Enjoying each moment does not mean having a continuous smile on your face. It means that during the most difficult and painful times when the tears are falling, you have a joy deep down in your spirit because you know you are learning and growing and being formed by God into exactly who He wants you to be. You are broken on the outside but inside you are filled with unshakeable faith, hope and joy. This is enjoying the moment. -Charity Gutierrez, Author of What Matters Most- A Weekly Devotional
“Toy Story” Bible Study Part 2: “But They’re Cannibals!”
In Part 1: “The Claw” we talked about how the Holy Spirit can choose us and use us for reaching and saving others. This is something we have to have a continuous awareness of or we may just find ourselves refusing the very people that God is calling us to.
Remember that scene in Toy Story when Buzz and Woody find themselves in Sid’s room? They find themselves in a dark, unfamiliar place. Woody takes a flashlight and shines a light on the disfigured and fearful toys hiding in Sid’s room. He becomes extremely scared and disgusted by what he sees shouting, “Go away, you disgusting freaks! All back! Back, you cannibals!” He tries to get Buzz to use his karate chopping action and laser to ward off them getting close. Only after the toys demonstrate their kindess by repairing Buzz’s arm does Woody begin to reconsider his views regarding the horribly mistreated toys. In the end, all the toys join together to escape Sid’s room and be free from his wicked plots.
What can we learn from this scene?
Point 1: God calls us to shine the light of his gospel on others in love. We are to tell others the truth according to the Bible in love. If you “shine the light of the gospel” by pointing out to a person every wrong they are doing according to the Bible, then call them a disgusting sinner and demand they stay away from you and your loved ones, you are behaving much like Woody. You are judging quickly, and chances are you are also judging wrongly. You are lacking love and compassion. You are using God’s word to attack others and tell them the truths in the gospel, not with the intention of helping others, but instead with the intention of protecting yourself.
Point 2: We don’t need to fear the darkness or the people that God calls us to. Ask God to help you see situations and people as He sees them. We live in a sinful world, with broken, fearful, used and abused people who are living in darkness with no hope of escaping. They are surviving. Many people have a heart to do good, they just lack the chance to. Give people a chance, no matter how unsightly they seem. God loves them and it is your job to communicate His love. This is what you were chosen for.
Point 3: Lastly, I want to mention the importance of having a friend to go into the dark situations with. Having a faithful friend to join you in prayer and to accompany you when meeting with new people that God has placed in your life is wise. We will talk about this more in Part 3: You Got a Friend in Me.
In Summary: Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace (Colossians 4:5-6). Love the outsider, for this is indeed the most excellent way to be an effective witness of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 12:31).
“Toy Story” Bible Study Part 1: “The Claw”
Hey friends,
I am considering writing down the Bible Lessons that I have taught our kids using kid movies. Last week we had a Bible Study based on the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Earlier in the week we reflected on Toy Story. Below is one of the lessons from Toy Story. I am debating about whether or not to invest the time in continuing to blog our lessons. If you are blessed by this lesson or my earlier writing on How the Grinch Stole Christmas and would be able to benefit from further blogs on using kids movies to teach Bible Lessons I would love to know. Thanks for your feedback. Feel free to share this blog with any friends that you think may be blessed by it. Thanks again. – Charity G.
Toy Story Bible Study: “The Claw”
“He has been chosen!”
The other day our oldest son was listening to music while doing his homework. He was listening to the worship song, “I am free.” In one part of the song the worship leader tells the church, “You have been chosen to be here. ” I could not help but consider how crazy we Christians must sound to the world.
I was reminded of the scene in the original Toy Story movie with Woody, Buzz and all the aliens. Buzz and Woody were lost toys, trying to get back to their owner, young Andy. In the process they find themselves at Pizza Planet, trying to keep their cover and avoid Sid, Andy’s evil boy neighbor who “tortures toys just for fun.” In an attempt to hide from Sid, Buzz and Woody dive into a spaceship game machine filled with green alien toys. Perhaps you can remember these lines:
Buzz: This is an intergalactic emergency. I need to commandeer your vessel to Sector 12. Who’s in charge here?
Aliens: The claw! The claw is our master. The claw chooses who will go and who will stay.
Woody: This is ludicrous. Hey, bozo, you got a brain in there? Take that! Oh, no! Sid! Get down!
Buzz: What’s gotten into you, Sheriff? I wa-You are the one that decided to climb into this-
Aliens: Shh! The claw. It moves.
Alien 1: I have been chosen! Farewell, my friends. I go on to a better place.
Sid: Gotcha! (Sees Buzz Light Year attached to alien) A Buzz Lightyear? No way! Yes!
Woody: Buzz! No! (Tries to pull Buzz back down)
Sid: Hey!
Aliens: He has been chosen. He must go.
Sid: Hey!
Aliens: You might anger the claw (Trying to pull Woody off of Buzz)
Woody: What are you doing? Stop it!
Aliens: The claw! The claw!
Woody: Stop it, you zealots!
Aliens: Do not fight the claw.
An alien, Buzz, and Woody end up being “chosen” by the claw. They end up going straight into the very place they dreaded the most, Sid’s house. There they find themselves surrounded by Sid’s collection of dismantled and tortured toys. The alien gets mauled by Sid’s Dog. Woody takes a bit of heat, when Sid puts him under a magnifying glass in the sun. Buzz finds himself in a highly volatile situation, when Sid attaches an explosive rocket to his back. In the end, all of Sid’s toys end up being freed from Sid’s power after Woody and Buzz help them devise and put into an action a plan to escape Sid’s room. Buzz and Andy end up back in Andy’s house, the boy who loves them and wrote his name on them from the start.
I can imagine that to those who do not believe in God or in Jesus Christ, we Christians sounds like a bunch of zealots with ludicrous ideas. We speak of a God who loves us (Jer 31:3, John 13:34, John 15:9) and knows us (Psalm 139:1) and even writes his name on us (Rev. 3:12). We speak of an escape from the consequences of evil and sin through belief in Jesus Christ (John 3:16). We speak of being “chosen” by God’s Holy Spirit to go out into a hurting world and help lead others to freedom (Isaiah 42:1, 2 Thess. 2:13). What’s more? The Bible even calls believers sojourners in this world (Psalm 119:19, 1 Pet. 2:11). To put the icing on the cake, we believe that one day we will all be lifted up by God’s Spirit to meet our Lord in the sky and be with Him forever (Rom. 6:5, Philip 3:11, 1 Cor. 15:51, 1 Thess 4:15-17).
We sound like a bunch of “bozos”. It is important that us believers realize that. We don’t need to be ashamed of it or try to hide it. We do “have a brain in there,” but more importantly we have God’s Spirit in our heart (Ezekiel 11:19). We don’t need to hide from the world our beliefs because we are scared the world might rough us up a bit. Be willing to mauled at, to take some heat, to get into the volatile situations. Be willing to be chosen. Because just as Sid’s toys could have never escaped the darkness of Sid’s room, other people in this world cannot escape the darkness of this world unless believers are willing to be chosen.
Don’t fight the claw. Have a peace and excitement with going into whatever dark situation or conversation God choses us to enter. We cannot allow others who are filled with fear to hold us back. There are people out there that need saved and brought home, whether they believe it or not.
What’s the best way to reach those who don’t believe? We will talk about that in Part 2: “But they’re cannibals!”
Welcome Christmas
We recently watched “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The Grinch took everything from the families in Who-ville, even the food in the refrigerator, believing that he could stop Christmas from coming. What he finds out is that he could not. On Christmas morning though each Who awoke to a great loss, they still spent Christmas morning singing praises and welcoming Christmas Day. As the Grinch says, “How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages boxes, or bags!”
What a great example the Whos in Who-ville set for children and adults alike. Christmas is not about the ribbons, packages, boxes and bags. It is about a greater gift that was given to the world, the gift of God’s love and His salvation through Jesus Christ. No person can steal this gift from you. If the only thing you woke up to on Christmas morning was God’s love would you still be able to welcome Christmas? That is what matters most.
That Great Scene in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”
Grinch: They’re finding out now that no Christmas is coming. They’re just waking up, I know just what they’ll do. Their mouths will hang open a minute or two, Then the Whos down in Whoville will all cry, “Boo Hoo!” That’s a noise, (the Grinch said,) that I simply must hear!
Narrator: So he paused, And the Grinch put a hand to his ear. And he did hear a sound rising over the snow. It started in low. Then it started to grow… But the sound wasn’t sad! Why, this sound sounded glad!
[Whos singing]
Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, Was singing! Without any presents at all! He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME! Somehow or other, it came just the same! And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling:
Grinch: How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages boxes, or bags!
Narrator: And he puzzled and puzzed, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! “Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more.”
What Matters Most
Hey Friends!
We are in the process of “catching up” our What Matters Most blog- and super excited because it is almost entirely caught up! We invite you to take a sneak peak and check it out! There you will find the weekly articles on family, faith and life that we have written for our publication.
Our prayer is you will join us in starting your week reflecting on
Note: You will notice more than one post per week over the next two weeks as we catch up on the articles that we have written throughout this entire year. Once we are completely up-to-date there will be a new article posted every Monday. If you enjoy the articles, please subscribe to the blog so that each new weekly post is emailed directly to you.
Thanks for visiting! May you be blessed as you join us in reflecting on
What Does it Mean to be a Christian?
This question was one that caught my attention recently. I think the answer can be summed up in one verse:
Luke 9:23
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
Doesn’t sound very fun does it? Why would anyone want to take up a cross DAILY and follow some guy claiming to be the Son of God? It sounds painful at worst and foolish at best for the person who has not yet come to understand the love of Christ.
So what does it mean to be a Christian and what is this cross we are supposed to take up daily? Being a Christian means you have faith in God and in Jesus Christ. You believe the Bible is true and that the God who exists made you, loves you, and desires to be with you for eternity so He sent his son, Jesus Christ, as the ultimate gift of grace for you and for all imperfect people. You believe that heaven is real and Jesus is the way to get there. You also believe that hell is real and precisely where you were headed until Jesus Christ opened your eyes to the love and freedom found in God alone. You live a life determined to take up the cross of reconciliation and daily extend the love and grace that God has given you to others in hope that they will come to understand just how much they are loved by God.
One of the greatest miracles that takes place when you become a Christian (by confessing your unbelief in God and then professing your belief in Jesus Christ as your Lord) is that as soon as you give your heart to God he fills it with new faith, new hope, new love, new desires, new dreams and new plans that are not just for yourself but for others as well. You are You are a new person in Christ. You are a Christian. Reborn with a new heart- a heart like His and a new spirit about you- His Spirit. That is the great blessing of being a Christian and one I will never stop praising God for receiving! It is what motivates me to follow Jesus and take up my cross daily by telling others just how good it is to be loved by God and redeemed by Jesus Christ.
Ezekiel 36:26
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Steps of Faith
By Charity A. Gutierrez
Have you ever watched as a child begins to walk for the first time? The joy that fills that child’s face during those first steps is a sight to see. The child is shaky and quickly falls. Knees hit the floor, yet with relentless determination that child gets back up again. After a few unsuccessful attempts some children remain sitting, bewildered at their failure. Some even give up on walking in its entirety and go back to crawling for months longer simply because they have mastered that movement and do not want to be slowed down. But for the child who refuses to quit, walking becomes inevitable. The task is soon mastered and becomes natural- as long as the child keeps stepping out.
Something to think about as we “walk with Christ” and take steps of faith.
Missing The Mark
- By Alex Gutierrez
The whistle is blown; the ball is kicked. For a moment, every heart stops and a second of bitter silence pierces through the air like a sword. It’s moments like these that the determination of the outcome will either make a man a hero or the most unpopular person for thousands of passionate fans. It seems as if this scenario is repeated continuously, over and over again, every football season.
The consequences of missing the mark remind me of an experience I had with my oldest boy. I was remodeling my bathroom, minding my own business, perfectly placing one tile at a time. In the background I could hear the constant humming of the box fan I placed in front of the bathtub to help dry the tiles. My concentration was suddenly broken with the words, “Hi dad” coming from my son. He was standing by the toilet, looking at me with his big beautiful eyes, and smiling at me. I turned my head and figured he went back to playing with his brother. From out of nowhere, I felt a mist. There was something in the air. I could smell it and could almost taste it. I looked back to see my son, eyes fixated on my tile work, properly positioned to pee in the toilet, and completely missing the mark. Needless to say, the box fan, and I, accidentally became the target that day.
The Lord used that situation to really speak to me that day concerning how important it is to hit the target when it comes to being a father. The reality is that when we as fathers miss the target the effects just do not stop with us but they affect everyone around us. I was minding my own business, carefully placing tile on the wall, when I became the unfortunate victim.
I can’t understand the lack of passion by so many men when it comes to being the champion father we are called to be. I’ve seen men more intimately familiar with the SEC football schedule and its players then they are with the lives of their children or wife. There is nothing wrong with being a sports fan, but there is something really wrong with failing to be as passionate about your children and relationship with your wife. As a father you only get one chance, much like that field goal kicker, to make the difference in their lives. Once the whistle is blown and the time has expired you cannot go back and change the score. You have been given the greatest responsibility and most precious gift; you have been called to be a father to your children and a husband to your wife. All other things in life pale in comparison to the rewards that are reaped from doing a job well done. A man’s first ministry begins with his family and it what matters most is that he hits the mark.
My God Move It!
By: Charity Gutierrez
The other day my boys wanted to go outside and jump on our trampoline. The weather was looking awful as dark, thick clouds were billowing above. I told them they would not be able to jump because of the weather. My six-year-old on looked at me and asked, “Well can’t we just pray that the storm will go away?” I realized how small my faith was as he asked. But then I remembered how Jesus said if we had faith as small as a mustard seed we could tell a mountain to be moved and it would move. He said nothing was impossible with faith. (Matt 17:20). So I said one small prayer with my boys and asked Jesus to move the storm. Over the next thirty minutes I watched as my boys with great fervor jumped, shouting at the storm, “My God move it!” Over the course of thirty minutes I watched as one small hole in the clouds turned into a great divide, splitting the storm above our backyard. I learned a lot that day about faith. One small prayer, filled with faith, can indeed move what seems impossible.
Psalm 105:1 tells us to give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; and make known his deeds among the peoples. Christians are commanded to testify just as much as we are commanded to give. When is the last time you gave a testimony? Share your testimony and give to others the gifts of hope and encouragement.
Post your testimony in a comment.
Proper Positioning
By: Charity Gutierrez
My kids continue to be fascinated by the sinks that turn on automatically. It indeed is amazing technology. Many times though it seems you have to get right in the center of the sensor and even hold your hand there for a minute for the water to begin flowing. I often have to help them put their hands in the right spot.
I believe God knows exactly where my hands should be positioned- just like those automatic sinks. When it seems like I have not been able to feel the pouring down of His Spirit may I remember to check my positioning. Am I in the center of his will or am I slighly leaning toward my own desires still? I pray he will lead me to that place of proper positioning.
Something to think about the next time you wash your hands in one of those automatic sinks.
