It’s About What You Say, Not How Well You Say It

Written as part of the She Reads Truth #SheSharesTruth experiment 

Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

So often, it seems that we get caught up in our own abilities or how we’re going to present something in this amazing way that we forget that the message itself is what is important. But the truth is, unless you’re a motivational speaker, the actual content of your message is what will be focused on for most presentations people attend. 

This is actually a very timely concept for me to grasp. I’m currently preparing to deliver training in D.C.; and the whole purpose of next week’s event is to judge how good I am at training. Gulp. (And I’m not normally a trainer!) The point is not for those in the room to learn the information. They will all be federal employees who already know the content. They just want to know if I know it. And there will be, I’m sure, an element of criticism around my delivery of the message that they want me to share. Ick. Super stressed. I already get nervous before presenting. But to present for the purpose of being judged!?! Not my idea of a good time. 

But I have to remember: It doesn’t have to be about that. If I know the materials (and in this case, that’s also the issue – just started prepping yesterday really), it will speak for itself. In fact, no amount of fancy speech and delivery skills will make up for not knowing my stuff. The content is far more important than how dynamic a speaker I am. 

And how much more so is that true when delivering the message of Christ! So often we are drawn in by powerful speakers. People who make us feel something. People with charisma and charm. But if we’re not careful, we can become less concerned about the actual message being delivered. And we can be duped by the messenger. Plus, dynamic deliveries often bring praise upon the messenger, more so than the message.

But in this passage, Paul makes it clear that he’s not playing the orator. He is just a simple sharer of good news. He has a message, and he’s going to share it. But he’s not going to puff it up. He’s not going to be commended for how well he did in delivering it. He doesn’t want pats on the back for how great a speaker he is. He wants the focus to be on the message itself. On Jesus. For that is what we are called to: “to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (vs 2).

If we know nothing else and share nothing else, and do it in a meek and humble way, we’ve done exactly what we’re called to. We are not called to making ourselves known. We are called to make Jesus famous. In our hearts. In our lives. In our communities. In our world. But we do that, not by being boisterous and bringing attention to ourselves, but by sharing him in all that we do and all that we say each and every day. Because really, our lives are not meant to be about us. They are meant to be about him. And he’s big enough and powerful enough that he doesn’t need our oratory skills to bring his message in such a way that it changes people. He can handle the changing. He just needs us to know him and love him and share him. He’ll take care of the rest.  

The Rest Will Take Care of Itself

Written as part of the She Reads Truth #SheSharesTruth experiment 

Read Joshua 1:1-9

At the beginning of the book of Joshua, he has been commissioned by God to do THE BIGGEST THING he could ever imagine. Moses, the leader, has died. And Joshua, Moses’ assistant, will now put on the leader hat and deliver to these people the one thing they’ve been searching for – for most or ALL of their lifetimes: the homeland that God has promised them. 

But Joshua knows that the final scenes of this very dramatic story have the potential to be the most daunting. It’s not as if it’s just open and unoccupied land. It’s not as if it’s just there for the taking – first come, first serve. They will have to take the place away from those who currently consider it their home. And he’s guessing that these people are not just going to move out without a fight. I mean, it’s not like it’s a saved seat. There will be no: Excuse me. Umm, this land is actually ours. God was saving it for us. So I’m actually going to need you to find another place to live. (In fact, that tactic doesn’t even go over well when it is just a saved seat you’re squabbling over.) And the response will be something stronger than a sassy: Oh. Well. I didn’t see your name on it.   

So, Joshua is probably a little scared. Out of his MIND! So, the Lord tells him to be strong and courageous. He actually says it three times in the first nine verses. 

Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them (Vs 6).

Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go (Vs. 7).

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go (Vs. 9).

God really wants Joshua to be strong and courageous. 

But how can he be? He needs a plan. He needs to know how to attack. He needs to know what type of enemy he is facing. 

No he doesn't. At least not yet. That will come. He really just needs God’s Word. It will provide all the direction he needs. And he needs to trust God on this.  

While the Lord encourages him to be strong and courageous three times in verses 6, 7 and 9, the real practical key to success provided in this passage is in vs. 8: 

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

I’m going to guess that Joshua has read this Book of the Law before and never really saw it as a manual for a hostile takeover or an all-out war. It never really struck him as that kind of book before. But it is. Or it can be. If you meditate on it. God’s Word is meant to strengthen and empower us to face every scary thing we can imagine. He’s given it to us to grow our strength and courage. The rules are there to guide us, to keep us within the lines – on the path to success.

And although, through Christ’s death and resurrection, we aren’t condemned by the law anymore, we are still to be bolstered by God’s Word. If we make it a regular part of our day, of our lives – meditating on it all the time, our lives will be better for it. While he certainly doesn’t promise that we’ll never have tough times, he does guarantee that his ever-present love and his Word will get us through it all. 

So, be strong and be courageous. The manual for getting through the tough and messy – the Bible – is readily available to guide us. If we’ll only meditate on it – allowing it to soak in, the rest will take care of itself.

 

I Told You So

Written as part of the She Reads Truth #SheSharesTruth experiment

Read Jonah 3-4 

Have you ever decided ahead of time how mad you were going to be about something before it even happened? Told yourself, “I don't want to do X because Y person is only going to do Z. And when they do Z, I’m going to be sooo mad!”? I have. I refer to it as getting “pre-angry”. Deciding ahead of time that I’m going to be extra-angry when someone fails to do what I want AGAIN, in the exact way that I’m expecting them to. I’m not sure why I think I can get extra-angry in these situations. Probably just because I predicted it and had time to stew about it before it even went down. By the time that they fail me (i.e., don’t do what I want), I’m ready to POUNCE! OR my only solution for preventing my anger (instead of just deciding: 1) to believe in the person and 2) to not be angry if they do something other than my wishes) is to decide ahead of time that I won’t be sucked in again. That I just won’t do X this time. 

That’s Jonah in this story. He was angry that God made him go to Ninevah to make this big pronouncement that he was going to destroy the whole place because of how evil they were and then didn’t live up to the promise that he had Jonah make. Jonah was mad because he knew God would want to forgive them. He knew God’s nature. He had God’s number. And the thing is: What he predicted was that God would do something amazing, not horrible. But if God was not going to destroy Ninevah (which Jonah knew he wouldn’t), then he didn’t want to waste his time making the threat. In Jonah 4:3, Jonah said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 

Paraphrase: “I told you that you were going to do this. And now you’ve done it! That’s why I was justified in disobeying. Because I didn’t want to be sucked in again for no reason. I didn’t want to have to talk big about what you were going to do – knowing you’d never do it – and then look like a fool when you didn’t do it. But you did it! You sucked me in again, after I convinced myself that you had changed, and here we are. I’m so humiliated I could die!”

But God never changes. The good thing about that is: He’s always good. It’s not like being sucked into the messy lives of those we love who might fail us. God never fails. We may fail in wanting the right things from God. But God doesn’t drop the ball on who he is. He’s consistent. His gracious, merciful, patient, loving, relenting-from-disaster character will always hold true. Jonah was right about that. But what Jonah seemed to forget was: He didn’t deserve forgiveness (or that plant that sprouted to keep him cool) either. He’d known God long enough that he’d become entitled. He thought his relationship with God was about him. He thought he made the rules. He thought it was about what he could get out of God. 

But it’s never about us. It’s always about God. Everything. All the time. And that’s part of what Jonah got pre-angry about. Because he was going to obey God’s wishes for one reason – to tell those awful people how God was going to destroy them and everything they loved and then sit back and watch the filthy place burn like they deserved. But if God dared to make this about him again, if he dared relent, Jonah was going to be mad.

But thank goodness God dares. Thank goodness he gives us what we don’t deserve. I just pray that we Jonahs out there – who know God and the mercy and grace and love and patience and relenting that is part of his very being – don’t forget that we didn’t always know God. We didn’t always know his character. And we weren’t always the “good” people we envision ourselves to be. Thank goodness someone was willing to tell us about him – not because we deserve his grace, mercy, love, etc. – but because God is bigger than all of the things we’ve done that need grace, mercy, love, etc. 

May we never lose sight of our undeserving nature. And may we never grow weary of the steadfastness of God’s.

 

 

Crack and Cheese

I told my husband I would write down this recipe immediately, so I wouldn't forget it. And then, I don't know, life happened. Or at least something more important than writing down a recipe did. But I've had it on my mind for the last month or so. So, here it is.

It all started with this: Warm Crack Dip. I regularly make recipes from the Plain Chicken blog. It's actually written by a friend of a friend. But that's just an interesting bonus tidbit. I follow this blog for the FOOD. This chick knows how to make tasty things that are simple. And the Warm Crack Dip, which I made for the first time ever for our 2014 Super Bowl party, is just another example of one of her tasty, yet simple delights.

Once people started eating the Crack Dip, a crowd formed and hovered around it until it was gone. Well, technically, it wasn't gone. But they stopped eating it once it got hard to get, i.e. someone was going to have to be bold enough to assert themselves and turn the dish on its side to get the baked-on goodness off. But our friends, thankfully, aren't crude. So, the dish was abandoned when it got to this point. And when I say "thankfully", I partially mean: Thankfully FOR US! Because that crack dip turned into some of the best mac and cheese I have ever had!

I don't like to waste. So, when the party was over and we were cleaning up, I could (without being judged) turn that dish on its side and scrape all the rest of the goodness into Tupperware for future enjoyment. But I never actually planned to consume it the way we did.

It was a weeknight. And for some reason I had actually told Mr. Love what I was cooking. Probably because some days there's nothing more that he wants than Kraft mac & cheese. And since it's easy, some days that's quite alright by me. I can't even remember the rest of the meal. If I had to guess, I'd say pork chops and green beans ... So anyway, after making an unlikely announcement about my plan for the meal, I went to the pantry to pull out said mac & cheese. And to my dismay, there was none. So, I panicked. No, so I thought: How can I make a substitute that Love will enjoy? (He honestly prefers Kraft over so many other types of mac & cheese.) I see shells. And I start thinking about what's in the fridge. Crack! We have Crack in the fridge! This is going to be (better be!?! hopefully will be!?!) amazing, I think!

Oh, and, it was.

If my memory serves me correctly, other than the Crack dip, all I added to the cooked shells was milk. And probably salt and pepper. I got a bunch of other ingredients out, but didn't need to use them. And I honestly didn't measure the amount of milk. I just poured until it looked right. (Sorry, not much of a recipe.) Y'all - THIS STUFF WAS AMAZING! I mean, really, starting with Crack dip, it would have been hard to mess up. But still. I never imagined it would be this good.

I was going to (lamely) name it Miracle Mac because it was a miracle that I made a mac & cheese from scratch that Mr. Love liked. (I'm telling y'all, he loves my cooking. But he has this weird uber-strong comfort food association with the Kraft stuff.) But my Love (more cleverly) said it should be called Crack and Cheese. So, while I take full credit for the creation, my hat is off to him for his gift of nomenclature. Here is a pic of her delicious now:

(Sorry, I didn't think about taking a pic, until I was packing away leftovers. Yes! Leftovers! Crack dip is the gift that keeps on giving!)

All I can say is: Make Warm Crack Dip. And if you happen to be lucky enough to have any leftovers, please make Crack and Cheese. It just might change your life. You're welcome.

(NOTE: If you missed the imbedded link above to the Warm Crack Dip recipe, click here.)

Rocking the Boat

Written as part of the She Reads Truth #SheSharesTruth experiment

Read Jonah 1

Jonah was to be on a mission from God. He was meant to turn the people of Nineveh to the Lord by telling them that God was going to ROCK THEIR WORLD, if they didn’t repent. And what did God do when Jonah went the other way? He ROCKED THE WORLD of those that Jonah surrounded himself with instead. Literally! That boat ROCKED! Those men were throwing off everything they could think of to survive. The whole purpose of their trip likely - their cargo - was tossed. And what was the only solution for stopping the boat from rocking? To toss Jonah! 

I find it so amazing that these men, who worshipped all kinds of different gods amongst them and probably none of them had given any thought to believing in the God of Heaven before, learned to fear and ultimately trust in the one true God that day. At first, they were afraid to follow Jonah’s own instruction to throw him over. I’m sure they didn’t want to make THIS God any angrier. And then, when they threw him overboard and the sea became completely calm, 1:16 says, “Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.” 

Wow.

Even in his running, Jonah’s presence was used by God as a prompt for repentance. This just shows that God didn’t need something spectacular from Jonah. He just needed him to go. He just needed him to be there, and he’d do the rest. Because God can use even the weakest vessels – often especially the weakest vessels – to get his work done. In fact, it just brings God more glory when the small and weak things are used. We just have to be willing to obey and follow him. And this story just proves, that even when we aren’t willing to follow him, God can still use the vessel (sorry, I’m a dork. so, yes, the pun was intended) to ensure his will is done. 

What an amazing story those guys had from that trip! But the best part was: They came to know the God of Heaven. And truth be told, if Jonah had never run, those guys may have never come to know the Lord. They probably wouldn’t have. I mean, unless something really rocks your world, why would you switch from what you know? 

Ultimately, God was able to turn Jonah’s story into a way better one than if Jonah had just obeyed in the first place. Now, I’m not saying we should run from God because it’ll probably just be better that way. But I am saying that God can do magnificent things to bring himself glory in the most surprising of ways. And that God can and will use our journeys, even when we intentionally or unintentionally take them off course, to bring about our own and others’ redemption. 

So, thank goodness for those storms. For the rocked boats. Because God is bigger than the storms, and he can definitely deliver grace through them.

~ Signing off under my SRT identity “JessicaLoves___”*

 

*The blank is meant as an intentional reminder to myself that I am to actively love Christ and all those he puts in my path.