Read It Yourself... For Crying Out Loud!

I once heard an illustration that I now regularly use... it goes something like this: 

A man walks into the most amazing FREE buffet in the world and is greeted by the maitre de' (at a buffet, yes) who introduces the man to his own "buffet guide".  This guide's sole responsibility is to make sure that the guests see everything available and get the best and choicest of the foods on the buffet.  Mind you, this buffet is a killer buffet! (and it is all FREE!)

Nothing like it in the world.  

Fresh Maine lobster each day, King crab legs, prime rib and luscious steaks.  Amazing vegetables and salads prepared by the best chefs. Incredible desserts that would knock the socks off of any Iron Chef you encounter!  

The guide shows you around and then fills your plate(s) with the best fare that you select!  He then walks you to your table where you sit with linen tablecloths and napkins, beautiful goblets from which to drink and hefty true silverware!

You cannot believe what you are experiencing!  This is so "over the top, knock your socks off" spectacular that you realize that you will come back here as often as possible!  

As you sit down and your plate(s) are placed before you the most incredible thing happens.  Your "buffet guide" removes the Lobster tail from the shell for you and slices it into bite-sized pieces.  He then proceeds to place a bit in his mouth, chew it fully and then remove it from his mouth with his spoon and offer the spoon to you to eat.  Are you appalled?  Would you eat it?  Certainly it can still hold some nourishment, right? Well of course but that is so unacceptable that most Americans (even though it was FREE) would never think of eating food that was "processed" by someone else!

However, when it comes to our own spiritual nourishment - the reading of God's Word - for some reason that is the only meal we get each week (and sometimes not even weekly).  We get someone else's processed spiritual food from the Word of God!  King David of the Old Testament felt this way about God's Word...

Psalm 119:97-105 (NIV)
⁹⁷ Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
⁹⁸ Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.
⁹⁹ I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.
¹⁰⁰ I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.
¹⁰¹ I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word.
¹⁰² I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.
¹⁰³ How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
¹⁰⁴ I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.
¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

I love verse 103... The Message says it this way:

Psalm 119:103 (MSG)
¹⁰³ Your words are so choice, so tasty; I prefer them to the best home cooking.

Why don't you begin feeding yourself today?  Begin "chewing" your own food!  Begin letting its savory flavor melt in your mouth and linger in your memory of something that is flavorful and will keep you on the right path!  Did I say it is FREE?  You have before you a FREE buffet of life altering principles and values that you can feast upon yourself and will be so satisfying to your soul!

I find that I have to intentionally work at this in my life - because I preach each week I spend hours reading, researching and preparing lessons to teach.  Yet there are times, if I am not careful, that even when I am doing that it sometimes seems like I am the "buffet guide" - I am chewing it up and spitting it out for others without really being nourished myself.
Every time I open the Word to read, I pray first, "God, speak to me through your Word today - do not let me forget that You are speaking to me as I prepare to share with others." 

Will you do the same - will you commit to a daily "meal" (not a snack) - of God's Word?

Try this:

For the next five days read Galatians all the way through each day.  If you have a Study Bible, use the first day to read about the book - its setting, audience, author, purpose, etc and then read it through. Keep a notepad and write out the significant points that you see each time through.  Make a list of words or phrases that you need to ask about or research.  Make notes about what it is saying to you.

The next week - pick another short book and try the same process with that book.  Here is a proposed list to get you through the next few months!

Bible Reading List:

• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Esther
• Philippians
• Colossians
• Malachi
• 1 Timothy
• 2 Timothy
• Haggai
• 1 Thessalonians
• 2 Thessalonians
• Habbakuk
• Titus and Philemon together
• 1 John
• Ruth
• 2 and 3 John and Jude together
• James
• Lamentations

Once you get this habit down you can start on the longer books and break them up into two or three sections and spread them over a two week time frame!

In just four months you will have read over half of the New Testament and have a great working knowledge of what God desires for you and you will have a great set of principles from the Old Testament under your belt also!

As I recently said to my own family of believers, "Read it for yourself, for crying out loud!"

Why New Year's Resolutions?

New Year's Resolutions are an age old tradition that has some origin roots as far back as the Mideastern Babylonian era (around 4-5,000 years ago).  Obviously, people have been ringing in the New Year with new promises and grandiose ideas of a new beginning for hundreds upon hundreds of years.  So what is so spectacular and significant about a New Year's resolution? 

Honestly, not much.  You stay up all night and watch the clock change, the ball drop and the confetti fly and then you go to bed on the first hour of the first day of a new year. Its only a day.  Its only a moment in time. What is the big deal?
The Big Deal is whatever YOU make of it!  You can have a new start in the middle of the year (you do not get a "do over" for the whole year but you can change whenever YOU commit to it and decide it is important .  When you decide it is time for change - then it is time for you to do something about it!
I think that may be some of the significance of a New Year's Resolution... You take some time and reflect upon the last year and all of its events and work through what you think should be different this next year. When I do it - I try to spend some time praying and asking God to remind me and to refocus me.
I want to be reminded of what went well, what didn't and what were good choices and what were bad ones. I want to learn from the good and the bad of my past and then make some course adjustments for the future.
That is how I refocus - small adjustments, incremental steps toward a long term goal.
That is what New Year's resolutions are made of... That is how you move forward, how you grow and how you develop as a better leader!  Not huge sweeping turns but personal evaluations and honest reflections to make small changes that will produce huge results when you stick with it over time.
That is why we make a New Year's Resolution or any other resolution!

Merry Christmas

Thanks God for sending Christ for me.

John 1:14 (NIV)¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Thank-you for Mary and Joseph who were obedient and trusting of your uncomfortable will for them...

Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)
¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
²³ "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."
²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
²⁵ But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Luke 3:23 (NIV)
²³ ...He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli,... 

Thank you for honoring the lowly to elevate the Son of God!

Luke 2:8-20 (NIV)
⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
¹⁰ But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,
¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Thank-you for saving me!

John 3:16-17 (NIV)
¹⁶ "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

You can count the cost and ask Christ to rule in your heart today, too!

Luke 14:28-33 (NIV)
²⁸ "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?
²⁹ For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,
³⁰ saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
³¹ "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
³² If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.
³³ In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."

  Romans 10:9 (NIV) 

⁹ That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Do it this morning - Surrender to Jesus Christ, the ONLY Savior of the world.