Intentional Encouragement

     I have seen this on several occasions and it always challenges me to my core.  Jesus said that "any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."  This is one author's expression of what it means to renounce all that we have.      I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed.   The die has been cast.   I have stepped over the line.   The decision has been made.   I am a disciple of Jesus.      I will not look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.   My past is redeemed, my present directed, my future secure.   I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, tamed vision, mundane talking, mediocre giving and dwarfed goals.   I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotion or popularity.   I don’t have to be first, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded.      I ...

Sometimes a brief blog post is more poignant than a long one.  I wrote this about 14 months ago, but it still challenges me. At the time, I was reading from a devotional book by Chuck Swindoll as he mused about the importance of the "lesser" gifts. You know; the ones that people don't often see up front, but that folks quietly carry on without fanfare and without much notoriety. He wrote a paragraph for a summary that was more about the nature of the church in general than about spiritual gifts specifically. Although he wrote it over 20 years ago, it has me thinking... "Marbles or grapes, which will it be? Every congregation has a choice. You can choose to be a bag of marbles...independent, hard, loud, unmarked and unaffected by others. Or you can be a bag of grapes...fragrant, soft, blending, mingling, flowing into one another's lives. Marbles are made to be counted and kept. Grapes are made to be bruised and used. Marbles scar and clank. ...

      I realize that the New Year is already a couple of weeks old, but I thought I'd share some thoughts with you about the importance of starting well.  I’d like to talk to you about good beginnings .   No matter how good the book is, if the beginning doesn’t start out "good," you are not likely to stick with it for the duration.   If the plot doesn’t look interesting in the teaser, you aren’t likely to spend your time watching the entire movie.   Even news casts have commercials to tell us what they will be talking about that evening.   Everyone wants to attract our attention at the beginning, so that we will pay attention through to the finish.      It is the beginning of another year and I believe that God wants your attention.   Possibly there have been some previews that He has shown you regarding this coming year.   Maybe they are exciting; you’re getting married…you’re going to become a grandparent...

     I was reading in my devotions this morning from Luke 10:38-42 about Mary and Martha.  It's the account where Martha is working feverishly in the kitchen and Mary is hanging out with Jesus in the Living room.  The author of the devotional book is Ken Gire, and he wrote a prayer at the end of his musings that I found really valuable.  Since I have previously said that this year I am doing more a refinement of my focus than a specific set of "resolutions" and since I said that had to do with developing a greater intimacy with Jesus, this prayer is beneficial to me.      Have you ever felt like taking the time to spend with Jesus (including the prayer time) is what you do BEFORE the real work begins?  It seems like Jesus felt differently than that when he told Martha that Mary had chosen the "one thing that is necessary" (sitting at the feet of Jesus).       So, I thought I'd reproduce Ken's pra...