4.24.2011

More Like Falling in Love

Give me rules
I will break them
Give me lines
I will cross them
I need more than a truth to believe
I need a truth that lives, moves, and breathes
To sweep me off my feet
It ought to be

More like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance
Caught up, called out
Come take a look at me now
It's like I'm falling, oh
It's like I'm falling in love

Give me words
I'll misuse them
Obligations
I'll misplace them
'Cause all religion ever made of me
Was just a sinner with a stone tied to my feet
It never set me free
It's gotta be

...It's like I'm falling in love, love, love
Deeper and deeper
It was love that made
Me a believer
In more than a name, a faith, a creed
Falling in love with Jesus brought the change in me

4.17.2011

Matthew 6

We all worry. Few people walk around with their possessions on their back and their eyes closed, waiting for the path to be made for them- without a steady job or wordly security. When worrying is bad and ineffective, and almost sinful- is when it dictates your actions. If while in school, instead of learning material you constantly wonder how you are going to learn it all and pass the test, that is ineffective worrying. We all have natural concerns of finding a good job to support the lifestyle we want, but if we sit around all day and make no progress finding that good job or changing our lifestyle to fit the income we have, then we are not productive worriers.

If you skip on your tithe this month because you don’t know how you are going to pay rent without that extra 10% in your bank account, then your faith is in the bank that is holding your money. If you give to God, He can give you a higher interest yield than any bank can.

If you skip out on church this week, because you need more time to study for your test, then you are putting your faith in yourself. You think your mind will remember the information better if you leave God and go to your notes.

What if we replace worry with fear. What do you fear? Failing? Being bankrupt? Evicted? Car payments? Rent? Dinner? Clothes? Being a good spouse? Good parent? Good child? sister? Friend? Teacher?

Have you ever worried about the Kingdom of God and being a good steward? Have you ever feared losing a soul? Have you ever feared if your actions have caused someone to fall from God? Have you ever worried if you are doing your ambassador duties?

What we worry in is what we pour ourselves into. Those who worry about a good marriage, spend their energy and time building it up (to their expectations of what up is). If we worried about telling others about Christ, and loving others as God loves us, would we be more productive in that arena?

A concern is different from worry. We all have concerns. Everyone. Even a child wonders about what they are going to eat for dinner, but they don’t worry about it. They aren’t afraid of not having food at all. They just want to know if what they are going to have is what they want.

Are you concerned about your life or are you worried and fearful? Worrying doesn’t change a situation or an outcome- action does. Quit sitting around and biting your nails, and get on your knees and pray. Leave your concerns at the feet of God. He is more than willing to take your burdens and carry them. No weight is too heavy for Him, no thought is too daunting.

He has the best track record for being my problem solver, so I’m cutting out the worrying middle man and going straight to my Father, just like I did as a child when I wanted something. I never sat in my room and sulked over the picture of a bike. I took the picture and confidently asked my Daddy for it. Take your tests, your marriage, your spouse, your job, your relationships…anything that is causing you to doubt, and leave it at the glorious throne of the one that has made all. But most importantly Leave them THERE!

Your gift to God is trusting him enough to handle all your problems. Don’t walk out with your gift. LEAVE IT THERE.