[ROMANS 12:9-21] 

Did you feel convicted?  if you experienced anything like I did the first time that I read this passage, I was shocked, stunned, breathless, and amazed at all the truth paul teaches us [me] here.  So what has God pulled out and highlighted for you? what has he challenged you with?  has he challenged you?  have you allowed him to challenge you?

 

 

“Love must be sincere.”

 

The first thing that is address is the sincerity of the subject. Is it sincere?  This is something I have struggled with, both now and in the past.  Have you ever “fallen in love?” [i use this loosely... so for those who don’t like the term love, then use the phrase, “liked someone a lot?”  and you journey down this path and begin to get to know someone but as you begin to get a bit comfortable in the relationship... things start waring off... you don’t rush at every second to complement each other as much as you did at the beginning... the crazy stunts to get the other one’s attention is starting to fade away, and for some reason this person doesn’t consume your thoughts and dreams 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

 

This is probably due to the fact that your love isn’t sincere, and you aren’t pursuing it with 100% of your heart. God is calling us to be sincere, he doesn’t want a world of fake lovers... a place filled with people who talk the talk and don’t actually show anything to back it up.  Who is it that you are “talking” the talk of love to but not acting upon it?  I don’t think God is only talking about people of opposite sex here either.  Have you been loving on the people around you?  your friends? your classmates? your fraternity brothers?  your parents? your girlfriend? your boyfriend?  is it something that is sincere, 100% authentic?  or is it lacking something? and needing some desperate improvements?

 

 

“Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” 

 

The second thing that God asked me when I read this was, Who are you praying for? are you actually praying for them and not just saying “i’ll pray for you”? is this something that you need to find?  I think as I rethink about all the things I have written about on this website, this passage resonates previous blogs... Remember the one about running in the peachtree? and having people cheering you on?  this is the same idea in this verse.

 

You need this whether you embrace it or not... Life was never intended to be lived alone.  God so desperately wants you to cling to someone and invade their lives... invade their lives with prayer and know what they struggle with. How often do you pray for the same person?  Is it possible to pray continuously for a particular person for a long period of time? YES!   These people that you are praying for will be incredible friends, and will become the much needed resting points for when things get rough.  Who are you devoting to pray to?  Someone not only needs you, but you need them! Be accountable... be devoted.

 

 

“Never be lacking in Zeal, [or enthusiasm] But keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”

 

Who and what are we spending our enthusiasm and passion with/on? Is it serving the Lord?  probably not…

 

So what I want to say is this… what can we do to make it apparent to those around us that we are followers of Christ and not followers of something else like an X-box 360, or followers of excessive partying, or followers of gossip, followers of our music, followers of our car, followers of our schoolwork, or followers of the ministry we are a part of?  

 

That last one has confronted me so many times.  Sometimes when I pull back a little bit and look at what God is doing in my life, I notice that I’m making a bigger deal about this ministry than I am Jesus Christ.  When this ministry is all I talk about and all I am passionate about, I catch that Jesus is never a part of these conversations for some reason… I think its good, because I am building up and talking up something that is “christian” but is it all centered on Jesus or not? … we need to rethink if we are followers of this certain bible study or worship service or are we followers of Christ?

 

 

 

 

There’s a whole lot in what is packed in these verses… but I just encourage you to really take this stuff to God… try praying these verses… [i.e. Lord help me be sincere in my love, and help me find someone to devote my love to, someone who I can pray for and lift up, and help me Lord be enthusiastic about you this week... allow me to be the only bible some people may ever read]  

 

I’m telling you that God has packed SO MUCH in these few verses and I LOVE IT!  Let see how these can become real in our lives, and see how we can become better followers of God and passionate about who he is. I encourage you.

 

Be sincere. 

 

Be devoted to someone. 

 

Be enthusiastic about your creator. 

 

 

 

-L.

 

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I think it would be safe to say that Love is one of the few things that every person on the face of this earth deals with at sometime in their life. Whether it is a love for another person, a love for a creator, a love for a family member, a love for a sport, a love for a job, or better yet, a lack of love for something or another.  It was really cool tonight how God put in front of me a REALLY cool bit of scripture that tackles this subject magnificently!  so… like I do when I am usually convicted… I will make a blog about it.  I think this might challenge some of you with your daily walk with Christ and with your interaction with those who make up your circle of influence. 

 

I want to forewarn you that this is targeted at NOBODY… but implied for EVERYBODY. you don’t have to be a christian to believe in what I am going to say… its a very generic belief system…  But this will stare those who have been following all the days right in the face and challenge you.  This is a principle that can and will change your world.  

 

I also will say that I hope to cover this in more than one blog, because it will take more than just this one to decipher all of what Paul unpacks here! I just really hope that during the next few days [or weeks, as it may take me! haha] this challenges you.  The last thing I want for this blog site, is to be a one way road for you…  i.e. Luke McElroy pouring out his guts and insides out as daily entertainment for those reading along at home.  I want this to be a place where you can meet God, and he can dialogue and meet with you.  This can be a place where He challenges you with what you may be struggling with or something that God is calling you to step up a notch in your walk. These are all things He has challenge me with… maybe you are in the same boat.  

 

 

so here is another….

 

Everything that I write here will not resonate with everybody, but I sure hope it resonates with most.  I have truly been honored to hear all the exciting comments and encouragement from all of those who track regularly… and these next few entry’s are for you!  I encourage you to share these with people or send them this text and hope it encourages them… and challenges them.  

 

I’m so excited about God talking to you and not me…. that I’m going to ask that you just focus on meditating on these next few verses for a day or two… and I will begin to write on these after that time period.  So venture your way to the Bible… however that may be [internet, blackberry, print, tape, dvd, etc.] , grab a pen, and get ready for God to talk!  I encourage that if you don’t actually have a bible in print near you or one that you can write in, highlight, mark up, circle and such… i would suggest to go to www.biblegateway.com and print it! This will be helpful as you will want to remember what God has in store.

 

 

Let God to begin to work in your heart… read Romans 12:9-21. read it twice… and I’ll be back soon!

 

 

Ready. GO!

 

-L.

 

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When was the last time you backed up?  well.. if it wasn’t recent you may want to do it sometime soon.  Tonight I found out that my computer is getting sick.  [its not getting a Virus, like all you PC users out there...] you see, I use a mac.  the beautiful intelligence and creativity brought to us by Steve Jobs.  But tonight  I happened to find out after talking to the friendly apple support team, that my computer may be getting sick.  They sold me that I need to first take it to the doctor’s office [or the apple store].  But Grant [the apple support guy] said that it may need some extensive surgery in California and may need to be shipped out that way… but would be back within a week. 

 

I really don’t like it when things get broken… and especially my computer.  You see.. this tuesday there is a new website that will be launching.  [www.220productions.com] and I need my computer to launch it… not only do I need my computer to launch it, but I need my computer to maintain it.  It is a necessity for the site to be a success! If i loose my computer, I won’t be ready.  But with a backup I will be able to take all my information and use another computer to do the updates and such.  [finding that computer may be a bit difficult.]  

 

You see… right now, I have done everything I can to be ready.  To be ready for the worst…. that I may not get all the information that is on my Hard Drive, when it returns with a new motherboard…. I have to be sure that if that happens, I am ready…. Ready for anything.

 

 

 

That is the exact same thing we are called to do.  

 

BE READY. and at all times be ready for God to do something amazing.  So when was the last time you backed up? backed up your hard drive? or in this case, prepared yourself for whatever lies ahead. 

 

If you have been tracking with me since the “document setup” concept a few months ago… this is a very similar principle, be ready for anything and everything… 

 

be ready for a friend.

be ready for God.

be ready for a new Job, or maybe be ready to get a new one.

be ready for a promotion.

or a pop quiz.

be ready for your teacher or boss to call you out and lead.

be ready to serve.

be ready for life to the fullest, and be ready for death.

but more importantly, be ready for the creator of this world to invite you into the story of GOD! 

 

the really cool thing that God has been landing on my heart for a few years now is this exact idea.  That i need to be ready at all times for God to shape, mold, and craft my life for his purposes, and his plan.

 

You see… if we want to be a generation that is known for living a life to glorify God, we need to be a ready generation.  God doesn’t want to use someone who is unprepared… and someone who could care less about his plans…. he want’s people to say” put me in the game coach! Im ready to play!”

 

Shawn McDonald wrote a song… called “I Want to be Ready.”  

[go to www.myspace.com/shawnmcdonald and listen to the song... here are the lyrics to follow along.]

 

DO IT NOW!

 

“I Want To Be Ready”

by: Shawn Mcdonald

 

I want to be ready 

When the Son Almighty comes 

To lay claim to Him 

And Him, alone 

I want to be ready 

To stand at His side 

For His eyes to gaze upon me 

In His glory and might 

 

I want to be ready 

I want to be ready 

I want to be ready 

For Him and Him, alone 

I want to be 

 

I want to be ready 

To cry out His name 

To lay up in His arms 

Delight in His fame 

I want to be ready 

To be embraced by His love 

Before Thee Almighty 

To take me up above 

 

I want to be ready 

I want to be ready 

I want to be ready 

For Him and Him alone 

I want to be ready 

I want to be ready 

I want to be… ready 

 

To gaze upon Your throne 

To give You all I own 

O My King 

To fall upon my knees 

To give You all the glory 

…

 

 

So what is it that you want to be?  Do you want to be ready for when it all breaks down… are you going to look back and wish you had done a backup? or are you going to be ready?

 

would you really like to loose all the information on your hard drive if it was preventable?  all those pictures?  all those memories?  

 

get ready! God is eagerly knocking at the door!

 

 

–L.

 

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I was driving around the city the other day… [nashville of course!] trying to go to RCKTWN [pronounced, rocket town] for a show.  It began to dawn on me… that I forgot how to get there.  It wasn’t that I didn’t actually know where the concert venue was… i knew it was on 6th avenue behind the Gaylord Entertainment Center.  My big struggle was that I had really forgotten the quickest way to navigate myself there, and most preferably the route that would avoid the most amount of traffic… So in the desperate attempt to try and find this route, it took me almost a half an hour to get to the venue.  

 

As a side note, RCKTWN is only, oh… 5 min. from the Belmont Campus.  

 

I think that we all do this … ALL THE TIME. I don’t want to make an assumption that everyone wastes more time driving in circles trying to get the fastest route, when they could have just taken broadway to sixth st.  I’m really saying that I believe that when faced with a bunch of paths of life… we get the opportunity to pick which path to take.  The problem each of us run into is that we spend so much time running around trying to decide which path would be the ‘quickest’ or the least crowded, or the most successful, or the least boring, or maybe even the path that is least taken [whatever that really means...]. In the midsts of trying to ask questions to friends who may have wise counsel, and looking at the T-charts we have made of all the Pros and Cons of each choice, and the countless books and magazine articles we may have pulled to help us… there is truth that… in trying to decide which path we take, we spend so much longer getting to the same place all of the paths eventually take us to than it would have taken if we had just taken the one that suits us the best at the time.  Stop wasting the time we have… and make a choice.

 

 

You see.. i think that sometimes we play around with this painting we are continually painting on.. when we add so much to it… it just looks like a blur, when the original intention wasn’t that at all. 

 

This is us.  and this is life. 

 

it doesn’t take a genius to come to the conclusion of what I am saying… but to add my thoughts to this idea, I think sometimes we as people who hate making wrong decisions, we need to just take the pressure off.  This could deal with your job, or the school you want to go to… or even your major at that school.  This could be a deal you take, or what meetings you attend.  This could even boil down to where and when you do what you do, with who.  [yes, all 4 W’s are in that sentence.]

 

 

 

so… maybe when you are facing this abyss of various paths ahead of you… you can realize that There is a God in heaven that loves you and cares for you and wants to walk through your issues with you! He created this world, and everything in it… He is bigger than you can imagine and he has the ability to take up WAY more than you can imagine. 

He’s there. 

He’s listening. 

He’s waiting. 

 

so you see that there is no reason to be running in circles and wasting the critical time we have to impact others.  We need to understand the simple principle that God will take care of us when we choose which path we are going to take.  I think that God gets sick of all of us spending so much time trying to figure out which path God wants us to take.  When in the core of it I think that which path isn’t the highest priority for God.  I think he is more interested with what actually happens on the path you end up on.  So when you are faced with all the options of the many paths this world puts at your feet, are you going to ask God to light your path and be your guide along the way? or are you going to spend forever trying to wrestle with which path you are “supposed” to take?  

 

God doesn’t need you to choose the path that follows him. 

God doesn’t need you to choose the path.  

God doesn’t need you to choose.

God doesn’t need you.  

God doesn’t need. 

God leads.

 

 

 

-L.

 

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a • vail • a • ble - Qualified and willing to be of service or assistance. [American Heritage Dictionary 2004].

 

I have talked a lot about service and not over crowding your life with stuff… but I think this is something that not only pierces my heart but just crushes it when people don’t make an eager effort to make themselves available for others.  When you make yourself available to open up to people’s lives or problems or successes,  you serve that person in the most humbling of ways.  But what does it mean to make yourself available to someone else?

 

Think of the last time you made a phone call.  Not just a phone call to a friend or someone you talk to regularly… I’m talking about making one of those phone calls to a significant friend in your life that has prayed with you and lifted you up in down times… but when you make the call you either get a very common voicemail, or a response that you didn’t really want ….. “yeah… let me call you back” …. which never happens. Its a downer, you feel rejected.  or how about the time YOU did that to someone?

 

 

its true.

 

it happens to us all… but we have been on both sides of the story many times before, and you don’t really want to be on either side.

 

“Never abandon a friend — either yours or your father’s.  Then in your time of need, you won’t have to ask your relative for assistance.  It is better to go to a neighbor than a relative who lives far away.” - Proverbs 27:10

 

This isn’t just some cool idea… its a biblical principle.  I think we have a mission to lift each other up and more importantly… be available. 

 

I don’t know how this effects you… it may make you more mad because right now there is this person you are trying to connect with and pray for or just catch up with.  But this may hit you in a week spot.  You may be realizing that this is something you do a lot or often…  I think that this may be some people.  

 

My prayer for this was not to make anyone feel pinned down, or try to surface any problems that had finally calmed down… but to tell you this:

 

If you are someone who deals with people like this a lot and find you self as someone who gets “rejected” often, I’m here to say that it is worth the fight… and make it a point to not let the other person reject you too often… 

 

and if you are the person who “rejects” way too often, just know that you are loved and people want to make it a point to be both involved in your life and they want you to be in theirs… i encourage you to respect that and make it a passion to listen and learn and pray for others.

 

 

like this picture, life gets really fast sometimes, and life can get so out of hand our cameras can’t take a picture of it without getting infinitely long and never ending lines. Don’t let this become the nature of you!  its not you… its not who you were created to be and who God is calling you to be.  God is calling you to become AVAILABLE. 

 

Available to others.  Available to yourself. Available to HIM.

 

 

God is calling you.  are you available to pick up the phone?

 

-L.

 

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