Talk Is Cheap

²⁸"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'

²⁹" 'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

³⁰"Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go.

³¹"Which of the two did what his father wanted?"
"The first," they answered.

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³²For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

This was put in my face the past few days. For a whole lot of us, though we wish we walked our talk, we are the second son. We talk a lot about God and what he wants for our lives, and we think that is doing it. If someone asked me to mow their lawn, I would say, "Yeah, sure." Then we would probably talk about when I needed to do that. Maybe what tools I needed and things I needed to watch out for. But the lawn is no closer to being mowed than when we began. Lets start actually living like Jesus instead of just talking about it. Lets be intentional about things and not just hope they happen.

An awesome song comes to mind. "Make War" by Tedashii. Check it out.

Peepin the God of the Universe

I have started reading Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper lately and a quote really stuck out to me that really opened my eyes.

"Not to show people the all satisfying God is not to love them. To make them feel good about themselves when they were made to feel good about seeing God is like taking someone to the Alps and locking them in a room full of mirrors."

We are not called to make people feel good. God does that sometimes through us but only so that we can point to HIS awesomeness. Whenever I am no pointing to God I am not loving those people. We are crappy people and we are not made to dress up our crap. We are called to point to the only one who is not crap. The only one who really brings us joy and makes us happy (not always in the short term but always lasting happiness). In God, because of Jesus, we are able to experience the best, most amazing thing ever and so many times we get caught up looking in the mirror.
Man! If I were in the same room as Will Smith, and my friend did not interrupt my conversation about my new shoes to point him out so that i could crap my pants and go meet him. They would not be my friend....And that is only Will Smith! Just some other flesh and bones piece of crap.
How many people am I not loving? How many people am I letting look at their toes while standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon? (...which I have never been to, but am fairly certain is amazing) How many times will I check myself instead of peepin the God of the universe??

Abide

John 15:1-17

¹"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ²Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. ³You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.⁵I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. ⁷If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. ⁹Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. ¹¹These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

¹²"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. ¹³Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are My friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.¹⁷This I command you, that you love one another.

this passage has been in my head for several months now. although i have read and heard it approximately 273,000 times before it wasn't until a couple months ago that i really felt the depth of it. what does it really mean to abide/remain in the Lord? he put it in my face. it is like being a branch on a vine. duh, its right there. but, if you are a branch on a vine you are nothing without being connected to the vine. that is where ALL of your sustenance comes from. you rely on that connection for everything. and in abiding/remaining in that connection there is no disconnecting and re-connecting whenever i feel like it. in my face! i am a terrible branch. so much of the time i try to stay just a little connected and grow and produce fruit. but those things call for a stronger connection to the source of my sustenance. God please remind me everyday that You and You alone are the source of my life.