The Natural Burden

I have a confession to make. Though I have read Habukkuk before, It never really resonated with me that much. 
It's funny how when scripture sticks out to you it is usually applicable to your life or involves a message that you need in your life right now. 

I was just talking to someone about how life is hard and trying my best to explain our place in this world in Jesus Christ, then I read Habukkuk 1.  He was asking God why did he have to see all the iniquity around him.

How long, O Lord, must I call for help?

    But you do not listen!

“Violence is everywhere!” I cry,

    but you do not come to save.

Must I forever see these evil deeds?

    Why must I watch all this misery?

Wherever I look,

    I see destruction and violence.

I am surrounded by people

    who love to argue and fight.

Often we get bogged down by the negativity in the world and fail to see the beauty in life, the gift we are given, the privilege to live. So many times we go off to soup kitchens and missions trips in search of meaning. We are feeding our own personal desires to help someone so that we can feel alive, and useful and blessed. These feelings are ok to have and it's good to help others. That's what God wants us to do. This is the very reason God allows us to see the bad, the hurt, the woe,  so that we can take action to be the light, be the hope, and to do what we can through him to make the world a better place. 

   
We often ask God why, but we are hardly ever really ready or willing to accept his answer. Often we know the answer but we refuse to accept it. 
He wants you to work for him, to live for him, to try your hardest with his help, to make the world a better place. 
The truth is within each one, the truth is in you. Why do you refuse to acknowledge it? 
Why do you refuse God? 
Life is simple we make it hard because we are so selfish. 

The New American Church

I think a majority of Americans that go to church really just want to belong to a nice big church with a feel good worship service and a feel good, tickle my ears message, so they can say they belong somewhere, they can feel (yeah I said feel) like they are participating, but in reality they are just wanting someone to feed them and give them something to make them Feel good, a box checked for the week, went to church sang praise and worship, got a message-" look at me, I feel good"

As you mature in life and in your Christianity,  you realize it isn't about feelings, it's about knowing.


So the bigger churches can give you what you want, and it's all about what you need right? Not what you can contribute or give or help with or serve. It's all about how can others serve me.  That's the world we live in, sad but true. Hiding in a large church will never give you true peace, and a close walk with God, that is up to you, it's most important to get involved in a life group or Bible study, and yes, being close with people can get messy, but it's what God wants if you read his word.

I was talking to someone the other day that is active in a mega church and guess what they have the same problems with getting volunteers as any church does. Most people just want to go and 'get fed' and not help, so does that mean we have a developmental problem with our people, yes, it does. Lot's of baby Christians and tweens that cannot seem to get to the stage where they are off the milk and actually working in the church, for the church and to further God's Kingdom. 
I came across a quote by CS Lewis the other day and I am sure that couples use it in weddings, and love and anniversary but I like to think about from God's perspective. " You have not chosen one another, but I have chosen you for one another." C.S. Lewis

You know you are where you are for a reason, there are people that have come into your life for a reason and I ask you today to search for that reason, to be willing to allow God to use you.
 Search your heart and ask yourself.  Did God put me here and who does he want me to love today, who has he put in my path to bless, to help,  to walk through this life with? I guarantee you it isn't some huge church so you can get lost in and hide.
If you are a  part of a large church, find community there. Get involved and ask God, what do you want me to do here, who do you want me to bless, who do you want me to walk through life with?
He made us for one another.... remember that.

Love Looks for Good Things

Last month we finished up our women's study and we had prayed about starting a study of Women in the Bible. My first instinct was to study someone we know well and go with it the first month( as we decided on a book).
Then I began to look around in the Bible and started to read about unity and how important unity is to a church especially a church plant without a large established group of members.
Well I couldn't really get peace with that and then I prayed and decided we would just have a time of sharing ... you know what each person is dealing with and a time of prayer.
Then I decided we should have a devotion first with the scripture that says whatever is lovely whatever is true, think on these things.... so me not being the Bible scholar went to find this scripture and what do you know that it follows the whole unity scripture on the two women who had a disagreement that affected the whole church.

So  after reading the whole chapter 4 of Philippians, I realized the encouragement Paul was giving. 

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (v. 7). With confident prayer, we can have inner peace. Even if our immediate circumstances are in turmoil,  we can have a peace that by the world's  standards doesn’t make sense. But our faith is in Christ, not the circumstances of this world.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things" (v. 8). If you want inner peace and interpersonal peace, then think on good things. Love looks for good things, not bad (1 Cor. 13:5-6). If you have a problem with someone, look for whatever is true and good and praiseworthy. Give your problems to God, and you will find peace.

"Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you" (Phil. 4:9). Paul again appeals to his own example among the Philippians. He tried to live the gospel as well as to share it, and he encourages the readers to do the same.

We are bound together as family by the Blood of Christ. We don't have to just tolerate each other like that weird aunt or uncle, but we are commanded to love no matter how uncomfortable you may feel.

We have to love, we are commanded to love and forgive and have a forgiving heart, because God forgives us.

My prayer is that God will help us love even the(in our opinion) unloveable.
To do this and be in a good place, meditate on the good, look for good, be happy for others and their good fortune, do what is noble, and God will bless you, God will help you and your heart will be in a place where God can use you for his Good!!! 

So, Are you looking for Community?

Many people move around and often seek to connect.
Well,  it is in our DNA, our genetics to want to connect because God created us that way. He created us for companionship. How do I know this? Well,  he created us in His image and he created us for Him. Then he created Adam and he felt he needed a companion so he created Eve. I also know this because within each of us there is a desire, a desire for others in our life.

Some people just do not think they can get involved with a group and they just want that one companion, and all they ever want is their mate in life and that is enough for them.
Others want to have children for companionship so they can give them  and receive the reciprocity of love that they so desire, but in the end, God is what you truly look for and I pray you find.

Then, one day you realize you need community, you need others in your life, it makes your life more full and you realize this at some point in your life.
Some have walls up because they have been hurt and only want a little bit of community and friendships....others go all in. Regardless, God created us for community, and to have others in our life.
Many people are looking for those network of friends, that mom group, that exercise group, that foodie group, that book club, that PTA or PTO group,  that work group.... I could go on and on.

Then there is church or a spiritual community. Many people search for that too. They search for spiritual community companionship.  Spiritual health is very much a part of a healthy lifestyle and most people realize that and they seek community.  They want to be a part, they want that connection, that "church family" or do they?

When you get close to people in a life group, or Bible study- it can get messy.
Most people want to be around people just like them, but sometimes there's that strange church member, that homeless person, that impoverished person in your midst and it feels like a weird aunt or uncle  or cousin in your life group or church and sometimes you have to interact with them and that is just not what you signed up for.
Community yes, but only people who are just like me, right?
I want to ask you something, did Jesus only eat and break bread with people just like him? No, and I feel like He is our best example. He is always our best example and we overlook this fact because we are not comfortable. It makes us uncomfortable to be around people that are different than we are and some of us do our best to avoid them, others try to fix and give, exhausting themselves trying to improve others .
I want to challenge you, (if you love others and I am sure that you do or you would not be seeking community), to just love...... most people are wanting to be loved and accepted for who they are, not who you think they should be or who you want them to be, but just love them.
Yes, you may have to read the book "Boundaries" by Henry Cloud if people want too much and cling too much to you, but interacting with people that are different than us only make us better, it creates a more well-rounded character within us, it allows us to self reflect and practice empathy that is so lacking in the world today.

So I want to ask you, are you really looking for community even if it's messy at times?
Are you looking for real people, with real problems who all meet together and share God in common? If you are, then you are ready for that church family. They are waiting on you.

If you look for me whole heartedly, you will find me. Jeremiah 29:13