Laced With Grace

….more than twice as many people have requested assistance for the Christmas season from the Salvation Army than all of last year. Some people got up at the crack of dawn to line up in the hopes of providing their kids with Christmas gifts. (source)

Five states posted jobless rates above 12% in August, according to federal data released Friday. (source)

In each of these stories these are real people who are hurting; people who Jesus looks down upon with compassion. This is who Jesus was talking about when he said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”

Unfortunately as Christians we become too tangled up with our own lives—our own beliefs—that we do not see what is going on around us. We fail to see the hurting person in the corner at church or the person on the street who only wants to know if God can truly love them. I am reminded of the story when Jesus met the woman at the well. (John 4)

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) John 4:7-8

What happens next? Did Jesus share his opinion concerning her current lifestyle (he did only AFTER she asked for some of his Living Water)? Did Jesus ask her what church she goes to? What denomination? Did Jesus share his belief on family planning, abortion, or homeschooling? Or did he asked her what she thought of predestination, whether drinking was a sin or not, or if she believed in once saved always saved? NO. Jesus responded:

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

He told her I can offer you MORE than you are asking for. He loved her, showed compassion upon her and in return she responded to his compassion. Jesus did not care what misguided beliefs she may have held at the time, Jesus was not concerned about her past sins at that moment, Jesus met her right where she was warts and all. There is no condemnation in Jesus, so why do so many feel condemnation inside our churches? John 4: 39 “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony…”

Healthy debates among Christians are okay, but sometimes we become narrow minded and forget our purpose. We are to love God with all our heart, mind and soul. Love others more than ourselves, and preach the gospel. There are many hurting people out there right now; you may be one of them. God is calling you to him and telling you to drink from his living water and you will never be thirsty again.

He does not care how you have lived your life before you come, he does not care about your limitations or lack of abilities. He says all of you who are hurting, just come.

And Christians we need to be seeking out those who are hurting, do not become narrow minded or legalistic in your thinking. Lead these people to the Living Water, God will sort everything else out.

Dear Heavenly Father, Lord of the Harvest, I know in writing this post I have three fingers pointing back at me. Give me Jesus eyes, help me show compassion to others, especially those who do not know you and may be living a different lifestyle than me. Father I pray many Christians will answer the call to feed your sheep, to go out into the harvest and love on your people. Do not let Satan bind us in small petty differences within the Christian faith. You make everything simple, you call us to love you, love others and share your gospel.

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If you are unsure if you are a Christian, if you are hurting and feel that God could never love you because of sin in your life. Jesus says come let me give you a drink of the Living Water, where you will thirst no more. No your problems will not magically disappear but God does promise peace in the midst of storms, eternal life where NOTHING (no sin, nothing) can separate you from the love the Christ. God can not make you come, you need to take the first step towards him. But after that first step in prayer God will guide you and lead you. Below is an example prayer, the words are not what is important but your hearts desire.

Dear Lord Jesus,

I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as Lord and Savior.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer for the first time, fill out this form and the Billy Graham association will send you some free material. You will receive a book titled Knowing Christ via regular mail.

God’s Girl,

Lori

Find me daily:

After months of planning and praying, the weekend finally arrived.  Women from across the country converged on the tiny town of Sneads, FL for the bloggers retreat this past weekend.

Our speakers and leadership team were finally together, most of us meeting face to face for the first time.  It felt as if we’d known each other forever!  It’s hard to even explain the deep bonds that developed immediately between us.

Kneeling: Lynn Donovan, Lisa Shaw, Alecia Corbin, Angie Knight

Standing: Aimee Douglas, Susan Baldwin, Connie Haile, Marsha Harwood, Tiffany Stuart, Mary Snyder and Joanne Kraft       (Notice how many of us are Laced With Grace Writers!)

Eleven ordinary women, called to do something extraordinary by the grace and strength of God.

We all knew vaguely what the other was speaking on, but no details.  As the retreat unfolded, each speaker’s message built upon the other.  Scriptures connected, blogging tips all different. Hearts, lives and blogs were surrendered over the course of two days.  We were surrendered scribes, each with purpose in our hearts to live and write the story the Lord has uniquely written upon our hearts. (Ephesians 2:8,9,10, 1 Peter 4:10,11)

It reminded me of a parable I heard many years ago called The Parable of the Pencil.

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

There are 5 things you need to know, he told the pencil, before I send you out into the world.  Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.

Three: You will be able to correct mistakes you will make.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.

And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark.  No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.

Now replacing the pencil with you; there are five things you need to know.  Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God’s hand.  And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems, but you’ll need it to become a stronger person.

Three: You will be able to correct mistakes you might make or grow through them.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what’s on the inside.

And Five: On every surface you walk, you must leave your mark.  No matter what the situation, you must continue to serve God in everything.

By understanding and remembering, let us proceed with our life on this earth having a meaningful purpose in our heart and a relationship with God daily.

Lord and Master, We surrender ourselves to You. May we live, breathe and use our giftedness for You.  It is through You we live each day with purpose in our hearts.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Marsha’s Musings

Some Christian families choose to participate in Halloween while others do not. This post is not meant to strike any controversy about Halloween, but to help us think about the masks we sometimes wear.

As Halloween is fast approaching, costumes are everywhere…..from the newspaper flyers to the posters hanging down when you walk into Target.  I love to watch kids dress up. They’re so excited to pretend to be someone else. Some choose dragons. Others princesses. Some want to be dressed as something courageous and others prefer silly disguises.

Do you ever feel like you are wearing a mask? Do you ever find yourself pretending to be someone you’re not? Pretending to “have it all together,” but in reality, your “all togethers” are falling apart? You would never want people to see the “real you”, the person behind the mask. You would be embarrassed if you were ever “found out.”

So….we put on our masks, go about our business, and when friends ask how we are, we smile and declare, “Great! How are you?”

Because so many of us are wearing these perfection masks, we look around and think that we are the only Christian mom or wife or daughter who is “messing up.” We feel like failures. We would never admit to needing help, let alone actually asking for it! Instead of building one another up and encouraging each other in our faith, we pretend that we are just fine and hide behind our masks.

But, God sees through the mask right down to the “real you”. He sees all the flaws and mistakes and failures and yet loves us completely and unconditionally. Isn’t it comforting to know how much He loves us? Psalm 139 tells us that God searches us and knows us. He knows us completely, from the inside out. He knows a word before it even reaches our tongue. He is familiar with our ways. He isn’t surprised by us. He knows every thought, every worry, every joy, every hurt. There is no where we can run from His Spirit, no where to escape His love, no mask to hide our person from Him. With God, we can stop pretending, take off our mask, and allow Him to love us.

And, I believe that we can also take off our masks with our sisters in Christ, allow them to love us, and share authentic relationships with them. We might find that we all make mistakes, not one of us is perfect, and we are not the only one in the carpool with a dirty minivan!

Father God, thank You for loving me unconditionally. Thank You, Lord that I don’t have to hide anything from You, that I CAN’T hide anything from You because You know me completely. Thank You that I can take off my mask. Help me Lord to be honest, authentic and real with those around me. Help me to encourage others so that they, too feel comfortable taking off their masks. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

Thirsty for Him,

Tracy

Please come visit me at my personal blog, Thirsty for Him!