God Is Doing a New Thing

It occurred to me...I didn't make a couple of comments that I meant to in the video about the marble jar...

I commented on the fact that, in a classroom, the children react to the sound of the marble dropping into the marble jar as if it is it's own reward. They get all excited and sit up straight and focus all the more. They thrill that this moment was captured! We, too, can do the same!

For instance, as I say NO to my flesh, capture my thoughts and actions for the Lord in this moment when I am tempted to have an Oreo milkshake when I am not hungry...that moment of temptation when I chose to say NO to me and "Not MY will, but THINE be done" to God...well, that is followed by a WHOLE bunch of moments where I get to do a happy dance! "YAY! I did it! WE did it! I gave this moment to the LORD! I said NO to my flesh! WHOO HOO!" So, in a sense, not only is the capturing of the moment a reward like the sound of the marble in the jar to the kids, but it is followed by a bunch of moments rejoicing.

Picture that compared to one moment of indiscretion...what is my tendency following a moment of having given in to my flesh? I follow that moment with a bunch of other moments where I beat myself up...YUCK! THIS moment matters as it can influence what comes next as well as the moment I am in!

Another thought about moments...sometimes, when I am faced with a choice, I may be tempted to say, "This bite doesn't matter. I can eat this. No, I am nut hungry any more (like at the end of a meal). But it won't matter to have a couple more bites."

It may not matter relative to weight loss...that much is true. But it DOES matter relative to the condition of my heart. This moment I choose to capture my heart and my thoughts and my actions to the Lord or for my flesh. And THAT is the divine investment I am making.

So we don't want to minimize the significance of the moment in that regard either.

I hope this makes sense!

In NO way am I claiming that we EARN God's favor. The marble jar isn't about "winning enough marbles" to get in to heaven. NO. If that is what it appears that I am teaching here, please listen to the video again. I assume that you are in Christ. Jesus is the only way to experience God's gift of salvation. He has paid the way for each of us. Now that we are IN Him, we want to live our lives FOR Him. This is about that progressive thing in life called "sanctification!" We want to build godly lives for him, given that he has done so much for us. We need His grace to do this in EACH moment, so if you struggle with capturing the moment for the Lord, please tell him so! He provides grace in the moment for the moment!