Bittersweet

Today has been the strangest day...no not strange...exceptional. It was like looking at life under a microscope. Maybe is was like looking at life through God's eyes. He sees all-all the time. That is what today was like. We started in Sunday School. My husband and I taught the same lesson, but to two different groups. I always love preparing to teach when he is doing the same thing. Our lessons are always different. God speaks to us in different ways through the same text, yet keeps the meaning He wants presented. Then my husband and I taught the 1's and 2 year olds during worship service. Maybe taught is not the right word. Potty patrol while singing Jesus Loves Me is probably a better description. We have 1 year olds who don't talk yet, but they can sing Jesus Loves Me. Then my family and I went home for some lunch and a little down time before returning to church.

Tonight we buried a brother in Christ, a mentor, and a friend who lost a long battle with cancer. Before the service, our church had its annual VBS meeting. What an awesome thing God did. You see, we met our friend in adult VBS a few years ago. Here we were planning for another VBS event, yet minus one who was so dear. His service was beautiful. It magnified a dual love story: he and his wife; both they and their Savior.
We laid him to rest and then went to dinner with dear friends, church family,the ones we do life with - not just parallel schedules. We laugh together, cry together, and with every opportunity pray together.
Today was a little of the older and the younger, a celebration and a painful loss, restful and busy. It was a day of polar opposites and by God's grace we embraced it instead of being devoured by it. This life is just temporary. With every breath we breathe, we are closer to our last. We are not promised tomorrow. Don't waste another moment being lost in this crazy, dying world. Let go. Release yourself to God. Throw in the towel. Cry mercy! Let God have His way with you so that this life is not your joy but your warm-up.

We love you, Mr. Don and will see you soon!

Not Perfect...Glorious

The awesome thing about scripture is it constantly reveals new things to you. You might think you have read every word and suddenly come to a passage you never remember having read. You may read something you have read a hundred times and suddenly have new meaning. What I am starting to realize is how much of the New Testament is instruction on how Christians need to address Christians. The gospels are for the lost so that they may understand how relationship is restored to God. However, from Acts thru Revelation, there is a whole lot of instruction to the church. Although we are to love EVERYONE, you certainly cannot interact with a believer as you would a non-believer.

Why in the world do you think the church needs so much instruction? We are NOT perfect!!! We get angry, we retaliate, we refuse to forgive, we argue, we worship ourselves. I struggle to make God the center of my world instead of myself. It certainly is a process that happens in the crockpot. We beat ourselves up and feel guilty over sin. What we need to do is stop trying to be perfect...we can't even be good...and be glorious to God. Make everything (or at least more) of what you do glorify God. I can glorify Him when I am hanging out with friends, working with AWANA, having dinner with someone, and certainly at work. Does the way I talk glorify God? Do I have friends who glorify God? Do I drive like I am glorifying God (I did let 2 people out in traffic, but I ran 10 off the highway)?

I have got to change my mindset from doing good to glorifying the One who wakes me up every morning. After all, that is what He woke me up for in the first place!

Crockpot Girl

What would you rather have...some chicken nuggets from the microwave or roast, carrots, and potatoes from the crockpot? We are so busy today, we often run for our microwaves. Even though the food will be dryer and tougher, we want that quick fix. Microwaved food also loses its heat quickly. You pull that plate out, and it is too hot to hold. Within 5 min though, it has cooled off to the point you think of warming it back up. Now, the crockpot is not difficult. It just takes more time to get the result. There is no comparison in the result. The food is hot for a long time, tender, juicy, and good for the body.

Spiritual maturity works the same way. When we are first saved or have recently rededicated our life to Christ, we are on that revelation high. We sign up for everything and attend anything. We try to talk the talk for which we don't walk the walk. Before we know it, we have cooled off like a yucky plate of nuked french fries. Spiritual maturity needs the simmering of a crockpot that is set for all day. What is the crockpot? The Word. You don't have to memorize everything your first month as a Christian. You don't need to catch up...just catch on. Our relationship with God takes time...a lifetime. It is not meant to be the express button to quick fixes and fads for the moment. When we stay involved in the Word and in the body of Christ, we slowly but surely become the hot, tender, wonderful passion of Christ. God knows just the right temperature setting for you. Don't rush. Just keep cooking.

***ive never felt so convicted to blog something. God brought this concept to me about a week ago. I kept intending to get on the computer, but ended up doing other things. Tonight, my sis-in-law called me and said she had just gotten out of a service with the most awesome message. She said the preacher spoke about your faith being developed in a crockpot instead of a microwave!!! Well, I looked at the ceiling (from where I had passed out on the floor) and said, "Yes, sir!" So here I am blogging on my BB with one eye open. Whoever is reading, God really went out of His way to give this message to you. Please don't shrug it off as anything less than a message from the Holy of Holies!

Give Me Revelation

I warned my S.S. class this morning they were going to think I had totally lost my mind. You think you know something, but you maybe don't REALLY know. Agreeing is not necessarily the same thing as knowing. Well, the new-found knowledge that came out of today's S.S. lesson was the equivalent of me saying, "Wow, I just realized Diet Coke is sugar free!" Well, duh!!! I've been drinking Diet Coke forever BECAUSE it is sugar free.

So here goes... If you are a Christian, what do you believe happens when you die? What do you believe happened to Jesus when He died? Most everyone will say we go to heaven. But specifically what happened to Jesus once he died on the cross? His soul separated from His body. What happened three days later? HIS BODY WAS RESURRECTED!!!!

We Christians don't just believe our souls go to heaven. We also believe in BODILY resurrection. I recently participated in a study on the Book of Daniel. I had a very hard time understanding the timeline (not dates, people, just order of events of judgement and who is going where when. I kept reading and reading, but couldn't get things to fall into place.)

Well, the problem was I had not truly realized what I believe. I believe it because the Bible says it. My soul will go to heaven (we'll argue about the exact word for this later), but my physical body will come later...unless of course I live through tribulation.

I cannot tell you how much today's S.S. lesson helped my understanding of scripture. Matthew Chapter 25 and 1 Corinthians are full of info on the resurrection. Jesus saved us in very specific and supernatural ways. Not only are we as Christian immortal, our physical bodies will also be restored to us in an unflawed, perfect, beautiful way. Ya'll, praise God He is so awesome and so amazing, Praise God He goes beyond what we silly humans can only imagine!

Part II: The Bible is for Christians. I know I say this all the time, but that just blew my mind when I realized that fact today. I get really bogged down sometimes when particular verses tell us to do one thing and then seem to say another. Now, I KNOW the Bible DOES NOT contradict itself. So, when I feel this way I start to dig into commentaries and pull out two or three translations (funny story at the end). What I have started to see over and over is that most of the apostle Paul's statements are to Christians about Christians. You know we make the mistake of thinking once someone is saved she becomes sin proof. NOT. We still play tug of war between human and holy every day. Just because we are Christian doesn't mean we act it all the time. Scripture is for our instruction and encouragement. There is a verse that says you can't even understand it until you are saved. So, please, for the love, don't sling verses at the lost. They have no idea what you are saying. However, dig deep into the Word with your Christian brothers and sisters. Revelations is for the saved!

Funny story: this may be one of those moments when I think something is hilarious, and everyone else just thinks I am nuts. Here is a great reason to read the Bible in different translations. Our Daily Bible Walk group is in 1 Kings right now. Well, in 1 Kings 12:10 there is a verse that just cracked me up. I mean you talk about a too much testosterone moment... It is WAY better though in NASB.

"My little finger is thicker than my father's loins."

Well, my goodness. Tell us how you really feel. Those were just plain old fightin words, sister. I have laughed at that all day. Simmer down, Rehoboam.