Challenging Normal

Radical - David Platt

Most of learned the ten commandments in Sunday School or we have read them hanging on a wall somewhere. We view them as a list of rules that God gave Moses several thousand of years ago for us to live by. This morning while I was reading in Exodus I read them a little bit differently. I did not read them as rules but as guidelines. I read them as a list of things that will help us have a better relationship with God and with the people around us.

47:2 - I serve an awesome God. I choose to follow Him and worship Him not because what He can do but because of who He is.

As a kid I was a HUGE wrestling fan. I lived to watch Dusty Rhodes take on the Four Horseman. To see Sting take on Ric Flair. To walk Hulk Hogan beat up everyone like he had super human strength. I loved wrestling when wrestling was real :-). Yeah I know, but I loved it back before it got commercialized. It did not take make long to realize that in life we are all part of a wrestling match. Several wrestling matches if we are honest with ourselves and they are real. They pull us in a lot of different directions.

1 - Trouble is always around us and God is always there to offer refuge and strength. The trouble doesn't disappear but He is right there to offer a safe place and give us strength to walk through the trouble. We have to strive to live IN Him and not IN our time of trouble.

Had a thought this morning. I asked myself who really had control of my life. The good Sunday School answer is GOD. He is in control. How could think about anyone or anything else being in control. I am not talking about the absence of choice and free will. I am talking about who is in charge or who is responsible for my life. Am I depended on myself? Do I have all the answers? Just questions I seem to asking lately. The answer is no. Not just because it is the "Christian" answer but it is true.

42:1 - There has to be a desperation in our hearts and in our lives that draw us to God. We have to see our need for Him and realize our fate without Him.

There are a couple phrases that popped into conversations all around the church world a couple of years ago.

40:2 - God is the only one who can lift us out the situation or circumstances that we find ourselves in. We reach up to Him and He grabs our hand. He does not leave us there, He sets us on solid ground, in a stable place.

@craiggroeschel - The quickest way to forget what God thinks about you is to become obsessed with what people think about you.

Our church is walking through the 100 essential Bible reading plan. I got started a week late because I was finishing up a different plan, so I am playing catch up. Today reading in Genesis 11 something jumped out at me:

38:15 - How many times do we get ahead of God? Waiting is one of the toughest things to do. He will always answer. It might not be when we want or the answer that we want but He always answers.

Started a new book last night. It is a little different than I thought it would be but I think it is going to stretch me. It opened with a quote that I have been processing since I read it....

"A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

36:5 - There is no where that God's love can not reach.

The first part of this year I made a decision. I was tired of being fat. I could make 732 excuses why I was over weight but it really did not matter. I knew that I had to do something about it. It has been a tough journey but a fun one. I come to the realization that I could not be who God has fully God called me to be at the weight I was. There are some things that I have learned on this journey....

34:1 - If God is my focus then I have to strive to give Him glory for everything in my life.

Sometimes you have one of those weeks where you have to hunt things to do. Everything falls into place and works on like you planned it. You get everything done on your to-do list and life is good. Then there are normal weeks. Weeks that it almost seems impossible to catch your breath much less catch up on everything else. Those are the weeks that you just seem to be playing catch up. Unfortunately when all you do is try to catch up with yourself, you are not going to like what you find when you get to your destination. There are weeks that are busy and crazy but we have to battle them from becoming the norm, becoming routine.

32:1 - Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross. Thank you for the sacrifice you made for my sin.

This week while installing a sound system in Worship Center of the church I heard my Pastor make this state, "its the simple things." He is right. In the busy hectic world that we live in we take a lot of things for granted. Enjoying the simple things is a matter of perspective. It is choosing to look for them. The simple things could be...

30:1 - God knows right where we are even when we do not know where He is. He is the one that picks us up at our lowest times.

If you walk around saying that you heard God speak to you some people will say you are nuts. Actually, I guess I am crazy cause I hear God speaking a lot. Sometimes it is in that inaudible voice that is deep in my heart and sometimes it is some of the strangest place. I had a thought the other day, God is speaking everywhere and He is always speaking. He spoke spoke and created the world on His words and His words have been speaking to us in everything ever since (Genesis 1). God speaks and makes something out of nothing. God speaks and the same storm that He created just goes away. God is always speaking to us. I want to share some places I hear God speaking.

28:1 - "My Rock" - God is my stability in an unstable world. He is my anchor in the storm. I cling to Him.

The longer I life the more I realize that life is about two things, choices and relationships. I understand today more than any other time how important relationships are. People that are in your life and walk with you through any season. As seasons change and paths on your journey change you will add new relationships. Even with the relationships that God has given you, you still need to make a choice of what you will do with them and what role they will play in your life. Also, you still have to make the choice of what role you play in people's life as well. I have learned that you can play one of three roles in people's life at anytime. You will either be a coach, cheerleader, or fan.