Ok, so I may have a belly, but it's actually not a beer belly. Also, this
blog isn't about weight loss or beer but hopefully I now have your attention.
Cheap trick, I know, but it will all come together in the end. What is it
that you're carrying around in your life that you wish you weren't?
What's consuming you?
The other day I was thinking about just that in my own life. What's eating at
me that I just can't shake off? I think we can all probably relate to
that feeling. Is it something at work, something that happened at home,
something you read on Facebook or maybe something much bigger like poverty,
war, and prejudice? Maybe each day is different for you. You wake up or
go to bed with something on your mind that you just can't shake. Maybe it’s
an argument with your wife, a bad report card from your child, or sales reports
from work highlighting the dismal economy? The list could go on and on,
and while these are all things that rattle any core, something bigger keeps me
up at night and it isn't my three month old baby.
A few years ago, my wife and I finally found our church home. I often
tell people it's the exact place we were looking for without knowing what we
were looking for. Nicole has always been a believer and has had a
relationship with Jesus. I wouldn't have called myself a non-believer but
I surely didn't have a relationship with JC. Soon after we found our
home, we decided that we wanted to get baptized. Sure we were both
baptized as children by our families, but this was something different.
We were baptized together and were submerged and declared God our Lord
and Savior. It was a glorious day and I know the angels were singing up in
heaven. I knew at that time that I believed and had started my walk.
What I also thought then was that I was getting rid of my "beer
belly". I was washing all my sin, my doubts and fears away.
What I didn't fully realize was that this was just the beginning and if I
don’t continually trim it away it will come back. It would creep back
into my life sometimes faster than I got rid of it in the first place.
Part of what I have learned was that none of what I did that day matters if I
decide to polish it with a nice coat of wax and never go back for its care again.
Kind of like your car, it's all shiny and new, you get the ultimate
supreme wash with all the bells and whistles, but eventually it will wear away
and get dusty and dirty again. You can choose to wait and polish it every
few months but what makes a car look its very best is when you wash and clean
it every day. Just because I was baptized doesn't mean that I'm all set
and I can just sit back and wait to sit in my big chair in the sky. I
believe it is the constant relationship with Jesus that makes you stronger,
shiny and new.
Christ just wants to have a relationship with us. We all try to run, hide
and even cover up our missteps with Febreze but God already knows. He
already knows what I've done, what my doubts are, what my fears are and has seen
me through every failure. See that what's so awesome! We can be forgiven
for our sins daily by coming to Jesus and allowing him to take them. In fact, He
already paid it all on the cross for us. So now it's up to us to let Him.
Lately, I've started daily conversations with Christ. Sometimes I
talk with Him at my desk, in the car, at home, in public and in the shower.
I talk to Him whenever I need to because He is always there. The
only reason why I am able to open my heart and soul to Him is because of the
day I washed it all away.
I've been carrying a burden on me over the course of the year. It was beginning
to really bother me. The problem was
that I knew it, Nicole knew it, and Jesus knew it. However, until I was
able to cry out to God and give it all to Him, I could not be healed on my own.
See I wasn't myself; I would get these random pains and headaches.
I went to the doctor and we ran some tests and nothing was showing.
I would then get these bursts of anger and frustrations. Sometimes,
I would literally scream out from the pain and noise. It got to the point
where it was causing strain on me and my family. It finally took me to
get on my knees and ask God for healing not just for me but for my wife and
kids. I prayed and prayed. Shortly thereafter, I finally heard what God
was telling me. Listen to your wife, you big dumb animal, and let her
help you. So, we went back to the doctor and I finally received relief
for my anxiety. I was told it may take several weeks for it to start to
work for me but Nicole would be able to notice it much sooner. A few weeks
after that day, with tears in my eyes, I thanked God for His healing hand.
I could literally feel the change in my life and boy was it awesome!
I am will forever be thankful.
Now you may be thinking to yourself, well you just got the right medication and
that’s what did it, and I would say you are partially right. Our doctor,
Dr. Rick, helped me balance the pain with medication, no doubt. However,
what I know was the biggest factor was releasing to God what I was hiding
from. See I believe that God is the
creator of all things. Surely the medicine may have worked alone, but I
have no doubt that the biggest factor in my healing was my relationship with
Jesus. My conversations with Him allowed me to release control and let Him take
over. Through the Grace of God, the right doctor and medication I am on
the right track. See I also believe that none of this is chance.
Dr. Rick came into my life several years ago but has been Nicole's doctor
for most of her life. He has been a great friend and ally in taking care
of Nicole, I and our kids over the years. However, the greatest thing is
that he is not only a believer but also has a relationship with Christ.
Only during the past couple years have we even learned the extent of his family’s
involvement with his church. I don’t believe all of this is just a
coincidence. It's just another part of God's amazing plans for us, set in
motion before we were ever born.
So what’s this blog all about again? Oh that’s right; it's about cleansing, shaping
up and trimming the fat. I believe that some of the biggest fears people have
about getting baptized are: the feeling of not being in control, justifying
that you were already baptized as an infant or child so you don't need to be
again, or the fear that your family or friends won't understand it. When
we submit our lives to Jesus Christ we relinquish control, but by being
baptized we ultimately control our eternities. If you we're baptized with
a sprinkle or dusting as a child, that is so awesome and surely you have
received God in your life. Children are born as an act of God. However, I
believe the most important thing that you can do as an adult, is to personally
submit to submersion, like Jesus did. It has to be done this way. If
someone in your life doesn't understand your choice, then that is a perfect
opportunity to invite them to church to learn more and share the good news
together. Who knows? They might even decide to get baptized with you. The
more the better, there is room for everyone.
Friends I invite you to get up and be baptized. Commit your life to
Christ with the ultimate act of submission. I would love to be there for
you, and if you want, I'll even get wet in the water. We could always use a
little cleansing to wipe away our dust and dirt again! You don't have to
be perfect to get baptized. You don't have to attend church every weekend
or even ever have attended. Just get in the water. In fact, Jesus
wants to be friends with you and you can consider baptism your first date.
After you are baptized and you commit yourself to Christ well be able to
walk on earth and share the good news and when our Lord calls us home, we will
be together all together again, but it won't happen unless you submit.
Do you want to really know what keeps me up at night sometimes? It's
knowing that some of my family and friends may not be with me up in Heaven
because they were afraid to follow Jesus and proclaim Him as their Lord and
Savior. So what can I do? I can't force it upon you, but I can share my
story with you and continue to spread the love of Jesus to all I come in
contact with. So what are you waiting for? Get up and be washed by the
water and get ready to make a big splash. You won't regret it.
"In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have
listed for you, and when you living among the nations to which the Lord your
God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions. If at that time you
and your children return to the Lord your God, and if you obey with all your
heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today, then the Lord
your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you
back from all the nations where he has scattered you. Even though you are
banished to the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you from there
and bring you back again.” Deuteronomy 30:1-4
