Religious rules and regulations. Beautiful temples filled with lifeless laws, and hearts of stone.....
what has happened to God's house and the freedom He has given?
Is it any wonder Jesus spent his days outdoors -
breaking rules of what to do, when to do it and how it "should" be done?
He taught any time any where! Used everyday circumstances, settings and objects as prop for teaching about who he was and how his kingdom works. There was NEVER a certain time, place, specific mood or atmosphere demanded for him to be teaching/healing/reaching out/rescuing.
He walked under a tree- and there was Zacharia........In the town square Mary was accused and on the brink of being stoned.......He told Peter to "go fish" after he got cornered by the "two drachma" tax collectors.....Sitting watching the entrance to the temple he saw the little old woman giving all she had.......
Isn't that a wonderful change? There are no settings to be fulfilled for him to be there, no demand for certain behavior for him to pay attention. - But do I really live like that?
Do I have time for Jesus in my doings throughout my day, or is it more set up like office hours?
Mon-Fridays 6-7 am, Sat. (approx.) 7-8 am, Sundays; 10-11:30 am (sometimes till 12pm if the pastor keeps talking).
Isn't that religion? Like the unspoken rules of being quiet in church, somber faces, or putting on your best behavior - getting the dos and don'ts right - if you want God to pay you any attention, saying the right prayer, finding the words that evoke his presence, etc.?
When Jesus died, he created an open door policy into the holy of holies for me!
Do I offer the same for him?
What if He desired to talk to me while I was preppin' dinner? Or brushing my teeth? You might think this silly because I am exaggerating - but please consider this;
How small a perimeter have I created wherein God can reach me - where I am attuned to listening to/for him.
When I stand outside on a quiet evening in solitude, lifting my face to the sky and try to take in the expanse of the heaven, the layer upon layer of stars - do I then hear God speak? Do you?
I belong to a God that is above and beyond anything and everything - why oh, why would I put a limit on how, when and where to meet and interact with Him?
I would be missing out!
I could have a dialog or thought exchange going on off and on all day long with my maker -
I really could.
-b
Friday, July 20, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Memories are for remembering
Memories!
The heart is full of them - some good some bad, but there they are.
New ones are being made every day -some precious and beautiful worthy of being pulled out relived through thoughts and telling in the years to come - others are wished a vanishing act so complete that they'll never flash through the mind again.
As a family we have had countless laughs, as we re-live funny memories together in the recounting of them.
Reunions, it seems, are centered around not only catching up, but often re-living old memories, refreshing them when combined effort add details otherwise forgotten.
Memories - they can be powerful in their ability to either lift our hearts, give them wings to soar far above wind and worry, or bring with them a sadness, casting dark shadows that even the sun is unable to overcome.
Memories - to be re-told to bring laughter, tears, warning, encouragement, edification, bonding...
Memories - to be pulled out like a photo album, opened up by a sound, a smell, a picture, a
comment, a look-alike...
I have encountered people who soon give me the impression of living in the past - in the highlights of their lives; where they were successful at something, living a dream, - or the opposite; the dark, dried up well that somebody or something dropped them in, and there they went through the hardest time of their life.
One day this sentence fluttered through my thoughts:
Don't set up camp around memories!
- but....
I have some pretty amazing memories (as we all do!) - powerful victories, miracles of wedding, the birth of our daughter, the odds of meeting my wonderful husband, restored hope, a healed sense of self, and .... I could go on - wouldn't it be great to just stay in those? I do know this;
at times I set up camp and celebrated, but then stayed on instead of breaking camp as dawn broke.
The Israelites immediately came to mind, how God saved them from slavery through the River Jordan. When they have all crossed safely, God instructs Joshua to chose someone from each tribe, 12 in all, to go back into the dry riverbed and collect a big rock and with the 12 stones build a memorial.
Why? Really doesn't seem like this event would be something you'd forget very fast...
Josh 4:6 "that this might be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come; "what does those stones mean to you?", then you shall tell them..." God wanted them to make something tangible in memory of the miracle he just gave them - so they could tell their children about it.
And the next day - after the big celebration - they broke up camp and moved on, leaving the stone memorial behind! But ... - ".. they are there to this day" Joshua 4:9.
photo by; www.misskaylaphotography.com
So let's build memories - let's build memorials for some of them, like the victories, the miracles, - let's celebrate and give praise and glory to God.
But when dawn breaks - let's move on to build new ones!
-b
The heart is full of them - some good some bad, but there they are.
New ones are being made every day -some precious and beautiful worthy of being pulled out relived through thoughts and telling in the years to come - others are wished a vanishing act so complete that they'll never flash through the mind again.
As a family we have had countless laughs, as we re-live funny memories together in the recounting of them.
Reunions, it seems, are centered around not only catching up, but often re-living old memories, refreshing them when combined effort add details otherwise forgotten.
Memories - they can be powerful in their ability to either lift our hearts, give them wings to soar far above wind and worry, or bring with them a sadness, casting dark shadows that even the sun is unable to overcome.
Memories - to be re-told to bring laughter, tears, warning, encouragement, edification, bonding...
Memories - to be pulled out like a photo album, opened up by a sound, a smell, a picture, a
comment, a look-alike...
I have encountered people who soon give me the impression of living in the past - in the highlights of their lives; where they were successful at something, living a dream, - or the opposite; the dark, dried up well that somebody or something dropped them in, and there they went through the hardest time of their life.
One day this sentence fluttered through my thoughts:
Don't set up camp around memories!
- but....
I have some pretty amazing memories (as we all do!) - powerful victories, miracles of wedding, the birth of our daughter, the odds of meeting my wonderful husband, restored hope, a healed sense of self, and .... I could go on - wouldn't it be great to just stay in those? I do know this;
at times I set up camp and celebrated, but then stayed on instead of breaking camp as dawn broke.
The Israelites immediately came to mind, how God saved them from slavery through the River Jordan. When they have all crossed safely, God instructs Joshua to chose someone from each tribe, 12 in all, to go back into the dry riverbed and collect a big rock and with the 12 stones build a memorial.
Why? Really doesn't seem like this event would be something you'd forget very fast...
Josh 4:6 "that this might be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come; "what does those stones mean to you?", then you shall tell them..." God wanted them to make something tangible in memory of the miracle he just gave them - so they could tell their children about it.
And the next day - after the big celebration - they broke up camp and moved on, leaving the stone memorial behind! But ... - ".. they are there to this day" Joshua 4:9.
So let's build memories - let's build memorials for some of them, like the victories, the miracles, - let's celebrate and give praise and glory to God.
But when dawn breaks - let's move on to build new ones!
-b
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