Believe

Deuteronomy 11:1 & 19 (NIV) 1 “You must love the Lord your God and always obey his requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands.”  19 “Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

Tis the season to be jolly! This time of year is magical for children and adults alike.  Such beautiful decorations in the stores and on homes; the excitement and anticipation of presents and surprises. Have you seen those cute signs in red and green or plaid that say “Believe”?  They are referring to Santa Claus, but I always imagine that they are referring to Jesus.

The story of Santa Claus is told over and over again to children year after year.  They make cartoons about him, movies about him, clothes with his face on them.  You see him in advertisements and hear his “Ho, ho, ho” on radio commercials.  Now imagine if we did the same thing for Jesus.  What if every child knew about Jesus the way every child knows about Santa? 

Maybe you can’t personally reach EVERY child, but you can reach YOUR child.  The Bible says in Deuteronomy 11 that we must love the Lord and obey his commands.  Then it goes on to say that as parents, we need to teach these things to our children.  We should do this at home, when we are traveling, in the morning and in the evening.  Basically, any time and all the time.  If we see a moment to teach our children about Jesus, we should do it.

We should teach them that God loves us so much that he sent Jesus to save us.  But Jesus didn’t come as a man.  He came as a baby.  Jesus has been a toddler, a pre-teen, a teenager and a young adult.  He knows what we are going through every day.  We need to teach our children to talk to Jesus and cultivate a relationship with Him.  Finally, we need to teach our children that Jesus took our place on the cross and died for our sins.  What an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G gift God has given us in Jesus. 

So, next time you see a cute Christmas decoration that says “Believe”, take that moment to teach your child something about Jesus and his love for us.

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to save us from our sins. Help us as parents to remember to teach our children about your love and Jesus’s sacrifice for us.  Amen

Do You Have a Village?

James 1:2-3 (MSG) Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.  You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So, don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work, so you become mature and well developed, not deficient in any way.

This has been a rough week for me.  In addition to being a single parent of three teenage boys (which is hard enough), I have a full time job, I’m shopping for Christmas presents and I had something planned after work every day this week.  I haven’t finished decorating our house for Christmas, I haven’t had time to go grocery shopping and I haven’t cleaned the house in two weeks.  UGH!  But the icing on the cake this week . . . I let my work family down.  I scheduled a new photographer for both of our Client Christmas Luncheons and it was a total flop.  The photographer was unable to get her equipment working at either luncheon and now she is refusing to refund our money.  What a mess.  I felt just awful because we really wanted to have something special for our clients and I failed.  Afterwards, I felt beat down, sad, frustrated and tired.

After work that day I went to a friend’s house for game night.  When I walked in, they could tell the sparkle in my eye was missing.  Before we start playing our game, we always go around the room and ask for prayer requests.  All I had to do is say I had a rough week and the tears started to flow. I couldn’t hold it in any longer.  My friends prayed over me that night three different times.  My spirit was lifted and my sadness disappeared and I was ready to take on a new day.  I still have to deal with the aftermath of the failed photographer, but I know that my community of Christian friends are praying for me.

So that started me thinking . . . Do you have a community of Christ-filled friends?  A “village” of people that want the best for you?  Life is hard and life alone is even harder. When tests and challenges come at you from all sides, I want to pray for you.  I want to be your village.  So, if you would like to be included in my prayers, please let me know.  I will pray for you, neighbor!

Dear heavenly Father, thank you for this week.  Thank you for the pressure that forced my faith-life into the open.  I pray that everyone who needs prayer will boldly ask for it. Amen.

Way Maker

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

There is a worship song we sang at church last week called “Way Maker”.  A few lines of the song say “Even when I don’t see it, he’s working.  Even when I don’t feel it, he’s working.  He never stops, he never stops working.”  This song has been on my heart all week.  I knew I wanted to write about it, but I wasn’t sure exactly how.  Then God gave me this Bible verse and it all came together. 

God has a plan and His plan is that everyone comes to know Christ Jesus.  So, you and I, as Christians, go about our everyday life but behind the scenes, the Holy Spirit is working on people.  He is working, even when you don’t see it.  He is working, even when you don’t feel it.  He is working on your neighbor.  The neighbor that doesn’t mow his lawn and leaves his trash cans out two days too long.  He is working on the funny co-worker that sits across the office from you.  He is working on the total stranger that rides the same train to work as you do.  He is working on your brother.  He never stops working and you are part of his plan.  He is going to use you, because you have been called according to his purpose.

If you are a Christian, the Bible says that ALL THINGS that have happened to you will be used by God for good.  Not just isolated incidents, ALL THINGS.  But that doesn’t mean that everything that happens to you will be good.  The pain of loss, the sorrow of depression and the sting of rejection can be used for good too.  Because you have experienced those things yourself, you can recognize them in the friends, family, co-workers and strangers you encounter every day. 

Then comes the cool part, the Holy Spirit will do what he does best and put that person in your path.  All you have to do is be aware of the people around you.  Look up.  Smile.  Say hello.  Have a conversation and let the love of Jesus shine out of you.  You may be the only Jesus that person sees today.  Then when the time is right and that person is ready, invite them to your church.  Most people that have never been to a church say they have never been invited to church.  So, let’s get that obstacle out of the way.  Invite them.  Then let the Holy Spirit do the rest.

Lord, thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to help me with your plan.  Please open my eyes to what the Holy Spirit is doing in the people that are all around me every day so that I can be the physical hands and feet of Jesus on earth.  Amen

Unclean

Mark 5:27-29 (NIV) When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

Did you know that in the old testament, if a person was ritually unclean (which means they had a skin disease, discharge of bodily fluids, touched something dead, or ate an unclean food), they could not touch or approach another Jew?  If they did, it would cause them to be unclean too. The woman in Mark 5 was ritually unclean.  She had been bleeding for 12 years!  She had spent all her money on doctors trying to stop the bleeding, but they didn’t help. In fact, the Bible says, “She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors.” 

Can you imagine what her life must have been like?  She could not socialize with anyone in her family, any of her friends or go out in public. She was broke and she was in pain.  She must have felt lonely and depressed.  So, when she heard about the man they called Jesus healing people, she probably thought, “I’ve got to go see if he can help me too.”  But she had no money and she wasn’t even supposed to be outside in the crowd.  How would she convince Jesus to help her?   Despite all these doubts she went.  She had faith.  She went into the crowd, reached out and touched his cloak.  The courage this woman showed is unbelievable.  She left the safety of her home and reached into the crowd for her last chance to be saved.

How many people in your life are feeling the same way?  They are lonely, depressed, broken, and afraid but despite all these feelings (or maybe because of them) they are there reaching out for Jesus to save them.  How much courage and faith does it take for them to take that first step, to reach out?  You know, we are the physical hands and feet of Jesus today.  So, when God sends someone to you, at church, at work or at the gym, that needs a little Jesus, be ready to help them encounter Him.  

Lord, I know you are working in the lives of people all around me.  Please open my eyes and ears so that I recognize your plan and can be ready to help them encounter you.  Amen.