What is Love?

I was praying the other day, and God, like so many times before, dropped a scripture in my mind.  It is an interesting little byte, and I went to bed with it on my mind.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13

This morning I woke up with an overwhelming feeling of sorrow.  A dear friend of mine that I graduated from college with was on my mind.  I don't know why I felt that way, but I started to pray for her and her family, but the feeling wouldn't go away, so I got up and took a shower.  Now, anyone that knows me knows I'm a night owl.  I'm more likely to be going to bed at 5AM than getting up at 5AM, but I couldn’t lay awake in bed and I didn’t know what more to pray for my friend.  Hey, if I’m up I may as well get cleaned up.  

I don’t know about the rest of the world, but the front porch (pacing up and down it) and the shower are the two most likely places that God gets my attention.  I know, it’s weird, but everyone has to find their own closet and, for the record, I did not choose it (them), God did.  Anyway, God began to open up the verse on "greater love" in more detail than the night before.  What he opened up the night before was enough to convict me on soooooo many levels, this morning added depth to it.  

Any disciple of Yeshua that has been or is married can probably relate to this little story….

An elderly man was being interviewed on a radio program one day.  The topic had shifted to how long he and his wife had been married….over 60 years!  The host asked the gentleman if, in all those years, he had ever considered divorce.  The elderly gentleman replied…”divorce – No, murder – Yes”.

Generally, no matter how mad I am at my husband, that story will make me smile, at least a little (though there are times when the smile may be more from the mental prospect than the humor.)  I know, that’s not much like a disciple of Yeshua, but it's how I feel sometimes, I’d be lying if I said different.

I’m not going to share the whole story right now, but suffice it to say that I began to think about the “greater love….”  I thought, no matter how mad I have been with Lawrence, if someone else tried to harm him, I would try and stop them, even if it cost me my own life.  Then I got hit with a deeper understanding of that verse.  Laying down your life does not just mean your physical life.  It means laying down YOUR LIFE.  That means laying down my “right” to be right, my “right” to be mad, my “right” to feel justified in being mad at my husband, my “right” to be angry that we never had children, my “right” to be angry that he didn’t do things MY way, my “right” to anything.  This is true love.  

I was blown away by what God was showing me, but He wasn’t done yet.  God gave me life, both physical and eternal, the greatest gifts I have ever been given.  I was willing to sacrifice my physical life for my husband but I wasn’t willing to lay down MY LIFE - my wants and demands and self-centered, petty, controlling, I’m gonna get even with him, feelings.  It hit me how I have cheapened the gifts of God to me.  I would give up the priceless but not the worthless. YOUCH.   

Okay, now my toes are smashed, my heart is broken that I could be this way, and then in the middle of it I find myself thinking, “…yeah, but if he (my husband) wouldn’t be such a pain in the butt….”.  What a rebellious child I am.  I do not get the degree of Love that God has, who, in His great mercy, has not whacked me down and just taken me completely out.  To show me His Word, His Truth, and then I cop an attitude.

More on this later….time for work now.

Belong, Believe, Become?

“We have a safe place for people who are looking for answers to their spiritual questions and simply want to check out Christianity without anyone pressuring them. It's also a place where those who have decided to follow Jesus Christ can learn and be encouraged in their spiritual journey. You can relax when you visit, knowing that no one is going to single you out, put a visitor sticker on you or otherwise embarrass you. This is truly a safe place to find answers at your own pace. Expect to be greeted and loved!”

“The Belong Believe Become model says that anyone can belong, regardless of their orientation, regardless of their beliefs, regardless of whether they are even Christians.  They are included, loved, embraced and welcomed into a community of Christians.”

“…exists for people to have a community to belong to: people to celebrate with, people to cry with and people to grow with.”

“Belong....Anyone can be a member of a church, but not everyone truly feels like they belong.  We desire that everyone who comes in becomes a part of the… family.”

“We are a people who are loved by God and one another. … is a place where you can BELONG to God, one another and the Community.”

The above are just a sampling of the thoughts that are out there about a common catch phrase that many congregations are adopting.  It seems that the reasons for using the catch phrase are as diverse as the congregations that are using it.  Some have modified it to Believe, Belong, Become, which seems more theologically accurate.  However, some of the congregations using Belong first are actually promoting the fellowship of believers only.  The matter that I have been pondering is the group that seems to want to bring believers and unbelievers into fellowship.

In the beginning, based on the Word of God, everything lived in harmony.  After the fall, some evidences of the harmony remained, but after the flood, both animals and men became “meat eaters” and animals began to fear man (Genesis 1:29-30, Genesis 9:2-3). 

Creation evidences three broad types of relationships: symbiotic, commensalistic, and parasitic.  In a symbiotic relationship, both organisms derive a benefit from the relationship.  In a Commensalistic relationship, one organism derives a benefit and the other is neither helped nor hurt.  In a parasitic relationship, one organism derives a benefit and the other is harmed.

The ekklesia (church), when operating properly, is to function as a body, each part benefiting from and providing a benefit to the other, all being directed by the head, which is Yeshua (Jesus) (Romans 12:4-21 I Corinthians 12:12-31, Ephesians 4:16, Ephesians 5:30-32, Colossians 1:18, Colossians 2:17-19, Colossians 3:12-15, Hebrews 13:3).  To be joined to Yeshua (John 14:11-20, John 17:21, I Corinthians 8:6, I John 2:15-16, 24, II John 1:9), we must repent (Matthew 4:17, Matthew 9:13, Matthew 11:20, Mark 1:4, 15, Mark 6:12, Luke 24:47, Acts 26:20, II Corinthians 7:9-10, II Timothy 2:25, Revelation 2:5), be baptized (Acts 2:38, Acts 19:4, Hebrews 6:1-6) and obey the commandments of God and have the testimony of Yeshua (Revelation 12:17, Revelation 14:12).  I know there is much debate about salvation and the process, and that is not my focus right now.  The point is, you cannot be a part of the body by just coming through the doors of a building.  While our works will not save us (Ephesians 2:8-10), faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26).  Therefore, the body will be comprised of individuals that are not practicing (walking in) sin but are practicing (walking in) obedience to God (I John 1:5-10).

Those that are in the world (not a part of the body) will be walking in darkness (Matthew 6:23, John 1:5, John 3:19, John 8:12, Acts 26:18, Romans 13:12).  They will love the darkness and will be uncomfortable around the light (John 3:19).

Those that are walking in the light are discouraged from being yolked with those in darkness and from having fellowship with works of darkness (II Corinthians 6:14, Ephesians 5:11).  Our fight is not against flesh and blood (I Corinthians 10:20, Ephesians 6:12), and we must share with those that will hear, but for those that will not hear, if we live in the light, they will not feel comfortable around us, because the light will convict them even as it convicts us (Matthew 5:16, Matthew 6:24, John 1:4-5, John 3:19-21).  For those who do not believe, the Word of God that we speak will judge them, we should not (John 12:46-50). 

Having said all of that, I am not sure how Belong, Believe,Become can work.  What does it mean to “belong”.  There is an old tv show where the theme song is:

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

In a 2011 Readers Poll in Rolling Stone magazine, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" was voted the best television theme of all time.  The idea, the show, it resonated with many people, and perhaps some believers, but the overall thought is that belonging is a place where you are accepted just like you are and that everyone else is, for the most part, in the same boat you are.  Though I watched the show for many seasons, I caught it on reruns a few years ago and the appeal wasn’t there anymore.   It worked for me when I wasn’t a part of the body, but now…it’s sad.  I no longer fit in the “bar crowd”, but back then I would not have fit in the “church crowd”.   It would have been too uncomfortable.  The light would have shined into the darkness and I would have run as fast as I could, and I did, except in churches where there was as much darkness in them as there was in me.

To make unbelievers feel like they belong, someone will have to change.  They are not a part of the body and cannot be without changing.  The body can love them, encourage them, try to teach them, but where is the common ground.   All that the one stands for, the other rejects.  Either the non-believers will derive a benefit and the body won’t be harmed or helped, or the non-believers will derive a benefit and the body will be harmed.  I cannot conceive of a circumstance where there will be mutual benefits, since what the one has to offer the other does not want.  Light and darkness can have no fellowship according to scripture.  Indeed, in the body, when sin is allowed to go unchecked, the whole body will be harmed (Matthew 13:33, Matthew 16:6, Luke 12:1, I Corinthians 5:6-8).  So, based on scripture, the only one of the three broad models in nature that could support Belong,Believe,Become , if the unbelievers feel like they belong without changing, would be the one that would result in great harm to the body.

In essence, belonging is what Acts 4:32-35 is describing, but it only existed because they believed.

Birthdays

Well, it's almost that time of year again....time to add another year to the many that have already passed.  It seems like not so long ago I was starting a career, and now it's been nearly 27 years.  I should be older and wiser, and maybe I am, but I don't really feel it.  The older I get the more I know I don't know.  I would never have admitted that at 20, I was pretty sure of myself.

This past weekend was great, though 20 years ago I would have thought it was a real bummer.  Conviction from God would not have interested me, it would have been a little problematic to my goal of  having a "good time".  I look at some of the young people I know who are following God and realize how much time I lost.   I am thrilled for them though.  They are light years ahead in trusting the Lord.

To all those who are searching, persevere....to those who are still sitting on the fence, pick a side....to those who don't believe, make sure you are right, the consequences for being wrong are eternal...and blessings to those who God is leading daily, maybe our paths will cross.

Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)

Today (that is, yesterday at sun-down till today at sun-down) was the first day of the last fall feast.  I have begun a new study about healing broken hearts.  It has been anything but "normal", but that would describe the spiritual road I have been on for the last 12 -13 years.  This feast points to something that we look forward to in the millennial reign.  To tabernacle with God forever, the deposit or guarantee of which is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  I have been looking forward to what God will show during this "appointed" time or season.  A special time that God has appointed for us to draw near to Him.

Starting this blog was a lark, that was spurred on by a friend starting a blog.  The last post she had was about Proverbs 3:5-6, verses that I have been encouraging my nephew to memorize.  Of course, when you help a child memorize verses, you learn as well.  Leaning on my own understanding is something that I have been brought face to face with many times over the last few months.

I am sure that many people can relate to the winding road that you go down as God leads you.  It is a straight path, but only He could link all the seemingly unrelated pieces together.  Case in point, how do "healing the heart", Proverbs 3, and Mud Pie Dreams link together?  Well, best I can tell at this point, all the years of pretending I didn't want children, because I just could not get pregnant, has produced a wound in my heart.  I denied a miscarriage years before out of pride and fear.  I went through the whole ordeal denying it all the way.  I leaned on my own understanding.  The price of my pride and sin has taken a toll on my heart.  The hurt, the tears, the pain, the anger, have built a wall around my heart, and God is bringing the consequences into focus. 

Today is the beginning of something new.  One thin layer of hard scales is being removed and the heart of stone is becoming a heart of flesh.  I look forward to all that He is going to do.  However, it is a bit scary too.  Fear of the unknown should have no place when God is leading.  He will never leave us or forsake us but, in honesty, I have not reached the point where there is no fear.  I know He will heal that too, and perhaps it will be soon.

In the beginning......

It amazes me how much variety there is in life, and yet, we are so much the same.  Things that I thought were unique to me, I find everywhere.  Trying to find a blog name was quite an adventure.  I'd think of something "unique" only to find that it was anything but unique.  After some pondering and praying, Mud Pie Dreams was born, or I should say reborn.  At first I thought.....naw, that sounds wierd, but gee....that would describe me....so.....why not.  I say reborn, because after I chose it, I started researching and, no big surprise, it is already a "brand name".  Odd thing is, it's for baby clothes, supplies, etc.  For someone who wanted children but never had any, it is an ironic choice.  I started to wipe the blog and start over, but figured I would walk it out and see where God takes me.

Being a blogger was not a thought, much less an aspiration, during my younger years. Shoot ..... technology was sci-fi and flip phones were the futuristic toys of Star Trek.  Talking to friends was "blogging".  Of course you had to repeat your story (blog) many, many times, and by the time you got back to the first person you told, well, I guess that would be the "archive" point.

At any rate, that is how this site came to be and ......in the beginning.....and then.......there were blogs.