Matthew 7:3 "Why, then, do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, and pay no attention to the log in your own eye?"...
Such contravesory surrounds modern style living and church. I'm not about to offer my humble opinion as it is not for me to judge, but to love as Jesus taught us to.
Following a turbulent few years searching for love in the wrong places, after co-habating with two men...not at the same time, I was sad and alone..when, Praise God, a dear friend invited me to Church.
I declined on the grounds of ...'maybe not!...it sounded a bit scary, and I didn't want to be a hat wielding posh dressed Sunday Worshipper, I valued my lie-ins"
To this day I'm not sure of the moment or the words she used to co-erce me through the door of my local evangelical building.
The music erupted into a loud exubarant clapping melodic sound, the three hundred strong crowd, made up of all nationalities, from 0-100 years danced rhythmically to the beat, wide smiles and hands waving in the air.
Mesmerised and a little shocked I gently nudged my friend, realising she to had been brainwashed as her hands stretched heavenward - Her face lost in wonder...Time to run.
Standing there in the midst, I felt isolated and alone...they were all united as one body...I felt vulnerable, not knowing which way to turn, and looked expectantly towards the fire exit.
Soon the pastor was getting very excited telling us about the devil...evidently I figured, he was trying to scare me into paying protection money...but the devil? Really?
I was considering my best excuse to exit as soon as the sermon finished...politely and quietly so as not to offend.
Then without warning it happened. I felt like God had tipped the top of my head back, like a lid on a coffee pot, His unconditional love poured in to the ends of my fingers and toes. An empty vessel, there was plenty of room for His overwhelming love, tangible, merciful.
As His love flowed and ebbed filling me to overflowing He showed me Jesus on the cross, dying for my sins.He opened my eyes to what sin was...not just my grandads old fashioned disapproval - but I had been sinning...my life rushed before me, and yet at the same time He told me I was forgiven, a new creation in Him, saved by the blood of His son, Jesus Christ.
I have no idea how long this vision lasted until it felt like He flipped the top of my head back on sealing His Love inside. I buzzed out of that meeting like a ball in a pinball machine, bouncing so fast, head spinning, joyful, exhilarated, made new, loved beyond measure.
29 years on, I'm still buzzing, yes I have continued to sin, and I have been forgiven, every day I hope to be better than yesterday...by His Grace, Mercy and Wisdom I strive to be more like my Saviour..yet still I have Many 'logs' in my eye.
How can we judge a sister or brother?...how can it be down to us to say who They are and who is welcome in our churches? who are we to give them a label?
Church is family, love, pure love, unconditional without judgement. It is for us to invite all to Church, then it is between them and Jesus...through His Holy Spirit to encourage us all to live and love by His Grace and Mercy, and the plans God has for each of us can come to fruition as He transforms and renews our minds..to prosper us and not to harm us.
I Am eternally grateful to my insistent friend...and hope I can be an insistent friend to others, whoever and wherever they are today.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Gods 'car wash'...
Driving back from Mass this morning..I felt exhilarated...on fire for God...in the ten minutes it took me to get home I had 'written' my 'status' for Facebook, which then turned into a 'blog'...as it ended up too long for a Facebook page.
So here I am a few hours later, with a diminished enthusiasm and vigour to write this blog...but hey..I'm going to have a go - to rekindle the beautiful 'picture' I had only this morning, before I travel further along the 'highway'.
My 'road' today was filled with many distractions...
For sisters and brothers in Christ...who probably know what I mean..for all those who have no idea..I hope one day you will know what I'm gibbering on about...
Walking in to a Latin chant by the monks at Douai Abbey, was very inviting. I found a good spot, remembered to Genuflect...(I'm fairly new to this)...and sat down. ...whilst praying to God with my weekly apology for arriving late....
The Liturgy of the sacrament took us into communion...I love this act of repentance, bringing to mind all that I have failed to do or done inappropriately over the past week....so much comes to mind...but I know Jesus will forgive me, if I have a heart to do better...which I always do at this point, even if I fail after I leave.
Before I became a Christian my grandad used to try and tell me about 'sin' but I just thought he was
being old fashioned so chose to ignore his sound advice. When The Lord filled me with His Holy Spirit the very first time...He revealed my 'sins'..my wise grandad had been right.
The Ten Commandments were given for us to live a life of Harmony and peace, if we all abided by them we would not end up hurting each other. I know I will never be perfect, only Jesus Christ himself was without blemish, but we can strive with God's Grace to try to be more like Jesus.
As humans in our modern fallen world it is sooo easy to be distracted - to be tempted to join in stuff not good for our souls, to judge others, gossip, waste time on Facebook when we could be praying...if we set our eyes on Jesus we can remind ourselves what we could be like, if we read His word, The Bible, we can discover how we can be more like Our Saviour.
God's patience with His children is infinite..in Matthew 18:22 Jesus Himself tells us to forgive not
7 times but 77 times.
Taking the bread and wine since I became a Christian has always been special. Partaking in the
Eucharist..Jesus words..Take, eat this is My Body' are reverberating through my head as I feel Jesus'
actual presence in me, strengthening me, together as one ,.."This is my blood, drink it in remembrance of Me"....again it may only be a physical 'small sip' but it feels like His blood is running through my veins..empowering me to go and serve My Lord Jesus Christ.
I return to my seat, kneeling, Thanking God for His son, Thanking Him for Forgiveness, asking for strength and wisdom to go out into the days ahead...
"Go in Peace, the Mass has ended"....and my new week has begun....
Driving steadily home, Christian music blasting out, windows down as the day is warm....
I feel elated, full of God's Love, The Hope of Christ in my heart..a yearning to serve Him unconditionally...I cannot wait for the opportunities to come...doors to be opened...
I realise for those moments, fresh out of Mass I am safe...no distractions, no temptations...no lethargy...safe in my car for a few minutes..
It reminded me of a car wash....I was a dirty vehicle....I went through the car wash...I came
out clean.
As a car goes back on the road....it quickly gathers dust, the untimely splodge of bird pooh...trying to avoid puddles and muddy tracks, the driver carefully plans his route. But even on the clear road ahead, the best road to follow, there will be elements of dirt, grime and mud adhering itself so quickly to the car.
With all good intentions the road travelled will pick up so much grime...some expected, some a surprise. Then back to the car wash to start again...the longer we leave it the more obvious it becomes to others...we may stop caring how shabby the car is looking, there may be other more important distractions, we may not have the time to clean the car again. But when we return, as we go through that cleansing process, we can have shiny cars again...for a short time.
We can return any time, any place...just by praying to Our Father in Heaven wherever we are...
But for me, today...I truly felt like I had been through the 'God car wash' ....I praise God that He openly invites us with His everlasting arms to come to 'The God wash' as often as we want to. He knows as we try to walk the Righteous pathway we will not get too far without attracting a little dust, a bit of dirt or a big blob of bird pooh...Thank God for Jesus who died in our place that we may be forgiven...totally...cleansed completely each and every time we say sorry to The Lord God Almighty, through the blood of a His son Jesus Christ.
Wherever you are on the road, however much mud you have spattered over you , there is NO amount of 'dirt' to deep that Jesus cannot wash away...if you feel you haven't been to the 'car wash' for a while, then maybe think of making time for one...or just stop, and open your heart and soul to Jesus. He is always loving you, always waiting with outstretched arms.
As it says in Psalm 46:10 "Be still and Know that I am God"...Amen x
So here I am a few hours later, with a diminished enthusiasm and vigour to write this blog...but hey..I'm going to have a go - to rekindle the beautiful 'picture' I had only this morning, before I travel further along the 'highway'.
My 'road' today was filled with many distractions...
For sisters and brothers in Christ...who probably know what I mean..for all those who have no idea..I hope one day you will know what I'm gibbering on about...
Walking in to a Latin chant by the monks at Douai Abbey, was very inviting. I found a good spot, remembered to Genuflect...(I'm fairly new to this)...and sat down. ...whilst praying to God with my weekly apology for arriving late....
The Liturgy of the sacrament took us into communion...I love this act of repentance, bringing to mind all that I have failed to do or done inappropriately over the past week....so much comes to mind...but I know Jesus will forgive me, if I have a heart to do better...which I always do at this point, even if I fail after I leave.
Before I became a Christian my grandad used to try and tell me about 'sin' but I just thought he was
being old fashioned so chose to ignore his sound advice. When The Lord filled me with His Holy Spirit the very first time...He revealed my 'sins'..my wise grandad had been right.
The Ten Commandments were given for us to live a life of Harmony and peace, if we all abided by them we would not end up hurting each other. I know I will never be perfect, only Jesus Christ himself was without blemish, but we can strive with God's Grace to try to be more like Jesus.
As humans in our modern fallen world it is sooo easy to be distracted - to be tempted to join in stuff not good for our souls, to judge others, gossip, waste time on Facebook when we could be praying...if we set our eyes on Jesus we can remind ourselves what we could be like, if we read His word, The Bible, we can discover how we can be more like Our Saviour.
God's patience with His children is infinite..in Matthew 18:22 Jesus Himself tells us to forgive not
7 times but 77 times.
Taking the bread and wine since I became a Christian has always been special. Partaking in the
Eucharist..Jesus words..Take, eat this is My Body' are reverberating through my head as I feel Jesus'
actual presence in me, strengthening me, together as one ,.."This is my blood, drink it in remembrance of Me"....again it may only be a physical 'small sip' but it feels like His blood is running through my veins..empowering me to go and serve My Lord Jesus Christ.
I return to my seat, kneeling, Thanking God for His son, Thanking Him for Forgiveness, asking for strength and wisdom to go out into the days ahead...
"Go in Peace, the Mass has ended"....and my new week has begun....
Driving steadily home, Christian music blasting out, windows down as the day is warm....
I feel elated, full of God's Love, The Hope of Christ in my heart..a yearning to serve Him unconditionally...I cannot wait for the opportunities to come...doors to be opened...
I realise for those moments, fresh out of Mass I am safe...no distractions, no temptations...no lethargy...safe in my car for a few minutes..
It reminded me of a car wash....I was a dirty vehicle....I went through the car wash...I came
out clean.
As a car goes back on the road....it quickly gathers dust, the untimely splodge of bird pooh...trying to avoid puddles and muddy tracks, the driver carefully plans his route. But even on the clear road ahead, the best road to follow, there will be elements of dirt, grime and mud adhering itself so quickly to the car.
With all good intentions the road travelled will pick up so much grime...some expected, some a surprise. Then back to the car wash to start again...the longer we leave it the more obvious it becomes to others...we may stop caring how shabby the car is looking, there may be other more important distractions, we may not have the time to clean the car again. But when we return, as we go through that cleansing process, we can have shiny cars again...for a short time.
We can return any time, any place...just by praying to Our Father in Heaven wherever we are...
But for me, today...I truly felt like I had been through the 'God car wash' ....I praise God that He openly invites us with His everlasting arms to come to 'The God wash' as often as we want to. He knows as we try to walk the Righteous pathway we will not get too far without attracting a little dust, a bit of dirt or a big blob of bird pooh...Thank God for Jesus who died in our place that we may be forgiven...totally...cleansed completely each and every time we say sorry to The Lord God Almighty, through the blood of a His son Jesus Christ.
Wherever you are on the road, however much mud you have spattered over you , there is NO amount of 'dirt' to deep that Jesus cannot wash away...if you feel you haven't been to the 'car wash' for a while, then maybe think of making time for one...or just stop, and open your heart and soul to Jesus. He is always loving you, always waiting with outstretched arms.
As it says in Psalm 46:10 "Be still and Know that I am God"...Amen x
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