Ants

We have ants. Those pesky little sugar ants to be exact. I can't stand them. They arrive like the plague and it is difficult to get rid of them. Grrr... they really bug me. No pun intended.

Usually, we keep our counter pretty clean, or at least try to anyway. But Wednesday of this week we pretty much slacked off and let dishes pile up in the sink (well, ok they were over the sink). Dishes were on the counter too. I walked into the kitchen to start making lunch when I noticed them, hundreds if not thousands of ants marching to and fro across out counter. "Oh my goodness! It's an invasion!" I grabbed the bottle of Windex and started spraying. This stuff is awesome let me tell you, it pretty much kills them instantly. I then proceeded in cleaning up the large mess. And it took a good deal of time and effort. Definitely more than had we actually cleaned up the mess right away. But I got it clean and the ants have mostly disappeared, but still it was not fun.

If you think about it this is not much different than our lives. We try to keep our heart clean, yet we stumble and fall. We sin. Things get messy, and we leave it this way. Then evil begins to consume us, it covers us, it devours us. Then there is Jesus, He forgives, He cleans us up and makes us presentably to the Father. Jesus also shows us how to keep our hearts clean through the Word. We are to study and meditate on the Bible, and then to live it out. This is how we keep our hearts and lives clean and pure. Scripture tells us:

When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation. Matthew 12:43-45 (NLT)

The problem is not that the house was clean and in order. The problem is the house is left unoccupied. Our spiritual lives may be cleaned up and left in order, but left unoccupied will once again be filled with the mess of sin. Protect yourself from the evil one, occupy your heart with God's word.

Photo Credit: http://www.entm.purdue.edu/ants/research.php

Happy Birthday

First of all... yeah, yeah, it's about time. It is true that I have neglected my commitment to write in this blog at least once every new moon, or something like that. But here I am, with some great news.

Today, started out well. I got up early and drove across town to have my car serviced by a good Christian friend. While waiting for my car I got a call from my wife and she stated she had something to say about our youngest daughter (4 years old). She had come to my wife and stated, "Mommy, I asked Jesus into my heart, but I didn't see Him go in." Cute. Later when I got home I sat down and talked to her. She told me she asked Jesus to live in her heart. I asked her why?

"Because I love Him."

"Why do you love Him?" I asked.

"Because He loves me."

"What did He do to show that He loves you?"

"He died on the cross for me." She responded.

"Why did He do that?" I asked.

"Because we sinned."

"What is sin?"

"It is when we are very bad."

"And sin keeps us away from God, right?"

"Yes, and Jesus wants us to be with God."

"So Jesus died for us."

"He died on the cross, and was put in the cave, and then He walked out, and then He went to heaven and is building us a house."

We talked a little more, re-enforcing that she really knows and believes Jesus died for her sins. She is a bright little girl and today is her spiritual birthday. Thought I would share this awesome little story.

Stains

Laundry day. Two words that make most people cringe. My wife and I share this duty in our household. Basically, the duty belongs to whomever the pile of laundry lands when it falls over. Recently the duty was mine. I strongly dislike doing laundry. It is an all day job. Separate lights and darks. Check for stains, which with two young children and myself, means quite a few stains. Load the washer. Wait... Load the dryer, unload the dryer and clean the lint screen, load the dryer. Wait... Check the clothes and add more time. Wait... Finally they are dry, but they don't fold themselves, and you can only go so many days of pulling a shirt out of the dryer to wear, so then comes folding. A couple of hours go by and it is time for bed. The folded clothes are still on the bed. Too tired to put them away they go back into the basket and are placed on the floor. After a couple of days they need to be refolded again. This time they are put away immediately. I hate doing laundry. Oh well, it has to be done.

The thing I dislike the most is folding and putting away the clothes, but since I can't really come up with a spiritual application for this (however, I reserve the right to come up with something in the future though), I will talk about stains. Which does come second on my list of what I dislike about laundry duty. Like I said between myself and my two wonderful daughters we go through plenty of stain remover. In fact I am thinking of buying stock in the company whose product we use. Stains sometimes get forgotten from the time they happen to the time they hit the washing machine. Have you ever missed a stain only to find it after the shirt is pulled from the dryer? Frustrating because now it is set and won't come out. Then the ones you do catch you just hope they will come out. Some do and some don't.

We are a lot like a pile of stained shirts. We can't do anything to remove the stain ourselves, the stain detracts from our inherent beauty, and we are not as useful with the stain as we are without. Sin, is our stain. But unlike us, God is a master cleaner. He misses no stains, they always come out in the wash, and He is proud to display us and use us for His purpose. The old hymn "Jesus Paid it All" says:

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

“Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. ~ Isaiah 1:18 (NLT)

My Amazing Daughter

Like most any Dad, I like to brag about my kids. Tonight my six year old, Aimee, said some really profound things. My wife sent me the following email:

Tonight Aimee and I were at the table, working on math problems. I was sitting in my usual spot, she was standing next to me. Aimee backed up to walk around to the other side of the table, then screamed, ran around the table, and started crying. Autumn was sitting nearby, so I asked if Autumn scratched her. "Yes," was her teary reply. I said, "Bad kitty!" Autumn was surprised at that, she thought when I got up I was going to feed her! She cowered back a little, then came right back to me and rubbed against me, I guess to ask for forgiveness... I checked on Aimee and her ankle was bleeding a bit. So I got her a wet washcloth to cover it with. I told Autumn I hoped we didn't have to get rid of her, but I don't want a bad kitty in the house. Aimee said, "Mommy! It was probably my fault! I probably got too close to her face. It's ok, Mommy, she wasn't trying to be mean!" Then she said something that I really liked. Aimee said, "Mommy, it's like with God. Even though sometimes we disobey, he still loves us and doesn't want to get rid of us. So even if Autumn is mean sometimes, we still love her, and shouldn't get rid of her." Quite the insight from a little girl who just got scratched, unprovoked.

Wow... such insight from a six year old. But she is right, no matter what we do, no matter how badly we mess up, God still loves us! God could, and yes, should condemn us for some of the stupid things we do. But...

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1,2

Read that again. "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!" Aimee had it correct. Even though we disobey, God still loves us and doesn't want to get rid of us. Read the rest of chapter 8 sometime today. Meditate on what Paul wrote. Who will you live for?

Forgiven & Loved,
Jeff

Mulligan

I like to golf. I am not the greatest golfer, in fact I am really not good at all. But I have fun playing. In fact I really don't play golf as much as chasing the little white ball. One of my favorite aspects of the game is the mulligan. Otherwise known as the "do over." Hit a bad shot, have a bad lie, hit into water... take a mulligan. I love the mulligan.

Life is a lot like golf. My intention is to play my best game, to always hit the perfect shot. I address a decision or situation and I aim to go straight. Swing. Disappointment. My "shot" goes far to the left. Sometimes I do make a wise decision, other times a foolish one. Sometimes my intention is to avoid sin, yet temptation leads me to miss my target. I give in, I take my eyes off of Christ. My life is out of bounds. But, here is the beauty of being forgiven. I can take a "mulligan" and start again. Because Christ died and rose from the dead to forgive my sin I have another chance, and another, and another, and another.

I don't always take a mulligan with every bad golf shot, sometimes I just play the ball from where it lies. Life is like this too. I am still forgiven for sinful decisions, but consequences of sin still have to be faced. Much like a sand trap, it is not impossible to get out, but just requires more hard work, dedication and better aim.

Hebrews 10:17 tells us God chooses not to remember our sins. "I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds." What an awesome God we worship and serve. A God who chooses to forget.

Life and golf... for me the connection is easy to make. Although I don't have a chance to play much golf (too expensive and not enough time), every day is a chance to play "life." To step up to the ball and hit straight.

Go with God,
Jeff

Photo Credit: http://www.sdyouthservices.org