Scaredy Cat!

In my house,  there lives a small female cat named Mojo.  She was a Christmas present for my 20 year old daughter when she was in Second grade in school.  Mojo is the true ”scaredy cat”.  She is scared of everything, including my daughter and myself. 

Mojo lives upstairs, hiding in the bedrooms, and rarely comes downstairs.  Once in awhile, she’ll come and lay by me when I’m asleep in my bed, purring and snuggling up to me, waiting for me to pet her.  But if I’m awake and upright, she runs and hides. 

Sometimes I think that’s how we are with God.  In the quiet of night sometimes we seek His comfort, but during the day, we hide from His touch.  When our food bowl is empty, we make a fuss, but otherwise we keep to ourselves, not looking for any guidance or communication from above.

I think about how sad this is.  If we would only seek Him out during the day, even when our food bowl is full and the litter box is clean, we would experience the full feeling of His love and presence in our lives.  But we are scared too, just like this cat; scared of what might happen if we open our hearts fully.  What would God expect of us if we opened up and asked Him to take our lives and make us whole?   What would happen if we relinquished control of our lives and depended on God for everything?

I don’t want to be like this cat, anxious and afraid, expecting the worst to happen.  I want to live life fully, open to God and His will for my life.  I want to experience the full love and blessings that life has to offer when I trust God with all things.

What if?

2 Corinthians 6:1-13

As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.  For he says,“In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.  We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.  Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;  in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;  in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;  through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;  known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;  sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you.  We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us.  As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children —open wide your hearts also.

What if?

My sermon from 6-24-2012

As I read the Scripture from 2 Corinthians in a few different translations, I had to ask myself, “What does it mean to accept God’s gift in vain”?  How does one “Ignore it”?  Paul says in this letter to the church in Corinth, that it is possible to look like we have received God on the outside, but to go on living like we are still the same person we were before we received God’s grace.  Paul goes on to say that he and his followers are living so that no one will stumble because of them, no one will find fault with the way they are living their lives. 

We’ve all heard stories of corruption, church employees being charged with theft and embezzlement, pastors having affairs or getting DUI’s, priests charged with molesting children.  The very people who we trust to guide us in our search for truth and justice sometimes are the ones who need that guidance the most.   Its very disturbing to hear these stories, and it affects how we trust people.   And unfortunately, those people cast a very negative shadow onto God’s image.

On the other hand, we have people like Mother Teresa, who lived her life as an amazing example of what Christ’s love looks like.  She cared for the orphans, the dying children of India, often holding them while they passed into the next world.  She fed them, bathed them, and loved them, and lived a life of utter poverty to bless the less fortunate. 

But what does it mean for us  to live a life that would cause no one to stumble?  How do we make sure we have not accepted God’s gift in vain?

When people look at my life, and your life, and all our lives, I want them to see us working in God’s love for the betterment of everyone.  I want people to see Christ in me.  If I met someone, and I couldn’t say anything to them, what would they understand about me by the way I act?  By the way I treat others?  By the way I share the love of Christ with others?  If you spend a day with me, do you leave happy and full of God’s love?  Or do you call me a hypocrite and shake your head? 

What would the world be like if we actually lived the life Jesus calls us to live?  What if we really did love all of our neighbors as much as we love ourselves, and we loved their children as much as we love our children?     

What if we only said things about others that we would say if they were present?   What if we encouraged each other and lifted each other up in our prayers?  What if we treasured our time together as if we were best friends?   What if we over-looked each other’s shortcomings because we want them to overlook ours?  What if we forgave others easily, because we wanted them to forgive us? I think the world would be a much better reflection of the world God meant for us to live in. 

Have you ever heard the expression, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”?  We usually say that in a negative situation, referring to the way a bad action from a child results from parents who also are considered to be bad people.   But what if we changed that and said it to mean good things?  Because the tree we are from is such a good tree, we should also be really good people!  In John 15:5 Jesus said to His Jewish  disciples,” I am the vine and you are the branches.”   I’m not Jewish, so I’m not a part of that original vine.  But there is good news!  Through the death and resurrection of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I have been grafted onto the branch!  In Romans 11:17 we are told that “some of these branches from Abraham's tree--some of the people of Israel--have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God's special olive tree.”

And Galatians 3:27-28 say, “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Those words mean that we, even though we were not born into the family of Abraham and Sarah, even though we were not God’s original chosen people,  He still made a way for us to be part of the body of Christ.  We’ve been adopted by the Creator as His own children, from shoots of a wild olive tree to children of the living God.   Its such great news that  regardless of whether we were Jewish or gentile, we are a new creation in Christ, living together in the New Covenant of God’s grace.

So what is this promise?  What is this New Covenant?  The promise referred to is the promise God made to Abraham way back in Genesis.  God told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. “  That’s God’s promise, to bless Abraham and all his decendants, and all the families on earth will be blessed through us.  Yes, us, because by grafting us onto the vine we get that promise too. 

And the New Covenant?  Hebrews 8:8-13 says

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah,
⁹ not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not continue in my covenant,
and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
¹¹ And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
¹² For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”¹³ In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

So not only do we get to be God’s children, we get Abraham’s blessing, and a new covenant .  And when Jesus died on the cross, and the tapestry was torn, the New Covenant was brought about. 

The New Covenant itself is pure genius.  God carves His new laws into our hearts and gives us a place at His table.   He throws out the old plan, the agreement He made with Moses, because none of them remained faithful to the old laws.  This time God takes us out of the context, since we mess things up all the time, our salvation and our faithfulness are all about Him.   2Timothy 2:13 “If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself. “    If He is in our heart HE CANNOT DISOWN HIMSELF!  He will be faithful to us FOREVER!

We want to believe that we are the important part of this relationship,  that it’s all about us and what we do and don’t do.  But in reality, it’s all about Him.  It’s about what Jesus has done for us to provide an unbreakable connection to God.   So when we do receive the spirit, and Jesus takes up residence in our hearts, it truly should cause us to change.  It should cause us to become totally different people, people who reflect the image of God. 

When you look in the mirror, do you just see yourself?  Next time you look in the mirror, study the reflection, can you see Jesus in there?  I bet you can.  Now look at your neighbors.  Really study them.  Can you see Jesus in them too?  Now look at the homeless man, the leper, the orphan, the widow, the starving children in Africa, can you see Jesus there?   

In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells us to take care of these people, that what we do for the least of these, His brothers and sisters, who are also OUR brothers and sisters since we are adopted into His family, what we do for the least of these, we also do for Jesus.  And if our heart is filled with the love of Jesus, then this will come naturally.  It will bring us joy to help others, and to show them the love that God has for us.  It will bring us joy to bring glory to God.  It will bring us joy to make others joyful. 

So if we live our lives by trying to imitate Jesus, we will never cause anyone to stumble.  If we imitate Christ we will be true to ourselves and to our Father.   We will be accepting God’s gift, not in vain, but with gratitude and thanksgiving. 

I AM

FORGIVEN
forgiven
Forgiven
forgiven
ForGiven
FORGIVEN
FORGIVEN
forgiven
FORGIVEN

And if the Lord God Almighty has forgiven me already, why would I listen to anyone else?

And What is Wisdom?

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God,who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. James 1:5.
I asked. I opened my soul and waited. And He gave.
Its taken years for this knowledge to sink in, to make sense, TO GROW...
The seed, planted, watered, nurtured, growing.

But now...
...what do I do with it?
...this knowledge I've gained.

I want to shout from the rooftops...
YOU GOT IT ALL WRONG!!!
Can't you see?
You got it all wrong...

My soul cries,
heart broken,
mind broken,
the knowledge gained,
but the heart hurting.

Once the eyes are opened,
The truth is seen.
THE EYES OF LOVE THAT ARE THE TRUTH.
The TRUTH that sets you FREE!
And freedom is great.
And freedom comes at a cost.
A very big cost.
But that cost, was paid by God,
For God.
God says HE has paid this debt.
HE has done the deed.
HE is the one who decides,
He tosses out the old law, and brings in a NEW law.
The NEW Covenant:

“The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear Hebrew 8:8-13

The old laws? Thrown out, by God Almighty Himself.
The sins? Forgiven, Forgotten, by God Almighty Himself.
The new laws? Inscribed forever on your heart, by God Almighty Himself.

And who can argue with God?
For if He throws out the law, who would still abide in it?
Do not wallow in the trash.
Instead, set your mind to learn the NEW ways,
The NEW covenant,
Written on our Hearts,
And in our Minds,
BY GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF!!
For that is the TRUTH that sets you FREE.

Sinner!

I believe that once we forgive ourselves,its then that God is able to use what we learned from that sin to make us a better person. I think that sometimes the humbleness we get from being a sinner, and confessing that sin to God, makes us a better witness to Him.
'I can't think myself better than anyone else, because I have sinned too.'
I truly believe this, and in my life, I have learned so much from my own sins, and the sins of others. And if we all try to help each other in love and kindness, I think we really fulfill what God wants for our lives. When we stop judging others (that dang speck in their eye compared to our own logs!) we can see that their sin really isn't any worse (or better) than our own. We're all in the same boat. And praise God for the wonderful life preserver He sent when Jesus showed up! ;)

What Happened?

Yesterday my 17 year old son went to a funeral for a 15 year old boy from his school. This young man killed himself. This had not been his first attempt.

DISCLAIMER***I really don't know anything about this young man's family, so anything I say here is purely speculation and the ramblings of my own mind. I do not know if they are or are not a Christian family, I do not know of any mental illnesses or any other medical conditions that may contribute to depression or anything else that may have lead to his decision to end his life.***

I hear about suicide all the time. I'm a volunteer for our local ambulance service, and I read on my pager quite frequently, "suicidal" male or female. It's in the papers, it's on the news, and so many times, it's a young person.

I don't understand how a child can feel so alone and so desperate that they decide to take their own lives. Are we failing our children somehow? Are we doing something wrong? Or is it society? Is our culture killing our kids? The need to be popular, to be liked, to have material possesions; is strong. The "haves" sometimes alienate the "have nots". Bullies take lives too , by their hate and evil words and actions.

What makes these kids act like this?
Personally, I think that by taking God out of the lives of our children by taking Him out of our schools, we do them a huge disservice.
My taxes pay for that public school, why can't my Savior reside there too?
Also, by taking away the right of a parent to disclipline their child, we also do them a great disservice. (Abuse and disclipline are two very different things, for anyone who wants to cry foul.)

Also, by taking God out of our children's lives, we have taken away their hope and their knowledge of their Creator. And just taking these kids to church does not make them a Christian. Do you talk to your kids about God? Or is that your pastor's job? Do your kids know how important God is in your life? Is He important in your life? Do you spend time with your kids watching the shows they watch, listening to the music they listen to? Do you know who their friends are, and what those friends believe? Do you know your kids and what they believe? Peer pressure works both ways you know.

All in all, I pray that this young man is in the presence of Our Savior right now. I pray that God saw his breaking heart, his broken spirit, and anything else that contributed to his death, and said "Child of mine, I love you and forgive you. I died on the cross for you, you are mine."

Lessons From a Lost Dog

My son agreed to watch the pastor's dogs, Gabby and Cassie, while the pastor and his wife went to the East coast to meet their first grandchild. He would spend hours over there playing with the dogs to keep them company.
He was invited to go camping with his girlfriend's family for the 4th of July weekend, and I agreed to watch the dogs while he was gone. That's where everything seemed to go downhill.
That morning Malachi fed the dogs and played with them before he left. Then I took over. As if on cue, the dogs ripped a hole in the fence, and ran away that late afternoon. I drove around town talking to everyone I saw, asking if they had seen the dogs. A few people had seen them, so I kept searching, until it was so dark, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.
That night I laid in bed, unable to sleep. I tossed and turned, slept for three hours, and then got up to begin the search again at dawn's first light. My husband searched too, we walked cornfield after cornfield, tree line after tree line, after hearing that the dogs had been spotted at someone's farm. I drove to Davenport, stopping at each farm along the way, telling them about the dogs and asking if they had seen them. My phone rang with a recent sighting, and then we found Cassie. I brought her home, gave her water and food, combed some of the burrs out of her fur and snipped off the big ones. She seemed relieved to be home. We continued to search for Gabby, assuming she would be nearby. But as night approached, I started to lose hope that she would be found before the next round of fireworks frightened her even more.
We searched again the next day, which was the 4th of July. But as the fireworks continued, Gabby ran further and further away. I followed the dog tracks, and walked the RR tracks. I walked through farmsteads, and stopped everyone I saw. I made posters with Gabby's picture that I had taken Saturday afternoon with my new cell phone.
Those posters proved vital as someone out spraying the fields saw Gabby Tuesday night. The next morning they saw the "Lost Dog" poster and I was notified. Gabby's neighbor Caroline and I walked the trees in that area, while my husband and son drove the roads on the lookout for movement.
After several hours of walking and calling, Gabby came out of the trees to the voice of her neighbor Caroline. Caroline called my cell phone, and told me she had Gabby. I had the leash around my waist, so I ran almost two-thirds of a mile back to where they were. I was so relieved when I saw her. She looked fine. She wasn't hurt, she wasn't scared, and she was found. I was so grateful to be able to send a picture of Caroline and Gabby to our pastor with the caption, "What was lost has been found!"
We walked the half mile back to the vehicles, then drove Gabby back to her house. Cassie was so excited to see her sister. She burrowed her nose in Gabby's fur, licking her and jumping on her. We brought them outside, in the fenced yard, the hole patched with odds and ends to keep the dogs in. They drank and ate some food. Gabby seemed content to be home, and Cassie was excited for the reunion.
As I sat and watched the dogs, I realized that I was completely exhausted. I had been walking miles each day in the heat and humidity. I hadn't had much to eat, and hadn't been sleeping well. I also had a revelation.
The relief I felt at the return of Gabby was something like how God feels when one of His lost children comes back to Him!
Jesus talks about lost sheep in the Bible as he tells us parables to help us understand God's love for us. In Luke verses 3-7 the Bible tells us , 'Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.'
I think I have a been given a true understanding of this parable. I didn't put Gabby on my shoulders, we walked with her on the leash, and my rejoicing was primarily on Facebook. But when I read this parable now, it has a different meaning, its much more 'real' to me now. I think I really know, somewhat anyway, how God feels when he brings a lost sheep back to the flock.
When one of us admits our sin, and asks God to help.
When one of us finally says, I can't do this on my own, I need your help God.
Or when an unbeliever says "OK God, if you're really there, show me."
I think there really IS rejoicing in heaven!
But don't forget the last part of this parable. It says 'I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.' So what does that part mean?
It means that God rejoices over the lost, the least, the sinner who begs, who pleads out of desperation for God's help, His mercy and forgiveness. When someone finally breaks, gives up, cried out for help, there's a party in heaven! As tears of bitterness and guilt and shame well up like a river and flow uncontrollably, the angels sing songs of happiness and praise for God's glory!
Jesus says "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17) It also says "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. " (John 3:17)
These passages are so important to understand. So many false teachings come from self-righteous people who don't understand the true concept of salvation because they don't have the true love of Jesus in their hearts.
We are all guilty.
Every one of us is a lost sheep.
Not one of us is good enough to get into heaven.
Nothing you do will get you into heaven.
You cannot bargain with God.
You cannot make up your own righteousness rules and think that somehow God's going to comply.
Only God is righteous, and only by the grace of God will you ever be allowed into His presence. You can't get there on your own. You also can't get their by condemning other people.
God is very clear on this one. There is a very narrow road to the truth, and if you miss it, you end up on the wide road to destruction. If you condemn others for their sins, you condemn yourself. Every time we pray the Lord's prayer we ask that we be forgiven in accordance with how we forgive others. "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
I guess we should be thankful that we were lost, because that's why we have Jesus.