Inside My Mind

Several times a day, I find myself in a position of compromise. Sometimes I pick up the remote when there is a teenager that wants to talk (because I had a long day and deserve time to chill out). Sometimes I click on a link on Facebook or Twitter that I know will take me to a place where I will waste time. Sometimes my mouth slips out words that have no uplifting purpose and will be empty or derogatory. Sometimes I lean my head back to 'close my eyes for just a minute' knowing that when I do I will fall fast asleep and not finish what I set out to accomplish. When the Israelites who had been taken captive to Babylon were returning under the leadership of Ezra, they began to compromise their activities. Years before they had been taken into captivity, God had made it known that they should not intermarry with the people of the land. They were not to enter into peace treaties or except riches as part of a compromise. They were to remain focused on obedience. Upon their return, ...

I've gotten to the age that I talk about "the good old days". In my mind, I like to relive a time when the outlook of our country and economy was better. I can remember looking to the future, setting goals to accomplish, and seemingly living in the future. Well... the future is NOW. My kids are almost grown, my career is at its peak, and much of the negative outlook from years ago has been filtered out. When the Jewish remnant was returned to Jerusalem from Babylon the older men could remember what things were like when Solomon's temple was there. The nation was rich, the temple was beautiful, and the presence of God's Shekinah glory was there. Times must have been better before the exile. But if they were better, why were they taken away? Why were they led captive? Maybe things weren't as good as they remembered. Maybe things weren't really as good as I remember. Attempts to dream and live too far out in the future prevents us from living fully in the ...

I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions. Howeever, during the holidays I do take time to reflect on the previous year and review my goals for the coming year (I guess that's just another way of saying 'New Year's resolutions'). While working through the process, I had decided that over the past couple of years I have moved from being 'active' to 'passive'. I have started to let things fall into a routine, taking what comes at me. By doing this, I have become a firefighter- reacting to situations and addressing the most pressing, threatening issue instead of putting things that should be first first. During our New Year's Eve celebration at church, our pastor talked about being more active. Teaching out of the book of Habakkuk, he described the need to climb into our watchtower, wait for God to direct us, and write what He wanted us to do. Having already started the process, I took this as a confirmation that my decisions toward activity ...