Blogging about Philemon

I’ll be blogging for the next few days about Philemon, a letter written by Paul to his friend. It seems that Philemon’s indentured servant ran away. Man can I relate to running away. I remember running from the Lord, I remember running from responsibility, I remember running away from my problems by drinking and such, I remember running from God’s call on my life. I was a runner. The thing about running is that at some point you have to stop. Onesimus was a servant who ran from the household of Philemon. God allowed him to run right into the jail cell of Paul the apostle. You may think you are running from your problems, but you can never run from the hand of God in your life. Paul says that Onesimus ran away for a little while so that Philemon could have him back forever. It seems that God used Paul to extract the runner out of Onesimus. Today, I’d like to ask if you are running from something? You can run but there is nowhere that God won’t see and love you. God’s desire is to take the runner out of you so that you run the race for God, not run away from trouble.

It doesn’t matter

As I was reading my Bible this scripture in Colossians 3:11 jumped into my spirit. It reads, “In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, ……..Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us.” Sometimes we think things from our past really matter, you know the mess-ups, the mistakes, the missed opportunities. God really encouraged me that IN THIS NEW LIFE it doesn’t matter. In this new life, Christ is all that matters, or what Christ has accomplished for us on the cross. What Jesus has done for us in his death, burial, and resurrection is more powerful than any of the things we can point to in our past. My focus is on Jesus, my faith is in what He has done at Calvary, and the best is yet to come. Jesus is my future and the past just doesn’t matter nor can it keep me from all that God has planned for my life. That is such a faith-filled thought and gives me great hope as I walk in this life. I wanted to share it with you. It just doesn’t matter.

Football is a classroom

You see a picture of Kaleb decked out in the best looking football jerseys I’ve personally seen, the Faith Academy Crusaders. We are in full swing and tonight is another double-header at ACHS where we play our home games. Football has provided an interesting backdrop to talk about some life issues with my son. Things like being part of a team, taking care of your responsibilities, and giving your best even if your team is losing. I’m amazed at how life’s everyday activities can speak to us. I want to encourage you to be open to what God may be trying to say to you through your everyday schedule of activities.