Although they had a small-time start in Canada, they are now huge in the U.S. Nickelback smashed onto the Billboard charts in 2001 with "How You Remind Me" and has convinced folks to buy more than 25 million albums since then. Included in Nickelback's trophy case are accolades from the MTV Video Music Awards, the World Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, the Juno Awards, and several nods from the guys at the Grammy's. Nickelback's presence has been felt in the pop, hard rock, alternative, and metal crowds.
In other words, I'm assuming you know who Nickelback is?
Or perhaps you're familiar with one of their latest hits - "If Today Were Your Last Day"- that was also made into a very cool video. This song is also a very clear reminder that even though we'd like to think we have a long time to live here on earth, the fact is, no one really knows and there are definitely no guarantees. So in light of that, Nickelback poses some great questions:
If today was your last day
& tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?
Would you call those friends you've never seen?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you're dreaming of?
Swear up & down to God above
That you'll finally fall in love?
If today was your last daySo.what if today really was your last day?
Seriously, don't we just assume we have all the time in the world? So we fritter and waste away the hours and days on mostly meaningless and generally purposeless activities that really make no difference in the grand scheme of things?
That is what Nickelback is getting at, and I think this is an issue worth thinking about - and even contemplating for a bit.
Why? Well, for many reasons. But I think the most important being the fact that you don't want to look back at the end of your life with the burden of regret. Oh yes, there are thousands, maybe millions of people who do every single day. Instead of passing into eternity with a triumphant feeling of having squeezed every drop of juice out of life, their souls are weighted with the lament of all the "if only" and "why didn't I" flashbacks of life.
You know whose life didn't end with regret? The Apostle Paul's. Read and reflect on what is probably the last thing written by him and recorded in the Bible:
As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me - the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing (2 Timothy 4:6-8).
Did you catch the parallels between Paul's last words and "If Today Were Your Last Day"? They
both have a clear statement of "I'm going beyond this culture's annoying habit of wasting the days that could have been spent with passion and investment in the things that last forever."
Paul spent his days pouring out his life like a "drink offering" to God, because he knew two very critical things. First, Jesus Christ will return - and can at any time - and call all true believers into His kingdom. Second, after His return there will be a Judgment Day, when we will all give an account of how we spent the time we had on Earth.
Those two facts became the engine and the fuel of his life and as a result, he wrote two thirds of the New Testament and was used by God to spread the gospel throughout the world.
What if Paul hadn't lived each day as if it were his last? Well, he would have made more money, been more comfortable, maybe even retired on a tropical island and invented the internet so he'd have something to do.
And he would have sped into eternity with an eternity of regret.
But that wasn't for him, and that isn't for me. And do you know what? I hope it isn't for you either! Pour out each day like a drink offering to God. Look forward to Jesus' return at every turn in life. And most importantly, remember there will be a Judgment day, which I hope is a day where your life is applauded and your work is rewarded.
That is how to live like today is your last day.
Watch the Nickelback video on YouTube with your friends and talk about how they would answer the question of "If Today Were Your Last Day." Pray for an opportunity to share how that question
doesn't worry you because you know where you will spend eternity, and share the gospel.
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" (Matthew 6:25-26).
Source dare2share.org
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Some Friends Are Not Forever
Friendship is a precious gift. I am thankful for the amazing friends that God has used to impact me as I’ve walked these 31 years. When you meet a person who understands you, can laugh with you, and who can pray for you, you have found a dear friend.
Growing up in a small town, my friendships were strengthened by our proximity. In college, I met new friends from different walks of life. I was pleasantly surprised to meet so many people with different outlooks on life, yet we became friends due to commonalities we shared and struggles that found us each year. It was during my college years that I began to understand the layers of friendships and how they can come and go.
We meet so many different people during our lives. If you are sociable and like to talk, like I do, you are bound to meet a lot of people and probably get along with them pretty well. Work, college classes, church, small groups, mission trips, gyms—we make friends, but deep down, do we have the same expectations of behaviors in each of these friendships?
The emergence of Facebook has created, I believe, a friendship galaxy that was never meant to exist. We can be “friends” with people that we haven’t seen in years, our workout buddy we see once a week, or even our old professors. We can be proud of this large friendship number. But are all of the “friends” truly friends? I am guilty of seeing “friends” from Facebook in real life and thinking… “Should I go over and talk to them? I mean, what would I say?” Are we guilty of misusing this precious label of friendship?
One day I was feeling overwhelmed. I was investing in a couple of really awesome friends going through new life changes. I also had an active social calendar with invitations from other friends coming left and right. I was literally running around so much I was beginning to feel anxious. I was also worrying about the fact that I had not heard from a couple friends in awhile. Did I do something to hurt their feelings?
I remember my parents telling me, “You know, sometimes you can have too many friends.” I understood what they meant. Instead of investing in 30+ people and feeling a bit overwhelmed, I needed to begin sorting through the friendships that were most important to me. I also needed to begin being easier with my expectations towards them and on myself.
We can look at Jesus as our example. He was friendly, helpful, a wonderful blessing in others lives! But his small, close pack of friends (disciples) I dare say knew him best.
I can look back and see the people whom God placed in my life at certain seasons, and how those particular people, with their particular character traits, helped me through that season. I have been saddened when those friendships have faded and usually place the responsibility all on myself. But as I have aged, I see that it’s ok that some friends are not forever and that friendship is a two-way street.
I believe that God weaves our lives in and out of each other's stories like a brilliantly multi-colored afghan. Sometimes it’s for months, years, and a few ones are for life. We see the individual threads and movements when we look closely. We go through trials and celebrations with them, but inevitably, the thread ends and another is tied on.
I have seen a trend in friendships I think would help us to understand our intentionality with each other. In my mind, I view most of my friendships in one of three lenses:
Moment friends: These are the friends you meet in moments of life. Maybe you both volunteered together once or you met them in a class. These are people that can inevitably people more
“seasonal” or “core” friends but they initially float in and out of your life pretty quickly.
Seasonal friends: These are friends that you meet in different seasons of your life. Maybe it’s in a small or community group, co-workers, soccer moms, etc. They are “going through life” with you and you have more in common.
Core friends: This group is what I would call the backbone of friends. “Best friends” would fall in this category. Friends that have seen you through many seasons, trials, celebrations, and are right by your side. These are the people that you might not talk to for a couple months, but when you do, you feel like you haven’t skipped a beat
This is definitely not a rating tool. I believe that every friend you have, whether he or she is there for a moment or for life, is a blessing. What I do hope you take from this is that seasons change, as do friendships.
Friendships are what you make of them. If one person invests more than the other it can hurt. That’s where communication and clarity on your own friend expectations need to be determined. This will be different for everyone.
So, take notice of who is there for you. Who laughs with you, celebrates your accomplishments, or is a shoulder you can cry on. Love on those friends and do the same for them! Our command to love is clearly stated in the Bible:
“Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”-Matthew 22: 37-39
When we make sure to love God with everything we are and love on others we meet in this life, I promise our hearts will feel full no matter how many friends we have.
By Mandy Smith
Growing up in a small town, my friendships were strengthened by our proximity. In college, I met new friends from different walks of life. I was pleasantly surprised to meet so many people with different outlooks on life, yet we became friends due to commonalities we shared and struggles that found us each year. It was during my college years that I began to understand the layers of friendships and how they can come and go.
We meet so many different people during our lives. If you are sociable and like to talk, like I do, you are bound to meet a lot of people and probably get along with them pretty well. Work, college classes, church, small groups, mission trips, gyms—we make friends, but deep down, do we have the same expectations of behaviors in each of these friendships?
The emergence of Facebook has created, I believe, a friendship galaxy that was never meant to exist. We can be “friends” with people that we haven’t seen in years, our workout buddy we see once a week, or even our old professors. We can be proud of this large friendship number. But are all of the “friends” truly friends? I am guilty of seeing “friends” from Facebook in real life and thinking… “Should I go over and talk to them? I mean, what would I say?” Are we guilty of misusing this precious label of friendship?
One day I was feeling overwhelmed. I was investing in a couple of really awesome friends going through new life changes. I also had an active social calendar with invitations from other friends coming left and right. I was literally running around so much I was beginning to feel anxious. I was also worrying about the fact that I had not heard from a couple friends in awhile. Did I do something to hurt their feelings?
I remember my parents telling me, “You know, sometimes you can have too many friends.” I understood what they meant. Instead of investing in 30+ people and feeling a bit overwhelmed, I needed to begin sorting through the friendships that were most important to me. I also needed to begin being easier with my expectations towards them and on myself.
We can look at Jesus as our example. He was friendly, helpful, a wonderful blessing in others lives! But his small, close pack of friends (disciples) I dare say knew him best.
I can look back and see the people whom God placed in my life at certain seasons, and how those particular people, with their particular character traits, helped me through that season. I have been saddened when those friendships have faded and usually place the responsibility all on myself. But as I have aged, I see that it’s ok that some friends are not forever and that friendship is a two-way street.
I believe that God weaves our lives in and out of each other's stories like a brilliantly multi-colored afghan. Sometimes it’s for months, years, and a few ones are for life. We see the individual threads and movements when we look closely. We go through trials and celebrations with them, but inevitably, the thread ends and another is tied on.
I have seen a trend in friendships I think would help us to understand our intentionality with each other. In my mind, I view most of my friendships in one of three lenses:
Moment friends: These are the friends you meet in moments of life. Maybe you both volunteered together once or you met them in a class. These are people that can inevitably people more
“seasonal” or “core” friends but they initially float in and out of your life pretty quickly.
Seasonal friends: These are friends that you meet in different seasons of your life. Maybe it’s in a small or community group, co-workers, soccer moms, etc. They are “going through life” with you and you have more in common.
Core friends: This group is what I would call the backbone of friends. “Best friends” would fall in this category. Friends that have seen you through many seasons, trials, celebrations, and are right by your side. These are the people that you might not talk to for a couple months, but when you do, you feel like you haven’t skipped a beat
This is definitely not a rating tool. I believe that every friend you have, whether he or she is there for a moment or for life, is a blessing. What I do hope you take from this is that seasons change, as do friendships.
Friendships are what you make of them. If one person invests more than the other it can hurt. That’s where communication and clarity on your own friend expectations need to be determined. This will be different for everyone.
So, take notice of who is there for you. Who laughs with you, celebrates your accomplishments, or is a shoulder you can cry on. Love on those friends and do the same for them! Our command to love is clearly stated in the Bible:
“Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”-Matthew 22: 37-39
When we make sure to love God with everything we are and love on others we meet in this life, I promise our hearts will feel full no matter how many friends we have.
By Mandy Smith
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Amazing Grace
Grace really is amazing.
If you’ve been a Christian for any amount of time, chances are you have struggled with frustrating habits or been disappointed by failures or just couldn’t do “it” (whatever your “it” is). But once you have a revelation of God’s grace in your life, you’ll know just how amazing it is!
Well, what is grace?
I’m glad you asked. But first, think of a problem you’re having in your life right now—a bad habit, conflict in a relationship, a particularly long and difficult period of testing. Now I want to ask you: Have you beentrying to make things work out? If so, have they…or are you discouraged, disappointed, or frustrated?
If your answer is yes, then you are in the best place to realize just how amazing God’s grace really is! You see, grace is the power to overcome bad habits, to make peace in a relationship, or to bring you victoriously through a time of testing—without all your trying. That’s because it is God’s power, not ours, that overcomes our evil tendencies.
All that our trying has ever done, or will ever really do, is cause frustration. We can never make ourselves better by trying…praying more or longer, studying more of the Word, performing good works, etc. Don’t get me wrong…it’s not bad to do any of these things. In fact, it’s good. It’s just that doing them in God’s power is the only way those things will have any real and lasting effect in our lives.
The interesting thing about trying is that it’s not scriptural. Yes, the word is in the Bible. But, it’s not there telling us to try to do better or be better. If you look it up, you’ll see that when that word is used, it’s in reference to the “trying” of our faith, “trying” the spirits, or “trying” us to prove our character. All our trying, or human effort, is really just works of the flesh that can never bring about the change in us that only God’s power, or grace, can.
It’s certainly not wrong to want to be a better person. God gave us that desire. But according to Galatians 3:10, ...anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure (MSG). That’s why so much of the time we will find ourselves frustrated, disappointed and overwhelmed by the “stuff” in our lives. We try to work it out on our own. And that will never do.
Choose His Help
God wants to help us…He loves us…we are His children. But He will not force His help on us at any time. He sees us when we struggle and fight and complain our way through things. And I believe it breaks His heart, when all we have to do is ask Him for help.
God taught me this truth in a way I’ll never forget. My husband, Dave, is tall. I’m not so tall. We have a really high window over the kitchen sink in our house. When that window is open, there’s no way for me to close it without a big ordeal. But how do you think it would make Dave feel if I ran out of the house to go ask the man next door to come and close that window for me? Or what if I tried to do it myself, straining and stretching, maybe climbing up on the counter, possibly knocking things over, getting all worn-out…while Dave was sitting right there? That would really be insulting to him. In the same way, it grieves God to watch us struggle so needlessly, when all the while, He is right there waiting for us to simply exchange trying for trusting.
His grace is the power for living an abundant life. Our faith receives, not “buys,” the blessings of
God. Striving, struggling, trying can never do that. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that it is by grace you
have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast (NIV).
So in the same way we became born again, we live in the Spirit—by God’s grace, through faith. It’s simple. Humble yourself. Ask God for His help. Then, do what He says. Trust in His power—He is mighty to do whatever we need Him to do and to help us do our part. Trust in His wisdom—He knows what, when and how to do it.
Trust in His goodness—He wants to do it.
Now, isn’t that amazing?
By: Joyce Meyer
If you’ve been a Christian for any amount of time, chances are you have struggled with frustrating habits or been disappointed by failures or just couldn’t do “it” (whatever your “it” is). But once you have a revelation of God’s grace in your life, you’ll know just how amazing it is!
Well, what is grace?
I’m glad you asked. But first, think of a problem you’re having in your life right now—a bad habit, conflict in a relationship, a particularly long and difficult period of testing. Now I want to ask you: Have you beentrying to make things work out? If so, have they…or are you discouraged, disappointed, or frustrated?
If your answer is yes, then you are in the best place to realize just how amazing God’s grace really is! You see, grace is the power to overcome bad habits, to make peace in a relationship, or to bring you victoriously through a time of testing—without all your trying. That’s because it is God’s power, not ours, that overcomes our evil tendencies.
All that our trying has ever done, or will ever really do, is cause frustration. We can never make ourselves better by trying…praying more or longer, studying more of the Word, performing good works, etc. Don’t get me wrong…it’s not bad to do any of these things. In fact, it’s good. It’s just that doing them in God’s power is the only way those things will have any real and lasting effect in our lives.
The interesting thing about trying is that it’s not scriptural. Yes, the word is in the Bible. But, it’s not there telling us to try to do better or be better. If you look it up, you’ll see that when that word is used, it’s in reference to the “trying” of our faith, “trying” the spirits, or “trying” us to prove our character. All our trying, or human effort, is really just works of the flesh that can never bring about the change in us that only God’s power, or grace, can.
It’s certainly not wrong to want to be a better person. God gave us that desire. But according to Galatians 3:10, ...anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure (MSG). That’s why so much of the time we will find ourselves frustrated, disappointed and overwhelmed by the “stuff” in our lives. We try to work it out on our own. And that will never do.
Choose His Help
God wants to help us…He loves us…we are His children. But He will not force His help on us at any time. He sees us when we struggle and fight and complain our way through things. And I believe it breaks His heart, when all we have to do is ask Him for help.
God taught me this truth in a way I’ll never forget. My husband, Dave, is tall. I’m not so tall. We have a really high window over the kitchen sink in our house. When that window is open, there’s no way for me to close it without a big ordeal. But how do you think it would make Dave feel if I ran out of the house to go ask the man next door to come and close that window for me? Or what if I tried to do it myself, straining and stretching, maybe climbing up on the counter, possibly knocking things over, getting all worn-out…while Dave was sitting right there? That would really be insulting to him. In the same way, it grieves God to watch us struggle so needlessly, when all the while, He is right there waiting for us to simply exchange trying for trusting.
His grace is the power for living an abundant life. Our faith receives, not “buys,” the blessings of
God. Striving, struggling, trying can never do that. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that it is by grace you
have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast (NIV).
So in the same way we became born again, we live in the Spirit—by God’s grace, through faith. It’s simple. Humble yourself. Ask God for His help. Then, do what He says. Trust in His power—He is mighty to do whatever we need Him to do and to help us do our part. Trust in His wisdom—He knows what, when and how to do it.
Trust in His goodness—He wants to do it.
Now, isn’t that amazing?
By: Joyce Meyer
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