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With grateful hearts, we share our thoughts on redemption through Jesus Christ and His saving blood and what it looks like in our daily walk.

We gladly welcome your comments and input.
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AND since we hold our conservative values dear, we might have a thing or two to say about politics... and we can almost guarantee it won't be politically correct.



Friday, August 31, 2007

Another Shot, Please

I have to share about my recent trips to Jamba Juice (a smoothie place in town where I’ve been a frequent customer for about two years now). I usually get a shot or two of wheatgrass each time I go. One ounce of this green juice is equivalent to 2 pounds of green vegetables. They serve it on a plate with a slice of orange to chase it with (kind of like a tequila shot).

I am not here to endorse this product, although I could for quite some time. I do want to tell you about the way other customers react while I enjoy the shots. They look at me like I am a freak. You would think they just saw a UFO. It's like I have alien eyeballs swinging side to side on top of my head. "Who's the dude from another galaxy drinking the Martian juice?"

Recently, I even overheard a mom explain to her kindergartner that I was drinking the stuff he runs around on in their front yard. She told him, “It’s like our grass at home, but a little different.” He asked why in the world somebody would drink that, and his mom graciously said some people actually like it.

Most of these people have never seen someone drink wheatgrass, so it is really odd to them and understandably so. I have never felt so uncomfortable (which is a sad indictment on me as a Christian). Imagine having an entire store look at you while you are eating or drinking something. I must say I felt a bit persecuted for my health beliefs. It was then that I realized this is how I should feel every day for what I believe spiritually. Jesus said it like this, "If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you."

I want to encourage you to let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Don't let the discomfort of the situation change your behavior. You should feel uncomfortable in this sin-infested place. Satan is the god of this world. Sin is running rampant. Thankfully, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. You won't be fully comfortable until you reach your home in heaven. That is where your citizenship is. That is where you belong. We are strangers here on earth. We are just passing through waiting for our mansions to be built in heaven.

I realized from this wheatgrass experience how life should be for us. People should continually look at our Christian life with amazement and say, "I've never seen that before. What is that?" We should be showing the world a new and better way, one which is foreign to them.

Turn your light on by living what you believe and let the whole world see it. Let me insert here that it is vitally important (life and death hang in the balance) for you to believe the Bible. If you live what you believe but your beliefs don’t come from the Bible, nobody is going to be glorifying your Father in heaven.

As we grow stronger in our relationship with Jesus, we will eventually get to the place where the stares of others and their persecution don’t matter much to us anymore. But until that time comes, we need to live like Jesus even when doing so makes us feel uncomfortable.

3 comments:

MacKenzie Olivia said...

how wonderful to see my friend share from his heart. it's been a long while that i've been able to receive from your ministry and i appreciate today's post.

before moving back home, i had worked in a Christian environment for 8 years and not heard curse words of witnessed ungodly behavior, so working at a secular job has been an adjustment.

it didn't take long for my co-workers to notice i was different because of the way i talked and acted. after some months, i frequently would have people approach me to ask my beliefs and where i attended church (the city I live in is predominately Catholic). i enjoyed getting to share my walk with Christ and found I had so much to say that I may have jumbled my words in an effort to share my heart.

i've noticed recently that i haven't been getting too many people asking me questions anymore, much to my dismay, which has caused me to re-examine my Christian walk.

have i shied away from being a bold Christian in order to not offend? don't get me wrong, my co-workers still know i attend a non-catholic church and apologize when they swear around me, but i know i need to be more bold and radical to the point where Jesus in me is so appealing and addicting that people ask me if they can come to church with me.

how i long for that. i will be changing the way i pray.

Anonymous said...

Moore Life,

I didn't realize you had ever heard me minister. Were you in Healing School when I ministered there?

I appreciate the kind words and your comments. I have also worked a secular job part/full time for the last 13 years. I know exactly what you mean.

I hope to help you in your attempt to share God's love at your workplace.

In your wondering why things have slowed down about sharing your faith, know this one thing for sure: The world doesn't care one iota(bit) about God. You know well that the bible teaches that things are only going to get worse in our world as time progresses. People are going to grow colder and colder towards God and get further and further away from Him. So i believe part of it is not your fault, but...part of it is.

When reading your comments, I immediately thought of one of my favorite scriptures that is probably not too well known. It is Romans 12:11. We are instructed to be fervent in spirit,serving the Lord. This passage didn't mean much to me until I looked up the definition of fervent one day. It means to be hot, so hot that you are boiling and/or glowing. Do you remember what Jesus said about being lukewarm? He wished we would be hot or cold, right? Guess where that word hot comes from in the Greek language? It comes from the very word we just mentioned, fervent. Can you believe that? I didn't know that until right now. Thank God for the Holy Ghost!

So we can deduct from these scriptures that you and I have to be filled with the fullness of God to the point that we are also a consuming fire lit with the very flames of our Heavenly Father. When we do, people will come up to us and say, "There's something different about you. I can see it in your countenance. What do you attribute this to?"

I so appreciate your comments because it helped me see I've got some boiling to do? How 'bout you? :o)

SEM and MLM love Moore Life and your family. God bless!!!

mlm said...

Scott: Thanks for the post. It made me think of several things: two of which I'll share with the group:

1. I wish I liked to drink wheatgrass. The thought of ingesting two pounds of veggies in a single one-ounce shot is so appealing! Especially since I don't like eating veggies. (Not even one ounce!) But the time I tried wheatgrass I nearly tossed my cookies. (And, yes, it was *cookies*, since I have no problem eating two pounds of those!)

2. Pesecution is a tough subject for me. I don't like being disliked. Who does? But you're right...Jesus said the world should hate us if we're His because the world hated Him. Of course, the persecution that Jesus referred to and the only kind that brings glory to Him is when we are persecuted for the Word's sake. In other words, He wasn't talking about suffering sickness or calamity or poverty, He meant suffering for being a Christian--for "doing right" as the Bible says. And in this day and age, it's much easier to go with the flow instead of standing for what's right. *Easier*, but not better. Thanks for the reminder!

3. Did you call me an alien!??!?

Moorelife: Thanks for your comment. Your desire to share Jesus is inspiring to me!

I'm sure your life is a testimony in itself--to friends, family, and co-workers. And when I myself feel like I've no one to "witness to" as a stay-at-home mom, I remind myself that my life should be a light. For example, my marriage can be so strong that people wonder and ask me why. (JESUS!) My health can be so sound that people wonder and ask me why. (JESUS!) My hope can be so secure that people wonder and ask me why. (JESUS!) My child can be so perfect...hahahahaha! Just kidding. But you know what I mean.

Let's strive for all of this together and with God's grace and each other's help--STAY STRONG TO THE END! :o)

September 2, 2007