Prayer like water

Understand this, prayer is a duty. It isn't really something that you can lack and have a decent relationship with God. When we don't take time to pray, even when it's praying for a specific thing, we are unable to grow deeper with God. I truly mean unable. You can read your Bible every day, visit every church service you can but without prayer you can only grow so far. You are a seed, the church is the soil and the Bible is our leaves, but prayer is like the water that causes the plant to push through the soil so that its leaves can take in the Son. Without the Son we are dead... period. Get yourself a-prayin' don't let the Word of God become like withered leaves to you; don't let church services become nothing but parched soil. Tonight I will be praying my friends. God tells us to pray one for another (James 5:16). Let us all pray one for another that we may be healed and lifted up (that is encouraged; don't pray for people to become prideful haha) God wants to hear our petitions and honors our prayers for each other.

Prayed Edges

Last night was kinda a struggle, I'm pretty sure I fell asleep for half of the half-hour of praying haha. Tonight I'm going to be praying for the pastoral staff at Cornerstone. They do so much for us as students and "sheep" (Christianese for people who go to church). They're under a lot of pressure and time strain (something I've learned working in the office all of the time). They need our prayer support, heck they need our support in general. They need a pat on the shoulder, so to speak, ya know, an encouraging word. Say thanks, and for goodness' sake realize that they are your leaders not some peer you can disrespect and toss aside. Please remember that next time you think you have a right to be offended.

Cutting Me Down

As I am coming to the end of the three month challenge to be less sarcastic and cutting with my words, I have come to realize that sarcasm is such a complex thing. Firstly, there are two different forms of sarcasm. There is the form of sarcasm where one is witty and use it in neutral situations to get a point across; then there is the form where one cuts down others with insults all dressed in suits and floor length gowns. The reality of our generation is that sarcasm is almost always used to insult each other. We tend to cut each other down and hide behind, "Well, I was just kidding", or "Why are you getting so upset?". I think many of us have lost the ability to be honest, because of sarcasm.

Think about it. When someone, usually a friend, of course, but not always, asks us how they look many people might snap off with, "ugly", "stupid", or whatever other thing that means the opposite of what we actually think. We follow it up with a haha and a just kidding, and then we call it good. Or when someone legitimately makes a mistake and we pipe up with "way to go smart one". They already feel bad for whatever the mistake was, and now, on top of it all, they have someone insulting them and dressing it up all pretty. Despite what we may think, this is cutting, it may seem to blow over easily enough but its still a gash left in the soul. It shatters confidence, both in ourselves and in those who do it to us. Sarcasm leaves wounds.

So how do we break out of sarcasm? Well, I think we start with being honest. We need to realize that we do live a sarcastic life. We also need to become aware of the fact that it really does hurt people. When we begin to realize how much we are unknowingly hurting people, well it becomes a lot harder to do it. Once you know how much you are hurting people, you have to make a choice to either knowingly hurt them with your sarcasm, or just stop using sarcasm. This was made real to me when this whole challenge was birthed. I had unknowingly been damaging my partner, Sarah. I had made sarcastic comments and some comments that I spoke to others out of frustration, and I hurt Sarah a lot. We had to have a mediator sit with us to help us resolve the conflict that had been sown.

The second key is accountability. During my challenge I have had people keeping me accountable. If I am caught being sarcastic or negative toward someone, I have to do push-ups as a consequences. When I first started I had to do a lot of push-ups and with some of the other things I have to do as an intern it could be quite taxing at times. Of course this consequence may not be for everyone, you might need something more drastic or something less physical to sort of motivate us to stop. I remember one of my mentors and confidants told about someone that he would literally punch in the head when he stumbled in an area of his life. Jesus told his disciples that if their right hand causes them to sin, cut it off (Matthew 5:30). Hopefully most of us wont need such drastic measures, but it gets the point across. Jesus was basically saying whatever it takes to stop sinning, do it. The phrase cut off is written as a command, it gives the sense of do it now, and do it once and for all. The first step to cutting off any bad habit is repentance; the second and equally important step is to have accountability.

I said in my introduction that sarcasm has left many of us unable to be honest. I think our society at times drives us to be sarcastic to diffuse uncomfortable situations. Men starting as boys are unable to tell a girl she's pretty, especially if she asks them. Instead they respond with no's or more hurtful things like, "No, you're gross". When they do become men they are stunted with sarcasm that even when they want to be real they can not because of habits formed in the past. Another example of honesty-lost is the inability to resolve conflicts because of sarcastic, cutting responses. Instead of just explaining how we feel we respond with things like, "well, I guess I'm just not good enough." which is neither true nor fair to the person receiving that kind of comment. -- I wanted to close with this idea of the dishonest root planted by sarcasm. Cutting and sarcastic talk will destroy friendships, it will create rejection in your family; whether you're at home with parents, a newly-wed, or a parent beware of the effects of sarcasm. You do not gain anything from sarcasm, so cut it out, before it cuts you down.

Life Without Sarcasm

                I am a very sarcastic person; it is how my family has joked all my life.  I have been challenged to not be sarcastic or negative for the next three months.  It has been in a word:

Difficult

                It is very hard to completely change the way you communicate.  My friends have me do push-ups whenever I say something sarcastic or negative.  I’m pretty sure I am going to be more muscular by the end of the three months…  Whenever I am at my internship it tends to be a lot easier than when I am at work.  At work there is no real accountability, and if there were I could not exactly just stop in the middle of the deli (I work at Kroger deli) and start doing push-ups.

Hope

                I hope that this experience grows me, and helps me to have real conversations with people.  I want to come out of this experience with a better foundation for relationships.

Road Signs

STOP! Look at this picture... Take it all in.  Think about what you see. How would you react to these signs?

Now if you ignored the opening of this post you will probably be pretty confused at first by its contents.  There are signs when driving that warn us to stop; or to be ready to stop.  Now, that being said, of course, there are the same type of signs in life.  If you ignored the warning sign in the picture, and then ignored the railroad crossing sign further down,  you might not stop at the tracks ahead.  You might be okay this time, but if you keep doing it you might find yourself driving over those tracks for the last time.  Am I blowing this out of proportion? Maybe.  But the reality is, if we don't pay attention to stop signs or street lights we're likely to have major accidents.

In life, God gives us many warning signs.  Sometimes they warn us to wait and see (like a four-way stop), others warn us of dead ends.  So often we ignore these signs, either through simple ignorance or out of straight off rebellion, not realizing that these signs are here for our protection.  Now, many of these signs are written out plain and simple in scriptures.

Romans 12:2

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 

Here Paul tells us to stop, get off the popular route and take God's way.  Why?  Well to be blunt about it, the popular road will end in the greatest wreck of all time.  If we change to God's road we will be rescued from the multiple-car pile-up called Hell.  Jesus tells us the same thing in Matthew 7:13-14:

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

This is probably the second largest sign in scriptures.  It is a warning sign, it screams out CAUTION!, YIELD!, LANE ENDS!  Do not ignore this sign!  Take the next exit at Calvary.  

The largest sign God gives us in all of history and all of scripture is that of open arms, the cross, and an empty tomb.  It is both a stop light and a green light.  

Isaiah 43:19

19 See, I am doing a new thing!    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?I am making a way in the wilderness    and streams in the wasteland.

 John 14:6

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus' death on the cross was a stop sign;  Isaiah 43:19 implores you to stop and look.  "Look at what I am doing! I am dying the death you deserve; receiving the punishment that should be upon you.  I am making a path through the wilderness and streams of life through the wasteland."  His open arms on the cross invite us to come and behold Him.  And then the empty tomb he left behind says, "Look and see I have defeated death; I am the life, I am the way, and I am the truth.  You cannot escape the punishment except through me."  He says to us to go forth in freedom (Ephesians 3:12).

Do not be led on to believe that the highway is better because so many are on it.  To follow that road is only to run into the arms of destruction; to run into the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Do not look at the distractions on the way, which promise so much, but in the end only hasten you to your death.  Heed the signs and pull off, take the narrow road.  It isn't easy, but it offers the greatest joy and the greatest kind of love, that which is irreplaceable.

Bound By Love, Serving With It

¹⁶ And if it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. -- Deuteronomy 15:16-17

Ouch right? This is what is required of a bondservant. The word forever here comes from the same Hebrew word meaning eternity or perpetual. So how does this apply to us non-ancient non-Israeli Christians? To the new testament! away! *adventurous theme music*

Fall on The Rock

Jesus looked at them and said,“What then is this that is written: THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE’ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” -- Luke 20:17-18 (NASB)


Sounds a little unnerving, doesn't it? It doesn't seem like either choice is a good choice does it?  Well lets start with this... first of all the Stone here is Jesus. I'm going to cover both sides of this promise (cause it is a promise).


First I want to cover the bad side, the side where the stone falls on you. Whether it seems like it or not, this is a decision we make, whether the rock will fall on us.. or whether we will fall on it. When the stone falls on us it is one of two things.. it is discipline or it is retribution. As Christians most of the time it is the former.. and for the unsaved it often is the later. If a physical rock were to fall on us, it would most likely pin us down. we cannot do anything when we are pinned down.  It is the same in the spiritual side of it.  When the rock falls on us, it holds us back holds us down.  God cannot use us if he is constantly having to discipline us.


Now for those who are wondering why the good part is to be broken to pieces: the good part. Think about all the things that Jesus had broken.

Matthew 14:15-21
¹⁵When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶But Jesus said to them,“They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” ¹⁷They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸And He said,“Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, ²⁰and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. ²¹There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children."


See Jesus broke the bread... and he used it to minister to well over 5000 people. Romans 12:1 says, "¹I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." The Israelites made sacrifices on altars which were made of stone. You see Jesus is telling is that if we willingly give ourselves as living sacrifices to broken and used for his Glory, that rather than being turned back into the dust from whence we came, we can have the blessings that come with our obedience.  Do not let the rock fall on you, but present yourself as a sacrifice on the altar.


God bless