Do you believe?

Commercials are all over the TV lately with athletes asking "Do you believe". Not asking about your faith in a higher being, but whether we believe that they can perform well in the upcoming 2010 Olympics. I think to myself, I don't really care.... not because I don't love sports, I do. But my problem is it is just a sport, and I think we put way too much emphasis on things in life that don't matter. For instance, Leno vrs Conan, Tiger and Elin, or John and Kate, or who will win the Superbowl. I mean really, who cares....after all none of those previously mentioned things don't mean $#!% to me nor should they affect me. There are way too many things more important that that crap.... yet we seem to get caught up in it because that is all everyone else is talking about.

So back to the question at hand....Do I believe? Hmmmm,,,,, Over the past several months I often ask and think to myself "What do I really believe?" I say (with ease) I believe in God creator of the world and in Jesus Christ his only Son. I can say that, but a lot of the times what I do and what I think do not go hand in hand with what I say. Which makes me wonder if I really do believe what I say I do. If I did believe what I say I do, would I not live according to that. Then I started thinking, if I don't believe what I say I do, then why am I living like I am. Let me explain. If I do not (or if you do not) believe in God and Jesus Christ then why are you living like you do/should. Why try to do good, why bother helping your fellow man if all you believe is that you live, pay your taxes and die. Shouldn't I/you party all the time and do whatever because in the "scheme" of life, it does not matter because there is no heaven or hell that we are trying to get into our stay out of.
What got me thinking about this was observing others (friends, strangers, acquaintances) and how they lived, talked etc. Then I started the comparison test. You know the one ..... comparing them to me. For the most part people were a lot like me. Some were much nicer, thoughtful, caring, loving etc. Some were just plain &&$*^( .... let's say mean (all that matters is what I think - I am sure you know people like that). None of these people had or have a faith in God ...... so what makes them live as they do. Likely how they were brought up, and how society and the media tell you how you should live. But if you have no belief in an afterlife why would you live a life that society shows us as a way to live. All that to say I am just beginning to question things again.

Sounds like life to me

Do you ever get tired of "those" people who seem to wine and complain about everything. We all complain once in awhile, but there are those who will always see the negative side of every situation. On facebook, there are friends who in their status post how their marriage sucks or how their kids never listen or how they have the worst job (yeah I know, sounds like my status). I guess I have come to believe that, "Hey, this is life". It is not a fantasy, if it were we would never have the problems we do, but real life is full of bad times, good times and just plain old 'same old same' times. Besides, if life were like that (fantasy) we wouldn't need Visa :)

The chorus in the video "Sounds like life to me" says....

Sounds like life to me it ain’t no fantasy
It’s just a common case of everyday reality
Man I know it’s tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk you’re caught up in some tragedy
It sounds like life to me.

So next time you are experiencing those minor issues in life, suck it up buttercup, and enjoy the journey.

God: The Gardener - New Year Ahead

Today at work while waiting in a truck for one of my co-workers I was looking at a bunch of trees that had been pruned by some of the people I work with at the warehouse. Then it came from out of nowhere (as God often speaks to me - but rarely do I listen so intently) the verse in John where it talks about God being the gardener of all of his vineyard (paraphrasing here). It seemed in just a split second I was given a sermon on that verse. Many people love to garden and do things in their yards to make it look just right and to have the fruits and veggies of their labour be the best that they can be. They water, weed, prune, etc... whatever else garden people do. You can tell I am not a gardener. It is not my forte, but that is....okay digressing again. While the gardener tries to do all he can to get his garden in tip top shape, God does the same with us. In the verse (John 15:1-5) God is the gardener and we are the tree. Picture yourself as a tree.... a human tree with many many branches....on each of these branches are characteristics of who we are and what we do ... not only the really good stuff we do and are, but also the really bad and terrible stuff inside of us ... some of the really bad things are represented by those branches that are withering and dying. The really beautiful branches full of leaves and fruit are the ones that showcase our love, our obedience,
and all of the things that we do to the glory of God. The dead branches that our dragging us down are made known to us by the Holy Spirit. He reveals to us the things that we do that are keeping these beautiful branches from growing even more, and from more sprouts and offshoots of the good things that we already showcase to also become branches and then later become fruit, which is what God is looking for.
Many of us know some of the things that we do that are referred to here as the dead wood, but it is not until the Spirit reveals to us that we need to decide to let Him prune these branches off. He is not going to cut them off without our first asking Him to cut them off and help us so that they do not grow again. The longer we wait to acknowledge our need to cut off these areas in our life that need attention, the longer we will be dragging around dead wood, day after day. Better to be pruned often then eventually cut off at the root.

One of my resolutions for 2010 is to let God get the pruning shears and cut off some of the dead wood hanging off me. Stay tuned for an update in 365 days.