Unless

It will never grow unless its planted It will never end unless its began It will never heal unless its set It will never be given unless its asked for It will never be unless its created It will never be known unless its searched for It will never be read unless its written It will never be shared unless its told It will never grow unless its planted It will never change unless someone stands up

Our Girls

The commercial

Yesterday, my boss at RBI was watching television. We were sitting there, when this commercial above came on. As I watched it, all I could feel was sadness. This is what we've lowered our girls to? This is the only thing that our girls are good for? Impressing boys who will never treat them the way they should be treated?

Even the Christians do it. I've noticed that we spend so much time on what we wear, how our hair looks, what our make-up is like, that we don't even give ourselves a real chance. Our hearts are so ready to be loved now, by anyone who comes around, that we're not willing to wait for true love. Women are so easily led astray by the things of this world, because we believe we have to be something we're not meant to be.

I am treated like a strange person because I don't care how I appear to other people. Some days, I will let my girly, worldy side get to me, and I'll dress up. Most of the time though, you will see me in stained jeans and a random t-shirt. My hair is cut short so I don't have to mess with it. I refuse to wear make-up. I can't walk in high heels because I've never practiced.

I watch television, and know that I'm against the norm, but I believe that this is how God wants me. He see me as me, and El-Roi is not impressed by make-up, a complex up-do, or pretty clothes. He is impressed by my heart. I want to impress Him, and the only way that I can do that is by following His word and living by His love.

Not only that, we seek love in places that will leave us empty. We want boys to notice us. We want to have a boyfriend, because that's the only way to be accepted. If you don't have a boyfriend, then you are a loser. The only place you can find acceptance is in the eyes of a male.

That's wrong.

I do not want a boyfriend, I want a husband. And I have one. His name is Jesus, and He loves me more than  anything in this world. He loves me more then the sun and the stars. He loves me more than even He can describe, and He's pretty good at description. He love me. And that's all I need.

In all honesty, I have this feeling that I'll never get married. Unless God says, "This man is the one I've chosen", then I'll never marry. Which is fine with me. Marriage is good, it comes from God, but it's not everything we should look for in life. We are meant for so much more.

Paul says that it is better to stay single like him. We can focus on God more when we don't have a  man to worry about. And that should be our main focus. God. He should be everything in our life.

I fear for our youth. They are pulled away every day by the world. Our churches are trying, but it's hard because the world has so much in their lives. Church is only a few hours, two days a week, if that. The world has them for all the rest of the time. So it shouldn't be the work of the church. It should be the work of parents. It should be the work of every female influence in a girl's life. We should be the example we want our daughters to follow. We should tell them the sins that we committed in the past, show them the consequences of those sins, and guide them on the right path. We should start now, while they are still young.

Be careful of what your young children watch. Disney is fun, but so often the "princesses" only find their happy ending in a husband.  Be careful of what goes into their head. Make sure that they know that God is only man they need to impress.

He's the only person I work to acceptance in.

Ananias, Forgotten Hero

There are two men in the New Testament that are named Ananias. The first Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, is a cautionary tale for all believers. Don't allow pride and praise to get in the way of doing right. If you lie to the Holy Spirit to get praise for yourself, He will cut you down. That's what He did to them.

But it's the second Ananias who is possibly more important, and yet, more unknown. That's because many see him as a supporting character.

Which he was.

And that's why he's important!

Everyone knows who Saul, later known as Paul is. He is the man who wrote two/thirds of the New Testament. He began his story persecuting Christians, or how they were called before he was saved, followers of The Way.

Saul sat back and watched the stoning of the first martyr. He agreed with the stoning. He was a good Jewish boy and these "Way" people were blaspheming his God. So, after the stoning, he began hunting them down and throwing them in prison. He dragged both men and women out of their houses to be tossed into jail. He was eager to kill God's people, according to Acts 9:1.

He asked the synagogue in Jerusalem, if he could go to Damascus and round up all the Way followers and drag them back to the holy city. He was going to take men and women and drag them back to Jerusalem, where they were going to rot in prison until the death penalty.

But, as everyone knows, on the way to Damascus, Jesus knocked him off his donkey and asked him why he was persecuting Him. But what we forget is that the story doesn't end there. When Saul picked himself up off the ground, he was blind.

His companions had to lead him into Damascus. They found a place and Saul started praying. He didn't eat, he didn't drink, he did nothing. He sat in a room and he prayed.

So where is Ananias?

Ananias lived in Damascus. I wonder if some Christians ran when they heard that Saul was coming. If there was a great fleeing from Damascus, give Ananias some props for staying.

The Lord spoke to Ananias. In a vision, the Lord said, and I'm going to break this down in segments:

"Go to Straight Street, to the house of Judas," (Acts 9:11). 

I love when God gives perfect directions. He basically tells Ananias that he's going to '9134 Straight Street'. I have no doubt that Ananias probably knows who Judas is. If he didn't, it would say "to the house of a man named Judas." But He just says, 'to the house of Judas'.

"When you get there, ask for a man named Saul from Tarsus. He is praying to me right now." 

Well, the beginning of this sentence probably struck fear in Ananias's heart. He knew who Saul of Tarsus was. Saul was the person killing Christians and dragging them off to prison. I can understand that. We all know how it feels when God tells us to go and talk to someone we fear. But the fact that Saul was praying to the Lord at that moment, it's interesting. I'm sure Ananias had no clue what that meant. Jews prayed to the Lord. I note that my Bible uses the term Lord, rather then anything else. Is that Lord Jesus? or is that Yahweh? Does it matter? Saul is praying, that's all Ananias needs to know.

"I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so that he can see again"

I'm sure Ananias is sitting here going, "Me, God? You showed him me?" But not only that, it's the fact that Saul can't see. So now Ananias is going, "Me? You want me to go to SAUL and pray for his sight?". I'm sure that's overwhelming.

But Ananias tells God that Saul is a bad person! That he has authority by the priests to arrest and kill all the people who call on Jesus's name. And that's part of the reason why I love Ananias. He doesn't question God, but he tells him that Saul isn't a good person. That by praying for Saul, he's putting the other believers in harm's way.

But our Father is a good father, and Jesus is a good Lord, and Ananias gets some reassurance.

"Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake." 

And again, I'm sure Ananias is overwhelmed again. He is the one that is ordered to go and pray for God's chosen instrument? Self-doubt is kicking in. "Me? Are you sure?"

But Ananias goes.

This is where people need to know about Ananias. He presented the facts to God about Saul, telling him that he'd heard bad things about the man, but he only did that once. Once, and when God was finished talking, Ananias went. He went to Straight Street, he talked to Saul's companions who allowed him into the house. He found Saul, probably face down on the floor, praying tearfully. Saul was dirty from the road and three days of constant, non-moving prayer. He was probably a little unhealthy looking, considering he hadn't eaten or drank anything in three days. He was also no doubt prostrated on the ground, begging God to forgive him and to give him his sight back.

Ananias could've turned back. He could've not even gone in the first place. But he went, he laid his hands on Saul, and he prayed.

And Saul was healed, and baptized. He was baptized before he ate something.

This is where we as people have our problems. We don't listen enough to go. We argue. We tell God that that can't happen. That person will never be saved. No matter what, it won't happen so why even try?

God calls you to share the gospel with the cussing, tattooed, monster of a man at work? "Oh, he won't believe".

God calls you to pray with the woman at work who you know is sleeping with the boss? "Come on, God. She's not going to do that!"

These moments, the times we argue with God, God doesn't want to hear it. He wants you to do as he says. Because who are you to know that that person you refuse to help, could've been the next Paul. Or the next Billy Graham? Or the next TobyMac? Who are you to say that that person you can't see a hope for, isn't the person who prays for your grandson and brings him to Christ? Or is the person who goes out and brings the gospel to an entire tribe of pygmies in the middle of a rainforest that you can only get to by eight days travel on foot?

Obedience is better then sacrifice, but usually to obey, we have to sacrifice something. It might be our pride. Might be our comfort. Sometimes, it's even our life. But you know, this world, it's only temporary. Who cares what happens here? Who cares if no one likes you, or if you're being ridiculed? Eternity is so much longer, and do you want to know, when you get to heaven, and your life is being reviewed, that that person you wrote off as 'never going to happen'? That person's only chance was you. Now, his eternity is tortured, because you were afraid.

So don't be afraid. Listen and obey. Be an Ananias. God's got your back. So go.

El-Roi

I firmly believe that we should all have a personal name for God. One of the names that He gives us in the Bible, but that be the name that we use when we speak to Him. There is Abba (Daddy), Yahweh (I AM), El Shaddai (God Almighty), and many, many others. Our God is a god of many names.

But I use El-Roi.

It means "the God who sees me." Now, stop and think about that. The God who sees me. He sees me. Me, insignificant little me. He sees me.

That's big.

Because when you think about it, sight is the most important sense to human beings. We rely on sight more than any other sense. We need sight to read, drive, write, work, walk, run, wash dishes, mow the lawn, play pokemon. Sight is what we use in almost everything. Seeing is important.

In South Africa, one of the greetings is "Sawubona," which translates into "I see you". The reply is very much, "I am here". The meaning behind this is basically, I did not exist until you saw me. When you saw me, I began to exist. There is a saying in South Africa that "A person is a person because of other people".

God created us in His image. So if seeing is important to us, how much more so for Him? If the God who crafted the universe with His hands, who spoke the world into existence, if He can take the time to SEE me, how much does he love me to do that?I exist because He sees me.

And this is one of the few names that He does not give Himself. This is actually the only name that I know about that was given to Him by a woman, and by an Egyptian woman even. The story behind the name makes even more precious to me.

Hagar was Sarai's slave, way back in Genesis. You all probably know who Abraham and Sarah were. This was back when they were still Abram and Sarai.

Sarai was barren in her youth. She was Abram's only wife and she was getting frustrated by her lack of producing her husband a son, and the fact that God kept promising her husband a child, but she couldn't give him one. So in a fit of frustation and doubt, she presented her slave, Hagar, to her husband to bear a son for her.

So Abram did.

Hagar becomes pregnant, and in doing so, begins to see herself as better then Sarai. There is feuding in the women's tent, because Hagar is parading her belly around in Sarai's face, and the poor barren woman can't take it. So she goes to Abram to get him to knock the pregnant woman down a peg. Abram gives Sarai full permission to deal with her slave as she sees fit.

This is a bad, bad idea. As any woman knows, when there is jealousy between two women on different tiers of power, and the higher tier gets control of punishment, the lesser woman is going to be hurting, and hurting bad.

This is what happened. Sarai treated Hagar so badly, Hagar ran away. She ran into the desert, without water or food, big and pregnant. My sister is currently big and pregnant. It would take a lot of harsh treatment to get a pregnant woman to run away like Hagar did. Not a lot to make them cry or get angry, but to run away? That's some bad treatment right there.

 So she rested beside a well, and that's where the angel of the Lord found her. This phrase "Angel of the Lord" apparently means Jesus in his "before human form". I honestly think that it is the messenger of the Lord, who is the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, I wonder if we give too much credit to two parts of the Trinity, while ignoring the Holy Spirit.

Anyways, which part of God doesn't really matter. All you need to know is that God came down to speak to an Egyptian slave. He asked her what was wrong, guided her back to where she needed to be, and gave her the same promise he gave Abram. Her son would be the forefather of more descendants that she could count. However, Ishmael would also be like a wild donkey, and raise his hand against his relatives. Scholars believe, and I believe, that Ishmael is the ancestor of the Muslim nation.

But still, God spoke to a Gentile woman. Hagar no doubt worshiped other gods. She was Egyptian. It was how she grew up. So after God promised her this, she said to Him "You are the God who Sees me," or "You are El-Roi,". This woman has the audacity to NAME God. It's pretty amazing.

It strikes me how much God enjoys using women of different nations. When you look at Jesus's family line, three of the four women mentioned were foreigners. Even though in the Law of Moses, it states to never take a foreign wife, these three women are mentioned in Jesus's family tree. Tamar was Canaanite, Rahab was a prostitute from Jericho, and Ruth was a Moabite. In the New Testament, the first person who Jesus fully states "I AM the Messiah," was to a Samaritan woman at the well, who had had five husbands and wasn't married to the man she was living with at that time. A sinful, foreign woman was the first one to be told "I AM"

So knowing that God sees me, it gives me hope. Knowing that God is willing and fully capable to use Gentile, sinful women in His Great Plan gives me hope. Knowing that God sees me, it makes me feel loved.

God sees us as His children. He knows what we need, what we wants, and what we do. He sees me. He also sees you!

He is El-Roi. So, feel encouraged. He sees.

Credit Where Credit is Due

I'd like to start out this post by thanking everyone who read the last one. I know that God will bless this blog, for it announces His glory and praises Him. I am not the one to be praised. Do we praise the hammer for driving in the nail? Do we praise the piano for producing such a beautiful song? Nope. So, please, I ask that you praise Him for all that is written in these posts. They are not my words, but His words through me.

Which is important for me. I have a big head already. I do not have a slave mentality. I struggle with pride. Praise for writing these blogs, or speaking on Wednesday night, is not helping to keep my pride down. I remind myself that it is all God, and I tell all of you that it is all God's doing, but in my fleshy heart, I wonder if  it is me. And that's not what I want to become.

I don't want to become the person who does the Godly things just to get the praise. I honestly don't want praise from you. I want praise from God. I want to hear "Well Done," or "This is my daughter, Stephanie, with whom I am pleased". I am willing to forgo all the praise that you give me, just for two words of praise from my Father.

So, please, do write if the blogs touch you. I love to know the work God is doing, so that I may add it into my own praise for Him. But please, don't praise me. My head needs to deflate, not inflate.

Thank you.

A True Servant

Lately, something has been bothering me. I've been pondering on the term "Servant".

If any of you are living in Navarre, you know that recently, East River Smokehouse moved to its new location on Highway 98. It's been hectic. I work in the kitchen, and I'm exhausted. But my uncle, he's the kitchen manager. And everything I do? He does double.

I've been watching him, and for some reason, the word "servant" has been repeating in my head. I know its the Holy Spirit telling me something. This blog has been placed on my heart as well. I knew that I needed to find a place to write what the Holy Spirit was telling me to write. So, here it is. May God bless it.


So, according to the internet, the word used in the New Testament that's translated into "servant" is actually "Doulos" which fully translated into "bond-servant". Bond-servant is an odd word, a word we don't use anymore. 


Merriam-Webster Dictionary online defines 'bond-servant' as "one bound to service without wages", or in other words, "slave". Typically, slave is a bad word to us. Slavery is bad. Binding a person into our service is bad. Forcing another person to work for us without pay is bad. All these things are bad. 


However, we're called to be a slave to Jesus Christ. In quite a few letters, Paul introduces himself as a slave. James introduces himself as a slave. Jude and Peter both introduce themselves as a slave in their letters. In Revelations, John describes himself as a slave. All these men whose examples we are to follow are all calling themselves slaves. 


And they're right.


See, a slave is someone who is bought into servitude. A servant, which the more common translation we use,       is in all honesty, wrong. A servant is hired. A servant can leave if they so wish. These men, they couldn't leave. They were slaves. The price that was spent to buy them covered their whole life. There was no leaving, no finding other work. Unless their master sold them, they were bought. They were to follow their master's orders. 


And that master is Jesus. 


Who is also our master. We were bought too. We are slaves as well. There is no servant, who have a choice. No, if you were bought by His blood from death, you are a slave. We were slaves to sin before, and then Jesus paid the set price and died for us. So now, He owns us. He owns our life, our soul, and everything we think we own. It all belongs to Him. There is no choice of giving everything to Him. It's already His. 

So why do we fight being a slave? The answer is really simple. 


Pride. 


Pride stops us from doing things. Pride is the thing that keeps us from talking to people about Jesus. Pride is the thing that stops us from helping people when they need it. Pride is the thing that stops us from accepting help. Pride goes before destruction. Pride is the bane of our existence. 

We think that we are better than other people. We think that because we are saved, white, male, middle-classed, intelligent, cat-lover, pokemon master, we're better then those who are not. This is the very definition  of pride. We're supposed to put others above ourselves. Everyone is above us. 

So does that mean when your co-workers wants you to do something a little extra, even just because they are simply lazy, you do it? You do it. 


This is why it's been bothering me. Lately, I've had people ask me to do stuff that I didn't want to do, especially at work. More dishes, more work, and I don't want to do it. I get tired, I get cranky, and I refuse to do it. 


However, I've been watching my uncle. He works. And works. And works some more. He does it for people who aren't saved, who barely appreciate him. Well, his female boss appreciates him, but his male boss is critical and prideful, and has no clue how badly their restaurant would fail without him. But still, even if they didn't thank him, he would still work. 


Why?


Because he has a slave mentality. 


He has put these two people above himself, and has decided that the Smokehouse will be the best restaurant in all of panhandle Florida. So he works, and he works too many hours for too little pay and he does it with very little complaint. He does it to make sure that his bosses don't fail. He does it because he has seen what their vision is, and he's going to make it happen. He sets an example for us. 


Jesus was God. He was there before the world was made, before time was created. Jesus is God. He sits on the Father's right hand. Jesus will be God. He will be the King of Kings who rides into Armageddon shining and ready to win. 


But, He was also a slave to the Father's will. And beyond that, He was a slave to love. For love, He did the impossible and beat death. He won the keys to the grave. He DIED for us. He paid the price to save us from a horrible slave driver, and to go into His care. All he asks from us? 


That we love Him, do his Will, and be a slave for other people.