Treasures of the transformed life

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20
Nov 10

Treasures of the transformed life. The end. A secret.

You might have noticed no pictures of Sally, the oyster, the last two days. 

That is because. 

I ate her. 

I thought it only fitting end. 

Is it possible to have a visceral reaction to a pair of boots?

Fourty days. Gone. Can’t say I read every single day but came very close. 

Thoughts on transformation. I heard a sermon recently that stuck with me big time. 

Everybody is for godly character. We want our children not to cheat on their tests, roommates who don’t steal our Oreos and spouses who don’t buy the most awesome pair of Frye harness boots and hide them forever (only wearing them when the spouse is not around) or in bed when he is asleep. 

We’re not against godly character in others. In fact ~ we’re for it. As long as it isn’t something we have to worry about for ourselves. 

Though it’s funny, the more we hang out with God, love, joy, patience, peace and self control begins to appear…without trying. 

But then there are those nagging issues. Those ones that are really hard for us to nip. Cheating, gossip, tempers, all assorted immoral goodies, pride, raging insecurity, overspending, maybe overeating or over drinking… 

Those things we CAN”T transform.  Things that medicate some deep need within us. 

With my own will and strength, I can follow rules and be a much better Jamie, but then there are things that reach out to grip me taunting, ”See you’ll never truly transform.” 

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. If you really want to change ~ if your tired of working and striving to be the best Jamie but always falling short.

Romans 12:2. 

 ”Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.” 

Ours MINDs are the key. 

Give God control of your thoughts. Not the internet, movies, books, music, friend’s advice, Fox or Headline News. 

Read the bible. Write scriptures that deal with your issue…lust, pride, hurtful tongue and commit them to memory. 

And when the moment of decision comes ~ just say, 

“Jesus I can’t handle this. But you can. Jesus I can’t handle this. But you living in me … can.” 

You know what. He does. In fact, He loves to… 

And of course, I couldn’t eat Sally. That was a joke. 

I miss her terribly but she had to go minister to her oyster folk. 

Bye Sally. I love you. Have a happy oyster life serving the Lord. j

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19
Nov 10

Day 39 ~ a standard of excellence. Outer Space.

Have you seen those Twitter pics by Astronaut Douglas Wheelock on Twitter?

http://twitpic.com/photos/Astro_Wheels

I’m now following him. (On Twitter. Not literally, for there’s no way I can get up into space, as hard as I might try.)

If you just stop and look a minute at those photographs ~ it’s truly incredible.

If we worship a God whom can create that, why do we insist on living so small?

Being imprisoned by old patterns that waste all we’ve been given by one who is

 mind-blowing.

God doesn’t want us to be perfect.

He wants us to turn to him daily, to let Christ live in us, transforming us. Making the right decisions in the hard places.

What would happen if we truly turned our lives over to the One who has that power? Power He promised lives in us and through us.

I want that. I have that promise to claim.

And so do you.

Why would we settle for anything less?

Did you look at those pictures?

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18
Nov 10

Day 38. Sharing your faith. Love to fish ~ hate to clean the net.

Sally wanted to tell the other oysters about Jesus ~ but when she felt a prompting ~ she clammed up. Every time.

Sharing your faith.  Does that freak you out?  

Today’s reading reminds us that Jesus called us to be fishers of men. (and women and children)  

   

Do you wonder — what am I going to say? Or think — I’ll just sound stupid?  

Keep this in mind.  

People don’t care what you know, till they know how much you care.

If you care about Jesus, if he has changed your heart — you will witness to others. Focus on Jesus, his love for you and leading to others to Christ will be effortless.  

Great quote ~  

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘You are not a painter,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” Vincent Van Gogh

If Van Gogh had doubts about painting, that’s a comfort to all. Push through doubt and act.  

One painter’s style or medium is not another’s. Show 50 artists a field of wildflowers and they’ll create 50 completely different impressions on canvas (and some not on canvas.)  

Each is a beautiful expression of creation filtered through an individual’s soul, mind and emotions.  

Live your life in Christ, listening and following the Holy Spirit’s promptings. If in commune, we can’t help but fish.  

It’s really not hard. But it does take action.  

What holds me back from throwing out my net?

I really hate all the algae and gook that gets stuff in there. It’s really a mess to clean out a net after you use it. But if you don’t clean it out ~ it stinks.  

How can God help me be more confident about sharing my faith?

He’s waiting. All the time. Ask for wisdom and power. Then pick up the brush.   

  

 

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17
Nov 10

Musing on Treasure for Day 37 ~ spiritual maturity. Surf and turf.

Sally would watch the lobsters saunter past. She tried to warn them, but they'd head straight into the trap ~ everytime.

Lobsters evidently grow a lot. That’s what we learned in today’s reading. 

I got hungry. 

Thinking about those green shells tossed into hot boiling water (Sorry this post is not for the squeamish) and turning as a Red Hot. 

Some days things just go from bad to worse.

My favorite quote of the book so far ~ 

Spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it.  ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen

Our existence is on several planes.

We know people who only skim the surface of emotions and relationships. Then there are those who dive right in and get all sticky. 

It’s the same with God and the spiritual realm. 

Like emotional and relational depth, if we travel into the spiritual realm without much discipline things can get quite off kilter. Rather quickly. 

We have to grow in the right way. Recognize like the lobster, when we are waiting on that new shell to harden up we are vunerable. 

The only way to grow the right way is to learn from the right voice. 

To be devoted to study, thought, action and prayer to the spiritual power above all spiritual powers. 

Disciplined study, thought, action and prayer. 

 Do I do things for God out of love and discipline?

Really that would take this post in a different direction. And I am reaching 250 words. Short answer ~ if I concentrate on the love of God and how much it is evident in this world (see earlier quote) self is lessened and discipline to God becomes an ever-increasing way of being… 

Does Ingles still have lobsters? Or is that just Publix? 

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16
Nov 10

Treasures of the transformed life Day 36 ~ where you’re headed. Surf’s up.

Sally sold seashells by the seashore. But she looked longingly day after day at the surfers out in the water.

I used to watch lots of boys surf. 

We (girls) didn’t surf all that much way back in the dark ages. We would sit on the beach, burning our skin as my cheap toaster does to my bagel every morning and watch the XYs with their heads in the tube. 

So unfortunately, I don’t have any first hand knowledge of surfing, though learning to do so is on my mythical bucket list lying around accumulating dust in the vast unused wastelands of my brain.

But I can body surf with the best of them. 

Body surfing doesn’t require balance. Riding a wave all the way into shore requires perfect…anyone, anyone? 

timing.

A perfect intersection of your flat as board body at the perfect point in the wave’s break — and you can ride  in till your tummy scrapes on the sand. 

Transformation requires total immersion. Living in the Word and Holy Spirit so that you hit the wave at the right time and ride effortlessly in God’s power. 

But you can’t look up. That ruins it. To catch the perfect ride, bury your head between your arms, close your eyes (because it is sandy and salty) and go… 

These people are NUTS!!  I can hear their necks snapping from here.

I would be with Sally selling seashells on the seashore if these were the waves. 

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9
Nov 10

Treasure 30 ~ a life worthwhile.

It was such a beautiful day Sally couldn't stay on the bottom of the Bay in the muck. She found her bike.

 

It was such a lovely day. Seventy five degrees, low humidity and no wind.

Sally had to find her bike — and so did I.

I did read Chapter 30 and thought about it lots on my ride through the rolling Georgia farmland and hardwoods tinted all shades of orange.

Bright sunshine and did I mention

no wind?

Perfect.

I did read. I really did.

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8
Nov 10

Chapter 29 ~ imitate Christ.

Sally tried to drink enough water. Though some days she had problems with water retention. Try feeling the size of a beach ball in a 2 x 3 inch shell.

 

John Ed poses the question. Can you come up with a synonym for water? I bet not. 

What about… 

H20.

I thought I had him. But looking up the definition for synonym in my American Heritage Dictionary, there was a problem. ”A word having exactly the same or nearly the same meaning of a word in a language.” 

Has to be a word. 

Rats. H20 is a formula. (I think it is called a formula  – really that is a complete guess. I blocked out most of Chemistry.)  

Then I looked up “water” in my trusty brontosaurus. 

No silly, it’s thesaurus. But that word always makes me think of a dinosaur who mixed it up with some Dr. Seuss creature. 

Could you please change the water? Is that a little to much to ask?

 

John Ed talked about acts of service being the water of the church. 

Men really ought to serve all the time. They have no excuse. Do they ever have days when they feel the size of a beach ball because of raging hormones and a few too many chips and salsa the night before? 

Never.

The all should be happy as little clams in salt water (sorry Sal) all the time and out doing good for our Lord. 

When was the last time I reach out to someone with no thought of what I could get in return?

on Saturday. But that was a good day for me. Hormones were almost 50-50. 

What is my motivation for serving others?

I  like Sally am a shellfish person. So I do serve willingly ~ but when I don’t feel so great, tired, sick, etc. My benevolence attitude quickly fades.  

 ”But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve adn to give his life a ransom for many.’  Matt. 20:26-28.

Jesus was funny that way. Always challenging the human condition lurking down deep in his followers.

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7
Nov 10

Today’s treasure ~ riches beyond measure.

Sally had been thinking lots about giving. The top of her shell was being to hurt. She just thought too much.

After reading, thinking and writing about on giving this week, I’ve come to two conclusions.

To really give you have to ~

* Not think so much. We try to figure everything out. Add to this our personal experiences — there was no money around as a child, we had lots of money and lost it, we are very controlling by nature…on and on.

Sometimes with God, we just have to stop trying to figure it out and trust.

* Come to terms that not giving is ultimately a reflection of our self-centeredness.

I want therefore I shall have.

I want others to have — but I don’t want to do without.

Things are just things. And time goes so quickly. Valuables tarnish, are broken by little hands (and big ones) and money disappears.

Most young children are terribly giving. Sure they have spats over the one particular truck that is “hot” that day in the preschool toy bin. But for the most part children are the first to want someone to come over and play with their things ~ or to break the last cookie in half.

Break free from all the selfish-data our brains have been programed with over years…decades. This may take a little work, but it’s possible.

When was the last time you tried a cartwheel? Not a front walkover -- mind you. No need to get crazy.

Most children sleep really well at night.

Just give.

And rest.
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6
Nov 10

Today’s treasure ~ faith is rewarded. Day 27. In Overtime BABY.

Sally was a little tired this morning. She stayed out late cheering on the Morgan County Bulldogs.

Our Morgan County football team won last night beating rival Greene County in triple OT. 

 39-37.

It was really cold. 

Greene County scored with less than 5 seconds (or close to it the cold affected my memory) left in regulation to tie the game. 

That was a blow that could have defeated a lesser team. But Malone’s Boys kept the faith and scored on their possession. Then Greene County scored. 

DRAT.

Do you know that  every time the game goes into an overtime session, they flip the coin again? They should have made an exception last night for it was so flippin cold. 

Poor Sally was wrapped up in one of my mittens. 

But we sat there till the bitter end. 

The difference was on their third possession in the third overtime, Morgan County when for two and made it. Though they scored, Greene County didn’t make the conversion. And it was very, very close. The fourth down run must have stopped half a foot from the goal line. 

It takes faith to go for two. 

It takes faith to give more than is comfortable. 

But that mean freedom.

With football, your conscience is free that you did everything in your power to win the game. You weren’t controlled by 

FEAR.

Same with giving. If we trust and give….the Lord does provide. 

We’re free. 

I really wish I had a picture of those boys running on the field when they made that last stop. But I didn't bring my camera to the game. An osprey (coolest bird in the world) is a close second choice.

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5
Nov 10

Day 26 ~ Giving to get. a cheerful giver.

Sally couldn’t stop thinking about that 100 dollar bill. How could he not have spent it? There are a lot of really good photocopier’s now.

 

 
 
 

To me giving  is trust. Trusting that all your needs will be taken care of.  

I remember when we were first married and started giving to the church. We still had a run down fixer-upper in intown Atlanta. VERY fixer-upish.  

 
 
 

Okay -- it wasn't this bad. But back then I would have looked at this and thought ~ we could make it work.

 

I was eight months pregnant in August 1993. A very good friend came over and went up into our bedroom. The window unit wasn’t working. There was a bed with a comforter ~ one of those old, flat comforters that one of us might have had on our bed in college.   

“Oh, Jamie.” She just looked at me.    

Funny of all the million moments in a lifetime that’s one I remember. Now the house was my idea and John sacrificed a lot of comfort living in it for 10 years.    

But at that moment I thought, 

“She’s right. I was stupid as hell.”

Here we were living in this house. We both worked and didn’t have enough to pay someone to fix it up. No money for central air.  No washer/dryer. No dishwasher. And there’s a baby on the way.    

When our big Buckhead church had a financial campaign – a guy came and visited us. We were like big givers and we lived in this house with spackel on the walls. For ten years.    

But I really am just stupid that way. (About old houses.)    

Just because you give  – that doesn’t mean money is going to rain down.    

But writing this – it occurred to me – when we sold that house to come to Madison, we had two offers in two hours.    

The purchase price ended up being twice we paid for it. That money allowed us to do things – like my husband starting his own business — that we would have never been able to do.    

So maybe it all it work out. 

Give cheerfully because the Lord wakes you up every morning.    

Not for a new washer and dryer. (Not that I’m knocking the Lord providing a new washer and dryer.)    

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