Are you hungry?

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.

Have you ever been hungry?  I mean really hungry.  I don’t mean your tummy growling because you missed your  3 pm snack but a hunger that is long lasting and painful.  I am not sure that anyone reading this has truly experienced that kind of hunger and if you have, I am sorry.

As we travelled the streets of India on our trips to visit my family.  We saw that kind of hunger.  We saw what real hunger looks like and honestly, I don’t know that pain.

Mother Teresa shared in an interview about all the pain she had witnessed in her lifetime. The interviewer asked her what was the worst thing she had seen and she replied by saying that “nothing compares to the pain caused by hunger”. The worst thing she had witnessed was children struggling through the physical, mental and emotional pain that comes with real hunger. I saw a glimpse of that during our travels to India.  Hunger hurts.

And yet, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”  We are to desperately pursue God in the same way that we would desire food if we were hungry, or water if we were thirsty. 

We get a real sense of that desperate longing when we read David’s words in Psalm 42:1 where he wrote, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”

Do you long for God like that? Do you hunger for Him? Do you thirst for Him?

We have a tendency to fill up on things that don’t satisfy and leave us feeling pretty empty, don’t we?

Hunger for God is an interesting thing. It requires sacrifice. It requires seeking God first. But I think it also requires that we believe and trust that what God has for us is better than anything we would choose for ourselves.

This week, I encourage you to challenge one another to hunger and thirst for God.  Not sure how to start?  Here are a few simple things we can do:

• Make God a part of your regular conversations. Allow God to be a part of your regular vocabulary. When talking about a beautiful sunset give thanks to God. Likewise in times of need cry out to God for help. People in your midst should know who you worship and who you go to for strength, by the words you use.

• Look for God in the everyday things. When you take the time to look - you will be amazed as you see God at work in your life and the life of others.

• Make church a priority. We are all busy, I know. But I would encourage you to come or join us online regularly and be filled, as we worship the Creator and Sustainer of this universe, the One who sent His son, Jesus, for you and your family. We need the worship of our God to be a priority.

• Serve God. What an incredible blessing it is to serve.

Be hungry this week because those who hunger and thirst for God will be filled!

Spring Cleaning

I love spring!

I love how the days get longer, and how the sun warms the air.  With the windows now open, fresh air is blowing in and with it the sounds of spring. I hear people raking away the thatch off their lawns making way for fresh new green grass, kids outside playing, birds chirping and of course the sound of the Blue Jays game on the radio or TV (in direct completion with playoff hockey ;)) and of course there is spring cleaning.

Spring cleaning is a term that we all understand. It seems that as the sun streams through the windows it casts light on the dirt and clutter that’s gathered all winter long. And if you are anything like me you want to bring the newness of the season into your home by purging and cleaning in order to make it fresh and presentable.

But what about a spring cleaning for the soul? Sometimes we need to do the same thing with our spiritual houses. We all grow stale sometimes and need a spiritual freshening up. What if this spring as we are decluttering and cleaning our homes, we spent time cleaning up our spiritual house as well?

So here are a couple of ideas on how to get started:

Get rid of the clutter:  Take a look at what distracts you from making your relationship with God a priority. And if you can, get rid of it!  What is getting in the way of nurturing your relationship with God?  For instance, are you watching TV, or one more episode on Netflix when you could be outside walking and praying, or in God’s Word?

Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (NIV)

Wash and cleanse - After you’ve gotten rid of the clutter it is time to cleanse. As you draw near to God - ask God as David did in Psalm 51:10:

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (KJV)

Scrub out nasty attitudes, like bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, fear and selfishness by asking God to help you clean up each one.

In God’s economy every day is a great day for some spring cleaning!

Join us on Sunday as we begin a new sermon series called In God’s House.

You can also join us online!

Shouldn't everyday be Mother's Day?

This Sunday is a special day for the Mother’s in our midst. 

Now that both my children are married, I share Mother’s Day with two amazing woman (Sandy and Liz), who raised some exceptionally wonderful children. So, I will not have my babies all to myself as in earlier years and there is a part of me, if I am completely honest, that is a little sad. 

And then I started wondering: Why?  Why should I feel sad?  Had I too, bought into the whole Mother’s Day consumer madness? Did I feel bad because all the commercials on TV and store flyers at my door tell me that my children should be with me on this day? Not just with me, but showering me with adoration, cards and gifts? And if they are not with me, like the TV ads suggest, is something wrong with me?  Am I not a good mother?

Good Grief!

So how did it all start? 

I decided to do a Google search on the origins of this “special” day, and what I found was rather surprising.

You probably know that Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. But did you know Mother’s Day was proclaimed a national holiday in the United States by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914?

It seems that the woman who began Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis, did so in honour of her own mother who had passed away two years earlier. In 1908 Jarvis held a service in West Virginia which so moved her that she embarked on a national campaign to have the country honour the many contributions that mother’s make.  

By 1914 Mother’s Day had generated such momentum and President Wilson agreed to Jarvis’ request to set aside a day each year to honour our mothers. 

Here’s the interesting part. Anna Jarvis was horrified by what Mother’s Day had become. Jarvis felt that companies had exploited the idea of Mother's Day, which was to be about sentiment, not profit. I read that she was so enraged by the commercialism that in 1923 she filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother’s Day festival. She was later arrested for disturbing the peace when she learned that a war mother’s convention was selling white carnations—Jarvis’ symbol for mothers—to raise money. “This is not what I intended,” Jarvis said. “I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit!”

I believe dear Anna Jarvis was right.

Jarvis had apparently started something that she could not stop. It was reported that she died at 84, never a mother herself, and that she spent most of the fortune her own mother left her to fight a holiday she created to honour her.

I hope I don’t sound cynical but Mother’s day is a fabricated day. Shouldn’t every day be Mother’s Day? I am not saying this because I am blessed to be a mother, or because I am the daughter of an amazing mother, or because I may not be with my kids on this day. 

Scripture tells us:  Honour your father and your mother (Exodus 20:12).  I don’t read, “Honour them once a year, or when it’s convenient.”  Honour them always! All the time!

I don’t need a card to tell my mother I love and appreciate her.  I just need to look her in the eyes and tell her. 

Likewise, I don’t need my kids to buy me stuff. I’m sure they will be relieved, and maybe even surprised to read this, but all I need is for them to just say they love me and appreciate me. Not just on the second Sunday in May, but often.  Dare I say, everyday   ;)

“May she who gave you birth be joyful!”, Proverbs 23:25.