We have two toddlers and one on the way. So, why not get a puppy, that sounds completely sane...right? We are crazy. How we got this dog was crazy. We drove 5 1/2 hours each way up into Northern Ohio to get him on a whim. We didn't get home until well after midnight, and why? Because parents will do some crazy things for the children they love. Well...how much more so does God love his children? Is there anything more crazy than becoming a part of his own creation and subjecting himself even to the point of death? God's love is unfathomable. And if he didn't even spare us his son, what else won't he give us according to his will? He truly is a good, good father.
#SetYourMindAbovePodcast
We have two toddlers and one on the way. So, why not get a puppy, that sounds completely sane...right? We are crazy. How we got this dog was crazy. We drove 5 1/2 hours each way up into Northern Ohio to get him on a whim. We didn't get home until well after midnight, and why? Because parents will do some crazy things for the children they love. Well...how much more so does God love his children? Is there anything more crazy than becoming a part of his own creation and subjecting himself even to the point of death? God's love is unfathomable. And if he didn't even spare us his son, what else won't he give us according to his will? He truly is a good, good father.
#SetYourMindAbovePodcast
Hey everybody, and welcome back to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! I’m your host BJ Sipe – I’m a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. In this podcast we take everyday, ordinary events and explore how they can teach us extraordinary, eternal truths. I’m so glad that you joined me for this episode. Now, let’s open up our minds, our hearts, and our Bible’s together.
Wow, it’s been far, far too long since I got behind the microphone. It has been a crazy month for so many reasons. We spent time towards the end of May and the beginning of June at my in-laws home up in the mountains of North Carolina. I then turned around and spent a week in the beautiful state of Colorado, spending time with many old friends and teaching an incredible group of young people. But, as I told my elders, I am indefinitely grounded through the end of the year – no more traveling for me, so we’re getting back on track with the podcast. I want to thank everyone who filled in during my absence: Kenny Embry, Hal Hammons, and Adam Shanks. Each of these men are guys that I love, respect, and thank God for in the parts they have played in mentoring me and building up the Kingdom. If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to each of their podcasts: Balancing the Christian Life, Citizens of Heaven, and Preach Impediments.
After such a whirlwind of a month, there are SO many things that I want to share on this podcast – which is one unfortunate downside to hosting this podcast only once a week; I’ve got to be much pickier about what I chose to share. I want to share more about North Carolina, about the youth lecture in Colorado, and even about the fair over the past week that our local church did outreach at. But, before we can get to any of those stories, there is one thing that I’ve just got to share with you today that happened yesterday. Between two toddlers and a baby on the way, you would think that we had enough crazy going on in our lives. As it turns out, my wife and I enjoy looking crazy in the face and going, “that’s all you got?” – which is exactly what we did yesterday. To preface this, for quite a while my wife has been set on getting a puppy for the kids, but not just any puppy. She has wanted to get a miniature goldendoodle. A puppy like this would be perfect for our little growing family: it grows no larger than 25-30 pounds, it doesn’t shed, is great with kids, and generally lives quite a long life. The problem with this? They are expensive, several thousand dollars expensive to be exact. The best quotes we were seeing were around two grand in Kentucky, one pet shop even quoted us 5300 dollars! (I feel bad about that one, because I literally laughed at her over the phone when she told me the price. Anytime a breeder says “financing available” – that’s a bad sign) After sticker price shock and even going through a scam and losing a deposit, we kind of gave up on the idea for a while. That was until Sunday night, when we got it in our minds to broaden our search. As it turns out, there were so many more mini goldendoodle breeders in the state of Ohio just North of us. For whatever reason, the prices there were also significantly cheaper for the same breed of dog! We couldn’t believe how affordable they were, so we just assumed there was some kind of catch, but reached out anyway to a few expecting nothing in return. What we didn’t expect was what happened the next morning. One of the breeders, a kind young man living in an Amish community named Leon, reached out to us. He had several puppies available, including the pick of the litter: a little 9 week old boy mini goldendoodle. He was so cute he could put Corduroy to shame. My wife instantly fell in love, and she knew the kids would too. I asked her where he was located, and she told me Millersburg, Ohio. I pulled out google maps and looked it up…one way, it was a 5 ½ hour drive. I then looked at the clock, it was already 10:30 am and none of us were ready yet. I looked at her, looked at the kids, and said, “Well…why not, what’s a little more crazy? It’s my day off, let’s go.” We told the kids we had a surprise for them, to which they respectively thought they were getting a balloon or we were going to cracker barrel (I wish I would have known I could have gotten off so easily). Once we told them, they were ecstatic. Everyone was ready to go within the hour, the fastest I’ve seen them all get ready, which was good because we had 11 hours in the car not including stop time to go get this dog. We ended up getting home around 12:30 am – needless to say it was a VERY. LONG. DAY. We dealt with Lexington traffic, Cincinnati traffic, Columbus traffic. Horse & buggy traffic. Crying kids. Drink spills, dog vomit, and everything else in between. But…you know what? We came home with some very, very happy kids and an adorable little puppy named Ollie. Two things are for certain: one – dogs are way better than cats. I mean, nobody would drive 11 hours with two toddlers for a cat. But for a dog? You betcha. And two…parents will do some pretty crazy things for their kids, all because we love them.
As much as I love my children, what never will cease to amaze me is how much more our heavenly Father loves us. I am mindful of a few passages of Scripture that I want us to focus on today. The first is found in Matthew 7:7-11, “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.” Of course, there are always exceptions to everything, but as a general rule, fathers do their best to care for their children. They feed them, protect them, and love them. They do things like drive all day to go get a dog. But even the best of fathers, of which I would not dare to consider myself among, fail their children. We are flawed men, we make mistakes, and despite our best of intentions we don’t always provide for our children what they need or desire. This is Jesus’ point – if we, as flawed fathers, understand the drive and desire to give good gifts to our children & provide for them, how much more then will our perfect heavenly Father provide for us? It’s no comparison, is it? Yeah, I gave my kids a dog…but our heavenly Father gives us life & salvation! In fact, every good and perfect gift comes from above (James 1:17) But just how far does God’s love extend? To what lengths would he go for his creation? Well, when we open up Scripture, we discover that our Father was willing to do something beyond crazy – something unheard of. God would become flesh, to subject himself to his own creation, and die for them. For we read in Philippians 2:5-8, “Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.” As John would write, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. As Isaiah would prophecy – “Immanuel: God with us!” God was willing to do far more than drive all day for us, he was willing to die for us. And my friends, I want you to recognize this one thing – if the Father did not even withhold his only son from us, what could we possible ask according to his will that he would not also grant for us? Paul makes this very point in Romans 8:31-39, “What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything? Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Your heavenly Father loves you more than you could ever understand. He desires more than anything to lavish his grace on you. That in Christ you could find hope, joy, peace, family, rest, and love. All of these are gifts of God, and they are offered freely to you. If you are not a child of God, then what exactly are you waiting for? You will never find a better Father. Oh the crazy, awesome things that our great God will do for his children.
Thank you for tuning in for this week’s episode, and I would invite you back every Tuesday for a brand-new episode each week. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for occasional announcements and special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, please if you’re able to be sure to share it with someone else that you think could benefit from it as well. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.