For about the last week Brett and I have tossed around the idea of getting a car top carrier for our vehicle. I looked them up online and decided they were out of our price range. Brett did see a more reasonably priced one on the Wal-Mart website so we drove on down to Wal-Mart to check it out. As luck would have it they did not have any hardtop carriers in stock. A couple of days ago I searched the internet for something else and noticed a hardtop carrier at Sears that would fit our budget. Yesterday we stopped by Sears to take a look, wandered around the mall a bit while we thought about it then went back to Sears to tell them we would like to buy it and have it installed. Brett went inside while I waited in the car with Aspen. He waited, we waited. Finally Brett came back out to the car. I didn’t wait for him to tell me what happened, I took a look at his face and said, “Ok, so what did they do to you?” Turns out he had waited the entire time while the woman who should have been helping him, and several others, was on a personal phone call trying to take care of her electric bill. After about ten minutes he gave up and walked out of the store annoyed (for good reason).

We drove back to the house and I got online to get the exact dimensions of the car top carrier so we could estimate how many and what size suitcases we could actually fit into it. I saw that if you ordered it online it was $25 dollars cheaper than if you bought it in the store. I excitedly showed Brett, who called the store to talk to them about it and they agreed to give him the cheaper price without ordering it online as well as quoting a price $15 less than listed online for installing it. All things do work together for good.

Jesus came to this world to die for our sins.  While He was here He served as an example of how we should live.  Plenty of people came to see Jesus speak and perform miracles. But they only followed Him with their eyes. Few actually followed Him with their feet like the disciples did. But until we follow Jesus with our feet and not just our eyes, we won’t have that close personal experience with Him that we need in order to change our lives. When we follow Jesus with our feet He takes us places we could have never gone without Him. We can read about foreign lands and vacations all day long, but until we get on the airplane or drive there we will never actually experience it. Sometimes we have to walk through a little mud, or an unpleasant experience with a service associate before we get to the “all things work together for good” part.  But in the end walking with Jesus, far outweighs just watching Him.  I invite you today to actually follow Jesus with your feet, don’t just read about Him, but let your experience with Him change your perception of who He is, spend time with Him and experience the deepness of His love for you.

 

Restoration: the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition. The dictionary then used this example; the restoration of Andrew’s sight.  While I don’t need my physical sight returned, I know it couldn’t hurt to have my spiritual sight completely restored.

I have never restored anything of significance.  Some people restore an old car or an antique of some sort, but I would have to say any restoration I have done over the years consists of restoring the mess the house became to its original unmessy state.  When I see the mess, I picture what it looked like before a whirlwind named Aspen brought all her toys out of her room to play into the living room.  I know what the room is supposed to look like and set about restoring it to its original condition.  Picture for a moment Henry Ford discovering one of his original Model T’s sitting in a junk yard waiting to be sent away as scrap fifty years after it had rolled off the production line.  He would have the ability to see it as he had originally designed it, no rust, no dents, no faded peeling paint.  I presume he would enjoy restoring his creation to its original condition.

When Jesus created you in His imagination, you were perfect.  He would be your brother and God would be your father.  His blood would run through your veins, you would resemble your heavenly origins by your actions of love to your fellow-man.  Unfortunately, due to sin, just like the Model T, your paint faded, your metal rusted and your received more than your fair share of dents over the years.  Now you sit in a junk yard waiting to be hauled off.  Not good enough for anything but scrap metal.  But when Jesus, your original creator sees you, he doesn’t see the junk you have become, He sees the original you that He created.  He wants to restore you to what He created you to be.  He didn’t create you a liar, a cheater, an addict, or a grumbly, stubborn and hard-hearted person.

My daughter Rande writes a blog and posts her latest amazing salad recipes or her newest juicing recipes. She just finished a 70 day juice fast. During her fast she posted updates about how she was feeling. I’m pulling a short excerpt from one of her blogs. She had woke up in the middle of the night with her thoughts raging. She said, “Every negative thing I could think about myself just poured out of my brain. It was agonizing. Suddenly this thought popped in: These are the stories you tell yourself. They are just stories. Maybe you need to tell yourself some new ones. I fell asleep peacefully shortly after that.”

We tell ourselves stories that aren’t true:

I would change but I can’t because of ____________.

I’m fat.

I’m dumb.

I’m ugly.

I can’t do it.

Nobody likes me.

There is something inherently wrong with me.

I can’t live without ___________.

Everything is great./ Everything is horrible.

If I had more time I would do ______________.

Because of sin we grow up telling ourselves lies. Take for example, something happens that makes me feel bad/pain so I try to fix it myself with my personal addiction; maybe a quart of ice cream, a new pair of shoes, the latest phone, flirting, zoning out in front of the tv, or I’ll just let you fill in the blank. The problem is when we do this we are setting ourselves up as the god in our lives. We tell ourselves we can fix the pain ourselves, but we can’t, not permanently anyway. Self-help sounds great, I’ve read plenty of self-help books myself in the past and I can say that they did more clearly define my problems and they certainly laid out a plan to help myself. The problem is I can’t really help myself. Only God can change me. The God who created me. The God who loves me enough to rescue me from the scrap pile and restore me to the original condition He created me. He sent my brother Jesus to die for my sins.

When we look to ourselves and our good works to save us then we are setting ourselves up as the god of our life, capable of saving ourselves. but there are no real good works in us.  The only good works come from the love of God that He puts in us. If we try to save ourselves with our own good works then it is just pride in actions not the love of God in action.

In contrast to the lies we tell ourselves the Bible gives us these promises about who we are in Christ:

I am greatly loved by God (Romans 1:7; Ephesians 2:4; Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4).

I am a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I am far from oppression, and fear does not come near me (Isaiah 54:14).

I have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5).

I have the peace of God that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

I have received the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, the eyes of my understanding being enlightened (Ephesians 1:17-18).

I have no lack for my God supplies all of my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

I can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one with my shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16).

I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ unto good works (Ephesians 2:10).

I am more than a conqueror through Him Who loves me (Romans 8:37).

I am the temple of the Holy Spirit; I am not my own (1 Corinthians 6:19).

I am His elect, full of mercy, kindness, humility, and longsuffering (Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12).

I am firmly rooted, built up, established in my faith and overflowing with gratitude (Colossians 2:7).

For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.  Romans 12:2

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

The afternoon sun shone warm with a slight breeze in the air.  We decided the weather was perfect for a trip to the beach.  Gathering up our beach stuff and wearing beach attire we settled into the car for the 30 minute drive to the beach.  I’m not sure why Brett always drives as if we may arrive late to any where we go, but rather than a relaxing drive to the beach, Brett weaved in and out of traffic accelerating and hitting the brakes just inches off of the bumpers of various cars in front of us.  When the car in front of us turned and we had a whole cars length between us and the next car I gently reminded Brett that we weren’t in a hurry and wouldn’t arrive late to the beach if he kept a cars length between us and the car in front of us.

It crossed my mind that as we go through life we like to see how close we can come to sin without hitting its bumper and creating an accident and getting whiplash.  We speed up and hit the brakes so we don’t get too close, but then speed up again only to hit the brakes before hitting the bumper of the sin we are flirting with.  It’s hard to be peaceful and calm when we ride so close to sin.  It is only when we back off and stay a safe distance from sin that we have the peace of God in our lives.

When we arrived at the beach many cars lined the roadsides blocks from the beach.  We have been to this beach about five times and by chance have ended up at the same entrance each time.  Each time we have gotten either the closest parking place to the beach or one just a few cars down.  When Brett saw all the cars parked blocks away he grumbled that we wouldn’t get our usual close parking space.  Just to be contrary I assured him we would get a parking place where we usually did and we drove to the little side road where we usually park.  There was one car waiting for someone to leave so we assumed there were no other parking places.  Brett pulled to the side to do a u-turn and just as we turned around a woman who was walking waved to us and assured us there was another parking space available and she was sure we could fit into it.  We pulled forward and excitedly pulled into the second closest parking place to the beach entrance.

Too many times we walk by sight and not by faith.  We saw a car smaller than ours waiting for another car to pull out so they could park so we believed there were no other parking places.  But, there was a place we couldn’t see and we were thankful for the woman who told us it was there.  We can walk by what we can see in this world and end up far, far away from where we wanted to be, but if we keep our eyes on Jesus that is all we need to see to know He will point us to the right parking place for us.

After parallel parking the Outback, we loaded ourselves down with our beach gear.  Brett carried the chairs, Aspen carried her bag of beach toys and I carried the bag of towels, water, sunscreen, and other misc. items we might need once on the beach.  We found our spot on the beach and Brett unfolded the chairs.  I plopped into mine ready to relax in the sunshine while Brett and Aspen found a spot to build sand castles and wade in the water.  The water was still cold so not many people braved its chill.  After awhile I noticed Brett pointing to something in the distance.  I wasn’t sure what he was pointing at, as it turns out he was pointing to a couple of sharks swimming behind a young man on a paddle board.  No one else seemed to see the sharks.  But, about fifteen minutes later when a couple of pre-teen girls jumping waves saw the sharks swimming not far from them, the water immediately cleared of people.

If only we reacted to sin the way those people in the ocean reacted to the sharks; Stay far, far away!

God wants nothing more than to spend all day every day with us.  He works in ways we can see and ways that remain hidden to us.  His work is like watching a machine with millions of small and large wheels spinning together in unison.  The bigger wheels spinning slower, the smaller wheels spinning faster.  The machine is so big you can’t see all of it at once but you know that all the parts work together to make the machine move and create the end results he created it to do.

I kicked off my shoes, pulled off my socks and wiggled my toes in the sand.   Brett and Aspen built sand castles while I lay on my beach towel and soaked up the warm sunshine.  Finished relaxing I stretched and propped myself up on my elbow.  A young couple came over the sand dunes onto the beach.  The young man wore a white button down shirt, black tie, blue jeans and carried his loafers.   That is the only thing I know for a fact about this story, but reading their body language as they walked past me and over hearing bits of conversation, I made some assumptions.  The young woman wanted to break up with the young man or already had and he had taken an opportunity to dress up and take a walk on the beach to try to convince her not to leave him.  They wandered off into the distance and I forgot about them until by some chance of fate we left the beach the same time they did.  Once again reading body language and facial expressions I assumed that the young mans attempt at a reconciliation had failed.

For the sake of illustration I’m going to add more to this young couples story.  Usually a break up happens when one or both people in the relationship are unhappy with the other persons actions.  The young woman on the beach with the overdressed young man pursuing her affections probably wasn’t breaking up with him because she wanted him to dress up rather than dress down.  More than likely she wanted him to change something on the inside.  Maybe she wanted him to treat her differently than he usually did.  I can’t say for sure, but even though the young man looked great on the outside the young woman perceived that he was not changed on the inside and therefore decided not to continue the relationship.  In essence their relationship was dead on the inside despite how great they looked as a couple on the outside.

God wants nothing more than for us to change on the inside, but often just like the young man on the beach who looked great on the outside, on the inside I am in need of some serious change.

Matthew 19:16-26 tells the story of the rich young ruler.  He was drawn to what Jesus offered.  He wanted more than prestige and money in the bank.  He knew he was missing something, but he wasn’t quite sure what more he needed.  After hearing Jesus speak he sensed that Jesus could tell him what he was missing to complete his happiness.  Jesus’ answer must have surprised him,  “Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow Me.”  Maybe he paused to consider what selling his stuff would mean.  He may have looked down at his robes, tailor-made just for him, then glanced over at the Wal-Mart sweats and rubber boots of the fishermen followers of Jesus.  He would have to dress in that?  How many times had he heard his friends make fun of what the poor wore.  His heart may have dropped a little, but he pulled his robe of self-righteousness more tightly around him like a security blanket and walked away from the true change Jesus offered.

The rich young ruler enjoyed his money and the social position it brought him.  People today aren’t much different.  Most people would like to have more money.  More money, more stuff.  We need it.   Why?  It feeds our pride.  When self rules our hearts our stuff proves just how great we really are.  The rich young ruler couldn’t give up his stuff to follow Jesus. He had lied when he said he had kept the law of God.  Not intentionally, I’m sure he really felt as if he had kept the entire law of God.  But, money was his idol.  Money, prestige and a high position in society.  He didn’t want to replace the pride in his life with the humility Jesus offered.

Brett and I followed the directions of the GPS and turned off on the exit for the Chattanooga Children’s Discovery Museum.  Immediately off the exit we saw the museum sitting on the corner with the parking lot behind it.  Brett turned in the direction that appeared to be the way to get to the parking lot.  But, as it turns out it was just another wrong turn in life.  We drove a few blocks out of our way and  u-turned at the local Whole Foods store.  After discovering the wrong way we found the right way and pulled into the Discovery Museum parking lot.  The timing was perfect, just as Brett was about to pay for a parking pass a woman who was leaving and still had time left on her pass gave it to Brett.

Two hours sped by as one hundred and twenty minutes exceeded the speed limit.  Aspen ate cake and ice cream being served in honor of the museum directors birthday and proceeded to buzz through the many exhibits at the museum.  When the little hand pointed to the five and the big hand to the 12 we heard a voice over the intercom announcing the closing of the museum for the day.  While we had all enjoyed our time at the museum we looked forward to getting something to eat.  Thanks to our earlier wrong turn we knew Whole Foods was close by and decided to eat there.   The sun shone warmly so we decided to sit and eat in the out-door cafe area.  Just a few tables away from us a boy about ten years old held out a piece of bread to a pigeon approximately ten feet away from him.  He tried to make bird calls, but sounded more like a cat.  I was amused and laughed to myself.  How did he expect the bird to come closer to him when he sounded like a cat?

How do we expect to have the best life we can have when we avoid the simple instructions we came with.  “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.”  It sounds so simple, but just like the boy who tried to make bird sounds only to sound like a cat, under our own power we generally seek our own earthly kingdoms in our attempts to appear to be seeking the kingdom of God.  We try to light our own fire, but without the power of the Holy Spirit the fires we build burn cold even if they do burn big.  Before Jesus spoke these words He had been talking about how people seek after the things of this world.  How they worry about whether or not they will have enough.  But, God says, “Seek me first and all these things shall be added unto you.”  We don’t have to worry about being first in line, getting the biggest piece of the pie, or how big our paycheck is or isn’t for that matter.  Jesus says if we seek Him first we will always have what we need and we don’t even have to worry about it.

Jesus, his disciples, and his mother attended a wedding in Cana.  As most weddings go preparations had been made for this auspicious occasion including plenty of wine to serve the guests.  But, these guests must have been thirstier than the usual wedding guests because the wedding planner had under planned the amount of wine needed to keep everyone supplied with abundant libations for the entire wedding.  Jesus’ mother stepped in to rescue the sad situation.

She said to Jesus, “They have no more wine.”

“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

I like that phrase, “Do whatever he tells you.”  We should do that more often in our lives; do what Jesus tells us.  Look what happened when the servants did what Jesus told them.  The instructions were simple enough; First fill the empty jars with water then draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.  Now everyone knows that’s not how to make wine.  You don’t even have to be a wine making expert to know that.  To make wine you need some grapes and some time.  But Jesus didn’t use either.  He prepared wine with one thing; the power of God.  The power of God doesn’t depend on my idea of perfection, in fact it works best in my weakness.  Only when I admit that I have run out of my own wine can he work a miracle in my life.  “My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (1Corinthians 12:9)

Turning the water into wine was the first miracle Jesus performed.  It was a perfect example of what Jesus can do for us too.   The people prepared wine for the wedding but then they ran out.  A little like us trying to live life successfully under our own power, we can for a while but eventually we burn out.  Enter the presence of Jesus.  When Jesus walked into their lives, they had better wine.  The best wine.  They were capable of providing their own wine, but when Jesus made wine for them it was the best.  When we allow Jesus to reveal His glory in our lives we will have the best.  All of our personal bests are just heaps of ashes compared to what the glory of God can do for us.

As most wrong turns do the wrong turn we took at the beginning of this story started out as annoying and a waste of time.  But because of our wrong turn we ended up with free parking and discovering a place where we could all find something to eat.

“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God.”(Romans 8:28)

We don’t have to worry about not having enough, when Jesus fill us up, there is plenty to be poured for others and His presence will still keep us filled up and satisfied with everything He has given me.

A junior in college this year, my son Colby lives in an apartment on campus that he shares with several roommates.  The apartment was designed for young people who don’t always remember to turn off lights or stoves.  The stove will only turn on after first pushing a switch on the wall. The stove is also designed to turn off after a certain length of time if not turned off manually.  The lights are designed with a motion sensor to stay on as long as there is movement in the room.  After a predetermined amount of time, if there is no movement, the lights will turn off.

Two of Colby’s roommates are home with their families for spring break and one is gone on a mission trip.  We have enjoyed spending spring break with Colby at his apartment.  I have adjusted to first flipping the switch on the wall before the stove will turn on.  But, the lights are a whole different story.  The lights do not work quite like they were designed to work.  I’m going to assume the motion sensor is no longer working, because in the middle of fixing something to eat in the kitchen the lights will turn off.  Or then there are the times that as soon as I step foot into the kitchen the lights will turn off.  No amount of dancing around the kitchen and waving my arms will make the lights turn back on.  Aspen seems to love it though and will immediately hop up from what she is doing to run and turn the lights back on.

I think that sometimes we are a little like those lights in Colby’s apartment.  We don’t always work like we were designed to work.  God created us with hearts that desire to serve him, but due to the malfunctioning of sin in this world our hearts no longer desire to do the will of God.  Deep down at our core we will only be happy when we serve God entirely, but we don’t know that.  We think we will be happy only if we get our own way.  On paper somewhere the lights are designed with a motion sensor to make them stay on as long as there is movement in the room.  But that doesn’t happen.  It’s like serving God only with my words, but not with my actions.

Let’s look at the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3.  King Nebuchadnezzar, desiring glory for himself, decided to build a large statue of gold.  He invited all the princes,  governors, captains, judges, treasurers, counsellors, sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, basically all the important people of his country, to come to the dedication of the image which he had set up.  When everyone of these important people stood before the statue they were told that when the music played they were to bow down to the statue.  If they didn’t bow down they would be thrown into the fiery furnace.  I doubt these people were much different than most people.  I’m sure they enjoyed their position in life.  They didn’t want to rock the boat by not bowing down.  In fact they had no reason not to bow down.  Their king, the ruler of their country had commanded them to bow down, they would do as he commanded.

The music blared forth and as one the mass of people bowed to the ground in front of the image the king had created.  Some maybe a little slower than others, they had spent their lives in service to the king and while possibly a little arthritis was slowing them down they weren’t going to let it stop them from obeying the king.  But, wait there were three men who didn’t bow down.  They stood erect, defying the order of the king.  What was this? Three rulers in the country who refused to obey the king?  If they couldn’t obey the orders of the king they were traitors and deserved the death awaiting them.  In fact, the king became so angry he ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter.  The kings strongest soldiers bound the traitors with ropes and threw them into the fire.  The blazing heat from the furnace immediately killed the soldiers who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into it.

I wish the Bible gave the account of the story from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s perspective.  What was it like to stand up for what you believed in so strongly that you were willing to die for it?  What was it like to be thrown into the fire bound so tightly you couldn’t stand, only to have the ropes burn away.  What was it like to walk in the fire with the Son of God himself?  Could they feel the heat of the fire at all?  When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire not even the hair on their head was singed.  The only thing gone from when they had been thrown into the fire was the ropes that had bound them.  There are times in life when only the fiery furnace of circumstances will burn away the ropes that bind us.

Nebuchadnezzar recognized the power of the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.    He actually promoted them for defying him.  It’s not very often that an employee gets promoted for defying his boss.  Though these three men didn’t face a fiery death in hopes they would receive a promotion.  So why did they refuse to bow down to the idol?   They were true children of God.  As His true children, they saw God as their loving Father and were willing to give all and do all for their Father.  We are more willing to do something sacrificial for a family member than for a stranger.  If we are truly children of God we will be willing to follow Him with our actions and not just our words.

When the fiery furnace stands in front of me, what will I do?  If I choose to stand alone under my own power, I will bow down to my wishes and my desires and goals in life.  I will follow “Me” because I don’t have the power to do anything else.  If I choose to give up “Me” and stand as a “We” with God, then with His power I will stand with Him, my Father, my family.  We will stand together and I will not be alone.  Even if bound by the ropes of others, when I stand with God, He will set me free.

The Bible doesn’t say it, but I imagine that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thanked God for bringing them out of the fire.  When you get down to the basics of it all they could also have thanked God for bringing them into the fire.  “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1Thessalonians 5:18)

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)  But, what is our purpose in life?  I think that can be answered with Matthew 6:33; “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.”  When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship anyone or anything but their Father in heaven they were seeking first the Kingdom of God.

A few months ago I decided to act on the knowledge of Romans 8:28, “all things work together for good” and  put into practice 1Thessalonians 5:18, “give thanks for all things.”  When something happens that I don’t like I try to remember to thank God for it.  Sometimes it’s relatively easy and I grin self-consciously to myself because I realize how silly I sound for giving thanks for something I don’t like.  Other times it may take a few hours or even a few days before I can bring myself to say thank you for unpleasant circumstances.  I recently experienced a circumstance that threw me completely off track for several days. I absolutely loathed and hated who I am.  I finally got up one morning and my morning devotions put me back on track.  Through much gritting of teeth I did manage to thank God for that circumstance and because of that have been set free from the ropes that bound me.

I challenge you today to give up the “M” in “me” and let God turn it upside down.  Stand with God and become a “We” with Him.  Become a part of God’s family.  When we join forces with God and become part of His family our lives may get turned upside down. But only God and I together can withstand the fiery furnace of life.

Clean and pack.  Pack and clean.  It’s all we did for the last couple of weeks before we moved the end of January.  We would have started sooner, but the flu kept us glued to the couch.  Our plan evolved into alternately staying with Brett’s dad in North Carolina and his mom in South Carolina. We would put most everything in storage and take a few necessities with us.  The ‘storage’ and ‘take with’ piles grew and multiplied seemingly under their own power.  After the storage pile went into storage, I wasn’t sure all our necessities would fit into our cars.  But, Brett managed to shove everything in and off we went to North Carolina.  The pre-planned two weeks turned into a month long stay as our plans evolved and changed from the original.

The day came to pack up and roll down the road again.  This time to see Colby in Tennessee during his spring break.  We had added to our pile of necessities during the month in North Carolina and Brett was sure it wouldn’t all fit in the cars.  He had a valid point, but I believe in the impossible and assured him it would all fit.  We packed, carried everything downstairs and put it in a big pile outside.  Next we pushed, pulled and shoved and by some miracle managed to arrange everything into the cars.  By the time we arrived to Colby’s five hours later and had to unload all kinds of stuff just so we could successfully go to bed and start our day in the morning I decided it was entirely ridiculous to have so much stuff.  A conclusion I’ve come to before, but never really seemed to be able to put into practice.  Though in self defense, we do have to take Aspens school books with us and there is the possibility we will remain homeless into the summer so we must pack for summer and winter and I can’t eat msg so I need to take my food with me and then we have our cat who Aspen would be devastated without and, well, you get the idea.

I woke up this morning determined to reduce the amount of stuff we are carrying with us on this trip.  We have slightly altered our plans deciding to take this time of joblessness to go see family across the country.  Brett and I have talked about taking a cross country road trip many times over the years, but having a job prevents actually taking the time to put theory into practice.  We had planned a great cross country trip a couple of years ago when we moved from Vegas to Maryland.  Brett mapped a drive up the coast of California, with stops to see our daughter Rande in Washington, our son Ryan in North Dakota and my sister in Colorado.  As luck would have it, life got in the way and Brett needed to leave sooner for his new job than expected and I did a much shortened version of the trip with Aspen and Colby for the first leg of our journey to Colorado where we ditched Colby and Brett rejoined us for a quick drive from Colorado to Maryland.

When I woke up wide awake far too early this morning I pondered our situation of too much stuff.  Completely disgusted with myself for having allowed myself to take so much stuff with us I began to apply it to my spiritual life.  Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruits of the Spirit; Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

As I make my spiritual journey through this world I should take the fruits of the Spirit with me.  They represent the life of Jesus living in me.  If I break my life down to the simplicity of living by these fruits of the Spirit I have everything I need and the load is not heavy nor do I  have too much stuff.  It is only when I start adding to them that life becomes complicated.

Loving with the love that Jesus gives me for others is simply that, loving them.  It is only when I decide to complicate things by loving them based on how they have treated me, or the life style that they choose to live, that the load becomes heavy.  Love is free until I add the “how much should I love them” then it is a costly heavy burden and I can only afford to give out a limited amount of love.

The pure, true, simple joy of being in the presence of God is beautiful.  It is only when I start adding to that with my  ideas of what I need to make me joyful and happy that the burden becomes heavy.  I don’t need a big screen tv or the newest iPhone to have true happiness.  When I unburden myself from my version of what makes me happy and truly desire the will of the Father to supersede my own will and simply let Jesus live joy through me then I will have true happiness.  I may not have a home, I may not have all the stuff I thought I needed, but my life will be lived with the true, pure love, joy and peace that only God can give me.