To me, a baby was born this last Monday. I remember laying my eyes on her for the first time. She just sat there looking up at me out of her blue wrapping when I realized I needed to go attach her car seat to the top of my little red CRV. Weighing in at 800 ounces and around 144 inches in length my new baby is bright yellow from head to toe. The only problem is I still haven’t found a name for her yet.
I took her out on the lake twice this last week before the reality set in that I needed somewhere to store her. She didn’t look that big on the water compared to the other boats that I saw…and she didn’t really look that big on top of my car either. After carrying my new baby girl up the stairs and after managing to slide her into my apartment I not only realized how big my little girl really was but I also realized how grateful I was to have a 14 foot vaulted ceiling in my living room.
As I sat on my couch looking at my kayak, being that it is now the main focal point in my apartment, I thought about how much we do the opposite with God. We often confine God to the smallness of our minds. Even with all that open space inside our heads, we rarely do God any justice for how big He really is. “My God is so BIG, so STRONG and so MIGHTY. There’s nothing my God cannot do” is a great song that we limit to the imaginations of our children. Take a moment to evaluate your life…think about the things that you’re struggling with…apply the song…make it real…stop confining God to the vaulted ceiling of your mind and just see how big He really is.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Jesus Fish and Dangling Cross
A week ago, I went on a prayer retreat to a retreat center away from any kind of “real civilization.” There were large live oaks lining the main entrance. Deer ran wild through the open fields and sometimes the gardens. They had prayer walks you could go on, or you could just sit on a bench at the edge of a garden overlooking the river. Serenity. Tranquility. Calmness. Quietness. Peace. These are the things I found while away from the world for a few days.
I made a stop in Charlotte for some reason…but on my way back up I-77 I was stuck behind a Jesus Fish and a Dangling Cross. The Jesus Fish was emphatically riding on the tail of the Dangling Cross in front of him. It was apparent that he badly wanted to get by. Finally the Dangling Cross whipped his SUV over when given the chance to allow the truck of the Jesus Fish past. He even was nice enough to motion with his hand that he was allowing him past…then directing his fellow brother toward Heaven he pointed there…with much emphasis. They shared a few edifying words to lift one another up before going on along their way.
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” – James 1:22-25
It troubles me that these two men were mirroring to the world, the Christ I follow. My challenge to myself and to all of you…don’t just put a decal on your car or hang a cross from your mirror…actually LIVE out the Christ the you follow.
Ryan
I made a stop in Charlotte for some reason…but on my way back up I-77 I was stuck behind a Jesus Fish and a Dangling Cross. The Jesus Fish was emphatically riding on the tail of the Dangling Cross in front of him. It was apparent that he badly wanted to get by. Finally the Dangling Cross whipped his SUV over when given the chance to allow the truck of the Jesus Fish past. He even was nice enough to motion with his hand that he was allowing him past…then directing his fellow brother toward Heaven he pointed there…with much emphasis. They shared a few edifying words to lift one another up before going on along their way.
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” – James 1:22-25
It troubles me that these two men were mirroring to the world, the Christ I follow. My challenge to myself and to all of you…don’t just put a decal on your car or hang a cross from your mirror…actually LIVE out the Christ the you follow.
Ryan
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