New Blog http://andrewrainey.wordpress.com/

New Blog http://andrewrainey.wordpress.com/

Winning...

Ever since I can remember I hated to lose... I mean hate! I remember many times after losing at something I would hide under my bed because I didn't really know how to deal with my emotions or the embarrassment I felt. It didn't matter if we were playing cards or racing to the car... I had to win!

I wish I could say that was just when I was younger and that I grew out of it... But I didn't. It spilled into my teenage years, my twenties and now I am in my early thirties and I still feel that same fire when playing anything. I adapted this saying in my teenage years that I still feel to be true today... There is only one thing I'm not good at and that is losing.

I am the worst loser... I don't handle it well and back when I was active I'm shocked my friends would put up with me... I wanted to win at all cost! I wouldn't break the rules, but I would stretch them and be the rule enforcer.

I am now much more mature, but anytime I am in a situation that is competitive I feel that fire inside me and often times I ignore it because I'm afraid that I will embarrass myself with my competitive drive.

I now find myself wondering why I ignore it? Does winning really matter? Is my competitive drive "Christian"? The more I think about it the more I am convinced it is how God created me. I am not the quickest, the most talented, the smartest, most athletic, best looking, toughest, strongest or even the wisest guy... But more times than not I win! There is almost nothing I won't sacrifice for winning.

Certainly there are boundaries that keep this desire or obsession healthy, but winning is Biblical. Christ wins... Love wins... The Bible even tells us to "run in such a way as to get the prize (1 Corinthians 9:24)".

I like to take on the best... I like to find out what I am made of... I like the thrill of winning... What I need to work on is how I go about doing it... Winning I believe is Biblical... How we go about winning tells a lot about us.

If you call yourself a believer in Christ then we should be "running the race in such a way to get the prize"... What does your life say about the way you are running?

Mine is screaming that there is always someone out there that is a much better runner, but my continued determination and focus on Christ will help me become a much better runner. I just have to keep my eye on the prize... That prize is the one who created me and if I continue to strive for Him, then I will continue to grow and in the end... I'll win!

Are you a winner?
Does it matter if you win or lose?
Do you believe winning is Biblical?
What are you doing to make sure you are "running the race to win?"

Peter...

I find myself thinking about the dialog between Jesus and Peter right before Jesus was crucified. Jesus tells Peter that he will deny Him and Peter is persistent that will not happen and even tells Jesus "Even if I have to die with you. I will never disown you."

I can almost feel the emotion coming out of Peter, I can sense him being offended that Jesus would even say that. Then later Peter does exactly what Jesus said he would do... He disowns Him and not just once but three times...

But it really isn't that part that has me thinking... It is the fact that Jesus knew that Peter was going to mess up, He knew that Peter was going to make a mistake, He knew that even with his good intensions Peter would not live up to the call.

All of this and Jesus doesn't belittle Peter or make him feel insignificant, as a matter of fact later Jesus uses Peter in a very powerful way to spread the message of Christ.

So it has me thinking... I wonder where in my life I have failed, messed up, not lived up to the call? I wonder how many times I have beaten myself up over it only to have Jesus waiting to charge me to do something that is so much bigger? I wonder even now if there is still something Jesus is waiting to give me, but I've been too busy feeling sorry for myself?

What about you?

I'd love to hear your thoughts...

He Is Risen...

He Is Risen!!!

And thank God He has. If not Christianity would just be another religion... Without the Risen Christ we wouldn't have any hope, any reason to be excited to share the "Good News" of Christ. But we still have to believe, we still have to know He Is Risen and believe it...

In John 20:11-16 we read about Mary Magdalene crying... Let me set the scene for you.

Jesus was crucified and buried and on the Third day, the day after the Sabbath (They wouldn't have visited Jesus on the Sabbath because they would have "worked" to go and visit Him) and Mary goes to visit Jesus in the tomb and is surprised that it was empty...

She would have heard about Jesus talking about this exact thing, she would have been around to hear about Jesus talking about Him dying and raising on the Third day. So what does she do when she sees Jesus gone? She runs to Peter (One of the Disciples) and says "they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" (John 20:2 TNIV)

She thinks someone took the body, stole Him. Let me say this again... Mary would have known the things Jesus said about His death, and she still thinks His body is stolen. Now it is easy for me to say "Duh, why didn't you get it", then I look at my own life and see times where I know what I was doing was wrong, times when I knew what God says about it and yet I didn't act as though I did.

OK... That brings us up to verse 11...

Mary is outside the cave crying, because Jesus is missing and then something amazing happens. She is asked by a few angles (That is amazing, but not the amazing part) why she is crying and verse 14 reads; "At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus." That is amazing too, but not the amazing part... Verse 15 has Mary mistaking Jesus for the gardener, that is really amazing... How can she mistaken Jesus as the gardener? However that isn't the amazing part...

Here is comes... Verse 16; "Jesus said to her, 'Mary.'" She turned toward Him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (Teacher)... Now that is AMAZING...

You have to read closely to see it... He Is Risen and Mary doesn't see it, she misses it. Jesus appears to her and she doesn't recognize Him, Jesus speaks to her and she thinks it is the gardener... Amazing yes, but this is the story of Easter. Many people will come to Church on Easter and many people will know the things of God, many people will have heard about Jesus and His resurrection, many people will/have come in contact with the Living God and mistaken Him for something else and many people are crying because they think someone stole something that is right in front of them.

See Mary knew all of those things, yet she couldn't make the connection. Have you made it yet? See Mary didn't know it was Jesus, she didn't understand His love until she heard Jesus say "Mary"... That is the story... That is Amazing...

See people on Easter may know things, may have experienced things and may have had conversations with Him, but until they allow themselves to hear the Living God say "(Insert your name here)" they won't understand what has really happened. Until we/they hear it, they will not know how much God loves them and they will not understand that He Is Risen!

So how do we hear our names? Great question... I believe it starts with us crying out to God, because God hears the cries of His people...

Have you experienced a lot but feel like something is missing?
Do you have a lot of knowledge of God, but still feel like the tomb is just empty?
Have you heard your name? Do you want to?
Are you crying out to God?

I'd love to hear your thougths...

Life... To the full!

The rest of John 10:10 says; "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (TNIV)

What comes to mind when you read that? I mean think about what you think makes your life full, enjoyable, complete... Then ask yourself these questions as we discuss the rest of this verse. Are the things I think make my life full, really what God wants for me? Are those things consistent to what the Bible teaches about the way we should live our lives?

For me this verse is one that has always been around me during my journey with God. It was this verse that happened to be the first message I ever heard Rob Bell give and ironically I don't remember a thing he said, but I remember I wasn't real impressed with him at the time. Well much has changed since then as now I am a huge fan of his. Anyway, the verse itself was inspiring enough that I have always wrestled with it.

The first part of the verse is easy to get... Jesus came so that we may have life, because we are dead spiritually (Side note here; the Bible never separates physical life and spiritual life like we do) until we accept/believe in Christ. But the confusion begins in the second part of the verse; "and have it to the full".

What does Jesus mean when He says have life to the full? I've certainly read this and thought it meant all the things I think make me happy; The newest gadget, nice cars, house, the big TV, money, nice clothes, winning Bengals season, etc. And although many of those things give me pleasure for a time, they never seem to "fill my life".

What I've learned is that God isn't in the stuff business. I'm not saying stuff is bad, I'm just saying that isn't God's priority. I'm learning that the more I know Christ, the more I open myself up to Him, the more I realize how much He loves me... The more I want to be like Him, the more I want to know Him, the more I want to love Him and out of that attitude my life can start to reflect Christ.

When my life starts to look more like the one who created me, then my life has purpose. When we have a purpose or as we tend to say; "I know why I am here". Once we start to realize why were here and start to walk that out, then our lives start to be full...

Do you know what your purpose is?
Are you living your life chasing after pleasures?
What do you need to do differently to start or grow in your purpose?

I'd love to hear your thoughts...

The thief comes ONLY to...

John 10:10 reads... "The thief comes to only to steal and kill and destroy..." (TNIV)

I have had this verse on my mind for almost a month now. It surfaced while I was in Mexico with a team that was serving down there and we were debriefing how powerful that particular day was and how life giving it was to each one of us, then I felt as if God said; "the thief is going to come to steal, kill and destroy whatever you are feeling, experiencing and learning".

It is true... Some of what I experienced that week has been stolen away, but I'm working hard to keep what I have learned about myself and God out in front of me. But this isn't so much about me... This is really about how much we allow the thief to steal.

I know when I think of a thief I tend to think about him stealing the big things in my life, which is sometimes true. However I believe that he is much more successful in the small things. Maybe it's when we find ourselves saying something about someone that we know we shouldn't, maybe it is when we mishandle a parenting moment, maybe it is when we have the perfect opportunity to share Christ with someone and don't, maybe it's when we find ourselves in a moments of doubt about God or ourselves, etc.

Most of the time it is subtle, but we allow the thief to come and steal something we value like honesty and truth telling, like positive parenting, like treating others like we want to be treated.

It is so easy let the thief come in and steal something that we may not notice is gone at first only to realize that it is killing a relationship and/or destroyed trust.

What is it the thief is stealing, killing and destroying? Is it your values, emotions, spiritual life, mind, eyes? For me the thief tends to steal my relationship with God which has a cascading affect on all other areas of my life. The thief loves to whisper things to me like; "Your not good enough", "That didn't happen", "What would people think", "Don't tell anyone"...

The reality is that the thief is only here for one reason, the question is what is he whispering and stealing in the process?

I'd love to hear your thoughts...
(I'll discuss the rest of this verse next week)