The last few weeks I have really be struggling. I have been struggling with the feeling of being overwhelmed. As I think about Lent and the completion of it this week I think I realize why. I am overwhelmed by the power that Jesus had to say yes to dying for us.
Jesus came to this Earth, took human form, tried to teach us the way to God and then died on a cross, not a real pleasant death I might add, for our sins. He knew it was the only way, the only thing that he could do to give us a path to his Father and Heaven. Have you ever thought of the strength that must have taken? I mean he could have said no, he could have refused to die on the cross. He could have commanded the angels to lift him into Heaven as he is tempted to in the desert but instead he makes the ultimate sacrifice, to die for our sins, to suffer for us.
I once read an email about a father that would have his son pound a nail into their wooden fence every time he did something wrong, and when he asked for forgiveness for all these sins, they removed the nails. The father was illustrating to the boy that even though he had been forgiven that damage had still been done. The story goes on to say that Jesus is the one that pays for our damage. Yes we have to deal with the hurt and pain here but Jesus deals with the eternal pain of our wrong doing. He takes all that on so that we may go to Heaven to be with God.
Could you do that? If someone came to you and told you that if you died by being crucified that your children would get to go to Heaven? Not that they wouldn't experience pain, or suffer or make wrong choices, because they are still human. But that you will feel all of their pain, suffering and wrong doing and they will get to go to Heaven. I would like to be able to say yes I would make that sacrifice, but man it would come with some serious doubts. I mean Jesus, whom lived on this Earth, was perfect, and knew from the beginning exactly what was going to happen and accepted that as his fate, even he had doubts. He was/is a divine being and had doubts! No wonder we have problems with this! I mean seriously, how crazy do you have to be to make that kind of choice, that kind of sacrifice! But still even in his doubt, Jesus knew exactly what he had to do. He had to die, on the cross, so that we could have salvation. What an amazing gift! One that we can not repay. The only thing we can do is strive to be better, to be obedient to his word, to follow his teachings and be thankful that Jesus did this for us!
We are blessed to have such an amazing God! Happy Holy Week all. Let us be thankful for the wonderful sacrifice and gift we have been given this week! I look forward to hearing from you all soon.
Until next time,
~Michelle
Monday, March 30, 2015
Monday, March 9, 2015
Your body is a temple
John 2:13-22
In the gospel of John there is the story of Jesus going to Jerusalem on the Sabbath and finding people running a market there. He gets angry and kicks everyone out and when questioned told the leaders that they can tear down the temple and he will rebuild it in 3 days. The leaders don't understand that Jesus is talking about himself as the temple not the actual physical building.
This idea of your body as a temple is one that I think is important. We as humans tend not to take care of our body like we should. We let it get lazy, out of shape, we ingest bad stuff all the time. We don't think to value this gift we have been given. We forget that we were given this body to do the work of God, just as the temple building in the scripture was meant to do God's work as well.
We are charged to be a walking temple, a holy space that worships God, does his good works and show others the way of the Lord. We are responsible for taking care of the wonderful gift that God gave us, our human body. A body made in His image, He breathed His breath, His spirit into Adam, the first human. We share God's breath. Are we doing right by that? With such immense responsibility how are we supposed to succeed?
We can only do what our humanness allows. We can't be God, we are not perfect because Adam and Eve committed original sin. But we can strive to do the best we can and to honor God every day. There are certainly times we will fail but in this time of Lent, we must spend time reflecting on what we have done to both succeed and fail and what we can do better in the future. God is forever forgiving of our short comings, so failing doesn't mean giving up. Failing is showing you a way that didn't work, it eliminates a possibility, so you just move on to the next one. It is not easy but it is our duty.
God made your body, gave it to us as a gift to take care of and do His good works. What are you doing with your gifts? I look forward to hearing from you.
Until next time,
~ Michelle
In the gospel of John there is the story of Jesus going to Jerusalem on the Sabbath and finding people running a market there. He gets angry and kicks everyone out and when questioned told the leaders that they can tear down the temple and he will rebuild it in 3 days. The leaders don't understand that Jesus is talking about himself as the temple not the actual physical building.
This idea of your body as a temple is one that I think is important. We as humans tend not to take care of our body like we should. We let it get lazy, out of shape, we ingest bad stuff all the time. We don't think to value this gift we have been given. We forget that we were given this body to do the work of God, just as the temple building in the scripture was meant to do God's work as well.
We are charged to be a walking temple, a holy space that worships God, does his good works and show others the way of the Lord. We are responsible for taking care of the wonderful gift that God gave us, our human body. A body made in His image, He breathed His breath, His spirit into Adam, the first human. We share God's breath. Are we doing right by that? With such immense responsibility how are we supposed to succeed?
We can only do what our humanness allows. We can't be God, we are not perfect because Adam and Eve committed original sin. But we can strive to do the best we can and to honor God every day. There are certainly times we will fail but in this time of Lent, we must spend time reflecting on what we have done to both succeed and fail and what we can do better in the future. God is forever forgiving of our short comings, so failing doesn't mean giving up. Failing is showing you a way that didn't work, it eliminates a possibility, so you just move on to the next one. It is not easy but it is our duty.
God made your body, gave it to us as a gift to take care of and do His good works. What are you doing with your gifts? I look forward to hearing from you.
Until next time,
~ Michelle
Monday, March 2, 2015
Even a broken crayon colors just as bright
The other day I was coloring with some kids at Foodnet. We got a new set of twisty, crayon/colored pencil type things. Do you know what I am talking about? Anyway, we were talking about how cool they are because never break, and even if they do they are still pointy. One of the girls said that makes her so happy because she doesn't like crayons after they lose their point or they break. It got me thinking, what is wrong with old crayons? Do they not spread color just as well as new crayons?
I think often times we treat people kind of like crayons. We like the new shiny ones and they are so much fun to play with and are pointy...:-) But then we grow up and get a little older, and we aren't as pure of a color as we once were, and we are not as pointy...although some of us become more pointy...all about perspective I guess. But the point is once we grow and get some life experience under our belt, we are often aren't as appealing to people. Especially if those life experiences leave us like a broken, mis-colored, old crayon.
The thing we forget is that even the broken, old crayons that don't look as shiny and new as the ones in the box are still crayons and they still have great potential and they can be sharpened and will color our pages just as well as the new ones. People are the same way, we all make mistakes, fall and become broken and what we need is someone to believe that we can still be useful, that just because we are broken doesn't mean that we are should be discarded.
God provides those people to us, exactly when we need it. When we are broken, God puts people that believe with us and help us find meaning again in what we are doing. But God also puts broken people in our lives for us to help, to believe in, to work with to find purpose and to work in conjunction with.
Crayons, even broken ones, color just as bright, and will color the page just as well as a new one. It might not be exactly what we thought it would be, it might not look like we thought it would when we started, but sometimes those are things are turn out the best.
God has a plan for us, and even when we are broken we still have a purpose. God doesn't throw us away when we come to him broken and used, he uses our brokenness and he puts us back together. We will never look like we did before we were broken, when we were new and shiny but we can be put back together, we can be made whole again and we can find our new purpose. Don't give up my crayon friends, you have purpose and you can be sharp and will continue to be colorful. Keep working forward, keep coloring the world for God.
I look forward to hearing from you. Have a great week.
Until next time,
~Michelle
I think often times we treat people kind of like crayons. We like the new shiny ones and they are so much fun to play with and are pointy...:-) But then we grow up and get a little older, and we aren't as pure of a color as we once were, and we are not as pointy...although some of us become more pointy...all about perspective I guess. But the point is once we grow and get some life experience under our belt, we are often aren't as appealing to people. Especially if those life experiences leave us like a broken, mis-colored, old crayon.
The thing we forget is that even the broken, old crayons that don't look as shiny and new as the ones in the box are still crayons and they still have great potential and they can be sharpened and will color our pages just as well as the new ones. People are the same way, we all make mistakes, fall and become broken and what we need is someone to believe that we can still be useful, that just because we are broken doesn't mean that we are should be discarded.
God provides those people to us, exactly when we need it. When we are broken, God puts people that believe with us and help us find meaning again in what we are doing. But God also puts broken people in our lives for us to help, to believe in, to work with to find purpose and to work in conjunction with.
Crayons, even broken ones, color just as bright, and will color the page just as well as a new one. It might not be exactly what we thought it would be, it might not look like we thought it would when we started, but sometimes those are things are turn out the best.
God has a plan for us, and even when we are broken we still have a purpose. God doesn't throw us away when we come to him broken and used, he uses our brokenness and he puts us back together. We will never look like we did before we were broken, when we were new and shiny but we can be put back together, we can be made whole again and we can find our new purpose. Don't give up my crayon friends, you have purpose and you can be sharp and will continue to be colorful. Keep working forward, keep coloring the world for God.
I look forward to hearing from you. Have a great week.
Until next time,
~Michelle
Monday, February 23, 2015
Lent
It is the first full week of Lent. 40 days until Easter. Lent is supposed to mark the 40 days before Easter but it is actually 44 days long, Lent doesn't count the Sundays. It seems odd to me that an entire day each week doesn't count but then again we have to exam the why.
Lent is a time of repentance, mourning, and preparation for the death and resurrection of Jesus. Easter is a great celebration, a day where the tomb is empty and our savior is alive.
So what about the Sundays not counting? Well Sunday is supposed to be a time of celebration, a mini Easter if you will. It makes sense, Sundays are supposed to be a day of rest every other week so why should Lent be any different?
We are supposed to spend these days leading up to Easter, in sorrow, contemplation, and repentance. That can be exhausting, so it was determined that once a week we should take a break and celebrate. A mini Easter if you will. A time to step away from the contemplation and sorrow to celebrate what you have accomplish so far and remember why we are taking this time, to celebrate Jesus giving his life for us.
So are you taking the time to reflect, repent and give this season? I look forward to hearing from you.
Until next time,
~Michelle
Monday, February 16, 2015
From the ashes
This week marks the beginning of Lent. A season of morning and preparation for Jesus to die and rise from the dead. Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, a day that marks our humanness.
The ashes have a couple different meanings, one to remind us that we came from the ash and our bodies will return to the ash. Our spirits will rise to Heaven but our physical body will return to the ground the dirt and the ash.
The other meaning is to show that we are in a time of contemplation and morning. It marks the first day that starts the end of Jesus' journey here on Earth. As He prepares to die for our sins on the cross, we are supposed to prepare ourselves as well.
Many people will give up something for Lent, others will take on an extra mission for the season. I have personally never taken on an extra something, I am usually a giver upper kind of person. But this year I am really going to strive to go out of my way each day to do something nice for a stranger. A kind of pay it forward kind of situation. We will see how it goes.
What about you? What are you getting involved in this Lenten season? I look forward to hear about your journeys.
Until next time,
~Michelle
Monday, February 9, 2015
When in Rome
Have you ever noticed that the more time you spend with someone the more you become alike. At least for me this happens. I find myself saying shared phrases or making similar facial expressions. I of course see this a lot with Emerson as he grows and develops, he picks up on more of Nick and I's queues.
This habit works both ways, I know when I have been hanging out with more negative people because my attitude becomes more negative and vise versa. I am not really sure what got me thinking about this earlier this week but the more I think about it the more useful I think it could become.
We make choices as to whom we hang out with and what we do with these people. We begin to share habits and phrases. So think what if we choose to spend more time with Jesus?
As Christians we are supposed to strive to be more like Jesus. To follow down a similar path of servant leadership, to be Christ like. How does one really do that? To become more like someone we spend time with them. So we must in turn spend more time with Jesus. The more time we spend with him, the more we learn about him and from him the more we will become like him. And in theory the more we will want to spend time with him.
How often do you talk to your best friend that is living on this Earth? I know I talk to my best friend at least once a week usually for a least an hour at a time. We used to work together so I used to see her at least five days a week. We have a lot of similar likes, dislikes, mannerisms, etc.
Now, how often do you talk to Jesus? Shouldn't He be our best friend living in Heaven? Shouldn't we be spending as much time if not more with Him as we do with our on Earth best friend?
Just a thought. I would love to hear yours. Have a great week.
Until next time,
~Michelle
This habit works both ways, I know when I have been hanging out with more negative people because my attitude becomes more negative and vise versa. I am not really sure what got me thinking about this earlier this week but the more I think about it the more useful I think it could become.
We make choices as to whom we hang out with and what we do with these people. We begin to share habits and phrases. So think what if we choose to spend more time with Jesus?
As Christians we are supposed to strive to be more like Jesus. To follow down a similar path of servant leadership, to be Christ like. How does one really do that? To become more like someone we spend time with them. So we must in turn spend more time with Jesus. The more time we spend with him, the more we learn about him and from him the more we will become like him. And in theory the more we will want to spend time with him.
How often do you talk to your best friend that is living on this Earth? I know I talk to my best friend at least once a week usually for a least an hour at a time. We used to work together so I used to see her at least five days a week. We have a lot of similar likes, dislikes, mannerisms, etc.
Now, how often do you talk to Jesus? Shouldn't He be our best friend living in Heaven? Shouldn't we be spending as much time if not more with Him as we do with our on Earth best friend?
Just a thought. I would love to hear yours. Have a great week.
Until next time,
~Michelle
Monday, February 2, 2015
A new light!
I have a confession to make this morning. I figured this is the place to do it. I can be judgmental at times. I mean really who can say that they never judge others? But the point is that I have been judgmental of this one particular person that I deal with on a very regular basis. This person tends to be rather negative about everything and I often find myself dreading having to deal with this individual because I really don't handle negative people well. However, last week I saw a completely different side of this person. For the sake of the story let's call this person Hank.
There was a situation where someone, Georgia, needed some immediate help. Georgia was in a really bad situation, her family had kicked her out of the house and she has made some bad decisions in her life leading up to this time that has caused many to turn their back on her. She is a few months away from graduating from high school and appears to be really trying to turn things around and make better choices. Georgia came to Hank the other day and asked for help. In a completely different response and attitude then I have witnessed from Hank he opened up. He talked to Georgia about what as going on and instantly offered her any service that he could provide. He does have some boundaries with his job that doesn't allow him to do absolutely anything but I found myself stepping in where he couldn't. We worked in tandem to help make sure that Georgia was taken care of at least for the next few days and had a plan to get herself to a safe place. Hank then shared with me how much Georgia reminds him of another young person that he had helped long ago and that he really just wants Georgia to be able to see her full potential and knows that she really just needs someone that will believe in her.
This whole experience opened my eyes to Hank in a whole new light. Usually I view Hank as closed off and bitter about life but in this situation I saw compassion and love. I also saw what happens when you find something that people are so passionate about. Hank really just wants to make sure that Georgia is safe and can continue down the right path. It made me wonder what would happen if we could really tap into that passion and compassion. But overly it reminded me that I need to check myself when I find myself judging others. We don't know what those other people have experienced and what they are or have gone through.
I attended a training a few years ago that talked about seeing people in the green when you interact with them. The thought being that green means go, or that you can see their potential. God also encourages us to see others "in the green." We all come with flaws and to judge others is to judge ourselves. There is a story in the New Testament about a women that is brought before Jesus for committing adultry. A crime that should have condemed her to a death by stoning. Jesus simply tells them "He who is without sin, should cast the first stone." Everyone slowly walks away and Jesus tells the woman to go and repent and do better.
So today in my confession and am saying that I made a mistake and judged Hank as cold, bitter, sour and harsh. I forgot to look at him "in the green." And remember that Hank is a child of God. So this week I shall strive to see all people in the green and challenge you to do that same. How can we capitalize on the potential that we all have inside of us as children of God?
Let me know what you think.
Until next time,
~Michelle
There was a situation where someone, Georgia, needed some immediate help. Georgia was in a really bad situation, her family had kicked her out of the house and she has made some bad decisions in her life leading up to this time that has caused many to turn their back on her. She is a few months away from graduating from high school and appears to be really trying to turn things around and make better choices. Georgia came to Hank the other day and asked for help. In a completely different response and attitude then I have witnessed from Hank he opened up. He talked to Georgia about what as going on and instantly offered her any service that he could provide. He does have some boundaries with his job that doesn't allow him to do absolutely anything but I found myself stepping in where he couldn't. We worked in tandem to help make sure that Georgia was taken care of at least for the next few days and had a plan to get herself to a safe place. Hank then shared with me how much Georgia reminds him of another young person that he had helped long ago and that he really just wants Georgia to be able to see her full potential and knows that she really just needs someone that will believe in her.
This whole experience opened my eyes to Hank in a whole new light. Usually I view Hank as closed off and bitter about life but in this situation I saw compassion and love. I also saw what happens when you find something that people are so passionate about. Hank really just wants to make sure that Georgia is safe and can continue down the right path. It made me wonder what would happen if we could really tap into that passion and compassion. But overly it reminded me that I need to check myself when I find myself judging others. We don't know what those other people have experienced and what they are or have gone through.
I attended a training a few years ago that talked about seeing people in the green when you interact with them. The thought being that green means go, or that you can see their potential. God also encourages us to see others "in the green." We all come with flaws and to judge others is to judge ourselves. There is a story in the New Testament about a women that is brought before Jesus for committing adultry. A crime that should have condemed her to a death by stoning. Jesus simply tells them "He who is without sin, should cast the first stone." Everyone slowly walks away and Jesus tells the woman to go and repent and do better.
So today in my confession and am saying that I made a mistake and judged Hank as cold, bitter, sour and harsh. I forgot to look at him "in the green." And remember that Hank is a child of God. So this week I shall strive to see all people in the green and challenge you to do that same. How can we capitalize on the potential that we all have inside of us as children of God?
Let me know what you think.
Until next time,
~Michelle
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)