From a Bird's Eye View...

I was enjoying a beautiful Spring morning with a little run. As I ran through my neighborhood, I began absorbing the changes of nature, awaking from winter. I had several thoughts...

In looking up at the trees, I noticed there were lots of bird nests. I realized these nest weren't built on a limb against the trunk of the tree, away from the wind and rain. They were built towards the end of the limbs.

It was interesting to me as I thought about how the Bible says 'the Father cares for the birds of the air, but how much more He cares for us' (paraphrased).

I thought about how gutsy these birds are. They build their homes, in good faith, knowing the God of the Universe will care for them. They choose to live life on the "edge"...again, trusting God will care for them.

How many of us are willing to live life "on the edge". Don't we typically run from the "possibilities" of danger?...or do we usually stand tall, looking danger in the face, trusting...like the birds?

My thinking is that often we awake most mornings, beginning our days trusting in our own abilities. We aren't living life "on the edge". We stick pretty close to our comfort zone, never feeling the need to trust outside of our self.

Think of the view these birds are able to enjoy simply by living life "on the edge" of their limb! I thought about all the things the birds would miss if they chose to build next to the trunk (the "safe zone").

God has an endless reserve of blessings for us. The unfortunate thing is in order to receive many of those blessings, we've got to be willing to live our life "on the edge", completely trusting in Him!

I realized it's when I see God doing the "impossible", I experience the biggest blessings! I don't know about you, but I felt challenged by the birds that morning.

I don't want to live life "next to the trunk". I want the "view"...I want to "see" God. I want the refreshing breeze...I want to "feel" Him. I want the refreshing rain...I want Him to continually "renew" me!

What about you? Are you huggin the trunk or swingin in the breeze? Don't choose to "nestle" down in life...jump out there and enjoy the adventure of trusting!

Blessings!

"You rang?"

I was sitting in church today and heard the most timely sermon. It was titled “Redeeming The Time”. It was taken from Acts 9:10-19. The story of God calling Ananias (a disciple of Christ) to go find Saul, known to all to be a persecutor of Christians, to lay his hands on Saul in order to restore Saul’s sight.

Ananias was a lay person but when God called him, Ananias immediately responded to God.

If we are called to be a believer, we are called to discipleship…a “student”…to be one who learns…we are to be in hot pursuit of Christ.

Ananias made his way to Saul and put his hands on Saul. Doing so, the scales fell off Saul’s eyes. The Bible says that when the scales fell off, Saul regained his strength. We, too, can be given strength when Christ removes our scales. These scales can be the lies of Satan, lack of wisdom, stubbornness, pride, fear, etc..

Several things about this story struck me. In verse 13, Ananias clearly had some conflict within himself about God's call to go find Saul. Ananias knew the danger of encountering Saul...DEATH! After-all, Saul was the one who ordered the stoning of Stephen. The cool thing was that God knew what Ananias' response was going to be and God basically said in verse 15, (paraphrasing) "I hear ya brother! However, I got this one covered. I've called Saul for something incredible and everything is gonna be alright!"

It's ok with God if we're concerned over the things He calls us to do. It's when God call us to do things we're uncomfortable with, that we truly grow. This growth is when Christ is glorified. This is exactly where God wants us. It puts us in a position of making a decision of trusting in our own inability OR really trusting him and that He will work within us. When we work from our comfort, we really haven't "laid it on the line" for Christ.

Just think, it was Paul (Saul) who wrote over half of the New Testament. It was Paul (Saul) who was called to take the Gospel to the Gentiles...which is us! Where would we be if Paul (Saul) hadn't done all he did? However, Paul (Saul) couldn't have done all he did had it not for Ananias. What would have happened if Ananias had responded out of fear and NOT gone to Saul?

We're all called by God for something. Being an obedient servant; being compliant to God's call is the best feeling ever! But, in order to be obedient to His call, we must individually ask God what that calling is...and what is it that He wants us to do. But then, we have to be willing to trust God...trust Him with everything...our fear, our uncertainty...EVERYTHING!

The Lord is so faithful and merciful! He even compensates us for following His call. That compensation is demonstrated through Saul (Paul) receiving renewed strength and the many lives Paul (Saul) was able to lead to the Lord.

God is calling us all to be a small part of something, yet to be used in a BIG way!

What's standing in the way of you accepting that call. This week for me it's been trusting the Lord with fear I was struggling with. Maybe for you it's pride, stubbornness, your finances in this hard economic time...perhaps it's shame, unforgiveness...maybe it's disbelief that God could really call you.
I challenge you to trust Him with whatever it is that keeps you from this call.

Are you going to answer His call? Are you going to REALLY "lay it on the line", working from that "uncomfortable" spot?

"In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord,""

Blessings!