the American dream

Listening to a sermon by Steve Furtick with Josh the other day, he said something that totally struck me..."When Satan can't tempt us with bad things, he distracts us with good things." How often do I live there?


I am fearful of living a wasted life. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good and SO badly want to share the redemptive power of Christ with others. He offers hope, joy, peace and most importantly salvation and everlasting life. Why do I waste time worrying about what shoes I'm going to wear tomorrow? Or the fact that I may have gained five pounds eating anything with a carbohydrate over the holidays? Because Satan is a bugger. I don't want to give him power, but I do want to be aware of his schemes. He knows that I am not tempted by drugs or alcohol. I don't struggle with sexual sin. But I do struggle with materialism. A love of money and all things cute/trendy.  Appearances.  Fear of man. Things that on the surface look good but cause so much destruction and more importanty DISTRACTION from what truly matters, which is the souls of men and the love of God.


I don't want to look back on my life and say "boy, I had a cute house with a white picket fence two kids and a dog." I know that is the "American Dream," but that's not my dream. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and adore my children. But I do them a great disservice when I make them my focus rather than Jesus. I want Jackson and Landry to see their mom live out an audacious faith where I believe God for big things and trust Him with all things. I want to show them a life changed by the power of the cross and bear witness to God's all sufficient grace. He is so much bigger than my shoes:-).  


Don't get distracted by the American dream. Colossians 3:2-4 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is your^[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.


Allow God to infiltrate your every fiber and let his dream become yours.  
^{Isaiah 43
10} “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, 
   “and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
   and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
   nor will there be one after me.
¹¹ I, even I, am the LORD,
   and apart from me there is no savior.
¹² I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
   I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God.
 ¹³ Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out of my hand.
   When I act, who can reverse it?”

He formed you, saved you, sanctifies you so that you can be a witness to everything He has done and continues to do.  Bear witness to His love. This is His dream for your life. How will this change what you do with your time today?

Lord, make me aware of Satan's attempts to distract me from you. I pray that my heart and mind would be protected by your truth and that I would have a single-minded focus: your glory. I love you and want to serve you all the days of my life. Amen

Jess

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Oh Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

First Love

1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

It's not about us. Over and over again, God has been revealing that to me. The more I read His Word, study who He is and how He works, I'm realizing how amazing it is that he chooses to love us.  God is perfect. Holy. Powerful. Just. Ominiscient.  Why the heck would he love me?? It truly is incredible. I am so depraved...so selfish.  My desire is to make the most of me rather than to make the most of the God who saved me.  And saved me when I didn't deserve it...Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This is so elementary...but so easy to miss and forget. How do we keep from forgetting our First Love? How do I make this my desire...Isaiah 26:8 Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you. Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. 

I think when I, we, the church, can say with confidence that our desire is for His Great Name, we can and will change hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit.  When we demonstrate our love for Him by sacrificing our selfish desires, His love will be proclaimed. And people will notice.  We have to stop focusing on what God can do for us and learn to serve Him without expectation for blessings. How can I better proclaim His name? How can my life better reflect my First Love??

In the American culture, this will be difficult. We are taught to love ourselves first, everything else second. This is wrong. We can only love because He first loved us.  You are living and breathing and loving because of Him.  Thank Him for His love today.  I know I will.

Jess

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, oh Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

my loves

My boys, Jackson and Landry. Jackson is a little over 2 and Landry turns 1 on December 15th. Hairless wonders:-). love them more than words, so I won't even try.

Worth Serving?

I am terrible at accepting compliments or kind gestures. Ask my husband. He gets so frustrated with me. "Why do I even bother telling you you're beautiful? You just roll your eyes at me."  Last night, he just wanted to sit with me and rub my feet. I balked at the idea. "Why?" "Really, Jess? Just let me serve you." Reluctantly, I agreed. I have a good hub.


While he was massaging my feets, I started thinking...why do I struggle with this? My sweet husband just wanted to do something nice for me and instantly, I was on edge. What is wrong with me?  I reflected on it awhile and started thinking about other areas in my life where this is true. I feel guilty when my coworkers do something for me, even if it's a part of their job! I will just try to do everything so I won't "bother" them or create more work for them. In serving at church, I've often been guilty of forging ahead with projects or ministries without asking for help.


Am I just a control-freak? Is it a pride thing? Maybe.  I think it's deeper than that...I think I struggle with feeling worthy of being served. Self-worth is such a dangerous thing though. Our culture feeds us all of this stuff about "self"-esteem. You are good enough, you can do it! Work harder, be more, botox this, buy this and you'll be perfect! So all our lives we strive and strive to be good enough, to be worthy of what? The admiration of others? More money? More power? What? What are we striving for??


Our worth can't come from ourselves. It's not from our jobs, our attractiveness, our social status, our children, our spouses, etc...It's from Christ. My worth is in the one who rescued me. He saved me from myself. When I won't let my husband or others serve me, I have an identity problem. I'm not believing the truth that I am a child of a holy God.


We are worth serving. We are created beings, created in the image of the one and only God...Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  Claim it.  Psalm 139: 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.   When I disregard family or friends' attempt to serve me, I'm not allowing them to serve our God, essentially. I'm telling God, your creation is not good enough to serve. You are not good enough to serve.  And obviously, this must come from a humble heart. When I claim this truth, I can't become a selfish dictator who expects everyone to meet all of my needs or pay the penalty. Humbly allowing someone to serve me is giving them an opportunity to serve the One worthy of everything, Jehovah, the great I AM.  


Lord, give me a humble heart today. I pray that I may praise you with my life. I will accept the truth that I am made in your image and need to live that out day by day. AMEN.


Jess


May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14