Friends/Family/Family of God

I know what family is. I know the good of it and the bad of it. I know basically they are stuck with me and I am stuck with them----Whether we like it or not.

Perhaps I thought the family that God brought together was a rosy, glowy, better version of that.

"My brother and sister in Christ..." 

ya know?

The main difference between earthly families and "the Body of Christ" is Jesus. Because let's face it, the family Jesus has brought together is made of the same messy people.  

(Ephesians 4:9-16 ESV) 

He/Jesus
makes the Body...

He/Jesus
is the Head...

And He/Jesus
gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
(why did HE give us these giftings?) to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
(what does the "fullness of Christ" NOT look like?) so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
(what does that "fullness of Christ" look like?) Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way
into Him, who is the Head,
into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

I've learned, when Jesus steps in, gently showing me the way He views things, it is always quite backwards-y. (from my human perspective). 
In a recent heartache, the Body of Christ that I am a part of changed and became something very different.

Jesus' perspective makes me dizzy and a bit catywompus, so I am glad He doesn't crash Truth on me in huge doses. 
My husband just had a stroke. It crashed in on Him and he said it felt like he was quite outside of Himself and looking in. He saw himself acting drunk (which he's never been). He saw himself having no control which I suppose is a pretty good description of how it feels when God gives me a glimpse into His Truth. 

whoa!! I'm really that "off", God??

The Body of Christ, that I am a part of, is being shifted 

into Christ like Paul tried to share to the Ephesians.

Not the way I would have imagined, because it involved the leaving of dear ones...with no explanation...with no warning.
But srangely enough, we who remain are now experiencing how
He is the one who has "joined and held us together". We are learning that
He is the one "equipping" us now and "enabling each of us to work properly". And we will continue to watch with great hope because of His faithfulness to see how
He will "make this body grow so that it builds itself up in LOVE."

Savior

I have this life...
It's full, it's practiced (I've lived it for nearly 46 years!), it's predictable, it includes different roles--Being a wife, being a mom, being an employee, being a friend, being a sister, being an aunt, being a daughter in law, etc.

I have this habit...
I naturally think I am the source of all strength, solutions, and sustenance. It's all-encompassing, never ending, and quite stubborn. I "humbly" receive counsel and seek input, knowing later that my judgement will prevail because who knows best, but me?

I have this God...
He touches on each and every relationship area of my life, in His time and for His glory. It ends up looking and feeling quite a bit like death. Which it is. "For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body." 

 God has this Gospel---this "Good News"...
"We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus..." 

In small places, indiscernible to the naked eye,

I have this paradigm shift...
I am weak. Jesus is strong. I can't. Jesus can and did. I am fixed because He did the fixing.

My pastor and friend wrote:
"The gospel teaches us that no one fixes anyone; but Jesus paid for the fix with His blood, He does the fixing with His Spirit, and in the end, is still the only one completely fixed this side of Heaven." 

Jesus completed work is still saving me, my husband, my family, my co-workers, my pastor, my friends. What a Savior!

Reminding myself I'm clean

Mark 2


He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him.

And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."



I read this recently and it dawned on me that Jesus isn’t speaking of those reclining at the table with him in a disparaging tone…He is, in essence, inviting the Pharisees to join Him, but first they need to realize they are sick too!


I heard Tullian Tchividjian share in his recent series on Grace that we so often think we have to DO DO DO our Christianity (Exactly like the Pharisees). This thinking ends one of two ways…pride (ie: sin) in how well we have done, or despair (faithlessness ie: sin), cuz we just “can’t get ‘er done”.

When will we realize, "It is finished" really means just that?
 
Mark continues...

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins."

 The message of God’s grace is “new wine for fresh wineskins”.

Attempting to attach True grace to works-based Christianity will only prolong the misleading notion that we somehow have a part in our redemption.
 We tend to forget the order of things concerning our salvation.

1. It’s God’s gift (we ALL need it, tax collectors and Pharisees alike)


2. It’s not our works (Hello!? We all try to sneak this method by…some for much loooonger than others)


3. We’ve been created IN Christ Jesus for good works
 4. Rinse, repeat.

Another Day Another Dollar

It is hard to express how a person becomes big in your eyes. It is always personal...it is sometimes about what you value. With the mentally ill clients that I work with it is a little of both. I was trying to "gear up" to meet with a client this morning, feeling a bit resentful at the staff person who visited him yesterday because she took the grocery store run. It is hard to sit with Todd, but that is what he generally wants to do. He asks me at times, "How much time do you have this morning, Lori?" and I want to pull out my schedule and lie and tell him less time than I actually am allotted. I leave his place generally after having listened to his repeated, predictable diatribes on smoking and tobacco, dating older woman, the book of Revelation or alcohol and caffeine and his superman tolerance for each. I always smell like an ash tray and have to assure his paranoid questions that I didn't think anything strange about him the last time I was with him. It's a littany. An unsettled, obscure chant I must sing every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. God showed up this last Tuesday when I visited Todd. I'm learning He tends to show up where I least expect Him. That day, Todd told me over the phone that he had had "projectile vomit" the night before. He mentioned he feared for his life and had gone to the emergency room with his brother's assistance. I, of course, was not even close to wanting to visit him, however he had a follow-up appointment at his family doctor. Vowing to myself that I would drive him the 3 minutes to the doctor's office with my window rolled down so as to not catch his germs, I pulled up outside his bright pink narrow door. As Todd got in the company car he started talking. And talking. He filled that small car with words as I filled it with equal parts fresh air. After his appointment he mentioned he needed to get a prescription at the pharmacy in the next town and, could we stop at Kwik Star to get him some breakfast? Breakfast?! We turned toward Kwik Star as my thoughts raced for solutions. When he climbed in the car with two chili dogs and zero napkins, I told him I would drop him off at his apartment and he could go home to rest with his "breakfast" and I could go get his prescriptions and bring them back. He nodded agreement as his mouth was full; chili and mustard on each corner of his mouth. As I pulled up to his apartment he opened the door with a smear of yellow on the interior and asked in his slow, thick East coast accent if I could come up and help him with the sample of nasal spray the doctor's office had given him when I return. So much for dropping off the medications at the door and running. As I pulled away I couldn't control the hilarious, uncontrollable laugh-whimpers that erupted from me. Thankfully, I had time to gather control on the ride there and back. I prayed and wondered at what was rolling around inside of my stomach, assuring myself there was no way it was the stomach flu already. I climbed his steep, narrow stairs and knocked on the door. He called, "Just hold on, Lori." He opened the door a minute later with bare feet and an explanation of having to get dressed as he'd climbed in bed and dutifully rested. As I walked in the door, I sensed Something come over me. His dark, windowless front room held no invitation for me. Ever. But this time I knew I was not alone with Todd. Compassion entered me. I explained his meds to him and demonstrated his nasal spray. I watched as he guzzled a bottle of water like a pro --The directions did say, "drink plenty of water" after all. As I turned to go, Todd thanked me. "This was really nice of you, Lori." And I told him I hoped he felt better soon and I'd check on him tomorrow. Todd became big to me as I saw how small I was. He was brave and obedient - wanting to do the right thing. He didn't have a mean bone in his body and I was ashamed of my disdain. It is always personal - - these moments when you recognize Truth at work. I thanked God as I walked down the stairway, shaking my head at His great grace in showing up to help Todd in his moment of need. And me, in my even greater moment of need.