In my relationship with Jesus, I was perfectly happy checking my “to do” list at the end of the day and feeling satisfied. If the day went well, I was proud of all the things I had done “for the Lord,” and if bad I felt completely paralyzed by guilt and condemnation. The Lord brought me to a place where I would finally allow Him to reveal my real problem – Me. Self was getting in the way and I got tired of living a check box life and wanted this new life in Jesus. I learned about Christ in me, I started to focus on Jesus’ life, death and resurrection every day and I was changed. I am no longer trying to be worthy of His love, I am now just thankful for it. I am no longer trying to gain victories in my own strength for my own glory, I am now claiming His victory in my life for His glory.
This is my new book, Paper God. It’s a spiritual memoir with a little bit of everything: chasing a dream and and being a dad, throwing a football and thinking about childhood, wrestling with faith and finding peace. (You can buy the book here.)
If you could sum up a formative period of your life in 6 words, which words would you use? To get you warmed up, here’s a short piece I wrote on the subject.
I don’t want to live life under the delusion that it’s a ‘neat little bundle’ that I packaged together so gracefully that all around would say ‘I wish my life could be like that.’ I choose to be real and recognize that I make a mess of it and that the only good in it is Jesus Christ, who alone has made me his ‘little bundle,’ and there’s nothing ‘neat’ about it. Bottom line for me…I need a Savior every moment!
Patience is something that most of us have a hard time with, especially in our instant-gratification culture where almost everything happens at the touch of a button or keystroke.
Do you ever get impatient with God? I do. I’m not alone. Even the great Bible characters did, like Abraham. When God didn’t give him a son, he decided to help God out by shacking up with his maidservant Hagar. That had consequences. Not a wise choice. Read the rest of this entry »
