Life as a Soundwave

God spoke the world into existence. If we can agree on this, this whole post will go a lot easier for you. In my head I've always imagined it going down this way: God had in His head what He wanted to create, spoke it, and then boom, there is was. But what if there's a lot more depth to it than that?

God is real. Like, really real. His reality is greater than our reality. We're almost not real by comparison. James even compares our lives to mist. When I speak, sound waves are created that carry a short distance and are put out in such an order that makes sense to the hearer. Maybe creation is just what happens when God speaks. Maybe the Earth is just what happens when God says "Earth." Maybe the sun is just what happens when God says, "Let there be light."

What if God is so real that right now we exist on the effects of His voice? When we speak it is communicated in a way that one sense can process it. Look around yourself. Everything in front of you from the chair you're sitting in, to the car you drive, to the food you've eaten, to the body you exist in is all there because of God's voice! God is so real that when He speaks, it effects every sense. His voice can be heard, seen, touched, tasted and smelled by us.

So with all of that in mind, I have one thought that's blowing my mind right now. If we can be this overwhelmed by an effect of God's voice, what's it going to be like when we actually see Him?

Happy Father's Day

I'm fairly certain that if you had told me this time last year that it would be mine and my brother's last Father's Day with my dad, I wouldn't have believed you. It's amazing how much can change in such a short amount of time. I've known this day was coming since I realized last week what day today is, but I still wasn't sure how I'd react to it, or if I'd even react at all.

It's all still so unreal. It will be four months this Saturday since my dad passed away. In some way it's hard to believe it's been that long and in others it seems like it's been unbearably longer. There are some days I think about it more than others, but I always miss him. And I'm thankful for the hope I have that I'll see him again.

My dad was such an awesome guy. The Lord could not have blessed me with a dad who loved me more than mine did. There's nothing he wouldn't have done for me and no sacrifice he wouldn't have made to make my life better. He dug his way out of poverty to provide opportunities for me and my brother that we wouldn't have had otherwise and we're the men we are today because of his example.

In his last few months, he would always go out of his way to come have lunch with me. He didn't feel like doing it. He would have been better off staying at home and resting. He could barely eat anything anyway, but still, he would come meet me at work almost every Wednesday and we'd walk over to Little Pigs and eat lunch together.

And he was such a godly man. He wasn't always this way, and honestly, one of the coolest things I've been able to see is how God changed my dad's heart and made him into the exemplary Christ-follower that he was. I pray to receive the same heart for evangelism that my dad had. He didn't have a plan for going door to door with a tract, ready to repeat the words he was supposed to say. He just knew what the Lord had done in his life and you couldn't stop him from telling everyone around him; whether they liked it or not. He was well aware of how much he needed the Lord.

Thank you Lord for blessing me with the father You gave me. And thank you for being my Father now when I need one so much. Especially today. You truly do know how to bless Your children beyond what we deserve.

Today, don't just go through the motions of Father's Day. Don't just tell your dad that you love him, tell him why. Don't hold any bitterness in your hearts towards him for things he's done in the past, but show him Christ's love (you aren't or won't be a perfect parent either). And call him tomorrow too and tell him you love him again just so he knows you meant it. You're not guaranteed to have your dad tomorrow, let alone next Father's Day. Make this one count.

Training for Godliness

In my head I have an idea of the type of man I want to be. To be honest with you, he's a pretty awesome guy. He's patient, humble, funny without being crude, bold, capable, and loving. He's a pretty godly guy. And when I think about how I can get from being me to him, the only way i can imagine it happening is if the Lord zaps me and changes me into him.

But I've never known the Lord to be a character zapper, so I'm not sure why I imagine He'll work that way for me. 1 Timothy 4:7 says very clearly that I am to train myself for godliness. This means that God expects me to be a part of the change equation. The only problem I have with this is that it means that I'm accountable for my own character. I really don't like this plan.

So what does it mean to train myself for godliness? I guess, first of all, it means getting the basics down and the basics, sadly, is getting sin out of my life. All of it. This is where the fruit of the Spirit comes in because that's where self-control comes into the mix. This is important, because, to be honest with you, the sins I commit, I commit because I want to commit them. So part of training for godliness is saying no to the things that at least part of me wants to do. I'm sure that's a huge reason why the Lord gives us His Spirit; He knew we'd still want to sin even after we were His.

The fruit of the Spirit is an amazing arsenal that we use to battle for godliness. When I'm attacked and tempted to sin, it gives me weapons to use to attain victory. And there's a tool for every situation that could come: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are the things we use to attain godliness. This is how I can become the man of great character I see in my head!

God is infinite, and that's a lot.

I'm still slowly rereading John right now and this morning I got to chapter 20 and read about Jesus appearing to Mary at the tomb. Verse 14 threw me a little bit, though. It says that Mary saw Jesus, but didn't recognize Him.

My first thought was that something about Jesus' resurrection must have changed Him. But that doesn't sit right. There are numerous verses that point to the fact that God never changes; specifically Hebrews 6:17-18. So why couldn't Mary recognize Jesus?

Let's say you've climbed Mt. Everest, all the way to the top. If you decided to do it again and started at the same point, it would still be a hard climb, but it would be familiar and you'd have some clue about what you were going to see. But let's say you went one hundred yards to your left to start. It would be a completely different climb. It's still the same mountain, but there are lots of sides to it.

One thing I'm starting to see is that God isn't just big, He's infinite! There are so many aspects to Him that's there's no way we'll be able to grasp even most of them. So if ever we see a different side of God, it's easy to react by thinking, "Whoa! That's not the Jesus I know." But, just like what happened with Mary, Jesus hadn't changed, He was just revealing more of Himself. If Jesus seems unfamiliar, it might not be a different Jesus, but rather, more of Him. God's character is unchanging, but it's also infinite, so there's a lot there to get to know.