JRMITCH85 Character, Decisions, Faith, Hope, Ramblings

Don’t Get It Confused

Throughout my life I have tried to be viewed as a person that tries to give his all to God. Clearly I have fallen short through the process and I have given in to the things that this world deems as good. This is evident as I think about the fact that I am writing this blog post on the iPad I was given as a gift, but couldn’t settle for just an iPad, but I also needed the matching bluetooth keyboard. I am a technophile, and this mere fact shows that I give in to the latest and greatest the world has to offer. (I certainly am not claiming that owning an iPad is a sin, but my obsession certainly crosses into the idolatry side of things.)

However, in preparation for a sermon I recently gave I was reminded that as much as I want to be viewed as a devout follower of God, it IS NOT ABOUT ME!!! I get this confused far too often. In Acts 13, Paul recounts the history of Israel, and throughout this history the main thrust is not about what Israel has done, it wasn’t about how well the law of Moses was followed, but rather it is about how FAITHFUL God was and is, and how much GRACE is poured upon us time and time again. I will fail, but God has taken care of that sin, and God will continue to take care of me.

This bashed in my skull again as I sat reading Romans 12, as I worship I have thought that I was bringing something to God, but in fact, God brings the goodness, the grace, and the fulfillment. So again I am told loud and clear that IT IS NOT ABOUT ME!!! So I realize that it takes a lot more humility to simply accept the grace that God pours upon me, and to even go further to ask for serving after serving of this grace.

We are called to respond to this grace, but our response is not the source of the grace, nor is it the reason the grace was given in the first place. God gave us grace because He LOVES US ABUNDANTLY, and that is why CHRIST DIED, that is why our JUSTIFICATION can only be found through the power of God expressed in Christ dying on the cross and being raised from the dead. That happened. Whether or not we respond by living our lives as worship-filled as we can, God still LOVES us!

SO don’t get it confused, IT IS NOT ABOUT ME!!! (or any of us.)

JRMITCH85 Character, Faith, Hope, Ramblings

Fathers

While this is a bit late, these are some of the thoughts I had after reflecting on this holiday where I found myself blessed beyond measure.
The following are three things I have learned since becoming a parent.
  1. We aren’t perfect.
  2. We are often idolized by our kids.
  3. We can’t make it on our own.
I forget every once and a while and I change my behavior, although something always happens to remind me that no matter what I can’t escape the truth in the three statements above. Sometimes I wish they weren’t true, but then I am reminded that it is important that I submit again and again to the truth found in these statements.
We aren’t perfect.
While I could probably go on and on about how we are completely depraved, and off on a tangent about the fact that we all fall short of the glory of God, and are desperately in need of a savior, which is true, but I want to point out how this is accentuated when I look at my life as a father.
There are times when I let my son watch too much television. There are times when I don’t discipline correctly. There are times when I don’t say, “no.” There are times when I am less than my potential.
I have the most darling little boy in the world, admittedly I am biased, but he does something every once and a while to get on my last nerve. I lose patience and sometimes my cool. I fail.
Wow. I am so far from perfection.
However…
I am the greatest thing in the eyes of my child.
I can’t explain it. It must be that form of special blessing that God gives us when we have children. He looks to me for approval, for guidance, and for love. Despite my failings listed above, he still views me through the rosiest colored glasses.
There is a great responsibility that goes along with being idolized in this way. He will go onto learn my actions, and imitate them. Unfortunately, my failings have the chance of being carried on by him. Therefore the responsibility to be perfect is present, so that the errors in my character can end with me, but this can only be a striving as long as I realize that I am not currently perfect.
This leads to the fact that…
I can’t do this alone.
The community that surrounds us is a great guide so that we may strive toward perfection. They help show us examples of how to parent, and help us see our own imperfections. The partners in crime (other parent/grandparents/aunts and uncles) help give us voice, support, love, and breaks that we sometimes need. This all helps to strengthen our resolve, teach us in other methods, get support in our methods, and show us that we aren’t perfect, but that we can be loving and be a wonderful example of love. The community establishes values, and affirms that the child is loved, and surrounded by people that love them. However, most of all I am instructed by the overwhelming love of the Almighty, and that the love of the Father shows me that the perfect love is sacrificial.
—–
I thank my father, and my community for teaching me that I need them, and that I need God to grow as a better parent.
JRMITCH85 Character, Decisions, Faith, Hope, Ramblings

Once all the eggs have been found…

So I have been out of the game for far too long. It seems like Ash Wednesday was yesterday, Lent was this morning, Palm Sunday was lunch, and Easter finished five minutes ago. But in our congregation, similar to many congregations, we spoke about the journey toward the cross and the road we take toward a deeper relationship with God through the process of going without during Lent. But that is all done now, because all of the eggs have been found and we can move past that stage in our faith walk for another year. Or can we?

For many of us the journey toward the cross is filled with the reminder of our failures, marks showing us how we have fallen short of the glory of God. But that pain doesn’t tell the whole story, because the story doesn’t end on Friday; but rather death, pain, and our failure are overshadowed and redeemed through God’s victory and the Resurrection of Christ Jesus!

We spend much of our lives alternating between living our lives flaunting our failures and trying to redeem ourselves because we are not worthy.

When we flaunt our failures and are living in the world of  “cheap” grace we are of the mindset that the Easter Egg of Grace should be brightly colored and three-feet in diameter. We know the egg is there and we can turn around and get it at any time, but we are going to do our own thing until it is more convenient.

However, when we view ourselves as not worthy, we are of the mindset that the Easter Egg of Grace should be camouflaged and the size of a pea.  The quest is going to be arduous, and we don’t think it is possible to find the egg because we are so blind from our sinfulness.

Most of the time we are actually in the middle, and see the Easter Egg of Grace as the pink egg above.

But the story tacked on to the end of John is how the Lord reaches out to us, especially after we have finished celebrating the Resurrection.

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

 “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

The Almighty is calling us to follow. We failed, and we continue to fail, just like Simon Peter, but the Lord calls out to each one of us to do the Kingdom work each day. We have chores we need to get done, the sheep need to be taken care of and fed, the lambs need to be fed, and we need to learn to follow better. The eggs are not hard to find, but we need to follow Jesus to their hiding place, and once we get there we find abundant grace.

JRMITCH85 Character, Decisions, Faith, Hope

Gifts, Humility, Forgiveness, and Heroism

Last week I prepared a sermon about Joseph (OT) and I have always been intrigued about this man. Was he perfect? No he wasn’t. However, most of the characters in the Old Testament had some flaw. With certainty though, Joseph was GIFTED, God had given him something, but he didn’t exactly know how to use the gifting at first.

God spoke to Joseph through his dreams, and probably understanding full and well what it meant, sought to blab it to his brothers. This dream essentially rubbed it in his brothers face that they would bow down to him, and he would rule over them. He was the arrogant kid that essentially rubbed in the face of his brothers that he knew he was better than them. His brothers were already upset with him because they saw him as a tattle tale, and as daddy’s favorite, which was thrown into their face every time they looked at his coat. So they looked at their arrogant brother and sought to break him, so they eventually sold him, and removed him from their sight. Joseph’s arrogance had betrayed him, and he lost all that he had which fed his pride.

Humbled, Joseph went around and was a good servant. He did all that he could to be successful, giving his work into the hands of God, and God blessed him. Not that this went straight to his head, but the success caused Joseph to let his guard down, and he fell into the trap set by his master’s wife. Feelings of invincibility probably caused him to enter into a circumstance that ultimately got him thrown into prison. Lesser arrogance than what he threw into the face of his brothers, but still a lack of humility.

God stayed with him, and continued to offer him gifts and blessings, even in the outward appearance of no gifts, no reason for pride, as he was locked up. God had a plan for his life, one that he probably had no clue, and his thoughts were far from those dreams that he had told his brothers, another life ago.

So Joseph used the gift God had given him even while in prison. This time he interpreted two men’s dreams, but this time the reward was not instant, for as soon as the man that benefitted from Joseph’s interpretation, did not help Joseph. This caused a deep humility to dwell within Joseph, so much so that he would remember that God is the source, and Joseph is merely the vessel.

Thus the time came when Pharaoh needed some dreams interpreted. Here Joseph supplied the information that allowed Egypt to be saved from the effects of a Great Famine. For this act Joseph, was rewarded with great power and prestige. At this point his brothers enter the scene again because the famine reached Canaan and his family. They came looking for assistance from Egypt. Instead of treating them with the wrath they probably deserved, Joseph helps them out, and actually saves his whole family, because through the power of the Holy Spirit, Joseph offers forgiveness and salvation to those who started his downward spiral.

He even wanted to offer them the assurance that they were forgiven because he knew that God blessed him throughout the midst of his humbling, by telling them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” His brothers needed to be humbled, but Joseph did this through the love of God, not the wrath.

JRMITCH85 Character

John Ireland’s Long Walk

John Ireland is a Laker homer, and was confident that the Lakers would win against Cleveland. Thus he claimed, “I would quit my job and walk home from Cleveland if they lost that game.” He didn’t quit, nor did he walk home, but he didn’t let himself get away with making such a remark.  He made a statement that accentuated his confidence in the Lakers, albeit stupid (considering how bad the Lakers have looked), but he didn’t want to let himself off the hook. (Although I also think that his radio show partner would never let him off easily.)

Our words mean something, and John Ireland has pledged to walk in the Autism Speaks walk at the Rose Bowl on 4/23, and to try and raise money to fight Autism.

Way to go John.

He certainly has made lemonade out of this lemon of a statement, click the link to read the article below about how he is participating in the Walk Now for Autism Speaks, http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=442586&lis=0&kntae442586=175887835725444FB109EBF46C13FA12&supId=321410639.

John Irelands Long Walk After Lakers Lose to Cleveland – Buckley Blog – KTLA.COM.

JRMITCH85 Character, Faith

Any Given Day

Today is a regular day, no holiday to celebrate, no reason to hold a parade, but today is a day that we have been given as a blessing from God. So why don’t we praise? What holds us back from opening our hearts and our minds to fully giving ourselves over to God?

I know there are indescribable emotions running through people when we encounter hurt, pain, and all sorts of injustice. These may create blocks in our minds and our hearts against praise, but God wants us to give these things over, lay them at the foot of the cross, and express them in any way we know how.

David does this. His relationship with God was so authentic, that he communicated with God through prayer and song in good times and in not so good times. I pray that I can be more authentic with God, and give all things at all times over to the Almighty, the Creator of the universe.

 

JRMITCH85 Character

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy

Several years ago I went to the UYWI Conference and the theme was Legacy, and posted on the bulletin boards and in miscellaneous places around the campus of Azusa Pacific were flyers detailing the lives of people who lived lives and left legacies to which we should take note. Certainly, I have seen a number of quotations today on twitter and facebook from Dr. King, but one of the greatest lessons I have learned is that my words, my actions, and my faith matter.

God placed a great burden upon the lap of Dr. King, and he did not shrink in that moment, but he answered the call just like Isaiah, “Here am I Lord, send me!” Injustice, prejudice, slavery, war, exploitation, poverty, hate, and suffering are still present in our world, all of the problems have not been solved. God is calling each one of us to stand up to oppression, and fight for justice. Your area of influence may be large or small, but the change to can effect is immeasurable. I urge you to answer God’s call on your life, and go out and be the change that this world needs.

Injustice doesn’t care what language you speak. It doesn’t care about the color of your skin. It doesn’t care what country you live in. It affects all of us. It tricks us with short-term benefits, but in the end we all suffer because of it. Martin Luther King Jr. knew this, and knew that it had to stop. I thank God for putting him in the world so that I could learn how to answer that call.  I matter, you matter, and we both have the ability to truly change the world through the power given to us through the Holy Spirit.

In my eyes, that is a great legacy.

JRMITCH85 Character, Decisions, Faith, Hope, Ramblings

No, You Can’t

My son has repeated to me numerous times the phrase, “I can do it myself, Daddy.” It is one of the most annoying phrases, even though it comes from the a person that I love so dearly. I can guess that it is certainly not unique to my family, and that there are parents out there who feel the same way I do. My own parents probably fall into that category.

No matter his true independence level on a number of tasks, there are many things he does need help doing, for instance, he needed help turning on the faucet at a sink because the handles were just outside his reach. He kept telling me he didn’t need my help, and insisted that I turn the water off, until finally he stood on top of my feet which gave him the necessary boost to reach the faucet handles. In his mind, he probably thinks he did it himself.

Another incident tonight was as he was trying to fall asleep, and he kept whining, indicating he was uncomfortable. I was worried that he might be sick, I asked him whether there was anything I could do to make him more comfortable. In true form, he told me that he was taking care of it himself, and didn’t need my help. However, after another ten minutes of struggling he let me know that he needed another blanket because he was too cold. Oddly enough, he would have had the issue resolved earlier had he just let me know when I first asked him.

These two examples are similar to how we often think we can do everything ourselves, we think we are completely self-reliant. However, we aren’t! We don’t want to hear, “No, you can’t do it all on your own.” However, we often walk along in our lives struggling to do it on our own, when we really just need to learn to ask for help.

The Almighty God desires us in relationship to lay EVERYTHING at the foot of the throne, for nothing is too much or too heavy.

When are we going to wake up and allow others to help us?

 

JRMITCH85 Character, Faith, Ramblings

On the Path

Over the past several weeks I have been struggling to recover from an ankle injury. This has seriously hampered my ability to go out and run. I really enjoy running, and have tried to go out and push through the pain, however sometimes I just can’t go on and run the pain off. My desire is that the hurt just go away, and that I can still go out tomorrow and start running, but I know that may not necessarily be the best thing for my ankle, and for the healing that needs to take place. I probably just need to rest it in order to let it heal, but sometimes the rest is harder than simply running through the pain.

This is one of my major struggles. I do not want to sit on the sidelines and watch, I want to run, I want to control everything about my training. However, this is one of those things that I have to relinquish control and allow the healing to begin. Until then the healing process may never begin, or at the very best be a longer process.

There are many things in our life that we try to control. Sometimes that grasp of control really complicates our life and creates problems, and all we really need to do is give up control and allow our bodies, minds, and spirit to heal. Too often we think we know what is best for our lives, and we know the road that we are supposed to travel down in our lives.

However, we need to learn that God desires us to lay these presuppositions down and follow the Almighty on the path that has been laid for us. Sometimes that path is rosy, but often the path is full of bumps and potholes. Many times these potholes are the character forming parts of our life, and these are the times that we are most tempted to stray from the path. This is an act of faith, this is the path that Abraham took, even if he made a few detours along the way. Are we going to trail blaze our own path? Or are we going to allow the Almighty and Loving God to guide us?

 

JRMITCH85 Character, Decisions

Watch Out!

Sometimes in life things happen, sometimes they are expected, but most times they catch us off guard. No matter what happens, we need to be on the lookout for the opportunities to jump into action, and opportunities to be the people that we are called to be. Whether it happens to be when a loved one is sick, or a friend is in need, or a natural disaster strikes, we should always be ready to jump into action and do what we can to help, to bring God’s grace and mercy to a friend or a stranger in need.

Watch out! Be ready to jump into action! Be “all that you can be”! Prepare your life for the fact that something is going to happen and we will have the opportunity to bring Glory to God!