Earthly Belongings

“A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother."
"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
-Luke 18:18-25

These are hard words to swallow. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” Rich or poor we seemingly cling to what we have here on earth to keep us safe. The US is a very “stuff” minded society, the more we have the better house we have the better we feel. Personally the thought of a house bigger than the one I have now is daunting since I hate to dust and vacuum... My husband & I have always strived to live within our means and not put ourselves into dept, however we do have several friends who have. The trouble it causes them is very sad; but they did choose to do this. In this passage Jesus is reminding us it is only “STUFF”, insignificant in the scheme of things. Some days I do wish I could just leave and go live with the Amish. I think they have the right view on how possessions are to be used. They share…could you imagine a community coming together for dinner or sharing their possessions? They hold loosely to the things of this earth and really only have what they need. We get caught up in mortgages, car payments, credit card dept, cell phones and I-pods.
We recently went to see Wall-E. I always love going to see Disney movies. It was depressing though if you really think about it. The only reason he exists is to clean up after the mess we have left on earth so we can come back to a “clean” planet. This is a big bold statement by Disney I think. But it is true...we do use things up, discard them and get the bigger better version of it. While the poor little robots on the screen clean up after us, we are getting lazier and lazier on this ship that was supposed to be temporary. They float about instead of walking while drinking food from a cup because they have become to lazy to eat and all the while they have a computer screen in front of them to talk to the person who is actually right next to them. It was sad. The cute part between the two robots is only for the kids I think…the bigger picture is that this could be us if we continue to keep holding on to possessions and not taking care of our environment. I am by no means one to talk, I am trying to be better; but there is a lot to do. I am drifting today from one thing to the next but all in all it just reminds me of this passage. Its all stuff, it is nothing compared to Jesus and the place he has prepared for us in heaven.

In Struggles continued apparently...

Okay, so I was reading my book, Light From Heaven by Jan Karon today and came across a quote about suffering & struggles. I think God is telling me something huh?

If the trials of many years were gathered into one, they would overwhelm us; therefore in pity to our little strength, He sends first one, and then another, then removes both, and lays on a third, heavier, perhaps, the either; but all is so wisely measured to our strength that the bruised reed is never broken. We do not enough look at our trials in the continuous and successive view. Each one is sent to teach us something, and altogether they have a lesson which is beyond the power of any to teach alone. – H.E. Manning

I think I am going to have to take my trials to heart and go back and remember how God had pulled me through previous trials and remember exactly how trustworthy our GOD has been with all my other trials and tribulations. He is orchestrating my life according to His will and when I accepted Jesus I agreed to let Him have control.

So even as I was writing, (it takes a while since I am at work) I was reading in a daily devotional a friend and I are going through; I posted about it yesterday; it was also about trials. As if I didn’t think the Lord wanted me to consider these things more he gave me even more about it in today’s reading. I am getting hammered with this! This part of the book said “Once the lord has given us great faith, He has been know to test us with long delays” by John C Shairp. It goes on to quote from Alexander Maclaren, “Christ sometimes delays His help so He may test our faith and energize our prayers. Our boat may be tossed about by the waves while He continues to sleep, but He will awake before it sinks. He sleeps by the never oversleeps, for He is never too late.” I really think I need to listen since he is really speaking loudly to me about this. I feel like He had been silent for so long about so many things that now that I am finally hearing something, it is really loud and clear. Now comes the hard part of submitting…

In Struggles

“The burden of suffering seems to be a tombstone hung around our necks. Yet in reality it is simply the weight necessary to hold the diver down while he is searching for the pearls.”

– Julius Richter

I really have related with this quote lately. It was in my daily devotional Streams in the Desert. In my struggles and suffering I need to remember that I have to stay down and submit to God and I will find the blessing at the end of it all. It may seem dark along the way but if I relay on Jesus, he will keep my path straight and guide me. If he feels distant I have to also remember it is not he who is distant but me pulling away. He might not speak much along the way but if I draw close to him I will fell his company along the way.

Micah James Turk is HERE!!!

Born via C-section 2:30 on July 1, 2008

Weighing in at 7lbs 13oz 21in long

Welcome to the world little one. We are excited to be God Parents!