Good Samaritan

At one of my Upwards Basketball games this week we were in the last period and there was a pretty big collision in the middle of the lane and a bunch of the girls went down. One of the girls from my team that was still standing reached down to a player from the other team and helped them up. After that happened I no longer cared about what was going on in the basketball game, I was too proud of her actions on the court, her willingness to serve and love on people when they were down. I learn more from those kids than they do from me. She reminded me of the the parable of the Good Samaritan. In that parable a man is beaten stripped and used. Two people walk by in disgust of the man, but the third stops and helps him out, even though he probably had other things he needed to do. This shows one of the two greatest commandments perfectly. It says in Mark 12:31:

The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

During our game my player had other things to do like come back and get set up on defense, but she took the time to help a person in need. She realized what we struggle to realize as we get older. She would have have wanted that girl to help her up if she fell down so my player helped this girl up, loving her neighbor as herself. We all go through hard times and struggles of our own and we want people to love on us and encourage us as we work through our struggle. The only way people will help you is if you do the same for them. This week look for someone who is struggling, maybe they aren't doing so good in a class or they have some personal problem, be the Good Samaritan and stop to help them.

Grace!

So I have really been struggling with things to write about on here and as a result this one will be a little different. I have been reading this book called "Awareness" by Anthony De Mellow and in it he talks about how people do not need other people in order to make it through life. Mr. De Mellow believes that everything that happens to us is a result of our actions. For example, if we had an addiction and we got out of it, he would say that no one had an impact on us except for ourselves. However, how many of us have made it through a struggle by ourselves, with no support from others? I know I have not. Jesus believed the complete opposite, in fact thats one of the main things Jesus taught in his public ministry. If you look at all of the miracles Jesus performed, they all were to help out someone who was in need. This week while I was struggling to think of something to talk about I had a great conversation about this with Grace and she gave me the idea to talk about how I have seen Christ in other people throughout the week. This week Grace helped me out when I really, really needed something to ponder for the week. Even though it was quite a miracle it certainly showed me how to help people out.

Individuality

So this week while I was at school, I had to get a serial number for something, I dont remember exactly what it was, but it was nice, I do remember that. Serial numbers give a lifeless object individuality, an example would be a computer or a television; if it is stolen, how do the police find it? They look for the serial number. So I started wondering, "Whats the difference between me and the 7 billion other people on the earth?" I know for me I first thought of things like our hair color, eye color, height, weight, all the physical aspects of life, but then I thought, "yes, all of that distinguishes us from one another one earth, but at the core, we are all still sinners who screw up all the stinking time." Romans 3:21 says,

But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight--not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago.

The one difference between Christians and the world around us is Christ. We are privileged. He gives us our individuality by blessing us with different gifts, maybe its teaching, or giving, or singing, or writing. He has shown us how to be right in his sight, by using our own individuality for His Glory.

Preparation

This week I had a precal test on Tuesday, and me being me, I did not study for the test and as a result I failed the test. This morning I forgot to set my alarm and had to rush out the door with out a shower, and as a result, I looked like a train had smacked me in the face. I taught Sunday School for the middle school boys last week and it turned out alright at the best. One thing that could have made all of these events better is preparation - if I would have prepared they would have turned out better. I might have passed that precal test. I wouldnt have looked so terrible today, and my lesson would have been the best it could have been. So how do we as Christians prepare for our daily temptations? Ephesians 6:11 says:

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

For those who are not completely familiar with the armor of God, it includes the belt of truth, breast plate of righteousness, shoes of peace and good news, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit. If we put on this armor and use it to our advantage, no plot or attempt made by the devil can stop us. It goes on to say in verse 16 to pray and stay alert at all times. Our preparation for the temptations we face on a daily basis is right there. When we wake up in the mornings we put on the armor of God and we let God fight our battles for us.

Joy

Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die
Do not let my enemies gloat, saying,
'We have defeated him!
Do not let them rejoice at my downfall.'"
-Psalm 13:3-4

Whenever we as humans screw up, it always revolves around one thing, earthly possessions sights or sounds. These are all temporary they give us pleasure for five to ten minutes, or maybe an hour or two, but they emotional high eventually dies down. This Psalm was written by David after he took Bathsheba as his wife and killed off Uriah. He was in a desperate situation in which he had screwed up in a major way, that temporary emotional high had died down and David was left completely empty inside. The thing in this verse that catches my attention is the part that says "Restore the sparkle to my eyes." This shows Davids to me how David constantly found happiness in the Lord. So even though we do stupid things we need to follow Davids lead and have the Lord "restore the sparkle to our eyes."

Leadership

Quiet Strength, a book by Tony Dungy, the head coach of the Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts, is a book that Coach Dungy wrote about his faith has effected his leadership of the Colts. He uses the verse Matthew 20:26-27 which says:

Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.

I absolutely love this verse. Tony Dungy constantly explains how he got the players to respond to his message, he served them. Coach Dungy would stay at nicer hotels with the team, he would make sure his players could get the family time they needed by ending practice earlier than most coaches, Dungy would respect his players and take his time to listen to the problems they had, this is why Coach Dungy can get his team to respond so well to him, he serves them. In the same way, I believe this is the way we have to approach witnessing. When we serve people, they see our actions and those actions open the door to much more conversation. People notice our actions and a consistent lifestyle and I think thats what the verse is getting at. Witnessing, in my opinion, is a combination of adequate leadership skills, which is defined by serving others, and a consistent lifestyle.

Ministry

Tonight, Matt began a three week series on words. He was using a passage from Jeremiah and I got reading a little bit after we ended and came across this verse.

"Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. You are to uproot some and tear them down, to destroy and overthrow them. You are to build others up and plant them." Jer. 1:10

I got to thinking about it and this is the way I see this verse. We are called to minister to people of all kinds, different religions, races, beliefs, etc. When we minister to a person, one thing you must do is point out the contradictions in their belief system. I think this relates to the verse in the sense that, "some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow." But the awesome thing about this verse is the next part. "You are to build others up and plant them." This is the coolest part because after God has helped tear down a belief system, we have to replant them in something that will help them grow. So, I do not know that this verse is talking about literally tearing down nations and kingdoms, I believe that those kingdoms and nations are people and belief systems.