by | Faith Lived Out, Life Application
I was recently sitting in the dentist’s office waiting for a friend. After my mini power nap and waking up wondering if the stares indicated I had been snoring, I decided I should entertain myself with some reading. Good Housekeeping was staring at me so I gave in.
The featured article was written about two celebrities who manage to keep their friendship strong despite having their own families and the demands of Hollywood. It was a great article. But then…
Both were asked what role faith played in their family lives. There were some interesting answers to say the least.
Actress #1: “I’m half Jewish and half Christian.”
Actress #2: “I was brought up within the Christian tradition, [but] I had a fairly secular upbringing. The guiding moral principles, the ethical principles, much of the philosophy, if properly applied, is very good. And I love Christmas. I know all the carols and all the songs. In spite of our secularism, we observe the Christmas tradition. And we talk about the [Christmas] story. It’s a very great story, and I grew up with it. It’s very interesting and full of metaphor.”
The definition of metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as if it were another.
There is no metaphor regarding the birth of Jesus Christ. Is there such a thing as being half Christian? We can be half German and half Irish, but can we be half Christian? I think not. It’s all or none in Christianity, as it should be.
We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength. Mark 12:30.
Are you all in?
by | Faith Lived Out
Closing out Psalm 63:1-8.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zzI9I9LcAI]
by | Faith Lived Out, Life Application
Today’s History Lesson…
In 1987 the town of Midland Texas was changed forever when 18 month old Jessica McClure fell down an abandoned well. 58 hours later she was rescued. Do you remember that day? Were you in a panic with the millions of others watching the live coverage on CNN?
Three years after that my mother went through the terror of the unknown, I imagine, just as Jessica’s parents did. I disappeared. She received a phone call from the police department stating that I had been taken from my father’s house. They told her to sit calmly and wait by the phone while they looked for me. If you were told your child had disappeared would your first reaction be to sit calmly by the phone? Mine neither. Obviously I was found.
But this reminds me of another story.
What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. – Matthew 18:12-14
God sits and waits for us every time we wander away – every time we fall into an abandoned well. We are his sheep. He doesn’t want to watch any of us go astray. You don’t have to wait 58 hours to be rescued from him, stuck in the terror and fear that controls your life. You don’t have to wait another second. He’s waiting now to pull you out of the pit.
Are you ready?
by | Faith Lived Out, Life Application
What do you do when questions fill your mind and you don’t know where to catalog them? There are no answers for them from any human being, and God isn’t quite ready to answer them.
God just moved a mountain in my life five minutes ago.
For almost two years I’ve had an image in my mind of my father’s death. For almost two years I’ve had unanswered questions as to how he died. For almost two years I’ve had one big thought cataloged: was my father killed?
I’ve went back and forth through the fight of bitterness, considering confronting the woman I thought was responsible. But every time I saw her face I was filled with fear and rage. The last time we spoke was not a good memory. It was one of the most defeating days of my life. I remember staring at her at my dad’s funeral wondering what she was thinking. My judgment assumed she was happy he was dead. Afterall, I had heard many times how much she despised him.
This last year I have spent a lot of time grieving many things in my life. But the how or what of my dad’s death has never went away. This morning God spoke to me loud and clear. It was time to do something crazy!
The last time I saw her was at my grandpa’s funeral a year ago and I swore I would never see her face again. I swore I would never speak to her again. I wasn’t sure that I could ever forgive her. But this morning I picked up the phone and called her. I was just as surprised to hear her voice as she was mine. Of course I silently begged for her not to answer so I could just get the credit from God for making the call.
She answered. This was the moment I was going to get an apology. She was going to say she was sorry for everything. We made small talk. I waited. I told her about some changes in my life that had taken place over the last year. I waited. Silence filled the conversation. Where did I go next?
“I just want to apologize for things over the last year and ask your forgiveness for any hurt I’ve caused you.” What?! That came from my mouth. That came from me! God never ceases to amaze me. This wasn’t about what I was going to get; it was about what I was going to give. I gave up my expectations and my entitlement.
We may never speak again. My answers may still go unanswered. But God is still at work.
The lyrics of this song keep going over and over in my head, He’s not finished with me yet.
by | Faith Lived Out
So, I’ve read through Ephesians 6:10-18 many times. But last week I got a fresh perspective of the “armor” message. The word stand is used four times in this passage.
We are to wear the full armor of God so that we can stand against the devil’s schemes.
We are to wear the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes we can stand our ground.
After we have done everything, we will still stand.
And we are to stand firm with truth and righteousness.
Ladies and gentleman, are you prepared for the battle? Do you have your checklist ready?
- Belt of truth
- Breastplate of righteousness
- Feet equipped with the gospel of peace
- Shield of faith
- Helmet of salvation
- Sword of the Spirit
- And don’t forget….. PRAYER!
As a warrior, armored and ready, are you sitting or standing?
by | Faith Lived Out
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the word love? Go with your first thought. Have you ever experienced true love?
I haven’t. I take that back. I thought I hadn’t. I believed I was in “love” once. To be frank, I was full of crap!
But I have experienced love for what it truly is. I felt the precense of true love on the floor of the prayer room several months into my program at the Table Rock Freedom Center with my arms spread wide, a tissue in my hand, and tears streaming down my face. You know those moments when you have no doubt that God must have just audibly spoken to you? I had one of those moments. I remember him clearly saying to me, “Sundi Jo, when are you going to let me loveyou?’
I was supposed to let God love me? How could I do that? How could a perfect, unblemished God love a wretch like me?
I looked in that mirror that day realizing that I had never truly accepted the love of my Savior Jesus Christ. For the first time in my life I smiled as I looked at myself and finally accepted that not only did God love me, but I was beautiful. I could enjoy my beauty. I could believe in it. Not only did I learn to love myself, but I learned to love others.
we love because he first loved us – 1 john 4:19
You want a true love story?
but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. – romans 5:8
