spark... (a blog)

By Niki Melton
Full Life Fellowship Church in Concord, NC
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Where are yOu?

6/21/2019

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Do you ever look around and wonder, “where am I”? Not so much a question of physically… maybe you are in your living room… but mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Where are you?


There is no coincidence that God asks this question in the garden of Eden. It’s not as if He doesn’t know where Adam and Eve are physically located. It’s not like He was keeping tabs on them from His phone, then… arghhhh, lost connection. SO what’s with the question? And if God does “know all” above our perspective (Is 55:8-9), and “sees all” from a timeline not our own (Is 46:10), why does He ask something that is in complete opposition of what could be described as “calling them out”? Momentary pause, if I caught my kids in heartbreaking disobedience, I would be very soap-box style, “Oh, Oh, you know where you are…. What’s up with that?! Whatcha dointhere? I SEE YOU!” -in my defense I did just watch Men in Black 3… feeling a bit riled up. But the point being, my hurt would cloud my reaction to the disobedience. And the God-perspective is, His view is NEVER clouded. He is never caught off-guard, never surprised by a sudden turn of events, and incapable of losing command of the heavens and earth, held in place by His Word.
​


Isaiah 48:13
(BSB) Surely My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand up together.
(NLT) It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand that spread out the heavens above. When I call out the stars, they all appear in order.”

He summons; they stand up. Calls out? They order themselves. So again with the question. The hurt is the human perspective. The Godly view is ordered, secured, and substantiated by His good will, His character, and His purpose. Just before this inIsaiah he specifies, our redemption is for His own namesake. It is not tied to our “messing things up”, but tied to who we are inHim. He will not be made a fool of. Harsh and scary? Yes. But freeing truth? Absolutely. HOWEVER: do not confuse this with God owing us. We are not the child of a CEO, behaving badly, and yet our name is somehow kept out of the press because it would taint the “family name”. God gave us free choice to go it on our own. It is not a game, no wagering here. When we stray, we hear our Master’s call. We know our Shepherd’s voice.
So today, don’t look around and think, “where am I”, instead, listen for God’s call, and stand up.
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For the Occasion

6/21/2019

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School is out, the weather is warm, and the Chick-fil-as are even busier than before. We must be nearing Summer. And as we do, I sat to ponder what my days should look like in this new season. I have several commitments that are just beginning, but also many that are wrapping up. In the next few weeks of transition, I started thinking of some of the bigger occasions that are quickly approaching. Maybe you or your family have some upcoming events as well- graduations, vacations, birthday parties, camps, relatives visiting, and so on. I have one particular annual work commitment that is weighing on me, same as it does every year. In reflection, at least since this will be the 5th year of dealing with it, I now know what to expect. In that 1st year however, I was a wreck. There was lots of paperwork involved, spreadsheets and all the fun business records, and I had no idea what was needed and what wasn’t. I was terrified of lacking the expected documentation, and yet also nervous that perhaps I was providing too much, and subsequently would irritate the person whose charge it was to examine it all.
Thankfully, in our faith, this is a non-issue. We cannot prepare enough, nor would it do any good if we got all of our stuff in order, for the inspection of righteousness. Paul gives his own perspective on this in Philippians 3. Allow me to paraphrase… He was the most Jewishly awesome of any Jew out there. He was born into the right family, received the proper education, he taught others how to be awesome Jews, told off un-awesome Jews, gave the traitor Christians the what-for, and looked awesome doing it. Mic drop. Oh, but wait, then he met Jesus and realized what Isaiah was talking about in Isaiah 64:6.
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
Paul continues his letter to the church at Phillipi saying this:
“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” (Phil 3:7-9)
The beginning of Matthew 22 talks about a parable of a wedding banquet. The king was throwing the banquet for his son, and long story short, none of the invited guests were coming. In fact, they were out and out evil in their response (read it for yourself... their whole villages get burned down), and so the king gave word to find anyone who would come and invite them, both evil and good. And so, the servants filled the halls of the banquet with the next batch of invitees (us), those who missed the first cut (although the king later declares that the first string didn’t deserve to come). Yay! We have been invited into salvation through the righteousness of Christ! Let’s get our wedding party on! But before we throw down to the Christian version of Cupid’s Shuffle, there is one more thing to this story.
Matt. 22:11-14 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
So, yes, we are invited to the party. But so were the others. And we are each responsible for accepting that invitation, regardless of what we have or have not done. But we cannot forget to give the proper respect to the King, dressing appropriately for that which we were called. Christ found us in our filthy rags… but he has given us his Robes of Righteousness. Why would we ever wear anything else?
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Gardening - by Niki Melton

5/30/2019

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My family and I recently watched the newest “How to Train Your Dragon” movie, or new “Toothless” movie as my kids call it. There is a central idea in the movie, that a secret dragon land can be found where the earth ends. I am always fascinated by how movies depict the “ends of the earth”. In the cartoon movie“Sinbad”, yup, eons ago w/ Brad Pitt pre-Angelina, the movie showed an actual drop-off from the ocean wherein the boat that they were sailing on the water essentially began to float in the emptiness. But in this movie, I found it interesting, that they chose to demonstrate the end as a waterfall-pit. Basically, it was like a huge toilet bowl flush, and upon entering in, you were then float flying to the secret land of the dragons. Where am I going with this? Well, Matt. 28:19 tells us to go and make disciples of all the nations… and Acts follows up on the same concept –
Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."


Do I think that this means we are to go on a quest to “the ends of the earth”? No. But I do think that this might just mean something larger than, as the song says, “Go Tell it on a Mountain”. This is not a one and done scenario. We are instructed to repeatedly, consistently, and demonstratively echo the message of Jesus to All. Those. Around Us. Pressure? Yes. Helper? Also, yes. We have the Holy Spirit (see verse above) and note that we are not commanded to do anything we are not fully equipped by God to do. He does not set us up for failure. The only failing is if we choose not to do it.

Luke chapter 8 tells about the Parable of the Sower. It begins like this:
“Afterwards he was traveling from one town and village to another, preaching and telling the good news of the kingdom of God.” The “he” here is Jesus. So… lets pause for a second and think about what that would look like today. If Jesus was walking on this earth, here and now, in all the emotional, socio-economical, and political chaos, what would that look like for him to travel from one town and village to another telling the good news? My thought is, he wouldn’t plan his visits around certain “bad parts” of town, nor would he spare talking to those he considered to have “strong” political perspectives. There would be no concern for him in sharing the good news with those struggling, hurting, confused, or disillusioned, and he wouldn’t limit his conversations to the optimal convenient time. Well? Neither should we.

The Parable of the Sower and it’s following explanation (Luke 8:4-8 and 8:11-15) isn’t to give cause for whom we should share the hope of our faith with, instead, it is to express that once the seed (aka word of God) is sown, the cultivation of that seed varies. Not that it admonishes any further action on our part – “Well I already told them once so that’s that”, but to encourage the sowing of seed despite the appearance of cultivation. It is our job as followers of Christ to actually follow his lead and speak hope and life and the promise of God’s Kingdom unto the ends of the earth. Our obedience cannot depend on whether we (in all our flawed judgement) think the receiver is “good ground”. We must choose to be the good ground ourselves, and thus in producing fruit, we in turn sow more seed. So, remain in Christ (Jn 15:1-8). Bear fruit (He is the vine; we are the branches). Leave the gardening to the ultimate Gardener.
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Uturn - Niki Melton

5/2/2019

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​This morning, my daughter was using her coloring pencils to make an artistic creation.  After completing her work, she gave me an explanation of her drawing as she typically does.  This time though, instead of the conversation simply being about what she drew, she also told of how at a certain point she felt lost in her direction. Sounds deep for a 5 yr old, but I was reading between the lines.  I think what she said was something like, “And all of the sudden I was like, ‘what am I doing?’, so I stood back, looked at my paper and decided to turn it around and then it was like, ‘Ohhh, so that’s a rock, and this could be like a turtle or a hedgehog’… and then I saw that I could create a beautiful field of flowers right here!”  Now imagine this being said with an eccentric head bob and tonal inflection, and it was really quite comical.  But also, sooooo telling.  How often in our own lives do we look around and feel the same loss of direction? What amI doing?
 
Brian often reminds us that repentance requires a Uturn.  We must change and go in the opposite direction, away from our fleshly desires and toward the Kingdom of God. (see well, the bible.) 
Matthew 4:17 tells us of when Jesus began preaching, and his message was this: “Repent! For the Kingdom of God is at hand.”  He then goes on to preach his Sermon on the Mount and give a very specific account of what all this looks like.  Side note, I recently participated in a bible study by Jen Wilkin titled “Sermon on the Mount”, where the focus is the sermon as a whole and gave great depth and insight to some areas I didn’t even know I was struggling to understand.  I super recommend it! 
 
Back to the point, and with a fresh metaphor, imaging driving.  Where are you headed?  Destination is key – duh.  But, have you ever thought you were going toward something and found out you were going entirely in the wrong direction?  Many moons ago, my husband-to-be and his sister headed out on a road trip to spend Thanksgiving with their mom in Florida.  Their plan was to drive through the night (youth, lol) and get there bright and early to make the family meal.   I was at my friend’s family’s house when I got the call. It was a large group, so I had to step out and make him repeat everything.  Nope, they weren’t in Florida, they were in South Carolina. Apparently, someone, ehem, had taken a wrong turn while Jason was getting a little shut-eye.  When he woke up, they were practically back where they started.  Seriously.  
 
SO my question is this: at what point, or better yet, how often do we need to take stock of our surroundings and adjust our course?  The truth of the matter is, you can tell that you are heading to the beach when you are on the way.  74 and 211 have looked the same for decades and are recognizable in their monotony.  But seriously, you can look around and know where you are heading.  Same is true in life.  Look at your surroundings… places, people, description of the area…. Are you heading toward the Kingdom of God?  Not talking about salvation here, just goal and getting to where God has promised. Jesus’ ministry did not begin with, “now go out and be nice to others..”, it literally started with “Repent”. And I do not think this can be boxed up as a one-time decision.  Just as when you head to the beach you don’t simply decide where you are heading and sit back inactively (maybe in the Cars of the Future, lol), you are constantly making turns, changing lanes, and readjusting for detours and traffic.  We must be doing the same on our “Christian walk”, lest we end up expecting to get to Florida, but waking up to find you having to call your mom to say you won’t make it for the meal.  We can’t miss the meal… Jesus said he was setting a place for us. For you, for me… he promised he was going ahead of us with the expectation we will follow.  That’s a promise worth making a Uturn for.
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CEntrifugal force - niki melton

4/12/2019

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No, this is not our home. Our hope is not in this world, but in the unchanging grace of our Lord God and savior Jesus Christ. He is good (Is 44:6, Jam 1:17). He never fails us (2 Tim 2:13). He remains the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). We are adopted into His family, and he is our father. But interestingly enough, the book of Romans speaks not only about how we belong but also that we should not get feeling too special in our own right about it. See Romans 11.

Ever heard someone say “going to hell in a handbasket”? Nope- they are not referring to a Meat Loaf album. The phrase user is typically categorizing some sort of offending group or individual as sentenced to judgement that they find to be pleasing considering that they feel they stand on the other side of things. Funny enough, this phrase is just not funny. I grew up hearing it (I am from the South, you know…) and mostly it was said after some sort of horrendous occurrence that should show our extreme need for the grace of a Savior. But, once we have the grace of our Savior, why do we feel the need to mock and judge those on the other side?
If we are to emulate Christ by speaking in truth and love…. Should one weigh heavier than the other? They called Jesus a friend of sinners… was it because they genuinely found him likeable? Or perhaps the raw truth and unfathomable love that was our Lord on this earth was so undeniable that it was life-changing. Has following Christ changed your life? Should we not want that same life-altering faith for others?

Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!

We belong, and just as we find ourselves at the center of His love, we should also find ourselves inviting others to join in. Centripetal vs Centrifugal force? Not trying to get too science crazy, but the same reason why we are held in (God) should cause us to reach out (the world). Who remembers Mr. Wizard? Holla!

https://youtu.be/gRVIWWJwzfY

Eph. 4:15 No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be focused on the Kingdom of God – Spoiler alert, that was Jesus’ entire message – “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Matt 4:17). My point today is, that if God the Creator of heaven and earth “So loved the world” then maybe, just maybe we should take that same approach. After all, it was worth it enough that He sent His ONLY Son to die… buying back all who put their faith in Him. Good News. Go share it!

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Pumpkin - by Niki Melton

3/17/2019

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Tonight, for my son’s bedtime book, he chose one with a glow-in-the-dark pumpkin. It was cutesy, found as an impulse buy last Halloween at the checkout of a Lifeway Christian bookstore. I figured it had something redeeming about it, but to my recollection I had not read it before. I was quite surprised when we began to read that there were bible verses on each page, corresponding to an adorable rhyme explaining how we are like the pumpkins and God cleans us out and makes us new. In shock that this little book held such a valuable lesson about sin and salvation, I continued to think about it after I turned out the kid’s lights and sent them off to dreamland. The final verse was from Ephesians 5:8-14, a shortened version of the following… with a delightful picture of the giant smiling pumpkin, now cleaned out, receiving its candle to light up the darkness:

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light— for the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth— discerning what is pleasing to the Lord. Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret. Everything exposed by the light is made clear, for what makes everything clear is light. Therefore, it is said:
Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead,
and the Messiah will shine on you.

I found several things interesting about these verses, and armed with a fresh pumpkin-y visual, I pondered them.
1. So once the pumpkin is opened up (ouch is what comes to mind if I am the pumpkin), then it is cleaned out and the “sin” is removed. God’s “cleaning us up” is seldom painless.
2. It doesn’t get the face carved into it until it goes through the clean-up. Our Creator’s image cannot be reflected on us if we are holding on to the slimy sin-guts. Or grosser, if we are spilling out those guts through our mouth…
3. It never stays hollow. The whole point when carving a pumpkin is to eventually get that thing lit.
4. The reason for the clean-up, the carving, the light… it’s not for the pumpkin’s sake. It is all to display the handywork of the Creator.
5. The pumpkin is silent (would get a bit creepy if it wasn’t, lol). The pumpkin now cleaned and lit, does not call out other pumpkins on their mess. If it is doing its job, remaining lit, it can silently impact the darkness. Things are exposed, and they become clear.

So now the questions. Where am I? Am I allowing the painful removal of my sin-guts that once filled my core? Or am I terrified to undergo such pain, and I stop the process there?
Do I believe God’s promises that I will be made new, or am I holding out on total clean-up because I fear that being hollowed out will leave me feeling, well, hollow?
Am I stuck at the cleaned-out stage? Am I allowing the Holy Spirit to carve and make an image suitable to bring glory to our Lord? Or am I trying to make an image myself – freaky if pumpkins could self-carve! Am I comparing my carved image to the other displays, instead of trusting in the one who sees purpose in making the image best suited to my pumpkin-y shape?
Is my pumpkin-head self, going around pointing at other pumpkins and yelling at them? Is my silent light shining in the darkness? Or am I forgetting whose light is filling me, and I am trying to explain the darkness away and instead start piling other gunk into my hollowed self, surely dimming if not extinguishing my light and sole purpose for being carved?

Psalm 46:10 says, “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
The stillest light shines the brightest. Now stop wobbling andgo shine forth His glory!
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The Heavy Lifting

3/11/2019

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The Heavy Lifting
““The Gershonites by family and clan will serve by carrying heavy loads: the curtains of the Sanctuary and the Tent of Meeting; the covering of the Tent and the outer covering of dolphin skins; the screens for the entrance to the Tent; the cords; and all the equipment used in its ministries. The Gershonites have the job of doing the work connected with these things. All their work of lifting and carrying and moving is to be done under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. Assign them specifically what they are to carry. This is the work of the Gershonite clans at the Tent of Meeting. Ithamar son of Aaron the priest is to supervise their work.”
Numbers 4:24-28 MSG
https://www.bible.com/97/num.4.24-28.msg


The Gershon family gets the heavy lifting. They carry the important stuff around. They don’t get the glamorous or prestigious bit. But they do get recorded for all history to see right here in God’s Word!  Others may think they have it tough - God Himself acknowledges the Gershonites are doing the heavy lifting.  So what’s the point for you today?


God knows what you are dealing with - right now! He knows when you are going through the tough stuff and he acknowledges it is hard! Maybe there’s something too here - something about how some of us DO have the tougher “ask”.  Some people DO get the heavier lifting. There’s no answer why, just the acknowledge meant that it is real, and God does know.


So today - you there - whatever you are going through, whether you feel like it’s not far that you get the hard stuff, or if you feel like nobody knows what you have to face - either way, take peace in knowing He sees, He knows, and He has a reason for where you are and what you are having to carry today.


Spark.


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Fully rely on god - Niki Melton

3/8/2019

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Fully Rely on God

Philippians 4:6-7
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

What does it mean to rely on God completely? Well, I know what it doesn’t mean – relying on anything else. In math terms, anything other than 100% is defined as not complete. In other words, it puts the question of our coping mechanisms out to pasture. Meaning? No eating our feelings, going on a shopping spree of distraction, drinking until it feels better, giving that person a peace of your mind, watching a little porn to get in the mood, having longer than necessary talks with that coworker because they make you feel wanted, watching that guilty pleasure tv show to escape, actually escaping/running away to another location, exercising manically to make the hurt stop, playing the blame game, smoking down to get calm, being controlling of your kids because you can’t deal with your spouse, pushing your fingers into your eyes – or self-harm of choice, shouting and screaming to get your authority back, putting others down so you can feel good again, drowning out your problems with super loud music, withdrawing and not speaking to anyone, and the list could continue. Yes, I know that there are varying degrees of “coping”, and don’t get on the condemnation train- just because it’s not your particular branddoesn’t change the point. Any time we replace our reliance on God with anything, we are choosing to put road blocks on our own path to Christ. It is our pride shouting, “I know how I can handle this, I’ll just ______ to make it through”. And we all know the pride and fall thing… but a new found visual is that it’s not our pride that we trip over, it is what our pride told us to stick in the road.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Back to those percentages… the point is not that we will evolve to a place that we never see less than 100%, but instead to submit it to God when we don’t.
It is unrealistic to suggest that our lives won’t have difficulties outside of our control. Make the decision today to acknowledge when you feel weighed down, doubled-over, or hunched to one side. Don’t pretend you don’t need to lean, but just be clear about on whom you should be leaning! Cry out to God – Abba Father! And in return, Jesus Christ himself will stand guard of your heart and mind with the unexplainable peace of our Lord.
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BUILT - by Niki Melton

2/11/2019

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Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”  


My dad went through a spell where he was very serious about woodworking.  At one point, his hobby had overtaken our garage completely, and resulted in several pieces of furniture that filled our home.  One of the few things I saved from my childhood was a wooden barn that he had created for my Breyer horses (or Barbies, depending on the day).  The cool thing about the barn, was that as a child, I helped with the design.  The idea that since it would be for my purposes and use, it should be created to function and contain in all the ways I wanted.  I could imagine that if he wanted to build something awesome, he could have forgone some of my suggestions and tried some design plans of his own.  The problem though, would exist that even though it may look cooler, it would not perform authentically as I intended.  And so, he stuck to the plan I originated, and he created the play barn that I have passed down to my children.  


Can you imagine if we were trying to have a discussion with our Lord about building ourselves up for his purpose?  Sounds audacious, right?  But yet, sometimes that is exactly what we do.  “Well God, I know that if X, Y, or Z, happened, it would be a great way to use things to your glory…” – We will “use” God to justify our wants, plans, and attitudes.  It happens quite subtly really, any not with any ill-intention.  Just the simple thought that since he is making us new, he must be making us new in a way that makes sense.  But that’s just it, he is, but in a way that makes sense to him, not us (Is. 55:8-9).  


Eph.2:22
In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.


Hear what that is saying… not only are you being built for his purpose, but you communally are being built for his Spirit.  Meaning that you and all the believers are a “building”, with Christ as the Cornerstone (yes, just like the song 😊).  The overarching plans for the individuals make it possible for them to link up and create the whole of the “building”; the unity established in us through Christ.  


Sometimes those things that don’t seem like they would fit in with what you would choose for yourself are for the greater purpose of building unity for the Holy Spirit’s dwelling.  Eph. 2:21, “In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”  I love that it says, “grows”.  It establishes the visual of more and more being incorporated into the building, and it is getting higher and more functional.  I would LOVE to be more functional for our Lord.  But these verses seem to indicate that it is best if I don’t put my two-sense in about how to get there.  The blocks don’t build themselves into a building, just as we don’t build ourselves up for our God.  


So, my thought today?  Let God be the stonecutter, and builder of his Holy Temple.  As for me?  I am a member of God’s household, saved by grace and being created anew according to his purpose… and if I get a wonky corner-cut, then Praise God, it is for his glory and the continued building of his Holy Spirit’s dwelling place.
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Run like a camel - niki melton

2/6/2019

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Have you ever seen a camel run? It’s pretty funny; they look a hot mess.

https://youtu.be/ZIOBTCBHyAw

There was actually an episode of a tv show years ago that it reminded me of – two of the main characters found that they both love to run in Central Park, so they decided to run together. It was a nice idea until they discovered that they both ran very, very differently. One ran with steady breath, and rigid arms timed with her leg movement, and she made a whoosh-whoosh (obnoxiously so) noise every time her feet hit the pavement. The other ran with arms flailing, free-spirit, and jagged steps (quite frightening to the other park-goers who probably thought she was about to attack!). The point in their story, was that they were both embarrassed of the other, but yet didn’t see how off their own styles were. Similar to our own Christian walk (or run)- how often are we concerned with how others are performing their run?

Heb. 12:2a
Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed - that exhilarating finish in and with God…
It is so incredibly important that we keep our eyes on our Lord. He knows where he’s going- where we want to go too! We don’t have any place in our faith for distractions- yet the world around us is full of them. Now, back to that camel…
Matthew 19:16-24 tells of a rich young ruler who was asking Jesus about eternal life. After Jesus responds to him about selling all his possessions and returning to follow him, starting in verse 22 we read this:
That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go. As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God's kingdom? Let me tell you, it's easier to gallop a camel through a needle's eye than for the rich to enter God's kingdom."

Now that you’ve seen that camel galloping, do you understandthe picture he is trying to paint? We, in our own humanity trying to earn our way with God, are even on our best day, simply all over the place. And, did you hear what the girl said to the camel at the end of the video? “That was too scary, I didn’t want to get anywhere near you” … hmm. Something to think about if we are trying to reach others for Christ. The rescue for us, comes in the next verse after the disciples asked, “what chance do any of us have?”:
Jesus looked hard at them and said, "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it." (Matt. 19:26)
Consider for a second, if rich doesn’t mean moneyed, but plentiful. “He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go” … what are you holding on to, that breaks your heart to let it go?
The phrase “give up the ghost” comes to mind, a bit un-context, but if all the things of this world are going to pass away, then free up your hands, grab tightly to God! He will never disappoint. And besides, who wants to run like a camel anyways?

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    what is "spark"?

    Its a small thing - like the flash on a spark plug that hopefully ignites something bigger to propel you forward.

    Niki melton

    Niki is a wife and mother of 2 children.  She lives in Charlotte, NC where she enjoys everyday moments that ignite her relationship with our Lord and Savior.

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