Right Relationship

what does it mean to "be in right relationship with God?"



what does it look like?

Wait Upon The Lord

Image:

Upon entering your garage early one morning, you discover that during the night your hammer has hopped off the workbench and started pounding away at everything it came across. Can you imagine that ending well? Or maybe your car has taken off to work without you. You get to the office and discover that the copier has been running all night - making copies of nothing because there wasn't anything to copy. Your computer has locked up because it's busy running processes you never asked for, but it doesn't matter because pretty soon the sprinklers kick on and you run out of the office soaking wet.

---

I love it when God gives me a real opportunity to serve Him. I love the feeling of rightness that comes from knowing you've done the right thing in the right way at the right time and you've gotten to be a part of His plan. It's amazing. So I start looking for ways to serve. I hop right off the workbench and start pounding at everything that looks like a nail. And you know what? It never works out. Ever.



I don't get to write the script. It's easy to forget sometimes that I am a tool in the hands of Almighty God, and He knows better than I where I should be and when.

Normal, Healthy _____

statement:

if everyone does it, it must be normal.



assumption:

what is normal is therefore healthy.



problem:

everyone lies, but lying is not healthy.

everyone steals (in some fashion), but stealing is not healthy.

everyone says unkind things, but saying unkind things is not healthy.

everyone has premarital sex . . .



yet the justification remains "it's perfectly healthy - everyone does it."





-->does not compute<--

Tuning In

Last spring it was all I could do to raise my voice above a whisper during worship.



This struck me this morning when I found myself unable to not sing along - even though the band was only running a sound check. I still can't carry a tune, but somehow that doesn't matter anymore. The line between "quality" and "best i can do" has begun to blur in my mind, and I wonder what that says about God's acceptance of the most humble offerings.

Light Up Your World

So this business about "salt and light" - specifically the "light" part. We were discussing that verse among others in link group Monday when I had what I will call a psuedo-mini-epiphany.



Light does not exist for it's own sake - never has, never will. The sun is a beautiful thing, but it's not for looking at. It makes it possible to look at everything else. In other words, we're not here to simply shine, or to somehow draw attention to ourselves, in an effort to draw attention to Christ. There are those people who will look at you and say "I want what she has" but they're just as likely to imitate your wardrobe as your religion, if there's nothing else there.



What part of truth are we illuminating for others? Are we giving them comfort, confirming their convictions, or just muddying the waters?