Freedom 1.0

As a parent, do we want our children to quake in deathly fear by our mere presence? Do we want children that don’t act until they are yelled and screamed at?

Of course not! We want children that chose our ways on their own, Children that decide on their own to follow our directives without being forced into submission.

So it is with God, He did not come down and force a lot of stuff on us. He doesn't come down here and yell and scream in our face to get us to do His will. He doesn't beat us into submission either. Instead he gives us freedom. He wants us to freely choose Him on our own.

When children chose to follow parents on their own, it shows the parents that they have their child’s heart. When a child does this on their own it makes the parents heart leap for joy at the thought of their children’s heart being so turned to their parents.

How much more does God’s heart leap when we chose His way?

Noise 2.0

"It’s so loud, Can’t you hear how loud that movie is!” This is a phrase often repeated in the Cook household. We most often have this conversation with our oldest son about the noise level of the TV. We are a family of technology freaks. We love it! The problem is it is on 24/7. We seem to always have some media going from Music, DVD’s TV, VHS Tapes (yes I must be old, I even know about Beta, 8 tracks, record players, 45’s), CD’s, Computers, WII. . . you name it, if make sounds the Cook’s listen to it loud and proud baby, loud and proud. Can you hear me now?

Where did my son learn this behavior from? I wish I could say “he’s a little deaf and has to turn it up a bit” or “Matt is a little hard of hearing and has to have everything loud.”

Isn’t it ironic so many times what we drives us crazy with our kids behavior is so often a flaw in us. Should I be angry @ my son or should I be angry @ myself? Should I desire a change from my son, or should I desire a change in me?

What about you? Too much noise in your life too?

What's in your wallet?

We have all seen the commercial; the answer for most of us is very easy; NOTHING! Our world is full of concerns about what is in or not in our wallets. We become consumed with this in our everyday life. It’s hard to live here in the states and not think about “What’s in your wallet?”

I have been thinking about “What’s in your Spirit?” This is the question we should be asking our selves on a daily basis. We live in a world full of “lightning fast download speeds.” This made me think, What is God trying to “download” into me by His Spirit. (The Spirit "Downloads" into us, we "Upload" through prayer)

What have we been downloading into our spirits? Have we been using what God is downloading, or have we forgotten where we put that file? Maybe we need to “refresh” the download and start again.

So what’s in your spirit?

Noise 1.0

It is so nice this morning, as I sit outside and write this post. It is 60 degrees on a July morning in Texas. The birds are singing all around. Cup of coffee in hand, dog @ my feet, everyone inside my house asleep. Aw! Peace Perfect Peace! All but one thing! Someone is keeping a dozer running about 100 yards north of my house, getting a pad site ready for a gas well. The noise is only the beginning; of a month of noise as they drill on this site in the name of money.

Thinking time

My favorite place to go and think is outside on a cool morning. Hear to coo of a lonesome Dove and watch the tiny sparrows steal my dog’s food! The occasional bark of a dog, the sounds of squirrels scurrying up and down tress, but underneath all that I can still heart it. I can hear the dull hum of traffic on the freeway. Yes it’s distant and I can block it out. That’s he current of life we live in. I for a moment have jumped out of that current, it’s very peaceful, but the lure and hum of progress is always very near even when we try to get away.

So how do you get away? Do you ever get quiet enough to hear the still small voice of God? When is the last time you had the birds (chirp, chirp kind) download you their latest MP3? How long has it been since you have been alone and quiet with God?

Too long. . .

Circle

Have you ever been between a rock and a hard place? Of course we all have been there at one time or another! I suppose it is a rather stupid question to ask. When our world turns its back on us, things get ugly, messy, bloody and muddy. When the heat gets turned up we develop a few “warts” on our complexions, we become less “attractive” (no, I don’t mean like kissy face attractive) to people.

Many of our “so called friends” abandon us when times get tough. These are the times when us, our families, and God really find out what we are made of. Do we become bitter or better?

Many friends come and go, both when you have these bad times in life it has a way of refining our friendships. Discovering new friendships that have been there all along and we may not have even known it.

It pushes us to a deeper level, a more meaningful level. May we always be loyal to those new alliances we form and may we never “throw them under the bus” but make sure we have their backs all the way like they did for us.

So the question is. . . Is it better to have a wide circle of friends, or a narrow “band of brothers", or some combo in-between?





Matt