Like dogs and cats?

This morning, I'm sitting on my bed with 2 dogs and 2 cats and they all want my attention and love.  If I talk sweet to one the other is jealous and moves in closer.  It dawns on me that maybe this is how God wants us to be.  I'm not sure if God would approve this analogy because I haven't read one reference to pets in the Bible yet, but it seems to me that we should be like these pets - their total faith is in us (the owners) to care for them, give them love, food, water, and purpose.  It seems to me, that if we were like this toward Jesus, we would be exactly like he wants us to be - "as children," totally dependent on Him.  This is where faith comes in - we can't see the hand that feeds us or get encouraging love-speak from God as he loves on us or "pets" us.  It feels totally one-sided and so we have to "trust in the Lord" that he is caring for us - not that we are doing it by ourselves.

I think this is in conflict to the way we were raised and the way we raise our children because we teach that they need to grow up and work hard and be self-sufficient.  People worked in the Biblical times, too so what is the difference?  Didn't Adam and Eve ruin the life of leisure for us all - we all have to work because of them?  So why do we work if God is going to take care of all of our needs? I think because somewhere in that thought process, there is a flaw....If I stopped working tomorrow, how would the bills be paid?  If I didn't pay the bills, the electricity would be shut off, the cars would be repossessed, and the bank would own the house....I would be homeless and that is a dangerous life for one like me.  That is my perception.  So we have to assume that God intends for us to keep working to cover our Earthly needs but that he provides the means and the ways for us to work.  Is that right?  So our job then, is to use the gifts God has given us for his glory.  Work to meet our Earthly needs by using the gifts God has given us.  Sounds simple enough but then the question becomes - What are my gifts and am I using them?

So I was just thinking that I've always been able to write....maybe that's what I'm supposed to do.  Instead of keeping these questions and thoughts to myself as I work through them, maybe I'm supposed to be putting these out there for anyone to read.  This way, I'm being the disciple and learning along with other disciples and also being the priest by helping get God's words to others possibly inspiring them to want to learn.  Am I knowledgeable enough to write about a topic such as this?  Clearly not!  But the premise is about answering questions - not me - getting others to think also and answer for themselves.  Hopefully, I'll explore questions that are common to many and allow others with doubts to feel free to come forward with their own thoughts and questions.  Bottom line, I think God will help me if this is what he wants me to do.

Frequently Asked Questions

I write everyday, or so I try. I also try to read the Bible or something spiritual everyday.  Many times the readings cause more questions than give answers, which I believe to be the point in Jesus' teachings.  I was journaling today and realized that probably many of us have the same questions.  I also read that this is what is supposed to happen: God gave the Laws to Moses but that Jesus told parables to make us think about the Laws - He did not give us the laws or answers again.  He encouraged his followers to think and wants us to use our heads, our logic, and reasoning, and still come to our own conclusion about our relationship with God.  I'm also reading the Reaching Jesus: Five steps to a fuller life, by David Knight.  Basically the 5 steps are to:

1. Choose to be a Christian - make Jesus Christ an active participant in everything I do.
2. Choose to be a Disciple - actively devote ourselves to being his students; reflect on the message of Jesus
3. Choose to be a Prophet - someone who professes (bears witness) to  the truth of God publicly
4. Choose to be a Priest - as a "member of His body" continue Jesus' path and do what he would do; carry on the mission of Jesus Christ
5. Choose to be a Steward - take responsibility for transforming the world as a steward of Christ's kingship; penetrating every area of human life and activity with principles, values, attitudes, and priorities that Jesus modeled and taught.

Today, I am starting in a little different direction in that I am going to post my questions and my answers or interpretations to my questions.  As I stated in my first post, a reader may feel these answers or interpretations are flawed.  I readily admit that I know very little about the Bible since I have just begun to read it and have very little exposure other than the Gospels read in church. I want my blog to be about "Searching for Truths"....that means asking questions and trying to find the answers.  Sometimes this will be in the form of interpreting my own life events.  These are also the instructions in the 5 Steps - be a student of Jesus; study his life, his words and teachings.  That is what I intend to do.  If it encourages anyone else to find or defend their answers to the questions or my writing, then I have accomplished something else for God.  The relationships we have with God and Jesus Christ are our own.

The first day...

May 31, 2013

“Today is the first day of the rest of my life…” on earth.  (I don’t know where that quote is from.)  I have fallen behind in my blogging and in my reading of the Bible.  I intend to pick it back up but change my course a little bit. I will write/journal for me and if someone else wants to read it – fine.  I was reading the Bible this morning and have a challenge for myself:  give up the mindless Solitaire that wastes so much of my time and replace it with reading or writing for God with the ultimate purpose of searching for guidance and truths.  (Guilty pleasure: reading Oprah's "What I know for sure," so looking for a few of my own things that I know for sure.)   

I have used Solitaire to reduce anxiety at the end of the day so that I can sleep – as I said, its mindless.  However, I have been feeling very unsettled lately, almost depressed sort of, and know that I need to read the Bible and seek God more often.  I pray daily and try to recount my Gratitude for the day every night, but I still feel lost; like I’m floating or waiting for something to happen. I watched Eat, Pray, Love last night and it reminded me that I don’t have enough balance spiritually in my life.  I believe it says something about 50% for God and 50% for me and I’m nowhere near that. (Don't judge me, lol!  I know it’s a movie and probably a random suggestion by a character!) Although I think about God quite frequently, I’m pretty sure I’m not living a "balanced" life.  So, I read the Bible this morning, instead of playing the Solitaire game that I had opened, and decided to just read what pages came in front of me.  I had tabbed some previously, although I didn’t remember what they were or why I would have tabbed them and when I read them, they didn’t look familiar, but I started there.  

“Certain things no one can do for you. And one of those is spending time with God.  Listening to God is a firsthand experience.” – Max Lucado, Just Like Jesus.  So this is for me....and what I draw from my readings is strictly my own.  Anyone reading this and feeling otherwise or that my interpretations are somehow flawed, needs to re-read the premise (the quote)....you can't do it for me; its my own experience. 

The second piece I read was from Max Lucado’s interpretive notes, titled Heaven (2).  He talks about how we yearn for Heaven and don’t feel comfortable on this Earth because it isn’t home.  He quoted 1 Peter 2:11, “like foreigners and strangers in this world.”  He said we’re not supposed to be happy here, that Earth is not our home.  That we will have glimpses of heaven and happiness but that we will not be truly happy on Earth because we were not made for Earth.  That made me feel a little better…maybe that’s why I feel like I’m floating, lost, although I have plenty of purpose or things to do (responsibilities), I still feel like I don’t know what I’m doing.  It doesn’t help that I feel foggy in the brain many times during the day and honestly wonder if its early Alzheimers.  I say that I feel “dizzy” but it isn’t a spinning dizziness, it’s a foggy, out-of-focus feeling.  For one that always felt pretty driven and focused, it’s very unsettling.  I was blaming the new blood pressure medicine as one side effect can be dizziness but that’s usually upon rising and I feel this way at any given time.  Anyway, that will be for the doctors someday.

Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is like a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.” And so it will be....

I also get daily scripture interpretation from Joel Osteen.  It’s amazing how many times it’s pertinent and I wonder, “Did everyone get this or is God playing with social media?”  Today’s lesson was to “excel in giving”.  He was using 2 Corinthians 8:7 as the scripture base and he says although you excel in everything, he really wants to “see that you excel in this grace of giving.”  Joel ends his interpretation with “Let that be your desire, too, to leave people better off than when you met them.  Excel in the grace of giving and Glorify God in all you do.” And this, too, is something I try to do always but fail at miserably.  I always think of things after the fact or encounter that I could have done better.  Why is that?  Then it haunts me and I feel guilty....

So for today, I will journal for me and share because maybe, just maybe, this is what God wants me to do.  I believe he can direct us to interact for each other and maybe there is someone out there who needs to read this. Meanwhile, I will continue my own "search for truths" through my journaling.