Welcome to Traces Space. So, when did YOU lose your churchiness? I know, dear Lord where is she going with this one? But seriously, is who we are, who we where then, when we chose to become followers of Jesus?
I was thinking about churchy people this morning, and yes I was being a little judgmental, but hey, it is what it is. I was thinking about a time when it was all about thinking I need to maintain a certain persona in order to fit in or even just belong, to be able to walk along my fellow believers. Yes the judgemental attitude, totally towards myself.
Years ago when I was a very young church goer, I believed in order to serve I had to involve myself in every activity that happened in the church. Now volunteering and serving are essential in your journey, but the guilt I felt when I wasn't able to attend or wasn't invited to attend became overwhelming, so then I became a slacker.
See everything we do should be done with a servants attitude, and I mean everything. It's hard in our church life, but in our world life to maintain a servants heart, and why? Because of our churchiness and well to be honest, the churchiness of others, or lack there of or too much.
So when did I lose mine? When I began to focus on the shortcomings of others and blaming them for my church issues, these issues are mine (last blog). But I was seeing person after person either walk away from serving, or running like a wild man. I was seeing the attitude like church, and creating my own attitude. Serving was becoming a chore, and serving should be a joy. The calling on my life was engaged in battle, and the only way to win, own it and repent.
Week after week I was grumbling more and more, not only over church stuff, but life in general stuff. Nothing was making me happy. The things I loved most or felt drawn to, were causing my heart to ache. I kept saying over and over, God is faithful and His Joy is my strength.
My journey was no longer on a smooth highway, but on a pothole inbeaded dirt path. God help me!
So then as usual, He began to.
Is it fixed? No, but it's in process.
This is what as I write this He is showing me. He does not want us to be churchy! He wants us to walk in fullness of Him. He wants us to find our place and claim it. He wants us to be completely whole, not to be full of holes, being holy is not taking on the appearance of a donut. His desire is that when we drench ourselves in His goodness and serve out our calling, that we accept that gift was created by Him and given to us from Him.
We are not capable and we're not designed by Him to be perfect, and it is not our job to identify or call out anyone else's churchiness! Read that twice! He will in His time take care of it!
With that said...Lord I bring my churchiness self righteousness attitude before You today! I am sorry for the attitudes that I have had towards others and well towards you. Lord forgive my grumbling heart, my heart full of jealousy and my heart that has desired to be anything different than who You have called me to be! Take me back to my willingness to serve You and to do it with Joy, and Lord for those who are right here with me... show them too! I love You Lord and am nothing without You, Amen!
Keep the faith and rediscover your joy!
See you next time.
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
What Do They Want From Us?
Welcome to Traces Space. What do they want from us? Someone recently in a conversation said that to me, I really had no answer, but jokenly said, Your soul. As usual when I come off with something like that it stirs something in me, and I got to thinking, what is it folks want from us, what is required, and what are we actually required to give.
We know who wants our soul, or at least we hope we do, and there is an adversary that is constantly coming to try to steal, kill and destroy it. This struggle begins the moment we are born, and it's sneaky and very clever. It reeks havoc in our lives by playing with our emotions, our health, our finances, anything that you have allowed to become your personal button pusher. While we pray that we can be strong, run the life race, have major faith, sometimes it feel like a person could spontaneously combust. Can I have a witness?
So recently stuff I could usually care less about has grated my soul. I can feel this self righteous anger building and honestly I believe it's making me physically ill. My tolerance for folks is very low, and areas where I have always felt confident have become weary. In all honesty, just by acknowledging this, I feel better, because my feelings are sinful. I have such conviction in this area of my life right now, and it's not from the accuser.
I think God is calling me out because He doesn't want me to be where I am right now. This is not who He is, because He doesn't like ugly, and hey, I'm being that!
If we are honest, recognizing it is where healing begins.
When we truly engage in walking the walk and talking the talk, transparency is not optional. You constantly have to come clean with God and accept His consequences. And while we may want to blame others for our thoughts or our actions, at the end of the day no one owns it but us. Ouch!
We can play the blame game, but our responses and actions that come forth need to be quickly analyzed, and prayerfully lead. See being reactional is nothing more than being careless, and when we are careless it leads to disaster.
It is so hard when we have been hurt, when our trust has been violated. It is so hard when it's not the first time it has happened, when you have found yourself constantly forgiving over and over, but who are we? We have been the recipient of that kind of forgiveness for 2000 years.
I am not trying to be holier than thou here. Honestly this is a jab at repentance. I need to come clean. So do you.
What do they want from us? It doesn't matter. Our accountability strictly belongs at the throne of God. Don't misunderstand that, it doesn't mean we are free to go rogue and not live up to standards in the work place or at home, we still have life stuff we have to do, but those things do not own us. We are not slaves to any one or anything, our freedom and redemption comes from Christ. He is the one who truly gives and takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
The Joy of the Lord is our strength! He is faithful and true. His words are not invalid, and His love infinite, His wisdom the same.
Instead of worrying so much about them, we need to focus more on Him and that which He wants from us.
Lord I come before you with a repentant heart. I am sorry for allowing it to become about me, I am sorry that others haven't mattered. I need to allow You to do Your job, You are much better at it than me. Restore my joy, and my trust. Protect me from my enemy's, and restore my faith and peace, because that comes from You. Amen!
So what do they want from us?
See you next time
We know who wants our soul, or at least we hope we do, and there is an adversary that is constantly coming to try to steal, kill and destroy it. This struggle begins the moment we are born, and it's sneaky and very clever. It reeks havoc in our lives by playing with our emotions, our health, our finances, anything that you have allowed to become your personal button pusher. While we pray that we can be strong, run the life race, have major faith, sometimes it feel like a person could spontaneously combust. Can I have a witness?
So recently stuff I could usually care less about has grated my soul. I can feel this self righteous anger building and honestly I believe it's making me physically ill. My tolerance for folks is very low, and areas where I have always felt confident have become weary. In all honesty, just by acknowledging this, I feel better, because my feelings are sinful. I have such conviction in this area of my life right now, and it's not from the accuser.
I think God is calling me out because He doesn't want me to be where I am right now. This is not who He is, because He doesn't like ugly, and hey, I'm being that!
If we are honest, recognizing it is where healing begins.
When we truly engage in walking the walk and talking the talk, transparency is not optional. You constantly have to come clean with God and accept His consequences. And while we may want to blame others for our thoughts or our actions, at the end of the day no one owns it but us. Ouch!
We can play the blame game, but our responses and actions that come forth need to be quickly analyzed, and prayerfully lead. See being reactional is nothing more than being careless, and when we are careless it leads to disaster.
It is so hard when we have been hurt, when our trust has been violated. It is so hard when it's not the first time it has happened, when you have found yourself constantly forgiving over and over, but who are we? We have been the recipient of that kind of forgiveness for 2000 years.
I am not trying to be holier than thou here. Honestly this is a jab at repentance. I need to come clean. So do you.
What do they want from us? It doesn't matter. Our accountability strictly belongs at the throne of God. Don't misunderstand that, it doesn't mean we are free to go rogue and not live up to standards in the work place or at home, we still have life stuff we have to do, but those things do not own us. We are not slaves to any one or anything, our freedom and redemption comes from Christ. He is the one who truly gives and takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
The Joy of the Lord is our strength! He is faithful and true. His words are not invalid, and His love infinite, His wisdom the same.
Instead of worrying so much about them, we need to focus more on Him and that which He wants from us.
Lord I come before you with a repentant heart. I am sorry for allowing it to become about me, I am sorry that others haven't mattered. I need to allow You to do Your job, You are much better at it than me. Restore my joy, and my trust. Protect me from my enemy's, and restore my faith and peace, because that comes from You. Amen!
So what do they want from us?
See you next time
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