The Cat Ate My Bible Study Notes

I like to think I'm pretty good at a lot of things. Sometimes I excel at a few things. However, the one thing I can say I was and still am extremely "gifted" at is sinning.

I don't go to church as much as I'd like to. There's always an excuse... I'm tired / I don't feel good / I don't have anything to wear / Kid #____ has a runny nose / I don't have time to cook dinner *and* get everyone ready / The cat ate my Bible notes.

So on and so forth.

Tonight started out the same way. I didn't want to go anywhere. I was ready to change into my comfy clothes & fuzzy socks, lay down and watch TV while catching up with everyone on Twitter and Facebook. I still had plenty of excuses ready to pull out of the hat in case someone asked if we were going. Something happened, though. I felt this pull, a feeling in the pit of my stomach. A sense of urgency to go to church. I knew I needed to go and I am so glad I did! We had a guest speaker tonight. His name is Keith Hershey, from Mutual Faith Ministries.

Pastor Keith is a missionary who shares Christ's Love around the globe. His message was simple yet something I really needed to hear tonight. He spoke of kindness, understanding, grace, faith, love and comfort. I know I'm not alone, either. Some of you probably need to hear this, too. So, not only was I supposed to go and hear this message, I know I'm supposed to pass it on. I can't really explain how I know. Sometimes you just know.

I took a lot of things home with me in my heart. One is that God Loves me even when I don't go to church. Sounds silly, right? Well, not to me because at different times in my life, several "well-meaning people" seem to have a lot to say about my church attendance in relation to how (they think) my life is going. Well, tonight I was reassured that God Loves me no matter what. He cares for me not in spite of, but *because* I'm so "talented" at sinning. You know, making a bad choice. Saying the wrong thing. Harboring resentment, guilt or anger. Living like I'm just treading water... or whatever I'm doing at the time that doesn't necessarily reflect Jesus in my life.

God knows who I am and He knows I Love Him. Everyone is going to have something not-so-gracious to say about me at some point. However, no one knows me like God does. He knows I want and need Him in my life. Not just in general. I mean, I really - sometimes desperately - need Him! There are days that need is on a minute-by-minute basis. Days when everything just seems to go haywire.

Example:

It's 7 a.m. I've been up half the night with a sick kid and the other two are fighting. Sick kid wakes up crying because of the fighting. I go in to soothe him and sit on a wet spot in his bed (which is definitely NOT water)! It's raining and I've discovered a leak in the roof as I'm leaving to take them to school. I've left my debit card at home (and only discover it *after* I've gotten my coffee at the drive-thru). Traffic is horrendous. A street sweeper suddenly does a U-Turn across all four lanes, missing my truck by a hair! My oldest son's lying about his homework (again). Someone decides it would be cool to paint their walls and bedroom furniture in Axe deodorant. I put my preschooler's last clean sheet in the dryer that morning, go to get it out at bedtime...then realize I never started the dryer.

You know, those kinds of days that make you want to pull your hair out. Issues pile up a mile high, stress compounds at a rapid rate and creates the perfect storm for sinning. And sometimes swearing. (Okay, not just sometimes.) Then I feel guilty and think, "Man, I really have to work on that!".

This is where Grace, Faith and Love come in. And it's God's work in my Life, not MY work. As Pastor Keith Hershey said tonight, Faith isn't work. Faith is resting while God works. These things aren't found in me, nor are they accomplished by me. They are found in Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 1:14 says, "And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus."
Grace, Faith and Love aren't subjects or verbs. They are nouns, a person. That person is Jesus Christ.

We all have those days. The next time I have one (which very well could be tomorrow), I shouldn't be so hard on myself. None of us should. All we have to do is call upon the name of the Lord, ask for help, rest in Faith and KNOW (not just hope) that His grace is sufficient. After all, God doesn't save me (present tense) because I am a good person. He saves me because Jesus is good - which is more than sufficient. Jesus is 'exceedingly abundant'!

I believe grace and truth came through Christ Jesus (John 1:17). Victory is believing. It isn't doing all the right things; no one is capable of that. It's from one believing minute to the next believing minute (thank you, Pastor Keith). It is literally moment-to-moment for me most of the time. So, even when we're having one of THOSE days, we can still be victorious because Jesus already paid for it on the cross!

"...But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

As the Christmas Season draws near, let's celebrate the perfect Love that is God, the simple truth that is Good and the abundant Grace we have that is Jesus.

And you know what? I'm not just gonna go hoping, I'm gonna go *knowing*! :)

Bless you all.

I Hugged A Man on the Street...And We Cried.

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I lied to my husband once. It was about money. I told him I didn't have any spending money for our visit to San Francisco in 2009. I was basically telling the truth, as it wasn't really MY money to keep. I just knew I was supposed to give it to people on the street. I hugged a man and we cried.

I still cry when I think about it. As my family and I were leaving our hotel on foot to go and see the sights, I spotted a man sitting in a wheelchair by a tourist shop across the street. When I was close enough for him to hear me, I said, "Good Morning". He started crying. He said, "You're the first person who's said 'Good Morning' to me in a long time." (I started choking on my tears).

That broke my heart! Imagine a world where people are so cold and callous, they won't even say 'Good Morning' to someone - because they might ask for a few bucks? Because someone just might ask for help and they'd have to actually do something for someone other than numero uno?

Well, it ain't hard to imagine because that's the society we live in. Where making sure the color on the bottom of your high-heeled shoe is red and almost everyone is super concerned about having the best, latest and greatest. Who cares about some no-name lowlife on the street? Well, God does and that man on the street IS my neighbor. And yours.

So, I gave him whatever I was supposed to give and hugged him as we both cried (I couldn't hold the tears back even another minute). My family had kept walking and they were looking back at me like I was crazy. If that's what crazy looks like, then I'll ***gladly*** accept that label. Yep.

What people do with the money we give is not our business. Some may say, "Don't throw your money away! They're just gonna buy beer or drugs.". So what? Maybe they won't. Regardless, it's between them and God. None of my beeswax, or yours. The point is, "they" are human beings and we ALL need to know someone cared about us at one time or another. We do what we're supposed to do and God takes care of the rest.

I didn't "preach" at him, either. I prayed silently as we hugged. I had a feeling my buddy in San Francisco already knew where the love was coming from anyway.


*This is the first time I've shared this story. I didn't say anything for over two years. I just didn't want to seem like I was "tooting my own horn" or something. You know, we can't "fix" people or solve every problem, but we can show kindness to one person at a time. To me, that's what humanity is about and we need to preserve it.