If you believe, then why aren't you acting like you believe?
Is there anymore haunting question to anyone claiming to be a Christian? If we really believed, would we be saying the things we say, doing the things we do, or thinking the things we think? "If you believe in Jesus, show me."
"Make my life a prayer to you. I want to do what you want me to. No empty words, and no white lies. No token prayers, no compromise." Keith Green
I know Jesus loves me. I know he died for my sins. But I either believe it all, or it isn't any better than the vain imagination people claim it is. I must follow Him.
"I want to tell the world out there, that your not some fable or fairy tale, that I've made up inside my head, your God the Son, you've risen from the dead." Keith Green
This is impossible for me to do. That is what makes following Jesus completely different than following anyone else. I cannot do it. No one can. It is set up that way on purpose. Because more than anything, God wants you to realize you NEED Him! He created you to know and love Him. Why should I be forced to love God you might ask. Well, lets just say He did you a few favors.
Anyway, back to this following God being impossible. It is, and it's not going to get any easier. I can make all the well conceived plans and strategies to help me live right, and it is to no use. I will fail. The reason I will fail is because of me. If it is about me, then I have no chance. This is what sin is... Sin is what ever I do with me at the center of it. When I place my rights, my desires, and my well being above all else, then it is sin. This is the clearest way to understand that anything is a sin. If you cannot answer "yes" to the question "is this what God wants for me?" It is sin.
But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." Luke 18:27
When I no longer try to live my life, but turn it over to God, then something remarkable takes place. Decisions are made from a much different perspective. Everything looks different, kinda like falling in love. But to really put God in the middle of your universe, you have to believe He will take your life and make it what you desire...
the person you were created to be.
A horse is not really happy in the middle of the ocean. A polar bear wouldn't last in a desert. Why? Because thats not where they belong. Because thats not where they were created to be.
We were created in God's image. We were created to be His children. We were created to love Him as our Father.
A vaccume cleaner works best when it is vaccuming. We work best when we are living like the childern of the King.
But only God can do it. And He desires to do it for us, in us and through us.
"This is why Jesus came... so He can live HIS LIFE in us and through us" Winkie Pratney
"The gospel is simply this... Jesus will forgive all your sins if you will come to Him humbly, lay down your life, and say 'You are the Lord'. And I will follow you for the rest of my days here on earth, so that I can have the rest of eternity with you... and the glory of your Father." Keith Green
Am I willing to give everything to Him? That is the difficult part. Only because I make it difficult. Only because it is not what I want. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. My body longs after the things of this world, but God wants to give me to the reason He put me here. To do exactly what I was designed to do.
"To give all that I am, for all that He is... This is the gospel, according to Jesus" Steve Camp
I will pray for we prodicals, that have not yet turn our faces toward home.
Please pray for me.
Thank you
"Like a riot in the heart" is one of my favorite lines in describing that feeling. The line is from one of the great "In Love" movies out there - "Shakespeare in love".
We have all had it. The feeling that robs you of the air you breath. When you see that person its like every cell in your body jumps for joy. Your heart is beating so fast that you think it might explode.
Everything they say is a like a poem. Everything moment you spend with them is filled with music. You can't feel the ground on which you are walking. You could just watch them do anything forever. The thought of touching them is almost too much to handle. No matter what they always look beautiful.
They are a dream come true. You can't imagine what incredible magic had to take place to bring you to this very moment with this amazing person. You can't wait to see this person, and you hate to leave them (even though you love to watch them walk away
. You can't think of anything else while you are apart. Over and over in your mind, you rehearse every moment of when you be with them again. Even if it's just 10 minutese later, the dream of seeing them the next time is like an awesome movie in your mind. The deepest and most powerful desire you have inside of you is to find some way to make them happy today. Nothing else seems to matter.
You would give your life a million times for them. The love so great it hurts.
So why are we so afraid of this?
Because to have this and lose it is devastating. It has just cost you everything.
Is the cost too high?
Is the thought of failure so painfully horrible that you just can't bring yourself to believe anymore?
The price is high. It will take more than you have ever given before. And if it doesn't work out, it will hurt... as bad as you think it will.
But this is what life is. And if you don't dare to take a chance the next time someone just walks into your world out of nowhere, you just might miss it.
You have no idea who might walk into the room next.
It's happened to me before. Many times.
I'm going to take a chance next time. I will dare to dream. I choose life over being dead where I stand. I will have it again!
What will you do?
"the tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he still lives" Albert S.
Think about it.
After 8 years, 1 month, and 22 days, I have said goodbye to The Home Depot.
My feelings are mixed, but mostly disappointment fills me. I think it very sad that The Home Depot has become what it has become. A company that has lost its way, its love for what it does, its soul. When I came on in 1999, there were very few places to work as awesome as The Home Depot. I saw everyone that did not work for The Home Depot as truly unfortunate. It was the most exciting place on earth. Working there was impossibly hard, extremely fast, totally unpredictable, and we all loved it. We would gladly bleed for what was OUR COMPANY! They asked of us EVERYTHING, and we gave it GLADLY. Mainly because IT gave it right back to us. The main thing is WE BELIEVED WHOLE HEARTEDLY IN THE HOME DEPOT!
So what went wrong? First Timothy 6:10, look it up. When you take your eye off of what you are doing well, and your focus is the bottom line, it is never a good thing. Changes were needed, but by not looking at the whole picture something utterly vital was lost. Trying to get more money out of what we were doing at the cost of what we were doing well was a massive mistake!
Somehow the higher ups thought they would accomplish this with control. And by control, I mean a ridiculous notion of accoutability. Instead of inspiring their employees to work so far above their heads that their noses would bleed, they set up policies that would spy on the individual to see if they were living up to some standard. The main problem is that whoever came up with the standard, did not have a clue what they were doing. And this new "grading system" eventually started to suck the life out of The Home Depot's workforce. They were not at all concerned with the amount of work, effort, or even production you were accomplishing if it didn't line up with their little score card. All of a sudden hard work meant nothing compared to the numbers on the report. Exit honest effort, enter "the manipulation of the system".
Today's Home Depot is this: Fluff the walks (inspections by those that think themselves much more important than anyone else), Fake the numbers, Fool the shareholders, and hope to God your boss gets fired before he fires you. The vast majority of employees are deperately doing everything in their power to just hang on to their job. So very few that are actually trying to make this once great company great again.
To try to do something that will make a real positive difference is to lay your neck on the line and risk everything you have in the company. But without these risk takers, The Home Depot hasn't got a chance.
Wake up Home Depot, you need a revolution!
Your employees will treat your customers only as good as THEY perceive that they are being treated. If you give your workers the shaft, thats what they will give your customers. I don't know how else to say it.
The last thing I will say is this: Absolutly nothing changes until the ATTITUDE changes. I've seen some stupid ideas on how to make things better, but I have seen zero that adequately address the dreadful state the companies attitude is in. It must change and you cannot accomplish this by bullying them. The Home Depot does not need management, THEY NEED LEADERSHIP!!!
I pray for the loved ones that I left there. And I hope for their sake, The Home Depot turns the corner and becomes what it has the potential of becoming. The Greatest Company in the World.
Goodbye Home Depot.
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