Living For His Cross

"If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross and follow me."  Matthew 16:24

Jesus tells his disciples this after the first prediction of his death. Basically telling them following me is a true commitment. A commitment that may risk death.

How often I think we take following Jesus light hearted. When we except Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we declare our life is about to change.  This means changing who we are, changing our speech and actions, serving and giving to others, speaking truth and acting in love, connecting with God and growing our relationship with him, putting him first, and it means turning from our selfish ways, accepting his love and hardships/persecutions and following him.

Verse 25 and 26 go with this verse. They may be familiar to you and I encourage you to read them, dive deep and grow in him.  Whether you've believed in Jesus your whole life or for just 10 minutes, decide today is the day you invest in your relationship with Him.  Decide today is the day you take up your cross and allow Him to consume you.

Living for His cross.

Joy in Serving

One thing my husband and I try to teach our kids is to help others. To serve others.  It's not their favorite thing in the whole world to do, and I completely understand!  It's not mine either.  It's a constant struggle.

Jesus knows the struggle is real in this area.  He taught on humbleness and servitude often.  But one of my favorite passages on serving is from Paul in philippians 2.  He urges us to find joy in serving and having an attitude that reflects Christ's.

V2 -  "Make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

Don't be selfish; 

don't try to impress others. 

Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 

Don't look out only for your own interests, but take interest in others too. 

You must have the same attitude that Christ had. "

Then Paul tells us all about Christ and his perfect example to us in serving.  There is power in these words guys!  As you read humble your hearts, examine the posture and pray for God to work on our hearts to reflect the heart of Jesus.

"Though he (Jesus) was God. 

he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; 

he took the humble position of a slave

and was born as a human being. 

When he appeared in human form, 

he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. "

Then the power of humbleness comes in the next verse.  Power that some day we will be in the presence of.   

"Therefore. God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

I want to be in the presence of that power someday.  And that "Therefore" in verse 9 reminds me that if I am to be so lucky to spend eternity with our Lord Jesus Christ, I am to be selfless, humble, and seek others interests.  I am to have the same attitude as Jesus who didn't put himself on a pedestal or see himself as privileged.  Instead, he humbled himself and became a slave for us and died a criminals death for us. 

I will constantly struggle with serving others, we are sinners, that's just the reality.  But as we continue to grow in our faith and become one with Jesus, serving just gets a little easier. Our lens in life becomes more outward focused.  Our life becomes less about us and more about others.  Or maybe someday when we truly grasp what it's like to have a heart like Jesus, it will become all about glorifying God.   

Unity

"I pray that they will all be one." - John 17:21

That was Jesus' prayer.  He knew his time was ending here on earth and he was going to return to his Father.  He starts his prayer by praying for His relationship with God,  then for His disciples and then for all future believers.  How reassuring to know Jesus prays for us.  Yes.  You and me.

The human population is a diverse population.  It's a tall order for unity.  I think it's important for us to see unity as a state of being jointed as a whole.  It's doesn't mean we have to have all the same opinions or stances on religion, political, social, economical issues.  We are to be jointed in Christ as a whole body.  We are the body of Christ.  The church.  The church can look different, worship different, maybe even have differing doctrinal stances but it needs to be united in Christ.  

To put plainly.... it's doesn't matter if you believe in infant baptism or believers baptism.  What matters is that someday you begin a new life with Christ - the Old is gone the new has come.

Jesus' prayer in John 17: 20-26 is beautiful and powerful.  It shows his desire for us to live in him. To have the unity with us as he has with his Father.  It's through this unity that the world will see God and his love. 

Read John 17:20-26.  And then re-read it again and again.  Feel the power behind the word Unity.  Unity with each other and unity with Jesus.

Then challenge yourself to seek it.  

Be His Good Challenge - Week 8

#BeHisGood

It's time for our children to thank the local Barista for fueling their mommy's addiction.  Or better, for putting a cup of pure joy and happiness into their hands.  Some days they can literally turn frowns up-side-down.  So for you joy givers... we send you love and say thank you.

Craft:

http://www.eyecandycreativestudio.com/2016/02/craft-coffee-bean-art.html

Coffee bean art.  So... if you follow the link... its kind of a crazy art project for adults.  So here is what I envision.  Children getting crazy with Elmers glue (or generic as I'm am in no way cool enough to be an elmers glue representative) and then have them stick some coffee beans on the glue.  You can trace a beautiful heart or even coffee cup for them if you'd like.  My kids usually demand independence so i'll be laying down some wax paper.  Handing them the bottle (of glue of course) and then letting them sprinkle on the coffee beans.  If you'd rather not mess with coffee, go glitter, buttons, tissue paper, anything your hearts desire.  Again... it's less about the craft and more about the purpose.  Ps… this was my favorite craft last year, the aroma was amazing.

Challenge:

I do realize that not everyone has a Starbucks in their back pocket, so go to the local cafe or even gas station.  The purpose is to thank those that serve us diligently day in and day out and they usually do it with a big ol' smile on their face.   If not then put one on their face.

Then teach your kids the importance to serve as they worship a God who sent his Son to serve us.  Our faith is about humbling our selves and serving others, for when we do we will be honored in Heaven.

Then spread the word!  

Take a photo and post on Facebook or instagram and use the #BeHisGood or feel free to email me and I’ll post for you ;) carly@sixnotesclothing.com . .  Then encourage others to join you in saying thank you to their local Baristas in serving us day in and day out.  Also, you should note... it's not day in and day out here even though I so desperately wish it could be ;)

Thank you for joining my children and I this week in being His good.

Don't jive with coffee, thank these wonderful people:

City Bus Drivers, Pediatricians, Nurses, Bus Boys, Waitresses, Construction Workers,  Neighbors, your neighbor’s dog.  Think anyone people…  then visit our pinterest page for more ideas.

Be His Good Challenge - Week 7

#BeHisGood

Whether you are a boy or girl, if you hear sirens... you immediately stop, try and find where the noise is coming from and get all excited and a conversation takes off about which bad guy they are going to conquer.  Or is that just in our house?  

Craft: 

A police car.  Do this car exactly or create a version of this.  If you don't want to use a paper plate, just use scrap paper.  If your child isn't old enough to cut out your traced lines on the plate, you cut out the shape of the car.  Same goes for the wheel and star.  Don't want to get messy with paint, then use a blue marker, or let them scribble.  It's less about how the project looks and more about the purpose of the project.  Take the time and explain what police officers all do, teach them how courageous and kind they are, enlighten them that rules are needed and police officers help enforce those rules to keep us safe.  Maybe even go all biblical on them and tell your children that God gives us rules called the 10 commandments to keep us safe and moms and dads are here to help teach those so we stay safe.  Even go to the local library and find books to read.

Challenge:

After the project is finished, write a simple thank you whether on the back of the artwork or a separate card. Find your local police station and drop it off.  If that seems daunting, find their address and mail it off.  Or quite simply, if you see one in your neighborhood, stop, walk up to them and say thank you with your beautiful artwork.  I guess you could always speed around town too... (Six Notes is in no way promoting that kind of behavior :/ )

Then spread the word!  

Take a photo and post on Facebook or instagram and use the #BeHisGood or feel free to email me and I’ll post for you ;) carly@sixnotesclothing.com .   Then encourage others to join you in saying thank you to our Police Force for all that they do.  In my opinion, we don't say thank you to the men and women who serve in this way nearly enough.  Instead we complain.  Can you imagine what our cities would be like without them?  Think about it.

Thank you for joining us this week in being His good.