I left Bible study this morning so full of joy. There's nothing more needed sometimes, than just some time with faithful women of Christ, laughter, prayer, encouragement and discussion!
We've talked a lot the last few weeks about serving. It is truly my belief that faithful, passionate women of God can change the world. I do believe that we need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit though, and encouraged by one another to seek the Lord's plan and purpose for our individual lives. My thought is that, if we can reach out around us and be available to the Lord's work, follow His leading and make a difference around us, the environment has to change.
As I drove home today I was planning my upcoming Saturday. I was trying to juggle the things I had to do and figure out how I was going to get my kids cared for while I go serve with the church, attend a bridal shower and then a friend's birthday. I had it figured out and it seemed to be "blessed" because there were no obstacles to my plan that I could see.
I drove along and took the exit to get to my house. It was 68 degrees outside, a little muggy and raining. I saw up ahead of me what looked like a woman holding a sign on the corner and a child sitting in the rain next to her. Now this corner is across from a bus stop, so I often see people holding signs asking for money or a ride. Every other time I've driven a past, said a prayer and hoped that they would get the help they needed. But this time was different! My heart immediately jumped inside of me and I was stirred by the Holy Spirit!
The closer I got to the stop light where they were, I realized that it was two young girls, possibly in their early 20's. The sign said "broke, traveling, need help". There was no way that I could drive by and not stop to say something. I rolled down the window and said "where are you trying to go?" The girl answered, "California". I said, "what do you need other than an umbrella and a ride?". I had no cash with me and not much in the bank, my one year old son was sleeping in the back seat and I had no umbrella. She answered and said "we're trying to get a hotel room for the night". I told there that I didn't have any money but I'd see what I could do and I might be back. They thanked me, and I drove on not knowing if or how I could help them.
I prayed and said "God, what do you want me to do?" As I waited for His answer, I grabbed $20 out of the ATM and headed for home. I knew I couldn't pay for a hotel for them and I couldn't bring them home. I had these great ideas to bring them warm clothes or make them lunch or take them to lunch. I wanted to help and I felt helpless. As I drove toward my house with a plan to make them some tacos really quick and bring them back the cash and food, I had this sense that said "don't go home". I kept driving. I mean, if that was God, He would tell me why I shouldn't go home, right? I kept driving. I felt it again. "Don't go home". I kept driving. I wasn't going to stay at home. He didn't have to worry, I WAS going to go back and follow through.
I pulled into my driveway and felt sad in a way. I ran into the house and warmed up the tacos, wrapped them in foil and put them in a bag. Then, I searched around for a pen to write a nice note. Even as I was writing, I felt that I should just get out the door and back to the girls, but I didn't listen. I was doing a nice thing, I was telling them about how Jesus loved them and God was providing for them on their journey. My plan seemed really great and I felt good about it.
I got back in the truck and headed for the service road where I saw the girls. I was feeling so good that I was doing what the Lord had said. I felt so grateful that He had shown me how to serve right in the middle of my "plan making" for a much grander serving opportunity. What an awesome lesson I would share with our Bible Study next week and maybe even blog about!!
It took about 10 minutes to get back on the northbound service road where I had seen the girls and I was now trying to decide what I would say to them as I handed them the bag. I got closer and closer and soon I could see that they were gone. "Did someone pick them up?" I wondered. "Could they be inside the bus station?" I looked all around and they were no where to be found. I drove around the parking lot of the bus station hoping they might recognize the truck and come out; but they didn't.
I finally gave up and headed for home. I felt disappointed. I felt like I had let them down; given them hope and then didn't show up. I was a little angry with myself that I hadn't done something differently. I missed such an opportunity to show love, even though I was trying to show love.
Far too many times, I have great intentions, yet don't trust the voice of God because my plan seems better. In all reality I was doing something very kind. My heart was intending to show the love of Jesus and I did what I thought would be loving, kind and well received. But God knew all of the details of the situation and He was speaking to me ever so clearly, I just had my own agenda. Because I was busy doing what I thought was best, I missed the opportunity that God had placed in front of me. What a lesson to share!
God is so faithful to show up when we need Him! It is rare that I ask for His guidance and He does not give it to me. Timely, I might add. But all too often, I'm busy with my own agenda of how something should look or turn out and I miss the whole point that He's trying to show me. It is only later that I see that He was right there helping me and steering me the whole time. But it was I who wouldn't yield. One of my good friends is such an example of faithful hearing and obeying the Lord. She writes a blog about her journey is this life called Life in God's Presence found here http://www.cindytunstall.com/
My prayer is that the Lord will help me to not just obey but to OBEY HIS WAY, NOT MINE. I thought I was getting good at this and I'm so grateful that He showed me otherwise. Unfortunately it takes an awakening to get through to me at times, but He continues to love me and teach me!
I invite your comments and your thoughts. Have you been able to shut off your own agenda from time to time and do exactly what the Lord has asked? Did it turn out better than you could have imagined?
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Placing Value on Purity
"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23
Imagine a glass of water. You just poured it straight out of the refrigerator and you're thirsty. It looks cool and refreshing as the condensation forms outside of the glass. You can't wait to have a big drink and quench your thirst! Now, imagine you pour just a dash of salt into your glass. It falls to the bottom and rests. You can barely see it there and soon it dissolves. Next you add a dash of sugar, followed by a few tiny drops of white vinegar. How does your water look now? Still looks pretty clean, right? To some it might even look pure and drinkable, but you know what's inside of it that others can't see. Do you really want to drink it now? How important was it, in the moment of thirst to have a fresh, clean, pure glass of water to drink?
The topic of this blog is so countercultural today. I could write for days about the things our culture does place value on, but today my heart is planted on purity. Unfortunately, our children are being raised in a world that does not value a pure mind, or heart or body. In our society, the word pure has become meaningless when referring to a person. Some might go as far as to say its a "religious" term or "bible word". Is it really so old fashioned that we just dismiss purity as something unattainable in current times? I've noticed that even in Christian settings, the subject of purity is all too often focused only on sexuality. It is so much more than saving yourself for marriage and avoiding sexual temptation!
I had a conversation a few months ago with a friend of mine. She mentioned that she had overheard her daughter and some high school friends talking about things they would "never do". Now, thank God they were saying they would "never do" these things; but for the sake of this blog the point is their discussion topic. Some of the things they were talking about were sexual in nature as we could "expect" from high school kids in this generation right? I mean, they're exposed to immorality everywhere they go so what else do we expect them to be discussing with their friends from time to time? I thought about this conversation for days and I could not get it out of my head. Why was this something we didn't like for them to be discussing, yet, we dismissed it as "normal"? Why do we just overlook immorality in our speech or in the TV shows we watch, books we read, YouTube videos we circulate or conversations we have?
These questions come to mind in my own home where God has entrusted us with two precious little girls and a baby boy. These may be questions you've had in your own homes. What do we "expect" our children to discuss with their friends? And, when they ask us questions about things they've seen or overheard (that, based upon our convictions are immoral), how do we respond? Truthfully, there are times when I find it difficult to explain something for fear of appearing judgmental or condemning of someone. (This is another blog post for another day) How do we teach them to place value on purity when the majority of the population and their peers do not? Are the things that come out of our won mouths pleasing to God? Are the programs we allow on TV and the movies we buy for the kids moral? I too could definitely use some work in this area. I wonder what our kids would think if we watched a show that was contradictory to what we have taught them was right. Is something immoral supposed to be okay because its on TV and we're not doing it? I don't think so. Our kids are bombarded with temptation and corruption everywhere they turn. Us as parents need to stand strong in what we believe and live out what we're trying to teach our children. If it isn't okay for us to act immorally, it isn't okay for us to laugh at someone else behaving that way on the TV screen.
This topic of purity is close to home for me. God has blessed me with the honor and responsibility to raise children. To be honest, it's every bit of scary in the world that we live in. I believe in the value of purity because I, as many can relate, have lived some not so pure moments in my life. I have seen and done things that have had a lasting impression on me and my life and my relationships. Praise God that I am saved and cleansed by the grace and power of Jesus, however, my memory is not erased. How I've wished many times that I could turn back time and make a different choice. I would have not watched certain movies that haunt me to this day and opened a door to fear in my life. I would not have looked at porn with my friends (knowing that I shouldn't) that has given me a distorted idea of sex. I would have remained pure in my body and ran from temptation until I married the love of my life. I do believe that God has taught me valuable lessons through the mistakes I've made in my life and the same will be true for my children as they walk their own paths and have their own experiences. But I know that The Lord's heart was grieved as He watched me in pain, walking through the regret of my own choices. I believe God intended for me to avoid temptation and keep my mind and heart pure. He doesn't want us to have to learn from our mistakes. He wants us to seek Him first and yield to His will for our lives and not our own. This is a hard lesson as an adult. But as adults, having learned a thing or two, it is our job to teach our children to value their purity.
As we saw in the analogy of the glass of water. impurity can happen ever so slightly. A little salt here, a little vinegar there. Even a dash of sugar that could taste sweet hindered the purity of the water. It doesn't have to be obvious to everyone. Immorality takes many forms in today's culture. What things are we just accepting as "normal" that are really adding a little salt to our glass of water?
..Don't fool yourselves. Those who live immoral lives, who are idol worshipers, adulterers or homosexuals - will have no share in his kingdom. ... I can do anything I want to if Christ has not said no, but some of these things aren't good for me. Even if I am allowed to do them, I'll refuse to if I think they might get such a grip on me that I can't easily stop when I want to.
1 Corinthians 6:9b, 12 (TLB)
Imagine a glass of water. You just poured it straight out of the refrigerator and you're thirsty. It looks cool and refreshing as the condensation forms outside of the glass. You can't wait to have a big drink and quench your thirst! Now, imagine you pour just a dash of salt into your glass. It falls to the bottom and rests. You can barely see it there and soon it dissolves. Next you add a dash of sugar, followed by a few tiny drops of white vinegar. How does your water look now? Still looks pretty clean, right? To some it might even look pure and drinkable, but you know what's inside of it that others can't see. Do you really want to drink it now? How important was it, in the moment of thirst to have a fresh, clean, pure glass of water to drink?
The topic of this blog is so countercultural today. I could write for days about the things our culture does place value on, but today my heart is planted on purity. Unfortunately, our children are being raised in a world that does not value a pure mind, or heart or body. In our society, the word pure has become meaningless when referring to a person. Some might go as far as to say its a "religious" term or "bible word". Is it really so old fashioned that we just dismiss purity as something unattainable in current times? I've noticed that even in Christian settings, the subject of purity is all too often focused only on sexuality. It is so much more than saving yourself for marriage and avoiding sexual temptation!
I had a conversation a few months ago with a friend of mine. She mentioned that she had overheard her daughter and some high school friends talking about things they would "never do". Now, thank God they were saying they would "never do" these things; but for the sake of this blog the point is their discussion topic. Some of the things they were talking about were sexual in nature as we could "expect" from high school kids in this generation right? I mean, they're exposed to immorality everywhere they go so what else do we expect them to be discussing with their friends from time to time? I thought about this conversation for days and I could not get it out of my head. Why was this something we didn't like for them to be discussing, yet, we dismissed it as "normal"? Why do we just overlook immorality in our speech or in the TV shows we watch, books we read, YouTube videos we circulate or conversations we have?
These questions come to mind in my own home where God has entrusted us with two precious little girls and a baby boy. These may be questions you've had in your own homes. What do we "expect" our children to discuss with their friends? And, when they ask us questions about things they've seen or overheard (that, based upon our convictions are immoral), how do we respond? Truthfully, there are times when I find it difficult to explain something for fear of appearing judgmental or condemning of someone. (This is another blog post for another day) How do we teach them to place value on purity when the majority of the population and their peers do not? Are the things that come out of our won mouths pleasing to God? Are the programs we allow on TV and the movies we buy for the kids moral? I too could definitely use some work in this area. I wonder what our kids would think if we watched a show that was contradictory to what we have taught them was right. Is something immoral supposed to be okay because its on TV and we're not doing it? I don't think so. Our kids are bombarded with temptation and corruption everywhere they turn. Us as parents need to stand strong in what we believe and live out what we're trying to teach our children. If it isn't okay for us to act immorally, it isn't okay for us to laugh at someone else behaving that way on the TV screen.
This topic of purity is close to home for me. God has blessed me with the honor and responsibility to raise children. To be honest, it's every bit of scary in the world that we live in. I believe in the value of purity because I, as many can relate, have lived some not so pure moments in my life. I have seen and done things that have had a lasting impression on me and my life and my relationships. Praise God that I am saved and cleansed by the grace and power of Jesus, however, my memory is not erased. How I've wished many times that I could turn back time and make a different choice. I would have not watched certain movies that haunt me to this day and opened a door to fear in my life. I would not have looked at porn with my friends (knowing that I shouldn't) that has given me a distorted idea of sex. I would have remained pure in my body and ran from temptation until I married the love of my life. I do believe that God has taught me valuable lessons through the mistakes I've made in my life and the same will be true for my children as they walk their own paths and have their own experiences. But I know that The Lord's heart was grieved as He watched me in pain, walking through the regret of my own choices. I believe God intended for me to avoid temptation and keep my mind and heart pure. He doesn't want us to have to learn from our mistakes. He wants us to seek Him first and yield to His will for our lives and not our own. This is a hard lesson as an adult. But as adults, having learned a thing or two, it is our job to teach our children to value their purity.
As we saw in the analogy of the glass of water. impurity can happen ever so slightly. A little salt here, a little vinegar there. Even a dash of sugar that could taste sweet hindered the purity of the water. It doesn't have to be obvious to everyone. Immorality takes many forms in today's culture. What things are we just accepting as "normal" that are really adding a little salt to our glass of water?
..Don't fool yourselves. Those who live immoral lives, who are idol worshipers, adulterers or homosexuals - will have no share in his kingdom. ... I can do anything I want to if Christ has not said no, but some of these things aren't good for me. Even if I am allowed to do them, I'll refuse to if I think they might get such a grip on me that I can't easily stop when I want to.
1 Corinthians 6:9b, 12 (TLB)
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