Is Your Spirit-man a Mini-me?

Okay, so we are a triune being just like our Maker. We are a spirit (the real me), we have a soul (mind, will & emotions) and we live in a body (that flesh and blood part of you that everyone thinks is so attractive).

So as I was listening to a minister on the radio on the way to work, he was talking about developing our faith. You see we all start out with the same measure of faith (Romans 12:8) "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Everyone starts out with the same amount of faith (that's because God is fair & just), then it is up to us to see our faith grow.

So as I'm listening to the message today, the minister says, "So many people are living as spiritual dwarves." and immediately my mind goes to an image of "Mini-me" from the Austin Powers movies. If you've seen these you know that he is a clone of Dr. Evil, only in smaller form. So now I'm thinking, okay if my spirit resides inside of my body, is it the same size, or is it a dwarf size? Have I grown my faith, or is it stunted, never having grown past it's original size?

My thoughts also go to the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-29), what have I done with what the Lord has given me? If I was to answer this truthfully, I think that I would have to answer that my spirit-man looks a lot more like a mini-me, than an actual me. This is not to beat myself up or anything, just a truthful assessment of my life. So how about you? Are you a spiritual dwarf? If you answer yes, then what are you going to do about it?

For me, I'm going to begin to grow my faith. How is that done you might ask? It's done by feeding on God's Word. A daily dose of scripture, is like our neccessary food. Remember, Jesus said that man won't live by bread (bodily food) alone, but by every Word (spiritual food) that proceeds from the mouth of God. According to Romans 10:17 faith comes by hearing the words of Christ.

I heard it put this way, most Christians feed their bodies three full meals a day, and their spirits one cold snack a week. If we were to feed our bodies one cold snack a week, we would grow weaker and weaker. So by that reasoning, if we feed our spirits one cold snack a week, our faith will grow weaker and weaker. It was said of Smith Wigglesworth that no matter where he was, at home, in a church member's home or at a resturaunt, after finishing the meal, he would say (and I'm paraphrasing here), "Okay, so we've fed our bodies, now let's feed our spirits." And he would bring out his bible and read some scripture and from time to time even expound on it a little. It was said that he did this after every meal. What a great idea, perhaps I'll try that with my family.

Strength and honor...for the Kingdom and the King!

Does She Know This...Really Know This?

I'm about to turn 45, and in a few weeks my bride and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. There has been a lot of reflection in my life lately. So I was wondering about my relationship with my wife, and whether or not she really knew how I felt about her.

I thought of all that she has done in the last 20 years to make our house a home, and it dawned on me, that all the cleaning, laundry, dinners, etc. those things I could have hired out from a service, she didn't really have to do those things. The home repairs (which my bride loves to do) and the yard work (which she doesn't like me to do - apparently I don't do as good a job as her), all of these things are things that I am very appreciative that she has done for all these years, but again they are things that I could hire someone to do for me.

With all of my thinking about this, a realization came to me, and that was really what I need my wife for, is companionship and a never-ending relationship. You see, all of the stuff that we clamor after, and all the things that we scurry around doing, really when all is said and done, don't amount to anything, after all when I read in the Bible I see that eventually God is going to burn everything up with fire, and create a new heaven and a new earth. So all this stuff we are trying to gain and achieve (while not bad for us to have to be sure) is not the end result of our lives.

Remember, we are made in the image of God. God is an Eternal Being, so therefore we are eternal beings as well. The one thing that will last throughout eternity is the relationships that we have made while we were on this earth. So the thing that my bride needs to know from me is that she is loved by me, not for what she can do for me, but that she is loved by me, for who she is to me. My eternal companion and friend.

So, let me pose this question to you, does your bride know this...really know this? Or is she operating under the assumption that it is what she can do for you, not who she is to you? I know that I hadn't thought of this until yesterday, and I am making a change in my life so that she knows that it is who she is to me, not anything else that matters to me. She is loved, because I choose daily to love her from an unconditional heart....strength and honor.......

Jesus...Make Me The Man You Want Me To Be

There is a favorite song of mine that Phil Joel does, called "Make Me The Man You Want Me To Be" on the "Bring It On" cd. Here is a video link that I found of him doing it live:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Le9oZbRGI

I got to thinking about that, Jesus making me the man that He wants me to be. Sometimes we throw around Christian type phrases like this, but Jesus has done everything that He is going to do, I just have to walk in what He has purchased for me. So really Jesus, make me the man that You want me to be is something of a misleading statement.

I have to take what I see that Jesus has done for me (this is found in the Bible) and begin to agree with what His Word says about me and do those things that I find in there. I have to love my wife, which while Jesus by His Spirit can encourage me to do this, it ultimately is up to me and me alone to do that. I can love my neighbor as myself, but again Jesus won't make me do that, I have to take the time to actually love my neighbor, and that takes time and effort.

I know that I want to be the man that Jesus wants me to be, but it can't be a passive thing, I have to be active in pursuing it. I think that is where many of us fail, we want to be the men that Jesus wants us to be, but we are unwilling to put the effort into getting there. And believe me there is effort in attaining that place. I have not arrived, but I'm on the journey...won't you join me? If you are already on the journey, shoot me an email and let me know how it's going...I'm always looking to meet other men working to be the men that Jesus wants them to be...

Strength and honor......

Is This Your Battle To Fight?

I was talking with a friend the other day. He had called me to ask my opinion about a situation that was going on in his business. Without going into the particulars, and naming names, suffice it to say that my friend is a Christian business man, and his employee is not a Christian.

As we talked, he told me that he was going to have to fire the employee, and that he didn't want that to cause this man to not come to Christ as a result. We talked a little more, and I told him that he really needed to seperate the two issues, one, the fact that he wanted this young man to be saved (a noble thing to be sure) and two the fact that he was not doing the job that he was hired to do.

As I have thought about this a little bit more today, it got me to wondering if we actually take on battles that really we haven't been called to fight. I know that there have been times where I felt like I needed to jump in and try and save the day, but did I actually? I mean if I took the time to stop and search my heart asking the Father, I might have been better off.

I'm pretty sure that some of the things that I feel are all important and need doing, the Father would say otherwise. It's not always my fight, sometimes these things just get in the way of what Jesus would actually have us to do. I think sometimes the enemy brings things to us to battle that aren't our fight, just to distract us from what the Father really wants.

Anyway, that's just a random thought for the day...keep your sword up...strength and honor........

Where's the Emergency Stop button?

Years ago, when I was working in a pipe threading factory, where we would put threads on the ends of 9 5/8 inch casing for the oil fields, there was a big red button that you could push if your machine started acting crazy.
Well I was thinking today about my life and how crazy it has been lately, and without going into the details of it, I've been looking for that big red button so that I can push it and my life will at least stop for a little while and I can get things back to normal.
Does anyone know where that big red button is? I'm sure that I know where it is, but right at the moment my life is so chaotic that I can barely find my own rear end. So let me ask, does anyone else out there ever feel like this? Just curious.....

Hesitancy...and the gospel of me.....

This morning as I was reading and enjoying a little quiet time with the Father, I pondered my life and where I have come from these last few years. What I was thinking really was, "What would be the main thing that I have yet to overcome in my life?" And the word that I heard was "Hesitancy".

I immediately made myself a mental note to look up that word, and went on with my reading. When I got to work, I checked the definition of the word hesitancy, and this is what I found:
Hesitancy: (noun) hesitation or indecision; doubt.
(synonyms)

1. Doubt, indecision, skepticism, irresolution, uncertaintity.
2. Delay, wavering, delaying, procrastination, pause

Well, so now I can see that I've been nailed by the Father here. When I've been hesitant in any aspect of my life I have been in doubt, wavering. And it seems that there is a scripture that talks about that: (James 1:5-8)

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

In looking back on my life (all 44 years of it), if I was going to be honest with myself, I would have to say that I have always been one of those hesitant guys. I mean, I don't jump out in front and take the lead very often. Oh occasionally I will if it is in a large group, but I'm talking about my personal life here. I tend to lean more towards the passive and not the aggressive behaviour.

What gets me with this, is that all this time I've thought that I was trusting God, but if I'm hesitant with the things that He has shown me, then I'm actually in doubt, and doubt is the opposite of faith. And we all know that without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that comes to Him must believe and not doubt. So if I'm in doubt, I'm not in faith, and that puts Dave into a very precarious position.

I think that I'm finding a truth here, one that has eluded me for a good many years. I've got to follow after this and see into which parts of my heart it leads. I'm sure that one thing is true, if the Father leads me there, He will help me with whatever I find. After all that is what the scriputre in James is talking about, when we don't know, ask the Father, because He wants to help us.

Teddy Roosevelt....a man's man

I received this blog in my email today from a man's group called "The Art of Manliness". It was so good I posted it here for you all to see....enjoy. And to whoever the author is (let me know and I'll give you full credit) I appreciate your article very much.

The author of this is Brett McKay. Thanks to Charlie Kondeck for the information.

Lessons in Manliness: Theodore Roosevelt and the Spanish-American War

Theodore Roosevelt, who arguably accomplished more than any other American man, called his experience in the Spanish-American War, “the great day of my life.” It was during his charge up Kettle Hill that Theodore Roosevelt’s leadership and confidence finally crystallized. He passed the test and emerged as a leader capable of ascending to the presidency. His actions during the war impart crucial lessons on manly leadership:

1. Walk the Walk. Theodore Roosevelt was a sickly child who grew up reading of ancient battles and warriors and longing to be one. He built up his body and as he got older started writing his own books about military feats. Yet he still longed to see action firsthand, and when the opportunity finally arrived, he wasted no time in seizing it. As soon as the Spanish-American War broke out, Teddy pestered the Secretary of the Navy for a commission in the army. He then sold his cattle ranch and some of his possessions, and took out life insurance in preparation of receiving it. He was fully prepared to put his money where his mouth (and pen) was.

2. Know your limitations. Teddy was never short on confidence, but he didn’t let cocksureness slip into arrogance. When Roosevelt got his wish for an army commission and was offered command of the First United States Volunteer Calvary as Colonel, he turned it down citing his lack of tactical experience. He instead accepted a position as Lieutenant Colonel and recommend Leonard Wood to be Colonel. (TR would later become Colonel when Wood was promoted to brigadier general.)

3. Pick the best men for your team. If you wish to surround yourself with the best men, you must be the kind of leader men fall over each to serve under. 23,000 men applied to be part of the First Calvary; most of them addressed their letters to Roosevelt even though Wood was technically in charge. Of the 23,000 only 560 were chosen. Some of the rejected cried, so heartbroken were they on not being able to be part of Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. Composed of the West’s best frontiersmen, marksmen, and horsemen and the East’s great athletes and prominent sons, the Rough Riders were a unique and unstoppable group.

4. Be one of the men. The ship which transported the troops to Cuba did not have room for many horses; Roosevelt was one of the few men in the regiment able to take his. When the Rough Riders arrived in Cuba, they began their march to Las Guasimas. The temperature was simmering, and the men trudged through the heat in thick uniforms and heavy bedrolls. Still, Roosevelt walked alongside the men, refusing to ride while they were marching.

5. Lead by example. Don’t ask others to do anything you are afraid of doing yourself. When it came time to take the San Juan Heights, TR’s regiment ran into heavy fire from the Spanish. As bodies piled up all around him, TR stayed on his horse as an example of courage. However, there was a delay before they could start scaling the hills, and the men, including TR, were forced to lay low and take cover. When the order finally came to take Kettle Hill, the men were reluctant to rise to their feet. TR mounted his horse and shouted, “Are you afraid to stand up, when I am on horseback?” He promptly took off, galloping across an open area and under a hail of bullets.

6. See it through. After securing Kettle Hill, TR noticed that the attacks on the neighboring San Juan Hill were faltering. He shouted for his men to charge, leaped over a barbed wire fence, and ran down the hill. When he glanced back, he saw that only 5 of his men had followed. 3 of these 5 were shot and TR was practically leading the charge single-handedly. He ran back under heavy fire, formed the remaining men (who claimed to have not heard the initial order) into a formidable assault line, and began the charge again.

Roosevelt’s personal bravery and leadership were critical elements in the success of the Battle of Las Guasimas. In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.