The Soil of Life - Matthew 13 - 04/26/2011

As I look back at my life I can see that my life has been each of the soils that Jesus talks about at one point or another. I can also look back and say with sadness that I wish my life was like the good soil more often than it is.

There are times when influences, circumstances, mindsets, needs and wants take the good soil of my life and pollute it with rocks and weeds. This is the bad news and the stuff of life we all face. But there is good news.

If you where to decide to grow a garden at your home and you only find soil that is rocky and/or full of weeds. You could give up on the garden or you can work the ground and make it good soil by removing the pollutants. By working the soil and replacing the bad stuff with good soil, amendments, and fertilizers. You change the condition of the soil from unable to grow good fruits to soil that will produce good fruit.

Thank God that as we have recently celebrated Easter and all that Christ did through the death and The Resurrection we can be reminded that the things that are needed to turn bad unproductive soil to soil that produces great crops has been offered to us through Jesus. All we have to do is open our lives our soil to the work that needs to be done. We just need to offer him our weeds and our rocks so he can replace them with the amendments, fertilizers, and good soil we need.

This was a part of my recent experience at the Men's conference I went to. As I was finishing that last part of Max Lucado's book "He Choose the Nails" Max addresses the need to take the trash of our lives to the cross of Jesus. We need to place it at the foot of the cross. Once it is at the foot of the cross the blood shed by Jesus can run over it covering it in his covenant, his righteousness, and his promise to make us into righteousness. He takes his good soil and uses it to replace the bad stuff in our lives making us good soil.

So this is my challenge to each of us today. What weeds do you see in your life? Is there seeds of weeds that are being planted because of the things you choose to expose yourself to? What rocks are there in your life? Is there circumstances, thoughts and behaviors in your life that instead of bring them to the surface you keep them buried in the soil? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see these things, the pollutants in your life keeping you from seeing the great production and good fruit in your life. Then when you see something take it to the cross and leave it there. Sometimes it will be hard and you may go back and pick it up. But to see the fruit of good soil you have to take it back to the cross. Thank you Jesus that there is forgiveness even forgiveness for our attachment and unwillingness to let the rocks and weeds go.

David's Words Needed in My Head - Psalms 57 - 04/22/2011

In Psalms 57 we again see David bringing his fears, frustrations, and hurts to the Lord. As you read through the Psalms especially the ones written by David you will see a few patterns. One David personalizes his relationship with God. Look for the use of personal words like my and your. See How he address God, not distantly but directly as if he is speaking to God.

The second pattern is seen here in chapter 57. David starts with what appears negative like he is complaining or grumbling. But there is a change in the direction of the Psalms in verse 5. In the midst of his own negativeness David turns to worshiping God by speaking of what God has done, pointing out God's character and God's promises and provisions.

Read a Psalms and look for these patterns. Then do as I am challenged to do today. Make it your own. Verses 7-11 to me is a statement I need to make my own. I need to take what David is saying and bury it in my heart and mind. Make it my view and my rock to stand upon. Make it personal.

It will come - Psalms 31 & Matthew 7 - 04/20/2011

My life journal reading(YouVersion - Life Journal Plan) took me through Psalms 31 and Matthew 7 as well as two other chapters. I am writing about Psalms 31 and Mathew 7 because of two particular passages that stood out and seemed to connect together to form a single thought. A thought which pertains to where I am at spiritually in life. I don't believe this is a coincidence, it was for a purpose. My choosing to write about it may seem like a coincidence to some of you who may choose to read this, but it is not either. I believe that for some of you this is a message you need to hear or you know someone who needs to hear it. In either case please take this entry as a word of encouragement. Use it how you would like. Take it and share it with others as I have written it or as it has meaning to you. Possess it, take hold of it, personalize it. That is one of the wonderful things about scripture is we can make it a part of us. So be blessed, lifted up, edified and encouraged by God's word.

We are going to focus in on Psalms 31:24 and Matthew 7:7-8. However, feel free to read the scope of these chapters beyond these three verses. There is a lot of good stuff to be found.

Psalms 31:24
24 Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for and hope for and expect the Lord!
Matthew 7:7-8
7 Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened.

If you have been following my blog or have been following the life of Mandy and myself, in particular our spiritual journey, you may have seen or heard us talk about the place we are at, the questions we have, the things we are seeking, the doubts we have and the fears we struggle with in regards to faith and trust.

God has been particularly targeting some specific parts or components of our spiritual lives. Now I am not speaking for Mandy on all of theses points, yet in a way I am as her husband. Some points are more of my struggle and some are more of her struggle. I tend to be stubbornly content with life and she tends towards worrying. I fear change because it is change and could be different and she fears change because it is either not in her control or it leads to some place she doesn't know (just a glimpse of differences). Yet I find answers in these three verses that speak clearly to us both individually and to our family as a whole. My hope is that you will see answers also despite how different or similar you may be to us. I would like to start with some questions for you then go back and read the verse again.

Can you see what God's word is saying? Can you hear the heart of Jesus? Is there condemnation for having doubts, fears, worries or questions? What is God instructing us to do? Does this change in light of our fears, doubts and questions? Or is what he saying the very answer to those fears, doubts, worries and questions?

Chris Rice wrote a song called "Big Enough" in which he talks about God being big enough to handle our questions. I have often found myself debating with myself and with God if He truly is "Big Enough". Over recent weeks the sum of the events of life and the revelation of scripture have solidified in me that God IS "big enough", so ask away. Spill it all before Him! Questions, Fears, Doubts, Sins, Failures anything and everything that would hold you back from walking in faith and trust.

In a book by Max Lucado called He Choose the Nails, Max describes the process of spilling it (my words here Max would be much more elegant) as working through lists of our life and placing those things at the foot of the Cross of Calvary then letting the blood which Jesus shed to flow down over those things and cover them. Once the blood is covering them they are dealt with. Then we find our self in a place of relationship with God.

A relationship which will allow us the freedom to put our hope and trust in Him. A place where we can stand firmly knowing; that despite what may feel to us like a lot of seeking, knocking and asking or what may seem to us an unworthy or unimportant hope for or expectation; that He is there and He is listening and answering. God and I are working on some things regarding the promises in his word. Here, a specific promise I have been challenged in is the promise of God meeting and exceeding our expectations and hopes.

If we stop hoping and expecting for something or are not hoping or expecting something big enough or we decided that what we really would like to hope for or expect is not worthy we will never experience the fulfillment promised to us in God's word. Or we can connect it more to the wording in Matthew. As soon as we stop knocking, seeking, and asking before the answer comes more than likely that will be our answer, no answer.

To personalize it I have a specific dream I believe God gave me over 15 years ago. To be honest I have gone for long periods not expecting, hoping, seeking, knocking asking about this dream. Guess what? I have not seen or experienced the fulfillment of this dream. Why? Because God doesn't really want it for me or maybe he didn't really give it to me. I don't think so. I have been challenged that what He wants from me is action in regards to my dream. Secondly we have been given a desire for Mandy to transition from being a working mother to a stay-at-home mom. The path is not clear as to how this will happen. There are some large questions(in our minds) that need to be answered.

So here is hoping for and expecting for the fulfillment of a dream and our desire. I stand here before man and God with a dream waiting for fulfillment and a desire in my heart to be meant. A dream and a desire for which I have a lot of seeking, knocking and asking to do so I can write on this blog some day... Wonderful news Mandy gets to stay home. Great news, Crossed Out Cafe is opened.

Please let me know what you think or feel about this. Do you have something to share with me in regards to the journey of the Mattos family? Do you have something that touched you in our journey, our words or our life? Did you hear from God or are you able to personalize the verses from Psalms and Matthew? If so let me know. If you are comfortable commenting on here please do, otherwise email or message me directly. I would love to hear how God is using me and this blog (I almost said if) to work in the lives of others.

Celebrate the Good of Others - Psalms 35 - 4/19/2011

27 Let those who favor my righteous cause and have pleasure in my uprightness shout for joy and be glad and say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, Who takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.

Sometimes it feels like we have forgotten how to celebrate each others acts of uprightness or we just don't praise people for doing good or doing a good job. I work in the retail and I even spent a few years working as a supervisor.

Do you know how many times I received complaints about the job of the associates on my team? Countless... How about the number of times I received a complaint because the employee was doing their job as per instructions? More than I can recall. How about the number of times I received a complement for an employee? In four years of supervision my high guess is 18 times I am think the number was actually closer to under a dozen.

Have you ever been in a restaurant and had the waiter or waitress make the dinning experience great? What about if their was an issue with the order but their service still made it a great experience? I remember a time that we had this happen. The chief had made an error on my order but the waiter had caught it himself and informed us that it was being resolved. So he took care of the issue and didn't charge us for our drinks. When we were done I asked for the manager at the hostess counter. I saw her go ask talk to the manager and he looked flustered and prepared for a chewing. When he came over I spoke highly of our waiter and didn't complain but spoke praise and thankfulness for the service we received. As I spoke I could see the fear and anxiousness leave the manager.

Sometimes I feel we miss this very concept and practice too often in our churches and homes. All we see is how that person on the worship team missed that note, or how the usher looked too solemn, or how the Pastor preached about tithing, or how we don't like the flowers that got planted by the entrance, or etc... And what about in our home? When was the last time you praised your spouse for picking up in the bathroom? Praised your child for turning off the lights without being asked?

I may be making a bit of a stretch here but I think when we see the positive things being done by those around us, to us and for us God likes it when we speak highly of them. He likes it when we lift them up with praise and celebrate in joy with them for a good job. Yes there is a time for discipline and correction. We can see some good example of that in 1 and 2 Corinthians. But you will also see the boastful heart of Paul talking and celebrating the good and upright that they had also done and were doing.

I would like present a challenge to myself and everyone who reads this. Over the next few days as we work to Easter Sunday find somebody each day that you can celebrate with in their good actions. Tell then and tell God what a good job they did. Fill out a comment card, ask for a supervisor, write a thank you note or just smile and say thank you or great job.

It would be cool if people would post through out the week some of what they did and saw. So please come back and comment as we finish this week.