Ode To Ramen Noodles

Who provides a meal at 10 cents a pop - Thou dost Ramen Noodles

Who satisfies a late night hunger craving - Thou dost Ramen Noodles

Who soothes my sore throat with thy artificial and chemically enhanced broth - Thou doest Ramen Noodles

Who has been found to cause cancer in the state of California - Thou hast Ramen Noodles

Who gets flung on the wall like a sticky booger by children all over the world - Thou dost Ramen Noodles

Who could survive a nuclear Holocaust - Thou couldest Ramen Noodles

Who keeps college students all over the world from starving each semester - Thou dost Ramen Noodles

Never change or become nutritionally sound Ramen Noodles - We need you

Dude, I Get It Now!

As I've been looking more into this fellowship thing, I was really thinking yesterday what it is and how do I do it. A few days prior I looked up prayer in the "quotable" to see what Oswald Chambers had to say about it since it's one of the ways we fellowship with God. Here's what I found.

"The time a Christian gives to prayer and communion with God is not meant for his natural life, but meant to nourish the life of the Son of God in him." Also "We hear it said that 'Prayer alters things'; prayer not so much alters things as alters the man who prays. When I am born from above the life of the Son of God is born in me, and I have to take time to nourish that life. The essential meaning of prayer is that it nourishes the life of the Son of God in me and enables Him to manifest Himself in my mortal flesh."

I'll admit I didn't quite understand that when I first read it. Infact I thought prayer was for me, for nurturing me, making me flourish. At the statement of "prayer is for nourishing the life of Christ in me" the What About Me monster reared it's ugly head. I let it go for the time being assuming understanding would eventually come, and boy did it.

As I was laying in bed last night unable to sleep because of the grunting and girgling wart hogg next to me (Jim snoring), I was chewing on my "cud" of the day. Hebrews 4:12 came to my mind - "For the word of God is alive and full of power; sharper than any two edged sword, penetrating to the dividing of the soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, exposing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart." I always thought that I wielded the sword (Word of God) in my life to "cut" out all that's not like Christ. But it hit me that Christ is the one who wields the sword of His word, not me. Can you imagine the hack job I would do to myself if it were mine to wield at will? I'd be walking around with a spiritual mullet for all I knew.
 Before hand I found the image of Christ changing me to feel very stifling. I was to take the word of God and use it to create Christ's likeness in me and somehow try to conform myself into His likeness. I felt like I won an all expense paid trip to paradise but could only take one bag with me. (That's a nightmare that can make any woman wake up in the night in a cold sweat) All the things about me that my husband first fell in love with, or makes my friends laugh until they cry, or makes my Dad shake his head as he unsuccessfully tries not to laugh at me (I get it from mom by the way), and one of my favorites is my making my children give me that "what's wrong with you look", Christ is not trying to stifle or smother it with His likeness but perfect it. Make all that's uniquely me even better by having His likeness shine through.

 Christ doesn't want to make me into a colorless drone marching to "Onward Christian Soldiers". By nourishing and focusing on Christ's resurrected life in me through fellowship and communion with Him lets His likeness manifest itself in me while perfecting the person He created and then stripping away all that remains.

So why then do we get our panties in such a bunch when posed with the thought of taking our focus off ourselves and putting it on Christ, when in Reality it brings us so much freedom. If I have any job to do, it is to allow God to nourish and minister to the life of His Son in me.

 I can for the first time say with confidence and understanding, "It is no longer I that lives but He that lives in me".

This Sucks

What's worse than being sick? Both you and your husband being sick at the same time. We are both in sad shape. Fever, body aches, head and chest congestion. Even the inside of my ears hurt like they're raw inside.

Today is the second day of work Jim has missed. I know he feels bad about that, but I keep telling him there's no point in trying to go and making himself worse.

Thank God it's almost nap time.

On to another subject. When am I going to lose this "pharisee" mentality like I was talking about in my previous blog. I know it's through fellowship with Christ that brings change and the ability to see Him for who He really is. This isn't something I can force to happen or bring about myself by turning the time I spend with Him into nothing more than a habit. This is not just a way of living but being. God help me as I not only learn the difference but become the difference.

Principles Vs. Fellowship

I began thinking about which does organized religon today put more importance on, the priciples of Christ or fellowship with Christ. According to Vine's, principles is the teachings of Christ relating to the elementary facts concerning Christ. Fellowship according to Vine's is communion, sharing  in common and communication.

Over the years I've been involved in many Bible studies and have gone through many study books. The one thing all these studies have in common is the feeling of something missing and disatifaction when I was going through them. I was always confused and perplexed as to why I felt that way. One study impaticular I had to force myself to keep going through it. It was to the point of not just feeling disatisfied but I could hardly stand to read the study book let alone go to the study. Feeling that way really bothered me and I put it off to that the subject of the study was stiking a nerve and I was being convicted. Now I think I was wrong with my self diagnosis.

 I went through the pile of study books I've collected over the years. Each book is concerning a different subject. One is on having faith another on obedience and etc....  As I was thinking back to the contents of each book I went through the check list of things a "good" study book should have. Was the subject Biblically based? Yes. Were the principles and teachings of Christ in there? Yes. Did it give scriptures concering the subject of the book to study and meditate on and even encourage doing so? Yes. Were there study questions to provoke "deep thinking" and discussion? Yes again. So if all that's in there what was causing these feelings? What's wrong with me?! Why did it seem like the teachings in these studies seemed to leave me feeling disatisfied while others seemed to be enriched and fulfilled by them? The studies are designed to produce whatever Christlike charactoristic the subject is on by bringing out the priniciple and truth concerning it in scripture. Then we get together once a week to discuss how we should be like this and not like that,do this and not do that and then go over the scripture that shows us that. We also discuss the things we can do to create whatever Christlikeness the study's about, wether it be faith, obedience, or purity, ect... But I feel like one very important thing is being overlooked. The cause of our lack in Christlikeness. I believe lack of faith, lack of obedience, or ect.. are only the symptoms of  the true problem. We're focusing on the wrong thing. Example, for two years before getting married Jim and I lived together outside of marrige. Now let's look at this situation in a Bible study format. If  asked what sin was being commited we would all answer sexual immorality, which would be correct, after all the Bible clearly states that. Then if asked what the cause of our sin was we would probably all answer disobedience, which I do not believe is the correct answer. I have always thought that the problem was the disobedience I was living in at that time. When I asked for forgiveness and then got married I thought problem solved. After all I was forgiven of my sin and was now married, but in the famous words of my uncle Greg, "here's the thing". The disobedience didn't go away, it simply moved to other areas of my life. So, should I go out and get books on obedience to further treat my symptom? The only way to get rid of the symptom  is to treat the cause. It had never occured to me that I was living out of fellowship with Christ, after all I would read my Bible, pray, and even go to church on a semi regular basis. Which are the things we are taught to do to be close to and know the Lord. So why was the teachings on the principles and truths of Christ not enough to solve my problem? Because the true intimate fellowship Christ wants to have with me was missing. Going through studies that only treat the symptoms weren't helping me to spiritual mature and grow in the areas I lacked in. Knowing and understanding the principles and truths of Christ taught in study books and even meditating on and memorizing them wasn't cutting it. By doing those things it may relieve my symptoms for a while but it wasn't curing me. What little change I may see is only surface deep and only to the benefit of those around me who can only see the surface. Can we reap any benefits by applying the principles of Christ in our lives? Sure, but again they are only surface deep. Organized religon has made the priniples of Christ their christ. If it helps our behavior on the surface most christians are satisfied with that. Just as the pharisees rejected true righteousness through Christ in order to hold on to their own self righteousness through their delusional surface deep observance of the law. We are all so concerned with acting Christlike we completely over look how we truly become Christlike.

Another example to explain when I was talking with a friend who told me they recently left the church  they had been attending. This surprised me because she had always talked so highly of their church. When they first started going there she really enjoyed the fact that scripture was being taught and explained in a Biblical way. The principles and truths in scripture were being brought out every sunday morning, but over time she started struggling with a feeling of disatisfation when she would go. She couldn't understand why since the scripture was being taught and explained. After some time of struggling they stopped going and she told me that the truths in scripture that we strive to attain were being taught but what causes true change and growth was missing. As her husband and her spiritually matured they had a need and desire to go deeper and that need and desire wasn't being met simply by learning the way Christ wants us to be.

When we have true fellowship with Christ and make Him our main focus it affects every area of our lives and that's when true change occurs. No longer will I drive myself crazy seeing all the areas in me that need to change and grow and not know which one to study on first. Or sit in Bible studies that merely focuses on how we should be as stated in scripture by putting more importance on following the principles of Christ than Christ himself. We all want to know what that key thing is to having true victory in our lives over all these symptoms we see. I don't believe it's focusing on principles but having abiding fellowship with the one who made the principles.

My focus will no longer be on studing the things I lack but this  sweet fellowship with Christ that brings true change and victory.

My Brand New Label Maker

I have become obsessed with organization. I recently purchased a very wonderful devise known to the main population as a "Label Maker". I get excited just saying the words, label maker. I get that aaah feeling like when you take your first sip of hot coffee in the morning, that feeling you get you when you put on your favorite pair of jeans (you know the ones that are sooo comfortable and yet somehow miraculously make your butt look absolutely fabulous). It's just soooo good.

One day I got into a label making frenzy. I labeled the shelves where the kids keep their toys and then I moved on to the containers that hold smaller toys. For Christmas Debbie got a Liv doll with a few accessories, so I gave her a small rubbermaid container to keep everything in. I proceeded to label her container but unknowingly ran into trouble when spelling a common abbreviation. After I was done Debbie came up to me and in a very confused fashon told me there was a bad word on this fresh and crisp new label. I looked down and there it was in beautiful, bold, black letters, "Debbie's Liv Doll & Ass". I stared at it for a few minutes wondering how my mind became so oblivious to the fact that in bold printed black letters I   had labeled the contents of her container for her to keep her "Ass" in.

I am currently out of the label tape for my label maker. Maybe that's a good thing for now.