The One Piece to Living

Think about the following question for a minute before continuing to read.  What does it mean to live?

Some may correlate the word with alive.  In that case, the answer arrives simply by checking the function of lungs/heart.  Is that it?  As long as breath enters and blood pumps throughout the body, we are living?  No, no, no, go back to the original question:  What does it mean to live?

I can tell you that the body given, organs placed strategically by a Mighty Physician, features aligned just so to provide a unique and beautiful vessel and all this working together daily does not sum up living.  That equates being alive.  I want to talk about living.  See, I spent 6+ days alive (at times I was not so sure), but not living.  My lungs worked (the continuous hacking confirmed that), the heart continued to beat (at times boiling blood confirmed by the thermometer displaying triple digits) and each system kept trucking along fighting off such a terrible virus.  But, no part of those 6+ days I would consider living.  I existed, as a lump on the couch whose presence was known by random moaning and hacking so loud the neighbors could hear. 

I sat and watched the other members of the home live.  The scenes were difficult to watch as I knew I could not play a part.  The laughter beautiful, but brought jealousy due to lack of energy to join.  The peace filled home continued just as is without any contribution from me.  The sad part about the whole situation: had I not been down with the virus, I am not sure I would be taking part in such fun, laughter and peace anyway. 

See, I have been alive for 30+ years, heart beating and lungs breathing; but, I can count on one hand how many of those years I actually spent living.  I have been too caught up in society to live. 

¹⁰ Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.  Galatians 1:10

Yep, win the approval of human beings hijacked each day.  Therefore, I worked diligently to clean the house spotless daily (endless job with kids), place exercise as a requirement in order to eat, spent time nitpicking in front of the liar of a mirror, put everything in its place and worked with all effort to look perfect on the outside.  Meanwhile, my children wanted to play Legos, show mom their newest skill, color together, watch their favorite movie together and just get a hug.  My husband wanted attention, to talk about his day, a kiss from his wife and to relax in our home.  I had this living thing all wrong.

Coming down with the virus is not something people desire.  But, I will say I am thankful for every lesson learned while caught up in this storm of pain, weakness and suffering.  It brought humility, reality check and a stronger faith.

Humility in the form of allowing others to do something for me due to the fact I could not even make it to the restroom without crawling (slowly at that).  Reality check in the form of watching what goes on in the home whilst I would have been cleaning, organizing and stressing about preparation for the following day.  Stronger faith in the form of feeling the arms of God hold me tightly through each moment of healing.  God and I held many conversations pertaining to the steps required for healing.  He provided encouragement, strength and hope while providing many lessons along the way.  God is good ALL the time!

So, back to the original question. . . What does it mean to live?

Are you living or just alive?  Take a moment and check on that answer.  Living involves loved ones surrounding, embracing, laughing, helping and loving as God intended.  Living involves purpose, focus on serving and caring for the body provided.  The Mighty Physician provided all needed to be alive in the womb; but, left one piece open which is required for living.  The Holy Spirit fits perfectly into position and living can begin.  We must invite the Holy Spirit into our lives.  And. . .

Keep praying harder than the devil can work.  

Sheree Craig

He Understands

40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.  Luke 2:40

As you come up from the waters of baptism, you rise cleansed, refreshed and renewed.  No more sin, difficulties, temptations, sadness, anger, harsh words or unclean hearts, right?  All is good, the flesh is dead and the Holy Spirit awakened.  True; but, the world did not make the same decision that day.  The world will bring trial and tribulation upon flesh.  The flesh will fail; but, take heart God is strength.  The Holy Spirit activated within provides guidance, sustenance and joy.  

Jesus, born a child in flesh, required growing.  Scripture tells of His growing time in order to become strong, filled with wisdom and receiving the grace of His Father.  Why would the situation be any different for us?  Arising from the waters of baptism, life here on Earth continues.  We must grow in wisdom in order to be strong and courageous Christians.  God’s grace is present and offered to each of us; but, we must persevere in a relationship with our Father.  

52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.  Luke 2:52

Jesus, born a child in flesh, required growing.  Scripture tells of His growing time in order to receive more wisdom, respect, a voice amongst man and recognition as Son of God.  Why would the situation be any different for us?  We must continue growing daily in His Word to receive more wisdom.  Learning to shine His Light to others by becoming a vessel requires gentle boldness.  We need not beat others over the head with Scriptures; yet, walk as Jesus did in love for all.  It is then, we will be heard, respected and the recognition will reveal as being a child of God.  

21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry.
Luke 3:21-23a

Did you catch that?  Jesus was baptized.  Why would Jesus require baptism?  He is the Son of God, directly from Him.  My dear friends, the account of Jesus sets the example for our lives.  He knew no sin; yet, received every temptation, grew in wisdom, drew strength from God, went to the waters of baptism, received the Holy Spirit and found favor with God and man.  It took Jesus thirty years to begin His ministry.  He understands patience, difficulty, rejection, perseverance, pain, sadness, etc.  He understands what YOU are going through right now.  So, why not turn to Him for guidance, love, support, comfort and joy?

My dear friends, take this time of year as opportunity to learn about Him.  Watch throughout the Bible as His story unfolds, from birth on that cold, scary night until death on the cross.  He began life in rejection and left the same way; yet, remained focused on His mission.  He kept His eyes pointing to our Father.  He lived daily with the Scripture ringing loudly in His mind: 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

Emmanuel!  Emmanuel!  Emmanuel!  

If God is for and with us daily, who can be against us?  
Keep praying harder than the devil can work.  Sheree Craig

Stain Guard Your Spirit

Each day goes by involving a new outfit.  Not sure about you, but my favorite part of the day includes changing into pajamas and comfy socks.  Dependent on the hours and activity, the first outfit lands in the dirty clothes hamper.  

My children bring in even more dirty clothes to the mix.  My husband drops quite a few as well into the hamper.  Amongst all these clothes, each piece tells a mighty story.  The red marking on my daughter’s pant leg reveals the secret that lunch landed in her lap.  The ink line across my son’s shirt exposes the mistake of not clicking the pen in while putting away other items.  The stench (God love him) from my husband’s workout clothes displays the hardship of such intense work done earlier that day.  The mystery stains appearing on my pants explains the lack of patience to reach/find paper towels.

All this exemplifies life experienced each day.  The difficulty/frustration comes into play when clothes run through the washer without treatment.  Stains can easily be missed, especially when little ones tend to throw clothes in hamper inside out and wadded up like a basketball.  Yes, they are still young and I cannot place full blame on them for missing such stains.  But, really, how am I supposed to keep nice clothes in presentable order if I cannot see stains or have no idea they exist?  -Rant over-

As I dwell on such thoughts, a correlation to my spiritual life surfaces.  See, each day involves new mercies; but, that does not erase sinful actions hidden in the day prior.  Every circumstance, word, action or thought tells a mighty story.  Days come and go that my spiritual life looks like a pile of stained up, filthy clothing.  The word spoken through a frustrated mouth reveals lack of peace.  The drawn mouth displayed for all to see exposes failure to experience joy.  The blank stare displays the absence of love.  The slamming of items, stomping of feet and tensing of muscles due to ‘stress’ explains the lack of maturity in my Christian journey.

The struggle is real.  The battle occurs daily.  The stains appear before I can catch/prevent them.  Be whatever the trigger, temptation or trial; we all experience the moments when a stain clings tight to our spirit.    

Thankfully, God offers grace.  God reminds us to daily clothe ourselves in clean spirit, remembering the new creation has come.  Leave the old, tattered and stained up spirit behind.  Pray fervently and God will reveal the sin binding your life.  One sin at a time, God provides strength to overcome sinful nature.  He knows just the most perfect time for cleansing to take place.  He carefully exposes the words preventing peace.  He peels back the hidden memories stealing joy.  He lathers each moment in love and matures our spirit each day.  He keeps us clean and looking snazzy!  

No stain scares Him.  No stench prevents Him from drawing near.  He will bring peace, joy and love into every moment.  Daily clothe yourself in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.    

 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  Colossians 3:5-14

Dressing for the occasion keeps stains at bay.  Be ready my dear friends, for the enemy prowls around looking to overtake a situation God has planned to benefit His Kingdom.  Stain guard your spirit by living out Truth, keeping your eyes on things above.

Keep praying harder than the devil can work.  Sheree Craig