Stay salty, the final installment

PROPERTIES OF SALT (cont).
4. Salt has value.
We can't live without salt. Too little and our body's sensitive electrolyte system becomes imbalanced.
In New Testament times, salt was used as currency. It's actually how the Roman soldiers were paid, in salt.  At that time, salt was collected from the Dead Sea. The salt was crystallized together with other minerals that had to be extracted. Salt remained and the leftover minerals formed a white residue that was not useful and was thrown onto the road and trampled under feet. This is what Jesus refers to in the later part of verse 13.
Matthew 5: 13b "But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot."
How about you? Are you a useful witness for Christ or worthless--selfishly living for yourself or selfishly doing good to be seen or to receive a false sense of higher standing with God?

5. Salt dissolves.
Just as salt is not meant to remain in the salt shaker, so as Christians we are not meant to live in selfish seclusion in a life without service to our king. As the salt of the earth, we are meant to be used up in furthering God's kingdom (preserving the lives of others).
If we consider our own life and the mess we are and where God has taken us, is it not so breathtaking that God would choose to use us. I feel I am an unworthy candidate of the grace of God, but then again, if I was worthy grace would have no value.
Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found. I was blind, but now I see.
*The abundant life involves the thrill of risk. Let's get back on mission with God!

**Write me and let me know some of the ways you/your family are taking risks for the kingdom. I will publish them on my blog (first names only) so we can all receive encouragement and insight together on how the body of Christ around us is living for Him in this day and age.

Stay Salty, part deux y three

Matthew 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.


PROPERTIES of SALT
2. Salt makes us thirsty.
Ask yourself this, do others see evidence of something they crave in me?  The way I live my life should make others thirsty for Christ.

3. Salt is Common
We don't need to be the smartest or most talented person alive. The point is we belong to Christ and have purpose in Him. (See I Corinthians 1).
Draw attention to Christ not yourself.
Matt Chandler is a pastor Kendall and I enjoy following on podcasts. He says, "God is not glorified in my awesomeness."  Totally true, neither are God or others impressed because we think we are "all that." Common and humble do not equate to weakness though for when we are weak God's greatness is seen through us and we are mightily strong in Him.


Be watching for the fourth and fifth properties of salt to be posted soon.
*Principles taken from the study of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7, women's Bible study, the Village Church, Texas).

Stay Salty

Notes from my Bible study

This week I will be posting things I have been learning from my Bible study. Over the course of the week I will share five properties of salt...five ways you can remain an effective witness for Christ.

Matthew 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men."

Have you ever wondered why Jesus would refer to believers as salt? I mean He could have chosen a multitude of other substances. Below are some unique properties of salt that make Christ's analogy more clear to us.

PROPERTIES OF SALT

1. Preservative
As a preservative, salt helps to prevent decay/spoiling of food.  If we reason from the analogy that believers are salt and the world is meat, then it makes sense that believers resist the spread of sin throughout the world. 
It is also important to note that salt MUST have contact (even be rubbed in) with meat to fulfill its purpose.  Even when the salt is rubbed into the meat it is very easy to tell the difference between the meat and the salt.
As Christians there are two unhealthy extremes to be applied here. One, we stay within our Christian bubble and have little to no contact with the world OR two, some Christians want to look as much like the world as possible. Both are WRONG. An example my Bible study teacher gave is tofu, it wants to look/act like meat but it isn't even close. 
When we fall into either of these two extremes, we (as the salt of the world) are not preserving anything. We are losing our effectiveness as salt in the world around us.

Only when the Church is different will it attract the world (though it may hate the Church's message at first).

Read the book of Jude (yes, all one chapter of it) and you will find that we are charged with the responsibility of contending for the Truth. 

Challenge: Pray and ask God to reveal to your heart if you are living in one of the two extremes. Are you preserving His Truth or have you become ineffective? 
Stay salty my friends.

Advent, kiddos & mysteries of the faith

No, Advent is not Catholic. I say this as a reminder to myself. I am not sure why but growing up I always associated Advent with Catholicism, like I did with Ash Wednesday. Weird I know, but I am weird so you all shouldn’t be surprised by that. J 

This very day we find ourselves enveloped in the season of wonder, of mystery, of Majesty.  Advent is a practice that my husband and I have begun to observe for the past several years. Very simply it’s a season of expectation, awaiting with eager longing. Even if you aren’t particularly nostalgic, and the whole lighting of the Advent candles isn’t your thing, perhaps you could consider waiting every day. Take time daily from now until Christmas Eve to be still in God’s presence and reflect on the meaning of this season. Try to get up early or go to bed late or center your thoughts before you drift to sleep. In the still and in the quiet, reflect on the wonder of Christmas.  My calm, centered mind goes to a place that says—God didn’t have to create me but He did. I don’t have to be a part of His plan, but I am. God in all His Majesty left what our eyes have yet to behold to come to a place as messed up as ours to bring us to a Place as great as His. He loves us SO much.  How He must have ached for Home, how He must have longed for us all to understand while we continued to reject Him. How heavy His feet must have felt every step of the journey of every day nearing Calvary. So much awe in this season, so much joy….and with it so many questions. Yet, not all questions are meant to be answered, to be known by us. God reserves for us mysteries in the faith, but these mysteries need not frustrate us. If I am honest, I know my bend is to be frustrated when I don’t have answers. Do you know who is a great example for me? Kids. The eyes through which a child sees the world are so beautiful, so honest, and their faith is the same. This season I am going to exercise my own child-like faith. I am going to press myself to appreciate the joys and wonders of Christmas. I am going to be delighted with a country decorated in lights, with the gatherings of family and friends, with all the songs and all the cookies and the little girls’ dresses that glitter and sparkle….It’s all for you Lord Jesus. You are so worth it. You are so amazing. We celebrate You! There is no better season.

FUN WITH KIDS

While you are learning from your kids, of course they are always learning from you. Here is a fun way you can teach your kids about Advent and Christmas and Jesus in a unique way. (We can’t wait to try this with our own kiddos some day).

1.       Come up with something fun to do with your kids this weekend or next but DON’T TELL THEM.
2.       Make a countdown to the day of fun, or remind them of the special thing to come every day but don’t give it away.
3.       In the process of keeping the surprise a secret, of course your kiddos will be really excited. As they are excited, teach them about how exciting it was years ago for those who waited and expected Jesus to be born any day. Teach them this is the same excitement we can have every day because Jesus is going to come again and He is going to make this earth so cool when He does. This whole, big party of Christmas is for Jesus and it’s so great!

Precious little compares to seeing kids in joy and wonder….precious little.  It really doesn’t take much people…;-)

 

PRAY FOR YOUR HUSBAND

This week we pray that our husbands will lead our family in being reverent to the mysteries of the faith. We pray that our husbands will encourage us to ask questions that press us into God and His Word and all the while encourage us to rest only in Him knowing there are some things meant to remain mysteries, for we are not God but man.