the little things

It wasn't a visible difference. But the cost variation was substantial.

As I prepared for our annual Passover ‬ meal, I found myself stuck here for quite a while as shoppers milled and reached and rushed around me.

Looking at these boxes, you can't really tell much of a difference in these products. They look the same. But the ingredients are different, rendering one acceptable and leaven free, and one not. There was a choice to make: shortcut, or no shortcut.

Every time I celebrate Passover, this happens. God reveals some hidden caveat about sin and our affinity for it. I found myself reasoning- "No one will know, what's the big deal, they look the same! Why not cut a corner, save 5 bucks!?" But that's when God gently reminded me that this is exactly how we tend to justify sin. "It's inconvenient, it's minor, no one will know." We want cheap grace. We want to cut corners in the name of freedom. I do this all. The. Time.

The sweet prompting of the Holy Spirit came to me in the HEB today, not with condemnation, but with love and a desire for me to walk in true freedom. I could almost hear what Jesus would have said: "Sometimes outwardly your choice might not look like a big deal one way or the other...the options may only look the tiniest bit different at face value. And you might find yourself leaning toward compromising to minimize personal cost. But don't you forget, I know about cost. And I too had a choice once, to go around or go through The Father's will. And I love you enough to do it right, all the way. With real love and devotion, there just are no shortcuts."

Sometimes, no, oftentimes, the right decision, the holy choice, just costs more. More time, more effort, more money, more sacrifice, more attention to detail. Our job isn't to make excuses or arguments. It's simply to obey. Because that's what He did for us.

Needless to say, I bought the $8 matza. Not because it makes me holy, it's only a symbol, a gesture: Lord, I choose to honor you at any cost. No more excuses.

A very blessed Passover to ya all, from the Tadlocks! ❤ 🍷🍞‪#‎inremembance‬

After You

After you, Holy Spirit

I'll follow you, my King

Show me the path you'd have me take

I am listening.

My life has reached its meaning

through the revelation of your Word

I need not take the lead, You speak

I'm fully surrendered.

Help me, God, to trust, obey

As I walk, broken, blind

For there is no place more secure

Then where we are fully aligned.

So after you, Holy Spirit

I'll follow you, My King

Whatever place you take me

I'll bring praise and thanksgiving.

3.10.16

The Ministry of Ministry

 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God...

Colossians 1:25

The letter to the Colossian church has challenged me so much this week! Here we read the prayer-soaked, heartfelt words of a man who had given his life, and his freedom, to see others reconciled with God! What a resume, what a legacy Paul had. And yet, He speaks to the people from the standpoint of a peer, calling himself, humbly, a minister. That word may sound like a title, but it really just means a simple servant, one carrying out orders.

This got me thinking. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed, or even high minded, believing I must make this grand gesture for Christ. It has to be super visible, I have to see immediate results, it has to be this jaw-dropping show-stopping, dramatic thing to matter. And truly, Jesus is so, so very worthy of that. But that’s not necessarily what He’s asking of us, friends. We are all called to minister in different ways, and all are important. We don’t have to look at someone else’s contribution and get overwhelmed and paralyzed. All God is asking for is a willingness to say yes…in the big things, sure. But also in the small, unseen, every day mundane life stuff too. And the truth is…it’s all those little decisions and gestures add up to a life that will absolutely make a giant impact for the Kingdom.

So here’s the question, and the challenge. Are you really a “minister” of the Gospel? And I don’t mean have you found a way to make your humongous mark on the world. I mean today, are you committed to serving the Gospel? To doing what you can, where you are, with what God has given you to proclaim Him? To practice what He values? Whatever comes your way today, I pray you commit to partner with Him in it to demonstrate what it is to have peace and purpose in Him. Happy ministering, friends…

Blessings!

View from the Mountain Top

You bring me up here on the mountain

For me to rest and learn and grow

I see the truth up on the mountain

And I carry it to the world far below

-Steven Curtis Chapman

This song came to mind as I spent the morning scouring the gospel accounts for wisdom about what to do to really honor the Lord when He fulfills your most intense and intimate longings. I find that counsel is readily available when we need encouragement in times of distress or exhaustion. But what role should "winning" play in our lives as believers? What about when God gives you the desires of your heart? When He heals? When He brings provision that only He can? How does He want us to respond to that?

Jesus often discouraged those healed and touched from telling anyone about it...why? Doesn't He want us to be a witness? Sure He does. But we can get so wrapped up in making it about everyone else that we miss the opportunity for a very real, very personal encounter with God Himself.

So often, filled with adrenaline and excitement, we rush to share with everyone else what has happened...We get our "likes" and our "high fives," and then the moment passes, and we move on to the next endeavor or longing, having never taken a moment to share the experience with the Provider at all...We pour out before taking a moment first to fill up fully on what God has done (and what He might be preparing us for in it).

The people in scripture secluded themselves (Elizabeth) and prayed (Hannah) and served (Peter's mother-in-law) and made grand gestures of devotion (Mary). It was like no one else mattered in those moments. They drew nearer to Jesus in their victories. What I observe is that getting what we ask for is not as much about obtaining the stuff of life as it is about growing in faith and devotion - it's personal! God wants to work IN us before He works THROUGH us. The ministry that comes from that is supposed to happen, but it's should be an indirect result and not the central focus.

I am challenged today to let God use answered prayers in my life to work from the inside out - to allow them to bolster my faith in Him, intimacy with Him and resolve to live for Him - to be in awe that the Creator just wanted to give me His attention and touch and to be thankful for that amazing grace. I want to learn to sit on the mountain top in that restful, quiet place more often, and breathe in God's power and provision in my life...and then...after that...to exhale it out through authentic living, obedience and hope for those who God places around me.



Blessings!

the day of preparation: a passion week devotion

And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us,

so that we may eat it.”

Luke 22:8

 At this time of year, I am reminded that this Passover sacrifice was not a “temple” thing - it wasn’t a church thing. The Passover meal was, from the very beginning, something that took place in the home, with family. One of the most important parts of preparing the home for the Passover meal was ensuring that any and all leaven had been removed from the place.

The historical significance of that act was to commemorate the haste with which the Israelites had to be prepared to leave Egypt during that very first Passover. They didn’t have time to let the bread dough ferment and rise. They couldn’t wait until it was convenient and all the work was done. God was providing an opportunity out of oppression and bondage, a new birth and a new identity. And it was important that they RUN, not walk, to that freedom.

The same truth applies to us today, who seek to understand and apply the spirit of the law by looking at the letter of the law. What can we take away from this preparation time as the celebration of the day of our deliverance approaches? It is this: whatever is holding us back from complete abandon to the Lord, whatever we are waiting for to devote ourselves wholly to Him…just like that leaven, it’s time to leave it behind. We don’t belong in bondage – it is for FREEDOM that we’ve been set free.

To really honor our Savior, we need to search our earthly residence – mind, heart, body and actual house. Identify the spiritual leaven; take an inventory of all those things that we are holding on to that are keeping us in bondage. And abandon those things, running to the holy, perfect and loving embrace of our King.

I pray we would all take these last few moments before the eruption of celebration, family gatherings, decorations and meal preparation, that we would, as families, as individuals, quietly, privately “prepare” the Passover. It is what Jesus commanded His followers do then…and it’s what He would have us do now.

What a wonderful time and opportunity to reflect, take stock, and recenter...

Blessings! He is risen indeed!

About the Photo: Yes, that's me and my crazy husband. And yes, we actually are removing the leaven from our house. I know that you might think that's strange, since we are Christ followers. We don't do it because we're legalistic, or because we want to seem super spiritual, or because we believe it has anything to do with our salvation. We do it because we find that beneath these observances, there are pictures of God’s character, of His redemptive plan, amazing and insightful principles that reveal His nature and ours only as they are lived out... and that helps us to honor Him more fully. These "moedim," appointed times, have blessed and challenged us for the last several years as we have walked through them with open minds and hungry hearts.