Thief or Conquorer? Both!

"Momma, why do people steal?" asks my 8 year old cowgirl.

"Well," I respond with heaviness in my heart and a prayer of wisdom on my lips, "have you ever wanted something someone else had?"

A resounding "YES!" comes from all 3 kids in the backseat of the van.

"Well then someone who steals chose to simply take what wasn't theirs instead of working to earn the money to buy what they wanted or the lacked character to ask for it."

At that moment I realized there's a little bit of the thief in me. In me resides the inclination to steal, kill and destroy. It's a force to be reckoned with, not deny. The desire to have something that's not mine left unchecked by the Spirit could lead to robbery. Paul said it best in Romans 7 (paraphrasing), I don't do what I want to do and I do the thing I don't want to do! There's a battle going on inside my soul everyday! Will I choose to walk in my flesh and gratify my human nature - which FEELS really good and satisfies for the moment, yet leaves me out to dry once the moment's over? Or will I walk in the Spirit - putting aside my SCREAMING demands and obey the still small voice?

Have you ever had a screaming child in the car? You're driving home and about 10 minutes away your infant wakes up, STARVING! What can you do besides speed up a few notches and maybe rock the car from side to side? Driving while nursing is definitely NOT recommended! You know the child will survive 10 more minutes, even though he/she does not.

It's the same way with our walk. My flesh can scream out at me to give in and satisfy my emotion - which is no different than stealing a candy bar from the gas station. That's why Jesus went to the cross. To embody all the sin of the thief, the murderer, the adulterer, the liar. It all died with Him! Then He walked out of the grave and offers us His hand to join Him. We 'walk in the Spirit" when we realize the depth of our sinful nature, (our speck) stop pointing out our brothers saying we could never do that, and choose to say "It's only by YOUR powers Jesus I'm not the thief right now! Lead me, Help me to follow you...because without YOU I am NOTHING!

And it gets better...God says to me His grace is sufficient for me and His power is made perfect in my weakness. He says I am more than a conqueror through Jesus. He says He will lead me in triumphal procession in Christ and spread everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. He says He will keep me in perfect peace when my mind is steadfast on Him. God tells me the moment I look to Him, I am saved. I have the mind of Christ, the spirit of sonship and can call the LORD of all, Daddy. I am His daughter. He says nothing can separate me from His love. Not my fears, not my thoughts, not the fear of my thoughts...nothing....nothing....nothing. I am His and He is mine.

Yes, I am capable of the worst of sins - I could do it all in a heartbeat. I may feel guilty in the morning, but don't we all? Paul shares a similar story in Romans 7:14-24 and ends with these words, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our LORD!

John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

Life Stitches

Why do I love to sew you ask? Ahhh, let me count the ways… #1 It connects me with my mom and grandmother. #2 Sewing allows me to use my creativity on something other than my kids and husband. #3 It sucks me into a time warp where suddenly I don’t feel hungry, tired or worried about life. All I can think about is the next stitch and how excited I am to see the finished product!! Sewing is not something I take lightly, actually, I don’t take anything lightly, and so sewing obviously is no different! I also race to finish things, so I’m terrible at a seeing fabric draped over the machine waiting patiently for me to have time for it. I just part the waters of life, sit down and SEW. All of that to say it was one of those “sewing weeks” as we call it in my house, and this was one of the last pieces to make. It was a sleep shirt. Simple… Easy… Right? Sort – of. I’d done this pattern before but always messed up on the neckline. I thought I had figured it out and was excited to get to the dreaded part, confident I knew what to do now. This wouldn’t take long! Did I mention it was about 9pm…kids in bed…long day…husband feeling a little lonely due to “sewing week”?? Well, that’s just a minor detail anyway. So here we are…the neck seam and I had it figured out. I pinned. I checked. I double checked. Finally I begin to sew, carefully and slowly because I’m working with a knit fabric and a knit stitch that is almost impossible to rip out if it’s not right. Excitedly I do the final backstitch, cut the strings and examine my work. My heart says, thump, thump, thump… “NOOOOOOO” My idea was not correct, I had stitched the whole thing wrong again! So instead of snuggling next to my husband clothed in a homemade shirt, I, through clenched teeth and watering eyes undid tiny stitches until my eyes couldn’t see anymore and my stomach was in knot. Not the rewarding feeling I was looking for.

The next morning I woke up and after breakfast picked up right where I left off. That’s when it hit me…

As the “creator” of this sleep shirt, there’s really no mess up, no stitch that I can’t take out. Even if I messed up the whole thing or cut it in two, I could always buy more fabric and do it again, because I have the PATTERN.

Then I related it to MY life. There’s no stitch, no marks, no cuts that God can’t fix. He has the pattern. He is my CREATOR, therefore, I cannot mess up His masterpiece. Because actually, in my mess up, He becomes MORE. You see that zig zag stitch there? That’s where I started to veer off the right, chasing after the wind and God had to do some extra stitches there. You see that my right sleeve is a different shade then the left? That’s because I sewed it on backward. God decided to leave it as a reminder that He comes first and when I’m abiding with him, I’m going to look different than those around me. You see that neckline? All the holes because the stitches were taken out so many times it put holes in the fabric? There wasn’t a way to pull out the stitches (things in my life not honoring Him) without pulling out what was around it and leaving a hole. Yes, I’m a mess. But I’m God’s mess, and He’s not finished with me yet!!!

How can you relate that to your life? What stitches have needed to be ripped out? Or maybe left in to remember He is perfect, we are not. I pray you will let God be your Creator. I pray you dance in the freedom of His arms. I feared messing up for so long it stunted by ability to dance with Him. He loves us with an everlasting love. If you are in Christ, He loves you just as you are today. We can embrace that truth and let Him create us as He will.