Great Day

Cottonwood is a church that is a bit unusual. We make plans, but we are also flexible. Today was one of those days when a few unusual things happened, and it was glorious.
We have been involved in prison ministry for several years. In 2008, a man from prison asked if he could join the church. He appreciated that the pastor came to speak every month, and other men went in with him, and he just wanted to be a part of the church. Pastor Mike told us about John, and showed us his picture. We all rejoiced and welcomed him as a new member of Cottonwood, but we never met him or heard about him again. John was moved into another facility shortly after that.
Today, he and his wife walked into the church and sat down on the second row. John has been out of prison for 6 months, living in Ft Worth with is wife. At the end of the service, Mike introduced John and told the story of how he joined the church in 2008. John said he served 7300 days, and had always wondered if he would ever walk through the doors of Cottonwood. It was such a special time. We once again rejoiced and affirmed him. Mike had John and his wife stand at the front so that we could all greet them.
I invited them to go to lunch with us and we had a great time. John's wife tearfully said that it was such a good day. She rarely feels that they can openly share about John's background, and it was such a relief to let down their guard and be completely accepted. I am so grateful to be a part of a church that would accept welcome anyone who loves the Lord, regardless of their past or their problems.

Let it Go

Yesterday's post was pretty theological. Today is practical.
God has been speaking to me the last few weeks. He has been saying, "Let it go."
I have not seen Frozen. I haven't even heard the full song, Let it Go. But, I know that God has been speaking those words to me a lot recently. He means the same thing as "Die to self", but it sounds more pleasant.
When I have the opportunity to be offended, God says, "Let it go." When I start to get angry, God says, "Let it go." When thoughts of worry or anxiety come, God is saying, "Let it go." I have learned that there is much freedom and joy in choosing to just let things go.
Choosing to let things go is a step of trust. I am saying that I trust God enough to let Him handle things.
Recently, I felt that I had been misunderstood in a big way, judged by what someone thought I would think without ever asking me. There was a part of me that wanted to defend and explain, but God spoke those words, "Let it go." God told me to stop the mental explanations, to stop formulating a defense. As I chose His way, I found joy, and peace, and freedom.

Denying Self, and Finding Joy

Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Luke 9:23-24 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

Jesus said that His followers were to deny themselves. Deny-disown, reject, disavow

In Luke 9:24, Jesus said that his follower should not fight to save his life, but be willing to lay his life down. The Greek word for life there is –psuche, which is the mind, soul, person, inside, not physical life.

God is saying die. Die to all you think you want, and trust Me.

We think that we have certain rights. We feel that we deserve a certain kind of treatment.  We expect that we will have certain things, a certain life-style. When we don’t experience the life that we think we deserve or have the right to have, we become angry, or hurt, or sad, depressed, unhappy, disappointed.

Basically, it is all a matter of trust. Do I trust God to care for my soul, to meet all of my needs, to be the fulfillment of all of my desires?

God is calling us to surrender-a surrender that is final, so much that we would not lift our heads in defense or protest.

Jesus said, follow me, and live just as I live.

Php 2:4-8  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus lived his life willing to fully obey the father, whatever that meant, becoming a servant, even dying. Jesus is God. He chose to lay down His rights. He chose to be misunderstood by the world to the point of being brutally killed. And He is still God.

Jesus calls us to live the same kind of life.

He is saying, “You know me, you know how I lived”. You do the same. I’ll help you and fill you. I will show you when and where to lay down your rights. Let’s start with your life, your expectations, your money, your family’s approval, your right to a family, your right to be successful, your right to have the things that you need. If you die to all of this, Jesus says, I will do things greater than you ever hoped, dreamed, or imagined. It may not be in this life.  We may not see our dreams fulfilled in this life, but there will be a day when everything is right, and good, and beautiful.                                                                                                                                                                              

How is this practical? When and how are we to die?

1.       Our dreams. Children dream. And that is not bad. It is good to have dreams. As a child, what kind of life did you dream of? Are you living that dream? Does the loss of that dream cause you to be unhappy, unsettled, or discontent?

2.       Our rights. We think that we have, as our constitution says, certain inalienable rights; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What are some rights that you believe you have?

How do you react when you feel that your rights are violated?

3.       Our pride. This is the source of so much trouble. I do not like to be corrected, especially over really trivial things. Why? Pride. When I am spoken to disrespectfully, I become offended. Why? Pride. Sometimes pride looks like humility. Why would we not want to say or do something that we think would embarrass us? Pride. What are the areas where pride causes problems in your life?

4.       Our beliefs. Not the foundational truths of the Bible. But the things we believe because that is what we have always believed, what our parents taught us, what we learned in Sunday school, sometimes just what we made up in our own minds. We are often quick to shut someone out who says something we disagree with. What beliefs are you holding onto when God may be teaching you a new truth?

5.       Our traditions. We love our traditions, and that is ok, unless we hold them too tightly. If we get angry or hurt when our traditions are questioned, then we need to die to them. What traditions are so important to you that you are willing to fight over them?

6.       Our desires. We want things. Some of those are good. We want healthy relationships. We want spouses. We want children. We want a job. We want a decent place to live. Sometimes we want a bigger house, a better spouse, a new car. Our wants tend to escalate. It is human nature to always want something more, something better, and something bigger. Eventually, we have to die to our desires. Even sometimes those good, basic desires. We may have to say, I want a spouse, but God has not provided one, so, until and unless God works in that area, I am willing to just let that go.  What desires do you have in your life that you need to lay down? Are you unhappy or not content because you don’t have something that you desire?

Jesus wants our dignity to come from Him. He wants to be the fulfillment of every desire we have. He wants to teach us and lead us. Christ willingly lay down His life, and nothing was taken from Him that He did not willingly give, even His life on the cross. There is strength and intention in humility. Whatever attack or injustice I might perceive, however slow the grocery lines or however false some slander, letting it wash over me without a fight, looking past my offender and at my God, is radical but the most powerful path to freedom.

Freedom is found in:

Allowing God to defend me, even if that means I don’t see it until heaven.

Accepting that life is not right and fair now, but it will be.

Loving instead of defending or fearing or entitlement.

Embracing my faults, rather than proving my point.

Releasing other’s perceptions and understandings of me, and holding on to God’s, since He knows my heart.

Embracing the death of my rights and desires, and receiving His will for me.

Jesus said we are to take up our cross and follow Him. We have no literal crosses. We don’t carry around crosses. A cross doesn’t represent suffering. A cross represents death. The point of the cross was death. Jesus calls us to die.

Why would I choose to die? Because life is not about me. Because this world is not my home. Because I’m tired of defending myself, and because the God of the Universe is my defender. Because it is through this death that I experience true life. Jesus said that He came to give us abundant life. We experience that life when we are willing to die. That is the path to real life, real joy, and real peace.

It boils down to trust. Can I let go of all my dreams, desires, ambitions, needs, my rights, my dearly held beliefs that might not be true…can I let go of all of that and trust that God is better, His way is better? Can I trust Him to fulfill my deepest needs for fulfillment, for affirmation, for deep heart joy and peace?

If I fully trust my God to meet my every need, then I can lay down my life to His care. 

Spring Retreat "Uniquely Designed"

Our annual ladies retreat was a great success. I am so grateful for the weekend. God worked things out in His own way, and we were blessed by His presence and His speaking. The title for the weekend was Uniquely Designed. 
                                  

I prayed and searched the dictionary long for the right title for this retreat.

Unique-   used to say that something or someone is unlike anything or anyone else; very special or unusual; belonging to or connected with only one particular thing, place, or person

Design-  to plan and make decisions about (something that is being built or created)   to plan and make (something) for a specific use or purpose

I had the vision over a year ago, that we would have a time for women to share their stories, Christian women, serious Christ followers who are living that out in different ways.

Within the realm of good, not sinful, but life choices, I know that for every decision that I might make, ever choice that I have, there is someone, another dear Christian who would make the opposite choice. I have seen that we have a hard time with that. It just seems that there should be one right way, and that would be my way.

As I have read the Bible many times, I have seen that God is very flexible. He is also somewhat unpredictable. He never changes in His character. He is compassionate, loving, kind, merciful, holy, righteous, faithful, forgiving…  He never changes in His character.

But, if you read the Bible, you can see that the way He chooses to work varies a whole lot.

When the Israelites were at the Red sea, with the Egyptians coming, God said, Be still and know that I am God, then he parted the sea for them to cross.

When the Israelites stood at the Jordan river, ready to go into the good land, God said, tell the priests to walk into the raging, flooded river. After they were in the river, God stopped the river up stream, and it took a while for the flood to stop.

When God decided to speak to Moses, he chose to speak in the midst of a bush that was on fire. When God wanted to speak to the prophet Balaam, he gave a voice to the donkey and let him do the talking. I’m not making this stuff up.

God sometimes told His people, This is not your battle, just stay still and watch. Other times, He said, Do not be afraid, go into battle and fight, because I am with you.

When the Israelites entered the Promised land, the first city they came to was Jericho. How many know how that battle was fought?  God told them to march around the city every day for 7 days, then, on the last day, march around it 7 times, then blow the trumpets and yell. The walls fell and they took the city. Do you know that they never used that method again????  It worked once, why wouldn’t they use it on every city? You know I could go on and on giving examples. 

Then, come to the New Testament. Jesus healed a lot of people. Sometimes he touched them, sometimes, they reached out and touched him. Sometimes they begged to be healed, sometimes they didn’t even ask, Jesus went to them and worked a miracle. Some blind men were healed by a word, sometimes by a touch. I feel bad for the guy that Jesus made mud with his spit, and put it on the poor guys eyes, and told him to go wash them.  Jesus was NOT predictable.  He was unique and treated each person as a unique individual.

Why do we expect that He would tell us all to do the same thing, to be the same person?

We know that in 1 Cor 12 Paul says that the church is the body of Christ, made of many members with different gifts, different work to do, different ways of working.

^"14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts,^[e] yet one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ^24be which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵ that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together."

Look at my body, every part is so different. Even the body parts that come in pairs, those pairs are not exactly the same.  Look at your thumbs. Are they exactly the same? Mine are not.  One thumb is a little defective, has a joint that sticks out. But I still like that thumb. And it still works quite well. In fact, I like all of my body parts. My favorite body part may be my eyes. I really like eyes. I like that because of my eyes, I can see. Eyes are also pretty. They are the only body part that come in different colors, which is really cool. But, I don’t want to trade in all my other body parts to have more eyes. That’s creepy to even think about. I want my 2 eyes, but also, my 2 ears, my feet and legs. Each body part is very important to me. That is how God feels about each one of us.

This is not just a spiritual truth. This is the reality of the church. God created us soooo very different. Jesus prayed for oneness, that we would love each other and not be divided, but have a true unity. That doesn’t mean all be the same. That means accepting each other and our differences. That means esteeming one another. That means having respect for each person and not dismissing their views or their ways of doing things, thinking that someone different must be wrong.

We see things differently, based on the way our brains operate, due to our individual DNA, based on our past experiences which are completely individual, based on our parents, based on past teaching. Sometimes, I hear a teacher speak about a verse, and I am so surprised, because I never saw it that way, it is totally new to me to see it like that. But it is not just Bible teaching, it is life choices, calling, life styles. Every choice I make, someone in the room will take a different approach. Can I be ok with that?

Can we esteem each other so much that we can trust our choices, trust that each of us is maybe hearing from God, and that he is telling us different things, because He knows us each so well, and has specific and unique plans for each of us?

There is an interesting story at the very end of Jesus time on earth, recorded in John.  Jesus has died and come back to life, and had a few conversations with his followers. In John 21, Jesus speaks to Peter, telling him, Peter, if you love me, then take care of my people. Jesus then tells Peter that there will come a time when he is old that he will suffer as a follower of Jesus. Peter was ok with that, but asked, Jesus, what about my friend John, what will happen to him?  Jesus said, “If it is my will that he remain until I come back, what is that to you? YOU follow me.” 

These are the last recorded words of Jesus in the gospels. Matt, Mark, and Luke end with Jesus telling his followers to go and spread the word of his death and resurrection. John ends his story with Jesus telling one unique follower to just follow Him, and not worry about what anyone else is doing. The final word from the stories of Jesus. That must be important. Jesus calls us each to follow Him. And he doesn’t want us to worry about what other people are doing. We are to hear his voice and follow him.