You are never too old to fail.
He should know better than that!”
Ever heard those words? Have you ever said them?
Somehow in my mind, and I assume everyone’s mind, we are tempted to believe that one day we arrive. We will get to a place where we have enough money, wisdom, knowledge, 60″ flat screens, and Audis and we’ll build a $20 million dollar home on the inter-coastal in Sarasota and we’ll have to choose whether to lay by the pool or venture to the private beach to read and have a cup of coffee. We live like we will eventually get to a place in life where decisions come easy, and the decisions we make will always be right.
Today, I realized that this is all wrong. I know, it’s a shocker!
Reading 2 Chronicles 15-16 where Asa rules for 35 years making all of the right decisions, and then
Asa messed up, and his mistake cost him a peaceful end to his life.
This life with Jesus is a journey, and while we are always intended to stay on the narrow path we can choose to detour at any moment. The enemy is lying in wait for any opportunity to lead us away. Our destination is Christlikeness, and the completion of that journey will only happen on the other side of death or Jesus’ return depending upon which comes first. There is no retirement from the work that Jesus needs to do in us.
Are you living your life as if your arrival is eminent, or are you continually being changed knowing that a fight is required to remain on the narrow way?
A Mike Foster quote for the ages…Story 09
“The enemy says be afraid of your pain, but God says let me leverage your pain.”
[singlepic id=26 w=320 h=240 float=left]Check out People of the Second Chance to learn a little bit more about Mike.
What can God leverage right now in your life?
For me, it’s the empty feeling of not having our three adopted children home yet, and seeing the movie Blindside didn’t help a bit. By the way, this is a movie you will want to own. Without a doubt it’ll start showing up in my blogs.
What about you? What pain can God leverage right now?
Chris Seay and Nancy Beach Musings from Story 2009
I didn’t take many notes on these two, because there was so much of their story wrapped up in what they had to say, but these thoughts are what I needed to take away.
Musings from Chris Seay
We are shaped by the stories of our ancestors. A portion of who we are is the way that it is because they were the way that they were.
Our sermons need to be less about five things to do or three points. They need to tell a story, The Story, in such a way that people are driven to the scriptures in order to discover for themselves what it means.
Musings from Nancy Beach
The Gospel is three parts: part tragedy, part comedy, and part fairy tale. The Tragedy is that man is a sinner and wicked. The Comedy is that Jesus saves us anyway. The Fairy Tale is that it’s too good to NOT be true.