Living the Best Life

Life rarely lives up to our expectations. I suspect even if we were able to live the life of our dreams it would still leave us unsatisfied. The reason is true life is only found in Jesus.

Each one of us has an image of what life should be like. Some might picture the best life to be a mansion on a hill and millions of dollars in the bank. Others might define life as a two-story house with a white picket fence and a loving family. Still others might think the ideal life is the party scene with lots of friends.No matter what our image of life might be, we have all had those moments when we have thought, “Now this is the life!”

Outside those momentary glimpses of the life we desire, how many of us are living the life of our dreams?

I can say that I am content with my life, but there are still areas that I long to change. I still have dreams I want to accomplish, places I want to visit, and events I want to experience. On top of that reality I continue to desire to grow in my relationship with God and become the person He created me to be.

Finish reading Living the Best Life » Paul's Ponderings

 

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A Shadow and a Thought

At times it is easier to live in a fantasy world than it is in reality. This is especially true if real life is unappealing in a certain area. I think this is why people day dream about relationships. It is easy to create the perfect relationship in you mind, and so if you are missing out on a relationship or your relationship is less than perfect you can escape to the land of fantasy.

While there is nothing wrong with a little daydreaming, these fantasies can be hazardous to our real relationships. We need to avoid them as best we can.

 

I used to follow Rebecca St. James on Facebook. Besides being a well known Christian singer, Rebecca St. James has also been a loud voice in the True Love Waits campaign. Being single for much of her life, before getting married in April of 2011, added credibility to her message.

One thing about being a celebrity, even a minor one like Rebecca St. James, is that people think that they know you because they have been able to see glimpses of your life through articles, interviews, and even your performances. The result is that some guys would fall in love with the image of Rebecca they had created in their minds. Then they would write their declarations of love for her on her Facebook page.

When I read these public declarations of love I couldn’t help but think about a scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. In the scene Aragorn, the heir to the throne of Gondor prepares to take a perilous journey under the mountain to enlist the of the army that resides there. As he prepares to leave the Riders of Rohan, with whom he has been traveling, Éowyn, the princess of Rohan, comes to plead for him to stay with them.

Aragorn asks her why she has come. She looks shocked and hurt, and says, “Don’t you know?” There is a pause as realization comes over Aragorn’s face and he replies; “It is but a shadow and a thought that you love. I cannot give you what you seek.”

Finish reading A Shadow and a Thought » Paul's Ponderings

 

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Trust and Obey

 

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A Sword, the Bible, and a Way Forward

All of us have had that experience of not knowing what to do next. Life may have thrown us a curveball or our life long dream could have just shattered, and now we are confused and a little afraid.

At those times in our lives the Bible can provide us with a sense of courage.

“But somehow he was comforted. It was rather splendid to be wearing a blade made in Gondolin for the goblin-wars of which so many songs had sung; and also he had noticed that such weapons made a great impression on goblins that came upon them suddenly.

“‘Go back?’ he thought. ‘No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do!’ So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.” ~ The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Bilbo Baggins found himself in a very difficult position. Miles away from his beloved Shire, in the caves of the Misty Mountains, the small hobbit (who has been separated from his companions) is alone in the dark. Bilbo is on an adventure he did not volunteer to go on and is being hunted by Goblins (Orcs).

Finding himself is this terrible situation Bilbo begins to think about his options. Only then does he remember the elvish blade hanging from his belt. The presence of the sword gives Bilbo the courage he needs to face the uncertainty of the dark. With his new found courage Bilbo is able to move forward.

On more days than we care to admit we wake up feeling the exact same way Bilbo felt during his adventure. It feels like we are alone in the dark, unsure of what will happen, and terrified to move. The questions: “What do I do?” “Where should I go?” and “Who can I count on?” are attempts to find a solution to the situation we find ourselves in. These are times when Bilbo becomes a good example to follow.

Finish reading A Sword, the Bible, and a Way Forward » Paul's Ponderings

 

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The Old is Passing Away

 

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Creating the Future

The lives that we are currently living are the results of choices that were made. These choices include the choices we made, the choices that other people have made that have intersected with our lives, and the choices God has made. The reason we can be optimistic about the future is because God has chosen to get involved.

 

The future is the sum total of all the choices that are made in the present and in the past. Fortunately, that sum total includes the choices made by God.

Erwin McManus, Uprising, p. 237

The world we live in is the product of billions of choices. Each of every person who has every lived has had a hand in shaping this world.

This is why the idea of parallel universes is so appealing. A parallel universe allows us to dream about the “what ifs” of life. We can imagine what life would have been like if we would have gone out for the football team, asked a certain girl out for a date, or applied ourselves in the classroom. Just think there might be a universe out there where I am a Batman type superhero.

All of us have made choices that we now regret. We would love to go back and change them, but as the great theologian Eddie Money taught us, we can’t go back and do things over. The past is the past and we can’t go back and make different choices.

Even if there were other parallel universes out there the alternate me making different or better choices doesn’t affect my life. The only life that affects me is the life that I am currently living.

Finish reading at Creating the Future » Paul's Ponderings

 

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Between a Rock and a Hard Place

One of the topics that is grabbing the nations headlines is gay marriage. It is a controversial topic even within the Church. I am not able to say anything that hasn't already been said, but I did want add my perspective to the discussion. I hope it is helpful.

The Church will always be involved in politics. That is because politics, according the Oxford American Dictionary, are “the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area.” This means that Christians, by virtue of what we believe, will at times be in conflict, in one way or another, with the standards and laws of the community.

Reading through the book of Acts we discover that Christians were arrested time and time again because of the way they lived and the way they encouraged other people to live. The teachings and the actions of the Church were in conflict with the culture and expectations of the Roman Empire.

Even if you adopt a Christian Anarchist view, like I have done, you will not be able to escape the reality that the Way of Christ has political implications. This is why it is very important to remained informed about what is happening in the political arena of life.

Finish reading Between a Rock and a Hard Place at Paul's Ponderings.

 

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The Need to Produce

Men have certain cravings that God has placed within their hearts. One of those cravings is the craving to produce.

Woven within the masculine spirit is the desire to produce. Men need to be productive in order to give their lives meaning and purpose. This is why some men spend time creating through writing, carving, or inventing. It is why other men spend time building things like tables, hot rods, or houses. This is why some men spend time growing gardens, raising animals, or planting trees. It is why other men spend time restoring old houses, antique furniture, or rusty cars.

Men need projects that are both fulfilling and rewarding. It is essential for men to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

We live in a culture where many jobs no longer offer men the opportunity to produce. There are numbers to be crunched and PowerPoint presentations to be put together, but real productive work is missing. This reality eats away at the spirit of a man. Men require productivity.

Continue reading at www.paulsponderings.com. The Need to Produce.

 

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Be Thankful and Worship

To live a life full of hope and joy requires a thankful heart and a spirit of worship.

{Psalms 9:1-2; ESV}

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;

I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Heavenly Father, my great provider, open my eyes to the blessings You have generously given me. I have begun to take these great blessings for granted and I have not thanked You for Your generosity. I have come to expect these blessings as my right rather than as great gifts.

Finishing reading this prayer at www.paulsponderings.com. Be Thankful and Worship.

 

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Freedom From the Slavery of Sin

When sin holds us in its grip we become slaves.

Take a moment and think about what John Maxwell and Jim Dornan wrote in their book Becoming a Person of Influence; “Slaves is the right term to describe people who lack integrity because they often find themselves at the whim of their own and others’ changing desires” (p. 32)

The movie version of The Lord of the Rings has made J. R. R. Tolkien’s story accessible to thousands of people who would never bother with actually reading the story. One of the characters that people seem to identify with is the character Gollum. Gollum is a pitiful creature because he has been corrupted by the power of the One Ring. The Ring consumes Gollum’s life, and there is nothing he can do to break free from its power.

This is how Colin Duriez describes Gollum in The J.R.R. Tolkien Handbook:

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A Quote to Ponder: An Inclusive Invitation

{Luke 9:23-24; ESV}

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

Jesus begins his call to follow him with these two words, if anyone…

Finish reading at www.paulsponderings.com.
An Inclusive Invitation...

 

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Trust God With Your Life

Spiritual growth depends on our trust in God.

{James 1:1-4; ESV}

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

It is no secret that life is filled with heartbreak, disappointment, tragedy, and an assortment of other troubles. We understand that God has not promised us an easy life. We are also aware of His ability to use the junk of our lives to mature our faith and transform us into the people He created us to be. The reason we should find joy in our suffering, is because God redeems our pain to make us new creations.

Yet, we also know that this is easier said than done. When our lives are going smoothly, or at least manageable, we can say, “I trust God no matter what happens.” It is easy to trust to God when things seem to be easy.

When the clouds descend and the storm hits often our trust in God disappears. If we are not careful we may even begin to question God's heart. We may even begin to question His existence.

Read the rest at www.paulsponderings.com. Trust God With Your Life.

 

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The Spirit Guided Life

To live the life that Jesus saved us to live requires that we be guided by the Holy Spirit.  It is only through the guidance of the Spirit that we can live a holy life.  That is what we have been called to do.

At www.paulsponderings.com I finished a 4 part series on what a Spirit guided life looks like.  I hope you will check it out.

I also want to invite you to like the Paul's Ponderings Facebook page.  It is an easy way to follow what is happening at Paul's Ponderings and share your thoughts about my ponderings and give suggestions for future posts.

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Guidance is Essential

Life is not a walk in the park.  There are times when life seems like a stroll through a minefield, and the only way to get through is to have a guide.

The Bible teaches that Christians are to be guided by the Holy Spirit.  In Christian circles we talk about having Spirit guided lives, but what that means or what it looks like is never really explained.  It is one of those concepts that we know is important, but it remains shadowed in mystery.

Today I at Paul's Ponderings I posted part one of a four part series that will lay a foundation for what it means to have the Holy Spirit guide our lives.

{Galatians 5:16; NLT}

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

I love to hike. For me hiking is one of those simple joys in life as I am able to spend time in God’s creation. There are few activities I like to do more than hiking.

A month ago I was able to take a week long hiking trip with three friends. We went to the mountains of Colorado and were able to log a little more than 40 miles in six days. Which wasn’t too bad given the fact that we were all lowlanders from the Midwest.

Most of the trails we hiked were well marked and there was no doubt about which direction we were supposed to go. We did run into one big exception to this and it happened on the very first hike of the week. We were hiking up to one of the 14,000 foot peaks and it was a struggle for us. We had just finished the steepest climb of the day and in the distance we could see our destination. The problem was that in the thick brush we could not find the trail. We had already hiked for six hours and we knew that we didn’t have too much longer before we had to turn around and hike back to the truck.


Continue reading We Need a Guide...

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We Need Men to be Men

Our culture is confused about what it means to be a man.  The result of this reality can be seen all around us.  It can be seen in a high crime rate, a high divorce rate, and a high debt rate.  When men walk away from their responsibilities as men bad things happen.

What qualities should men possess?  What does Christian manliness look like?  I begin to answer those questions in this post at Paul's Ponderings:

All of creation needs men to be men. If a male doesn’t accept his design to be a man, bad things happen. Essentially that is what Genesis 3 shows us; sin entered the world because Adam refused to be a man. Adam’s responsibility was protect his wife’s integrity. Instead he passively stands by as Eve is tempted by the serpent. Sin entered the world because Adam did not accept his responsibility as a man.

The world needs men. If that is the case then: What makes a man a man? Here are a few thoughts I have had as I have pondered this question.

I believe that the Church needs to do a better job at teaching people what it means to be created in God’s image and what it means to be a man or a woman. Since God created people in His image, male and female, I believe there is something of God’s character which is captured in the masculinity of men and the femininity of women. I know this becomes a touchy subject because sometimes it seems that in doing so women are reduced to second class citizens.

Continue reading What Makes a Man a Man?...

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The Words We Need for Life

Life doesn't always make sense.  Often when think things are going well and we have discovered the secret of life that is when our lives seem to come crumbling down.  If we are following Jesus we go through a crisis of faith and we are forced to evaluate why we continue to put our trust and hope in him.

That is what this pondering from Paul's Ponderings is about:

{John 6:66-69; ESV}

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Many of us have gone through a crisis of belief. We thought we had things all figured out and then life didn’t meet our expectations and God seemed to have vanished. Those low points of life can have us shaking our heads as we try to find all the pieces of our shattered dreams. In the end it is very tempting just to walk away.

In the passage leading up to John 6:66-69 we read about a sermon Jesus gave which resulted in thousands of people leaving him. Jesus told those following him that he was the bread from Heaven, and if they hoped to be part of God’s Kingdom they had to eat of his body. This was a teaching that the people did not understand, and they left grumbling. They had pursued Jesus with the hope of making him king, and now they left his presence confused.

Continue reading The Words of Eternal Life...


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A Solid Foundation

Every day we are faced with choices.  Some choices are life changing, like the choice of getting married, and some seem to have little effect on the direction of our lives, like what to order at McDonald's.  In the face of the choices we realize that we don't always have time to weigh all the options and come to the right decision.  That is why it is crucial for us to have a worldview that is foundational to our lives which provides us with the wisdom we need to make the right choice.  That the focus of today's pondering.

{Matthew 7:24-27; ESV}

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. ”

Our lives are the product of the choices that we make. There are big choices which will affect the rest of our lives, and there are the small everyday choices that seem to have very little effect on our lives. Since choices are such a big part of our lives it is essential that we have the proper foundation for making good choices.

Jesus gives us a vivid word picture in this parable about the need for a solid foundation. Without a solid foundation our lives will eventually come crashing down. That foundation is the teaching of Jesus. What Jesus taught, much of which has roots that go back into the Old Testament and branches out into the New Testament, provides us with the knowledge we need to live wisely. The wise person is the one who not only recognizes the truth in what Jesus taught, but realizes the importance of living the truth in their lives.


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Showing our Love for God

Our love is best seen, not in what we say, but in what we do.  We can sing songs of praise and make confessions of faith, but what matters is how we live.  Obedience demonstrates our love for God.  That is the point I make in this pondering at Paul's Ponderings.

{Matthew 21:28-31; NLT}

“But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. Which of the two was obeying his father?”

How we live says more about what we believe about God than all our confessions of faith. It is relatively easy to say something, but it is another thing altogether to let that belief be seen in the way we live.

In this simple parable we discover that each son heard their father’s request, neither one could plead ignorance of what their father expected. The lesson that Jesus taught is that it is through our actions that our love for God is seen. Just as the love of the two sons was discovered in their obedience rather than in their words; our love for God is seen in obedience rather than in our songs of praise and our confessions of faith. Our obedience reveals what is in our hearts.

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God Created Us For Friendships

Loneliness is a huge issue for people.  We can be in a room filled with people and still feel utterly alone.  Satan will do everything he can to cause divisions and prevent us from establishing the great friendships that we need.  This is what I talk about in today's post at Paul's Ponderings.

{Ecclessiastes 4:9-12; ESV}

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

People are social beings. Which shouldn’t be a surprise since God created us for relationships. Therefore when relationships are absent from our lives we are unable to function properly. We need other people in our lives!

Most of us have been in a room filled with other people yet we felt intensly lonely. The reason is that loneliness isn’t about our proximity to people, but it is about our lack of relationships. It is the absence of real relationships, not the absence of people, which leads to loneliness.


Continue reading Companionship is Essential for Life...

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Guided by the Spirit

There are two paths we can take in this life.  We can follow the path where our flesh leads us or we can follow the path where the Holy Spirit guides us.  Only one way leads us to the place where we become the people God created us to be.

Sin is a daily struggle for us. Part of the frustration is that it seems to be one or two sinful habits that we just cannot break. We have adopted numerous different plans in an attempt to overcome the sin, yet it is still with us 

That is just the overt sin in our lives. The covert sin of attitudes and emotions which brews beneath the surface is even harder to get a handle on. Many of us find ourselves in agreement with the apostle Paul when he wrote; “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” (Romans 7:24; NLT).

Continue reading Let the Spirit Guide You...

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