Hit Home

Today's message at church today really hit home.  What would the movie be if one was made of my life story?

Right now, not a very interesting one or one that I would even want to go see.  I am just a regular "josey" with not much of a worth whiled life other than being a normal person living my life one day at a time and most of the time it is pretty boring.

So I thought, what can I do that would give it meaning for the reason why God made me and breathed life into my body. 

I decided to go on the internet at look at what I could do to help out others in need and found lots of volunteer opportunities. Food and soup kitchens, working with hospice, etc.  So I have decided that I want God to be proud of me and so something meaningful with my life.  I will be looking at joining one or more organizations and giving my free time to them to help others. 

I am so glad I went to church and Pastor John's message spoke so strongly to me.  I would have been so sad to go meet my maker and he ask me, "Okay Drue, what was your purpose of your life."  And the only answer I would have had would have been got married and raised two sons.

I told my hubby the other day that we don't do anything for fun anymore and that I didn't want us to reach retirement age and all we did was stay in the house and watch “sports”, etc.  I don’t have an interest in needing to have “material” things or any of that kind of stuff, but fun to me would be making my life have a purpose.  Maybe Pastor John's message today was God answering my question without me really asking it.  Maybe it is God's way of leading me in the direction he wants me to go for the rest of the years I have here on earth. 

Week Gone By

After the week has past from Pastor John's sermon on Saturday, it has been a wonderful week.  Had a long meeting on Wednesday and then more meetings on Thursday morning but ended Thursday with getting to go see Hannah's Parade of Costumes at her school.  Nothing brings more joy in your heart that seeing little ones having fun and showing off for their Mom's and Dad's. 

This Saturday is the last sermon on Red Letters and I can't wait.  I have throughly enjoyed each passing week of church and coming home afterwards only trying to fullfill my life with God's word.

Life is good only because of the grace of God.  Amen.

Matthew 7`

Well don't know what to really write about this weekends message on Matthew 7.  Why you say?  Because it kind of left me confused in a way.   Don't misunderstand me, I understood exactly what Pastor John was saying but then I ask myself, I am in a role in the HOA where I judge people almost daily.  Why aren't they following the rules, why aren't they paying their dues, why don't they keep up their yards, etc., and it put me in a place that I am just not sure of. 

If you are a parent, you judge your children in ways, if you are a grandparent or care giver, you judge your grandchildren or the children you care for, some call it discipline, whatever, you are judging that child because they are not doing what YOU YOURSELF feel is appropriate. 

"Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.  This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and prophets."

Well this is something that I have been taught all my life and try to live by on a daily basis.  However, I'm human, and tend to ask myself, "Why am I being treated this way?", when I didn't treat anyone that way.  Is this wrong or do we all tend to do that?  Instead of being hurt by being treated that way, I walk away and find other interests to keep my mind off of the hurt that it caused me, which also helps me in not being so judgmental.  However when we are being hurt and we look at how we are being hurt and how wrong we think it is, is that truly judging others?

I think I need more studying on this and can't wait to move on reading about what Jesus is really saying to me.  For one thing, I don't want to be judgmental of others and then go to heaven and be judged by being compared to Jesus for I would truly not come one decimal close to him.  For I know I am a sinner and sin every day of my life, however, I pray that God knows my heart and knows that I truly want to be a child of God that he can be proud of.

All this has been on my mind since leaving Saturday night.  I wanted to speak with Pastor John but he had several people around him and I had a friend with me, so we didn't stay afterwards.  I will have to pray very hard on this for Jesus to show me exactly what message I needed to receive this week.   I guess this shows me why I really wanted to get involved in a bible study group.  I still need to seek one out and get involved. 

Continuation of Book of Matthew

Tonight was our message in Matthew chapter 6 regarding the following:

1.      Helping/Giving - either by helping a neighbor such as mowing their yard or giving of your time to help.

a.       Motive - make sure your motive is of pure heart

b.      Audience - make sure your only audience is the Lord

2.      Prayer - make time to pray

a.       Motive - make sure your motive is of pure heart

b.      Audience - go to a room and pray between you and the Lord only - not out loud for everyone to hear

c.       Plan your prayer - plan what you want to pray on for each day of the week if praying daily, etc.

3.      Fasting - to align yourself with God

a.       Motive - get away from your norm whether it be giving up your TV time, music, etc. doesn't have to be  food and then use this time for prayer.

b.      Audience - don't go around and brag about what you are doing - have it only be between you and God

4.      Ownership

a.       Heart Test

b.      Eternal Perspective

5.      Trust

a.       Worry vs. Trust

b.      Priority

Making a commitment to each day of the week

Monday - need to help and give to someone in need on this day without telling everyone.
Tuesday - create a planned prayer for your life
Wednesday - Fast something either a meal or TV/media and use this time to read your bible or prayer
Thursday - take ownership - take something you own (not money) that is a importance to yourself or something you like and give it away
Friday - trust - think about something your aren't trusting God on and pray about it.

So I have made a commitment to my church to take ownership of all these things without saying what they are or needing to be recognized for them, it will only be between me and God so I will not be writing what I have decided to do or have done in fulfilling these commitments.

Love how Pastor John is taking the scriptures, explaining them so anyone and everyone can understand and then giving us a life lesson to take home to personalize them in our very own lives.

First Message from My heart to Your Heart

Yesterday was an all inspiring day for me at church, so much so, that I actually went back this morning to listen to the message again.  First was a scripture that our Worship Pastor, Aubrey read which made me realize how beautiful it is to be a believer in our Lord God and his son, Jesus.  Aubrey read out of his Message Bible Colossians 1:15-23, which is so beautifully written, it is like poetry to the ears.

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen.  We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created.  For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels, everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.  He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.  And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

He was supreme in the beginning and - leading the resurrection parade - he is supreme in the end.  From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone.  So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding.  Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe - people and things, animals and atoms - get properly fixed and fit together in vvibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.

You yourselves are a case study of what he does.  At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you go.  But now, by giving himself completely at the cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God's side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence.  You don't walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the message, careful not to be distracted and diverted.  There is not other Message - just this one.  Every creature under heaven gets the same Message.  I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message.

Then Pastor John started with his message from Matthew 5:17-48 - talking about Jesus wants all of us to follow the laws that God gave us, not committing murder, adultery, divorce, empty promises, loving your enemies but also to look at our heart.  It isn't just the matter of not committing the act but the matter of where your heart is.  If your heart is in the wrong place then you are just as guilty and the one that commits the act.  Don't have so much anger in your heart you want revenge, don't look at the opposite sex with lust that is also corrupt, don't divorce so easily with the paper, don't say anything you don't mean, don't hate the ones that do you wrong but love them - for it is harder to love your enemy than to love a friend - even evil people can do that.

So many things came to me at that moment.  I am not at all as good as God wants me to me and it is something I need to work on daily.  Love and blessings to all.