The Gaps and the Babies - Babies

This is “PART 2 the Babies”. In my last post I dealt with the gaps in our teeth and spiritual walk. Now I am dealing with the babies. I encourage you to read my last two posts (Lessons From Braces? and The Gaps and the Babies – Gaps) before reading this one as it will aid you in your understanding of the message.

Baby teeth are good while you are a child because they fit your mouth. But as you get older and mature your bone structure changes and your jaw gets bigger. This is why we have adult teeth (God was pretty thorough when He created the human body). Baby teeth are only good for a short amount of time as they are not meant to be in your mouth forever.

After you’ve lost most of your baby teeth and your mature adult teeth have grown in you will notice a difference in size. The new, mature ones are a lot bigger than the babies.

When I first got my braces (ask me to tell you the story of my first screening sometime, it’s pretty funny) I still had baby teeth. When I went in for my screening the orthodontist told me that I had baby teeth and although he could give me braces I would eventually have to have surgery on my mouth. My adult teeth were stuck in my jaw bone and couldn’t come down on their own.

So I did get braces… and it hurt (don’t believe the people who tell you otherwise because they are lying)! After a while of having them on the time came when they told me I had to have my surgery because my treatment would no longer be beneficial without it. I asked them, “Can’t I just keep my babies? I don’t want to have to go through the pain!” They told me that I couldn’t because after a while my baby teeth would rot away as they are not meant to be in your mouth for an extended period of time. So I had surgery.

Okay, now for the lesson… you were thinking that I would never get to it, weren’t you?

When we first come to Christ we are like the “Babies”. We are supposed to read the Word, grow our relationship with Christ, and become mature Christians. Sometimes we choose not to do that and remain “Baby Christians”.

But this is extremely dangerous. Remaining an immature Christian will cause God not to be able to use you as much as He would like. If you do not grow and never become mature, you will likely become just like my baby teeth and rot away. Your relationship with the Father will be quenched and you will fall away from Him.

“A farmer went out to plant some seeds… seeds that fell on the shallow soil with underlying rock spouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died.”

Matthew 13:3, 5-6

Spiritual Lessons From Braces?

Something I've been learning lately is that the things we dislike most and cause us the most problems are really what mold and shape us.

I had braces for 3 years and 9 months (a stinkin' long time). I hated everything about them. The pain they brought, the inconvenience they were, and the general displeasure they brought me.

My braces were taken off on Friday! Praise Him!

My teeth before the braces looked completely different than what they do now. Before they had gaps and some of them were babies. An over all mess. But the braces fixed all of my problems and now my teeth look wonderful.

The thing is that I have to wear a retainer all the time to keep my teeth in perfect alignment. Without it, my teeth would go right back to their natural positions. Even after all that time, effort, pain, and discomfort.

"So what's the lesson?" you may be asking. Well, read on I tell you!

What I've learned is this.

As sinners, we are like my old teeth. Unable to be fixed by our own efforts. It requires a force greater than our own (That's JESUS, by the way) to make the changes. Sometimes the changes are painful and they hurt, they bring us unhappiness and occasionally discouragement.

But the very thing that causes us pain is the thing that grows us into a more beautiful creature and more pleasing to God. The changes create alignment with God (and let me tell you, you want to be aligned with God!!!).

But it doesn't stop there. The "Jesus Braces" aren't enough. Submitting our sin and making the initial changes isn't enough. We need a retainer.

We are not going to remain on the right track without a "Spiritual Retainer". This retainer is the Holy Spirit. We have to have the Holy Spirit in our lives to guide us and keep us in check. The Holy Spirit is our power over sin and our power over Satan, himself. Without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to walk in victory over Satan and the powers of darkness. It is impossible to live a life victorious over sin.

The Holy Spirit, our retainer will allow us to remain the beautiful creation that God has created and will help us to always be in right standing with God, aligned with Him.

Thank God for His braces and retainer!

Resurrection

I’ve been taking really good care of my “pet” today. Mainly because I absolutely hate nothingness, I can’t stand that feeling of being absolutely useless. I let my “pet” die, but I am trying to resurrect it today. And you guys thought I was going to be talking about the resurrection of Christ. (grins to self)

I’ve been pondering random things these past few days:

· Passion – what it is and how we lose it

· Decisions – big ones in life and the ways different people go about making them

· Personality – traits that I am immediately drawn to and others that I am repulsed by

· Friends – how come it is so difficult to find real ones and why does life have to change when you finally do

· Family – they are always there for me, even when I think I’ve done enough to make them stop

· Romantic Relationships – the lack of (BOO)

· School – why is it necessary again

What are your thoughts on what I’ve been pondering? Insightful comments? What do you find yourself thinking about?

Technology?

I was wondering the other day ‘is technology a friend or a foe?’ Sometimes it is used for great things such as medical advances and putting man on the moon. But in our everyday lives I start to doubt it. I was sitting with some very good friends of mine and I noticed that we weren’t talking to one another. This is not an uncommon event as we often sit in silence just thinking. When you are with good friends you don’t always have to talk there isn’t any uncomfortable silence. But we weren’t talking for a different reason, as I looked around the room every one of us had out our laptops and our cellular devices. We were facebooking and texting, trying to keep up with the world around us, and all of our social circles.

The irony is that while we were keeping up with our friends technologically, we were ignoring the ones closest to us. So I have decided to spend my time with my friends actually being with my friends, letting them have my undivided attention, if possible. Even if it means putting off posting a comment on that cute guy’s wall or that silly picture of me and a friend. I will do that on my own time, not my friends’.

I have come to the conclusion that technology is a great asset to my life, but with greatness comes responsibility. It is only helpful to me if I utilize t correctly.

What are some things in your life that distract you from the important stuff?