The Body Of Christ

While we have read and heard that the church is the body of Christ, I wonder if the reality of that has hit us? Do we really see we are the arms,legs, feet, mouth and heart of Jesus? Remember when the bracelets stamped WWJD came out? It seemed like most people were wearing them. But there is a big difference in wearing a bracelet and doing the things Jesus did.

As we look around us, do we see people who have needs or are we blind to them? Do we ignore them or overlook them because they are not like us? Are we afraid we might catch whatever has caused them their problems? Are we afraid we might have to do something to help them? Are we afraid we might be made uncomfortable by them and their issues? Was Jesus afraid? Did Jesus ignore people with issues? Did Jesus overlook anyone? No, He didn't.

Now that Jesus is back in heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for us, He has left the world in our hands. He has commissioned us to carry on His work. To love the unlovely. To help those who are struggling. He has made us His body. There is too much for one person to do but if all of us join in we can show the world who Jesus really is! WWJD anyone?      

Are You Ready For No?

Do you have a decision looming or a deadline about ready to crash on a problem without an answer? We may think we have the answer all figured out. But have we asked God about it? If not, why not? Do we think He is too busy running the universe to pay any attention to our need for answers? He is not. He is waiting for you to ask Him what He wants you to do. Remember He is the one who has the plan. The one with the plan should know the best way to carry it out.

While we may not get an email or a text from God, He has given us His word to read. He has given us His Spirit to lead us into all truth. He is the one who tells us things the Father says. But what if our answer from God is no? What will we do? How will we respond? Will we accept the no or go ahead and do what we think is best? The following could be the heart of God about His no. Just image for a moment God is speaking to you about the answer to your question.

"Are you ready for a no? If I say no it is because I know best. I can see and have the plan for your life. You must trust Me when no comes. If not, your choices will reveal to you why My answer was no. No with Me does not mean I do not love you. It reveals the depth of love I have for you, to keep you and lead you in My ways for My glory, not yours or anyone else. You have to get out of My way. Stand to the side so I can pass by and lead you, teach you in the way you should go. I will not steer you wrong. Remember My plans: Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you a future and a hope."       

The Stone

John chapter 11 tells the story of Lazarus death and resurrection. Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, were friends with Jesus. Lazarus was sick and his sisters sent word to Jesus. When Jesus heard their words He said,"This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." So Jesus waited two more days before He went to see about Lazarus. When he arrived the sisters met Him and told Him Lazarus was dead. Jesus asked to be taken to the place where they had laid him. When He arrived He told the people standing by to roll the stone away. But Martha reminded Jesus he had been in the tomb for four days. Jesus told Martha if she would believe, she would see the glory of God. So they rolled the stone away and Jesus called out to Lazarus to come forth. And he who had died came out.

Let's take this a step further. How about your life? Is there a stone between you and the Lord Jesus? Is there a barrier keeping you from being raised from the deadness of your soul? While it may not be a physical stone it could be a stone of unforgiveness, doubt, anger, bitterness, envy, jealousy, worry, resentment or emotional pain from your past. Jesus can roll them away with the power of His grace and mercy. He is calling you to come out of your grave into the abundant life He freely offers. But you have to choose to come out. Jesus didn't go into the tomb and drag Lazarus out. He rolled away the stone and bid him come forth. As with Lazarus, it does not matter how long you have been in the tomb. Jesus will be glorified when you obey Him and come forth to new life.   

The Truth

How many times have we said to someone:"Just tell me the truth or I want to know the truth about that situation"? We may have said to our self:" I wonder if that is true?" Sometimes we don't really don't want to know the truth because the truth can hurt. But it can also help us discover where we may have gone wrong in our thinking and living.

God always tells us the truth. He tells it to us whether we like it or not. He is incapable of lying to us. What a comfort to know we can depend on Him. Even Jesus said in John 16:7, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth." In these days when there is so much deception, it is such a blessing to know who to go to in order to get the straight of the matter. There are a lot of people in the world telling us there is no absolute truth today. That group says whatever you believe is truth. How crazy is that? It would seem they believe this because they want to do things their way. We have such a hard time agreeing on much of anything concerning how to do life. So God in His infinite wisdom has given us "The Truth".

Chapter 3 in II Timothy reads:" All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for very good work." Ain't God so good to make sure we would know the truth! He didn't just create us and walk away leaving us to figure it all out.

Starting today when we want the truth. When we don't understand things. When we are struggling with life. The best place to go is to the bible, Gods word, the truth. He wants us to know how He plans for us to live, complete and thoroughly equipped...In"The Truth".

   

Acceptance

Acceptance is the answer to my problems. Whenever I fail to accept life the way it is, I set myself up for trouble. Let me give you an example. Let's just say Joe is my friend and he is an alcoholic. I know he has this problem but I want him to change. I want him to stop and do life the way I do it, which in my mind is the right way. So because I love and care about Joe, I spend a lot of my time and even more of my thoughts trying to figure out a way to convince Joe of the error of his ways.

But Joe doesn't see it my way. He sees it his way which is to drink excessively, causing a myriad of problems for him and everyone else. But I am stubborn. I just will not accept Joe and give up trying to change him. When I am around him, I nag and his problem is all I can talk about. Does he suddenly realize what I am saying? More than likely not. Now that's Joe, but what about me?

In the course of all this, I am so miserable, frustrated, aggravated and angry I can hardly breathe. When I am not around Joe, I worry and fear for him. I try to figure out what else I can do or say to make him change. I often feel I am going to lose my mind because of him. Do you see the control over my life I have given to him? In essence I have said: "You have the power to make me waste the life, God has given to me, trying to fix you." That is a lot of power!

In failing to accept Joe and his problem, I have given him control/power over my life. Here is what I mean: Joe is driving me crazy. I am losing my mind. I can't sleep. He is making me so unhappy. I am so depressed because of him and his drinking. He doesn't care about me. He never calls me. He doesn't see how this is messing up his life and mine. At this point I start to resent Joe. I may even think I hate him because of how miserable and unhappy my life is. Do you see how not accepting Joe is stealing my peace, my joy, my hope and giving him control of my life? Now understand when I choose to accept someone or a situation that I don't agree with, it does not mean I like it or still don't hope it will change. But acceptance brings peace and joy back to me. I can function in Gods plan for my life without depending on someone or something to give it to me. Because other people are not able to give me what only God can. People doing what I want will not guarantee my happiness. I have to be willing to accept all of life as it is and trust that God is in control of it.

The power we have is our will. We have to give our will/power to God. In other words surrender it. That means saying to God, not my will but Thy will be done. In doing this I am looking to God to fill my cup with His joy and peace in the midst of life. I know I have used alcohol and Joe as the example but you can just change out the name and the situation you may be facing. For instance, she makes me so mad because she spends all her money on shoes and does not pay her bills or she is so rude and disrespectful to me or why do they do drugs all the time? She says she is my friend but I always have to call her. On and on the list could go. It becomes a problem for me when I don't accept that this is the way they do life. It is how they believe they should act or live. They are doing what they think is right regardless of whether it is or not. Until I accept that this is their choice, I am going to be hurt, upset, angry, depressed or miserable. A lot of times we are offended because people are just being who they are. They are not like us. Acceptance is not denial. It is the realization I am just a human being, not God. I can't control people and I should not give them power to control me. In order to do that I give God all the control/power and accept everything as it is.          

Remember- Don't Forget

We are so forgetful. I am not just talking about where we left our car keys or forgetting to mail a letter. I am talking about forgetting about God. Not just that there is a God and He rules the universe but forgetting about all He has done for us, the times He never left us in our sorrow or problems.

We need reminders of His goodness and faithfulness. When things start to happen in our life that we don't want or really don't like, we need to look back down the road from where we have come and see how God worked it together for good. That's not saying the bad things that happened to us were good, but somehow God is able to weave it around, under and over things so good comes out of it. I have seen this many times in my life. One of the worst things which ever happened to me was breast cancer. Even though I never asked God why, I did say, "What good can come of this?" But today more than 7 years later, I do see the good. During that time I had a crisis of faith. I had to decide what I really believed about God. I had to come to terms with my own mortality. I had to decide if God was trustworthy or not? Out of all that bad, came the good. A deeper level of faith in God. I am more dependent on Him than I was before. I realize life is given to me by the grace of God and His plan for me is good. So how does all this fit into forgetfulness?

Even though my tendency is to forget those terrible months, I must not forget them. They are proof of Gods faithful love and mercy. They are proof that He cares, sees and knows all about everything that happens. There are many more incidents of God showing up and showing out in my life which continue to remind me He is near and He hears me when I pray. Now understand some of the answers to my prayers have not come as I originally asked, many have been much better, some are yet to be answered. The thing I hope you will see from this testimony is: When it all hits the fan in your life, you must choose to look back down the road of your life and see the spiritual markers. The places where God was unmistakeably with you. He provided. He sent someone. He showed you some word of hope or encouragement in your bible reading. He revealed Himself clearly in some situation. We must choose to remember because it will encourage us in the situation we are facing now. God was with me in the past and God will be with me now.

We remind ourselves of many things like holidays, birthdays, anniversaries or special times we have shared with someone. We even are told to remember 9/11. Why not remember God?