Archive for September 2011

Love & Lenses

Published on 7:49 AM By Aunica
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Yesterday I came to this conclusion - I read the bible to interpret it correctly via hermeneutics (the study of interpretation) but I interpret God anyway I please. It's so easy for me to view God through my culture lense - to put Him in the box of my predetermined expectations and knowledge that's biased based on my background and culture.
One example that came to mind is Love. We've grown to know what love is and define it through a variety of channels. This formed and shaped idea of love guides and defines how we view God and His love. Think about the different places we find and are influenced by the definitions of love. We find earthly love through our families, through our friends, in relationships, in movies, in music, in the media, etc. We view love as: a warm feeling. A broken heart. Cheap sex. A ring on your finger. A kiss. A hug. A word. A text. A holiday. A call. A kind gesture. A gift. Our view of love is shaped by how we were raised. If you grew up in a broken home - your view of love is different than that of a child who had two parents in their household. If you've lost someone close to you, your view of love is different than someone who's never loved and lost. All in all - our experiences shape how we see God's love. I've come to the conclusion that the way I've been viewing God's love might not be correct. I can definitely say that my view of His love is seen through the thick lenses of my experiences, and is therefore skewed.
So lets go back to the basics - to the truth - to the word of God, to try to truly define what Love is when it comes to God.

Bible gateway comes up with 687 results for the word "love".

John 3:16-17 --
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John 15:11-13 -- 
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.


Romans 5:1-8 --
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:35-39 --
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
   “For your sake we face death all day long;
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Isaiah 64:4 -I-
“What no eye has seen,
   what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived—
   these things God has prepared for those who love him”

1 Corinthians 13 --
Gives an example of how we ought to love others, and we're suppose to represent Christ here on earth, therefore we are representing His love in these ways.
 If I speak in human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

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Luke what?

Published on 7:28 AM By Aunica
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No, this post is not about a boy named Luke. It's not about a boy. It's not about any one person in particular, it's about the church in general.
If there's one thing I don't understand, it's being lukewarm in your faith. I struggle with the fact that people can know the amazing grace and love of Christ and not be completely transformed. How can you know the gospel and reject it in that way? How can you know the truth of Christ and not live your life for Him?
How can you stand in front of the cross, before the sacrifice, before the love of God and say "I'll do this Jesus thing later" and go on with your life? How can your heart not overflow with the love that Christ has given you?
The church has lost sight of what really matters - the gospel. We go to church on Sunday to check it off our list. We dust off our bibles once a week and pretend that everything's okay for a day, when really our world is crashing down around us. We should be broken. Together, as a congregation - working together to become warriors of prayer and be open about our struggles that God could use them for His strength.
But instead? We shove them down deep. Into the depths of our souls, as we put on a smile and a nice dress, take a deep breath, and walk through the doors of the sanctuary. We sing songs we've heard time and time again, not paying one bit of attention to the lyrics but instead at the lady down the aisle who's dress isn't nice enough, the kid in the back throwing a tantrum, or the person who's asleep on the pew a couple rows in front of us. Is that really what we think church is about? How can we sit through a sermon and not let the truth of Christ transform us? I can't stress that enough. It hurts me to see people who think they're saved because of a prayer they prayed when they were 10, when they're missing the whole point of Christianity. We should be so different when we see the truth of Christ and accept it. We are no longer slaves to sin! We have been made new by the transforming power of Christ. We should seek to glorify God in our everyday lives.

Church should be a time of worship in which we bow before the Creator of the Universe and say to Him "You are all I need, you are all I ever needed and you are all I'll need in the days to come" instead we doodle during the sermon, sleep, or day dream of the nice meal we'll have and when we can take off that, now uncomfortable, dress. We shake hands with people and wave goodbye as we exit the building and sigh a breath of relief that we've made it through another week of church and can now go back to our "everyday" lives. Worshiping God should be an everyday thing. That should be our focus, our reason to live - to bring glory to God in everything we do.
We should be broken. Broken in the realization that we sin, and that the only thing that can make us whole again is the forgiving mercy and grace of God.
We should realize that life without God? It has no purpose. There is no reason to live if it isn't for Christ. What eternal significance does your work have? None. You can't take your laptop to heaven.
 If you're not okay, don't fake it. Don't pretend. We all go through trials in this life, and we should and will be persecuted in our faith. It's just part of it.
Be excited about God. Get emotional about Christ. Get pumped about the gospel. Live a life like we were meant to - sold out for God.

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A Child's Tantrum

Published on 8:32 AM By Aunica
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Today I was meditating on how God is our Father. I am a child, a child of God. So often I choose to run away from all that is good. Father tells me to clean my room, and I don't want to. Father reprimands me for taking something that isn't mine, and I don't like it. Or even worse, He tells me to do something like eat my brussel sprouts, and I really don't want to. In the end? He knows what is best for me. He does all of these things out of love and to lead me in the right direction. But I am the child. And children? Occasionally we run away. Most of the time it isn't far, but maybe down the street to sit by the stop sign with a pouty lip and our arms crossed against our chest in a "just TRY to take me back home" rebellious gesture. `When I do this? I forget who my Father is. And before I know it, I look over out of the corner of my eye and He is there. Crouched down next to me with an inviting smile on His face and His arms open, beckoning to me to come home. Sometimes I sit there for a couple more minutes, sometimes I'll sit there for an hour. But eventually I'll realize that He is right. That in truth? He knows what is best for me. He is doing it for my own good - to grow me and shape me into the woman of God I'm suppose to be. And in that moment I slowly turn and jump into His arms. Back into the loving embrace of a Father who loves me deeply and wants to keep me from harm. Is it always going to be easy to clean my room (witness), eat my brussel sprouts (read my bible), or realize that I've sinned? No, but the good news is we have a Father who loves us - and He is always there waiting with open arms when we stray from the path of righteousness. So instead of sitting by the stop sign contemplating how you've been "wronged" by being told to do things you don't want to do, meditate instead on the love of our Father and jump back in to His arms. He's waiting.

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Uncharted Territory

Published on 8:23 AM By Aunica
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In case any of you haven't already been hit over the head with this concept - God is good. He is faithful. Even when I allow myself to be distracted. To be pulled off course. For the wheel of my ship to be steered in a wrong direction, He is always there. Patient. Waiting. With open arms, for me to realize that I can't do it alone. That if I'm at the wheel of my ship of life? I'm guaranteed to go off course. To slowly drift into dangerous waters. But if I give Him control and make Him captain, He will steer me to places I couldn't even dream of going. Sure, it won't always be easy. There will be sharp rocks along the way, and even an occasional ice berg - but it' worth it to see the treasure at the end of the journey. The choice is yours - who's going to be the Captain of your Ship?

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