There are no words to describe what Jesus did for me today. He loved me so much that he took ALL my sins on his shoulders and died for me so I may be washed clean.
Thank you for your love, mercy, and grace, Jesus. Without You, life wouldn't be worth living.
This is a little vid I did some years ago as I was reflecting on Holy Week. Carry My Cross is such a powerful song and the Passion of the Christ was such a powerful movie that it only seemed natural to fit them together. I hope this video touches you somehow. God loves you. He always has. He always will. Nothing you can do will ever stop that. And remember, even if you feel alone in this world, He is MUCH closer than you think!!
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Friday, April 02, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
I want to finish last. Last in the worlds eyes
As I was reading my Bible this morning, I couldn't finish Matthew Chapter 20 because one verse kept being spun around in my head:
15:"Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?"
So I read the footnote.
This verse comes from the story that Jesus is telling about the vineyard owner and how he paid the last hired who only worked about an hour the same wage as those slaving all day in the vineyard. The ones that worked all day were mad. And the vineyard owner confronted them saying that don't I have the right on how to spend my own money.
This parable is not about the rewards of heaven but about salvation and God's grace. We shouldn't begrudge people who turn to God at the last moments of their life. And I am learning this the hard way.
There is a coworker of mine whom I couldn't stand and no matter how I tried to ignore and or give him signs that I didn't want him around me; that he was bothering me. He was very crude and just would say derogatory things to me. He left the dealership and I jumped for joy. A couple weeks later he came back. I grumbled.
WHY? WHY? WHY?
He came over to me the other day and told me that he started going to this church by him and how he really enjoys it. This is coming from the same man that I COULDN'T stand and didn't believe in "organized religion". He told me how he and the pastor are forming a great relationship with each other. At first, I tried to ignore him, because I didn't want anything to do with him.
But then the other day when we were talking, I think God was whispering to me. "Mindy, he's coming to you because he knows you are the only one here that he can talk to with questions. HELP HIM."
I was like, "REALLY, God? Are you serious?! I can't stand this man!! And now you want me to HELP him!?"
Boy....did I wake up. Especially hearing this parable today. Am I jealous of relationship that he is finding with God? Absoulutely not. I have a relationship. But God is helping me strengthen that relationship by breaking down the walls I have for this guy and helping him out. He is going to need it. I call going to work, "The Lion's Den." Most days it feels like it. So if I can help him just a little each day, then so be it.
God is helping me learn in BIG ways by letting go of the past and learning that Jesus would have approached him straight away without hesitation. And praying for guidance is going to be a project to work on. I don't have a problem praying for the ones I love. But bringing my "enemies" into the equasion is going to be fun.....It's something that I need to work on and will be asking God for help on quite a bit :)
It's not easy, but I am willing to do it. Every time I see him, I clench my jaw. Satan thinks that he can hold the power over me, but it's going to be taken away real fast.
15:"Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?"
So I read the footnote.
This verse comes from the story that Jesus is telling about the vineyard owner and how he paid the last hired who only worked about an hour the same wage as those slaving all day in the vineyard. The ones that worked all day were mad. And the vineyard owner confronted them saying that don't I have the right on how to spend my own money.
This parable is not about the rewards of heaven but about salvation and God's grace. We shouldn't begrudge people who turn to God at the last moments of their life. And I am learning this the hard way.
There is a coworker of mine whom I couldn't stand and no matter how I tried to ignore and or give him signs that I didn't want him around me; that he was bothering me. He was very crude and just would say derogatory things to me. He left the dealership and I jumped for joy. A couple weeks later he came back. I grumbled.
WHY? WHY? WHY?
He came over to me the other day and told me that he started going to this church by him and how he really enjoys it. This is coming from the same man that I COULDN'T stand and didn't believe in "organized religion". He told me how he and the pastor are forming a great relationship with each other. At first, I tried to ignore him, because I didn't want anything to do with him.
But then the other day when we were talking, I think God was whispering to me. "Mindy, he's coming to you because he knows you are the only one here that he can talk to with questions. HELP HIM."
I was like, "REALLY, God? Are you serious?! I can't stand this man!! And now you want me to HELP him!?"
Boy....did I wake up. Especially hearing this parable today. Am I jealous of relationship that he is finding with God? Absoulutely not. I have a relationship. But God is helping me strengthen that relationship by breaking down the walls I have for this guy and helping him out. He is going to need it. I call going to work, "The Lion's Den." Most days it feels like it. So if I can help him just a little each day, then so be it.
God is helping me learn in BIG ways by letting go of the past and learning that Jesus would have approached him straight away without hesitation. And praying for guidance is going to be a project to work on. I don't have a problem praying for the ones I love. But bringing my "enemies" into the equasion is going to be fun.....It's something that I need to work on and will be asking God for help on quite a bit :)
It's not easy, but I am willing to do it. Every time I see him, I clench my jaw. Satan thinks that he can hold the power over me, but it's going to be taken away real fast.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Homosexuality in the Church *Viewer Discretion is Advised*
I just recently found out that my Synod(ELCA) is going to/or has allow(ed) gay minsters in the church. I know this is a very touchy social subject and opinions will be made and argued.
But I am at a loss. I don't know what to think. My mind has been swirling with thoughts for the past few weeks since I found out about this. I don't know whether to agree with this, ignore it, or do something about it. This is going to be a no-win situation for everyone.
I have always been the one to say "if there is a problem in the church, instead of taking the coward way out and leaving-pray about it." But since I heard this startling news, I am ready to run 90 MPH in the complete opposite direction and be no part of it. But yet, something inside wants me to stay too and not sound like a racial biggot.
I have some gay friends. Though I do not agree with their lifestyle, they are still humans and have feelings and I will remain friends with them. But when it comes to the church, the Bible clearly is against homosexuality:
Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is destestable.~ Leviticus 18:22
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do no be decieved: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolator nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ~1 Corinthians 6:9-10
We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for the lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and pejurers-and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. ~1 Timothy 1:8-11
Were we not instructed to live by the laws in the Bible? And not switch them around to make them how we want them to fit into our lives? I was just reading one of the footnotes for 1 Timothy and it says that the entire Bible call homosexual behavior a sin. We must be careful, however, to condemn only the practice, and not the people. They can still be forgiven.
And that is what I said before: I will love the person, but I don't have to agree with their lifestyle choice.
But now, here we enter the touchy subject. We were also always taught to love one another regardless of our faults. We were taught to live like Jesus. Consider the people that he hung around with: Thiefs, tax collectors, prostitutes, etc. I wonder if there was a homosexual amongst them at one point. Do you think that Jesus befriended him? Of course. But Jesus did not allow homosexuality.
"Haven't you heard," he replied, " that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' he said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate."~Matthew 19:4-6
I am at a loss. I don't know what to do. I believe everything the Bible says, but yet, I don't want to turn my back on someone just because of their beliefs. It would go against everything that I have learned growing up. Not just as a Christian, but also as a human being as well.
I am curious to what others reading this will think. I am praying earnestly about this. I am trying to listen to God and hoping that it's not the devil planting something in my head. Please feel free to respond to this; I await your comments.
But I am at a loss. I don't know what to think. My mind has been swirling with thoughts for the past few weeks since I found out about this. I don't know whether to agree with this, ignore it, or do something about it. This is going to be a no-win situation for everyone.
I have always been the one to say "if there is a problem in the church, instead of taking the coward way out and leaving-pray about it." But since I heard this startling news, I am ready to run 90 MPH in the complete opposite direction and be no part of it. But yet, something inside wants me to stay too and not sound like a racial biggot.
I have some gay friends. Though I do not agree with their lifestyle, they are still humans and have feelings and I will remain friends with them. But when it comes to the church, the Bible clearly is against homosexuality:
Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is destestable.~ Leviticus 18:22
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do no be decieved: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolator nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ~1 Corinthians 6:9-10
We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for the lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and pejurers-and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. ~1 Timothy 1:8-11
Were we not instructed to live by the laws in the Bible? And not switch them around to make them how we want them to fit into our lives? I was just reading one of the footnotes for 1 Timothy and it says that the entire Bible call homosexual behavior a sin. We must be careful, however, to condemn only the practice, and not the people. They can still be forgiven.
And that is what I said before: I will love the person, but I don't have to agree with their lifestyle choice.
But now, here we enter the touchy subject. We were also always taught to love one another regardless of our faults. We were taught to live like Jesus. Consider the people that he hung around with: Thiefs, tax collectors, prostitutes, etc. I wonder if there was a homosexual amongst them at one point. Do you think that Jesus befriended him? Of course. But Jesus did not allow homosexuality.
"Haven't you heard," he replied, " that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' he said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate."~Matthew 19:4-6
I am at a loss. I don't know what to do. I believe everything the Bible says, but yet, I don't want to turn my back on someone just because of their beliefs. It would go against everything that I have learned growing up. Not just as a Christian, but also as a human being as well.
I am curious to what others reading this will think. I am praying earnestly about this. I am trying to listen to God and hoping that it's not the devil planting something in my head. Please feel free to respond to this; I await your comments.
