How about an upgrade?

Let's face it; we are a society that loves upgrades!  We can have a cell phone that works just fine and does exactly what we need it to do and love it...until the next new thing comes out.  We love our car until the new models come out for the next year.  Something in us just wants BETTER.

So why do we settle for the bare minimum when it comes to our walk with Jesus?

Are you in that place of wondering if this is ALL there is to faith?  Waking up early (when you could be sleeping) to go to church on Sunday morning to hear a message that tells you how much you're messing up.  Going to church expecting a jolt of some kind only to walk away thinking, I didn't get anything out of that.  Are you feeling rather ho-hum about the whole being a Christian thing, maybe feeling a little let down?

Well...how much are you putting in it?

Let's go back to thinking about upgrades.  When we decide to upgrade something in our life it is usually going to cost a little more money than the old one, right?  There is a little more investment involved.  We then have to decide whether or not the investment is worth the product.  Whether we are willing to pay the extra money to have the desired gadget.  Our faith journey is no different.

We can have just enough Jesus to keep us out of hell but not enough to allow us to walk in victory and have that abundant life we keep hearing about but not experiencing.  

Say whaaaaaat? 

Yes.  When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and we mean that with our whole heart, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and are now His.  But here is the part we are not so familiar with...how the rest of the journey goes is up to us.  How much Jesus we experience is dependent on our obedience of Him.

John 15:4 says, "Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me."

That word abide is very interesting.  It means to remain or to stay.  I have often heard the reminder when I have drifted from the path the Lord wants me to walk that He is not the one who moved, I am.  In order to have this "fruit," we must abide.

So...what kind of fruit are we talking about?  The fruit of the Spirit.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no low."  Galatians 5:22

Now, who doesn't want that kind of fruit in their life?  But it is contingent on our obedience.  We have received the greatest gift of all, eternal life through Christ, by simple belief and confession.  Now the rest of our journey and how much of Jesus we are going to experience is totally up to us.  

How much of those "fruits" do you want?  How much are you willing to invest?  When we walk according to the Word of the Lord, He blesses us with abundant life.  Not money, not riches, not good health, not power...He blesses us with those things that every living soul craves.

Are you tired of a faith that feels dead?  Are you tired of feeling like God doesn't hear you?  If you are, I ask you again:  How about an upgrade?  

Big Faith and Big Waves

I love Peter.  He is loud, brash and constantly opens his mouth before he thinks.  I can identify.  He has moments of tremendous faith followed by moments of extreme pride and lack of understanding.  Once again, I'm there!  So I love to read of his experiences because I see so much of my own attitudes and faults there.  I also see what he becomes and know that the One that began this good work in me will be faithful to complete it.

One of my favorite Peter-moments is when he gets to walk on the water.  I mean, seriously, how COOL would that be?  But what happens to Peter's faith?  What can I learn from his experience?  What can I learn about me and what can I learn about Jesus?

Without recounting the entire story found in Matthew chapter 14:22-33, let's start with Peter's request to come to Jesus walking on the water.  Peter asks the Lord for an amazing opportunity and the Lord grants him this chance.  Everything starts out fine as Peter locks eyes with Jesus and begins to, one step at the time, walk on the water.   

Then a HUGE wave comes and splashes Peter in the face.  All of a sudden, he can hear the wind howling and he begins to notice the humongous waves and he feels the rain pelting him.  He starts to lose his focus, he takes his eyes off Jesus...he begins to sink.  Then the Bible tells us this:

"Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of [Peter], and said to him, 'You of little faith, why did you doubt?'"  Matthew 14:31

This is where I have heard pastor's say Peter should have stayed in the boat because of the rebuke he receives from Jesus. In my own head I heard these words with the tone of, "Geez, Peter, why couldn't you just stay where I put you?"  Honestly, I'm sure Peter had thoughts similar to this.  But Jesus wasn't speaking to Peter with that tone.

Instead I hear His compassion and see the love pouring from his eyes as He asks Peter about his lack of faith.  In that tone I hear a touch of sadness.  I hear Jesus say, "Oh, Peter, why did you doubt Me?  I was right there the whole time."  

Peter had the faith to ask BIG, he had the faith to step out of the boat, he even had the faith to take steps toward Jesus but then he lost his focus.  He took his eyes off Jesus and stumbled.  How many times have I done that?  I start out fine but then waver as I doubt whether or not I "heard" God correctly.  I lost my focus.

Now I find myself in Peter's shoes again.  I have asked big and God has been faithful in providing me the opportunity.  I have stepped out in faith towards the One who says, "Come!" But from here on out I have to ask myself...where am I going to focus my eyes?  What am I missing out on right now because I am distracted by the wind and the waves?

I am determined that my eyes will stay locked with Jesus' and that I will continue on this awesome path He has put me on.  I know the waves are there, I hear the wind but those things remind me of how much I need Him.  They also remind me of what happens when I let the fear win.  I sink.

Lord, help me to keep my focus on You and only You.  Allow me to walk in the knowledge that if I start to sink, you will immediately reach Your hand to me and lift me up.  You will walk with me the entire way, You will lead me to places I have never been and could never go without You.  Lord, I am not satisfied where I am.  I do not want to stay in the boat and wait for You to get to me, I want to run to You!

The Prodigal Son: A Christmas Story!

What is the wonder of Christmas?

To me, the wonder of Christmas is a gift given by the Creator of the Universe, the Almighty God, the Giver of Life to poor creatures that have no hope of ever being able to do anything to deserve this gift. It is a gift that must be accepted as it is given, with no strings and a full understanding that repayment is impossible.

It is hard to express the sheer humility I feel when faced with my own unworthiness. However, there is a parable in the Bible that paints the picture beautifully.

Most of us are familiar with the parable of the The Prodigal Son.  But last week as I was preparing for the Sunday school lesson it hit me that the Prodigal Son is a Christmas Story.  It is a story about a gift given that was undeserved, about a gift that could never be repaid but most of all, it is the story of a father's love.  It is a story of our Father's love for us and the gift He has offered to us all.

Read:  The Prodigal Son – Luke 15:11-32

The Younger Son

The son has a pretty rotten attitude towards his dad. Usually one would have to good manners to wait until someone is dead before trying to claim their inheritance. He basically says, “Hey, I know you're not dead yet, but I think your rules are stupid and I could do much better on my own. I want to go do things my own way.”

In much the same way we say this to God when we choose to go our own way. We tell Him, “I got this! Your rules are just too much and I want to do things my own way!”

To no one's surprise, the son leaves home, squanders the money and hits rock bottom.

So why are we so surprised when it happens to us? Why are we shocked when we discover we cannot make it on our own? 

Nothing makes going home seem like a more viable option than hitting rock bottom. Nothing makes your pride more palatable than having nothing left to lose. So the son decides to return home.

Can't you see him rehearsing his speech all the way home?  You know he did because what he says to his dad is the exact same thing he said to himself!

Can you feel his tension mounting as he nears home?

His palms begin to sweat.

He feet start to slow down and he begins to think maybe this wasn't such a great idea.

He starts feeling a little queasy.

He mouth goes dry...then he sees him. The far off image of his father in the distance and he stops.

There is a moment of intense fear that happens when we face our mistakes head on, when we surrender to the outcome whatever it may be.  For this son, that moment is now.  He sees his father, and knows the moment of truth has come.  Ready or not...

The Father

Imagine the father's hurt. Imagine what it would feel like if your child said to you, “I can't wait til I'm 18 so I can get out of here and away from you! If you are going to leave me anything when you die, can you just give it to me early so I can leave?”

The father doesn't want his son to leave, knows he's making a mistake but knows that by keeping him there against his will is only going to build resentment. So with a heavy heart, he lets him go.

And if I were this father, I can't help but think I'd be angry. I might even let myself grow bitter out of my hurt.

But not this father, THIS father watches for his son every day. He stands at the window, then at the door. He stops in the middle of his work during the day because he thinks he sees his son coming down the road. He just wants his son to return so he watches for him and longs for him.  He loves him from afar because that is as close as he can get.

And one day it happens, he sees him! He abandons all sense of decorum (men in Biblical times did NOT run...it was undignified) and runs to meet his son that has come home. Never mind he's filthy, never mind he smells like he's been sleeping with the pigs, HIS SON IS HOME! And he WANTS to be there!

The father doesn't care where his son has been, he doesn't even ask any questions. He immediately gives orders to get him cleaned up and get him looking like an heir again. In his joy, he throws a party celebrating the son that was thought to be dead, but is alive; lost and now is found!

God, our Father, doesn't care where we have been. He longs for us just as this father longed for the return of his son. He looks for us, He sends us messages, He calls to us, He pleads with us and when we come to our senses, He runs to us!!

The Prodigal Son is all of us, the father is God. We have done nothing to deserve the gift of mercy and grace we have received through Christ Jesus. But the offer stands. God doesn't make us come grovelling to Him on our hands and knees. He knows our hearts and when we turn towards home, he RUNS to meet us where we are. I'm sure if that father had known his son had turned toward home, he would have met him with a donkey, picked him up and carried him the rest of the way home.

This is a picture of Christmas! An undeserved gift that cannot be repaid. A gift for which we are so grateful it changes the rest of our lives. A gift that has changed us so much, we should WANT to share it with others.

When we choose not to share this gift we become like the third party in our story, the older son.

The Older Son

There is one in every family...at least one. That person that just can't stand to see others having a good time. I call them Debbie Downers or the Cold Bucket Brigade because they always have something ugly to say even in the best of circumstances.

Everyone is having a great time at the party when the older son comes in from the fields and hears the music. He asks someone what's going and is told his brother is home and his father is having a party. Immediately, the older son is furious! He is flabbergasted that his dad would honor his good-for-nothing younger brother when he did nothing to deserve it. What a jerk, right?

Truth is, we all have some older son in us all.

On the surface, the older son looks like a spoiled brat. But think about it...he's been there with his dad through everything, saw how much his dad hurt over the younger son's actions obviously knew what his little brother was up to and grew more resentful by the day. Then the brother comes home and BAM! He's forgiven, it's like nothing ever happened and they are having a PARTY! Sound fair to you?

How do you react when someone who has hurt you walks back into your life, claims to have found Christ and asks you for forgiveness?

How do you respond to the fact that God forgave them just like He forgave you?

What is your reaction when you hear about child molesters, serials killers and rapists?  I have caught myself saying things like, "There's a special place in hell for people like that."  That's my older son rearing its ugly head.

Did you know that when that child molester, rapist, serial killer finds Christ there is a party in heaven?  Doesn't that just get your goat?  But the wonder of Christmas is that the gift of salvation is indeed for anyone who will accept it.

The gift of Christ is for everyone. If it's good enough for you, it's good enough for them. Who are we to discriminate and decide who we will and we will not tell? Can we say for sure who will accept the gift and who will not? Do we truly believe the gift is for everyone?

The wonder of Christmas is the undeserved gift that keeps on giving...that is, if we pass it along. Who will you pass the gift to this year?

The Sinner

The woman came in unexpected and uninvited.   It was an outdoor, courtyard meal where the guest of honor was a new Rabbi.  The men are reclining at the table with their feet behind them.   As she enters, conversation stops.  Everyone knows who she is and she knows it. Each face is either staring at her in disgust or looking the other way trying desperately not to make eye contact.  Every face but One.  

She had heard of Jesus.  Heard his voice, heard Him teach and there was something about Him that was different.  His compassion with people who were sick and hurting stirred something within her.  Something she thought was dead.   

She knew the level of her guilt. She felt it from every stare in the room, she felt it coming from every pore of her being. Guilty, GUILTY, dirty, filthy were the whispers in her mind.

She is now standing behind His feet trembling. The tears begin to fall.    As they fall, they fall on His dirty feet (that for some reason, no one has washed) and her tears make clean tracks through the dust.  She bends, uncovers her hair, hears the collective gasps from the room but does not stop.  She wipes his feet clean with her hair.  As she cleans she pauses to kiss them and more tears fall. 

 She had almost forgotten the jar. 

 Her most prized possession.  She had scrimped and saved for months for this alabaster jar of perfume.  This jar she anointed herself with between men.  And now, she wants nothing more than to give it all to this man.  She knows that in order to be clean, she must give it all.  There can be nothing left.  And so she pours out the contents of the jar until not a drop is left. 

Vaguely she hears Jesus speaking but is enraptured in His presence.  It isn't until she hears Him speak the words her heart had longed to hear that she stops her flagrant worship. Jesus looks at her with a tender and complete love and says, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” 

In that moment, the stirring in her heart, the feeling she thought dead, the Hope inside her broke free and she laughed.

"You gave me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.  For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little."  Luke 7:46-47

I haven't been posting regularly...but I'm sure the handful of you that read my blog have noticed that.  I am having issues with the things that are in my heart matching my blog description.  The issue being that they don't match...at all.  The blog description says its an uplifting blog about God's grace and how we can find Him in and amongst every day life (or something like that).  But the things that have been on my heart I wouldn't exactly categorize as "uplifting."  Maybe toe-crunching or thought provoking...but not uplifting.   

I want to be uplifting, I truly do!  I see God in so many things, in so many ways that He never ceases to take my breath away.  But those are not the things I feel pressing on my heart when I sit down to write.  Do you know the feeling?  It is the feeling that there is an important message to convey.  It's like writing your children a letter for them to read when they grow up.  I have thought and prayed and really, really want to have something upbeat and encouraging to say but when I heard this poem in yesterday's sermon I knew that this is the message given to me:

Three Dollars Worth of God

I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.
Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep,
but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk
or a snooze in the sunshine.
I don’t want enough of God to make me love a black man
or pick beets with a migrant.
I want ecstasy, not transformation.
I want warmth of the womb, not a new birth.
I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack.
I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.

— Wilbur Rees

   
I sat stock still in my chair after those words were read.  They resonated in my soul and I knew them to be True.  But the real issue isn't when we recognize a truth such as this one.  Recognizing the problem is not the problem.  The problem is when we shrug our shoulders and say, "I'm okay with that."  It is when we choose to sit in our pew and ponder the lunch menu instead of how the message coming from the pastor applies to us.  It is when we come into God's house dragging our feet wondering what we're going to get instead of coming to pour out our thanks for what He has already given us.  It is a comfortable, complacent, apathetic Christianity that resides in the hearts of many of God's people these days.

We love verses like Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."  We like getting what we want, and we totally skip over the first part of that verse that says to "Delight yourself in the Lord...."  We want to forget about the last words of our Lord and Savior before He ascended into heaven that commands us to spread to gospel to everyone because it's not comfortable for us.  We want God's blessings but we don't want to seek Him because, well, we don't have time, Sunday is our only day to sleep in or we find church is boring, full of hypocrites or just "not for me."  

We take only a small slice of what God is offering to us and then we wonder why we don't feel His presence.  We wonder why our faith seems small and we are accosted by doubts and fears.  We cry out for God to answer us in our times of trouble but do not utter His name during times of plenty.  

And yet, He remains faithful.  He answers us, He loves us, He comforts us and He never leaves us.  If God is so good in those times when we choose to take Him out of the box we tend to keep Him in, how much better could He be if we sought Him with our whole heart?  How much more of Him is there when we submit to His will for our lives instead of seeking our own?  

If your "religion" seems dull and lifeless, if you are still reading this blog and have a growing desire to want MORE of Jesus Christ in your life then I have successfully communicated the message.  When we desire more of Jesus, we can rest assured Jesus wants more of us!  Why not give Him more of you and find more of Him in the process?  This is the only way we will ever experience revival.  It must start with us - with bowed head, humble heart and total submission.  May it start with me!


"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."  Jeremiah 29:13  (emphasis mine)

What Kind of Question is THAT?

"Do you want to get well?"

This is the question Jesus asked a man that had been lying paralyzed beside a pool for THIRTY-EIGHT years!  What a question, right?  I would think this man would scream out, "YES!!!"  Instead he gives Jesus his sob story, "Sir...I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.  While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me," (John 5:7).  At first I want to feel bad for the guy, but then I think...thirty. eight. years.  

I don't know about you, but when I really want something, I can think of some pretty wild schemes to get it!  This man didn't seem too intent on getting well.  He didn't even ask Jesus if he'd stick around and help him get into the pool.  He just complained about his situation.

I love what Jesus told the man to do next.  He said, "GET UP!"  Ok, Jesus didn't yell (or, I don't know, maybe He did) but there IS an exclamation point after Get up!  He told him to get up, pick up his mat and walk.  Jesus did the work.  He healed the man.  But the man still had to accept the healing, he still had to carry his own mat and he had to walk.


Jesus is making you the same offer!  Whatever it is that cripples you; anger, impatience, depression, lack of self-control - Jesus can heal it!  But here's the catch:  You have to accept the gift.  When you accept a gift, you are not fighting against the person giving you the gift.  You actively reach out and take the gift. 

We actually already have several gifts our Lord has given us.  They are the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22):  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Notice, it is the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruits of the Spirit.  They are a packaged deal and given freely to anyone who has the Spirit of God within them.  

So, if Christians already have them, why do we spend so much time asking, BEGGING God for them?

Galatians 5:24-25 hold the key:  "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." 

Right after Paul says we live by the Spirit and not the flesh he says in verse 26, "Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."  So what gives?  If we live by the Spirit then we shouldn't be conceited, angry, jealous or anything else negative (because the Holy Spirit cannot be those things); so why does Paul remind the Galatians not to be those things?  Because we are human and because we have a choice.

Just like the paralytic that Jesus healed, we have to decide if we want to get well.  We have to decide that we are not going to give into our fleshly desires.  For instance, last night my husband got mad at me because he thought I had gone to bed while he was putting the boys to bed.  I had not gone to bed but had gone to the restroom.  Then when he told me he had been angry with me...guess what?  I got angry at him!


A few years ago, this fight would have lasted all night.  I would have gotten myself all worked up and probably cried myself to sleep because I had been misunderstood and falsely accused.  Then I would have woke up this morning still angry and when I talked to my friends on my morning walk I would have fussed about Wes to them.  They probably would have jumped on the bandwagon and said something negative about their husbands.  Then I would have come home and snapped at J.D. (my oldest son) for being too slow getting ready for school because I'm good and ill by this point and proceeded to give my husband the silent treatment which would have sent him off to work in a bad mood.  After all of that I would have gotten on Facebook and talked with my aunt and griped some more about Wes' insensitivity.


I could go on and on but I think I've made my point.  I could have chosen that road.  The reason I can give such a detailed account of that road is because I have chosen MANY times before.  I know what it looks like.  So, how did it turn out for real?  Wes said, "I'm sorry I got mad at you," and I said, "That's okay, I was mad at you for being mad at me.  Silly huh?"  And that was it.


I have decided I don't want to be angry.  Sometimes I feel justified in my anger; I have the "right" to be angry.  But does it really accomplish anything?  In my story, what did my anger accomplish?  I got three friends in a bad mood with me, hurt my child's feelings, made my husband angry and got my day off to a rotten start.


Whether your issue is anger or depression or financial issues I have to ask you this question:  Do you want to get well?  We have to stop wishing to get well, pick up our mat and start walking!  Jesus will do the work but we have to work with Him instead of against Him. 


Get into the Word and find a couple of verses that speaks to you about your ailment.  Commit those verses to memory and live them out!  Attitude is everything.  Make a decision - Get up and WALK!


"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."  2 Corinthians 10:5

Try It the OTHER Way!

I have always believed myself to be ambidextrous.  I came by it honest.  My right-handed parents gave birth to a left-handed child and so I learned how to do most things backwards.  Well, backwards to me...correctly to most of you.  My parents taught me to fish, bowl, tie my shoes, bat and many other tasks right-handed because that is the only way they knew how.  

Yesterday while playing ball with my boys I learned something amazing!  When it came my turn to bat my husband told me to "try it the other way"...you know, just for fun.  So I did.  Guess what?!  I am a LEFT-handed batter.  I couldn't believe how much better I did just by swapping hitting sides.  It was unbelievable!  I hit the ball almost every pitch and it went a LOT farther.  I was (am still) astounded!!

Then I got to thinking about how that lesson can be applied to my spiritual walk.  You see, I've had sort of a regeneration of my faith in the past month.  I have discovered that I had not been giving God or Jesus enough credit.  Somehow I thought that Jesus' blood and sacrifice covered my sins BEFORE my conversion and profession of faith, but I was still trying to work my way to "getting better" by my own efforts.  

Thank the good Lord I got that straight!

I had put so much pressure on myself that I was ready to call it quits. I was just done.  I was overwhelmed, frustrated, aggravated, angry and most of all just tired!  I couldn't do it anymore.  That's when the grace of God was redefined for me.  

To think all these years I had been trusting God to save me from my past but still trying to work my way to heaven!  I'll keep this truth short and sweet with a couple of verses:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new."  2 Corinthians 5:17

" ...being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ...being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."  Philippians 1:6,11

I am a new creation that has been started by God Himself and the fruit that is in me has been placed there by Jesus.  God is going to finish what He started.  There is no work that I can DO to add to what has already been done.  As the hymn says, "Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.  Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." 

Does this mean I stop serving the Lord?  Absolutely not!  But now, I do it for Him to get the glory; not because I'm trying to make up for my mistakes.  His grace covers me when I mess up.  He is not surprised by my blunders or screw-ups, He is not looking down on me shaking His head wondering what He's going to do with me.  He knows exactly what He's going to do with me!  I just need to let Him!!

All this time, I had been trying to pave the way to heaven MY way instead of relying on the way that had already been paved for me!  All this time, I had been batting the wrong way!  When I finally got turned around the right way, things went much better.  

It still feels a little weird when I bat left-handed.  But I know, now, that it works MUCH better that way!  It is the same in my spiritual walk.  Sometimes it stills feels strange to accept God's grace when I mess up and keep going.  It feels odd to trust God to do all the work while I simply spend my time being His instrument and getting to know Him better.  But I'm discovering that things just don't work MY way; instead, I need to turn around and try it the OTHER way!