Just an age old story of a frog

I just want to cry or scream or jump up and down. Since I have no outlet for these things...I write.

oh the story of that ill-fated frog. Happily he jumps into the water that is filled with water cool to the touch. It's perfect. Happily he sits. Unbeknown to him, a human has him in a pot on the stove! Slowly, degree by degree the heat is turned up. The frog barely notices since the change is ever so slight until it is TOO late. He is dead because he didn't pay attention to the slow subtle changes of his environment.

Will this be the story for the church of Christ in America? Are we becoming too casual with the environment around us to not even notice how the ideals of our culture are becoming our own?

Jesus will save His church before the water burns us alive but boy I wish we as a group could wake up and jump out of this pot of mediocrity and accepting of the status quo into a world where there is danger around every corner but we survive by trusting in Jesus!

Annie

Annie grew up believing she was never good enough.
She was never picked to play on the kickball team.
Actually, she lost all the playground games.
She managed to begin various activities;
track, tennis, piano, chess, etc.
She never made the cut.
She never made the team.

But little Annie grew older.
The playground games diminished.
The stakes grew larger.
Suddenly it was her boyfriend kicking her to the curb.
Her boss telling her she wasn't performing satisfactory work.


Annie remembered the lessons she learned as a child.
She lived them out in her daily life.
No, she wasn't good enough so she wouldn't try.
If she did try, she would always just wind up being hurt.
Easier to just accept the status quo.

Every time she decided to try, she would fall right back on the ground.
At night she would cry into her pillow. As the tears would flow,
she wondered why.

One night she heard a voice calling out to her -
Annie - I have given you a new name.
You will forever now be known as Anne
You didn't feel accepted as Annie, though you were my beloved child.
Feel the love in your new name that I have given you.

Stop looking to the left and to the right.
Your acceptance is found here.
I CHOSE you.
You are my child.

And with these simple words, Anne never looked back.
She never looked to the right or to the left.
She knew the tragedies in life but would no longer find worth in them.
Her worth was found in a Father's never ending love.

Life giving elixir

If I gave you a life-giving elixir which satisfied all of your needs with a sip - would you not take it?

And if you did take it, wouldn't you then be a complete fool to go running around trying to find solutions to your problems which were ALREADY solved by this elixir. Everyone would label you a lunatic!! Why are you seeking out fulfillment of needs when the solution is sitting in your pantry? Why do you run to these shinier new promising, but ultimately failing drinks?

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But isn't that EXACTLY what we do? Jesus Christ purchased with his death and resurrection our ultimate problem of being separated from God and gave us an open door to have a relationship with God. Before Christ, we were doomed to death, in this life and the next. Before Christ we were doomed to spend our lives running after vanity, after things that would promise life but ultimately fail. We were doomed to pointless pain, suffering, and the like.

But Jesus....He promised us life and fulfillment in Him. He promised us that He was the bread of life. He promised that the water he would provide to us would become in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life. He promised rest, an easy yoke, and a light burden. He spoke of life to the fullest and finding life in Him.

So....why is it that I constantly pursue life from alternative sources? For those who love examples, a few would include career, romantic, and adventurous pursuits. These things may not be bad but the hope we have must be secure in Christ.

Why is our witness unbelievable sometimes? Because we fail to find our source in Christ.

If He is merely an addition to the splendid things we have to believe, attain, or possess....He is simply "another thing". If however, like the parable of the man selling everything to purchase the splendid pearl - Jesus is everything to us and we are satisfied in Him - others take notice.

Jesus Christ TRULY satisfies all of our real needs. Let us stop living as if He doesn't.

Sacred Beauty

Oh to be beautiful.
Yes, beauty is vanity.
And it is altogether true that it is fleeting.
And yes, a beautiful heart is worth far more than outward appearances.

But I am young. Women my age ARE beautiful.
Why must I never experience that?
A mirror is a painful object.

And makeup, clothing, and hair seem a moot point compared to what I cannot cover up.

I will content myself to surround myself with beauty.
The flow of the trees.
The laughter of friends.
The sacrifice of love.
The flowers, animals, and new life!

And of course, my Father's love, Savior's sacrifice, and Spirit's leading.

And as I revel in the beauty of my God and the world around me. I will not only forget my vanity but I will begin to view beauty properly and I will find the peace I lack. The troublesome of feeling less than beautiful will flow away as I know without a doubt that God loves me and does indeed make everything beautiful in its time. (I bet that includes me!) Maybe that submissive heart yielded to His and with eyes off myself is actually where true beauty lies.