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Enjoy Being -- Lavonia Drabot
Story --
Chippy the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over. The problems began when Chippie's owner decided to clean Chippies cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. (At that moment) the phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She barely said hello, when SOPP! Chippie got sucked in.
The bird's owner gasped, she put down the phone and turned off the vacuum cleaner. She opened up the bag. There was Chippie still alive - but stunned!
Since the bird was covered with dust and soot she grabbed him and raced into the bathroom and turned on the faucet and held Chippie under the running water. Then realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering - she did what any compassionate bird owner would do.
She reached for the hair dryer, and blasted the pet with hot air. Poor Chippie never knew what hit him. A few days after the trauma, the reporter who'd initially written about the event contacted Chippie's owner to see how the bird was recovering. "Well,” she replied, "Chippie doesn't sing much anymore - he just sits and stares.
Song Lyrics: You gotta be
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold
You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm
You gotta stay together
That's how we are as women, we gotta be these things
1 Tim 6:17-19
wealth, which is so uncertain, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life
"in the moment" - it is very difficult to live that way
take hold of life = get a grip in modern day vernacular
get a grip before it's out of control
life comes at you fast
John 10:10 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
I think my life is full already, how can it be more full?
Quote -- Susan Hunt "History is the story of redemption. This story is much bigger than I. I am not the main character in the drama of redemption. I am not the point. But by God's grace I am a part of it. My subplot is integral to the whole. It is far more significant to have a small part in this story than to star in my own puny production. This is a cosmic story that will run throughout eternity. Will I play my part with grace and joy, or will I go for the short-run, insignificant story that really has no point?"
Are we women who are consistent and not resistant?
To Enjoy Being:
1) Live a Life of Gratitude
gratitude = appreciation of gifts received
Mark 5:25-34 A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." 29Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?" 31"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' " 32But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
healing of the bleeding woman -- The woman had spent all of her money on doctors that could not cure her. The woman is desperate enough to try anything! She has probably attempted every magical cure on the planet.
In the Old Testament, if you're bleeding, you are unclean, can't touch anybody. We know from Levitical law that a bleeding woman is considered impure. Impurity carries connotations beyond physical cleanliness and includes a spiritual aspect. This may be strange to us today, but these are beliefs deeply imbedded in the culture of Jesus day. Leviticus 15:25 says, “When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period. Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period. Whoever touches them will be unclean: he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. When she is cleansed from her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean. On the eighth day she must take two doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The priest is to sacrifice one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement for her before the Lord for the uncleanness of her discharge.”
12 years - rejection, loneliness, all by herself, not being with people. Lavonia has to be with people, she can't imagine being that lonely, suffering that much, a discouraging, hopeless situation. She heard about Jesus, if she could just touch his clothes, he doesn't have to look at me, such faith. She wasn't supposed to be in the crowd, unclean. It was radical for her to do this.
Not only is she impure, not only will she make anyone unclean whom she has contact with, she is alone, without anyone, in particular without a male, to defend or appeal on her behalf. She hears that Jesus is in town with a huge crowd around him and believes that he might be able to save her. But she does not ask, she just touches Jesus and is instantaneously healed. But Jesus feels the power go out from him. He immediately asks who in the crowd has touched him. She comes forward and admits that she was the one who touched him and tells her 12 year story. Jesus is generous and tells her that she is indeed free from her suffering and to “go in peace”.
This is an audacious act, which, according to the law, would make Jesus unclean along with her. Jesus feels power go out of him. Under the law, each sickness for each person needed its own sacrifice. When she confesses, trembling with fear of what Jesus and the crowd may do, he says, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.”
With Jesus, she is no longer alone and impure. From the perspective of patriarchal, honor and shame culture, we see that not only has she been healed, she now has a defender; she has been included into the family of God. Yet it her own audacious crossing the boundaries of honor and shame; it is her audacious, assertive faith which has made her well, brought her peace, and freed her from her suffering.
As women, our lives are like this woman. The real illness in our lives is sin - we think about things that make us sick spiritually
It's easy for us to give up
To change our thinking, to have that radical faith that woman had, we need to do things
a. Faith in God
Heb 11:6
If there are people who don't believe here, there is evidence that there is a creator
It's too mind-blowing for us to have just happened
We must believe he exists and rewards those who earnestly seek him
Acts 17:24-27
We must know who he is
b. Remember what Jesus did on the Cross
Mt 26, 27, 28
we love John 3:16
take it into your heart, we must take what Jesus did on the cross personally
He was in a lot of pain - physically and emotionally
remember what Jesus did on the cross
c. repent of our sin
Gal 5:19-21
How much more plain do you want it?
That can't be right -- yes, it's in the Bible, and he is writing this to a church
Study the Bible, see what it means to you
Lavonia grew up in the church, she had a list of sins she didn't do (e.g. murder)
She didn't keep a list of sins she did do
2 Tim 3:1-5 heart sins
That's just as disgusting to God as the other stuff, sin is sin
d. Renew our life
Acts 2:36-39 36"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." 37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 38Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."
We crucified Jesus because of our sin. This is for everyone, for generations to come.
Baptism, forgiveness of sins.
Rom 6:1-4
Bibles are for touching, reading, understanding. The Romans thought the more they sinned, the more grace they got. A new life, the old is gone.
e. we'll be refreshed to go share
Satan is going to continue to go after you, he's not going to give up
1 Peter 5:8 8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
a hungry lion -- they went on Safari in Africa, you don't get out of your car. The lion is looking for something to devour. That's what lions do. Satan is like that, he is watching and waiting for you to be weak.
2) Enjoy being: Live a life of surrender
surrender = give up control
We're control freaks, we want everything our way because it's the best way
It's hard for us to surrender to God because we're right
It's scary
People don't sit around talking about surrendering to God because we like our comfort and we like our control
It starts young, it starts when we are babies
Those who have daughters - they're just acting like us. It's hard to surrender our finances
The economy is crashing, stimulus package - how is that going to affect me personally?
By the time the stimulus is going to get down to me, what is going to be left?
They have the printing press, can't they just make more money?
It's hard to surrender in the area of finances, or in relationships, in school, on your joy, with your health
Who's going to be the shining stars in this economy ?
We are
Esther is amazing, read it on your own
The price to surrender is high, Jesus wants our life, all of you
Mark 8:34-38
deny himself, ouch, take up his cross, ouch, follow Jesus
What does it mean to deny yourself? it's different for every person
John 12:24-25
Jesus wants our life, not bits and pieces.
How are we going to surrender commitment to prayer and Bible study every day, commitment to spiritual relationships, not just what you want to hear.
People who will tell you the truth.
A commitment to being spiritually challenged. A commitment to change when our lives do not match the scriptures.
the point of being here is to change our lives to match the scriptures.
3) To enjoy being, we need to Live a Life of Purpose
Mary -- Luke 1:36-38
Have I said these things? I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said.
It's all about God and not about us.
We forget God has very specific plans for our lives.
We all want to be the star in our own production.
Jer 29:11-13 God is amazing. God's plan is going to prevail. Whether we like it or not. We think God made mistakes because he doesn't do it the way we would do it. Where were you God?
Is 48: 10-11 How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another
God allows affliction to happen for His glory, and not our own
Are you in the furnace of affliction right now? financial, relationships, your children? You feel misunderstood. God wants us to wake up and see the life he wants for us to have.
Story -- a boy was pushing his brother's wheelchair down the street, the boy falls over in his wheelchair, his brother cannot get him up off the ground and back into the wheelchair, and he can't get any of the car's driving past to stop and help him. Finally, he takes a brick and throws it at the next car to drive by. The brick smashed into a Jaguar's side door! The man slammed on the brakes and drove the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, “What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That’s a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost me a lot of money. Why did you do it?” The young boy was apologetic. “Please mister. . . . please, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do. I threw the brick because no one else would stop” With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. “It’s my brother. He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.” Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.” Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out his handkerchief and wiped at the fresh scrapes and cuts. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward home. It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable but the driver never repaired the dented side door. There are many lessons in this story; but he kept the dent to remind him of this message: Don’t go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention.
A goldsmith leaves the gold in the furnace until he can see his reflection. Does God see himself when he looks at me? Or are there still too many imperfections fogging it?
Everyone has a story to share. The longer you live, the more stories you have, and the more victories.
Parable: One day a mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule 'braying' - or - whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully thinking over the situation, the farmer decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. So, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened...and asked them to help him haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.
As the first shovelfuls of dirt began to rain down on the old mule; he became hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back...a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back...HE COULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This is what he did, blow after blow.
"Shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed the old mule fought "panic" and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!
You're right! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL!
What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed him...all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.
We need to take our problems and shake them off and use them for a step
We need to make some decisions.
Together, we can do this and we can be victorious.
Poem: Strong Women vs. Women of Strength
A strong woman works out every day to keep her body in shape ...
but a woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape...
A strong woman isn't afraid of anything ...
but a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear...
A strong woman won't let anyone get the best of her ...
but a woman of strength gives the best of her to everyone...
A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids the same in the future...
a woman of strength realizes life's mistakes can also be God's blessings and capitalizes on them...
A strong woman walks sure footedly ...
but a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls...
A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face ...
but a woman of strength wears grace...
A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey ...
but a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong...