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I hope you enjoy the following as much a I did when I found it a few years ago:
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complains about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups; porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:
“If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups. Then you began eyeing each other’s cups. Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.
Sometimes, by concentration only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.” God brews the coffee, not the cups…. Enjoy your coffee! The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.
Live simply
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak Kindly.
Leave the rest to God.
You are the miracle, my friend,
Your life either shines a light – or casts a shadow.
Author Unknown
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
The Power Of The Holy Spirit
As Jesus was preparing his disciples for his death, he told them he would not leave them alone. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” John 14:16-17
Later in Acts 2 the Holy Spirit entered each of them and they received miraculous gifts to heal, change people’s lives and grow the body of Christ throughout the world. This all happened because these simple men surrendered to Christ’s authority and opened their hearts and lives to the power of the Holy Spirit.
I spent most of my life questioning the bible and claiming that it was written by man to control people. Then on Palm Sunday a few years back, as I listened to the importance of accepting Christ and confessing my sins to Him before I took communion, I was convicted to give my life to Him. In that one moment, I learned the power of the Holy Spirit. I sat and silently cried at having been such a fool for so much of my life.
Recently I have been listening to some archived sermons on the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan at Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley California. The sermons alone should have been an adequate reminder of what a small part of my life has been actually surrendered to God. But the Holy Spirit did not rest there. The following story was related to me as a further reminder of God’s promises.
The story is centered around a company car that was intended for personal as well as company business use. Company rules stated that personal miles were to be turned into the company and would then be charged back to the employee. With the current economic downturn, most all of the miles were now personal. Some employees continued to turn in a token personal use mileage. This employee began to increase his percentage of personal use miles, but for various reasons the percentage remained lower than he was actually using. That is until he attended a Christian financial seminar. At that point, he knew something had to change because he was not right with God. He decided to go to his boss and rectify the situation by either turning in the car, or if he could settle on a price he could afford, to buy it from the company. The man was just about to leave his office to talk to the boss, when the boss walked in and said, “I’d like to talk to you about the company car.”
You can imagine what must have gone through his mind at that moment. But in the ensuing conversation, it was made clear that due to the economic downturn, the company needed to get out from under the car, and for them the best way to do that was to donate the car to the employee. A short time later, after it had all sunk in, and it became clear that this was the work of the Holy Spirit, the man sat and cried.
When we pray “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”, what do we really mean? Are we willing to let God’s Holy Spirit work in our lives as the apostles did? Are we willing to surrender it all? Or do we intend to keep some control for ourselves?
Although I am in my third bible reading plan, I still have not read every word in it yet. But I can say this: I have not found one verse that implies that God is willing to accept less than our full surrender to Him. I am convinced after reviewing Rev 3:15-16 that when I have completed the entire bible, I still will not find a verse implying that anything less than full surrender to God is acceptable.
Later in Acts 2 the Holy Spirit entered each of them and they received miraculous gifts to heal, change people’s lives and grow the body of Christ throughout the world. This all happened because these simple men surrendered to Christ’s authority and opened their hearts and lives to the power of the Holy Spirit.
I spent most of my life questioning the bible and claiming that it was written by man to control people. Then on Palm Sunday a few years back, as I listened to the importance of accepting Christ and confessing my sins to Him before I took communion, I was convicted to give my life to Him. In that one moment, I learned the power of the Holy Spirit. I sat and silently cried at having been such a fool for so much of my life.
Recently I have been listening to some archived sermons on the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan at Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley California. The sermons alone should have been an adequate reminder of what a small part of my life has been actually surrendered to God. But the Holy Spirit did not rest there. The following story was related to me as a further reminder of God’s promises.
The story is centered around a company car that was intended for personal as well as company business use. Company rules stated that personal miles were to be turned into the company and would then be charged back to the employee. With the current economic downturn, most all of the miles were now personal. Some employees continued to turn in a token personal use mileage. This employee began to increase his percentage of personal use miles, but for various reasons the percentage remained lower than he was actually using. That is until he attended a Christian financial seminar. At that point, he knew something had to change because he was not right with God. He decided to go to his boss and rectify the situation by either turning in the car, or if he could settle on a price he could afford, to buy it from the company. The man was just about to leave his office to talk to the boss, when the boss walked in and said, “I’d like to talk to you about the company car.”
You can imagine what must have gone through his mind at that moment. But in the ensuing conversation, it was made clear that due to the economic downturn, the company needed to get out from under the car, and for them the best way to do that was to donate the car to the employee. A short time later, after it had all sunk in, and it became clear that this was the work of the Holy Spirit, the man sat and cried.
When we pray “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”, what do we really mean? Are we willing to let God’s Holy Spirit work in our lives as the apostles did? Are we willing to surrender it all? Or do we intend to keep some control for ourselves?
Although I am in my third bible reading plan, I still have not read every word in it yet. But I can say this: I have not found one verse that implies that God is willing to accept less than our full surrender to Him. I am convinced after reviewing Rev 3:15-16 that when I have completed the entire bible, I still will not find a verse implying that anything less than full surrender to God is acceptable.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Getting more out of sermons
I recently listened to a sermon by Erwin McManus (Mosaic) where he stated that one of the ways he keeps from overeating is to walk in an area where there are great pastry smells and just soak it all in; then walk out taking nothing of substance with him. He went on to say that it was not particularly effective way to loose weight. In a way though, it does have an interesting parallel.
I find myself listening to sermons much the same way. I soak in what is being presented and seem to be really getting it. Two days later, I can’t remember what it was that moved me so much, or what I wanted to put into practice. Bummer!
But I think there is a way to turn it around. When I am in class, I am forced to take notes, or I can’t keep up. So what’s the difference? No mater what we are in class about, the object is to learn something that is useful to us. The only difference between a class and a sermon is the subject we are learning about. There are classes about a plethora of subjects. Most sermons are about God.
Just about the only reason I can think of for taking a class on any subject is to learn more about the subject. Likewise, the only reason for listening to a sermon is to learn more about God. And in my opinion, the more we learn about God, the closer our relationship is with Him.
So grab your notebooks and pens. Try to learn all you can. Increase your awe and love for God. Rise above being a lukewarm Christian. The following verse written to the church at Laodicea indicates that there may be a test.
"I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth!” (Rev 3:15-16)
I find myself listening to sermons much the same way. I soak in what is being presented and seem to be really getting it. Two days later, I can’t remember what it was that moved me so much, or what I wanted to put into practice. Bummer!
But I think there is a way to turn it around. When I am in class, I am forced to take notes, or I can’t keep up. So what’s the difference? No mater what we are in class about, the object is to learn something that is useful to us. The only difference between a class and a sermon is the subject we are learning about. There are classes about a plethora of subjects. Most sermons are about God.
Just about the only reason I can think of for taking a class on any subject is to learn more about the subject. Likewise, the only reason for listening to a sermon is to learn more about God. And in my opinion, the more we learn about God, the closer our relationship is with Him.
So grab your notebooks and pens. Try to learn all you can. Increase your awe and love for God. Rise above being a lukewarm Christian. The following verse written to the church at Laodicea indicates that there may be a test.
"I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth!” (Rev 3:15-16)
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