Good vs. Best

The photos in today's post are brought to you by: Last week's trip to the coast.

Last week, while I was writing THIS, Pastor Dan was also looking at Luke chapter 10. What he got out of it was totally different than what I had seen in it previously. His message was great so I thought I'd share it here with you.

As a refresher, here is the passage from Luke 10:38-42:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,  but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

You can live a life OR you can live a life that matters!

Living a life that matters for something means learning to make choices wisely. Every day we are given countless opportunities to choose - countless ways to choose what is good or what is best. People who live lives that matter learn to discern what is Best from what is good. Our time here on Earth is very short - we need to choose the Best way to spend our time.

Mary and Martha were given the EXACT SAME choice. They both had the opportunity to prepare a meal and they both had the opportunity to sit at the feet of Jesus. (I had NEVER noticed this before!!) Mary probably had other things to be doing at that time but she chose to create a moment with Jesus.

She made a deliberate choice to Worship!

Then Pastor Dan challenged us with this question:
If Jesus knocked on my door, would I make Him wait on the porch while I finished up my tasks? 'Oh just wait here a minute Lord, while I do the dishes and tidy the living room. You don't mind, do you?' Would I create time for Him? Would He be a priority?

Often times in life, the good things demand more of us then the Best things but they are NOT more important. Often the clamor of the good drowns out the whisper of the Best.

If Satan can't make you bad, he'll make you busy. Martha was busy. To choose busy is to choose what is good. So, am I justifying my busyness? Do I truly make Jesus and Worship of Him a priority in my life?

We are all given the same choice everyday. Today will you choose what is good or what is Best? I am striving for what is Best.

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May the Lord Bless you all as you seek to know Him better!

Confirmation!

Do you ever feel like you could just use a little confirmation from God? Which decision to make or which job to take? Am I on the right track or should I be doing something different? Or maybe, it's something just as simple as a question that is on your heart and you need it answered. That was what happened to me this week.

(I'll give you a little background here and I'll try to be brief! LOL)
Our Pastor (not Pastor Dan but I'll get to that) and his family came to Maine from Alabama to start a church. They were here 6 1/2 years and started 3 churches and were planning the 4th church when God called them back to Alabama. I think they were more shocked than any of us!! Anyway, Pastor Dan was the Associate Pastor so he stepped up and on Father's Day we voted him in to be our 'official' Pastor. For the most part, the transition at church has gone very smoothly. We were determined as a church family to do whatever it took to maintain our unity. (Ephesians 4:3). Well, as is expected, some people left the church but the most amazing thing is that from the very first week that Dan stepped up to lead us, there have been more and more new people at church! It has been amazing to watch God bless the work that we are doing at this church!

Now, I'm rambling at little bit. LOL So, these people who have stepped away from God and from their faith, are still my friends. They are still people that I care about. But their 'bump in the road' really got me to thinking about my own faith and wondering how strong it was. I asked Matt one day, 'Would there be a time when I wouldn't walk with God?' This was serious to me! I really wondered that. There have been times in the past when I have walked away. Could it happen again? Matt's answer was very simply 'I don't think that would happen to you.' He also seemed a little surprised that I was wondering about it. So, then I asked Pastor Dan. The first thing he said that we aren't going to worry about it. Ok, so No Dwelling. Got it!
Then he said that usually when that happens to someone, it is from one of two things: It happens gradually and they don't even notice that they are moving away from God OR an event happens that shakes them and they loose their faith because it wasn't strong or rooted. (I think this is illustrated in the parable of the seeds. Matt 13:3-23; Mk 4:2-20; Lk 8:4-15).

Well, I am feeling very much like God took care of that concern for me. You see, last week when I was going through my trial of not knowing how Colin was (because I couldn't reach them by phone), not knowing when he was going be home or how I was going to get him home, I didn't panic. Yes, I cried. Yes, I told God that I DID NOT want to go through this. Yes, I knew that there was a lesson in this for someone, even though I didn't know who or how. But panic, no. It didn't even occur to me to panic. Now, I have talked to several people over the last week, and especially during those 2 1/2 days without him, that wondered how I could be calm. When I go back and read the post that I made from that day (you can read it HERE) there is definitely a peace about it. Honestly, I don't even remember writing that post. The afternoon was a blur to me but I can see that through the whole ordeal, my default reaction was GOD. I can see that I kept my focus on Him. He truly is my Rock!

I also wanted to clarify a small error that I made in that post. The first song I heard in the car was Everlasting God, but I had put my iPod on earlier and this was one of the songs that came on it:

I love the lyrics at the 2 minute point that say 'Take my life and let it be ALL for You and for Your Glory'. Well, I remember hearing this song on that Monday morning and singing those lyrics out loud, sort of as a declaration from me to Him. This was such a wonderful feeling to still be able to offer my life to Him in the midst of trials. To still be willing to offer it to Him without knowing what the day would hold. It was just so precious of Him to show me what my gut reaction would be, to know that I wouldn't fall away. That's priceless!! 

ps-please don't read this and think 'Oh that's great for her but it would never happen for me'. I have put the effort into my relationship with God. I have spent the time with Him that it took to build this faith. You can have that too. If you feel that maybe your faith wouldn't stand this trial, why don't you start today to build your relationship with Him? My faith wasn't born overnight, you know ;)

May the Lord bless you all as you seek to know Him better!

Owning Your Faith

I recently was talking with a woman about her faith. I would say that she is around 60 years old, give or take. She was raised going to church and her mother had a strong faith. Well, this woman's mother had passed away a few years back and now this woman finds herself in a position where she is examining what it is that she truly believes. Does SHE actually believe the same things that her mother did? Does she have faith in those same things?

Well, this got me to thinking ... (whenever you see this written you should have one of two reactions: Jumping up and down yelling 'Yippee' OR You should feel nervous! LOL)

Anyway, it got me thinking about the faith of my children and my husband. Are they just riding on the coattails of my faith? I am somewhat of the Spiritual leader in our house. I am giving over more leadership to Matt as he grows in his faith. I believe that as the head of the household, that it is ultimately his responsibility. But I was a single mother before he came into our lives so the pattern was already set up. And he works several evenings a week when I am home with the kids.

Zoe is very strong in her faith. She always has been. She is just drawn to the things/people of the Lord. It comes very naturally for her. Colin struggles in his faith. As his mother, I feel such a strong desire for him to love the Lord and to have his own desire to live for Him.

A few weeks ago at church, we were doing communion. Pastor Dan gave a great message about why we do communion and the sacredness of it. It is not to be taken lightly. He said that you need to work out for yourself how you feel about Jesus. It has to be your own faith. You cannot assume that just because you live with a Christian family or came to church with Christian friends that you are automatically a Christian. You need to work it out for yourself. On that day, Colin chose not to participate in communion. As his mother, it was a time of very mixed emotions. I was so saddened by his decision. I didn't say anything to him. I simply let him be. On the other hand, he was very wise in choosing NOT to participate if he wasn't completely settled in his heart about how he feels about Jesus. But again, I so strongly desire for him to love the Lord.

So what does this have to do with the woman I was talking to earlier? Well, it made me think that maybe, for many years of her life, she was living off her mother's faith. She had never taken the time or the freedom to make her faith her own. And so now she is doing that. Yes, I strongly desire for Colin to love Jesus. But even more so, I desire that he can claim ownership to that faith. It may not  come on my timeline or it may not look like what I think it will, but it needs to be his own. And I need to allow him the time, space and freedom to develop it.

Here's a funny thing! As I was reading my Bible this morning, I came across this verse and put it in my pocket:
Let not your heart be troubled. Trust in God. John 14:1

Don't you just love God's sense of timing? And His sense of humor?