“My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.” Oswald Chambers

After 50 years of marriage, my mother-in-law shocked my father-in-law. We were at a Harley Davidson store at the base of Denali where she purchased an eagle based theme Harley t-shirt. This left my father-in-law speechless!

After 50 years of marriage, he was still learning about his bride. In fact, a few years later she took it a little further when she wanted to ride a Harley for her birthday, which she did!

You should have seen the smile on his face. 50 years of getting to know each other and there were still nice surprises along the way.

We get an eternity worth of time to experience those surprises with our God. Ever think why need an eternity? It is because He is by nature eternal.

Scripture can only contain so much about Who God is. Thus, we get an endless amount of “time” in order to experience all there is to know about Him. An innumerable amount  of nice surprises lay ahead of us, starting now.

Peace. Experienced it. Love. Known that. Joy. Pretty nice. Why do we keep asking for these when there are other aspects of God’s character just waiting to be explored?

I think Chambers had it right. Our goal in life should be God Himself, nothing more, nothing less. God wants us to resist settling for anything or anyone short of Him by drawing closer to Him.

Don’t settle for facts already known. Experience more of His character transformed into your character that sometimes is learned through being pushed beyond your comfort zone.

You love an eternal God. Spend time getting to know Him in ways you’ve never before known. How about starting now? Get into the Word and ask Him, “Lord show me something about you that I need to experience.” Guess what? He will.

What God has done is meant for daily consumption not special occasions.

Peter sees someone who looks like Jesus walking toward him on the water. He says, “If it is you, Lord, command me to get out of the boat.” To which Jesus says, “Come on out, the water is fine.”

Up to this point, Peter had seen Jesus do countless miracles, including just a few hours earlier watching Him calm a raging storm and whitewater type waves in an instant. Peter saw God work. The question was, would he remember?

Part of the definition of stress is to experience something new to you where the possibility of failure is quite real. Peter was experiencing something new – walking on water. And there was a real possibility of failure – drowning. Peter was stressing out!

Stress reduction, however, is to remember what God has already done; thus it’s not new. Peter had just seen Jesus exert power over storms and waves. Jesus was now asking him to remember that fact. Peter couldn’t fail because Jesus had already done it! Walla, peace instead of stress.

Just like Peter, we stress out when we forget what our God has already done. And this stress leads us to make all kinds of stupid choices, like drowning in our drugs of choice – short-term pleasure (sin).

The Psalmist commands us to “be still and know that God is God.” We are to have long memories through remembering what He has already done. He can do it again.

My friends, it’s time to stay out of the boat to keep knowing our God in new and fresh ways.

“I find joy in everyday life, not because life is good, but because God is.”

The LORD is good. We are not, but as He gives us Himself, we get goodness. Therefore, we can now do good, which we could never do before, let alone do enough “good” to earn a space in heaven or to get on His good side.

His goodness is part of what makes us want to keep talking with Him (1 Thess. 5:17). We come away feeling good through being in the presence of goodness, God Himself, so why leave it?

I pray that His goodness shines through you today, my friends, so that those around you will see the goodness of God and want Him in their live as He is in yours.

“The temptation to take the easy road is always there. But discipline is paramount to success and victory.”

We keep hearing, “I need to be the best me possible.” Truth or lie? It depends on the definition of me being used. The me that is the work of art that the Father created in me to be and to become (Eph. 2:10) or the me that brought Jesus to this earth as the ultimate and last sacrifice for the sins of me?

The former leads to victory and fulfillment. So, have you ever wondered why one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control? Self or me needs to be controlled by the Spirit not unleashed on the world, let alone on myself!

Peter writes that me is to gain truth and add self-control to it while practicing that truth because this process leads to becoming more like Jesus (2 Pet. 1:6) or ultimate freedom (John 8:32).

Discipline equals freedom, which leads to victory and fulfillment defined as acting consistently with who the Father created in me in Christ!

The easy road leads to bondage while the harder road requires self-control that brings greater freedom. It’s a choice the Father gives us at the cross. Let’s hope me chooses the later.

You don’t need to be in continual motion.

An old black and white TV show character would often say, “Come sit a spell.” It goes with an adage that says, “Take a load off.”

The English word Sabbath or Shabbat in Hebrew means to rest. Yet this word carries addition meaning when we examine the word group that it belongs to.

We are to sit or take a load off by dwelling in God’s presence. These words are used of Jewish schools called yeshivas where students would sit around a table discerning what God said in His Word.

Another word in this group is to return. This speaks of returning to the only One who can give true rest, God. Resting then means to realign ourselves with and to stay close to our Father.

Yet, as Jesus believers, we often think that we have to do for God. Seriously? Like He needs us to do anything for Him. Remember, He is God and simply asks us “to be still and know that He is God.”

We are children of a God who knows the future and will work everything we face out for His purpose and glory. The world’s direction and fate are in His hands, not ours.

Slow down (rest – de-stress, take a deep breath). Take a load off (sit – stop running your mind 24/7 over life that’s outside your control) and come sit a spell with (return – it’s not about you!) Him (dwell – be with Him).

He’ll show you what He wants you to do with Him, even if that’s to literally come sit quietly and simply with Him.