Day 54 “A Year of Thoughts”: Stronger Inside and out

“Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers”. –1 Timothy 4:7-16

 

These verses were the topic of the message today in chapel, however, it wasn’t until this evening while working out that it became clear to me. I often hate training. I have all these goals and things that I know will make me stronger in one area or another but I don’t like disciplining myself enough to do them, to go beyond where I am. I had given up on working out really unless I felt like it from time to time, until my best friend challenged me in a way to do it again. We try to work out three times a week now. We have to be intentional about that time and work at it. Sometimes we get distracted but thats part of the learning to train that I need to work on.

I also have a goal of reading at least one book a months and I am behind on that. I have to be more intentional about planning time for that and making my mind stronger outside of the classroom. But when it comes down to it my strength and training must begin with the heart. I want to be a man after God’s own heart. So I have to be intentional and train myself daily in my walk with God. This is what I’ve been thinking on.

 

-Caleb Ross Hunter

Day 25 “A Year of Thoughts” Claim, Walk, Live Christ

 

“But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”- 1 John 2:5-6

 

This verses are a few of many that are written as a part of three pieces of paper that hang over my bed that I call my manhood plan. It’s really a declaration of who I am, my goals, gifts, and passions and a list of verses that I would hope to apply to my life. During the men’s book study at church tonight I got to thinking of my manhood plan, when one of the guys said he just wanted to be. To be who God wants him to be and not get caught up in trying to be someone he’s not or comparing himself to others. My goal, my quest and reason for even writing a manhood plan goes back to my desire to know myself for who God created me to be and to live that out.

 

To know myself for who God created me to be.

 

To Live that out.

Next to these two verses on my manhood plan I wrote “claim, walk, live Christ”. First I have to claim Christ. I have to claim the incredible crazy love that he has for me. I can’t claim something and then simply live like it is irrelevant to my life. Claiming Christ, obedience, disciples and cultivating that relationship is a daily thing. To claim Christ is a huge deal. In the first century to claim Christ might mean death so if you are going to claim Christ make the most of that claim.

 

I am not a greek scholar and honestly I do not have a grasp on any language including english most of the time, so in order to understand what claim means I looked it up in my bedside dictionary. In some-sense the word means to call for or ask for property, but I think in this sense it means “to state as a fact or to maintain”. How do we maintain things? How do you maintain your room? Your relationships? Your skills? I know Christ and I claim him but how do I move to maintaining that claim.

 

In this book study we are reading a book titled “Disciplines of a Godly Man” by R. Kent Hughes, the author talks about training and how we need to train ourselves. When we were talking about this training I was thinking over the years that I played basketball. I lived and breathed basketball. I trained in and out of team practices. I maintained my shooting form. I maintained my health. I maintained the bench pretty well, but I worked at it everyday. This maintaining the training is part of claiming Christ, but God doesn’t just train us to warm the bench.

 

Obeying Christ is great but it should move us to more. I think what John is getting at is that when we obey Christ, we allow him to train us and make his love complete in us by understanding who he has made us to be we are better able to move to living that out and walking as Christ did. This means daily letting God shape us and mold us. Daily intentionally maintaining that relationship through prayer and reading. Daily finding ways to be intentionally you who God made you to be and living as Jesus did in the context of where you are and what you are doing.

 

Claim Christ

Live like you have Claimed Christ in the full of the freedom, forgiveness and love that he offers.

Walk with Christ and others through life.

Maintain, Maintain, Maintain so when it comes down to the last seconds of the game you can come in an hit the game winning free-throws. Maintain, Maintain, Maintain so that God’s love might be made complete in you so that you can better love those around you. Maintain, Maintain, Maintain the truth.

 

As I am writing this I’m struck by the fact that even before I claimed Jesus he claimed me. He maintained his promises. He loved me before I loved him. He lived the way that he calls us to live. He walked the road we are walking and He is walking it again with us.

 

My manhood plan has a lot of really big claims and goals that I have written in order to challenge myself to maintain them, live them, and allow God to walk me through learning how to be me. I want my life to reflect my claim. I want to live in Christ and walk in the way that he did. Everyday is a challenge to live so claim life one step at a time.

 

-Caleb Ross Hunter

I Was Chasing a Sunset.

I like to chase sunsets…

There is just something awesome and majestic about a sunset that just makes me want to chase it. Today while study for a final I got a text from my best friend to go and look at the sunset so I got up and walked over to the window and I could see the orange just bursting through over the top of the dorm that sits across the street from my window.

That little burst of orange was not enough for me…

I knew there was more to this sunset so I threw on some shoes and grabbed my keys and Camera to chase the sunset. I drove out of town down a dirt road toward the brilliant bursting light. There orange and yellow beams ran fading into the blue in the sky and into the dirty brown mud of the fields where I stood.

There running across the fields with a camera and eyes wide open I’m as a child chasing after the sun in wonder. While standing there just gazing into the picture being painted before me a train rolls by and the sounds of the semi’s on the high way remind me I’m still on earth, but wow. What a view? What a picture?

The blood in my hands started turning blue from the cold but there and then I don’t really care about how cold I am. I was chasing a sunset. Something I love to do! I love to chase after the beautiful nature that God puts out there for us to explore.

I would have chased that sunset all the way to california if I could but dinner and more studying for finals was calling me back on campus. Someday I will chase sunsets every night…

Why don’t you chase the sunset? Sometimes it just takes a text from my best friend to get me up and running to see God’s creation. While I was taking the pictures of the sunset I was thinking about how the pictures can’t even capture the experience of the sunset. Next time you see the sunset, stop take it in or get up and chase it, take in as much of the beauty that is created before you. Let the sunset always remind you, as it does me of how great of an artist that our God is…

Chase the sunset and let it lead you back to the one who is more awesome and majestic than the sunset in which he created.

-Caleb Ross Hunter