This is a reflection I wrote for my Pentateuch class as a reflection after finishing all five books.
It’s so easy for me to read about the Israelites and think something along the lines of, “Why is it so hard for them to just obey God and trust him and worship only him?” I feel this way because God was so evident to them and so near. They witnessed so many amazing miracles. My initial thought is, “If I had been an Israelite and God was doing such blatantly obvious works in my life, I wouldn’t have acted like the Israelites.” But that’s such a stupid thought for me to have, because then God starts saying to me, “Oh really, Lindsey? I gave you two great parents and placed you in a family where you have opportunities that many don’t. I placed the mentors in your life that you needed. I spared your life when you very easily could have died from a brain infection. I created you with every skill you need to be successful in life.” And then I start to realize that I don’t give God enough credit. He has done so much in my life and often times I give the credit to someone else, or I’m too distracted with my materialistic idols to give him the glory he truly deserves. And I don’t really trust God, I’m scared to death for my future because I don’t know what’s going to happen and I’m so much of a planner that I would rather do it my way. Gee… I guess in a lot of ways, I’m in the same boat as the Israelites
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Motive is Everything
Motive is everything.
You can do something great.
You can be a great person.
You can go to church every Sunday.
You can help an old lady across the street.
You can be kind to others.
You can protest injustice.
You can be a good neighbor.
You can speak a thousand kind words.
You can give all your money and belongings to the poor.
You can spend all your time volunteering with charities.
You can adopt and care for a thousand orphans.
You can go on millions of mission’s trips.
You can tell other people about God.
You can bring thousands of people to Christ.
But if you’re not doing it for God…
You can do something great.
You can be a great person.
You can go to church every Sunday.
You can help an old lady across the street.
You can be kind to others.
You can protest injustice.
You can be a good neighbor.
You can speak a thousand kind words.
You can give all your money and belongings to the poor.
You can spend all your time volunteering with charities.
You can adopt and care for a thousand orphans.
You can go on millions of mission’s trips.
You can tell other people about God.
You can bring thousands of people to Christ.
But if you’re not doing it for God…
Then what’s the point?
What is Love?
Love is not warm fuzzy feelings and butterflies.
Love is not being all giggly when he kisses your cheek.
Love is not a mutual attraction.
Love is not an emotional feeling you get inside.
Love is not what people make it out to be.
Love is patient, kind, and does not envy.
Love is not boastful, and is not proud, and does not dishonor others.
Love is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth.
Love is protecting, trusting, hopeful, and persevering.
Love is unfailing.
Love is not an emotional feeling.
Love is not a status.
Love is a choice you make from the heart.
Love is an action.
Love is based on God.
Love is in God.
Love is of God.
Love is because of God.
Love is shown by God.
Love is not being all giggly when he kisses your cheek.
Love is not a mutual attraction.
Love is not an emotional feeling you get inside.
Love is not what people make it out to be.
Love is patient, kind, and does not envy.
Love is not boastful, and is not proud, and does not dishonor others.
Love is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth.
Love is protecting, trusting, hopeful, and persevering.
Love is unfailing.
Love is not an emotional feeling.
Love is not a status.
Love is a choice you make from the heart.
Love is an action.
Love is based on God.
Love is in God.
Love is of God.
Love is because of God.
Love is shown by God.
God is love.
Holiday
A Day.
A day of celebration or festivities. A day set aside to celebrate or remember something. A day often filled with traditions and rituals. Something that most everyone participates in. A day that the media uses in their favor. A day that stores use to make more money. A day where many families take off work and spend time with each other. A day many people prepare a special meal. But ultimately, just a day.
A season.
A season where several holidays occur in a short period of time. A season that is associated with good cheer and merry feelings for most. A season that brings on much business and planning. A season that stores look forward to. A season that has become controversial. A season that many celebrate in some way or form. But ultimately, just a season.
A Tradition.
A tradition where many spend time with extended family. A tradition where many travel long distances to see familiar faces. A tradition where many cook a certain and repeated food. A tradition where many go to church one of the few times in the year. But ultimately, just a tradition.
The Reason.
The reason that really always comes back to you. A reason that many people choose to ignore. A reason that has become controversial. A reason that people are trying to eliminate. A reason that is becoming illegal. A reason that is more meaningful than any in the world. A reason that means more than words can describe. But ultimately, more than JUST a reason.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Patchwork
These days, hearts get bumped, scratched, and broken very easily. I don't think we give enough credit to the severity of that. Our hearts were given to us whole, that's how they are meant to stay, in an ideal world of course. But it's because hearts aren't meant to be broken, or otherwise injured, that it feels so unnatural when they are. That's why it hurts so much.
As humans, many time when something is broken we naturally want to fix it. If a car or computer is broken, we call in the necessary people to come and fix it for us. If a piece on a child's toy comes off, we may help them by gluing it back on. If we get a hole in our favorite piece of clothing, we may seek to patch it up. Unfortunately, fixing our heart is not so easy. When someone breaks our heart, leaves it torn up with holes all through it, we feel the same need to fix it. So when our heart has undergone this terrible trauma and is left uncomplete and hurting, we start searching frantically and blindly for anything that we can to fill up and patch our heart.
And sometimes, we try to patch up our heart with whoever left it broken in the first place. We may think to ourselves, "Well, they did a really great job of filling my empty spaces before. So if I can just hold onto them and get them to stick around, then my heart will be fixed!" Whether we think that consciously or subconsciously, our first reaction can often be to fill the hole that someone left behind, with the very person that put it there. But it doesn't have to be this way, in fact many times this attempt to fix the heart in this way just makes it worse than before.
In discussing this topic with a friend, I realized something. We cannot effectively patch our own hearts. Can we awkwardly fit other people and things into the holes in our heart to try to make it feel better? Absolutely. But God is the ONLY one that can truly patch our hearts up. And the great thing about letting God patch our hearts up, is that he doesn't need the old material to patch it up. He can bring completely new material into the picture in order to patch our broken heart. Which makes sense.
Growing up, whenever I would get a tear or hole in my clothes, I could take them to my mom to patch them for me. The first step in the process of patching jeans is to find similar denim material that matches them. But when you're patching something, you never use the same material that you had before. You use brand new, fresh, and stronger material than was there before.
When God patches our heart he does the same thing. He uses brand new material. Our God is not bound to having to use the same material as before. He often times has a brand new and much better material in mind. So in order to let God mend our broken hearts, we have to walk away from the old and follow Him towards whatever He has in mind to patch that hole. Don't put God in a box, and don't give him limited material to work with either.
As humans, many time when something is broken we naturally want to fix it. If a car or computer is broken, we call in the necessary people to come and fix it for us. If a piece on a child's toy comes off, we may help them by gluing it back on. If we get a hole in our favorite piece of clothing, we may seek to patch it up. Unfortunately, fixing our heart is not so easy. When someone breaks our heart, leaves it torn up with holes all through it, we feel the same need to fix it. So when our heart has undergone this terrible trauma and is left uncomplete and hurting, we start searching frantically and blindly for anything that we can to fill up and patch our heart.
And sometimes, we try to patch up our heart with whoever left it broken in the first place. We may think to ourselves, "Well, they did a really great job of filling my empty spaces before. So if I can just hold onto them and get them to stick around, then my heart will be fixed!" Whether we think that consciously or subconsciously, our first reaction can often be to fill the hole that someone left behind, with the very person that put it there. But it doesn't have to be this way, in fact many times this attempt to fix the heart in this way just makes it worse than before.
In discussing this topic with a friend, I realized something. We cannot effectively patch our own hearts. Can we awkwardly fit other people and things into the holes in our heart to try to make it feel better? Absolutely. But God is the ONLY one that can truly patch our hearts up. And the great thing about letting God patch our hearts up, is that he doesn't need the old material to patch it up. He can bring completely new material into the picture in order to patch our broken heart. Which makes sense.
Growing up, whenever I would get a tear or hole in my clothes, I could take them to my mom to patch them for me. The first step in the process of patching jeans is to find similar denim material that matches them. But when you're patching something, you never use the same material that you had before. You use brand new, fresh, and stronger material than was there before.
When God patches our heart he does the same thing. He uses brand new material. Our God is not bound to having to use the same material as before. He often times has a brand new and much better material in mind. So in order to let God mend our broken hearts, we have to walk away from the old and follow Him towards whatever He has in mind to patch that hole. Don't put God in a box, and don't give him limited material to work with either.
Friday, October 7, 2011
My Personal Worldview
Also another paper I did for school, but I still think it's of interest to others. Check it out!
Does God really exist?
There is no logical reason behind a nonexistence of God. I believe the only reason there is any debate on this topic is because humans have such a difficult time living life in submission to someone else that over time people found a reason not to believe in God. If God does not really exist then humans are able to do anything they wish without any consequences. But to rationalize the nonexistence of God, one must first figure out how humans came into existence if there is no creator. This is where the big bang theory and evolution come into play. Scientists, desperate to justify their belief that there is no God, had to find a way to rationalize their existence in the absence of a God. When researching this topic in eighth grade, I came upon a quote that stated, “If you throw a stick of dynamite into a pile of logs, it doesn’t form a log cabin. It explodes and scatters everywhere.” Meaning, the theory that an explosion could have started the world as we know it is equal to blowing up a pile of logs and getting a log cabin from it. It takes more faith to believe in manmade theories than it does to believe in God. But humans do not have to follow the rules of their manmade theories. Logically, there’s no other way that we could be in existence without God, therefore God must exist.
What is the character and nature of God?
Francis Chan makes the point that, “We don't get to decide who God is.” Chan also says, “…we have an inaccurate view of God. We see Him as a benevolent Being who is satisfied when people manage to fit Him into their lives in some small way. We forget that God never had an identity crisis. He knows that He’s great and deserves to be the center of our lives.” There are many misconceptions of God. Some view God as a loving being, one that would never lash out in anger and does all things in a kind and generous way. Some view God as a spiteful being who makes bad things happen in the world because He is angry with us for sinning and going against Him. But in all reality, God is an even mixture of these two extremes. God is love (1 John 4:8). Love is the basis of all that He does. He created us out of love. He sent Jesus to die for us and pay the punishment for our sins out of love. But God also puts trials in our path out of love, because He knows that we can make it through them and come out a better person than before. God also judges those who go against Him. God loves but He is also fair. He will carry out punishment on those who are unfaithful to Him. But He is generous and merciful to those that faithfully follow Him. In all things, we must trust that God is sovereign. Even if He is doing something that makes no sense to us, it is important to remember that He is much wiser and is able to see the big picture. One of the biggest things God desires from us is our love, which is why He created us. God wants to be loved, praised, and worshiped by His children, what father wouldn’t?
How and why was the world created?
According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “The work of creation is God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.” God created the world in six days (Genesis 1:31) and created something different on each day. After each thing He created He said declared it as good. But God also created the world by the word of His power. God is all of his majesty; need only speak a word in order to bring everything we see and live in, into existence. But God created the world because He wanted company, He wanted to be worshipped. I feel the closest to God when I am surrounded by pure nature. When I am in the beautiful rocky mountains of Colorado, sitting on the beach and gazing at the endless sky, or overlooking the fields of Nebraska and enjoying God’s color schemes, I feel closer to Him. God did not create the world in magnificent and beautiful ways just because it happened to turn out that way. He created the world in a beautiful way so that we would be able to worship Him because of it. As Francis Chan says, “God's art speaks of Himself, reflecting who He is and what He is like.” Creation is God’s way of showing off, it is through the beauty of creation that God shouts, “Look what I can do! See how great I am?”
What is the nature and purpose of humanity?
The Westminster Shorter Catechism also states, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” This means that God created us for the purpose of worshipping Him and enjoying Him and all that He has done. God created us because He desired to have someone to be with Him and keep Him company. God created man not because He needed him, but because He wanted him. As Francis Chan puts it, “The irony is that while God doesn't need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don't really want Him most of the time.” Before the fall of man, God was able to be face to face with man, walking through the garden spending quality time with humans. But humans messed it up when they chose to sin. Now even though God created man to glorify God and enjoy Him, God cannot be directly in the presence of man because we have a sinful nature. One sin didn’t just lead to another sin, one sin led to an entire human race trapped in a sinful nature.
What happens after we die on earth?
One of two things happens after life on Earth is over. There is the option of either going to Heaven and spending eternity with God, or going to Hell and spending eternity in a fiery misery. Where we spend the afterlife is completely up to us. In C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity”, he states, “[E]very time you make a choice you are turning into the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different than it was before… all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself.” To be heavenly is to be like God. To be hellish is to be anything apart from God. Therefore, if during our life on Earth we choose to be godly, follow His leadership, live a life completely devoted to Him as a servant, and allow Jesus into our hearts to wash away the sins, we will go to Heaven at the end of our earthly life. If we do anything other than follow the one true God, whether it is good works or following other moral teachings, it is not enough to get us to Heaven because it is not of God.
What spiritual authorities exist?
There are four spiritual authorities. The first authority is God, the creator. God has authority over everything because He created everything. Without God nothing would be in existence. He also has the ability to change at any moment at any given time if He wanted to. In concordance with God are Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They are each spiritual authorities as well. Jesus has the authority over Heaven and Earth as He states in Matthew 28:18, “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” The Holy Spirit is the authority working in us. It is the part of God that manifests and lives in us. The fourth spiritual authority is Satan. Satan is the king of the world. The things that happen on Earth are under his control. However, God overpowers Satan in all things. God is the ultimate power over all things. These authorities are divided into two dominions, God’s dominion and Satan’s dominion. The two dominions are at constant battle with each other, searching for control over everything. However, Satan’s dominion will never overpower God’s dominion. It is up to us to decide which authority we will follow. If we are not following the authorities in God’s dominion, then we are of Satan’s dominion.
What is truth?
Truth is anything but a grey area. The difference between what is true and what is wrong is as definite as the difference between the color white from the color black. Truth is by no means a personal preference. According to the dictionary, truth is a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like. Truth is verified through God. God is the only reliable source from which we attain truth because God is the only perfect being in the universe. Therefore any fact, proposition, or principle He gives is also perfect and unflawed. Therefore, the only truth is found in God. John 17:17 states, “Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth.” If anything is not of God or is not in concordance with His word, then it is not true. There are no situations where something might be true for one individual but not for another. Truth is found in God and only God, not in the circumstances of the world.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
My God Willed Life Plan
My name is Lindsey. I was born and raised in the Greater Pittsburgh area. I had a very Christian based life in my early years. My family always went to church and our close family friends were from church. We always listened to Christian music in the car and in the house. My brother and I went to a small Christian school kindergarten through eighth grade. I have never really known a life without Jesus. I officially prayed to accept Jesus into my heart when I was five or six years old. My family has been attending Christian and Missionary Alliance churches since I was about six or seven. Since the main focus of my church was missions and supporting missionaries, I had exposure to overseas ministry at a very young age. At my young age, I was easily inspired by all of the missionaries that would come to speak at church. I felt the call to be a missionary as early as second grade; however I have not always wanted to be a missionary.
Although I felt called to be a missionary in my childhood, I eventually convinced myself into other careers like teaching or counseling. It wasn’t until my eighth grade year that I started to feel called into missions again. I remember it started one night when I was watching an episode of “American Idol Gives Back.” They were showing scenes of starving children over in Africa that were starving and affected by malaria. It wasn’t that I had never seen images likes these before, it was just that for the first time my heart ached for those children. I think I remember thinking that someone needed to help them, but I felt God telling me that I could be the one to help them. So I started to think about missions again, wondering if it was possibly what God had in store for me. I remember having a conversation with one of my friends when I was pondering all of this and saying, “But Hannah… I don’t want to be a missionary. I’m too scared!” I remember she said something along the lines of, “If God is calling you to be a missionary then you have to do it, Lindsey!” This all had me very seriously considering missions as a full time career, but it wasn’t until a year later that God truly gave me a heart for ministry. My pastor, who has become like a second father to me and is a very influential man in my life, convinced me to get involved with a ministry organization called Child Evangelism Fellowship. CEF impacted me greatly because it showed me how thrilling it is to be doing the work of God. I went into CEF completely ready to be soul winner! But I didn’t want to win souls for the people’s sake, or even for Christ. I wanted to win souls for my own personal gain. That summer, God humbled me greatly and it wasn’t until I learned to be humble and work in ministry for Christ’s gain, not my own gain, that He allowed me to lead children to Him. Since then He has brought many children and teenagers to me so that He could use me to bring them to Him. To me, learning to make ministry not about myself, but about God, and being able to be used to bring others to Him is probably one of the biggest accomplishments in my life so far. There is nothing more rewarding than being used by God to bring more people into His kingdom. The first summer I worked with CEF was the summer of 2008. In my sophomore year of high school, which immediately followed that summer, I went through a period of rebellion against God and questioning my faith. God faithfully brought me out of that time and eventually my relationship with God was just dandy again… or so I thought.
After my new revival of faith in God, I was more than excited to spend another summer working with CEF. I also had big plans to play with my school’s marching band again and I would most likely be the marching band pit captain. I couldn’t wait to see how God was going to use me in the summer of 2009! And God did use me, but it wasn’t in the way I had planned. In the summer of 2009 I faced one of the biggest challenges in my life so far. On May 31, 2009, I had a seizure on the bathroom floor at my church. I had been experiencing a severe headache the entire day before and earlier that morning, but I hadn’t thought much of it. My parents found me with a brush mark on my cheek and some blood on my sleeve, thinking I had passed out and possibly had a concussion; they made the decision to take me to the emergency room. The doctors had just told my parents that they were pretty sure I had had a seizure and were planning on sending me to Children’s Hospital when I had a second seizure in the emergency room. I was diagnosed with viral encephalitis, or herpes simplex virus one. This is a form of herpes that, instead of forming a cold sore, travels up through the roof of the mouth and attacks the brain, causing it to swell, and in this case cause seizures. I spent eighteen days in the hospital and I was on bed rest at home until about July. Needless to say, my plans for that summer went out the window. My biggest struggle with the brain infection was not pain or the feeling sick, it was figuring out why God had done this to me! I was going to spend my summer serving Him! Why would He take that away from me? At one point in the hospital, I felt that God was asking me, “Do you trust me, Lindsey?” I didn’t have an honest answer for Him. It was easy to trust God when life was going the way I had planned, but when He threw a brain infection my path, it was a lot harder to trust Him. God eventually showed me through times of prayer and frustration, that He had not taken anything away from me. In the words of a very wise friend of mine, “God doesn’t need us to be involved in ministry. He could do it all by Himself. But God chooses to let us have a part in it.” That summer adjusted my view on ministry. Ministry was not a hobby of mine or “my thing,” it was a privilege that God was allowing me to take part in. An even bigger lesson that I learned from the brain infection is that sometimes the biggest trials in life come out as the biggest blessings. The brain infection was the biggest trial of my life thus far, but it is also the biggest blessing because it caused me to mature in many ways and it deepened my faith and relationship with God. It is also a huge testimony because victims of viral encephalitis do not normally turn out like I did. I was able to go on a short camping trip by the fourth of July and I was pretty much back to normal by the beginning of the school year. Other than some minor struggles with keeping a train of thought or being able to focus on something for a long period of time, I don’t notice any side effects. It wasn’t until this year that I realized how much of a miracle God’s healing is in me. I discovered that the man who is considered to have the worst memory loss in the world, suffered from the very same infection that I did. Even others that have suffered from viral encephalitis are unable to walk or have a severe mental disability, if they even survived the infection. I consider myself a living testimony to the way that God heals.
In my walk with so far I have developed values such as following God wholeheartedly, loving God and others more than myself, evangelizing and spreading the gospel, being a role model to others, and teaching others in the ways of the Lord. I feel that God has given me strengths such as strong leadership skills, a love for teaching and evangelizing, and being able to stay organized in order to make these values a reality as well. While God has designed me with certain strengths, He has also designed me with some weaknesses. I struggle with being patient, letting God have total control, and talking about certain issues or situations with some people. I know overcoming these issues involves a lot of prayer. I also need to focus on the opportunities God is putting right in front of me in the now, instead of the ones I am waiting for in the future. I need to remind myself on a daily basis that my life is so much better off with God in control, considering that He is much smarter and wiser than me. And I need to learn not to be so proud and stubborn, and allow myself to pour my heart out and be angry or sad and express myself when it is appropriate. Doing this will make it easier for God to use me in the mission field.
So that’s me, my life and testimony so far. But there’s so much more to come. I know God is leading me into full time ministry. I am not yet sure if that ministry will be in the United States or in another country somewhere. I don’t know if I’ll be working with children, teenagers, or even adults. But I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am called to be in ministry. I have a passion for the Central and South American cultures and I also love working with children. So I feel God may be leading me to this group of people, but I am not sure yet. I have learned to accept that it’s okay not to have all of the answers right now, because I don’t have all of the answers I am learning to trust God. As of right now, I feel God has called me to come to Davis College and get my degree in ministry with a focus on teaching English as a second language. I feel very at peace with this decision because teaching English can take me anywhere in the world that God may lead. Teaching English can also be used to teach any age group that God may call me to.
God has confirmed that this is His plan for my life for several reasons. One reason is that He led me to many ministry opportunities throughout my life, such as CEF or a Bible club at my high school that I lead. I feel that if He did not want me in ministry full time He would not have brought me to these opportunities that developed a passion for ministry in my heart. God has also provided everything that I have needed along the way. He provided the mentors and friends that I needed to become the girl I am today. He provided the money to be able to come to Davis College and pursue a degree in full time ministry. And He has provided even more than just that. But I feel the biggest confirmation that God’s will for my life is to be in ministry is that He healed me in a miraculous way from the brain infection. If God did not have big plans for me, then He would not have spared me from death or even from a severe disability. I know that God has big intentions for me, because I came closer to death than most people my age have, and God chose to spare me. The summer of my infection, I was in a particularly sulky mood, feeling sorry for myself. I remembered hearing on the radio a song that said, “He’s not finished with me yet.” I remember saying to my mom, “Oh great… He’s not finished with me yet.” I was thinking, “What else is He going to throw my way?” But now I take comfort in that thought, He is not finished with me yet. He has big plans for me even still.
The steps that I am going to take to fulfill God’s plan for my life are to finish getting my degree at Davis College, stay involved and active in ministry, grow spiritually, and be willing to go anywhere He sends me. Getting my degree is important because without a degree, I will not be fully equipped and educated in the word. One of my favorite quotes is, “God does not call the equipped, He equips the called.” Part of feeling called into ministry is being willing to get the proper training to be able to go. I can grow spiritually by spending time in prayer, worship, and daily devotionals which will deepen my relationship with Jesus. And once I have a deeper relationship with Him, it will be much easier to determine where He wants me to go and efficiently while I am there. Until I go out into the world to spread His word, I just keep reminding myself that...
He’s not finished with me yet. =)
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
A Nutty Scenario
This is a short story I had to write for my computers apps class. It's a fun read! Enjoy! =)
I’d been sleeping when a strange noise woke me up. I got up and started to creep to the front door of my house to peer outside. I was curious as to what might be creeping around outside. Then I got a whiff of a familiar smell, a smell that was all too familiar to me. I knew then what was going on. Everyone in the neighborhood was sleeping so I knew a cry for help would either go unheard or be ignored. Plus, this was my chance to catch him. This was my chance to go after my enemy of old.
I was even angrier now. Filled with confidence, I yelled, “I will be VICTORIOUS!” I sprang towards him but that’s when the chain held me back.
That’s when the lights in the master’s house turned on and I heard him coming out. He surveyed the situation before saying, “Sparky! It’s midnight! Stop barking, you dumb dog! You’ll wake the neighbors! It’s just a squirrel.”
Nutty cackled, “Better luck next time, my canine friend!”
I’d been sleeping when a strange noise woke me up. I got up and started to creep to the front door of my house to peer outside. I was curious as to what might be creeping around outside. Then I got a whiff of a familiar smell, a smell that was all too familiar to me. I knew then what was going on. Everyone in the neighborhood was sleeping so I knew a cry for help would either go unheard or be ignored. Plus, this was my chance to catch him. This was my chance to go after my enemy of old.
I went back into my house and got the one tool I needed to take him down, my Frisbee. Once armed, I slowly crept outside with my eyes open and my ears up. I was excited; I knew this would be the night! Tonight was the night that I’d finally catch him! He’d been harassing me and stressing me out since I had moved in. Tonight was the night! Then I heard something move. My head moved sharply towards the noise and there he was, staring me down in the moonlight with a smirk on his face and an acorn in hand. “You’re mine now, Nutty!” I growled loudly at him.
He cackled, “Never!” I was even angrier now. Filled with confidence, I yelled, “I will be VICTORIOUS!” I sprang towards him but that’s when the chain held me back.
That’s when the lights in the master’s house turned on and I heard him coming out. He surveyed the situation before saying, “Sparky! It’s midnight! Stop barking, you dumb dog! You’ll wake the neighbors! It’s just a squirrel.”
Nutty cackled, “Better luck next time, my canine friend!”
Friday, September 2, 2011
My Chains are Gone
We had yet another amazing chapel this morning. A pastor came in and spoke on doubt. He had an excellent message but that's not exactly what spoke to my heart the most this morning. After his message there was an alter call and he played some songs on the piano to accompany the people prayer. I didn't go forward, I simply sat in my seat praying quietly.
You see, I had some apologizing and reconciling to do with God. I have been missing the mark for... who knows how long. I haven't really been living in my faith, I've just been going through the motions. And it was easy to convince myself that I was doing just fine when I was surrounded by the world (for example public high school or a non-christian workplace with people who party quite a bit). It's easy to try to tell God, "Yeah I know I'm not like that amazing missionary I heard about in church today, but look! I'm doing way better than they are!" And maybe that's what started the lack of motivation to really love and live for Jesus.
But as I was praying and just trying to listen to what God wanted to say to me this morning, the pastor that had been speaking to us began to play "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)". And when it got to what I consider to be the climax of the song, the chorus. "My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me, And like a flood His mercy rains, Unending love, Amazing grace." I began to picture that scene.
I pictured myself captivated in a dark prison cell, with chains bounding me to stay right where I was. But I didn't just picture normal chains that you might use for a dog or something. I pictured thick chains like the ones that might keep an anchor attached to a boat. Heavy, binding, overwhelming, and devastating chains that kept me from being able to move at all. But the significant part of it, is that each link in the chain has a different sin carved into it. Anger, conceit, pride, lust, jealousy, gossip, lying, judging, hate, wrath, selfishness, etc. I pictured the sins literally binding me and weighing me down.
My chains are gone. The melody at the part of the song makes it very easy to imagine the next part of my imaginative scenario. That part is when it goes from singing sweet, soft, and beautiful amazing grace, into somewhat of a blast of a chorus due to the crescendo. My chains are GONE! I'VE BEEN SET FREE! And that's when I pictured a bright light bursting into the prison cell and the chains shattering to pieces around me. And I was free. All of those sins didn't matter anymore. A few lines later it states, "And like a flood his mercy flows." I then pictured a flood of crystal clear waters bursting into the prison and destroying it completely. And then Jesus smiles at me and holds his arms out to me. I run to embrace him, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" And he just says, "It doesn't matter anymore. Those sins are gone. You are free."
You see, I had some apologizing and reconciling to do with God. I have been missing the mark for... who knows how long. I haven't really been living in my faith, I've just been going through the motions. And it was easy to convince myself that I was doing just fine when I was surrounded by the world (for example public high school or a non-christian workplace with people who party quite a bit). It's easy to try to tell God, "Yeah I know I'm not like that amazing missionary I heard about in church today, but look! I'm doing way better than they are!" And maybe that's what started the lack of motivation to really love and live for Jesus.
But as I was praying and just trying to listen to what God wanted to say to me this morning, the pastor that had been speaking to us began to play "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)". And when it got to what I consider to be the climax of the song, the chorus. "My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me, And like a flood His mercy rains, Unending love, Amazing grace." I began to picture that scene.
I pictured myself captivated in a dark prison cell, with chains bounding me to stay right where I was. But I didn't just picture normal chains that you might use for a dog or something. I pictured thick chains like the ones that might keep an anchor attached to a boat. Heavy, binding, overwhelming, and devastating chains that kept me from being able to move at all. But the significant part of it, is that each link in the chain has a different sin carved into it. Anger, conceit, pride, lust, jealousy, gossip, lying, judging, hate, wrath, selfishness, etc. I pictured the sins literally binding me and weighing me down.
My chains are gone. The melody at the part of the song makes it very easy to imagine the next part of my imaginative scenario. That part is when it goes from singing sweet, soft, and beautiful amazing grace, into somewhat of a blast of a chorus due to the crescendo. My chains are GONE! I'VE BEEN SET FREE! And that's when I pictured a bright light bursting into the prison cell and the chains shattering to pieces around me. And I was free. All of those sins didn't matter anymore. A few lines later it states, "And like a flood his mercy flows." I then pictured a flood of crystal clear waters bursting into the prison and destroying it completely. And then Jesus smiles at me and holds his arms out to me. I run to embrace him, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" And he just says, "It doesn't matter anymore. Those sins are gone. You are free."
Monday, August 29, 2011
Candle Revival
So I'm finally here at college, and this week chapel is all about revival. We sang a song at the very end and the lyrics stated, "Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me." My thoughts immediately turned to a candle.
A couple Christmas' ago I went on a little candle making kick, it was only a kick because it turned out to be a very messy and long process. In order to make the candles I found several old, burnt out candles from around the house, took all the wax out and used it to make a new candle. I did this by melting the wax down. Some of the candles I made from the wax were dipped candles which meant I got a wick and kept dipping it into the wax, let it cool, dip it in again. It eventually grows very thick and you get a candle. Although most of my dipped candles ended up looking the the wax Shrek pulls out of his ears in the first movie, they weren't very pretty. But they sufficed. Dipped candles took a long time to make and it was a tedious process. I soon found I had more wax than I really wanted to use. So instead I found various cups and cans to pour the wax into along with a wick to make a candle. Basically I used the cups and cans like a mold. But I found that if I didn't fill the mold the full way up the wick didn't work very well because it couldn't stand up the whole way. When this candle making kick ended, and my mother and I cleaned the mess up, we had several different candles that we were able to use.
So how does the song and candle making relate? Well if you haven't figured it out already, I'll tell you. The song is meant to describe us but metaphorically the candle could describe us as well. You see, the song is about revival. During my candle making process I went around the house to find old, burnt out candles to use to make into new candles. I was reviving the old candles. Revival means restoration to life, consciousness, vigor, strength. Revival was taking the old candles, which were dead and useless, and restoring them into something that could still be used and had life. Revival occurs the same way in us. We also become like the old candles at times. We grow apathetic in our faith and we fall into simply going through the motions. We lose our passion and zeal, we lose our flame and we get burnt out. And as far as Christianity goes, that makes us pretty much useless. Afterall, what kind of lights in the world can we be if we don't have any wick left to burn? So we also must be revived like the candles. No, God doesn't put us in a pot over a stove when he is reviving us... at least not most of the time. But we do go through a similar process like that of the candles.
Melt me. Before I could do anything with the old candles I had to melt them down. Their matter had to become flexible and willing to be shaped in the way I needed it to be shaped in order for me to do anything with it. Melting is probably the most difficult part of revival for us. Because melting means we have to change. We have to leave our way of doing things, empty ourselves of ourself, and be ready to do things God's way. We have to let go of our old, burnt out wick so that God can give us a new one. The main reason this is so hard is we are stubborn! Some more than others, but everyone in their own dosage and way, is stubborn. We all have a certain way we want to live and do things. But melting for God so that he can revive us means removing ourselves, changing the way we're used to doing things, and letting God take full control by making us vulnerable and willing in His mighty hands. Sometimes melting is the most painful step, but it is almost the most necessary and basic step.
Mold me. Once I had the melted wax I could start to turn the candles into something that could be used. So I found molds to pour the wax into so that it could be used efficiently. In the process of molding, I also had to find a new wick for the candles. The molding process, while not as difficult as the melting process, is still very bewildering and hard. This is the point in time that God turns us into what he wants us to be. That person isn't always the person we think we can be or want to be. Sometimes the molding process involves a new opportunity like being forced into a new environment, or trying something new like going to college or something crazy like going on a missions trip by yourself for 3 months to Africa. But it's these sorts of experiences that, when we're open to them and willing to step out in faith and do them, God works through in order to mold us. It's life experiences that make us the person God wants us to be. It's daring, crazy, and sometimes really scary life experiences that mold us. But they can only mold us if we are melted and flexible enough to be molded.
Fill me. No one wants a candle that isn't filled the whole way or is already half burnt out. Revival doesn't mean letting God melt us and mold us only to where we are comfortable with and pulling away. We can't let God change us just a little bit and then keep doing everything else our way. God wants to fill us, to complete the work he started in us. When I was making the candles, I kept working on every candle until it was finished. Otherwise the candlemaking process wouldn't have been complete. We cannot truly be revived until we let God take us through the whole process. We as the candles must let God fill us the whole way. This means giving our everything to God. Otherwise we're not truly revived.
Use me. Once God has melted, molded, and filled us, it's time to be used. This is the most exciting part of revival because it's the part that makes everything else worth it. Finally after we've put off with our stubborness, allowed God to throw us into new experiences and adventures, and given ourselves over completely, God can put us to use again! We are no longer a burnt out candle sitting on the shelf waiting for something exciting to happen. We are alive again! We can be put to use. We're not growing apathetic in our faith or just going through the motions, we are truly living. God has given us a new form, and new wick, and he has completed us. And since we have been revived and made whole again, God can ignite us. He can light us on fire with passion for Him, his love, and his world. And once we are candles on fire, we can go and shine God's light on the world.
A couple Christmas' ago I went on a little candle making kick, it was only a kick because it turned out to be a very messy and long process. In order to make the candles I found several old, burnt out candles from around the house, took all the wax out and used it to make a new candle. I did this by melting the wax down. Some of the candles I made from the wax were dipped candles which meant I got a wick and kept dipping it into the wax, let it cool, dip it in again. It eventually grows very thick and you get a candle. Although most of my dipped candles ended up looking the the wax Shrek pulls out of his ears in the first movie, they weren't very pretty. But they sufficed. Dipped candles took a long time to make and it was a tedious process. I soon found I had more wax than I really wanted to use. So instead I found various cups and cans to pour the wax into along with a wick to make a candle. Basically I used the cups and cans like a mold. But I found that if I didn't fill the mold the full way up the wick didn't work very well because it couldn't stand up the whole way. When this candle making kick ended, and my mother and I cleaned the mess up, we had several different candles that we were able to use.
So how does the song and candle making relate? Well if you haven't figured it out already, I'll tell you. The song is meant to describe us but metaphorically the candle could describe us as well. You see, the song is about revival. During my candle making process I went around the house to find old, burnt out candles to use to make into new candles. I was reviving the old candles. Revival means restoration to life, consciousness, vigor, strength. Revival was taking the old candles, which were dead and useless, and restoring them into something that could still be used and had life. Revival occurs the same way in us. We also become like the old candles at times. We grow apathetic in our faith and we fall into simply going through the motions. We lose our passion and zeal, we lose our flame and we get burnt out. And as far as Christianity goes, that makes us pretty much useless. Afterall, what kind of lights in the world can we be if we don't have any wick left to burn? So we also must be revived like the candles. No, God doesn't put us in a pot over a stove when he is reviving us... at least not most of the time. But we do go through a similar process like that of the candles.
Melt me. Before I could do anything with the old candles I had to melt them down. Their matter had to become flexible and willing to be shaped in the way I needed it to be shaped in order for me to do anything with it. Melting is probably the most difficult part of revival for us. Because melting means we have to change. We have to leave our way of doing things, empty ourselves of ourself, and be ready to do things God's way. We have to let go of our old, burnt out wick so that God can give us a new one. The main reason this is so hard is we are stubborn! Some more than others, but everyone in their own dosage and way, is stubborn. We all have a certain way we want to live and do things. But melting for God so that he can revive us means removing ourselves, changing the way we're used to doing things, and letting God take full control by making us vulnerable and willing in His mighty hands. Sometimes melting is the most painful step, but it is almost the most necessary and basic step.
Mold me. Once I had the melted wax I could start to turn the candles into something that could be used. So I found molds to pour the wax into so that it could be used efficiently. In the process of molding, I also had to find a new wick for the candles. The molding process, while not as difficult as the melting process, is still very bewildering and hard. This is the point in time that God turns us into what he wants us to be. That person isn't always the person we think we can be or want to be. Sometimes the molding process involves a new opportunity like being forced into a new environment, or trying something new like going to college or something crazy like going on a missions trip by yourself for 3 months to Africa. But it's these sorts of experiences that, when we're open to them and willing to step out in faith and do them, God works through in order to mold us. It's life experiences that make us the person God wants us to be. It's daring, crazy, and sometimes really scary life experiences that mold us. But they can only mold us if we are melted and flexible enough to be molded.
Fill me. No one wants a candle that isn't filled the whole way or is already half burnt out. Revival doesn't mean letting God melt us and mold us only to where we are comfortable with and pulling away. We can't let God change us just a little bit and then keep doing everything else our way. God wants to fill us, to complete the work he started in us. When I was making the candles, I kept working on every candle until it was finished. Otherwise the candlemaking process wouldn't have been complete. We cannot truly be revived until we let God take us through the whole process. We as the candles must let God fill us the whole way. This means giving our everything to God. Otherwise we're not truly revived.
Use me. Once God has melted, molded, and filled us, it's time to be used. This is the most exciting part of revival because it's the part that makes everything else worth it. Finally after we've put off with our stubborness, allowed God to throw us into new experiences and adventures, and given ourselves over completely, God can put us to use again! We are no longer a burnt out candle sitting on the shelf waiting for something exciting to happen. We are alive again! We can be put to use. We're not growing apathetic in our faith or just going through the motions, we are truly living. God has given us a new form, and new wick, and he has completed us. And since we have been revived and made whole again, God can ignite us. He can light us on fire with passion for Him, his love, and his world. And once we are candles on fire, we can go and shine God's light on the world.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Transitional Love
I broke up with my boyfriend of 1 year 3 months and 2 weeks today. But I don't really even like calling it a break up. I like to think of it as more of a transition. You see, we had a great run and I still love and care deeply for him. We just got to a point where we were getting along as a couple so we decided to just be good friends, best friends at that. Anyways, this has me thinking a lot about love and what it really is.
Our culture limits love so much. We limit it to the point where when we say, "Well I love you." It can be assumed that there is romantic interest involved. But that's not what love is. Love is not mushy, gushy feelings that we have for someone when we think they're cute. Love is so much more than that. Love is transitional.
There are so many different forms and kinds of love. There's the way you love a family member, the way you love a friend, the way you love a spouse, the way you love someone you're in a relationship with, and so many more. But what we often fail to realize, is that it's ALL love. If you love someone you were dating and then you break up, it doesn't have to mean that you don't love them anymore, simply that you love them in a different form of love. Just because I have broken up with Mark doesn't mean I don't love him, completely on the contrary. I still love him. I just love him in a different shape. The love is making a transition from romantic love to brotherly, best friend love. And just because love makes transitions to different types, it never has to change the quantity or quality of the love.
Love is love. We're the ones that really complicate love by trying to make it a feeling. But love is not a feeling at all. Love is a condition put into action. 1 Corinthians 13 talks about love and names several actions to describe it. Patient, kind, doesn't envy, doesn't boast, isn't proud, doesn't dishonor others, isn't self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no records of wrongs, doesn't delight in evil, rejoices in truth, it protects, hopes, trusts, perseveres. Love never fails. All of the phrases used to describe love in the Bible are actions. Love is actional. And the greatest act of love is Jesus' death on the cross.
Love is transitional because it never fails. I believe that love is like matter and cannot be destroyed, only transferred into different shapes and forms. In my previous post I mentioned Jesus compares himself to two indestructable things. God is love, yet another indestructable element to describe our God.
Love is transitional. Love cannot be destroyed. God is love.
LOVE NEVER FAILS.
Our culture limits love so much. We limit it to the point where when we say, "Well I love you." It can be assumed that there is romantic interest involved. But that's not what love is. Love is not mushy, gushy feelings that we have for someone when we think they're cute. Love is so much more than that. Love is transitional.
There are so many different forms and kinds of love. There's the way you love a family member, the way you love a friend, the way you love a spouse, the way you love someone you're in a relationship with, and so many more. But what we often fail to realize, is that it's ALL love. If you love someone you were dating and then you break up, it doesn't have to mean that you don't love them anymore, simply that you love them in a different form of love. Just because I have broken up with Mark doesn't mean I don't love him, completely on the contrary. I still love him. I just love him in a different shape. The love is making a transition from romantic love to brotherly, best friend love. And just because love makes transitions to different types, it never has to change the quantity or quality of the love.
Love is love. We're the ones that really complicate love by trying to make it a feeling. But love is not a feeling at all. Love is a condition put into action. 1 Corinthians 13 talks about love and names several actions to describe it. Patient, kind, doesn't envy, doesn't boast, isn't proud, doesn't dishonor others, isn't self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no records of wrongs, doesn't delight in evil, rejoices in truth, it protects, hopes, trusts, perseveres. Love never fails. All of the phrases used to describe love in the Bible are actions. Love is actional. And the greatest act of love is Jesus' death on the cross.
Love is transitional because it never fails. I believe that love is like matter and cannot be destroyed, only transferred into different shapes and forms. In my previous post I mentioned Jesus compares himself to two indestructable things. God is love, yet another indestructable element to describe our God.
Love is transitional. Love cannot be destroyed. God is love.
LOVE NEVER FAILS.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Recent Thoughts
Well, summer is coming to a close and as I approach the beginning of college lots of deep thoughts have been going through my mind.
The first is as I think about myself, my future career, and the person I will become I have realized that every stage I went through, every hobby or interest I had, every previous career option I had.... has all come together into one. It's like all the loose ends of my life are pulling together and I'm starting to become the person that I will be for the rest of my life. I remember in second grade I wanted to be a teacher. However, I also wanted to be a missionary. I don't remember who told me, but someone said, "You can be both." I find it so interesting that now as I pursue an education teaching English as a second language, that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm pursuing a career to be both a teacher and a missionary. How crazy that I knew what I wanted to be as young as seven or eight years old. And all of my hobbies and interests along the way, can be used in ministry. Singing, writing, drawing, being a musician, listening, giving advice. It's so cool to think that God has given me all of these talents with a very specific purpose in mind. I can't wait to see what he does with them.
Secondly, my family took a camping trip over this past weekend and as I was sitting watching the fire burn I had this thought. Jesus compares himself to both water (John 4:7-15) and the light (John 8:12). This is significant because water and light are both indestructable elements. When I was about twelve years old, I was at a summer camp and one of the activities we did was caving. When we were in the cave our guide had all of us turn off our flashlights. There was no light whatsoever in the cave. Then we turned them back on and we could see once again. The point was that the darkness could not overcome the light. Wherever the light reached the darkness could not exist. No matter what, darkness cannot take over light no matter how dark it is. Light cannot be destroyed or overcome, darkness however can. The other comparison is water. Water is also something that cannot be destroyed. Fire, which is essentially the opposite of water, cannot overcome water no matter how hard it tries. Fire can only thrive in the absence of water. And even though water can evaporate, it is never destroyed because it simply reused. Darkness and fire, both rather negative things, can only thrive in the absence of their counter part. How good to know, that we serve a God that is indestructable and good. And that as long as He is present, evil cannot thrive. Though it may seem that evil is taking over at times, he is always in control. That's the kind of God I want to serve.
And thirdly, tonight I went to my friend's benefit. I managed to sing a solo for entertainment and it sounded good, despite the pneumonia! But more importantly, it was simply inspiring. My friend that just recently graduated with me is off to Africa in the fall. And even though she's scared, she's still going. My heart is with her and I am praying for her adventure while she is there. It has amazed me how she has changed from the time I met her in freshman year to how she is now. Quiet, shy, and sweet as was and still is, she is brave. It is amazing how God works in people and changes them. My only prayer is that he does the same in me. "I want to do something so crazy that without God, it would fail."
So basically, it all comes down to one thing. God is awesome.
The first is as I think about myself, my future career, and the person I will become I have realized that every stage I went through, every hobby or interest I had, every previous career option I had.... has all come together into one. It's like all the loose ends of my life are pulling together and I'm starting to become the person that I will be for the rest of my life. I remember in second grade I wanted to be a teacher. However, I also wanted to be a missionary. I don't remember who told me, but someone said, "You can be both." I find it so interesting that now as I pursue an education teaching English as a second language, that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm pursuing a career to be both a teacher and a missionary. How crazy that I knew what I wanted to be as young as seven or eight years old. And all of my hobbies and interests along the way, can be used in ministry. Singing, writing, drawing, being a musician, listening, giving advice. It's so cool to think that God has given me all of these talents with a very specific purpose in mind. I can't wait to see what he does with them.
Secondly, my family took a camping trip over this past weekend and as I was sitting watching the fire burn I had this thought. Jesus compares himself to both water (John 4:7-15) and the light (John 8:12). This is significant because water and light are both indestructable elements. When I was about twelve years old, I was at a summer camp and one of the activities we did was caving. When we were in the cave our guide had all of us turn off our flashlights. There was no light whatsoever in the cave. Then we turned them back on and we could see once again. The point was that the darkness could not overcome the light. Wherever the light reached the darkness could not exist. No matter what, darkness cannot take over light no matter how dark it is. Light cannot be destroyed or overcome, darkness however can. The other comparison is water. Water is also something that cannot be destroyed. Fire, which is essentially the opposite of water, cannot overcome water no matter how hard it tries. Fire can only thrive in the absence of water. And even though water can evaporate, it is never destroyed because it simply reused. Darkness and fire, both rather negative things, can only thrive in the absence of their counter part. How good to know, that we serve a God that is indestructable and good. And that as long as He is present, evil cannot thrive. Though it may seem that evil is taking over at times, he is always in control. That's the kind of God I want to serve.
And thirdly, tonight I went to my friend's benefit. I managed to sing a solo for entertainment and it sounded good, despite the pneumonia! But more importantly, it was simply inspiring. My friend that just recently graduated with me is off to Africa in the fall. And even though she's scared, she's still going. My heart is with her and I am praying for her adventure while she is there. It has amazed me how she has changed from the time I met her in freshman year to how she is now. Quiet, shy, and sweet as was and still is, she is brave. It is amazing how God works in people and changes them. My only prayer is that he does the same in me. "I want to do something so crazy that without God, it would fail."
So basically, it all comes down to one thing. God is awesome.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Blessings
I've been thinking a lot about the word "blessing" or rather the root word "bless." It's one of those Christianese phrases that we all use but how often do we actually think about the real meaning behind it? "Well it means.... I mean a blessing is like... well it's something good that happens. Right?" Probably what most of us think of when we hear the word blessing. But there's so much more to it than that. According to the dictionary definition of bless the word means more than just a good thing.
First definition of bless, to consecrate or make holy, to sanctify. The second was to ask God to bestow divine favor on. Third, to bestow any kind of good upon. Some others were to give honor or glory to, to call upon God to protect, to worship or adore, or to grant happiness, health, or even a talent to. When you really sit and think about all of these, they make sense. But you really have to take the definitions at the real depth of what they are.
To consecrate or make holy, to sanctify. This is my favorite definition I think. Most of the time when we think of this form of blessing something or someone it's thought of as a priest or church official praying over something to make it pure. But dig deeper and think about it. God blesses us in various ways. I would venture to say that he even to say that he blesses us in this sense. He makes us holy, sanctifies us, purifies us, refines us. Refines us... refining implies that you take something that is coarse or in the rough and you make it pure and free of any impurities. Most of the time it's worth it in the end, but painful in the process.
Two songs come to mind, the song Blessings by Laura Story and the commonly sung worship song Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman. Blessings by Laura Story talks about the refining process of being blessed. The fact that sometimes life's biggest blessings, the best things that come out of life, the things that refine you and make you better come from the most painful refining moments. "Cause what if you blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near." And then the chorus, "What if the trials of this life are your mercies in disguise?" God blesses us through the trials and the hard things in life because that's the process of refining us, making us pure, holy, more like Him, set apart.
Blessed Be Your Name combines two types of blessings. The same kind of blessing that's talked about in Laura Story's song, God bestowing a refining blessing on us. "You give and take away, you give and take away." But it also talks about blessing God's name, or praising him and worshipping him.Those two elements combined, being tested and refined by God but praising and worshipping him even when things aren't going well for us are rarely found. But that's what we're called to do isn't it? Praise him in the storm. "When the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say blessed be your name."
James 1:2-18
Blessings,
Lindsey
First definition of bless, to consecrate or make holy, to sanctify. The second was to ask God to bestow divine favor on. Third, to bestow any kind of good upon. Some others were to give honor or glory to, to call upon God to protect, to worship or adore, or to grant happiness, health, or even a talent to. When you really sit and think about all of these, they make sense. But you really have to take the definitions at the real depth of what they are.
To consecrate or make holy, to sanctify. This is my favorite definition I think. Most of the time when we think of this form of blessing something or someone it's thought of as a priest or church official praying over something to make it pure. But dig deeper and think about it. God blesses us in various ways. I would venture to say that he even to say that he blesses us in this sense. He makes us holy, sanctifies us, purifies us, refines us. Refines us... refining implies that you take something that is coarse or in the rough and you make it pure and free of any impurities. Most of the time it's worth it in the end, but painful in the process.
Two songs come to mind, the song Blessings by Laura Story and the commonly sung worship song Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman. Blessings by Laura Story talks about the refining process of being blessed. The fact that sometimes life's biggest blessings, the best things that come out of life, the things that refine you and make you better come from the most painful refining moments. "Cause what if you blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near." And then the chorus, "What if the trials of this life are your mercies in disguise?" God blesses us through the trials and the hard things in life because that's the process of refining us, making us pure, holy, more like Him, set apart.
Blessed Be Your Name combines two types of blessings. The same kind of blessing that's talked about in Laura Story's song, God bestowing a refining blessing on us. "You give and take away, you give and take away." But it also talks about blessing God's name, or praising him and worshipping him.Those two elements combined, being tested and refined by God but praising and worshipping him even when things aren't going well for us are rarely found. But that's what we're called to do isn't it? Praise him in the storm. "When the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say blessed be your name."
James 1:2-18
Blessings,
Lindsey
Sunday, July 10, 2011
It's Mid-July
Okay, so it's almost mid-July. I have exactly 44 more days until I can move into college! Needless to say, I'm pumped. I went to Wal-Mart with mom today and we started buying towels and stuff. At first I figured, it's just towels, like who cares what they look like right? But then Mom goes and says, "You might have these towels to use until you get married." Whoa! The pressure is on! I'm using these towels for the rest of my single life? I guess I better picked some out that I really like. Needless to say, our trip to Wal-Mart probably took a lot longer than it should have. But oh well, it happens. Maybe eventually I'll get everything I need for school. Right now everything is just in piles on my bedroom floor and I'm not completely sure what I have and what I don't. I need to make a list! But before I do that, I need to finish all my Thank You letters. There were a lot of people that gave me stuff! I don't know if I'll ever finish! And not to mention I work crazy hours. This week looks like it'll be a little better. Hopefully I'll get more done.
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