Life Happens Here

A quote I recently read said, “Life Happens HERE, not THERE”…
I read it on vacation…a classic “THERE” moment.  Right? Who can’t with to get THERE…on vacation….After months of early morning alarm clocks, dragging kids to school. paying the bills ~ with too much month and not enough cash, deadlines at work, clients who love ya and hate ya…living HERE…creates a strong desire to get on vacation ~ THERE!
It’s human isn’t it? To think there is something better or more satisfying about THERE than HERE…
Isn’t that what dropped up Adam & Eve? Living in the HERE with God, when the temptation of THERE was presented as a “more satisfying way to live” was offered.
It’s really no big deal right…? Come on man, it’s a letter difference between the two words? It’s just a letter, it’s just a word….
NO, it’s not just a letter, it’s not just a word….it’s your life!
But. it’s so easy to think of “life” as in “THERE” not “HERE”…. Too often we live dissatisfied in our current context…HERE….thinking we will become satisfied when we arrive THERE..
We dream about how life will be better THERE…we fixate on it, day dream, and in our minds eye we are fully convinced that life is better THERE…and subconsciously we stop living HERE….waiting to live THERE…

  • teenager when I get my drivers license
  • graduate High School and begin college
  • start dating, get a better date…prettier…
  • move to a new city..bigger..smaller..
  • move away…move back…
  • land a new job
  • make more money
  • different house
  • new president
  • when the kids graduate
  • when I retire
  • vacation
  • holidays

Life gets placed out THERE and gets lost in HERE.
I wonder what we’ve lost in not being fully present in the HERE?
I wonder how many marriages dissolved?
How many moments with children or parents?
Friendships? Neighbors?
Business opportunity? Learning? Serving? Investing?
Getting to know God?
All lost because we thought LIFE happened THERE, rather than HERE.
The only life that’s ever lived is HERE. Right now, in this minute, this hour this day.  Yes we make plans, live responsibly, look forward to new opportunities and experiences; but not at the expense of losing the opportunity to live HERE…and now.
Moses, a noted author and leader of ancient Israel, prayed, “God teach me to value my days and help me apply wisdom how I live those days”.
That’a a good prayer for today…
That’s one of the characteristics that makes Church of Hope a special place. We live HERE. We choose to TRUST God in this moment, in these circumstances…we choose to LOVE people who are in our lives now, flawed, messy, complicated because that’s what (we) people are….and we choose to INVEST our lives for God’s Glory…His fame…He is the miracle worker, sustainer, life giver…
Today, suspend your THERE…and make life happen HERE!

  • Call a friend
  • Send a hand written card
  • Visit your parents
  • Write a song
  • Volunteer
  • Ask for forgiveness
  • Give forgiveness
  • Have vacation time? TAKE IT!
  • Sweat
  • Stretch
  • Thank you kids teachers, coaches.
  • Save
  • Trust God
  • Love People
  • Invest your life

Life happens HERE…Live it…

Freeway | Mind Games

Negative thinking is a neighborhood bully who lives in our minds; constantly comparing us to others, or shaming us in our failure, we belittle and marginalize ourselves in our thinking…STOP IT! Today we take back the streets of our mind…
How can we do this?
1. Apologize to God for talking negative about His creation!
2. Apologize to yourself.
3. Replace negative with positive. Read Philippians 4v8-9, MEMORIZE IT. quote it!
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4v8-9)
When you no longer make room for negative self talk, you create space to hear grace and truth.
Time to kick your inner bully to the curb.

Freeway | Willpower

I/we have a war inside us…between who we are and who WE ARE BECOMING in Jesus Christ. Paul, the most decorated missionary in the history of Christianity and the author of most of the New Testament, battled with it.
Romans 7v22-23 says, “I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.”
The question is, what are you going to do about it? If human willpower was the “secret sauce” why would we need Jesus?
Willpower won’t solve the problem. Just because you want to change and put everything into making that change doesn’t mean you’ll make the change. It may work for a bit, but you’ll get tired and stop the effort.
What if, instead of human willpower, we focused on Gods strength in Jesus? What if we invited Jesus into our story to be the Hero?
Check out Romans 7v25 to see who won the day for the Apostle Paul: “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.”

Rivalry Takes a Back Seat to Grace

Rivalry takes a back seat to Grace! How might our world change if we offered grace towards those we formally opposed? #Sportsmanship #HintOfTheGospel