Monday, August 12, 2013
Habakkuk 3:17-19
I just want to love God because He is God, Almighty, Jehovah, YHWH, I AM, Creator, and so much more. I want to learn to love God so much that, like Habakkuk, I can be totally bereft of earthly material blessing and still glorify The Name of The Lord.
Fill me up, God
This is something I have felt convicted of recently......
Sometimes, we Christians, myself included, ask God for a lot of stuff. A lot of times, this stuff isn't even bad. We ask for more of God, courage, boldness, wisdom, energy, etc. I believe God is happy to give us these things! He enjoys giving good gifts to his children. However, I believe that a lot of times, we waste these precious gifts. We should not ask for these things frivolously and expect no responsibility to come along with them.
Many times, we receive these gifts, experience a spiritual high for a few days, maybe even a few weeks, but then we forget; our joy gets choked out by our worldly worries. I ask and encourage you brothers and sisters that we, myself included, try not to do this.
A song I love to sing is "Fill Me Up." It says "fill me up God" over and over; God does and He will continue to fill us with His Spirit. He fills us with living water. This water is alive and dynamic! It is not stagnant. It is meant to gush forth from us in the form of love and service towards others.
God fills us and equips us to do His work; I pray we all strive to boldly and joyfully proclaim the greatest news we could ever receive, the news of the astounding love of Christ!
Put your faith into action this week! (:
Sometimes, we Christians, myself included, ask God for a lot of stuff. A lot of times, this stuff isn't even bad. We ask for more of God, courage, boldness, wisdom, energy, etc. I believe God is happy to give us these things! He enjoys giving good gifts to his children. However, I believe that a lot of times, we waste these precious gifts. We should not ask for these things frivolously and expect no responsibility to come along with them.
Many times, we receive these gifts, experience a spiritual high for a few days, maybe even a few weeks, but then we forget; our joy gets choked out by our worldly worries. I ask and encourage you brothers and sisters that we, myself included, try not to do this.
A song I love to sing is "Fill Me Up." It says "fill me up God" over and over; God does and He will continue to fill us with His Spirit. He fills us with living water. This water is alive and dynamic! It is not stagnant. It is meant to gush forth from us in the form of love and service towards others.
God fills us and equips us to do His work; I pray we all strive to boldly and joyfully proclaim the greatest news we could ever receive, the news of the astounding love of Christ!
Put your faith into action this week! (:
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Car Sanctuary
In traffic, where there once was rage, there is peace.
In long stretches of endless road, where there once was anxiety, there is boundless joy.
Over the hum of cycling rubber, there is loud praise.
Where my voice was once silent, I now speak audibly to The One who always hears.
In a well-used five-thousand dollar coupe, The Spirit of The Living God abides with me.
He makes the ordinary extraordinary.
He made the tents of my forefathers in faith His dwelling place, and now He is willing and content to make my car a sanctuary.
How beautiful is His presence!
It is transformative.
In long stretches of endless road, where there once was anxiety, there is boundless joy.
Over the hum of cycling rubber, there is loud praise.
Where my voice was once silent, I now speak audibly to The One who always hears.
In a well-used five-thousand dollar coupe, The Spirit of The Living God abides with me.
He makes the ordinary extraordinary.
He made the tents of my forefathers in faith His dwelling place, and now He is willing and content to make my car a sanctuary.
How beautiful is His presence!
It is transformative.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
The Purpose
[From my first journal entry... This was post traveling for about 15ish hours... Location: a squeaky bunk bed in La Romana, Dominican Republic]
"Wow. Today feels like so much. God is such a good protector; despite my mild anxieties, we arrived in La Romana without a hitch. I'm still so fascinated by flying; it's so surreal, and everything is so beautiful. It's a whole new perspective.
That's part of what this trip is, a perspective change.
There is so much newness! I'm in a country with a foreign language. ( I now am even more sympathetic with the foreign language speakers in my home country.) God is giving me new eyes.
Our devotional tonight is from Revelation 21:5; Jesus proclaims, "Look! I am making everything new!" I believe at times, Jesus doesn't necessarily make the "things" new; I believe, he changes us. We now see or are reminded in our soul and spirit to see the world as Jesus does. Jesus looks on everything with love; He is one with the Father. The Father, God, is love! He is love's personification, and He cannot be separated from it. His love is furious, penetrating, unending, enduring, passionate, consuming, relentless, and it is the most beautiful thing I have ever and will ever encounter!
For me to be effective this week, or ever in life, I must keep this love at the forefront of my mind. It's crazy how my sinful flesh can drag me away from the always refreshing always newly exciting and amazing love of Christ. That is the fight of the flesh though; satan, the ultimate deceiver and father of all lies will attempt at all times to draw us away from the beautiful love of Christ. It is truly a daily struggle to fight, but we must fight in the knowledge that our battles have already been won.
Christ does not call us from the other side of our battle either. He stands with us, intercedes for us, and He fights on our behalf. When we are weary and weak, we can rest in the promise that He is strong in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). When we are enfeebled, He is empowered. When we are tired, He is tireless. When we are feeling hopeless, He is our hope (Hebrews 6:19). When we lose faith, He is ever faithful (2 Timothy 2:13).
Psalm 23 reminds us that though we fight, we fight with mere shadows. ("Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...") The psalmist also writes, "I will fear no evil, for You [The Lord] are with me." God doesn't wait for us to come out of the valley; He joins us in it. He cannot abandon His beloved children. Also, if we have the ultimate light, Christ, with us, the shadows that attempt to haunt us have no choice but to flee!
[[Props to Jason Polk for teaching on this at The Orchard one night. It's been such an encouragement.]]
Jesus is exactly what we need, always! Only He can satisfy the depths of our soul with His boundless love. He can satisfy the needs of everyone we meet and minister to this week. We will eventually leave and have been like a wave in the sea to them. However, if we go to them under the authority and clothed in the love of Christ, His love will never leave them. This is not to say our time here is fruitless, but it is to say, that unless we leave the true love and peace of Christ, our efforts will be for naught. We must remember that we are here for Jesus. We are here for His glorification alone, and we are here to share His love.
Thank the Lord for His truth, His mercy, His grace, and His love!"
"Wow. Today feels like so much. God is such a good protector; despite my mild anxieties, we arrived in La Romana without a hitch. I'm still so fascinated by flying; it's so surreal, and everything is so beautiful. It's a whole new perspective.
That's part of what this trip is, a perspective change.
There is so much newness! I'm in a country with a foreign language. ( I now am even more sympathetic with the foreign language speakers in my home country.) God is giving me new eyes.
Our devotional tonight is from Revelation 21:5; Jesus proclaims, "Look! I am making everything new!" I believe at times, Jesus doesn't necessarily make the "things" new; I believe, he changes us. We now see or are reminded in our soul and spirit to see the world as Jesus does. Jesus looks on everything with love; He is one with the Father. The Father, God, is love! He is love's personification, and He cannot be separated from it. His love is furious, penetrating, unending, enduring, passionate, consuming, relentless, and it is the most beautiful thing I have ever and will ever encounter!
For me to be effective this week, or ever in life, I must keep this love at the forefront of my mind. It's crazy how my sinful flesh can drag me away from the always refreshing always newly exciting and amazing love of Christ. That is the fight of the flesh though; satan, the ultimate deceiver and father of all lies will attempt at all times to draw us away from the beautiful love of Christ. It is truly a daily struggle to fight, but we must fight in the knowledge that our battles have already been won.
Christ does not call us from the other side of our battle either. He stands with us, intercedes for us, and He fights on our behalf. When we are weary and weak, we can rest in the promise that He is strong in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). When we are enfeebled, He is empowered. When we are tired, He is tireless. When we are feeling hopeless, He is our hope (Hebrews 6:19). When we lose faith, He is ever faithful (2 Timothy 2:13).
Psalm 23 reminds us that though we fight, we fight with mere shadows. ("Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...") The psalmist also writes, "I will fear no evil, for You [The Lord] are with me." God doesn't wait for us to come out of the valley; He joins us in it. He cannot abandon His beloved children. Also, if we have the ultimate light, Christ, with us, the shadows that attempt to haunt us have no choice but to flee!
[[Props to Jason Polk for teaching on this at The Orchard one night. It's been such an encouragement.]]
Jesus is exactly what we need, always! Only He can satisfy the depths of our soul with His boundless love. He can satisfy the needs of everyone we meet and minister to this week. We will eventually leave and have been like a wave in the sea to them. However, if we go to them under the authority and clothed in the love of Christ, His love will never leave them. This is not to say our time here is fruitless, but it is to say, that unless we leave the true love and peace of Christ, our efforts will be for naught. We must remember that we are here for Jesus. We are here for His glorification alone, and we are here to share His love.
Thank the Lord for His truth, His mercy, His grace, and His love!"
Monday, May 20, 2013
Simplicity is Pixie Dust
Before I begin, let me clarify, I believe finding simplicity in life is very important. We are met with a barrage of complications daily and finding ways to live simply and avoid materialism are very important.
However, I am discovering that is if there is something people are not, it is simple.
Many of us, myself included, would like to convince others and ourselves that we are simple.
A, B, and C makes us happy, so what is really complicated about that anyway? While AB&C may truly make us happy, on closer inspection there is a problem with that. AB&C will not continuously make us happy.We are molded and shaped in many ways by many experiences and many people. This accumulation of personality and history have made us all complicated. However, this type of complicated, I think, is beautiful.
When you first meet people, they are like dimly lit rooms. The sun shines through the window in the corner; the walls are freshly painted. There might even be some quirky quotations on the wall, a welcome mat by the door, and possibly some furniture set up. However, as you venture into the room, you notice the neatly framed quotations hide cracks from where the room has settled. The furniture is covering numerous scratches, and you notice the couch is attempting to replace the emptiness that would have been there. The sunlight is sometimes replaced with clouded skies and maybe even the occasional storm. The corner farthest from the window has even experienced water rot and has caved in. On closer inspection, the room is dingy. It has a lot of nice parts, but now, the facade is gone.
We put on such a show for others; it's tiresome.
It's interesting to me that we are taught to expect simplicity from others when we, ourselves, are unable to achieve it.
Not to be cliche and rag on Disney movies (I quite enjoy them.), but, please, look at the characters. I'll use Cinderella for an example. (I mean, they are getting better I think...Nemo has some depth. [excuse the ocean joke] ) Cinderella is portrayed as this happy singing chic who submissively serves her purely evil stepmother. Why is her stepmother so bitter anyway? If Cinderealla has so many "wishes her heart makes when she is fast asleep," why doesn't she go after them? These characters are so one dimensional. Cinderella is "good" and her stepmother is "evil."
It doesn't work that way. It would be easier if it was that simple, but it's not.
I have parts of me that are dark. She is the part of me who makes snap judgements about people who I later learn to love. She is the part of me who lashes out in anger when I am inconvenienced. She is the one who has a short fuse. She is the one that is ceaselessly impatient. She is the one who lacks self-control.
I praise Jesus for healing this part of me. I praise Him for being so much greater and full of more grace than I am full of darkness. It is such a process. He knows, ha. Thankfully, I know He has already triumphed.
We see this in ourselves, but we hide it so well. I feel healing can be found when we can find the courage to be candid with one another.
We need to understand that we are all complicated people. And that is okay.
Simplicity within people is like pixie dust: sparkly, rare, and lacking substance.
Complicated is beautiful.
However, I am discovering that is if there is something people are not, it is simple.
Many of us, myself included, would like to convince others and ourselves that we are simple.
A, B, and C makes us happy, so what is really complicated about that anyway? While AB&C may truly make us happy, on closer inspection there is a problem with that. AB&C will not continuously make us happy.We are molded and shaped in many ways by many experiences and many people. This accumulation of personality and history have made us all complicated. However, this type of complicated, I think, is beautiful.
When you first meet people, they are like dimly lit rooms. The sun shines through the window in the corner; the walls are freshly painted. There might even be some quirky quotations on the wall, a welcome mat by the door, and possibly some furniture set up. However, as you venture into the room, you notice the neatly framed quotations hide cracks from where the room has settled. The furniture is covering numerous scratches, and you notice the couch is attempting to replace the emptiness that would have been there. The sunlight is sometimes replaced with clouded skies and maybe even the occasional storm. The corner farthest from the window has even experienced water rot and has caved in. On closer inspection, the room is dingy. It has a lot of nice parts, but now, the facade is gone.
We put on such a show for others; it's tiresome.
It's interesting to me that we are taught to expect simplicity from others when we, ourselves, are unable to achieve it.
Not to be cliche and rag on Disney movies (I quite enjoy them.), but, please, look at the characters. I'll use Cinderella for an example. (I mean, they are getting better I think...Nemo has some depth. [excuse the ocean joke] ) Cinderella is portrayed as this happy singing chic who submissively serves her purely evil stepmother. Why is her stepmother so bitter anyway? If Cinderealla has so many "wishes her heart makes when she is fast asleep," why doesn't she go after them? These characters are so one dimensional. Cinderella is "good" and her stepmother is "evil."
It doesn't work that way. It would be easier if it was that simple, but it's not.
I have parts of me that are dark. She is the part of me who makes snap judgements about people who I later learn to love. She is the part of me who lashes out in anger when I am inconvenienced. She is the one who has a short fuse. She is the one that is ceaselessly impatient. She is the one who lacks self-control.
I praise Jesus for healing this part of me. I praise Him for being so much greater and full of more grace than I am full of darkness. It is such a process. He knows, ha. Thankfully, I know He has already triumphed.
We see this in ourselves, but we hide it so well. I feel healing can be found when we can find the courage to be candid with one another.
We need to understand that we are all complicated people. And that is okay.
Simplicity within people is like pixie dust: sparkly, rare, and lacking substance.
Complicated is beautiful.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
19
That's how old this guy is. He is my age. Personally, my heart and soul mourns for him. Maybe that's not American, but I couldn't care less. I am called to a higher nation, the nation of Christ. Yes, I love America, and I am amazingly blessed to be here. Yes, what he did was heinous, tragic, and wrong; yes, he should should be served justice by the law, but I pray with all my heart it's not the death sentence. I feel Jesus telling me every time my thoughts wander to this young man, that Jesus wants him. This guy is not too far from grace. He is not out of the reach of the redemptive power of God's love. Jesus died the same death for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as He died for me. I'm not trying to be disrespectful or discount the people he killed and injured, so please don't think that. I mourn for them and their families so much as well. I just see him as a fellow human being in desperate need of the love of Jesus, and it breaks my heart.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
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