Good fear!

We hear a lot about bad fear but what about the good fear? You know the fear you learn when you are a little kid when you accidently touch a hot stove or when I was a kid when I disrespected mama in front of dad? I learned the fear of the back of my dad’s hand.  I know that perfect love cast out all fear however I wonder what that really means. Isn’t God to be feared; in fact doesn’t fear make us do the right thing at times like slow down when we see a cop? That isn’t all bad! I know I have a healthy fear of my wife and the fear of dying helps me not be an idiot. I think that we do not have enough fear sometimes because we live our lives without the since of desperation or motivation to live life at a whole level. Fear is a wonderful motivator for to face fear or to overcome it we must take risk and live out of our comfort zone. The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom so the opposite must true as well, the beginning of stupid is no fear of the Lord! It is true that perfect love cast out all the bad fear but I know it leaves all the good fear as well. Don’t be stupid be afraid!  

 

Rain!

It seems like the rain in Sacramento will never stop! Even as I write this blog I can hear the wind blowing and the rain hitting the windows. It feels more Seattle, WA than Sacramento, CA. and it is the middle of April. I know the old rhyme April showers will bring May flowers but I am tire of the rain, I am tired of the cold and I am tired of seldom seeing the sunshine! However I do have to admit that my yard has never looked greener the air has never been cleaner and the house has never been cozier. Rain is like my life… with every new storm comes with it the good and the bad lessons learned and character developed. I get really tired of the storms of life but without them there would be no growth no freshness and no appreciation of the sunny days. Rain has a way of washing the earth with one great shower and there is nothing like the feeling of taking in the fragrance right after a rain storm. The feeling is much the same after a good cry or seeing God come through one more time.  We all need the rain storms in our lives and yet we all get tired of the long seasons of those storms.  I just looked at the forecast and they are predicting sunshine for the next couple of days. I believe that is Gods prediction for my life as well. I can handle the rain storm if I know there are sunny days ahead! Enjoy the rain for the Son is coming!

 

Tithing!

There are a few things in life that just doesn’t make a whole lot of since like giving money that you just don’t have. We are trying to teach our 17 year old daughter about tithing and that you always give God the first fruits of your pay check (gross) not the net. We told her that the tithe comes from your need and that your offering comes from your abundance. The Last Sunday the Lord convicted me to give beyond my tithe and to trust Him so I did. When I went to pay my bills well let’s just say I was a bit short. I had to set aside a large amount of money for an unexpected tax bill which set me way back financially. Later that day my wife walked into my office and told me that there was a mistake on the taxes and we could keep the money we had set aside. That tax money was 100 fold of my tithe! BTW fifty dollars literally blew in front us on the sideway that evening apparently that was Gods tip! My daughter just wrote her first tithe check.

 

When?

My wife has always played a big role in my life especially when it comes to never giving up. She is tenacious in her pursuit of the dreams and visions that God has put in her heart. Recently the Z family took a road trip down to LA. NBC is casting for their new reality show called, “The Best Restaurant Idea”! Cherisse has had an idea for a restaurant for over the past 10 years but put it on the shelf to take care of our daughter and yours truly. Anyway we all headed down to LA to pitch our idea and maybe be picked to appear on the show. You guessed it… we made it through 2 rounds and now we are waiting to see if we are going to be one of the finalists. Now for all you Christian unbelievers it truly doesn’t matter if we make it or not. The go for it attitude was worth it all. The family doing something together was worth it all. Not waiting for the perfect opportunity was worth it all. We have already won because we did it!

 

Burnout!

So Martha invites Jesus to dinner and then gets so busy preparing dinner that she forgets that Jesus is even in her house. This is the craziness of getting so busy doing things for Jesus (ministry) that we forget the real purpose of why we are doing what we are doing. I have noticed men burnout on doing stuff for Jesus because they forgot to do them in Jesus. We will go to the mission field for Jesus but seldom read the Bible in Jesus. We will work around the church for Jesus but seldom attend church with our families in Jesus. Jesus doesn’t need us to do anything for Him because He is capable of doing things for Himself. He doesn’t need our help doing stuff for Him which can be done without even knowing Him. However He does want us to do things in Him which means my priority is to know Him and then to serve Him. I don’t work in His house without setting at His feet listening to His word. I don’t get so busy doing things for Him that I forget to listen to Him! Jesus said many will say look what I did for you and He will say…but I never knew you. I have never burnout on knowing Him.