WIPE YOUR FEET OR WE WON'T LOVE YOU

I may have written about this before.  IT STILL GETS TO ME. 

I was invited to speak/sing at a church.  And of ALL THE THINGS they could have chosen to say to someone visiting the church.. OF ALL THE THINGS they could have put on a sign that was glued to the doors entering the sanctuary... a sign THAT EVERYONE COULD SEE.....a sign that could have said something like, "You are Loved" or "God wants to forgive" or even something less emotional, like a simple "Welcome".. they chose to scold anyone who might want to find God.. might want to enter the building with dirt on their feet...The sign said, "WIPE YOUR FEET"....as in... "DON'T YOU DARE COME IN HERE WITHOUT WIPING YOUR FEET FIRST.. YA HEAR?"

WIPE YOUR FEET!

Don't come in here dirtying up our church, the church we paid for, the church we want to keep clean.

YOU CLEAN UP BEFORE YOU COME IN HERE!

Oh, dear God, forgive us all.  Sin is filthy, sinners are dirty.. we are ALL SINNERS.. We are ONLY PURE because of JESUS.  
FIRST.... we love.
FIRST... we embrace..
THEN...
the HOLY SPIRIT DOES ALL THE CLEANING UP. 
ALL THE WIPING OF DIRT OFF FEET.

WE ARE THE ONES WHO LOVE.
HE IS THE ONE WHO CLEANS.

Maybe the world is looking for the kind of love we're supposed to have... and don't.

This song by Michael W. Smith says it all:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGEmfeiNOqE

FALSE ADVERTISING

I am not going to say that the people who sell the mascara are lying, o.k.?  I am going to say that IF this picture was about FALSE EYELASHES, then it would be accurate. But it isn't. It's a company that sells mascara trying to get me to believe my eyelashes will look like that if I purchase their mascara. Trying to get me to believe that these are NOT FALSE EYELASHES.  REALLY? 

I don't know if I would WANT my eyelashes to be four inches long, as thick as railroad ties and to reach the top of my forehead... but.. nevertheless... I don't believe their claims. So I don't buy the stuff.  It's false advertising.  Just to make the sale.  Just to close the deal. Because who wants to buy mascara that advertises truthfully?  Who wants to hear, "This mascara cannot create nine inch eyelashes, but it will darken and thicken the eyelashes you already have. If you don't have a lot of eyelashes, then the best we  can promise is that the four eyelashes you DO have will be darker."

We have grown accustomed to people lying to us in order to get us to buy what they're selling.  After a while, you don't believe anything anyone says.  You WANT to believe, but after being burned by false advertising so many times... you just don't believe anyone. Anymore.

As Christians, we have to remember that we aren't selling anything to anyone.   We have to remember that "getting people to church" is not what the Great Commission is about.  It's about people passing from Death in to Life, from Darkness in to Light, from slavery to freedom.  As Christians we must always focus on Christ - what He did, what He said, what He's doing and what He will do.  WE ARE JUST REPORTERS OF HIS STORY.   
Any gift we have been given by His Spirit has ONE PURPOSE -TO GLORIFY AND BRING HONOR TO JESUS. 
We have freely received the gift of eternal life, and we must freely announce it to the world. 

It's false advertising to tell people that Christians live pain free lives.  We don't.  

It's false advertising to tell people that Christians have perfect marriages, and perfect families.  We don't.

It's false advertising to tell people that Christians never sin.  We do.

It's false advertising to act like we have everything figured out all the time.  We don't.   

We are not perfect, but Jesus is.

When we feel it is necessary to act like we are sinless, or struggle-free it is false advertising..... and no one is buying it.  

No. One. Is. Buying. It.

Because The Gospel is not for sale. 
It's a gift. 
Who has the nerve to try and sell someone a gift that Someone Else has purchased for them?  
We do. 
Sometimes.
It's not about us. Our gifts. Our talent.  Because our gifts, and our talent are also GIFTS.
Who has the nerve to think that a gift someone GAVE them is a gift we have earned?
We do.
Sometimes.

We don't not have Perfect Peace because of anything we've done, but because the Prince of Peace shares His Peace with us.

We tell the truth.
We are weak, but He is strong.  "In the world, we will have trouble... but Jesus has overcome the world."

We tell the truth.
We are MORE than conquerors, but only through Christ.

We tell the truth.
We get confused but the Holy Spirit helps us and sends God's wisdom.

We tell the truth.
Sometimes we are afraid, but the the peace of God, which passes all understanding.. which comes from Somewhere Else, floods our very spirit, and guards our human hearts from giving in to the fear.

We are new creatures.
We are not the same.
We are not of this world anymore.
But not because of anything we did.

When God wrote The Bible, He didn't write about perfect people who never made mistakes.  He told the truth.  
We are weak. HE is strong.

We are not the heroes of The Story.
Jesus is.
And that's Truth.

HAIRS THAT DISTRACT

Lately, I always have a pair of reading glasses on top of my head.This makes it easier to find them when I need them. 

It's a beautiful morning here in Tennessee.  I went outside with a cup of coffee, my Bible and my glasses. As I sat down on the swing on the back deck,the glasses became useless to me. In the hinge of the glasses was a tiny hair that I must have pulled out of my head when I took them off last time. That teensy,weensy almost invisible strand of hair kept getting in my eye, tickling my face and it kept me from being able to use the glasses. I had to get up, come back inside, FIND ANOTHER PAIR OF GLASSES so that I could see the hair well enough to take it out of the hinge.

Compared to the weight of the glasses the hair was practically weightless.  And yet, all the effort, all the research, all the marketing and sales that was devoted to creating this pair of glasses became powerless against the distraction and disturbance of one tiny hair.  

The hair had to be removed for the glasses to do their job of helping me to see. 

It got me thinking about spiritual sight.  

It got me thinking about those tiny things that may keep me - you - from seeing things clearly.  Things we hardly notice and could easily ignore - until we need to "SEE." We feel lost and blind.  And never understand that that tiny "hair" of unforgiveness. Or resentment. Or anger. Or fear. Or lust. Or inferiority. Or jealousy. Or worry. Or doubt HAS TO BE REMOVED because it is distracting me - us - from being able to see what God intends for me to "see" about His will, His purpose, His love, His mercy, His power and His might. 

BUT... I cannot see well enough to see, or know, or remove those tiny "hairs" that are distracting me as I try to see what God intends for me to see. 
HOWEVER....The Holy Spirit can.  And if I will ask Him to, He will reveal them and REMOVE them.  All I have to do is admit I am having trouble "seeing"  - that I am confused and blind and do not even know what is hindering my sight.  

I humble myself - and ask Him to remove it. 

It isn't as difficult as we make it.  If you cannot "see" why your prayers are powerless, your faith is weak, your heart is hard - admit it. 
Admit it to God. (BTW....when we admit something to God it's not like we are informing Him about something He doesn't already know.  NOTHING is hidden from Him.. NOTHING.)

Admitting we are weak is not a crime. It's why Jesus had to come, and why He sent The Comforter.   I need reading glasses to see because my eyes are not strong enough.  I need the Holy Spirit to see because in my own strength I am not strong enough.  In order to see clearly, to think clearly, to know clearly.......I need The Holy Spirit and so do you.  

"If your sinful old self is the boss over your mind, it leads to death. But if the Holy Spirit is the boss over your mind, it leads to life and peace."

Romans 8:6 (NLT)

THINGS THAT SURPRISE

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ON BEING CHOSEN

Of the many things we, The Churched Ones, have muddied up is the whole idea of being chosen by God to do His work. 

The thing I think we've muddied up the most is that we have come to believe we are the ones who choose the work we will do for Him.

We are all called to do God's WORK.

"Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58)  I don't see anywhere in the New Testament where the redeemed of the Lord limit their lives to going to a building, singing songs together, listening to a sermon and then going home and forgetting about God and HIS PLANS for OUR LIVES.  NOPE. 

We are told to give ourselves FULLY to the WORK (yes... it's WORK) of the LORD. 
The Bible is filled with people who did GREAT work for God but the system is GREATLY different than the one we have created. God came beside someone and ANNOUNCED HIS PLAN for THEIR LIVES.   For example,

Abraham didn't tell God, "Hey, I think I'm qualified to be the father of a great nation and the Ancestor of Your One and Only Son. Why don't I leave my home and travel somewhere?"

Moses didn't wake up one day and say, "I think I'll see a burning bush today and then argue with God about being the deliverer of Israel."  

David wasn't expecting to leave his sheep and be anointed as the next King of Israel. He was chosen. By God.

Gideon didn't announce, "Hey people, I'm forming a new ministry here. Please join my mailing list and help me get 300 terrified men to watch as God miraculously delivers us!"

Jeremiah the Prophet didn't choose to be Jeremiah The Prophet. God said, "You're My prophet" and that was that.

Mary didn't announce to anyone, "I have decided to be the woman who gives birth to the Only Son of the Only God." No. She was chosen.

Saul did not volunteer to become Paul.  He was knocked to his feet, blinded, and then after many years, wrote most of the New Testament.

The system the Bible models is that God decides to choose someone to do something that will build His kingdom, accomplish His will... and the person He chooses says "Yes"....... or foolishly decides to say "No."

Many times the cost is great.  Many times the Person prays, "Let this cup pass from Me."  I am so comforted to read the verses where Jesus knew the cost, saw the suffering, and cared more about ME than Himself.  He did what God required of Him. Whatever work God calls us to, it's to love people, to reach people, to encourage people... to bring people HOME to their FATHER IN HEAVEN.  It isn't about what we WANT to do all the time, but about what HE CALLS US TO DO. Truth is, though, that when we are doing what God has called us to do, we find the most indescribable JOY - even if the work is difficult. 

Maybe the reason we don't see a greater harvest is that we have churches filled with singers who are not worshippers, teachers who are not teachers, pastors who are not shepherds and members who are not willing to do whatever God has called them to do/

"Yes, Lord" is the only thing to say to a Person we address as Lord.  How tragic to think we can call him "Lord" and not do the things He says.

I am not my own.
I was bought with a price.
You are not your own.
You were bought with a price.
Remember?