepherd’s voice, but His irresistible powerful voice that is like a trumpet blast summoning all mankind, the great and the small, the rich and the poor, to behold the Lion of Judah and the Captain of the Host.  We will all turn at the sound of His voice and fall to our knees in awe and worship our conquering King. 

And mankind will turn.

Blessings

Dr. Louann Brizendine, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco states in "The Female Brain"  that a woman uses about 20,000 words per day while a man uses about 7,000." Funtrivia.com

So I have approximately 20,000 words every day.  Think about that - 20,000 words every day.  Now that is a lot of words I am floating out into the universe.  Back in March I blogged about taking trash talk from my vocabulary which has freed up a lot of words for me.  So in a time when all the talk is about shortages, I am dealing with a surplus of words at the end of my day.  Now I will have to say that I find this new found surplus exciting.  What should I do with all these extra words I have to speak every day?

Simple deductive reasoning tells me that I have this excess because I have eliminated negative words so it naturally follows that positive words should fill up the void.  The word blessings sounds old and antiquated, but maybe it is a word that needs to make a comeback.  Remember those bell bottom pants they came back.  Headbands, scrunchies, and even blue eye shadow made a comeback so I don’t think bringing back the word blessings is a wild idea at all. What is the definition of blessing you ask - bless•ing   noun 1.the act or words of a person who blesses.

Think about it, or maybe to put you in an Old Testament frame of mind, – Selah. The Old Testament is filled with word blessings. How many times recently has someone spoken a blessing over you?  Has anyone ever spoken a blessing over you?  How many times today have you spoken blessings over someone else?  I don’t know about you but I think I know exactly where my surplus words should go.  I need to start using my surplus words as blessings.  Listen to this blessing. Deuteronomy 28¨1 -6 “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. 2 You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:  Your towns and your fields will be blessed.  Your children and your crops will be blessed.  The offspring of your herds and flocks will be blessed.  Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed.  Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.”  Talk about putting your surplus words to good use.  WOW what a blessing!!!

The New Testament gives us some good examples of using our words to bless.  Romans 1:7  To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Those words of blessings are spoken over and over in the New Testament by Paul. 

Mother Teresa said this, "There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread."

I think this is the perfect way for me to use my surplus words.  I think you will be amazed, as I have been, the impact that just a few words of blessing can be to someone.  For some, it may be the bread that sustains them for one more day.  Take these next 31 words as my words of blessings to you today. 

Numbers 6:24-26“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. ”’

Crafting With God

  I love crafts and you know what?  I have done many crafts and I have learned you need to read the instructions.  If you don’t have instructions how do you do it?  Well, you can’t can you?  Well are lives are like crafts because we have many pieces and God is putting us together.  If you don’t have God then you don’t have instructions.  If you want instructions here is how you get them.  The Bible is like the instructions if you don’t have the Bible you don’t have the instructions. 

  God is in control like the instructions are.  So you have to let God be in control.  You also have to take your time.  Like you have to take your time with God and let Him use all the parts.  Don’t lose parts like losing the instructions of the craft then God can’t finish.  You know if you only have half the craft done it looks wrong if you don’t let God finish then you will look weird.  You might be missing kindness, forgiveness, or helpfulness. 

   You never know how beautiful your craft is until you finish it so you have to finish.  You never know how beautiful you are until God finishes.  I made a heart necklace and every time I look at it I think God’s love is like a heart.  God can do anything and He makes our hearts look beautiful.

  

Crazy Trippy Things

Recently in my life, I have experienced many "crazy trippy things".  It started happening shortly after my relationship with God had gotten stronger.  I then realized that things were signs left by God, to tell me that He was there for me, and watching me.  Now many skeptics may believe these "signs" are just coincidence and don’t think anything of such events.  Although, when going into the day with the mindset that God is always there, many new possibilities will open up.  This is because of the simple fact that once you let God into your life, you will not only be much happier, but He will let His presence be known.  The first thing that happened to me was a simple, common problem.  I had lost my phone.   After about an hour of frustration, I exclaimed "please God just let me find my phone".  Immediately, I heard something under my recliner -- I had already checked under it several times.  I went to go check it out, and there it was, it had dropped right out from the bottom of the recliner.  Now I realize that this may not be a very profound event, but all that follows in such a short time frame, is worth thinking about.  Just the very next day, I had finals.  I had struggled in my Spanish class all year (I had been taking a higher level Spanish class).  I prayed before the test, not expecting help from God, but just asking and sure enough, the "butterflies" in my stomach went away, my clammy hands loosened up, and I became incredibly focused.  I felt as if I had super powers.  I ended up getting a good grade on the test bringing me to a C in the class.  A couple of days into summer, I was at work with my buddy, landscaping.  I had just received my payment when on my way home I realized it had fallen out.  Most people at that point would freak out.  They would frantically retrace their steps.  Instead, I let out a sigh, gave a small prayer, and calmly walked back with my friend, almost immediately after I had prayed, the money was in the middle of the sidewalk lying as if it was a present.   Now I am at my grandmothers, now those of you who know my grandmother (Judy) know that she is a bird fanatic.  She had recently acquired some orioles on her land and they hadn’t visited in quite some time.  She had told us about how she wanted them to come back.  The first thought that popped into my head was "they are back", that was followed by many others including "why did I think that?", and "how do I know?” I hadn’t seen them, and to this day I still haven’t.  I didn’t say anything so i wouldn’t get my grandmothers hopes up in case the orioles wouldn’t have come back, but almost immediately my grandmother exclaimed "the orioles, the orioles".  And I knew, it wasn’t just some random thought, it was reassurance, AKA a sign that God is watching over me. In Matthew 14:31 it states “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  I thought that this related to me and the orioles.  I should not have doubted the presence of God, just as all of the people in the world that say "God just give me a sign" should not deter from the many signs that He gives them.  Overall, in life, you are not to ignore what you are given, so why would you ignore God's "signs".

God's Fingerprints

What is the connection between clean windows and a two-year old?  What is the connection between bright shiny stainless steel appliances and a two-year old?  What is the connection between a crisp clean white blouse and a two-year old?  The answer, of course, is FINGERPRINTS!  The sun comes shining through those windows you spent hours cleaning and there they are – fingerprints.  You go to open your refrigerator door and there they are - fingerprints.  You are ready to walk out of the house for a meeting, and there they are – fingerprints.  You may find them on your couch, on your coffee table, on your TV, anywhere that two-year old can get, you will find his or her fingerprints.  Just a little gift  they leave behind to let you know they were there.

Well, believe it or not, people have been leaving their fingerprints behind for a very long time. " Fingerprints have been found on ancient Babylonian clay tablets, seals, and pottery. They have also been found on the

walls of Egyptian tombs and on Minoan, Greek, and Chinese pottery, as well as on bricks and tiles from ancient Babylon and Rome. Some of these fingerprints were deposited unintentionally by the potters and masons as a natural consequence of their work, and others were made in the process of adding decoration. However, on some pottery, fingerprints have been impressed so deeply into the clay that they were possibly intended to serve as an identifying mark by the maker."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerprint

Fingerprints go back even further than that.  God has been leaving His fingerprints in the lives of His creation since the beginning of time.  He has left His fingerprint impressed into the very life of every living creature to identify Him as their maker.  If you think God has left you, God doesn’t love you, God doesn’t even know you exist, you have to watch Louie Giglio’s youtube sermon on laminin.  If you know that God is with you, that He loves you with an unfailing love, and calls you by name, you have to watch Louie Giglio’s youtube sermon on laminin.  If you are reading this blog, you have to watch Louie Giglio’s sermon on laminin.

                                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg_ZVS6Kecw

 God's Fingerprint on My Life

The View From a Knot Hole

There is a story told of a little boy who loved the annual parade in his small town.  Months before the parade date he would begin to count down the days by marking each day off his calendar with a big red “X.”  The parade always started with the big red fire trucks with their lights flashing and their sirens wailing.  Then the marching bands with marching feet in perfect step as music filled the air for a cheering crowd.  He could hardly wait to see the clowns with their honking noses that always made him laugh and then there were floats decorated in bright colors loaded with kids waving to the crowds and sometimes they would even throw candy.  As the parade came to an end, there would be horses with their manes braided with ribbons and their tails combed out into huge puff balls. At the very end would be a big gray elephant swinging his trunk back and forth and high on his back would be a little brown money with a red vest.  That was the best part of the whole parade. 

Finally the day of the parade arrived.  The little boy hardly slept all night waiting to hear those sirens that would signal that the parade had started and would soon be close enough for him to see.  On the day of the parade his mother told him exactly where he could go to watch. He ran out of the house headed for the spot where he would be able to finally see the parade.  When he arrived at the placed his mother had told him he could watch he was horrified.  Someone had put up a big white fence.   There was no way he would ever be able to see over that fence.  He had waited too long for this day to be denied.  He ran down the fence looking for any space he could see through and then he spotted it – a big knot hole.  He pressed his face up against that knot hole and with a big grin watched the fire trucks, the bands, the clowns, the floats, the horses, and finally that big gray elephant and that little brown money with the red vest. 

I think about this story often as I join the little boy with my face pressed up against the fence as I watch my life parade in front of me as I peer through a knot hole in time.  From my knot hole, I cannot see what has already passed by or what is coming next.  I can only see what is right in front of me.  When life doesn’t make sense, I get very frustrated and sometimes a little angry.  I love seeing the parties, the celebrations, and the fun times pass before me.  But in life there are also some “not so fun” things that pass by.  I see the loss of a job, financial difficulties, and bad news from the doctor, things that are just not fair.  I read prayer requests that come into the radio station like these -

“I am 16 years old and I have been having horrible pressure pains in my lower abdomen and back. The doctors believe its ovarian cancer(runs in my family) I am very scared and need your prayers saint of God. I am a firm believer in Gods healing hands.”

“My daughter is 5 weeks pregnant. I took her to the ER Friday evening because she was having cramps, and she is high risk due to having a miscarriage in 2009 at 3 months along. They did some blood work and just told her today that her blood count is off, that she could be having a miscarriage, an abnormal pregnancy, or it could be something life threatening.”

“Seems everything is slowly falling apart.. everything I try seems to go wrong. Things that I don't control seem to go the wrong way to.... without lots of details.. managing to find myself in financial squeeze, just unrest with way life is going, and lots of other things that just feel like they are caving in on me..”

“After making it through his procedure without incident last week, we are now sitting in ICU. Very low blood pressure, indications of congestive heart failure.”

I can easily become overwhelmed and discouraged when I continue to press my face against the fence and view life through a knot hole, but then I remember to look up and remember that God is not limited by knot holes.  He sees the beginning, the end, and everything in between and has told me that He is working everything together for my good. 

Exodus 33:13-15 (MSG) Moses said to God, "Look, you tell me, 'Lead this people,' but you don't let me know whom you're going to send with me. You tell me, 'I know you well and you are special to me.' If I am so special to you, let me in on your plans. That way, I will continue being special to you. Don't forget, this is your people, your responsibility."  God said, "My presence will go with you. I'll see the journey to the end."

You and I are special to God and His presence is with us.  He is all knowing, all powerful, and knot holes do not limit His view.  Whatever you are seeing today is not the end.  Hang in there God has something special yet to come.