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Showing posts with the label Chasing Daylight

“If we run from the battle, it is difficult for God to win the battle through us.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 1925). Kindle Edition. That statement really hit me as I just read it.   Somewhere we have gotten into our minds that this is heaven.   That we live an existence of continual peace and we are given everything we want on a platter.   That if we have obstacles in our task that God has given us to do then it must mean that we are not where we should be.   When in reality we may be exactly where we should be. Life is good but it may not be easy.   I am reading the story of Jesus over and over and His was not an easy life.   What would have happened to us if He would have run from battles that He faced every day?   We would not be experiencing the opportunities and the privileges that we have every day in our life. I am retired from the responsibilities of being a pastor of a local church and I sometimes slip in to believing that I am not still a part of the ba

We must always remember that God's greatest moments for us are never for us alone.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 1105). Kindle Edition. When we use the phrase personal relationship that can cause us to believe our relationship with God is just for us.  The reality is that any personal relationship is a two way street.  My relationship with my wife, Margaret, has some personal benefits for me but it also has some personal responsibilities for me to do toward Margaret.  My life is no longer a self-centered existence.  I now have a relationship with someone who has needs and desires and my love wants to fulfill them.  Now our personal relationship with God is also one that is not singular.  He does stuff for me and it could be easy to think that is it.  It is me and Him and no one else.  But if you really have a personal relationship with Him then you will do all you can to know Him.  And if you really know Him you know that it is not me and Him and no one else.   It is He d

“When we manipulate, we deceive those who trust not only our words, but also our intent.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment ( Kindle Location 1102). Kindle Edition. Manipulation has at its core a desire to change situations and people for the manipulator’s good.  It is a self-centered act.  That is why when I know someone is striving to manipulate me and they say it is for my good that it isn’t.   The act of manipulation is for the good of the one manipulating not the one being manipulated. The Bible tells us that the person who doesn’t have God in their life is a selfish being.  David in the Psalms said that in sin did my mother conceive me.  We came into this world living for ourselves and striving to manipulate the world to take care of us and to do what we want.  Have you noticed how a baby when it is hungry does all it can to manipulate you to feed them.  They do not stop and think of how it might not be the best time for you, they are hungry and they want it now.  And that carries over in

“To follow Jesus is to enter the unknown, to relinquish security, and to exchange certainty for confidence in Him.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Locations 938-939). Kindle Edition. Now some people want to say they are following Jesus but they want to know because they need security in their life.  But that is not what it means to follow Jesus.  It means that you have put your faith and your security and your confidence in Him not in your knowing.  Solomon in his Old Testament book of Proverbs in chapter 3 verses 5 and 6  (Msg) says, “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own.  Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He's the one who will keep you on track.  Don't assume that you know it all.” So who do you trust?

“All the blessings of God without urgency to live for His purpose become a terrible waste.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 577). Kindle Edition. That is so true.  God has really blessed Margaret and me with a beautiful place to live.  We are right across from the pool, it is bigger than we really need but it also fits our needs.  God has been so good but He also has placed us right where we are for a purpose.  God has used both of us in such a special way to elevate the lives of the people who live close to us.  They have told us that we are an answer to their prayers.  Now what if they had been praying that God would help them?  He would watch out for them. He would protect them; He would be their encouragement and their friend so He sent us to do that.  He blessed us so we could be a blessing but let’s say we would move in and decide that we were not going to make friends, not get involved.  I mean we’re retired.  We have ministered all our lives now it is time for us to rest an

“A beautiful day is out there to be seen and experienced, but you will be tragically unaware of it if you're stuck in a moment you can't get out of.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Locations 153-154). Kindle Edition. We are really enjoying our move to Florida.  It is so beautiful.  I am sitting right now outside looking at a beautiful park filled with green grass, unbelievable trees and flowering plants. But in this beauty there are many critters that live here.  It is their home.  So in this beauty, you will possibly see snakes, alligators, squirrels, roaches, and lizards, lots and lots of lizards.  I don’t like snakes.  I really don’t.  Well we had one come visit us last week at our backdoor.  He kind of disrupted our beauty.  We each one have those things that mess up the beauty in our lives.  They have a tendency to tempt us to lock the doors and stay inside but there is so much beauty to experience outside. What is it in your life that is striving to keep you from experiencing the beauty that God has for you in your life?  Maybe it i

“If we are going to seize divine moments, we must accept the reality that we have no control over many things.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Momen t (Kindle Locations 671-672). Kindle Edition . It is so true that a lot of the circumstances of our life are out of our control.  I don’t have control over the fact that I am getting older every minute but it is also true that I do have control over my activity, my attitude and my focus. I got on the scale this morning and I had gained some weight.  I got off track yesterday but I had been faithful in my walking.  Now I do not walk because I love to do it, I walk because my health demands it and I have to hold myself steady to do it no matter the results.  I do not have total control over my success but I do have control over my activity and attitudes. Now this whole activity of walking is composed of a lot of different elements that will affect my day.  It is exercise, it is listening to positive thoughts from podcasts and it is a time of meditation and prayer.  So if I do

“At worst a passive life is only pitied, yet God counts it as a tragedy when we choose to simply watch life rather than live it.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 443). Kindle Edition. There is word that has been going over in my mind this morning as I have been walking and praying.  The word is steady, to hold steady.  Now to hold steady doesn’t mean to me to be passive.  Steady means to keep doing, to hold steady at doing what you are doing.  To be passive means to do nothing.  That is different. As I walk I see a lot of squirrels.  It is great to see them holding steady at the tasks that God has placed within then to do every day for their sustenance for their survival.  They could be counted faithful.  They are not tempted to say, “Well, I know that God has said that He will provided for me my daily bread so I am just going to sit idly by and trust God to take care of me.”  If they did that then they would starve.  Something inside them drives them to be faithful at finding food for this day and the days ahead.  God

“Is your goal how long you live or that you live?”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus in his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 1037). Kindle Edition . What if that had been Jesus’ goal?  God sent Him to earth to experience life as we know it and to be an example for how He wants us to live it but He died when He was in His thirties.  Longevity was not His goal, impact was. What about you?  I know many people who all they are living for is retirement.  They are worried about having enough money to survive.  That is always on their mind.  Now to me that is not living that is existing.  Living life to its fullest is all about service not about security.   Jesus showed us how to really live life to its fullest.  He lived out the purpose that God sent Him to earth to do.  He came to give His life so we could live.  So if He is our example why do we put all out life into getting to the point that we do nothing?  That is a wasted life, a life with a wrong purpose. God has created each one

“God wants to change the world through your life if you'll just do something.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 595). Kindle Edition . I just have had a tremendous valuable time for 1 ½ hours.  First of all I walked.  That is making a difference in my health.  I am 64 and I decided a few years back that I didn’t want to be an invalid so I started eating healthier and started walking.  That has been of benefit to me.  Then today I listened to 2 messages by Robert Morris who is the Lead Pastor of the Gateway Church in Austin, Texas.  The messages were on prayer.  They challenged me and gave me new insight on this tremendous subject.  But if all I did was to walk and then to listen I would have been helped but it would have been all for me.   My world was changed but that was all if I didn’t do something.  The first thing I did was to pray.  I took what God had taught me through Robert Morris and came back to pray for some situations that I had let up on praying for.  The

“We must resolve not only to leave the path of doing evil, but also to passionately pursue a life of doing good.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Momen t (Kindle Locations 440-441). Kindle Edition. So much teaching has been on the don’t that we lose sight of the do.  Christ died on the Cross to forgive us for the don’ts so we could do the dos.  That is Good News.  I am now free of the guilt of my sin so I can be free now to do the purpose for which God created me to do.  Now in living the holy victorious life we deal with the cleansing part but too many times we forget the empowering part.  God wants to empower us though His Spirit to make a difference for Him and with Him in the world we live in.  Yes we need the Holy Spirit to cleanse us of that self-centeredness that we were born with and then to fill us with Himself, with His love which empowers us to fulfill His reason for creating us.    We need to ask for Christ’s forgiveness of our wrongs, our sins and to ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse us from the reason for doing t

“So many moments are lost when we're looking only for what we can get.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Momen t (Kindle Locations 590-591). Kindle Edition . The key to living life to the max is not to look at what you can get out of it but what you can give to it.   Margaret and I are moving to Florida in five weeks.  When we got the reason why we are moving which is to be near my mother and to feed into her life the place where we are going to live fell into place.  Life is to be lived as a ministry.  That is why we are here.  That is where meaning and purpose and happiness come from.  I know so many people who haven’t figured that out.  What about you?

“The security that we often seek is not necessary to living life to the fullest.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 637). Kindle Edition . What if Abraham would have lived that way?  For sure he wouldn’t have left his home to go to a place he didn’t know of.  In other words he wouldn’t have been the father of a great nation. What if Noah hadn’t listened to God and built the Ark?  We wouldn’t be here. What if the disciples would have said no to Jesus when He asked them to leave it all and follow Him?   We wouldn’t have the story of the New Testament and the examples and dedication they showed of what it means to be a Christ-follower. What if Jesus had said to His Father that He didn’t really want to leave Heaven and come to Earth as a baby and then die on a Cross for us?  Where would we be today? What if I hadn’t given my life to serve God as a Church Planter and leave the security of living in one place all my life?   Maybe you wouldn’t even be a Christian.

“God has created you to do something.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 332). Kindle Edition. And it doesn’t stop at 64 or 24.  In each stage of life there is something that God has created us to do.  No one retires from God’s plan for their life.  Retirement just means I have more control of my time in order to focus on his plan.  My purpose in life is to seek the harassed and helpless and let them know that Christ can and wants to make a difference in their life.  That is my something to do and it doesn’t stop at 64.  I am no longer tied down to the expectations that a salary has but I have been released to do the something in a greater measure that God has given me to do.  Oh I wouldn’t trade my years as a church planter for anything else in the world.  My life has been exciting and has made significant differences in all the places I have served.  I was living out the something that God had for me to do each day of my life

“Whenever we take on a God-sized challenge, self-sufficiency is no longer an option.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 843). Kindle Edition. That is so true of Mary when the angel told her what was going to happen to her.  If she was just going to be a mother she could handle that.  I’m sure she had been prepared by her mother and maybe grandmother to do that.  That was what she was prepared to do but to be the mother of the Son of God that was something completely different.  No way was she or any other young women prepared for that God-sized challenge on her own but she was not going to have to go through it alone.  God doesn’t give us a task without support. The truth is being a parent is a God-sized challenge.  I have loved being a parent for these 30+ years but I needed God’s guidance and wisdom all the way through.  Yes, I had seen parenting modeled by two of the Godliest parents a boy could ever have.  But then that baby boy came to live with Margaret and me on April 7

“If you could take a moment, seize it, and squeeze out of it all the life available within it, shouldn't that moment be in the future rather than in the past?”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Locations 78-79). Kindle Edition. What a waste of energy and emotion when we seize and squeeze everything we can out of a past situation in our life.  What it can do is rob us of joy or fill us with pride depending of what happened and neither of those responses build value into our life.  Now the truth is we only have control of our present but a future moment can bring hope, excitement and challenge into our present.  It can help in making the decisions that need to be made today and helping in living through the sacrifices that need to be made in order to reach that moment. For an example, I live for the future moment when one day I step on my scale and it says 199 lbs.  Every day that I get up and head out to walk is controlled by that future moment.  Every time I decide at Starbucks against that pastry instead of the oatmeal is controlled by the future moment

“One of the wonders of uncertainty is that it is the environment in which God invites us to be creative.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 787). Kindle Edition. Now in our times of uncertainty we as Christians cry out to God to do something and the key is He already has.  He has given each one of us a mind and within that mind He has given us the ability to creatively come up with an idea or a new thought or new paradigm for the situation.    Now for the most part we don’t want to work that hard, we want the situation to resolve and everything to work out the way we want it to but sometimes God wants us to step outside the box of our usual solutions and come up with something new.  I know that is hard but it can be so rewarding. But you say, “I’m not creative,” and I say, “How do you know?  Have you ever tried?”   Now the key is you stop and just freely think.  Write down each thought that comes into your mind and then follow it until it hits a dead end or until something starts to spark.

“What God can do through a person who's willing to act is limitless.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Locations 436-437). Kindle Edition. I have two laptop computers.  One is a large one and the other is a small one.  The potential that I have to reach out to people around the world through them is limitless but if I never turn either one of them on they are useless. Right now I am sitting with my small laptop in the Oceanside, New York Starbucks putting down my thoughts about this quote by Erwin McManus so I can post it online so you can read it wherever you might be.  Just think of this.  Someone this past week from the United States, the Netherlands, Russia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Latvia, Qatar, and Venezuela checked out this blog.  But it wouldn’t have happened if I wouldn’t have started writing. Now I also just finished my bill’s front porch and I will get up early tomorrow morning and post it on my large laptop at home.  This week p

“The possibilities that await us in each moment are fueled by the potential God has placed within us.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book,  Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Locations 475-476). Kindle Edition. Have you ever stopped and thought about the fact that God doesn’t want you to be anything else but you”?  Also do you realize that God took just as much interest in putting His stamp on you as He did with anyone else?  You and I are a masterpiece by God.  The truth is we don’t really realize the potential that God built into us.  The only thing that limits our potential is us. I know that we can play the blame game and say because of my parents or where I grew up or what I look like or my lack of education (you get the point) I am limited in my potential.  I can understand that point of view until I look at a Helen Keller which wakes me up to the fact of my unused potential that God has placed within me and you.  That shows me that I am limited by what I am looking at, circumstances or God. Yes, the fact that Helen Keller was li

“With every benefit, we must embrace both responsibility and risk.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Momen t Moment (Kindle Locations 400-401). Kindle Edition . I’m sure that you have found that in the beginning days of your marriage it was so much easier to risk.  I mean you didn’t have kids, you didn’t have a whole lot of stuff and you had a whole lot of enthusiasm.  I mean, you believed you could conquer the world.  Get out of the way here we come.  But the older you got and the more responsibility you had made it a whole lot more difficult to risk.   It maybe made it more difficult to respond to God’s leading in your life. God blesses you with a great house.  You have a nice car or two.  You have finally gotten the furniture you’ve always wanted and of course you have the kids.  God has been so good to you but in the midst of all this He seems to be impressing on you that He has something unbelievable for you to do but it means giving up all the stuff and moving your family.  It