Triumph (Certain Victory)

I triumph over nothing or no one without The Lord by my side.

I am not victorious without Him – He balances and restores me, all of my life shall be found in Him.

Yet I become jaded to this beauty – disenchanted. I want the heart of a new believer.

I hate that I do not feel overwhelemed with Your beauty.

Replace my stuff with You.

Make me new again.

Use me foe Your glory.

…or maybe it’s because the food is just top notch.

Doesn’t matter, there is something that always sticks out to me when I eat there – ‘My Pleasure!’

Okay, at first it’s sort of weird and nice but then you start to notice, they always say this when you say thank you. Like a brain-washed zombie whose only goal is to give you quality chicken, and LOVE doing it. I’m sure they love their jobs and all but there is no way they wake up everyday going ‘I really would love to dish out some chicken today, Lord, let’s do this!’

Is there something wrong with me, am I the only person who this weirds out? I mean, I’m genuinely thankful that they’ve given me a meal, so I say ‘Thanks’ then they look at me with a huge smile and say ‘My Pleasure,’ but I know… I know it wasn’t really their pleasure to feed me.

“It’s been a pleasure getting your food, sir, I really love working around friers and screaming children. Don’t thank me, you’re not allowed to be thankful – it was my pleasure. I enjoyed it so much that it freaks me out that you said, ‘Thanks.’”

…Maybe that is a bit much but, today after receiving my chicken strips and once again hearing the obligatory ‘My Pleasure’ from the girl who looks an eerie amount like the receptionist from the office (not Pam but the new one, Erin, I think?) I started thinking to myself;

“Self, maybe there is a way you can thank them – without saying thank you and maybe even creating a nice awkward moment between you and them.” (I think to myself a lot).

So, after discussing with a colleague as we left we came up with a few options.

1. No words, smile and wink. That’s right, just smile really big – and wink like the two of you share an intensely hilarious secret. (this works especially well for the awkward qualification if you’re bad at winking)
2. Exclamative remarks. ‘Excellent!’ ‘Super!’ ‘Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat!’ or even make your own up, that would for sure throw them off. The whole goal here is to leave it where they have nothing to say in return, after all.
3. Don’t thank, compliment. As they hand you your most assuredly delicious meal look them dead in the eye and pay them a compliment. ‘Hey, you guys are really doing a great job here, extra points for speed – and I saw you fill that lemonade while simultaneously over-excitedly greeting the newcomers into your establishment, really, kudos.’ The idea here is to once again get it where they can’t really say my pleasure – but maybe even make them say ‘Thanks.’ – And you better not forget, if they say ‘Thanks,’ you MUST say my pleasure… then disappear with your food items before they can react.
4. Evangelize. Use your connecting moment to try and tell them about God. I mean, odds are Christians if they work there – so they won’t really get mad at you and you still get your points for trying to witness – and hey, you may even get a phone number out of the deal. (This is almost like witnessing to someone in the spiritual section at Barnes & Noble.)
5. Silent Treatment. Don’t speak, treat this place like the Soup Nazi line, take your food and move on, don’t ask for anything extra just accept the fact that it’s good and go enjoy it.

Really you’re doing them a favor by not making them say this to you, you’re helping them to get past some false pretenses – and I think that’s what we’re all about – being real. I’m pretty sure Jesus never said ‘My Pleasure’ after feeding the 5000… (Bad example, it probably was His pleasure…)

Anyway, those are just a few ideas we came up with after eating – do you have any other ideas to thank them without thanking them?

Or am I the only person who finds it odd that they always say ‘My Pleasure’?

As Jesus said, he came to give us life. (John 10)

If Jesus came to die so we could live, assumedly, life is a rather important thing? Then we need Him to do that, live. Both good theological thoughts but not specifically where I’m going with this, just the root of it.

I got to thinking about life and how each of our lives consists in three main chunks; our past, our present, and our future (even if it is a short one.)

All my life in movies and such I’ve heard warnings about not living in the past. Example: Uncle Rico or the song Glory Days from Springsteen (yeah, I just mentioned ‘The Boss’) Moral: no one likes someone who is stuck in the past, reliving it over and over. This is a hindrance to moving on with life, or noticing what is around you and where God wants you. I’ve had phases where I’ve been caught up in the thought of past sin, how I could have done things differently or maybe how things *would have* gone had I not acted in that way. All of this is quite pointless to dwell on, what we can hope to do is learn from our past – this does not involve focusing on the past, simply using it as a tool to not make the same mistakes in the present.

So, I’m sure we all agree that living in the past is bad and, that we’ve all heard at some point a warning about living in the past.

Yet something has occurred to me recently that I’ve heard very few if any warnings about living so heavily in the future. Which is something I started to do, and have done so much of in my life – making plans about where I would be at whatever age and what I would do and so forth. Then I began to think about the book of James, specifically:

Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit–14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

- James 4:13 ESV

So, this I feel like is a pretty heavy handed warning against living or focusing too much in the future. Now, by no means do I think this means we shouldn’t make future plans but I do think it makes it pretty clear that we should be most heavily focused on where God has us right now. Sometimes following God’s prompting will involve something that seems to make sense for our future but may be for an entirely different purpose than we think. Example; I’m currently working multiple jobs and working on finishing my degree. I’ve met several non-believers in this stage who I’ve been able to share Christ with, and love on. People I may never have met if I weren’t working on something seemingly for my future… yet this is also something that I chose to do now, because it was where I felt God wanted me to be at this point.

If we make this our focus, living for God now, then I believe our futures will more closely hit where God wants us, then – even if it is a totally different ‘then’ than we had planned in the beginning. Because, we have no idea what the now will do to the then…

All throughout scripture the languages suggests this; submitting to God and others, dying to ourselves, acting as the church, loving people and so on – these are all ideas that are based around what we’re currently doing. All of these are actions, things to be doing, not to be done.

God longs for us to be following him. This is a lifelong action that involves constant growth and effort that should be ever present in our hearts and minds. If we begin to put so much effort into what we plan to be doing next then how will we ever see what God has for us now, the things that will lead us to the best future we have – one that is in Him and as He would have it?

Tonight, I’m sorting through the ramblings of my journal and hope to put together something semi sensical and readable for others tomorrow, as my journal tends to look like the ramblings of a madman. (Really, all caps and in a graph paper notebook that was gifted to me, I’ll spare you.)

For now I leave you a quick thought that has been all over my mind lately – likely the topic of tomorrows post;

“Run with now. Learning from the past, dreaming in the future, yet living in neither. Always focusing on God, who has gifted you with both.’

Goodnight.

“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity¹ and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.”

- 2 Corinthians 1:12

Something I took note of here is the footnote my bible had on the word simplicity. Some manuscripts had the word ‘holiness’ in it’s place.

I found this to be pretty interesting that the characteristics of simplicity and holiness might be interchanged there…

It makes me wonder if the two could be transposed, or, that simplicity is a characteristic of holiness… which to me makes sense.

To over-complicate your life is an attempt of sorts to take some control from God. If we are too complicated, then we are not skilled at the things we are doing. By keeping things simple we are able to focus more on God, and what He wants us to be doing…

The less clutter we have in our lives, the more capable we are of seeing what that is.

So… to really get down to it; Love God, Love others. It doesn’t get much more simple than that. Work on those two things, that will take a lifetime… and the other little things will work themselves out along the way – if you find yourself doing just those two.

“Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.”

- ESV

Is this comforting to anyone else!?

What faith? Did you not hear or understand that God is infinite? Jump up and do something! God is impenetrable.

Indefinable. Unbeatable.

A pillar, indestructible.

Do you not realize God doesn’t quit? He carries on forever. He doesn’t grow weak or tired yet carries on into the night and through eternity. He does not give up or grow weary & fall. He cannot be weak of mind or lose direction.

He made the world and everything in it!

God is not leaving, not giving up, not going anywhere but right in front of you – shouting your name.

“Wake up!” he says, “Go on! Realize what I have for you.”

“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

- Hebrews 10:39

Go on, then. God has your back… though things may be hard and tiresome know that you have a God who is there, and is in your corner. Know that you while you may grow weary that He does not! Right there behind you, picking you up when you fall, redeeming your mistakes and encouraging you along.

We are not the ones who shrink back and are destroyed, because, really…

…we have no excuse to be.

I don’t intend to take any validity from Easter so don’t flip out on me; just trying to convey a thought I had today.

What would we say the purpose of Easter is?

I’ve always heard/thought that it was a day to reflect on the death and resurrection of Christ, and the sacrifice He made for us.

This isn’t bad, by any means – however – I was thinking today that maybe we should be doing that every day. Okay, not maybe, I think every single day we should be tied into the fact that Christ made a sacrifice for us. We should consider it every moment we can, this is our hope – why would we not?

We should be waking up every morning and dying to ourselves and our own desires and giving our life up to God.

I fail at this all the time.

Anyway, just consider – maybe on Easter we should be more excited about the fact that someone out there is just now returning to God, or just now beginning to follow God. That’s exciting.

The other stuff, focusing on His sacrifice, let’s work on doing that every day.

Goodnight & Happy Easter.

Reading, or starting back up rather, a Francis Chan book. Love it. Reconnecting with the Spirit, Francis Chan has been gifted by God at kicking your ass with words, so to speak.

Just had a thought this morning while thinking about what I’d read, seen, lived and heard lately.

It’s simple.

Seek God – Seek Truth – Seek Love

I think if you do these things everything else will begin to fall into place.

Have a good day.

²⁸And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.²⁹And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” ³⁰Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” ³²And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. ³³The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

I was reading through Matthew the other night and something that had never really hit me before clicked, these people asked Jesus to leave.

Jesus comes to their town, casts out some demons (which is good, and amazing) and the whole town hears and comes out to see him. I mean, these people are pretty amazed… but, they ask Jesus to pack up and leave. At first I read this and I’m thinking, what a buch of jerks, don’t they know who is in their town? Then I realized… I do that, all the time. I think we all do.

How many times are you living your life and God shows up and does something incredible. At first you are amazed, you run out to see him but then as you are running out you realize maybe his awesomeness has affected some other area of your life (the pigs ran off the cliff). So, it’s like these people heard and were amazed, came out and were like ‘Wow, this Jesus guy is pretty incredible… but the whole pig thing is a little inconvenient, I mean pigs cost money. Sorry Jesus, could you pleeeease leave now?’

It sounds ridiculous I know but, you do it to, trust me.

Following Christ is tough. Letting Him work in your life will not always be convenient, things of The Spirit are ‘folly in the world’s eye’. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

I hope this is making sense – I’m sort of scattered here but, it’s just something I wanted to share. I’m challenging you, and myself to not only run out to meet Christ but then to invite Him in. Don’t get freaked out when things don’t look right – keep running toward Him.