I apologize, I got a little carried away...

So I have this burden and I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. I went to sleep last night trying to think of ways I can give more. I heard someone say a couple of days ago, to "give til it hurts". Do I do that? No. What does that look like exactly? I don't know, at least not for me...

I can't claim to know much about God and what He wants from me, but I believe He means what He says. And what He says in Scripture is what is important to Him and what should be important to us for life. God isn't interested in nice cliches and sweet words with no action. He isn't interested in what we look to others like we're giving or doing if we're not actually giving or doing it; and He's not interested in what we say we believe if we don't actually act on it. (James 2:14-26) (James 1:22) What is Religion? What is Christianity? Is it merely sitting around in our little circles talking about what would happen if someone one day would decide to act on Jesus' words? Is it only breaking down word structures and meanings in ancient text? Is it about going to Church Sunday morning, saying the prayers, singing the songs, listening to words and leaving it all behind in a stainglassed windowed building while you drive back home and back to work to face life again alone? No. I'll tell you what Religion is as Jesus intended...

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

"Shout it aloud, do not hold back.

Raise your voice like a trupet.

Declare to my people their rebellion

and to the house of Jacob their sings.

For day after day they seek me out;

they seem eager to know my ways,

as if theyr were a nation that does what is right

and has not forsaken the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions

and seem eager for God to come near them.

Why have we fasted, they say,

and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbled ourselves,

and you have not noticed?

Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please

and exploit all your workers

Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,

and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today

and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,

only a day for a man to humble himself?

and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast,

a day acceptable to the Lord?

Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen;

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-

when you see the naked, to clothe him,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you

and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

"If you do away with the yoke of opporession,

with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

and if you spend yoursleves in behalf of the hungy,

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday."...

Isaiah 58:1-10

How can we read theses verses... and others... and still go around thinking the best we can do is go to Church on Sunday and Wednesday nights? ...Go to Bible Study for 9 weeks on Tuesday nights and finish completely unaffected and unchanged? No! It's not meant to be this way! His Word is life!

Church is a place for several things. 1) A place of Christian fellowship. A place where we can come together and encourage one another... to spur one another on to love and good deeds. 2) A place of building and growth. Where you are held accountable and where you can study Scripture and be taught Scripture by other wise persons who have been there and learned through it. 3) A place of worship, praise and prayer. 4) A place of acceptance. 5) A place of supporting send-off for believers to "go into the world and preach the good news to all creation..."

So let me ask, what good is working out and building muscles and strength if you never lift anything weightier than a pen? What good is studying and training to be a doctor if you're never planning on actually seeing any patients? When we accept Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit who gives us power. And we will be His witnesses. (Acts 1:8) What good is the power of the Holy Spirit if we're only going to sit in our Bible Study classrooms only discussing the lexical meaning of the word "hungry" instead of actually going out and doing something about it?

Ouch.

And so that's what I'm struggling with. That's what I don't get. I want to *do* something more. Am I giving of myself, of my monies, of my time, until it hurts? And then, am I giving for the right reasons? Am I giving because that's what He's asked me to do? Or because I know that's what a good little Christian girl should do? Am I trusting in myself? - in my own capabilities? Or in His power. His strength? What are your thoughts?

Hannah

hannahseale.blogspot.com