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Communion
I sat at the table. Pete took a sip of his wine. There was no plate and no cup in front of me. “I wanted to introduce you to someone,” he said to me. “She and I are having Communion. The Lord’s Supper. The Table. The Passover meal.”
“I’ll take it with you.”
“No,” he said, “For you, Communion is tiny, tasteless wafers and a little plastic cup full of grape juice. Someone reads a few verses, you swallow the bread, you throw down the juice, and you think to yourself, Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins. You put the cup in the pew holder, and you’re done. Later someone comes by and cleans up the leftovers.”
“What do you think ‘Communion’ was like at first, Matt?
I shrugged. “I’ve never thought about it, I guess.”
“That first year after he died, do you think we threw back our cups, took five minutes to say thanks, and then moved on?”
He made a good point. I could spend more time than that reminiscing about a good meal. “Probably not.”
“We knew him, Matt. He changed our lives. Our thankfulness wasn’t some theological construct. It was deep and true and unstoppable.”
(excerpts from Imaginary Jesus)
I am not sure about you but I have to sadly admit that I have noticed that many see Communion Sunday as skip day… “Oh yeh, we can leave after Sunday School, it’s just Communion today”
Perhaps you are one of those.
How much more special would communion be if instead of waiting on a piece of cracker and a taste of grape juice,while sitting nicely in our pews, we instead chose to sit around a table… with bread and maybe even wine… and we truly spent that time focusing on what our Savior did for us.
Would you really have to worry about drunkenness if when you looked at that wine what you saw was Jesus blood shed for you, for your sins?
Would you really over-indulge in the bread (or the wine) if when you looked at it you truly saw our Savior’s body broken for you, for your transgressions?
1 Corinthians 11:27
What if instead of a Sunday potluck fellowship, when the church gathered together to partake in a meal it was simply the Passover meal, the bread and the wine?
What if we gathered together and we simply remembered Him?
What if we sat and talked about the day we met Him?
What if we shared about how He had changed our lives?
What if we shared how He has walked with us and carried us since we met Him?
What if we purposely went into a joint Passover meal with a fellow church filled with a people of completely different background and ethnicity than ours and we united in Christ?
What if Communion Sunday was not “church skip day”?
What if instead of uniting to pick-it the abortion clinics, or uniting to fight legislation, or uniting to demand prayer in school, or what ever other political agenda we have at the moment, we united for the sake of simply remembering Him?
What if we had a Call to Remember and every church in our community, our county, our state, our nation, the nations… what if we called all our individual local congregations to come together at the same day at the same hour for Communion, to simply remember Him.
Nothing else.
No political agenda.
No pity party stories.
No martyr talk.
Nothing but a call to remember Jesus and to proclaim Him, His life, His death, His resurrection.
All and only about Him
Is it just something you do or does the weight of it sink deep into your soul and lift your heart and eyes to His beautiful sacrifice for your ugly and deceitful heart?
Is it a time for you to search the tray for the biggest cracker and the most full tiny cup while you whisper until you see everyone take their bite and drink their little cup and see your own cue, so you stop chatting with your neighbor long enough to absentmindedly pop in the cracker and throw back the juice and then complain about how dry those crackers were and you need some more drink to wash it down?
Maybe some make a joke of Communion so that they don’t really have to think about it…
Maybe some make Communion “skip day” so that they don’t have to remember and don’t have to examine…
I can ask all these questions because I have been there.
I know.
I have walked into the door and seen the table and thought “man, if I had known this was today we would have went on home… or just stayed home.”
I’ve been there so busy whispering to my neighbor that I have paid no attention to the reading of the Scripture, and I certainly was not examining myself, and I definitely was not remembering Him…
I was doing a formality, a religious duty, pass the tray grab the cracker, get the cup… 1-2-3 eat… 1-2-3 drink, let’s sing and go get some real food.
That’s never, ever, again the way I want to take Communion.
How about you?
Have you ever thought about that first Passover after the ascension of our Lord?
Is there any way it could look and feel like the minuscule communion cracker and miniature communion cup that we purchase in bulk at our local christian supply store in order to make it as quick and easy as possible?
>Ladies Only
>FYI: the Ladies Only warning is for mine and my husband’s young men of God that we claim as our own who sometimes check out my blog… just a little heads up for them that this is gonna be a major girl post and they should proceed with caution or not at all 🙂
Well I sit here at the computer at 3am debating on whether or not to go to the Emergency Room. There just is nothing like getting woken up to the need to pee a half a dozen times and then finally getting aggravated enough to turn the light on and discover that you are passing blood clots…
At first viewing, I thought, great! I have started my period again! Really? It’s not even been two weeks and I have never started in the middle of the night, never in my whole life do I recall that happening. Then as I get more woken up and wonder why in the world it is hurting so bad to pee, I realize that maybe I have not started my period.
After several toilet paper checks to confirm my suspicions I come to the computer to google blood clots in urine. And it says seek emergency care now… ugh.
Hello it’s 3am!
And I have church in the morning and I teach a Precept class in the morning…
And I hate the ER…
Who wants to leave their warm house to sit in an ER where they are going to treat me like I am an inconvenience and just had nothing better to do than drive to the ER at 3am.
So I have sent my husband back to bed and told him I would be fine.
I deem to be woman and wait on urgent care to open.
I mean what if my toilet paper checks have been faulty and really it is just my period… we women get accused of that alot you know… like we are so stupid and have only experienced a menstrual cycle every month for the past how ever many years, that we can’t tell which area the blood floweth from… geez louise!
Then what if it is something embarrassing…
Or you know I did fall off a stool not long ago and hurt myself pretty good. I broke a toe and my tailbone… and I have googled to learn that I could have hurt my kidneys as well…ugh.
Or what if it’s nothing and I have already done all the hard work myself here in my bathroom at 3am and I pay an ER copay and doctor’s bill for some stranger to pat me on the back and say, well Mrs Vaughn, your on the downside, take some tylenol or motrin for the fever, you’ll be fine.
So I sit here now, with fever and chills, that I thought was just the result of being really cold… because I flat out get cold to the bone and can’t get warm sometimes, but nope tonight it’s a fever with chills. And debate on whether or not to suck it up and head to the ER or wait on Urgent Care to open, or suck it up and wait on Monday, so I can go see my regular doctor…
I reckon I shall let pain be my guide.
Right now, pain says, I can tough it out until urgent care opens.
I might can even try to nap on the couch until the next “urge” hits…
Names of God – Adonia
It seems like forever since I posted on the Names of God series.
Let’s see… so far we have done a little study on the names Elohim, El Elyon, El Roi, El Shaddai, and El Olam.
Today we will study a little about Adonai…
We are introduced to the meaning of this name of God in Genesis 15:1-6.
saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you;
Your reward shall be very great.”
what will You give me, since I am childless,
one born in my house is my heir.”
Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “
This man will not be your heir;
but one who will come forth from your own body,
he shall be your heir.”
And He took him outside and said,
“Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars,
if you are able to count them.”
and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
When Abram answered God and said “O Lord GOD” he was saying “O Adonia GOD“. The word Adonia means Lord or Master. It was at this time that Abram was submitting himself to God’s Lordship. It was at this moment that he said, “I am not the boss of my life, God, You are.”
As we read further in this passage we see that it was at this moment that Abram was saved. When Abram submitted to God’s Lordship and believed upon His Word and trusted in His way, God reckoned it to him as righteousness. Abram, right here, is our example that we are Saved By Faith.
Abram’s moment of salvation came by faith, it came by believing God. He was saved before circumcision and before the Law… to show us that works, even good works, do not save us… only believing God does. And not just believing in a god, or in the idea of God, but taking God at His every Word… and His Word said that a Son would be born,(Isaiah 7:14) and when that Son came He said His name is Jesus (Luke 1:26-38) and then He said listen to Him, my Son, and do what He says, (Matthew 17:4-6) do what I have said and be saved.
The way of salvation has always been by faith.
The way of salvation has always been by first submitting ourselves to the authority of God, giving Him full reign over our life, putting Him on the rightful throne of our lives and taking ourselves off the throne.
So what exactly does it mean for Jesus to be Lord of our life? If you have been in church at all you have most likely heard the phrase Jesus is Lord of my life. The question however, Is He really?
Each of us has turned to his own way;…
All of us are like sheep who have gone astray, following our own way. Romans 3:9-23 goes on to say how none of us seeks God, none of us understands, none of us does good, all of us are after our own will, our own desires, and we have no fear of God before our eyes. That might be hard to swallow for some… but look deep, with open eyes, and you will see that it is indeed the truth.
We can’t just say Jesus is Lord, it’s more that that. In Matthew 7:21-27 Jesus Himself tells us that many will call Him Lord, many will use the phrase, “Oh yeh, Jesus is Lord of my life” but only those who do the will of His Father truly speak that phrase… the rest are only offering lip service.
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
Many will claim to be serving God and doing great things in the name of Jesus for the kingdom of God… but if you look closer, you will see they are simply name slinging in order to build up their own kingdoms. So be very careful who you follow and who you admire…
Obedience to the Word of God and the commands of His Christ are evidence of our faith. Faith is not blind. It is not invisible. Evidence is something you present before a judge to prove your case. It is something tangible. It is something that can be examined and scrutinized. Have you ever seen a prosecutor present invisible evidence to a judge in an earthly court? Think about it.
Our faith is something that can be seen if it is really there.
Oh precious one, when Jesus is truly Lord or your life, your faith can be seen, because your obedience to His Word, your willingness to submit to His will and His ways, can be clearly seen. By Him and by those who know Him.
Making Jesus Adonia means you no longer are purposely going your own way… you have made Him Boss, Master, Lord, He alone is on the throne of your life.
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your body
And refreshment to your bones.
>Fierce Beauty
>Only when we truly understand who our King is does our self-importance fade. Once freed from our pride, we can see how our purpose in this life is simple: to know Him. Our God is not passive in His care for us. He is a consuming fire. His love for each of us is both fierce and beautiful. Friend, God is calling you to …be beautiful, but not in the way the world demands. It was never His desire for you to focus on looking beautiful- He wants you to become beautiful. Contrary to this world’s declaration, you are far more than the sum of your exterior; you’re a vessel for the Living God. He’s calling you to take action, to become beautiful… to pick up your King’s sword of encouragement and fiercely defend those around you who are losing their battle for hope. By doing so, you become- in the eyes of the King- a fierce beauty.
~ Kim Meeder
So this is the beginning of my newest book that I am reading for review, Fierce Beauty by Kim Meeder. I cannot wait to get into it and read it!
This is a subject I am so very passionate about. The worth of a woman… oh how so many do not know their worth… settling for sinful lusts of eyes of the flesh… and throwing off their clothing of strength and dignity for the attentive momentary eyes of someone who is never willing to see past their exterior or really even cares to…
It breaks my heart.
It breaks my heart because I know what they are doing and why they are doing it and why even though they cry themselves to sleep most nights and regularly think of ending their lives over what they are doing and the choices they are making… they can’t find the strength to stop.
And all it takes is one phone call, one text, to set their hearts racing and emotions churning and heart wrenching…
It goes deeper than whether or not they had the perfect or worse childhood.
It goes deeper than whether or not they were, or were not, in church every time the doors opened.
It goes directly to the very core of their soul and to the very bottomless depths of their deceived and deceitful heart.
This is where we must reach them… our daughters, our sisters, our friends.
I don’t want them to get lost in the lie of the “perfect man” confusing butterflies and flowers with love. While the man of God who would adore her and build her up and love her with a commitment like Christ has for His church, stands over on the sidelines unnoticed because he is not willing or able to seduce her with lies…
So I hope to gain more insight and wisdom as I read this book… because I want nothing more than for my daughters to be fierce beauties, completely enraptured and captured by the gaze of their God and burning brilliantly in the consuming fire of His holiness.
>Exposed
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>Life is Not a Production
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follow our directions—even God. We wrongfully equate redemption with
everything looking right (Isaiah 53:3). The beauty of Jesus’ birth, however,
shines brightly due to the greater beauty of His death (Ephesians 1:7).
There is no one scene that stands alone in our lives; rather, they all fit together
in the greater story of God’s redemptive work.
>Heart of Truth
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>Devastating News
>Yes, devastating news… you read that correctly.
Yesterday during world history I am teaching on the first printing press. We are discussing how before the print a Bible was more expensive than a house. We discussed how they were so precious that they were chained to the altar of a church so that they could not be stolen.
We talked about how most people, even kings, in Europe didn’t know how to read before the day of the printing press. Before the print no one had books, so there was no point in learning to read.
I looked at my girls and as we are discussing these dark middle ages and discussing how no one had books and no one could read, not even the Bible, and how very sad that was… then the devastating news slammed me in my chest.
I look to my precious Shelby and I see in her eyes that she shares my grief and she exclaims how awful it would be to not be able to read and not to have books and I look over to my Bekah to expect the same distraught agreeance and she sits grinning and says “I don’t see the big deal, I don’t like to read anyway”
AHHHH GASP!!!!
What?
A child from my womb?
A child that I carried for nine months, birthed in hard natural labor, the one the epidural wore off on before delivery… this child of mine does not like to read????
Flabbergasted!
How could this be?
It’s her father’s fault I tell you!
How dare she get this part of his DNA!
Inconceivable!
Unacceptable!
Oh me…
Yes, devastating news.
Now I am panic stricken.
How in the world am I going to figure out how to make her love to read?
How am I going to be able to teach a child who doesn’t like to read?
But now all those times that I have become frustrated because she could not “get” the instructions that I have made her read at least twelve times is now all making sense. Her brain just does not comprehend the information from reading like mine and Shelby’s does…
I have my work cut out for me with this one 🙂
>The One Who Refuses
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That’s emphatically inclusive language! “Not a single one” includes you and me!
“Everyone has sinned,” Paul asserts. “We all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). Thankfully, there’s more. “Yet ……God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous,” Paul adds. “He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins” (v.24).
~ Tim Gustafson
How do you respond to the scoffer?
How do you treat those who refuse to believe?