Distractions and Traditions

Dr. Mike 2026 , , ,

“…but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” Mark 4:19

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And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’  Mark 7:5-7

One day, if you haven’t done already, you will come to a place in life you stop, look around, and shake your head at all the distracting noise surrounding you. Each way you look, you see nothing but others pushing their agenda upon you. Influencers vying for your attention. Marketers packaging their merchandise in your face. Politicians communicating their message of fear and more dollars to feed their mission. Every which way you look you are being bombarded with distractions from your goals.

Then there are those who still live in yesterday’s past. They want to keep the fences in place but cannot give you a viable reason for their position. To remove the fence would change their surroundings. They cannot tell you the importance of the fence. All they mutter is tradition is important and we need to continue keeping it.

Jesus faced the same issues in his time on planet earth. The religious people made up traditions that they placed more importance over God’s way of life. The cares of everyday living and the pursuit of power, money, and sex is nothing new. The same carnal desires humans pursue today were alive and well in Jesus’ time.

All these distractions and made-up rituals are the same battles we face today. They challenge us in our walk with Jesus. We may notice the spiritual fruit of a godly life is missing. Then wonder why? Could it be time to stop; get off the worldly bus, and start down the road the slower way – walking with Jesus.

He has a way of teaching you where to find real freedom, flourishment, and fulfillment. HIS Word, Spirit, and Kingdom ways open the door for you to fully live as a human being. HE leads you to discover real love, joy, and peace without the trappings of social customs. HE welcomes you into a family of the Triune God circle. You meet Papa God. You are introduced to the Holy Spirit. You capture HIS vision for humanity. You find purpose in your life. You find a way of life that is grace-paced. It all starts when you disregard the noise around you and focus your eyes and heart unto Jesus.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Faith-Integrator, Encourager, Scribbler

Click Here for more Writings Neatly Bound in Book Format Available at Your Favorite Bookstore.

“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,” (Colossians 1:9)

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The Power of Sacrificial Love

Dr. Mike 2026 , , ,

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

The act of sacrificing is as old as time. History records how people offered sacrifices to their gods. Yes, even before the first pages of the Bible were ever written. The Bible though helps clarify the intentions and purpose of sacrifices.

We have the initial story in Genesis of Cain and Abel both offering a sacrifice to God. God accepted Abel’s but not Cain’s. Later Abraham was ready to offer his son Isaac as an offering to the Lord. Later grandson Jacob offered a sacrifice to God. The people of that period found it natural to offer sacrifices in appeasing their gods. They realized there was a world beyond them. They thus practiced their religious rituals in an act to find favor with the gods. They believed these gods influenced world events and their lives. This was the custom of the times.

When you look at every culture in history, they had their gods to appease. What the Lord of the old covenant introduces is the fact there is only one god worth worshiping – Jehovah. So in a culture of sacrificial practices to many gods, HE introduces HIMSELF. HE starts with Abraham and his family lineage. With Moses, HE reinforces HIS position as the only God worth serving. The sacrificial rituals continue, but are aimed at the ONE God. The practices remain until the arrival of Jesus.

Jesus, God in flesh, clarified the meaning of the sacrificial practice. HE, and later the apostles would emphasize the reason behind the sacrifices. The purpose wasn’t to appease God, but to learn the importance of living a life of sacrificial love. All the rituals pointed toward Jesus.   

Jesus demonstrated the power of sacrificial love throughout HIS life. From birth through his last breath, HE packaged this way of life to live under HIS Father’s Kingdom. The Triune God’s way of life is built on sacrificial love.

The Father sacrificed HIS Son for the redemption of humanity. The Son willingly and in HIS own admission sacrificed HIS life for you and me. All this so we may join them in the eternal circle of Father-Son-Spirit. Sacrificing oneself for another is the way of God.

Real love is sacrificial. This is the love that is God-ordained. We witness its impact throughout history and in the lives of those closes to us. We see this from the love of a parent for their child. We read about the actions of an army buddy throwing their body on top of an exploding grenade. Love is about what’s best for the other person, not you.

If you want to know the depth of your love, ask yourself. Are you willing to sacrifice all for another person. A close family member, most likely. But to a stranger, that is the measurement of one’s heart.

Jesus, before we ever met HIM or heard about HIM, when HE was still a stranger to us, did this for you and me. That is the power of sacrificial love.

That is the love of God we want fully expressed in us and through us for the sake of all those around us. Until then, we walk humbly and gracefully knowing we are still a work in process.  We are very grateful for the love of God being expressed in us and through us for the sake of ourself, others, and HIS Kingdom. HIS earthly life showed us the value of sacrificing for others. It is how love is expressed.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Faith-Integrator, Encourager, Scribbler

Click Here for more Writings Neatly Bound in Book Format Available at Your Favorite Bookstore.

“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,” (Colossians 1:9)

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message! Copyright 2013-Present | Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

Gluttony, Self-Control, and Me

Dr. Mike 2026 , , , , ,

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control…For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 2 Peter 1:5-10

Liturgical churches practice Lent before the arrival of Passion Week and Easter. They practice this discipline as a reminder of Jesus’ temptation at the start of HIS ministry. Most will choose fasting from food. Others may choose sacrificing something else. But the focus is disciplining their body under the auspices of the Holy Spirit. The process is to become more like Jesus in one area of their life.

I personally do not observe Lent. But I am all for practicing disciplines to become more like Jesus. This is one of the roles of a disciple. To take part with Jesus in actions which transform the human heart. To become more like HIM in attitude, desires, and actions.

Most often I am led to define a personal weakness and then select an opposing discipline to practice. Over-the-years we have gone to the spiritual gym and worked out specific areas. Each routine becomes the focus of transformation with the help of the Holy Spirit. For example, greed is overcome by generosity. Too-much-talk is introduced to silence. A self-centered viewpoint is dismantled through a Triune God worldview. Laziness discovers diligence. Loneliness meets community. Religiosity is set aside with relationship. Lordship is replaced with servant-hood; and many more. (The longer you live, the more opportunities you have to practice.)

This season of life we are taking on one area that I have refrained until now. It is one of the largest strongholds still possessing me. As I have mentioned at times, I love to eat. I eat whenever there is a reason too. I eat to celebrate. I eat to comfort. I eat to remove boredom. I eat to please my sweet tooth. I may occasionally eat because the body needs more nourishment. As the old joke goes, you can call me anything, as long as you don’t call me late for dinner.

It is one area of my life that the walls of the city are broken. If I be true to God and myself, it is time to rebuild the wall. So, we start again. This time with the intentional purpose to put in place long-term disciplines. Practices that will allow the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to complete HIS work in me. To create the internal condition of self-control in my desires for food.

The Spirit of self-control is evident in many other areas of this life. But with food, I have never made the commitment to totally surrender its mastery over me to our Lord. There have been short periods of time where HIS fruit led the way. But for many reasons, we succumb back to our inner, deep desires. So now we begin again. We begin with grace. We will proceed with grace. We will end with grace. For without grace, I would not attempt this again.

So here we go. Gluttony disbanded with Spirit-led self-control. Our desire is to enjoy food with temperance, gratitude and moderation. Holy Spirit, let us go to work.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Faith-Integrator, Encourager, Scribbler

“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,” (Colossians 1:9)

Click Here for these and Other Writings Neatly Bound in Book Format Available at Your Favorite Bookstore.

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message! Copyright 2013-Present | Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved