Role Models

Our culture and society put a great deal of emphasis on role models. Not only are we told to have a role model, the world also wants to tell us who the "perfect" role models are. Take a peek in any secular magazine and you will see what I mean. Media and society in general tell us who to dress like, who to act like, who to look up to... the list goes on and on.

There is one common denominator that all of the world's role models have: they aren't perfect. At some point they will disappoint you and not uphold the ideal you mimicked your own life after.

Well, don't despair! We do have a perfect role model that we should pattern every aspect of our lives after because He will never disappoint us. He is Jesus! Jesus walked this earth and experienced life through human form and He never once sinned! Now that's the ultimate role model!

Leviticus 18: 3-4 says, " You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God."

These were the Lord's instructions for the Israelites He just delivered from bondage in Egypt. God was telling them directly who to pattern their lives after. God understands that it is human nature to emulate other people's behaviors. That is why it is so important for us to seek God's strength to help us make Jesus our one and only role model.

Riding Shotgun

If a car represented your life who would be driving? Would you be driving? Or would God be driving with you riding shotgun? Hmm... Let's think about this for a minute.

-Some of us are driving and we didn't even ask God to get in the car. We just took off without Him and went our own way. Maybe we forgot God, or maybe we just didn't want Him in the car to see how we really act.

-Some of us know that we are busy driving and make God ride in the back seat. (We don't even let Him sit up front with us!)

-Some of us are driving and God is riding shotgun. We want God to be prominent in our life so we put Him up front where everyone can see Him. However, in the end we are the ones making all the decisions, which include a lot of wrong turns.

-Some of us let God drive. We ride shotgun because we want to be all over the action of our lives. We sit in the front seat and call out demands like a backseat driver. We want God to be in control, but we have a hard time actually relinquishing the control.

-Some of us let God drive and thank Him for driving. We ride shotgun and talk to God and tell Him how much we love Him and how much easier our life is with Him making all the decisions. We know that we are safe and loved with God driving.

So, who's driving?

"Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory." Psalm 73: 23-24

Stars

I did something the other night that I never do. As I was standing outside with my dog at 10 o'clock I looked up at the stars. (Just in case you are wondering my dog was using the restroom, I don't usually stand outside at night!)


I am not the type of person that gets all mushy gushy about the stars. I guess you could say that I am not a "lay out under the stars" kind of girl. But as I was looking up I realized that I should get excited about the stars because they are God's creation.

When Jonah was fleeing from the Lord he got on a boat with some sailors headed for Tarshish when he should have been going to Nineveh. The Lord sent a violent storm because of Jonah's disobedience. The other sailors were scared to death because of the storm. They figured out that Jonah was the reason for the calamity and questioned him about who he was. This is what Jonah said: "I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."

Even though Jonah was rejecting God's will at this point, he still knew the power and majesty of the God he served. Jonah didn't simply say that he worships the Lord who is the God of heaven. He went further than that to say God is responsible for creating everything we see around us. Jonah knew that God's creation should be praised and acknowledged.

Let's not look at the stars and forget to stand in awe of God's creation.

Making a Decision

Did you know that when you avoid making a decision about a matter you are uncomfortable with, you end up making a decision through your avoidance. The decision to avoid the decision is not a good decision! (Ha! Did you get that?)

Or here is another example that I am guilty of all the time. --- God will give me direction to make a decision and I ignore His leading and avoid the decision in the hopes that God will change His mind! For instance, God has told me that I should have carpal tunnel surgery on my wrists, but I am avoiding making that decision because I am hoping God will change His mind. I guess I am hoping for a miraculous healing... but how can I hope for a different outcome when God has already determined the path I should take?

Look at Psalm 25: 4-5: "Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long."

Guidance is being requested in this verse. I ask the Lord for His guidance all the time when I am making decisions. However, once the Lord has given us that guidance we need to be faithful and use it. Heeding the Lord's guidance demonstrates our dependence on His will and perfect plan for our lives.

Immediate Results

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree that is planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season." Psalms 1:1-3

These verses are very encouraging to a Christian who has modeled their life after Biblical teachings and God's will for their life. A person is going to be blessed when they abide by these scriptures.

However, the last part of the verse mentions something interesting that Christians should pay attention to. When we plant a tree it does not yield immediate fruit. There is a growing period before any fruit appears. We want "immediate results" and often don't want to wait on the blessing that God has in store for us.

When psalmist writes that the fruit will appear "in season" he is speaking of God's perfect timing. (God's perfect timing is not usually our timing!) But don't be discouraged because the blessing is a part of God's promise and He never breaks a promise.

Reading but Not Retaining

The purpose of reading is to gain information. When we read our brains have to compute the words to make sense of them so that an understanding is acquired. This is how the process works, but how many times have you read something and your eyes did the reading but your mind did not pay any attention?

For some reason, this happens very often to Christians when they are reading the Bible. It happened to me a few days ago. I read a short passage in Psalms and I stopped because I realized I had no idea what I just read! We could list many different reasons why our minds drift and neglect to focus during our Bible reading. Our minds drift to our schedules, other people, our responsibilities, etc... However, no matter what the reason may be, there is one common denominator and that is the enemy. Satan wants to steal the joy and fruit that comes from our time in the Word by enticing our minds to focus on other things.

In Mark 4:12 Jesus spoke about being, "ever hearing but never understanding". That is not what we want to be doing. We want to have our hearts and minds open to God's word so that it creates an understanding within us that leads to spiritual maturity. How do we do this? Well, my best answer is to ask the Lord to help you understand and to seek Him in prayer before reading your Bible so that your heart is right before you ever start reading. (That is my plan!)

Wanna Be a Kid Again?

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me." 1 Corinthians 13:11

Last night Bart and I tucked our three-year-old son in bed. We said bedtime prayers, gave hugs and kisses, but I did something I don't usually do... I stayed in his room for awhile and sat next to his bed while he was falling asleep.

As I was sitting there I kept thinking about how our little boy doesn't have a responsibility or a worry in the world. I am thankful that he is blessed not to have those burdens at such a young age. However, on days when I am so busy with responsibilities, schedules and worries I find myself wishing that I could experience that carefree living that kids do.

Growing older isn't easy, but it is worth it. As our chronological age increases we become more educated and experienced. Older age offers us more opportunities in life. Christians grow older in age just like everyone else, but they should also grow up in their faith as well. Growing up in our faith is so much better than staying a baby in our faith. The Lord will use us mightily when we grow up in Him.

Even though we have moments when we wish to be young and carefree again, the responsibilities we have are really blessings from God. God never said His work would be easy. He will give us the grace and strength to do it, but it is going to be a lot of work. This verse that Paul wrote shows the progression of growing up and being better off as a mature Christian adult.


Side note: Bart and I met a wonderful missionary couple tonight named Jonathan and Erin Matthews. The Matthews are from the U.S. but are serving in Brazil. I am putting a link to their website so you can check out their missions work. They have three children with their fourth on the way! I felt a special connection to Erin tonight because her youngest is a little girl that is very close in age to our twin girls. This is a very special family with a beautiful story: http://www.brazilforchrist.com/