Inside the Mind of Mike

Sourdough…French…Pita…or Jesus?

fearinggod — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:52:37 +0000

I have recently been dieting to try and get in shape for our upcoming summer activities like camp and VBS. There is nothing like the memory of 10 6th graders hanging from your back at the pool at camp to motivate one to get into shape! I have been eating a lot of raw vegetables, fruits, salads, etc to shed some unwanted pounds. Yesterday as I was thinking about my dinner and my stomach began to make a lot of weird noises. I have never heard noises like that before. I couldn’t help but be reminded how our bodies react to hunger.

Our spiritual being also hungers when we haven’t fed on the word of God.

Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst.”

Bread is such an integral food staple in different cultures across the globe. If you go to the middle east they eat pita or flatbread. If you venture to China they eat mantou. Israel has Challah…etc. Bread is a necessity.

The point is; Jesus will satisfy you! Think of how you feel after a great Thanksgiving feast. You are satisfied. You are full. That is how you feel when you feed on the word of God and the Holy Spirit fills you to overflowing. It is such a beautiful thing. Where in your life are you hungry? Where are you thirsty?
The Bible is like Vons, Safeway, Albertsons, Costco all wrapped into one for your soul. If you open it, every isle contains precious food for that is free and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you are discouraged, run to Him. If you need comfort, run to Him. If you are lonely, He’s there. So many times we try to fill up with what the world has to offer. If we had a tough day at the office…. we go home, plop down on the couch, and drift into TV land. If we have a relationship problems, we think we can make it go away with the bottle or by filling ourselves with business.

Jesus is our bread. He is our sustinance. He is our supply. He is our very present help in our time of need. He is our covering. He is our Savior!

The Universe Is a Playground For Possibilities

fearinggod — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:13:02 +0000

God created life to be full of possibility. Often our brains don’t take into account all of the information presented to it, thus we are preconditioned to believe certain things are possible and impossible. My question to you (and quite frankly myself) is; Are you seeing all of the possibilities God has for your life? We need to get outside of the box of our own perceived limitations and take God for His word when He says that all things are possible.

Matthew 19:26 (New Living Translation)

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

Mark 9:23 (New King James Version)

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe,all things are possible to him who believes.”

Luke 18:27 (New King James Version)

But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

The universe is not a minefield for failure, but it is a playground for possibilities. One of the most challenging concepts of thinking outside the box and having vision for your life is how you measure the world. How do we view life? Do we see what we have as scarcity or abundance? We forget that God will give to us what we are ready to receive if it lines up with His will and purpose in our lives. Does that mean that if we just believe God for anything He will give it to us? That is certainly not the case nor supported in scripture, even though I see it preached every day on lame “Christian” broadcasts.

I’ve often decided subconsciously to live with scarcity, rather than having a close encounter with abundance. Why you ask? Because it takes great faith to engage God on a grand scale. So many of our heroes from the Bible came to the very end of their spiritual edge of faith only to see God do amazing things on their behalf to further His kingdom.

But thats the key. Its HIS kingdom, not ours.

2 Corinthians 9:8 (New King James Version)

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

The abundance that He gives us must be used to fulfill His purposes. It is not for our own comfort or gain. We are not to be hoarders or receptors of God’s blessings without having an outlet. We are to be distributors of God’s blessing.

I knew a guy at the Horizon School of Evangelism who always had stuff. God blessed him with material possessions more than anyone I have ever seen. The cool thing was….. He was always giving things away. I once complimented him on a jacket he was wearing and , low and behold, he took the jacket off and gave it to me as a gift. He was always giving away his lunch, or clothes, or rides home. God continued to bless him because he was a distributor of God’s love to other people. God will not bless us if we have a selfish mindset and hoard his gifts just for ourselves. That is not God’s heart.

I want to be somebody who has great vision for life. I want to be one who dreams big, and believes God for great things to His glory and honor. I want to be a distributor of God’s grace towards others. I want to be an expression of His love towards everyone around me.

Lets engage God in faith, like our Biblical heroes and not hold onto the absolute minimum in our lives. Lets risk things for great possibilities of building His Kingdom.

Give yourself permission to dream big with God because the universe is a playground for possibilities.

ME, ME, ME

fearinggod — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:07:36 +0000

I was watching my nephew’s baseball game yesterday when I noticed a bunch of kids in line at the snack bar waiting to get a hot dog or a soda. The kids started arguing about who was in line first. This is not an altogether unusual occurrence, but I found it very interesting in light of the scripture I had just read earlier that day.

I read about Jesus healing the Centurion’s servant in Luke 7. Many orators have preached on the Centurion and his faith in that section of scripture, but what I think is even more profound is his unselfishness. This Centurion was in a position of authority and in charge over many men. He was a Roman citizen in an outpost on foreign ground. One of his servants was sick and ready to die. The Bible said this servant was dear to him. This alone shows what kind of a person this Centurion was. He treated those that were under his reign with not only respect, but admiration. But the best part about it was; He sent people to Jesus so that his servant could be healed.

He looked outside of his own life and to the lives of others. He even built a church for the local jews in his jurisdiction. This was unheard of at the time. Not only because of his faith, but because of his unselfishness was his servant healed. This selfless act is the epitome of servant leadership.

How often do we hear slogans like, “just do it“, “where you want to be”, or ”have it your way“? From birth we are taught to be independent and self-sufficient. We even hear things like, “Look out for number 1″. This type of mentality is totally cross grain to what the Bible teaches.

Jesus said, “ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

1 John 3:16 says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”

When I woke up today I immediately thought, “what do I want for breakfast?” …”I need to sleep more”…”what do I want to do today?”

Instead I need to think…..Jesus what do you want? How can I bless others? How can I lay my life down for others?

Sometimes we get tunnel vision. Sometimes we are so narcissistic that we miss the point of why we are here… to point people to Jesus by serving and loving them. We must get out of our bubbles and really serve and bless others, allowing them to see Jesus face to face. It’s not all about ME!

The Word of the Lord stands forever…

fearinggod — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:53:08 +0000

This last week has been a roller coaster ride of emotions. My grandmother had a huge surgery to remove a large mass from her abdomen. The recovery has been long and tedious so far. I stayed with her overnight on Sunday evening and during the only still part of the night the Lord spoke to me in a profound way. I was reading through Isaiah chapter 40 reflecting on the limited amount of days we have on this earth. The average human being only has around 22 thousand days (approximately 80 years) on this planet.

The Bible says, “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.”

It was a sobering reality to me that my days are numbered. Each day that passes by without eternal significance is a day wasted. My grandmother hasn’t wasted her days. She has left a spiritual legacy for our entire family. Her kind words, cheerful countenance, fervent prayers, and unforgettable smile has left an indelible impression on countless lives. Her devotion to Christ and her battles fought in the trenches of prayer have certainly left their mark. She has most definitely changed my life for eternity.

The beginning of Isaiah 40 says this;

“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity is pardoned.”

2 Corinthians 1:3 says this,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Because of our limited days on this earth we need to be purposeful like my grandmother in preaching the eternal message of salvation which is simple…. Jesus! Because He has ended our warfare with struggling with sin and has pardoned our iniquity and poured out His judgment on His only son… we have comfort! We should be numbering our days and speaking this same comfort to others that are hurting. We don’t have much time left. Our lives are like a vapor.

Our Words

fearinggod — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:38:11 +0000

I was at a Calvary Chapel youth conference last week where I heard a speaker challenge us (as youth pastors and workers) to live a life that is completely set apart and holy. Furthermore I was challenged specifically in my speech. How often do we wildly and flippantly throw out sarcasm or jokes that on the surface, seem harmless and innocuous? Is holiness only confined to the realm of sexual purity and conduct in public…. or can we be holy in speech as well?

We often think that speech can only have an adverse effect it is said with a shout or derogatory comment. The problem is, words can and do hurt all the time.

Conversely, kind and good words have the opposite effect. Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” Those words can bring peace, repair a wounded soul, and restore hope to someone.

The Bible says words have the power of life and death. How do our words measure up? Jesus said that we will all have to give an account for every careless word that we have spoken on judgment day (Matthew 12:36). I am challenged to live a holier life with my lips that would be pleasing to God. I want to be that one person who will encourage, edify, and build someone up; rather than destroying them.

Expectations

fearinggod — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 06:43:07 +0000

So I was getting ready for our Club 56 “Boomers Day” event today, half expecting 20 kids to show up. I was a little disappointed when only a handful of kids arrived to hang out for the day at a local amusement park. I put out flyers, made announcements, and put the event on our church website. God reminded me that He is in control, and not me.

Psalm 127:1 says,

1 Unless the LORD builds the house,
       its builders labor in vain.
       Unless the LORD watches over the city,
       the watchmen stand guard in vain.

We can labor all we want, but if God is not in it…. we can not do much. He is the builder.

I also realized that we have the tendency to be disappointed in circumstances, rather than joyful that God has given us an opportunity that maybe we couldn’t see. Today was really awesome in the fact that I got a chance to connect with a few kids I don’t normally see on a weekly basis. Maybe God had orchestrated this on purpose for HIS purposes. His ways are not our ways for sure!

The Kingdom of God is at hand

fearinggod — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 04:26:06 +0000

Someone once asked, “Even if there were no heaven and there were no hell, would you still follow Jesus? Would you follow him for the life, joy, and fulfillment he gives you right now?”

I thought this was a very poignant question. Would I still have the same love for the Lord without any guarantee or reward? I am convinced that Jesus didn’t prepare us to die, but to teach us how to live. After all, John the Baptist (the greatest of the prophets according to the bible) said, “The Kingdom of God is at hand”. That doesn’t mean that once we enter heaven we are in the kingdom. I think it is very clear that we are to embrace the Kingdom here on the earth and to even expand that kingdom.

I know of one thing we cannot do in Heaven……. Evangelize.

Lord, please help me to increase your kingdom here on earth. Please allow me to know you more so that others might know you as well. Amen.

True Impact

fearinggod — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:43:07 +0000

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately regarding my relationship with the kids I minister to. Do I have a program driven ministry? An information driven ministry? Or a relational driven ministry? I once heard a mentor of mine say, “you cannot impact what you don’t engage”. Involvement in programs is not enough to kids these days. They have enough programs to get involved with, especially in our community.

John 1:14 says, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld the glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

I began to think…..what saved me?… a program or a relationship? In order for us to be effective to those we minister to wherever that may be; we must personally enter their world. In order for others to be comfortable we must become uncomfortable. We must love the un-loveable. We must accept the unaccepted. We must develop and nurture meaningful relationships with those around us. We must engage those we wish to impact. We must dwell among those we wish impact and let them see the glory of Jesus revealed in our lives through the grace and truth we show them.

Jesus Wrecked My Life

fearinggod — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 04:24:35 +0000

There are those in the world with stories of how their lives were so messed up and destroyed. They say that after they met Jesus, everything became glorious and fell right in line. They state that they have so much joy and happiness in their lives now. I get it. I too have felt some of that. But as for me, I kind of had it together. I used to be cool. I was with the in crowd. After I met Jesus, he wrecked all of that. I started to get ridiculed by my old friends. The more I read the Bible, the more it messed with my head. I am still recovering from my conversion.

Philippians 3:9-11 says, “…not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death if, by any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead.”

Excuse me? Fellowship of His sufferings? Why do so many preachers speak on the other side of the tracks? I believe that to know Christ more fully, you must partake in some minuscule way with His sufferings. Don’t get me wrong… nobody can experience what Jesus did. But from my own experience, knowing Christ in a real way brings a little sorrow. It brings a little melancholy. It brings pain.

We must not strive to experience this type of fellowship with Christ, but when it comes we must embrace it, and have an eternal mind-set, knowing that God is perfecting us through the trials. Thank God it only lasts a lifetime and not for eternity!

Unchanging

fearinggod — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 06:20:22 +0000

Sometimes as we meander up the peaks and down the valleys of life, we forget that God never changes in his attributes and character. Circumstances change. Emotions change, often abruptly. But God NEVER has nor will ever change. J.I. Packer states in his book, “Knowing God” that…”The words of human beings are unstable things. But not so the words of God. They stand forever, as abidingly valid expressions of his mind and thought. No circumstances prompt him to recall them; no changes in his own thinking require him to amend them.”