Getting to Know Me…

Last Friday, Ben and I decided to go to Chili’s for dinner.  We loaded Katie in the car and headed that way.  As we were being seated, I noticed that in the booth behind us, there was another family getting situated.  It wasn’t your typical seating arrangement, though.  The Mom was helping her son, who was maybe ten years old, to lay down on one side of the booth.  His eyes were half closed and he was barely moving.  The mom and the son both had on what appeared to be hospital bracelets.  After she got her son laid down on one side, she sat down next to her husband on the other side.  They went on with their meal, and we went on with ours.

As Ben and I were sitting there talking, I felt God telling me to pray for that family…and not just for them, but with them.  So when our food came, I told Ben that I felt like we were supposed to pray for them when we prayed for our dinner.  So he prayed for them when he was praying for our meal.  The feeling did not go away.  It got stronger.  If you re-read the first sentence of this paragraph, I felt God telling ME to pray with them.  All through that meal, I tried to more or less bargain with God for a lesser sentence.  Can’t we just pray FOR them?  What if they look at me like I’m crazy?  What if they say no?  What if they’re offended that I interrupted their meal or feel like I’m just being nosy?  If I am supposed to pray with them, can’t Ben and I both pray with them?  I knew I could just ignore what I was being told to do, but what would be the consequences of my willful disobedience?

So after we were done eating, I told Ben that I felt like we were supposed to pray with them.  I could tell that he didn’t want to do it any more than I did, but truthfully, I was just trying to get him to do it with me because then I knew he would do the praying and I could just sit there.  He peeked over at them and said he thought the little boy just had a broken leg or something because he had a cast on his foot.    I knew in my heart there was more to it than that, that God was telling me to pray with them because something big was going on in their family.  I also knew this was something I was supposed to do alone.  So when Ben took Katie from me, I turned around, apologized for interrupting their dinner, told them I felt like I was supposed to pray for them, and asked if there was anything specific I could pray for.

They were definitely caught off guard, and my trembling voice (I was really emotional) probably didn’t help.  They told me that their little boy had just had a pacemaker put in, and that at some point in the future he would have to have a heart valve replaced.  I think he had just been released from the hospital that day.  I asked if I could go ahead and pray with them there, so I prayed for them and fought back tears throughout (and not very successfully). I don’t really remember what else I said to them; I think the Holy Spirit kinda took over.  I also don’t know what effect that had on them, if any.  I do know, however, that it had a huge effect on me.  I left that restaurant feeling much different than when we’d arrived.  That was one of the few times I’d heard God that clearly, and was so glad that I had chosen to obey.  I have no idea what He will ask me to do next…probably something even harder, and I am excited/terrified to find out what it will be.

(The next night at church, I remembered that a couple weeks ago during Life Group, I expressed a desire to be more bold when it comes to talking to others about Jesus.  I don’t know that I actually prayed for that, but according to Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  So…I know by now that when we pray for patience, boldness, discernment, or any other Christ-like quality, He will give us an opportunity to develop that characteristic.  If we pray for, say, boldness, He will not just make us bold.  He will present opportunities that make us be bold, and we have the choice at that point whether or not to obey.  So, when I made this comment to my Life Group, I should’ve known that something would be coming my way. )

Acts 4:29  “…enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness”.

Our pastor at LifeChurch.tv is doing a series called True(ish).  It’s the best series he’s ever done, in my opinion.  It means a lot for me to say that because I think every series he’s ever done is just outstanding.  But this one is so important because it deals with the gray area that we all live in.  There is truth, lies, and the area in between that we choose to accept.  I’m going to give a quick synopsis of yesterday’s message, much of which is taken directly from the talk notes we fill in while he’s speaking.

53% of American adults believe if a person is generally good, he’ll go to heaven.

43% of born-again Christians agreed:  “It doesn’t matter what religious faith you follow because all faiths teach similar lessons about life.”

57% of evangelical church members said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life.

SERIOUSLY!?  I heard these statistics on a news show (Dateline, 20/20, one of those) several months ago and was absolutely shocked.  If Christians are buying into this bologna, it’s no wonder that non-believers are confused!  If believers are picking and choosing which parts of the Bible they want to believe, why bother believing any of it?  If part of it is a lie, then ALL of it is a lie.  That’s just how it goes.

Here are a few points he made:

1.  Just because you’re sincere doesn’t make what you believe true.  (He referenced the really awful singers on American Idol who truly believe they are great singers, but clearly aren’t.)

2.  There is truth in many world religions, but all world religions can’t be true (For example, Buddhism doesn’t have a supreme deity, but Islam does.  Both cannot be correct.)

3.  Discovering and living truth matters more than anything else in life.

He also asked us to take a close look at Jesus…to look at what He taught (Luke 6:27-29), the miracles He performed (Mark 6:2), the resurrection (Acts 3:15), and His claims (John 14:6).  Jesus claimed to be the way, the truth, and the life…he also claimed to be the ONLY way to get to Heaven, the only way to get to the Father.  If this is not true, he was either the world’s greatest liar, a complete lunatic, or he was truly the Son of God.  If he was a liar, he would’ve either been caught at some point, or have come clean when He was being beaten and crucified.  But He didn’t do that.  Why?  Because He was speaking truth.

I have many dear friends and family members who are not believers, and although they are under no obligation to believe what I believe, my heart breaks because I have seen what Christ has done in my life and the lives of those around me.  God is so good, and I just want them to have a TASTE of the joy and peace that I have.  I will continue to pray for them, and also for those who are believers but are living in the gray area.  I cannot change their hearts, but God can.

If you would like to watch this message, and I would HIGHLY encourage you to do that, please visit http://www.lifechurch.tv/message-archive/watch/trueish/3.  Hope you will make the time–it’s well worth it.

Nobody likes lukewarm coffee.  Hot coffee?  Yum.  Cold coffee?  Yes, please!  Nobody likes lukewarm anything, really.  The new series at church deals with this very topic, and it’s one that is very close to my heart, so I’m going to write about it on here, too.  After all, not everyone who reads this goes to my church (www.lifechurch.tv, by the way…and if you don’t live here, they have internet church, too, so no excuses!). 

There was a poll (Gallup, I believe) that came out earlier this year that stated that something like 95% of the population believes in God.  Most of them even call themselves Christians.  But if you dig a little deeper, just a little, how many of them are actually followers of Christ?  Very few.  Most people profess to be Christians, but ask them what the last thing was they did to deepen their relationship with Christ.  Watch them stutter and stammer while they try to come up with something.  Ask them when the last time was they opened their Bible OUTSIDE of church.  Ask them when the last time was they shared their faith with someone else. 

Most people get so caught up with everyday obligations that they either forget or neglect to nurture their relationship with Christ.  But really,  what else in this life matters?  Absolutely nothing.  I heard a quote some time ago that has really stuck with me.  Martin Luther once stated, “I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer.”  He knew the importance of spending time with the Father.  He knew that everything else wasn’t as important, and that if he started his day correctly, that everything else would fall into place.

I have noticed on the days that I get up and before I do anything, sit and read my Bible and spend some time with the Lord, my whole day is better.  Even when things go wrong, they don’t get to me like they do on other days.  I have a more positive attitude.  I have a brighter outlook.  Yet, despite that knowledge, there are still days that I end up placing higher priority on less important things.  I guess that is part of growing in God–still messing up, but recognizing it and trying to do better the next time.  NOT giving up and saying “well, if I can’t do it right all the time, I’m not going to bother…” 

Revelation 3:16 clearly shows us God’s opinion of lukewarm believers:  “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”  We learned at church last week that the Greek word for spit also means to vomit.  So He would rather vomit us out of His mouth than to have us be lukewarm.  Powerful words.  So take a look at your life.  Are you lukewarm?  What are you going to do about it?

We see them all the time.  A man (or woman, occasionally) standing on the corner with the scraggly cardboard sign with something like “Anything helps”, “God Bless”, or “Homeless and hungry”.  You look away, reach over and subtly lock your doors, turn up the radio, roll up your windows–anything to separate yourself from that person.  Have you ever stopped and given them a few dollars?  “They’ll probably just use it to buy beer.”  “They’re probably just scamming people, and will walk back to their SUV after they’re done”  I have heard those excuses more times than I can count from almost everyone I know.  I used to say the same thing.

But here’s the point I’m leading up to:  IT’S NOT YOUR JOB TO DECIDE THAT!  They are God’s children just like we are.  God loves them exactly as much as He loves us.  We are not better, we are not holier, we are no different by God’s standards.  Read the following verses from Matthew 25–read them slowly and really think about what Jesus is saying:

31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

My dad is the one who brought this verse to my attention when I gave the “They’ll just buy beer” excuse several years ago.  He said that my intent in giving is what mattered.  By giving to those people, my heart was in the right place and giving to them was the same as giving it straight to God.  If they choose to deceive people or to make bad use of it, God will deal with them…it’s not our job to judge or to try to figure out if they’re being honest or not.

So next time you roll up to a corner and you have a few extra bucks, go ahead and give it away…and don’t give it another thought after that.

Deuteronomy 6: 4-9:

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:5 is the verse that popped in my head this morning.  It’s strongly worded.  So I looked it up and discovered that the verses following it are even stronger.  Not only does God want us to love Him with our hearts, souls, and strength, He also commands us to impress that upon our children.  They are our future and our biggest responsibility.  We’re also supposed to make sure everyone around us knows it.  We should be a walking, talking reminder of our responsibility to love God with our whole being, and the best way to do that is to lead by example.

Unfortunately, we often let other things get in the way of our love for Christ.  There are three ways He tells us to love Him:

1.  Heart–I believe this is referring to our emotions. 
2.  Soul–This can also refer to our emotions or our thoughts.
3.  Strength–as I take it, He is referring to our physical bodies.

God doesn’t just want us to love Him when things are going our way, on Sundays when we go to church, or when we happen to think about Him.  He says “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength”.  In other words, nothing should ever trump our love for Christ.  Nothing.  It is the one thing that matters above all else…above our families, our friends, our jobs, and our hobbies.

1 Peter 1: 15-16 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Why would God order us to do something that is impossible? Seems kind of cruel, doesn’t it–like He is setting us up to fail? It’s really not like that at all…we are made perfect and holy when we accept salvation through Jesus Christ. Although we can’t avoid sinning, we should still try to be as much like Christ as possible.

Have you noticed how elderly couples, after spending fifty or sixty years together, start to look alike? This is also true of us as we spend more time with Christ. As we mature in our walk with the Savior, we start to resemble him more and more. We will never be perfect on our own, but we will sin less and do the right thing more, just because of the example we are following.

I look forward to growing in Christ throughout the coming years. I’m eager to learn more about Him, deepen my faith, and grow more bold about sharing Him with others. It’s going to be an adventure!