Archive for February, 2012

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Wisdom and Understanding

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

Wisdom without understanding is about like salt without pepper. Shoes without shoe strings. A car without gasoline. A diamond without a mounting. Wisdom and Understanding go together. One without the other is not nearly as valuable or as useful. The bible is clear that Wisdom and Understanding go hand in hand. Three times in the first few chapters of Proverbs we are told to write both Wisdom and Understanding on our hearts; to bind them around our necks; to seek them both. 

I hear tons of prayers asking for wisdom. I pray for wisdom all of the time. When is the last time you prayed asking for both Wisdom and Understanding?

Ross

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Bored Being A Christian

Monday, February 13th, 2012

I think many Christians are bored. I believe many men in particularly get Bored being a Christian. If these statements are true then the questions that should be asked are, Why do you get bored with your faith? What can you do to stop being bored?

I happen to think the answers to these issues are rather simple. First, most of the time I don’t think the CHURCH is the problem. In my mind, the problem is that we lack a quality relationship with God. I think that is the fundamental cause of us getting bored and the solution is to get our relationship with God rock solid. How do you do that? I think there are three elements to having a rock solid relationship with God and thus not being bored.

1.) Reading His word daily. You can not have a strong relationship with Him unless you take time to read his word. I am very busy. Most of the time my work days are 12 hours long. My calendar controls my schedule. So, I schedule time to read the Bible on my calendar. The same time each and every day.

2.) I talk to God everyday. I spend time talking to HIM. I want a relationship, so I talk to Him. This too is planned on my calendar. It is hard for me to pray in silence because my brain is full and it races non-stop. I can not just bow my head and pray silently. I learned years ago to write my prayers out word for word. It is a lot of writing. But by writing my prayers out I can concentrate on the task of praying and of having a conversation with my Lord. I have filled tons of thick journals but they are a blessing because not only has this method of praying built a strong prayer life, it has given me a record to re-read. I can see that God answers my prayers. He is alive and He is active in my life. Talk about something stirring you up and getting you excited about your faith!

3.) Do something for the Lord. Yes, if you don’t want to be Bored Being A Christian, do something. Be active doing something to build the kingdom, serve the Lord. There is nothing more satisfying than knowing you are making a difference in someone’s life or in the kingdom. To me there is not much more thrilling than to know you have helped someone. “Faith with out works is dead.”

I could add a 4th or 5th item to the list but I truly believe if you are Bored Being A Christian you can get excited about your faith by doing these three simple steps. Yes, it takes effort and time but nothing in life worth having takes less.

If you are Bored Being A Christian it is time to stop being bored and get busy doing these three things. I promise, if you do, you will never be bored again.

Ross

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God Never Ceases to Amaze Me – Part 2

Friday, February 10th, 2012

I have to tell you, it feels like I am in the “zone”. Yesterday I shared with you how God so quickly answered a prayer for us at the bank. Well, here is the rest of the story. Not only did God fix the immediate problem in less than an hour He fixed 3-other issues that will ensure the problem can not re-occur anytime soon. That is His nature…God loves to give us more than we ask of Him.

But, that is not all. Yesterday, one of our kids sent me a text telling me that Rick Santorum was speaking next door. I grabbed one of the guys and we walked over to hear him. The place was jammed packed, thousands of people. We got there just as he started speaking. Unfortunately (I thought) we were at the back of the convention center. I found it hard to see. The “tall people” in front of me blocked my view. Every time I moved to see, the “tall people” moved blocking my view again. I got frustrated so, I walked over to the left side of the room.  I had a great view. I looked to my right and standing right next to me was a friend of mine from Ada, OK. I had no idea he was going to be there. Well, Here is the rest of the story...The night before and again that morning I told my wife that I needed to get in touch with my friend from Ada. I might even have to drive down to Ada to see him in person. I had an important matter to discuss with him. I had been praying about meeting him. In a room full of thousands of people I looked to my right and my friend from Ada, OK. was standing right next to me, shoulder to shoulder. GOD NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE ME!

ROSS

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God Never Ceases To Amaze Me

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

I write a lot about prayer. I believe in it and practice it daily. However, having said that, God Never Ceases to amaze me.

Yesterday, one of my co-workers and I met over a serious problem we had at the bank. We discussed it and then we bowed our heads and asked God to help us fix it. We prayed that He would fix it that day. We had til Friday to resolve the problem but we asked Him to fix it that day.

Less than an hour later my business associate interrupted me. I was in a meeting but he had to tell me the huge problem was fixed. God never ceases to amaze me. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Ross

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Think About It

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself these questions, How do I praise the Lord? How does my life praise the Lord? If you read the last 5 Psalms you will see that praising God is a natural outflow of a believer.  I would suggest that you read Psalm 150 today. In this Psalm, David put together an exhaustive list of items concerning praising God. The Psalm is but 6-verses in length yet every word deals with praising God.

As I read the Psalm it occured to me that I don’t praise God enough. I started asking myself these questions; How do I praise the Lord? How does my life praise the Lord? In other words, I personalized it. THINK ABOUT IT. Then answer the questions.

Ross

 

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Did You See It

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

In my last blog I asked you to read Psalm 139. Did You See It? Did you see that God thinks about you so much that…

If I should count them (thoughts about me), they would be more in number than the sand;  – Read Psalm 139: 17 & 18

How can we ever doubt the love of God? He is constantly thinking about us and concerned with the details of our life.

Did You See It?

Ross

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Psalm 139

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Pleas read Psalm 139.

Let it sink in.  Don’t read it fast, don’t read it and take off and do something or think about something else.

Just realize it is all about YOU and your relationship with GOD…let it sink into your mind, into your heart.

If you do this exercise you will be blessed, I promise.

Ross

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The Best and Only Dress Code Needed

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

Dress codes are something that have become a necessary part of our society. As I was growing up, I never heard of a dress code except in the Catholic schools. When I entered the work force I never heard of a a dress code at work. It was not necessary to write it and put it into a policy. However, today dress codes are everywhere. We have them in grade schools, middle schools, high schools, private schools, colleges, at work, even on mission trips. My club has a dress code that is rather complex, funny and it stupid. At my club you can where jeans in the dinning rooms except on Sunday. You can not wear jeans on the golf course ever, except from November 1 to April 1. Then you can where jeans on the golf course but not in the club house dinning rooms on Sunday. Never on Sunday (in the dinning rooms). It is ok on the golf course on Sunday, so long as it is November 1- through April 1. Never after April 1.

Anyhow, all of these kinds of silly dress codes only affect the way you look on the outside and that has very little to say about who you really are. Here is the BEST and ONLY DRESS CODE anyone needs;

“Dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Maser forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic all-purpose garment. Never be without it.”

Now that is a Dress Code!

Ross

 

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Celebration

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

Last night we Celebrated our 10th Anniversary at Bank2. We had a party and invited friends, customers and vendor’s of the bank. The Celebration was wonderful. We had so many people in the building that we may have broken the fire code! It was a blessing to see so many friends all at once. I mean, it was GREAT!

An interesting thing happened as I prepared my remarks for the event. I wanted to publicly Praise God for the blessings we had experienced over the past 10 years. I carefully wrote a short story that I could share with the audience. My last sentence was that “God had given us way more than we had prayed for or imagined.”

As with any public speech I make, I write it out and then re-work it several times.  I then practice it out loud and usually end up re-writing it once or twice more. However, as I went through the process I continued to leave the sentence in my talk, “God had given us way more than we had prayed for or imagined.”

I wondered how that would play out. Was it the right thing to say? Was it over the top?. What would my audience think? As I was thinking it through I went up to the second floor of our building to talk to one of my friends about their son who had just had a heart transplant. I wanted to let them know I was praying for him and I wanted to see how he was doing. As Pat and I talked she told me “God had given them way more than they had prayed for or imagined.”

They were celebrating the successful heart transplant, we were celebrating the birth and growth of a business. In both situations, “God had given way more than had been prayed for or imagined.”  As I walked back down the stairs and return to my office I knew the sentence was just right. It was meant to be in my speech. Why? Because, that is the very essence of God’s nature. That is who God is…He is the giver of every good and perfect gift. He gives us way more than we pray for or imagine.  He worthy to be praised, worthy of a  Celebration! 

Ross

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