I am sure, in your lifetime, you have eaten some very delicious Hot Fudge Sundays (with of course, the bright-red cherry on top). But no matter how delicious the hot fudge Sunday, if you get to the very bottom, and on your last bite, you scoop up a dead fly; chances are, despite any previous pleasure, the entire Sunday turns into a horrible experience.
No matter how great something is (like a cruise to the Bahamas), if one little thing goes wrong (like having the flu) the cruise is not pleasurable.
Have you noticed lately that the laundry detergent containers are getting smaller? Not only are they smaller, the amount of loads you can wash, seem to be increasing! This tells me that I’ve been ‘ripped off’ over the years, because the large containers were diluted, right?
On Christmas day this year, it is my desire to spend four hours seeking out the homeless, so I can pass out free lunches, and deliver some hope. This idea came to me when I tried hard to find a soup kitchen, and found that in Springfield, there really isn’t any type of charity event for the destitute on Christmas. I have some blankets and sleeping bags to give away, and I know I can make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches…
Now that sounds sweet, that I have such a big heart, right? But, if I told you that I wanted to do these nice things, not only to be Christ-like, but to also skip the visit with my in-laws, then I have diluted my generous and wonderful intensions/heart, right?
I do have a big heart for the needy, and it does hurt my heart that we don’t have soup kitchens on Christmas. But can you see how just one mention of ‘skipping in-laws’ would make someone question my motives/intensions?
In the Bible, I thought about Martha, and how she was rushing around trying to make a wonderful dinner for Jesus. Martha wanted her sister Mary to help, but Mary was at Jesus' feet. This 'ticked' Martha off, but Jesus thought Mary was in the 'right' for pausing to worship Him.
Martha wanted everything to be perfect, yet in one short moment, she probably felt that what she did was in vain.
We dilute our hearts over and over again, when we start with the right motives, and then something negative gets in the way… We go to give something away, the receiver says thank you, and we say, “Oh, not a problem, it was just sitting around”. When we are thanked for the time we took to do something nice, we say “Oh, that’s o.k., I wasn’t busy”. Our great intensions have just become diluted.
Let’s talk church. It is obvious that the church has changed a bit over the years. A while ago, it was sinful for a woman to wear makeup, be a Pastor, wear slacks… Drums were prohibited, clapping was ungodly, and Christians wouldn’t dare go out to eat on the Sabbath for fear it might make someone work on Sunday. Boy, has church changed, and it has all changed within my lifetime.
These changes may be good changes, but when we change, it might be diluting.
Haven’t we diluted and polluted Jesus’ big heart when we connect Him to negative things? His gift for us is truly indescribable - Jesus had the biggest heart, but with one little word, look, gesture… can't we easily dilute His message for the needy, destitute, blind, lame…
If this is you this Christmas season - if your love/heart has been diluted by your own mouth/actions or by others questioning your motives, please don’t give up trying to serve others (In Jesus Name).
God knows your intensions and He judges the heart.
I Corinthians 4:3-5 (Paul said) I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s heart.
Jesus was drilled (questioned) over and over in regards to what was right and wrong, which laws were more important, etc. Should we eat pork, unclean food, heal on the Sabbath…
By reading the red words in the Bible (what Jesus said), you will discover that this has been a problem since church began. We question other’s intensions and motives, and often times put ourselves back into chains.
Jesus was born to set us free, Free Indeed!
Matthew 7: 12 (Jesus said) In everything, do unto others what you would have them do unto you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Keep going, keep serving the down-and-out, love others - even with a ‘diluted’ heart.
Just try your hardest not to dilute Jesus’ intension and heart!
We can reach others by boasting about our weaknesses, God’s power is made perfect, then in the ‘same breath’ we can boast about God’s strengths.
I have discovered, that no matter how hard we try to hide our weaknesses, those same weaknesses shine brightly like Rudolf’s nose!!!
Let’s talk about my weaknesses:
1. I need to be heard. (Thank you Jesus – Psalms 72:12-14)
2. I need to be understood and known personally (Thank you Jesus – Psalms
139:1-4)
3. I want to SHOUT to the world what Jesus has done for me (Thank you
Jesus – Matthew 5:14-16)
In order to end this inspiration, I will stop listing my weaknesses, but they go on and on - Jesus, however, does know that I have good intensions.
Jesus Loves You!
Keep up the good work!
If your heart feels small like the laundry detergent containers, just 'concentrate' it with Jesus. Or concentrate on Jesus! He loves you for all that you do! He loved Martha too, He was just defending Mary because she was being judged, which is why I love Jesus soooo much!!!
God Bless!
In His Hands,
Love, Glen
P.S. The next time you eat a hot-fudge sunday, please think of me. If you get through the entire sunday without a fly, be thankful!!! Look down though, you probably dripped a little on your shirt.