Disconnected

John 14:20-21
"On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

John 15:5
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

John 15:12
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."

Matthew 3:8
"Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."


They seem like simple commands, really. Love God. Love others. Repent and obey. Stay connected to the source.

Easy.

Or maybe not.


We dislike admitting it...

...But we've all failed, at one point and time . We disconnect ourselves from the source of living water. We dig cisterns - we build ourselves idols - and we find satisfaction through nothing.

Even after feeling God's presence,
Even after we've grown closer to Him,
We roll around in sin.

Sometimes we realize it...
...And sometimes we don't.


Every Christian could tell you how they've wandered from the Shepherd, failing to respond to their master's call. Failing to be obedient to His commands, we start to venture away.

We know we aren't supposed to.

But we do.


Now...

The question is:
How do we respond to failure?


On the 24th of August, I typed this:

After the storm

Yesterday was a pretty rough day for myself. It felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster, encouraged one moment and feeling discouraged the next. Half of the day I was crying, and the other half of the day I was laughing. I learned a lot in that time. I had already heard about mountaintops and valleys, how we have to go through hard times to learn and grow. Yesterday I learned that the encouragement God brings is as refreshing as seeing a beautiful rainbow after the storm.

What's more, when He brings a rainbow - encouragement - it's so easy to want to chase after Him. To want to find that treasure at the end of the rainbow. But how much more precious is a relationship with our God than gold or silver. Do we sometimes take our relationship with Him for granted? Or when it rains hard, do we forget to pray that He helps calm our storm? When there is no storm, or when there is no rainbow or encouragement, do we lose our faith in God? These are some of the many questions I have been asking myself recently, as I desire to seek after God and His will.


As I reflect upon what I typed in the past, I realize I have failed. My relationship with God has been way too casual, recently.

One running theme in my Intro to Christian Theology I class was that we make ourselves the god of our own lives. We disconnect ourselves from the one true vine. We commit idolatry as we place God in the back seat of our hearts.

Is He really the Lord who reigns in our lives?


Although they fear failure, many continue off in their own direction. Tempted to give up, they lose hope, blame and hate others, and other people are often hurt because of it.

But others respond to failure by recognizing the potential good within it. They often realize that they are still human and not in control; man needs to be totally dependent on God. Humbled through and learning from their mistakes, they repent. With motivation to improve, they recognize that Satan is trying to keep them from success. (However, we must also acknowledge that there are another two enemies we face in Spiritual battle: the world and the flesh. Therefore, we cannot naturally assume Satan is always to blame for our failures.) And they come back to Him with humility and a broken heart that God loves.

How wonderful it is to know that He cares about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son (Luke 18).


We all fall down.


And God will help us back up...
...If we let Him.

As we continue going into each day of this week, my prayer is that God would guide us as we strive to obey His commands. Let us stay connected to our vine and serve our master as we love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Praise be to God for He is so good. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Baking from scratch

The aroma was pleasing to him.

He sat in the kitchen, watching the pie rise in the oven.

His wife, Sonya, was baking from scratch.

Sonya built her own firm foundation; the shell of the pie was crafted by her own hands.

And that wasn’t the only firm foundation she built something upon.


Sonya was a pretty young woman, talented with many sweet gifts such as cooking and singing. The mother of two, she learned what it meant to live amidst business.

Although she desired to find rest in the peace of God’s comfort, tears flooded her eyes as she thought about last Christmas. This was a hard time of year for her.

Her sister died. They were on their way home after the Christmas Evening Service when a truck found the side of their car.


As Sonya sat down beside her husband, he tried to comfort her with gentle and kind words. Watching the pie so it would not burn, the last words of her sister echoed in her heart. “The most selfish thing you can do is not share the message with anybody.”

They were comforted to know that she was in heaven now. Still, pain filled Sonya’s heart as she thought about their special relationship. Things would never be the same.


Time passed slowly before the pie was brought before them. As Sonya served her husband a piece, he longed to speak the words embedded in his heart. He took a bite.

“You know, honey, it’s amazing how you manage to cook so well through experimentation. This is your best pie yet. It’s like there’s no magic formula for perfection.”

How very right he was.


Sonya’s sister depended on her for the faith. It’s like she bought the shell of the pie before she baked it.

Sonya built her faith upon Jesus, depending on and trusting in her Lord.


And when the hard times came throughout the years, she stayed grounded in the Word of God.


Luke 6:47-48 ~ “I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.”

As we continue living amongst all the business and pain of this world, may we continue to build our foundation on – and remain in – Christ.