What is this?

I never thought about the spiritual aspects of giving my kids a bath or standing in a line at a grocery store. However, God has recently showed me some insightful biblical truths in some of the most mundane tasks in life. Whether I am driving, showering or sleeping each of these activities has a biblical truth tucked inside of it. In the forest of life, God’s biblical truth is inside each one of these trees. My hope is that others view the ordinary aspects of life through a spiritual lens and see what God teaches you.







Thursday, January 31, 2013

Wrestling Match

Come near to God, and He will come near to you – James 4:8
I cannot be more ready for when my son is potty trained.  Not for the fact that I would be saving money (although that is an added bonus) but to put an end to the wrestling match of Operation Fresh Clean Bottom.  The WWE has nothing on the number of Wrestlemanias I’ve performed in! 
I don’t understand.  Doesn’t my sweet boy know that momma wins every time! Why does staying dirty so appealing? Why does a fresh, clean diaper cause such an uproar?  Despite the incentives……. and warnings, when the time comes, “come to mama” only directs my son in the opposite direction.
However, there is nothing like a 22 month baby boy and 80s wrestling matches to shed light into your spiritual life.   Come near to God, and He will come near to you (James 4:8).  My life can be in such a mess but I refuse to come the one who can clean it up.  It doesn’t make sense, but it happens more times that I’d like to admit.  All I can say is submission is hard.
Luckily, my wrestling matches with my sweet baby boy are just a few minutes. Experiencing a wrestling match like Jacob did with God sounds frightening and humbling at the same time. I chuckle when I read the part when God puts his “finishing move” on Jacob and knocks his hip out joint (Genesis 32:24-25).   I can still remember Yokozuna’s banzi drop, Macho Man Randy Savage diving elbow drop from the top rope and Bret Hart’s the sharpshooter.  All these classic moves brought an end to the long battled wrestling match.  This “finishing move” meant it was over for your opponent. We knew right away who the winner was going to be. (Yes, growing up with two brothers in the 80s gives you some deep insight into what was called the WWF).





Now, I hope that I haven’t scared you into thinking that God is out to put some killer move on you. (Ok, well…….He could). My point is this. The winner of the world wants to transform all areas of your life for the good and all you want to do is turn and run the other away. Yes, some pain may be required but the gain is greater than the pain.  As much as my son despises to get his diaper change and the momentary pause I've caused in his world of play, aftewards he is always better than before.   Come near to God, and He will come near to you – James 4:8

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Loud Mouth Christian

Loud Mouth Christian....another reason why I hate Megaphones
My husband and I had the privilege of going to a Houston Texans play-off game. Despite the freezing weather, we had a great time!  However, there is one memorable scene that I just couldn’t stop thinking about. As we were entering the game, there was a man standing on the corner with a megaphone and huge sign consistently and loudly telling people as they walked into the game that they were going to hell. Everything in my being wanted to say, NO I AM NOT like some kid but I smiled and walked by. The crazy thing was that he was still there after the game. Really??? Four hours of shouting that! This man was loud, dedicated and persistent! I wondered how many people repented of their sins. I wondered how many seeds were planted. I wondered if any lives were changed. Sadly, I think the answer is NONE!
I hate to say this but perhaps there might have been a slight truth in what this crazy man was saying; however, his delivery was far from proper.  I can’t help but think of the verse in Proverbs 15:1 “A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh words stirs up anger.”  I think the part that was the most disturbing was the selective choosing of scripture to share the message. Now as I write, I will try to take what Jesus said in Matthew 7:3 (“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”) into practice. As harsh as I want to be toward this man, the premise of his goal (although executed poorly) is to win people to Christ.  I am going to remove the plank from my eye. What have I done to share Christ with others? God has called us to be the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World.  I have to confess I want to be those things without being “too salty” or “too blinding.” I want people to say there is something different about this person (in a good way) because they see the work of Christ.   Not……there is something different about this person and I just need to stay away like salesman knocking at your door at 8:00 pm or a highly contagious disease.  I want to be the right seasoning to bring out the greatest flavor. I want to be the perfect lighting needed for a dark room.  Sadly, I don’t think loud mouth Christian took these things into consideration.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Our Resolutions vs His

Well, we are a week into the New Year and I am excited that I have kept my New Year’s Resolutions. In my household, we don’t set major life changing New Year’s Resolution for the simple reason  that if something life changing is needed, well, I am not going to wait till January 1 to do it J.  Although I am not oppose to anyone making that type of resolution either.  I recently heard at a New Year’s gathering of someone giving up television for a year!
However, in our house we set minor goals. They are usually those things that we should be doing but we’ve been a bit lazy. Last year, my New Year’s Resolution was to clean out my purse once a month. I couldn’t believe the stuff I had stuffed in there and forgot about.

This year one of our resolutions that my husband and I have decided is to not buy anymore store bought salsa. We’ve tried several brands hoping to find one that we both like only to continue to be disappointed by the taste. I guess we are kind of like salsa snobsL.   We haven’t found that universal salsa that goes great not only with chips but all the other things we like to add it to. Thus far, we’ve been successful in making our own. We’ve made two batches and are extremely satisfied. Now, if we can only keep it up!

As I’ve thought about New Year and the resolutions we’ve set, the verse that continues to come to mind has been Lamentations 2:22-23. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  My eyes have been fixed on the phrase “new every morning.”
God’s mercies to me are new every morning not every year.  God is not waiting around till January 1 to pour out more mercy on me.  Neither is God going to terminate his mercy a week into the New Year like many of us abandon our New Year’s Resolution.
As I go about my year, attempting to be faithful to the resolutions I’ve set, I don’t want to forget the simple truth that God is faithful to me regardless of the time of year.  His mercy to me is new every morning and isn’t being withheld like a ransom. His love for me never ends like we say goodbye to one year and hello to another.   His resolutions NEVER CEASE!
PS: Can you still say Happy New Year a week into the New Year? I don’t know my Happy New Year etiquette.