A Sticky Substance

Every morning, my beautiful wife Bailee, will get up and put on makeup and will also do several things to her hair. Well one of those things she does is putting on hairspray. And if you know anything about hairspray you know that it's sticky. If it lands on your skin it feels nasty, if a cell phone screen it's feels weird, and if a book it will have a rough cover. 

Well there was this one day I was riding with Bailee and I saw her personal devotional of drawing near and I picked it up to see how far she's completed it but when I picked it up I felt this sticky substance on the surface of it. I thought for a moment and realized that her devotional has been with her in the morning while she puts on her hairspray. I say that to tell you that is how my wife leaves her mark on her items, with hairspray. 

Here's a question. Are you leaving a substance on the surface of the Earth? Are you daily walking in the love of God showering others with the grace of God so that when someone else comes in contact with that person they can see that there has been the sticky substance of the Love of God that has been sprayed upon them. 

In John 15:12 Jesus teaches his disciples that they are to love one another just as Jesus loved them. Love should be the characteristic that allows us to be recognized as a disciple of Christ. Love is what will impact this world for the glory of God and will truly allow us to leave an imprint for others to see.  

So Church be a can of hairspray and change the surface of the world!

A Story About "April Fools"

     A few years back, while in High School, my twin brother and I wanted to play some sort of prank on the upcoming April Fool's Day. We took some time brainstorming through the different pranks we can do as a set of identical twins. I mean as you can tell from the picture we resemble just a little bit.

    

      Finally, we came to a decision of switching classes on April Fools and instead of going to our normal class we would attend each others. Now with a prank such as this in mind, we had to sort out a game plan so that we could know the ins and outs of accomplishing this goal.

      We started relaying information back and forth on where we sit, who all would sit next to us, and what kind of work would we be doing in the classroom. To clue you in, I was attending his math class while he was in my computer class. 

      Well the day had come. April first was here and this would be the ultimate test of an identical twin. As the day had gone by, the class to switch was coming quickly. Eventually the bell rang to switch classes and we met in the hallway one last time to go over the game plan. After that, I was on my own. I entered the classroom quiet as I could be. As I sat down I started to fill my friends in on how it was me and not my brother. Funny thing is they did not believe me when I said I was Anthony. Curse my mirror imaged looks!

      The class continued on beginning with lecture. The teacher consistently taught and students persistently responded. I myself just sat there in silence not wanting any bit of attention on me, but then it happened. The teacher suddenly got quiet. She looked at me and said these exact words "Alec you sure are being mighty quiet today." I froze. I wasn't sure if she knew or what, but at that very moment I looked up with a smile on my face and said "April Fools"!

       Well the plan failed and we got busted all because my brother is known for not being quiet. Although Alec didn't get caught in my class we still both were sent to the office and were given a warning. Our plan had crumbled and fell apart in the blink of an eye. One thing I learned that day is to never try to fool Mrs. Rhonda Boyette. Haha Happy April Fool's day!

Starting and Changing

          Happy New Year to you on this great first Monday of 2015! God has been so good to My wife and I this past year filled with many memories and just different ways on how God has worked in our lives. 2014 has been wonderful but here’s the question that the year 2015 asks us as Followers of Jesus.

 What is it that we need to change or start doing this year in our lives?

         The best thing about King Jesus is that He sits on a Throne of Grace allowing us to receive mercy and grace. (Hebrews 4:16) That means this, that whatever has happened, meaning any mess-up, evilness, apathy, or any ungodliness that was present in 2014, can be forgiven because we have a forgiving Savior. (1 John 1:9) Isn't that a blessing!? Praise God for his abundant grace and unending mercy. 

        So what is it that should be different about 2015? We need to examine ourselves with the help of scripture to see if we are living upright godly lives and if we are not then that is what needs to be changed first and foremost. Our aim as Christians is to please God and it is impossible to do so without a living and active faith. (Hebrews 11:6) See when scripture teaches us that we live in the present age (Titus 2:12), which would be 2015, it doesn’t teach us to live like the present age. We as followers are not called to be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2) 

     So do you need to change from lawlessness to godliness? Do you need to start memorizing Gods word so that you may be able to recognize what's pleasing to the Lord? Maybe you just need to start being obedient to All of Gods word instead of just obeying half of it. Maybe you need to change the way you treat others since your called to Love them just as Christ Loved us. (John 13:34)

         Listen I know that making simple life changes can be scary, but do you know what’s even scarier? Regret. My prayer is that you would start or change whatever it is you need to this new year in your life as a Disciple of Jesus Christ. I hope that it would be your goal, just like it was Paul’s, to live out this new year with a mindset of this: "As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death." (Philippians 1:20)

Blessings,

Anthony Vargas