Share Christ

 

It has indeed become a time in which we seem to have no shortage of things, ideas, behaviors, and people to judge. As I have been reading God’s Word over the past few months, I have been convicted. Not for things I’ve done. Not for the life I lived before I knew Christ. I’ve been convicted over and over again for judging harshly, for hating the sin more than I love the sinner, for choosing the sins to take a stand against (and those I will ignore)… for ignoring the plank in my own eye while pointing out the speck in someone else’s.

I am so thankful for a loving Father who reminds me through His word that I am insanely unworthy of His grace.  I am thankful that He reminds me what it was like to be dead to Him and lost in sin. I am thankful that He reminds me that Satan lies, deceives, and manipulates. He strikes fear in the heart of people and causes them to make terrible, life altering, irreversible, unalterable, binding choices that carry unbearable consequences. He feeds insecurities and feelings of insignificance, despair, and unworthiness. He breeds hatred, mistrust, and unforgiveness. He offers choices that lead us deeper into despair, that build walls between us and those we love and that drive a wedge between us and God. I remember all too well what that was like and know all too well how very much I needed a Savior.

My heart aches for the woman who has had an abortion and for the drug addict and the alcoholic. My heart aches for the less masculine guy or less feminine girl who has been told that he or she is gay because they don’t fit our perception of what their gender “should” look and act like. My heart aches for the porn addict, glutton, adulterer, or homosexual. My heart aches for those who feel trapped and helpless to fight his or her demons. My heart aches because they have been lied to...  deceived by Satan into believing that they have no choice but to sin and no hope for redemption. My heart breaks for them because so much of the Christian voice is being used to speak out against their sin… offering much condemnation and very little hope.

Of course we as Christians should live out what we believe and speak against sin...but at what point did we become Pharisees? At what point did we become more concerned with whether people are obeying the rules, “acting right”, and “behaving properly” than we are with whether or not they know, love, and follow Jesus? At what point did we decide that it was more important to police the morals of the world than to share the love of Christ with them?

At what point did we forget that our battle is against Satan and not people?   

When we spend our time talking about how “bad” people are, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that Satan is having his way with them and they are very much in need of one thing… a Savior.

There are things that are wrong. There are things that we can never condone because they are in contradiction to the Word of God. There are things that we hate because they are of Satan and they do nothing more than destroy lives. We hate these things for what they do to people…but we cannot hate people nor can we hate sin more than we love the people who are trapped in it and in need of a Savior.

We are servants of the most High God and are called to share the message of Jesus Christ to those who do not know Him. We preach Christ crucified. We should speak and act in such a way that the world will listen.

 

Your Mission Field

Today was the first day of school for my PKs.

PK2 called after school to tell me about her day...it was "terrible". 

The mom in me wanted to fix it, but a sweet friend reminded me "God is sovereign". She suggested I explain to my sweet little one that God has a reason for her to be in the class she's in, sitting beside the people she's beside, under the teachers she has this year. This is a lot for a 10 year old to digest....but I know she will understand when her heart is ready. 

I know, because I see it in PK1. He's 16. He has been on the football team forever. He doesn't start. He gets promised to play much more often than he actually plays. It's a lot of time and effort to put in for seemingly no "reward". We asked him if he wanted to quit and he did not hesitate in his response...

"That's my mission field"

He believes that and takes it seriously and it shows. Several of his teammates come to church with us now & I would not be a bit surprised if the Preacher baptizes some, if not all, of them before they graduate. PK1 understands that he is where God has put him and he has a job to do...and it is a lot more important than catching a football.

PK2 watches her brother and sees how he lives. She is growing in her faith and her salvation and I have no doubt that God will lead her as firmly as He has led her brother. She is already learning to trust God and work the mission field in which He has placed her.

All this makes me stop and question my faithfulness to MY mission fields...at work, at home, at church, in the community. Am I working them? Am I looking for opportunities to let God use me...or do I get comfy in my day to day routine?

As we start this new school year, I am challenged to look at the mission filed God has placed ME in.

I challenge you to do the same.

Encouraged and Inspired

 

 

It is  faith and brokenness that encourages and inspires us to draw closer to Christ.

 

We think that it is our strength that encourages those who watch us and listen to us. We think that "having it all together" is what inspires. Even though I know that I personally am much more likely to become more critical of myself and discouraged when I compare myself to someone who is strong and courageous and has it "all together", I find myself striving to present an "all together" image so I can encourage others. Ironic, huh?

 

If you visit often, you know that I have been struggling lately. Been hard to put my finger on exactly what it is that has me all sideways, but I received a message today that was like salve for my soul. It was today's devotion on (in)courage. (click to follow link to the devotion) This sweet woman was brutally honest and real and transparent and her words washed over me like...like a healing vapor. It was as though I breathed them in and they calmed my heart.  

 

It wasn't her "togetherness" that soothed me. She didn't encourage me with strength and self- confidence. I was encouraged by her faith in the middle of her weakness and brokenness and by her confidence in her Savior to sustain her. I was inspired by her courage to be real and raw and completely imperfect before me and everyone else who reads her words. I was inspired by her trust in our Father to use her words and her brokenness for His glory...a trust that outweighed her fear of  judgment by her peers and readers.

 

I am encouraged and inspired because I am not alone.

 

I am encouraged because I am not alone in my unraveling. I am not alone in my brokenness. I am not alone in my failures. I am not alone in my regrets. I am not alone in my insecurity.

 

And neither are you alone.

 

We do each other a grave injustice when we "put on a brave face" and hide our brokenness. It takes tremendous courage to be raw and real and transparent. It takes courage to reveal our weakness. It makes us vulnerable. It also makes us dependent on Christ and available to be used by Him.

 

Yes, we should go to Christ with all our cares and worries. Yes, we should trust God to heal, sustain, and restore us. Yes, we need to be pictures of faith in the Jesus. No, we should NOT wallow in our sorrows or be a constant source of gloom and doom. We are to be characterized by Love Joy Peace Patience Kindness Goodness Faithfulness Gentleness and Self-Control. Even so, we are not perfect; our days are not perfect; our families, jobs, friends, and churches are not perfect...and they never will be. It's okay to be broken from time to time. It's okay to have a bad day. It's okay to not be okay sometimes.

 

Sometimes "life" sucks the life out of me. I know that time with my Savior is the cure for that unraveling, broken, beaten down feeling I sometimes find myself in. I know that He will sustain me until I am restored. No person will ever take His place to save me.

 

Even so, it is a precious and cherished moment when He sends someone with words to speak to my heart and encourage me. I am so thankful that she followed His prompting to be transparent. I hope that you are able to give someone the same gift she gave me.