May 3 - What Happened?

Read: Matthew 13:1-23

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. (Matthew 13:16 ESV)

Did it work? Did you hear the Word of God and respond to it? Did it take root in your life? These are all questions Jesus asked the crowds that had gathered to listen to him.

What do you do when you hear the word of the Lord? Sometimes it depends on what it is exactly that we hear. Some truths are just harder to accept and implement than others. Sometimes we get confused, sometimes we get stubborn, sometimes we get fearful, and yet God is hoping that what he says and speaks to our hearts will take route. He wants us to let it change our lives.

The word Jesus used to describe people who were affected and changed by God is blessed. If you see what He is trying to say you are blessed. If you hear what He is trying to say you are blessed. It's not always easy to obey. Sometimes we just don't understand. But when we do obey we are blessed.

10 Reasons Why I Feel Blessed

Life usually doesn’t fit into nice neat little lists, but that doesn’t keep me from trying. Welcome to my Tuesday 10, where I try to fit the messiness of life into a list of ten. It's not all that uncommon to hear someone bemoan their life. I feel like a pretty blessed guy so I thought I would share why I feel that way. Thanks for checking out the blog!

1. I have a beautiful baby boy. He's twelve weeks old as of yesterday.

2. I have an incredible wife, she is absolutely the love of my life, and our marriage is very healthy.

3. I love my job. It's not perfect, and I'm not wealthy, but it enables me to live out my calling, and get paid doing it; and at the of the day I usually feel pretty satisfied knowing I'm living for a purpose bigger than my own greed or selfishness.

4. I own my own copy of the Bible.

5. I'm self aware, not like a deranged robot from cheesy sci-fi, but I have a pretty good take on who I am. I try to regularly evaluate myself, and invite people close to me do the same. If something needs to change, I make an effort to change.

6. I can read.

7. I grew up in a nuclear family. My parents weren't, and aren't, perfect, but they are pretty close. They are the most selfless-tender-hearted people I have ever met.

8. I learned both; the power of imagination, and the worth of critical thinking at an early age, and then I started using them.

9. I am blessed with some incredible friends--guys that I am so close to, they feel like family.

10. Probably the most important reason why I feel blessed is not because I am good but because God is good. I haven't hit on the magic formula for how much money to put in the offering. I haven't figured out the number of good deeds I have to do in a day. In fact I really have no idea why I feel so blessed. All I know is it must have something to do with the goodness of God and very little to do with me.