Nothing....Zilch....Nada

Without you, I am nothing.

Without you, I am nothing.

Hillsong proclaims this declaration in their song “Search My Heart”. It sounds so great off the lips…”Without you I am nothing, God. Without you I am nothing.” Maybe we even put a hand up in praise as we make this statement with our fellow Christians. But do we really believe it? Do we really believe that without God, we are nothing? And if so, do we live this out in our daily lives? Heck, do we even want to be nothing without God?

God doesn’t call us to be hermits, but he does call us to love. Without God, we are broken and needy. With God, to tell you the truth, we're still broken and needy. But we have hope. Hope in the love of Christ that he’s going to do a good work in us. Hope in that God will use others to help carry our burdens when the crap won't stop hitting our lives.

What if we came together and were willing to be broken and needy? What if we were willing to allow God to use those around us to help carry our burdens and mend the broken seams? What if we challenged each other to put our eternal hope in Christ? Because the truth remains, without God, we are nothing.

What do you want?

What do we want out of this life?

When was the last time we seriously asked ourselves this question. Do we want a title? Do we want time to spend with our family? I know growing up; I always wanted to be an Olympian, a doctor, or a top CEO. Olympian is out of the question due to physical limitations, while I really don’t like science so that exes out the doctor. The CEO, on the other hand, is plausible. I could go to grad school, get a sweet degree, continue on the corporate track and have a nice office. But is that what I want? Now, your talents may be in another area, whether it be music, science, writing, or just being a darn hard worker, but the question remains the same.

Personally, I want something a little different. As much as the corporate title may sound sweeet (and don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that people who strive for these accomplishments can't be very good people --- on the contrary, they're some of the best people I know), that’s not personally what I want. I'm convinced life comes down to 1) God, 2) priorities/boundaries, and 3) choices. These are just decisions we have to constantly be asking and making of ourselves. The only question that reamains is...what do you want?

Better Than Taylor's Love Story

“If I can speak in the tongues of men and angels…if I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge…if I have faith that can move mountains…if I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love…I am nothing…I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13

All of our actions are to be done out of one single verb…love. What? You mean God doesn't care that I donated half of my clothes to Goodwill (dang, I miss that sweet jacket)? He doesn't care that I gave my entire Saturday to play bingo with the elderly at the retirement home (man, my clothes still stink)? But that's not all it's about. Once Jesus encompasses our life, what we're called to is…love. The service and works will then flow from the love we allow to consume us. Now this is much easier said than done, especially when people are well…jerks. Personally, I can really suck at showing love while in the car. Whether it’s a car going 55 in the left lane of the interstate or another car sitting in the middle of the road without its blinker on…these things just get to me. But both of these are just distractions; distractions to the one truth the world needs all around us…love.

Now, with the past week having been set a part to say “I love you,” why don’t we ignore our current relationship status, whether it be married, dating, or single, and set our eyes upon sharing love with, well….everyone.

Poop on the Windshield

It was just one of those weeks. You know those weeks where nothing goes right and you keep expecting the end to be right around the corner, when in all reality it’s just another staircase spiraling downwards? From being late to work, to staying at work too late, to not getting all the work done, to failing a test…you think it’s all about to end, “Just get me to the weekend!” And then poop comes down on your windshield. And we’re not talking a single bird, but a whole flock. At first you don’t know what keeps hitting your car but then the dread starts to overwhelm you as you realize you’re stuck with nowhere to go and poop just won’t stop raining down.

But then an opening comes along, an intercession to the poop falling down on your life. Someone gives you the gift of grace and lets you slide in. Jesus comes in and leads you saying, “It’s ok, I’ll wipe you clean, let’s keep going.”

The poop of life is inevitable but the way we deal with it defines who we are inside.