All the Same

    The businessman, father, son, daughter, actor, homeless, stay at home mom, drug addict, football player, average Joe teenager, the elderly...everyone from every walk of life comes together as one on judgement day. It is so crazy to think that here on earth when we see these types of people we can be quick to judge like it is second nature. Of course we go to judging others because of there outside appearance and that is such an easy trap to fall into. But let this image into your mind....all of these people coming to the cross to lay their burdens down together without any differences. We all have the same heart and desire to see the face of Christ daily.

    Your whole life you are told to not judge others and that is actually not the take away point of this lesson. The take away is grasping the idea of how diverse God is. When I pray to God I often forget that other people have an intimate prayer just like I do. Fathoming the fact that God listens to every single prayer is amazing because we all feel like we are the only ones talking to him. God hears from the homeless the hurt the wealthy the normal every single day and he knows how to handle each and every one of them. We all have the great chance to meet a variety of so many different people in just one day as well.

How We Are Put Right With God

"But not God's way of putting people right with himself has been revealed. It has nothing to do with law, even though the Law of Moses and the prophets gave their witness to it. God puts people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. God does this to all who believe in Christ, because there is no difference at all: everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence. But by the free gift of God's grace all are put right with him through Christ Jesus, who sets them free. God offered him, so that by his blood he should become the means by which people's sins are forgiven through their faith in him. God did this in order to demonstrate that he is righteous. In the past he was patient and overlooked people's sins; but in the present time he deals with their sins, in order to demonstrate his righteousness. In this way God shows that he himself is righteous and that he puts right everyone who believes in Jesus."

    Above in Romans 3:21-26, God puts out the statement of a lifetime. God has set us all right even if we are white, black, Asian, Chinese, or all of the above. God looks past all of the blemishes on every one's face and goes straight to the heart. It is so rewarding thinking that there are people out there just like me that pray the prayers similar to mine and understand the feelings I feel like no others have. You know, I have always wondered why God created such a vast array of people on this planet. I do not believe we all look different just because of sin...I think God intended for a different kind of love. Christ dwells for us to look at our neighbor that is much different than us and to just love them. Of course Christ wants to look down from his cross to see a variety of people surrendered, but what if we all came hand in hand?

    This topic may seem like it is going nowhere and I feel as if I have not a lot of detail to expand upon. I had the image burned into my mind that the cross is set up in all of our lives daily and at the end of the day everyone can be seen at the bottom of it on their hands and knees. It is such an amazing site! God can and does reach so many people with so many different ways and ideas! We are all a piece to the puzzle and without one piece is can never be fully complete.

"In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body."    ~Romans 12:5

    We all walk through this life NEVER being the absolute same as another on this earth and when we all arrive at the cross we are all deemed the same through God's eyes. He sees us all as his children and loved ones. Yes, we all have different relationships with him and he knows us all differently but we are all JOINED through him. We can never be separated for he aimed to keep us brothers and sisters through him. We are never to be many bodies through Christ but ONE. We are all the different parts that are essential to the coming of the cross. You can take this lesson as not judging others or paying close attention to what is around you but I challenge you to see the different things in your life as different people. There are so many aspects to our lives and sometimes they do not directly connect to Christ but at the end of the day they need to come together to look and be the same for and through Christ. If the things in our lives can not surrender their selves before the feet of the Lord then maybe it is evaluation time.




Prayer Warriors:
(Let's try something new! Let us be the prayer warriors like Christ made us to be!)
~What can you thank God for what he is given and doing in your life?
~How are those around you?
~Is your relationship with Christ safe and sound?
~The future...are you preparing?
~The world is broken...do you see the areas that need a special shout out to God?
~Do you see the glory in the worlds diversity?
~Does the worlds diversity reflect the true glory of Christ?
~How do I make the different aspects of our lives line up at the end of the day to the cross?
~And of course pray for anything that lies on your heart tonight.

....Just run through these questions and read them through your mind while you say your night prayer or take a question per day and make it your own or even encourage others with it.





"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea the is driven and tossed by the wind."    ~James 1:5-6

Outlook

    Have you ever noticed that you work really hard for something and end up achieving it when you believe you can? Yes, it is time for me to insert the cheesy speech of just believing in yourself...but seriously. You know those times where you seem to just dislike the world? Almost like the whole world is working against you just to spite you? Well, obviously that is not the case, we just think it is. I often find myself in a bad mood when others ridicule me which is a normal reaction to people coming at you but the thing that gets me is I dwell on that for the rest of the day. This is probably THE worse flaw I carry around with myself because it eats me up and it affects everything I do no matter what. This is also where the stubborn side of me kicks in when I let it affect my actions. Most people say that words are more powerful than actions which is what I often find to be true throughout my daily actions because you will always remember things said because they can continue to run through your mind.  

    We let simple words that are once said, then fade, determine how we act and feel. These thoughts would not cause problems if those words did not eat us up. God knows what eats us up and what occupies our time when we are going through tough times. And half the time we do not pray for a better attitude because we never want to admit we have one. You know those times were others are like "Why do you have an attitude?" and you spit out... "I do not have an attitude because I am not mad!" It is this conversation that makes us look back on fights and laugh. Thinking that you were really petty just because of the way your thoughts over took your body.

    One of the most famous verses for this topic is Philippians 4:8-9:

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me-practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

    In the above verse God himself calls us to do whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable. And if we find anything that is awesome in that God will be at peace with us. When we make our thoughts in the path of these we find ourselves on the way to peace with God. When we are at peace with God we find ourselves at peace with ourselves. Our lives are way too important for us to occupy them fully with thoughts that break us down. There becomes a certain point where these tough feelings no longer help shape us but ruin us.

    When I dwell on my bad mood or things other people have said. I noticed that this has kept me from doing things I am to truly do with my life. During those times of bad attitude is when we do not realize the damage we do to those around us because we are not at our best. It is such a cop out for us to keep the bad attitude up in our minds. I'm not sure about you but when something upsets me I just do not really talk and I make sure those around me know it. It is just a natural thought and action for us to reject the hope that God and our faith provides when we are in bad terms with this life.

    Can you imagine if you woke up everyday in a bad attitude? On your first day at work. On your first day at school. At church. While providing advice to others. Or what about your wedding day.  If we had horrible attitudes on these occasions we could never enjoy them or give our full efforts. I am sure bad moods have happened on such occasions but I can guarantee not by choice.

    The one famous story that comes to my mind while writing this lesson is Bethany Hamilton. Of those of you that are unaware, Bethany has become an icon of hope when the young surfer got her arm bit off by a shark and is still alive today. By a matter of nature her attitude towards life and Christ was questioning because she could no longer surf in her mind. But watch this short clip to see what attitude she truly carried out for a life change by Christ...

"Do ALL things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world...  ~Philippians 2:14-15

    Bethany got back in the game even though she had a bad attitude about her arm being taken by a shark! She overcame adversity and did not let horrible feelings keep her down. So this week focus on how you know when to drop an attitude and when to keep one. Let us know when enough is enough and when it is helping or breaking us.

Go through this prayer list this week and give them some thought:

~Am I quick to take on bad attitudes?

~Do I let the negativity of this world affect how I feel and act?

~How do my thoughts get bundled up inside my thoughts?

~Am I focusing on horrible feelings so much that it takes away my job on this earth?

~Is God aware of my bad mood troubles?

Verse of the Day: "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

                                                                   ~James 1:12

Decisions Decisions

    We make decisions our whole lives. We make the decision to get out of the bed in the morning. To brush our teeth. To eat that fating doughnut or to go for the banana. To take the stairs or the elevator. To agree to having a relationship with your coworker. To buy a used car to save on money. And the ultimate one you can almost guess...to follow Christ or not.

    When you think of making life changing decisions you probably do not think about what kind of toothpaste you choose as your top choice of reason. But surprisingly, even the little decisions we make are what add up to create the life we are living. I mean really think about it. It you chose to not brush your teeth you would first have really bad breath but you would have a decline in your health and risk containing mouth illnesses. If we did not decide to get out of bed in the morning we would not have a job or a life for that matter. We have to go through life, get out of the bed, and go make decisions for ourselves!

    People all around the world make thousands of decisions from what sandwich to eat for lunch to saying yes to a marriage proposal. Not all decisions are easy ones to face let alone decide on. We have all been there and done that. To me decision making is one of those things you love and never regret only until you make the right one. It is definitely hard to find the right happy ending. We often get our wants mixed with the worlds views and that altogether pushes God's plans to the side. So let us take a deeper look into what the art of decision making is like and is all about. Even if you are not in the most of a huge decision making state this information is stuff that will always be useful.

    I am at a time in my life right now where the two biggest and toughest decisions need to be made of my teenage life. The choice of which college to go to and the dropping of one job to have more benefits at another. They both have their deep thought on how hard they are to decide on which are details we will leave out for times sake. But I have noticed that it consumes. The one college I choose to go to will be the result of how well I perform my future job and how I get there. And the job matter will determined how much I earn for college. They are problem two of the several hard decisions I have had to make in my life and it just seems as if it gets harder and harder. It is very tough trying to put your feelings aside and say "Hey God, I know you got this one. I am trusting you. Just tell me when I can look at the master plan you got there."

    I think it is the matter of this world being scared of being let down. If we do not make the right choices and the right way to go in our lives then our lives could potentially go down a rough patch. We often stop and realize that we need to pray to God for what to do. But how many times have you prayed this very same prayer and did whatever you wanted anyways? I can confess and say I am guilty. It was and still is a weakness of mine to take the decision making into my own hands. The whole matter of praying is a wonderful idea until we get to the point that Christ is just someone we talk to and never react with. We often get our thoughts confused and we end up not realizing what the true task at hand was in the first place. The road of decision making seems to be a long and dark one for us all doesn't it? Well to me it definitely is because I am probably one of the most indecisive person on the face of the earth. I just think that making a decision of something is what requires the most thought because it is an action or thing that you could potentially be stuck with for the rest of your life.

    Some of your might be reading this and saying "Well I actually like making decisions because it tends to take a load off of my back, so its really not that bad for me." I understand that and man do I give you props for if you think that! The absolute bottom line is making decisions is hard. It could make or break you. You could love it or you could hate. You could be stuck or you could be saved. Now this is the point where I bring out the typical message that is to be relayed of how important it is to choose God. While that is very true...there is a concept that some might not have considered in this light yet. The way you decide on this earth will determine everything. We need to have God in the middle of the decision control center of our life. Of course God isn't going to give us the key of where to exactly go in order to reach our full happiness but he will guide us if we sit back and let him lead.

    We often think that once we make a decision it cannot be undone. Well for some cases that might absolutely be the case but wouldn't you think that if it can't possibly change then its for the best? If God wants you to be led to something then he will lead you to it but you have to go through with it to see what he has in store. We need to take those chances of making the risky decision of life. Change is a good thing. It is how we grow and we can only do that by trusting in Christ. I'm sure you have the time of decision making coming up soon if it is not already there. When this time approaches you.. first stop and think of what both sides would be like if you chose them. Have in your mind which one you would want to be in your life and question yourself why. Just relax while you do this. Then go through all possible actions and positive plus negative things that can come out of this. Then bring this before Christ and state why as well has how this decisions is going through your mind. Be continuous in prayer and God will set the right feelings of this vision in your heart.

    The key here is to believe. I am not talking about the cheesy magic of a a fairy tale...I am talking about your faith. When you have this decision that needs to be made take it and be confident in it. If it is truly what God wants for your life plan then it will be in it. You need to choose and be strong in that but when or if the Lord has plans other wise you will quickly learn why plans change for the better.


For the Lord says...

"My child, don't forget what I teach you. Always remember what I tell you to do. My teaching will give you a long and prosperous life. Never let go of loyalty and faithfulness. Tie them around your neck; write them on your heart. If you do this, both God and people will be please with you. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way. Never let yourself think that you are wiser than you are; simply obey the Lord and refuse to do wrong. If you do, it will be like good medicine, healing your wounds and easing your pains. Honor the Lord by making him an offering from the best of all that your land produces."
                                                             ~Proverbs 3:1-9

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

   One of the most famous stories of all time that comes out of the bible is the washing of Jesus feet. You know, the one were the most sinful woman in the room came to the glorious God to wash his feet. And he let her do it! I mean, can you imagine someone today going up to the President any celebrity wanting to wash his feet? Well I am pretty sure that would not likely ever happen and I'm not quite sure people would do that for God today either. Believer or not, most people would probably feel like they wouldn't be worthy enough to wash the Lord's feet. It is just so crazy to think that the one and only God was expecting to go to a nice dinner and ended up getting his feet cleaned. The matter of washing feet sounds pretty weird to us today  because well...we wear shoes and socks! Of course our feet are cleaned when we shower but we do not take a specific time to wash our feet. How many families how basins sitting around for the daily feet cleansing? I can take a wild stab by saying not many. But if we look back into history, this very night of Jesus getting his feet washed becomes all to clear to us. Several towns just like Bethlehem was of course dusty. They didn't exactly having paving machines for a nice slab to be laid under the nearest fruit seller. Of course they had structures and what not but not like we have today. And there also were not teenagers running around in Nike Elites or grown men wearing Docksiders. They just simply wore homemade sandals. They probably did not worry about how their sandals looked either, I highly doubt the women had pink sparkly ones or the men wore nice leathers ones. The simple, open foot and toe sandal was the normal.

    Yes, to answer your question. There is a point to all this set up about feet and shoes. By connecting the two we easily see that having dirty feet back in biblical times was "the norm". I have heard that feet back in these times actually had the symbolism of something. Since they had the simple sandals and the dirt just was attracted to the skin, I would imagine they had extremely dirty feet. Their feet is what took them everywhere because they had no metros or cars to get around in...well maybe a carriage or two. But the point here is to recognize that they would often wash their feet before entering an other's home to simply show respect. And they certainly washed their feet before worship or entering any type of synagogue. To simply wash off all of the unwanted dirty remains from where they have been. As we narrow back to the story of God being invited for dinner we see this very matter come to life.

    Christ was invited to eat dinner at one of the Pharisees, Simon, house where he arrived to recline at a well dressed table. It is not much time after, that a very sinful woman of the city comes to the feet of Jesus. Several translations describe her as a woman known for ill repute of the city. But yet, nobody from the crowded house stopped to look at her and Christ definitely didn't seem to spit out judgments for he knew who she was. It was also said in the text that she came in carrying an alabaster flask or jar of perfumed oil. See, she had heard that Christ was to be at Simon's house to recline for a nice meal. That is when she just walked right in with her long flowing hair when she knelt down by the Lord's feet. This is where we get the unbelievable image of the true impact and love God truly radiates when she starts to wet his feet while they are cradled in her hands. But she doesn't use holy water or water from the nearby river or well. She uses her tears. And she's not crying because she is being forced to wash God's dirty feet, she cries for her sin and faith.

    This woman that was known for being full of sin all through the whole town was here on her hands and knees to wash the Lord's feet. Wetting his dusty and dirty feet with her tears to then dry them up with her hair Christ saw her heart. She just continued to kiss his feet and anoint them almost as to bless where he has been while blessing his continued journeys. This woman knew that this was the man that would bring her salvation. Of course she knew how deep she was in sin and she also was well aware of the one man that could wash those sins into eternity. Finally after all this time of the woman weeping, washing, anointing, and drying the Lord's feet Simon noticed the woman at the Lord's feet. I mean, this man did not even notice the towns sinful woman walk right into his house while they are having this well prepared feast and celebration of a sort. And all he can say directed to Christ is, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner." Another translation even states that the Simon was just thinking..."Now I know this guy is a fraud. If he were a real prophet, He would have known this woman is a sinner and He would never let her get near Him, much less touch Him...or kiss Him!" He was just tickled pink to why this shameful woman was touching this so called prophet.

    Christ knew this woman from the inside out because she was his child even though she was covered in sin. But what Simon failed to notice was that he was also covered in sin. Pharisee's at this time were known as very religious people. They were often very devout and righteous men to God that could sight any verse from the bible. So what does this tell us about this man if he was quick to judge not only the sinful woman but Christ himself? His faith and love for Christ seems to get mixed up here because he sees that God does not judge and push away the filth that kneels before him. I cannot imagine the hurt that Christ felt that he has this strong woman coming forward in her faith to profess to his feet, literally!! And the very man that invited him to join him in a great feast was ripping her right down from forgiveness. Of course Simon expected God to be a true "prophet" by rejecting the woman once he said something but he doesn't. Even though Christ was slandered when he claimed that he wasn't a true prophet, he was right because he IS the true GOD then and now. He is so much more than the label of a prophet.

    He admits a rebuttal by letting out the truth he had been holding in ever since he stepped into his house to dine. I  am sure we have all had this happen. When we are invited over to another person house we are often so quick to add things to the list they did wrong. Wow they just opened the door and didn't even offer to take my coat. Mhmmm, it also smells like they are making the one dish I hate and they know that. Oh that is just awesome...they forgot to put there dogs away so now they are going to follow me around the whole night. And of course they made the rude comment of how some people are just stuck in a rut of being in between jobs just like I am now. This is not exactly up to par with what everyone thinks but I can almost guarantee that we have all been there or will be. But when Christ responds to Simon's rather rude comment he is doing more than just reading his dinner complaints out loud. He starts off by giving him an analogy to better rap his head around the obvious matter in the air. He ask if a moneylender had two people that owed him money...one owing five hundred denarii and the other fifty. Both of them cannot repay him so he simply drops the debt. Which one would love him more? Simon says, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt." His answer does make sense because the man with the bigger debt would have more relief and God assures him that is he correct.

    Christ just jumps right into asking Simon if he sees the woman at his feet, which of course he does. But then he comes back to him by saying he is a Pharisee that invited the Son of God into his house and did not even offer him water for his feet. And here this sinful woman chose to come into a strangers house to get down on her knees to wash his feet with her tears and hair. Simon offered no kiss but she kissed his FEET! He wouldn't even anoint the head of Christ while the town sinner anointed the feet of the Savior. Christ even admits to Simon's, and all his guests, face that this woman indeed has many sins. But all of which are forgiven because of her vast love. Again we see the power of love here. She had the ideal of the love of Christ in her heart and alive in her life so much that her sin no longer told her that it controls her. To others she might still seem like the town sinner but they never got close enough to notice the change within her.

    I can imagine that Simon was ready to say that he was forgiven because he is such a religious Pharisee and he even invited Christ himself to dine in his home! But that is not what came through to God's heart. He knew for a fact that Simon was forgiven little so therefore he loves little. And what comes next just blows me away. Those around the table had the nerve to question who Christ was and how he had the authority to forgive sins. But the exchange between him and the woman seemed so calm with gentleness. He told her " Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

    Her tears and actions is what brought her to the very feet of Christ. And that was probably the most influential thing that has ever happened to her. This story can be taken as a lesson for us to not be quick to judge or have faith or open up your heart. Through the making of this weeks lesson I just thought of how I was to pin point the take away from this lesson. And that might already be clear to you but I just got the light bulb. In this world there are those that are forgiven little and then love little (the Simon's). And there are those that are forgiven abundantly and that love with abundance (the town sinner). It might be hard to not think that we have to be at the bottom of the barrel in order to have something to be forgiven about. If you truly ended the story at where Simon confronts the Lord about the sinner at his feet you would think that God forgives and seeks those that really deserve it. We don't need to be the most religious person or even the town sinner to have our sins to be washed free. All we need to do is bow at the feet of Christ and be ready to wash the dirt of this world from his skin. We need to be ready daily to stand up for our faith and for Christ by brushing off the dirt of which this world splatters on the image of Christ.

    Of course the Lord is more than capable of standing up to the world but we only see that through the world of our faith. Sadly most of this world does not have that kind of faith so this is the spot where we step in. Leave this study today with more than one understanding of this lesson and I also encourage you to go read Luke 7:36-50 where this story comes from. For me, I always knew about this story but I came across it in my bible study yesterday and I was shocked at how much impact one little story has. Stories just like this have such an impact in our hearts that it is chilling to think about how far they can go beyond our walls.




Wisdom for the Day: "As it is written, I inhabit the praises of My people. Sometimes your adoration is a spontaneous overflow of Joy, in response to radiant beauty or rich blessings. At other times your praise is more disciplined and measured-an act of your will. I dwell equally in both types of praises. Thankfulness, also, is a royal road to draw near Me. A thankful heart has plenty of room for Me. When you thank Me for the many pleasures I provide, you affirm that I am God, from whom all blessings flow. When adversity strikes and you thank Me anyway, your trust in My sovereignty is a showpiece in invisible realms. Fill up the spare moments in your life with praise and thanksgiving. This joyous discipline will help you live in the intimacy of My Presence."

 (Psalm 22:3 & 146:1-2, Thessalonians 5:18; All rights reserved, Sarah Young)





~Check this video out that helps us look at this lesson in another way. It may seem like it doesn't fit right into the lesson but it is sure something we all need to recognize~
http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=0F9FB1NU