Your Life’s Investment

Jesus talked about a man who found a great treasure in a field and became so passionate about the worth of that treasure that he took all the resources he had and bought that field.

This is a story about passion. What is your life’s passion? What is the one thing that so drives you that if you could do without sleep, you would spend every waking moment doing that thing? Jesus had an overwhelming, driving passion to do the will of the Father and he had a deep, continuous revelation of what that will, purpose, and mission was.

I’ve heard it said recently that the distinguishing quality of all very successful people who have made their own way in life, is their intense focus on one thing. Wealthy people are not diversified, they are focused. True success in life is not a big bank account, but the privilege of getting up every day and doing that thing that we have a passion for.

We have to choose if we will focus our life investment of our love, time, energy, money on God and his purposes. God Himself desires to be our primary passion. He should be the thing we think about continuously.

Do you realize that God is thinking about you right now? You are his consuming passion. The creator of the universe became a man and went to the cross to buy you back from sin and its curse. You are His great treasure hidden in a field. He bankrupted Heaven to purchase you. Is He your passion? Is He your everything?

Several years ago, God spoke to my wife and teenage daughter in a dream….. the same dream, the same night,  about adopting a baby from China. I resisted the idea for 5 years. The Lord dealt with me in a very clear way and I got on board and we applied to the adoption agency for a baby. There were many forms to fill out, a lot of money spent, and then the day came when a photo of our future daughter came in the mail. We put it on our refrigerator with a magnet and looked at it throughout the day every day and felt so much love for a baby we had never met or touched. Heaven has a kitchen. I know this because there will be a great wedding supper there one day and Jesus is getting it ready. God has our picture on his refrigerator in Heaven. He loves us so much. May you receive a revelation of the worth of His passion and love for you. May His love impact you so deeply that you sell out everything else and go after Him. May He be your life’s investment.

Stop Messin’ Around

The political media has become a tabloid, more concerned about personalities, emotional issues, and associations than actual issues that impact the daily lives of voters. The emphasis has been on the drama that surrounds the process rather than the purpose of the process, which is to serve and protect the people.

The empasis needs to shift from peripheral chit chat to a focus on improving the security and quality of our nation. Problematic to making that shift is the tendency of campaigns to focus on the short term rather than the long term. Politicians have a tendency to do what is popular at the moment and leave long term problems to future generations.

Perspective on priorities flows from our values. We have a value deficit in our culture. Life has become less protected for the very young and the very old. The family unit has broken down with less children being raised by two parent families. The moral lines have been blurred in issues of integrity and honesty. We have lost our moral compass.

For many, there is no definite measurable standard for morality. I am a conservative on moral issues, but more liberal in social issues. Having twins with disabilities, I tend to see more that government could do to help those who find themselves struggling on this planet without all the needed equipment. Having been raised in a Christian culture, I see the need for moral absolutes and a return to a sense of right and wrong. Having said all that, how can we get away from the he-said, she-said approach and get back to discussing real issues as we navigate through our process of choosing the leader of the free world?

First, the candidates must address their stand on the protection of human life. Which leads us to a debate on when life begins. For many of us, this is the fundamental issue of the election. Sixty million fetuses have been terminated since Roe v. Wade. Even if you are in the pro-choice camp and insist on calling them fetuses, you must deal with the fact that millions of viable fetuses have been stopped from coming to term. Every poll shows that the majority of Americans are pro-life. If they are babies in reality, then we have legally killed six times more innocents than did the Nazis. If the majority of Americans believe that we have a mega-holocaust on our hands, this is a serious issue that must be debated.

There are more important issues than what a liberal socialist pastor of a black racist church has to say. Innocent children are dying by the millions, wars are being waged, we have multitudes of unemployed and hungry, the homeless ranks are swelling, the economy is in real danger, the court system is replacing our democracy, and personal freedoms are shrinking. We have serious work to do, so let’s stop messin’ around.

Make Your Hotel Room A Second Home

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had some real disasters with choosing hotel rooms. My experiences have shaped my personal policies and habits in how I obtain lodging and what I do with it when I get it. You can make your hotel room a home away from home by following some simple guidelines that I have developed over the years:

1. PREVIEW – Always, always, ask to see the room before you pay for it. I do this for several reasons, the most important being smell. Sometimes smoking rooms are converted to non-smoking rooms but still smell like smoke. My wife has a nose like a bloodhound. Some hotels allow dogs and there could be fleas in the room. A room might be right next to a noisy elevator or a snack area. Cleanliness and quiet are necessities for a relaxed night’s sleep.

2. BEWARE OF DISCOUNTS – Once, while visiting the theater district in the big apple, we couldn’t believe what a good price we got on our room. When we got there, the room was very nice. We had reserved it by phone and didn’t get a chance to see it ahead of time. That night we became very aware of why our room was priced so reasonably….it was next door to the fire station. Sirens sounded all night long. On another trip we didn’t check out the room in advance, we found that the room had a broken air unit (in Florida during the summer). Amazingly, the hotel refused a refund.

3. PAY EXTRA FOR THE VIEW – A great view will make an ordinary room extraordinary. As in other types of real estate the three most important things are location, location, and location. Sometimes the rooms with a view are an extra cost, so plan that into your budget.

4. NEVER TRUST INTERNET PHOTOS – A couple of years ago we booked a huge condo in Gatlinburg for a special Thanksgiving gathering that included extended family members with a total of 16 people staying in our unit. My wife booked the reservation and prepaid it months in advance based on some beautiful internet photos. We arrived a day in advance of the other family members on a snowy night about 9:00 p.m. The room was a wreck. Holes in doors, walls, and carpeting. Furniture that was so cheap it was like sitting on wood. In short, it was dirty and rundown. Of course, there was no one in the office that late. By the next day my daughter and wife were in tears, I was furious, and the hotel management refused a refund. I refused to leave the property without a refund. The maintenance guy cussed me out and threatened to “whoop” me and as the cops were being called, the maintenance man chimed in, “ask for Shorty.” Shorty didn’t come, another officer did, and they took my side. A refund was made and I didn’t spend the holiday in the Gatlinburg jail. I was having flashbacks of Rambo. Then we found an awesome 3 story cabin with a view, a pool table, and a jacuzzi. It was so nice that I didn’t want to go home.

5. DON’T LEG THE BEDBUGS BITE – Once, while staying in a name brand hotel on the interstate, we got into a room that was teeming with bugs. As it turned out, it was ran by a family whose religious beliefs included reincarnation and they didn’t believe in spraying for bugs. I don’t know how we could have avoided the bugs. They came out in the dark after the lights were shut off and we felt things run across us.

6. UNPACK AND USE THE DRESSER AND HANGERS – Organizing your clothes in the dresser drawers and closet area will eliminate digging through suitcases and will reduce clutter.

7. ASK FOR A SMALL REFRIGERATOR – Get the optional refrigerator and stock it with food, snacks, and drinks.

8. STOCK UP ON GOOD READING MATERIAL – I like to relax by reading and good magazines and books help me to unwind. Your hobby might be crosswords, crafts, or any number of things. Bring your hobby with you to your temporary home.

Perhaps you can learn from our mistakes and successes and make your hotel room into a comfortable second home.