Got Satisfaction?

God has taught me one big lesson this week, one that is still in process...and I don't think I'll ever get it perfect this side of eternity...

Through Facebook I "like" a page called "Trust in the Lord." It posts frequent pictures about the love and grace and truth of God with sayings and bible verses integrated into the picture. They often show up in my news feed and are often encouraging. One in particular has been the anthem to my week: It was plain blue (a teal/greenish blue) and stated "The only one who can truly satisfy the human heart is the one who made it." The question following the statement is, "do you believe that?"

Do I?

Current culture would plead with us not to believe such promises. "Don't you know?" the world asks us, "you can't get no satisfaction?" Mick Jagger said it best, I'm sure, from the vantage point of our fleshy sinful selfish hearts...so we go through life thinking he's right..."I can't get no satisfaction"...but it's a lie! A black, poisonous lie from the pit of Hell bent on destroying any faith and belief we hold in God. The TRUTH is, God made out hearts to seek, find, rely on, and be WHOLEY satisfied IN HIM! "There's a God-shaped hole in all of us"...not sure who sings that one.

My challenge this week has been to check my motives...am I looking to God, the creator of my heart, to satisfy my heart? Or, am I putting hopes and burdens on people (or things) who are not qualified to tackle such a task? The ONLY one qualified is Christ Jesus! So, check your motives...ask yourself, "am I engaging this way because I choose to find favor and satisfaction in God (the ONLY one who can satisfy) or because I search for approval and fullness in temporary pleasures (unqualified and unequipped to satisfy)?" There's only one right answer.

A-Way With Words

God is good and His timing and plan are perfect! This week's SWS was going to be about something completely different than what is on my heart right now, so, we'll put that off until next time (if the Lord wills)! God spoke to me at the beach today and I feel I should share my conviction and challenge with you (mostly because I feel this is God's plan for out time this week, but I also know that you struggle with this the same as I do the same as every person I know).

While lying on the beach today with a salty sea breeze, the sound of crashing waves, and sandy toes I overheard a conversation a few towels down from our spot...what I heard filled my heart part with sadness and part with a mirror image of myself. I can't remember the conversation or the words used, but what I DO remember is that there were two topics...the group was either talking about/making fun of someone on the beach, or they were talking about nothing just to hear their own voices and curse every other word. Then, they stopped talking to drink. That was their whole "fellowship" at the beach. No substance. No encouragement. Not even the slightest "Hey, how was your week?" Nothing of value.

I have a little card hanging in my room that says "Please, Lord, fill my mouth with worthwhile stuff, and nudge me when I've said enough!" How different the world would be if we all lived by this little phrase... So, you see where my sadness came from. But, the worst part is, I find myself in the same mindset sometimes-talking just to hear myself talk or judging the people around me. Then, God reminded me of this passage:

"Now when we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide the whole animal. And consider ships: Though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how large a forest a small fire ignites. And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell. Every sea creature, reptile, bird, or animal is tamed and has been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. We praise our Lord and Father with it, and we curse men who are made in God’s likeness with it. Praising and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers, these things should not be this way. Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening? Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a saltwater spring yield fresh water."

-James 3:3-12

Let us focus on building others up with our conversation and building the kingdom of God with words of affirmation and encouragement! This is not an easy task! Thank God for the Holy Spirit to help us!!! And let this become our prayer as we allow the potter to reshape us: "Please, Lord, fill my mouth with worthwhile stuff, and nudge me when I've said enough!"

Wash, Rinse, Repeat

Summer is off to a bang and God has been at work!

My week was pretty usual...work, home, bible study (which I look forward to all week), more work, lazy Saturday...etc. Just your typical hum-drum week...or so it would seem. More than any other lesson this week (and God's been working a few), I've been reminded of God's unending unconditional unmatched love for me. No matter how my day is going, no matter what I've done in the past year...week...day...hour...minute, no matter how many times He's had to teach me the same lesson in the past 20 seconds, He loves me the same yesterday, today, and forever! Just like shampoo, He is willing to wash me in His cleansing waters, lather me with His love, rinse away all the mess, and repeat! What an incredible God!

I found myself this week revisiting some of the same struggles I've encountered over and over again all my life...thinking all these were behind me...and I am SO thankful that God chooses to speak to us in this way! Do you ever notice repeating themes in your life? Maybe the same songs always pop up in your heart, or perhaps there is that one sin you just can't seem to stay away from, a habit you can't break, or a routine you never miss, a bible verse that seems to encompass the entirety of your walk with God...I believe God created us this way. He patterned our lives in such a way so that when He speaks to us, it's special just for us... No two people are created the same and I believe that causes a more intimate relationship with God, because no two relationships are the same... Making sense? For example: I struggle with the unfulfilled desire to be married, cared for by a husband, loved by a man...so, God reveals Himself to me as my Husband, lover, provider, protector. I struggle with body image...so God shows me the beauty of His creation until I can no longer deny my beauty as one created in His image. I struggle with self control...so God has protected me from myself. I struggle with pride...so God humbles me.

Do you see? This is one idea I really struggle to put into words...as I read over what I've written, it makes little sense...BUT, I am trusting God to help you understand. :)

God created us personally so we would live life personally so He could love us personally! We (Christians) are the body of Christ so we reflect Christ and every attribute of His character. Christ is to magnificent for just one mirror, so we each exhibit different (and some the same) attributes of His Character. This way, we can reflect the attributes of Christ to each other. I LOVE how different we people are and yet how compatible we can be! Do you repeat the same struggles in your life? How does God reveal Himself to you in a personal and specific way?

Oh Lord, continue to reveal yourself to me in ways specific to my heart and help me to see clearly your plan for my life! Lord, continually free me from the bondage I create in my mind. Grant me freedom in the blood of Christ to live a life that is pleasing to you as I embrace the person you created me to be. Thank you for being my protector, my lover, my provider, my father, my brother, my husband, my joy, my smile my love and everything else that I am! Help me, Lord, to be satisfied in you and you alone. Help me to leave my agenda and my selfishness behind me as I give my life over to your will and your timing. Your plan is perfect, God! I thank you for who you are and who I am in you!

Child-Like Faith

So.  I was at the pool today, enjoying the glory of God through sun and rest...A girl came with her dad and a friend.  While playing, one girl asked the other, "Are you a Christian?"  She asked a few times, perhaps the girl being asked was unsure of the answer...but, I couldn't help but smile and I was struck by her outward confidence and show of love for her friend in asking (even if, at age 6 or 7, she had no idea this was what she was showing)...and I can only wonder what the follow up question or statement would have been if the friend had said "no"...or even "yes"...

How often do we wear our faith on our sleeve like this small girl?  How often do we care enough for our friends to inquire about their salvation?  God pointed at me...  How often do I?  When, if ever, have I?  We, as Christians are called to GO into ALL the world and MAKE disciples.  Whether we GO to another country, or go to the poor, or go to church...there is ALWAYS a call to share the greatest love we've ever known!  So, why don't we?  We are called to have childlike faith.  So, why don't we?  If we believe God is who He says He is, and we believe we are who He says we are, and we believe He can do what he says He can do...why don't we show it-share it-shout it from the roof tops!!!  Doesn't our savior deserve SO much more than that?

Somehow, in our growing up years we have lost our childlike faith.  How does this happen?  How, in becoming an adult, do we learn that it is no longer okay to be like a child? 

As I watched the 2012 group of pre-kindergartners graduate from our center today...as I watched their teacher send a balloon into the heavens wishing the best for each one by name...as I watched the parents filled with pride and tears of joy as they watched their children growing up...I was reminded of God's love for the children.  Jesus said "let the little children come to me."  Go to Him.  Drop your pride and selfishness and Go to Him.  Fall at His feet.  Allow yourself to enter God's presence like a child to a father and be blessed as he showers His love all over you!  AND THEN...SHARE that love with the people around you!

Oh, Lord, help me to have faith like a child.  To share the greatest love I've ever known.  To show your glory to the world.  Fill my heart with all that you are so that I do not draw attention to myself, but to you.

Confidence in Me

God created us all to showcase attributes of Himself through the way we live our lives. Unlike anyone I've ever met, God granted me with a mind that is music based. Not necessarily in a way that I can write, read, play, or sing music (though I can...to a point, and many others are gifted with far greater musical minds than mine), but wired in such a way that when I hear a word or phrase in conversation or in a sermon or reading scripture or on talk radio I immediately associate that word or phrase with a song (Perhaps I owe this thinking style in some ways to the History of rock and Roll class I took in college...), my brain puts music to it, and finds a chorus from contemporary, Christian, classic, or secular radio to accompany this soundtrack in my mind. For example-and the basis for our time today-I heard the word "confidence" on talk radio in the car yesterday, and I immediately thought of the song "I Have Confidence" from The Sound of Music, a song that had NOTHING to do with the conversation, but this is how God chooses to speak to me.

Now, if I could ask for a "mind-giftedness" I would probably ask for great memory or a way with words, wisdom in science or some great artistic ability...but God has gifted me as He sees fit, and as I write and blog my way through music, I find, God was right all the time!

So, confidence. The lyrics of this song are very positive, very uplifting, every encouraging, and very absent of God.

"I have confidence in sunshine
I have confidence in rain
I have confidence that spring will come again
Besides which you see I have confidence in me...
I have confidence in confidence alone
Besides which you see I have confidence in me!"

And really, reading through the words and listening to the song, it is all those things!!! BUT, what about having confidence in Christ alone??? Current culture and "new age" "positive thinking" would tell us that this song is the way to bolster the confidence we lack, to simply have confidence in confidence, confidence in sunshine, confidence in self... As Christians, we are called to something more. My Nelson's Quick Reference Bible Concordance sites 18 reference to the word(s) confident and confidence...Biblegateway.com sites 36 passage results for the word confidence and 19 for confident...

Psalm 71:5 "For You are my hope, Lord GOD, my confidence from my youth."

Proverbs 3:26 "...for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from a snare."

Isaiah 32:17 "The result of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever." (this one is my favorite)

Jeremiah 17:7 "The man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence indeed is the LORD, is blessed."

Philippians 3:2-8 "...watch out for evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, the ones who serve by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh—although I once also had confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ."

...just to name a few...

So, rather than finding confidence within myself, I find that I have confidence living in me in the form of my Beloved Christ (confidence in me vs. confidence IN me).  If our confidence is found in the Lord, we will be giving Him the glory of out lives...we will be living for His applause alone, and in effect, He will bless us. Not to mention the great witness we will be if we are showing others that our confidence comes from God, the eternal unchanging one! If we find our confidence in God alone, what will we lack?