Only One Life

The other day I was driving with the family I nanny for and we were very nearly hit head on by a truck at an intersection. It was coming straight towards us, if it had it us the mother and I who were sitting in the front seats would probably have died. Thankfully the Lord caused her to swerve to the side at just the right moment so that we were spared.
After this incident I started getting a lot of those thoughts about life and death. I thought "What if I had died? How would people remember me? What would they say in my eulogy?"
It's a very surreal thing, thinking about your own funeral. Everyone wants to be missed. To have made their mark on the world so much that when they're gone, people notice.
For me, I want people to look back and see a woman who lived her life fully for God. I want them to say I was filled with Him and His Spirit. I want them to say I helped everyone I could and showed Christ's love to all. My mom has a plaque on our kitchen wall that reads "Only one life twill soon be past only what's done for Christ will last!"
It's so true! You can have all the riches in the world during your life, everything you could every want, but if you have not lived for Christ it means nothing.
Instead of trying to better ourselves in the world's standards we should seek to further God's kingdom. A life lived for God will not be wasted or done in vain.
I'm reminded of those verses in James 4:
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ESV 


Life is so incredibly short, make it count. Live for Christ. 

Serving Others

Each person you meet is Jesus in disguise. -Mother Teresa


Well...I disagree and agree with this statement....it reminds me of the verses in Matthew 25.

Matthew 25:35-40:
"For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you

took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came

to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or

thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or

when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? And the King will answer and say to them.

'Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."


When we help others and serve them, Jesus says we are serving Him. So I agree with her that in a sense every person who needs help can be seen as Jesus, that we are doing it for Him and to Him. I just don't want to get to carried away and say it IS Jesus Christ. Because I know that my Jesus is in Heaven with my Father. :)

"You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving." - Amy Carmichael

Give me Your eyes Lord...

For those of you who do not know, I plan on becoming a missionary over seas in the future. I'm sure by now if you have read my posts you know this already but still, just in case.
I don't know why but at times I forget that I am already in a mission field. I don't have to travel very far to find people who are in need, whether it be physically or spiritually.
Think about it for a second. How many people have you seen today? How many of those people are strangers to you, people who may not know the slightest thing about Jesus Christ?
I thought of that myself today, in fact it was extremely convicting to me. I know for a fact that I do not witness to unbelievers as much as I should. I am scared of how people will react or nervous because I don't know the Bible inside and out...and what if I can't answer one of their questions?!
Really when it comes down to things I am so selfish and prideful. I don't want to step out of my comfort zone and plant seeds in the lives of others. Lately I have been in deep prayer with God asking Him to help me overcome this. It is definitely a bondage of sin that with God's help I need to break down. I only wish I would have realized it sooner.
Please excuse my generalities, but as a whole the American church is not one that is evangelizing very well. Most figure they've paid their dues to God as long as they go to church on Sundays. The evangelizing and witnessing is the job of the pastor or missionaries. You have to have a Bible degree or degree in Theology to tell others about Christ right?
It's a totally wrong, self-centered, unbiblical attitude! The Great Commission command from Jesus Christ was not just for those who are called into ministry but TO EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES AND IS A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST! Why do we have such a hard time remembering that?
It is almost painful for me to think of all the lost souls in this country, in my state, IN MY TOWN that believers are not reaching out to.
So why don't we witness?
I know for me that fear is a major factor. I'm afraid of what people will think. I don't want them to see me as stupid or weird. I am much more inclined to simply leave them be and go through the motions as a Christian.
Another factor would be that I am not living with my whole life centered around Christ.
I'm reminded of that song "Give me Your eyes" by Brandon Heath. It's such a powerful and awesome song, but yet so heavy and convicting.
Here's the lyrics, Think about them for a minute:

Looked down from a broken sky



Traced out by the city lights


My world from a mile high


Best seat in the house tonight




Touched down on the cold black tar


Hold on for the sudden stop


Breathe in the familiar shock


Of confusion and chaos




All those people going somewhere


Why have I never cared?




Give me your eyes for just one second


Give me your eyes so I can see


Everything that I keep missing


Give me your love for humanity




Give me your arms for the broken hearted


The ones that are far beyond my reach?


Give me your heart for the one's forgotten


Give me your eyes so I can see


Yeah yeah yeah yeah




Step out on a busy street


See a girl and our eyes meet


Does her best to smile at me


To hide what's underneath


There's a man just to her right



Black suit and a bright red tie


Too ashamed to tell his wife


He's out of work he's buying time




All those people going somewhere


Why have I never cared?




Give me your eyes for just one second


Give me your eyes so I can see


Everything that I keep missing


Give me your love for humanity




Give me your arms for the broken hearted


The ones that are far beyond my reach?


Give me your heart for the one's forgotten


Give me your eyes so I can see

 
Our problem is that we don't see the world as Jesus did. The people of this world are so lost with no way to find salvation on their own. It breaks my heart when I hear the percentages of the amount of people dying everyday. Did you know that there are over 150,000 deaths every day? I can't even wrap my mind around that.
I wish I could say that just because you get convicted means you're going to do something about it. That's one of my problems, I can feel so strongly and yet never be willing to do anything. I want to change that though. I want to be committed to sharing the gospel. Won't you? You don't know what the future holds, maybe you will be one of the 150,000. Won't you allow God to work through you and bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ?
 
Luke 10:2 "He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Galations 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

He sees you when you're sleeping...He knows when you're awake...

I've been thinking a lot this week. What I say in this post may make you angry I don't know. I'll say it anyway though. I really hate Santa.
Why?
There are quite a number of reasons why I do not like the figure of Santa Claus. I understand that the original Santa or "Saint Nick" was a good person trying to do good. However, I have several problems with the Santa that is now portrayed basically in every holiday decoration, wrapping paper, toys etc..

1. First and foremost...Santa is a replacement for Jesus Christ.  Don't tell me no. He is, Santa has caused children and parents to forget the real meaning of Christmas.

I'd have to say this is disturbing to me ^ It shows what I feel though. Did Santa Claus ever give his life for mankind? Was Santa perfect?
Santa has taken the place of the Christ child in Christmas. Nowadays with everyone being politcally correct and no religion allowed to be spoken of, we have forgotten the reason why we celebrate!
What a sad state our country is in, where instead of calling it Christmas break it is Winter break.

2. Telling your kids that Santa is real is lying. Sugar coat it if you want, it's lying, plain and simple. It is not a great trust builder lying to your kids. You may think it's just innocent but I know if I were lied to from birth to about 9 or 10, I would wonder if my parents had lied or were lying about other things as well.

3. Santa Claus is all about greed and wanting more. This mentality of always wanting the best and more is not good. It is raising a generation that always wants more stuff and feels like it should be handed to them on a silver platter. Seriously, all you have to do to get whatever you want is just write a list and send to some guy in the middle of no where? Too easy!

Well, I could write more but I won't. I feel that Santa is not a good model of Christmas and that as Christians we should not allow him to take the place of Jesus Christ.
Truly only Jesus could live a sinless life, die on a cross and yet raise again 3 days later, take away the sins of the world, and yet want to have a relationship with us.
I thought of that one song about Santa Claus where it says "He sees you when you're sleeping...He knows when you're awake..He knows if you've been bad or good...so be good for goodness sake!"
Only God knows that, not some fictional man with a list.
As Psalm 139:1-3 says: "1 You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways."
Remember the true meaning of Christmas. Not the gifts, Santa, or shopping. Jesus Christ.

Luke 2:6-20:
6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.


8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

When I survey the wondrous cross...

Last night as I was practicing my song for church (When I survey) all of a sudden I felt the need to sing another song, "The Via Dolorosa". As I was singing this song I started paying more attention to the words and then it hit me. Jesus Christ knew before He even came down upon this earth exactly what was going to happen. He KNEW he would be betrayed, beaten, and killed but yet He STILL came to save wretched sinners like you and I. So as I sat there and sang, tears streamed down my face not only for what Christ had done but how. If you have not heard the song before the song is about Jesus walking down the "road of suffering" to be put death upon the cross. I wanted to write down some of the lyrics:
Down the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem that day
The soldiers tried to clear the narrow street
But the crowd pressed in to see
The Man condemned to die on Calvary

He was bleeding from a beating, there were stripes upon His back
And He wore a crown of thorns upon His head
And He bore with every step
The scorn of those who cried out for His death

Down the Via Dolorosa called the way of suffering
Like a lamb came the Messiah, Christ the King,
But He chose to walk that road out of
His love for you and me.
Down the Via Dolorosa, all the way to Calvary.



Can you even imagine doing something like that? But it didn't end there did it?