For the past few years, I have taught three and four year old choir on Wednesday nights at my Church. I got the utmost joy from teaching the little ones! I came home with some of the best stories every week!
One particular week as I was greeting the children as they came in the room, this one little girl caught my eye. I did a double take and there was little miss Anna Caroline in cowboy boots and a pink tutu. I snickered just a little bit and grinned at her and told her I loved her outfit! I truly did love her outfit!
As I watched Anna throughout the class my mind began to wander. As I watched Anna play with her friends and baby dolls, I thought to myself, what if we expressed our love for Christ and shared with others that love like Anna expressed her personality through what she was wearing?
Matthew 28:19-20 says "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surly I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
This verse calls us to go out make disciples. As believers in Christ that what we are supposed to do. But all too often don't we find ourselves not living out the great commission? I know for me I find it hard sometimes to express my love for Christ and live it out in every single task that I do during the day. Sometimes I am afraid to take that step and share Christ with others.
I am gonna jump out on a limb here and say that I think there are many believers that are afraid to take that step and share their faith because they are afraid of what others will think and say about them. Do you find yourself in that place? Afraid to share the word of God?
What a huge lesson I learned from Anna that night! Just as Anna was not afraid to wear cowboy boots and a pink tutu, I want to not be afraid to tell others about Christ.
So why don't we all put on our cowboy boots and pink tutu and share Christ!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Missing Pieces Box
Growing up my brothers and I tended to loose pieces to games, puzzles, and other nic-nacs. So when we wanted to play a board game such as monopoly it never ceased to fail that one of the houses would be missing, the dice would be missing, or something else that you needed to play the game would not be there. So my mom made what we called the "Missing Pieces Box" so that when we would find that lost piece we would have a place to put the pieces.
While cleaning out our game closet a while back, I happened upon that missing pieces box. I opened it up and rummaging through it I found a piece to the game trouble, a lego, a piece to a Dr. Seuss game, puzzle pieces to puzzles I forgot we even had, and there was an array of other things in the box. As I was sifting through the box I was trying to figure out what pieces went to what game. There were so many pieces that it became overwhelming to figure out what was what! I had to close the lid and put the box back for a later date.
Sifting through all those missing pieces made me think of the story in Luke 15 where the woman lost her coin and she searched and searched and searched for that one lost coin and when she found it she rejoiced because she found her one lost coin. Or the other story in Luke 15 about the lost son who wanted his inheritance now and then when it was gone he came back home and his father rejoiced when his son came home!
That is the same kind of joy that Christ has when one of his people come back to him. Many times in life we go off the beaten path and we decide to go our own way and decide that our way is better than His way. Just like the woman who searched and searched for her lost coin, Christ searches for us when we are lost too. Sometimes we don't want to be want to be found because we are happy and content buried deep in our own missing pieces box. But because Christ loves us so much, he won't quit sifting through that missing pieces box until he finds us.
Christ us wants us to be one with him and follow him, so when we go our own way he searches for us and when we come back to him, he celebrates just like the father did in Luke 15 when his son came home.
Just like I would have been excited about finding that one missing trouble piece or that puzzle piece, Christ gets excited when one of his sheep come back to him.
Luke 15:32 " But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."
While cleaning out our game closet a while back, I happened upon that missing pieces box. I opened it up and rummaging through it I found a piece to the game trouble, a lego, a piece to a Dr. Seuss game, puzzle pieces to puzzles I forgot we even had, and there was an array of other things in the box. As I was sifting through the box I was trying to figure out what pieces went to what game. There were so many pieces that it became overwhelming to figure out what was what! I had to close the lid and put the box back for a later date.
Sifting through all those missing pieces made me think of the story in Luke 15 where the woman lost her coin and she searched and searched and searched for that one lost coin and when she found it she rejoiced because she found her one lost coin. Or the other story in Luke 15 about the lost son who wanted his inheritance now and then when it was gone he came back home and his father rejoiced when his son came home!
That is the same kind of joy that Christ has when one of his people come back to him. Many times in life we go off the beaten path and we decide to go our own way and decide that our way is better than His way. Just like the woman who searched and searched for her lost coin, Christ searches for us when we are lost too. Sometimes we don't want to be want to be found because we are happy and content buried deep in our own missing pieces box. But because Christ loves us so much, he won't quit sifting through that missing pieces box until he finds us.
Christ us wants us to be one with him and follow him, so when we go our own way he searches for us and when we come back to him, he celebrates just like the father did in Luke 15 when his son came home.
Just like I would have been excited about finding that one missing trouble piece or that puzzle piece, Christ gets excited when one of his sheep come back to him.
Luke 15:32 " But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."
Dented, Bruised, and Sometimes Busted
I love getting a good deal, especially on a high ticket item. But who doesn't?
Many times stores will discount an item when the packaging is damaged or you see a discount bin when you walk through a store that has items in there that are just missing a label, or the box may be just cut open on the side.
Sometimes life gives us the unexpected. Lessons that knock us to our knees and bruise, dent, or even bust us open in some way. When that happens sometimes we let it remove the label of who we are in Christ. A mother looses her only child it takes away her role as a mother. A divorce can take away the role of a mother or father. When things like that happen in our lives we feel as though we are that discounted item just thrown into the discount bin. With all the dents and bruises that we receive in life, we tend to begin to believe the lie of the devil that we are not good enough and we are no longer worthy to stand before our God.
We all have been damaged in some sort of way. As young children we all dream of what we want to be like as we grow up and when we fail to live up to our own expectations or someone else's expectations, we feel like that item tossed into the discount bin. How often do we look at those items in the discount bin and judge them because of the type of damage it has or because of the missing label. I know that I have done that all too often. How often do we look at others and are quick to judge them and throw them into the "discount bin"? I dare say that we all have been quick to judge someone without really knowing the story.
Sometimes, we end up in that discount bin with all the other busted and damaged items. But, we have hope! We have hope in Jesus who paid the price for our sins and for all of our dents, bruises, and damages. Psalm 34:18 says, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." That verse provides hope for us that the Lord is always going to be close and near to us even when we feel as though we have been thrown into the discount bin.
Are there people in your life that think they are the damaged good that was thrown into the discount bin? Take some time and pray for them and reach out to them and give them the chance to be taken out of the discount bin and show them the love of Jesus and that he is close to those who are broken and he will restore us and repair our brokenness and take us out of the discount bin and give us a new label.
Many times stores will discount an item when the packaging is damaged or you see a discount bin when you walk through a store that has items in there that are just missing a label, or the box may be just cut open on the side.
Sometimes life gives us the unexpected. Lessons that knock us to our knees and bruise, dent, or even bust us open in some way. When that happens sometimes we let it remove the label of who we are in Christ. A mother looses her only child it takes away her role as a mother. A divorce can take away the role of a mother or father. When things like that happen in our lives we feel as though we are that discounted item just thrown into the discount bin. With all the dents and bruises that we receive in life, we tend to begin to believe the lie of the devil that we are not good enough and we are no longer worthy to stand before our God.
We all have been damaged in some sort of way. As young children we all dream of what we want to be like as we grow up and when we fail to live up to our own expectations or someone else's expectations, we feel like that item tossed into the discount bin. How often do we look at those items in the discount bin and judge them because of the type of damage it has or because of the missing label. I know that I have done that all too often. How often do we look at others and are quick to judge them and throw them into the "discount bin"? I dare say that we all have been quick to judge someone without really knowing the story.
Sometimes, we end up in that discount bin with all the other busted and damaged items. But, we have hope! We have hope in Jesus who paid the price for our sins and for all of our dents, bruises, and damages. Psalm 34:18 says, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." That verse provides hope for us that the Lord is always going to be close and near to us even when we feel as though we have been thrown into the discount bin.
Are there people in your life that think they are the damaged good that was thrown into the discount bin? Take some time and pray for them and reach out to them and give them the chance to be taken out of the discount bin and show them the love of Jesus and that he is close to those who are broken and he will restore us and repair our brokenness and take us out of the discount bin and give us a new label.
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