Once upon a time there was a girl who nearly trembled at the thought of social gatherings outside the sphere of her comfort zone (which was quite small indeed). She was very much concerned about what other people thought of her and certain that everything about her was somehow inadequate. She allowed herself to be swept into situations that could have completely derailed her yet she somehow came out unscathed. It wasn't until this young lady was married with children that she finally met her Protector, finally conceded to submit to Him who had kept her all her life. This young lady finally found real peace, joy and truth. Truth.
Truth had always been elusive. Something that was good for one situation needed some tweaking and revamping the next. One moment some psychological fad seemed like the answer, the next, some religious guru. Talk about a schizophrenic existence! But that's all there is in a world where truth is relative.
The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails - given by one Shepherd. Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. Ecclesiastes 12:11-12
This is what came to the forefront of my mind during my 20 day fast. I remembered a lost Debbie who thought she knew something when she actually knew nothing, and the fruit of her life reflected it. It wasn't rotten fruit. It was malformed and tasted a little off. The longer I've known my Savior, the more pleasant and savory the fruit has become. The world is full of people in the same state of confusion that I was in. Christ never put off those who were ignorant, only those who knew better (the pharisees...). I want to be like Him. When I pray that I want to be more like Christ, what am I really saying? How does Christ define Christlike?
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28-31
When I first viewed the YouTube video shared here, I was overwhelmed with an empathy and compassion for people who just don't know where to turn for Truth. I've been there. I don't ever want to be so far removed from my past that I forget what it's like to be lost and I NEVER want to look down my nose or hold others at arms length. I want to be more like Christ. I want them to see Him in me. So, although I prayed fervently for lives to be saved and abortion to end, I found that the surprising reality of what God wanted from me was compassion and a deeper love and sorrow for those who are perishing daily (and it isn't the babies). The babies are safely residing with their creator. The parents are the ones struggling for answers. Struggling for The Answer.
"And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:39-40
I'm not exaggerating when I say that I see something different in faces now. Something heart rending. Something precious. Just one more step in my journey. One marvelous step.
If you have 33 minutes I would love to share this thought provoking video with you. This was shown at the program that ended our fast on Monday night. Pour yourself a cuppa while it's downloading (uploading?), then settle in. If you don't have time right now, remember to come back later. Let me know what you think.
Blessings, Debbie
If you have 33 minutes I would love to share this thought provoking video with you. This was shown at the program that ended our fast on Monday night. Pour yourself a cuppa while it's downloading (uploading?), then settle in. If you don't have time right now, remember to come back later. Let me know what you think.
How did you fast for that long and not fall over? Amazing! I don't have that time right now but I will come back in the morning to see it. The bottom line for is...just love...that is all I can do and serve all I can. The pure love of Christ is that..love. Glad you made it through. :D
ReplyDeleteDear Debbie,
ReplyDeleteI sit here and cry and can´t stop. I´m not sure, that I understood all, cause the people in the video speak very quick, and you know, I´m german and my english isn´t perfect.
So I´ll try to say, what I´m thinking about it. Sorry when I make mistakes, it´s difficault for me to say that in english.
In march 2009 I got pregnant with my little baby girl. Some months later, I knew, that something with her was not all right. She had a cardiac defect and the doctors thought, she would be born with trisomie 21. The next weeks I was so afraid about the cardiac defect, the down syndrom wasn´t important for me,
On 29´th of october my little girl was born with a emergency caesarean section. She was with us for 3 days, before she died. She had trisomie 18, we loved her so much, but she wasn´t able to live. She died in my arms and till today I can´t find words for that, what happened.
On the same day I went home, together with my husband and my little son. I spoke with my sister on telephone, and she said to me:"Why could god let happen something like this?" I answered: "God is an asshole!"
In the following time, I was so far away from god, I never was before. I cried about my daughter, I was angry and full of sadness. But one day, my heart and my soul got silence and I made peace with god.
God doesn´t make mistakes! He gave me a big gift. He gave me a wonderful little girl for a short time. I´ve learned so much from her and it still goes on and on. And the only important thing in our world is love. I thought, god had left me, but in true he kept me, and when I fall down, he helped me back on.
If we all would love the people next to us and that begins in the moment of procreation, our world would be better. Nobody has the right to kill, and any baby has the right to be born. And isn´t it wonderful? Everyone from us is able to make it come true. Step by step and in love with our godfather and Jesus Christ.
Thank you for sharing the video, it was interesting to see how the people began to think and change their minds.
God bless you, Manuela
Debbie,
ReplyDeleteAmazing! I love how God opens doors in our lives.
Blessings to you and thank you so much for sharing.
xx
I have lived your story too, Debbie (my own version, but similar)... I will never forget being lost and then the joy, the amazement, the awesomeness of realizing His love when I was finally able to pray for His will, not my own... to surrender. Still makes my heart fill with tenderness. I'll be back to watch the video... love all that you are sharing. blessings ~ tanna
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. How did you know what is on my heart? I was lost for so long. My "fruit wasn't rotten and it always tasted a little off" as well but now each day the flavors are more-- more vibrant and more flavorful. You said it so eloquently! To be able to surrender to Our God is a gift Jesus gave us.
ReplyDeleteI WiLL come back and watch and let you know. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your good words, too.
Lately I've been thinking about how the disciples called Him Master. I'm going to call Him that now.
Oh Debbie! A lot of what you were thinking I have been thinking too, lately. Perhaps, God is trying to impress it upon all our hearts. I wish more people would watch that video. This country has been bamboozled by politicians and the media into thinking this way about abortion. I have a friend that wouldn't miss a Sunday service, but thinks it is ok, under the line that has been fed to us about it being a woman's right to choose. I have tried to point out to her that if it is ok to kill a child because it isn't viable, then would it be alright to kill her if she would need something to keep her alive, like oxygen, or diabetes medication? Something that she would perish without? Would it be ok to kill an infant that cannot take care of itself? I have been guilty of believing this death with dignity hoax. After the Shivo case. But the truth is death is not dignified. You're fighting for your last breath, you're frightened, you have lost your body functions. Now I know that ALL life is sacred. Who knows what happens those very last seconds of life? Perhaps God is revealing Himself to the person and he will have everlasting life. I cannot believe that those young people did not know who Hitler was, but my son came in and was watching the video and I asked him if he had learned about Hitler in school. He said not really. Just in a vague "he was on the other side" kind of way. We Americans need to wake up and start paying attention to who we vote for, from the president down to the local school board. We also need to be more compassionate toward those that we think are bad. I see and hear a lot of what I call "church ladies" that have such a self-rightous attitude towards those that they feel are not as pious as they. Will you ever win anyone's soul by calling them an abomination? Or treating them like yesterday's trash? I'm sure that those people are looking at these so-called Christians and thinking that if they are an example of God's love then they want nothing to do with God. Sorry about the long post!
ReplyDeleteI'll be back this evening to watch this with my mister...don't know that I want to watch it alone.
ReplyDeletePraise God for this beautiful testimony you have! And thank you for taking the time to share with us what HE is doing in your life.
By HIS mercy,
Lisa :)
Thanks for the comment Debbie! I didn't want to come across as stepping over the boundaries, but this is something I am passionate about!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a chance to watch right now but your thoughts and learnings are amazing! I'm so glad you are able to remember your past and use it move yourself closer to God. Amen! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat insight you give, an inspiration to all of us.
ReplyDeleteA thought provoking post, with so much beauty in it. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteDebbie, I will certainly be back to watch the video when I have more time. (Perhaps at my nightowl computer time tonight?)
ReplyDeleteI love what you said here: "I found that the surprising reality of what God wanted from me was compassion and a deeper love and sorrow for those who are perishing daily..." And here: "The parents are the ones struggling for answers. Struggling for The Answer."
I think that political activism misses the point. The problem is sin. And Jesus is The Answer. And too often we keep The Answer hidden to those who are lost. God forbid.
I love that your heart of compassion is moved. May He move in my own heart to care deeply about the lost around me.
You are on a beautiful journey.xxx
ReplyDeleteYou inspire me as you place the Lord as your #1 priority and share what is on His heart...lost souls. I never want to forget the days without Him either and am grateful for the humble reminders to go back to the beginning of our journey. Pressing in with you to share Jesus with all I come in contact with.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Mary
I haven't done a long fast as a journey to find God but I had avery long journey in illness through cancer that brought me very close to God.
ReplyDeleteI'll watch the video when I have more time. Thanks for sharing your journey with us. JB
Hi Debbie,
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! The scripture and words you have chosen here are very powerful. Lovely....inspiring, and unlifting! Fasting is a good thing! I admire your commitment and determination. I know God will bless you indeed for doing this!
I don't have time (right now) to view the video. We are getting ready to leave in a few minutes to attend an early birthday celebration this evening for Zoe (our other granddaughter)...:)
Your wreath is beautiful! What a lovely reminder you have there to see everyday.
Blessings to you,
xoxo...Gloria
Thank you for your lovely words. Our church is a huge endorser of the 180 movie.....it's quite powerful! I must admit, I have only watched half of it. We turned it on while I was holding my week-old baby in my arms and I had my husband turn it off....this postpartum mama couldn't get through it all without sobbing buckets. Thanks again for sending this important message along.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Debbie...I wish you could have heard the tears from a grandmother to be this week...we don't know what it is like until we have walked in others shoes. I would love to share with you, but it must be through email
ReplyDeleteI will come back to watch...thanks for sharing
I haven't watched the video yet, but I will. Your journey got me thinking and my two most powerful scriptures right now are the Great Commandment that you quoted and the one that says to seek first the Kingdom of God. I figure if I can begin to get even a bit of these 2 right then God is smiling and my corner of the earth is a happier place. I, too, did a bit of wandering about in the "new age" before I found the ageless answers! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteOh, and the words in the post are so powerful, I almost forgot to tell you how much I love your pumpkin.
My husband Tim told me about this video awhile back (a friend where he works shared it with him). But Tim hadn't gotten around to showing it to me.
ReplyDeleteWe streamed it through our television last night and watched it together.
I feel for people who live their lives in such spiritual confusion (not mention intellectual and moral confusion).
I can totally understand why the Truth of God is so transformative...I know He has transformed me and Tim and our marriage - sometimes I think that if I stood back at the beginning of my life (say in HS or college)as the person God has transformed me too I would not recognize who I was.
Thanks for sharing this.
Melissa
This is awesome. I'm just getting around to reading blogs, and when I saw that it was over thirty minutes long, I thought that I might watch it in increments. That was over 30 minutes ago.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't stop watching.
I really love and admire him anyway because I think he shows us exactly how the LORD's battle is won. It is one that is won man to man, one on one, with kindness and yet reason and TRUTH.
My lesson last week was about the plague of locusts. As we studied, we were struck by the east wind that brought them and the west wind that took them away.
We talked about the "180" that we need in our culture BUT ALSO in our own hearts and minds. How Providential that you shared this video.
I plan to share this with my entire class.
Dear Debbie, I am so sad my English isn´t perfect..but what I understand, what you write and what I understand from the video is very touching..and reminds me of my own religion-Islam (I mean the "real" or correct islam, not the Islam shown be the media..)We believe that every baby is born with his "rizq" what means that every baby comes with its provision..so we never never have a reson to kill a baby.. in the Quran/koran you read: "if you kill ONE person, it is as if you had killed the whole mankind"..yes really that is in the Quran.. I think it is the same as in the bible..as so many other thing! thanks so much for sharing your experience..
ReplyDeleteJenMuna
Dear Debbie, I did not watch the movie because this is a sensitive subject for me, near to my heart. But anything that causes others to have more grace is a wonderful thing. Grace is something only God can cause in us and He can only make that change, when we humble ourselves at His feet. Oh unconditional love, the kind of love that Christ has, I know that is my goal bit I fall so short. Lucky God is still working on me xoox Clarice
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched the video yet - but I still have something to say. My parents gave me a great gift: they taught me from a very early age the powerful love of the Savior, and of his and our Father. They taught me that there is a plan of happiness for everyone, and that our own choices guide our path - whether to live in light or shadow or darkness. They taught me never to judge - which is sometimes hard when harm is done. They taught me that ANY GIFT GIVEN TO ME BY THE LORD IS A TOOL FOR SERVICE ONLY. It has nothing to do with setting me apart as special - but everything to do with creating beauty, understanding, safety - for building a culture of mercy but firm and realistic obedience to commandments that were given only for our good and our joy and our lives - to keep them brilliant, wonderful, full also of love and connection.
ReplyDeleteI do not live for eternal life - but for this moment, to try to do the best I can - in hope of an eternity of work and creativity and love to come. And everything I think, every decision I make, every energy I expend is directed and shaped by these things.
I have quailed, trying to imagine what it would be like not to understand what life is for. Not to understand that we have power to do good, even when we ourselves have been done great harm. Not to understand that life has a purpose. That our life belongs to us, not to our circumstances or to the people who hurt us or to pain - to us. To us. And that death is nothing to fear.
There is not enough time in life, not enough energy in the body to pray long enough and hard enough to change other people, or to save every life from darkness. But one life - even one life - is worth our trying.
I loved reading jenmun's comment. I love that you share your testimony.
And having received that gift of my parents, of my Lord - I have tried to pass it on to my children, my family, my friends. I am so flawed. But I never stop trying.
I lost my first comment! I love that you posted yours thoughts about your twenty day fast. 180 is a very powerful video. I found myself aching for those who did not/could not/would not understand God's gift of grace. I know I fail to share Him daily, but it doesn't mean I can't try harder.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Deborah