This morning after I woke and brushed my teeth (definite first order of business), and as I came downstairs for my Bible reading and coffee, I thought of something I had not thought of before. As my hand slid down the banister leading downstairs, I thought to myself, “I wonder how dirty this banister is.”

Not the most pleasant thought to start your day, but there you have it.

While we are long past the days of diaper changing in my home, we still have a healthy supply of baby wipes. So, I grabbed them from the closet and brought them to the banister. You wouldn’t believe what one swipe revealed. The wood of our banister is pretty dark, so it conceals the dirt that normal daily life brings in a house with 6 people living in it.

And as I continued my way up the banister with baby wipe in hand, I was amazed at the contrast that began to emerge. What once looked like a normal banister now looked like a clean banister. Once I was satisfied that I had gone over the entire banister, I got out some wood polish/protectant and gave it a healthy covering and worked it in with a rag.

I dare you to stand up right now and go to a place in your home that might be hiding a dirty little secret. Maybe its a banister, or handrail, or doorknob, or molding around a high-traffic door. Whever it is, grab a damp white cloth, give it a good wipe, and take a look at the cloth.

In the dailyness of our lives, we might get accustomed to a certain amount of grime or build-up in relationships, habits, attitudes, or in our spirit, and subconsciously let the need for regular confession slip into the same category as regular flossing. (A shout-out to all my fellow non-flossers out there! Whoop, Whoop!)

May it be that when I awake tomorrow, descend down the stairs, and run my hand along that banister, that I immediately am reminded of my need for the forgiveness and embrace of God–that is ever present and always free.

Yesterday, while at work I got a phone call on my cell phone. I looked at the screen to see who it was and saw the picture of my smokin’ hot wife I had assigned to her cell phone number. It’s a call I answer, pretty much no matter what’s going on. She happened to be calling from the pool we belong to. But I was surprised not to hear my bride’s voice, but that of my oldest son, Crews.

Last night, I awoke at 3 a.m. for no particular reason but to think. Each minute seemed like an hour. As I lay there, I thought long and hard about the details of my life and ministry right now. As I did, I surveyed and surmised the past 10-11 months of drastic change in our student ministry. I evaluated every move I could remember. I became more and more restless the more I thought about it and dwelt on it.

And then God spoke.

I won’t tell you everything He said, but I will tell you that He told me clearly that I’m spending too much time living looking over my shoulder at the past. In fact, God has shown me that I had just about gotten to the point where I am living walking backwards; that is, really ONLY focusing on what is in the past. I can’t explain how He did, but as surely as I’m typing these words He spoke to me and gave me clear instructions regarding how I need to change.

God is a God of opportunities.
God is a God of possibilites.
God is a God of promises.
God is a God of “imagine if…”
God is a God of “wait and see.”
God is a God of “follow Me.”
None of those have anything to do with the past.

God wants me dwelling on the past just long enough to say goodbye to it, because that’s what He’s done with it.

In fact, as I consider Jesus’ earthly ministry, He spend a good amount of time erasing people’s past and setting their eyes on Him right then and into the future.

Because no matter how I slice it, the past inevitably brings disappointment (from past failures), frustration (from lack of traction and unmet goals), and an overall malaise. And therein lies an effective weapon of the enemy, Satan. If he can get you looking behind you, you’ll not only miss the blessing of God right now, but you’ll be in no position to see what God is going to do.

As soon as I had laid there and listened to God speak to me, I prayed and immediately returned to a place of peace in my mind and heart and at 5 a.m. this morning, fell asleep.

Here’s a video from a local news channel. See if you can spot me.
 

Finally, something connected to Michael Jackson worth watching.

Hey Everyone. I want to start off by apologizing for not writing here for so long. I’ll understand if no one ever reads this because no one will ever come back to this site, thinking its been abandoned!

This morning I was reading in Romans 12. It’s probably one of my favorite chapters in the Bible and I learned that the verse (2) where we’re instructed to NOT be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind….did you know those words “be transformed” were written in what is called the “passive voice”? That means that this is not something that we must struggle at, try harder at, or work at. It is something that we simply allow God to do within us as we love Him and follow Him faithfully.

And the fact that this transformation happens as our minds are renewed is certainly no coincidence. Think about a sin you’ve committed; something you did that you know wasn’t the right thing to do. That started in your mind. Even for a split second, it was a decision that you faced. So, to allow God to renew your mind takes the sin issue to the source! If you allow God to renew your mind, He will affect and change the way you view those tempting decisions when it would seem to fun, or cool, or popular, or vengeful, or interesting, or whatever to do the wrong thing–the thing that would pull you from His will. But a lot of times we think we need to really buckle down and try harder at changing our ways, our behaviors, and our words. The reality is that it is GOD who does the transforming in our minds–we just have to ALLOW Him to!

But how does that happen? I think it starts with the simplest of prayers:
“God, I welcome you in to my mind to renew it. Amen.”

Christians talk a lot about “asking Jesus into your heart”, but I think that concept is more of an invention of poeticism on our part then anything else. Don’t get me wrong, the Bible talks A LOT about our hearts (it’s “the well spring of life” and “from the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks”), but take a look at the description of the “armor of God” that is in the Bible, found in Ephesians 6:

13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

It is the HELMET that is connected to our salvation. The “Helmet of Salvation” guards your head, and your head holds your brain. Now, don’t misunderstand me–I know fully that surrendering to Jesus is a heart decision, but its not ONLY a heart decision and as we’ve pointed out, EVERY decision you make starts in your head. So, no wonder its the “Helmet of Salvation”.

So, what guards your heart, according to the armor of God? The “Breastplate of Righteousness” guards your heart. So, righteousness is another way of saying “right living” or “living right”. And how do we live right? By having our minds renewed by God, because that is what helps us make decisions that are right and pleasing to Him.

What do you think about all this? What is it in YOUR mind that gets in the way of God renewing it?