Clean

While living in Honduras, I taught at two different schools, and each school had its own well. Whereas in most places, we were warned to not drink or even brush our teeth with water from the faucet, this water was pure because of its source. So I drank it. And I got sick. I learned that even though the water was clean, the holding tanks were not. I knew God was trying to show me something by way of analogy, about being a clean vessel, but it took some time for me to fully understand.

This is what I realized: Jesus said that He would give us living water that would become a spring within us, welling up to eternal life (John 4). This water is the Holy Spirit, and we are the vessels that dispense the water to our surroundings. The water is pure and life-giving, but if we are a dirty vessel, we will produce undesired effects.

How do we become clean? It's what happened when we gave our lives to Him in response to His sacrifice on the cross: "He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds" (Titus 2:14).

We become dirty by negating the work of the cross that cleansed us.

One way we do this is through our words. God is Creator, and when He speaks, He creates - "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light." We were made in His image, so our words also create - they create our atmosphere and establish our limit. When you say that things never go your way, predict a bad ending, or belittle yourself, your words have more power than you realize. "Destructive confessions create self-fulfilled prophecies that ultimately become negative ecosystems that imprison our minds and de-rail our destiny" (Kris Vallotton). On the other hand, when you declare the goodness of God, claim that God is working things together for your good (Romans 8:28), and agree with who He says you are, you are calling the work of the cross to manifest in your life. Angels recognize your words as their assignment to make sure God's word is fulfilled. "You’re going to eat your words. They’re either going to nourish your heart or poison your soul" (Kris Vallotton).

Here is another point that God has been trying to teach me for years: I don't have the right to complain. He knows all of the bad things I've been through. It's not my responsibility to make sure everyone else knows. On the contrary:

"Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them" (Ephesians 4:29).

"Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, 'children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.' Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life" (Philippians 2:14-16).

It's not easy to make this change. I know that the habits of complaining and speaking negative words over my life are so ingrained in me that it seems almost impossible to break free. But I also know that if the Son sets me free, I am free indeed (John 8:36). I am called to stand firm, and when I am burdened again by a yoke of slavery, it is because I have allowed it (Galatians 5:1). I know that when I consciously choose to speak the reasons I'm thankful or declare God's promises over my life, it makes all the difference in my outlook on life and how my day unfolds.

"Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Victims or revolutionaries?

On any chicken farm of any mass producer of chicken (Tyson, Perdue, etc.), the chickens are all crammed into a dark building. There is no sunlight and no room to move around. They are so jacked up on hormones that their bones and internal organs can't keep up with the weight - they can only take a few steps before they have to plop back down to rest. Many of them die each day. This is the chicken, and these are the eggs, we eat. Regardless of whether or not you're into animal rights, do you think this is healthy for you, the consumer?

If you think that's bad, go to a cattle farm. The cattle are penned into a small space where they are fed corn - not what their stomachs are meant to digest - and stand in their own manure day after day. If one of them is diseased, the rest of them are going to get sick as well, since they are always knee-deep in each other's excretions. They enter the slaughter house caked with manure, and they are not cleaned off before being turned into hamburgers. One hamburger can contain the meat and fecal matter of hundreds of different cows, increasing the chance for contamination. People all over the country have died from the meat of a single diseased cow. The mother of one three-year-old who died from food poisoning after eating a hamburger has spent six years fighting for a law to be passed (Kevin's Law) that would increase meat companies' accountability for safety. Rather than spend millions of dollars on improving their safety standards to prevent unnecessary deaths, these companies choose to spend millions of dollars in legal fees, fighting for their right to increase efficiency and profit at the cost of human life.

These are just a handful of the problems with today's food industry. I haven't mentioned the effects on local farmers, factory workers, or the general health of the nation. I've touched only on the topic of animal products and not crops. That would get us into the subject of genetically modified foods, harmful chemicals, and other corrupt business practices. This post has everything to do with my last one - stewardship of our bodies, our society, and our planet. It is not just a battle for environmental activists - it is even more so a responsibility for Christians. I just want to get across the point that many of us are living as victims of the food industry, when really we have so much more leverage than we think. "When we run an item past the supermarket scanner, we're voting" - for local or mass-produced, organic or chemical-laden.... (Food, Inc.).

If you want to know more about what is wrong or what you can do to fix it, visit this site: http://www.takepart.com/foodinc

Tenants

I’ve been confronted a lot recently with the woes of being a landlord. My mom owns several properties that she rents out to tenants. She finds a house with potential – one that tugs at her heart –, makes a down payment, pours time and resources into getting it ready for new habitants, and advertises for tenants. The tenants move in, call from time to time (some more often than others) with complaints about a leaky pipe or a broken door, and send in their rent checks (sometimes on time, sometimes for the full amount). Usually by the time they move out, they leave obvious evidence that this dwelling place was just a pit stop for them. They had no real investment in the property and no care for its upkeep. My mother had left them with the result of her excellence, and they left her with the outcome of their carelessness – a whole lot of damage to un-do.

Not too long ago, I was employed by another landlord who needed serious help cleaning up after his tenants. From the looks of it, they had not made an attempt to clean at all in the three years they had occupied his house, and to make matters worse, their dog seldom had the chance to do his business outside. The landlord had to rip up and replace floor boards and cabinets to get rid of the stench.

Considering these acts of negligence, I realized that every member of the human race is a tenant. The Creator has left us with His work of extravagant beauty and excellence – the Earth. He has entrusted this treasure into our care, and we have exploited it. The sky He created to dazzle us is now polluted with harmful chemicals. The once breath-taking river is now a slimy garbage pit. The lush forest has become a field of charred stumps. We should be grieved at what we have done to this piece of property we were meant to steward for a time.

Then there is the pinnacle of Creation – human beings. Our bodies are an intricate work of art. The fact that a life can be formed from two cells joining together is a miracle. From microscopic beginnings comes a body that is not only able to accomplish incredible feats of strength, flexibility, and coordination, but also houses a soul and spirit capable of loving, nurturing, creating, problem-solving, inventing, and communing with our Maker. I can’t say we’ve been any better stewards of this gift. We harm ourselves through everything from unhealthy lifestyles like gluttony and inactivity to self-mutilation like cutting. We hurt others who were also made in the Creator’s image: gossip, deceit, criticism, broken promises, stealing, abortion and murder…

If God were human, He would have evicted us by now to salvage what’s left of His property. But “the LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love” (Psalm 145:8). And His works still praise Him – the majestic waves of the sea, the stunning colors of a sunset, the delicate spring flowers in bloom…the sweat of a tree-hugger working on a restoration project, the tears of a mother who once aborted her unwanted child, now fighting for the lives of other yet unborn children…the heavy breathing of a former couch potato getting their health back through self-discipline, the humility of a son or daughter confessing their rebellion to their parents and pleading forgiveness…the heartfelt prayer of a child of God coming to Him in repentance and asking for help to be transformed more into His likeness. Each act of love and sacrifice, no matter how big or small, brings a smile to the Father’s face.

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” ~Psalm 103:10-14