January 28, 2017

Greetings My Friend, Reading in Genesis, So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments." It is easy to think we don't have gods in our lives today. The more I looked at this passage the more I thought about the gods or strongholds in my life. One of the first thoughts I came up with is my strong attachment to routines. I can almost be obsessive with them. At times I had to do each step in the exact order so that I could accomplish all the things I had to get done. Being a woman of the '70's I bought into the idea of "bringing it home and frying it up in a pan," which meant I could work, make money, be a wife, have a family, go to school and volunteer. Today I see the craziness of this pace in life. Many women around my age also are struggling with health issues due to attempting to be all things to all people. My desire today is living the life God created me to live and I find He never intended most women to live that craziness. I am enjoying the simple life these days. My days are full and rich, cleaning, cooking, sewing and being a friend. In the late '70's and early '80's being an at home mother was a lonely way of life. Not only was it lonely at home mother's were considered rather dull and not so bright. Today I see the stupidity of all of this. We as women are generally created to raise the next generation which is a very important job in of itself. Another strong hold I have struggled with is thinking that having a clean house was more important than having a lived in home. If I were comfortable with the lived in look I would have taken time to play with my children and taught them the lessons of life and the soul, which I believe is Jesus. I find that some of the gods I have in my life are not wood, stone or metal but believing my worth is in the amount of money I bring to the table in my relationship. I also found Jacob admonishing his family to purify themselves to be a strange thought. When I first think about purifying I think of being physically clean. There is an importance to cleaning our bodies, I also think it is important to purify my thoughts, get rid of anger, malice, lustful thinking and such. When I clean out my resentments by asking God to forgive me I am able to think clearly, to focus on God, to find compassion instead of resentment. My faith journey teaches me that walking with Jesus sets me apart from the world. Many times the world thinks I am weird. I used to think I needed to blend in with the world, I felt comfortable blending in. The problem is it is hard to for the world to meet Jesus. With Jesus' love I find being apart from the world more comfortable now. When I am different from the world I am able to love more fully and more like Jesus. That is how people will come to love Jesus and learn of God's true and gracious love. God will accept all people good, bad, worse than bad and any skin color, or religion or denomination. God asks one thing in order to be saved by grace, believe He is God and accept Jesus as their Savior. From that point God takes the person on an awesome journey. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet