The beginning of the race season is always interesting; new cars, new teams, new graphic schemes, everyone likes to roll out their best-looking piece to get things going. But they say beauty is only skin deep, you’ll see who came to race when they drop the green flag.

We all have seen it, a great looking car that runs at the tail of the field. Makes me wonder if they don’t want to scratch it up? Maybe they put too much time and effort in making it look pretty and they forgot about the setup.  Can a car look too good to race? That is not why you build a racecar. You build a racecar to race and win.

The same can be said for people, there are those of us who look the part, dress the right way, look and smell good, but when it is time to help people through the challenges of life they shrink into the background. That is one of the most difficult challenges we face, are we willing to step up to the plate, get down on the ground, alongside someone who has fallen and help someone when they need it. Life isn’t always neat and clean; it can get messy.

You hear it many times, “call if I can help” but do we really mean that? For some it does, we know the folks we can count on at 2am to come and help us. We know the ones that will walk alongside when we need someone to lean on. Those are the folks that understand what it means to love unconditionally. 

Jesus showed that love to us in that when we didn’t deserve it He died for us. Now for a good man someone might dare to die, but for a sinner? We find out our true character when we run the race of life. We find out who the folks we can count on are when we are faced with situations that overwhelm us.

I am reminded of the parable Jesus shared about the sheep and the goats. The passage is found in Matthew’s Gospel, 

Matthew 25:31- 46; NLT; “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’

“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” 

Funny thing about goats, they leave a trail of destruction. They devour anything and everything. If left alone, nothing is safe. It is a reminder to us that there are only two choices, only two options. No matter how good we think we are we just may be a goat.

There are only two true motives in this world; we can be motivated to please ourselves or we can be motivated to do what is right in the eyes of God. We only have the motive to please God if the Holy Spirit is present in our heart. It matters what is in our heart.

Many people do good things and help others but with the wrong motives. Take a look around and see how many are motivated to do good because of the recognition they receive; because of the compliments they get. We all enjoy praise from others, but if that is our only motive for doing something our heart is in the wrong place.

With the new season we have the opportunity to start things again; we can choose a different path. Maybe we need to recondition our heart to be in tune with God’s heart. Maybe it is time we let Him have control over the choices we make.

Christ made a choice that cost him his life; not for the honor of men, but out of obedience to God The Father. My hope and prayer is that we are willing to do the same. When the day comes and we stand before God will we be sheep or goats? What is in our heart?

It isn’t as complicated as some would lead you to believe. In His word God explains it this way;

Romans 10:9-10; NLT; If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

As Christ explained in the Parable; when we have compassion, empathy and extend grace to others, we reveal what is in our heart, we openly declare our faith. Do we believe? Do we openly show that to others? Are we motivated to honor God? What is in our heart?

Until next time, remember God loves you and Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing! God Bless. Remember, that your prayerful support and donations helps us continue this ministry. Thank You.

We have all been in the situation where we couldn’t say what we really felt like saying. Whether it is an interview at the track or an encounter with fans, most times we need to measure what we say and take into account who is listening. We don’t always reveal what is in our heart. 

Jesus continued his teaching in the Sermon on the Mount with these words;

Mathew 5:27-30, “You have heard that it was said, `Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Adultery is wrong, even thinking about it is wrong. This illustrates God’s high view of the marriage relationship. Jesus helps us to understand that when we enter into a marriage relationship it should be the only intimate relationship we have. It is not up for debate, don’t even think about it.

We all have things we think about and would really like to say but for the circumstances that surround us we don’t share it. It is rare to have a relationship where you can share your heart. The angst we feel, when we cannot really say what we want, robs us of our peace. That doesn’t mean we should just share what is in our heart, it means we have to change our heart.

Romans 12:2; NLT; Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Changing our heart means transforming our mind. Our mind, what we think, is connected to what is in our heart. We have heard; follow your heart. We learn here that our mind leads our heart. What we think is connected to what’s in our heart. We need to lead our heart in a way that will honor God.

Jesus expands this teaching that it is what is in our heart that matters. He expands this to lustful desires. Lust is a word that we have equated with sexual desires but let’s explore that word a little. Lust is defined as; a desire, yearning, a longing, a hunger, an ache, envy, thirst, an itch for something. Most of these terms describe something that overtakes us, something that is very hard to have the willpower to resist. When we allow the wrong thoughts to rule our mind, we end up sinning in our heart. Notice that Jesus makes the designation that whether in our mind, heart or actions the result is the same, we fall short of honoring God. We don’t need to follow through with actions, just allowing the thoughts in our head and desire in our heart is enough.

He has some advice for us though; remove it from your life. He explains that we are to go to great lengths to remove whatever it is in our life that causes us to sin. He said it is better to lose one part of our body than to lose our entire life. Have no doubt about it, this is serious stuff. Jesus doesn’t limit this just to adultery, his example covers anything we do that causes us to sin. We need to cut it out of our life.

Garbage in, garbage out! That’s exactly what Jesus is saying, if we allow these things in our life that are not good, then our life will be worthless. If the things we put in our minds and hearts are not good then what comes out will be bad. Don’t be fooled into thinking we can handle it, we can’t. 

Take a look at some of the video games out there. Some of the worst ones create a mindset that doesn’t value what God values, life itself. Do we think there is a connection between what people subject their minds to with these games and what they do in their lives? I do and I think we see it in the way people treat each other. We have developed a disregard for others and their lives. Remember the topic from a few weeks back; when we do not value life like God values life, we commit murder. Even when we call someone a fool.

How do we respond to things in our life that cause us to sin? Probably not the way Jesus instructs us to respond here. For some reason we think we can handle it. We think we are strong enough to resist the temptation. We think we are stronger than others. We are wrong.

What is in our heart? Soon enough it will show in the way we live our life. Are we ready to live a life that shows the love of Christ? I would encourage each of us to take note of what we allow into our mind. Take note of what we allow ourselves to think. The wrong influences and thoughts will lead to actions that will destroy our lives.

I remember a movie that helps us understand this teaching; Fireproof. It helps us to understand how important the relationship of marriage is and helps us to see how we can make it better. There is a teaching in that movie that we all need to remember; “Don’t just follow your heart, because your heart can be deceived, lead your heart to where it needs to be.” That is what Jesus teaches here, how we condition our heart matters. What we put into our heart matters, because what is in our heart will show itself in our lives.

Don’t allow things into our mind that will destroy our life. Cut them out, remove their influence. It is better to lose a part of our life than condemn ourselves to hell. Do not take these words lightly. We must watch ourselves and the things we let influence our thoughts and become what our hearts desire.

Until next time, remember God loves you and Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing! God Bless. Remember, that your prayerful support and donations helps us continue this ministry. Thank You.

We continue to hang out at Jacob’s well with the lady we met there. Have you ever noticed how Jesus can get right to the heart of things? He knows what we really are feeling, not just what we let everyone else see. He knows what is in our heart.

There are times when we can tell someone’s heart isn’t in it. Most racers live with their emotions out on their sleeve. They are not very good at hiding what they really feel from the people around them. That is part of what makes racing exciting, you know when they talk to the driver you are going to get the uncut version with all the passion and emotion they have. That is what makes it real.

When the heart is missing, things fall flat. We see that in the polished, politically correct response in public comments today. Where is the passion? Are all the characters gone from racing? They are all polished up, say the politically correct things and everything looks like a well-rehearsed PR event. That is not what we watch for; we watch to see the raw emotion from passionate competitors who want to win. Who wants to see someone whose heart seems to be somewhere else? I enjoy when we see the true emotion and passion from a genuine display of what is in someone’s heart.

How about us, are we passionate about doing God? Is our heart in it? As we continue to explore this passage we learn that our heart is required to truly worship God.

John 4:16-30; He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

“I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

Remember last week that Jesus offered this woman living water and she asked Jesus to give it to her. Jesus knew what this woman’s life was like and it was necessary for her to deal with her sin. He told her to go get her husband. She confessed she didn’t have one. Jesus explained to her how well He knew her life and how she lived it. Isn’t it funny that we think we can hide things from God? What happened next is a classic example of how we think we can avoid facing the truth by changing the subject.

The woman started comparing the Samaritans place of worship with the Jewish place and wanted Christ to tell her who was right. Jesus explained that the location didn’t matter, what matters is what is in your heart. The only worship that is acceptable is worship that is in spirit and truth. Let’s unpack that a little.

Jesus said it doesn’t matter what church you go to or what service you attend, what matters is what is in your heart. Are we worshiping in Spirit and in Truth? That means; does the Holy Spirit reside in your heart? Do you know Him? If not you can sing all the hymns, say all the prayers and attend the fanciest church you want; it is meaningless without the Spirit in your heart.

Also, Jesus said our worship doesn’t count if we are just going through the motions, we have to mean it; we have to be truthful. We can lie to ourselves about many things. Sometimes we don’t want to face the reality of what things really look like. When we tell ourselves lies long enough we start to think of them as truth. We cannot truly worship with that in our heart. We must worship in spirit and truth, then it is acceptable.

Let’s recap this encounter, the woman wanted to be saved, receive the living water. Before that could happen she needed to deal with the sin in her life. Jesus helped her to stop rationalizing her lifestyle and see it for what it was. When she faced it truthfully and acknowledged it she was forgiven. Her life was changed. How do we know that?

She came to the well in the middle of the day, when she wouldn’t have to face the sneers and jeers of the town’s people concerning the way she lived. This day she came face to face with the living God. He helped her understand the changes that needed to take place. When she accepted that where did she go? To the very people she was trying to avoid, the people in town, a different direction than the one she came from.

Do we see any similarities in our lives? Do we try to hide things from God and hope he doesn’t know who we really are? We need to face the truth, receive the Spirit and the forgiveness that he brings; then we can worship God freely, forgiven.

Or we can continue to go through the motions and tell ourselves we are doing the right thing. I ask you to search your heart this week. Ask yourself, how’s my heart? Am I full of the Spirit? Am I being truthful with myself and God?

Remember if you need to talk we are here, drop us a line. We would welcome the opportunity to help guide you along the road that leads to God. Have a blessed week.

HOME SWEET HOME- I am back! After over 3,542 miles and 62+ hours in the driver’s seat our Speedweeks journey is complete. Thank you to those who helped “Fuel the Rev”. When we start out on our journeys we head out not knowing where the road will take us but put our faith in God for direction on the road. We had many opportunities to touch the lives of others. We heard many stories of lives that have taken a different direction because of God’s influence. We had the opportunity to get out on the airwaves on the Good Morning Jesus radio show. God moved us to the places we needed to go and be there for the people we needed to be with. Thank you for your support in helping us on the road.

Until next time, remember God loves you and Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing! God Bless. Remember, that your prayerful support helps us continue this ministry. Thank You.