Mindful.Ness

I have been wandering through the vast wilderness called "Mindful." Some time ago I read an article about being mindful. It has been a while, and maybe the subject was not really about our mindfulness towards Christ, but it is likely if I read it, my thoughts interpreted it through the filter of Christian obedience. I am dubious of mindfulness in the common, but not mindfulness in Christ.

Mindfulness is about being fully in the moment. I teach cognition... thinking about your thinking. I believe that we are slothful-lazy thinkers. We allow input without addressing it. I am an advocate for being in the moment every.moment. We cannot be in.the.moment if we spend hours daily watching tv, playing video games, or just allowing time to pass us by... And especially if we are not purposeful about our surroundings. When I drink cold water I think about how the coldness slides down my throat, or when I open the window and the cold outside air or the warmth of the wind touches my face. I breathe deeply. I experience it. I experience all of it. No longer reaction or impulse, but mindfulness. I am filled with the experience.

This is Easter weekend. This is a bittersweet holiday for me. Every year, without skipping a beat, my tears flow at the story of Jesus' crucifixion. My heart aches at the thought, "He did that for me." He suffered and died for me. He shed His blood to reconcile me with God the Father. Adam and Eve turned willingly toward the deceiver and away from God causing humankind to be cast out of the garden. Jesus came from forever.from eternity.to earth.in the flesh to reconcile you and me to God the Father because God intended us to fellowship with Him in the garden FOREVER. Isn't that something to be mindful of? Isn't that worth giving every thought.every moment to Jesus? To indulge the senses He created in us to embrace and be mindful every moment!

As you proceed StepxStep, embrace every moment as the gift it is.

"No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light... If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining lamp gives you light."
Luke 11:33-36

Alone

I just read My Utmost For His Highest the January12 entry, and it talks about God getting us Alone.  I have read and reread that book almost yearly since 2001, yet I cannot remember reading that topic before. The idea that God wants us Alone is both frightening and invigorating.

It has been impressed upon my heart for many years to focus on Jesus. To cast my eyes upon Him and Him Alone. I have explained it to my Sunday school class that it is like following Him, StepxStep, through a crowd. To watch Him exclusively as not to lose my way. To step to the right when He does, or to the left, when He does, to pause, when He does, and to go, when He does...

He loves us and wants us to fellowship with him, Alone, just Us/us... 
To worship
To serve
To love
To teach 
To grow

I thought one time about how I will stand at the judgement throne  -Alone- no mother or father, no husband or children, no one responsible but me for me...then it dawned on me that I will not be Alone. My blessed Savior and Redeemer will be right behind me like a Sentry who has paid my penalty, who protects and has provided for me. Little stick figure me with the Son of God as my Representative overshadowing my guilt and shame with His blood. 

Oh my goodness, what a picture that is in my imagination. 
(I honestly wrote the statements above prior the finding the following scripture to quote!)

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4

Words

In the last several years, as I have acquired my degree as a teacher, I have found that I am enamored with words. StepxStep, words have come to mean a great deal. They can, as the song says, "Build you up and tear you down..." I love loVE LOve LOVE words. I truly love what words do and mean and are... Even as a young child I remember thinking of words and how they work. 

I collect things. I collect strange things. 

I collect rocks. I LOVE rocks. I know many people collect rocks, so that is not strange. 

I collect books. That is not strange, if you read them... I love to read, but it appears with just the books I have on my Kindle, I would have to read a book a week for 50 years to read them all... that does not include the hard covered and paperback books I have in my office/library in my home. Some have been read, some are eagerly waiting. So, I am in the habit of collecting books, I just need  to read them now. 

I collect trips. 

I do that by collecting miles in my car.  I love to travel. I really like see places. 

I collect sand. I know collecting sand is strange, but it is something that my students love. I started  collecting sand from beaches I have visited. I took a trip up the west coast and everywhere I stopped  I collected sand. I knew that I would have students who would never have been to many of the places  I had been, so I wanted them to see that one beach could produce different sands. While on Long  Island in New York, I collected three types of beach: the typical sand type, then a courser red sand,  and a gravel type beach, and finally small smooth rounded rocks. That to me is amazing. All from  one beach. All within fifty feet. My collection now includes sand/soil from around the world. No  longer from places I have visited, but from places others have been. 

I collect words. 

     submit

     I submit to Jesus.

     I submit to God in becoming a minimalist. 

     I submit to God in becoming debt free.

     I submit to God in building StepxStep. 

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.                                                                                                                             James 4:7 NKJV

Days Following Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Is it really too late to tell you Merry Christmas!? 

I think we should use that -traditionally used in December- sentiment *all*year*long*. People who have never heard about Jesus, hear about Him unabashedly, daily, during "The Holidays"... Why can't we expound on Jesus year around with no shame? With no fear of offending? Jesus said if you are persecuted for My sake, you shall be blessed... 

My youngest son LOVES Christmas. I asked him recently what makes Christmas so magical for him. He told me it is because peoples' attitudes and demeanor change during this season. It is a mystery to me. Why can't people carry this same attitude and demeanor (heart) with them throughout the year? 

So, although it may sound funny hearing "Merry Christmas" in any other month than December, if you do hear someone say those very words in an out-of-place day or out-of-place time, you may have just met/heard this Blog's author... 

Merry Christmas to you with all the cheer of the holidays throughout the year!

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:10-12 NKJV

Getting Ready for Church...

When I was a little girl, my parents took us to church. I learned about Noah and Moses and GMG (Girls Meeting God) and Daniel and the lions and David & Goliath and tithing and how scary God is and rainbows and crosses and the Three Wise Men and Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.  I was, and still am, very fond of Baby Jesus. But more so now than ever in my life. I knew Jesus; I know Jesus. I heard the stories. I had the best parents in the world. I was in a loving home. I had food, shelter, family, love... I was even told a secret... that the Little Engine could if he kept trying. Oh, that's another story...

This morning as I have prepared to go to church I think about what it means. I think about how there is pomp and circumstance. I think about how people go to church as families, why they are going, and what it really means to them to be in .C.H.U.R.C.H.  I am tired. I am busy with my job. I have been staying at school late every night. I am caught in a trap. 

I want to go to .C.H.U.R.C.H. to see Jesus. I want to be there because God calls ME there, and calls ME to fellowship, and calls ME to learn, and calls ME to take what I have learned and "Go!" to call YOU.

Do you see how Jesus put into motion what was meant to restore our relationship with God? 

I have read the Advent study e-mail from our pastor and there was an eye opening statement made by one of the authors of the book he is using to guide that study.  It said, Jesus, instead of storming the authorities' offices to take over, "gathered a small group, shared His vision, and let His revolution happen a little bit at a time." Ed Robb

That is an incredible thought. We are a part of the authority of Christ if we have taken up His cross and follow Him. We are a part of the R.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N! Even in our tiny churches, in our small town, in our insignificant communities. As a whole, we are the body of Christ. We are in The Lord's Army... As were my folks who taught me about Noah and Moses and GMG... and their parents, and their parents... I praise God for the legacy of Jesus Christ... handed down to me StepxStep.

"And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are You for us or for our adversaries?" So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Joshua 5:13-14

Why should I believe in Jesus?

There is only One worthy to believe in. Jesus

I grew up thinking that I would never be enough; I was right.
I grew up thinking I could never do enough; I was right.
I grew up trying to be enough; I was wrong.
I grew up trying to do enough; I never could.

When I finally realized that I had wasted so much time trying, I was not devastated; I praised God for giving me eyes to see and ears to hear when He did. It was not too late. There are so many people who are spoken to, but never hear, until it is too late. There are millions who are shown, but never see, until it is too late.

There is nothing I can do of my own. There is nothing I can be on my own. There is only Truth. Jesus came to bring us Truth. He is The Truth, He is The Way, He is The Life... we cannot see God but through the Son.

I can hear the mockers and the skeptics and the deceived...but that is really only a diversion. A ploy to distract me from sharing Jesus, sharing Truth.

I know Jesus; I know Truth; I want to share Him with you.

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." Luke 4:18-19

Did you know you are the poor, brokenhearted, captive, blind, oppressed... If you were locked in a cell with bars would you not welcome the gatekeeper with the key? Jesus is the Gatekeeper... follow Him.

Begin at the beginning!

Believe in Jesus. John 3:16

Repent of your sin. Luke 13:3

Confess Jesus. Romans 10:10

I believe baptism is a profession of faith, not an action to save. I wonder what the thief on the cross beside Jesus felt when Jesus told him he'd be in paradise that very day? He had no time to work or be baptized, yet Jesus Himself took him to heaven... Interesting. 

[I neither mock nor make light of what Christ did on my behalf and the behalf of all humankind. I do question the works and words that have been attached by human hands to the simple message of Jesus.]

Jesus said, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it:'You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 23:37-38