“It Is Finished.”

By Janet Morris Grimes –

“To-Do List”

Go to grocery
Get hair cut
Get dog’s hair cut
Orthodontist
Get oil changed
Clean out car
Clean house from where I cleaned out car
Buy stamps
Mail rent check, but not too early
Pay bills online
Document that I paid bills online
Buy wedding gifts
Get estimates on roof replacement
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There aren’t many days I can completely cross anything off my list. Done. Finished in a way that I never have to give it any further thought.

Instead, my life seems to be run by a series of unfinished business. Ongoing appointments at the orthodontist, bills that keep showing up, unexpected expenses on the house that never stop, maintenance issues on our vehicles. The list goes on and on, and on the rare occasion that I do actually get to mark something off it, it creeps back in a few weeks later.

It’s enough to make me wonder if I ever accomplish anything at all. Is anything ever finished?

It is also enough to make the words of Jesus as He hung from the cross resonate even more. The book of John shares it like this:

”Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:28 – 30 NIV).

Jesus had completed his purpose. Done. Completely finished. He was afraid, but He did it anyway. He begged for God to find another way to compensate for our sins, but when He understood that we could never be reunited with our Father except through Him, He gave up His Spirit. Long before Jesus hung from the cross, He made the decision and the commitment.

And it is finished.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, Thank You for finishing what You started. Thank You for loving us enough to sacrifice everything. Thank You for the peace that comes in knowing that it is completely finished.

Detours

By Janet Morris Grimes –

The sun peeked over the trees in an early morning yawn. It’s rays reflected off the lake, blinding me with a gush of wonder. With a gentle breeze, the 75 degrees of September was worth the wait after a long, hot and dry summer with humidity that seemed to weigh me down. I trekked along the paved path that bordered the lake, lost in my own world, singing to music in my ears that no one else could hear.

This was my day to be alone. Well, to be alone with God. With a new job and a recent move, I was overstimulated with too much busyness and needed time to take a breath, which led me to the lake on one of the most perfect days ever created.

I came across a fork in the path. Something I normally would have passed right by, sticking, instead with what I knew and was familiar. But I had just been praying, between the first and second stanza of a NeedtoBreathe song, (my theme for the day) for God to direct my steps. My specific prayer was to make His voice clear above the added noise in my life. I wanted Him to know I was still listening, probably now more than ever.

“Take this path.”

It wasn’t a voice, but rather a command, like an awareness of something I knew beforehand.

I didn’t question it. My reason for coming, after all, was to seek God, and He appeared to be everywhere, so wherever that unknown path led was fine with me.

Soon I was perched on a large, flat rock by the water’s edge, away from the few hikers and bikers that wandered through, at a place I had never noticed before. After writing all my questions for the day, I opened my Bible to the book of Mark, and this is what I found:

“At that time, Jesus came from Nazereth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven beign torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased. At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness…. (Mark 1:9 – 12 NIV).

”Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35 NIV).

I laid back against my newly discovered rock and contemplated how Jesus dealt with all that He was called to do. He took time away from others to refocus, to make sure He understood where God was leading, and to ask questions. My guess is He took many detours throughout His life, as He went where the Spirit led.

And on this perfect day, I was thankful that He had done the same for me.

How Do You Worship?

By Janet Morris Grimes –

In a recent discussion about styles of worship, a friend told me that he and another member of his church are touring the area, visiting churches of all denominations that are experiencing extended periods of growth to find some common denominators.

What they found is this: a church that loves God first and people second is a church that draws others in. They aren’t focused on numbers and size, but by focusing on the needs of the people in their community, growth happens as a natural by-product of the love they dish out. At one church they visited, they had a moment where everyone prayed for someone that needed Christ by name.

The church where I am a member in Antioch, Tennessee is a perfect example. The building is likely to be as full of people on a weekday than during Sunday services. With outreach programs that teach English to non-English speaking people, serve the children of the inner city, serve the children of our own congregation, serve those recovering from addictions and teaching beginner Bible classes for those who are curious, each night of the week is filled with a new group that may not normally set foot in a Christian church for any other reason. With meals and a warm place to take a shower and sleep for the homeless during the cold fall and winter seasons, assistance with cleanup and meals following a massive flood in our area, and a coat drive for families in the neighborhood, our church has become known not for the building, but for the smiling and accepting faces people find when they walk in the doors for any reason.

When these people arrive, they see something that intrigues them enough to return. They see a love for families like their own, and they see enough to make them ask questions about Jesus.

Church growth has little to do with styles of worship. As it turns out, it may have more to do with the One who is being worshiped. Where Jesus is present, others are drawn in, like a city on a hill.

QUOTE: “Worship changes the worshiper into the image of the One being worshiped.” Jack Hayford.

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14 NIV)

A Powerful Reminder

By Janet Morris Grimes –

I clearly remember paying that bill. I always do it online, by the fifteenth day of the month, and then document it on my Google calendar.

The only problem was on this particular fifteenth day of July, I was out of town. Driving, on the road for the third consecutive weekend, and to be honest, I had no idea what day it was. To complicate matters, with another full week out of town followed by the daunting task of moving our daughter into the dorm for her first year of college, apparently I never fully went through the stack of mail that awaited us when we finally returned home to stay.

So imagine my surprise when our power went out early in the month of August. I presumed it was caused by construction in the area, and was quick to notify the power company. Instead, they notified me that we were 15 days late in paying our bill, so the power was turned off as a reminder.

That is a pretty powerful reminder, especially when it is 90 degrees outside.

My first thought was: “Oh, it’s August already?” But that retort would have confirmed the dimwit I apparently had become over these wonderful months of summer. I had no way of defending my actions and when I checked my Google calendar, there was no documentation that it had been done in reality. But in my mind, I had already marked it off my list.

Such is the problem with the lack of structure and routine. Perhaps that is why mothers across the globe are so excited to see their children return to school. Because then everyone knows what to expect. Our days fall into a steady pattern, and although it is hectic, it is at least consistent.

Summer has been wonderful, relaxing and filled with the type of opportunities and memories that do not come along every day. A wedding in Ohio? College visits? Vacation? Bible Camp? New job? Done. And I treasured every moment. I can look back at the summer of 2012 with no regrets.

Except for one. Paying that dreaded electric bill. Or rather, the failure to do so.

That is a lesson I will never forget.

And I hate to say it, but bring on the structure.

Killer Carpet

By Janet Morris Grimes –

“Here. I will lift up this bunk bed, and you unroll the carpet underneath.” I knew when I uttered those words that our method would never work, but there were only the two of us, and it had to be done.

My oldest daughter and I were in the process of helping my youngest daughter move into her dorm for her first semester of college. The furniture was already in place. Even the clothes in the drawers. But we discovered the well-hidden truck that sold rolls of carpet nearby, and decided that carpet was what the room lacked.

The problem, first and foremost, was that the smallest roll of carpet was still too large for the room. Secondly, the brand new furniture was rather heavy. But perhaps because we were a bit loopy from too many trips up the stairs and the late night packing party from the previous night, we were determined to make it work.

In a perfect world, the room would be empty, then the carpet installed, then the furniture placed on top of it. But we weren’t in a perfect world. We were in a dorm room with pre-existing furniture and the hallways too crowded with others moving in to move anything out there.

So, with a borrowed box cutter, we started the process and quickly proved that we had no carpeting experience. It was too heavy to push or pull more than an inch at a time, and ripped out the majority of our fingernails within the first couple of minutes. Thankfully, the left-behind nail particles blended in with the carpet, so we moved on.

There was no place to put the drawers but on the bunk beds, making them even heavier. Inch by inch, we scooted the carpet underneath and cut around the odd shaped column that protruded from the wall. We nearly severed an arm at the elbow, ripped a shirt, and laughed until we cried, but soon, the floor was mostly covered and the crooked parts remained hidden.

Mission accomplished. Until we tried to open the closet door.

Only then did we discover that the carpet was too thick. The door and the floor could not coexist peacefully with the carpet in between them.

So, out came the box cutter and we cut a huge square out in a spot that could never be hidden.

And our shoddy work is now obvious to everyone who enters.

There is something to be said for doing things in the proper order with careful planning in advance. Those who choose to do otherwise pay the consequences.

Lesson learned and still recovering.

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