Everything starts with action

In science class, we learned that in order for something to happen, you had to do something first.  Whether it's combining two different chemicals to either make salt water or an explosion, or biology dissection, you had to do something to make something happen.  Now, most of you know that I am and always have and will be a science geek.  Aced my sciences on my ACT in high school plus my love for scifi movies, it's hard to deny my love of the subject.  Studying why things are done and act the way that they do, it intrigues my logical side of my mind.  The problem/puzzle solver in me.  The little Nancy Drew that I admire so well.  One thing that I love even more is when God uses science to prove His point.

There is a movie that has a quote that I admire and it is one of my favorites.  It goes, "When science contradicts scripture, the science is wrong.".  Why, because science is OUR understanding of how things work and seeing as how we are imperfect humans, we have been known to be wrong on more then one occasion.  God is the one that created everything and as such, He is the one who first designed the laws of science for us.  One law of science regardless of which science you love is simple, in order to make something happen, you have to do something first.  The car won't start if somebody doesn't turn the key right?

Now, to look at the Bible, scripture always seems to start with an action.  Even the creation had an action before it happened.  What was that action?  God spoke.  It didn't just happen, God first spoke.  Why?  Because He doesn't want us not to act.  He set the example.  We are to seek before we will find, ask before it is given, delight ourselves in Him before we will be given the desires of our heart.  Through WORKS faith is made known.  We are not to just sit back and do nothing.

Now at my church we have a saying for this.  We call it being a snakebird.  To be cunning and planning as a snake is however, to also rely on God and be gentle like a dove.  To trust and have faith in God and His plan and at the same time, accept responsibility in what He desires for us to do to make it happen.  Believe it or not, sometimes God uses us to answer our prayers.  We shouldn't just pray God give us then Amen and leave it at that.  To start with, we should always thank God for what He has and will do.  We should also be more then willing to take our needs and desires to Him and for me, part of thanking Him is to remind myself not to take Him and what all He does for me for granted.  Another thing is that after the Amen, do we ask Now what do you need me to do?  How can I help?  What part can I play to make it happen?

Even in accepting Christ, we have to take the action of believing.  In being used by God, we have to take the action of saying AND meaning "Lord, use me however you desire".  When He says to do something, then do it.  And one thing that I still struggle with, accepting the bad with the good.  There have been times when I've gotten upset with God over something that is happening and have to remind myself, it's like the ultimate marriage.  As great as being the bride of Christ is, it also means accepting the hard and bad times.  To quote the song, He never promised us a rose garden, we are going to have rain.  We need the rain to make us grow.  We have to be put through the fire to be molded into what He needs us to become.  Better or worse, sickness and health, I vowed to follow God regardless of what is sent my way.  That is an action that is sometimes hard to do, but it's worth it.

There is a joke about a man that always prayed to win the lottery.  Every week he would pray to win.  Every week he would lose.  Eventually the man died and he was facing God and asked Him "Lord, I prayed every week to win the lottery and you never answered my prayer.  Why?"  God replied, "You weren't willing to go and buy a ticket.  You can't win without purchasing a ticket first".  I don't want to be like that man. 

At this time of year, people are looking for miracles.  The first miracle already happened.  When Jesus took the action of coming down to earth as a human.  To live like one of us and yet, never sin.  To be willing to die for us and even by us in the most horrific deaths ever imagined by man.  We celebrate the birth that allowed for our rebirths.  The BIG miracle is what we celebrate.  Perhaps now is a good time to ask in what miracle we are to be a part of.  I already got my small miracle, God sent him to me in November.  It's still early, still important to take it one day at a time but who knows what exactly God has planned for the two of us.  I'm just thankful for what He has already given me and completely amazed by it all.

I pray that you recieve the Christmas miracle that God has designed for you.  Merry Christmas, God Bless, and always remember to be a snakebird.

needing change

I spent this last weekend once again arguing with God.  Now, if doing that doesn't make me look stupid, WHAT I was arguing with Him over will without a doubt, make me look like the biggest idiot of all time.  Think of Zachariah when Gabriel told him that Elizabeth was going to have a baby.  They wanted and longed for one for so long yet, when the time came, he couldn't believe that their no was now a yes.  Well, that was me.  I got so complacent with my no that the thought of it turning to yes terrified me.  Heck, it still does in some ways.  Ten million reasons why it should stay no ran through my mind and I was praying for an answer.  I was even going to ask for prayer until I heard the sermon on Sunday and was afraid they would think that I wasn't paying attention.  Then walking home I was arguing and it all came out.  I was telling God that I was comfortable and that is when it hit, right when that word went into my mind the problem became clear.  I was comfortable.

When it comes to our walk with Christ, there is no standing still.  And when we become comfortable, we become complacent.  And when we become complacent, we stop moving forward.  And that is when Satan starts sliding us ever so slowly backwards.  And he does it slowly so that we don't recognize that we are moving.  So God is placing me into another growth spurt.  These are the areas that I pray that everyone holds me accountable at.

1. Don't tell God how it's going to be.  I am on his team, not the other way around.  After the last Skull Church service something was said to me that I'm not telling yet but I did tell Amanda while we were at Famous Dave's.  Thinking that she would agree with me she suggested that the person was prophetic and that she could see it happen.  My response was "When Hell freezes over" "Over my dead body" "When pigs fly" and so on.  That was two weeks ago and I hear that Hell is preparing for a cold front to move in.  Why?  Because I thought that I was calling the shots.  Nope!  God does.  I thought that I was getting better at just doing what God tells me to but evidently I still need some more work on it.  I need to learn to be more submissive to God before I can be submissive to another human.

2. Stop freaking out.  God isn't fazed by it and He wrote the book.  If He's not worried then what gives me the right to be.  It's in His hands and whatever shots He calls, I need to follow.  The bible says "DO NOT BE AFRAID" 365 times.  That's one for every day.  If you count leap years, you are only allowed to be afraid one day every 4 years.  I'm 41 which means that I'm only allowed 10 fear days and I think that I used them up ages ago.  If I was to live long enough to make up my fear days, well, some would refer to me as an immortal.  I really don't want to stay on this rock that long.

3. Don't be afraid to take risks.  The only way to guarantee failure is to never try.  I don't want to be known as a success at failing due to not taking any risks.  Besides, that's what boring people do and I don't want to be boring.  In some areas of my life, I am a risk taker but in others, in the ones that matter I tend to play it safe and that in itself is dangerous.

4. Stop praying for God to do the work.  I need to pray that God will supply the provisions for me to do the work.  In the book of Joshua, he didn't pray for God to kill his enemies, rather he prayed that God will supply the provisions for him to kill his enemies.  While holding on to God's promise of victory.  God is with us and He has already promised us victory in Him. 

5. It's all or nothing baby.  If God is going to give me His all, then I need to also give Him my all.  Heart, soul, mind.  I need to believe that God is giving me His best and stop trying to second guess.  When He says that you can have it all, He doesn't mean everyone except me.  I am included. 

6. Growing pains are blessings.  They may not seem like it at the time but if God is still growing me, He still has plans for me.  He's not through or giving up.  One of the beautiful things about being a Christian is that the best is always yet to come.  And through these pains, bountiful fruit will blossom.

7. Keep Moving Forward.  I know, it's like Disney's Meet the Robinsons.  Seriously though, if we stop moving forward, we risk slipping backwards.  Do you really want to relive your past?  I know what's in mine and I am more then happy to let it stay behind me.

That's all for now.  As I continue to grow there will be more.  The list is probably too long to type even if I had a thousand years in which to do it in.  In looking back, because there are times when it is beneficial, I see all that God has done and it amazes me that it was just the tip of the iceberg.

God Bless and remember to always be a Snakebird