Inward Perfection

     Every first Tuesday of the month, we have a Ladies Missionary meeting. I look forward to it every month!! It is comprised of the ladies of Liberty Methodist Church and a few non-members, such as myself. We eat, fellowship, have a message, and discuss business. This month I was asked by Mrs. Geneva to give the message. As soon as she asked me I knew that I wanted to speak about Matthew 11:29-30, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." But then I realized that is what I want to speak about--maybe I should ask God what He wants me to speak about. So I did, and I dove into my Bible hoping He would either (a) give me confirmation that I should speak about those verses, or (b) give me something that He wants me to speak about. In the end, He went with plan B--which came out much better than what I had originally planned (which is always the case). Here's what He gave me:


   I started reading in Matthew 1 and just kept going. I started noticing a few themes and how they felt connected throughout several chapters. I started thinking about the inside. I titled this Inward Perfection.


   We, as humans, tend to focus on the outside. Outside appearance. Outside actions. Outside emotions. That is our nature, but it is also what society teaches us. Just look at commercials. Millions of products designed to improve something on the outside.


   As Christians, we tend to focus on the outside as well. Did what I just say come out wrong? Could it be misconstrued to sound "bad"? Is my dress a little too high? Is my blouse a little too low? Did someone see me roll my eyes at that person? The list of questions we subconsciously ask ourselves could go on and on. Or how about this--how many of you have seen or been a part of this little scenario: It's Sunday morning. You and the fam are getting ready for church. Someone is bickering and fighting. Someone is mad at someone else. Parents are nagging the whole way to church; kids are fighting the whole way to church. But as soon as you roll through the sanctuary doors--something happens. A transformation takes place. The bickering stops. The fussing and nagging stop. Everyone puts a smile on their face and acts like they have had the perfect morning with their perfect family. Why do we do this??? Outside appearances. The way we act in public is different from the way we act in private.


   As I was going through Matthew, I started noticing Jesus talking about a focus on the inside rather than the outside. There are several different angles you can look at this. I want to look at three: the literal sense, inward thoughts, and inward worries.


The Literal Sense. In Matthew 6, I started noticing a theme throughout the chapter. Several verses talked about doing righteous acts in private rather than out in the open. We should focus on worshipping inside. Literally. The first time this appears in the chapter is in verse 4. (Matthew 6:4--That thine offerings may be in secret and they Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.) Jesus talks about how the Pharisees would make sure everyone saw how much they were putting into the offering plate. Sometime they would even ring a bell when they gave offerings. Jesus says to let what you put in the offering plate be between you and Him, and when the time is right, He'll reward you in public. He knows that we want to be recognized for our servitude. And He promises to do that, but it will be in His timing.
   Later in verse 6, Jesus talks about praying in private. (Matthew 6:6--But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.) The Pharisees would often go out into a busy crowded street, stand in the middle of it, and begin praying very loudly so everyone could hear them. Jesus warns us not to do this. He says to let your prayer be between the two of you, and in His time, He'll reward you openly. Too often we find ourselves praying to men rather than to God. While I am soooo not one to judge, it is a pet peeve of mine for people to use uncharacteristically flowery language when they pray in public. When you start thinking about what you are going to say to God and plan your entire prayer out because you know you're going to be doing it in front of other people then you are praying to please men rather than God. How quickly we can go from good intentions to unrighteous acts.
   Also, in verse 18 (Matthew 6:18--That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.) The Pharisees were known for fasting. Many times they would put a white substance on their faces, like makeup for instance, to appear pale and weakened from fasting. Jesus warns us against this. If you want to fast, great. But don't do it to stand esteemed in the eyes of others. Do it with a pure heart.


Thought Life. Why is it that we put so much time and effort into maintaining our reputation when we spend so little time correcting the things that only we and God know about? Is it wrong to care about your reputation? No. But what is wrong is caring more about the opinion of other's rather than God's opinion. We care more about what strangers think of us than God. If you don't feel like this statement applies to you then let me ask you a question: how many of you have been in a situation where you feel the voice of the Holy Spirit tell you to talk to someone about God and you choose not to because it's socially inappropriate. Or because you are afraid of rejection from that person? Or you are afraid they will ridicule you for being a "religious zealot"? Yes, we are all guilty of this.
   So many times we try to change the outside without doing some deep cleaning on the inside. We try to treat the symptoms rather than the source. Example: Suppose I had a terrible pain on my side--so much so that it was debilitating. I couldn't stand or sit up straight; it ached all day long without fail. Would I keep just popping aspirin and hope that the pain would subside? Maybe at first, but after a while of constant pain, I'm going to go to the doctor and try to figure out why I'm having this pain. It is only when I have been properly diagnosed that I can truly start treating the problem. So many times, as Christians, we try to treat the symptoms of our sin rather than get to the source. The symptoms are what shows on the outside--what we say, what we do, how we act. The source is what is on the inside. The only way we can be properly cleansed is through Jesus. He must be at the source. A purging of the old man and a putting on of the new. We have to fully rely on Him and have faith in Him.
   Chris Tiegreen wrote, "We must embrace the fruits of the spirit in our thought life as much as we embrace acting them out." I thought this was pretty good. On my daily commute, I ask God to help me exhibit the fruits of the Spirit throughout the day. I ask Him to filter my thoughts, actions, and words. But I never really thought about making sure that I exhibit the fruits of the Spirit on the inside as well. It's just, if not more, as important. It's like your mama always says, "what's on the inside is gonna show on the outside".


Worrying. Worrying is a plague that affects us all. Here's what the Bible says about worrying:
Matthew 6: 25-34--Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than clothing? Behold the birds of the air: for they don’t plant, neither do they harvest, nor store the harvest into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one foot to his height? And why take ye thought for clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin thread. And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these lilies. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is living, and tomorrow is dead, shall he much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, With what shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the unbelievers seeks)  for your heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for tomorrow: for tomorrow will take thought for the things of itself. Evil is plenty for just today.
  I think this is pretty self-explanatory.
  In Matthew 28, the disciples and Jesus boarded a ship, and the sea and wind got really rough. Jesus was sleeping and the disciples woke him up and begged Him to do something about it because they were scared. When Jesus calmed the wind and seas with a word, they marveled that He could do it. It is so easy for us to look at the disciples and judge them for their stupidity. How could they sit and worry about the storm when they have the creator of the world on board with them? How could they be stunned when they see the Savior of the world calm the storm with a single word? Yes, how easy it is for us to judge them. But I say to you, is not God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit one? How dare we judge those disciples for worrying when they have God in the flesh beside them when we carry God with us in our hearts wherever we go and we still worry. They had God beside them; we have got in us. How dare we worry about the things of this world. We have the master, creator, and savior of the universe in our hearts (if we're saved).
   Is it easy not to worry? No! It is our default reaction. We must train ourselves to put off the things of the world and look to God as our lord and master. When our worries grow larger, God grows smaller. You are indirectly saying that God is not big enough to handle your problems. God promises us in Romans 8:28 that if we submit to Him and His will, and let Him guide us, then everything will work out for good. Even if it doesn't seem like it. That's where faith comes in. Faith that God will keep His promise--which He always does.
   I hope this helps you as much as it did me!

Three Day Weekend, oh my!!!

   I had a great Labor Day weekend!!! Although everyday is a pleasure to get up and go to work(seriously, I LOVE my job), I was definitely looking forward to a four-day workweek. Especially since it was game day weekend as well.
   Friday night, Josh and I went to a dinner at the home of Greg and Carol Cadenhead. Greg and Carol live about two miles down the road from me. I love their home. They have the most beautiful view! They are the type to really "live off the land" in that they have a year-round garden. And not just any garden. It's BIG. It puts my little summer garden to shame! They also have a pet turkey (who I have lovingly named Jimmy). How awesome is that?!?! There is a big, beautiful pond. We sat outside and enjoyed a fresh salad, vegetables, lasagna, and cake while enjoying the conversation and watching the sunset over the trees and pond. It was....picturesque.
   Saturday, Jenna and I drove up to Auburn and tailgated with some friends. We had a blast!!! War Eagle(52-26)!
   We had a wonderful service at church on Sunday. While I have been considered a "regular" at several churches, Calvary Baptist Church in Tallassee is my home. It is small in population, but big on God. We are fortunate enough to have a pastor and his family who truly love God and live what the Bible says. The sermon on Sunday was excellent. It was based on John 3 when Jesus is talking to Nicodemus about salvation. Jesus tells him that unless a man is born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Nicodemus did not understand what "born again" meant. He thought Jesus was talking in a literal sense and couldn't understand how a man can be physically born twice. Brother Jim brought up a few interesting parallels between a man's physical birth and his spiritual birth. While I am probably going to miss a few points since I didn't take notes, here's a couple that I thought were great:

• Just as a person needs to be physically born only once, a person only needs to be spiritually born once. Once you have been born, that's it. You're here. Similarly, Christ's blood is strong enough to save you once (and for all). I am a firm believer in once saved, always saved. I am grateful that even though I sin on a regular basis, I do not lose my salvation on a regular basis. The result of my sin is a loss of fellowship, not a loss of relationship. If I "commit a sin" against my earthly father, Rex Floyd, to the point that I have shamed him--I never stop being his daughter. Our fellowship may not be what it used to be while I continue to shame him, but it doesn't change the fact that he is still my father. Similarly, when we sin against our heavenly Father, our fellowship with him might falter (that's when repentence comes in), but he is still our heavenly Father.
• Being born causes someone else to suffer. Now mothers reading this might not like the choice of words: "to suffer". But the fact of the matter is that childbirth is painful. Thankfully, we have medicine to alleviate the pain, but without it, that junk is painful. (Or so I have heard.) Just as mothers have to go through the physical pains of birthing their child, someone had to suffer for us to be able to be born again. That person was Jesus. I am so grateful that He took the weight of our sins and bore them Himself. It makes me think of that hymn lyric "I should have been crucified; I should have suffered and died. I should have hung on the cross in disgrace, But Jesus, God's Son, took my place."
• When you are born, you do not have a past. When we are physically born on this earth, we do not have a past. How can we have a past when we haven't been born yet? Similarly, when you are are spiritually born, God wipes away all of your past transgressions. In Ephesians 2:1, the Bible says that we were once dead in our trespasses and sins. When we get saved, the blood of Christ washes over us and makes us new.

I'm sure there were other points, but those are the ones that I can readily recall. Pretty good, huh? After church, I got to visit with family and people considered family.
     Monday was Labor Day. Now I know you're not supposed to do any labor on Labor Day, but housework really, really needed to be done. I did laundry, dishes, swept inside and outside, mopped, organized my closet, etc. I also managed to sleep in until 9:15, watch a couple hours of television, and read a book (not the whole thing--it was that productive of a day.)

All in all, pretty great weekend!