Mamie and the Ink Stain

Alas, I fear Mamie the Apprentice Wonder Puppy will never be a Wonder Dog. Mamie is still a puppy at heart, and determined to stay in that cuddly, rowdy state. Maturity would help us both, if she would only embrace it.

I had just returned to my computer after lunch yesterday when I heard a crunching sound. "What is that?" I wondered. The sound continued. My next thought was, "It must be Mamie."  I was right.

Mamie had climbed up on a table (as only a determined puppy can do) and found a blue fountain pen. She had carried it to my red couch and used it as a chew toy. As you can imagine, blue ink went every where in a mad Rorschach pattern. 

My heart sank. Blue ink. All over one cushion of my couch. It looked like a catastrophe.

I jerked the cushion off the couch and raced to the kitchen sink, praying every step of the way. Slipcover off. Rinse the ink. Blot. Spray stain remover. Rinse. Blot. Spray. Rub. Rinse. Spray. On and on it went.

All thoughts of the scene I was writing and the direction I intended to take went right out of my head. The only thing that mattered at that moment was dealing with the stain.

Of course, the dark stain on the blood-red cushion reminded me of the stain of sin on our lives and the only thing that can remove it. The precious blood of Jesus.

I'm shocked, but the stain came out completely. I think it was, at least in part, because I reacted so promptly. The ink didn't have time to soak and dry in the fabric.

Quick action with stains makes a difference, but so does quick action with sin. If we would relent and repent at the beginning of our sin, before the stain has set, what a difference God would make.

Let's do a check of our hearts today and respond with the same urgency as we would if ink were on our couch cushions. 

Is there evidence of the ink-blot stain of sin in our lives? Let's relent and repent. Allow our Lord wash us clean in the precious blood of Jesus. 

Mamie may never reach the maturity of a "Wonder Dog", but we don't have to remain in our foolish, childish state. We can choose to become the mature men and woman God intended us to be. If we will.

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child:

but when I became a man, I put away childish things." 

                                                                     1 Corinthians 12:11 nasdb

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, 

let us press on to maturity..."      

                                                     Hebrews 6:1 nasb

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Follow me on Twitter for "in the moment" tweets about my writing day. It's fun. @leannahollis
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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links:  The Opportunity in Trials,  The Monarch Migration Badge,  The Sermon Without Words,  A Matter of Perspective, Living in Goshen: God's Best, Embracing Our Personal Gethsemane, and What is the Point of Suffering: Extracting the Precious.

#Mamie #repent #maturity #Christian #disciple #Shoutgotitout

Finding Christmas: When Life is Less than Perfect

The photo I used yesterday was from last year. In that photo, there are three purple candles to represent prophecy/hope, Bethlehem/preparation, and angels/love. There's a pink candle to represent shepherds/joy, and a central white candle to represent Christ.

I bought a supply of advent candles several years ago. It seemed never-ending. It wasn't. Yesterday, I scurried around, trying to find advent candles, but there were none to find. It was raining far too hard to make a trip to town for three candles, so I decided to make do with what I had on hand.

It's the meaning behind the candles that's important, not their color, right?

After scouring the house, my search yielded two green candles, one slightly crooked maroon one, an overly tall pink candle, and a shorter white candle. It was a motley assortment, and a little jarring. 

Those three wrong-colored candles were not part of my plan. I wanted a perfect advent wreath with perfect advent candles. Perfectly-colored candles. There was no room for green or maroon in my advent wreath.

No room for imperfection in my Christmas plan.

Therein lies a significant problem. The quest for perfection. We want to create the perfect holiday. Be the perfect man or woman. The perfect hostess. The perfect gift-giver. The perfect... you fill in the blank.

There is only One who is perfect, and He is God, Himself.

The rest of us are to strive for perfection, but guess what? We are not going to make it. Not until we reach our heavenly home.

This side of heaven, we accept imperfection in ourselves and the world around us because The God who loves us accepts imperfection in us first. He takes our imperfection, covers it with the blood of Jesus, and makes us perfect in His sight.

That blood-of-Jesus perfection is the only perfection we're going to have, so we might as well stop this foolishness and thank God for the grace and mercy He's given us. 

For years, I was obsessed with Matthew 5:48: "Therefore, you are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." I read "perfect" and thought flawless. Do you know how hard it is to be flawless? It's impossible. It leaves you constantly discouraged, constantly feeling like a failure, no matter the success you find. 

The word translated as "perfect" is teleios and it means "complete, mature", not flawless. I have a note in my Bible by this verse that says, "Grow up, Leanna, and act like Jesus." It's not a very churchy interpretation, but there's truth in those words.

When we mature in Christ, we strive to emulate Him in everything we do. We cherish what matters and let go of what doesn't. 

Does God care about the color of the candles in my advent wreath? Certainly not. He cares about the hope, love, and joy in my heart those candles represent. He cares about the preparation to receive all of Christ He longs for me to have. He cares about Christ in me, my hope of eternity. 

As you've already guessed, I laid aside my need for "perfection" and embraced my need for maturity, instead. I used the mismatched candles. It looked ridiculous to me, but I lit the first green candle last night and thanked God for the hope Christ bought on the cross. I read an advent devotional and the words were exactly what I needed. I had church at my table, and the green candle didn't hamper that at all.

This year, let's embrace maturity, rather than a perfection we will never achieve. 

Forget the world's definition of a perfect holiday and remember that God sent an angelic choir to announce His grand holiday to dirty, smelly shepherds in a pasture. He demonstrated the first perfect Christmas celebration in a barn with a baby wrapped in rags, lying in a stone manger filled with hay. The only Christmas light was one bright, shining star.

This year, let's grow up and celebrate like Jesus, who gathered sinners around Him and loved them all the way to the cross. Sinners just like us.

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In case you missed any of the past week's posts, here are the links: Grateful Heart: Blessing of Position, Grateful Heart: Wonder Pickle, Grateful Heart: Family, Beginning the Advent Journey, Finding Christmas: The Best Advent of All, Finding Christmas: Something Better than Stuff, and Finding Christmas: Setting a Goal.

The most read post of the last week: Grateful Heart: Family.

If you're looking for an Advent devotional, you can find The Road to Bethlehem on Amazon here.
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#Advent #Iamnotperfect #perfectholiday #mature #maturity #actlikeJesus #disciple #JesusChrist

Part 24: Old Wine (luke 5:39)

And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, 'The old is good enough.'" (Luke 5:39 NASB)

The Greek word translated here as "good enough" is chrēstos. Vine's Expository Dictionary defines it as "useful" or "fit for use". When it is used in reference to God, it refers to His goodness and kindness. Old wine is a word picture of the mature Christian, who should be so free of the sediment of immaturity that he has developed the goodness and kindness of God Himself. Maturity should bring the character of God to our lives and it should be evident to those around us. Our harsh, rough edges should have been smoothed off in the process of transformation. 

What is the character of God? When God passed by in front of Moses, he proclaimed His attributes. 

"God passed in front of him and called out, “God, God, a God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient—so much love, so deeply true—loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. Still, he doesn’t ignore sin...” (Exodus 34:4-7 MSG)

NASB describes Him as "compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin..."  Those are the characteristics that should mark the life of a mature Christian. It's the way people should describe us! There is no room for harshness, bitterness, or unforgiveness, is there? Those unpleasant characteristics should have been removed during God's work of transformation. 

Just to be clear, this does not eliminate tough love in difficult circumstances, accountability, or the need for reparation when wronged. God has been tough with me on more than one occasion. He has not, however, been mean-spirited or unkind in his discipline, and He has always been gracious to a broken and contrite spirit. 

Are the attributes of God evident in our lives? Would those who know us best describe us as merciful, compassionate, endlessly patient, slow to anger, forgiving, and loyal? 

Pray today that God would complete the process of transformation in us and in our loved ones, removing harshness, bitterness, and unforgiveness and replacing them with those attributes that would make us most like Him. May we, and those around us, recognize the evidence of maturity and praise God for the work He has done.