Living for the Applause of God

My last post, close to 2 months ago, was entitled "It is Finished"...I'm willing to wonder if some of you thought I was finished...but this is not so...I am in fact very much still here and coming back with a renewed and building passion.  Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, God has been dragging me through a dry season.  By dragging, I mean that He is fervently pursuing me and my heart while I continue to put Him off, stringing Him along in my fickle humanness and empty promises.  Praise God, He didn't turn His back on me!

Last weekend was Memorial Day and I went on a beach retreat with church...it was a wonderful time!  The Bible says, "seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you."  Well, I set out to seek the Lord with a mild enthusiasm at best, tapping on the door thinking maybe there would be no one home but entertaining the possibility of maybe coming away with some nice parting gift...what I got was abundantly and immeasurable more than I could have asked or imagined...that's just like God, isn't it?  He's broken my silence and I couldn't be more thankful!  Praise be to God!  I have missed you all (and this blog) so much!

There is something so freeing and encouraging and uplifting to write out the Spirit's heart...akin, I imagine, to the feeling in the hearts of those who penned our Holy Scripture.  Of course, I do not liken myself OR this blog to the Holy Inspired Word of God by any means!  I feel a sense of God's pleasure in writing, though.  Each time I sit with a pen in hand or sit at the computer a wave of peace comes over me...as if everything were simply melting away.  In front of a blank page or a blank screen, I feel I can really hear the LORD speaking through my heart!  The sessions during our beach retreat reinforce this feeling (and really, helped me to see the validity of how I truly feel) were about living for the applause -for the GLORY- of GOD alone rather than for the applause and approval of men/women/people/self.  Something I struggle with constantly...(I care SO MUCH about how you perceive my words, how you like my words, how many of you actually read my words)...this hangs over my head like a weight...BUT GOD (I love that!) gives freedom and restoration and forgiveness for my sins of pride and covetousness and envy-among so many others!  With this new found purpose and drive I hoped to be changed by God, as the potter changes the clay on the wheel...

Jeremiah 18

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Parable of the Potter

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Go down at once to the potter’s house; there I will reveal My words to you.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel.  ⁴ But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.

⁵ The word of the Lord came to me: ⁶ “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel. ⁷ At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it. ⁸ However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it. ⁹ At another time I announce that I will build and plant a nation or a kingdom. ¹⁰ However, if it does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it. ¹¹ So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds. ¹² But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless. We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”

I love that passage.  Friends, God has the power to shape us and mold us into the most beautiful and USEFUL vessel we can become-because He's created us that way...formed from the dust in the Garden of Eden!  Oh, how I hope He will transform me!  And He will!  Jeremiah 18:6 gives me confidence and assurance of that!  All He asks of me is obedience and a willing heart!

So, in an act of obedience and with a willing and open heart, I return to the pen (or keyboard) and I pray that God will use me to be a part of someone else's story...who knows, maybe I'll be a part of yours.

It Is Finished

Happy Easter!

I love this holiday because it causes me to consider the resurrection in a way I don't the rest of the year.  Yes, Jesus' death and resurrection are central to the Christian faith and so are central to daily life and thought, but the 'holidays' always seem to make things more meaningful, make thoughts more potent, make love deeper felt.  And  that is what I feel this Easter.  Above all the LOVE of Christ!  To choose to leave paradise and come to Earth.  To leave the host of angels and live among the fallen.  To suspend eternal existence and die a brutal, shameful, torturous death.  To live a sin-less life in our fallen world and die with the weight of EVERY sin (ever) upon His shoulders (can you imagine what He saw?  what He felt?).  And all this to conquer death!  To rise on the third day and PROVE that He is the Power of powers, Lord of lords, King of kings, above all others!  Oh, what love.

I began thinking over the past few days in reflection, what must it have been like the day after Christ death?  Can you imagine what the disciples must have been feeling?  What Mary, His mother, must have been feeling?  To lose a friend, teacher, brother, son...and to watch His death be so painful...and to realize the next morning that He was gone!  Do you think they even remembered that He said He would "rise again on the third day?"  Or, were they so struck. so taken with grief that they had no thoughts other than "is this a dream?"

Out of this death, this resurrection, this love comes a call to all believers.  A call to action!  I believe that when Jesus cried out "It is finished" the battle was won!  We are victorious!  BUT...There are still wars to be fought...AND if we fight with the RESURRECTED Jesus on our side, who can stop us!?!  "It is finished" should be our battle cry!  It should spur us on to fight harder and win more should to Christ!  To advance and further the Kingdom of God!  To be His hands and feet!  A love like His deserves an active response.  The grief of losing Him should make GAINING Him the greatest moment of our lives!  He proved His Deity, He proved His love, He awaits our response.  "It is finished" is only the beginning!

Finding Meaning

My tardiness in writing this week is what has brought me to write...isn't it funny how the Lord works these things out for our benefit?  I think I've learned more from it than you will ;)   There was no inspiration to speak of this weekend...No great thoughts or wise musings...a pattern I have found to be far more frequent than I'd like!  Then, while walking home last night it hit me right between the eyes - and it was in front of me the whole time.  I finally allowed myself to listen long enough and quietly enough to hear that still small voice of the Spirit.

When was the last time you remember actually THINKING about something before you did-said-purchased it?  Probably, if you're like me, it was when making a big decision-big speech-big purchase...but I mean the little things...the things that don't seem to matter for the moment, but have lasting impact on the rest of the day.  The choice to have a donut for breakfast instead of eggs or yogurt for example (a choice I have not considered all to carefully these past few days)?  Or, perhaps, the choice to watch a movie or TV instead of doing work or spending time with the Lord?  Or, even, choosing to go to sleep earlier or push the snooze one more time instead of MAKING time for our quiet time (even though you promised yourself you'd do it)?  Yes, all of these I have struggled with.

Have you ever been through a day and thought, "where did the time go? how is it that time already? I didn't get anything done..."  Yup, me too.  Even through all our "best laid plans" it never seems to turn out like we planned it (whether for good or for bad).  Wonder why?  Me too.  And, in my wondering, I am reminded that in each of those moments when I wasn't thinking God was speaking...whispering to my heart, but I was so wrapped up in me and trying to plan for the next day when I should have been living for not the next moment but this moment.  We hear "seize the day!  Live life to the fullest!"  How many times do we find ourselves doing that?  And, when we do, how often is it living according to the world?

I reach the end of days like this full of guilt (which comes from Satan) rather than conviction (which comes from the Lord)...I shouldn't be surprised at why...living my day for the Prince of the World (Satan) results in an outcome that can only come from him.  BUT, I am forgiven!  How fabulous!  Jesus died on the cross 2012 years ago with ME on his heart watching the story of THIS day and the sins of THIS day as he hung in agony on the cross, causing the father to turn His face away, and now, I AM FORGIVEN!  My blood exchanged for His blood, my days wiped clean in the eyes of the Father.  Jesus, interceding - pleading with the Father to have mercy on me again and again and again!  Praise God!  What a LOVE!

And how do I thank Him?  What am I doing that is so much more important that the one who saved my soul from eternal damnation?  A love like this, the love of our savior, DESERVES nothing less that complete devotion and surrender of EVERY moment!

So, think about this, as I have thought all through the night and will not soon forget...Does your faith, your God, mean everything to you until it means you have to sacrifice?  Let me say that again.  Does your SAVIOR mean everything to you until He means you lose some sleep? Or lose a client?  Or lose a friend? Or have to cancel that meeting?  Or miss your favorite show? Or say "no" to going out with friends? Or giving up secular music/movies/television? Or sacrificing some of the little personal time you have?  Does Jesus mean everything to you until He becomes an afterthought?  Don't lose sight of Him today!

Milestones

Well, friends, we're coming up on one year...currently my blog count tells me I've posted 49 posts (that's no small feat for me).  I realized (or remembered) that my first post was on Easter last year, and here we come again to the most precious and miraculous of holidays...the day we remember Christ's death, burial, and resurrection to redeem our souls and save our lives!  God has brought me a long way since that first post, and I know He has much more in store for me in the coming years.  I hope this blog has been as inspiring and encouraging to you as it has to me.

In this year, and increasingly so in the past few months, My head and heart have been filled with aspirations for this blog that I fear I am ill-equiped to manage on my own...thatkfuly, I'm not on my own.  This is God's voice...rather, He inspires the words and simply give publication to them...and I hope that never changes.  

'Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”  But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So it is a sin for the person who knows to do what is good and doesn’t do it.'  James 4:13-17

I know that I've shared this passage before...it rings in my heart, clamors in my head, reminding me that my words are not my words.  My breath is not my breath.  My life is not my life.  And so, all of my aspirations for this blog and my "influence" are not mine either...All belongs to God.  Only He knows the beginning and the end and every second inbetween...  All I can do, all He asks of me is that I listen intently to His instruction and be obedient.  So here's to one year, friends, it was beautiful spending it with you!

A Child of God

"Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn't know Him.  Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.  And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. "  1 John 3:1-3

We have been adopted by God into His family of faith!  Having never been adopted, I've had a difficult time fully understanding this concept.  Last night, I watched a movie that somehow helped me to understand...The movie was "The Blind Side."  A great movie about southern (white) family who adopts a homeless (black) teen.  From the outside they do not seem to mesh...they don't look similar or talk the same way, they do not come from the same area of town or the same area of mind, they are in every way incompatible (from the outside).  But inside this family there is bonding and acceptance that can only come from the heart overflowing with love and grace!  So it is with God.  Jesus came to this earth in the form of a man in order to die on a cross and free us from our bondage, pay our debt, and sign our adoption papers with His blood...thus adopting us into His family...a family that we as mere sinners don't look like we fit...but God welcomes us with love and grace just the way we are.

What a wonderful privilege we have to be a part of God's family!

It's amazing how God speaks to us through the things of this world, isn't it?  I am so thankful to finally begin to understand what it means to be called God's daughter.

Tuesday

"...For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” Acts 5:38-39

One of the Pastors at my church shared this with us at a meeting last week, and it has been with me since (as it has with many others, I think)...reminding me that I can go ahead and make my plans if I want to, but if I am not consulting my God on whether or not my plan has come from Him or if He approves, my plans will fail...and miserably so.  And, even in the failing, God allows me to learn a lesson so deep and profuond that it changes my life!

Typically, I don't blog in the middle of the week.  But, I felt I needed to share this, and it couldn't wait until Saturday.  Much of my week is filled with plans for this and that...lesson planning, social planning, quiet time planning, etc... I wonder how many of you are like me in this...?  We are planning people...manytimes, without "our" plans, we feel lost and chaotic and purposeless and frazzled.  Plans help us to make sense of our moments in life, help us to put the moments together and fashion a day which then gives into a week...so on and so on...until we are stopped dead in our tracks because our plans are of men.  Ever been there?  There is a passage in James (James 4:13-17) that, I think, echos this passage from Acts:

James 4:13-17                                                                                                                                                            Come now, you who say. "Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit."  You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring-what your life will be!  For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes.  Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”  But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.  So it is a sin for the person who knows to do what is good and doesn’t do it.

If God is FOR us, who can be AGAINST us?  No matter what our plans, if it does not accomplish God's purposes, it. will. fail.  But, if our plan DOES accomplish God's will, NOTHING can stop us!!!  I love these verses!  The context in Acts 5 provides the rich backdrop to this wonderfully encouraging truth.  We are more than conquerors as Christ's followers and there is nothing that can stop us.

His Best

Happy Saturday!

God is SO good!  I am thankful, today, for the many people He has brought into my life who encourage and inspire me to be the best me I can be!  Spending time with these people not only brightens my mood and reminds me of God's grace and bountiful goodness, but also causes me to recognize my best qualities because they bring out the best in me!

Conversely, there are people in our lives who tend to bring us down and bring out the worst in us.  These types of "friends" can cause us to feel like we need to change who we are, become a "better person," fix ourselves, or simply cause us to feel inadequate.  These are not God-given friends!  Granted, every person brought into our lives is there for a season and a reason, HOWEVER, the whole goal of fellowship and community is to be encouraged, feel and spread the Glory of God, and to bear one-another's burdens and triumphs in LOVE!  Our culture tends to send a different message:

"You are never enough, so surround yourself with these people (who are better than you) and fake it til you make it."  -Love, the world.

Now, why, in our right minds, would we want to listen to that?  My point exactly!  There is a much better lesson brought to you by the One who TRUELY loves you: you are enough.  And, in true fellowship and TRUE friendship, your friends will echo the voice of the Lord!  After all, by this, everyone will know that we are Christ's disciples, by how we love each other!

I love that God has created us to be people of community, and that He created community to spurr us on to further His kingdom!  There's nothing better than the realization that God has brought you out of unhealthy relationships and gifted you with true friendship  to last a lifetime!  What a blessing it is to have each other!