The rest of the dirt....mudpies

The making of mudpies: What is our motivation for the things we do? There are so many things we do that look great in people’s eyes, but God knows the motivation of our hearts. We can be the leader in church, we can be helping the poor, we can even be evangelizing the lost. But really, all they are, are still mud pies. Sure we look great in other’s eyes but unless we are doing it out of love for God, it is just yet, a mud pie. I think one of my biggest struggles is examining my heart to see if I am doing activities, making choices, etc for the right reason. “Am I doing this so the pastor will see me and recognize what a model Christian I am? …So God can be pleased with me? …So that if I straighten up my life, He will see that my heart is in the right place and He will grant me the desires of my heart, because after all, getting pregnant could not be against His will could it? If I jump through this hoop, maybe I can gain His approval….maybe He will see to it that we don’t have another miscarriage.” Where is your heart? What are the motivations for your work? We cannot make Him love us any more, or any less by anything we do.
Isaiah 64:6 “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags”. (NIV)
Living life intentionally: In the end, a mud pie is a mud pie. Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.” We were made from dust and to dust we will return (physically)-just like a mud pie. To number our days, to realize that we have an end and we don’t know how far or soon it will be, makes us live life more intentionally. I’d stop putting off sharing Jesus with my cousin. I’d not lose my patience when my child that seemed potty trained last week uses the bathroom on the floor for the fifth time in a day. I would not get so bent out of shape about….you fill in the blank. I would snuggle more with my children instead of rushing off for “my time” or to clean the house.
Second, third, fourth chances: If you mess the mud pie up, just add some water and do it again. The great thing about God is when we fail the test, we get to take it over again. We even get to take it multiple times and in different variations until we get it right. God is more concerned about our heart than our comfort. He makes our ways complete. He is sanctifying us and working in us to bring His good work in us to completion. We won’t get it right or perfect but thank God he loves us enough not to leave us alone.
James 1: 2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (NIV)

Comparing Mud pies: It may just be a mud pie but it sure looks a whole lot better than her mud pie. The truth is, again, a mud pie is a mud pie. They all look the same to God. If we compare ourselves to others, of course we will look better than others. You can always find someone that is “worse” than you. However, it is not other’s standards that count, or even ours. It is God’s standard. To understand this now, and compare your mud pie, take the “good person quiz”. You know we all love those quizzes in magazines, go ahead, take this test. See if your mud pie is good enough to get you into heaven: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6t0s7fpg1M. This only takes 6 ½ minutes.

God has you right where you are supposed to be: Mud pies are mud pies no matter where you are. They look different because of the dirt/content, but they are still mud pies. Only difference is location. People tend to put us on a pedestal because we left our “comforts” of what we were accustomed to in order to move to a foreign land we knew very little about to serve God. Well, let me tell you, my dirt is no different from your dirt except in location. Dirt is dirt. God has us all right where He wants us. God may have you changing diapers and wiping snotty noses and rock babies to sleep telling them how much God loves them. God may have you . working a 9 to 5 job and has you near a person that needs to know how much He loves them. God may have you living in the dessert risking your life to share His love, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God may have you in a place where you can learn and grow so He can prepare you for what He has next for you. Is my mud pie different from yours, well yes in aspects, we are all different. But is it any more special because of location or perceived sacrifice, no. God has you where He does to use you and prepare you for what He has planned for you if you are a follower of Jesus Christ and are obedient to Him through His word, the Bible.
Are you still making the same type of mud pie or have you moved on to making real pies? Are you growing? Is your life producing fruit or are you like a mud pie that has been left in the sun, unchanged, un-pliable for shaping? Or are you just a variation of what you were when you became a Christian but with no real substance. Hebrews 5:12 “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” (NIV). Are you growing or are you still pretending. Are you in the Word, or are you riding on the coat tails of what God told you a week ago, month ago, years ago. You don’t continue to give your children a bottle of milk; you give them solid food as they grow. They need a “meatier” diet, one with more substance. Evaluate your life, where are you? Are you growing or are you still making mud pies.

Well right now is my favorite time of year in Ireland. It is blackberry season. You can go on the side of the road anywhere and pick all the blackberries you want until your heart is content. I loved making mud pies as a kid, but now I am enjoying making blackberry pies. May God grow you into a great “pie maker”. Examine your heart, and make sure it is where God can grow you: surrendered, willing, humble, and obedient. Now go make some pies.