worry

These past two months have been quite a month for my family. Since almost losing my wife on Feb. 6th God has shown Himself mighty and strong in His healing of her body. But then again when I come to think about it, He has all my life but like most of us we fail to see the strong hand of God in and on our life. As a result, we worry about a lot of things that we should not. We see God save and heal a life and then turn around and worry about smaller and lesser things forgetting what God had just done on the bigger scale.


A University of Michigan study discovered some interesting facts about fear and worry:
60% of what you worry about is unwarranted
20% of what you worry about is already past; it is over and done with
10% are issues so petty that it is foolish to worry about them
4% to 5% are justifiable concerns, but there is nothing you can do about them; they are out of your hands
Only 2% of what we fear and worry about is legitimate

Many of us are professional worriers; in fact, we worry over the fact that we worry too much. You see, so much of what we worry about is not real and it simply blinds us like fog to the awesome power of God.

Did you know worry can be like fog? I live in an area where the fog can become pretty thick and you can not see what is in front of you. But did you know that if you take a dense fog that is one hundred feet deep and covers seven square city blocks and condense it, you would get less than one single eight-ounce glass of water? When a single cup of water is vaporized, it transforms into a dense, blinding fog that covers seven city blocks. That is amazing! And that is what we do with worry. We allow something in our life, whatever it may be, that amounts to almost nothing, to become a blinding, all-encompassing vapor that hinders our faith.

When David wrote Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”, he knew he was connected to the source that is all-sufficient and inexhaustible. He was not going to worry, God was in control.

He is our Yoke

Vs 28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Vs 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:28-29)


This past month has been a time of really drawing to the Lord and trusting in Him. Scripture has become so alive to me. Verses I have read all my adult life has taken on a whole new meaning and Matt 11:28&29 is one of them.

Do you realize this is the only time Jesus ever described Himself? The reason He's a safe place for hurting people is that He has a soul that has been tamed from any agenda except the agenda of God's redeeming love. Why a yoke?

A yoke is a single object built for two. When yoked together, two oxen can pull more than one alone can. It cuts work in half and multiplies the effect of their labor. Think about Jesus' yoke. Christmas is the celebration of the fact that Jesus came to earth as a flesh and blood human being. John 1:14 says that God became flesh and dwelt among us. Why? So He could invite us to His yoke. The Hebrews had strict laws concerning the abuse of animals, especially those placed under the yoke. An ox and a horse could not be hitched together in the same yoke. Why? One or both will get hurt. So Jesus came as He did, to do what He does--carry the heavy burdens of life with us. He came for the heat of the struggle, when your body is weary, and when you are reminded that pain does not always go away quickly.

He is strong. He takes up the load that you can't handle. He carries the load when you stumble. He holds the yoke in place when you refuse to go another inch. His strength makes the yoke easy and the burden lighter for us. In the midst of our struggle and pain, we have His gentle and humble heart to teach us His way, the way to a cross. He knows how to handle heavy objects and weighty things. He manhandled the cross up Calvary. The Christian life begins by placing faith in Jesus, but it continues victoriously as we learn to walk like Him--by walking with Him under the yoke.

I don't know where one finds rest while still in the struggle, except with Jesus.

Power of Prayer

My wife wrote this down on a card that I found in her calendar book, "Things change when we get desperate enough to talk to Him" This past month my family got desperate, and friends and family joined us in fervent, continual, constant prayer for Karen. The result? God heared, answered and change took place.


Now, Can you imagine what would happen if we would pray with the same fervency for our church and those spiritually lost and away from Christ? Hmm.....= revival

Rebuilding our life

Today I sat in the outpatient rehab waiting room and looked at an article about Jillian Michaels.  For those that do not know who Jillian is she is one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser TV show.  When asked why she did what she did Jillian commented by saying this, "I am passionate about helping people rebuild their lives."  I thought wow, that is exactly what the church (not the building) but the Pastor and the people ought to be about...passionate about helping people rebuild their lives.  The problem is we get so focused on other things don't we?  I know I do..but that is what I want to focus my life on and the life of our church..being passionate about helping others rebuild their lives.

Then I sat with Karen in Therapy and listened to the Occupational Therapist talk to us.  After awhile of small talk he said "ok we can talk philosophy forever, lets get down to business and do some therapy"  As he walked into the other room, I told Karen, that is what we do in church too much.. we talk about the philosophy of Christian living, but not the nuts and bolts of 'how to"

My prayer is .. Lord help us be passionate about helping people rebuild their lives and help us give them the principles from Gods Word to do it"  The nuts and bolts, right down where the rubber meets the road in the daily grind of life.

Power of God

God is truly awesome.  Like many, I use the word awesome far too many times and I have a bad habit to break.  We say the car is awesome, the game was awesome, the pizza was awesome.  In fact, we use awesome so much the word awesome is no longer awesome.  But when you study scripture the word 'awesome' is only used in reference to God.  Nehemiah prayed to the Great and Awesome God.

Today I serve and love an awesome God.  He is a God of miracles and might.  This week my wife was released from Forrest General in Hattiesburg, MS.  The nurses on the rehab floor said she was a miracle and they have never seen anything like it.  To think of where she has come from (one not able to do the easiest of tasks and it taking 3 people to move her from the bed to her wheelchair) to this past thursday when she actually stood in the rehab kitchen and cooked.  She is an answer to prayer and a result of the healing, miraculous power of God.

When I think of Karens testimony Psalm 145:6 & 11 comes to mind, vs 6 Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, And I will declare Your greatness.  vs 11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power