Friday, July 12, 2013

Daniel 1:1-21

Danny's New Job

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In the 3rd fiscal year under the management of Israel Inc. CEO Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar, rival CEO of Babylon, came to the Jerusalem HQ and bought it out. The Lord had fired Jehoiakim from his management position and all the sacred assets of the company got taken over. Nebu now controlled both businesses including the sacred assets that were now under Nebu's business plan.

Nebu then tasked Ashpenaz, HR of Babylon, to take inventory of the employees of Israel Inc. He was to find their top value workers and train them up for management positions. These employees would be quick on their feet, business saavy and real charmers on the sales floor. Ash was to teach the Babylonian business model to these top employees.  On top of that, the CEO would allow these men to sit in on the management meetings that were held in an exotic gentleman's club. These meetings are where management was trained to be future leaders of the business.

Israel Inc's top men were Danny, Hana, Mish and Aza. The first day of work they got new name tags that tested better in Babylon. Danny become Belter, Hana became Shady, Mish became Meshack and Aza became Abe.

But the one thing Danny was not going to stand for was the monthly management meetings at the exotic club of defilement. He marched to HR and explained that he and his crew would not be partaking in these events. HR carefully explained that these events were crucial to climbing the corporate ladder. Those who failed to rise were fired. But God was not about to lose his most faithful employees to defilement so he put HR on Danny's side. Danny compromised with HR and said, "Me and my work mates can sit in the office and read the business manuals while this is going on." HR tried to reason with Danny that the manuals were boring and dry, but Danny seemed confident that this would work.

Danny, Hana, Aza and Mish went to their Sales Supervisor and explained that they would be missing ten meetings at the exotic night club. They would instead be reading manuals in the office. He explained it like this to the supervisor, "If we don't have equal or better sales metrics on the floor than we will gladly join you at the meetings. Just let us have ten meetings in the office." The Supervisor gave the green light and Danny tried his new tactic.

By the end of the fiscal year, Danny and his sales team were in the top five. They had the highest conversion rates and customer satisfaction. Their methods were so inspiring that the Supervisor put the rest of the Sales team under Danny's method.

Danny and his fellow co-workers continued to be promoted by God. They had amazing work ethic, understanding of customer needs and the winning spirit for sales. God even gave Danny the gift of interpreting the business world. He could see the future of Babylon Inc.

When it came time to evaluate the employees, the Supervisor had no problem presenting Danny and his team. Their numbers and work ethic were beyond every sales team in the company. Nebu found them to be way more qualified than all the middle management, analysts and accountants he had working for him.

Danny remained in the company even after Nebu passed CEO to his understudy, Cyrus.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

1 Peter 1:13-25

Context: Peter has to explain to his followers that persecution and hardship isn't the end of the world. In fact it can actually strengthen the faith. He assures them that God gave them this faith as an inheritance and now God is using hard times to shape it. Now Peter tells the church that they need to be on the offensive with their faith.
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1st Peter 1:13-25
Wake up and smell the holy wars, my friends. You are on the frontline in the war for your mind. Set your artillery toward the rising dawn, which is Christ and his never ending grace upon his return.  Keep fighting back that shadowy tentacle of evil that grips loyal children like yourselves. You were friends with this evil tentacle back when you were mindless peons. You two were tight. But you have been upgraded to the Holy Army. A Sacred knight of God's throne must act as such. Just as the scripture says, "Be holy because I am Holy."

Time is money and God owns the bank and the stopwatch. Make the most of your stay on this Earth, but keep in mind this is just a pitstop. You are not living for cheap tricks and trinkets that dissolve like cotton candy. This is an old family tradition that needs to be buried. But now you've struck it rich in Christ's blood, a sacrfice that is perfect and flawlessly executed. Christ gives nothing cheap. This present was set and gift wrapped before the world was on the blueprints (though God let us take a little peek at the gift). You believe that this gift gave up His life for our sake, but God gave Him life and a crown of royalty. Now this extraordinary event in history is our lifeline.

To sum it all up...since you have bowed to these facts about Christ and his gift leading to a love for others that is legit...LOVE OTHERS LIKE YOU ARE LEGIT. Love them like you mean it. You are not a cheap plastic toy that breaks. You are a finely crafted, time tested soul, powered by God's word. Unbreakable!

As the good book says,
"Humans are like carnival goldfish.
Our accomplisments are like carnival prizes.
The fish die too easily and the prizes get thrown out
But God's truth lasts through all time."

And this is the truth I am giving you.

Philippians 4:4-13

Context: Paul, an imprisoned messenger of Jesus, is giving hope to the church of Philippi who are facing persecution of their own. He ends his letter with hopeful instructions.

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Phil 4:4-13
How to Keep Your Sanity in Dark Times!

1. Celebrate God! I don't care what the occasion, just put God in a good light.  God is coming to make His debut in our lives and we need to show the people we love and support one another.

2. Don't let any problem in this life keep you up at night. I forbid any pacing, hand wringing or unnecessary insomnia over the hurdles of life. It is a God problem and all God problems deserve to be voiced toward God. Not only just to have God hear you cry out, but to also be thankful that he is capable of handling it. This is the lifestyle where God's beautiful peace and confidence overpowers your endless badgering of the situation and your brain  gets refuge behind the wall of Christ. It is a reality.

3. How are you going to spend your day, siblings of the Lord? How about you start dwelling on honesty, absolute truth, professionalism and courtesy in relationships, every day acts of heroism, habits of restraint and clean thinking, respect toward creation, awe of God's splendor, integrity in the work place, attitudes of victory and acts of selflessness that bring out the good in God's people. These thoughts should be the consumption of your day.

4. These nuggets of wisdom that I am speaking should be put into practice. Don't just read this and walk away. Do this and God's clarity and alacrity will be with you.

Finally guys, I am touched that you were deeply concerned about my well being. You wanted so bad to help me in my imprisoned state. But...I don't really have any dire needs right now. I know...right, I am in prison and I seem to taking it quite alright. Even if my life isn't all peaches and gravy I am still keeping a cool head. There's a secret to being okay with this unstable life. You see, I have been on both ends of the spectrum: feast and famine. I have swam through riches, fame and plenty, but I have also been poorer than a peasant. There's one tip that has made this liveable, one reminder that keeps me from going crazy.  Are you ready? The secret: Christ keeps me stable and strong. I can get through this because of Jesus. Amen.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Proverbs 5

Proverbs 5


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Office Email: Watch out for Mrs. Low Self Esteem

Attention fellow employees. We all need to keep a look out for this. We have one opportunity to listen to this warning and I think we should. This PSA is really going to make you better judges of character and you will sound way smarter because of it.

There's this girl around the office. A real sweet person. A smooth talker. She has a very playful way with words.  Stay away from her. She is trouble and those sweet nothings will end up as cavities in your mouth. Mrs. LSE is being a huge distraction on the work force. She is apparently dropping some hints that she is lonely. She is married and has the potential to ruin your life and hers. It will be death for you. In her defense she is kind of aloof to this situation, but we will leave that to HR to handle.

Keep your distance from her. Don't be over friendly with her near the cubicle. Don't start any late night projects with her. One slip and you will become the joke of the office. A bad joke with an infamous punchline. She's not worth the loss of face. Her husband is also an NRA member.

She may be very cute and friendly, but how long do you think that will last? When you are ready to retire and collect your 401k you will also be collecting your infamy from the night of stupidity you had with her. You will kick yourself because you did not say no to her. Let this email guide you and warn you. You don't want to be the office loser.

Go home. Kiss your wonderful wife and be thankful you have such a wonderful blessing in your life. Enjoy her to the fullest and make sure she knows that she is special to you. You are young and in love and that is something to celebrate. Make sure you are the only one celebrating it with your wife.

In fact, use your vacation time to take your misses on a romantic get away. You two can spend some serious "we" time together.  The censor board is screening emails so I will use discretion. Have lots of fun, that is all I am saying.

Don't get caught up with Mrs. LSE. She is looking for bad attention. On top of that her husband is a blackbelt in Jujitsu.

We in upper management know what is going on. The Boss sees everything. We are just looking out for you and we dont want any stupid harm coming your way. Be smart. Make good choices. Train yourself in these choices and don't be a clod.

Sincerely,
Your Supervisor

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

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There is a popular saying going around, "If you have an itch you should scratch it." That might be true, but it doesn't make it smart. You say, "I am free to scratch any itch." But sooner or later that itch is going to own you. I won't let that happen in my life. You also live behind the ideal, "Food and sex are the same thing. Temporary." I mean, you're going to die some day. Why not indulge a little?

Consider this...

Your body was programmed by God. He is the creator, the one who wrote the spiritual code for our software. We are seriously voiding the warranty when we chase after reckless and meaningless sex. Instead we should be loyal to God whose duty is to make our bodies mint condition.

You would be wrong to think that you are just a bag of bones and a bunch of primal desires. You're actually a spiritual power house capable of resurrection. The same power that God put into Christ's body. This puts you into a very special class of citizens called Team Christ.

Take your new life seriously. If you represent Team Christ and believe that you are part of His body would it make any sense to also team up with prostitutes? Imagine if I gave you the original Mona Lisa painting and you used it like toilet paper. If you go around trying to score chicks then you are sharing more than just a night of pleasure. You are sharing your body, soul and mind. You just said "till death do us part" in your flesh.

But you guys are upgraded into having a union with Christ. He is of infinite value. He outweighs meaningless joyrides by a mile.

My suggestion...run like Hell from these temptations. Stop being a player. Stop looking at girls like they are your flesh servants. The joke is on you, brother. Everytime you mess with her you are doing a great injustice to your body. A lot of sins hurt a lot of people, but this sin is a sledgehammer to your own temple. It will leave you broken. Like stated earlier, you were made by the creator. You are a blazing torch for His spirit. Don't crap all over the gift. Wake up today knowing that God financed your new life. That means you treat your body with respect.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Galatians 6:1-10

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Soldiers of Christ, if you see a brother or sister knee deep in a mirky and dangerous lifestyle, you who were trained in God's word should help pull them out with grace. Don't yank them out violently and sever good communication, but with ease. Keep watch that you don't become their judge, jury and executioner. It is easy to take on that role. Carry your wounded siblings and you will be doing your job as a soldier. As Christ did his job as a perfect soldier. Keep an eye on your progress in training. Don't worry about the person next to you and how they are training. We all have our own goals and limits. Be proud of how you train spiritually, but never in comparison to how others grow. Christ made a spiritual obstacle course tailored to you.

But also remember, your growth as a soldier of Christ is for the benefit of others. Share what you have learned with your teachers. It makes you fit into the community of believers.

Don't be an idiot, soldier. God is serious about the duty of Christians and it can't be reversed by fools. You get what you invest. Let's say you want to spend this life having lazy "me time." How in the world do you expect to feel anything but desolation and a crappy life? On the other hand if you invest in the work of God's spirit, the force of all positive change, then the goal will always be eternal life.

It's zero hour on this battlefield so don't give up serving others. You are making a difference that the devil won't let you see. But we know how it will end. So let's have at it. Who can you serve today? Whose life can you brighten? This should be your attitude, especially toward other members in the Christ army.