Bigger Than This

Hypocrisy & Judgement, Our Rules vs God's Rules...what's really important?

I've been going thru the New Testament starting with Matthew because I've just been wanting to lay aside everything else for awhile & focus on what did Jesus tell us to do, what is most important to Him, what would Jesus do (WWJD) ...that acronym that has now been so easily tossed around!  But, how often do we really go to the place where it all started to see what he really WOULD do & did do!?  As I've asked Him to open my eyes & my heart to His words I'm just really loving the simplicity that sometimes as Christians & religious people we've made more difficult than it is!  So many verses/chapters I want to bring up, but I think I'll start here...Matthew 15:1-11

¹ Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” ³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^{[b] 5} But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

   ⁸ “‘These people honor me with their lips,
   but their hearts are far from me.
⁹ They worship me in vain;
   their teachings are merely human rules.’^[c]”

¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

Interesting isn't it...the Pharisees, the Religious Leaders/Teachers, are basically pointing out, why does Jesus allow His disciples to break the rules by not washing their hands before they eat?  You see, this was only a law the Pharisees put on themselves, one of the many in this day & time, to judge if a person was good or bad, clean or impure, religious or not.  This was not a law that God put on them.  And sure, washing your hands before you eat is not a bad idea!!!  But, it's also not something that your "goodness" should be judged by!  Jesus points out, what about GOD'S commandment that you HAVE been given to live by, to honor your father & mother,  & yet, what you should be using to help your father & mother with, your rule says that instead it has to be given to the church.  So they were putting aside God's direct commandment to everyone for the sake of their own "man made" rules. 

Hmm...so it got me to thinking...what other rules have we put on each other, that although they may be good things to do, when we see a person do them or not do them, we make a judgement of how good or not good of a Christian we think they are?  Yet these rules are not really the commandments that God put on us, they're rules that we've put above God's commands, or our own rules of what we think a good Christian should look like or should do.  A few that come to mind...going to church, giving your money, volunteering in the church or elsewhere, dressing/looking a certain way, talking a certain way, the music we listen to, the way we spend our time or money, and I'm sure there's many more.  It's something to think about really.  Have you ever pointed out one of these things about someone to determine how good or not good of a Christian you thought they were? And I know some of you are ready to defend why all those above might be important, and I understand.  But, we are not to judge others by them, Christian or not, and they are NOT more important than GOD's Commands to us first & foremost, & they are not more important than loving the person doing them or not doing them...people...people are important to God.

You see, there are verses in the Bible that give us reasons it would be helpful & to our benefit to do many of those things listed above but we shouldn't put them above God's rules or judge others by them.  Just like washing your hands before you eat is not a bad concept, but even still, we shouldn't look at someone as a sinner or not a Christian or not a "good" Christian, if they didn't do it.  What Jesus is saying is that the rules you want to put on people, are not more important than the rules God gave you, and how are YOU doing following those?  You see we can finally make someone look "right" on the oustide by getting them to follow our rules, but if on the inside their heart isn't following God, then what have we accomplished?  Or if we are pointing out these rules to someone, but aren't following God's basic commandments ourselves, what have we accomplished?  It's what's in the heart that God sees, not on the oustide, it's those things we try to keep hidden, those things we make excuses for, those things only God can change if we let Him...that will make us "right" before God...  ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

So what rules DOES God want us to follow first?  The 10 Commandments...given to us thru Moses & mentioned to us many other times throughout the Bible, Old & New Testament...if you love me you will keep my commands!  I mean really...don't commit adultery, don't lie, don't steal, don't murder, don't put any other God or idol before the one true GOD, don't use God's name in vain, do not be jealous & want what your neighbor has but DO love your neighbors, DO honor your father & mother, DO keep the sabbath day Holy...is there really anything here that in doing it wouldn't improve my life & the lives of those around me & probably solve many issues in many peoples lives?

God's commands...these are what we should be striving to do first & foremost.  I don't want to be like the Pharisees by honoring God with my lips by spouting out rules & sounding Holy & just looking "right", but being far from Him in my heart & ignoring truly what's most important to God.  As for me, I know I have enough to work on when it comes to God's 10 commandments, that I shouldn't have time to be pointing out the people around me who are not following the less important list of things that would make them LOOK right!  When it comes to other people, I want to remember to just follow God's commands myself, love my neighbors, & leave the rest to HIM!

The Gift of TIME!!!

I'll admit, giving of my TIME is one of the hardest things for me.  It didn't used to be but as my kids grew older & schedules grew busier, & I had to work to help make ends meet...it just seemed there was less time to give, and there WAS!  I mean even things that I once enjoyed like shopping with my mom or going to coffee with a friend, I just gave up on altogether pretty much.  Instead, cleaning the house, the grocery list, the dinner planning, coupon cutting, yard work, errands to run & so on, just took over!  And pretty soon there was never a "free" day to spend doing something I truly enjoyed or giving time to someone who needed it or just wanted to spend the day doing something fun.  Before I knew, I didn't even know WHAT I was missing because this became the norm.

But, with letting life take over all my time...comes a bit of loneliness too.  You see I'm the loner type anyway,  I could find a million things to occupy myself, so it can take me a little longer than the next to realize that I've secluded myself & this isn't necessarily how God wants me to spend my time or my life.  Nothing wrong with it here & there...but God also wants us to build relationships, to reach out to people, to enjoy each others company, to build each other up.  Kind of hard to do without spending any TIME with a person!  

When it comes down to it, one day I'm not going to remember how much I saved with my coupons (& I do love coupons :) or how clean my house was (or wasn't) and so on!  But the things that will stick out most will be the memories I made with friends, with family, the people I touched & that touched me.  How I shared my life with them & them with me.  What would they have to say about the kind of person I was if my life ended today?  They may say I was sweet & nice but did they really KNOW me or did I really make myself available to be KNOWN & to know them?  What do I WISH instead, that they'd say or know about me?  For me, when God says to LOVE Him & to Love others as yourself...giving my time would be one of the hardest expressions of that love for me.  We all have something that when we give it, it is truly a selfless act for us to do so.  For some giving money is harder than to give their time....for me it is easier to give my money than my time.  Does that make sense?  The point is, we are not asked just to do what is easy but what is hard for us & what takes us more out of our comfort zone as well!

And I'll have to say, as I have tried to give more of myself & my time to others lately, it has brought back a lot of the joy in life that I didn't even realize I'd given up.  Even if it was just making & sending a card to someone or taking 10 minutes to stop by my grandmas house & say Hi!  And, on a side note...older folks love to recieve mail, they don't facebook & email like we do!  Since I've been delivering the mail & have delivered to a retirement community...many of them would WAIT each day for me to finish...& sadly many of them never had anything in there boxes day after day!  And all it would take me or you is 10 minutes of my time & a stamp to make someone's day!  You see, that's what the "busyness" of life can do...it can steal our joy, steal memories, steal our time & it steals from those who would benefit from our time as well!  Face it, we are ALL busy! But we really need to not let it be WHO we are & overshadow what is truly important!  People are important, relationships are important!  Your time is yours to give! :)

Give to those that ask? Really!?

Okay...last day of this then I'll be moving on to something a little different!  Some resolutions, I am putting in my Family Blog because they're more about "family fun" related things, I'll post a link to that when it's up.  But these next two are related in a way & about MONEY...which is something in life that tends to teach me a lot of lessons.  So here we go...

3.  Get out of credit card debt.  We don't have a LOT but yes there's some & it sure would be nice to not have to spend our hard earned money on interest to these card companies.  It can really be a stress on people, on life, on relationships when there is debt...Proverbs 22:7 says ⁷ The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.  Sometimes, being in debt can feel that way, like we are just working to pay the people we owe money to.  It's not what God has in mind for us & it keeps us from being able to use our hard earned money in ways that He want us to be able to.  I do believe He will show you how to get out of debt as you pray about it, because it is His will for our lives also that we be free from it.  So it's a worthy goal, even if you can only do a little here a little there.   Hopefully, we should be able to accomplish this over the next few months!  Yay!  Then to tackle those bigger debts next year maybe!

4. Help or give to others when asked & we can:  So one day I was reading Matthew 5, there are the parts in verses 38-42.  This is never an easy read because Jesus is telling us when someone slaps us to turn the other cheek, if they sue us for our shirt give them our best coat also...UGH!  Really!  Not the biggest fan of these verses, BUT it IS Jesus' very words, and as a follower of Christ I need to listen & try to understand & figure out how this relates to my life & the situations that will arise & give me the opportunity to use it.  So then the next verse ⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.  Okay, I don't know about you, but I have some people in my life that would ask to borrow money who could have money if they had kept that job or made wiser choices or I also always make that argument of "well they're probably not going to spend it wisely anyway, why should I do that!"  This was a very recent happening & as I asked God  "wouldn't that be foolish, is that being a good steward of what you've given me, we're just now beginning to get back on top of things ourselves?"  He very clearly showed me the next verses in Matthew 5:

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor^[i] and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Not that this person was an "enemy" but still, the understanding He gave me was this...it's easy to love those who love you back, to give to those who would repay you & use it wisely, to do good deeds for those who are kind back to you.   But even those who are not Christians can do that, even tax collectors (in the Bible times deemed the lowest of the low) can do that, and what reward is there in doing something that is easy to do?  How will we as Christians look any different from the rest or stand out unless we love our enemies, give to those who don't deserve it, be kind & reach out to those who have hurt us.  What they do with what I've given them, is not my concern.  Is God not the one who is ultimately in control & will cause either of us to prosper & grow or not?  Do what he's asked of ME & leave the rest to HIM!  That is NOT anyone's normal reaction for sure, but have we been called to normalcy?

Which leads me to this as well...Proverbs 3:27 ²⁷ Do not withhold good from ^[j]those to whom it is due, When it is in your power to do it.

Just as important, to those who DO deserve it, if there is a need that I can meet...MEET IT!

To Disciple My Kids Better

Okay...so on to my other new years resolutions, we're still in January so I think we're still in the window of time to talk about it & more importantly assess how we're doing with them 3 weeks later! So here's one more that I'm hoping to work on...

2. Disciple my kids better: Basically teaching them about Jesus. It's not that I don't do this at all, but I'm just not as consistent as I'd like to be with things like family devotions, prayer times, just talking & sharing about God's faithfulness. I have stories I often share at ladies retreats about God's provision & just neat things He's done in our lives, but I don't always sit down & share those with my kids or family. For me, hearing others testimonies makes me begin to look for my own in day to day life, it makes memore conscious of what God is doing here & now, not just what He did back in the Bible. He's performing miracles in our every day lives today & it needs to be talked about shared & celebrated. Not seen as a coincidence or hmm...I prayed & this happened...that's cool. NO, it should be I prayed & the one true GOD of the the heavens & the earth heard me & did this for me, how is that not amazing!!! It always brings me back to this verse...

 Deuteronomy 6:5-9  5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Okay, so we don't really have to write it on our doors & tie scriptures to our hands & foreheads I don't think. But, it needs to be part of who we are, part of us, part of our home. In our actions in our words, in our everyday lives! How much time do we spend watching TV or playing games or on facebook (I plead guilty!)? And how much time do we give to make God & the gift of His son, Jesus, the one who gives us life who allows us to wake up another day, who loves us beyond understanding, who is ultimately in control even when we think we are... how much time do we give to make Him part of our lives, our conversations, & our home. It could only better the direction of your life & your children's lives! And when I say WE or YOU, I really mean ME :) because I'm just as guilty as the next person, I just tend to write it the way I do! But really it's not about making you feel guilty, it's about encouraging each other to do something that I think many of us really WANT to do anyway, we just being the humans we are, get distracted & need that reminder that reality check, that kick in the pants!

Really, when it comes down to it, & my children leave my home...the playstation & xbox & TV & sports or dance classes will not have served them nearly as well as the times I sat with them & walked with them & laughed with them & talked with them & enjoyed them & used the life lessons of growing up to teach them about Jesus. To teach them His kindness & His love for the unlovely, the poor, the weak, His compassion, His patience. Helping them to use perseverance with the annoying kid at school or the seemingly unfair teacher. To be a peacemaker not a troublemaker. To remind them that they were fearfully & wonderfully made with a purpose. To share with them the stories of how God provided all we needed just when we needed it. Reading to them the Proverbs & relating it to how THEY can make wise choices in life. Those things will serve them well. Those things, I believe, they will remember & be able to use most!

New Years Resolutions: Simply, Loving God More!

So, with the new year comes new years resolutions apparently.   I know some hate them, but I'm all about taking times of the year that feel like a new beginning (New years & September when the kids go back to school are those 2 times for me!) to once again attempt to create some organization or plan where there is none or I lost it along the way!  So this year I had a few of my own (okay, more than a few), but I'll just share this one today, simple or beginner as it may be to some, sometimes we've just gotta go back to the beginning...

1.  To love God & others more:  I guess this started with the realization that I'm not the best at it & with that small desire to want to be better, I believe God will be faithful in giving me even more of a desire as I do my part.  I mean,  above all things God asks of us, Jesus stresses more than once in the Bible when asked,  "what is the most important commandment we should follow?" The answer everytime: to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul & strength & to love your neighbor as yourself.  (Matthew 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:26-28).  So it must be pretty important & of course it's 2 of the hardest things for man to do I believe.  Because our 1st instict is to love & serve ourselves. 

So how do I accomplish this?  I figure, in order to love or fall in love with someone, you have to spend time with them.  So although I have done many devotions &  Bible studies over the years, at times they were just what I needed & at times they were just a task to be completed.  I just wanted to bring it back to where it all begins & commit instead to spend time in God's word daily.  HIS words to us, what did He say, what did Jesus tell us to do, because He IS His Father in the flesh, so His words are Gods words & worth being noted & remembered & lived by.  And of course with this set aside time daily to pray. 

So, I started a daily Bible reading plan that I've really found enjoyable & actually look forward to each day.  It's on my Kindle, but most smart phones have the YouVersion Bible app too, best part, it was FREE of course :) .  If you go to "plans" it has over a hundred of different reading plans to read the Bible in a year, or devotional plans.  I'm aware that reading the Bible in a year isn't the goal here, it's to love God more, and for me committing to not just read, but to enjoy & try to understand & come to know & love Him more thru His word in a way that works for me is what I'm striving for!  Wether I do it in a year or take longer or shorter will not be the measure of my success!  The bottom line, is that only thru loving Him, knowing Him & desiring Him more & allowing Him to love me will I be able to accomplish His 2nd most important command to me, to Love OTHERS as myself!  And that ain't easy! (and yes, I know that ain't, ain't a word! :)

For anyone interested in the YouVersion Bible App, it's free, and you can highlight sections, make notes on sections & more.  The way I'm reading it thru, it gives you 5 chapters or excerpts daily, 2 from the Old testament beginning with Genesis, 2 from the New beginning with Matthew & a Psalms & a Proverb.  If you absolutely must have an actual book in front of you, there are plans out there I'm sure to organize you're reading in the same way or I also found this on Amazon which divides it in the same way:  One Year Bible. 

I'm getting more from it than I honestly thought I would, even the Old testament...always very interesting!  In the following posts (hopefully to come this week) I'll share my other resolutions as well.  Besides, having to write them down again & recall what bright idea I had 23 days ago, helps to refresh my memory anyway (and weed out the ones that I now realize are just NOT going to happen!!!)