Pearls

A new way to think about your pearls......

Pearls are my staple, go to jewelry. They are beautiful, classic and go with everything. I absolutely love them. I wear them with my black yoga pants and t-shirt when I haven’t showered, I wear them with my dress and pumps on a night out with the hubby, I wear them with my cowgirl boots and sweater when I am running errands with my son, and I even wore them with my white gown on my wedding day. 

Now the type of pearls I wear every day are cultured or man-made pearls. There are many types of pearls that can be bought today. Some are really not pearls at all and are considered imitation pearls because they look like pearls but are made out of some other material. Then there are the pearls that are man-made or farmed. These are the most common type of pearls sold in jewelry today. The rarest and most valuable type of pearl is a natural pearl, one that is wild and has grown on its own with absolutely no human intervention. 

In Biblical times the only kind of pearl that existed was natural pearls. The only way to find a pearl was by digging up hundreds or even thousands of mollusks and clams , opening them up (which killed them), and then seeing if they contained a pearl. It was very rare to find one and therefore they were considered one of the highest priced gemstones. Pearls are mentioned numerous times in the Bible, but there are two verses that really stand out for they explain the most important concept about Heaven. 

For this verse we go to Matthew chapter 13 verses 44-45 where Jesus tells the parable of the hidden treasure and the parable of the pearl merchant. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it”. 

Let’s look at these parables a little closer. In the first parable a farmer sold everything he owned to buy a field and got a treasure for free. Similarly, the kingdom of heaven is the most valuable thing in existence and God gives it to us for free when we give our life to Him (Matthew 13:44). In the second parable the pearl merchant sold everything he owned to buy the precious pearl that he found. Similarly, God pays the ultimate price to bring us to heaven (Matthew 12:45). He sends his one and only son to die on the cross so that we might be forgiven of our sins and spend eternity in the kingdom of heaven (John 3:16). 

Spending eternity in heaven with God is more valuable than anything and it is given to us for free because Jesus already paid the price! Hallelujah!

Why not be reminded, humbled, and thankful for this great news every single day? So today or tomorrow when you put on your pearls or see someone else wearing pearls think about Jesus and the price he paid to give us the most precious gemstone of all….Heaven.

Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending your son Jesus to die on the cross so that we might be forgiven of our sins and spend eternity with you. We give our life over to you and know that we are safe in the palm of your hand as we serve you in this fallen world. Guide us as we go through out the rest of our day and fill us with the joy that only you can provide. Amen.

Purpose

I can hear it now. “Mom, Why do I have to make my bed”? “Mom, Why do I have to go to Sunday school?” “Mom, why do I have to do my homework, share my toys, sit with the family for meals”? Or maybe someday I will hear questions like “why do I have to give more than I receive, forgive people when they are mean, spend time doing good for others”? I might even be lucky enough to hear “Mom, how can I know more about Jesus, what is my purpose here on earth, how can I glorify God today”? Ok, so that might be a tall order, but I sure hope that they do.  If they ask such questions it shows that they are thinking about the “why” of life. Could there be one answer to all of the why questions in life, to what our purpose is? Why do laundry, tithe, spend time we don’t have making healthy meals for our family, work hard at our corporate jobs, put our kids needs before our own, love our spouses even when they yell and throw things at the TV during football games? Why? 

There is one answer. It’s to glorify God. That is our purpose in life. Our purpose is to Glorify God in every aspect of our life.  God uses us in different ways to meet His purpose because we all have different interest, talents, and gifts, but the neat thing about God is that no matter what career path, hobby, or friends we choose with our own free will, as long as we are seeking God with our whole heart, soul, and mind He will use us for his greater good. With this in mind we can approach our daily, sometimes mundane lives with a whole new purpose. We have an answer as to why we should think and act a certain way…. to Glorify God in everything that we do.

Now I don’t know about you, but when someone tells me why I should do something, I also want to know how I am supposed to do it. How am I supposed to glorify God when I am cooking dinner, when I am driving my son to school, when I am picking up the play room for the 100^th time that day, when I am paying bills, when I am walking my dog, when I am at the grocery store, when I am out to dinner with friends? How? Paul writes in Colossians 3: 17 “whatever you do, whether in word or deed, Do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him”. When we are told to do everything in Jesus’s name, we are told to be like Jesus in everything that we do.

Ladies, that is the answer as to how to glorify God in everything we do, to do it how Jesus would do it. I am going to flash back to the 1990’s now and remind you of the W.W.J.D bracelets that became ever so popular. The phrase What Would Jesus Do might have been the popular phrase of the 90s but it is has been popular since around A.D 60 and it is still popular today. If we are seeking to glorify God in a simple task like going out to dinner then we need to ask ourselves “What would Jesus do right now when he is going out to dinner”? The only way to try and know what Jesus would do in day to day typical situations is to know Jesus on a personal level, and the only way to really know Jesus is to study the word of God and have a relationship with him. So then, whether we are answering our kid’s questions as to why they have to share their toys or we are wondering how we can glorify God while we are grocery shopping the answer is always the same.

Why? To glorify God,

How? To do everything in the name of Jesus Christ by asking ourselves What Would Jesus Do?

That is our purpose.

Almighty God, help us to remember as we go through out our busy day that our ultimate purpose in life is to glorify you by seeking to be more like Jesus in our minds and in our actions (Colossians 3:17). We want our spouses, children, friends and acquaintances to see You in us today and every day. We seek to honor and serve you and to bring Glory unto You. Amen.

Grace

Grace 

How many times a day, a week, a month, do you ask God for help? I feel like I ask God for a lot. Some things are big, and some are small. Some things I ask for would require a miracle and others are just a simple request. Since becoming a stay at home mom, I have found that talking to God through out the day about silly daily tasks helps me feel less like a crazy lady talking to herself and is far better than the blank stares I get when talking to my toddler. In a one hour time period on a typical day at home with my son I might ask God for things like: more toilet paper to magically appear AND that my toddler would leave the bathroom to let me pee in peace, for the doorbell to not wake up my napping child, for the pediatrician to have an available appointment, and for my husband to read my mind and come home from work with a bottle of chardonnay and a veggie pizza….all for me. Just today, I had an instance where I begged for God’s divine intervention in the grocery store. My toddler figured out how to get unbuckled out of the fire truck shopping cart and was standing up on the seat trying to climb out. After numerous failed attempts to have him sit ‘on his bottom’ in the fire truck I told him he would have to sit up in the cart with me. This turned into to the biggest public meltdown I have experienced in my mothering career and resulted in people staying clear of the dog food isle for about 15 minutes in fear of being attacked by a 20 month old. Clearly, my prayer of “God, help me get out of here without a meltdown” was not answered. Sometimes our prayers are answered and sometimes they are not.

The other day I prayed that my friend’s lost dog would be found and sure enough 3 days later he was found. My husband and I asked God for over 4 years to lead us to a Church and finally during year 5 after trying over 10 churches we found one that we are in love with. At 7 months pregnant with our first child my husband and I prayed that God would turn our small little savings into enough to buy a home to raise our little boy in…and God blessed us with just that. My family and I asked God to heal my Grandad from his illnesses and keep him on earth for at least a few more years, and yet so quickly he left us and went to heaven. Recently, I begged God to heal my young friend’s body which was filled with cancer, and yet he too went to be with God. Sometimes our prayers are answered and sometimes they are not. Why? I do not know.

God knows. He knows our every need even before we do (Matthew 6:8). As long as we seek Him first in our lives he will provide for us, he just might not always provide like we think we want him too. We want God to take away any and all discomfort in our lives but what we need to remember is that in our greatest weaknesses come our greatest strengths. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12 Paul writes about his thorn, about how it caused him a great deal of distress, discomfort, and pain. Paul writes that he asked God to remove this thorn 3 times but God refused. Paul then goes on to explain why God chose not to remove his thorn; so that he could receive things far greater like humility, a stronger character, an ability to empathize with others and not to mention greater Grace ( 2 Corinthians: 7,8)! Jesus says to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”. “For Christ sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12: 10). We may never understand why sometimes God chooses not to remove our thorn, but we must trust that God knows why and that His Grace is enough. 

God, help us to remember as we go throughout our day to day lives that no matter what request we bring to You, whether it be a silly one or a big one, that Your unfailing love and Grace is all we need. We praise You in our times of uncertainty and remember that You will not give us anything that we will not be able to handle. As we feel weighed down by the pain, frustrations, and hurts that our weaknesses bring, help us also to find the strengths that You give us which far outweigh our weaknesses. We ask you to fill us with your power so that our Strength will always come from You. Thank you, God, for your Love and Grace.  Amen.