Some of you may know that I have begun training to run a marathon on December 5th in Dallas, Texas. Over the next several months I am going to share some of what the Lord has been revealing to me through that experience. Presently I am in my second month of training. Last Sunday I did my 12 mile run. I had prepared by loading up on carbohydrates and drinking liquids to make sure I was properly hydrated. As I started I felt great, but about 9 miles into the run my left knee began to hurt. I spent the next mile of so trying to decide whether I should stop or run through it. I decided to keep going and managed to finish the run, but I knew something was not right. I put ice on it and took Ibuprofen but that night I could hardly walk. All I could envision was 2 months of training down the drain. It was a very discouraging night and the morning was not any better. However, I did find some information on the internet that did give me a glimpse of hope. Later that day I went to a running store and my computer information was confirmed. I have Iliotibial Band Syndrome. The treatment is stretching and strengthening along with rest, icing and anti-inflammatory drugs. More than anything I need you to be praying for me because this kind of injury takes time to heal. I certainly have come too far to quit now but I do not have a lot of time to rest, so.... I need a miracle.
As I was thinking about all this I was reminded that our walk with God is really like a marathon. It is not a sprint - it is a long run that takes endurance and perseverance. Along the way God will stretch us and strenghten us. At times we will need to rest and sometimes (most likely many times we will feel like quitting). The bottom line is that life - like running a marathon is not easy. It takes preparation and training in order to do it right. At this point my success in running a marathon is in God's hands. I am willing to work hard and put in the practice but He has to supply the healing. Therefore my eyes are on Him (praise God in the last few days it has felt good)
There are lots of parallels to life in this story. Most of all we will get more out of life when we are willing to work hard and put forth great effort, but in the end everything in life depends on our reliance on God. He is the one that makes all the pieces fit together. On our own we can only go so far. It is only when we trust in Him that it all works together for good because He is the only one who can see the whole race we are living from the beginning to the end. Isn't it good to know that He is not surprised by anything that we encounter along the way.
While that is enough of my ramblings for now. Bless you!!!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Additional Thoughts
As I was reflecting on the words I wrote yesterday, I realized I left out an important thought. I will include it for those who are interested.
There is an easy way to know whether your life and the lives of those around you are controlled by the Lord. When the fruit of the Spirit of self-control (see yesterdays BLOG) is operating in our lives and we have given control of our life to God, people will know what to expect when they are around us. Have you ever known someone or been someone who is irritated one day and happy the next? You know the type - you never know what you are going to get when you are around them. One moment they will be great and the next they will be bummed or grouchy or just a pain in the you know what. It is hard to want to be around them because you do not know which one of them is going to show up. No they are not schizophrenic - they are simply controlled by whatever is going on at the moment.
If by any chance you are ever like that, let it be a reminder that God has provided a better way for you. He has filled you with His Spirit and one of the fruit of that Spirit is self-control. As you rely on Him, you have the power to take control of your life away from all the things that are trying to control you. Through the fruit of self-control you can give control to God who is your fortress and your strong tower. The good news is that you can be rock solid, you can be stable, you can be a constant source of joy and peace that is unmoved and unaffected by the people and things around you - as you trust in Jesus and rely upon His Spirit.
Be a Blessing and Be Blessed!
Dave Hampson
There is an easy way to know whether your life and the lives of those around you are controlled by the Lord. When the fruit of the Spirit of self-control (see yesterdays BLOG) is operating in our lives and we have given control of our life to God, people will know what to expect when they are around us. Have you ever known someone or been someone who is irritated one day and happy the next? You know the type - you never know what you are going to get when you are around them. One moment they will be great and the next they will be bummed or grouchy or just a pain in the you know what. It is hard to want to be around them because you do not know which one of them is going to show up. No they are not schizophrenic - they are simply controlled by whatever is going on at the moment.
If by any chance you are ever like that, let it be a reminder that God has provided a better way for you. He has filled you with His Spirit and one of the fruit of that Spirit is self-control. As you rely on Him, you have the power to take control of your life away from all the things that are trying to control you. Through the fruit of self-control you can give control to God who is your fortress and your strong tower. The good news is that you can be rock solid, you can be stable, you can be a constant source of joy and peace that is unmoved and unaffected by the people and things around you - as you trust in Jesus and rely upon His Spirit.
Be a Blessing and Be Blessed!
Dave Hampson
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Who has got your back?
I know these blogs are few and far between, but if anyone is still checking this out I have a revelation from God that could quite possibly be a great blessing to you. Actually it may not be a new revelation or even a deep one, but it could be just what the Lord wants to say to you at this time in your life. If you have a moment I encourage you to read on. The revelation has to do with control or more accurately who or what controls you. The world and everything and everyone in it has the ability to control you. Although most of these things are not alive, in a very real way they are vying for the right to control you. Your bed wants to control you (by causing you to not want to get out of it or by giving you a good nights sleep or a bad one). It is seeking to determine how you will act today (grumpy or joyful). The weather wants to control you, your body and its aches and pains want to control you, the stress or peace of your day, people and the way they treat you, your hair, your expectations - everything and everyone you encounter today has the power to control your attitude and whether or not you will have joy or anxiety, peace or stress, love or anger... The reality is that everything around you is able to be used by the enemy to steal a piece of you and subject you to its control.
The sobering truth is that you, on your own, are at the world's mercy. You can resist its control at various times, but it is coming at you from every angle and its onslaught is like a title wave that is too much to stand against - on your own. As most of you already know there is good news - Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33). The question is how does His overcoming become ours? That is where the Lord has been dealing with me and who knows He may speak to you out of this as well. It all has to do with the fruit of His Spirit - specifically the fruit of self-control. As we are filled with the Spirit of God (not just once but over and over again through God's grace and our daily surrender), God gives us the ability to control our self. In other words we do not have to live at the mercy of the world and how we feel or at the mercy of the things that rise up within us when someone says or does something that irritates us. Through the Spirit of God we have the ability to determine who and what is in control of our lives. And that means (and this is the key to the whole thing) that the fruit of the Spirit of self-control, gives us the ability to give control of our lives to God alone.
Now please do not lose the profoundness of this thought, in its simplicity. As we yield our lives to the Spirit of God that has been made available to us through Jesus Christ, we have the power to determine who and what will be in control of our lives. In other words as Christians we can never blame anyone or anything for how we feel or how we respond. Through the Spirit of God, God has given us responsibility for our lives. We are responsible for our happiness, we are responsible for our actions, we are responsible, period! Never again can we ever blame anyone or anything for our actions, our words, our attitudes or whatever because we have been given self-control by God Himself. Self-control that enables us to give God control throughout our days (thank goodness God has also given us the ability to be forgiven when we don't give Him control).
As I was sharing this with a friend, he reminded me that Jesus exemplified this truth - especially in the garden of Gethsemane. The devil was seeking to gain control and even Jesus' own desires to not face the cross were seeking to take control. In the end Jesus Himself took control of the situation and gave it to God the Father when He spoke the words, "Your will be done." That is what I am talking about. Through the Spirit of God we have that same self-control.
Please know that this is about more than just making a decision to not let things or people irritate you. This is about relying on God's Spirit and living in the truth that God has given YOU the ability to control yourself and YOU the ability to intentionally surrender control of yourself and your life to God - every moment of every day.
Now the truth is that it is much more satisfying to our flesh to blame everyone and everything else for our attitudes and our problems. I have 53 years of experience to back up that statement. But in the end that is a miserable way to live. When you try to justify your actions because of everything that has happened to you, you only feel good for a while. Then bitterness and anger and hurt and hopelessness and a multitude of other things come in like a destructive flood and make a mess of your life. They can even come in while you are a Christian and while you are seeking to live your life for God.
God has something far better for us. Through His Spirit He has given you the ability to be in control - which means you can determine to live every moment under His control. That is where life is at. That is where you can live in the fullness of joy no matter what comes your way and no matter how people treat you. It is at that place that God has your back because you have given it to Him. Life does not get any better than that.
Be Blessed!!!
The sobering truth is that you, on your own, are at the world's mercy. You can resist its control at various times, but it is coming at you from every angle and its onslaught is like a title wave that is too much to stand against - on your own. As most of you already know there is good news - Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33). The question is how does His overcoming become ours? That is where the Lord has been dealing with me and who knows He may speak to you out of this as well. It all has to do with the fruit of His Spirit - specifically the fruit of self-control. As we are filled with the Spirit of God (not just once but over and over again through God's grace and our daily surrender), God gives us the ability to control our self. In other words we do not have to live at the mercy of the world and how we feel or at the mercy of the things that rise up within us when someone says or does something that irritates us. Through the Spirit of God we have the ability to determine who and what is in control of our lives. And that means (and this is the key to the whole thing) that the fruit of the Spirit of self-control, gives us the ability to give control of our lives to God alone.
Now please do not lose the profoundness of this thought, in its simplicity. As we yield our lives to the Spirit of God that has been made available to us through Jesus Christ, we have the power to determine who and what will be in control of our lives. In other words as Christians we can never blame anyone or anything for how we feel or how we respond. Through the Spirit of God, God has given us responsibility for our lives. We are responsible for our happiness, we are responsible for our actions, we are responsible, period! Never again can we ever blame anyone or anything for our actions, our words, our attitudes or whatever because we have been given self-control by God Himself. Self-control that enables us to give God control throughout our days (thank goodness God has also given us the ability to be forgiven when we don't give Him control).
As I was sharing this with a friend, he reminded me that Jesus exemplified this truth - especially in the garden of Gethsemane. The devil was seeking to gain control and even Jesus' own desires to not face the cross were seeking to take control. In the end Jesus Himself took control of the situation and gave it to God the Father when He spoke the words, "Your will be done." That is what I am talking about. Through the Spirit of God we have that same self-control.
Please know that this is about more than just making a decision to not let things or people irritate you. This is about relying on God's Spirit and living in the truth that God has given YOU the ability to control yourself and YOU the ability to intentionally surrender control of yourself and your life to God - every moment of every day.
Now the truth is that it is much more satisfying to our flesh to blame everyone and everything else for our attitudes and our problems. I have 53 years of experience to back up that statement. But in the end that is a miserable way to live. When you try to justify your actions because of everything that has happened to you, you only feel good for a while. Then bitterness and anger and hurt and hopelessness and a multitude of other things come in like a destructive flood and make a mess of your life. They can even come in while you are a Christian and while you are seeking to live your life for God.
God has something far better for us. Through His Spirit He has given you the ability to be in control - which means you can determine to live every moment under His control. That is where life is at. That is where you can live in the fullness of joy no matter what comes your way and no matter how people treat you. It is at that place that God has your back because you have given it to Him. Life does not get any better than that.
Be Blessed!!!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
EVERY and ALL with JOY!
Presently I am working several part time jobs and one of them gives me a lot of time to pray and think. So yesterday I began memorizing the book of Philippians and when I got to Philippians 1 verses 3 and 4 I was just consumed with the message that is being communicated there. Paul wrote, "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy..." Those verses really stirred me up. Paul says that EVERY TIME - not just sometimes, not just when things are going well, not just when the memories are good and the news about them was good and life was going well - but EVERY TIME he remembered them he thanked God. In other words he is not thinking of them in terms of circumstances. Rather he is thinking of them in terms of the way God views them. You see he knows that God delights in them, God rejoices over them, God celebrates them. Therefore no matter what is happening in their lives and no matter whether they are doing great or not so great, Paul is able to thank God EVERY TIME he remembers them.
Not only that, in ALL his prayers - not just some of his prayers but ALL of them, not just when he is feeling good but in ALL his prayers for ALL of them he ALWAYS prays with joy. Notice his prayers are for ALL of them - not just some of them or most of them or the them that he likes, but ALL of them. And when he prays - he ALWAYS prays with JOY. WOW!!! That is good stuff. When I was thinking about it I realized quickly that I could not say the same thing about my prayers. I do not always pray with joy. Quite often my prayers are more in the desperate or the pleading mode or just the "there I prayed and did it" mode. Not Paul - he is consumed with heart of God who celebrates and rejoices that we are His.
The point for me is that no matter what is going on in life, there is always thanks and joy to be had if we see life from God's perspective. That is what Paul did and today and in the days to come that is what I choose to do as well. How about you?
Not only that, in ALL his prayers - not just some of his prayers but ALL of them, not just when he is feeling good but in ALL his prayers for ALL of them he ALWAYS prays with joy. Notice his prayers are for ALL of them - not just some of them or most of them or the them that he likes, but ALL of them. And when he prays - he ALWAYS prays with JOY. WOW!!! That is good stuff. When I was thinking about it I realized quickly that I could not say the same thing about my prayers. I do not always pray with joy. Quite often my prayers are more in the desperate or the pleading mode or just the "there I prayed and did it" mode. Not Paul - he is consumed with heart of God who celebrates and rejoices that we are His.
The point for me is that no matter what is going on in life, there is always thanks and joy to be had if we see life from God's perspective. That is what Paul did and today and in the days to come that is what I choose to do as well. How about you?
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