God has been good to me...

When I look back over my life I have been through a lot of ups and downs, twists and turns and my first thought is that I have a lot of regrets. My mind automatically goes to the things I wish I could change or choices I wish I had never made; we all have things in our past that we wish never happened and looking in retrospect we see how stupid we really were to even think about doing some of the things we did. I don't know why we automatically think about the things we did wrong or the things we wish we could change because in reality if we did things different or if we didn't make some of the mistakes we made along the way we wouldn't be the people we are today. I know that's true for me personally in more ways than one.
I made a lot of mistakes and I wasted a lot of time doing things I know I shouldn't have with the mindset that you only live once and to live it up while you're young. I hurt a lot of people, missed a lot of opportunities, wasted a TON of money and stunted my growth and lost a lot of time in my relationship with God. Now that my life has been changed, transformed, by my new relationship with God and the saving Grace He has blessed me with things look a little different when I sit and think about my past. God works in mysterious ways they say and I know that's a true statement because He has been directing my path the whole time whether I knew it or not. Through my stupid times growing up I learned a lot about love, caring for people, responsibility, patience and grace. If I didn't go through those difficult times I wouldn't be the person I am today and I certainly wouldn't be as happy as I am at this moment in time. God leads us down the paths of hurt and shame not to punish us but to teach us and to mold us into the people He wants us to be. We go through the trials of life so He can use us to accomplish the purpose He created us for in this world. If I didn't get into some things when I was younger I wouldn't have met my wife or my best friends and my life would be drastically different in many ways. I have hurt others and been hurt myself but these situations and circumstances have given me the opportunity to do one of two things and that's what I want to talk about today because that's what's on my mind right now.
We can only make 1 decision at a time, we can't sit on the fence with one leg in and one leg out; we can only make 1 decision to do one thing at a given time. A favorite saying of mine comes from the movie Sweet Home Alabama where a southern girl moves to the big city and gets engaged to a rich man who's mom is the mayor of NYC. She comes home to spend some time with her backwoods family and to get her high school sweetheart to sign the divorce papers that he never signed so she could get married to the city boy. Long story short she is caught between the man she is engaged to and her high school sweetheart and she has to decide who she wants to be with. She can only make 1 choice and her father makes the enlightened philosophical statement," You can't ride 2 horses with 1 ass darling." This is our predicament when things happen in our lives that are out of our control. We have the choice to make to either become a victim and feel sorry for ourselves or we can choose to trust God. That's the choice we have in just about every situation and circumstance that comes our way. We can let the circumstances rule our lives and dictate to us what we do and how we feel or we can choose to give it to God and trust that He's in control and live for Him. The choice is ours not only in situations that are out of our control but every morning when we wake up we have the choice to make to live for God or to live for ourselves and do what we want to do. My pastor Keith Craft calls this the CBC, the choice behind the choice. It's the choice that we make every morning as soon as we get out of bed, the choice to give our lives to Jesus and let Him lead us and to conciously follow the direction He gives us. It's this choice that directs all the other choices we make throughout the day in one way or another. If we are following Jesus and we make the decision to take up our cross daily we will make different choices during the day than the person that is living for themselves. This concept is so hard for me to get my mind wrapped around for some reason but I'm getting there. I want to live like this. I want to wake up in the morning and have the first thing that comes out of my mouth be "I love you Jesus, I'm dedicating this day to you and I want to live for you today not myself. Help me focus on you today and speak love through me so I can be a blessing to someone else." God how I wish I could live my life like this everyday. I wish I could focus my life and my mind on 1 thing and that's living for Jesus. If I could just do that my entire life would be turned upside down and everything would change. I want to live my life on Mission for Christ, everyday spending every second focused on Him. How do the Mighty Christian Men do that everyday day after day? I want to be the man that God wants me to be so He can use me the way He has planned. I want to focus my life on Jesus so I can become who I was destined to become. I want to break out of the box, break free of the chains of mediocrity and ignite my life with the fire burning in my heart for Jesus. The Unquenchable smoldering fire in my heart that isn't ashamed of Jesus and can't keep my mouth shut about the miraculous mighty works that He's done in my life. I don't want to be luke warm, I want to be on FIRE for Jesus. Revelations 3:16 says,"So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth." This is not what I want Jesus to say about me. This makes me want to tear my clothes, throw myself on the ground and cry out to the Lord for forgiveness and beg for mercy from Jesus because of the price He paid for the hope and joy I have today. I take this priceless gift for granted and I shame the Lord with my words, actions and thoughts everyday. I hold back telling someone about Jesus at work, I laugh at a joke or look at an e mail that I shouldn't, I curse or think bad thoughts about someone who has wronged me, I spend more time watching TV then I do reading Gods word or spending time with the author and finisher of my faith. I have all of my needs met in this life, I am comfortable and happy, without a care in the world yet I am poor and broke spiritually; I am damned to the pits of hell if I don't repent of my sins and turn from my evil ways. I need to turn from the way I'm going right now and take off running in the opposite direction full speed ahead and never look back. I know this decision to follow Jesus with reckless abandon is going to cost me a lot. It's going to cost me my life yet I am going to gain a better life, it' s going to cost me my family yet I will have a stronger family unit because of it, it's going to cost me my time yet I will free up more space in my schedule than I ever thought I had before and it's going to cost me my money but I will be rich and blessed more than I could have ever imagined. The price tag is huge on following Christ, it will cost me more than I thought I had to give but the rewards are better than anything I could ever imagine or create for myself. This decision is one of the hardest choices I have ever had to make. It's going to be one of the hardest choices I will ever have to keep also because I know the devil is going to be on me like white on rice because he knows I'm serious and he also knows what God can do with someone who is on fire for Him; there's no stopping a man on fire for God because if God is for you who can be against you. That's the gospel, God honest truth right there.
It all boils down to 1 choice, 1 moment in time that can affect the rest of your life; what are you going to do with Jesus? That's the choice we all have to make and it's one of the easiest and hardest things in the world to do and keep. As American Christian we have everything we could ever want right at our fingertips. Our worst day here in America is anyone elses best day anywhere in the world; we are blessed beyond belief yet we feel like we are poor if we don't have the best or better than someone else. WE are SELFISH and SELFCENTERED, we spend more time watching TV then with God, more money on Air Condition for our houses then we do in the offering plate on Sunday morning and more time talking to other people about sports scores than all of the wonderful things God has done for us in our lives. This country has bred a generation of selfish people who are only concerned about making money and being comfortable and that is the opposite of what God tells us to do in His word. God doesn't want you to be comfortable, He wants you to be out on the edge pushing the limits working for His glory and His cause giving everything you have and trusting only in Him for your every need. When you are comfortable you are resting in your own power and strength but when you give everything to Him, everything you have you give it away and all you are left with is God then you are right where He wants you to be because that's the life that God can use. Someone on Fire for God, ready to go at a moments notice anywhere HE calls us to go, ready to give anything He calls us to give and ready to say anything He calls us to say for His glory and for His names sake. We should shame ourselves for His glory, put aside our own wants and needs and the comfort of ourselves and our families for the glory of Christ. We should count ourselves blessed to be able to say that we are a part of God's family and that He is our heavenly Father but we look at it like it's just any other thing. We take it for granted everyday, the son of God dying on the cross for our sins so that we could have a relationship with the heavenly Father; dying for us as if we were the only person in the world and taking on the shame of the entire human race past present and future so we could have everlasting life and spend eternity with Him in heaven.
How do we live our lives on Fire for Jesus? How do we not take what we have been given for granted and live everyday to the max, focused completely on living our lives for Jesus. A life full of love and compassion, characterized by joy and hope and a presence that captivates people around us. How do we do this in such a dark and evil world like the one we live in? It's so easy to get caught up in what is going on around us, the daily grind of life and our busy schedules; how do we find the time to spend with God everyday in order to get focused to live a life like this? We just have to make the time. We make time for what we want to do. We make time to watch the big football game, to work out, to wash our cars etc. It's all about making it a priority in our lives. It's something that is so easy and yet so hard because we have been conditioned by this world to live for ourselves. We have to go against human nature to live like this but the secret is this; you aren't on your own. God is always with you. He is never far away, He is always with you no matter what you have done that day or how long it's been since you last spoke with Him. He is with you from the moment you accept Christ as your savior and ask Him for forgiveness of your sins. But it doesn't end there. So many people let the story end there. They get their fire insurance card and go back to living their lives in the fast lane not changing anything. Jesus says wide is the path and high is the gate that leads to hell but narrow is the path and small is the gate that leads to heaven; not many people find the gate to heaven because they follow the ways of the world and live for themselves only, not giving their life to Jesus to live through them. I don't want to be luke warm. I don't want to have Jesus vomit me out of His mouth because I had one foot in the door and one foot outside in the world. I want to live all in, 100% on fire for Jesus in everything I do everyday for the rest of my life. I want my son to have a father who is passionate about Jesus, who is passionate about loving other people and passionate about forgivness. I want Christian to grow up with a father who models what Love really is, I dont want a day to go by where I don't give him a hug and a kiss and tell him how much I love him. I want to show him what a real man is, full of love and hope and joy; compassionate and caring, taking care of the people who can't help themselves and looking out for justice and peace. I want Christian to grow up with a father who models Christ's excellence, a picture of strength and compassion and love. I don't want him to have to ask me what I believe I want him to know what is most important in my life and I want him to be able to see what it means to be a Christian first hand so he can grow up in the strength of Jesus himself and go on to change the world because I know God is going to use him for something amazing and I will tell him that everyday of his life. I want to be on fire for Jesus. What is your answer to that question? What will you do with Jesus? What will you do with the son of God? You can only make 1 choice and that CBC, the choice behind the choice, will affect everything else you do in your life. SO what's it going to be? Will you trust your life to Jesus, will you give your life to Christ and devote yourself to a life of service and love? Jesus died for you, what have you done lately? Trust Him today, don't live in a rut of mediocrity, break the chains of the daily grind and lift y0ur hands to the sky and tell God you are giving your life to Him to do what He pleases. Vow to love like you have never loved before, forgive like you have never been hurt, dance like nobody is watching but God, sing like nobody is listening but God and live your life to the fullest because you only get 1 shot at this life then it's over. You will have to stand before the God of the Universe and give an account for how you lived the life He gave you; what do you have to say for yourself? Take off running right now in the opposite direction, turn from whatever has got you hung up and never look back; Jesus is waiting for you to let go so He can take over. You won't be sorry you did...