Sunday, October 2, 2016

If I never win a Pulitzer...

Good morning my sisters-

Do you crave recognition?  Do you want people to know you are talented?  Do you wish to win a race, take a trip around the world, earn riches and fame?  I know that not every human wishes for these things but for those that do, I wonder if somehow we have missed the boat and I mean that literally.

People look at Anne Graham Lotz, Beth Moore and Mother Teresa as these totally wonderful women.  I bet if you asked someone that is Catholic if they would have loved to touch Mother Teresa or even be in her presence the answer would have been, of course.  I know sitting in a huge event center, one of 14,000 people, I wished that I could go back stage and talk with Beth Moore just for a minute.  And often as I read about Anne, I think she would be a wonderful mentor and inspiration to a woman that wants to spread the word of God.  All these women have fame.  They are known for being women of God.  But that doesn't mean that they wished for this or even that they wanted it.  What they most want to do is serve Jesus Christ and therefore, the fame is an add-on, it was never the mission.

Circumstances in life make us yearn for fame.  We want to be liked and if you write a blog, you just hope someone gets on it and is touched by it or learns something.  If you write books, your hoping for someone to want to publish it and then of course, get on the New York Best Sellers list.  Why?  Because we are looking for recognition in all the wrong places.

Mother Teresa lived to serve.  She served in the poorest area tending to the sick and often the rejected.  God put her in that place and she did it well.  She never expected to be a Saint or to be famous, she was following God's own heart.  She was taking care of the destitute and outcast.  She was loving people that weren't ever going to be loved by man and she did it well.

Jesus came, not to be famous, which is why the Jewish people today still don't recognize the gift that was given. They believed He came to save them from all the rulers and enemies around them.  They thought that's what God meant by a Savior.  But in actuality, He meant that Jesus would come and save many from death, which meant that it wasn't about our current lives, it was about our after lives.
God's purpose for Jesus was much larger than mans.  He was to be Savior of the world for all time, not just for a moment.  Anne and Beth are wonderful Bible teachers and long after they leave this earth their writings will live, just like that of all the disciples but their purpose is not to be famous, it's to love God's people and to help light the way.  What's the way, it's Jesus. 

I may never be famous, you may never know who I am.  I may not win a Pulitzer or even publish a book.  If I want fame over service, it will never come.  God's way is different.  He wants us to look at Him as the only way and the only truth.  We fall into the pit of believing that we are important.  That's not to say we aren't important, it just means that our lives are part of a greater plan and it's a plan the world will never fulfill. 

Like many of you, I have my heroes.  You see there names above.  They are women that serve the Lord with all their hearts.  They haven't had easy lives, as a matter of fact, they have gone through troubled times and found Christ in every moment.  I have my heroes in the Bible too and someday I will get to meet them.  I like having heroes but I also like knowing that I was made for this moment.  I was made to serve without any fame or fortune.  I was made to love others and to spread the Word.  I was made to mess up, brush off and get back up again.  I'm like Humpty Dumpty who sat on the wall.  I've fallen and I've gotten back up and yes, I've even cracked my head in the fall.  I've been battered, bruised and broken.  I have been refined by fire and I have been sharpened.  I have lost and I have found and in all those painful, stretching moments, I landed at the foot of the cross.  My fame is that I'm just like you.  I have messed things up to wish for a do-over and I have walked on hot coals, regretting the day but every single time I come back to the same place, right at Jesus' feet.

He is my hero.  There is no fame that can change a heart or pick someone up out of the pit of despair.  There is no fame that loves.  There is no fame in the broken for fame is given to the glorious.  I'm not glorious, as a matter of fact, I'm just me.  It has taken me years just to be okay with me. 

Jesus is who we need to give fame to.  Jesus should be loved and not hated.  Jesus should be the reason we get up in the morning.  Jesus is the way, the truth and the light.  Jesus is who lifts my heroes up and makes them strong warriors, not for themselves, but for Him.  He is all I need and if He brings me fame that will be on His shoulders and if not, I still have a massive amount of purpose.  I am His daughter, who can write and publish across the Internet and spread the only message that matters.  Jesus came for you, is here for you now and loves you.  He is your hope, your future and your Savior.  He brings peace to the restless and hope to the destitute.  He doesn't hold your shame, your anger or anything else against you.  He is full of grace and hope of tomorrow.  He is waiting for you to say these words.  "I am a sinner, coming before you Jesus, asking for you to forgive my sins and wash them away."  He is waiting and I promise you won't regret it.  Say these words and right now as I write, I'm praying for one woman to read these words and fall in love with Jesus!

Have a great day and remember your fame is that Jesus loves you, you were chosen for this day and He has a plan for you and what a glorious plan it is.  May you find the peace of our Counselor and the love of the living God.  I pray all this just for you!  In Jesus name.

1 John 5:1 (KJV)
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

1Cor 16:24
24My love be with you all in Christ Jesus.

1John 3:23
23 What he commands is that we believe in his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as Christ commanded us.

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