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2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

It’s always a good idea to take inventory of our lives, to really examine ourselves without rose-colored glasses. Ask yourself the question, do I really believe what I say I believe? Can someone look at my life and see some semblance of that faith I proclaim? Or, do you know deep down things aren’t right and you are just putting on a show? Here’s the thing, it’s been my observation in my own life and in the lives of other true believers (along with being scripturally accurate) that if Christ is in you and you are being less than what you should be, He will painfully bring you back to where you need to be.

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1 Peter 1:13Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

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Ephesians 4:25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

Most people I know are not compulsive liars, sure some tell fish stories or exaggerate for effect or humor but they generally aren’t harmful hateful liars… though I’ve come across a few. You know what I see more often? People don’t speak truthfully. There is a difference between speaking truthfully and lying. The liar blatantly adds-to or changes the truth, the person who doesn’t speak truthfully leaves out some of the important details of the truth. Are you following me?

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I have been blessed to be the father of four wonderful children. Since the day they were born I’ve watched over them and protected them from harm. I feel that I’ve worked hard to show them my love for them and to gain their trust in that I would never lead them into harms way. There comes a time in each child’s life when that trust will be tested, and this my brothers and sisters is why God gave us the bicycle. They get so excited that they’ll be able to enjoy the freedom of riding by themselves! The wind blowing in their hair the excitement in living life at another level! But, there is this inevitable problem. Though I love them dearly, I don’t want to be running miles upon miles holding them up by their seats when they have the ability to do it themselves. What I’ve observed is that they were all confident and steady when they could feel my hand holding their seat, and once I let go the first time they would loose all composure and become a jerking shaking mess because they could no longer feel my hand there, then every time after that they would keep looking back at me and say don’t let go, don’t let go. With the last go round with my youngest Kori, I would just tell her I love her, I have faith in her, and to just keep her eyes looking ahead and trust me. But Kori, she’s my little lovely “fraidicat” and she would break down in tears and say she just couldn’t do it. I would just re-affirm that I loved her, had faith in her ability, and that she would be ok, if she just kept her eyes focused on what was ahead of her. I admit, it was a little frustrating for me because I knew she could do it, her balance was just fine when she felt my hand there. Then one day after we’d gone another round and she broke down in tears with her head hung on her handlebar, I walked to the back yard for something and had my back turned and heard her little voice giggling with excitement saying…”Yoooohooo Daddy!” I turned and looked and she was off and riding all by herself. I was so proud of her, not that she was riding on two wheels… but that she overcame her fear and had faith she was going to be ok. So I write this long story to tell you that those things that God calls us to in life are much like your daddy teaching you to ride a bike. Though you may be deathly afraid and be a shaking, wobbling mess, because you can’t feel Him… He is there… He knows you can do it, he knows you can get through it, and He is just waiting for you to see that yourself. He wants you to feel the freedom of an increased faith in Him. He will never leave you or forsake you.

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Matthew 24:44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

You know how the saying goes, celebrities die it threes. In the past 10 days or so Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson have died. Ed was getting older, I don’t believe it was shocker to anyone; he lived a full life and enjoyed much of what the world had to offer and I think he may have had some form of cancer. Farrah was no surprise because we know she was cancer stricken. But I think we were all shocked when we heard of Michael Jackson’s death.

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