May 13, 2010

I bet most of you have heard this story before, but we all need to be reminded of the stories from when we were younger. The events in the bible that taught us our morals. So here goes nothing...

Some children smell awful. I'm talking about a stench so bad that it makes you want to cry. Being apart of the marketing team at Chick-Fil-A, I get to work with kids and most of them smell terrible. For instance; Today was spirit night at the store and I was face painting. When a kid came up and smelled awful, or told me they were sick, or just coughed and sneezed all over the place, I was hesitant to help them out. I didn't show them the love I was giving other good-smelling children. Ironically enough, the kids that were a little different were the ones with the best manners. They were the kids who wanted to chat and befriend me and my coworker. They were the ones that wanted to show us love.

These kids reminded me of the good samaritan. Samaritans are portrayed in the bible as the "do-gooders". The one's that are so different, yet the first in line to help someone in need. They are the people that "smell bad".

Well, there's a parable in the bible that talks about the good samaritan:

²⁵Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. "Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?"

²⁶He answered, "What's written in God's Law? How do you interpret it?"

²⁷He said, "That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself."

²⁸"Good answer!" said Jesus. "Do it and you'll live."

²⁹Looking for a loophole, he asked, "And just how would you define 'neighbor'?"

^30-32Jesus answered by telling a story. "There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.

^33-35"A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man's condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I'll pay you on my way back.'

³⁶"What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?"

³⁷"The one who treated him kindly," the religion scholar responded.

Jesus said, "Go and do the same."

Luke 10:25-37 (The Message)

Jesus says to go and do the same. Go out and treat people with a kind heart and a willing

hand to help. It may be very hard at times to reach out to someone who might not be

in great condition and may repulse you, but those are the people who need your

love the most.

I challenge all to be a good samaritan in any situation. Whether it be at school, or at the DMV

(which is a very challenging place to be nice, I understand). "Go and do the same"

May 9, 2010

Do not fret because of evil men

or be envious of those who

do wrong;

for like the grass they will soon wither,

like the green plans they will soon die

away.

Trust in the LORD and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe

pasture.

Delight yourself in the LORD

and he will give you the desires of

your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD;

trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteousness shine

like the dawn,

the justice of your cause like the

noonday sun.

Be still before the LORD and wait

patiently for him;

do not fret when men succeed in

their ways,

when they carry out their wicked

schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

do not fret--it leads only to evil

For evil men will be cut off,

but those who hope in the LORD will

inherit the land.

-Psalm 37

May 1, 2010

Yesterday, I planned and hosted a TOMS event called Style Your Sole. It's where you buy a pair of TOMS shoes and paint them, sharpie them, or splatter them any way you like. The only problem was I didn't bring any water for the brushes, so I told people to just use a new brush with a new color. Soon enough, there were dried up brushes with globs of paint all over them.

This visual reminds me of myself and where I am right now in my walk with Christ (or my walk away from Christ, rather). When I was in a wonderful disconnected relationship with Christ, I was painting a beautiful masterpiece through Him. I was showing everyone how wonderful and glorious He truly is. Eventually, I neglected Him and forgot to pray and forgot to dig in his word. I went against what He asked of me and did things that I regret now. I let myself sit and be swallowed by sin and now I am nothing but a paint brush with globs of paint dried up on it's surface just waiting to be washed clean.

So where do I begin? How to I get on the right path again?

Have you ever cleaned on e of those paint brushes? It takes a very long time, I can tell you that. So THAT is where I begin.

I pray for time to heal, and I pray that You come wash me clean. I pray the Holy Spirit takes me and consumes me in It's amazing presence.

After prayer, I dig into the word praying God will lead me somewhere.

"^13-14God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He's set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating."

-Colossians 1:14 (The Message)

Taken from darkness to the purest light. I pray for Your beautiful redemption.