This post is a follow up to one from earlier this week. If you haven’t already read it, it might be a good idea to start there. Click here.

We had another stretch of hot dry weather last week. Not only did the grass brown in some spots, the weeds grew like, well, weeds. Why is it that weeds seem to take over a yard when it is hot and dry. Weeds continue to germinate even when your lawn is under stress from heat, humidity, and drought, usually thriving under those conditions. 

We often see the weeds and spend lots of time and money trying to control those weeds using weed killer. That is not a bad option, but do you know the best way to control the weeds? It is not continually spraying weed killer on your lawn. The best way to kill the weeds is to have a lush lawn full of green grass. Healthy grass helps to keep the weeds from taking over the lawn.

As it is with weeds, the best way for us to avoid destructive thoughts and behavior is to grow in our relationship with Jesus. The more we become like Jesus, and the more we allow Him to grow “healthy grass” is us, the less room we have for “unwanted weeds” to grow and choke out the “desirable grasses” in our life.

And how do we do that you ask? To answer that question, I will change from the image of grass and weeds to a comparison between a grapefruit and a milkshake. Isn’t it true that many of us treat our lives like a grapefruit? What, you say? We section off our lives like the sections of a grapefruit. We have our work section; our leisure section; our finances section; the what we watch on television or view on the internet section; our eating habits section; if we are married, our sex life section; our church section; on and on. We “allow” Jesus in some of those sections while other sections seem to be off limits to Him.

What does this grapefruit life look like? On Sundays, you faithfully attend church and on Monday morning you engage in a shady business deal. “That’s just how business works” is what crosses your mind. It’s late at night, the family is in bed, and you cannot sleep so you turn on the TV or sit at your computer and look at sexually graphic images. “What can it really hurt; I’m just trying to relax so I can sleep.” You stand around the office and engage in gossip. You think to yourself, “It’s just harmless water cooler chatter.”

On the contrary, Jesus calls us to be like milkshakes. You know, put some ice cream into the blender, pour in some milk, add chocolate sauce and your favorite candy topping, and turn on the blender. What happens is that it all gets mixed together and you can no longer tell the ice cream from the milk or the chocolate sauce from the candy topping. That is how it needs to be in our lives with Jesus. He needs to be in us, and with us, not just on Sundays, but also Monday through Saturday, and whether it is at home, work, school, vacation, the ball game, our your favorite restaurant. Simply put, Jesus wants to be in everything you do and say.     

So, if we allow Jesus to be completely mixed and blended into our lives, then we have less room for weeds and more room for lush green grass.

Today, invite Jesus to fertilize your grass so you can have a lush green healthy lawn, and not one overrun with weeds. In Colossians 3:17 we read this, “Let every detail in your lives, words, actions, whatever, be done in the name of Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way (MSG).” Notice the words “every detail.”

And remember this… eat grapefruits, don’t be one. Instead, be a milkshake!

If you are interested in digging a bit deeper, click here to find a similar post I wrote last fall.

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We are seemingly always in search of a better way. A better way to lose weight or stay physically fit. A better way to stay looking young. A better way to gain wisdom. A better way to accumulate wealth. A better way to stream our favorite shows. The bad guys are always looking for a better way to scam you and me. A better way to do just about anything and everything.

I recently saw a newly released book in the bookstore that promised 99 new (implying better) ways to have intimacy with a loved one. Right next to it was also another new book on emerging mobile technology. In other words, ways to keep us more glued to our devices and from genuine social contact that might just increase intimacy.

There is nothing wrong with looking for new, and better, ways of doing things. That is one way society advances. But, so often, by better, we mean easier, faster. Less blood, sweat, and tears. We want gain but without the pain. We spent oodles of time and effort, and money, in search of the new and improved, and often in the process never find anything, old or new, because we are lost in the looking and looking.

It is much the same in our quest for intimacy with God. We want the benefits without the sacrifices. We want to give over parts of our lives to Him, but only certain parts. The parts we want to give over. However, God calls us to completely surrender to Him. The apostle Paul urges us to present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice (Romans 12:1). This is a call to completely surrender ourselves to the Lord. Surrendering our priorities, plans, reputation, aspirations, worldly identity, body, thoughts, and yes, even our burdens.

While this “fully surrender” proposition might sound like a tall order, and it is, one that is dreary, taking away all freedom. But, quite the opposite, there is true freedom and joy in the journey of surrendering. Psalm 16:11 tells us so – “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand the are pleasures forevermore.”

King David experienced in his own life that goodness is abundant when he lives under the authority of God (Psalm 31:19). That same promise extends to us today. David’s son, Solomon, noticed that his path became straight(er) when he was fully surrendered (Proverbs 3:5-6).

It is important to note that none of the verses I just referenced say life will be easier. In fact, in some ways, probably in many ways, a life fully surrendered to God is harder than a life not surrendered. But theses verses (and others) do promise that there is hope, joy, and peace in doing things God’s way. And while we might not like how some things turn out, He does promise that all things work together for good to those fully surrendered (Romans 8:28).

Today, whether you have never fully surrendered to God, or find yourself having taken back some or all of the reins, will you give yourself over right now to the rule and reign of God. That truly is a better way!

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I am sure there are events which have occurred throughout your lifetime that have become forever ingrained in your memories. You likely remember exactly where you were, what you were doing, and who you were with. Those events are often referred to as flashbulb moments; events stored in a complete and vivid way that capture the context, the event, and your emotional reaction to it.

For you, it might be when the news broke that President John F. Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963. Or maybe it was when you learned that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been fatally shot by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968, as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Or how about just two months later, on June 5, 1968, when Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan while addressing supporters at the Ambassador Hotel after winning the California primary. All three of those flashbulb moments have conspiracy theories attached to them. One event, so big and so traumatic, needs no description; it is simply remembered as 9/11. I remember everything about that day, including hugging my wife and daughters tighter than ever before.

I will never forget the Apollo 11 flight that, for the first time ever, put two men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr., on the surface of the moon. I was eleven years old at the time and clearly remember watching the television with my family as the Eagle made a soft landing on the Sea of Tranquility. About six hours later, while eating Jiffy Pop, we watched in anticipation as Armstrong slowly descended down the lunar module’s ladder before stepping onto the surface of the moon. It just one month later that I tried to talk my parents into allowing me to go to Woodstock, but sadly for me, to no avail. Seriously, what could possibly go wrong with an 11 year old attending three days of peace and music?

I vividly remember how beautiful my wife looked on our wedding day! And walking both our daughters down the aisle on their wedding days, not much compares to it! I also remember my Grandpa, who was born in 1899, talking about his vivid memories of Herbert Morrison’s emotion-filled radio reporting of the Hindenburg disaster on May 6, 1937. I will never forget what we were doing on the morning of Sunday, January 29, 2017, when we got a phone call telling us that my wife’s mother had been killed in a car accident. For the next few hours it was as if time stopped.

Those flashbulb moments, we remember them forever. Not only are they vividly burned into our memories, they also often change the course of our lives, or at least how we go about walking out life. If you are a Jesus follower, do you remember the good things God has done for you? I hope that you can think of a time in which God has done great and wonderful things in your life. But if you are like me, you sometimes have a memory problem. God’s goodness changes us, or at least it should, but when the next trial or test comes, we are quick to forget what God has done in the past, and instead, we worry and fret.

In Psalm 103:2-5, David says this – “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” In another translation, the passage begins this way – “Praise the Lord, I tell myself, and never forget the good things He does for me.”

So, my challenge to you – just as you vividly remember those flashbulb moments in your life, will you also strive to remember the wonderful God flashbulb moments? You know, the good things God has done in your life. Remembering them might not change your situation but doing so will change how you walk through that situation, knowing and trusting that God always has your back!

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What will you spend your time on today. What is your top priority? Is it in the important or does the urgent seem to keep you from the important? There are days when urgent is what is important but often times, at least in my own life, tending to the urgent is only a distraction from caring for what is important. There are also moments in which it is neither important or urgent, but rather wasted that eats up a good majority of our time. One recent study claims that on average, we spend 2.5 hours per days scrolling through social media. That is more than one month per year. Can we agree, for the most part, that time falls into the wasted category.

 Regardless of what else you do today – important, urgent, wasted, or doing nothing (sometimes very important!) – and every other day, I encourage you to spend some time meditating on Scripture. That is What verse you ask? How do I find the verse(s) to read? I say either open your Bible to any page and read the two pages in front of you, asking God to speak to you through those verses OR turn to your favorite verse and read twenty or so verses before it and after it, and again, ask God to speak to you, maybe even revealing something fresh and new. Before you begin, ask God to reveal what needs revealed to you. He promised to reveal Himself to you if you earnestly look for Him. Proverbs 8:17 says this: “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.”

Unlike your favorite secular book that is simply words on a page, and while that book is often good, riveting, consuming, referential, challenging, inspiring, motivating, fun to read, happy, sad, tear jerking, gut wrenching, informational, self-helping, it is a mere book, not usually transformational. However, the Bible is, if we allow God to speak to us through it, is alive and active, drawing us into an ever-deepening relationship with Him, making it a source of guidance for daily living.

Here is what the Bible says about itself — “God’s word is alive and powerful! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts” (Hebrews 4:12, CEV).

We memorized many verses in Vineyard’s ministry school, but the one we memorized on the very first day, and for me the one that is still foundational to my reading and meditating, is that verse in Hebrews.

So, carve out time and space today to spend with God. You’ll be glad you did. That time spent is always of great value. It is never wasted time. And even if no verses or words jump off the pages at you, just the fact that you ingested them, you can trust they are providing nourishment to your hungry and thirsty soul. Then wash, rinse, and repeat tomorrow and every day thereafter.

Note from Dave: As I do periodically, I will be taking a break from writing for the first part of September in order to rest, recharge, refresh. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read my writings. It is my hope that you consider the time you spend reading my stuff as falling into the beneficial category. Not important as is reading God’s Word, but hopefully time well spent, nonetheless. Have a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.     

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.