Both Sides Now

Just so you know its grass season.  No, not that type of grass. As you are out and about take notice of all those highly manicured lush lawns and I hear you wishing they were yours? This year we are all trying to do our best with the grass here at the church and it’s looking better since we had a lawn service come in and fertilized.

With the fertilizer, the good thing is we have lush beautiful lawns and fewer weeds. That’s the good news and we all like good news. They told us it will look greener longer even if there is not much moisture. It looks so good after Robert cuts it fresh. I get to do the same thing at home.  A great lawn to maintain and that leads to the bad news.  With the fertilizer comes more cutting. This situation is maybe akin to having both sides of the same coin.

As I was on one of those drives it didn’t take long to notice how nice everything looks in most places. Then again I noticed some not so nice. Oh, they were nice when the dandelions were out in full yellow colour. But now that they have gone to seed I think of not only the weeds that are on that property but all the seeds that will blow onto everyone else’s property.

It’s the same with our society where lots of weeds are impacting everyone. What is the solution?  It is doing what God called us to do. To push back the weeds and plant the word of truth that brings us closer and closer to God.  The soil of many hearts is rich here in this country with a desire to find God. We just need some more gardeners to help the seeds germinate and grow. God may be referred to as THE Gardener but we work under him with lots to do. Yes, you are one of them.

Something to think about.

Change of Direction Indicators

Many people were on the road this past weekend.  I know, I was one of them. When you drive for five hours you start to entertain yourself, especially when you are alone. After all the normal thoughts that goes through your head and the singing of too many songs on the radio, it became a one sided conversation and when the other half of me was not getting involved in the conversation I decided I would start to notice the activities of other drives that bother other drivers. So I’m talking about us good drivers who get pretty annoyed at other drivers who have forgotten the rules of the road most of the time. It usually revolves around one or two particular thing other drives do not do that they should do. Maybe next time I will enumerate the good things drivers do.

I don't know about what bothers you but I think that most drivers get more upset about drivers failing to indicate where they are going than anything else. I was going to start a study to find out which cars no longer have directional indicators installed at the factory because the evidence indicates there are quite a few. Started to keep a tally but then I thought of that verse about forgiving 70X7 times.

Then again, the manual stipulates that any time you are going to turn, or change lanes; you need to indicate this move so that other drivers know what you are planning on doing before you do it. Maybe you would be able to keep count for me and let me know how many you see it in a day.

But don't we need to do the same thing in life as well, especially to those close to us. Most of the time we let people know where we are going and maybe we hope they want to join us. In living we set goals of where we are headed and the turns we experience in life. We have short term ones and long term ones. But we also have spiritual goals as well. This past week I attended the memorial service of a dear friend. This person knew where they were going. They even told everyone they saw, where and what God and Eternity was all about. My bible tells me that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Do you know where you are going?

I know where I'm going and pray I am using my indicators. If people see something of God in me and want to listen, I will let them know all about my friend Jesus and how you can get there to see Him. Use your indicators to show we are going to be following Christ and He knows the way better than any GPS. Follow Him.

Something to think about

Rob

Let The Sunshine In

You probably have noticed there is more daylight for us to enjoy of late. Many of us don’t see all of it. There are those among us that don’t see the very early light in the morning sky. We call this group, late risers. These are the people who purchase black out blinds for their bedroom. If truth were told, there are many people who have never gotten up to see a sunrise, even in the middle of winter. I know that because I know a couple of people that have told me so.

Not to put rain on this parade, but we have just over a month until the days start to get shorter again. I love getting up early to not only experience the beauty of the sunrise but to get as much out of daylight as I can. Akin to rising with the sun and going to bed when the sky is dark. And yes, I know that is difficult in the north of our country where there is only a couple of hours of dark in June.

There is also a spiritual side to this and it is wanting to savour as much time as we can with our Saviour. The Son of God came to bring light to our world, and He told us, “I am the light of the world”. But He also told us that we were the light of the world. How can there be both? When Christ is in us, His light is reflected by us. We radiate His light. How do we do that? The longer and closer we get to Him, the more time we have to absorb His light and that light lasts much longer.

Take notice of those solar lights you have in your backyard. The longer the sun shines on those cells the greater the battery charge and the longer the lights burn. The Son shines His light on us and we are energized and shine for Him. Got it? Now ask yourself how much of Christ’s energy is in you? How well do you shine for Him?

Something to think about.

Rob

Say A Little Prayer For Me

Let's take a moment. I know that many of us are thinking and praying of all those people in Alberta, BC, Manitoba, and Sask. affected by these wild fires. What many don’t know is, there is not just the one huge fire at Fort McMurray. An example as I write this, there were 125 fires in Sask. alone and the biggest fire blowing over from Fort McMurray is moving closer and closer to the Sask. boarder.

Someone the other day said that this one fire is bigger than the GTA area and Edmonton combined. Now we get the sense of how devastating this is to all of us in Canada. Today, we need to forget about how our gasoline will go up in price, or how many trees are gone. I would like all of us to join together and pray for: those who have lost everything, for those that sleep in a unfamiliar bed miles from their home, those who even when they have a bed lay awake nights wondering if there is anything left.

I want all of you to also pray for those brave men and women that are fighting these fires around the clock, who breathe in smoke filled air day in and day out. Who aren’t getting much sleep because there are not enough firefighters to spell each other off. Pray for all the support workers who are alongside these people doing what they can to keep the struggle going.

And don’t just pray once. Let God know daily that you really care about people you don’t even know. People who are in places they don’t want to be. People who may go home to no home at all. Pray that God will comfort and uphold everyone who is affected by this tragedy. Pray after it’s over for those who will be taking time to get over what has happened to them so quickly and changed their life in so many ways, we can't even comprehend it.

In 1 Timothy 2:1, we read important words that apply most times in life but especially in times like these,  “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—“. Lastly, pray that it will be over sooner than later.

Something to pray about.

Rob

Inside Voices?

Believe me, there is just too much shouting going on. So, go ahead and whisper. Yes, I said whisper. Over the years I have learned that whispering actually gets more attention than we ever thought. I was visiting with a family recently and noticed the boy and the dad never speak quietly. It’s seemed to always be loud, even when they sit beside each other.  Over the course of my visit I realized they are competing to be heard. I’m glad God is not like that.

It happens all the time. Ever notice if someone doesn’t hear you they call back to you at the volume they want to hear from you? There was a time that I finally figured out how to talk to someone and be heard. All you have to do is first say their name. We have to remember that many individuals are in their own little world thinking about this and that and many times the voices in our minds muffles the voices in our world.

With children, we suggest ‘inside voices’ don’t we? But with all of life, as Seth Godin say, whispering calms us and relaxes us so we can hear the words said. When someone shouts, we can get tense, bent out of shape and block out what they are saying.

Which gets me to thinking about how, many times we shout at God and He answers in a still small voice. Don’t get me wrong, there are times in this life where it may be okay to shout at God but there is also times where we want to just have a wonderful conversation. Just so you there is a quiet side to God. We read about God answering quietly in 1 Kings 19:12; ‘After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire either. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.’ Sometime soon listen to the still small voice of God as He whispers to you through the current of air rustling through the leaves one the trees. Then whisper back.

Something to think about.

Rob