What Do You Value?

What do you value? It sounds like a simple question, but there's a lot more to it that it seems. A lot of us would respond to that question with things that we would like to say that we value, but our lifestyles would show otherwise. To further this point, take a look at your checkbook register. What are you spending the majority of your money on? Are you buying a lot of "stuff" for yourself? Or are you allowing God to use the resources He's given you to bless others and further His kingdom? You place your money in things or people that you value. What does your checkbook say that you value most?

Now, take a minute to write down what you've done this past week or weekend. Look over that list and take note of what you spent the most time doing. How much time did you spend serving others or spending time in scripture? If we're truly honest, most of us probably spent our time doing things we wanted to do. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with enjoying time with friends and having fun. The problem is when we invest the majority of our time in what we want to do and we give a fraction of that time to Christ to serve Him and others.

The reality is that if we seriously value our relationship with Christ, we would invest time and resources (money) in that relationship. Look at it this way. Suppose you wanted to get together with your best friend to catch up and share some exciting new events in your life. You call your friend to set up a time during the week to get together, but your friend informs you that she doesn't have an opening until a month later and even then would only be able to give you maybe 10 minutes of her time. She rationalizes it by saying that she's just really busy right now. How would that make you feel? Would you feel very valuable to that friend? No! That wouldn't make you feel very good, would it? If your friend is only willing to work you into her schedule and give you 10 minutes, that doesn't give the illusion that she values your friendship or what's going on in your life very much.

That's exactly what we do to God. We say that we value our relationship with Him, but we don't back our words up with action. We work God into our "busy" schedule, which, if we were honest, isn't as busy as we make it out to be. We could make more time for God, but do we want to? Is He a priority? Do we value our relationship with Him enough to put Him first with our finances and with our time? Spending 10 minutes a day with God doesn't constitute a relationship. You're simply an aquaintance with Christ, because, how can you truly know someone if you don't spend time with them?

Take time to evaluate your priorities and what you value most. Ask God to help you restructure your life/time to put Him first. You won't regret it!
Focus on your eternal dwelling, not your earthly one. This is not our home, so don't live like it is. Build the legacy you want to leave when you are gone. Start with your values/priorities. What do you want people to say you valued most in life?

Freedom & Focus

This morning, while I was sitting in church, this question came to mind...Why do we not worship freely when we can freely worship? Take a minute to dwell on that question. I know I was convicted, especially when I thought about the millions of Christians in the world who must worship in secret, risking their lives for what they believe and who they believe in. Could you even imagine having to do that? It's hard to put yourself in their shoes when here we sit in our safe, American "bubble," with nothing to really fear. We aren't persecuted for what we believe in and we are free to go to our nice church buildings and worship together whenever we want.

Why do we live like we are in chains? One Sunday, I looked across the sanctuary and, from the way people looked, it seemed to me that many of them were chained. I think a lot of times we allow our insecurities and what others think about us to dictate what we bring before our Father. What will people think if I raise my hands? Will they look at me funny? What if I sing off key? If we're honest with ourselves and others, we've all had those thoughts before. The truth is, no one else cares! We worry ourselves with those thoughts, when no one else is thinking them! We need to let go of those worries and insecurities before we go before our Daddy to bring praise to Him. If we can't let those go, we're inhibited from giving Him ALL of our heart and soul and letting Him speak to us, because the focus is on US.

Switching gears, today's message in church was about Jairus, the official and the woman who'd been bleeding for 12 years....no that wasn't a typo...it was 12 YEARS. What I love about the teaching pastors at my church is that they want the members to be able to self teach/grow and they teach through Scripture verse by verse. Today, Lloyd (one of our teaching pastors) showed us the process he goes through when he prepares to teach a message. It was really awesome to be able to see how true Bible STUDY comes about. There are 4 parts of Bible Study: Observation (What do I see?), Interpretation (What does it mean?), Application (So What?), and Correlation (How does it fit in the whole Bible?). 80% of Bible Study is focused on Observation.

In this story, there are many interesting points. I don't have much more time to write, so I'll be brief. There are several parallels between Jairus and the woman. Jairus fell down before Jesus, imploring Him to come to his house. The woman came up behind Jesus and just touched his cloak. She fell at His feet later, but initially she did not meet Him face to face. Jairus' daughter was 12 years old and the woman had been bleeding for 12 years. So, as long as his daughter had been alive, the woman had been bleeding. What they both have in common is the fact that they both came to the point where they were SO DESPERATE for Jesus that NOTHING would keep them from Him.

The woman had been in isolation for 12 years (because in that time, when women were on their menstrual cycles, they were considered unclean and anyone that touched them would be considered unclean). She had tried everything to make the bleeding stop. She was so desperate for Jesus that she didn't care if she touched other people and made them unclean. Jairus waited a long time in the crowd to see Jesus. It didn't matter that he was an official (and officials don't fall at Jesus' feet), but he so desperately wanted Jesus that he sought Him out.

One question I had when reading the passage was why Dairus' name was written, but the woman was just called a woman...she had no name. Then I realized that she did have a name and it was far better than just any name. Jesus called her "Daughter."

W.O.W. (With Out Words) Many times I am rendered speechless when I think about how Jesus calls me HIS daughter. THAT sums up my identity. Nothing else matters. I AM a daughter of Christ. What an incredible gift!

I'm not exactly sure how to sum up all these thoughts that are raging in my mind. I guess the best advice I can give you is to seek after God with EVERYTHING that is within you. You won't be sorry you did. There is unimaginable joy and peace that comes in His presence. Let Him free you from the bondage you've placed yourself in. Run to him unashamed, with reckless abandon and see your life transformed by his all encompassing, unfathomable, and eternal love.