Insignificant Actions

  We just celebrated Easter, and while every day is Holy, Easter is one of the Holiest days of the year—some would even say the Holiest.  I tend to agree, with Christmas coming in close behind.  These are big events; events that are life changing and are significant enough in the  entire world, that people on every continent celebrate them, albeit perhaps differently.  And we totally should.  These events are the foundation of our faith.  

During Christ’s walk on the earth before he was crucified, big events abounded!  He gave the blind man sight; the deaf, hearing; he raised people from the dead, stilled the waters on the Sea of Galilee, and the list could go on forever.

But Jesus did more than that.  He listened, taught, spoke softly, encouraged, and even fed thousand’s because he was concerned about the people going hungry.  (Of course the feeding of 5,000 also qualifies as a big event!)  But the point is he took care of people’s needs ‘right where they were.’

We live in a society and culture where people live and breathe the attitude that ‘it’s all about me’.  TV commercials, most advertisements in any format, drive home the idea that we need to put ourselves first.  There’s even a recent commercial that’s all about shopping, but their presentation says it isn’t about shopping, it’s about ‘finding’!  It entices people to believe they need one more thing—or many things.

It’s our duty to 'out do' our neighbor with the most recent trends of what ever the ‘trend’ is at the moment.  Brand name items are a must if you’re going to fit in with the up and coming crowd.  Even our young children are aware of this phenomenon!

But what about the ‘little things’?  How does that fit in the whole picture?  When we are so focused on taking care of 'me’, how can we possibly see what our neighbor might need?  We usually can’t see it—- and if we do, we’re not sure how to respond!

Financially most people (at least in the US) are tapped out to the max, in credit cards, have bills they can’t pay, and live pay check to pay check.  When they happen to notice a ‘need’ of a neighbor, that’s when they look at their checkbook, and think, ‘There’s no way I/we can help.  We’re not making enough to even get us through!’  

That makes me wonder, then, if everything we’re working toward is even worth it!  There is a better perspective, however, that could change the way we choose to live.  It’s a much simpler way of looking at life, and it’s a better reason to live—even though it may seem outlandish!

The very idea of looking or doing something insignificant may make people cringe.  But what if instead of working so hard to be a ‘worldly success’, we choose to be a godly success?  What if we chose to do insignificant kindnesses and actions which touch people’s lives in small ways?  Very often it’s the small things that really stand out—that’s often remembered well beyond whatever is going on in someone’s life.

Consider Jesus, who just before going to the cross, washed his disciple’s feet at the Last Supper.  It was with a servant attitude; and most uncommon for a ‘leader’ to wash the feet of those around him.  What a lesson for us! What an impact Jesus made!  He's the ultimate role model.

Hold a hand, give a hug, share a smile, carry groceries, open a door, share food with the hungry, let someone go before you in line, buy a stranger coffee, and on and on.  It’s the small things that often matter most.

What impact could you make today?  The difference you make could be a profound moment in the life of another.

Photo Credit:  Offering kindness 

Putting God First

Our world is all about getting to the top of the corporate ladder as fast as you can and making as much money as possible.  It is considered the pinnacle of success!  The trap ensnares so many. People are driven to attain this position; allowing them to obtaining expensive cars, huge mansions to live in, and the glitz and glamour money brings.  This ‘hype’ causes people to do things which seem unfathomable!  

Even those who don’t necessarily ‘do’ said behaviors, worship those who are successful, with their high fashion, beautiful bodies with the perfect makeup that will hide any imperfection causing us to ‘dream and say what if’.  And the truth is, we all have imperfections!   

I can’t imagine the pain and humiliation a person goes through after being ‘caught in satan’s trap; yet it happens more than we’d imagine and to people we’d least likely expect!

I read about a person who was found guilty of bank fraud.  It cost them their CPA license, their good name in the community and the realization that the behavior for a ‘quick fix’  to his money problems broke relationship with his family, and cost him jail time.  

This was really driven home for me when some years ago a banker in our small town was arrested and convicted of embezzlement.  Our town and nearby communities were shocked, since this person was warm, wonderful, and well-known; the last person you’d expect any kind of fraudulent activity!

Because we all make mistakes, when we admit failure, there is hope beyond the situation we find ourselves.  There are still going to be physical consequences to pay for whatever we've done, but knowing when we turn to Jesus, we can begin picking up the pieces.

Our God is a patient, forgiving Master.  He said, (paraphrased) you can’t serve two masters, because you will be devoted to one and the other will destroy!  The example he used is money.  (Matthew 6:24) There are other kinds of ‘masters’, but money is notable because we use it for everything we acquire! It doesn’t mean money is bad in and of itself.  But it becomes a problem when money becomes first in our lives.

But like Eve, who was deceived by satan to eat the apple, we get tricked into thinking ‘one more thing’ surely won’t matter.  But at what point do we become so engrossed in the ‘one more thing’ mentality we totally miss what’s most important?  Devotion and obedience to God should be first and foremost in our minds and hearts.  But as satan wraps his evil spirit around us, digs his claws in just a little bit deeper while continuing to whisper the lies that keep us confused and ultimately disobedient, we forget that God is not going to knock us over to remind us what’s going on.

We have a conscience and if we ignore it long enough, satan is going to win that battle.  But God is patient and wants nothing more than for us to recognize what we are doing and realize that the only way we are going to have a relationship with him, is to walk away from that which entices us at the moment, more than Him! He is a supremely, forgiving God when we surrender to Him.

God wants us to have an abundant and successful life.  But that requires us ‘doing the right thing’ by putting him first in our lives.  That is where success really happens.  When we are focusing on God, we experience a spiritual and emotional filling that decries any of the worldly pleasures, careers, or any success attained any other way!

Our treasures should be invested in the eternal rather than what is on this earth, which is temporary.  We need to have the right priorities in order to have the right relationship with God, the Creator and Savior of the World.

        Happy Easter, Everyone!

Photo Credit: Climbing The Corporate Ladder

Worship And Praise

         

        My favorite day of the week is Sunday, which I call ‘Worship Day’!  The truth is every day should be ‘worship day’, but this is the day we get to come together corporately and worship together!  And I love to sing!  I may not do it well, but there is something so compelling about the music, I must sing!  

Once I was quite taken back by a lady in the choir who looked at me and said, “I love to watch you sing! You look like the song you are singing is coming straight from your heart.”  I was shocked.  My immediate response.  "Well it is!  Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?”  I was completely confused!  It’s my gift back to God!

Now that said, the more ‘modern, contemporary’ music leaves some of us a little rattled.  I admit I am a Southern Gospel gal.  It’s my go to music!  However, the music even in our church service, has shifted to mostly contemporary Christian music, which I rarely listen to.  It’s not bad music; mostly it’s quite beautiful and the lyrics are often straight from God’s Word.  But I ‘wiggle’ a little when I try singing one I don’t know—-or have even never heard before.  

At first it made me really uncomfortable, but gradually I’m coming to realize it’s not about being able to sing it perfect! I sing along quietly until I pick up the tempo and then revel in lyrics!  It truly is beautiful!  

We, as Believers apparently come to church for a variety of different reasons.  It is truly supposed to be a ‘worship service’.  That for me, means we worship and praise the God we serve.  I’m not supposed to be there for ‘show’ or what I ‘can get out of it,’ although there is nothing wrong with God blessing us because we are there!  And he does!  But in my mind (and heart) we are supposed to be there to give back God and others! 

One friend shared she was so uncomfortable with the newer music where she went, she began coming in just before the sermon, thinking this is ‘what she needed’ from the service anyway; to hear the preacher.  But one day as she was reading about Paul and Silas singing in prison, her heart changed.  She realized it’s about worshipping and being 'actively present' during the service, while offering praise to our Risen Savior.

This thought process applies to the entire service.  I heard a story once about a parishioner who while in church, didn’t think the sermon had been worth her time invested.  Yet while leaving this same service, another person came up to her completely enthralled by the message!  

She went on about how much that particular sermon meant to her!  It was just was she needed to hear!  The first person was confounded and hadn’t thought that what she considered totally useless, someone else would find an answer to something she’d been struggling with!

Even when we give our tithes and offerings, it’s a way of worshipping!  God wants us to be ‘cheerful givers’ and as we drop our ‘sacrificial funds’ into the plate, we should be rejoicing with praise and thanksgiving for all He has provided!  

God is an actively living God.  He is ‘present’ with us always.  We should offer the same kind of attention to him!  Granted, our world is filled with so much ‘noise’, sometimes he gets drowned out; making it take a conscious effort to stop, and focus on him.  While we are in the worship service, however this gift of worshipping corporately, is a wonderful opportunity to shut out the noise of the world and truly feel God’s surround us as we commune with him.