I want to start out this post by thanking my friends James & Mandy, and their doggie, Bella, for this story. We recently had a BBQ at their house, and I met Bella for the first time. It was obvious that Bella adores James, yet James says that she is Mandy's dog. James proceeded to tell me the story of how they got Bella; he was working a lot and he didn't want Mandy to be lonely, so he bought Bella for her to keep her company. Yep. So Bella is "Mandy's dog," but for some reason, Bella adores James. Bella wants to snuggle with James. Bella wants to be with James. Bella wants to be near James. Bella gets excited when James comes home. Bella is sad when James leaves.
James just shakes his head, "I got her for Mandy, but she always wants to be with me!"
Why? I told James, "That's because she knows who bought her!" And that's why Bella loves James more than Mandy . . . she knows that HE chose and purchased her!
Reflecting On Refractions: Holy Spirit showed me this -- do we really understand Who has purchased us? Do we comprehend Who chose us? Do we understand the price that Jesus paid for us to be free and become a part of His family? I think that maybe we don't, because if we did, we would treat Him a whole lot differently than we do. If we did, we would act a whole lot differently than we do. Bella recognizes that James chose her and purchased her, so her loyalty, adoration and love belong to him (even though she's "Mandy's dog")! Her allegiance and devotion are evident; she is committed to and adores James, the one who brought her into their family. How much more should we be committed to, be loyal to, adore and want to be with our Lord Jesus who paid the price for us to be made in right standing with His Father? The one who chose us and purchased our salvation and freedom?
1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a says "You are not your own; you were bought at a price."
"You are not your own. . ." Think about that. . . . just like Bella belongs to James because he purchased her, we belong to the Lord, the King of Kings, because he purchased us! Likewise, if we truly, TRULY understand this, then we will live FOR God and not for ourselves. If we truly get this, we will wholeheartedly run after, adore, be loyal to, long to be with, and LOVE Jesus because we are so grateful for what He has done for us.
Because we are not our own -- I am not my own -- I belong to another -- I will die to mySELF, live for Him, be devoted to Him, not just on Sundays, but EVERYday! Jesus makes every decision for me because I am His, not my own. For many of us, this is difficult. Why is it that we can get out of bed bright and early to go to work or to go to the lake/beach for some fun, but we cannot get out of bed for a 10am church service? Why is it that we can find/make the time to watch a TV show or 2-hour movie, but when our Pastor calls asking for help to clean the church or help in some other way, we tell him that our schedule is just too full to commit to that? Could it be that we don't truly understand Whose we are, and that we don't comprehend the price that was paid for us? Could it be that we don't really get the fact that we are not our own? And so our devotion, love and loyaly lie elsewhere? By our actions and by our priorities, others should be able to determine Who bought us and Who we belong to . . . just like I could tell that Bella was purchased by and belonged to James . . . . Thanks, Bella, for the great example!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
If you don't pay attention, you could miss something important!
Welcome to my blog! My first post is dedicated to Cameron, my 10-year-old and second-born. Thanks to him, I had this experience! . . . . It all started when he wanted to go to a neighbor's house to play for a while before dinner. We said "OK - be home by 5:30." SWOOSH -- out the door he flew, totally excited to play with his friend, and we wondered if he had actually heard when we wanted him home. . . . 5:30pm approached, and there was no Cameron in sight. 5:35pm . . . dinner was on the table. My husband and I discussed whether we should call to the neighbor's and request that they send him home, but decided to use this as a teachable moment instead of "resucing" him. The rest of the family sat down for dinner; 6pm approached. We wondered if he thought we said 6pm instead of 5:30, but 6pm came and went, and we were clearing the table and cleaning up the dinner dishes. 6:15pm, and still there was no sign of Cameron. Maybe he thought we said 6:30 . . . and sure enough, at 6:28, Cameron walked in the door. The aroma of dinner lingered in the air, but Cameron noticed very quickly that we were not sitting at the table eating nor was there any food out; everything was cleaned up and put away.
"Cameron, you're an hour late. Sorry you missed dinner." my husband said.
"WHAT?!?!?! Why didn't you guys call me?" he said, obviously hurt that we didn't call.
"We're glad you got here in time to eat before church. Here's your dinner." we responded matter-of-factly.
He plopped down in the chair and reluctantly began to eat. I SO badly wanted to say "Well if you'd ever pay attention to what we say when we talk to you, maybe you would have heard that we wanted you home at 5:30 not 6:30!" You see, Cameron doesn't have the best listening skills . . . and this drives me C-R-A-Z-Y!!! *sigh*
I decided to give him (and myself!) a few minutes to cool down before I said anything, asking God to help me gently teach my son the importance of paying attention when spoken to. As Cameron took the last couple bites of his lonely meal, I sat beside him and said quietly, "Cameron, if you don't pay attention, you could miss something really important!"
He jumps back, "But you guys didn't even call me! Why not?"
I calmly replied, "Cameron, we told you what time you needed to be home for dinner, but you didn't listen carefully, so you missed it. We missed having you here, but you need to learn the importance of paying attention so you don't miss important things. This time you missed dinner; next time it could be something even more important. Please work on listening and paying attention better."
"OK, mom." he replied.
Reflecting on Refractions: So God began to speak to me about this from a spiritual perspective. How many times do we not pay attention to GOD when He is speaking to us? And how many times do we miss something important because we are distracted by the things around us? God speaks to us in many ways: obviously, through His Word, but also sometimes through other things like nature, circumstances, people or music. But how many times are we too distracted, busy or tired to notice His voice?
Hebrews 3:7-8 says, "So, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness.'"
Part of Isreal's rebellion was hardening their hearts to God's voice. Likewise, if we hear God's voice, we can either harden our hearts (by not responding to Him which is a form of rebellion), OR we can NOT harden our hearts (keeping them soft & pliable before Him) and choose to respond to Him and what He is speaking to us. I do not want to be guilty of a hard heart that does not respond to God's voice.
1 Peter 5:7-9 says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings."
This scripture tells us to be ALERT (or to pay attention!!!) because we have an enemy. If we are not paying attention, then we are more likely to be an easy target for Satan to devour. We are also to have a mind that is sober (or marked by temperance, moderation or seriousness). I want to train myself to be alert and serious about life, on the look out, paying attention to how Satan might be trying to attack or devour me or my family. I don't want to be just floating through life unaware or naive of the dangers (kind of like Cameron who only heard part of what we told him). There is too much at stake to not be paying attention to our Lord's voice. We stand against the devil by resisting him and standing firm in our faith; this is an active stance, not a passive one. We must both resist Satan AND stand FIRM in our faith -- we cannot be wavering in our faith -- we must be firm.
The first part of 1 Peter's verse talks about casting our anxiety on God because He cares for us; then we are told to be alert. Could it be that if we are wrapped up in our anxieties, problems, issues that we then are less capable of being alert to the devil's schemes? Is it possible that Satan uses our anxieties to try to distract us from hearing God's voice? I don't want to miss something important that God is showing me or speaking to me because I'm distracted by the anxieties and cares of my circumstances. I don't want to miss doing or being something that God is calling me to simply because I am just not paying attention. I don't want to miss something important just because I'm not paying attention.
"Cameron, you're an hour late. Sorry you missed dinner." my husband said.
"WHAT?!?!?! Why didn't you guys call me?" he said, obviously hurt that we didn't call.
"We're glad you got here in time to eat before church. Here's your dinner." we responded matter-of-factly.
He plopped down in the chair and reluctantly began to eat. I SO badly wanted to say "Well if you'd ever pay attention to what we say when we talk to you, maybe you would have heard that we wanted you home at 5:30 not 6:30!" You see, Cameron doesn't have the best listening skills . . . and this drives me C-R-A-Z-Y!!! *sigh*
I decided to give him (and myself!) a few minutes to cool down before I said anything, asking God to help me gently teach my son the importance of paying attention when spoken to. As Cameron took the last couple bites of his lonely meal, I sat beside him and said quietly, "Cameron, if you don't pay attention, you could miss something really important!"
He jumps back, "But you guys didn't even call me! Why not?"
I calmly replied, "Cameron, we told you what time you needed to be home for dinner, but you didn't listen carefully, so you missed it. We missed having you here, but you need to learn the importance of paying attention so you don't miss important things. This time you missed dinner; next time it could be something even more important. Please work on listening and paying attention better."
"OK, mom." he replied.
Reflecting on Refractions: So God began to speak to me about this from a spiritual perspective. How many times do we not pay attention to GOD when He is speaking to us? And how many times do we miss something important because we are distracted by the things around us? God speaks to us in many ways: obviously, through His Word, but also sometimes through other things like nature, circumstances, people or music. But how many times are we too distracted, busy or tired to notice His voice?
Hebrews 3:7-8 says, "So, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness.'"
Part of Isreal's rebellion was hardening their hearts to God's voice. Likewise, if we hear God's voice, we can either harden our hearts (by not responding to Him which is a form of rebellion), OR we can NOT harden our hearts (keeping them soft & pliable before Him) and choose to respond to Him and what He is speaking to us. I do not want to be guilty of a hard heart that does not respond to God's voice.
1 Peter 5:7-9 says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings."
This scripture tells us to be ALERT (or to pay attention!!!) because we have an enemy. If we are not paying attention, then we are more likely to be an easy target for Satan to devour. We are also to have a mind that is sober (or marked by temperance, moderation or seriousness). I want to train myself to be alert and serious about life, on the look out, paying attention to how Satan might be trying to attack or devour me or my family. I don't want to be just floating through life unaware or naive of the dangers (kind of like Cameron who only heard part of what we told him). There is too much at stake to not be paying attention to our Lord's voice. We stand against the devil by resisting him and standing firm in our faith; this is an active stance, not a passive one. We must both resist Satan AND stand FIRM in our faith -- we cannot be wavering in our faith -- we must be firm.
The first part of 1 Peter's verse talks about casting our anxiety on God because He cares for us; then we are told to be alert. Could it be that if we are wrapped up in our anxieties, problems, issues that we then are less capable of being alert to the devil's schemes? Is it possible that Satan uses our anxieties to try to distract us from hearing God's voice? I don't want to miss something important that God is showing me or speaking to me because I'm distracted by the anxieties and cares of my circumstances. I don't want to miss doing or being something that God is calling me to simply because I am just not paying attention. I don't want to miss something important just because I'm not paying attention.
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