Why Me? or Be Fruity - part 1

Through all of life's adventures and pitfalls, every human - in my opinion - has a place inside them that desires all the attention, pity, accolades, and self-martyr encouragement. More to the point, I believe that every human has either a tiny or huge desire for the spotlight. Hubby and I were driving today, and as we made our way on the interstate we fell behind a dump truck with the words "Why Me?" stenciled on the back. Our first reaction was to express a confusion over that sentiment's presence on that particular vehicle. Our second reaction was to continue an on-going discussion we've had for many nights lately - the consistent, primary focus on the love and promotion of self above any and all else.

I don't know why, but this past Sunday I began to consider this and the connection with living a holy life. It seems to me that many Christians consider holiness a by-product of Salvation. Granted, Christ begins a good work in us and continues it until the day of completion. But the idea that we automatically conquer former sins, temptations, strongholds without responding to the spiritual battle that does in fact rage around us in a real, practical, and faith-filled way, is slightly ludicrous. Life is not all peaches and cream. Christ promised hardship as well as love, trials as well as joys, tribulations as well as peace. Holiness should be something we strive for with every fiber of our physical and spiritual being. Christ's sacrifice demands it.

With that, I think we, as the body of Christ should re-examine the fruits of the Spirit, not forgetting the fruits of the sinful nature (also referred to as the "flesh"). Galatians is an awesome book of the Bible. Here is Galatians 5:16-26 (ESV):

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

2 Timothy 3:16 says that all scripture is God-breathed, meaning inspired directly by God Himself. I think that could mean also that the way the scriptures are put together is not an accident. I believe Paul mentions the fruit of the flesh first for a reason. That is what is there first. We are born into sinful nature. Once we understand right from wrong, and especially when we come to faith in Jesus as the one true God and the only way to the Father, we are obligated to work out that sinful nature with the Holy Spirit living inside us.

Now, due to this thought, I found myself examining how I live out my faith, and it occurred to me that faith is MEANT to be lived out or acted upon. (Very astute finding, huh? My mom always said I was pretty smart.; ) So if faith is meant to be acted upon, then any time we do not act out our lives in faithfulness, like with the fruits of the Spirit, we could be in fact acting out our lives in the fruit of the sinful nature. In fact, it is very probable that we could be living a sinful life as opposed to a holy life.

So, here is my conclusion ... we should "Be Fruity".

I plan on expounding more on this in the coming weeks, and I would love to see some comments!! I know this one was a little wordy, but I didn't have much time; ) Have a blessed week!

Thanking Our Troops

Being Lucy, A Cruise to No-where, Who Dat?!, and A Beautiful Slave

New Orleans is definitely an interesting place to live. Two of our very dear friends were married on Halloween and had the reception later that night at Mardi Gras World. For those of you unfamiliar with New Orleans, we love to leave monuments for anything our city might be known for. In this case, we have a warehouse which used to house Mardi Gras floats still under construction. Now it houses old floats and a museum dedicated to the history of New Orleans Mardi Gras rituals. Of course, with it being Halloween, it was also a costume/masquerade party. Thomas and I went as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo - it was awesome. Thomas's blue eyes are the only things that give him away as not fully Latino. Other than that, he totally pulled it off. I, of course, was a fabulous Lucy. : ) (For those of you that know me, you know how fantastic it was for me to pretend to be the star of I Love Lucy.) In these few weeks after the party, we have been quite busy.

For one thing, we were getting ready for our cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. Unfortunately, we did not know of Hurricane Ida brewing in the Gulf. By the time it neared the coast, New Orleans closed its port. Carnival, being the awesome company it is, offered a total refund for anyone wanting to cancel or 50% refund for a shortened cruise to the Gulf without a stop in Mexico. Hubby and I chose the latter and had a fabulous "cruise to no-where" - the actual quote from the company: ). Probably the coolest thing about going on this cruise were the awesome Saints games that flanked the trip. 'Who Dat Nation' rejoice!!! We are 9 and 0!!! The best we've ever done was 7 and 0 - and that was in this millineaum. In other words, we've never played better. Who Dat indeed???!!?!!??!??!?!!??!!

Now, on to business. I watched the movie Taken for the first time tonight. The ending is awesome, of course, with the father recovering his daughter before she is tortured to the extreme, before she drops off the face of the earth. In reality, very few of these young women are ever rescued or ever get the chance to escape. The movie revealed the actual situations many women, girls, and even young boys face. They are drugged and beaten into submission. As I speak out about this disgusting evil, we need never forget one thing. God loves. God sees. God knows. God controls. Those who are "enemies of God" do not understand this. Even we, His children, sometimes do not understand or grasp why our beautiful, gracious, and loving God allows evil to linger.

The fact is, God is working out everything to His glory and the good of those who call Him Father. Brothers and sisters in Christ, please do not turn your head away and think it is impossible to see an end to this because it is not. We can end it. We can at least put a dent in it. Please, do not forget these victims. Please do not stop praying for their captors. Pray like you have never prayed before.

As I write this I am listening to a song I just discovered by a group called Take No Glory. The song is called A Beautiful Slave. The song begins hard, edgy, forlorn, melancholy, abrasive. It ends in a glorious, beautiful, soft, strong and praise-worthy chorus of Jesus Loves the Little Children and He's got the Whole World in His Hands. These "musicianaries" offer their music free-of-charge on their website www.takenoglory.com.

God hears their cries, and they will not go unanswered. God will have retribution. He will pass out judgement. The world will be redeemed, to the praise of God the Father, Jesus the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

Going through "The Change"

I hope you got a laugh from that title. No I am not going through THE change (thank goodness), but my life is definitely going through some changes. I would like to ask that you please pray for me as God refines and brings my mind, soul, and body through a process of maturing.

I'm beginning to recognize when it is best to keep my mouth shut. (Some of you are laughing at this moment. Stop that.)

I'm learning what it means to truly respect my husband the way he deserves to be respected.

I've experienced victories in areas of my life I never thought possible.

I've gained weight. (No, I'm not pregnant.)

I'm beginning to think more before acting on something.

I'm doing more housework without being asked.

I can recognize complaining for what it is, and some times stop.

I have started realizing what friends to allow access in my life, what friends to speak to occasionally, and what "friends" to remove. (Not just in facebook.)

I'm becoming a fighter, instead of a by-stander (or a run-away-er).

There are other changes, but it's so difficult to think through all of them. For those of you that know me best, I hope you know what a challenge these things are for me and will pray for me at least once. I'm definitely having issues in some of these areas. I just want to be a better daughter for our King. I am certainly not living up to my potential.

Recognition

I just found out tonight that a dear friend of our family went home last month. She suffered for years from cancer. When I read the email from her mother, a charming lady - an alumna of Judson, I recognized that many things I have struggled with recently can not compare to the pain of losing a child. Even when that child is no longer in pain, and even though her mother is older than my grandmother and has experienced loss in so many areas of her life.

If you think about it, please pray for this wonderful, graceful Southern woman, who befriended me just because we went to the same school - albeit many years apart. Her daughter was, in many ways, her life-line and helped her with many everyday tasks. I am grieved at her passing.

Revelation 21:4 (ESV)

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”