The other night at Live @ Webster Hall we talked about the term "Religious". What are your feelings when you hear this word? What do you automatically assume?
Some love to use the term religious. They see it as how they express themselves to God. They love their religion and get very offended when that term is used in any kind of derogatory remark at all. They hear "religious" and their minds go right to the place of worship. That intimate time with their God. The most precious time to them is expressed in the religion they hold so close to their heart. Others however, do not hear the term "religious" with heart warming sensations, but feelings of judgement, condemnation, and laws. This is the place where man has taken over for them and God's words have been abused against them. This is the place where I have come from. This is the place that freaks me out!
When I have spoken in the past I have had a very hard time not mocking the traditions, the seemingly meaninglessness of the worship schedule that seems to appear within many of the worship orders of any given Sunday morning. The people stand and monotonically read the words that are projected in front of them with no feeling or understanding of the scripture. They stand and quote the Lord's Prayer asking God to forgive them as they forgive others. Seemingly without even noticing the very next line, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." When I hear this seemingly thoughtlessly repeated just out of wrote memory, I just about have a conniption. "Do you not hear what is next. Please God forgive me like I do NOT forgive others. If you forgive me like I forgive others, I am DOOMED!" And lets not forget the passing of the collection plate at every service!
Then one day I was abruptly corrected. That thing that I fear from the "religious people." Those judgements, those places of being silenced, those condemning and judgmental looks, those fears were a true revealing of my own heart. I had become what I feared most from others. I was not stepping back and looking at their worship time as something that may just be their hearts cry to God. I was seeing it through my eyes and not theirs. I was passing the most judgmental look upon them and their outward appearance and seeing only the "seemingly" from my broken heart and not able to put myself in their place, (which is what I am always expecting others to do for me).
One of the things that I cherish the most about my church is the fact that we have have young and old worshiping together, in different styles, in different clothes, with different wounds, with One God. It is our belief in One God that unites us. It is our coming together to join our lives in our time of worship that unites us and gives us strength. My most precious time is my time with my family on Sunday mornings. It is my time to see that I am not alone. It is my time to hug and receive hugs from others whom I would not see on any other ordinary day. It is my time to express my gratitude to my Savior and my time to accept others in their gratitude toward Him. It is a time for my broken heart to be softened toward others who have also been wounded by the world and even by other "Christians" as well. Without those who are older than I am, who would I go to for advise? Without the young, who would offer me so much energy? It is all of us together, laying down our differences for the sake of others, that is what makes us a family.
F- forget
A- about
M- me
I- I
L- love
Y- you
I can lay down my wounds to allow you to come to your God in your way. I can set aside my fears and my misunderstandings. If I do not, it is my fault that I do not feel close to my family. If I insist on things being my way, it is my own heart that will tell on me. Then, I hope you can do the same for me. My worship style may be different from yours, but it is how my heart sings to my God. It is in those moments that I can share with you our love for Him who unites.
“The Christian faith is not a state of mind. It is not a philosophy. You become a Christian when you meet the person of Christ, when you encounter Him. When I say I know God, I am not saying that I know about Him abstractly, I know Him. I have a relationship with Him.... The certainty that comes doesn't come from the fact that my philosophical system is 100% or that I have all of my theology tied up. The certainty that I have comes from the fact that I know Whom I have trusted and I am convinced. I have a relationship with Him. So, I can speak about Him. I can explain it, and I can give it ideas, but in the end my relationship is with Him. It is not a certainty that can be found in any other religious system. All others just have someone else's ideas. Without Christ there is no Christianity(MR)...... We draw a distinction in saying we know an absolute God is not saying we know Him absolutely. There is a difference between God and us. I can know God sufficiently, truly and really, but I am not saying I know absolutes or that I know Him absolutely. That is a knowledge claim that I do not have the capacity to make, and it is not possible. I am saying that the Absolute One, the One Who does have all knowledge is capable of revealing Himself, not exhaustively, but sufficiently... and that means that Absolute Truth has made Himself known (SM).” (Fourth Presbyterian Q&A)
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The Dragon Slayer
The other night at Live @ Webster Hall we talked about the terms sin and Satan. Most all of us have a weird feeling when we hear the word "sin". We don't really understand that term and have put a judgmental feeling with it instead of what it really is. Sin is that thing that has been let loose on this earth who is constantly trying to come in and destroy us. Satan was even attacked by sin and succumbed to its pressure and fell. Sin is the seed that was planted within all of our hearts, the pull to go against God and what He desires for us. It is sin that is trying to destroy us. I have always seen sin as a verb. You know, that thing that you "do" which is wrong. With the help of a new book I got for Christmas, "The Dragon Slayer" by Jim McGuiggan, I am now starting to open up and see sin as a noun also. Let me try my best to explain: We have all kinds of things that are rightly defined as sin; anger, pride, gluttony, adultery, the list can go on and on. These things that we do or that we can see others doing, those things are sin, but what if we change the action verb "sin" into a proper noun "Sin". That thing that we have always called sin now has an actual name, Sin, and it hates us. Sin is stalking us. He has come to destroy our life.
I am constantly being pursued by Sin. He is trying to trap me in any possible way. He is constantly trying to destroy my relationships and trying to get between me and God. We are all in a constant battle and this battle is for love: love of God, love of others and love for our self. If he can come in and make us fight with one another, he has won. Sin loves to make us victims. If he cannot get to us through us, he will send someone else to come in and try to destroy us by using them. He will help us hate ourselves for whatever wrong we have ever done. He knows that we who are protected under Christ, who have repented and who will never travel down that same road again, he knows that if he can at least make us live in constant self condemnation then he is able to steal our joy. Our enemy has a name and that name is Sin. He is constantly trying to drive a wedge in all of our relationships.
"Sin troubles God because it not only dishonors him, it makes victims of His beloved human family."
We are the children of God. When Sin comes into our lives, our God is very concerned. He is our Father and He desires to protect us. He knows that Sin is here to destroy us in any way that he can. God does not just look at Sin as an action that we have done. He sees it for what it really is. Sin hates us and is constantly trying to trick us into loving Sin instead of our Father. If we are constantly turning against God and turning to Sin to love us what we are really doing is loving like the love of "Stockholm syndrome". We fall in love with our abuser and run into his arms. We defend him and tell others who are trying to help us get away from him that they just don't understand. This is one of the reasons why God hates Sin so much.
"In lucid moments we saw ourselves for what we had become and weary and heartsick we wished for deliverance even while we loved our chains."
Then in steps Christ. He is our Savior. He is our Redeemer. But what we do not see is that while we innocently suffer from the attack of Sin, Christ also chose to innocently suffer from Sin. He came and was born not to the rich and comfortable, but to the poor. He came and was ruthlessly attacked. Sin abused Him. He came and said, "I am your Creator. I want you to know that I understand what hurt you're hurting from and I know who abuses you. But I want you to know something else, I am the Creator of life and there is still so much more that you cannot understand yet. Hang in there my child, for while Sin does hurt, I have conquered Sin and he no longer has any real power. Don't turn to him for love. I am the author of true love. I am the One that can truly love you through all of your hurt, through all of your doubts, Sin cannot stop Me. Please stop loving your abuser, for when you love him, you not only hurt yourself, but you hurt my other children as well. Learn to love Me and learn to live FREE. I am the Dragon Slayer!"
I am constantly being pursued by Sin. He is trying to trap me in any possible way. He is constantly trying to destroy my relationships and trying to get between me and God. We are all in a constant battle and this battle is for love: love of God, love of others and love for our self. If he can come in and make us fight with one another, he has won. Sin loves to make us victims. If he cannot get to us through us, he will send someone else to come in and try to destroy us by using them. He will help us hate ourselves for whatever wrong we have ever done. He knows that we who are protected under Christ, who have repented and who will never travel down that same road again, he knows that if he can at least make us live in constant self condemnation then he is able to steal our joy. Our enemy has a name and that name is Sin. He is constantly trying to drive a wedge in all of our relationships.
"Sin troubles God because it not only dishonors him, it makes victims of His beloved human family."
We are the children of God. When Sin comes into our lives, our God is very concerned. He is our Father and He desires to protect us. He knows that Sin is here to destroy us in any way that he can. God does not just look at Sin as an action that we have done. He sees it for what it really is. Sin hates us and is constantly trying to trick us into loving Sin instead of our Father. If we are constantly turning against God and turning to Sin to love us what we are really doing is loving like the love of "Stockholm syndrome". We fall in love with our abuser and run into his arms. We defend him and tell others who are trying to help us get away from him that they just don't understand. This is one of the reasons why God hates Sin so much.
"In lucid moments we saw ourselves for what we had become and weary and heartsick we wished for deliverance even while we loved our chains."
Then in steps Christ. He is our Savior. He is our Redeemer. But what we do not see is that while we innocently suffer from the attack of Sin, Christ also chose to innocently suffer from Sin. He came and was born not to the rich and comfortable, but to the poor. He came and was ruthlessly attacked. Sin abused Him. He came and said, "I am your Creator. I want you to know that I understand what hurt you're hurting from and I know who abuses you. But I want you to know something else, I am the Creator of life and there is still so much more that you cannot understand yet. Hang in there my child, for while Sin does hurt, I have conquered Sin and he no longer has any real power. Don't turn to him for love. I am the author of true love. I am the One that can truly love you through all of your hurt, through all of your doubts, Sin cannot stop Me. Please stop loving your abuser, for when you love him, you not only hurt yourself, but you hurt my other children as well. Learn to love Me and learn to live FREE. I am the Dragon Slayer!"
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Love
There is an old country song that describes how most of us have spent our younger years of life, looking for love in all the wrong places. Actually, I cannot say younger years. As we get older we still search in vain trying desperately to fill a void in our hearts that can only be sung by One. I fell hard for someone that I thought could sing his beautiful songs into my heart. I was young and in no way was I looking in any of the right places. We ran away, feeling the moment and got married in Vegas. I thought that just because we were married that anything was right. Anything that we wanted we could have. We entered into our marriage without boundaries and we almost died in our marriage without boundaries. "You get into an illicit relationship and very soon you will be justifying many other illegitimacy's. It will turn desire into disrespect if not hatred," (RZ). There are some places within the heart that no one should ever touch! But with God all things can heal, nothing is to be left untouched.
In Genesis 24 Abraham is very old and he wants to find his son Isaac a wife before he dies. He calls for his servant and sends him on a journey, back to his homeland, to find a wife for his son. The servant finally reached a spring and stopped his camels there. He prayed that God would reveal the right woman for his master. “LORD, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” When Rebekah reached the well everything that he had prayed came true and after meeting her family, she left with him to marry Isaac. "...Now Isaac, went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, 'Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?' 'He is my master,' the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death."
"Love is as much a question of the will as it is the emotion and if you will to love somebody, you can." Isaac had never met Rebekah. She had never met him, but they willed to love each other and they did. Jason and I started our relationship on very rocky grounds. Trust me when I say, "We had an arranged marriage and walked down the isle out of obedience, not love." But our love did not start with each other either, it took years of seeking God's heart. My heart had filled with hatred toward men. I had to turn my desire where it was always meant to be, toward God. Jason had to turn to Ephesians 5:25. He learned to love me as Christ loves us. He served me. Through diligently seeking after God's heart, we learned to love each other. God is the only one who can truly fill that empty place in your heart. Jason has his place as my husband, but I cannot expect even him to fill that place and when I have tried I have left feeling empty.
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Cor 13:6-7
There is this one intimate time that I desperately try not to violate, my alone time with God every morning. It is by spending my alone time with Him that I have learned to dance with Him. Whether you are married or not, your most precious relationship is your relationship with your God. He has a plan for your life. Can you trust Him enough to wait and walk with Him. No man, no woman, will ever be able to feel that ache in your heart. We are to never settle for the wrong relationship. That will destroy us. We are to seek after God with all of our heart, mind and soul. This love will never leave us empty.
In Genesis 24 Abraham is very old and he wants to find his son Isaac a wife before he dies. He calls for his servant and sends him on a journey, back to his homeland, to find a wife for his son. The servant finally reached a spring and stopped his camels there. He prayed that God would reveal the right woman for his master. “LORD, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” When Rebekah reached the well everything that he had prayed came true and after meeting her family, she left with him to marry Isaac. "...Now Isaac, went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, 'Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?' 'He is my master,' the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death."
"Love is as much a question of the will as it is the emotion and if you will to love somebody, you can." Isaac had never met Rebekah. She had never met him, but they willed to love each other and they did. Jason and I started our relationship on very rocky grounds. Trust me when I say, "We had an arranged marriage and walked down the isle out of obedience, not love." But our love did not start with each other either, it took years of seeking God's heart. My heart had filled with hatred toward men. I had to turn my desire where it was always meant to be, toward God. Jason had to turn to Ephesians 5:25. He learned to love me as Christ loves us. He served me. Through diligently seeking after God's heart, we learned to love each other. God is the only one who can truly fill that empty place in your heart. Jason has his place as my husband, but I cannot expect even him to fill that place and when I have tried I have left feeling empty.
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Cor 13:6-7
There is this one intimate time that I desperately try not to violate, my alone time with God every morning. It is by spending my alone time with Him that I have learned to dance with Him. Whether you are married or not, your most precious relationship is your relationship with your God. He has a plan for your life. Can you trust Him enough to wait and walk with Him. No man, no woman, will ever be able to feel that ache in your heart. We are to never settle for the wrong relationship. That will destroy us. We are to seek after God with all of our heart, mind and soul. This love will never leave us empty.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Appreciative Love
Luke 7:36-50, A sinful woman comes into a house uninvited. She knows that Jesus is there. She does not run in fear of the home owner, who she knows will judge her. She is fully aware of what her life has looked like. She enters and does not even return his stare of judgement and condemnation, her eyes are fixed upon her Savior. She goes right to Jesus' feet and cries. Her long hair is her only way to wipe away the tears that have been pouring upon her Savior's feet. She knows that there is no judgement given from the only one who truly matters. Her heart is free to go into any setting and find Him there waiting to protect her from others who would rather she never even left her own home, much less entered theirs.
Jesus in His warmth and wisdom looks at her but speaks to her accuser. (You must read the entire verse to really understand the whole picture.) "...I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown." I love this verse! Her many sins have been forgiven AS her great love has shown. She loved much BECAUSE she was loved first. She did not have to earn her forgiveness. She did not come to Jesus begging Him to save her. She did not come in, fearful and unsure of His reaction toward her. She knew. She came in out of appreciation toward Him. She came in thanking Him for not condemning her. She came in knowing that He really knew why those things had happened to her and why she chose to respond the way she did. She knew that she could walk anywhere with her head held high, for she knew the only One that really mattered was Jesus and she loved Him more than others could ever understand, for she appreciated His love more.
"Appreciative love endures because it is rooted int the very source of our being, not merely in our behaving... we can pause and say thank you... there is a fusing of love with gratitude. Appreciative love says, 'Thank you.'... our response to God, is a love that loves out of gratitude to Him." (Ravi Zacharias, Cries of the Heart)
Why do I do the good things that I do? Why do I try with all my mind, heart, and strength to please Him? It is not to earn His love or His approval. It is to say, "Thank You." I have changed my living. I no longer lust after the things of this world, because I appreciate His love and I want to say "thank you" with my life. I know how much I have been forgiven. I am very aware of the paths that I have chosen. I know how much I am loved, for He forgave me, then I washed His feet and dried them with my hair. My life has changed out of appreciation to Him.
"But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you,” (Psalm 81:15). "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:102).
My God is not something or someone that I live in fear of. He is sweeter than honey. He is so sweet that I can only handle Him in small doses. He does not give us all of Himself all at once, for He knows that we would not be able to stomach Him. The rocks of my life have been the hard times that I have traveled through. He has taken those times and changed them to honey that feeds me. I have learned more about His love through the memory of my past and can taste His kindness, for I know I have been forgiven much. Maybe it is not all about "doing" the right thing, but about knowing How truly sweet He is. Maybe if we really know Him then that will give us the strength to say "Thank You" with our changed lives. It really is all about our Appreciative Love. Do I love Him enough to allow Him to change my life?
Jesus in His warmth and wisdom looks at her but speaks to her accuser. (You must read the entire verse to really understand the whole picture.) "...I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown." I love this verse! Her many sins have been forgiven AS her great love has shown. She loved much BECAUSE she was loved first. She did not have to earn her forgiveness. She did not come to Jesus begging Him to save her. She did not come in, fearful and unsure of His reaction toward her. She knew. She came in out of appreciation toward Him. She came in thanking Him for not condemning her. She came in knowing that He really knew why those things had happened to her and why she chose to respond the way she did. She knew that she could walk anywhere with her head held high, for she knew the only One that really mattered was Jesus and she loved Him more than others could ever understand, for she appreciated His love more.
"Appreciative love endures because it is rooted int the very source of our being, not merely in our behaving... we can pause and say thank you... there is a fusing of love with gratitude. Appreciative love says, 'Thank you.'... our response to God, is a love that loves out of gratitude to Him." (Ravi Zacharias, Cries of the Heart)
Why do I do the good things that I do? Why do I try with all my mind, heart, and strength to please Him? It is not to earn His love or His approval. It is to say, "Thank You." I have changed my living. I no longer lust after the things of this world, because I appreciate His love and I want to say "thank you" with my life. I know how much I have been forgiven. I am very aware of the paths that I have chosen. I know how much I am loved, for He forgave me, then I washed His feet and dried them with my hair. My life has changed out of appreciation to Him.
"But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you,” (Psalm 81:15). "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:102).
My God is not something or someone that I live in fear of. He is sweeter than honey. He is so sweet that I can only handle Him in small doses. He does not give us all of Himself all at once, for He knows that we would not be able to stomach Him. The rocks of my life have been the hard times that I have traveled through. He has taken those times and changed them to honey that feeds me. I have learned more about His love through the memory of my past and can taste His kindness, for I know I have been forgiven much. Maybe it is not all about "doing" the right thing, but about knowing How truly sweet He is. Maybe if we really know Him then that will give us the strength to say "Thank You" with our changed lives. It really is all about our Appreciative Love. Do I love Him enough to allow Him to change my life?
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Pursuit of Pleasure
I have recently learned how (to at least) establish or acknowledge guidelines in learning how to truly enjoy pleasures in this life. I think this is vital, for we can so easily take what God has so freely given us and abuse it to the point that we unwittingly abuse others around us. We can also become an "Eeyore" Christian and others see us as people who do not know the meaning of fun! We are going to travel down the road in learning boundaries and what to look for as we learn to truly enjoy God given pleasures. We must remember that all pleasures were God's idea first and those pleasures include sex, food, luxuries, friendships, conversations, all things that bring us joy.
Judges 7, Gideon was instructed by God to select his army. God knew that it was too big so He told him to bring his warriors to a river so they could drink. "Keep ones who kneel to drink water from their hands." 300 men were all that Gideon has to go into battle with. These men drank with their heads up keeping their eyes aware of their surroundings. (Really must read the scripture to really be able to see it yourself, Judges 6:33-7:8).
With these verses in mind we come to point #1. "Anything that refreshes you without distracting you from, diminishing, or destroying your final goal is a legitimate pleasure...point within that goal: You first have to draw out what your final goal is. If you never draw out what your purpose is, you will never know what will refresh you along the way. Problem with pleasure today, most of us have not drawn out a final purpose in life. Once you have established that then you know what can distract, diminish, or destroy you along the way," (RZ).
What is your final goal in life. Really it does not have to be that big... What is your goal in the stage you are in right now? If you are a college student, is your goal to finish school, to retain the knowledge you are given? If you are a mother, what is your goal? A father, what is your goal? What is your goal within your business? While you are establishing your goal there is a catch. Your goal needs to be wrapped around one main theme: "'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.’"
In seeing now your goal and what must be the main theme within that goal, now it is time to define sin. “Whatever weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes away your relish for spiritual things. In short, if anything increases the authority and power of the flesh over the spirit, then that to you becomes sin, however good it is in itself," (Susanna Wesley) Sin is that thing that comes in and separates you from your goals and from God, the One who wants the best for your life. Stop and really reflect on that, then go on to point number two.
In 2 Samuel 23, David, weary from battle, longs for a simple drink from his well in Bethlehem. His best men sneak behind enemy lines and bring him that drink. He is first elated about a taste of his own water then looks at his men and decides that their lives are worth more and they should have never risked their lives for his refreshment.
Point #2: "Any pleasure that jeopardizes the sacred right of another, is an illicit pleasure for you," (RZ).
I could go into so many examples for this one, but I will let you think of the things that you have done in your own life that were not really a big deal for you, but what about those whom you influence, those who were with you. Think about how that could affect them.
Short and simple, point #3: Proverbs 25:16, “If you find honey, eat just enough— too much of it, and you will vomit.” "Any pleasure , however good, if not kept in balance will distort reality or destroy your appetite," (RZ).
We all must look at these tree main points, keeping the main goal in mind, then we will learn how to truly enjoy this life. There are boundaries that we must keep, for if we do not, we will come to the point of that pleasure and want to vomit. This lesson is more for me than I care to really admit. I have lived this life without boundaries. I have tried this life with rules that were not attached to heart. Really all that matters is the fact that I keep my eyes upon this goal, ("'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.’") and learn to walk in a way that leads others in the direction of true pleasure as well.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
Judges 7, Gideon was instructed by God to select his army. God knew that it was too big so He told him to bring his warriors to a river so they could drink. "Keep ones who kneel to drink water from their hands." 300 men were all that Gideon has to go into battle with. These men drank with their heads up keeping their eyes aware of their surroundings. (Really must read the scripture to really be able to see it yourself, Judges 6:33-7:8).
With these verses in mind we come to point #1. "Anything that refreshes you without distracting you from, diminishing, or destroying your final goal is a legitimate pleasure...point within that goal: You first have to draw out what your final goal is. If you never draw out what your purpose is, you will never know what will refresh you along the way. Problem with pleasure today, most of us have not drawn out a final purpose in life. Once you have established that then you know what can distract, diminish, or destroy you along the way," (RZ).
What is your final goal in life. Really it does not have to be that big... What is your goal in the stage you are in right now? If you are a college student, is your goal to finish school, to retain the knowledge you are given? If you are a mother, what is your goal? A father, what is your goal? What is your goal within your business? While you are establishing your goal there is a catch. Your goal needs to be wrapped around one main theme: "'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.’"
In seeing now your goal and what must be the main theme within that goal, now it is time to define sin. “Whatever weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes away your relish for spiritual things. In short, if anything increases the authority and power of the flesh over the spirit, then that to you becomes sin, however good it is in itself," (Susanna Wesley) Sin is that thing that comes in and separates you from your goals and from God, the One who wants the best for your life. Stop and really reflect on that, then go on to point number two.
In 2 Samuel 23, David, weary from battle, longs for a simple drink from his well in Bethlehem. His best men sneak behind enemy lines and bring him that drink. He is first elated about a taste of his own water then looks at his men and decides that their lives are worth more and they should have never risked their lives for his refreshment.
Point #2: "Any pleasure that jeopardizes the sacred right of another, is an illicit pleasure for you," (RZ).
I could go into so many examples for this one, but I will let you think of the things that you have done in your own life that were not really a big deal for you, but what about those whom you influence, those who were with you. Think about how that could affect them.
Short and simple, point #3: Proverbs 25:16, “If you find honey, eat just enough— too much of it, and you will vomit.” "Any pleasure , however good, if not kept in balance will distort reality or destroy your appetite," (RZ).
We all must look at these tree main points, keeping the main goal in mind, then we will learn how to truly enjoy this life. There are boundaries that we must keep, for if we do not, we will come to the point of that pleasure and want to vomit. This lesson is more for me than I care to really admit. I have lived this life without boundaries. I have tried this life with rules that were not attached to heart. Really all that matters is the fact that I keep my eyes upon this goal, ("'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.’") and learn to walk in a way that leads others in the direction of true pleasure as well.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Enjoying the Ride
Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
I was watching a car pass by my house the other day and noticed the dog in the back seat who was looking right at me. Neither the driver nor the front seat passenger looked in my direction, but the dog looked right at me. The people up front were busy watching the road and looking at where they were going, but the dog was looking at the scenery and looked right at me. This got me thinking. I started thinking of the children who ride in our cars and what they see differently from us. For the view from the back seat is totally different from the front seat. We like the front seat better for the view seems bigger with that wide open front windshield helping your sight, but so often whether we are the driver or the passenger, the ones in the front are focused so much on what is in front of them, the next turn, the bend in the road, whatever it may be that those people miss the fine details. It can be that our children are the ones with the really great seat for they are forced to focus on the ride rather than the final destination.
Roads we have traveled, roads we have gone on where we either insisted on being the driver, opted to be the passenger, or feel were were forced to sit in the back seat, these are all a part of our life and all too often we feel we have taken the wrong road and can never get back to where we were supposed to go. Our travel plans that God once had for us have been changed and the “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” those plans now have to be rewritten. We seem to think of God as having this ideal situation for us, but oops she really blew it this time and now He has to rewrite our future He has for us all over again. But something has recently hit me, “Not that I have already obtained all this...I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it..." but I think His plan that He had for me, this ride that I am now on, this life that I now live, I think this was all part of His plan. Don't get me wrong! God did not choose for me to live in sin the way that I did. He did not choose for any of those bad/horrible/outlandish things to happen. They were my choices and I have to live with the consequences of those choices, but I think He always had the map! I think He knew were I was going and where I would pass by. I have to thank God that when my suffering within my sin, when I had had enough, He was there to show me the road. Not a path that had been diverted, but a path waiting for me.
Let me try and paint this picture and explain: When Jason was little he used to come up here to go camping with his family. On his journey, being the passenger in the back seat, his view was different than that of his parents. Children look around and have landmarks that tell them where they are, something familiar to give them a reference point. One of those landmarks that he looked for was an Aspen tree with the initials JS carved in it. For years he would look for that tree and when he would see it he would say to himself, "Almost there!" What he and I both discovered years later was, that tree was my tree. JS was me! My daddy had carved my initials in my tree when I was a very young girl. Jason always looked with great expectation for my tree for that told him that his trip, his final destination was just around the corner. My tree remained in our lives until right before we got married. The road was widened and the tree was torn down. I have to believe that it was because we were finally together and the landmark for that part of our journey was no longer needed.
Now this is not a note on how to land a husband and this is what our whole journey in life needs to be about "finding our soul mate." No, I think God had a much bigger picture! He just allowed me to see that maybe I didn't need to look at all the awful things I had done and think, "Well if I had chosen a different path, maybe this or that would have been different." He allowed me to see that He is in charge and He knew what path I would take and now I am just focused on the right leader to take me there. I am waiting for my Father's nod to tell me where to go. I am allowing Him to hold the map, even if I think I have a better idea. The path has not changed! I am just willing to listen as we travel and my pain is not so severe.
Philippians 3:13, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
It is not really about forgetting our past. It is all about not regretting it so much! I have my memories. My body suffers from the abuse. This does not hold be back, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” The prize, the final goal, is a relationship with Christ! This is what it is all about. The closer we become, the more I can hear Him, (Even in those moments where I cannot hear Him, but He wants me to take that next step in faith with me knowing He is close by) the relationship we have together is my greatest desire and the reason I make time for Him... Even if that time is only to tell Him, "Thank You for the sounds of the singing birds." This journey is to have relationships. Our memory is to thank God for the Cross, for I know who I am without Him.
“When we share the point of disturbance we are telling people it is the grace of Christ that is offered to you to rescue you from a life of self destruction.” (RZ)
I was watching a car pass by my house the other day and noticed the dog in the back seat who was looking right at me. Neither the driver nor the front seat passenger looked in my direction, but the dog looked right at me. The people up front were busy watching the road and looking at where they were going, but the dog was looking at the scenery and looked right at me. This got me thinking. I started thinking of the children who ride in our cars and what they see differently from us. For the view from the back seat is totally different from the front seat. We like the front seat better for the view seems bigger with that wide open front windshield helping your sight, but so often whether we are the driver or the passenger, the ones in the front are focused so much on what is in front of them, the next turn, the bend in the road, whatever it may be that those people miss the fine details. It can be that our children are the ones with the really great seat for they are forced to focus on the ride rather than the final destination.
Roads we have traveled, roads we have gone on where we either insisted on being the driver, opted to be the passenger, or feel were were forced to sit in the back seat, these are all a part of our life and all too often we feel we have taken the wrong road and can never get back to where we were supposed to go. Our travel plans that God once had for us have been changed and the “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” those plans now have to be rewritten. We seem to think of God as having this ideal situation for us, but oops she really blew it this time and now He has to rewrite our future He has for us all over again. But something has recently hit me, “Not that I have already obtained all this...I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it..." but I think His plan that He had for me, this ride that I am now on, this life that I now live, I think this was all part of His plan. Don't get me wrong! God did not choose for me to live in sin the way that I did. He did not choose for any of those bad/horrible/outlandish things to happen. They were my choices and I have to live with the consequences of those choices, but I think He always had the map! I think He knew were I was going and where I would pass by. I have to thank God that when my suffering within my sin, when I had had enough, He was there to show me the road. Not a path that had been diverted, but a path waiting for me.
Let me try and paint this picture and explain: When Jason was little he used to come up here to go camping with his family. On his journey, being the passenger in the back seat, his view was different than that of his parents. Children look around and have landmarks that tell them where they are, something familiar to give them a reference point. One of those landmarks that he looked for was an Aspen tree with the initials JS carved in it. For years he would look for that tree and when he would see it he would say to himself, "Almost there!" What he and I both discovered years later was, that tree was my tree. JS was me! My daddy had carved my initials in my tree when I was a very young girl. Jason always looked with great expectation for my tree for that told him that his trip, his final destination was just around the corner. My tree remained in our lives until right before we got married. The road was widened and the tree was torn down. I have to believe that it was because we were finally together and the landmark for that part of our journey was no longer needed.
Now this is not a note on how to land a husband and this is what our whole journey in life needs to be about "finding our soul mate." No, I think God had a much bigger picture! He just allowed me to see that maybe I didn't need to look at all the awful things I had done and think, "Well if I had chosen a different path, maybe this or that would have been different." He allowed me to see that He is in charge and He knew what path I would take and now I am just focused on the right leader to take me there. I am waiting for my Father's nod to tell me where to go. I am allowing Him to hold the map, even if I think I have a better idea. The path has not changed! I am just willing to listen as we travel and my pain is not so severe.
Philippians 3:13, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
It is not really about forgetting our past. It is all about not regretting it so much! I have my memories. My body suffers from the abuse. This does not hold be back, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” The prize, the final goal, is a relationship with Christ! This is what it is all about. The closer we become, the more I can hear Him, (Even in those moments where I cannot hear Him, but He wants me to take that next step in faith with me knowing He is close by) the relationship we have together is my greatest desire and the reason I make time for Him... Even if that time is only to tell Him, "Thank You for the sounds of the singing birds." This journey is to have relationships. Our memory is to thank God for the Cross, for I know who I am without Him.
“When we share the point of disturbance we are telling people it is the grace of Christ that is offered to you to rescue you from a life of self destruction.” (RZ)
Monday, December 12, 2011
Changing DNA
The birth of Jesus is one of the main targets for the season. We celebrate His birth. We give gifts. The churches actually fill up and we see people who usually are never there suddenly walking in to give homage to Christ. This is a season of joy for most and a time to spend with others, but it is also a season of questions. One of those questions is something that Larry King had addressed to him on his TV show one night. The questioner asked him, "If you could interview one person across history who would it be and why?" Larry looked at him and without pause said, "Jesus Christ, and if He truly was virgin born. The answer to that would answer every question in life for me."
I have had this question brought to me in an awkward moment by an acupuncturist I once saw. As I was laying on the table receiving my treatment for my MS, she looked at me and said, "Do you really believe that Jesus was born from a virgin?" How do you really dive into such an enormous subject while you are pinned down? It is not just a question asked by those who do not believe, but it is a question that every believer must wrestle with as well. It is a question that actually weaves itself within all of scripture and it is an answer that deals within all of us as we travel with our faith in how we live out our life.
Lets start with the first obvious question, "Was Jesus truly virgin born?" The question is actually, "Was Jesus God?" John 1, "In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it."
I do not have enough space to really go into everything, but lets assume that we all agree that there is an Intelligent Creator. And lets assume that we all agree that this Intelligent Creator is God and He is the one that Christ clammed to be. So if Jesus is really who He said He was, "God", then why would it be so outrageous to assume that the one who gave nature its laws and ordered the cells within to have intelligence, why is it so hard to grasp the virgin birth? Maybe it is not really the virgin birth at all, but another question all together. Maybe the true question is really all about "me". Maybe the true question is, "What does this say about who I am? And if it really is true, how would I ever be able to live up to the standards that I think the bible sets in front of me?"
Now this is where things get cool. There are some things that we do in which we really do not know why we do them. We all struggle with something that we wonder, "Why do I struggle with this when it seems my friends do not?" It seems to be in our DNA, how we are made up. Our struggles seem to be something that we are born with. Now we turn to the virgin birth. The virgin birth is a change in DNA and how it runs within its laws. If Christ was born because of the change of DNA, how much more awesome are His words, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”... “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’"
"Christ did not come into this world to make bad people good. He came to so that the dead could live," (RZ). He came to give us a new life. A life that we could never manufacture on our own. He came so that He could change our DNA. If we learn to change our focus, He changes our hearts. He changes our desires, by changing what our DNA says we must do and what we assume we have no control over. It is all a supernatural transformation that only the Christian faith provides. All other religions say that we must pull ourselves up, all by our self. It is only in Christ that we are given a supernatural transformation and our lives are drastically changed.
“Richard Dawkins has gone the root of saying, 'there is no such thing as good or evil. It is ultimately all of us dancing to our DNA.' … Its all in our DNA. Its all in our DNA..." When we hear statements like this, we have hope. "You must be born again." Our challenge is in allowing Christ to change our DNA. If we truly turn to Him and start changing our focus, we start to love Him. And when we start to love Him, we start to obey Him. It is not about living out this life so that we no longer have any fun and we become rule keepers. It is all about learning to live free from the prison of our DNA.
“It is a trap to presume that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do— God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements tends to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life’s determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life...” (Oswald Chambers)
Allow Him to change your DNA, by changing your life focus. We do this by following His words, "You must be born again."
I have had this question brought to me in an awkward moment by an acupuncturist I once saw. As I was laying on the table receiving my treatment for my MS, she looked at me and said, "Do you really believe that Jesus was born from a virgin?" How do you really dive into such an enormous subject while you are pinned down? It is not just a question asked by those who do not believe, but it is a question that every believer must wrestle with as well. It is a question that actually weaves itself within all of scripture and it is an answer that deals within all of us as we travel with our faith in how we live out our life.
Lets start with the first obvious question, "Was Jesus truly virgin born?" The question is actually, "Was Jesus God?" John 1, "In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it."
I do not have enough space to really go into everything, but lets assume that we all agree that there is an Intelligent Creator. And lets assume that we all agree that this Intelligent Creator is God and He is the one that Christ clammed to be. So if Jesus is really who He said He was, "God", then why would it be so outrageous to assume that the one who gave nature its laws and ordered the cells within to have intelligence, why is it so hard to grasp the virgin birth? Maybe it is not really the virgin birth at all, but another question all together. Maybe the true question is really all about "me". Maybe the true question is, "What does this say about who I am? And if it really is true, how would I ever be able to live up to the standards that I think the bible sets in front of me?"
Now this is where things get cool. There are some things that we do in which we really do not know why we do them. We all struggle with something that we wonder, "Why do I struggle with this when it seems my friends do not?" It seems to be in our DNA, how we are made up. Our struggles seem to be something that we are born with. Now we turn to the virgin birth. The virgin birth is a change in DNA and how it runs within its laws. If Christ was born because of the change of DNA, how much more awesome are His words, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”... “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’"
"Christ did not come into this world to make bad people good. He came to so that the dead could live," (RZ). He came to give us a new life. A life that we could never manufacture on our own. He came so that He could change our DNA. If we learn to change our focus, He changes our hearts. He changes our desires, by changing what our DNA says we must do and what we assume we have no control over. It is all a supernatural transformation that only the Christian faith provides. All other religions say that we must pull ourselves up, all by our self. It is only in Christ that we are given a supernatural transformation and our lives are drastically changed.
“Richard Dawkins has gone the root of saying, 'there is no such thing as good or evil. It is ultimately all of us dancing to our DNA.' … Its all in our DNA. Its all in our DNA..." When we hear statements like this, we have hope. "You must be born again." Our challenge is in allowing Christ to change our DNA. If we truly turn to Him and start changing our focus, we start to love Him. And when we start to love Him, we start to obey Him. It is not about living out this life so that we no longer have any fun and we become rule keepers. It is all about learning to live free from the prison of our DNA.
“It is a trap to presume that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do— God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements tends to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life’s determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life...” (Oswald Chambers)
Allow Him to change your DNA, by changing your life focus. We do this by following His words, "You must be born again."
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