Does it sound familiar? It should! You probably heard it a million and one times growing up, between mom and elementary school teachers, didn't you? Well it really is true, ya know...and it's about time we were honest with ourselves and with Jesus.
Nice segway, right? I thought so too. I am always so blessed to hear the Word of God from the pastor at my home church! And we are all tech savvy and have live streams on Sunday morning so I can watch from Tuscaloosa and you should check it out!
So he was talking this morning about being disappointing with God and not understanding what happens to us. I have touched on this topic several times, I know, but stick with me on this. Job. We've all heard of him. He was disappointed! And I probably would be too if just about everything I knew and loved got ripped from me...oh wait, it did. I'm taking this time to be honest with you in the hopes that you, whoever you are, going through the toughest time in your life will be able to do what it took me way too long to do.
SO first he was super disappointed and he was all like "dad gum it, God, what is going on? Why is everyone against me, and why did people I love leave me just because I'm going through this?" or maybe that's what I said....you get the point. And God was all like "oh, my bad, are you the one that makes the sun come up? Do the lightning bolts answer to you? Does the ocean ebb and flow because of your voice? Oh...I didn't think so, that's me." And so Job was like "oh, right....my bad, I'll stop being such a whiney baby now because you are the One True God who knows everything and are sovereign even in our afflictions."
God is sovereign! Don't you get it?! It gives me completely unspeakable joy to know that even when I have not earthly idea what is going on, that God does! We only see a little picture of what is happening because we are finite creatures. We can only see what is happening here and now. God is simply IN time. We can't see the forest for the tree that's in front of us, but God is in the forest and can see what has happened, what is happening and what will happen. Does that not give you comfort? He KNOWS you're disappointed! We can be honest with other people and ourselves all day long, but once we take it to God we are going to stay in this pit of despair and heartache! I'm sick of despair and heartache! The Holy Spirit that is alive and well in my soul is much happier and encouraging company.
Us seeing God is sort of like looking at the moon. We all know there is a moon. Sometimes we can see all of it, clear as day, sometimes its completely hidden from view, and sometimes we can only see a little sliver of its great magnitude. But the moon doesn't really change, does it? Only our perspective of it changes.
I can't help but be so joyful to know that God IS there and will ALWAYS be there! I was a Job. We've all been a Job at one point or another, haven't we? But what happened to him? Go read it and find out. And then be honest with God. Hand it all over to Him because no matter how hard we try, we can't hide our disappointment in Him from Him.
I feel like I'm being so redundant and I have so many other things to say, it's joy. So much joy. It can't be contained. A huge weight taken off my shoulders. I am free to grow and be in Him because I am not longer in that pit! But beware...Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. He wants you in that pit because that's where you are vulnerable and he is most successful. But that's another post for another day.
Take heart! He has overcome the world!
* Passages that inspired this post were Job 19, 38, 42, Psalm 13 and Isaiah 55*
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
In This Storm....
Storms are nasty. I don't like them. Not one bit. And there was one. Last night. It wasn't fun.
Here in Alabama storms are no strangers. We are all too familiar with the tragedy that occurred April 27, 2011 and all the heartache that came with those dark clouds. I wasn't in Tuscaloosa when it happened, but two of the most important people in my life were. My two best friends (one of which happens to be my fantabulous boyfriend) were both in the same room while I was at home watching the F5 stealthily creep past Bryant Denny, on a mission to destroy lives and families. I cannot tell you the gut wrenching fear that I felt for those I loved and those I didn't even know. Even afterwards, while doing some volunteer work there were several times when I just wanted to weep at all the destruction and heartache. How could God let things like this happen?
Funny how these things work out. Just recently there have been several passages of scripture that answer all the questions that Satan plants in our heads when we go through a storm. I started the Beth Moore "Daniel" study with my awesome roommate this past week and one of the things that she pointed out in session 1 was that "God is sovereign in our captivities." He might temporarily hand us over to "darkness," but he is ALWAYS in control. Speaking of control, he controls EVERYTHING. I have a friend that was telling me that he read through Job and how God commands every rain drop where to land (chapter 37). Don't you think that includes tornadoes? Don't you think that is also a metaphor for things that happen in our life? One of those big churchy words we like to use to make us sound smarter is omniscient. It means all-knowing.
So not only does he allow everything to happen, he commands it. He has commanded the sea to stop, he has commanded people be healed and he has commanded for every hair on your head and cell in your body to come into being. Back on topic. In case you haven't figured it out, I am using a storm as a metaphor. Everybody goes through storms whether they be literal or figurative for a tough patch in life. But I guess the point of saying all this is that when we go through storms it is the perfect time to let our spiritual endurance blossom and allow ourselves to become stronger! James 1:2-4 says "consider it joy, brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Ho encouraged do you feel now?! Ever heard the saying "God won't give you anything you can't handle?" Well, turns out its a biblical truth. And another one of those funny things. We go through stuff, right? And it's hard. And we have to build ourselves back up from the very foundation. But when we are done we are stronger and ready for an even bigger storm. But God doesn't just let us go through this stuff for fun! In 2 Corinthians Paul says "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of Mercies and God of comfort who comforts us in our afflictions so that we may comfort others in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves were comforted by God."
This means we get opportunities to share with others the beautiful message of the gospel THROUGH our pain and suffering! Have you ever thought about the beautiful irony that the most beautiful days are right after the worst storms? It's because the most prosperous and God glorifying times in our lives are when we don't let what has happened to us get us down in a pit! It's glorifying to God when we are able to overcome it like He knew we could. It makes Him smile to know that we are strong and it is because we have sought and continue to seek His truth in everything!
Storms come. it's a fact of life. But if you stand there and just look at the damage it just starts to decay and rust and get even uglier. Eventually you have to start cleaning up and build again, from the foundation, to make a stronger steadier structure that can withstand the storm that comes next. But that's what is so beautiful. We don't go through the same storm twice! It may be in one area of our life that we have to clean up and build up before a storm can tear down another area of our life that we need work in. It's all so we "may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" like James says; and all to bring glory and honor to our Abba, who gives us a peace that surpasses all understanding, a comfort that exceeds any extraneous amount of chocolate, and has a brilliant and beautiful plan for our lives that puts to shame anything we could ever hope to accomplish on our own.
So I will praise Him in this storm. And I will praise Him in every storm. For giving me a chance to start over and strengthen an area of my life that is not bringing glory to God as it should, so that I may have utterance whenever I open my big fat mouth that I may "proclaim with boldness the mystery of the gospel" Ephesians 6:19, and so I can comfort those who are in the midst of similar storms.
Here in Alabama storms are no strangers. We are all too familiar with the tragedy that occurred April 27, 2011 and all the heartache that came with those dark clouds. I wasn't in Tuscaloosa when it happened, but two of the most important people in my life were. My two best friends (one of which happens to be my fantabulous boyfriend) were both in the same room while I was at home watching the F5 stealthily creep past Bryant Denny, on a mission to destroy lives and families. I cannot tell you the gut wrenching fear that I felt for those I loved and those I didn't even know. Even afterwards, while doing some volunteer work there were several times when I just wanted to weep at all the destruction and heartache. How could God let things like this happen?
Funny how these things work out. Just recently there have been several passages of scripture that answer all the questions that Satan plants in our heads when we go through a storm. I started the Beth Moore "Daniel" study with my awesome roommate this past week and one of the things that she pointed out in session 1 was that "God is sovereign in our captivities." He might temporarily hand us over to "darkness," but he is ALWAYS in control. Speaking of control, he controls EVERYTHING. I have a friend that was telling me that he read through Job and how God commands every rain drop where to land (chapter 37). Don't you think that includes tornadoes? Don't you think that is also a metaphor for things that happen in our life? One of those big churchy words we like to use to make us sound smarter is omniscient. It means all-knowing.
So not only does he allow everything to happen, he commands it. He has commanded the sea to stop, he has commanded people be healed and he has commanded for every hair on your head and cell in your body to come into being. Back on topic. In case you haven't figured it out, I am using a storm as a metaphor. Everybody goes through storms whether they be literal or figurative for a tough patch in life. But I guess the point of saying all this is that when we go through storms it is the perfect time to let our spiritual endurance blossom and allow ourselves to become stronger! James 1:2-4 says "consider it joy, brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Ho encouraged do you feel now?! Ever heard the saying "God won't give you anything you can't handle?" Well, turns out its a biblical truth. And another one of those funny things. We go through stuff, right? And it's hard. And we have to build ourselves back up from the very foundation. But when we are done we are stronger and ready for an even bigger storm. But God doesn't just let us go through this stuff for fun! In 2 Corinthians Paul says "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of Mercies and God of comfort who comforts us in our afflictions so that we may comfort others in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves were comforted by God."
This means we get opportunities to share with others the beautiful message of the gospel THROUGH our pain and suffering! Have you ever thought about the beautiful irony that the most beautiful days are right after the worst storms? It's because the most prosperous and God glorifying times in our lives are when we don't let what has happened to us get us down in a pit! It's glorifying to God when we are able to overcome it like He knew we could. It makes Him smile to know that we are strong and it is because we have sought and continue to seek His truth in everything!
Storms come. it's a fact of life. But if you stand there and just look at the damage it just starts to decay and rust and get even uglier. Eventually you have to start cleaning up and build again, from the foundation, to make a stronger steadier structure that can withstand the storm that comes next. But that's what is so beautiful. We don't go through the same storm twice! It may be in one area of our life that we have to clean up and build up before a storm can tear down another area of our life that we need work in. It's all so we "may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" like James says; and all to bring glory and honor to our Abba, who gives us a peace that surpasses all understanding, a comfort that exceeds any extraneous amount of chocolate, and has a brilliant and beautiful plan for our lives that puts to shame anything we could ever hope to accomplish on our own.
So I will praise Him in this storm. And I will praise Him in every storm. For giving me a chance to start over and strengthen an area of my life that is not bringing glory to God as it should, so that I may have utterance whenever I open my big fat mouth that I may "proclaim with boldness the mystery of the gospel" Ephesians 6:19, and so I can comfort those who are in the midst of similar storms.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Cows, Economics and Literature
I know it's a weird title. It came from my world literature class as we were talking about how to make a language. In a very abbreviated version I will explain my title. In Mesopotamia they used to just draw pictures to convey messages or take inventory of things like...cows. Well that turns into economics (ew) with trade and such blady blah blah. WELL, then once those pictures got abbreviated into symbols that stood for the word cow it became easier to write full ideas....like stories. And there you have it, the connection between cows, economics and literature.
I don't think I have ever shared with you all what I want to do with my life. Other than be an avid blogger, that is. I want to be a teacher. I have had so much inspiration from so many sources and I know that that's where I need to be, which could take hours to explain.
There is such a huge difference in teaching and BEING a teacher, I think. To teach is to just spit a lot of facts at people and hope they retain it long enough to answer some questions right on a multiple choice test. But being a teacher is more of a lifestyle. Even now I have the teacher/mother personality (so I'm told). I had two high school teachers that really inspired me and I am forever indebted to them for so many reasons.
I guess I should get to the why part now. But that requires a little bit of the "my major is better than your major" speech. Don't try to tell me you haven't had a conversation that went kind of like this:
"English? That's like, the easiest major ever, why would you do that?"
"Well, because I enjoy it."
"Well I'm an Engineering major. It's way harder than English."
All I can really say at that point is la-dee-freakin-da. I don't really care how challenging or not it may seem to somebody, ya know? I could certainly not sit down and do two hours of physics, or even a minute for that matter. But I also know that there aren't a lot of people that can sit down and devour a novel in a few hours like I can. English is the best major ever...for me! I just get to read and learn about different times and cultures through stories for the next two to three years; who could ask for anything better, right?!
And this is what I love about literature. It is so much more than just stories. There is definetly a history component to it in that you have to know the society and culture at the time to really understand the piece. You can't read Homer without knowing what society was like back then. It's like reading the Bible as if it were written just for funsies. Considering the audience always makes a piece richer. Which is why certain works like these have stood the test of time! You can't read Shakespeare and expect to get all the "inside jokes" that he has with his audience if you don't understand the culture the is poking fun at. Basically I'm just a nerd and I think it's fun to analyze literature and I want to help other people understand how our world has both evolved and remained constant through time. Humans are still human whether we wore togas or skinny jeans. Sometimes I think literature can speak louder than a history book.
And it worries me. In 50 or 100 years when people are reading literature from our time period, what will it reflect? Will it be accurate? Will it be admirable? Is what we read and interpret accurate and admirable about past societies? Would THEY be satisfied with how we think of them? Will WE be satisfied with how people think of us or are we willing to stand up and tell people how to remember us?
There is so much more I wish I had time or space to say, but I'm sure I started boring you when you read the title, so I suppose I'll wrap it up for today...
I think it is important that we all pursue our passions. God has given them to us and enabled us to pursue them so that we can use them to bring Him glory. Not every one is called to move to a different continent and be supported by churches or adopt 20 children from China. We are called to be disciples wherever we are in whatever we are doing. I hope and pray that we never think we have to leave where we are to spread the word of Christ. There are people hurting and in need of Jesus right where we are. And if I can be that salt and light in a souring and darkening world,to a girl or boy who maybe aren't even interested in learning, but just need something to get them through the day, in a public school, where I am not allowed to be overt in my faith, but my smile and my actions show the love of Christ to every one around me WHILE doing what I love?!
Let it be so.
I don't think I have ever shared with you all what I want to do with my life. Other than be an avid blogger, that is. I want to be a teacher. I have had so much inspiration from so many sources and I know that that's where I need to be, which could take hours to explain.
There is such a huge difference in teaching and BEING a teacher, I think. To teach is to just spit a lot of facts at people and hope they retain it long enough to answer some questions right on a multiple choice test. But being a teacher is more of a lifestyle. Even now I have the teacher/mother personality (so I'm told). I had two high school teachers that really inspired me and I am forever indebted to them for so many reasons.
I guess I should get to the why part now. But that requires a little bit of the "my major is better than your major" speech. Don't try to tell me you haven't had a conversation that went kind of like this:
"English? That's like, the easiest major ever, why would you do that?"
"Well, because I enjoy it."
"Well I'm an Engineering major. It's way harder than English."
All I can really say at that point is la-dee-freakin-da. I don't really care how challenging or not it may seem to somebody, ya know? I could certainly not sit down and do two hours of physics, or even a minute for that matter. But I also know that there aren't a lot of people that can sit down and devour a novel in a few hours like I can. English is the best major ever...for me! I just get to read and learn about different times and cultures through stories for the next two to three years; who could ask for anything better, right?!
And this is what I love about literature. It is so much more than just stories. There is definetly a history component to it in that you have to know the society and culture at the time to really understand the piece. You can't read Homer without knowing what society was like back then. It's like reading the Bible as if it were written just for funsies. Considering the audience always makes a piece richer. Which is why certain works like these have stood the test of time! You can't read Shakespeare and expect to get all the "inside jokes" that he has with his audience if you don't understand the culture the is poking fun at. Basically I'm just a nerd and I think it's fun to analyze literature and I want to help other people understand how our world has both evolved and remained constant through time. Humans are still human whether we wore togas or skinny jeans. Sometimes I think literature can speak louder than a history book.
And it worries me. In 50 or 100 years when people are reading literature from our time period, what will it reflect? Will it be accurate? Will it be admirable? Is what we read and interpret accurate and admirable about past societies? Would THEY be satisfied with how we think of them? Will WE be satisfied with how people think of us or are we willing to stand up and tell people how to remember us?
There is so much more I wish I had time or space to say, but I'm sure I started boring you when you read the title, so I suppose I'll wrap it up for today...
I think it is important that we all pursue our passions. God has given them to us and enabled us to pursue them so that we can use them to bring Him glory. Not every one is called to move to a different continent and be supported by churches or adopt 20 children from China. We are called to be disciples wherever we are in whatever we are doing. I hope and pray that we never think we have to leave where we are to spread the word of Christ. There are people hurting and in need of Jesus right where we are. And if I can be that salt and light in a souring and darkening world,to a girl or boy who maybe aren't even interested in learning, but just need something to get them through the day, in a public school, where I am not allowed to be overt in my faith, but my smile and my actions show the love of Christ to every one around me WHILE doing what I love?!
Let it be so.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Seven Times Seventy
Remember how I went off on a tangent about the word "but" in the Bible and said I was going to have a really catchy title and awesome post about it? Well, apparently Google doesn't think that it's as cool as I do. So I'm gonna have to do a little more research and postpone that one.
Forgiveness is a good topic for today. Sometimes it's easy to forgive and sometimes it's hard to forgive. VERY hard. Through the past year I have lost a lot of things that are important to me. I've lost a best friend, my securities, my ability to be open and vulnerable and a little bit of confidence and faith in people. It seems morbid, right? I don't like feeling that way, but how much can one person take when every one flees from you like you have the plague after they find out what you're struggling with in life? It really is sad. At least I found out who my true friends are and for that I am grateful.
Forgiveness. I can't do it on my own. Over Passion God revealed to me through the reading Ephesians that I have let the sun set on my anger for way too many nights! If Satan can find a foothold in one night of sleeping with anger, how much more can he do over 6 months!? I cringe at the fact that I let him have that satisfaction. Ephesians also says that we must lay aside our earthly lusts that are of our "old self." I think this includes a blood lust: that insatiable need to have revenge and for people to get what they had coming to them. In Matthew 18:22 Jesus says that we are not to forgive our brothers only seven times, but seven times seventy. Which is 490, but I think He said that just for effect, don't you think? And even if He IS being literal, that's a lot of times that I have to forgive the same person, although I'm sure that wouldn't be enough to cover me after all the anger and bitterness I have harbored for so long.
I recently had a friend put forgiveness for others in a different light. This friend has been able to relate to me on so many levels and I am so very thankful that God has brought them into my life. This friend has had to forgive people, just as I have to, that have done some serious damage. But they told me that they thought about it sort of life that's what we do to God. Does that make sense? Probably not. OK, so we do a lot of awful things to God that absolutely break His heart and make Him even more jealous for us. I can abso-toota-lutely tell you that if you have asked to receive it, He has forgiven you WAY more than 490 times. So why is it so hard for us to forgive and it is so easy for Him? Other than the fact that He is completely perfect and Holy, we are human. Bound and determined to make things harder for ourselves and destined to fall into the traps that Satan has so craftily set up. But once you look at someone who has done something to hurt you as what you have done to God it makes you want to reconcile with them immediately.
I have come to a point where I realize that forgiveness is imperative in order for me to walk as a child of God as opposed to a child of the world. IN the world, not OF the world. The world says we shouldn't forgive those who have done us wrong and that "karma" will take care of them. False. We should forgive them as God forgave us, and if they have asked forgiveness from God as well, He is just and more mighty to judge than any justice system on the planet.
Forgiveness is a good topic for today. Sometimes it's easy to forgive and sometimes it's hard to forgive. VERY hard. Through the past year I have lost a lot of things that are important to me. I've lost a best friend, my securities, my ability to be open and vulnerable and a little bit of confidence and faith in people. It seems morbid, right? I don't like feeling that way, but how much can one person take when every one flees from you like you have the plague after they find out what you're struggling with in life? It really is sad. At least I found out who my true friends are and for that I am grateful.
Forgiveness. I can't do it on my own. Over Passion God revealed to me through the reading Ephesians that I have let the sun set on my anger for way too many nights! If Satan can find a foothold in one night of sleeping with anger, how much more can he do over 6 months!? I cringe at the fact that I let him have that satisfaction. Ephesians also says that we must lay aside our earthly lusts that are of our "old self." I think this includes a blood lust: that insatiable need to have revenge and for people to get what they had coming to them. In Matthew 18:22 Jesus says that we are not to forgive our brothers only seven times, but seven times seventy. Which is 490, but I think He said that just for effect, don't you think? And even if He IS being literal, that's a lot of times that I have to forgive the same person, although I'm sure that wouldn't be enough to cover me after all the anger and bitterness I have harbored for so long.
I recently had a friend put forgiveness for others in a different light. This friend has been able to relate to me on so many levels and I am so very thankful that God has brought them into my life. This friend has had to forgive people, just as I have to, that have done some serious damage. But they told me that they thought about it sort of life that's what we do to God. Does that make sense? Probably not. OK, so we do a lot of awful things to God that absolutely break His heart and make Him even more jealous for us. I can abso-toota-lutely tell you that if you have asked to receive it, He has forgiven you WAY more than 490 times. So why is it so hard for us to forgive and it is so easy for Him? Other than the fact that He is completely perfect and Holy, we are human. Bound and determined to make things harder for ourselves and destined to fall into the traps that Satan has so craftily set up. But once you look at someone who has done something to hurt you as what you have done to God it makes you want to reconcile with them immediately.
I have come to a point where I realize that forgiveness is imperative in order for me to walk as a child of God as opposed to a child of the world. IN the world, not OF the world. The world says we shouldn't forgive those who have done us wrong and that "karma" will take care of them. False. We should forgive them as God forgave us, and if they have asked forgiveness from God as well, He is just and more mighty to judge than any justice system on the planet.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Brokenness
It's a funny feeling, brokenness, funny to spell too. It feels like such defeat sometimes, doesn't it? Like there is nothing else in the world you can do but sit there and wait for things to get better? But there is hope!
Can I go on a tangent about the word "but" for a moment? OK, thanks. It is SO powerful! I mean when you use it as a conjunction in a children's story for example "Jack was going to play outside, but he had to finish his homework first" it's not SO powerful. Now look at Ephesians 2:3-5 "among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. BUT God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when were were dead in our transgressions made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)." Don't you see?! The Bible is full of "buts"!And they're beautiful.... actually, you just inspired me for another topic with a catchy title to be coming soon!
Anyway.....so blah blah blah we are broken people and we feel defeated and like there is nothing we can do. NEWSFLASH: there isn't anything YOU can do. It's what God can do THROUGH you! I was just telling a friend on Facebook about 2 Corinthians1 that says in verses 3-4 " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." We have trials in our lives that leave us feeling deflated. But "consider it joy, brothers, when you face trials of many kinds" (James 1:2). Why do we consider it a joy? 1: because it brings honor and glory to Christ Jesus, 2: because through it we are able to minister to others using our testimony (which then refers to number one). Don't you see that everything happens because it is meant to bring glory to God? We CANNOT feel defeated! "take heart! For I have overcome the world!" (John 16:33). God has already defeated everything we will overcome. Doesn't that give you hope? We all have a role in His plan for divine redemption. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, plans for a hope and a future."
So recently I've talked about Passion. During which there were several mentions of this brokenness that so many feel because let's face it, life is hard! And it takes a while to reach this state because I am sort of a control freak and I think I can handle everything myself which is so NOT true. So we reach a point at which we "give up" or as a Christian, we realize that God is bigger than our problems and we hand our lives over to Him because His plans are ALWAYS so much better than ours. Louie Giglio (fantastical speaker, by the way). Was speaking on our last morning and said something that really caught me off guard. He said that "Brokenness is the bow of which God launches arrows of healing." At first it didn't really make sense, but the more you think about it the more it totally DOES make sense. When we reach a point of brokenness, we realize that we can't do it on our own (which we have established ten million times today, but I just want to make sure I'm getting my point across) when we realize this God starts to work through us and heal us in a way that is only possible through Him. Simple as that! Another way to think about it is to think about a vase...you got it? OK. So you have this vase and it starts to crack. Just the paint at first, but then it gets deeper until the two sides are completely severed. Well, what do you see through that brokenness? LIGHT!!! ta-da, you've mastered it, right? Through our brokenness, the light and truth of Jesus can shine into our lives!
I know I pretty much gave you an essay to read today, but wasn't it worth it?! I thought so, but then again I think all my ideas are brilliant. This is probably elementary to you and you think I'M the stupid one for just figuring it out. Oh well. That's why you're reading this, right? Because you chose to embark on my life's journey with me. So you may just have to put up with my stubbornness sometimes.
Can I go on a tangent about the word "but" for a moment? OK, thanks. It is SO powerful! I mean when you use it as a conjunction in a children's story for example "Jack was going to play outside, but he had to finish his homework first" it's not SO powerful. Now look at Ephesians 2:3-5 "among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. BUT God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when were were dead in our transgressions made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)." Don't you see?! The Bible is full of "buts"!And they're beautiful.... actually, you just inspired me for another topic with a catchy title to be coming soon!
Anyway.....so blah blah blah we are broken people and we feel defeated and like there is nothing we can do. NEWSFLASH: there isn't anything YOU can do. It's what God can do THROUGH you! I was just telling a friend on Facebook about 2 Corinthians1 that says in verses 3-4 " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." We have trials in our lives that leave us feeling deflated. But "consider it joy, brothers, when you face trials of many kinds" (James 1:2). Why do we consider it a joy? 1: because it brings honor and glory to Christ Jesus, 2: because through it we are able to minister to others using our testimony (which then refers to number one). Don't you see that everything happens because it is meant to bring glory to God? We CANNOT feel defeated! "take heart! For I have overcome the world!" (John 16:33). God has already defeated everything we will overcome. Doesn't that give you hope? We all have a role in His plan for divine redemption. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, plans for a hope and a future."
So recently I've talked about Passion. During which there were several mentions of this brokenness that so many feel because let's face it, life is hard! And it takes a while to reach this state because I am sort of a control freak and I think I can handle everything myself which is so NOT true. So we reach a point at which we "give up" or as a Christian, we realize that God is bigger than our problems and we hand our lives over to Him because His plans are ALWAYS so much better than ours. Louie Giglio (fantastical speaker, by the way). Was speaking on our last morning and said something that really caught me off guard. He said that "Brokenness is the bow of which God launches arrows of healing." At first it didn't really make sense, but the more you think about it the more it totally DOES make sense. When we reach a point of brokenness, we realize that we can't do it on our own (which we have established ten million times today, but I just want to make sure I'm getting my point across) when we realize this God starts to work through us and heal us in a way that is only possible through Him. Simple as that! Another way to think about it is to think about a vase...you got it? OK. So you have this vase and it starts to crack. Just the paint at first, but then it gets deeper until the two sides are completely severed. Well, what do you see through that brokenness? LIGHT!!! ta-da, you've mastered it, right? Through our brokenness, the light and truth of Jesus can shine into our lives!
I know I pretty much gave you an essay to read today, but wasn't it worth it?! I thought so, but then again I think all my ideas are brilliant. This is probably elementary to you and you think I'M the stupid one for just figuring it out. Oh well. That's why you're reading this, right? Because you chose to embark on my life's journey with me. So you may just have to put up with my stubbornness sometimes.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Passion 2012
Passion: A sort of emotion or motivation I suppose would be the best way to term the word "passion." It is also a movement started by Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin for college and young adult men and women to come together and worship God. This year I got a chance to be a part of this movement and I will never be the same.
I am really excited to tell you that these few days led to several topics of conversation that you will be introduced to soon! But this is all about God. Our glorious, mighty, everlasting Prince of Peace and Lord of Lords. To try and keep this as short as possible I will just tell you that being in the middle of the Georgia Dome, filled with 45000 college and young adults praising and worshiping and learning in community about my dear Savior has been one of the highlights possibly of my life.
It is amazing how much LESS reserved you are when it is firstly, so evident that the Holy Spirit is present and secondly when you suddenly realize what it means to have 45000 people worshiping with you. Did you hear me? 45000 people. In one place. For one purpose.
And it was such a blessing to watch the Spirit move throughout the week not only in corporate worship and teaching but in smaller groups where we had the opportunity to invest in people and see what God was doing in their lives and investigate more deeply what God was doing in our lives.
Every year Passion "adopts" a cause to increase awareness and give people an opportunity to give their money and resources to those who are far less fortunate. This year, our focus was on slavery. Trust me when I say there is more to come on this topic, however the point of saying this is to make you aware. Did you know there are currently around 27 MILLION people enslaved right now? Did you know that that is more than at any time under any ruler ever in our history? Doesn't that make you uncomfortable? Anyway, us poor college kids were able to raise over 3 million dollars to increase awareness, action and restoration of those involved all across the globe. No big deal. VERY big deal.
And don't you dare sit there and tell me God isn't at work in our generation. It is simply undeniable when a group of "kids" makes the front pages of websites and cover stories on news stations. 1 Timothy 4:12 says that we are not to let anybody put us down because of our youth, but rather be the example setters in everything we do.
I guess my scatter brain-ed-ness is all to say that it was amazing experience seeing what God can do in my life and in the lives of others when you just open up your heart to what He wants you to do and who He wants you to be. I am more confident than ever and I have a burning PASSION to not only live like the Lord dwells in me, but to TELL other people about it. To set aside my doubts and reservations and run hard after God in all that He is and all that He does.
Next year Passion has the opportunity to fill the Georgia Dome to its full seating capacity and then some. Tickets go on sale in the spring. I've seen what God can do with 45000 students, just imagine how much more he could do with 73000!
I am really excited to tell you that these few days led to several topics of conversation that you will be introduced to soon! But this is all about God. Our glorious, mighty, everlasting Prince of Peace and Lord of Lords. To try and keep this as short as possible I will just tell you that being in the middle of the Georgia Dome, filled with 45000 college and young adults praising and worshiping and learning in community about my dear Savior has been one of the highlights possibly of my life.
It is amazing how much LESS reserved you are when it is firstly, so evident that the Holy Spirit is present and secondly when you suddenly realize what it means to have 45000 people worshiping with you. Did you hear me? 45000 people. In one place. For one purpose.
And it was such a blessing to watch the Spirit move throughout the week not only in corporate worship and teaching but in smaller groups where we had the opportunity to invest in people and see what God was doing in their lives and investigate more deeply what God was doing in our lives.
Every year Passion "adopts" a cause to increase awareness and give people an opportunity to give their money and resources to those who are far less fortunate. This year, our focus was on slavery. Trust me when I say there is more to come on this topic, however the point of saying this is to make you aware. Did you know there are currently around 27 MILLION people enslaved right now? Did you know that that is more than at any time under any ruler ever in our history? Doesn't that make you uncomfortable? Anyway, us poor college kids were able to raise over 3 million dollars to increase awareness, action and restoration of those involved all across the globe. No big deal. VERY big deal.
And don't you dare sit there and tell me God isn't at work in our generation. It is simply undeniable when a group of "kids" makes the front pages of websites and cover stories on news stations. 1 Timothy 4:12 says that we are not to let anybody put us down because of our youth, but rather be the example setters in everything we do.
I guess my scatter brain-ed-ness is all to say that it was amazing experience seeing what God can do in my life and in the lives of others when you just open up your heart to what He wants you to do and who He wants you to be. I am more confident than ever and I have a burning PASSION to not only live like the Lord dwells in me, but to TELL other people about it. To set aside my doubts and reservations and run hard after God in all that He is and all that He does.
Next year Passion has the opportunity to fill the Georgia Dome to its full seating capacity and then some. Tickets go on sale in the spring. I've seen what God can do with 45000 students, just imagine how much more he could do with 73000!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Two Thousand and Eleven
Since I had the stereotypical Christmas post, I may as well have the stereotypical New Year's post too, right? But instead of making empty promises to myself and to you I'd like to reminisce a little, if you don't mind...
In 2011 I...
-was blessed with turning one year older
-was blessed with another year with the person I love
-spent a week doing misisons in the Philippines
-GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL (finally)
-went on my last Chi Alpha Choir Tour
-Decided what church to go to on my own terms
-started my college career at the University of Alabama
-lost a best friend
-rekindled a best friend
-cried with my family
-rejoiced with my family
-learned that God's timing is always better than mine
-learned that "trials of this life are just mercies in disguise"
I don't think I can remember any point in my life where I have been so completely broken yet so completely whole. As Christians we plead for God to break our heart for what breaks His. And as my heart has been broken for things that have and things that will happen, people that have rejected the gospel, people that have rejected me, and people that have become comfortable I have become increasingly confident in my faith and relationship with the Lord.
I know it is kind of difficult to imagine being completely broken yet completely whole. It doesn't make sense; if you break a vase it is broken. In no way is it whole. But God works in mysterious ways, my friend. You see, once we are completely broken, God can put us together the way he wants to. Think about it this way. You have a beautiful vase. But you drop it on the floor and it breaks. But then you gather all the broken pieces and create a mosaic that is even more beautiful than the original. That's what God does with our hearts and our lives! Once we accept that we are broken and fallen God picks us up and puts us together. And image how beautiful a mosaic we create when all of our trials and screw ups bring glory to the Lord Most High! Our mosaic then, becomes not just a conglomeration of things that have happened to us, but a picture of the person who delivered us from them. And since the mosaic is a metaphor for our hears and our lives, if our mosaic looks like Christ, then our hearts and lives begin to look like Christ. Which is the meaning of "Christian" to begin with: "little Christ."
And just for funsies I'm going to post some things that I plan on doing in 2012 so we can look at them next year!
In 2012 I will....
-turn another year older (in two days!)
-Go to Passion (tomorrow! You can expect a post around Friday)
-Do mission work in the Dominican Republic
-maintain and build relationships
-rejoice with my family
-cry with my family
-read through the Bible with my church family
-become more vulnerable and tune into what God has to say to me and change in me
So may 2012 be a year of crying, rejoicing, blessings and trials that all come together for the glory and honor of the one who has blessed us with another year to proclaim His love and power to the ends of the earth!
In 2011 I...
-was blessed with turning one year older
-was blessed with another year with the person I love
-spent a week doing misisons in the Philippines
-GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL (finally)
-went on my last Chi Alpha Choir Tour
-Decided what church to go to on my own terms
-started my college career at the University of Alabama
-lost a best friend
-rekindled a best friend
-cried with my family
-rejoiced with my family
-learned that God's timing is always better than mine
-learned that "trials of this life are just mercies in disguise"
I don't think I can remember any point in my life where I have been so completely broken yet so completely whole. As Christians we plead for God to break our heart for what breaks His. And as my heart has been broken for things that have and things that will happen, people that have rejected the gospel, people that have rejected me, and people that have become comfortable I have become increasingly confident in my faith and relationship with the Lord.
I know it is kind of difficult to imagine being completely broken yet completely whole. It doesn't make sense; if you break a vase it is broken. In no way is it whole. But God works in mysterious ways, my friend. You see, once we are completely broken, God can put us together the way he wants to. Think about it this way. You have a beautiful vase. But you drop it on the floor and it breaks. But then you gather all the broken pieces and create a mosaic that is even more beautiful than the original. That's what God does with our hearts and our lives! Once we accept that we are broken and fallen God picks us up and puts us together. And image how beautiful a mosaic we create when all of our trials and screw ups bring glory to the Lord Most High! Our mosaic then, becomes not just a conglomeration of things that have happened to us, but a picture of the person who delivered us from them. And since the mosaic is a metaphor for our hears and our lives, if our mosaic looks like Christ, then our hearts and lives begin to look like Christ. Which is the meaning of "Christian" to begin with: "little Christ."
And just for funsies I'm going to post some things that I plan on doing in 2012 so we can look at them next year!
In 2012 I will....
-turn another year older (in two days!)
-Go to Passion (tomorrow! You can expect a post around Friday)
-Do mission work in the Dominican Republic
-maintain and build relationships
-rejoice with my family
-cry with my family
-read through the Bible with my church family
-become more vulnerable and tune into what God has to say to me and change in me
So may 2012 be a year of crying, rejoicing, blessings and trials that all come together for the glory and honor of the one who has blessed us with another year to proclaim His love and power to the ends of the earth!
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