A few Sunday nights ago, Sheri and I went to the Casting Crowns concert at Germain arena with Mike and Christine Young, and Michael and Carol Patton.  It was great to see our youth group there along with others members of the RLA church family.  The concert was fantastic in every way.  As a musician I especially watched the guitar players who played chords I never knew existed!  And the spiritual dynamic of the concert was powerful.

Mark Hall, lead singer for Casting Crowns, shared many good thoughts during the concert.  One statement in particular stood out to me.  He said, “I need to listen to music that will encourage me in the life I’m trying to live, not in the life I’m trying to leave.”  Stop and read that statement again.  It’s powerful.

The Hebrew writer talked about things we need to lay aside in the Christian life.  He wasn’t talking about sinful things.  He was talking about ordinary things that get in the way and impede progress.  Along with putting away the sins that always trip us up, the Hebrew writer also said, “Let us lay aside every weight” (Hebrews 12:1).

So are there things you allow in your life that are weighing you down spiritually?  Are there things that are keeping you tied to the past life when the Spirit is calling you into a life of newness?  It could be the music you listen to.  It could be the movies and television programs you watch.  It could be the books and magazines you read.  It could be the places you browse on the internet.  It could be the company you keep, or the places you go. 

This is not a legalistic thing.  This is a learning the difference between things that edify and things that edify not thing (1 Corinthians 10:23).  So think about it.  Pray about it.  Distance yourself from anything that holds you down or pulls you back.  Embrace things that build you up and move you forward in your walk with Jesus.

Snoopy is getting dog food for his Thanksgiving dinner.  Of course, he’s aware that everyone else in the family is having turkey.  He angrily says to himself, “How about that!  Everyone else is eating turkey today, but just because I am a dog, I have to eat dog food!”  He trots away and sits on top of his doghouse and concludes, “Of course, it could be worse.  I could have been born a turkey!”

There is something to be said about looking on the bright side of life.  We have a choice.  We can choose to see the good, the beautiful, and the positive and be thankful, or we can choose to see the bad, the ugly, and the negative and grow bitter.  Both are there – the negative and the positive.  It’s what you choose to look at and think about that makes the difference.

To prove my point, here is a little test.  Take a look around where you are right now and find five things that have the color blue in them.  Go ahead and do it.  Got it?  Ok.  Now take a look around and find five things that have the color yellow in them.  Got it? Great.

Here’s the point: Those things were there all along.  It wasn’t until you intentionally looked for blue things and yellow things that you noticed them.

Likewise, there are a lot of “blue” things in life we can focus on if we choose to do so.  The result is that we will be “blue” as well, because as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7).  But there are a lot of “yellow” things in life, too.  And if we make the choice to focus on those things, things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, sunshine will fill our hearts and minds.

As we enter the Thanksgiving week, make the conscious choice to look on the right side which is the bright side.  “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

A little over four years ago our family moved from Kansas to Southwest Florida.  The state of Kansas is known for many things– wheat, sunflowers, tornadoes, endless prairies, the Abilene Trail, Dodge City and the Wild, Wild West, Jayhawk basketball, and so on.  But when you mention the word Kansas to people, many automatically think of the classic movie, The
Wizard of Oz.  The standing
line I heard countless times during our first months in Estero was,“We’re not in
Kansas anymore Toto!”  Glad they reminded me.  I would never have figured it out otherwise! (lol)   
 
One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Judy Garland sang the haunting melody, Somewhere Over The Rainbow.  What an absolutely beautiful song!  But what a sad philosophy of life.  How sad to live your life always singing, “Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.”  The implication of the song is that somewhere out there life is good, skies are blue, bluebirds sing.  And if we could only find that make-believe place where life is as it should be, then, we would really be happy.  There, we would really do something significant for God.  But until then…
  
May I suggest we focus on the here and now?  When it comes to the word here, where has God planted you?  As for the word now, today is all we have. Plan for the future, yes!  But don’t live in the future.  Live in the here and now!
 
The great missionary evangelist, E. Stanley Jones, once made this observation, “Where your roots are, your fruits are.”  No farmer ever sowed in one field, and reaped in another. You reap where you sow.  
 
Don’t make the mistake of going through life wistfully singing, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.”  Take life by the horns and live it to the full here and now.  As the apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, “Let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God” (1 Corinthians 7:24).
 
Pastor
Todd Weston


 

Jeanne Calmert, 120 years-old, was the oldest living human being whose birth date could be authenticated.  When asked to describe her vision for the future, she replied, “Very brief!”  It’s hard to believe that we are well into the final lap of 2011.  So when you look into the future, what do you see?  What dream has God put into your heart?  What do you want to accomplish before you die?
 
Getting the vision straight in your mind is step #1.  Habbakuk 2:2 offers some help here, “Then the LORD answered me and said: ‘Write the vision and make it plain on tablets.’”  If you cannot express something in writing, it isn’t clear in your own mind.  So pray about it, think it through, and write it down.

Sheri, my wife, is a pro when it comes to planning things out in writing.  She plans menus out weeks in advance.  Me?  I just go to the fridge and grab whatever looks good at the moment.  She never goes to the grocery store without a shopping list.  Me?  I walk the aisles and throw items in the cart that appeal to me.  She even has an exercise plan.  My exercise plan is – I’ll get around to it when I get around to it.  I have since learned that not having a plan isn’t such a good idea.  After my last doctor’s visit, I now have a diet and exercise plan (compliments of Sheri).  So when you think of me during the week, say a prayer! (lol)
 
Here’s the deal:  If we are going to do the really important things in life we have to plan for them.  They won’t just happen.  You don’t graduate from college by accident.  You don’t start a successful business by accident.  You don’t accumulate a nice retirement nest egg by accident.  These things are done through planning and hard work.
 
Don’t muddle your way through life without planning. Don’t drift along year after year hoping that things will somehow just work out.  Be proactive.  Get the vision clear in your heart, then write it down on paper.  Get your plan in place and start working the plan.  And it doesn’t matter how old you are.  It’s never too late to start.
 
A sign on the wall of a nursery that sold trees read in big letters, “THE BEST TIME TO PLANT A TREE IS TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO.” Underneath in even bigger letters it said, “THE SECOND BEST TIME IS TODAY!”
 
We cannot go back twenty-five years.  But we can start right now and make the most of the time God has given to
us.
 
Pastor Todd