A Dutchman was explaining the red, white and blue Netherlands flag to an American.
“Our flag is symbolic of our taxes. We get red when we talk about them, white when we get our tax bills, and blue after we pay them.”
The American nodded. “It’s the same in the USA only we see stars too!”
Okay, I’ve never tried to do this so if I mess up, press the new pray button. While I was rocking under my headphones today I was remembering Lisa’s posting about the praise and worship running through her head 24/7. This is one of the songs that God sent me right after being diagnosed with breast cancer. It helped me turn the corner from fear to faith. Every time I hear it, it is like a hug from Jesus … and it keeps the toes tapping at the same time. Enjoy. If I was Jesus
A while back I spent time sitting in several gay Alcoholic Anonymous meetings with a new friend. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt the love of God for people in such a magnetized way. It was overwhelming. It suffocated any religion in me that wanted to be preachy or give trite bible answers for their big problems. All I could sense was the love of God for everyone in the room. My heart ached for each man and woman. I was fond of every one of them. The sin they discussed wasn’t the focus – only God’s love for them!
I’ve found myself thinking about the reaction of Christ in me that weekend. I was out of my comfort zone but still strongly experiencing the LIFE Jesus came to bring. It dwarfed what I experience in church most of the time – anemic in comparison. I wondered why. Maybe it was the desperation of the people. Perhaps it was the atmosphere – one that invited God but didn’t attach any preconceived ideas to Him. All I know is it was a holy experience in the midst of worldly people.
I sit here with a lingering appreciation of God’s love. I’m astounded by its lavishness. In me, Jesus attended a gay AA meeting in Dallas. He loved every person in the room… in all their mess. 2 CO.5:19 was resounding strong
… In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
God’s not mad at anyone anymore. Jesus took all of His anger on the cross. God’s kindness is what leads people to repentance – not judgment. Jesus was kind that weekend. Through me. At the gay AA meeting.
Maybe they came a step closer to changing their minds about lifestyle or faith in Jesus. Maybe not.
Love flowed anyway. He can’t help it. It’s who He is.
Alcoholics Anonymous is not personal success stories, it is instead the story of
collective human failure converted into usefulness by God. ~Anonymous~
It’s Blog-Wise Wednesday - the day I link to a guest post that I believe will challenge you in a good way.
We’re growing wise together.
Radical Grace by Justin Davis is this week’s guest post. Justin’s blog can be found at Refineus.org. Former B-WW contributor Grant Jenkins tweeted the post link earlier this week. When I read it, I knew it was the post for this week.
As Justin pulls the cover off his own pride and judgement, he exposes the need we all had/ have for the Savior who extends radical grace. This post may nail you to the wall – with everyone else.
In Justins own words:
We (Justin and wife Trisha) have made a lot of mistakes…but God has redeemed us and recreated our marriage in a way that blows our minds every day. We hope our story and our web site is an inspiration to you as you read our posts.
I wanted to point out a feature you may not have noticed for our blogs, called the RSS feed. This is a way for you to know about new content on the Deep Breath blogs at a glance, in the comfort of your browser. Read about it on the Technology Page FAQ.
You know I don’t want to miss anything so I’m subscribing to those feeds! 
Customer Service has changed in the last 20 years. A friend of mine recently went to the airport, and stated, “The employees are so rude now a days.” I thought, wasn’t there a time not long ago, that the airport was a friendly place. It was where you went to be served. Airlines greeted you with a smile, they helped you with your bags, and they said, “thank you, please, how may I help you?, are you comfortable?” They spoke words that showed their concern for you.
Jesus came for the uncomfortable, the anxious, the weary, and the fearful. Our Daddy, Father God, was so concerned for us that He gave us our Saviour Jesus. Then Father God, as he ascended His Son into Heaven, He left us another comforter, the Holy Spirit.
God knew we would go through trials, be uncomfortable, experience fear, rejection, and lonliness. Caroline Leaf is a famous author & has been studying the brain and the manifestation of thought processes that appears when we think a bad thought or a good thought. God meant for us to think good thoughts- His Word, in particular. So that any time the enemy says anything through anybody or even in our own heads or experiences, that we have medidated on the Word so much, all day long, that we can fight him with it.
My husband just called me saying that a customer rudely expressed how she was NOT happy with the work he did. Immediately he offerred to fix anything she was not happy with. She refused to communicate any further and slammed the door in his face!
He called me, and let me know what happened. I did not know what else to do than listen to him and then pray and ask God to refill Him with the truth of the Bible.
Let us remember to serve eachother as Christ served us. The great commision is to spread the love of Christ through sharing the gospel, edifying each other in the Word, praying for each other, listening to each other, and coming to Father God with each other’s burdens.
Jesus showed us everything we need to know about how to treat each other & think about ourselves & think about eachother. Jesus was the first Customer Service Representative, let’s ask for a fresh annointing of the Holy Spirit so that we have the strength to be Jesus’ Customer Service Representatives.
Father God, give us a fresh annointing, so that we may serve the people around us with your Love through grace. Thank You for loving us first. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
6 For the Lord grants wisdom!
From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.
He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
8 He guards the paths of the just
and protects those who are faithful to him.
9 Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair,
and you will find the right way to go.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will fill you with joy.
11 Wise choices will watch over you.
Understanding will keep you safe.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will fill you with joy.
For wisdom will enter your heart. Jesus is the wisdom of God. That’s what the scriptures say. When I opened my heart and let Him in my life, He
brought another way of seeing life that compels me to live differently. There is no longer the effort there once was to “be good”. He changed my “have to” into a ”want to”, propelling me into a new way of thinking and living. I believe it’s because God’s wisdom moved into me in Jesus. Wise people naturally approach life from a different angle than the ignorant or rebellious. Why? Different perspective.
And knowledge will fill you with joy. The Holy Spirit carries knowledge to me. When I became a Jesus follower, I was given the Holy Spirit of God in some mysterious way. Scripture tells me the Holy Spirit is 
guiding me now. He’s leading me into ALL truth. I have truth because I have Jesus. That’s what the bible says. He is the way, the truth, and the life. It’s the Holy Spirit who brings me the special knowledge (revelation) so I can understand this truth God is showing me. I can tell you, I AM experiencing great joy in this process. It’s really fun!. He is my mentor for all things God.
These are my thoughts.
I still smoked cigarettes at the time and I blew smoke angrily in the general direction of mike, the guy questioning me outside the church. He asked me if I was going to let one little sexist thing in the bible keep me away from Christ. “ONE??” I harrumphed. “LITTLE??” I retorted, thinking of how religion had subjugated women for millennia. Men had used that one little scripture to keep their wives under their thumbs and their daughters in bondage for thousands of years. But was I going to let it keep me away from God anymore? It’s true that such things had kept me away from ‘organized religion’… ie. Christianity, in the past… But I didn’t want to let sexual politics get in the way of me and God anymore. My heart leapt toward God and I attempted to throw myself at Him silently on the spot. That evening I went home and I talked to a pastor on the phone about it. I was very angry about stuff the apostle Paul said about women in the bible.
The pastor was a woman and said that Christ was the great liberator of women. She cited scripture that said there is no male or female in Christ. But I was so angry.
Then God suddenly took away my anger as i leafed through the bible. He made the anger go *poof*. It’s like magic, but it’s not magic, it’s God, it’s a miracle. Just like that, I was no longer angry about it, and we are talking a lifetime of anger. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like the subjugation of women doesn’t bother me anymore, it’s just that the seething rage that got in the way of me and God is gone.
God gave me the knowledge of how HE meant it. He meant it that men were to take CARE of women, and it was meant to be a beautiful thing. Having God ‘talk’ to you is a strange thing. HIS thoughts rise in your mind from behind your own thoughts and take shape like a bubble within you, such that it is in you, but it is not you. Except when He kind of gets, shall we say, ‘emphatic’, then it’s not so physically subtle.
And it’s not like once I had that information all the years of having to fight for respect didn’t matter. It’s just that… in the end, God’s opinion is the one that really matters. Once I knew that God didn’t mean for women to be second class citizens, that women were meant to be beautiful and good, I was fine.
Well, I was fine after God made me fine.
***Hey – it’s Colleen. This post is from my new friend Elaine that I met on Twitter. Check out her site at wonderstruck.com.
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