All post

Titus 3

Titus 3:3-7 --At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,  he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,  whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
This is the passage of scripture that God has really been laying on my heart recently. When I got back from camp this summer I spent a week processing what I had learned, analysing my life in contrast to scripture, and attempting to figure out how to apply all that I had learned. The conclusion at that time that I came to? I suck. I sin. So, so much. I sat in a deep pool of guilt, remorse, and finally came to the concluding emotion of hatred. Hatred for myself, and found that I had a deep loathing of myself because of my sin. I didn't understand and accept one of the core principles of the gospel - God loves us. How could He love me when I couldn't even come close to loving myself? Every time I'd sin I'd cringe and the hatred would grow until it reached the point where I couldn't stand to be around people because I was so upset with myself that I didn't have any idea how anyone else could even stand to be around me. The moral of the story? I was ridiculously emotionally drained. From going straight from senior year (I was sick the day I graduated. Yay fevers) to literally leaving for camp for 8 weeks the day after I graduated. I was exhausted, and this summer was just extremely emotionally taxing. I was constantly pouring into girls who needed love and compassion. It was only through Christ that I was able to give as much as I was able to this summer, and I am extremely grateful for that. But anyways, I was emotionally drained so I had no compassion left for myself. Then I came across this passage. A couple weeks ago I would have focused on verse 3 then stopped, satisfied that it had capture the essence of my suckage. But you know what the next word is? The first word in verse for is this. But. There's something more. It doesn't stop there. Through God's mercy He saved us. He reached into that pig pen of sloppy, nasty, dirty sin that we were rolling around in and rescued us. He grabbed us from the burning house to saftey. We were going to go down in flames with all the gasoline of our sin that was poured throughout our lives, but He grabbed us from the flames. And you know what? As amazing as that is alone - it doesn't stop there. Not only did He save us from our deserved eternity in hell, but He has made us His sons and daughters. We are His heirs. Good news, friends. Sure - I sin. I sin a lot, and it's definitely an issue. My prayer is that God will help me become aware of those sins so that with His help we can make it better - but at the same time I AM human and I'm going to sin. And you know what? God isn't disappointed in me. He doesn't shake His head each time I tell a lie, because He already knew I was going to do it. That's no reason to sin without remorse, but at the same time it's a relief that I don't have to necessarily wallow in guilt. I've been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and He no longer sees my sin but sees me instead as a child of God - pure and blameless. (Philippians 2:15) We also have to realize that when we are saved, we have the Holy Spirit inside of us - so we really shouldn't desire to sin any longer. It talks about that in Romans 6:1-2. We are dead to sin, so why would we want to keep on sinning? I'm no longer a slave to my fear of sin. It no longer grips me, and slowly but surely God is helping me to break free of my idols. Food isn't as much of a concern. I can go a day without working out and not feel too bad about it. I'm finding satisfaction in the love of Christ, and learning that I need to rely on His strength through my weaknesses.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 --But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Thoughts

A) Prayer. What a blessing and an honor that we have the privilege to speak to God. I am constantly amazed by how powerful prayer really is. Throughout the summer God really showed me different ways He was answering my prayers, most of the time not in ways I would expect or recognize usually but always was it way better for me than what I could imagine. Example: I prayed during staff training that God would challenge me. BAM! Horse Wilderness the first week. I don't like horses. It ended up being one of my favorite weeks, though. God works in great ways! And I'm super pumped to continue to grow in my relationship with Him and for the surprises to come!
B) I like fruit. A lot. Strawberries, grapes, peaches, watermelon, and raspberries are probably my favorite things. I like 'em.
C) I'm becoming nocturnal. I keep staying up later and later and sleeping in more and more. Pretty soon I'll just sleep during the day. The bad news? I have classes at 8 a.m. So this "sleep until 1" dealio isn't really going to fly in college. Sad.
D) I like waffles. I'm pretty sure I've eaten a waffle for breakfast every day for the past two weeks. They're good. They're easy to make. And they keep me satisfied until supper. It works well.
E) I like forks instead of spoons. Except for the occasional bowl of soup I seldom use spoons. Sporks? Although the thought is good, they just don't really work. You can't really stab things with them to make them useful for fork-y things, and they don't hold a decent quantity of soup for the to be useful as spoons. So forks it is. I've even resorted to eating applesauce and yogurt with a fork because it's just better. That is all on THAT subject.
F) Joy. Joy is good. Especially the Joy that comes from a solid relationship with Christ. Joy in growth. Joy in life. Joy in the little things. Joy in trials through the knowledge that through my perseverance I will grow more spiritually mature (James 1).
G) I should start writing more meaningful stuff on here again rather than just rambling, but sometimes rambling is good? I don't really know. I think it's just that I write these so late. Er. Early in the morning. We'll see.

Conclusions

I've come to a couple conclusions recently:
A) Tall boys are one of four things: awkward, unattractive, not christian, or dating someone short. Story of my life? I think yes.
B) I'm not going to settle. I am not a rancher looking for land. I will stake out my territory and wait until I have a prize bull. Because honestly? I've waited this long - what's a couple more years? And if that's not God's plans - I'll wait until I die and fall into the loving embrace of Christ. Mmm. He is good.
C) I love the pirates of the Caribbean movies. A lot. I'm not really sure why, I just like them.
D) I'm regaining my emotions. After an insanely draining summer and school year, it's weird to be able to rest and rejuvinate. So that's been good, and I just feel content. Content in Christ. Content in my love for Him and His love for me, and I'm coming to terms with the fact that yes I suck and I sin, but at the same time I don't necessarily need to tear myself apart for it because guess what? God isn't dissapointed in me. He knew I would sin and He knows I'm going to sin, but at the same time I'm going to strive to live a life that's honoring and pleasing to Him. His grace is enough, and to dwell on my sins and guilt would be to take away from the grace and mercy and glory of God and that, my friends, is a sin in itself. So good news! God does, truly, love me. And I love Him.
E) College in 15 days. I'm still kind of in shock? But at the same time I'm insanely excited to see what God has in store for me. I want to grow. I want to be challenged. I want to challenge others. I want to learn.
F) I love music. A lot. There's always a song that fits my mood, or a style of music if you will. Sometimes I like to listen to country. Sometimes I like the listen to rap. But recently I've been happy to listen to worship music. To just sit in silent adoration of the King. What a blessing it is to not only have time to sit and listen, but that we have that opportunity. The comfort of being able to sit in the presence of the Lord and be content. And at the same time to not take that contentedness and stop reading the bible or stop trying to learn because I'm happy with where I'm at, but to hunger for more. To be content in the sense that I know that I'm on the right path, but wanting to run down that path. To learn more. To grow. And what a sweet, sweet thing that is.
G) I'm pretty sure I don't want to live in the US. I can much more easily picture myself living in a jungle with all of my belongings in a backpack than in a comfortable American house. I've come to the point where I dislike comfort. I think I associate comfort with things from my past, and I'd rather not.  I revel in the uncomfortable. In the challenge and growth it brings. At some points you have to recognize that God also gives us comfort once and a while. That comfort in itself isn't necessarily a sin. That God truly desires for us to have happiness. That happiness for me just happens to be being pushed out of my box. I enjoy it.
H) I want to marry a missionary. Or a pastor. I just want to be part of ministry. Maybe I'll switch majors? I'm not really sure. I'm praying about it, so we'll see where God leads.
I) I like analogies. Too much? Sometimes. But they just help me process things.
J) I don't like numbering things, I'm not sure if you've gathered that from the constant lettering to attempt to somehow organize my sporadic thoughts - but I just don't like it. It gives things an order. Makes one thought better than another when in reality, they're all equally fighting for the forefront of my consciousness.
H) I love fruit. So much. We had fresh peaches today and I couldn't wipe the grin off of my face. Mmm. Thank you, Lord, for yummy healthy foods.
I) I stay up way too late. Okay, so I drank a ton of caffeine today. But coffee is good! And I like it. So I drink it anyways and just deal with the consequences.
J) I get stuck routine much too easily. I don't really like routine? But it happens. Like this - staying up late and sleeping in. I'm a morning person, really I am, but I just like nights. Being able to process things and think. And watch movies. And just spend time alone. After a school year of insanity and 8 weeks of camp, it's just nice to be alone once and a while. I'm still a very social person, but once and a while you need time alone. Just you and Jesus. But back to routine. Every day I eat basically the same things. Maybe I should change that? It's just easy. I make waffle batter every 3 days. Wheat. It's healthier. And I eat one or two with some yogurt for brunch at noon. Breakfast food is just so much better than food-food. It's good. I like it. Why change it? I'm not sure. Thoughts. Mmm.
K) I should really get back into writing creatively again. Maybe this is creative? This insane splattering of my thoughts across the screen? But I don't feel satisfied like I do after I write a poem that I really relate to or a story that I enjoy. Hmm. Perhaps I'll write.
L) I'm going to leave you with a quote from a book I'm reading. This is from chapter three of "When I don't desire God" by John Piper.
God pictures himself as a mountain spring of clean, cool, life-giving water. The way to glorify a fountain like this is to enjoy the water, and praise the water, and keep coming back to the water, and point other people to the water, and get strength for love from the water, and never, never, never prefer any drink in the world over the water. That makes the spring look valuable. This is how we glorify God, the fountain of living water.

Struggles

These are things I've learned recently.
A) I'm weak. So, so weak. And God is strong. Jesus loves me, this I know. But do  I honestly believe that and accept it? Believe it? Yes. Accept it? Not really. I'm working on accepting the fact that even though I am in no way worthy of God's love, that He loves me anyways. And that I need to accept that or risk rejecting the glory of God.
B) God can use my weaknesses for His strength. Somehow, I'm not sure how he's going to use my body image consciousness but I know that He will. He is God, and I am not. He knows what's best. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
C) He has a plan. My mom's "2nd dad" as a child died last week and one of my best friends got diagnosed with cancer. It's been a hard week to say the least. Cancer. It isn't something that happens to your friends. It happens to other people. Older people. But not this time. This time one of my dearest friends has Hodgkins Lymphoma. What's that you might ask? Cancer of the lymph nodes. She starts chemo on Monday. She'll lose all her hair for senior year. Why? Why her? Why now? These are all questions that run through my head constantly, but I know that God has a plan and that He is in control. He is good.
D) I need to let God have control. With my friend. With my worries for college. With my anxiety. With my life.
E) God is faithful as usual, I don't understand it and honestly? I don't think I ever will. But He is there. And I am oh, so grateful.
F) I'm reading the book "When I Don't Desire God" by John Piper. It's good. Super good. John Piper describes Habakkuk 3:17-18 as follows: "In other words, when all the supports of human life and earthly happiness are taken away, God will be our delight, our joy."
G) I am thankful. For God. For life. For His patience.
H) I'm still super emotionally drained from camp. I pray that God will restore my Spirit and fill me with emotions again. I can't cry. I can't feel anything. I just feel platatonic. Excitement for college, that's about all I really feel. I don't desire food. I don't desire God. I don't desire working out. I don't desire sleep. In reality? I don't desire anything right now. But I'm not necessarily content either? I'm just kind of stuck. Counting down the days until college when I have a schedule again and something new. I'm stuck between high school and college. Stuck knowing I don't necessarily belong here anymore, or at this point - I don't belong anywhere. This isn't really my home anymore, but do I have an earthly home right now? Not really. I'm guessing college will take that place. The day I move out of my house is the day my sister moves into my room. So I've been boxing up and throwing out all the things in my room.
I) All of my stuff from the past 18 years that has some significance fits in one large plastic tub. That's all I have to account for as far as material goods go. 18 years, and it fits in one box. I guess that's like our lives in some ways. Here one day, gone tomorrow. We're like the mist. We're dust. We're only a vapor in the wind. Our lives are short - what are you doing with your life? Don't waste it. Because really? What do we matter? I think the only part of our lives that really matters is the impact we make for Christ. If you were to die today what would people remember you for? Being funny? Being tall? Or being a servant of Christ? Being an encouragement? Helping them in their walk? Being a good example? Living out your faith? I hope that at my funeral people don't cry, but that it's a joyful occasion to know that I'll finally be where I belong. Home. With Jesus. That people will look at my life and know that I lived it to the best of my ability for Christ. Like it says in Philippians, to live is Christ to die is gain. That doesn't mean we should all commit suicide, because God put us here for a reason and we should use our time on earth to further His kingdom and bring Him glory.
J) I'll leave you with my favorite verse right now.
Galatians 1:10 -- Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Who are you living for? The approval of people or of God?

I Put on Christ

I've been listening to this song lately and wanted to share it. It's called I Put on Christ by Laura Hackett.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehSl2w4M_y0
 
 I Put on Christ (The Battle is Raging)
For the battle is raging
The Devil is raging
And I don’t want to be sleeping
While the battle is raging

I don't fight as one who beats the air
Give me eyes to see and ears to hear
I don't fight as one who beats the air
Give me eyes to see and ears to hear oh God

For the battle is raging
The Devil is raging
And I don’t want to be sleeping
While the battle is raging

I don't fight as one who beats the air
Give me eyes to see and ears to hear
I don't fight as one who beats the air
Give me eyes to see and ears to hear oh God

I put on Christ
Make no provision for my flesh
Put on the whole armor of God
Leave no open door to darkness
And I take the scroll; eat the scroll
Open up my mouth and speak forth Your Word
I take the sword of the Spirit

Blessed be the Lord my rock
Who trains my hands for battle, trains my hands for war

Oxygen

Today I was thinking about breathing and how awesome it is. 24 hours a day 7 days a week we are constantly breathing in and out without thinking about it at all.  What would happen if we just decided to stop breathing? We'd pass out, black out, and once we'd lose the control we had to suppress our breathing we'd automatically start up again. If we think about it do we stop breathing? No.
Breathing is like our relationship with God should be. We depend upon oxygen for life, and we should depend upon God in this way as well. Think about it, constantly talking with God like it talks about being constantly in prayer in 2 Thessalonians. In any situation that we would come to - to pray and talk it through with God. Before ever decision. Before every soccer game. Before every band performance. Before every dance recital. Before ever meal. Before everything - talk to God. During it all, giving praise to our Creator. In the USA it's so easy to take everything for granted. We have SO much, that we don't NEED to depend on God for anything. But when you get down to it? We need God. Desperately. We just don't realize it, just like we don't realize we're breathing all the time. We always need God, we always need oxygen. We can try to stop ourselves from needed oxygen by holding our breath, we can try to live without dependency on God - but eventually we'll black out and start breathing again. Say I decide to go on a run or kick box as I'm more inclined to do. I start breathing harder and my lungs work to keep up. Shouldn't we be running the spiritual race? Working harder and growing more dependent on Christ as we grow? I'm not really sure if this makes sense at all to anyone else, but I like it. So next time you take in a breath - think of God. He gave you that breath.

Worship

I've recently been contemplating the significance of worship. When we come to worship, the average church goer grasps their hands solemnly against their midsection or folds their arms likewise and belts out a song or two. Sometimes they'll lean over to their neighbor and comment on whether or not Jimmy is playing the drums too loud or if there should even be drums at all. Then they'll lean to the person standing on the other side and remark about the style of music or song choice - most likely not to their liking. Every third Sunday they might lean over to neighbor number one and say something about the sanctuary being too hot or too cold, and is the lighting too bright or too showy? Is the keyboardist really wearing that tie? The guitar should not be played in church. We need more hymns. We need a longer offertory piece. See anything missing? Any theme going on here?
Where is God in this worship? We've taken something that is meant to be a marvelous way to connect with our Father in Heaven and turned it into a gripe fest. We've taken something that's suppose to be all about God, and made it about ourselves and what we want. I'm sorry, folks, but that's not what worship is suppose to be at all. Who cares if the drums are off? Who cares if the keyboardists' tie isn't quite matching? Close your eyes and focus. Focus on the meaning behind worship.
Worship is designed to glorify God. To sing His praises. When I went on a mission trip to Jamaica over spring break last year, I was amazed to see how differently they worship. Not only did not one person complain about the lack of air conditioning in the building or the length of worship time, they all just threw up their hands and worshiped whole-heartedly. They didn't care what anyone else thought, they just worshiped God with complete reverance and awe. We're missing that.
I just want to encourage you that next time you go to church, ready your heart. Pray before hand that God would give you a heart of worship. Focus your eyes on the throne and truly stand in awe at the glory of our God. It is an honor and a privilege we have to be able to stand in front of the throne of God and bow down in worship. So forget about whether you're on pitch or not, worship with full abandon! If you feel led, put a hand in the air. Close your eyes. Whatever helps you worship. Just make sure you don't do it for the "holier than thou" look or the "look how much I'm worshiping" pride aspect. Do it for the right reasons.

Jeremiah 10:13 --
When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
   he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
   and brings out the wind from his storehouses. 

That's the God we're worshiping.
Worship. It's not about you or me, it's all about God.

Break Through

Under estimation. It's something I fall privy to much too often to admit to. I under estimate how many times a hummingbird can flap its wings in the span of a minute. I under estimate the way a smile can make you feel. I under estimate the strength of friendship. But most of all, I under estimate the power of our Living God. I so easily forget that He created the universe. In my selfish world that revolves around me, He's just a pawn in my game. Little do I know, I'm not the one playing. I under estimate the power of prayer. When I ask for things, with an earnest heart, God answers my prayers in ways I can't even begin to describe to you. If by nothing else I could show you there was a God, it's through the way He answers my prayers. Sometimes in ways you can see, but most of the time it's in ways I can't imagine, but once it's happened I realize it was way better for me than what I had previously thought. Take, for example, my prayers during staff training this summer to be challenged. Instead of just ending up in horse camp (I'm not a big fan of horses, although they are beautiful creatures) I was sent on a journey into a week of Horse Wilderness. Not only did I end up growing tremendously through the experience, it was one of my favorite weeks of counseling thus far in my career as a camp counselor. Say I pray for wisdom, as was my prayer last Sunday. Throughout the week God gave me an analytical view point on my sin. I spent a week mulling over my sin nature, and finally after days of self loath and remorse, came to the conclusion that although I sin - I am no longer a sinner. I have been washed clean by the blood of Christ, and God no longer sees my sin but sees me as a new creation. Is this a reason to keep on sinning? Of course not! It's a reason to rejoice! I am no longer stained by my sin! And God loves me. Mmm. The love of Christ. You know that song from childhood? Jesus loves me? It's a great song. Jesus loves me, this I know. For the bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong. And so on and so forth. I am a child of God, and even though I am weak - He is strong. He can use my weaknesses to further His kingdom and that, my friends, is very good news because I am certainly weak. I can't even begin to describe to you the overarching joy of having the love of your Savior. You can move mountains, swim oceans, and leap across chasms. If our God is for us, who can stand against us?

Whispers

He's there.
Whispering in my ear.
Telling me I'm worthless.
or other things I now expect to hear.

Telling me I'm fat
telling me I shouldn't eat
telling me I'm too tall
or of sins I can't defeat

telling me the world is the best choice
that I've got it all wrong
telling me that I'm not valueable
or that my nose is too long

telling me I'll never measure up
to the people on TV
telling me I'll never make it
or be who I want to be

whispering in my ear
all these lies and half truths
making me believe
it's the only point of view

as his malicious grin
fills my mind
and I know that he
is not the only of his kind

his mockery continues
day in and day out
sometimes it makes me cry
sometimes it makes me shout

 this is something
i can overcome
he is not triumphant
the battle isn't won


All i need to do
is listen to the quieter voice
the one that is so gentle
I have to make the choice

to listen to my Father
who loves me lots and lots
instead of the deceiver
who against me constantly plots

to undermine my confidence
and tell me I'm not pretty
to laugh in my face
and tell me I'm not witty

But I'm listening to the other voice
the voice of reason and love
the voice filled with compassion
the voice that comes from above.
Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )