Should we keep on sinning

If I were to look at the church from the outside in approach (as not being a Christian) in most American churches I would most like being skewed and left with hypocritical opinion of the church.  That is, to say, that I would probably ask why do I need God if Christians continue to do the same thing that they did before and continue to sin and keep on sinning.  I would say how can they judge me when they keep doing the very things that they say that they are saved from.If I were to look at most men in these churches in America, I would be disappointed by the statistics that compare the world to them, meaning there probably wouldn't be much difference.

If I were to be real with these American churches that were just lukewarm, I would look to the book of Revelation and say to them what Jesus said to one of his churches about being lukewarm - he would rather have that church be hot (on fire for Him and His will) or cold (worldly) instead of lukewarm (which is like vomit in His mouth).

Based on the way that some Christians live, some in the world can conclude that the salvation of that church (living like the world) is like a lottery ticket - meaning that they can be "saved" and also live like they used to live by continuing to keep living the same way as before (this is the world's view). I would caution any church against living a lie such as this...you will be held accountable by misleading others.

Let's test that against Scripture:

Romans 6 English Standard Version (ESV)

 Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self[a] was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free[b] from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

 Slaves to Righteousness

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves,[c] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Salvation is a free gift from God.  The cost of discipleship, however, is a life time process that we strive for as His children through our lives to have our sanctification finally completed by His return.

Please understand this point:  Works is not a means to salvation and never will be.  The Book of Romans states:  Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy He has saved us.  For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Bottom Line:  No matter what we do, can do or will do, works will never be good enough to earn our way into heaven.

So now I say to the churches that are neither cold or hot, but rather lukewarm.  To the churches that compromise biblical truth because of family circumstances and/or worldly convictions and/or worldly condemnation - do not compromise the Bible, do not bend the truth do not accommodate the world's desires if it jeopardizes God's truth!

Some of you may read this and think that I am saying to then persecute those who sin.  Stand firm and hate both the sin and the sinners that are transgressing the body of Christ - that is not what I am saying at all.  I am speaking to the Church that is lukewarm and not following Christ's will.  I am asking them to stick to the truth, to trust the Lord with all their heart and to lean not on their own understanding.  To acknowledge the Lord in all that they do and He will make their paths straight.  To the church that is cold - Repent!  To the church that is lukewarm - Repent!

If the world is asking me to compromise Scripture to be accepted by them, then I am going to deny myself to the world and trust God!  Really it is a simple choice.  A humble reminder to everyone is that ONE DAY there will be a judgement!  One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

Either you know Him and He will testify about you to His Father.   Or He will deny you and say depart from me for I never knew you.  Some of the churches may be just doing that - playing church and denying the very existence of why we need a perfect Savior (just going through the motions - these are those that Jesus talks about that will say Lord, Lord and He will say to them, 'depart from me for I never knew you').

Jesus said that His sheep know His voice and follow him.  Scripture tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him.  Jesus tells us that the world will persecute us just as they persecute Him.  If I am going to error, then I am going to error on the side of Biblical truth instead of the desire of the world's version of bent truth.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!  What about you and your house?

Blessings,

Dante

The 5 W's

Many of  you have heard me quote the poem, The 5 Watches, from time to time over the past eight years of being involved with Lance and this blog.  Lance and I do believe that Character, Integrity, Honor, Courage, Honesty, Gentleness, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness and Self-Control are important to being a Legacy Dad.  It is important because that is the call of the disciple of Christ.Many of us, do to the the lack of time, over-commitments, laziness and/or fill in your blank: _________________, do not always measure up to these demands and some may even feel overwhelmed by the God's call for our lives.  I think if we are honest and really reflect back, I would believe that a majority of us would realize the answer:  It's not because God couldn't do this for us, rather, because we got in the way - we tried to do it on our own.  That is, to say, that we gave him a little of our day (our schedule, our sin, and our lives) but we didn't give it all to him.

The poem that I often quote is this:

Watch your thoughts,

for they become words.

Watch your words,

for they become actions.

Watch your actions,

for they become habits.

Watch your habits,

for they become your character.

Watch your character,

for it becomes your destiny.

How about the 5 W's of the Christian Walk:

• Who do we worship?  (God or god(s) defined as idols that take our attention from who we should worship:  God
• What do our lives tell others what our priorities our?
• Where does our faith belong (where is it currently?  do you have faith in God?)
• When do we believe God (does he really mean His will be done, His abundant life for us?)
• Why should we serve God His way and not ours (not when we want, not how we want, but instead reading His word and serving Him the way that He requires in all of our lives)

What can we do to change our perspective our religion?  When I say our religion, I am defining it as this:  Our religion is that which is what we only take away from reading the Bible (meaning if there is somethings that convicts us or causes us the desire to repent and we ignore that part).  Our religion being defined as we are allowing ourselves to serve both the world (and our own special interests) and God instead of serving him in all that we do.  Our religion being defined as when it is convenient for to serve Him and others instead of when He wants us to serve.

Pure religion in the eyes of the Father is that which looks after widows and orphans and turns away from the ways of this world.  God's religion is for us to Trust in the Lord with all of our hearts, to lean not on our own understanding, but to acknowledge Him in all of our ways.  And He will make our paths straight.

What about you?

Blessings,

Dante

What is good about good habits?

Phrases like "creatures of habit", "practice makes perfect", and so on, should continue to highlight the theme in our daily walks and biblical discipleship.  All throughout the Bible we read about a God who takes the time to invest in ordinary men and does extraordinary things with them.  Does He need us to do his will?  Of course not!  Does He desire to use us for His good?  Of course!  Words like grace and mercy and justification and honor and integrity and courage should all be words that describe you as a legacy dad, as a man of God, as a disciple of Jesus Christ.There is a poem that I like from Frank Outlaw that goes like this:

“Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character; watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

If accept this poem as true in human nature, then we have to be careful and watch our habits because that could shape our character.  That being said, I was surfing the internet and found this chart (inset to the right) that I really liked.  The reason why I like this is because you can apply it to just about every aspect of our life:

Physical:

• Eat Healthy
• Sleep Healthy
• excercise
• Laugh
• Love
• and be social (God desires us to be in community)

Mental:

• Exercise the Brain by reading and writing
• Healthy Sleep
• Have accountability in your life (to keep you on the road of healthy thoughts)
• Avoid sin
• Laugh

Spiritual:

• Read the word daily
• Pray continuously
• Have accountability in your life (true accountability - not just a social hour of patting each other on the back)
• Listen to preaching and teaching of the Word
• Sing Songs, Hymns and Spiritual songs (with reckless abandon and act is no one else is watching but our Lord)

As a men's ministry leader, elder, legacy dad and husband and father, I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I witness men getting out of healthy habits (routines) and how they are able to slip back into sin so quickly.  Or other men, who shoot up so strong in their faith and yet fade away when temptations or anger sets in.  Or men that have marriages that are barely holding on and instead of letting go and letting God they hold on tight to mediocrity?  Honestly, sometimes this can be frustrating, and if I am really honest about this, then the frustrating part becomes when I realize that the very thing that annoys me about them - really annoys me because I can identify with that - meaning I can shift and fade quickly as well.

Jesus put it like this in Scripture:

Matthew 13 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Parable of the Sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears,[a] let him hear.”

The Parable of the Sower Explained

18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.[b] 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Some may come to the Judgement Seat of Christ and say, "Lord, Lord" and Jesus will reply depart from me, I never knew you.  Scripture is clear that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  Don't misunderstand this reference because someone who is truly saved (born again) is always saved (Once saved, always saved - Read John for this one).   Immediately upon salvation, the Holy Spirit dwells within each of us and promises to us gifts of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness and Self-Control....

We are called to examine ourselves to see if we are still in the faith?  Or if we ever were?  Are you?  Is your life-bearing the Fruit of the Spirit?

What if you are not?  What if you are in the same rut, sin, shame every day?    If you are not and all you see is the fruit of the Sinful nature, then pray and ask God to call you to be His (Read Romans 10).

If you are, but are slipping backward or finding yourself along the thorns of life, the rocks of life and or just away from the good soil, then try this on for size:

Cue:

• Wake up an hour earlier
• Wait on the Lord
• Be patient and quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry

Routine:

• Read the Bible daily
• Meditate on the word
• Join a men's group
• Have accountability in your life
• Get involved with your family (put the phones, computers, video games and alcohol down)
• Start serving at your church

Reward:

• Try this for 6 months (same cue, same routine) and email me (dante@legacydad.com) to tell me your reward.

Blessings,

Dante

What should the top 6 + 1 priorities be?

Earlier last week, I posted What are your top 6 priorities?  I listed, in any order:  Family, community, work, church, friends and God.  One other person, that I respect, amended this list and added Self.  I asked you to do some honest work on assessing this in your life with your spouse and yourself and what you thought that the Bible would say about this list.As a result, I am listing the following order of what I believe the Bible tells us that our priorities should be:

1. God - Jesus said, when asked by the leaders of Israels time, what is the greatest commandment, Jesus said to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength (and the second, to love our neigbhor as our self.)
2. Self - some may argue with this one, but I would like to contend the following verses:  1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 3 John 1:2, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Peter 5:7-9.  Our bodies are a temple to God (His Holy Spirit resides in each of us that are born again).  How can we help others when we are not well?  How can we show Christ in us, when we do not treat our bodies, mind and soul with this respect that God calls us to be.
3. Family - as legacy dads we are called to be prophets, priests and kings of our household.  Ephesians 5 tells us to love our wives as Christ loves the church.  Colossians 3 gives us important details about the family:  Love our wives and do not be harsh with them, do not embitter our children.  Deuteronomy 6 tells of how we are to raise our children.  Family is our direct mission field.
4. Friends - we are to love our neighbor as our self.  Who is your neighbor and why are we called to take care of our friends?  Our life should model Christ and point our friends to church.
5. Church - can really be included under friends.  In church, we are called to corporate worship and to listen to the reading of scripture.  We are called be the body (working together) to go and reach the disconnected growing the connected and making disciples.
6. Work - King Solomon, in the book of Ecclesiastes, tells us that life is but a mist.  We are to work hard, enjoy life and to give all that we have to our maker.  Without him in our life - it is pointless.  Colossians 4 tells us how to approach work and to realize who we are working for.
7. Community - lining up #1 - #6 gives us the importance of our mission field in our neighborhoods, towns, cities, states and nations.  Mathew 28 gives us the Lord's commission - The Great Commission.

This is my two sense (cents).

Blessings,

Dante

Why I do a daddy-daughter(s) dance...

[youtube id="nrWMBC6yoME"]For the past several years in February of each year I have the pleasure to take my two daughters to the ball (aka "Daddy Daughter Dance").  This past year was a blast because I went with a really good friend (who I just came back from vacation with - adults only) and really enjoyed our time getting to know each other and building our friendship.  We both decided on vacation to step up the dinner to a fancy place - and our girls really enjoyed themselves as did we.

We took pictures, the girls ate cake, drank juice and had candy along the night and would not stop dancing with their dads throughout the entire night.  I think it is really important for dads to date their daughters for many reasons.  I think it is important to treat their mother the way that you want them to be treated.  I think, as Legacy Dads we could not have a more challenging task then to raise our kids to know the truth (owning the word of God and having a relationship with Jesus) along with life skills.

So hear are the top 10 reasons why you should date your daughters:

1. They need to learn how a man should treat a woman (with respect and adoration)
2. They need to have our time (not just quality but as much quantity, hugs, kisses and full attention we can give them (men - put your stupid phones away when you date them)
3. Teach them how to dance (if you don't make it up, woman love a man who doesn't care what others think when they are having a good time)
4. Show them how to open a door for them and to pull out their seats before they sit down (Chivalry in my house is well and alive)
5. Hugs and Kisses and Butterfly Kisses, as well
6. Because when you are intentional with the love that they so crave from you (as dad) you will see a glimmer of hope and awe in their eyes - see the picture for proof)
7. They are watching you, your walk, your talk, your integrity and your relationship with God (is your faith real)
8. Do not be afraid to chase their hearts (pursue their hopes and dreams and listen to what they are saying
9. To give them the sense of security (dad is in control)\
10. To show them the love of God

Life is precious and before you know it - they will be gone

Blessings,

Dante

The Pursuit of Happiness

The Declaration of Independence: A TranscriptionIN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…

These men were standing together against tyranny and against a form of government that no longer cared about the inalienable rights of individuals as highlighted in red above.  They stood together against a far superior force and military that for any other reason would be overwhelmed if it had not been for God allowing these men to form a nation:  The United States of America.

This post is not about the rich culture of American History and the men that made this such a great nation.  Not every founding father was a professing christian and had a relationship with Jesus Christ, but we read in Romans 8, that that doesn't matter because God will use who He chooses to use for His good and purpose.  I am so thankful to be a part of this country and to be able to be free to speak and to worship and to read the Bible in public venues without fear of persecution or condemnation.  Clearly, some of you may be thinking that this government is so far away from the original statements laid before in this wonderful Declaration, but we have seen this before.  Communists trying overthrow our government through media channels, Nazis infiltrating very aspects of our society and some other modern day Governments that so desperately crave to destroy the very essence of Freedom.

There is a lot that is wrong with this world and even in our country, but remember this, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" Romans 3.  No matter how we hope that legislators and rulers and bosses and so on can get the very essence of God's word to promote justice and freedom and the belief for each and everyone of us to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we will always find those that want to stunt this thought and have plans of their own.  Plans that our contrary to the word of God and to the very statutes of our creator.

These founding fathers understood the most important lesson in life:  There is a Creator and every knee will bow and tongue will confess.  So what does that mean for you and I?  Simply put, why should each one of us act differently then the world?  Why should we be humble, teachable and respectful of others?  Why should we love the Lord God with all of our heart, mind, body and soul and secondly why should we love our neighbor as ourselves?  Because Jesus told us that these are the two most important commands to follow (because all the others hinge on this).

What rights do we have as legacy dads:

• To love God
• To read his word daily
• To pray often
• To be loved by Him
• To love our wives unconditionally (Read 1 Peter 3:7)
• To love our children unconditionally
• To pursue our happiness (honoring God all the way)
• To be humble in all circumstances
• To trust and obey (for there is no other way)
• To Submit to God's will for our lives (this brings us His plans and His freedoms for our lives)

What if these are not the case in my life?  What if my life is bearing more sinful nature stuff then the fruit of the Spirit? What should I do, Dante? Lance?  Where can I turn?  How can I right this wrong?  How can I turn this ship around?  How can I take this dead marriage back to life?  YOU CAN'T, BUT  GOD CAN MAKE NEW THINGS AND RAISE THE DEAD TO LIFE!!!

Right now, if this speaks to you:

• Pray, ask God to reveal His will for your life (note:  If you are not reading the Bible, then you will not get this request)
• Get involved with other men (in a bible study, in an accountability group - true accountability)
• Love unconditionally
• If there is more deeper issues (scars, hurts, wrongs) get profession biblical help

Wait on God & Trust Him.

Blessings,

Dante

TOP 10 THINGS THAT YOU CAN'T CONTROL

As I continue to get older (and older) I have come to the realization that most older people (those that learn from their lives and continue to learn) have a wealth of knowledge if we could just take the time to engage them and chat with them and build relationship with them.  A dear old friend of mine used to say to me that there is only two things in life that we can control and that is: 1) Our attitudes and 2) how we handle the situation that God brings to us.This brings me to my top 10 list of things that you can't control:

1. Those around us - We cannot force our will on others nor control them for the outlook that we want
2. The way that God made us - Each of us have been faithfully and wonderfully made.  God loves us all and has made each one of us unique in our own special ways
3. Our family - We get to choose our friends (not our family) but God calls us to love our family and to show them the love of Christ
4. Those who we work with and work for - (obviously if you are a boss, or company owner you have influence) if you yield to scripture and follow its teaching, whether you are an owner, a peon or somewhere in the middle or upper middle, you cannot control those around you nor the situations that they present you with
5. The choices we have made (in the past) - we are accountable to decisions and actions that we have taken and we cannot control the outcome of those decisions if we made decisions that are contrary to God's will for our lives
6. The consequences of our past - God's way brings the abundant life, the world's way brings consequences to sin (as for me and my house we will choose to serve the Lord)
7. What other people know that we don't - unless they want to share with us, we cannot control what they want to share or don't want to share
8. What the future will bring (or won't) - Read Roman's 8 (God is in control)
9. What others think of us - Who is your identity in? The world or in Christ?
10. Whether or not others like us (or want to love us) - this is huge, because this impacts #1 through #9 and how we are around others.  If you have lived long enough on this earth you will find that not everyone will like you (people are different) and you will find that some may even hate you.  Is your identity in them or in Christ?

What we can control:

Our attitudes - how we react to positive and negative influences (and people) in our lives

How we handle the situation that God brings to us - From James 1 (NIV) 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

Trials and Temptations

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. 9 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business. 12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.  13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Listening and Doing

19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.  26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Don't just hear the words (of the Bible) do what they say (as we are required to do as disciples of Christ).

Blessings,

Dante

UnWhich

This week is Founders Week at Moody.  There are some great speakers and you can click here to listen to the Speakers and their messages.  I was driving home today and listening to a an excerpt from Ron Hutchcraft about Christians who were trying to run the race and would not even begin to leave the starting line because they were bogged down with too many rocks in their backpacks of life.He referenced certain rocks:  The rocks of unforgiveness, the rock of hatred and so on.   Later in his message he talked about the rock of Kryptonite (that which takes the strength from Superman), and prevents him from doing his very best.

How many of us Christians are stuck in our own proverbial ruts of life, in life and because of life circumstances.  Some more than others of us may have justification:

• Parents divorce
• Being made a victim as a child
• Abuse
• Neglect
• Being unloved
• Parents dying
• Our health or lack thereof

How many of us Christians are stuck in the Unwhich category of life?  That is, how many of us are unwilling to let go and let God.  How many of us are stuck in the "Un"s of life:

• Unforgiveness
• Unloved
• Unaccepted
• Unapologetic
• Underappreciated
• underutilized
• Unavailable
• Unaware (of God's will for our lives)
• Unbecoming
• Unbelief
• Uncertain

How can we move from these UNderperformers into God's will for our life. You ask, Dante, how can you ask me to forgive for what that man, that woman, that boss, that person, that event and that circumstance has done to me (and my situation of life).

Colossians 3:13 (NIV) 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

How can we move from what we think is our best, to the reality of God's best for us?

Take a self exam of ourselves:

• Am I in the word daily?
• Am I in accountability?
• Do I pray regularly?
• Is my faith real inside and outside of church?
• Do I see more of the fruit of the Spirit in my life (or the fruit of the Sinful Nature?)?

How do I move toward God's will for my life?  Talk to a trusted brother, a mentor or a pastor.  Have an honest conversation with your wife and ask them to lovingly hold you accountable.  Give them permission to speak truth in your life.

Repent, turn, move closer to God and He will draw closer to you.Trust, submit and obey!

Your thoughts?

Dante