Distractions
Howdy!
Supper...Union...5:45...be there.
Campus Encounter...Stillwater, OK...leave sometime on Fri...get back sometime on Sun...come.
Thank you for reading my emails and encouraging me to keep writing them! Who I am to think that about a hundred people care to read something I have to say every week? Please keep encouraging me. I need it.
Wake Up!
Grow Up!
Watch Out!
What's that smell? That's fried pussycat (just kidding...that's a line from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation). Naw, man, that's not fried pussycat, but we do all have a fragrance about us. Hopefully that fragrance is the aroma of Christ manifested in our love for others, whether or not they love us first and whether or not they love us at all.
Evangelism and reaching out has been a big theme in the RFCs since I've been here and especially lately. And rightly so, it is Jesus' command for his disciples in the Great Commission. What does it mean to wake up, grow up, watch out, and spread the aroma of Christ? It means getting past the petty distractions of life and stupid arguments. It means shedding our earthly, limited perspective and taking on a godly, eternal perspective.
What is keeping you from doing what God wants you to do? What drains your time or consumes your mind? For me it's worrying about finding a girl. I don't think the worry is caused by a lack of faith that God has someone for me somewhere down the line. Perhaps it's a lack of patience. I want her now! Why can't I be satisfied with just having God? I know and believe He's all I need. Why don't I think and act like I believe it?
For some of us the distraction is schoolwork. For some of us it's work work. Some of us are hindered by rocky friendships. (Like I asked last week, Are we treating each other like brothers? This week I ask, Are we forgiving each other when we don't treat each other like brothers? If we can't love our own family, how can we love those who are outside of it, much less God "whom we have not seen.") For some of us it's timidness or thinking we don't know enough yet or thinking that we're too sinful. For some of us it's worrying what will happen to our friendship if we try to bring God into it. Personally, I'd rather lose a friend because they reject the Word than to lose them because they die without ever getting a chance to reject it. I think what hinders us is a combination of these things and for the most part a lack of the right perspective—the perspective that many of the people we walk by each day desperately need God.
I was not put on earth to get married! I was not given life to get an education! I was not created to get a job! I was put on earth to love God, to glorify Him, to obey his commandments, and to spread His Word and his love—His aroma!!! The other things are not the focus. They're blessings that come along the way (and they are definitely not to be taken for granted).
I wanna "throw off everything that hinders"! I wanna be satisfied with just me and God!
"O God you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be SATISFIED as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me."
Psalm 63:1-8
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus"
Phillipians 3:12-14
"Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it sins."
James 4:17
"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Romans 7:24
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
1 John 2:15-17
"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart."
1 Peter 1:22-23
"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that God is good."
1 Peter 2:1-3
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline."
2 Timothy 1:7
Thanks for reading. These lessons aren't just for you. They're lessons I need to and am trying to take to heart as well. Hope you're ready to throw off all of the distractions and sins that hinder. Have a great day!
In HIM,
Mitch
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2001, 3:26pm
From: Nick Ruple
Subject: RE: distractions (You can send this to everyone if you want)
Mitch,
Your emails are extremely encouraging to me. A devotional on the screen. I laid awake last night and thought about a lot of the things you said. I took a lot to tell everyone what your distraction is. I think mine might be how bad I want to have a band. I pray that God will keep me from putting my trust in my music or all the stuff I buy off eBay. That I won't get too materialistic. Your email was a shout from the mountaintops, and all of us in the valley can hear you. I was wishing last night that there was a switch that you could pull and your life would automatically be turned over to God. I would have pulled that switch many times in my life. But it doesn't work like that. With each minute comes a decision of whether or not to pull the switch. Let's not get worn down. Let's look for strength from Jesus. Let's look for strength from each other. Heaven is not the only goal. Every day is a battle in itself. We need to give support. Sincerity. Respect.
Loud love,
==Nick==
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2001, 10:48pm
From: Nathan George
Subject: Latest Discussion
hey everyone,
you know i know that God does so many things for us in our lives and he strategically puts us in places for us to meet certain people so that we can touch one person or a thousand persons and also to be touched by others. i have been so blessed in my life to know that there is a God and that he is the God that created the world and that there are no other gods (emphasis little "g") before him. i think that God also gives us tasks through the Holy Spirit. He doesn't just put us somewhere for what we can get out of it. lately i have been looking inside myself and trying to figure out why God put me here. not just here on earth, but here at the university. i haven't figured it out yet but i know that it isn't just for my benefit. start looking inside yourselves to see why God has you where you are at, or if you are where God wants you to be. also know that God doesn't just come right out and say "hey billy bob (or whatever your name is) you aren't where I want you." you have to search for him and he will be there. i need to do more searching myself instead of worrying about how little money i have or if i am in the spotlight enough. But like nick said. let's strengthen each other and instead of making mitch give a weekly devo via e-mail, we could have a day to day e-mail discussion. i like it. i know you are all busy. thanks for listening.
nate
Supper...Union...5:45...be there.
Campus Encounter...Stillwater, OK...leave sometime on Fri...get back sometime on Sun...come.
Thank you for reading my emails and encouraging me to keep writing them! Who I am to think that about a hundred people care to read something I have to say every week? Please keep encouraging me. I need it.
Wake Up!
Grow Up!
Watch Out!
What's that smell? That's fried pussycat (just kidding...that's a line from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation). Naw, man, that's not fried pussycat, but we do all have a fragrance about us. Hopefully that fragrance is the aroma of Christ manifested in our love for others, whether or not they love us first and whether or not they love us at all.
Evangelism and reaching out has been a big theme in the RFCs since I've been here and especially lately. And rightly so, it is Jesus' command for his disciples in the Great Commission. What does it mean to wake up, grow up, watch out, and spread the aroma of Christ? It means getting past the petty distractions of life and stupid arguments. It means shedding our earthly, limited perspective and taking on a godly, eternal perspective.
What is keeping you from doing what God wants you to do? What drains your time or consumes your mind? For me it's worrying about finding a girl. I don't think the worry is caused by a lack of faith that God has someone for me somewhere down the line. Perhaps it's a lack of patience. I want her now! Why can't I be satisfied with just having God? I know and believe He's all I need. Why don't I think and act like I believe it?
For some of us the distraction is schoolwork. For some of us it's work work. Some of us are hindered by rocky friendships. (Like I asked last week, Are we treating each other like brothers? This week I ask, Are we forgiving each other when we don't treat each other like brothers? If we can't love our own family, how can we love those who are outside of it, much less God "whom we have not seen.") For some of us it's timidness or thinking we don't know enough yet or thinking that we're too sinful. For some of us it's worrying what will happen to our friendship if we try to bring God into it. Personally, I'd rather lose a friend because they reject the Word than to lose them because they die without ever getting a chance to reject it. I think what hinders us is a combination of these things and for the most part a lack of the right perspective—the perspective that many of the people we walk by each day desperately need God.
I was not put on earth to get married! I was not given life to get an education! I was not created to get a job! I was put on earth to love God, to glorify Him, to obey his commandments, and to spread His Word and his love—His aroma!!! The other things are not the focus. They're blessings that come along the way (and they are definitely not to be taken for granted).
I wanna "throw off everything that hinders"! I wanna be satisfied with just me and God!
"O God you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be SATISFIED as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me."
Psalm 63:1-8
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus"
Phillipians 3:12-14
"Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it sins."
James 4:17
"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Romans 7:24
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
1 John 2:15-17
"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart."
1 Peter 1:22-23
"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that God is good."
1 Peter 2:1-3
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline."
2 Timothy 1:7
Thanks for reading. These lessons aren't just for you. They're lessons I need to and am trying to take to heart as well. Hope you're ready to throw off all of the distractions and sins that hinder. Have a great day!
In HIM,
Mitch
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2001, 3:26pm
From: Nick Ruple
Subject: RE: distractions (You can send this to everyone if you want)
Mitch,
Your emails are extremely encouraging to me. A devotional on the screen. I laid awake last night and thought about a lot of the things you said. I took a lot to tell everyone what your distraction is. I think mine might be how bad I want to have a band. I pray that God will keep me from putting my trust in my music or all the stuff I buy off eBay. That I won't get too materialistic. Your email was a shout from the mountaintops, and all of us in the valley can hear you. I was wishing last night that there was a switch that you could pull and your life would automatically be turned over to God. I would have pulled that switch many times in my life. But it doesn't work like that. With each minute comes a decision of whether or not to pull the switch. Let's not get worn down. Let's look for strength from Jesus. Let's look for strength from each other. Heaven is not the only goal. Every day is a battle in itself. We need to give support. Sincerity. Respect.
Loud love,
==Nick==
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2001, 10:48pm
From: Nathan George
Subject: Latest Discussion
hey everyone,
you know i know that God does so many things for us in our lives and he strategically puts us in places for us to meet certain people so that we can touch one person or a thousand persons and also to be touched by others. i have been so blessed in my life to know that there is a God and that he is the God that created the world and that there are no other gods (emphasis little "g") before him. i think that God also gives us tasks through the Holy Spirit. He doesn't just put us somewhere for what we can get out of it. lately i have been looking inside myself and trying to figure out why God put me here. not just here on earth, but here at the university. i haven't figured it out yet but i know that it isn't just for my benefit. start looking inside yourselves to see why God has you where you are at, or if you are where God wants you to be. also know that God doesn't just come right out and say "hey billy bob (or whatever your name is) you aren't where I want you." you have to search for him and he will be there. i need to do more searching myself instead of worrying about how little money i have or if i am in the spotlight enough. But like nick said. let's strengthen each other and instead of making mitch give a weekly devo via e-mail, we could have a day to day e-mail discussion. i like it. i know you are all busy. thanks for listening.
nate
posted by mitch | 1:16 AM
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