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| So what is it that you want really bad? The promotion at work, the newer used car to replace your old beater that has been on it's last leg for months. For me it's 20 pounds that I would like to see gone about six months ago. The past three weeks I have been watching what I eat and then a week ago I took up walking for an hour out in the snow every day. The first week went great, the second week...not so much! And this week, STILL NOTHING!
This made me think today as I anticipated stepping on the scale (as I have been weighing myself on Friday mornings). I prayed to God and said thank you for all He's done in my life and told Him that I would praise Him whether I lost weight or stayed the same. I even said that I would praise Him if I GAINED weight. I stepped on the scale and... I am a half pound heavier this week than last. Suddenly, I felt a struggle. Did I really mean what I said? As I was praying my prayer, I realized that I was thinking that by making this "promise" to my Heavenly Father that when I got on the scale, I would have lost MORE than if I hadn't made the "promise". Yes I know, how silly, I am just being honest. There is no theological reason to the way I was thinking, that's just the way it was.
So here it is. Do we promise to praise God so that He will make things better? Granted that it is never fun to struggle in anything, but do we have an ulterior motive when we pray?
Have you seen Facing Your Giants? It's a great movie of faith. Coach Grant Taylor is having a horrible football season, not to mention that his house smells funny, most of the appliances are broken, the car spends more time broken down than running, and him and his wife have been trying to have a baby for four years to no avail. And this is how it starts! Things take a turn for the worse (if you can imagine) and he begins to question his faith and his motives for doing what he does. After a sleepness night of reading and praying he decides to praise God in the midst of trial as well as when things are going good. He makes it look a lot easier than it is, as I found out this morning. To see how things turn out... WATCH THE MOVIE!
Am I the only one who does this? It's easy to praise God when things are going good and pray to Him when things are going bad. But how about switching things around? Praising Him when things are bad and praying to Him when things are going good. I remember our former Pastor saying, "It's hard to say 'Your Kingdom come' when my kingdom is having a pretty good day." So here's my challenge for us both...
This comes from my favorite scene in the movie when Coach Taylor pleads with God to help Him: (in a sunlit field, he reads Psalm 18)"'I will love You, O LORD, my strength.The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.'
Lord Jesus would you help me,
I need you,
Lord I feel like there are giants of fear and failure,
Just staring down at me waiting to crush me,
And I don't know how to beat 'em Lord.
I'm tired of being afraid!
Lord, if you want me to do something else, show me.
If you don't want me to have children, so be it.
But you're my God!
You're on the throne!
You can have my hopes and my dreams.
Lord, give me somethin',
Show me somethin'"
 (then his wife joins him in the field and as he looks at her he says this)
"If the Lord never gives us children, will you still love Him?"
Where I have underlined in the prayer up top, insert your desire or want that you have and see if the statement still rings true. It's a challenge! If God didn't give it to you, would you still love Him? Would you still?
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| Ok, that's it! A couple weeks ago, I put a comfy chair in the corner of my room to sit and read, listen to music, and have some quiet time. Yesterday and today, this is what I've found...
She looked too comfortable to move her... so I waited... and waited... and waited... and she stayed... and stayed...and stayed! NOT TODAY I TELL YOU!! Look out KiKi, here I come!
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| Ever have a hard time dealing with those who you've grown up with or married in to? Family. The ones that you always turn to, they ALWAYS understand, support you when you are hurting, and build you up along the way, right? Maybe, if you are blessed, you very well may have an extremely supportive family that does do all the things listed above. Unconditional love. However... EVERYONE has at least one relative that they can't seem to cope with, even if it's only on occasion.
I received a VERY insightful email from the Max Lucado site and thought that I would share, enjoy!
(if you would like the whole chapter, this one along with many others are available at www.maxlucado.com/read/ )
"...And you’ll be there sorting through the tough questions. Why does life get so
relatively difficult? If we expect anyone to be sensitive to our needs, it is our family
members. When we hurt physically, we want our family to respond. When we struggle
emotionally, we want our family to know.
But sometimes they act like they don’t know. Sometimes they act like they don’t care.
...
What can you do when those closest to you keep their distance? When you can get
along with others, but you and your kin can’t?
Does Jesus have anything to say about dealing with difficult
relatives?
Is there an example of Jesus bringing peace to a painful family?
Yes,
there is.
His own.
It may surprise you to know that Jesus had a difficult family.
If
your family doesn’t appreciate you, take heart, neither did
Jesus’.
“His family … went to get him because they thought
he
was out of his mind” (Mark 3:21).
Jesus’ siblings thought their brother was a lunatic. They
weren’t
proud—they were embarrassed!
It’s worth noting that he didn’t try to control his
family’s
behavior, nor did he let their behavior control his. He
didn’t
demand that they agree with him. He didn’t sulk when they
insulted
him. He didn’t make it his mission to try to please
them.
Each of us has a fantasy that our family will be like the
Waltons,
an expectation that our dearest friends will be our next of kin.
Jesus
didn’t have that expectation. Look how he defined his
family: “My
true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God
wants” (Mark
3:35).
When Jesus’ brothers didn’t share his convictions,
he
didn’t try to force them. He recognized that his spiritual
family
could provide what his physical family didn’t. If Jesus
himself
couldn’t force his family to share his convictions, what
makes
you think you can force yours?
Having your family’s approval is desirable but not
necessary
for happiness and not always possible. Jesus did not let the
difficult
dynamic of his family overshadow his call from God. And because
he
didn’t, this chapter has a happy ending.
 What happened to Jesus’ family?
Mine with me a golden nugget hidden in a vein of the Book of
Acts. “Then
went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.… They
all continued praying together with some women, including
Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers”
(Acts 1:12, 14, emphasis
added).
What a change! The ones who mocked him now worship him. The ones
who
pitied him now pray for him. What if Jesus had disowned them? Or
worse
still, what if he’d suffocated his family with his demand
for
change?
He didn’t. He instead gave them space, time, and grace.
And
because he did, they changed. How much did they change? One
brother
became an apostle (Gal. 1:19) and others became missionaries (1
Cor.
9:5).
So don’t lose heart. God still changes families.
"
From He
Still Moves Stones
Copyright 1999, Max Lucado I actually have this printed out and taped on the inside cover of my Bible to remind me that just because they reject me at times, God does not, His love is unconditional! Does my heart ache for them...YES. I love my family very much, every one of them. I would love nothing more than to see all of them saved and having a relationship with my Lord and Savior, and God willing, it will happen! With Him all things are possible. He is AMAZING that way, I mean, if He can save a low down sinner like me, He HAS to still be moving stones!
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| So what is up?!? Being a Christian means perfection right? WRONG!!! So often we become too confident in ourselves and what WE are "doing" for God that we miss the mark of what really matters. Then it happens... God knocks you off your pedestal and there you sit, flat on your butt, remembering how vulnerable you are and how much you need to rely on God and God alone.
I went cross country skiing for the first time with my friend Maria. It was a blast not to mention an EXTREME workout! I found a very interesting link between my tendencies in skiing to my tendencies in my spiritual walk. I would be very cautious for a while and then when I would begin to feel comfortable, I would become over confident. "Cocky" if you will. Not long after that... you guessed it... I'd fall flat on my butt! It's true, I have the pictures to prove it! (see below)
 
Maria down but not out! Me down! (I thought that I might be out :)
I had to constantly be aware of what I was doing. Which foot was forward as I glided down hills and around curves. My muscles became exhausted from head to toe trying to keep my skis in the groves that were meant for them!
What would our spiritual muscle be? Would it be our heart? When I become over confident, and then get knocked down a step or two, my heart aches at the realization of my weakness without my God. I mourn, in a sense. I grieve for how I have grieved my Father in Heaven, and I am humbled back to ground zero. Pastor said something a few weeks ago that really seems to be striking a nerve, "God has a pin for every puff". Have a puffed up head? Not for long! I have decided to make an effort, even if it be by brute force, to always have my "spiritual muscles" on alert. I might be sore at first, it might hurt from time to time, but... no pain, no gain! All in all it was a great day of skiing, I was a bit sore the next day, but it felt good!
Pray for me as I work to extinguish the things in my life that God hates as stated in Proverbs 6:16-19:
"There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to Him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies,
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers."
And also pray as I strive to live out the Beattitudes as stated by Christ in Matthew 5:3-11. That I would continue to be aware of my spiritual fitness in being poor in spirit (falling down before my Lord and saying, "HELP ME DAD! I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!"), in mourning for my own sins and the sins of others (because "Those who are already down, need fear no fall." -Pilgrim's Progress). If I can accomplish these two things with the help of the Lord, then it will be evident to everyone in my meekness (basically a true view of myself, expressing myself in attitude and conduct towards others, I know who I am and I am not ashamed or too proud to admit it). As one builds on the other, Father may I hunger and thirst after you. To be so much more than I am on my own. Lord willing, the pyramid continues to grow, and I would become merciful (that I would weep at the sin of others, not be angry at that person). That through all this I would then be a peacemaker, to be quick to listen and SLOW to speak, to fall on my knees before God and inject the peace given to me through Him into every situation. When all is said and done, and I have allowed God to grow me and make me His vessel, may I be ready for the persecution that awaits me in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ. "We serve a God that sometimes and many times demands us to die for Him" "When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die." Father, take my heart and make it WHOLLY Yours!
Ending thought for this blog:
What is your picture of Heaven?
Make a list of things that you are looking forward to...
Now...
If you could have all this without God, would you still be happy?
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Ever feel jealous? What a horrible feeling! And this horrible sludge that seeps from within ourselves is almost like the tar of humanity.
I need some Goo Gone :) That gets out tar right? Through much prayer and study, I have not felt relief from my sin. Pray for me.
No, Shawn and I are not having problems. It's entirely friend related, it's selfish, self-centered jealousy. As volleyball continues to such away my time to be spent with others, I feel such loss of time and opportunity to enjoy the company of others. Is it my own insecurity and need to be fulfilled by others, absolutely! My prayer is that I am quick to learn to be filled by my Heavenly Father and look no further for approval or "warm fuzzies". I say quick because I am extremely impatient AND I have to face people tomorrow that I am not ready to face without having this in hand. Or rather, in God's hands.
Before right now, I never thought of God as Goo Gone for jealousy! That's kind of cool and yet it may be somewhat twisted (either way, it makes sense to me)!
In the words of Sanctus Real:
If weakness is a wound
That no-one wants to speak of
Then cool is just how far we have to fall
And I am not amused; I only wanna be loved
But I feel safe behind the firewall
Can I loose my need to impress?
If you want the truth- I need to confess
I'm not alright, I'm broken side, broken inside;
And all I go through, it leads me to You
It leads me to You
Burn away the pride
Bring me to my weakness
Till everything I hide behind is gone
When I'm open wide
With nothing left to cling to
Only You are there to lead me on
Cause honestly, I'm not that strong
I'm not alright, I'm broken side, broken inside;
And all I go through, it leads me to You
It leads me to You
This is off the album that you see above, I am currently listening to the acoustic version even though the original is very awesome!
May God continue to reveal my sin, so that I may glorify His name with every breath I take now and forever!
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