Is Your Map Upside Down?

Read:  Galatians 1:1-9; Titus 2:11-14; I John 5:14-15 

Have you heard the saying, “New Year, New You”?  Usually about this time of the year the TV commercials and magazines begin targeting women and their weight.  Marketing ploys hone in on those holiday pounds we just put on and prey on our vulnerability of the upcoming bathing suit season.  One fine January morning while you happily remove your Christmas decorations, you hear that phrase on the television in the background, “It’s a New Year, why not a New You?”  Your light hearted mood is promptly replaced with a slight frown as you remove the wreath from the front door.  Suddenly, guilty images of yourself flash through your mind and begin to horrify you....all that midnight tiptoeing into the kitchen for a snatch of that delicious turkey and running your finger through the cheesecake when no one was looking! As you cringe in despair your eyes land on that tread mill you got for Christmas last year and you begin making excuses for why it is covered in laundry, craft boxes and mail.  By the time you finish shoving the boxes and tree into the attic, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and the next thing you know, you are digging in your purse for your cell phone and dialing up your BFF to see if she wants to join Weight Watchers with you.  All because of some phrase that made you start thinking about a “New You”.  A phrase probably written by some cheeto breath, fat guy with his own set of problems. 

So, my fellow weight crazed female friend, let’s take a reality check.  Before we head out on this trip, we need to look at the map and find out where we are and where we are going.  I know, I know, we really could use a new haircut and a new dress size, shoot, truth be told, I have a box of L’Oreal #10 bleach on my dresser, and my arm flab wiggles when I wave, but let’s not worry about those problems this morning. It is a new year, but not everything has to change about us!  Let’s make sure our map isn’t upside down so that we have a correct perspective of where we really are.

 Truth # 1

1 Corinthians 3:23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.

Did you read that?  You belong to Christ! Christ belongs to God.  That is a fact that will not change like the color of our hair or the number on our bathroom scales.  We are safe.  We are sound.  We are Christ’s possession.  I don’t know about you, but that truth is very important to me.  I will be very honest with you, sometimes I feel as though I am all alone in this world.  I feel that I am weird, ugly, and a general misfit of society, both in the world and in the church.  I sometimes feel that I don’t belong anywhere.  Even in a crowd of people who I know to be true friends, part of me feels lonely because, as a foreign missionary, I know I will not be there for long and if I were, they may not really like me at all.  I know it is very self-centered to think this way, but I want you to realize that 1 Corinthians 3:23 is what helps me when I feel that loneliness.  I have a choice to give in to my “self” or believe what I know to be true.  And the truth is, I belong 100%, lock, stock and barrel to Someone who cannot abandon me and loves me no matter what.  And, if you are a Christian, then you belong to Him too.  So, remind yourself about it! 

Truth # 2

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

When my oldest daughter was a baby, my husband decided to build her a toy box.  He would come home tired from driving a lumber truck around Chicago all day, but he would go out to the garage and work on that toy box for Katie.  I remember we didn’t have two plug nickels to rub together, but we saved what we could to buy a $3.00 ceramic handle for the box.  Mark was so proud of it when he finished.  I drew and painted a toy scene on the front and then we loaded it with Katie’s toys and stuffed animals.  Almost 20 years later, that box is still as sturdy as it was the day Mark put it in our daughter’s room. It has held toys, books, doll houses, hiding children and even firewood over the years.  The color from the toy scene on the lid has faded, the ceramic is missing from the handle and there are marks on it from all the children in some fashion, but that box is a reminder to me of Mark’s sacrifice made out of love for Katie. 

You and I were crafted by the Hands of Someone who sacrificed everything for us.  We were created in love and unto a purpose that God has set for our lives.  We are not just wandering around on this old earth! God has something for us each to do and His Word is our personal GPS to help us find our way.  How can I be sure of that?  I remind myself of the truth in Ephesians 2:10.  And then I remind myself of another truth;  I am not just a work of His Hands, but a work is still being performed in me.

Truth # 3

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

So, I belong to Him, I am made by Him and He is making something of and in me.  But just like in I Samuel 1 when Hannah’s adversary made her fret of things that seemed to be going wrong, our adversary, the devil, wants us to fret about our imperfections.  He wants to move our line of vision from God and His Word and begin to fret about what someone posted on facebook or the way our husband answered us, or how lonely we are.  And the sad thing is, we let him do it every single day.  So, here is my last thought:  Why not decide together as a team of sisters to purposefully focus on God’s Word and Truth? Encourage each other NOT to worry and fret.  Support each other with Truth.  Scripture is alive and it has a power to calm us as all the clichés in this world fall flat on our troubled souls. We need to Dwell and Commit to the Truth, together.  That is our true, undistorted Map for living this year.  If our Map is RIGHT side up, we will be headed in the right direction. 

Here is a quick check list:

-          Let’s check our car and put gas in, not diesel (I did that to my dad’s car once).  Let’s fill up with TRUTH, not lies. Read the Word!

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

-          Let’s check the tire pressure.   Are the bills of Christmas, college and cell phones putting you under pressure? Lay it all out in front of God, ask Him to help you see where you can be a better steward and spend more wisely.  Ask Him to give you wisdom to not end up in any more financial pitfalls.  Let Him keep you on the right road of wisdom.

Proverbs 8:12-18 I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.

-          Let’s check the mileage.  Are you feeling traveled and worn?  Let Him renew you with HIS Spirit, not what some television program or ad says.

 Psalms 103:2-5 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.  

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Let’s remember where we are at, who we are in His eyes and what He is wanting to perfect in our lives.  If you need to throw out some old thinking or just remind yourself of forgotten truths, I urge you to join me as I do the same.  I promise we won’t get lost and the end will be worth the trip.

-          Sheri