Have you ever thought or said to someone, "You are so full of yourself!"

Believe it or not, I am posting this only a few days after my last post! God is moving big in my brain these days and I just had to share. Once again, it centers around the wonderful bible study I am currently doing. (In case anyone is interested, here is a link to the actual book. copy & paste...)

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Worship-Tabernacle-FollowingDiscipleship/dp/0899572995/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324515023&sr=8-1

I highly recommend it. Very deep, amazingly foundational and in my view, a must.

Anywho....here is what was causing my brain to work overtime. It revolves around passages James 4:5-6 which says...

Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”

Now, this verse seems pretty straight forward for the most part. Well, sort of. This is what I see as I read it and ponder it.

James is almost being sarcastic by saying, Do you think that the bible is saying for no good reason that God is jealous? When it comes to His spirit and its dwelling in us, our God can get jealous and if it wasn't true, the bible surely wouldn't say it! God clearly keeps being gracious with us. Let's not forget, God is against the proud and loves on the ones that are humble. Now, please know that I am not claiming to say I am a bible scholar of any sort. Goodness no. I am being bold and pray that I am honoring God with what my heart understands and then shares with you.

Here's the thing about what James is saying to us. It mentions God being jealous. That perplexes me. What on earth does the Creator of the universe have to be jealous about? Has that ever confused you?

Well, the Holy Spirit helped me to understand this. Once I understood it, the idea of it definitely had a WOW factor in it. Here is what the spirit taught me:

Our God loves us so deeply, so intensely that when we have any other focus in our lives, he gets jealous. He gave us free will which intensifies our love of him once we experience it. (after all, isn't it better when our children give us a hug and say I love you because they love us rather than they are made to!) It is that same free will that enables our hearts to stray and end up focusing on something else besides our Creator as our item of worship. We are all so fickle! It is easy for us to get completely absorbed in our jobs, our kids, money, a new home, clothes, status, power....the list goes on and on. So many things quickly and easily take the center of our lives which by definition, replaces God as the one in the center. I am guilty of this...so guilty.

Since my walk with God began, which is when He became my center of worship I have not intentionally worship something else but it seems to creep in without me realizing. As I look back over the years, the one thing that keeps creeping in to become my focus is......ME! Ouch! It ends up being Michelle focusing all of her energy on Michelle!! The sickness of self worship is a disease that just gets worse if left unchecked. It is hard to diagnose and painful to treat. Let's go back to that verse in James. It is that pride/proud part of the verse that speaks to the self focus issue. (keep in mind, this "proud" is not the same a parent being proud of her child for getting good grades) God loves his children so much that even when the center of our world, the focus of our heart is US, he gets jealous. HE wants to be the focus. He created us, he knows what we need and when we need it. He wants to be our everything.

Back to that verse in James again. It tells us that God caused His spirit to dwell in us. When that Spirit, which is God himself, gets pushed and squished within us, because the space is being occupied by the self and all things ones self, what does God do? Well, according to James, God continues to be gracious....waiting for us to realize our "disease". Being proud or "full of ourselves" is not good. When we are so full of ourselves that God has no room to dwell within, we need to remember that our loving creator is jealously, graciously waiting for us to return to Him! Selah. Blessings.

Can the "world" tell a difference?

I am doing an absolutely FAAABUUUUUU bible study and I had to share something that just slapped me in the head. This is gonna hurt sooooo, be ready. (I suggest you stop reading if you do not have a teachable spirit.) xoxoxo

This comes from Paul and his first letter to his peeps, the people of Corinth. He says to them...

"do you not know that your body is a ^[a]temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from ^[b]God, and that you are not your own? ²⁰ For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." 1 Cor. 6:19-20

Now, I think many of us have heard this verse or at the very least know that the bible tells us our body is a holy temple. Am I right? As I think back to when my walk with God began, I think I recall knowing of this verse.

Please allow me to expound on this amazing verse. First of all, it is important to understand the word "temple" from a Jewish, Old Testament perspective. The temple was the holiest place on earth. It was a building designed by God, where God himself would dwell. The people of God, were instructed by God, as to HOW to construct this holy place. Within this temple was an even holier place....aptly named, the Holy of Holies. Not very creative but you certainly get the point right?! This was the actual "box" that God was going to be contained in when he wanted to dwell with his people. I know, I know...sounds super weird but its scripture and lots of things are hard to wrap ones brain around.

Lets continue.

Now Paul was telling the Corinthians that their bodies (all believers in Jesus) are now that temple. In the Greek language they use two words in stead of our one for temple. They would say, temple-hieron to mean the entire temple structure. When they were speaking of JUST the Holy of Holies they would say, temple-naos. It is this word, naos that Paul uses in the verse 1 Cor. 6:19-20. Did I lose ya?

Paul is letting us know that as believers, we get to have the actual God of the universe dwell inside of us....Hang out IN US! Now, I don't know about you but that shuts me down! (in a good way that is). It causes me to just sit and think about it. Ponder the very idea of it. I know the concept, I believe it but do I KNOW it. Do I really understand the significants of it? The verse goes on to say that we need to "glorify God with our body." This is where the painful part comes in...

Am I glorifying God with my body? To glorify means to reveal. Do I reveal who God is with my body. Not just my actual body...meaning eating right, not abusing my body, taking care of myself....but revealing Him with my entire being. This means my words and actions too. Am I revealing God and all His wonder with how I act and what I say? Can the world see something different in me? Does the world say, "there is just something different about Michelle" or do I just blend in with everyone else? I so want to....I so want to.

As a Christian, I am aware of all this. The general concepts are probably not new to anyone reading this. But, as for this girl, I sooo need a refresher more often than I care to admit. (no one ever said Christianity was going to be easy!)

Selah. Blessings!

What does your life boil down to?

I recently went to an estate sale. Have you ever been to an estate sale? It's kind of like a garage sale on steroids. EVERYTHING MUST GO! might be the estate sale mantra. It is my understanding that family members take what they want from the loved ones items and the remaining "stuff" is sold. Prices are usually really cheap or fairly priced. Now, this sale that I was at the other day was really awesome! VERY well organized, clearly marked prices and an actual check out area. They even had boxes for easy shopping. Wow! The items for sale filled every room in the house, the basement, the garage, the driveway and two barns on the property. There were lots of antiques, oldtiques and uniques....the basement was over flowing with perfectly organized sections of seasonal decor. One area was Easter, one Christmas, one Fall, one was even 4th of July. It really was remarkable. There was china, casual dishes, place mats, silver pieces, serving bowls, silverware, Tupperware, etc. (there was even unopened food products from the cupboards with prices on it. There was clothes, books, furniture, purses, 1/2 used salon products....there was even a plethora of those free with purchase gifts you get when you purchase make-up from the fancy department store cosmetics department. You know the ones I'm talking about. I even saw a few family portraits for sale.

Oodles of people were carefully walking through the entire home, peering in every corner, making note of the decor, the style of the carpet, wood trim, etc. People were buying things left and right. Some people were even trying to bargain with the sellers. What does this have to do with Jesus? Oooo...surely you jest!! You know how I can bring everything back to Jesus!!

As I walked through the home I could not help but feel sad. An entire life and all the "stuff" of it was out there for all to see. Even worse, the stuff was all for sale. Now, I happen to know the woman that passed away. I did not know her well but the amount that I did know her, I knew her to be kind and loving. She obviously cared for her home and took great pride in its decor and appearance. She appeared to enjoy having gatherings that involved serving meals and she LOVED decorating her home for the upcoming holiday...whatever it may have been. As I looked over table after table of items, looking for a good deal, I could not help but think about how the woman must have felt as she purchased these items that I was now considering purchasing. She was obviously a girl who enjoyed shopping the housewares section of any store. (as do I) Did she get really excited after she found just the perfect thing? Did it bring her happiness as she brought it home and enjoyed it? Did the warm fuzzy, Norman Rockwell feelings of the next family gathering last for days after the actual event or did all those good feelings fade as the event got underway? Did she enjoy the planning and decorating more than she enjoyed the actual holiday? If only her "stuff " could talk...I wonder what it would say.

I will never know the answer to that but what I do know is that Jesus always points the questions we ask about others right back at us. What would my stuff say? Do I get too wrapped up in the perfection of a gathering? Is the planning of something way more enjoyable than the actual thing? Is the anticipation of a great day the greatest part of the day? Am I truly focusing on stuff or the things that Jesus tell us is most important. In our fallen world, our enemy would have us focus on all the thing surrounding an event or just the surroundings of every day life. The relationship with the people we are supposed to be sharing our time with becomes the after thought. The best stuff takes a back seat. As I am sure you can all relate too, it is the relationships and what they lack that often leave us feeling let down. Our Lord calls us to recognize when we fall into this kind of trap. He reminds us to be sure to get back on track and re re refocus on what is important- Loving God and then loving others. Not with perfection mind you, but to the best of our ability. In my life, the closer I get to Jesus, the better I can love those that he has put in my life. I often get all wrapped up in the wrapping of my life and not the actual guts of it. Know what I mean? It's just so easy to do....I hate that!

The estate sale experience was a call for me to look at my own life and see if I need to refocus. It was also a teaching moment for my children. I had an opportunity to talk with them about making sure that their lives are not just full of stuff that ends up on the front lawn with a FOR SALE tag on it. Without a relationship with our Creator, which leads us to have loving, genuine relationships with His children, our lives can easily turn into nothing more than an estate sale. Full of things that get sold to complete strangers for low, low prices.

So, this post is a call to make sure we are making the best of the time that the Lord has so graciously given us. It is the relationships that mean the most to God. Our relationship with Him. Our relationship with others. Be careful to not let the trappings of life trap you into focusing on the wrong elements of life. Blessings.

Time to fill the Pot Holes!

Spring is here in NE Ohio which means many things. The grass begins to show itself, the robins are fluttering about, gardens are getting planted...and bumpers fall off cars as bewildered motorists travel over canyons in the road, also know as....POTHOLES! Aaaahhh...Spring in Ohio. Nothing says spring like daffodils and auto body repair bills!

As I dodged a pot hole and avoided a bumper at the outer rim, (this truly happened by the way) I could not help but make an analogy between potholes and God. Just go with me...this is how my brain works.

To all my sisters in Christ who have not fully understood the amazing redeeming ability of our Creator, I share this with you....as I have experienced it.

Scripture calls Jesus our redeemer. (Ephesians 1:7-8)

What is the definition of redeem? I had an idea but it is one of those words that is really hard to grab ahold of. What does the dictionary say?

Redeem: to free from what distresses or harms; to free from captivity by payment of ransom;

to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental ; to buy back.

After knowing this, seeing Christ as my redeemer is much more clear. Scripture tells us that when we accept Christ as our savior, He redeems us from our sins and we get to be with Him, for eternity. Now, that is so huge. The idea of all that is sometimes too big for my lil' brain. Know what I mean? I needed God to explain how Christ as my redeemer was a good thing for my everyday, ordinary, run of the mill existence. After all, I am just a regular girl with a husband to make happy, kids to raise, a house to clean and laundry to get done. I needed more than just these big concepts. As I searched and asked for help with this question, God was once again faithful to help me out. (this is where the pot hole analogy comes in ;0)

Our lives are like the road. Our sins are like all those potholes. Now, these potholes could be something that we have done on purpose, knowing it was a sin, or they could be something that we didn't realize was a sin until later and/or the potholes are left by other peoples' sins. (I am sure you will agree that a persons actions effect more than just that one person.)

With all this in mind, as we travel down the road of our life, we are bound to come across potholes. Some are HUGE and cause us to stumble and there is just no way around it. Others are kind of small and if we go over them, just so, we seem to miss them completely. However, when we least expect it, those same small potholes catch us off guard and we run right over them and the result can be a dented fender or a bent bumper. The reality is, those potholes need to be filled in. Something needs to go IN them so the road we travel is smooth and passable.

Let's be real. What do potholes look like?

Here is a list that is by no means exhaustive. (remember, these potholes can be in your life because of you or because of someone else) It is important to remember, no matter HOW they got there, they are there and need to be dealt with.

loneliness self-centeredness promiscuity anxiety

abandonment cruelty abortion panic

debt impatience drugs grumbling

depression rudeness alcohol grouchiness

anger saying too much over spending passive aggression

jealousy not saying enough over eating holier than though-ness

bitterness pride under eating gossipy

boredom ungrateful heart worry physically abused/abusive

My friends...I could go on and on.

Now, what do you fill your potholes with?

If they are not filled correctly, the patch just pops out and often becomes worse than it was before. I think it is important to realize that some things on the above list are things that we might use to fill in our potholes. For example...if we were abandoned as a young girl, we might fill in that emptiness with promiscuity. If we are angry because an unresolved issue from our past, we might fill the pot hole of anger with alcohol or even something less obvious, like grouchiness. If we are prone to being a bit too prideful and think too much of ourselves, we might fall into filling that hole with gossip about other people. See what I mean? So often the sin and what we use to solve it, or fill it in, or deal with it...never actually takes care of it. More often than not, it makes it worse.

Now, in the light of Jesus as our Redeemer, we need to get to a place where we look to Him as the one who can fill in those potholes once and for all. When He fills them, they get filled with the one and only true fix. No need for anything else. The one who created us is the one who wants to free us from what distresses us and harms us. Our "potholes" will not be there to rumble over. BUT...Jesus can not redeem what we have lost, He can not free us from what harms us unless we give Him the go ahead.

Oh, my dear sisters (and brothers) in Christ, when I understood what it meant to have Christ as my redeemer, when I gave him permission to see all my potholes, he went right to work and lovinly filled them in. True, He is still working at it. It is/was a pretty bumpy road but He is accomplishing what He set out to do.

Have you given Him the chance, the ok, to fill in your "potholes"?

This is a question only you can answer.

Blessings.

The temptation of Jesus

I was so moved by a powerful lesson I recently heard on the radio.

Wow!!! Had to share.

Let's go to Luke 4: 1-13.

I will paraphrase as to what is going on (as I understand it). Just before the verses in Luke that I want to focus on, it is important to understand what had just happened. Jesus had been baptized by John, the Holy Spirit was flying around and God said he was well pleased with his son. Talk about a big day! Scripture goes on to say that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and was led to the desert to be tempted, by the devil, for 40 days. Good grief. Talk about a let-down, right? Jesus is filled to the brim with the amazing attributes of God...then...he has to hang out in the desert with satan. Walk with me as we break this down. Huge stuff here...huge!

The first two verses of Luke 4...

(Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, [2] where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.) have a few things worth expounding on.

First, it was the Holy Spirit that did the leading. Jesus did not go there on his own. He was lead there by the HS. If someone is leading...it usually means they know where they are going...right? Well, following this logic, the Holy Spirit wanted Jesus to be tempted. Well, not wanted in the way I want an ice cream sundae, but more like....oh...kinda like the Holy Spirit lead Jesus to the desert to be tempted because He knew this is what had to be done. The temptation by satan was on the agenda. This happening was not a surprise to God or the Holy Spirit.

Second, how about the next verse that says he didn't eat anything for the entire time AND ALSO tells us he was hungry. (meaning no disrespect but...duh!) Don't you think we would assume he was hungry after not eating for 40 days? Kind of like saying the same thing over, right? Well, I think God added this so we would remember that Jesus was fully man and fully God at the same time. It is important for believers to really understand that Jesus had all the human desires, needs, wants, etc that we all do. Telling us that Christ did not eat for 40 days and he was hungry, helps us to recall the human form of our God.

One last focus on want to make regarding these verses in Luke is this....

If you think about it, the things that satan offers or tempts Jesus with are things that will happen. Scripture tells us they have happened or they are going to happen. For instance, satan takes Jesus to a high place and points out the kingdom below and says, "here, I will give this all to you". Satan again tempts Jesus by telling Him to jump from a high place. The obvious result would be Jesus dies from the fall but if He is truly the son of God, angels will save him. Well, scripture tells us that Jesus WILL eventually be the ruler of the world. Right now, it is still a fallen world and yuck happens...often. Praise God, Christ is due to come back and shaaaa...zam.... can't wait to see the wonder of THAT!! The second point, about tempting Jesus to jump or fall....scripture tells us he does fall, of sorts...actually He is crucified. His earthly form dies but rises again and because He is the son of God, He lives! So.....what is all this tempting actually about? How is satan tempting Him in these verses? Also, what on earth does this have to do with us as His followers? How can we apply this to our everyday lives?

Well, this is what I see. Jesus has the power to do whatever he wants. He is fully God. He can command the wind, the water, animals, make food fall from the sky, you name it. He could even snap his fingers and a 4 star hotel could appear right in the middle of the desert and a bell hop could wait on him hand and foot! Seriously! He could do all that. BUT...He didn't. He was tempted by satan to make His existence comfortable and perfect. He is tempted to prove himself...his worth.

Yet, He resisted. He resisted because His father had a plan. The plan had not come to fruition yet. Even though the things He was tempted with would eventually happen, He did not take matters into his own hands. Tempted as He was, He was patient. He waited. He did not get things accomplished on His own. He was about His fathers business and the proper time was important. What was the proper time? Well, whenever His dad said so.

So He waited.

He was tempted BUT he resisted....

and waited.

Having said allll that, the question is....Do we forge ahead on our own time? In our own will? Do we make things happen because we can? Or do we consult our Creator and wait on His timing?

Blessings.