Going ALL OUT!! (When no one is looking... part two... or, actually, getting started)

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."
--Deuteronomy 6:4-5

First off, let me be clear. The house you see is NOT a picture of Eric and Rhonda's house :) It's just a random picture off of the grand ol' net. Even so, today's Thing story is about Christmas lights.

Last Wednesday, a friend of mine and myself helped Pastor Eric (Rhonda's MAN) string some Christmas lights up on their house. I've got to say... Eric has some pretty amazing vision when it comes to putting lights up around a house. What we specifically helped him with was putting the lights up and down the gables (peaks) of the house. The roof is fairly high, which wasn't too big of a deal, but the shingles are slate. So, it was a little tricky, as slate shingles are a bit more slick and less stable than asphalt shingles. We were careful though, and we completed the job, all three of us working together.

It was daylight while we were doing this, and I was really excited to see what the house would look like when lit up at night. I then realized that while the front of the house was all "done up," the back of the house didn't have a lot of decoration to it. I asked Eric if he was doing the back, and he said, "Maybe next year." It got me thinking about the back side of people's houses and why they're not seen as important as the front. Obviously, the reason home owners generally don't care as much about the back is because people don't see the back. I remember when we used to put up candles in the farmhouse at Christmastime, and I was always bummed when we never put candles in the back windows... but it "didn't matter" because no one would see, right?

I think this is a problem with the church today. We love to go all out... but only when people are looking... only in the areas where people see us. How do we act when no one is looking? Do we go all out when we know it won't be noticed? Is our Christianity simply for our own "PR?" After all, it's great if everyone thinks we're some super-Christian who doesn't struggle... It's great if people think we're constantly in the "sweet spot" that Rhonda referred to in yesterday's post.

We should be living more like we read in Matthew 6:2-4. In this passage, Jesus tells us to not even let our right hand know what the left hand is doing... Instead of making a big show when everyone is watching, we should do something great when we know that no one will see. And in fact, when no one is watching, we should always live as if everyone was... Don't get me wrong... it's not a show... but our walk with Christ also isn't something that should be so phony that it should only happen when people are watching... because God is watching... always. The deepest secrets we have, He knows. The things we do around our non-Christian friends, God sees. The things we do when no one is looking, God observes... Let's walk the walk... Always... Let's go all out... when "no one" is looking.



Posted by Ben ><>

Plans...

People are funny (including myself) ...
Lately, I seem to be hearing more and more of my friends talk about their plans for their life. Plans like...
1) I WILL get a job by ...
2) I WILL get married and have kids by (so many years)
3) I WILL pay off my debts/loans in this exact amount of time
4) I WILL be doing "_____" in so many years...

Now, some of you might think, well I'm to the point in my Christian walk that I know I can't make plans... I only put them in God's hands. But, be careful! All of us, including myself, easily slip into that bad habit of "making plans" little by little throughout our days and weeks without really giving it completely to God. It's like, we all know the saying, "If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans." But, we just end up being the ones laughing over that saying and don't really take it to heart. Also, I have noticed that a lot of times when we hear people talk like that we usually say, "Oh, how wonderful that you have a plan for your life. It is good to have goals." So, we continue to encourage them in these concrete goals that starts out innocent but eventually they begin to feel they "must" happen in order for them to be living the life they are meant to be or one that will somewhat full fill their needs at this time. I mean, they are good, wholesome, Christian-like plans, so why doesn't God make them happen, right?
Then there are the other friends who have these set goals and the time has definitely past on their set dates of when goal 1,2, or 3 was suppose to happen and even though they try to hide it... they have become somewhat bitter, frustrated and angry inside. They try to cover it up with other plans and things to keep them "looking" busy or that they are "ok" so that people around them won't ask questions, but eventually... those around them start to see cracks. Areas in that persons life where they are starting to show their impatience towards not only life... but towards God and how He has not "made" these things happen for them. For most of my friends, it is the idea of not having a significant other/being married that is the hardest struggle to wait on and I can understand that. Before my husband came along I didn't really feel anxious about getting a husband because I had such low self-esteem that I was certain that no man would ever consider me as a girlfriend, let a lone a wife. I had decided that my future was going to be as a missionary living in a hut in the middle of nowhere. I thought that I had understood and comes to grasp with Philippians 4: 12 "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Eventually God did show me through some loving Christian women in my life, that putting down my self-esteem in order to be "content" was not what He had in mind when He had me read that verse. It was not until after I accepted God as my true and only lasting love and accepted WHATEVER His will would be for my life, that the person who is now my husband, came into the picture. Now, you might say that others have significant others even before they get to that point with God and my questions is... was that God's timing? And if it was, are they still willing to learn how to make God their only true love?
I believe, we all deal with our disappointments in life in different ways. I tried to be "content" by putting myself down and believing it could never happen anyway. Others become impatient with God and their deep down bitterness turns into other emotions that come out towards their friends or family. I guess I'm writing this because I have been there and I have friends that are there now and as much as I want to grab them and say, "Please, I want you to know what joy there is in waiting on the Lord! There is such peace when you trust Him, without making your own back-up plans on the side!" However, I know that it is only through prayer, patience and love that God will be able to work in their life. Just as He patiently worked in mine.
My encouragement to those who are feeling anxious to help those around you who are struggling where you once were, is to remember that you still in the same boat and struggling in many ways and that nothing you can do, other than loving them, will bring them to knowing true peace. To those who are struggling with the way life is taking you or not taking you, I pray that this time would be a time you can truly focus on God and learn all you can about Him and find the joy that can be found when you wait... and wait... without fear or questions... just faith and trust. It is only when we truly get to that point in our spiritual walk that I believe, God can truly work out His plans for us. This is what my good friend and I have lovingly called "The Sweet Spot" between ourselves and God. We pray together that God's grace will continue to hold us there. This by no means that I am there all the time. Just like Paul I am constantly running the race (1 Corinthians 9) set before me, by God, in order to stay in that sweet spot.

Ok... and so there was a scripture I wanted to use but I'm having a hard time finding it... I remember the phrasing was something like... "It is God's loving-kindness that leads us to repentance." Or something like that...any suggestions?

p.s. I wanted to add this thought that I picked up from reading Oswald Chambers stuff... If God has yet to "make things happen" like I was just talking about, then we need to stop and ask the questions, what in my life/in my spiritual journey is God trying to teach me and I just won't listen long enough to hear. Or is there an area that I don't see right now and I won't make the change that God is asking because I know it might mess these hopes/dreams/plans that I am set on... Let God do the talking and you will be amazed where it leads. Many times, He just wants to know that we are TRULY willing to give it all up, before He can work in our life.

Posted by Rhonda

SOAP

I don't know how many of you have heard of this study technique, but I just learned about it recently and found it interesting and wanted to try it ... with you!
So, let's dig in!

S = Psalm 27
O = My observations are that this is a Psalm is written by David and it is very emotional. If I had to pick out the verses that stick out to me, they would be... (1, 4, 8, 13, 14)
¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
⁴ One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.
⁸ My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
Your face, LORD, I will seek.
¹³ I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

¹⁴ Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

I also noticed that in the New Living Translation of the Bible, verse 8 says, "My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” I just love that!

A = My first application about this psalm is that I need to commit it to memory! It is jam-packed with so many wonderful things that we MUST remember about God and his faithfulness and grace! Right off the bat David addresses fear! How many times do we let little fears/worries, turn into bigger and bigger ones until we no longer see God's light showing us a way out of the darkness. I also realized that even though David is talking about armies attacking him and it seems like we can't apply verses 2,3 to our life... we can! All throughout the week we have things/people/stuff attacking us and fighting for our attention, focus, emotions, etc... Or trying to knock down our witness for Christ. For verse 4, I wonder... is the Lord's house really the ONLY thing and MOST important thing I am seeking?? If not, it should be. Lord, help me. And although it seems David does not believe God is with him because he keeps petitioning God for his presence... those cries are always followed by the fact that God is there and always will be!

And finally... WAIT! Oh, how hard that is!! Lord, help me to wait...wait...wait...

P = Lord, thank you for this amazing scripture that helps us to know that we are not alone. So many times I try to rush ahead of your plans instead of waiting and staying within the safety of your presence and it is in those moments that I experience fear and the feeling of you being distant from me. Help me to not just hear your voice calling me but to actually obey your voice to come... and listen...

Posted by Rhonda