Have you found your life?

Many times, when you talk to the lost about the Lord, they are not interested in committing their life to Him because in their mind it means giving up everything they love.  But for those of us who have joined the Lord's Army, we know that commitment to Him brings about total freedom, joy, peace, and a love for what it right and good.  There is no remorse for what was left behind because through new eyes we see it as the pig pen of life.  The Truth has set us free, and the total fulfillment of our spiritual life has made us completely satisfied and content, beyond what words can describe.  If only the lost could know His freedom.

The evening before my planned abortion in 1992, I sat in my room reading a tract.  It was filled with scriptures telling how God feels about abortion.  I read:

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew 10:39

All I had cared about was MY life and MY future.  God's way seemed like bondage.  I would have to give up everything I loved.  Yet when I read that tract, I knew that all that I was really longing for in my life was found in Christ. The verse above and many others brought me to my knees in repentance.  On that evening in March, almost 20 years ago, Jesus forgave me of my sins and set me free.  I didn't know the life I was living was bondage until I let it go.  Sin feels like freedom until you know the freedom found in Jesus Christ!  "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23  Only when we surrender to Him, do we "find" our life and become totally free! 

If you do not know His freedom, get on your knees and confess your sins to Him.  Then confess Him as your Lord and Savior and believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.  After believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9-10)  Now follow Him, and you will  end all your searching...you will have found your life!!

The Piano

Our old piano has had "issues" for a long time.  We bought it about 10 years ago, when Emily started taking piano lessons.  If I was musically inclined, I could explain its problems to you, but let's just say our piano is a tuner's worst nightmare.  But it is one of the most beautiful pianos I have ever seen. It was built in the 1890s and is a work of art!

Here is a picture of our piano in its new home - the garage.

Last fall we had it tuned again.  After 6 hours, our piano tuner was ready to pull his hair out!  Many of the strings broke as he worked, but he had the piano in good working order when he left.  A few days later, he let us know that he had a piano for us, if we wanted a different one, that was in very good condition, but it wasn't very pretty.  The sound would not compare to our old piano - it would be much better!  Some wanted to keep the old piano because it was so pretty, but Emily, who plays the most, was anxious to play one that sounded good.

Our new piano is very plain.  It was built in the 1950's and is a little scratched up.  It was in a first grade classroom for many years and was well cared for.  And boy can it sing! :)  I often hear Emily say, "I love this piano", while she is playing it. :) 

As I watched the men hauling our very lovely old piano out of the house, I started thinking about something that I have been meditating on for a few weeks - beauty.  How important is beauty?  In our culture, it is one of the most sought after attributes in a woman's life.  Oh to be beautiful!  We color our hair, straighten and whiten our teeth, pad our bras, cover our faces in make-up, purchase sunglasses with latest in-style shape, and search for fashionable clothes, all so that we can be counted beautiful with the masses!  Even men who are running for president desire to be handsome because they are more likely to get elected.  So, if physical beauty is necessary to win the approval of the world, why wasn't Jesus handsome?  (See Isaiah 53:2)

The truth is beauty is empty.  The Bible calls it "vain".  God says that this kind of beauty in a woman's life is worthless, having no substance, value, or importance...just like my old piano.  On the outside my old piano looks fantastic, but inside it's empty.  A piano was created and designed to make beautiful music.  What good is it if it just sits there looking nice?  We were created to glorify God, to be His representatives to a lost and dying world.  While I do not think there is any value in us trying to look ugly, nor do I think that that is what God wants from us, our true beauty is found in the heart.  The Bible says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. God made us beautiful, but His beautiful and the world's beautiful are two different things. "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31:30  This same word, beauty is described in Proverbs 6:25, with a warning to young men about evil women.  "Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids."  We need to start to see this type of beauty from God's perspective.  It is neither necessary or of any value.

When I get all dressed up and look my best, and I go out and someone says, "You look so pretty!", what value does that have in my life?  Not that it is wicked to get dressed up and look nice....don't get me wrong!  But do I really think that God looks down from heaven at that moment and says, "Mindy, that's my girl! I am so proud of you! You look so pretty!"  You would think, at times, by the value that my mind tries to put on beauty, that I really do believe that!

Trying to look beautiful is bondage!  There will always be a new and ever changing standard for "pretty".  It is like a hungry monster that can never be satisfied.  If we let it, it will keep us striving our whole life, never able to find rest and contentment.  In the end, it will keeps us full of ourselves and distant from God.  To be honest, I have bondages in this area that run so deep that there are days when I wonder if I will every be free from them.  Yet another thought reminds me that God is able!  I want God's mind on this matter! I want balance, but it is hard to find balance in a culture that worships beauty.  It feels at times like I am going against a tidal wave of lies that constantly bombard my mind and contradict God's Word, making me focus on the worthless and empty things of this world.

The real problem is a focus on outward appearance.  It not only keeps captive those seeking the world's approval, it keeps anyone captive who is overly concerned with how they look.  An Amish woman can be in just as much bondage as the young girl who is consumed with fashion magazines, seeking the next fad.  Oh to get our focus off ourselves and onto the Lord!  May we seek to impress only Him and rest in His love for us!  And like my new piano, may our true beauty be found within!

"I'm Bored!"

Years ago, I had gotten into the habit of putting movies on for Brandon.  He was my only child at the time.  When I wanted some time alone, I used the TV as a babysitter.  I justified this action by making sure they were good, quality videos. 

Brandon gradually got to the point where he needed to be entertained more and more.   When he wasn't watching a movie, he didn't have any idea what to do with himself.  I began hearing, "I'm bored!" more and more.

One day we decided that we needed to go on a movie fast.  I figured this would be a good exercise in self-control, but I had no idea that it would produce the results that it did.  Brandon suddenly became very creative!  I was amazed when he would show me the things that he had made out of Legos.  He began drawing and doing other things that showed great talent.  It made me so sad to think that I had squelched all these abilities in him by encouraging him to let something else control his mind.  By my poor decisions, I had created a lazy child.  But the reality was that Brandon wasn't lazy or dumb.  He just needed someone to unlock the potential that was within him.

It's easy to just let our children's time slip away in meaningless activities.  If they are quiet and entertained, why bother them?  But I want to encourage you to find activities for your children that will help them discover the gifts that God has put in them.  Ever since that day, when I realized how talented Brandon was, I have told him, "You will invent something one day!"  I have continued, over the years, to be amazed at his abilities!  And it's all because of that one decision to take away the TV.

That incident with Brandon happened about 16 years ago, but Mike and I continue to exercise caution when it comes to movie time.   Too much time sitting in front of a screen produces bad fruit, bored children, and unleashed potential!  Your children may not be thrilled when you take away the forms of entertainment that are not producing any good fruit, but, trust me, the day will come when they will be thankful for it! :)