“When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey His commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. For when you have become full and prosperous and have built find homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplies along with everything else, be careful! Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. He did all this so you would never say to yourself “I have achieved this wealth with my own strategy and energy. Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful.”

-Deut. 8:11-18

Deut. 8:11-19 is one of my favorite sections of scripture. It’s a constant reminder that everything I am and everything I have is a gift from God. He has been so good to me. If I have anything that is good in my life, if I’ve had any form of success, if I have been freed from bondage, it’s all because of Him. All I had to do was choose to respond to Him. He did the rest.

So, what do you do when life is awesome?

Thank God constantly. Never forget what He has done for you.

Failure to do so, will make you proud. It will make you dependent on yourself. Your heart will become hardened. You’ll start thinking you are the reason your life is awesome, when in reality, you’d have nothing without God.

Thanking God is one of the greatest things we can do with our lives. Whether we have just hit rock bottom or we are soaring on the mountain tops of life, we need to thank God. Thank God He is bringing us out of our current circumstance or thanking Him because He has brought us to an awesome place in our lives.

Thoughts?

I was looking through notes from Primal by Mark Batterson, and I came across these quotes about our dreams, our influence, and the impact we want to make from Phil Vischer, the creator of Veggie Tales. Just something I thought would be good for all of us to chew on today.

“If God gives you a dream, and the dream comes to life and God shows up in it, and then the dream dies, it may be that God wants to see what is more important to you – the dream or him.” -Phil Vischer

“The impact God’s planned for us doesn’t occur when we’re pursuing impact. It occurs when we’re pursuing God. At last, after a long lifetime of striving, God was enough. Not God and impact or God and ministry. Just God.”-Phil Vischer

“Everything minus God = Nothing” ~Mark Batterson

I don’t know about you, but often I find myself pursuing my dream instead of pursuing God. Maybe we’re not succeeding because we’re too focused on ourselves…

Thoughts?

“ When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, and know who you’re dealing with.

“The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him!

“God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change.” ~Acts 17:22-31

My pretension is that everyone is searching for God, but only a few know how to find Him. Many people go through life looking for an unknown god. Fortunately, you don’t have to. You can know God. You can have a relationship with Him and experience Him in everyday life.

Rick Warren said, “You are as close to God as you want to be.”

The Bible says if you draw close to God, He will draw close to you. If you’re searching for God or no content in your relationship with Him, I encourage you to seek Him out:

• Start reading the Bible!
• Get in a good church that teaches the Bible.
• Get around people who you know that have a great relationship with Him and ask them questions.

You don’t have to go through life searching for an unknown God. You can go through life knowing the God who created you. The God who created the universe. The God who gave His son to die for you.

I love how the scriptures above end. “The unknown is now known, and He’s calling for a radical life-change. I’m passionate about my relationship with God because I’ve experienced a radical life-change as a result of that relationship.

God is waiting for you to find Him, He’s right here. You cannot experience God and not have your life changed! Go after Him. I promise you, one interaction with our known God, and you will experience radical life-change!

Thoughts?

If you’d like to talk to me about having a relationship with God, please e-mail me here! I’d love to talk to you!