Are you open?

By asking questions, there must be a willingness to hear the answer and go from there.

While reading, "Letters from a Skeptic", it is clear that although Ed (the skeptic father) has many questions and doubts, at least he is willing to step outside of his head (and heart) and take a chance by listening to his son, Greg. Throughout the book, Ed continues to ask questions, one right after the other. 

The correspondence of letters lasted from March 10, 1989 to November 22, 1991. Clearly, there was a willingness and persistence from both Ed and Greg during this discourse. Either one of them could have easily at some point said, "Okay, I'm tired of this. I can't think or talk about this anymore." Not that this was an easy task for both of them, it actually was tiring, but they didn't let that get in the way of this time for questions and growth.

In chapter 2 of Luke, we learn about Jesus' birth. Luke 2:15 tells us about the shepherds reactions to the angels' good news, "When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us so straight into Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."

The shepherds could have simply reacted out of fear and ignored the news, but instead, they wanted to go see for themselves. They could have even been skeptical and said, "That sure was some quack job...let's go make sure this really didn't happen." 

Instead, they were open and willing. They took a leap of faith by going and seeing the Son of God laying in a manger.

Just like the shepherds and Ed Boyd were open and willing, there comes a time for each and every one of us to have a willingness to believe. We can't reach a belief without being open to it. 

Asking questions can be hard, but being ready for the answers can even be harder. Sometimes we may have enough guts to ask the hard questions, but still find ourselves in a box that keeps us from being open to more possibilities.

Mary questioned how she could be the mother of Jesus while being a virgin.

The shepherds were willing to go see what the angels had told them. 

Although we weren't in the stable or out in the fields, we still have the opportunity to believe in the gift sent from God. 

Next post, we'll talk about what can be birthed from beliefs. 

Bible Reading Plan for this week: Ezekiel 31-48

"Life's messy. Clean it up!"

via

 

You know when you're cleaning the house and you just want to be done and relax, but there is this one stubborn spot of junk that just won't come off the counter or pan or whatever it is...

I hate that. Don't you?

 

You scrub and you scrub, and this piece of gunk just won't come up.

You soak it, you scrub up and down, side to side, and who knows, maybe you get so frustrated that you have to call out the big guy, Mr. Clean.

What looked like a small and menial task, became a seemingly unending and arduous effort.

How could something so small, grow to be something so challenging?

 

 Maybe it just had the right combination of crud to create a frustrating mess or maybe it's because we took too long to confront it.

I'm going to bet that it's most likely the latter or maybe a combination.

Instead of passing by and saying, "I'll do it later", it would make things easier to confront it quickly.

 

It reminds me of those moments in life where we know we should confront an issue, but we just put it off due to fear and uncertainty. Maybe we are facing difficulties in a relationship or maybe we are facing an issue within ourselves.

For me, I realize that my patience could use some working on, but to be honest, it's easier to push it aside rather than coming face to face with my issue.

The problem is, with every push, the gunk [issue] grows and hardens, making it even more difficult to get rid of.

 

Peter says in Acts 3:19, "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;" Repent in Greek is "metanoeo" which means "to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins." In order to change one's mind, he/she has to confront the issue first. I think confronting is the hardest part. Sometimes we may have to confront it often, in order for us to change and turn away from the sin.

 

Looking at that clump of gunk and saying "I'm gonna get rid of you!" can prevent us from getting deeper and deeper into a mess of problems. Sometimes persistence may be necessary. Sometimes looking at it from a different angle may help. Sometimes seeking help from others might be a good idea. Don't forget though, calling on the big guy, (not Mr. Clean) but God, can be the best thing we can do.

It may not be fun to scrub up gunk, but it's not worth it to ignore.

 Like the famous vacuum company, Bissell, says, "Life's messy. Clean it up!"

 

 This week our Bible reading is:

Lamentations 1-Ezekiel 15

 

 

 

My life as a woodpecker

This morning my mom and I sat out on our deck for our morning quiet time. The cold front came in so it was great weather for a hoodie and a big mug of coffee. I like sitting on the deck because it gets me out of the house and reminds me of the stillness and peace that God provides us through nature. It slows me down and removes me from all the craziness of life. It also reminds me how God has specifically designed everything in this world to work together for Him and through Him. Romans 11:36 says, "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things." I think it's important to get out of our houses, offices, and wherever that can take us away from the beauty of God's creation. So get outside for a little bit and enjoy God's creation!

While we were on the deck, we heard, "tap tap tap...tap tap tap." We looked around, through the trees and there we spotted the red-headed woodpecker . I've seen woodpeckers before, but I never really watched them longer than a couple seconds. This morning, however, was different. I kept hearing the "tap tap tap" and I couldn't focus on my reading. It was like the woodpecker wanted to get my attention or maybe I have a slight case of ADHD...who knows. Anyway, I turned my attention to the woodpecker who was determined to get his breakfast out of that tree. When you think of a woodpecker, what comes to mind first? Annoying? Loud? Determined? Well, as I watched him for awhile and realized that this is a creature of persistence. He would not stop pecking until he got his food. He was devoted. He was dedicated. He was persistent. So it made me think...

Am I devoted, dedicated, and persistent in my walk with Christ? Or do I peck for a little while and then give up? What about you?

Since my mom and I were out late for the TobyMac concert last night (which was awesome!!), we didn't make it to church but we watched church on a live podcast. It was funny because Pastor Gregg talked about how Christians called to be devoted to Christ, being consistent in growing in our faith. I automatically thought of the woodpecker being devoted to that tree full of bugs and worms. I knew then that I should blog about persistence and dedication!
Funny how God works, huh?

Pastor Gregg based his sermon on Acts 2:41-42. Acts 2:42 says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." This scriptures tells us that we should be devoted to learning, fellowship, and communion with the Lord.

• So how do we learn? We read the Bible, listen to teachers, and converse with others to get different perspectives. When we learn about God, we grow closer to Him.
• We should also be devoted to fellowship. Through fellowship, we have the opportunity to love and grow faith based relationships that will hold us accountable in growing in Christ.
• We should be devoted to being in communion with God, meaning in prayer, reading His Word, and participating in the Lord's Supper. When we do these things, the Holy Spirit intercedes and we are in communion with God. Our faith increases, as well as our love for God. What could be better than that?!

Psalm 37:5 says, "Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." When we dedicate ourselves to God, just like the woodpecker "tap tap tapping" at the tree, we will find promises and treasures. The woodpecker finds its food after persisting and we find what God wants for us. It could be new found talents or gifts. It could be new dreams and goals. Most importantly, when we persist and dedicate ourselves our faith increases. When we grab a hold of our faith, just like the woodpecker gets its food, we are energized to keep persisting! It's like a cycle! The main point is that we should be like the woodpecker, always dedicating ourselves to God and never giving up on Him because in Him we find life and we definitely don't want to miss out.

If you are following along with the read-your-bible-in-a-year plan, Sunday's are catch up day. So this week we read Matthew chapters 1-14.