Working with kids, one of the things we teach them when talking about Christ is asking him to be "Lord of our lives." Kids understand that concept better than they understand "asking Jesus into your heart."
It makes a lot more sense to me too. It's an active text versus a passive text. To my mind, asking Jesus "into my heart" just means I'm asking him to live there, but not really take part in anything I do. But asking him to be "Lord of my life" means (to me) that I'm asking him to actively guide me in what to do and where to go.
But this morning I thought, "Am I doing this daily?" In all honesty - no I'm not -but I should be. Scripture says:
"...If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lost it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" Luke 9"23-25
Did you catch that one little word in the first sentence? The word DAILY. Ouch, I'm supposed to take up my cross daily, not just the one time I accept Jesus to be Lord of my Life, but I should be asking him to take control over every day.
Think about the day Jesus took up his cross. Before he was arrested, he knelt in fervent prayer. Praying so earnestly that at one point, he sweat was like drops of blood (see Luke 22:44 then check out http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t018.html for more information on how this can happen). His body was under such stress that he literally sweat blood. But did he turn away from what the Father had called him to do? Did he say, "Forget it, I'm going to do this my own way." No! He took up his cross and followed God.
That is what we are called to do - DAILY. Does that mean God is going to call us to suffer and die for a world that doesn't deserve it? No, because Jesus has already paid that price. But God may call us to suffer at a job that is stressful in order to support our family. He may call us to step out of our comfort zone and talk to the person behind us in line at the grocery store about our faith. He may call us to suffer from loss or injury so we can be a servant to those who will follow in our steps. He may call us to the mission field - whether it be in Uganda, Romania, or at our very own homes.
My point is simple. Are you taking up your cross daily to follow God? Is He really the Lord of you life - the Lord of your everyday? Are you starting your day with prayer to seek God and find out what he wants from you that day? Even if you're doing that much, are you following through? Or are you saying, "No, that's to hard/uncomfortable. I can't do that. Let someone else."
Luke 9:24 "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Don't Be A Hoarder
I have to admit it. One of my guilty pleasures is watching "Hoarders." I'm mesmerized by this show. It just amazes me that someone can live amongst filth and decay and feel as though nothing is wrong with it.
I always thought hoarders just held onto stuff - clothes, tools, old newspapers, etc. Until watching this show I never knew they also lived amongst piles of rotten food, overflowing cat litter boxes, even human waste. It's disgusting. Not only that, it's unhealthy. Often times hoarders struggle to breathe because of the dust and allergens in the air - not to mention the mold. Climbing through piles of their ramshackle hoard can cause an avalanche of junk that could literally smother them to death. It's ridiculous!
But yet, there are people that live like that and can't let it go. Throwing out, what would be to us, trash is like throwing out a family member to them. They can't let go of their stuff. Someone can come along and try to show them how useless and worthless their hoard is, but their minds are so dazed by their mental disease that they only see a priceless, irreplaceable pile of treasures. I just can't wrap my mind around it.
And yet...
How many of us are hoarders?
We say, "I'm going to hold onto my love until I find someone who really deserves it," and then we're cold to our family and friends. We're cold sometimes even to our kids and spouses because once we give that love away, we can't get it back.
We say, "I can't give my time. I haven't had a moment of peace to myself in forever." Then we squander our time on the internet or absorbed in gossip magazines.
We say, "I can never forgive them," and then we hold on to our anger until we're a bitter shell of our former selves.
We say, "I can't show them compassion, if I do they'll just squander it," and then we don't buy a meal for the homeless man on the corner.
If we hoard - not our stuff, but ourselves - we're no better than the hoarder with a house full of junk. We'll become sick and unhealthy. It may not have physical symptoms, but the symptoms are there - callousness, greediness, impatience, loneliness, bitterness, depression, cynical, not trusting... you get the idea.
So what are you hoarding?
I always thought hoarders just held onto stuff - clothes, tools, old newspapers, etc. Until watching this show I never knew they also lived amongst piles of rotten food, overflowing cat litter boxes, even human waste. It's disgusting. Not only that, it's unhealthy. Often times hoarders struggle to breathe because of the dust and allergens in the air - not to mention the mold. Climbing through piles of their ramshackle hoard can cause an avalanche of junk that could literally smother them to death. It's ridiculous!
But yet, there are people that live like that and can't let it go. Throwing out, what would be to us, trash is like throwing out a family member to them. They can't let go of their stuff. Someone can come along and try to show them how useless and worthless their hoard is, but their minds are so dazed by their mental disease that they only see a priceless, irreplaceable pile of treasures. I just can't wrap my mind around it.
And yet...
How many of us are hoarders?
We say, "I'm going to hold onto my love until I find someone who really deserves it," and then we're cold to our family and friends. We're cold sometimes even to our kids and spouses because once we give that love away, we can't get it back.
We say, "I can't give my time. I haven't had a moment of peace to myself in forever." Then we squander our time on the internet or absorbed in gossip magazines.
We say, "I can never forgive them," and then we hold on to our anger until we're a bitter shell of our former selves.
We say, "I can't show them compassion, if I do they'll just squander it," and then we don't buy a meal for the homeless man on the corner.
If we hoard - not our stuff, but ourselves - we're no better than the hoarder with a house full of junk. We'll become sick and unhealthy. It may not have physical symptoms, but the symptoms are there - callousness, greediness, impatience, loneliness, bitterness, depression, cynical, not trusting... you get the idea.
So what are you hoarding?
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
He really does hear us.
Right now I feel giddy. The kind of giddy that comes from knowing God just taught me a lesson (thankfully not a painful one). I love that He takes the time to teach me. Even when it's something I've supposedly already learned and re-learned several times. One of these days I'll get it. So what's this great, amazing lesson? Simple: God hears and answers our prayers.
Let me see if I can express through words my experience.
I had just come from Bible study where we had an deep conversation about prayer and how we should pray. (Our scripture that spurred the discussion was Luke 11:1-13. It was a discussion that hit me particularly hard. I felt that God was trying to get my attention. It was like He was saying, "Your prayer life up till now has been okay, but not what it should be. This is the next step you need to take..."
So I was pondering all this as I drove back to the church to pick up my kids from their activities. We got back out to the car and it wouldn't start. It's not even that it wouldn't start, but I physically could not get the key to turn in the ignition. Knowing Keith was stuck in a meeting for the next hour I went inside to see if I could find someone to give the kids and I a ride home.
An acquaintance, Mel, opened the door for me. "Do you happen to know anything about cars?" I asked.
"Some," he said and then he went out to the car with me. He tried several times to get the key to turn and nothing happened. He asked some questions: have I had trouble before now, etc. Then he asked, "Have you prayed about it?"
I kinda laughed, "Not yet."
He smiled. He tried a couple more times. Then he paused, just for a couple of seconds, then turned the key again and the car roared to life.
"Did you just pray for it!?!" I exclaimed.
He just smiled, "Yeah."
I had spent the last hour and a half contemplating prayer and how I should pray and then didn't even bother to pray when God presented an opportunity. Duh, Naomi!
Let me see if I can express through words my experience.
I had just come from Bible study where we had an deep conversation about prayer and how we should pray. (Our scripture that spurred the discussion was Luke 11:1-13. It was a discussion that hit me particularly hard. I felt that God was trying to get my attention. It was like He was saying, "Your prayer life up till now has been okay, but not what it should be. This is the next step you need to take..."
So I was pondering all this as I drove back to the church to pick up my kids from their activities. We got back out to the car and it wouldn't start. It's not even that it wouldn't start, but I physically could not get the key to turn in the ignition. Knowing Keith was stuck in a meeting for the next hour I went inside to see if I could find someone to give the kids and I a ride home.
An acquaintance, Mel, opened the door for me. "Do you happen to know anything about cars?" I asked.
"Some," he said and then he went out to the car with me. He tried several times to get the key to turn and nothing happened. He asked some questions: have I had trouble before now, etc. Then he asked, "Have you prayed about it?"
I kinda laughed, "Not yet."
He smiled. He tried a couple more times. Then he paused, just for a couple of seconds, then turned the key again and the car roared to life.
"Did you just pray for it!?!" I exclaimed.
He just smiled, "Yeah."
I had spent the last hour and a half contemplating prayer and how I should pray and then didn't even bother to pray when God presented an opportunity. Duh, Naomi!
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