“Do not quench the Holy Spirit” -1 Thess. 5:19

In our amazing relationship with the Lord, some days are awesome and others days seem difficult. If we’re in a relationship with Jesus, we have true life. But if we’re walking well with Jesus, we have abundant life (John 10:10). There is a difference.

When we fill up our cars with gasoline, we typically pull up to the pump, get out, slide our credit card, then choose the lowest number possible (for the lowest price) and fill her up! Have you ever wondered what that number is? It’s the Octane number for the particular gas you’re choosing. Any ‘ole gas will do, but the higher number, the higher the octane level in the gasoline.
What is Octane? Octane is a hydrocarbon and an alkane with the chemical formula CH3(CH2)6CH3. Translated: the higher the number, the better the gasoline.
I pulled into a huge truck stop in Springfield recently and did a double take at the gasoline pump. It had the usual octane choices of 87 and 89, but it also had a choice for 110! And it cost $6.49 a gallon. It said next to the pump “for racing only.” I found out the station isn’t far from a racetrack. This special gas is reserved for racing cars.
But I thought, “What if I put the racing gas in my SUV? Would it drive at amazing speeds?” Of course, it wouldn’t. I have the wrong kind of engine. Having the right gas is only part of the package. It takes a racing engine too, built to take high-octane gas and convert it to speed.
As Christians with a new life in Christ, we have all the necessary equipment to drive really well. We are equipped with the Holy Spirit inside of us who supplies us with the highest octane possible.
Instead, it seems, we choose to drive like our tank is full of cheap gas. Though we‘re empowered with the Holy Spirit with an octane number of ten zillion, we’re limited by our capacity to yield ourselves to His power through us. Through Christ, we have all the potential to be a powerful NASCAR vehicle, but we’re left to decide…do I yield to myself and the Briggs and Stratton lawnmower engine that came standard when I was born, or do I submit to Jesus and the jet engine that is available to me as a child of God?
Here’s the deal: having Jesus as my powerful engine doesn’t mean I speed. The irony is, it means I slow down and rest. It means that in Christ, I submit to His strength.
It means I enjoy the most coveted and powerful thing of all: contentment and peace. The price has been paid. The tank is full.
Now enjoy the drive.

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” -John 10:10

Okay, here’s your car mechanic tip for the day: have your tires rotated regularly. Mechanics know that the front tires wear at a faster pace than the rear tires since they actually move when the vehicle is turning and encounter greater stress being in the front. So, to get maximum life out of a set of 4 tires, tires should be rotated every 6,000 miles.

Last week I took both of our vehicles in to have the tires rotated (no, not at the same time). As I waited for the second vehicle to be finished, a thought occurred to me. In this age of super technology and major technological advancement, tire rotating has not changed. I guess we’re still rotating tires exactly like we did when tires were invented.

So it goes with so many maintenance issues. Cleaning a filter on an air conditioner, flossing teeth, sharpening a lawn mower blade and many more examples, all involve simple maintenance. There is nothing fancy or clever or electronic about it. Most maintenance items are like that- boring but necessary.

Maintaining important relationships is a lot like rotating tires. Any healthy relationship is going to have conflict. The key to getting through that conflict is doing the day-to-day loving maintenance to keep the relationship focused and fresh.

Today, Al and Tipper Gore announced that they’re divorcing after 40 years of marriage. 40 years. Of course, that decision wasn’t made overnight. They said, “Our relationship grew apart.” Of course it did. Without maintenance, mower blades go dull, tires wear out, teeth fall out and relationships drift apart.

Of course, the most important relationship we will ever have is with our loving God and Maker. Because of God’s plan to send His Son to the cross, through faith, we can all be friends with God. But the relationship requires maintenance. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, that relationship is sealed forever (Eph. 1:13), but the quality of that relationship depends on how well we maintain the relationship. Too many friends of God live without doing the necessary things that keep the relationship focused and fresh.

When we mess up, we confess that to our loving, patient and forgiving God and move on. We spend daily time in God’s Word. We intentionally go to God in prayer all day long. We do the things necessary to keep our relationship up to date and valid, not out of obligation, but because we’re at our best when we’re in touch with our loving Father.

So, don’t forget to keep the maintenance schedule in your walk with Jesus. If you do, you’ll experience the true abundant life.

“Speak the truth in love”- Eph. 4:15

I think tolerance is a wonderful thing. We learn from Jesus that accepting those different from ourselves is absolutely at the heart of God’s grace and love. But sometimes, in our quest to be tolerant, we can ourselves become “intolerant” of those men and women that correctly preach of God’s intolerance for sin. I know, kind of confusing. Not really. It simply means that if no one speaks against anything, then everything is okay. One great man who chooses to speak up is Billy Graham.

Billy Graham’s Prayer For Our Nation:

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!”

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, ‘The Rest of the Story”’ and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.

The phrase “silent majority” has been used over the years to describe the majority of Americans that do and say nothing about national affairs. The worst thing we can do as Jesus-followers is nothing. I’m not suggesting we are all called to move to Washington D.C. and lobby over the issues, but I am suggesting that we all can do something. In the Doulos discipleship program, we are trying to teach the balance between loving everyone and standing up for truth and values. It’s a tough balance.

Billy Graham was once asked whether America should be held accountable for the abortion issue. He simply shared the story about the allied troops forcing the citizens in the village surrounding Auschwitz to come and witness the corpses and bury the bodies. I think Graham’s point was that, though those citizens hadn’t been involved in the genocide, they were passively responsible because they’d done nothing to prevent the slaughter.

So, what are we doing? I’m afraid most of us Christians are doing nothing. Let’s accept the challenge today to pray for our nation. Earnest, fervent prayer is doing something. Let’s share with our children and friends and neighbors about the truth and freedom that comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is doing something. Let’s stand up and speak out for the principles of truth and life. That is doing something. And, if God so leads, let’s go and actively lobby for these issues.

Most of all, let’s love. It is, after all, is the “greatest of these.”