Old Thoughts Die Hard from Jody May on Vimeo.

Ok I know, "Live Long and Prosper", but it means the same thing.

• The following was the post I wrote for our Jesus website this week.  Check out the link on the side of the page for more info.

When looking this past week at the story from Luke 7: 50 Jesus looks at this woman that washed His feet, with a years worth of wages, and says, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”…

One of the unusual things here that we talked about was that in the previous verse he tells her, “Your sins are forgiven.”  Which blows everyone away.  Why? Because no one on earth has the ability to forgive sins.  Only God could forgive sins.  But, here is this Rabbi that is traveling through the country-side, doing miracles, forgiving people of sins.  This was the calling card of the one destined to come, the Messiah.  Kind of like the Jewish Superman.

But there is also this cool, underlying meaning, behind another phrase that only the Messiah could have gotten away with…”Go in Peace”.

You see, everyone in the world is at odds with God until they confess sins, repent (to turn away from there sins), and believe that Jesus died for them and accept that sacrifice.  Scripture states that we cannot serve two masters.  The world is in direct defiance of its creator.  Because of this we are against God and He cannot be for us, nor turn His wrath away, until we come to His terms.  By the way I do not think that God is out to get you until you become a Christian but we cannot live with God, neither now or in eternity, until we surrender to Him.

To, “Go in Peace.” Means that Jesus was stating to this woman that she was no longer at odds with God.  She was safe and now in His care.  She didn’t have to think about an eternity away from Him.  She could live the rest of her physical existence in peace.

As someone that has experienced this I would urge you to seek God and make this peace with Him.  At Oak Leaf we are here to talk about this with any one but we want you to know you can do this on your own.  But if you want to talk you can contact me and we will talk about how you too can have the peace that this lady had.

Here’s my blog Post on the observation of Impatience while is the midst of dealing with it:)

“Just a little Patience Yeah, Yeah” from Jody May on Vimeo.

♣ From the Band of Brothers post that, is an ongoing explanation of what should church should and could be.

• Everyone knew each others personal life.  There were no secrets because they all knew no one is perfect – nothing to hide here.

Nothing like airing out the dirty laundry for all to see, huh?  I would imagine this is probably one of the most frightening things that any of us could experience.  It’s the, “If they only knew this about me.” thing.  It freezes us from sharing with people why we do the things we do.  It keeps others from learning from our mistakes.  It keeps us from receiving help from others so old woulds can heal.  And it is contrary to what is taught in the scriptures. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed…” James 5:16 ESV

In the series, ‘Band of Brothers’  these guys knew everything about each other.  That’s because they spent long hours in trenches, scared to death, so their is this compulsion to share your life with others.  These guys knew the darkest part of each other and they shared every aspect of their lives with each other.  Here’s what it allowed them to do:

• They understood each others point of view when they had to make the important decisions.
• They were able to challenge each other on faulty thinking.
• It helped them feel and understand what each other was experiencing.
• Combat communication was kept to a minimal because they could anticipate each others moves.
• It helped them understand they were all equals, even when it came to their view of leadership.

What would the church be like if we spent less time talking and more time ministering because we understood the motives of others?  How cool would it be if we could help each other get through our stubborn and sinful thinking patterns?  We could be more forgiving of each other when wrongs are committed.  People would spend less time running from those in the church to hide their sins but instead would spend more time in the church seeking help for their lives.

Here’s the deal…The early church was this way. We will be a church of life change when we learn that our dirty laundry is there to help others, not to hide.  One of the most intriguing and awesome qualities about God is that He will always take that which was for evil and use it for good.

Why don’t you give him a chance today…

This post was what I wrote for our Jesus website at Oak Leaf Church this week

I know that some of us used to wear those WWJD bracelets for a while.  Admit it…  But I would dare say that for many of us it made a huge difference in our every day living.  I know some of those guys that used to wear those and if you told me they were doing what Jesus would do then I would say we are reading out of two different Bibles.  (Now for those of you that it did make a difference, awesome, I am glad it worked for you )

Christians don’t necessarily need physical reminders on their body to live for God.  It has to be an attitude of the heart.  If the Christian is truly a Christian then he becomes the ‘physical marker’ for the rest of the world to see (what we are called to do).  We are the pictures of Jesus to those without Him.

So…How do we get to this point?  Let’s look at something that was said this weekend.

This past week at Oak Leaf Michael was giving a picture of some of the different miracles that Jesus performed and possibly what could have been His reasoning behind them.  One of the miracles we said showed Jesus as the great healer and that was when He healed the blind man.  But before He healed Him he asked Him a question, “What do you want me to do?”  Of course the guy answers, “I want to see.”  And, I think Jesus was wanting to see where the guy’s heart was as was he ready to be healed and give up a life of dependency on others for help.

You see, I think this is the very question that we are we posed with every time we come into communication with God.  I think that through all the prayer requests, expressing of needs and desires, and the praising of our God that their should be this quiet moment where we should stop and word this question in our heads as if Jesus was right in front of us asking it, “What do you want me to do?”

I think I know the answer…

While I was sitting there listening to that story I imagined what would I say if He, Jesus, looked me in the face and asked the same question.  I mean, what would be the one thing that I would ask for that would make my world different.  What is the one thing thing that is such a desperate need that only a miracle of the Son of God could help?  Here’s my answer:  “I want what you want, so help me to do whatever it is you want me to do.”

Now seriously, I didn’t give this answer to be like ‘ ooouuu, he’s so holy’  but to say that when Jesus asks you what do you want, and you have realized the full implications of the gospel on your life, the only thing you can say is, ‘it’s not what I want Jesus but what do you want?’  It doesn’t matter if a loved one is dying, or there is a natural disaster, your family is starving,  or your in fear of losing your house.  The only thing that matters is doing the will of God.  Because in His will you are content, you are safe, and you are accomplishing your life’s purposes.  The benefit of this is that often when you are in God’s will your prayer requests become fewer and you understand the world a little better because your will is aligning with God’s.

Jesus taught us to pray this way Himself in the Lord’s Prayer “…‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come… Luke 11:2 NIV then we are showed that this was His greatest desire in life, to fulfill God’s will.  Check out His prayer before He died, very powerful.  I am lucky enough to be teaching on the Lord’s Prayer the 21st of Feb if you want the full explanation.

Please take the time and ask yourself, today, what you would ask for.  It will tell you where you are at in your relationship with God and the condition of your heart.  Are you ready yet to let your desires go for what He wants from you?