steamy story

Yesterday was a long day.  We're at day 21 of Christmas vacation.  The excitement of vacation has long passed and the thrill of new toys has also passed.  Today was the return of the lava monster game in the living room (remember that from when you were a kid?)  It was loud, it was rowdy, it was energy in little bodies bouncing off walls.  We went outside and ran around in the snow, but the energy was still overflowing and it was a loud, long day.

By the kids' bedtime, I was ready for a bath.  A soak in a hot bubbly tub.  "Ah, Calgon take me away!"

I started the tub filling and headed down to grab a couple of unread magazines.  I returned to a very hot bath.  Nearly too hot (if that's possible).  I jumped in and sank into the world of only me.  Quiet.  Slow.  Peaceful.

James popped his head into the bathroom to see where I'd gone off to.  "Wow!" he said.  "Looks like the tub's really, really hot!"

As I looked up from my Cooking Light magazine, I could barely see him standing at the door through the heavy steam in the room.  It clung to the glass mirror and windows.  It was everywhere, even dripping down the tile walls.  James didn't have to feel the water or even have me tell him how hot the water was. He knew the bath was hot because the room was completely filled with steam - the proof of a hot tub.

~

Matthew 3:8 "Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God."

Matthew 7:17 "A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.  A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit."

~

A hot bath tub produces steam.  A cold tub cannot produce steam.  The bath doesn't have to say it's hot, it doesn't have to be felt for someone to know it's hot.  The presence of steam is the proof of a hot bath.

Likewise, a life in love, in full devotion to Christ and His message will naturally generate "steam" - the proof of a life devoted to God - it will bear fruit.  It doesn't need to say what it's doing, someone doesn't need to see firsthand.  This life proves that it belongs to God, to His work, to His purposes and the evidence is as obvious as steam from a hot bathtub.

~

That my life would produce fruit as naturally as a hot bath produces steam.  That I would take such delight in the Word, that I would so deeply love my Savior that the evidence would lie thick around me like steam.  It would cling to mirrors and windows and walls and drip with a testimony of God's grace, mercy, goodness so other's would know of the power of God, who could turn this messy human into a steam factory.  I cannot generate this steam on my own, I cannot squeeze out the good fruit myself. That my heart would be filled with the Holy Spirit and my life would be evidence of Him, that is my prayer.

Thursday thought - what am I wearing?

The choices are virtually endless.  Jeans, khakis, dress pants, shorts, capris, skirts...in bottoms alone, the possibilities are plentiful.  I, myself, prefer a comfortable pair of nicely worn-in jeans and a comfortable shirt, sweater or sweatshirt.  Comfort nearly always trumps fashion, for me.  However, there are exceptions to my comfort "rule".  On occasion I have a reason to get all dressed up in a fancy dress that squeezes me in with sleeves that require my arms to stay in the down and straight position and a skirt that requires me to "sit like a lady".  If I have to...
Of course, I clothe myself every day in more than just clothes.  I also put on attitudes, opinions, thoughts, characteristics, activities.  And just like choosing between putting on my old, comfy pair of jeans & a broken-in sweatshirt or a fancy formal, I also choose whether to put on anger, jealousy, hatred, immoral living or put on love, peace, joy, moral behavior.  And it's not always as easy as picking out my favorite sweatshirt.

"Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh."  Romans 13:14 (NIV)

The "rather" in this verse refers to the following verse where we're instructed not to participate in the darkness of wild parties & drunkenness, sexual promiscuity & immoral living, or in quarreling & jealousy.  So instead of putting on those things, we are to put on Jesus.
The hebrew word used in this verse for "clothe" can be translated "to sink into clothing"  I have an old-college sweatshirt that I love to wear. When I put it on, I literally sink into it.  It surrounds me, it "hugs" me.  I can wrap my arms around myself and just exhale with comfort.  I imagine being clothed in Jesus to be this way.
So why do I sometime cloth myself in the "rathers" than in Jesus?  Sometimes, like my old, tattered, comfortable college sweatshirt, do I think wearing Jesus is just not "fashionable"?  I mean, I wear my sweatshirt around the house, but I would never wear it out on a date with my husband.  Do I sometimes do this with Jesus?  I wear him to church on Sunday or Bible study or to a Christian bookstore, but I choose to put on something else when I am elsewhere?  Do I find that I can't "wear" him to certain places, with certain people?  Do I put him in the closet and only take him out occasionally, to look more "Christian"?

Clothing myself with Christ is a matter of the mind.  This verse also says we are not to think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.  Flesh here is referring to our human nature, which is prone to sin.  Focusing on our flesh and thinking about those things which might become tripping spots is not where our minds should be sitting in order to clothe ourselves in Christ.  As Philippians 4:8 tells us, we are to "fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise".  We cannot "dress ourselves" in Jesus and have our minds in the things of the world.  To be clothed in Christ is to have my mind on the things of Christ.

So clothe yourself today in the Lord Jesus Christ, put on his attitudes, his ways, his thoughts and think upon those things.

just a thought

 Following the lead of my friend, Lori, over at Lori's Wacky World, I have come up with a fun, catchy little title to make this day more, ummmm, exciting.  Because, well, Thursday's are just Thursdays.  But now, here at 58° they are filled with thoughts.  It's not Thursday anymore!  It's Thursday with Thought.  Ridiculous, I know.

Anyway, I have been stuck on a verse lately.  It's one of those that keeps working it's way into my "everywhere".  My podcasts, my reading, my emails from friends, blogs I read.  It's been everywhere.  And since this usually means that I should look into it a bit further 'cause there's likely something there I need to learn, that's what I've done.

Psalms 46:10a - "Be still, and know that I am God!"

In Psalm 46:10a, the author says "be still".  This being still is the hebrew word raphah and it can be translated into "be still, to relax, to sink down, to let drop, to abandon, to refrain, to forsake, to let go, to let alone, to be quiet."
One of my favorite places in my house, is a big, oversized, cushiony, squishy, fluffy, comfy couch.  It is covered with overstuffed, enormous, yet incredibly soft pillows.  When I sit into the couch the pillows reach out and grab hold of me, sucking me further down into the cushions. I imagine this "be still" like my couch.  "Be still".  Sink down.  Let everything else drop.  Let the busyness of thinking and doing alone.  Be quiet, relax.  Be still.

But the verse doesn't end with a comfy, relaxing, carefree break.  There is more.

"and know that I am God!".  The "and know" part of this verse comes from the Hebrew yad'a.  Translated, this word can mean, "to learn to know, to perceive & see, to find out & discern, to know by experience, to recognize, to admit, to acknowledge, to confess, to consider, to be acquainted with, to make oneself known, to be instructed."

While we're being still, we need to also be "knowing" God.  We need to be learning about, finding out, recalling the times that we've experienced Him.  We need to be acknowledging who He is, confessing who He is.  We need to be getting acquainted with Him and allowing ourselves to hear His instructions.  We need to be allowing Him to make Himself known to us.

I think God knows (because He know everything) that we are easily distracted.  Life is busy.  We are busy.  He instructed us to be still, not because we need to slow down and relax and put our feet up because we're overworked.  I think He told us to be still, because He knew we wouldn't put our full attention on Him and Him alone to get more and more acquainted with Him unless we were still.

Oh, but it sounds so wonderful, doesn't it?  Letting the busyness of the day-to-day just be for a moment & spending a moment in complete focus on God.  Spending a moment praising & worshiping, praying, reading His word, learning a bit more about Him, listening.

Today, let's sink in to the Word and allow God to make Himself known to us.