What are you living for?

Why did Christ die for you?

 

Was it so that you can live for you?

            or

Was it so you can live for Him?

I think, if we’ve read the Scriptures, then we know the answer to that question. So, the real question is: what does it look like to live for Him?

 

It can look a little different for different people, but there are always going to be certain things that are true of the life of someone who is living for Christ. What are those things?

 

What does it look like to live for Christ?

Communication

If I (Aimee) have learned anything from sitcoms, it’s that bad communication—which includes no communication—leads to major trouble. And in real life, that trouble can rarely be fixed in a half-hour window of time.

 

I watched an episode of a new show where the son played his parents against each other so that he could benefit, because he knew that his parents didn’t talk and wouldn’t know that he was telling them different stories. Of course, within the half-hour show, the parents talked, figured out their son’s trick, and then punished him in an amusing and effective way. Laughs all around. The son won’t try that again. And now the parents will make sure to talk more. Awwww, how … unrealistic.  Well, sadly, except for the lack of communication part.

 

After the show went off, I found myself thinking about this one. How often is trouble created all because someone lied (either trying to trick someone else or out of fear of sharing the truth), because someone was confused but was too embarrassed to ask for clarification, because someone assumed that they heard correctly when they weren’t really listening, because people simply didn’t talk, and the list of possible modes of bad communication goes on and on …

 

So, out of a deep desire to promote good communication, I’d like to share a few points that I’ve learned along the way, whether in school or in the school of life:

• Don’t lie! Let me say that one more time: don’t lie.

The only exception would be when you are planning a very special and wonderful surprise and you have to make sure the person receiving the surprise doesn’t catch on. If someone is wearing something that really doesn’t look good on them, tell them the truth, just do it carefully and lovingly. If you mess up, own up! If someone else has messes up, call them on it lovingly.

This is biblical! Remember that commandment: “you shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20). It means don’t make up lies about your neighbor. And it isn’t just talking about in a courtroom. Or what about Jesus’ example?! He didn’t exactly back away or weasel out of conflict when someone did something wrong. He confronted them. He called them on it. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5 that you should confront sin so that a person’s spirit can be saved.

Lies just make it worse. Honesty requires the willingness to make yourself vulnerable. That doesn’t mean that you have to bear your heart to every single person, but it does mean that the people and relationships that matter the most deserve to be trusted with your heart.

• Don’t assume.

Whether you are the one sharing or the one listening this can be a danger. Right now, let me focus on the one who’s sharing.

Don’t assume that others couldn’t possibly understand, and therefore fail to communicate at all. Read the book of Ecclesiastes (in the Old Testament, shortly after Psalms … it’s short). A key theme in that book is that there is “nothing new under the sun.” Meaning, history repeats itself. You are not the first one to ever go through whatever it is that you’re going through. It may not be identically the same, but it’s happened before and it’ll happen again. The enemy of your soul wants you to believe that you are alone and that no one understands. But he’s a liar. Don’t listen to him!

Also, don’t assume that others should understand, and therefore blame the communication problems on them when they don’t understand. If they don’t understand, explain yourself! Give better details or different details. Are you using slang they’re not familiar with? Are you jumping all over the place instead of following a logical order? Do you need to calm down and gather your thoughts? Consider your job as the speaker to be clear.

• Listen.

Consider your job as the listener to listen! It sounds like a weird direction to give. You’re probably saying to yourself that you already do that. But do you really? Listening is a skill that most people in our society have really neglected.

Don’t assume that you know what someone is going to say or that you know how they feel and allow yourself to drift in and out of real concentration. Don’t sit there waiting for your turn to talk, thinking about what you want to say, instead of absorbing what someone is saying to you.

Make eye contact. Turn your body to face them. Focus. You give your television that courtesy, what about the people in your life?

• Be honest.

That goes along with “Don’t lie.” So, I won’t say anymore on that point.

• Ask questions if you’re confused.

Don’t allow pride to keep you from clarifying. Cause if you allow pride to make decisions for you, you’re a fool. Yes, I said it. And I’ll also admit that I have been that fool at times, myself.

Think carefully about your questions before you ask them. Make sure you are as clear as possible. If you're confused by how poorly they're talking, it won't help anything if you are as confusing with your questions.

In the same respect, don’t shy away from asking questions just to make sure that you heard correctly. You know, those questions that almost aren’t questions. Things like: “so what you’re saying is …” and then you fill in with your own words what you think they’re saying. This is great for the one sharing because it lets them know that you’re really listening. And it’s great for the listener because it makes it clear that you understood correctly.

Don’t underestimate the power of good, honest communication! Just as poor communication can destroy relationships, good communication can heal relationships. It can deepen and grow relationships. And always remember, it’s much easier to destroy a relationship than it is to heal it. So avoiding destruction with open, honest talking from the very beginning is a great practice.

 

Try it out and see how it works for you.

"Yeast"

I (Aimee) made myself some tea, and I had a thought as I watched the water change ...

It made me think of yeast. Something the Bible talks about a few times. Check it out ...

 

In Matthew 13:33, it says:

“He [Jesus] told them still another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.’”

But in Matthew 16:6, it says:

“‘Be careful,’ Jesus said to them. ‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’”

In 1 Corinthians 5:6, Paul says:

“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?”

And in Galatians 5:9, Paul says:

“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”

Yeast, however, and it's affects on dough is not nearly as visible a change as that of a tea bag in water (which obviously made for a more dramatic visual effect). See, yeast changes the end result, even though it may not be easy to spot during the process. But, when all is said and done, there's no question of whether it's there or not. And, as it says in Galatians, yeast penetrates the whole batch, until everything is affected by it. And, as you can see from the different Bible passages, that can be for good or for evil.

So I have two questions for you to consider:

Are you allowing yourself to be transformed by the "yeast" of this world?

Or are you the allowing yourself to be transformed and are you the one doing the transforming of others for good?

 

Big Bitter Brother

Alright, one last look at the story of the Prodigal Son (remember, to be found in Luke 15:11-32).

The older son. We haven’t talked about him yet. He gets sadly neglected all too often in my (Aimee’s) opinion. There are many people just like him out there in this world. Maybe your own of them.

 

We don’t even meet him, don’t even know he exists until almost at the very end of the story. Beginning in v.25, it says that the older brother came home from a hard day’s work and found a party rocking. One of the servants told him that his brother was back and the party was for him. Jesus says, “The older brother became angry and refused to go in” (v.28a, NIV).

 

Ever been there? Maybe you have a younger brother or sister who really screwed up somehow and you found yourself feeling really bitter and angry because you felt like they were getting off way too easy. Maybe you even sat back and watched as they were rewarded for learning from their mistake instead of receiving a punishment for it. Maybe you’ve watched friends or acquaintances or strangers or enemies who just got off so easy after messing up. Meanwhile, you’ve been working your butt off to make everyone happy and you barely get a little “thank you” here or there! Can you feel the resentment build as you just remember it?!

 

You may have been wondering over these last few days who I connect with most: the younger or the older son. I’m sure that those who know me best would not be surprised to hear that I relate to the older son. I know the feeling of bitterness when I’ve worked so hard to be “good” and I haven’t received any special recognition. Or maybe, somewhere in my swelled-up head, I’ve convinced myself that I haven’t received enough recognition. Or I’ve been looking for recognition from the wrong source.

 

Sadly, I’ve had many a case of pompous pride—belief in my own goodness, in my own superiority as a life-long believer, etc.—slow me down or even stop me from seeing the beauty of God’s love and grace and forgiveness. And for exactly that same reason, I can connect with the younger son because every time I allow pride to lead me, it means that I’ve turned away from God, believing that I know best.

 

The older brother in the story comes right out and tells his father how upset he is (v.29-30). He compares his own loyal, obedient service with his brother’s selfish and frivolous choices. He also compares his own lack of reward with his brother’s party that is happening even as he speaks.

 

Here comes the wonderful part: the father is just as lovingly patient with him as he was with the younger brother!

“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (v.31-32)

God doesn’t want us to be so focused on ourselves that we can’t see the joy in the (re)turning of others. He wants us to celebrate with Him! Being unable to do so only comes from sin controlling our thoughts and emotions. It’s a sinful attitude that focuses completely on self. It’s a sinful attitude that asks, “what about me?” It’s a sinful attitude that leads us to be obedient because we’re waiting for the rewards rather than being obedient out of love, and whether we’re rewarded or not (consider Matt 6:1-4).

 

The older brother allows his bitterness to rob him of the joy of the moment.

 

Do you do that?

 

I’ve done that.

 

The best thing to do in such a situation is to be open to God’s movement and God’s love. He will remind us that we should be led by love (God is love, 1 John 4:16). Remember your own imperfections, and be happy for the one who has learned from their mistake. Cause you haven’t learned yet, and when you do, you want to be welcomed back with open arms. Don’t you? It’s been my experience (personal experience) that the sin of pride is powerful and repeated often before we finally turn to God to ask for help in breaking it down.

 

When we can do that, we become the younger son—sitting, starving, in the filthy pig pen—realizing that we need to humble ourselves before our Father and turn to Him, seeking His grace.

 

He’ll be waiting.

 

 

 

Young Whippersnapper

I (Aimee) still want to talk a little more about the Prodigal Son.

Now let’s talk about the younger, irresponsible, inconsiderate, foolish son. He represents all of us at different times in our lives. For some people, the connection is more obvious, and those times are larger chunks of our lives. But the fact remains that He represents all of us at some point because none of us are perfect. We’ve all strayed at some time or other. If nothing else, belief in our own perfection is a sinful thought … but we’ll talk about the older son later.

 

Like I said last time, the younger son went to his father and asked for permission to pretend his dad was already dead so that he could have his inheritance right away instead of having to wait for the actual event. He wanted to live the life that he wanted without any consideration for his family and their needs or desires. He was tired of doing what his father asked of him. He was tired of being a respectful, dutiful, obedient son.

 

Do you ever get tired of being obedient? I’m sure you have, cause whether we want to admit it or not it really happens to all of us (remember that, “nobody’s perfect” comment above?). We all have times when we decide that we know best what’s best for us. We all have times of selfishness when we don’t consider how our choices for our lives affect the lives of others. We all have times when we turn our back on our Heavenly Father as we set out to do things our own way. We all have times when we say to God, “I’m going to pretend that you’re dead and go off and live my life the way that I want.” 

 

Sometimes we do it subconsciously. Sometimes we’re fully aware of it and do it anyway. Personally, I’m guilty of both.

 

Let’s look specifically at what the son in the story did. First, he insulted and deeply saddened his father with his thoughtless choice. Then, he took the money that he had received and the Bible says he “squandered his wealth in wild living” (v.13, NIV). We can guess what that actually means, and whatever you come up with (e.g.: wine, women, and song) is probably right. After that, there was a famine, so he started becoming desperate. He was so desperate that he hired himself out and became a servant who feed the pigs. For a Jew to take such a job, he would have had to be have been really desperate. But then again, considering what he had already done so far, maybe it wasn’t that much of a stretch. Still … let’s move on. The point was, he was practically starving to death. He was so hungry he considered stealing some of the food that he was supposed to be giving to the pigs. I don’t care who you are, that’s desperation!

 

Finally, the son has the brilliant idea (I love that v.17 says, “he came to his senses”) that he will go back to his father and beg for forgiveness. He also humbles himself. He doesn’t plan to go and ask to be accepted as a son again. He plans to ask his father to hire him as a servant, because he knows that he’ll be better off as a servant of his father than as a servant of this random person in this foreign land. And, we already talked about what happens. His father welcomes him back with love and calls him his son, even after everything he did.

 

The son realized he had been wrong. He thought he had known what was best. He thought he could make better decisions than his father. He went out and tried it and found out that he was way better off submitting himself to his father than trying to make it by himself. As a servant, he would have even less freedom than he had had as the man’s son. But he was willing to go back and humble himself to that position because he knew that it was better than where he was on his own.

 

See? Real wisdom comes when we recognize and admit how much we need our Father. When we turn to Him, He takes care of all of our needs (Matt 6:25-34; Luke 142:4-7, and many more!). Even more than that, the Bible tells us that without God we can’t do anything good (Ephesians 2:1-10, and more).

 

Whenever we sin, God’s just waiting for us to come to our senses so that He can reach out and pulls us back into His arms!

 

I want to repeat what I said last time, because I feel that it bears repeating:

I want to invite you to spend some time thinking about your own life. How many times have you been the younger son (or daughter), and turned your back on your loving Father? How many times has He taken you back? Or perhaps you’ve been holding back because you’ve been afraid that He won’t take you back. Let me assure you that He will. Every time. Without fail.

He loves you.

Thank God for His love and grace. Recognize how much He loves you. Take joy in that knowledge.

 

If you’re still struggling with the whole God-can-forgive-me-no-matter-how-bad-I’ve-messed-up-thing, then I invite you to talk to Him about it. Step before Him and just ask Him if He can forgive you. I’ll bet you’ll be surprised at how quickly He says:

“Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him [or her]. Put a ring on his [or her] finger and sandals on his [or her] feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son [or daughter] of mine was dead and is alive again; he [or she] was lost and is found.” (v.22-24)

 

Daddy's Love

The other morning I (Aimee) read the story of the Prodigal Son. It’s a story that is fairly well-known. Are you familiar with that one? If not, I can wait while you go check it out. Go ahead. It can be found in Luke 15:11-32. I’ll just wait here…

 

Ok, so now you’ve read it. Good. I wanna talk about it a little. More specifically, I want to talk a little about the characters in the story: the two sons—the younger, less responsible brother, and the older, reliable brother—and the father.

 

It’s true that the younger son is kind of the “star” of this story, but he’s not the only one of importance. The father and the older brother are just as crucial in what they do and don’t do and what they say and don’t say. It’s just that we see so much of the youngest that we can very easily start to focus too much on him. 

 

First, I need to point out that Jesus told this story to illustrate the point that God rejoices over sinners who have turned away from their evil ways and turned to Him. That is good news if I ever heard it! That’s the Gospel, right there! It doesn’t matter how many times we mess up, or how big we mess up, God will still rejoice and welcome us back with open arms if we turn around and repent. 

 

To repent means that we actually feel sorry for what we’ve done and want to make up for it if we can. And the thing is, we can’t ever make up for it (for how we’ve wronged God, our Heavenly Father), not fully. That’s why God sent His Son to die for our sins. That was the only way to cleanse us. God loves us so much that He decided to take care of the hard part Himself, so all we have to do is turn around.  (Read Hebrews 9:11-28!) All we have to do is recognize that where we’re headed in our sinful state isn’t gonna take us anywhere we really want to go, and then choose to turn to God instead. He takes care of the rest.

 

The younger son in the story went to his father and essentially said to him, “I wish you were dead already so I could have my inheritance now.” Go ahead, read v.12 again and you’ll see what I mean… Do you see it?! I know you’re still alive, Dad, but let’s pretend that you’re dead so I can have my inheritance now.

 

That’s what we do to God when we choose sin over Him. We’re saying that we don’t care about what He’s done for us, or how He can continue to benefit us in the future, we want to go our own way and do our own thing. And the father in the story, just like our loving Father, says “Ok, if that’s what you want.”

The fact that God doesn’t stand in our way when we make stupid choices may seem cruel. But actually, it’s very loving. God never forces our love. He’s not a dictator who says, “Love me, or else!” (And, the truth is, He often protects us from ourselves, we just don’t always notice it at the time.) He allows us to learn from our mistakes. And He lovingly waits to welcome us back every time we turn away. 

 

I want to invite you to spend some time thinking about your own life. How many times have you been the younger son (or daughter), and turned your back on your loving Father? How many times has He taken you back? Or perhaps you’ve been holding back because you’ve been afraid that He won’t take you back. Let me assure you that He will. Every time. Without fail. 

 

He loves you.

 

 

Inactivity

As I (Aimee) was driving earlier today, I was thinking about something and I found that I had a moral dilemma. It doesn’t really matter what the issue was. What matters is that I didn’t know what to do. I knew that something needed to be done, something more than just feeling pity, but I didn’t know what to do. So, as I drove, I prayed and asked God to help me to know what would be the right thing to do.

 

And then I started thinking about something else. I asked myself, “How often do I ask God for wisdom to know what to do about something, and then the next time I’m confronted with that same issue I’m asking again, because I never heard His answer and I still haven’t done anything?” Sadly, the answer is: often.

 

Please tell me I’m not the only one. I know I’m not the only one.

 

The problem is that keeping me guessing, keeping me questioning God’s will, keeping me inactive as I feel inadequate, unprepared, and uninformed keeps the enemy really happy. It’s one of his best tricks. Instead of steering us away from God, he ties up our hands and our minds with so many questions that we are self-paralyzed and never actually accomplish anything. Then he brings on that other trick where he convinces us that it’s all ok because we’re trying (even though we aren’t really trying), and that we have great intentions (even though God doesn’t care about intentions, He cares about actions).

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking God when we don’t know what to do. In fact, James 1:5 tells us to do exactly that. The problem is that we (myself included) often ask God, “What should I do?,” and then we don’t look for His answer so we end up never acting cause we’re still waiting for Him to answer. We don’t search His Word, we don’t talk to mature Christians, we don’t do the research, we don’t do whatever it is that we should do to help more us towards a decision and action except to ask God. And while, no doubt, there are times that we ask and God speaks and nothing else is needed. But the fact is that He often speaks through His Word, and through others, and through other mediums in our daily life. But we’re still waiting for Him to part the clouds, say our name to get our attention, and then tell us what to do (wait … I think I’ve brought this idea up before) …

 

My whole point is this: are you allowing uncertainty to keep you from acting? When you know that something should be done, do you do nothing because you don’t know what to do?

 

Acting rashly for the sake of acting isn’t going to help anyone. But God doesn’t want people who claim to follow Him to be people of words and no actions (look at 1 John 3:18). Instead, when you know that something should be done, I suggest the following:

(1) pray for wisdom

(2) ask others for prayer and advice/counsel

(3) pray for wisdom

(4) do some research (you know that thing you’re on now, it’s called the internet and there’s a lot of information on it)

(5) pray for wisdom

(6) act!

Then, after you’ve done all that, let us know how it goes.

"Why me, God?"

While checking out a newspage today, I (Aimee) caught sight of this story about some nasty bullying in Michigan.

 

Apparently, some high school students thought it would be funny to vote a girl into the homecoming court as a joke. Yes, you read that right: it was all a big joke. Once the court had been announced, she was laughed at, people were pointing fingers and "whispering" around her, and going on Facebook to insult her ... the whole nine yards.

 

I'm sure that you've all experienced things that have gone so bad that you just had to ask, "Why me, God?" While the article didn't say anything about this girl's faith, or lack of faith, I bet she thought that at one point or another. Why was this happening to her? Why was she the butt of their stupid jokes? Why did people have to be so mean? Why? Why? Why?

 

Well ... as it turned out, the laugh is no longer at her expense. Check out the article here: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/24/14070353-michigan-town-rallies-around-teen-pranked-for-homecoming?lite

 

God allows things to happen because "you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:3-4)

 

Also, sometimes God allows things because they are actually the beginning of something bigger and better that will turn around to have far reaching blessings (just read the story of Joseph in Genesis, and particularly Gen 50:20). Personally, I think that is exactly what God is doing in Michigan right now.

 

What do you think?

Have you ever experienced anything even close to this?

What's your story?

 

 

 

 

Change

Knowing Jesus ... meeting Jesus ... changes lives. If you really meet Him and know Him, you're life will never be the same again. That's why some people don't want to accept him. It means that they can't go on living their lives the way they've always lived them. Just look at Mark 5.

 

Jesus and His disciples come upon a man possessed by demons. Plural. Many. A legion of demons, in fact. Jesus (well, being Jesus) casts the demons out of the man, but allows the demons to enter a herd of pigs nearby. The herd of pigs then runs of a cliff and dies. Then, the pig herders go running into the town to tell everyone what happened ...

 

Did they say: "Hey, come see the man who cast the demons out of that crazy guy! He's amazing! What power and authority He must have to be able to do that!"

 

No.

 

They went into the village to complain. They obviously knew that Jesus was "responsible" for the death of the pigs (meaning that He had allowed the demons to enter the herd and destroy them), because the people came running out to beg Jesus to leave. They didn't want Him there. They didn't want Him doing His thing there. They didn't want to have anything to do with Him and what He was all about.

 

Some people fear change. Change means dealing with the unfamiliar, which can be uncomfortable. Change can often be painful and difficult.

 

It takes a lot of work for a fat caterpillar to change into a delicate butterfly. I don't know if it's painful ... but it does take a lot of work on the part of the caterpillar. And it's time consuming. No doubt, it would be a lot easier for a caterpillar to stay a caterpillar. To just spend it's time filling its tummy. But think of how much it would miss out on if it didn't go through the process and change into a butterfly! Not to mention the fact that it would be failing to fulfill it's purpose as a caterpillar.

 

What those who fear change don't take into account are all of the rewards that can come from change. Change isn't always for the best. But when it's brought about by Jesus, it definitely is!

 

Among other things, Jesus brings freedom (Romans 6:18; Galatians 5:1a) ...

     peace (John 14:27; Romans 5:1-2a; Ephesians 2:13-18) ... 

     joy (Matthew 13:44; John 15:10-11) ... 

     and everlasting life (Matthew 19:29; John 3:14-16; Romans 6:22-23**)!

 

Jesus helps us to become the people that we were always meant to be.

 

Personally, I don't want to stay a fat caterpillar. And thanks to Jesus, I am being transformed daily (2 Corinthians 4:16). Praise God! It isn't always easy. And I still mess up. But I'm getting there.

 

"... if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new has come!"

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

 

 

 

 

 

** These passages (all of them) are only samples. There are tons more where those came from. It's all over the Bible ... check it out!

 

 

 

Bitter

I (Aimee) was feeling really bitter the other day. 

 

I don’t even know what made me think of it, but I started brooding over how I was treated by someone a few years ago (yes, that’s right … talk about not moving on, right?!). 

 

I started complaining to myself in my head about her. How she just didn’t appreciate any of the sacrifices that I made for her. She was oblivious. She never thanked me nor did she ever take advantage of what my sacrifices offered her. She just continued on living her life just the way that she wanted with no regard to anyone else.

 

And then, as soon as these thoughts ran through my head (all in the matter of a second or two), the word sacrifice seemed to echo back to me. Then, suddenly, I was questioning myself:

 

How often do I show my appreciation for Christ’s sacrifice?

Do I live like I don’t even notice the difference it’s made?

I definitely don’t thank Him often enough.

I definitely don’t take full advantage of what His sacrifice has given me.

Sometimes, I do live my life just the way I want with no regard to Him.

 

“Oops” in this case would be a huge understatement. All I could do was stop complaining, let go of my bitterness, and beg for forgiveness. No, it doesn't mean that I'll never be bitter again or that I'll never have any similar issues. It means that I have a new perspective. And it's a perspective that I know I will have to work on remembering.

 

I’ve talked about forgiveness before (see June, 2011), and I don’t really want to get into that. What I want to say is that before we go around condemning those that have wronged us, we really need to spend more time thinking about the wrongs that we have committed. 

 

More than likely, our own mistakes would keep us so busy that we wouldn’t have time to fuss over the mistakes of others. And maybe it’s better that way. Then we can focus on how to better ourselves. After all, I am the only person that I can change. 

 

So, I choose to focus on trying to be a better me. That means not judging others, admitting that I don’t know everything, and leaning more fully on God… and remembering that I can’t do it on my own.

 

I want to share a song with you guys that has been breaking me down lately. Sidewalk Prophets (who will be performing at Ignition 2012!! Check out www.studentignition.com for more info) have a song on their latest album, Live Like That, which is called "Keep Making Me." They don't play it on the radio ... but they should! Listen to the words and let them be the prayer of your heart. I know that it is the prayer of mine.

coffee + OCD is my drink of choice

if you know me (sherann) at all, then you would know that i'm a coffee junkie. if we were at an event together, don't be surprised if i already have a cup of coffee in my hand or if we end up at starbucks together.  time and time again, my former students tell me about all the moments i took them to starbucks. see the picture on the left? yeah, that's my cup and i made it, too :) a lot of people know that i love coffee. people know this about me.

if you know me, then you would know that i'm good at hiding my thorn in my flesh.  meet OCD. to be honest, only a few people know about this.  it's not something i enjoy talking about and most of the time i'm embarrassed.  what are people going to say?  how will they view me?  granted, i've met a lot of people who have certain OCD tendencies, such as objects need to be in a certain order, the picture doesn't look straight, etc... i wish that were the case.  so to help me with this, every night i take a small white pill.  truth is... every time i wake up, i don't know if i'll have a 'good' day or a 'bad' day.  i've had a lot of moments where i cried, got angry at God, pleaded with God to take it away, and constantly asked, "why?"

if you know the apostle paul, then you would know that he was a man transformed by the grace of God.  a servant of Christ, proclaiming the gospel, specifically to the gentiles.  Paul also had a thorn in his flesh. (commentators say that it was some type of physical ailment) How did Paul feel about this?
"three different times i begged the Lord to take it away." 2 Corinthians 12.8 (NLT)

did you catch that?

he begged.
three different times.
take. it. away.

and from what we know, God didn't.

Paul wanted removal. God didn't do it.
Paul wanted to be normal. God didn't do it.
Paul wanted what was best for him. God always had Paul's best interest in mind. come on, He's God after all.

but, God gave Paul this instead...
"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12.9a, ESV)

there's something about perfection.  we hear it all the time, "be a perfect daughter/son, do everything with perfection." sure, we will find times when we accomplish something with perfection or you were able to be that "perfect daughter/son" for some time, but sooner or later you'll find out that you're not perfect.  you're human.

crazy thing about this verse?  God's perfection and power is found not in "perfect" people, (there isn't a perfect person in the world, hence the reason why Christ died for you and for me, he's the only perfect person) but people who are weak. More and more, I see that in my imperfection, I need someone who is strong and dependable.  Perhaps that's why Paul was able to live with this thorn. he decided to seek His face, the only face that will ever be perfect for him.

oh, yeah and one more thing. you know that whole 'power' thing? yeah, it's not weak-sauce. (if you think that, get it out of your head) we cannot understand the magnitude of 'His power' but to give you an idea...
His power raised Christ from the dead.

Crazy? yeah, it is. if you are like me and are struggling with OCD or  have some type of 'thorn,' take confidence in this...  we are more than conquers because of the same power that manifests through us. 

i know that my OCD is a daily struggle.  it will never go away.
BUT
i choose to embrace my weakness, so that His power is displayed in me.
"for when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor. 12.10b, ESV)

if you know me at all, then you would know that i'm a coffee junkie and i have OCD.

"Once i heard that, I was glad to let it happen.  I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift.  It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness."- Apostle Paul (2 Cor. 12.9b, MSG)

A Selfish God?

I (Aimee) recently had the question put to me whether God is selfish since He created us to bring glory to Himself.  If everything we do is supposed to bring honor and glory to God, and that is the way that God wants it, the way that He designed it, does that make Him selfish?  

 

I hesitated to answer for a moment, and then I said, “no, that doesn’t make Him selfish.”  At the time that I gave the answer, I felt that to be the truth.  However, if my friend had asked me to elaborate on my answer I wouldn’t have been able to.  Since then, I’ve been thinking about it, and I still think that the answer is “no.”  But now I think that I can explain why I believe that.

 

Let me offer an illustration: 

 

Once, a couple of years ago, my friend and I were going out on a very bright, very hot, summer day with her kids (my God-kids). When we stopped to get gas, she asked me if I would put sunblock on the kids while she pumped the gas. My Goddaughter was still very young at this point, so she pretty much just sat there and let me rub the lotion on her. My Godson, however, acted as if I were rubbing acid into his skin. He screamed and cried the entire time as if I were torturing him.

 

I had taken a moment to do the whole, “let me explain to you why I need to do this and how you will be much happier having had it than you will be if you don’t have it.” Usually he’s one of those kids for whom logic can work well. But still, he’s a kid, and there are times that logic just doesn’t fly. This was definitely one of those times. So, I informed him that I was going to put the sunblock on him anyway, and then I proceeded to do it. And he proceeded to scream and cry, as I already said.

 

When my friend was done pumping gas, she got in the car and started apologizing to me for asking me to do what turned out to be the harder job. I told her not to worry about it. I said that I had no problem doing what was best for them, whether they liked it or not. I can be fully sympathetic to their tears when they are hurt in some way. But tears aren’t going to turn me away from doing something that they need.

 

God is like that. Have you ever thought about how many times God does things for our own good, whether we like it or not. It’s a parental thing. When we do it, we reflect Him. It’s part of that whole being-made-in-the-image-of-God-thing.

 

So, the next time things don’t go exactly the way that you planned, take the time to think about the possibility that God may have just done what was best for you, whether you liked it or not. It just might be what happened.

 

Similarly, God draws us to Him and designed everything to bring Him glory because that’s what’s best for us. If our focus is anywhere else but on Him, then we aren’t going to be as healthy and happy as we could be. God is God. He created everything. He is the only One worthy of praise and glory and honor. Placing our trust and hope and love and devotion anywhere else would put us out of whack because anything other than God will always let us down.

 

God isn't selfish. He loves you enough to die for you.

 

 

 

 

Dead. Dead. Dead.

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’”

-- Ezekiel 37:1-3a

Do you know what happens next?

 

God brings life back to the dried out, old bones. While Ezekiel watches, the bones move and reconnect into whole skeletons, muscle, tissue, and skin covers them, and then God breathes the breath of life back into them. 

 

Those bones—and not just any bones, dry bones… Those bones that had been sitting there for who knows how long in order to reach the state that they were in… Bones that hadn’t seen life in decades, perhaps a decade of decades (if you follow me), or even more… Those dry bones, after one Word from the mouth of God, were restored to life.

 

The great thing about this passage is that God not only acts, He interprets it for us, Himself. He tells us what the meaning of it all is. He explains that this was a message for Israel, who was currently in exile in Babylon. Although Israel was dead in many respects—the city had been destroyed, their leaders had been killed, the people had been taken away—God intended to bring them back to life. And if He could do it with those old, dry bones, why wouldn’t He be able to do it with Israel?!

 

Have you ever felt beyond repair? Have you ever been so beaten down by life that you just felt like nothing could bring you back up out of that valley of despair? Can you relate to those dry bones?

 

Do you believe that God could ever abandon you? Because He won’t!

 

Do you believe that God can give you life again? Because He can!

 

Do you believe that God can redeem you from your past? Because He will!

 

Whatever it is that brought you to the dry-bones-state, God can help you. Israel’s own sins led to their own destruction. Have you been a victim of your own poor choices? Of course, there were many in Israel who were abused, neglected, cheated, and generally mistreated. Have you been a victim of the poor choices of others? Perhaps some combination of the two? The poor choices of yourself and of others. That’s the case, more often than not.

 

Either way, it doesn’t matter. God is stronger than your struggles. God is more loving and forgiving than your stubbornness. God redeemed Israel. He brought life back to those dry bones. And He can do the same for you.

 

Jesus said:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden in light.”

-- Matthew 11:28-30

Turn to Jesus. He’ll give you life again.