Linda

Gilden

Seven-year-old JoJo sat at the foot of her mom’s bed. “Momma, Can I ask you a question?

“What’s that, honey?”

“My teacher Sunday said I should ask Jesus into my heart. What does that mean? How does He get into my heart?”

JoJo’s mom began to explain to her the process of becoming a Christian and that Jesus coming into your heart wasn’t literal. JoJo listened intently.

“So all I have to do is ask?”

“Yes, sweetheart. Remember the verse we learned together in our family devotions?

says God loves you so much that He gave His son to die for you. His death was so you and I could be forgiven for your sins. The only way we can be forgiven of our sins is to ask Jesus to come into our hearts. You have to tell God you are sorry for your sin and ask Him to forgive you.”

“But I don’t do really bad things. I try to do the right thing like you taught me.”

“You are a great little girl. But everyone has sinned. We are born with sin in our hearts. That’s why we have to ask Jesus to make our hearts clean again. Let me get my Bible and show you something.”

“I’ll go get mine too.”

When Momma and JoJo returned to their seats on the bed, Momma said, “See if you can find

. See what that says? It says ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ That means we are all sinners—everyone. And to fall short means we cannot have God’s glory because of our sins. But Jesus came to die for us so we could be forgiven of our sin and receive God’s glory.”

“I want that right now. Will you help me?”

“Of course.”

JoJo and her mom shared a very special moment as JoJo prayed to become a Christian.

This message is for all of us, not just JoJo.

(NIV) reminds us, “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile.” We may look different on the outside, but on the inside, we are just the same. God gave us the same capacity to love. And He wants us to put Him first on the list.

JoJo’s seven-year-old world is fairly small at the moment. But soon it will include more diversity and a wider scope of cultural exposure. Hopefully, she will reach out to her friends and say, “Can I tell you about the conversation I had with my mom when I was seven? It will change your life!”

Copyright © June 2019 Linda J. Gilden, used with permission.

For many the first thought when they hear the word “worship” is of Sunday morning church services. Some would even include the process of getting ready and driving to church.

As a little girl, I heard worship used much more as a noun than a verb. Sunday mornings brought the words, “Hurry and get ready so we can go to worship.” “We don’t want to be late for worship.” “Don’t forget your Bible. We are going to worship.”

When I searched online for a definition of worship, one of the first sites I visited posted a list of nouns—Sunday church services, midweek services, baptism, weddings, funerals—all occasional nouns that miss the real meaning of worship.

What is your interpretation of the word worship? Many words may come to mind such as thankfulness, respect, love, praise, offering, honor, submission, and service.

Mary gives us a beautiful picture of worship in

as she kneels at Jesus’ feet to wash His feet with perfume and dry them with her hair. We can only imagine the reactions of those around her as she used such costly perfume to anoint the feet of Jesus. The Bible mentions the criticism of Judas Iscariot. He felt Mary was foolish to “waste” the expensive nard on Jesus’ feet. Judas suggested it could be better put to use to take care of the poor.

But Jesus reprimanded Judas saying we would always have the poor but He would not always be there. In other words, Mary was reacting to the moment of being in Jesus’ presence and taking advantage of showing her love and respect for Him. Jesus accepted Mary’s action as an act of pure worship.

Do you regularly perform acts that are pure worship to Jesus?

Your first thought may be Well, I go to church most Sundays. And I went to the Sunday School Christmas party last year. And when the pastor’s daughter got married, we attended. Your thoughts might go on and on. But what we are talking about here are heartfelt expressions of your love for Jesus.

You may not consider going about your normal daily routine to be worship. Bur several activities might be considered true worship when performed from the heart. A few may include:

1. Caring for your children. Your children are a gift from God. Caring for the gifts He gives us can be an act of worship, respect, and love for Him. You are His hands and feet and He wants you to use those to bless others. Next time you see a child or a grandchild, look closely in their eyes. They will reflect God’s love in a unique way. Your response to that love is truly an act of worship.
2. Visiting a neighbor or friend who cannot get out and about. You bring God’s love to your friends when you care enough to give them a bit of your time.
3. Your work can be an offering of praise and worship to God.
   Colossians 3:23 Close Colossians 3:23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)
   says,

   “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” (KJV)

   Many times we look to man for applause and recognition. However, when we truly follow our life’s calling and pour ourselves into it, we are honoring God. This becomes an act of worship that others will recognize as such.

Even though we cannot kneel physically at the feet of Jesus, we can create the same offering of praise and worship to him through our lives each day. What will you offer him today?

Copyright © 2019 Linda J. Gilden, used by permission.

“Hey, Rose. What does sacrifice mean?”


I looked in the rearview mirror. How did the conversation with my granddaughters move so quickly from counting cows in the pasture to defining sacrifice?

“Where did you hear that word, Baylor?”

“Choir. We were singing a song yesterday and it said that word.”

“We hear the word ‘sacrifice’ at church a lot. We read it in the Bible, too. The Bible tells us Jesus was a sacrifice for us because God loves us so much.”

Four-year-old Baylor scrunched her nose. “But I don’t know what that means.”


“OK. What if you and Sissie made cookies. You took some to the neighbors then came home for a tea party. You both ate one cookie and one was left on the plate. Both of you wanted the cookie.”

“We could just split it in half.” Baylor put her hand under her chin. “But I think I would want the whole thing.”

“You looked over at your sister. You knew she really wanted that cookie, too. And you love Sissie so much. So your love for Sissie makes you say, ‘Sissie, I know you want that cookie. I love you so much I’m going to let you have it.’ That is what is called a sacrifice. You gave away something you really wanted because you loved Sissie so much.”

“Oh, so I sacrificed the cookie.”

“That’s right. There are many different types of sacrifices. But if we can understand the simple ones, it will be easier to understand the harder ones.”


Even adults struggle with sacrifice—to give something up that you really love for someone else’s benefit. If you are a student of the Bible, you know that during those times, sacrifice was a way of life.


In

God instructs Abraham:

“Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
 (NIV)

Abraham had loved God for a long time and trusted Him. He took Isaac up to the mountain intending to carry out God’s instruction. We know the end of the story. God provided a sacrificial ram and spared Isaac. But Abraham proved his total love for God and willingness to sacrifice even the son for whom he had waited years.

Later in the Old Testament, we learn Jephthah, the Gileadite, made a promise to God as he advanced against the Ammonites.

“If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

Judges 11:30-31 Close Judges 11:30-31 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. He said, "If you give me victory over the Ammonites, I will give to the LORD whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)

(NIV)

When he returned home, Jephthah’s daughter, his only child, came dancing from the house to greet her father. Jephthah was beside himself with grief but stayed true to his vow. Even though it meant the sacrifice of his daughter, Jephthah kept his word.
 (

)

Other sacrifices appear throughout the Bible, but, of course, we know best God’s sacrifice of Jesus. God loves us so much that He sacrificed His Son. One of the first verses we memorize as children is

:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
 (NIV)

God was willing to sacrifice His Son for us. His only Son. For us. Is there something in your life He is asking you to give to Him today? Why are you waiting?

Copyright © 2019 Linda J. Gilden, used with permission.

Perfectionism is a good thing and a bad thing. It is good to do things right. It is a bad thing to expect life to be without flaw.

Years ago I studied the personalities. As I got to know myself better and why I acted and reacted the way I did, I learned one of the basic keys to my personal happiness was keeping my perfectionism in check. You see, I was an introverted, melancholy, organizer personality and one of my big problems was requiring everything to be perfect. But it gets worse. Not only was I expecting myself to be perfect, I was imposing my expectations on my family and friends. If something was not the way I thought it should be, my day was pretty much ruined!

Since that time I have worked hard to relax my perfectionistic standards. And I live in a happier household and have happier friends.

My quest to achieve perfection is closely related to my desire to be more like my heavenly Father. But I am aware that I can never be anywhere near God’s level of perfection. Only He is perfect.

Look at his instructions for building the tabernacle in Exodus 25. Almost the entire chapter, as well as the next, give very specific instructions for how things should be. In fact, before He gets very far into His instructions, He says in

,

“Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.” (ESV)

God has used one of my favorite words here — “exactly.” There is no room for modification or variation. It must be just as He says. It must be perfect!

God can approach everything in that way because He is perfect. But for me, and you, we must adjust our expectations. We are imperfect people living in an imperfect world that seems to get worse every day. If we have to have everything perfect, we are going to be not only imperfect people but miserable.

God’s instructions for the tabernacle included not only the building but all the accessories—the lampstand, the curtains, the mercy seat, the Ark of the Covenant, the table, and more.

Personally, I love a plan. It is easier to get close to perfect when you know what the specifications are. God gave us a plan for the tabernacle. He also gave us a plan for life in the same book, His book. I can find the solution to any problem I have within the pages of that book. But it only becomes the solution to my problem when I apply it.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus ends Matthew 5 with the words,

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matthew 5:48 Close Matthew 5:48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)

(ESV)

Quite a challenge for me!

What about you? Do you struggle with perfectionism? Or is your struggle with something else? If, like me, you struggle with wanting circumstances and relationships just so, cut yourself some slack. Allow yourself to be less than perfect. As long as you keep your focus on the one who is perfect, the result will be a happy peaceful lifestyle that is perfect for you.

Copyright © December 2018 Linda Gilden, used with permission. Linda Gilden co-authors the LINKED Quick Guides to Personalities series and is co-founder of the LINKED Personality System.