How Dirty are Your Hands?

It's the time of year when people are planting their gardens, fixing their sprinklers, pulling weeds. All of these yard chores lead to one thing... getting your hands dirty. 

As a kid you don't think twice about digging in the dirt and getting some dirt under your nails. What happens to us as adults? 

Even after writing my Digging Ditches post the Lord still has me thinking about farming and how the ditches feed our produce, which in turn feeds our community, which ultimately shipped out of the valley and feeds people even outside of our area. Do you suppose those farmers would have produce to feed their families and beyond if they didn't get their hands a little dirty? 

Before a seed is ever planted in the ground the soil must be prepared, it must have proper nutrients and finally must have a source of water. 

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, 

who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. 

~Luke 8:15

It is much the same way in your life. The Lord's seeds will not grow without water and proper preparation. The Lord may not be sewing into your life right now... but what are you doing to prepare your soil? Will you be ready when God says it it time for you to produce a crop? It's time to get your hands dirty... if the rain comes and there are no ditches and no soil prepared you will yield no harvest. 

As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 

~Matthew 13:4-8

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” 

~Luke 10:38-42

Some people call it OCD... I call it clean. Whatever you call it, I have a disorder... and it appears this disorder isn't new. In fact, it's a problem that was even around in Jesus' time. 

"Hello my name is Martha,  and I'm a clean freak."

So... enough sugar coating it... let's call it what it is... PEOPLE PLEASING. I aim to please... EVERYBODY. Especially those who may happen to stop by my house... What will they think if my house is a mess? What if my kid's rooms are messy? Does that make me a bad mom? Does that mean I'm not teaching them to be a respectful contributing member of society?  I think Martha was the same way. She was worried about what Jesus and his buddies would think of her... is that such a bad thing? I can see it in my head (because it happens nearly every day at my house...) "How can I possibly spend time with Jesus right now?! Can't anybody else see all of the clothes that need washed? Or the bathrooms that are a mess? Or that the kitchen has dishes still sitting out from the dinner that I worked so hard to prepare? (That will be so delicious it will really impress people) UGH... as you can see this is one gigantic snowball on one slippery slope... 

So let's look at Mary... oh Mary... you make it look so easy. "... Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said." I really doubt she was worried about Martha doing the dishes... or that after Jesus left she was going to get a "talking to" by her sister. 

How can I apply this to my life? Mary didn't have kids... she didn't have lacrosse practice, or cheer practice, or 2 jobs or... or... or... 

Ok... let's see what Jesus said. "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed- or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Is Jesus really saying that it doesn't matter what people think of her? That HE is more important that them? weird... so is it really saying that spending time reading my Bible, praying and studying His word is more important than MY busy work?! I'm not going to lie... this is going to be HARD, but I'm willing to give it a shot... I am going to make an effort to spend time with Jesus BEFORE cleaning my house (and hopefully not think about what I could be doing the whole time).

Stay tuned on this one...

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 

~Matthew 6:33

PS... I'm having faith that based on the verse above God will give me joy, peace, patience, gentleness, self control and children who love to clean!! :) 

 

French Fries or Sushi

I have been thinking quite a bit lately about competition within the body of Christ and specifically between churches. And quite frankly, I don't think this competition is Biblical. 

I have been at too many churches where they believe their style of preaching or worship is THE only true Biblical style. This is a dangerous road to take, in fact that is what happened with the Pharisees. 

Let's see what Jesus said about this:

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14

As the body of Christ we need to be careful that we are not "confident of our own righteousness and look down on everyone else".  

The beauty of the church (meaning the body... not the building) is that it isn't a "one size fits all" type of religion. Just because you prefer to rock out to some electric guitar worship led by some guy with full sleeve tattoos doesn't mean that the church down the street that sings out of hymnals to an organ is any less or more righteous than your church. 

Rather than wondering how in the world the church down the street is continuing to grow, despite what you may think about it, maybe you should rejoice in the fact that it IS growing... that there are people who are coming to know Jesus! The Kingdom of God is expanding and people are being reached. 

"...we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." Luke 15:32

You may be wondering what in the world sushi has to do with french fries and how is this related to this post... 

Let's say you choose to go out to dinner tonight with your spouse or a friend... where would you choose to go? Sushi? Steak? Burger and Fries? Chances are you will not choose the same place as your friend or spouse... however, that doesn't make one place better than another. All of the choices will nourish you, they will fill you up and provide you with the fellowship your soul craves. It's much the same with the body of Christ. 

Where will you choose to be fed? 

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Psalm 34:8

Digging Ditches

 2 Kings 3:16-17

"...and he said, "This is what the LORD says: Make this valley full of ditches. For this is what the LORD says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink."

I have listened to the message by Stephen Furtick about digging ditches probably 4-5 times now... and every time it gets me. On Sunday at church I once again heard the message... and it once again broke me. But this time... it was an eye opening brokenness. The Lord showed me that this valley, in this desert is FULL of ditches... I mean... totally full of them. Especially here in Fruita, where my husband and I have been called to plant a church. Somebody came long before us and they dug ditches... LOTS and LOTS of ditches. 

As I was riding my bike to work yesterday it occurred to me as I rode past ditch after ditch that when there is water in the ditch... there is LIFE... and what this valley so desperately needs is LIFE... and that life can only flow from God. 

Lord, Fill this valley with your life. Help us introduce the people here to you! Fill these dry ditches so that people can grow...in Jesus' name...