Cleaning the Hidden Spots

Like the Febreeze commercial where people sit in a disasterously filthy room, but can't detect the surrounding filth because of the Febreeze hiding the hideous smells, our world also sits in a pit with an invisible veil which keeps us from seeing the filth and refuse that surrounds us. God is kind and gentle, and when we seek the light, He shines it on one thing at a time so we can work on it in peace without the shock that comes from taking off the mask and seeing the whole wreched mess. One of the reasons it can be so shocking is because the filth that can become visible is not necessarily the filth of things surrounding us, but the filth within our own souls. When God's light illuminates these spots and imperfections within us, we must get out the tools he has provided for us to scrub them clean- namely- the sacraments, prayer, charity, reading scriptures- while at the same time we physically work to overcome bad habits and those sins that continue to dirty our souls daily. The spirit and the flesh are opposed, so we must fight against the sinful yearnings of our own flesh so that our spirit can be strengthened.

Today starts Holy Week. We are now in the last moments of our desert experience yet many of us stayed on the out-skirts of the desert because we like to avoid the associated pain. So now it's time! Let us run to the desert and not be afraid because Christ is there. Let us ask Him to shed His light on some filth within us that needs repair. Let us not worry so much about others and their imperfections. When it is time for us to die- and we all will- WE will stand coverless before God, and all will be showing. He sees it now, but we fool ourselves into believing that He does not see or that it really does not matter. He sees ALL my friends. We need to be on that narrow path using Christ's light to guide and cleanse our hearts. If we don't seek to cleanse ourselves of this filth, when we die we will be repelled by the light of Christ and will find ourselves in a dirty room where God does not abide and this is where we will belong. Instead let us pick of the Cross of Salvation and get behind our Christ and follow His path of suffering so we can also share in His resurrection.

The Law Sets Us Free

Happy those who do not follow
the counsel of the wicked,
Nor go the way of sinners,
nor sit in the company with scoffers.
Rather, the law of the Lord is their
joy;
God's law they study day and night.
They are like a tree
planted near streams of water,
that yields its fruit in season;
Its leaves never wither;
whatever they do prospers.

But not the wicked!
They are like chaff driven by the
wind.
Therefore the wicked will not survive
judgement,
nore will sinners in the assembly of the
just.
The Lord watches over the way of the
just,
but the way of the wicked leads to
ruin.

Psalm 1: 1-6

If I could have a penny for all the times I have heard people say that certain teachings of the Church are the "laws of men" as if this gives them a free ticket not to follow. The truth is that Jesus gave us the Church to help guide us in truth.

"...you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth."
1 Timothy 3: 15

So many times we want answers. We walk on the invisible bridge of faith, and the path only becomes clear after we take our steps out in faith. It's a simple path- yet it can be terribly difficult at times because it seems so confusing- which way to go...which choice to make...which path should we be walking on? The beauty of our lives is that God does allow us to make so many decisions, but those decisions have to be within the bounds of the truth which the law directs! If we make those choices, then we become like that tree planted near the stream of water, and we flourish even when we make decisions which the world does not understand. So today, as you walk in truth, have trust that the Lord is holding your hand.

Starve the Beast

Today is Mardi Gras, which literally means Fat Tuesday. Unfortunately for our modern society, this can conjure up visions of sinful behaviors and wild, gluttonous partying without thought of what comes next. The truth is that Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday, so in the times when people did a strict fast during Lent, they would empty the house of all those foods they would be fasting from for the next forty days: dairy, eggs, syrup, sugar, oil and meat. It is really just common sense for you certainly don't want things sitting around ruining- and tempting you- while you are cleaning your spiritual house- so you clean out your pantries beforehand. Traditionally as well, most people did this as a process over time- not as a big blowout glutonous party, but nevertheless by Ash Wednesday- those foods were gone.

So here we sit- on Mardi Gras- and tomorrow begins the season of Lent. So what will we do? Have you thought about it? And what's the fasting and penance for anyway? I will say that it is worth spending some time thinking about today- and getting your family to think about. What will you give up? And why bother?

Well, you don't have to get very far in the Bible to learn how important it is to God for you to give from your heart! The story of Cain and Abel is a perfect example! What was the difference between their gifts to God? Abel gave his best and most prized possession, and Cain did not. This made a difference. Why would this make a difference when God needs nothing? It makes a difference not because of what God needs, but because of what we need. We need to give our full hearts to God. We need to not have the attachments of the world.

Sadly, too, many of these attachments are not an end in themselves. God is light. Picture a street-light in the dark of the night. Each step you take away from the light brings you into deeper darkness. When you continue down this dark path, eventually you no longer see the light at all and your everyday life decisions are those of one who is in darkness and away from God's will! So- how does fasting help?

Well, when you fast, you are turning yourself around. You should take the time to look into your life and see something that has become a great attachment in your life. Do you watch too much television? Do you drink too much alcohol? Do you use curse words? Do you yell too much? Do you sleep too much? Do you hold on to your possessions too much? Do you look at pornography? Do you spend too much time on the computer? Do you eat too much? Do you spend too much time on Facebook? Do you spend too much money on yourself? What is your beast? What has you in it's clutches? This is a time of grace! Use it accordingly! If you need help- seek help! Pick your greatest attachment and give it to God! Turn around, face the light, and move in the direction of God! Starve your beast, and it will flee! And the beauty of it is that you are the winner!

See, this is how God works! Isn't it great! You just THINK you are giving something up! Yes- you are- but in return, God gives you SO much more back! People tend to think of God's ways as being restrictive, but it is the exact opposite! The things that the world sells imprison and enslave us, and it never ends. Just look at the addictions in the world and it does not take long to see the costs: ill health, diseases, doctor bills, etc. They drag us further and further down the path to darkness. When we spend this time to look into our hearts and see the truth in our lives and give the first fruits of our passions to our Lord, and He blesses us exponentially.

Why is this? Well, Galatians 5: 16-18 tells us:

"I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh. For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other so that you may not do what you want."

So fasting is a kind of Spiritual workout! When you deny the flesh of those things that are not good for it, you work out and strengthen the spirit. Just sit for awhile and imagine if EVERYONE did this!

Another beauty of fasting is that it not only benefits us! We forget how intertwined we are! Just imagine how many people were affected by the sin of Adam and Eve, and then just think how it could appear that their sin was a small one. After all, they did not kill anyone! It did not hurt anyone. It did not even "seem" to hurt them. What did they do wrong? They disobeyed God. And that simple act of disobedience goes on and on and on.

Dwell for a moment on the sins of today. I shutter at the thought. We tend to think that our sins are only "our sins". It does not work that way, though! Our sins affect others- ALWAYS- even if they are in the private of our own home! That's just the way it is! We also tend to dismiss our sins as............not being sins! Why? Because we are surrounded by darkness. The world tells us that we are not sinning, and we believe the world. Why? Because it "APPEARS" to be easier to believe the world! Sadly, however, this is a lie. You can just watch the television know this. Right now the slippery slope of bad behaviors is greatly tilted, and the climb back to the light seems sooooo difficult! The thing is that, just as the people of Nineveh proclaimed a fast and kept their WHOLE city from being destroyed, we can do the same!

So, today is Fat Tuesday! Use it wisely! My family will be having purple, green, and gold pancakes tonight which are all originally intended to represent Christ bringing justice (purple), faith (green=growth of faith), and power (gold=Jesus is the King of Kings and ultimately holds all power). We will talk about those in the Bible who fasted for 40 days: Moses, the people of Nineveh, and JESUS! And we will each spend some time in prayer to make our commitment to God regarding our fast. I have had the children thinking about this for awhile for although they are not bound to the laws of fasting yet, it is an exercise of their faith that will help them to grow, and yes- they will choose something to fast from for the next 40 days! Why? Because it will help their spirits to grow strong and enable them to be stronger and more able to overcome the temptations that the world is throwing at them and so they might be a part of what turns this world around to where it needs to be- facing our Loving God- and climbing that path toward the light! So tomorrow- don't forget to begin starving your beast and join us on our climb to the light of Christ!

The Lord of my Heart

You are the air I breathe, Lord!
Suffocate I will without you!
Your peace, it is such a comfort!
Troubles you help me through!

You are my Lord and my God
for that I thank you deeply!
You lift my heart that's been beat down,
and heal me so completely!

I always seem to make mistakes
though I want to be so good.
My spirit's willing but the flesh's so weak.
I don't always do as I should.

But I ask you now, Lord, to lift me up,
and heal my heart that's been broken.
I ask in your name, Lord, as you said I should.
For in the Bible Your words are spoken!

And lead me away from temptation, Lord.
Along this narrow path as I try
to walk toward you on my journey,
So someday I can come to Heaven and fly.

Yes, fly amongst the angels
With peace no on ever can find
Until we reach You in Heaven
For peace such as Yours is Divine.

It fills your heart- every corner,
With happiness beyond what is here.
To describe it would not do justice,
But that moment I'll always hold dear.

When that grace You gave me to open,
My heart to experience supreme love!
That filled my soul so completely!
It could only have come from above!

Because you dwell there in my heart, Lord,
Leading me if I do hear.
But listen I must 'cause You're quiet.
To my heart do You speak, not my ear.

So listen I will in the silence.
As You walk, sometimes crawl with me.
Until the narrow and bumpy path's ended,
And I find You in eternity

Short Little Detours

This morning as I was getting the children ready for school, I was also trying to get the house tidied up! A man was to come over and check the foundation of our house that seemed to be complaining about the recent drought by way of cracks in the walls. Thankfully, the girls are mostly self-sufficient when it comes to getting dressed, so I was using this opportunity to do some sweeping and picking up downstairs. As I was doing this, I noticed that my son had left his pile of clean clothing on his stair! (After I clean and fold the children's clothing, I place it on their stair. The idea is for them to take it upstairs with them on their next journey to their room. This obviously did not happen this morning! Surprise! Surprise!)

So as I am moving around, cleaning, I asked my little pre-teen angel to carry her big brother's clothing up to his room.

She smiles and sits on the couch, "What's in it for me!"

"Nothing," I said, "except helping your mother."

At this point, the future attorney starts negotiating her compensation. "What about a movie tonight or maybe a soda?"

"No," I said, "You can earn an extra jewel for your Heavenly crown. I just need a little bit of help, and it won't take long. You are going up anyway."

The negotiations continue, but I held my ground as I went to wash the morning dishes that had piled up in the kitchen sink. I decided that I would not ask again. She knew that I wanted the clothing upstairs, and it would take so little effort for her to carry them up on her next trip up the stairs. It would be such a little detour into her brother's room. I decided to see what would happen.

As morning times can tend to be a bit crazy, I didn't notice for awhile, but after the children were at school- as I pulled out the vaccum, I noticed the clothing still sitting on the stair! It made me sad. That is when God said:

My children do the same thing. Many times I ask them to do such small
little tasks for their brothers and sisters, but they are just too busy doing
their own thing. Most tasks I request are right before them with such
short little detours from their normal routine. And when my children do
tasks, they usually expect some kind of payment. I, too, wish that these
tasks can be done for the love of Me, their God! It makes me sad,
too.

Going Out on a Limb!

Imagine this......

You are in the city, and someone very popular is about to walk down the street. People are starting to line the streets to get a better look. The area gets more and more crowded. Anticipation is growing! People you know are all around- men, women, and children- people in your community. All of the sudden, you look around and you spot some guy sitting up in a tree. What do you think? Does it appear rather strange that some fully grown man would decide to crawl up a tree? Is he embarrassed? Are people looking at him like he is a bit off?

Well, that man is Zacchaeus, and he is waiting to see Jesus walk by! You might be familiar with this from the Bible in Luke 19:1-10. Zaccheaus was so short, that the only way he could see Jesus was to climb up a sycamore tree! That was REALLY going out-of-his-way, and risking public humiliation! He is going beyond what people normally do to seek God. He is risking his reputation! And- he was so converted by Jesus, that even though he had cheated people of their money in the past, he vowed to pay them back four times the amount!!! FOUR TIMES! How many of us would do that?

When God TRULY comes into people's hearts, they are changed! The change should be so complete that their whole lives are different- everything they say, everything they do, the way they react- everything! Now, sure, we are human- and we all fall occasionally and need repentance, but how many of us really live our whole lives for Jesus? How many of us are willing to risk our reputation, our job, our finances, our friendships, our lives? Many times in America, we hear this "prosperity talk" from certain spiritual leaders and the media! "We are empowered to do what we want and have what we want." I wonder how much thought is put into the fact that Jesus was crucified, and he told us to pick up our cross and follow him? I wonder how much thought is put into the ultimate demise of St. Paul who wrote much of the New Testament? He was beaten, imprisoned, and eventually beheaded.

So, how many of us are willing to put ourselves on the line? Are we willing to suffer some embarrassment at being different? Are we willing to have people whisper about us? Are we willing to lose a few friends?

Recently, I heard a story of a woman much like Zacchaeus! Even though she worked for years at Planned Parenthood, America's number one abortion provider, she climbed up that tree and risked it all after seeing an ultrasound guided abortion procedure! According to her, she saw "a 13 week baby in the womb fight for its life…only to lose the battle in the end."

http://www.abbyjohnson.org/about/

After this, Abby left her job, was taken to court, lost friends, and now she is speaking up about what is really going on within Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry! (To learn more about Abby Johnson's story, check out her book Unplanned!) Her story illustrates the way they use nice sounding phrases to twist the truth so people won't understand what is really happening.

It's time for us to start looking! It's time for us to see what is happening. It's time for us to climb the trees of life and be embarrassed so we can see the way that Jesus wants us to live!

(Check out my other blog: http://getalife-itsyourchoice.blogspot.com/)

Pornography

Pornography is an evil brought by the destroyer to deceive people into thinking that something holy is meant for recreational or selfish purposes. It is not! Satan deceives people into thinking that they are not hurting anyone by viewing pornography! This is incorrect. Sex is designed to be a bonding and procreative act within a holy, God-ordained marriage. It is not entertainment. When God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit if the tree, disobedience did not “seem” to affect others- but it did- and so does pornography!

The Bible even shows us an example of this way back in 2 Samuel, Chapter 11, when King David watched a beautiful woman named Bathsheba as she bathed. The fruit if this inappropriate behavior was that David had relations with Bathsheba- got her pregnant- and purposefully put her husband on the front lines of a war so he would be killed. The consequences was that the child King David had with Bathsheba died. People think they can take a peek and get away with it, but bad fruit comes from these peeks and draws us down an evil path that can only be changed when we acknowledge our sins and repent from them.

Unfortunately, pornography is also deeply addictive. People think they can just "take a peek," but the sin enslaves them and draws them further down the path to depravity. And right now, these inappropriate images are prevalent in our society as they are so easily accessible through the internet. Sadly, even some of our television shows and commercials can draw people into this desire to "see more."

John 8:34
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

Matthew 5: 27-28
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Viewing pornography is not acceptable behavior for Christians and many times draws people into other sinful behavior!

1 Corinthians 6: 18
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

Many Christians think that they can do whatever they want and still obtain Heaven. This is not true! There are consequences to sin. Why would we trade our eternity for lust? That does not make sense to me! I love the way a popular author and speaker, Scott Hahn, has described eternity. I can't remember his exact quote, but it was about the fact that if we wished to remove the sand from a beach one grain at a time- we could do that in Heaven because eternity is infinite but the number of grains on a beach are finite. That is a long long time, and certainly not worth giving up for a few moments of lust or inappropriate "entertainment".

So, to quote an old song I remember hearing as a child:

"Be careful little eyes what you see-
oh be careful little eyes what you see
because the Father up above is looking down in love
so be careful little eyes what you see!"

1 Corinthians 10:12
"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!"