GodandMe2theMax

Heartburn...

Judges 2:10  "After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel."

Heartburn.  A burning sensation in your chest that once you get it, seems to stay with you for a really long time.  It hurts.  It's constant.  And it's a reminder of what you ate (or shouldn't have eaten.)

I started a study in Judges this last week, and as I read through some of the corresponding Scriptures, Judges 2:10 struck me with a burning in my heart like I can't explain.  Yes, it's true, this verse gave me Spiritual heartburn.  In context, Joshua, the great leader of Israel had passed away.  Time elapsed, and everyone who had seen God do mighty things in Joshua's generation, anyone who was an eyewitness to God's hand of deliverance, eventually died as well.  When they died, they left behind a generation that had no personal experience or interaction with God Almighty.  That generation, according to verse eleven did evil in the sight of the Lord and served other gods. 

As I said, this verse burned in my heart when I read it.  It's a reality check for me, and a scary one at that.  Re-read the verse, making it personal this time.  "After 'Beth Banfill' died, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done in 'her' life."  You see, one of my biggest fears is that my children will become adults and decide they don't have any need for God.  Sure, as a parent, I can instill in them God's love as best I know how.  And by the grace of God, I can see Him at work in their lives even as a twelve and fourteen year old.  But am I doing everything God wants me to do to make an eternal difference for Him, not only with my children, but with everyone I come in contact with?

To me, that is a daunting and chilling thought.  It begs several questions that demand personal answers.  When I die, will others know about the mighty works of God in my life?  Regardless of my age, what am I doing to impact my generation or the next for Christ?  Am I passing along the importance of a relationship with Christ to my children, or am I more concerned with making sure they are popular, excelling at sports, fitting in, and having an overall good time growing up?  Where are my priorities, and are they evident enough in my life that others see them, too?

It doesn't matter how old you are at this moment, what matters is that you are making a difference in your generation so that the next one will know of God's mighty works in your life.  We have one life to live for God.  We have one voice, and one generation (our own) to impact for Christ. 

My heart burns to make an impact.  What does your heart burn for?  Do you suffer from spiritual heartburn at all?  Or have you taken so many antacids that you're immune to what God has called you to do?

---Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com

 

Docent for Jesus...

Deuteronomy 6:6-7  "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

750 hours.  1250 hours.  2000 hours.  As I wandered through the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California, last week, I quickly became intrigued with the docents that were in each room, ready and willing to share any and all knowledge of the museum with me.  They each carried a small notebook with handwritten letters and actual historical pictures, bringing history to life.  Each docent also bore a name tag with their landmark number of volunteer hours printed on it.  There was one other point of comparison with each docent, and this one was quite apparent - they were each, shall I say, getting up in their years. 

Let me be honest here.  I didn't grow up loving history.  In fact, it wasn't until recent years that I found a museum actually something of interest rather than a torturous intrusion on my sleep.  However, being married to a lover of history tends to rub off on you, and after almost twenty years now, I can actually say I not only tolerate museums, but I actually like them.  You see, I got through history in school with B's and C's, but I never really embraced its importance.  My parents didn't instill a love for history in me, and frankly, that was just fine with me.  But now that I'm learning to love history, perhaps for the first time in my life, I wonder how many other people are out there just like me.  Worse yet, I wonder how many people are raising their children with the same lack of interest for history.  As I walked through the museum last week, looking at the docents and their volunteer hours, I couldn't help but wonder if museum docents would soon be a thing of the past, taking with them the mass amounts of knowledge that they bare.   

In Deuteronomy 6, God charged the Israelites to be, in a sense, spiritual docents.  Look at the verse to memorize for this week.  (Yes, I know, there's two verses to memorize, but I needed to include both for cohesiveness sake, ok?)   We are to love God, think constantly about His commandments, teach His commandments to others, and live our lives daily by the guidelines He sets out for us. 

Can you imagine how many volunteer hours we would have on our name plate if we actually lived our lives the way God expects us to?  Some of the docents at the museum logged 2000 hours and more.  Yet, how many hours have I spent telling others about Christ?  How much time have I spent teaching others about His mighty works?  Have I committed my life to teaching others His-Story?  Am I logging hours, talking about God when I am at home, walking down the road, laying down, and sitting up?  Or, like the gray haired guides in the museum, are spiritual docents quickly becoming a dying profession? 

Have I been obedient and served my God enough to even earn the title "Docent for Jesus" on my name tag?  How many hours of service will my name badge list when I get to heaven?  
 

---Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com

 

 

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

I'm on vacation, so special thanks to my childhood friend Cindi (Goldfuss) Florit for letting me re-post her blog for the verse to memorize this week! 

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Ephesians 5:8  "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Live as children of light."

 

Ephesians 5:6-11
Galatians 5:19-25

Have you ever heard of the nursery rhyme that says:

"Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row."

I am amazed at how often I have recited little rhymes like this, never knowing their origins. The Mary that this little poem was about was Mary Tudor, daughter of King Henry VIII, also known as Bloody Mary.  The garden was the graveyards that grew in number due to her instruments of torture, the silver bells and cockle shells. The pretty maids were not little bridesmaids nor maids who waited on her. They were guillotines. Lovely. Just exactly what I want my children to learn about. :-)

But you know, friends, this little rhyme with dark origins has one glaring truth: our actions "grow" something. That something may be good, and it may be bad, but it will grow. So, the obvious question is, how is MY garden growing? What am I sowing? For we know that "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7)  We sow with our words, our actions, even our thoughts. Are we sowing seeds that will result in the fruit of the Spirit? Are we sowing seeds of obedience, submission, love for our Almighty God and Savior? Or are we sowing discord among the brethren? Are we sowing true humility that can actually hurt us when we practice it but honor our Father most of all, or are we sowing pride and dissension? Seeds of humility in asking forgiveness when we truly need to, if for no other reason than to promote unity, or seeds of pride in ignoring situations in which we can technically say we are not wrong but which destroy those around us?

I am greatly intrigued by the similarities of this little poem that seems so innocent to us today but that originated in such horrible circumstances. Then again, I ask, if someone were to make a little ditty about me, what would it say? Would the words be "quite contrary, one who puts people in the graveyard (literally or figuratively or spiritually)? Or would it be "you could tell her God was real because there's no way she could have talked the way she talked, forgave the way she forgave, made right the things that needed to be made right, encouraged in Christ the way she encouraged if the very God of heaven and earth hadn't been there working in her." Would the poem be about my failings as a human being or about my Awesome God? What is the fruit that comes from MY garden? How is Cindi's garden growing?

How does YOUR garden grow? Can you honestly face the question? I challenge us all today to check out our gardens. We can pull the weeds and thorns and thistles, even if they have a hefty root system because they've been around too long. It may take some work. We may get poked. We may get hurt, but it is worth it to get the weeds out. Bloody Mary's garden consisted of her instruments of torture. Ignoring our sins of the past won't make them go away. Do we have the character to honor our Heavenly Father and make things right the way He has said to do so?

We can water in the fruit of the Spirit and choose to think about the things that are "true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8

Having had the privilege and responsibility of working a 1-acre garden every summer as a child and teenager, I know a lot about weeds. :-P I know that real gardening is a lot of work. It is an unending process until the snow comes. It is easier to pull weeds when they are small and tender, and in Ohio's clay soil, it can be a nightmare to pull them when they've grown in and established a significant root system. But if you want good fruit, you have to get the weeds out. You have to break up the hard soil so that the vegetables can get air and water. You have to feed them. You have to find ways to keep out the animals and bugs. You have to put a lot of effort, time, sweat, thought into a garden. We have to do the same for our spiritual gardens. How's it growing today?

---A Coffee Conversation, from Cindi Florit

 

What Moon Phase are you?

What Moon Phaase are You?

2 Corinthians 3:18  "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Last year, my son Jacob had a school project to look at the moon every night for 30 days and write down the shape.  The shape of the moon is different, depending on the angle of where the earth is...it could be a waxing crescent, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, waning crescent, or new moon.  (Did they just make these terms up recently, or did I totally miss that when I was in school?)  Admittedly, I was not a good student, but even my husband was at a loss for helping with that project!

Now, simple science lessons tell us that the moon doesn't give off it's own light.  It reflects the sun's light, so if the clouds are out or there is fog in the sky, you can't see it.  Well, we definitely experienced that scenario many times over during that month-long project.  The fog was so bad the whole first week that all we could do was look at the internet to see what the shape of the moon was supposed to be, then write it down.

2 Corinthians talks about reflecting God's glory.  It talks about how Moses in the Old Testament wore a veil over his face after it 'glowed' from being in God's presence.  If they made a movie, certainly it could have been called "The Shining."  But, here in the New Testament, Paul tells us we don't need to wear a veil over our face to reflect God's glory.   He says in verse 18 that the more time we spend with God, the more we are being transformed into His likeness.

Have you ever gone to a part of the country or a foreign country where they speak with an accent?  I've been to the UK several times, and while I was in college, I spent almost a month in Australia doing mission work.  The more time I spend in these kind of places, the more I begin speaking (or unconsciously) trying to speak like them.  My son Jacob has a friend here in Texas with a pretty strong Southern drawl.  The little boy's brother and family do not have do not have this accent...just him.  (I think his goal is to be a country singer when he grows up, and right now, he's got all the swagger going for him.)  Well, after Jacob spends a few hours with this friend, Jacob starts talking all 'hick' and 'country.'  No offense...that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it illustrates the point Paul is trying to say.  The more time you spend with someone, the more you become like them.  Spend time with Christ, and you will become more like Him, reflecting His glory.

If my focus is on television or my favorite show, it will consume my thoughts.  If I put my sole attention on food, gambling, or drugs, I easily can become an addict.  If my sole focus is on work, I will be a workaholic.  But if my focus is on Christ, I will become more like Him.  I will be addicted to Him and His love.  Now that's not a bad thing!  Look at the verse again.  We are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory.  And where does that glory come from?  It's from the Lord.  I cannot be transformed into His likeness without spending time with Him.

Yes, sometimes the clouds and fog roll in.  Sometimes it's difficult to reflect God's glory when circumstances happen that shake us.  We end up waning, like the phases of the moon.  But just like the sun is always there, Christ is always there, waiting to be reflected.  God doesn't promise me this perfect life where everything goes according to my plans.  He asks me to be faithful...to spend time with Him...to reflect His glory, even in the fog.  For me, my focus has been on God, but I've felt lately as though I've been in a fog.  Life is flying by seemingly a mile a minute, and I feel like I just can't get a handle on anything very well.  So today, I'm asking God to blow His sweet breath through my life to blow away the fog and the clouds, so I can be a full moon, shining brightly and reflecting only His glory! 

What moon phase are you?

 

---Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com