The 10 Things That All Christians Can Agree On Day #15 The Purpose Driven Life

See how very much our Heavenly Father loves us, for He allows us to be called His children, and we really are!    1 John 3:1

I call you my sweet “sister” because in the family of God we are children of the same father and name you “Sweet” because we should be encouraging each other and sharing in each other’s joys.

So I wanted to share with you the joy of my granddaughter’s baptism. I hesitated before deciding to share this as I know different denominations differ on infant baptism. In fact, my son in law hestitated on having her baptized as an infant as well.  Utimately, all the Christians in my family (Protestants and Catholics) see this as just the beginning as we pray that Megan Elise will continue to say “Yes” to following Jesus all the days of her life.

I started this blog to reach out to ALL my Christian sisters as I have a respect for how God is at work in all denominations that believe that Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life”.  I grew up Methodist, spent my late teens attending a Baptist church and joined the Catholic Church as a young adult.  Through the years God has chipped away at many of my misconceptions and prejudices I had against the Catholic Church. I now know from experience that there are sisters and brothers who have a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ spread throughout ALL the christian denominations. However, our enemy wants us to argue with our brothers and sisters over doctrinal differences so we have less energy to spread the gospel.

Our pulpits should not be used to speak negatively about different denominations but instead to preach the Good News of love, truth and peace. Our focus and energy should always be on how to work together to spread the gospel message that God has provided a way for us to be set free from the chains of sin and death.

So let us focus on what we all can agree on as sister and brothers in the family of God:

1. We can all agree that our deepest heart prayer is that our children will grow up to know, love and serve Jesus Christ all the days of their lives.   While I am thankful for the sacrament of baptism, my biggest prayer is that my granddaughter Megan will continue to say “Yes” to Jesus throughout her life.

2. We can agree that we are all works in progress and that we all make mistakes.  We all need the Lord.

3. None of us can earn our way to heaven. Jesus paid the price.  His sacrifice is enough.  While I am thankful for the graces I have found in confessing to a priest, I know that my protestant sisters can be forgiven by coming directly to Jesus with a humble heart.   (If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 )

4. The evidence of someone who is in the family of God will be good fruit. They will slowly care more about the things that Jesus cared about: the poor, the sick, the aged, those that are chained by addiction and other sins. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Matthew 7:16

5.  Families share our  joys and divide our sorrows. In the same Church that my granddaughter Megan Elise was baptized in, my daughter Megan Elizabeth was given the sacrament of burial.  My family came to add to our joy for the Baptism.  My family also came to divide our sorrow for burial 22 years before.   I truly felt some of the burden lift through each person who came to the funeral and I received added joy for each family member who came to celebrate our great joy of committing  Megan Elise into the family of God.

So do your best to go to the funerals and to the baptisms, the weddings, the birthdays….While we can’t be everywhere and attend everything, love often requires sacrifice, so prayerfully do your best to be there for each other.

6.  We might not always get along with all of our family members. One of my favorite quotes goes something like this:  Some family members on your life will feel like Velvet and some will feel like sandpaper. God will use the sandpaper family members to make you less rough around the edges, smoother and able to reflect the face of your creator when others look at your life. The velvet ones give us a glimpse into to how much God loves and adores us.  We need both the Sandpaper and Velvet relationships to continue to become more like Jesus…..some people will drive us to our knees in prayer and some in thanksgiving.

7. Forgiveness. My favorite marriage quote is by Ruth Bell Graham “A successful marriage is the union between two good Forgivers”.  Really this is true for all relationships isn’t it? We constantly step (trespass)  on each other’s toes, each other hearts, hopes and dreams with lead feet. Has a family member disappointed you?    Let. It. Go.    Keep saying the quote that Jesus prayed as he slowly died a cruel and violent death. “Forgive them Father…they know not what they do”.  Pray for your sisters and brothers and especially for those who currently share a strained relationship with you.  The enemy’s goal is for division between us sisters and brothers. Don’t give the enemy any ground.  Our Jesus is the Prince of Peace. So let Him rule in your hearts, and in all your earthly and heavenly relationships.

8.  God loves us through our families.  So seek out and make time to be together.  Two of the Commandments are: Honor the Sabbath and Honor your mother and Father. Perhaps seek to spend Sunday with family more? Sunday dinner? Perhaps Pizza so no one needs to work? Play a game after dinner. Chat about the week. God loves us through our families.

9. What if I am really irritated or angry at a particular family member? Write 10 good things about them on a piece of paper. I bet by the time you reach number 10 that you won’t be as irritated. Focusing on the good  brings perspective. Writing things down changes your way of thinking so make sure you don’t just think of the positive things but write. them. down.   Consider giving the family member the list as an encouragement or as a present. (No need to explain the reason why you began the list:)

10.  We may have different Christian brothers and sisters through the many seasons of our lives, but we have one Heavenly Father who gave us his only son, Jesus Christ.  At  each season of your life, seek out Christian sisters and brothers to challenge and encourage you along the way.

So Thank you for sharing in my joy over my Grandbaby’s baptism even if you don’t believe in infant baptism. Thank you for praying with me that she will grow up to know, love and serve Jesus all the days of her life.

We are Family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Becoming Best Friends with God #11 The Purpose Driven Life Rick Warren

Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence Him.          (Psalm 25:14) 

What is your definition of a friend? Someone who sees the good in you? Someone who keeps your secrets? Perhaps someone who enjoys being with you and you enjoy their company as well? Someone who will forgive you? Someone who you can call at anytime and they will be there for you?

 God is the ultimate best Friend.

 People will always disappoint us, but God will never disappoint His own.

For the scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed”.  (Romans 10:11)

Yes. There will be times when we do not understand the why’s and we do not receive the answer we were hoping for. We live in such a broken, hurting world and to suffer or to watch others suffer is just. so. hard.

I always imagine God’s friendship as being both long term and short term.

Long term will will not be disappointed because we have victory in His resurrection and will be reunited as His children in Heaven.

Short term we have his friendship and during the desert times He shares in our sufferings. He then carries us on His shoulders as the Good shepherd.  During the rainy seasons when we are so joyful, I imagine Him holding our hands and jumping in the puddles with us.

As the saying goes, “A true friend doubles our Joy and divides our sorrow”.  However Friendship cannot be forced and God awaits for you to show interest in having a deeper relationship. Rick Warren writes that Love is spelled T-I-M-E.

So what can you do today to deepen your friendship with God

1. Spend TIME in prayer and reading the Bible each morning. If He is our most important relationship we should run to Him first for help, encouragement and thanksgiving.   

2.  we should chat with God and meditate on His Word throughout our day.  Do you text your friends throughout the day? Try to do this in your mind with God….For example little prayers:   Help Lord!  Thank you God for that. I trust in you. Give me wisdom, Please.     I love you.  You are an Awesome God.  Wow..You are so creative, holy, wonderful, forgiving, loving, generous, etc……….

Try to slow down and use all of you senses and you will start to sense His presence and your eyes will be opened to all the ways he is being a good friend to you.

I promise you Sweet Sister….He will not disappoint you. 

Day #3 What Drives Your Life? The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

“You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.”   Isaiah 26:3

I am directionally challenged. In fact, my family insists that I will go the exact opposite direction that is required, if given a choice. When leaving an elevator, I will turn nine times out of ten the wrong way, even when I try to think about focusing on going the opposite way as I first came. I learned as a young driver to stop at the nearest gas station to ask for directions before I drove too far in the wrong direction. If I knew I was lost and didn’t ask for directions, I would drive faster in a frantic panic and make matters worse for myself. What a horrible feeling to be lost and not know which way leads to home.

What a gift my GPS is! My children cheered and jumped up and down when I first received one on a long past Christmas morning. If I now go off track, my GPS reminds me to just “recalculate”  and eventually I will get back on the right road.

My favorite part of all is to push the button “Home” and I can have peace that eventually I will arrive at my favorite destination.

What about you my sweet sister or brother? Do you have a spiritual GPS? A God Positioning System?   Have you pushed the “Home” button and now have God’s peace that no matter the detour that you will reach your heavenly home?  

Today’s point is Ponder is “Living on Purpose is the path to Peace.”

Sit in quiet and ponder what direction you are driving in and what kind of fuel is driving you.  How do you spend the majority of your Free time? Who are the people who have the most influence on you? Are you asking for and receiving the help of the holy spirit to guide you?

No matter how far you have driven off the “narrow path” to Heaven, at anytime you can “recalculate” and ask God for Help to direct you back to Home.