Monday, November 29, 2010

Being Different

We've all heard the saying "Be in the world, not of the world." I have heard it my entire life, but I believe now more than ever, He is not just asking me, He is calling me to be different from the world. At first I thought, "Different? Are you crazy, God?! I have worked my entire life not to stand out, but to fit it. Nobody wants to be different. The "different" kids got made fun of. The "different" kids rode the short bus. The "different" girls weren't cool. That is not the life I want God!"

"If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing even to give up their lives to follow me." Mark 8:34

As a follower of Christ, I must be willing to give up the things I want, the worldly things, for the things of God. I may not get to have all the clothes I want or the house I want or the trips I want or the car I want and having these things are not wrong But the Love of those things is. And I Loved those things! (and sometimes still do:)) My deepest desire is to know God more and more so that I can become less and less. Because when that happens people start noticing the "difference" and that difference in Jesus and I do have Love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Can you see these things or live in them or wear them? Nope, but you and everyone around you can feel them. It's different:)

I had the opportunity to have lunch with Miss Oklahoma the other day and she was such an amazing young woman. She was absolutely beautiful inside and out. Her face lit up when she talked about her relationship with Jesus and I loved it! She said a statement that someone had told her before she went out to Hollywood that just stuck in my head. She said, "Something is wrong when our lives (as Christians) makes sense to unbelievers." I love that!

We are called to be different from the world!
The world says love those who love you. Jesus says love those who hate you and pray for them.
The world says have the most and then you will be the best. Jesus says the last will become first.
The world says live so that you can have servants. Jesus says live to serve.
The world says do what makes you happy. Jesus says do what makes you Holy.
The world says what you wear, live or drive makes you happy. Jesus says if you have me, I will make you happy.
The world says you can love God plus love things. Jesus says you can not serve two masters, you can not love me and money.

So how do we do it? I can't tell you how to do it because I don't know where your weakness is, but I can tell you what mine is and how I am working on it. Yes, working on it! I am still a work in progress. I read a verse in Luke 11: 34 and it says, "Your eye is the lamp of your body. when your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness."

If my eyes are the key of making my body full of light then I had to be different in what I watched and looked at. For me, I had to stop watching the TV dramas like Desperate Housewives or Greys Anatomy. For me, I had to stop reading US Weekly and People and OK magazine because I was obsessed with the Hollywood world. I am not telling you this to show how great I am, but just the opposite, I am that weak. I can't watch and read anything and everything and not be affected. Comparison kills contentment and when my eyes saw these things my contentment with Christ and Christ alone was gone. Now, have I obtained this being content 100% of the time? Nope but my Light is getting brighter and brighter every day.

I read this devotion by Max Lucado the other day and loved it! And it says exactly what God has been putting on my heart and hopefully yours too: To be different.
On one side stands the crowd. Jeering. Baiting, Demanding
On the other side stands a peasant. Swollen lips. lumpy eye. Lofty promise
One promises acceptance, the other a cross
One offers flesh and flash, the other offers faith.
The crowd challenges, "Follow us and fit in."
Jesus promises, "Follow me and stand out."
They promise to please. God promises to Save
God looks at you and asks, "Which will be your choice?"

Monday, November 8, 2010

One Thing

Do you ever read stories in the Bible over and over and then one day you read them and something jumps out at you that you never noticed before. It happens to me all the time and today was no different. I was reading Luke 18:18-30 about the Rich man who asks Jesus, "What must I do to inherit the Kingdom of God?" Jesus talks about the commandments and the man insists that He has kept all of them since youth. But then the statement that crushes the man: "There is one thing you lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me." The man walked away sad because he was very rich. I had always read this story and thought do we really have to sell everything to follow Jesus. It was one of those things I didn't understand.....until today (it sometimes takes me awhile to get it). The statement, There is one thing you lack, is what made it all click for me.

It wasn't the money that was the problem, it was the love of the money that was the problem. It was the one thing that the man loved more than God. It was the one thing that the man put before God. It was the one thing that became an idol in his life. It was the one thing he wasn't willing to give up to follow Jesus and Jesus knew it.
We have to know that God is a jealous God. He is jealous of anything that comes between us and Him. He longs to have all of us, all of our heart, mind, and soul.

Do you have a one thing? Is there one thing that keeps you from going all in? Is there one thing that gets in the way of you and your relationship with God? Is there one thing that keeps you from following Jesus with everything in you?
I encourage you to ask Him today!

I have been praying this verse and I encourage you to do it too, "Search me Oh God and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. If there be any hurtful way in me (my one thing), lead me to the everlasting way." Psalm 139:23
Maybe its a relationship you don't want to give up. Maybe its the love of money that is an idol to you. Maybe its the shame of a past sin that you can't let go of. Maybe its a current sin that you aren't willing to let go. Maybe its pride and/or selfishness . Maybe its laying your own dreams and desires down for God's. Unfortunately for me, I'm not sure it is just one thing, but maybe a few things. I am praying through it and asking God to reveal them to me and more importantly give me the strength to change.

Here is to laying down our "one things" in order to have the life that God intends us to!