Are We Just Talk

Sometimes scripture is gentle. Sometimes it's Boom! In your face. I read 1 Corinthians 4 this morning. Paul ends this chapter with a hard hitting note. I urge you to read the whole chapter. Maybe even more. He's writing a letter to the Corinthian church to identify problems, offer solutions and to teach them how to live for Christ in a corrupt society... and here he starts to "call them out."

"For the kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God's power." - 1 Corinthians 4:20

Are we living our faith out... Or do we just talk about it? 

Some honest reflection is happening in my heart.

Unfailing Love

We'd like to introduce you to our latest addition... Meet our Unfailing Love necklace.

Unfailing Love has been on our minds since last Fall and we are so excited to see it finally hit the website. We love this rose gold look paired with an infinite circle - His Unfailing Love.  A love that will never end.

"Let your unfailing love surround us Lord, for our hope is in you alone." - Psalm 33:22

The Message Behind Unfailing Love:

We don't know who wrote Psalm 33, some believe it to be David, regardless, we know the author had complete faith, trust and hope in his mighty God. A God full of unfailing love.  The author writes beautifully and poetically about how God, the creator of the universe, can always be trusted (verse 4), his plans can never be shaken (verse 11) for he is sovereign, and that God watches over us from His throne with an unfailing love.  His protection and shield are always there. 

And although we know this to be true, we often misplace our trust and put our hope in worldly desires.  Verse 16-17 refers to putting hope in military force.  Now days we tend to put our hope in money or success.  These "things" that can be gone in an instant. But God will not fail us.  For He gave us a hope beyond this world because of His deep love for us.  A love so hard to grasp and understand.  But a love that we need to rely on, hope in, and rejoice over. For it is His complete and perfect love that can deliver us into a future of wonder, hope and wholeness.

So as you wear your necklace, be reminded each day of His unfailing love for you.  Find rest trusting in a hope, an eternal hope, that will not fail.  

Shop your Unfailing Love necklace here.

Dive Deep: Salt of the Earth

Salt.  

A simple flavor that shows up in many places throughout the Bible.  Yep, it shows up beyond the Parable of Salt and It's Savour.  (Matthew 5:13, Mark 9:50, and Luke 14:34-35)

But why salt?  Here is what Herbert Lockyer says in his book (reference below):   

"Salt is not antiseptic, but aseptic.  Antiseptic is something which is against poison and which tends to its cure.  Aseptic is something which is devoid of poison itself. Salt never cures corruption.  It prevents the spread of corruption.  If meat is tainted and corrupt, salt will not make it untainted and pure. But salt in its neighborhood will prevent the spread of corruption to that which would otherwise become tainted." 

So in essences, we as Christians, can not stop the evil in this world, but we can do a whole lot to stop the spread of it.  How do we? - with our morals, actions and spiritual influence.  As Jesus followers we set ourselves apart from this world and live for our eternal hope.  But often, we loose this and become flavorless salt and become one with this world.  

Salt has a strong flavor but it can lose that flavor and become dull, lose its effectiveness.  This can be our faith journey as well.  We except Christ and are full of fire to do his work, but over the years the world takes over, we become complacent and our walk with Jesus becomes dull and we lose influence on the world.  This happened to Lot's wife in Genesis 19:26.  

Lots wife was turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back on Sodom.  Sodom represented sin and destruction.  The act of looking back showed Sodom/sin was in her heart.  She had lost her flavor and became one with the world.  Her turning into a pillar of salt is a warning to us to not identify with this world but be the flavor of this world. 

We also see Salt used in Leviticus 2:13:

God instructed the Israelites to season their grain offering with salt to remind them of God's eternal covenant with Abraham, which was to make them a great nation, bless them and make them famous so they could be a blessing to others.  He was using the Israelites to show and influence the nations around them.

Note: The grain offerings were a gift of thanks to God.  It was meant to remind the people that their food came from God and therefore they owed their lives to Him.

So why salt in their Grain Offering. In short, as they prepared their gift to God, they would be reminded they were chosen and blessed by God to be a blessing to others to actively preserve and purify the world. 

Lastly the Apostle Paul finishes his letter to the Church of Colosse to correct their behavior and show how Christians should live referencing Salt.

"Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."  - Colossians 4:5-6

There is a lot to take in, in this blog post.  But don't let the teaching of salt take away from the basic message.  We, as Christians, are to influence this world.  Let's take a look at our lives and be honest.  Have we become complacent in our walk with Jesus?  Accepting worldly desires? Being okay with the "corrupt." Deciding it's better to accept and not ruffle feathers? Stay quiet rather than stand up and stand Firm (in a respectful way)?

Decide today to get your flavor back and Be The Good. 

To My Weary Friends

To my weary and tired friends…

 “Jesus said, "come to me , all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” - Matthew 11:28

As much as I'd love for it to, this rest doesn't mean sleep, a good nap or nights rest, or that something to magically gets taken off your to do list.  (sigh)  in fact it means something much more fulfilling.  It means peace of the heart. It's the complete love Jesus promises us, it's the healing of the soul. When we seek God, study him, get to know him, everything gets put into perspective. It all becomes just a little bit easier to handle. His word, his voice gives us the tools to conquer all situations. Through a deep and continual relationship with Christ, he releases you from those burdens and removes the yoke. A relationship with God changes meaningless, wearisome toil into spiritual productivity and purpose.

So today my tired and weary friends, I pray you find time today and every day to let God show you His love and peace. Let him be your daily renewal. 

Valleys and Mountains - The Parable

Luke shares with us in chapter 3 about a man who was prophesied about way back in the prophet Isaiah's time, roughly 700 years earlier.  John the Baptist.  This is what was prophesied about him: 

 "He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the LORD's coming! Clear the road for him!

The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level.

The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth.

And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.'" (Luke 3:4-6, Isaiah 40:3)

I've been intrigued by John the Baptist for a while and not just because he ate locusts and wore camels hair.   No, it's because he has a miracle birth too just before Jesus and was called to pave the way for our Savior.  One of the greatest missions ever, yet only a few chapters in the New Testament are devoted to him.  You can read more about his greatness in my last post.  

And since I personally believe John the Baptist's calling and mission was one of the greatest, I wanted to look deeper, and what better area to dive into then what was prophesied about him back in Isaiah's time.  Hence the passage above.

The passage starts out sharing "a voice in the wilderness"; many know this part, as he literally lived in the wilderness and roughed it out there.  Not the kind of lifestyle I'd live but you can almost understand it after you hear his calling.  He was "preparing" people's hearts for the idea of salvation and forgiveness and trying to remove all obstacles in their life that kept them from God.  He was "clearing the road for Him."

So what were these obstacles?  The parable here tells us. 

Valleys - Every valley shall be filled.

Mountains - Every mountain and hill should be brought low. 

Curves - curves shall be made straight  

Rough places - rough places shall be made smooth

Since this passage is a parable we know the obstacles aren't literally valleys and mountains, so what are they? 

The Valleys  - I read about two different meanings.  One: John preached that salvation was for all flesh, Jews and Gentiles. Gentiles were any non-Jew. Jews were no longer going to be the favored nation and Gentiles should no longer be looked down upon.  Jesus came to save all.

Two: Filling up the valleys represents what God was willing to do for the poor and sinners who were like valleys, low in despair.  John was calling them to repentance and salvation through God's free grace to be brought out of the pit and placed among royalty as children of the one true King. 

Mountains and Hills -  I tend to think these mountains that need to be brought low are the Pharisees of the day.  The Pharisees were prideful, priveledge, and felt themselves above everyone else, boasting about their knowledge and how they were the "only" teachers of the law.  Pride is so often our mountain as well, but Jesus often teaches a life of servitude and humbleness are the way to him. 

Another Mountain can be our mountain of guilt.  We often feel unworthy of his free grace because of our sin.  But John teaches us that salvation is for all, and that Christ was coming to defeat this sin and we only had to have faith. 

Curves - I believe again these are the Pharisees.  They were crooked in many ways especially with the interpretation of the Law. They were strict in some area, even taking it far beyond what was intended. For example, working on the Sabbath and not even being able to heal (Mark 3:1-6). Yet they were short on others,  We can also apply this to our lives with the "rules" of worship.  Let me tell you.  There are no rules.  We are saved by faith alone. 

We are also thrown curves in life, the hardships, chaoticness, trials... It's these curves that Christ came for. He came to make every part of our life lie straight. Offering us a peace, a reason. 

Rough places - these are obstacles that slow up our relationship to God.  The Pharisees were guilty of placing many obstacles in the way of man to God.  Character can do that as well.  Do our words, manners, or actions hinder others from reaching out to grab hold of the Savior? Sometimes as Christians we focus too much on the don'ts of life, what if, we as Christians, focused more on the dos?  

I love this parable that was prophesied many years before.  For many reason, it connects the Old and New Testament, shows more proof on the validity of the Bible, reveals to us the purpose of Jesus Christ - the salvation found only in Christ and reveals the glory of God.

 I encourage you to dive deep into this passage as well as these are my thoughts.  There are great teachings behind the parables in the Bible.  I believe when just glanced at they can be confusing, but are meant to entice us to find the deeper teaching and meaning. And when you do, oh the truth, hope, and revelation of his power and grace that are brought forth.

resources: All The Parables of the Bible by Herbert Lockyer