Audacious

Have you ever thought of the word Audacious? Lets look at the definition:  bold, to dare, to be bold, adventurous, marked by originality and verve.  Have you ever thought of this word in the context of love?  I'm certain we have in certain relationships.  For me it's my children of course.  I would do anything for those stinkers.  It's also my parents. For me to look back and see what all they have done for me I do boldly love them.  And for some who are married or have a life long companion...that I could see audacious love.  But have you ever truly fathomed those two words together?  Audacious love.  It's almost unfathomable but consider the one relationship in this world. God's relationship to us.  Can you imagine?  He sent his only Son to save us.  He loves us so much.  How then could we not audaciously proclaim His love to others?  and not to some others.  He specifically says to ALL others.  I could not ever imagine such a love to give up one of my children for all people.  But because of that audacious love of God to send his Son Jesus for us we get to choose to have everlasting life with Him.  He pursues us. everyday.  Daily...and will not stop.  to the end of the earth.  THAT is audacious love.  There are many references of boldness in the Bible.  I think if the Creator of the Universe loves us that much, the least we could do is be bold in our faith.  Why wouldnt we be?  What love!  We don't have to be ministers or preachers or missionaries, or be crazy about it.  We can boldly proclaim in our daily lives. In our work and in our friendships and relationships just allowing His light of love to shine through us.  I audaciously dare you to proclaim Jesus' love for us and pursuit of our eternal life with him so we are vessels of such love.  Be audacious.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish  but have everlasting life.

Titus 2:11  For the grace of God has appeared wtih salvation for all people.

I John 4:19 We love because He first loved us

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then come bodly to God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Romans 8:31  What, then, shall we say in response to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?

Joshua 1:9 I've commanded you, haven't I?  "Be strong and courageous.  Don't be fearful or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

Daily Perspective

It was a beautiful spring morning in May this day.  The sun was shining and the sea gulls were talking their talk reminding me I live on the coast. I was walking out of Panera today with my two dollar cup of coffee after a long week of being terribly sick.  Even though I was still sick, I decided to put a smile on my face and walked out into the parking lot.  This older gentleman and his father were getting out of their car and I smiled. He spoke.  He said, "You look very cheery today." and I said, "I'm actually very sick."  He said, "Well, I don't know if I could handle you if you were all better because you look so happy!"  In that moment I thought...we all have the same 24 hours in our day and we can wake up and choose to be mean or grumpy or in a sore mood or angry because of whatever circumstances we find ourselves in.  

Or... we can be happy and thankful.  I could have been sour and not smiled because of how I physically was feeling.  But how could I?  The sun was shining.  It was warm.  I had breath in my lungs and a cup of coffee in my hands.  I have alive kids and healthy kids and wonderful friends and a great job. or even just a job.  Stop.  Think about your perspective.  We can share the light shining through us in just a simple smile in the Panera Bread parking lot to someone else.  We have free will and we get to choose our perspective daily.  We choose.  I hope that you choose God's light and make it shine ever so brightly through your simple smile to others because of your perspective.

Galatians 5:22-23 "...but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control..."

Nehemiah 8:10 "...for the joy of the Lord is our strength"

Psalm 16:11 "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Psalm 23:6 "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Be Present

One day a couple months ago close to Thanksgiving...as I rushed out the door to go run a couple of errands, I forgot my phone on a 15 minute errand and it reminded me of a time in the past prior to cell phones.  I looked at the people and the cars around me....the trees and the sky and the storefronts and the beauty around me.  In that time of not having my phone rushing around at Thanksgiving, I reflected on past thanksgiving traditions and how I remembered what it was like as a child to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house and remembered how simplistic life really was.  I had a hard time finding the title of this blog because I really wanted to encourage you to just "be"; however, in the midst of forgetting my phone, I had forgotten how simplistic it feels to "be" without communication.  Without a cell phone.  I was more aware of the things around me.  And in that 15-20 minutes I thought of 20 things I could be doing with my phone. Text this person this. Email that person. Follow up on a real estate lead. Check on another friend.  But I didn't.  I realized we are passing through each day doing too much. And even still in our society of social media and instant communication and the go go go all the time, we feel guilty of not doing more and more.  But in fact, we are doing more harm by doing more.  We are missing. We are missing our children growing up. We are missing the daily changes of the seasons.  We are missing the waves and the smiles of each passing person.  We are missing the birds chirping in the back yard.  We are missing the importance of the very existence of being and the point of why we are here. So I challenge you today to force yourself to have much more than 20 minutes without your phone today and just ....be present.

Scriptures relating to being present:

Psalm 23:2 He makes me lie down in green meadows; He leads me beside still waters.

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the whole world.

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own