"Are you close to God?"

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Earlier this month, did you get a chance to see how big and beautiful the full moon was? Unfortunately where I live we had way too much cloud cover that night, but I did get to see it a few nights before, when it wasn’t quite full.

In fact, from what I read, the moon was about thirty percent brighter that night than a typical full moon. It appeared to be big enough and close enough to reach up and touch it.

But was the moon any larger that night? Had it changed size? Of course not. Our rotation and the moon’s orbit were closer than normal. So our relative position, our proximity to the moon changed, not its size.

That’s the way it is with you and God, also. Sometimes you might think that God is really big, so big you can reach up and touch heaven. Other times, though, you may feel that God is far removed and distant.

But God doesn’t change, doesn’t grow larger or smaller. It’s your proximity to God, your closeness to God that changes. So get close to God and reach up and touch, and be touched as you make a life, not just a living today.

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"How sharp is your saw?"

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An old man was walking through the woods one day. He walked up on a younger man, busily sawing on a giant tree with a rusty saw. He watched the young man getting nowhere fast, hardly making a dent in the tree. So the old man continued walking.

Well, on his return trip home, he again passed by the young man still sawing away on the same tree. And still he had made little to no progress on cutting it down. So the old man shouted, “Hey young man, you aren’t getting anywhere like that. Have you thought about stopping and sharpening that saw?”

The young man looked up from his sawing, sweat pouring from his brow, back aching and arms hurting, and shouted back, “I don’t have time, sir. I just don’t have the time.”

Every saw needs sharpening occasionally. Every mind needs some downtime. Every back needs some relief. Every spirit needs some refreshing. Every heart needs some nourishment.

Don’t just make a living today. Take some time to listen to life and make a life, okay?

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"Is your life convenient?"

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My brother and his wife moved recently. They were still settling in so not everything was the way they wanted it just yet. For instance, I went into the kitchen to make coffee one morning. I found the coffeemaker and the coffee. So I filled up the reservoir with water, then realized I didn’t have a filter. I checked all the drawers closest to the coffeemaker, but there weren’t any filters.

So off I went on a filter hunt, opening every drawer as I came to it, and discovering nothing. But I kept looking until I came to the opposite end of the kitchen and there they were, about as far away as you could get.

I took the bundle of filters and moved them to a closer drawer and made my coffee. I asked my sister-in-law if it was okay where I moved them, and she laughed and said, “Yea, I guess I just stuck them in a drawer to get them out of the way. Thanks!”

Sometimes it takes someone else to see where things are in your life and move it around to save you a few steps, to make life more convenient…someone like God. Ask God to help you with life as you make a life, not just a living today.

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"Where are you going?"

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I was recently in an airport, traveling with my wife. We grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down in some rocking chairs in a sunlit atrium. Not too far away was what I call a “people mover.” It’s like an escalator, only flat, and you step up on it and it moves you from one end of the corridor to the other while you just stand there.

So I’m sitting there watching people get on a people mover on one side and get off a people mover on the other side; listening to my life. It occurred to me that life is a lot like a people mover. It’s constantly moving. You’re always going somewhere. But is it somewhere you want to go?

I noticed several people get on a people mover, then decide they were headed in the wrong direction. They either stayed on until the end, and headed back, or they turned around and walked in the opposite direction, disturbing others.

Do you ever head off in the wrong direction in your life? Choose what moves you very carefully as you listen to your life and make a life, not just a living today.

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"Are you staying?"

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It seems as if all I’m hearing these days is bad news, mostly centered around the world economy. I’m observing a lot of people becoming so frightened that they’re not trying. They are afraid of failing.

Maybe you’re one of them. Well, if you are, while you probably don’t remember it, you failed the first time you tried to walk. But you got up and kept trying until you stayed up on your wobbly legs. You’re walking today, right?

And I’ll bet you almost drowned the first time tried to swim, didn’t you? But you stayed in the water until you learned to trust it to support you. Today you swim, right?

Did you hit or kick a ball the first time you swung at it? You may have fallen flat on your backside, but you stayed after it until you made contact. You can hit or kick a ball, right?

Winston Churchill once said, “Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.”

Ask God to give you courage to stay in life and keep trying so you can listen to life and make a life, not just a living today.

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