Last weekend’s message was simple but very difficult for me to deliver. Remember the major point from the weekend, as Malachi helped us to Reset Justice?  – “Correcting injustice in the world, begins with God correcting injustice in me. “  It was a heavy message for me to deliver, but God lifted my spirit in an amazing way as someone literally allowed God to immediately deal with the injustice in their own hearts.

After the 11:00 service a man approached me and said he needed to ask me to forgive him. Immediately, I wondered what it could be. He told me that when I was introduced as the candidate for the position of Senior Teaching Pastor, he didn’t vote for me. “I am sure that many people didn’t vote for me.” I opined. So, his comment was no big revelation to me. What he said next was. He said, “You need to know why I didn’t vote for you.” I continued to listen. Because of his experiences in the past, he had developed a spirit of prejudice and racism against black people. In essence, he was saying he didn’t vote for me because I was black. He began to weep and asked me if I would forgive him. I said it wasn’t a problem. He retorted, “Listen! You don’t understand. I really need you to forgive me. I don’t want the junk of prejudice and racism spilling over into my kids’ lives. I didn’t vote for you and I was wrong. God has been and is using your preaching to impact my life.”Wow! To His glory!

I realized what God was doing. This man heard God and was acting on what he heard. I forgave him. We hugged for a good while, weeping in one each other’s arms (Glad we weren’t in the men’s bathroom doing this – Smile! It was a joke). I was moved, humbled, and I rejoiced as I was reminded that God has me in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. God, thank you for using Malachi to help us see that: Correcting injustice in the world really does begin when we let God correct injustice in us. For His glory!

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This past weekend my kids had friends over for a two day visit. While the boys played video games, my daughter and her friend, Joy, giggled and laughed and danced. The interesting thing is, they danced without music. There was an innocent joy and delight stirring within their little hearts that caused them to spontaneously move their bodies all over our house.

As I watched them express joy and delight with the spontaneous movements of their bodies, I thought about what should cause us to dance.

When God delivers us from bondage, we should dance.
When God exchanges our mourning for joy, we should dance.
When God gives us victory over our enemies, we should dance.
When God gives and restores our hope, we should dance.

Think through these questions with me:

When was the last time I danced?
What are the things, attitudes, behaviors that tend to steal my groove?
What are some other things that should cause me to dance?
What has caused me to spontaneously move my body with joy and delight lately?

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Every so often I wonder about my funeral. (Now, I know this is not a pleasant thought, but it has a significant purpose for me). When I think about that day, I wonder what people will say about me, you know, what kind of person I was and what kind of impact I made on the world. This process is quite humbling and motivating. It’s humbling because I know God is the one who controls life and not me. I know my life will end one day. It’s motivating because it causes me to give my life to the things that really matter – God, eternal values, family and friends. 

Therefore, each day I live, I am writing, or at least have opportunity to write the eulogy that I would like read at my own funeral.  Here are some questions that have been very helpful to me as I have thought through this process. They may be helpful to you, too, as you write and live your own eulogy

1. How do I want to be remembered?

2. What personal characteristics do I want people to remember me for or by?

3. What do I want to have accomplished? 

4. What will have been the most important to me in my life? 

5. What will my lasting legacy be?

Have you ever asked yourself these kinds of questions? If so, how did the process make you feel? 

If you don’t mind, take a moment to think through one of the questions above and leave your answer here. Grace and peace.

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Have you ever felt like some days nobody thinks about you? I mean, no calls, no emails, no texts, no “I was just in the neighborhood” visits, nothing that says someone is thinking about. I have felt this way many days. It seems when I feel that way, I am drawn to David’s lyrics in Psalm 139:17-18: 

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I wake, I am still with you.” 

When you feel like nobody else is thinking about you, I want you to remember that our heavenly Father is thinking of you. His thoughts about you are highly valued, prized, splendid, and precious. Thoughts like:

I love you

No weapon formed against you will prosper

My plans are not to harm you, but to give you a hope and a future

I am your shepherd; you shall not want

I am your light and salvation

I will never leave you nor forsake you

Greater is Me that is in you than he that is in the world

Cast all your cares upon me; I care about what happens to you.

I will renew your strength

I love you so much that I gave my only Son to die for your sins so that we could be together

What God-thoughts are you drawn to when you feel like nobody is thinking about you?  

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My oldest son had his first baseball game last week Friday. He had a decent game. Although he struck out twice and made a defensive error, he scored a run and made some really good and important defensive plays – plays that prevented the opposing team from scoring runs.  But, what did he remember? You got it – the mistakes and the strike outs.  

He sulked and held his head down after the error and the strikeouts. His memory of the past prevented him from being fully present in the moment of the game. We talked later that night, and I reassured him that he would make more errors in the season, but he would also have plenty more opportunities to make major contributions to his team.  
What past mistake, sin, poor decision, memory are you sulking over today and keeping you from pressing into God and life and being fully present in the grandest moment of your life today? What past sins, errors and mistakes are keeping you from missing opportunities to make major contributions to your family, your ministry, your neighborhood, your company?