Wedding Bells
On a scale of 1-20 I feel that I’m about a negative five when it comes to being an ambassador for Christ. I stink at it. I don’t think that there are any qualities that “makes me different because I’m a Christian” than some really nice people that don’t even believe. Christ’s blood washed over me is what makes me different, but do I show it? Can anyone really see that?
I remember the evening that I found out Derek Webb was the reason I liked Caedmon’s Call. It was in a bar, oddly enough, in
I put you on just like a wedding dress
And I run down the aisle to you.
When I think about it, that’s how I feel about my life. I’m a pretend bride to The Bridegroom with this old dress that isn’t so white anymore and full of stains, but I’m too lazy to do anything with it now. When the Bridegroom comes I won’t have time to get it ready to do Him justice, but I’ll throw it on anyway and run down that aisle.
So, I guess the deeper question is am I ready to be more than a pretend bride? I think to be a better ambassador I have stop living like Christ’s blood washed over me and that made me clean. I have to stop living with my wedding dress in the closet ready to put on when the bridegroom comes. I need to start living like a sponge saturated in Christ’s forgiveness so that wherever I go I leave a little bit of Him behind. I think He’d be more joyous if my stains on my wedding dress weren’t from my sin, but from wearing my wedding dress everyday for everyone to see and ask me why I was wearing a wedding dress. He’d be more joyous because if I did that more people would know about Him; He could use my life to save more souls.
Week 3
It's VBS Week: Each day at Fiesta You'll See Kids get Fired up about Jesus!
Day 1: Jesus is our friend. Bible story: Luke 5:17-25. John 15:15 "Now you are my friends"
Day 2: Jesus is our life. Bible story: John 11:1-4. Treasure verse: Deuteronomy 6:5 "And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart."
Day 3: Jesus is our leader. Bible Story: Mathew 4:18-22 Treasure Verse: Mathew 4:19 "Jesus called ou to them, 'Come follow me'"
Day 4: Jesus is our Savior. Bible story: John 19:17-20:29. Treasure Verse: John 14:19 "Since I live, you also live"
Day 5: Jesus is our helper. Bible story: Acts 9:1-19. Treasure Verse: Hebrews 13:6 "The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear."
posted by Mrs. Harmon @ 4:35 PM
4 Comments:
I want to comment on that last verse, Hebrews 13:6 "The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear."
So, I totally know the Lord is my helper. I know that He provides for me and takes care of me. And I try not to be afraid of the uncertainties of the future, but I must admit, the unknown can often be intimidating, frightening, confusing. It's inevitable that life will change, and while I try so hard to cling to the certain hope that exists through Christ during those times of change, I still have to admit that I get afraid. I read that phrase "So I will have no fear", and I wonder how that is done. How do we go about letting go of our fears and truly trusting in God's provision? If even a smidgen of fear exists, does that mean we really AREN'T trusting God? Perhaps the answers are simple (prayer, Bible reading, faith). And perhaps I'm over-analyzing (wouldn't be the first time). But it's something I've been thinking about, so I thought I'd pose it as a comment.
Very insightful thoughts, Stef. You got me thinking about that too, and I think you hit the nail right on the head. I think that because of our sinful nature, we can never really TRULY trust God. Because the Old Adam will always be a part of us (on this side of eternity), who always fears trusting in God. That's a very scary thing for Old Adam because the more we trust in God, the smaller Old Adam gets. And even scarier is that our hope is in Christ, who stands in our place and forgives ALL our sins, even our doubt and unbelief. And that makes Old Adam disappear entirely! Very fear-provoking indeed, but at the same time a tremdous comfort.
I agree with you that the answer is quite simple: Word. Prayer. And faith that the Holy Spirit will help us to have faith even when we have none. Keep up the over-analyzing, Stef! ;)
Good summary, Karianne. It's good to be reminded that doubt/fear is a sin as well, one that is covered by the blood of the cross just like all the rest of the sins we commit and that the Holy Spirit gives us power over it!!
I wanted to post a follow-up comment from a book I've been reading that related to this topic. It's lengthy, so I posted it on my blog, http://gigemgal03.blogspot.com/2006/06/fear.html
I'm about a month late here, but this discussion gets at something I've been thinking about lately. Last week I read something that talked about trust. If I could remember at all where I read it, I would include it, but I have no idea.
As humans, we do have doubts and fears. Yes, they are part of the Old Adam, and when we are completely whole in heaven, these doubts and fears will be gone. But for now, we have to abide them. Anyway, the gist of what I read was that trusting, or having faith, in a way necessitates the presence of doubt.
As a silly example, I do not have to trust that I am wearing brown shoes right now. I can look down and see that they are brown and are, in fact, on my feet. You, on the other hand, do have to trust that I am telling the truth. If you're trusting me, you're doing so despite the possibility that I'm lying to you.
This leads me to wonder how to deal with my human nature. Doubts and fears, as much as I hate it, are a part of me. As much as I want to believe, for example, that God has a spouse waiting for me at some point in the future, there are still times that I question what God is doing. So what should I do with that doubt? Try to push it aside? Feel guilty about not being able to control that doubt? Or simply recognize it as what it is - namely, something keeping me apart from God - and pray for God to work through it, by the Holy Spirit?
Why do we have doubts? We forget that God is our helper. If that smidgen of fear is there, does that mean we aren't trusting? Maybe we've just lost sight of the fact that the Lord is our helper, and that he's sent us the Holy Spirit to edify, teach, and remind us of what God has promised to us through Christ. One way he reminds us? Through Bible verses we memorized at VBS when we were four years old, such as "The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear." It's nothing short of incredible that God has provided for our fears 2,000 years in advance by sending the Holy Spirit.
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