Don't give CPR to a murderer (your old sinful self)

Last Saturday at church we watched a short Beth Moore video that had such a huge impact on me.  First we kept having technical difficulties where the video would play then stop and after restarting the computer and doing countless other things it finally worked.  The enemy did not want us to see this.  Beth had a life size doll that represents our old sin life that we can't let go of so we carry it around with us because we can't give it to God.  I seldom hear of such an amazing description and it's a good example of what is really going on.  This old self, if left unchecked would have led us to eternal death so it makes sense to view our old sinful self in this way.  WOW!  Mind blowing revelation.  The visual of giving CPR to someone who is a murderer really makes me think.  This is a crime scene, but unlike any that we know of.  This old self who we are very familiar with is now a complete stranger and is unwelcome in our life.  If you view your old sinful self with affection and familiarity think of this.  The old self dies when you accept Jesus.  It no longer needs to be apart of our lives nor should we keep it for sentimental reasons.  Going back to that life will ultimately end in death yet countless people return to the comfort of old scars and dwell with the pigs.  Beth spoke of people writing an obituary for their former sinful self, wow again.  To write it down might help some with closure.  Just think, what you would say about the death of your former self?

Romans 6:6-7 "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been freed from sin."

Are you carrying a murderer around with you?  Do not let the sinful weight of your past bar the rest of your existence on this earth.  You are far more valuable to God than the value you place on the person that no longer exists.  

John 12:24 "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds."

There is an up side to this dramatic subject.  In order for a seed to grow it must be planted.  This seed feels immense pressure on all sides like it will be crushed and the waiting seems too long with no evidence of improvement.  Yet the seed breaks open, if it doesn't then it will not grow.  It is given light and warmth from the sun and living water all to make this broken seed sprout to produce an amazing crop.  We are all seeds and when broken that is when we really find out who we are and what we can do with God's guidance.  I hope that you really take some time to see this along with me.  The enemy wants things to see like it's not a big deal and has little importance on our life.  I think the more visual and shocking the more we realize what is at stake and  how much clearer our vision gets in the process.

Being back online, For King & Country and having some Compassion

We are getting settled in our new house and I'm so happy to finally be back on the Internet.  We recently got service so I can start blogging again.  YEAH!!!  It is very inconvenient to not have the ability to communicate with others and keep updated on things like school, scouts, blog, etc.  Although this is a small issue compared to what many others go through in this world.  I found myself reading more, stepping away from the Internet made me very aware of the amount of time I had spent on things that would have no value in my life.  This way to connect can be very isolating to some and to others it can be a window to the world.  If you don't master it, it will master you and consume so much of your time that the important things in life are often pushed away.  Going forward I will try to do better.  I need to plan my time on the Internet just like I plan for anything else.  Setting limits for media is a very good thing.  In disconnecting from online I will find I can connect better to everything else around me.  It is about trying to balance everything in my life.

I was sick two weeks ago and I'm sick again now.  You see I did something good for God's kingdom, a small act, although anything you do for the Kingdom the enemy hates.  It seems like when you do something good the enemy wants to keep you down.  I will keep pressing on because I know that the inconvenience of another cold is small compared to God's grace on those that follow His leading.  

We went to the For King & Country concert last Sunday at our church.  They put on a great show and the lyrics to their songs are fantastic, but there was something more there that was missing in a lot of entertainers shows.  They spoke a little on their testimony and they spoke about sponsoring children, they spoke on how men need to step up and treat women right and they spoke about how women should know their worth and value in God and not what this world tells them to be.  That message is often covered over by the loud noise of what the world is saying.  They support Compassion International, a charity that helps children around the world with the help of those who are more fortunate.  They told a story of a boy who grew up to be a preacher who is going through Africa planting church now and his sponsor when he was a child was a 15 year old girl.  This young girl made a decision to help another child.  If a child can do this, what more can we do as adults?  We decided to sponsor a child through Compassion International, a girl in Bolivia.  This is something that I have wanted to do for awhile and just haven't done yet, not sure why I took no action until now.  Right after that I started to get sick again, but I will continue to seek God no matter what is going on.  So I'm very excited to start a relationship with this young girl who I have never met.  I hope you will go on this journey with me.  For every child who is in need there is an adult who can help them.