Sunday, June 20, 2010

Father's Build Your House on the Rock!!

Build Your House on the Rock

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." Matthew 7:24-27

Being Father's Day, I have so much thankfulness and gratitude for the family that God has blessed me with! God is good, Always! When I ponder my life I can't help but be thankful for the influence that Christ has on my life. I find my hope in things not of this world, but in things above!

What makes a family successful? If you said a big house, great paying jobs, a boat, yellow hummer, $20,000+ in saving, I might think you just watched an episode of "cribs". But the truth is none of these things make a family successful! Success is not found in the abundance of your possessions (Luke 12:15).

The success of a family is only found upon the foundation of Christ! As we read the Passage in Matthew 7:24-27 we find that when the storms of life come our way we are able to withstand them with the help of God himself! When we dig into the Bible we find God's will for our lives. We are not to just be hearers of the Word but doers of the Word! When we place our hope in anything other than Christ and that hope is swept away in the storms of life, we will drown ourselves in the worries of this world.

I would encourage all dad's to lead your family in away that honors God. Build your family on the foundation of God's Word, let that be your standard for living. God wants our lives and our families to be focused on His kingdom and His righteousness and not to be anxious about the things of this world. Remember God cares about us, so why be like the world and chase after empty dreams? Christ saves from the American Dream!

Don't waste your life! A life without Christ has no hope!!

As for me and my house we will serve the Lord! Joshua 24:15

God bless & Keep pressing

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Big Summer Plans...

This summer is gearing up to be a great one indeed, with weekend getaways, camping and even California how could you think otherwise. But when you overlook all the summer plans I have you might think that the road trip is the biggest plans this summer season. Disneyland, SeaWorld, In & Out, family and friends will indeed be a blast.

The funny thing is these are not even my big summer plans. I’m sure you would have a hard time convincing my 3 year old of that; he is very determined to get that photo with Mickey. For me, being the spiritual leader of my family flock, my big summer plans are the spiritual plans that I have for my family. My wife and I are kicking off a study through the book of John and I am also leading a men’s study through the book of Colossians. My son Peyton and I are still working on Psalm 1 and plan to have it completely memorized come September. I also have a big stack of books that I plan to read through, including The Practices of Godliness, Desiring God, Trusting God, Knowing God, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, The Lost Commandment – Have we missed what Jesus really wants?, and Improving your serve.

I desire to lead my family in the spiritual things in a way that pleases God. I want to be that example to my family of what it looks like for someone to follow Christ and live the narrow path, instead of believe in Christ and live life on the broad road. Believing in Christ makes you no more a Christian then standing in a garage and believing that you will become a car. God doesn’t save us and leave us unchanged (2 Cor. 5:17). The truth is that if my only desire is to do my best to help my family be successful in everything other than God, then I not only waste my life as a father/husband, but I help them get a jumpstart to waste their lives as well. I believe this is something the world needs more of; good godly men who desire to lead their families in the spiritual things. To have your family just focused on earthly things is to miss the whole point of God’s design for your family.

So when making your summer plans don’t just focus on the worldly things, but make God the first priority. Put Him first above everything else. You won’t regret it, and some day your children will thank you for teaching them the truth about what this life is really about. Below are some of my favorite Scriptures that speak about making plans and who is the center of my life as well as my family. Keep pressing, keep praying, and keep seeking God’s help when leading your family!! God’s wisdom and discernment are an endless supply to those who ask. God bless!!!

But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD Joshua 24:15b

But he who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands. Isaiah 32:8

Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Proverbs 4:26

Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. Proverbs 21:5