The Contented Life: Simplicity Luke 9:57-62 10-12-08
57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, " will follow youo wherever you go." 58Jesus replied. "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nexts, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 59He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but youo go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." 62Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
Introduction
I have so many plates in the air that I'm awake trying to count them to make sure none fails and is shattered. I'm s overwhelmed with "life" that I am not really living. How can i be the wife/mother business owner/friend/person God meant me to be when my life is so artificially complex?
We have been on consumerism overload, and spending much more than we make, now we may be forced to consider the simple things of life, and sort our survival priorities, this will be beneficial to us.
Eric White - My sister pointed out, many years ago, about how much time we spend taking care of our things. This is the same as saying "what you own, owns a piece of you". Her advice stuck with me, and while it's nice to have things - its just not important. Spend your time with friends and family - not "taking care of your things".
simplicity as related to stuff
Jesus had n0 place to lay his head - Jesus had no home, No camel, no donkey
So many things have some to occupy our eyes and ears that there is not longer room for God to occupy our hearts and minds.
Here are some simple suggestions:
The shirt rule
Things i can fix
Prepare for the obligations ahead - Dave Ramsey
Eat simply - Beans and rice
I remember when we were in graduate school and seminary...i learned to "cook poor". Red beans and rice, buy a chicken whole and hack it to pieces then make at least 3 meals of it.
Also, There was a Mon-Pop grocery 2 blocks from our married housing dorm. I would put Kip in the stroller, walk to the market. The owner had a perpetual "#lbs. ground beef for $1" sale. I participated in the EVERY week. Over in the corner cans without their labels were stacked up. They were a nickle a can (no labels, remember). i would buy 14 cans every week. For dinner every night i would open up 2 cans. Some nights we would have peaches and peaches...because i had no way of knowing what was in each can (no labels, remember)>
I've often thought since then...there is probably a special corner in Heaven for the Mom/Pop. They probably tore the labels off some cans, just so we poor seminary students could afford to eat.
I feel for your couples nowadays. I don't think they know how to "cook poor".
Try it for a month
Carve out a quiet time - God on a retreat
Read a book that is not simply entertainment but challenges you to become a better person
Leave the world of hurry and scurry
Can't feel God's presence.....no wonder
all your energy is spread across a thousand trivial matters, and all i want from you is to say 'no' to all of that stuff, slow down and let me show you what you were made for. That is the only way you'll ever be fulfilled.
Bridge
Simplicity allows us to see others as we should
Live so that others can live
I sponsor a 12-year old your girl in Zambia. Christeta has learned, from having to live simply. For, in the last photo I received from her, she has a radiant, contagious semile amid:
We live out of the brain and never out of the soul....
L means loving. We decided to become less judgemental and more loving people. It is much simpler to be loving than judgemental.
Simplicity as related to the soul
No excuses, Get down to business - let the dead bury their dead...
They are too busy....
All stuff, while mostly good, can create noice in your soul
*Having my priorities in order. *Having balance in my values. *Fewer "activities" so I could be closer to God and to the people in my life who need to know that they are loved. *Just knowing what is most inportant and living that way without regret. LEN
I carry a card in my purse that says what I was as my eptitath. And I believe these statements are profoundly spiritual and biblical: "Live simply, laugh ofter, love deeply"
There is, do we not agree, a strong impulse in all of us to simplify life?
Richard FOster - The Discipline of Simplicity
He places simply under the category of the Outward Disciples. Here are his tne ways to order our world so that we can create simplicity in our life.
We have tried to satisfy the soul by purchasing things and being busy with life.
It doesn't work
Are you looking for something real?
This is a time when the economic circumstances are causing us to consider our lives.
If you have trusted in "things" in the past, I invite you today to leave them behind and trust in Jesus Christ.
Only Jesus can satisfy the soul
We have been on consumerism overload, and spending much more than we make, now we may be forced to consider the simple things of life, and sort our survival priorities, this will be beneficial to us.
Eric White - My sister pointed out, many years ago, about how much time we spend taking care of our things. This is the same as saying "what you own, owns a piece of you". Her advice stuck with me, and while it's nice to have things - its just not important. Spend your time with friends and family - not "taking care of your things".
simplicity as related to stuff
Jesus had n0 place to lay his head - Jesus had no home, No camel, no donkey
So many things have some to occupy our eyes and ears that there is not longer room for God to occupy our hearts and minds.
Here are some simple suggestions:
- Turn off the tv
- Are you president of the PTA, rotary, sorority, bunco and ?? Drop two of them. Pick up something at church
- Are you in 5 things are church? Go to 4
- Are your children exhausted, confused about life, becoming entitled? Remove your children from one activity
- Do those things which are good for your soul
The shirt rule
Things i can fix
Prepare for the obligations ahead - Dave Ramsey
Eat simply - Beans and rice
I remember when we were in graduate school and seminary...i learned to "cook poor". Red beans and rice, buy a chicken whole and hack it to pieces then make at least 3 meals of it.
Also, There was a Mon-Pop grocery 2 blocks from our married housing dorm. I would put Kip in the stroller, walk to the market. The owner had a perpetual "#lbs. ground beef for $1" sale. I participated in the EVERY week. Over in the corner cans without their labels were stacked up. They were a nickle a can (no labels, remember). i would buy 14 cans every week. For dinner every night i would open up 2 cans. Some nights we would have peaches and peaches...because i had no way of knowing what was in each can (no labels, remember)>
I've often thought since then...there is probably a special corner in Heaven for the Mom/Pop. They probably tore the labels off some cans, just so we poor seminary students could afford to eat.
I feel for your couples nowadays. I don't think they know how to "cook poor".
Try it for a month
Carve out a quiet time - God on a retreat
Read a book that is not simply entertainment but challenges you to become a better person
Leave the world of hurry and scurry
Can't feel God's presence.....no wonder
all your energy is spread across a thousand trivial matters, and all i want from you is to say 'no' to all of that stuff, slow down and let me show you what you were made for. That is the only way you'll ever be fulfilled.
Bridge
Simplicity allows us to see others as we should
Live so that others can live
I sponsor a 12-year old your girl in Zambia. Christeta has learned, from having to live simply. For, in the last photo I received from her, she has a radiant, contagious semile amid:
- both parents are deceased from aids, and she lives with relatives
- The monthly family income is $50
- Their home has one bedroom, a living room, and one bedroom...for four people
- Christeta sleeps on a dirt floor, in a house with a metal roof
- Her family drinks from a community faucet
We live out of the brain and never out of the soul....
L means loving. We decided to become less judgemental and more loving people. It is much simpler to be loving than judgemental.
Simplicity as related to the soul
No excuses, Get down to business - let the dead bury their dead...
They are too busy....
All stuff, while mostly good, can create noice in your soul
*Having my priorities in order. *Having balance in my values. *Fewer "activities" so I could be closer to God and to the people in my life who need to know that they are loved. *Just knowing what is most inportant and living that way without regret. LEN
I carry a card in my purse that says what I was as my eptitath. And I believe these statements are profoundly spiritual and biblical: "Live simply, laugh ofter, love deeply"
There is, do we not agree, a strong impulse in all of us to simplify life?
Richard FOster - The Discipline of Simplicity
He places simply under the category of the Outward Disciples. Here are his tne ways to order our world so that we can create simplicity in our life.
- First, buty things for the usefulness rather than steir status.
- Second, reject anthing that is producing an addiction in you.
- Third, develop a habit of giving things away.
- Fourth, refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry.
- Fifth, learn to enjoy things without owning them.
- Sixth, develop a deeper appreciation for the creation.
- Seventh, look at a healthy skepticism at all "buy now, pay later" schemes.
- Eighth, obey Jesus' instructions about plain, honest speech.
- Nonth, reject anything that will breed the oppression of others.
- Tenth, shun whatever would distract you from you main goal: "Seek first the kingdom of God."
We have tried to satisfy the soul by purchasing things and being busy with life.
It doesn't work
Are you looking for something real?
This is a time when the economic circumstances are causing us to consider our lives.
If you have trusted in "things" in the past, I invite you today to leave them behind and trust in Jesus Christ.
Only Jesus can satisfy the soul
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