Keeping Yourself Healthy, Body, Mind, and Soul

If you live basically anywhere in the world right now and don't live under a rock (which I apparently do, because I didn't even know about the whole people-panic-buying-all-the-toilet-paper thing until Thursday when I ran out and ended up having to buy way too much online in order to get any at all), then you know that the COVID-19, or corona virus, is now officially a pandemic, and is all people are talking about all over the world. This understandably, is causing quite a bit of anxiety and fear to a lot of people.

Maybe you are someone who is at a higher risk of getting sick, or at a higher risk of being more negatively affected by getting sick, and are anxious about leaving your house. Maybe you have loved ones who are higher risk and are afraid for them, or maybe you even know someone who already has been affected by it. Or maybe you live in an area that is more highly affected already, and are falling into the fear that is sweeping your area. Or perhaps you're like me, and it isn't necessarily the virus you are afraid of, but the economic implications, and the possibility of your household suffering from a loss of work. Or maybe you're just freaked out because people are all so panicky and acting irrationally and a little crazy!

Regardless of exactly why you may be feeling some fear and anxiety, most of us are experiencing some, on some level anyway. It may feel like there isn't a whole lot we can do about anything right now, besides staying home, staying away from large groups of people, and washing our hands. While these are all good tips, you may be thinking that they are not going to ultimately stop the virus, especially because it came out of nowhere and so fast. It was already upon us by the time we were worried about it.

Well, there are a few things we can do to help ourselves and those around us, so I have compiled a list of tips here to not only help keep our bodies healthy, but also to keep us from worrying ourselves to death and so we can fell mentally sound during these trying times.

1) Try not to worry so much. 
I know, that's kind of a tall order, and it's more easily said than done, but if you can cut down on your worrying and stressing, it will help your sanity and your health. When you are under a lot of stress, your immune system suffers, and now more than ever we need to try and keep that from happening. If you're like me, knowing that stress can hinder your immune system just makes the whole thing more stressful! But there are ways that we can cut down on that. And if you are a Christian like I am, it can be made even easier because we know that God is in control of the whole situation, so there is no need to worry! That being said, we are human and prone to worrying. So here are some things that may help cut out some of that stress:

• Prayer/Meditation/Quiet Reflection. As a Christian, I make it a priority to read and meditate on the Bible daily, as well as having a daily prayer time. During part of my prayer time, I make sure to set some time aside for me to just sit in God's presence, taking deep, calming breaths, and listening. A lot of times when we pray it's all talk, which is good, but we should also listen. And be still. This can be great for our health, because we are taking some time where we are doing nothing but being in God's presence, and the more we do that, the easier it is to remember during stressful times that we are always in his presence, and to bring the peace and truth that we find in our quiet moments with Him into the more stressful ones.
• Exercise. Moving your body helps your mind to relax, even if it's just going for a walk with loved ones.
• Journaling. Sometimes writing down all of your worries helps you to sort through them and see them for what they really are, or even just get them out of your system.
• Talk it out. You don't have to bottle up those feelings and worries, tell someone about them. It will probably make you fell better, and maybe they are dealing with the same worries and can empathize with you, or maybe call out your more irrational fears and bring you some peace of mind. It also is comforting to realize that you are not in all of this alone.
• Read your Bible. God is in control, and the Bible is full of stories and accounts that prove that. And reading and dwelling on His promises should help you feel better about your life, especially when you remember that He is in control no matter what happens.
• Stretching, particularly before bed. Stretching can release tension that you are holding in your body, and can help you sleep better.

2) Make sure you're getting enough sleep.

And good quality sleep at that. Getting a good solid 7-9 hours of sleep a night can do wonders for your immune system, and for your peace of mind. If you are having trouble sleeping, try one or more of these suggestions to help:

• Stretching before bed, as I said in the first point, helps to release tension you're holding in your body and relaxes your muscles so you can fall asleep easier and stay asleep.
• Try turning off all screens an hour or so before bed. Instead, do something relaxing like reading a book or taking a bath, something that will calm your mind a bit instead of stimulate it like the TV or your phone or tablet will.
• Drink a nice, soothing cup of herbal tea. Just make sure you give it time to go through your system so you don't need the bathroom in the middle of the night!

3) Get some exercise.

Especially if you can go outside or open your windows while you're doing it. Exercising helps to oxygenate your cells, making them stronger and healthier, giving your immune system a boost and also shipping out any toxins that are already in your system.

4) Eat lots of fruits and veggies, and try to stay away from processed food.

Fruits and veggies and other unprocessed foods like whole grains and beans give your body all the nutrients it needs in a way that is easy to absorb, keeping your immune system up. When you eat processed foods, like packaged, pre-made, foods with junk in them, or foods with a lot of processec wheat and/or sugar, your body has to use more energy breaking them down and gets less nutrients than what you need to be healthy, which could potentially compromise your immune system.

5) Drink lots of water!

This can help your body flush out any toxins that are in it, and keeping your body well hydrated keeps all of its different parts operating how they are supposed to. 

6) Take some high quality, immune boosting supplements.

You're probably thinking vitamin C, and that's definitely a good one. But probably more importantly is vitamin D, especially this time of year when it's hard to really get any from the sun. Taking a supplement of this could be huge for your health. It does a lot of different things for you, including fighting inflammation, which in turn helps you fight infection. And it can help bring your mood up too! Another good thing to think about taking is a probiotic. Your gut is pretty much the center of your health, and taking a probiotic not only helps add good bacteria, but also helps to get rid of bad bacteria that may be in your body.

There you go! If you follow this simple advice, it should help you as you try to stay healthy, and help you keep your sanity as well! Keeping your body healthy goes hand in hand with keeping your mind and soul healthy. If you're one of the people impacted by cancellations and are stuck at home, try to make the best of it and spend some time with your family, catch up on your reading, or any of the other things you just haven't had time for. This may also be a great time to work on your relationship with God, while you have the time, and shine your light to help bring hope to those who need it!  

Surrender Your Surrender

Surrendering has always been a big part of the, for lack of better term, “Christian walk.”  We talk about it all the time, we encourage each other to do it, and, more often than not, we admit that we struggle with it.  Giving up the right to ourselves is hard, and it goes against everything in our human nature, not to mention what everyone around us is saying.

“Take control of your life!”

“Make yourself your first priority.”

“Do what makes you happy.”

“Make a name for yourself!”

How many of these have you heard from people that you know?  That last one is my favorite because every time I hear it I just think, “so I guess the whole ‘Tower of Babel’ thing was lost on you..?”

But anyway, we have a lot of pressure on us not to surrender, and I think it kind of infiltrates how we surrender, even when we are actively trying to.  And I think that in order to fully give ourselves over to God, we need to take a look at this.

When you think of surrendering, what do you think of?  Let me help you out; one thing I think of is Peter, getting out of the boat and walking on the waves toward Jesus, surrendering to Him and letting Him guide and protect him through the storm (until Peter took His eyes off Jesus anyway, but that’s not my point), or from an applicable viewpoint, us surrendering our circumstances to God when they get bad and letting Him lead us through.  Another thing you may think of is surrendering to God your bad habits and sins, seeking forgiveness and accepting the repercussions, as long as you can get yourself right with God again (thinking of David after the Bathsheba incident here.”

So basically, we need to stop holding on to all of our bad habits, our fleshly desires, and any control we think we have over crazy stuff happening because God is the only one who can see us through, and this is necessary if we want to be true followers of Him, right?

Well, yes. 

But wait, there’s more.

Many of us are willing to give up the bad things in our lives – our flaws, sins, scary or bad circumstances, fears, doubts, lusts – but how many of us are willing to give up the good things?  Our talents, gifts, families, friends, spouses, when things are starting to look up, etc.?  Because God doesn’t just want you to give him the bad, but He wants the good right along with it.  Otherwise you’re not truly surrendering.

I think a lot of people recognize the bad things in their lives and see that they need God to help them work those things out, but they look at the good things and think that as long as it looks good to them, it must be God’s will, so they keep going however they see fit.  But we need to remember that we are part of a whole here, and just because we perceive something as good, it doesn’t necessarily mean God sees it as good for us. 

A lot of times we go after something that we think is good and beneficial for us without stopping to be still before God and listen for His guidance, because we think that if it is good, it must be God blessing us.  But we don’t get to decide how God blesses us.

We need to surrender our idea of what it is to surrender.  Until we are willing to completely give up our control of our lives, and our perceived purposes, and our time on this earth, then we are not willing to surrender ourselves to God.

Yes, you absolutely need to surrender your hard times, but also your good and joyful times.  And you need to surrender your flaws, sins, and weaknesses, but also your talents, strengths, and good deeds.  You need to turn every single part of you over to your God and King.  Remember that God is the source of your joy, not anything that you can do or have or achieve.  And you do not determine your purpose, but it was determined long before you came into existence, when you were simply a thought in the mind of your Creator. 

If you are in control of what aspects of yourself you are surrendering, are you really surrendering?

What about you; do you need to surrender your way of surrendering?

Self[ish]less State of Mind

I am not my own.

I have been bought with a price.

I am no longer living for me, but for the One who has called me His own, and set me apart to be included in His Holy Nation.

Do you agree with these statements?  The vast majority of Christians will say yes, but how many of them live like it?  How are we supposed to conduct ourselves in day to day life as believers in Jesus as our Messiah?  How should that impact our life?  Should what we do and how we act look different than people who do not profess to be believers?

According to the Bible, yes.

Do we, overall as a group, look different than the world around us in what we say, how we act, and what we do?

I think some of us do.  But others of us don’t realize the importance of this, and maybe we don’t even realize that we’re not making ourselves different.

So, let's shift gears a little bit here; what is it that we’re even supposed to be doing?  Well, the whole Bible is filled with lots of instructions on how to live in a covenant community (which is what we are; groups of believers, churches, etc., we are in covenant with God and with each other, since we are One), how to interact with the surrounding nations (i.e. nonbelievers around us), what to do about our finances, possessions, families, friends, neighbors, and the list goes on.  We are given many specific examples and instructions on how to live as a covenant people, as children of God.  But I’m not even talking about that today, because what it all comes down to is bearing good fruit, something by which the world is supposed to recognize us and who we represent (Matthew 7:15-20).  That’s right, it’s not our reputation that we’re risking here, but that of our King, because we bear His Name. 

What is good fruit?  What does that even mean?  Well, if we look to Galatians 9:19-26, we have it laid out pretty clearly for us, and not just what good fruit is, but the difference between good fruit and bad, and why we should be exhibiting good fruit.  I would encourage you to read those few verses.

I am going to concentrate on the good fruit instead of the bad.  Because optimism.  Right?  Let's take a quick walk through them.

So, first we have love.  That one is heavy, and in lieu of trying to explain it, I’m going to refer you to 1 Corinthians 13 (oh darn, she’s telling us to read more Bible verses!  What a cruel and unusual punishment for a believer such as myself!) where you will see what love is and what it isn’t, and how we’re basically useless without it.  And I also would like to point out that this is not referring to “self-love,” which is a huge trend in our culture lately, but is instead alluding to a selfless Christ-like kind of love that removes our focus from ourselves and looks out to those around us and how we can show God’s love and light to them.  Not that you shouldn’t love yourself, because clearly you should, otherwise we wouldn’t be told to “love our neighbor as ourselves” (Lev. 19:18; Mark 12:31).  The point is that loving ourselves should not be our focus.  That, my friends, is called selfishness.

Anyway, next we have joy.  I think that this one can be tricky, because we often seem to let our emotions get the best of us.  Or we try to find joy and happiness in places where it does not live; at least not the kind that lasts.  In order to exhibit this fruit, we need to find the true source of our joy, which is our God.  He is the source of our joy.  He gives us bountiful blessings, He takes care of us and provides for us, and He even sent His son to be our Messiah!  I know that our circumstances are not always great, and that is basically just how the world works, but your joy does not come from your circumstances (or it shouldn’t).  When people look at you, do they see just how great your joy is, since you find it in your Creator?  Or do they see a miserable emissary that they have no desire to imitate?

I think that peace really goes hand in hand with joy, because they’re both kind of about more than your direct circumstances, and more about what your priorities are and what you choose, because you choose whether or not to find your joy in your King.  And you choose whether to let his Peace surround you as well.  Will you let it?  Or will you let your circumstances get to you and show everyone around you just how unstable you can really be?  God is the only one who can provide that wholeness; that all-consuming, all-fulfilling peace that makes you feel full instead of empty.  And when we live our lives showing that we have that peace, not only does it have a positive effect on those around us, it also shows the glory of our King, because His peace surpasses human understanding (Phil. 4:7).

Patience, kindness, goodness, and gentleness are all different attributes, but I think that we can put them all together because they all have to do with how you actually treat other, whereas we have been talking about fruits that are pretty much just your general attitude and vibe.  Although patience can also be about waiting on God instead of just doing what you want to do when you want to do it (because we wouldn’t want to assert our dominance over God, would we?), I think it also has a lot to do with how you deal with other people.  Being patient and trying to understand them, instead of making rash assumptions that are only going to complicate things and make people upset.  Being patient and helping others to meet their potentials, instead of just looking down on them and thinking about how much better you are (or someone else is!).  Being patient and getting to know someone, not judging a book by its cover.  And being kind and understanding, thinking of the needs of others, and showing them that you care all go right along those lines, as does goodness and gentleness, as opposed to mean-heartedness and hostility, or dealing with others in a rough way.  When we treat others with kindness, respect, and dignity, we show them that we care, and that our caring is a result of the loving and caring God that we serve.

One of the hardest of the fruits of the spirit is faithfulness.  It’s not always hard to be faithful.  When we are by ourselves, it can be pretty easy.  When we are alone with God, we can devote our time to Him, we can speak openly with Him, and we can make pledges of devotion and faithfulness, or even when we are with another believer who can hold us accountable, but what about when we’re in the public eye?  What about when it looks stupid to be so devoted to something we can’t see and have no “proof” of?  When it seems like a waste of time, a pointless pursuit, and it singles us out as strange?  Isn’t it easier to just act like everyone else?  Or even to just let it go, because it’s not really that important that other people know your “personal interests.”  Right?  We are so busy worrying about our own reputations (even though honestly, what’s wrong with being known as someone who wholeheartedly serves the Creator of the universe?) that we forget that we bear the name of God and are ruining His divine reputation as we attempt to normalize our own and blend in to secular society.  Let’s face it; we were kind of made to stick out.  And isn’t it better to stick out a little than to present God as someone who is not worthy of the kind of faithfulness needed to show what He’s all about?  Isn’t it more important to give Him the glory that He deserves?  Shouldn’t we be faithful to Him before we are even faithful to ourselves?  I guess it just depends on what kind of fruit you want to bear. 

Ah, self-control, old friend.  The never ending struggle against what our fallen natures want and what is good and right and pure.  And in today’s culture, self-control is almost a moot point. We are encouraged to “be ourselves” and “live our truths” (whatever that means).  But what is more important; falling prey to things that will lead us down dark and twisted paths, or having control enough to show the world the things that really matter, and who really owns this world?  There are so many things that I could say here, but I think this one is the one that most of us know we need to work on.  And not just for us.  Because if people around us see us doing whatever we want, having everything we would like to and acting in ways that are abhorrent in the eyes of God, what does that make Him look like to them?

This is so important.  What it really comes down to is us shifting our focus off of ourselves and on to who we serve.

So, knowing all of this (which most Christians will say that they do), why do we continually see our brothers and sisters acting almost the complete opposite of this?  We are constantly seeing people take such offense at others for doing something that they don’t like.  Or that they personally don’t think is right.  Why are we so concerned with what others are doing and what others think of what we’re doing?  Who put us in charge?  Who gave us the right to be the ruling judge over everything?  This sense of entitlement is not Biblical.  We are called out of the world and set apart, and we are supposed to be better than that.

My challenge to you is this: shift your focus.  Try to focus less on yourself, and more on who you serve.  Remember that it’s not your reputation at stake, but ultimately His.  That’s the choice you made when you entered into covenant with Him.  Trade the selfish for the self-less, and produce good fruit.  After all, that’s how everyone will know who you are.

So, who are you?

Water to Wine

So often we label ourselves.  We decide that we are a certain way, and we shape our behavior to this because this is what someone does who is a/an [insert label here].  Introvert.  Extrovert.  Girly-girl.  Tomboy.  Real man.  American.  White.  Black.  Native American.  Asian.  African.  European.  Christian.  Is this a bad thing?  Not necessarily.  Except that usually, what we are doing is taking a societal norm, something that the world around us has decided is valid, and then applying it to ourselves.  We are letting the world sculpt us.

Why?

Because we want to fit in.

Is this a bad thing?  Yes.  No.  Maybe.  I don’t know.  That’s not what I’m here to talk about today.

So, there is a group of people that the world has decided to put all into one box, and we are called Christians.  And we are all the exact same.  We have the same beliefs, we all act the same way, have the same standards, and if you know one of us, you know us all.  Are you with me so far?  I hope not.  Especially if you fall into the diverse mishmash of Christianity, Believers in Messiah, Followers of Jesus, whatever you choose to call yourself.

The world does have one thing right; we are One.  One Body of Messiah, one Family, etc., but we are all very different, and we all come from different places.  We all have different purposes, so why would anyone even expect us to all be alike?  Well unfortunately, we a lot of times think that of ourselves.  We hold up one person as the pinnacle of perfection, the one that we strive to be like.  But should we do that?  I think not.

While it may not be a great idea to put yourself in a box that the world has made for you and try to be everything that they expect you to be, it’s not exactly better if you’ve crafted the box yourself instead of letting your Creator show you who He made you to be, and I think a lot of times we do this.  Many of us base it on who we’ve been, and we take that verse that tells us we are a new creation and say that we now can be nothing like the person we were before or we are doing something dreadfully evil.  But is that true?

Let’s look at the verse I’m talking about.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says this; “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” [HCSB]

Pretty straight forward, right?  The old has passed away, and we are to be new.  Well, let’s look first at the next few verses, and then back at verses 14-15 and try to get a little context of what we’re talking about here.

  ¹⁸ Everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” ²¹ He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: If One died for all, then all died. ¹⁵ And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised.

Okay.  So yes, we are a new creation.  But does that mean that we are completely new and not to be at all like who we were before?  To me it looks like we have a new focus.

Now, yes, having a new focus, a new priority, is going to drastically change us.  Instead of the world revolving around us, now it revolves around Jesus.  Instead of living for ourselves, we are living for Him, and we are His ambassadors, His witnesses, His emissaries.  Basically, we are the reason that anyone who doesn’t know God might want to.  We are an army.  We go from being our own to being His.  From lost to found.  From profane to holy.  From water to wine.

But to many people, this means something else.  They go from being whatever they were before to being “Christian.”  From secular musician to Christian.  Can’t be singing about things that are “of the world” anymore, so I’ll stop and just be a Christian instead.  From hair stylist to Christian.  Shouldn’t be so focused on external beauty; a good Christian wouldn’t do that.  From literally anything to being a “Christian.”  Because apparently we missed the part about reconciliation. 

Jesus made it so our sins will not be counted against us.  This does not mean that we undergo a personality change at the moment we give ourselves over to God.  We do not lose our natural gifts that God Himself created us with.  You may have been lost and wandering in the wilderness before God called you to Himself, but you were still made in His image long before you ever knew what wandering even was!  God has created each and every one of us with special gifts and abilities so that we can each be a different functioning part of the Body of Christ.

The word “profane” means something that is common and unremarkable, while the word “holy” means set apart.  We go from being common, part of the world that ultimately is unremarkable, to being someone who is set apart, needed, and highly valued.  Don’t run from who you are, because that’s who God made you.  Run from the profanity of it.  Run from the things that distract you from God, the things He says that He hates.  And it is possible (and probable) that your incredible, unique, God-given qualities that make you who you are will try to lead you to those exact things that God hates and bring you back into the world, but just remember that this is only a side effect of a fallen world, and something that with His strength, you can overcome.  But you must overcome it.  Because Jesus already has, and He is the one you are representing. 

Use your gifts for His glory.  Use them as He wants you to.  You don’t need to be like everyone else.  You just need to be who He has called you to be.

In the very first miracle that Jesus did that is recorded in the Bible, He went to a wedding and, when they were running out of wine, he turned some jugs of regular, boring water into wine.  And not just any wine.  This wine was good.  You had people coming out to the groom and saying “bro, why didn’t you bring this out earlier?!  You basically had us drinking liquefied crap, and you had this just chilling in your house?”  (Okay, they didn’t say it just like that, I’m paraphrasing in a very huge way, but you can check it out for yourself in John 2:1-11)

You were the water, and you are the wine.  You were once some regular water in a jug.  But now, you’re a new creation.  Jesus has paved the way for you to be wine, and not just any wine.  You are the best wine.  You are the wine that makes the wedding festive and wonderful.  God has a purpose for you; don’t get in your own way by looking at others and thinking that you need to be just like them to be a good Christian, or good at what you do. 

Just be exactly who God made you and called you to be.  That is how you can be His emissary.  Show the world the absolute majesty of your King by being who He created and doing the great things that He can only do through You.

We are His, and that is who He made us to be.  

Are We For or Against God?

This morning I was reading in my Bible in the book of Numbers, and a certain passage caught my eye.  Many of you may know it as Korah’s Rebellion.  Essentially what happened was that Korah and some of the Levites got all mad at Moses and Aaron and called them out for supposedly putting themselves up as leaders when they had no right to.  They were saying that all of God’s people were set apart and holy, and they wanted to know who they thought they were trying to lead these people through the desert like they owned it or something.  They made all kinds of accusations of Moses, saying that all he wanted was control and that he had purposely turned them away from the Promised Land so they would die in the desert.  Great, right?

If you have read this part of the Bible before, you know just how preposterous this whole thing really is.  I mean, Numbers 12:3 literally says that Moses was the most humble man on earth.  He was clearly not the take-over-the-world type.  Not only that, but Korah, along with all of the people who willingly followed Moses out of Egypt, had entered into covenant with God, agreeing to live their lives the way He told them to, part of which included following Moses because God had put Moses before them as an intercessor on their behalf.

So anyway, the passage that specifically caught my eye this morning was Numbers 16:9-11.

“⁹ is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; ¹⁰ and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking for the priesthood also? ¹¹ Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord.”

Since Korah and his gang were part of the tribe of Levi, they were the ones that God had specifically chosen and set apart from the rest of Israel, an already set apart nation, to work in the Tabernacle, which was the place that God’s presence literally dwelled.  They were already the set apart of the set apart, but that wasn’t enough for them.  They wanted more.  They wanted to overthrow Aaron as High Priest and they seemingly wanted to take over the whole congregation of Israel. 

And get this; since they were yearning for something more or different than what God had given them, Moses told them that they were gathered together against God.  Woah.  Let me say that again.  Since they wanted something different than what God had for them and were going after it, they were assembled against God.  They were fighting God.  And do you know what happened?  Later in the chapter, God literally caused the earth to open up and swallow them alive.

This got me thinking, because just yesterday, I had God put a stop to some plans that I had.  I was all ready to go be a junior counselor at a camp in Oklahoma.  And when I say that I was ready, I mean that I was at the bus station, suitcase in hand, ready to get on the bus, when God suddenly put His hand out and unexpectedly cancelled my plans in a way that I never would have even thought of.  And I’m going to be honest, I was mad at first.  I mean, this was a perfectly good thing.  I was going to a camp of fellow believers to minister to the kids and worship the Father.  Why would God want me to stay in Delaware, of all places, when I could be doing that?

But who am I to be mad at God’s plans for me?

For whatever reason, it wasn’t in His plans for me to go to Oklahoma this week.  Now, I could rebel like Korah and try to find a way to go anyway, or I could simply submit to His plan for me, whatever that may be, and try to keep in mind that His timing is not my timing and His plans for me are far better than anything I could think up for myself.  If I choose my ways over His, I am putting myself against Him, and I will lose every time.

Now we, as believers, are like Korah and the Levites.  We are set apart for God.  We are the ones that He has chosen to draw near to Him and do His work, serving Him and ministering to those around us.  We have to stop and ask ourselves, is this enough for us?  Because it should be.  The plans that God has for our lives are plans that predate us.  When God created the earth, he already knew that we would one day walk upon it, and He had a plan for us that He wants us to carry out.  We really only have 2 options in this life; whether we will follow God’s plan or our own. 

We need to remember that we are either for or against God, and there is no middle ground.

If we choose our ways, we will be swallowed up by the earth.  Literally?  Maybe not.  But we will be swallowed up by the hatred, immorality, death, and evil that runs rampant in our world today, and we will be separated from God.

Now, if I had rebelled and gone to that camp anyway, would I have been immediately separated from God?  Probably not, but that’s the danger of it.  You only have to turn slightly to the left or slightly to the right and before you know it you are miles from where you’re supposed to be.  I would guess that that’s how it happened with Korah, too.  All he needed to do was let one little thought take root, something like “who is Aaron, that he should be High Priest and not me?” or “who is Moses that God should talk exclusively to him and let him be in charge of all of us?”  One little, seemingly harmless thought turned into a conversation, which turned into a revolt, which turned into a rebellion. 

We need to decide if we are for or against God.  All or nothing.  Who will we follow?  Who will we choose to be?

I Am Weak.

There’s a lot to say about weakness, especially in a society where it is emphasized.  We don’t want anyone to look at our weaknesses because we see them as ugly, and we want to be accepted.  We get told not to look at other people’s weaknesses because we need to be accepting.  We need to look past the weakness to see who they really are underneath, and we don’t for one second pause to think that maybe that same weakness that we are hiding and locking in the cupboard or sweeping under the bed is part of what makes us who we are part of why we do what we do.

Our weaknesses are important.

If you look at Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9-11, he talks about his weaknesses.  In fact, he loves them.  He says that power is perfected in weakness, so he rejoices in it!  He says that he will boast in weakness and is “well contented” with it, “for when I am weak, then I am strong.” 

Now let’s take a minute, because what I think you just read is “despite my weakness, I can still be strong.”  Or maybe you read “I am weak, but there’s time and I can still learn from it and be strong.”  These are things that you tell yourself, or maybe you even let others tell you, but that’s not what Paul is saying.  The difference between what you read and what Paul is saying is that Paul is telling you what God told him and that is because of my weakness, God gives me His strength, so I am strong.  Not in spite of your weakness, because it’s not like your weakness is something God didn’t know about and now has to work around.  Remember that He is your Creator, so He knows how you work and how you need to work to fulfill His purpose for you.  Where you are empty because of a weakness or deficiency that you have, God pours in His strength, which is more than any strength we could’ve already been programmed with, because God perfects His strength in our weakness.  He told us that His grace is sufficient for us, so when we are weak and broken and we don’t have what it takes, we only need to lean on Him because He is strong, He is not broken and can even fix us, and He always has what it takes.

Our weaknesses can actually become our strengths.  Not because God takes them away or helps us to overcome them (although God does help us to overcome things, I just don’t think He would want us to “overcome” something that He specifically programmed us to have), but because He teaches us how to use them.  In our weaknesses, God perfects His strength.  Through our weaknesses, we become more like Him.  I’ll say it again.  Through our weaknesses, we become more like Him.  God gave us these weaknesses that we have for a reason.  When we accept that we have them and that they are a part of us, and when we give the weaknesses and ourselves to God, then He can work.  When we acknowledge that we cannot do something ourselves and we let God step in, that’s when things actually start to happen, and it’s so much better than if we had tried to do it ourselves because God’s strength is stronger.  When we are weak, then we are strong.

Paul actually even takes it one step further than that, because he’s not just talking about loving our weaknesses, but he actually says that we should be “contented with” insults, distresses, persecutions, and difficulties that come our way because of our weaknesses.  These are part of what God uses to refine His strength in us.  These are some of the trials that we hear about in James 1 that we are told to consider pure joy, because they are testing our faith and making us stronger.  I know that the new thing these days is to call everyone who looks at you wrong a bully and to run crying and throw a fit until someone “accepts you,” but as believers we should be thanking the people who insult us, cause us distress, and even those who actually persecute us.  We should be happy when we are faced with our own weaknesses, and even when they are pointed out by others.  We don’t need to look for shallow acceptance from those around us, because the One who created us knows us better than any of those people ever could and loves us with an unconditional, everlasting love.  And He not only can see us as we are, but He can see who we can and will become in Him through His strength, which He will use to shape and mold us by using those exact weaknesses that the people were giving us crap about.

When we deny or ignore our weaknesses, or when we pass them off as just something that we are and determine to do nothing about it, we are denying God the opportunity to perfect His strength in us.  We are taking the reins in our own hands and using our own human strength, or lack thereof, to take us through life, which is why we will fail.  Our strength is not, and can never be enough.  It’s important to know our weaknesses and recognize them for what they are so we can give them over to God.  The cracks and holes that are our weaknesses create openings through which God can fill us with His strength.  If we try to patch them ourselves, not only will it look sloppy and not hold, but there will be nowhere for God to pour in His strength, and He’s not one to force it.

Only when we accept that we are weak can we accept God’s strength.

When we are weak, then we are strong.

What’s your weakness?

The Adulteress

This (story, poem, call it what you will) is based on the adulteress found in John 8:3-12.  She bears the powerful story of someone who fell, but stood back up.  I think we can all learn a lesson from her, regardless of where we've been and what we've done.  

What I have written is fiction based on facts recorded in the Bible.  You can read the real account in John 8, but this is my speculative interpretation of her story.

I will never forget his tear streaked face;

My husband,

As he led the crowd

Of my accusers.

As they were dragging me,

A filthy adulteress,

Unfit to even lay eyes on,

I wept.

I was guilty.

They were right to persecute me;

What’s done is done

What will be will be

I knew it to the depths

Of my profane, useless soul.

So I let them lead me

To my much deserved death.

The sudden silence filled

My now empty heart;

We had arrived.

I felt His gaze sweep over me

As I heard their condemning words

But I could not,

Would not look up

Unworthy filth that I was,

I shouldn’t even be standing.

“Teacher, this woman,”

Words flung with disgust

“Has been caught in the act of adultery”

From the lips of my beloved,

Though I was his no longer.

“The Law of Moses commands us

To stone such a woman.

What say you?”

Spoken with not just question,

But mockery

As if to test Him

When we all knew the answer.

I knew my fate.

Through my tears of anguish,

As I struggled to remain standing

I saw movement on the ground

In front of my own stooped figure.

What was He doing?

Writing?

Berated with questions

Holding my fate in His hands,

Yet scribbling in the dust?

I leaned forward

Ever so slightly

To see what He wrote,

But He stood up

And I cowered back

Awaiting the verbalization

Of my premature death.

Sorrow swept over me

As He stood, about to speak

And the men,

My accusers,

Picked up stones at their feet.

Tension encrusted the air

And the good Teacher spoke:

“Let him who is without sin among you,

Be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Silence.

Utter silence.

Then I heard a thud

The first stone hitting my sinful flesh

Didn’t they know the pain

That I was already feeling?

I am my beloved’s

But my beloved is not mine.

I hadn’t even felt their stone,

So deep was my sorrow.

Then I heard another,

But still I felt nothing.

I looked down at my body,

Still standing,

Still without blemish,

And realized that the thuds

Were that of stone on earth.

One by one they dropped them,

One by one they silently fled

Until there were none.

Slowly, I straightened

And looked around me.

The only One still there

Was the good Teacher,

Bent over and scribbling in the dust.

He stood and looked at me

Straight into my eyes

And for a moment,

I could not look away.

“Woman, where are they?

“Has no one condemned you?”

Regaining some composure,

I trained my gaze on the ground.

Despite my lack of condemnation,

I was still no better

Than the very dust on which I stood.

“No one, Lord,”

My whispered reply

Barely audible

As I trembled

Not knowing how he would punish me

Now that we stood alone

On a quiet street

“Neither do I condemn you;”

Said with such tender grace

“Go, and sin no more.”

This was all that was asked?

That I go and live purely?

I fell to my knees

With my face to the dirt

How did I get here?

Then I heard him speak again

Addressing those around Him

His faithful followers

Hanging on His every word.

He said those who follow Him

Know not the darkness around them.

The very darkness

That gripped my fragile soul.

That had gripped it for so long

That I had let rule me.

The darkness

That had been my demise.

And great was my fall.

I looked up in wonder

At the stoic face

Eyes encouraging, confirming,

And as I stood to go

Remarkably not dead

And perhaps to live

For the very first time

I thought

Maybe it’s true,

What they say about Him.

Maybe this Yeshua

This Teacher, this Man,

Is truly the Messiah

Here to save not just me,

But all of us.

So I went,

And I believed.

I had found it.

The One true source of Light.

I would go.

I would sin no more.

I would live.

I would walk in the Light

As He is in the Light.

And I would take back

What the darkness had stolen.