Category Archives: personal growth

Anything it Takes – Permissible vs. Beneficial

Faith, personal growth

permissible.jpgThis post has been on my heart for a long time now, but it has taken me a while to get my thoughts together. You see, for a long time I have felt like the day will come when we stand before the Lord at the judgment, and he will say, “I love you, you accepted Jesus and so you can come in to heaven, but you didn’t get it. You didn’t get my heart.” Not that I think God is a disapproving parent sitting up there shaking his head at us, but I just think we get caught up looking at life based on what is permissible rather than what is beneficial.

Permissible is when you focus on what is allowed or required, like the rich young ruler of Mark chapter 10. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” The question at its heart is, “what is the bare minimum I can do to qualify?” It’s the same question we ask teachers when we want an A, or personal trainers when we want to take off a few pounds. Behind looking at life through the lens of what is allowed is an attitude that is self-centered and inward-focused. When I worry about what I HAVE TO do I’m expressing a selfish desire to do what I have to do for my own good and not a bit more.

Beneficial is a broader outlook. It considers the wider effect my actions will have on others around me and says, “How can I help?” It is an outward-focused desire for not just my own comfort, but for the comfort of others around me. Not just my salvation from hell, but how I can bring as many people as possible with me. Not my rights, but the greater good.

Permissible says, “What do I have to do.” Beneficial says, “What more can I do?”

Jesus’ answer to the rich young ruler in Mark 10 shows us that the beneficial is what Jesus values. “You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these things I have kept since I was a boy.” – Stop here for a quick minute. This young man knew the law and kept it, but he knew in his heart that there was more than shall and shall not, and he sought out Jesus to find the answer. Jesus knew this man was obedient to the law, and He also knew the young man’s heart was concerned about what was permissible. In verse 21, Jesus drops the bomb on him and tells him that his selfish heart is the thing keeping him back. Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” I don’t think Jesus requires us to sell everything we have in order to receive His free gift of salvation. This is a statement of priorities. The rich young ruler followed the law, obeying the shalls and shall nots, but the rest of his life was spent gaining and managing his own wealth and comfort. His priority was his own salvation and earthly comfort, not the earth-shattering truth of Jesus.

Likewise, in Matthew 5, Jesus addresses some questions about the law. “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” The point here, and in the rest of this chapter where He makes the same type of statements against lust, lying, etc. is that Jesus is concerned with our hearts as much as our actions. In other words, He cares as much about our priorities and attitudes as He does our actions.

“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts–murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.” Matthew 15:18

Where are your priorities? Are you living out your faith with the mindset of “what do I HAVE TO do?” or “What CAN I do?” Are you willing to give up your rights?
-Your right to be angry with someone who hurt you?
-Your right to engage in activities not directly prohibited in scripture regardless of the trouble it creates for others?
-Your right to be comfortable and spend your time and money in whatever way makes you happy?

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:11-14

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

It’s not about me. It’s not about my salvation, Jesus paid that price. My life on this earth is about reflecting that grace and loving, serving, and sacrificing anything and everything, even if it’s my right to have it. Anything it takes to tell people that Jesus loves them. Anything it takes.

An Outsider Looks at Lent

inspiration, personal growth

Lent

This week the world will be partying it up for Mardi Gras before they sober up on Ash Wednesday and enter the Lenten season. I grew up in a branch of Christianity that does not teach or engage in the practice of Lent, but of course I’ve heard bits and pieces about it all my life. I know many Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, who observe Lent, and I have always admired the devotion of those who engage in this holy holiday sincerely. So I went on a quest this week, reading and talking about Lent, searching my Bible, and praying about a way that I can grow in my faith through this 40-day journey.

So, what’s up with Lent?

Lent is the 40-day period leading up to the celebration of Easter, which commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Lent is 40 days long to symbolically mirror the 40-day period Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness in preparation for his public ministry. 40 is a recurring theme throughout the Bible, and it always represents a period of preparation for change. During the great flood it rained for 40 days and nights. Moses spent 40 days on Mt. Sinai getting the laws from God, and the Israelites roamed the desert for 40 years before God gave them the Promised Land. Saul, David, and Solomon each ruled Israel for 40 years. Jesus fasted 40 days in preparation for his ministry, but he also spent 40 days after his resurrection preparing his Disciples before the ascended into heaven. It is beautiful to realize that a pregnancy, a familiar time of preparation for great change, is 40 weeks.

All most of us “outsiders” know about Lent is giving up something bad, like pop or alcohol (usually grudgingly…), and we’ve heard a lot about eating fish on Fridays. Abstaining from meat one day a week is a corporate fasting practice that binds people together in their common sacrifice. Meat is considered one of the pleasures of life, but fish is allowed as an exception because in the early church, a simple drawing of a fish (you’ve seen them on car bumpers…) was a sign to other believers in a time when Christians were forbidden to practice their faith. Additionally, many of the Apostles were fishermen by trade, and Jesus cooked them a fish dinner after his resurrection. On a goofy side note, I learned that McDonalds invented their Fillet-o-Fish sandwich in response to down hamburger sales during Lent. Vatican II made it allowable to substitute some other sacrifice or good deed for abstaining from meat on Fridays, so it’s not as practiced as it once was, but they still run specials on the Fillet-o-Fish…

I think the point of Lent is to examine your heart and root out areas where you are spoiled by excess. It could be what you consume, or how you spend your time. Examine yourself this week and think about what you might do to prepare your heart, learn greater discipline, and grow in your faith and as a person during this Lenten season. I haven’t decided exactly what my personal plan is, but I think this year I’ll give Lent a try.

Lent/Easter 2016
Tuesday, Feb 9 – Mardi Gras (not a religious holiday, but the last day of gluttony and excess before cracking down during Lent)

Wednesday, Feb 10 – Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Catholics begin Lent by attending church to ask for forgiveness for sins. As a symbol of their grief over their sins, ashes are put on their foreheads in the shape of a cross. Just yesterday I learned that those ashes come from the palm leaves from Palm Sunday the year before – celebration turned to mourning, which reminds me that the inverse is true as well. In Isaiah we read that God gives us beauty for ashes.

Sunday, March 19 – Palm Sunday, the celebration of Christ’s triumphant arrival in Jerusalem a week before the crucifixion.

Friday, March 25 – Good Friday, a somber commemoration of the day Christ was crucified to pay the price for our sins.

Sunday, March 27 – Easter Sunday, commemorating the day that Christ rose from the dead, victorious over death.

 

Does your family have any Lenten traditions? What are you adding or giving up this year to commemorate Christ’s sacrifice and prepare your heart for Easter? Leave a comment!

Hope For Dinner 2015

Fundraiser, inspiration, personal growth, Saving money,

Hope for Dinner

In poking around for information this week, I ended up finding a new favorite verse:

Isaiah 58:6-9
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”

I don’t practice literal fasting – the principle of skipping a meal (or meals) to dedicate yourself to prayer – very often. Honestly, I become a total crab, and I don’t find that fasting from food creates any more space in my day to devote to prayer. It’s much more effective for me to fast from social media or TV – things that I usually waste time on. But this verse was eye opening for me. It reminds me of a famous quote from Gandhi, who said “live simply so others may simply live.” That’s the kind of fasting I can really get behind!

And that’s the idea behind Hope For Dinner.

For the week before Thanksgiving (November 16-20 this year), our entire church and families across the country will be trading their normal evening meals for simple rice and beans. Every evening. All week. Hope for Dinner (a fundraising arm of Venture Expeditions) says that by having rice and beans for dinner the average American family saves $4 – per person – per meal. So for my family of 3 that’s $12 per dinner times 5 days equals $60. It might not sound like a lot, but Venture, whose overhead is donated so that every penny coming in can go to feeding the hungry, can take $60 and turn it into 600 meals for starving children in some of the world’s hardest to reach areas.

I posted briefly about Hope for Dinner last year, too, and included some different ways that you can participate even if rice and beans is not your thing. Participating in Hope for Dinner last year was one of the inspirations behind my family’s weekly Food Shelf Friday. Another friend of mine feeds her family rice and beans every Monday night so they can start their week with awareness of how many people around the world live. It’s a beautiful kind of fast that loosens the chains of injustice and unties the cords of the yoke…feeds the hungry and provides for the poor.

Please join us in having Hope for Dinner this year! You can send your savings directly to Hope for Dinner via their website, so give it through Riverdale Church or Emmanuel Christian Center with the envelope and/or check memo marked “Hope for Dinner.”

http://www.hopefordinner.org
http://www.venture.org

The Power of Prayer

inspiration, personal growth,

Power of Prayer

A “funny” de-motivational type post I found on the internet: “Prayer: How to do nothing and feel like you’re helping.” Statements like that make me sad, because they expose a fundamental misunderstanding, and also because they contain a grain of truth.
I know that when faced with the problems of friends or family members we have all said, “I’ll pray for you,” and then promptly forgot. I know that praying for someone does not directly fill their empty stomach or physically relieve them of their burdens. But prayer is NOT “nothing.”

1. Prayer Changes ME: When I pray for others, it raises my awareness of the needs around me. It also changes my attitude. This is why we are to pray for our enemies. Prayer softens my heart and protects me from becoming bitter. But praying for our enemies is HARD! I know I’m supposed to, but we’re enemies for a reason, so I’m always tempted to pray little prayers. “God, I’m praying for my enemy because you told me to. So, um, don’t let them get hit by a bus. A car though, no, that’s still too much. A bicycle, maybe, they deserve that much…” I’m pretty sure that’s not what God had in mind. It’s like asking your child to go get your spouse and instead of getting up and doing what you asked, they just start yelling. I can yell, child, I wanted you to get up and go get him so this house can remain quiet and pleasant. We are called to pray for our enemies, to pray instead of worrying, to pray because it corrects our mindset to be more Godly. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Prayer replaces worry with peace. Prayer replaces bitterness with understanding.

2. Prayer is a Tool that God uses to Reveal Himself to us: Growing up in the church, I heard countless stories of people waking in the middle of the night or being struck in the middle of the day with a sudden urge to pray for a particular individual, only to find out later that the individual they were praying for had endured danger or trials at that exact time. Why does the all-powerful, all-knowing God need me to pray? If he woke me up, clearly he’s already aware of the situation, right? I don’t think that God NEEDS our prayers in order to act on behalf of our loved ones. But he longs to communicate with us. And if He prompts us to communicate with Him and we find out later that there was a real need or an answer to our prayers, our faith is bolstered and we are drawn closer to the God who loves us and wants to communicate with us.

3. Prayer is an investment of time: Not everyone has the financial means or physical ability to serve as a missionary or to feed the hungry. Are nursing home-bound seniors on a fixed income worthless to God? Of course not! Prayer creates solidarity and a feeling of being fully vested in ministry. It is an investment with great value! Prayer does not excuse the capable from physically and financially serving those in need, but it allows us to be mindful and supportive of the efforts of others. Matthew 9:38 commands us, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” If you’re aware of a need in this world that you can’t meet yourself, you are commanded to pray and ask God to provide workers who can.

Prayer does not replace helping others, it supplements it. Jesus went off into the wilderness to pray in preparation for his ministry, and he prayed throughout his time on Earth. But he also healed the sick and fed the five thousand. He had regular, intentional times of communicating with his Father and, fueled by that, he then got up and served, loved, and gave of himself. We are commanded to do the same.
James 2:14-18: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”

I love stories of answered prayers. Share yours in the comments!

Bonus: Inspirational Printable on Prayer

Prayer Printable

The Spiritual Journey – Walking with Jesus and Becoming More Like Him

inspiration, personal growth

Spiritual Journey

Housekeeping: We did have a Food Shelf Friday meal last week after all. In the very last meal of the week, Sunday night for dinner, we ate red beans and rice and canned corn. Our food shelf box got a matching meal. And we made it to Feed My Starving Children on Monday morning, so just like that my New Year’s Resolutions are back on track. Also this week we got a chance to see an amazing documentary called The Starfish Throwers. It will be out on DVD, Netflix, etc. this fall, and I’ll do a film review then, but in the meantime, check out the trailer.

I’ve been trying to eat “clean” lately. I need to lose some weight, but more than that I need to fuel my body with good nutrition. So I gave up fast food and sugar, and added more fresh fruits and veggies to my diet. But I find that there is no end to the things I can do to improve the way I live: quit drinking soda, switch to grass-fed beef, buy organics, stop buying products tested on animals, and don’t even get me started on the gluten debate! On and on – it never ends. Just when I think I’m doing something right, I discover a new way I’ve undermined my health, wasted precious resources, or contributed to injustice in the world. There is always a new improvement to chase.

My spiritual life is much the same. I remember when I was young, I thought that I was “pretty good” and wondered how people could say that they were always improving and becoming more like Jesus every day.  How low were they to begin with that they had that much “up” in front of them? But over the years I have realized that faith is not a to-do list of steps to achieve perfection. Faith is a complicated mixture of attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors. Although I may overcome some faults, I will also develop new ones along the way. I might obey all the “thou shalts,” and “thou shalt nots,” but that doesn’t mean I’m all God wants me to be.

I can ALWAYS be more like Jesus.

I can ALWAYS be more loving to my people, more kind to strangers, and more forgiving of my enemies.

I can ALWAYS become more aware of the needs around me, less focused on what I want, and more encouraging and helpful.

We need to embrace the lifelong process of drawing closer to God and becoming more like Jesus. Change can be hard, I know, but someday we’ll look back and be thankful that we’re not the same as we once were, just as I hope to one day look back and be appalled by the chips that are calling my name today.  Like the expression says, Jesus loves us just as we are, but too much to leave us that way.

Romans 12:1-2: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18: Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Philippians 4:8: Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Thoughts, inspiration, or scripture to share? Add a comment below!