Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Mark Batterson (2014-09-02) from his book, The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible (pp. 175-176). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Here is what Mark says leading up to this thought, “We have a natural tendency to explain away what we cannot explain.”   He then says, “The reason many of us miss the miracles that are all around us all the time is because we don’t have a prior memory to associate with them.”   Mark is looking in this section of his book of the experience of the apostles out in a boat on the Sea of Galilee and the miracle of Jesus walking on the water. They had never seen someone walking on water and so there was no way that their mind would come up with that as a fact.   They first thought He was a ghost.   And wouldn’t that be true of you and me?    My first thought wouldn’t be that Jesus would be walking on the water.   I haven’t seen it so it can’t be true.  

A thought by Mark Batterson (2014-09-02) from his book, The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible (p. 141). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Mark in this chapter of his book is dealing with the feeding of the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish.   Now if we crunch those numbers, 5 + 2 does not = 5,000.   No way.   And we do that over and over in our lives don’t we?   But the equation had another variable to it that makes all the difference and it was 5 + 2 + God and that does = 5,000.   And that is true in your life too. As Marks says, “Your job is not to crunch numbers and audit the will of God. After all, the will of God is not a zero sum game. When you add God to the equation, His output always exceeds your input. And your two fish can go a lot further than you imagine if you put them into His hands.”   Just remember that as you face whatever you are facing this week.   The equatio

A thought by Mark Batterson (2014-09-02) from his book, The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible (p. 131). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) The first part means that we should spend a lot of time in the Bible trying to see how God thinks, how He reacts, and what He wants.   That goes a long way in building our faith.   It also means to think, to stop and remember what He has done in our lives in times past, and to read of other’s experiences.   That also strengthens our faith but we also need to do some unlearning. Mark says, "The second half is far more difficult than the first half. That’s why Jesus repeatedly said, 'You have heard that it was said . . . but I tell you.' He was uninstalling Old Testament assumptions with New Testament revelations. Going the extra mile or turning the other cheek was more than behavior modification. Jesus was reverse engineering the old rule

A thought by Mark Batterson (2014-09-02) from his book, The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible (p. 119). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) And that is so easy to do. I have been overweight a big part of my life but I have striven to not make that define me.   Now it may define what some people think of me but that is their problem not mine.   As I see myself today I see myself as a healthy person who is striving to be healthier. Now there was a time a few years back that I saw the potential if I didn’t start doing something with my weight problem of living my later years as an invalid.   And I knew that I had the potential to do something about it so I changed my eating and exercise habits.   So how do you see yourself? Mark has some very good thoughts on this.   He says, “When my children lie to me, I don’t call them liars. I remind them that that’s not who they are. I certain

A thought by Mark Batterson (2014-09-02) from his book, The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible (p. 113). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) But the problem is, we really don’t want to.   Oh we may wish to but want to is a different thing. Mark says, “No matter what goal you’re trying to achieve or problem you’re trying to solve, you have to want it more than the pain that will be inflicted upon you in the process of trying to attain it. That’s where nine out of ten of us fall short, according to Dr. Edward Miller, the thirteenth dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. More than one and a half million Americans undergo a coronary bypass graft every year. And while angioplasty effectively relieves many of the symptoms of clogged arteries, it’s a temporary fix. Without a change in eating and exercise habits, the health benefits are short-lived. And patients are told that poi

A thought by Mark Batterson (2014-09-02) from his book, The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible (p. 94). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you ever thought about the fact that one of the main ways that we can limit God working in our lives is by our not asking Him too?   Too many times when we have a problem and we are doing all we can to solve except we don’t stop to pray about it.   That shouldn’t be our last resort that should be our first. We really don’t realize the power of our relationship with God and the real difference it can make in our daily life.   Do you connect with God on a daily basis?   When my kids were in school I would pray for God’s protection each and every day.   I still do.   I live in Pasadena, California, Brett lives in Studio City, California and Stef lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.   I still pray for God’s protection on their lives every day and for Andrew, Mari

A thought from Rick Warren (2012-10-23) from his book,  The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For ? (p. 432). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) This is such an important fact to remember.   Happiness is a choice.   I choose to be happy.   But so many people live in such despair because they are looking to please someone who is unpleasable.   It is impossible to please some people.   And that is their problem not yours.   Rick says, “It is a fact of life that on our broken planet filled with broken people, there will always be those who will demean how you look, dislike what you do, disapprove of what you believe, dispute what you say, and disrespect who you are. But they cannot control your emotions unless you let them. Disapproval doesn’t have to devastate you.” I love this verse in Psalm 27: 10 (NLT). “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.” Does that comfort you today?