"If you don't see the real me, you won't see what love has won..." Vota

Friday, July 31, 2009

A freak show of heads and hands...

I or I should say Hubby received a letter yesterday from his aunt (the bully) claiming the gift of the DVDs. Lord, this is where I need Your help. When I thought they came from mom, (which she feels the same way, just has always told us to our face) it hurt more than coming from the aunt. This should not be the case, her soul is just as eternal. I keep telling myself how her bullying behavior, racist comments and jokes, total lack of compassion for the poor or anyone... these fruits she exhibits are not from a good tree. It only seems ironic to me that she is worried about my soul. This is wrong of me. I should be just as grieved for her as I was for mom. I see that Your providence is in this whole situation just like every other part of my life. If she had given these DVDs to us in person or claimed responsibility sooner, with the explanation she gave in the letter (she was worried for our soul and that we are responsible for the upbringing of our girls) I would have just ignored them and or watched them and thrown them away. not gotten so upset and spilled my heart out to mom via a letter. (I sent her a letter explaining my testimony and faith in Jesus.) Which I pray will have an impact on her. At this point I have no intentions of sending that letter to the aunt. I do not desire to open up to her... Lord am I wrong? I trust that you will give me guidance on this matter.

This morning I was thinking about the one DVD that talked about the church and what it was supposed to be and how it is the body of Christ. This part I agree with. I also agree with the Truth that God/Jesus desires a unified body (how many bodies exist with a hand dangling alone and a stomach left at home...? Here's the funny part (not really funny--very sad)-- They have cut themselves off from the rest of the body (made themselves so exclusive) that it is like walking down the street and seeing a lone, flopping hand or group of hands lying on the sidewalk trying to tell you about the Lord. Of course who can understand and identify with a hand except for maybe another hand? The man on the DVD said that in unity everyone must think alike. I disagree with him completely here. In the body a hand will never be exactly like a foot, and a heart will never be exactly like a knee... Where these parts are unified is in the main function to keep the body alive... They all fall under the same head and are governed by the same head. If every part of the body thought the exact same way... If we were to choose a part of the body that would be the most important part and all think like that even... The head would be the most important part, and if we all tried to be the head then we would be trying to be Jesus/God who is the head, and the body would be missing. We can not make ourselves into Jesus. We as a body of believers are to show a dying world the love of Jesus with Him as our head. Maybe this is what they are trying to be the head, the judge, the controlling part of the body. Can you imagine a bunch of heads sitting on the sidewalk trying to preach the Gospel? It would be a freak show non-the-less. I think it would certainly scare people away... which I think is the case in point. Anyhow, Lord give me wisdom.

12 comments:

  1. I'm pretty sure that God does not forgive those who don't forgive others!!!!!!!!

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  2. I think if I were you, I think I'd send a thank you note. "Dear Aunt ____, thank you for the dvds and your concern. Our souls are not in jeopardy at this time, as Jesus has saved them once and for all. Instead of spending time worrying about that, we would love it if you would spend the time praying about [whatever your current needs are- Ollie's health issues, jobs, whatever]. Is there anything we can pray about for you? Love, ______."

    I've been thinking about your other post about how you must be producing bad fruit. I don't think so. I realize my window into your life is limited to what you post here, but this is what I see- daughters that pray and believe God is listening, answering, keeping His promises, and reigning in power. something my pastor preached about recently- the fruit of your lips- even when your circumstances are far from ideal, you give glory to God. Dedication to having a loving and lasting marriage, which is something I believe God loves passionately. A committment to be patient even when your children provoke you.

    Those are GOOD fruit. They could not come from a bad tree. Maybe your extended family can't see that because their windows are even smaller. Maybe they can't see because they have blinders on. Maybe it's because you ARE different and set apart, and people tend to think we're all supposed to fit into a mold. If you don't fit into that "Christian" mold, the only other option they can see is that you're endangering your soul and the souls of your kids.

    Of course it hurts more coming from your mother- you're closer to her and value her opinion. That doesn't make it something that should hurt coming from anyone. Jesus walked a different path and was set apart. People noticed Him and crucified Him for it! That certainly doesn't mean he was bearing bad fruit. His family thought He was crazy. Don't beat yourself up over the opinions of other people. Try to be like Jesus, love Him first, and train your children in the way they should go. The rest, although you love your family and it hurts when they criticize, is really inconsequential.

    Sorry, this is an epic post, but I've been thinking a lot about it. You're bearing good fruit. God is a good farmer (Doughnut Man, anyone)?

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  4. oops didn't mean to delete :P

    Thank you Tana and anonymous. You are both right.
    Anon the Bible does say that we will be judged by the same standards we judge others, so I agree. I decided to send her the same letter (possibly modified for some personal content); I hate being vulnerable though. It seems that if I send her this letter she will have something else to hold over me or judge me on... but this is Satan talking. I have to buy some stamps, but I will certainly send it.
    Tana, this letter I sent to mom (Hubby's mom that is) is basically the same gist as the one you suggested. It also includes a very long testimony (similar to a previous post on home schooling), a True Love story for me and Jesus. I also thanked her for loving me enough to desire us to be saved and that I am, and I asked her to pray for our walk-- that we would continue to seek Him everyday. She should be getting the letter either today or tomorrow.

    I have felt for a while that the Lord is working on me in the aspect of opening up... to live my life as an open book. He has prompted me recently to open up and share my testimony to people. I remember in my last Bible study (Beth Moore) she said we should live our lives as an open book. It seems as if from that point on this has been what's on God's workbench in my heart. Providence I tell you, providence. It is amazing how God works to make sure we do what He wants. If this had never happened I would have opened up to mom (Hubby's mom).

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  5. What church was established on the day of Pentacost? If there was only one church then why are there so many today?

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  6. The "church" is the body of believers, not the building in which the group meets or the name which they identify that building with. Some people claim a type of Christianity... Baptist, Presbytarian..., but there is only 1 statement of faith..."I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God and I accept Him as my Savior." If you do that then everything else falls into place. God will put each individual in the group of believers where He wants them to be. Where they will be built up and not torn down, where their talents will be used to grow the Kingdom, where their children will be nurtured by other believers and tended to... He knows the plans He has for us.

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  7. We've been talking for more than a year now in my church about testimony and its importance- how every story of God's faithfulness is a chance for the listener to say, "do it again, Lord," because God is so faithful to His children. To that end, He loves for us to share our stories of His glory and leave more opportunities for others to claim His goodness. (I wasn't sure which 'mom' to which you referred. Thanks for clarifying.)

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  8. What does your hubby think about all this with his family? Must be a little stressful!

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  9. According the the above note, only 1 statement of faith is necessary. James 2:19 says the devil believes and trembles. What place does the devil occupy in the "church"? James 2:20 says that faith must be accompanied with works.

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  10. You are right, the devil knows who Jesus is, but he does not consider Him his savior and does not love Him and follow Him. The devil is the deceiver in the church. He defies God and Jesus and does everything he can to mess up God's creation. He lies to the church, tempts us to believe in ourselves and our own sufficiency. The same thing he did to Eve.

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  11. By the way anonymous... my husband is furious with his family and I am doing everything I can to calm him.

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