Come As You Are

The whole message of Jesus' life, and death, was one of love...complete, unconditional, limitless love...the kind that, even the people who lived day-to-day with Him, wouldn't understand until He was gone.  The kind that we, no matter how many great sermons we hear on the subject, still have a hard time wrapping our human minds around. 


Why? Because it defies logic.  It doesn't make sense for one person to take upon himself the sins of the whole world, and die a gruesome, painful death, for love.  Maybe somewhere in the back of our minds, a small voice may still whisper, "you don't deserve it.  He died for others...but not you.  You aren't enough."

This is just one lie satan would have you believe to keep you from experiencing the fullness of God's love and the rest and peace that come from really believing it.

I love the lyrics of Broken and Beautiful, by Mark Schultz...

"There's a businessman
There's a widowed wife
There's a smiling face with a shattered life
There's a teenage girl with a choice to make
It's crowded here in church today
And the preacher says as the sermon ends
"Please close your eyes and bow your heads
Is there anyone in need of prayer
Jesus wants to meet you here"
'cause we ALL fall short
We all have sinned
But when you let
God's Grace break in…
It's beautiful
Beautiful..
Come as you are
Surrender your heart...cause there's nothing more beautiful to God than when his daughters and sons come broken.. broken and beautiful"

Remember this message, each and every day.  God did not come to save the sinless, or perfect.  (of which there are none..)  And in order to feel the fullness of His great love for you, His daughter, you must come to realize that He loves you just as you are, today! Satan would have us believe that we are too knee deep in guilt, sin, imperfection, and unworthiness, to ever approach God, but the truth is quite the opposite.  There is nothing you can ever do to deserve His sacrafice...it's a free gift, and it's for YOU!
   Just humble yourself...let Him in,  let Him pour out His love and healing on your heart.  Come to him just as you are, today.



^{"        
    "For} all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."  Romans 3:23-24

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8

NOTW

I see these stickers everywhere.  Anyone else?  In case you're not familiar with it, it stands for "Not of this world."   I love these stickers, and their popularity, because I appreciate the reminder as I'm driving around.  And it seems that the longer this earth keeps spinning, the harder it is to NOT be OF this world.


Everything around us constantly tries to invade us with a "me-centered" mentality.  And worse, the perversion of our culture is worse than ever- the temptation to justify and not just accept but embrace unbiblical behaviors and principles is an expected norm.  Satan has done a pretty good job at making any of us who choose to stand up for what is honorable and biblical appear to be unaccepting, weak, and prude. 


Take an honest assessment of what you allow into your mind, and into your home.  What have you slowly and steadily justified as acceptable just because we live in a "different time", a modern world.  What attitudes or behaviors have become comfortable for you over time? 


How are we  different than those who don't know the Truth, who don't have Jesus?  If you have chosen Him as your Savior, make sure He is also your Lord. Lord over every area of your life! Be a light,be fruitful, be different,make those who don't know Him yet wonder what you've got that they don't.  It's not just our duty, it's His command.






"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2


 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world it would love you as it's own.  As it is, you do NOT belong to the world, but I have CHOSEN you out of the world.  That is why the world hates you." -John 15:18-19


"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world." -I John 2:16


 " Stop loving the world and the things that are in the world. If anyone persists in loving the world, the Father's love is not in him." -1 John 2:15






To check out the Not Of This World merchandise, visit www.notw.com

Everything matters

Steven Curtis Chapman has a great song titled "Do Everything."  Some of the lyrics:

"You’re picking up toys on the living room floor
for the 15th time today
Matching up socks and sweeping up lost Cheerios that got away
You put a baby on your hip and color on your lips
and head out the door, And while I may not know you I bet I know you
Wonder sometimes does it matter at all?
We’ll let me remind you it all matters just as long as you
Do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you.

Well maybe you’re sitting in math class
Maybe you're on a mission in the Congo
Maybe you’re working at the office
Singing along with the radio
Maybe you’re dining at a five star
Or feeding orphans in Myanmar
Anywhere and everywhere you are
Whatever you do it all matters
So do what you do and don’t ever forget
to do Everything you do to the glory of the One who made you
Cause He made you to do
Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face
And tell the story of grace..."

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving."  -Colossians 3:23-24

So here's your reminder, loud and clear, that whatever you're doing has significance.  Wherever you are in life, whatever you are doing, it all matters and can all be used for God's glory if we dedicate that work to Him.  Maybe you are not where you want to be right now.  Maybe you're hoping for something different.  Maybe your co-workers are nearly impossible to work with, maybe your boss is a jerk.  Maybe you are underpaid, and under appreciated.  
 This verse from Colossians serves as a refreshing reminder that we are working to serve and please the Lord, not man.  And whatever you do, put your heart and hands into it, and do it with all your might, so that those watching would see Him in you.  Anything we do with all our hearts, and with a cheerful spirit, will bring a smile to His face!  (and to ours)  :)

To Listen to "Do Everything" click here!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3YLJCOKOzM


To hear Steven Curtis Chapman talk about his inspiration for writing this song, click here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NOMv90r9xM

...so submit to God!

"The devil is trying to steal from you and destroy you, and make it look like it was all your idea.  So, girlfriend, submit to God."  -Beth Moore


Have you cringed yet?  I have.
Submit.  Ugh, what a dirty little pesky word.  What good could come of it for us, really?  It sounds so weak, so innactive, so passive...(probably nothing that this prideful, independent minded woman wants anything to do with)  


But wait. Maybe the opposite is true.


What if submission meant giving yourself and your life the best chance?  What if it meant allowing God to do Exactly all He intends and hopes to do, IN you, and THROUGH you?


"Satan doesn't have to convince you and me to do his will for our life.  He only has to tempt us to demand our own.  God has something bigger for each of us than our human minds can hug.  Something eternal.  Something that will still matter when our bones have turned to heaps of dust."

*God is always looking out for your ultimate good and takes your hurts personally.  So submit to God.
* He knows when your motive was right but your mouth messed up.  So submit to God.
* He knows exactly how to work terrible into good.  So submit to God.
* He loves you completely and unconditionally and will never let you go.  So submit to God.
* He knows the well-deliberated plan for your life and how all things must fall into place for you to fulfill your destiny.  So submit to God.
*  He will never put to shame those who trust in Him.  So submit to God."  -Beth Moore


"But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." -James 4:6-8

faith, hope, love

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. -1 Corinthians 13:13

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" We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. " 

-1 Thes. 1:3

 Work produced by faith....

When have you last had to take some steps forward in total reliance on the Lord?  Without a visible safety net?  Is God urging you toward something that doesn't feel "safe" but would require complete and total faith in Him?  When we do that, we're entering into a faith walk...this is where faith is measured, and this is where faith begins. This is where faith grows.  Faith is, after all, trusting in what we cannot see. And the work produced from this kind of faith is able to fulfill God's plan in a mighty way!!  When we put total trust in Him for each step, for the details, for the big and small stuff,  He is able to do far more in us and through us than we could ever imagine.  

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  -James 2:14-16

Labor prompted by love...

There is no more pure expression of the spirit of God than to serve out of love.  This is the epitome of the person of Jesus and the heart of our Father.  

 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

-James 1:27

This reminds me of what I remember of my mother. She had the kind of spirit that thrived on being poured out for others.  Like being poured out is what made her heart keep beating.  I want my life to be just like that.  One looooong series of acts of love, one after another after another.  A pure love that gives without expecting gratitude or recognition, love that is unconditional, love that reflects the life Jesus died to give me.  Love that urges us to reach out to a stranger. Senseless, selfless love.  Love for the lost, for the poor and rejected, for the sinner, for the outcast, for the broken hearted....this is why we were created. To be God's "hands and feet!."  I know better than to think I can possibly live this kind of life if I rely solely upon my own strength and imperfect, selfish nature.  I have to be committed to dying to myself daily, and letting His spirit in me reign. 

Labor prompted by love saves lives.  And gives life and purpose to ours.

 Endurance inspired by hope in God....

Hope in God actually PRODUCES endurance. It is what allows us to keep going when our own flesh wears out and gives up...achieving His will for your life depends on it!   It's what takes a regular bunny and turns it into an energizer bunny!  There's no limit to what God can do through a person who has surrendered their efforts and energy to Him, to be poured out to be used to fulfill His will. 

 "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not grow weary.  So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people...."

-Galatians 6: 9-10 

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."  - Hebrews 12:1-3

 

Empty spaces?

The Empty Tomb

                          "He has risen just as He said." -Matthew 28:6

In all of us, there is some degree of brokenness. Something that was once whole, maybe too long ago to remember, but is now broken.  Shattered by pain, disapointment, rejection, guilt, or heartache.  That broken place can stay broken, and then it just feels like an emptiness.  A void.  And you may have become so accustomed to it, that you have forgotten what it feels like to have it whole, filled up.

God knows.  He knows our brokenness.  He knows the pain, or anger, or numbness. 

But He doesn't want to leave you that way. His death on the cross, and then resurrection was more than a love story.  It promises us that nothing broken ever has to stay that way.  It offers hope to the hopeless. 

That empty tomb was a visible, tangible message for us.  For God, NOTHING is impossible, too broken to fix, too ugly to make new. 

"The power of the resurrection means that nothing but the tomb is meant to be empty!" -beth moore

The empty spaces you have were meant to be filled by His love, grace, and mercy.  Maybe you haven't released it to Him yet.  Maybe you haven't totally trusted Him with those broken parts of your heart.  Maybe you feel ashamed for Him to see them, or maybe you've grown numb to them.

The sooner you let it go, and entrust Him with it, the sooner He can breath life back into those dark, dead spaces.  He'll make it better than new.


Psalm 147:3  He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Tame your tongue

^{James 3: 3-11
3} When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴ Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.


⁵ Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁷ All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ¹¹ Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹² My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Wow, what a great reminder.  We truly are the only ones who can "tame" our own tongues.  We can be provoked, angered, tempted, flustered, and our mouths just pop open and junk comes out.  And it can't be put back in.

In first grade, I must have had a pretty loose mouth, because I remember clearly, on more than one occasion, being made to sit alone in silence, as my teacher rebuked me, "if you can't say something nice it's better to say nothing at all!"  (I know, I'm in shock myself..)

How are you using (or abusing) your speaking privelages?  Consider each day an opportunity to bless or "burn" with your tongue.  Because out of the same mouth can come kindness, or evil. 

All Eyes on Him

Tonight I was reading my son a children's bible story about Peter walking out onto the waves toward Jesus.  What I love SO much about scripture is it's great relevance, whether you're 5 or 85, and that there's always potential to gain some new insight that you didn't see before, if your heart is open to it.  And as I sat and typed this it occurred to me that I already did a blog entry about getting OUT of the boat (haha, I tend to have a slight memory issue) ...so this one focuses on trusting Him once you're out.

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.  ²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”  ²⁹ “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”   -matthew 14:22-33

Verse 26 reminds me of times when we fear what's ahead and we don't recognize God's hand is at work.  God is an absolute.  He is good, all the time.  We may not always like what we see ahead, but we can be sure He's there when we get there.  His plan is perfect.  He never changes.  His love for us never changes.  And He will always be with us.  We may have times when we feel we can't see or feel Him but His promise remains...He will never leave us or forsake us.

Then in verse 27, when the disciples express fear,  Jesus immediatly offers comfort and reassures his friends.  "It is I!  Don't be afraid!" 

In verse 28, Peter wants proof. What I love is that even in Peter's moment of doubt and testing, Jesus continues to reassure, rather than rebuke.  Peter literally asked Jesus to "prove it, and let me walk on water too!"

And Peter did!  He asked, and he received.  Jesus allowed Peter to experience walking on water, as long as PETER's FAITH would allow, anyway.  Is there something you may never know because you haven't yet totally trusted God with it?

 And then we get to the kicker- verse 30 and 31.
When Peter saw the wind and the waves, he began to sink.  Isn't that what we do?  As soon as we allow our thoughts to wander from truth to dark little places of doubt and worry, fear takes over like a crashing wave, and we're hopeless and helpless in it's grasp.  It's only when Peter's eyes stayed on Jesus, that he was able to do the unimagineable...walk on water!  And it's only when we keep our focus on Him and His power and love, that we are able to do great things amidst a storm!

The ultimate message of this passage, though, is that Jesus reached out to Peter as he sank and caught him. 

And if Peter had not reached out to grasp his hand, he wouldn't have lived to tell about it.  Are you struggling and sinking, and gasping for breath?  Reach out, because He's waiting to take your hand.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  First post of 2012...woohoooo. 

A lot of us will face the inevitable question, posed by someone.  "What's your New Year's resolution?  It's often an unwelcomed question too, especially if we haven't gotten around to even thinking about it yet.  Or if we know we haven't yet fulfilled the ones we hoped for in 2011...

So, instead, I want to ask a few other questions.
What's NOT working well in your life?  What would you change? What relationships need work?  What are your worries?  What is your focus, and should it be different?  What gets most of your energy and attention?
What qualities do you admire in others that you wish you also saw in yourself? 

Now, I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to sit around and wait for something different to happen, and frankly, I don't have much patience for people who refuse to change their circumstances, but would prefer to sit and wallow in them.  I think God has given us the will, and the intelligence, to make significant changes in our own lives, and the lives of others. 

For example,  (and many of my closest friends and I seem to share this problem) life is "too busy."  Seems like everybody has that same gripe. 
So do something about it.  Cut things out. Don't allow your children to each participate in 3 activities at once. Don't say "yes" to every opportunity that arises, no matter how "good" it is.  Don't volunteer in 4 different things, and then offer to take a position in the PTO, and then start a non-profit organization, and then take out your frustration on those you love the most.

Clear the schedule.  Make time to just live.  Stop and smell the roses.  Then, when something comes before you that's clearly from God, you may have the right attitude and energy to embrace it and fulfill it beautifully.

Maybe you are carrying around  bitter, or broken heart.  Stop and consider if you've been taking care of it.  Have you allowed people in, who desire to bless and love you?  What have you been "feeding" it?  Meaning, are you surrounding yourself with people and messages that reinforce your hurt and bitterness?  Or have you taken charge of the healing process and chosen to reject self-pity?

Wherever you are as you enter 2012, focus on what you can change.  Pray that you are able to let go of the things that you can't change.  Reject the things (and obligations, and people, and habits, and thoughts, and attitudes)  that tie you down, and keep you from being your BEST self.  Because this is YOUR year.

I love you my sisters. We are all in this journey together.  Let's encourage and pray for eachother, and never stop fighting the good fight.

 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."  -galatians 6:9