Thanking God this Season

This past Sunday, my college choir sang for a ministry that stuffs boxes for those who are less fortunate in their community.  I have to say when I heard about this I was thinking, "Oh this is going to be fun.  A small ministry that helps serve those around their area."  I was thinking that this ministry was something small.  HAHAHAHA... I was SOOOO wrong.  We showed up and there was a really long line of over 600 volunteers ready to get in and help stuff 4000 BOXES!!!!!  There were news crews there and newspaper reporters were there taking pictures of this big occasion.  I have to say that it was one of the most amazing experiences that I have ever been a part of.  This ministry has been going strong for 12 years and over half of the volunteers had been there for the first time.  Our choir was asked to sing one of our songs from our tour program and then we were going to start the National Anthem for everyone to sing.  Well, little did I know before we started any of that, the pastor of the church we were going to sing at the evening was there to pray for the event.  Then, the even was opened by one of the local high schools singing an amazing song I wish I knew the name of.  I was getting teary-eyed.  Then we sang our song.  I was totally fine with this until we started the National Anthem.  The leader of this event told us and everyone to grab the hand of someone next to us.  We created one of the biggest circles I have ever seen.  We stared the National Anthem and then I started crying.  I realized that I was not going to be able to sing the song so I just took everything in and listened to 600+ people sing the National Anthem in a tiny warehouse.  My heart was overwhelmed with love and God's presence.  I cannot even begin to explain how that tiny warehouse has changed my heart.  I have never felt a call to ministry more than I did on Sunday.  When I tell people about that tiny warehouse, I get teary-eyed and overwhelmed with God's presence.  So this holiday season, just remember why you are here and be thankful that God has blessed you with the life that you have.  There are those out there that are less fortunate than you and who have to pray that someone notices them in the midst of all the chaos in order to give them one meal.  This ministry does that for those people.  I am forever thankful that God showed me something that I don't see everyday.  Those less fortunate than myself and how many ways I can show them who God is just by giving a little of my time.  I am so thankful for this opportunity.  God Bless you and all your blessings this season.

selfish joy

This is a real picture of our universe.... awesome isn't it?

Selfish joy is actually pretty easy to find.  Here's a small test.   Ask yourself if you need to have your needs met before those around you?  If you said yes, then you have selfish joy.  Selfish joy can only be described as something that only makes you happy and if others are happy around you because of that "something" then that's just a bonus but for the most part it doesn't matter if they're happy or not.  John Piper describes so many beautiful things in his last chapter and then he asks, "How could I stand before a setting sun, between the mountain range and the vastness of the sea, and think that everlasting joy should come from making much of me?"  Just look around you at the creation that God has given us to enjoy.  Look at how beautiful those things are that He crafted into perfect beauty that only He can manifest.  How can we sit back and let those people around us not enjoy as much as we do, the wonderful universe that God made?  We need to spread this joy and love to those who have yet to experience it.  May it be in your home, work, mission, friendships, doesn't matter.  We need to let the light of Christ shine through us so we are not harboring the selfish joy but we are freely giving the gift of joy.  Imagine all those people who have never heard of Christ?  Imagine yourself, if you had never heard of Christ?  What would life be like if you did not know who Christ was?  How devastating is that?  So release that selfish joy and GIVE the joy to those around you and across the world.  This is a commandment of God's is to "Go and make disciples of all nations."  He called us to do this.  Now the real question is are sitting stagnant with your selfish joy or are you "making disciples of all nations?"

acknowledgement

Acknowledgement is something that we all would like to have for our efforts, is it not?  I know I love to be acknowledged when I do something that I think is worthwhile.  I know, at least right now, that I overdo it a lot.  But is that the real reason why we should do what we do?  For the acknowledgement of someone else?  I know it can be frustrating if you are the person in charge and someone else gets the recognition for your hard work.  But think about it.... does their opinion really matter overall?  Are they the ones that are really going to reward you eternally?  Jesus was a servant to His people and He was a servant to His disciples.  He served them because He loved them.  He did not serve them because He knew He was going to get something out of it.  I mean, seriously, if anything He got the raw end of the deal when He died for those people around Him..... and for you...... and me.  What kind of fulfillment are we going to get out of our jobs or friendships or life when we have conditions that go with them?  I can tell you right now you will be disappointed ALL THE TIME!!!!  I know there are parts of me that want acknowledgement when I do something good.  But, I need to remember that my acknowledgement and appreciation comes from the one who made me.  Instead, I should think of everything else I do as a ministry to those around me and yes, say thank you when I am recognized for my efforts, but don't expect it.  It will disappoint you and make you angry.  Instead just thank God that you had the opportunity to do something so great to show those around you that you care for them, even if they don't realize it.  "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do."  Right?  In essence, this is forgiving their overlooking by loving them even more.  They will eventually see your efforts and thank you but look to heaven because your everlasting treasure is waiting for you.

an easy life... HA

Okay, those of you know that being a Christian is totally not the easiest thing in the world.  And what's even funnier, I have heard so many people say that they thought it would be because they were choosing the right path.  When did it ever say that being a Christian was easy?  And when did the world ever say doing the right thing was also easy?  NEVER!!!! That's the point.  We, as Christians, are put through so much.... I'm just going to say it, crap.  I mean truly.  Why would we choose to be persecuted all the time for something that we feel so strongly about?  Then again you could say this about anyone.  However, why is it that we choose to live this life?  If I could, in writing I would make you think about it for like five minutes and then ask questions (that's the teacher part of me coming out), but I can't so I am just going to answer my view.  I believe that we choose this life because why would we want to do anything else?  We live life for the glory of God and spreading His word to bring people back to Him.  This is the best way to live life.  I could not imagine living my life without God.  Actually, I was watching a documentary the other day called "The Case For Christ" or something to that effect.  The author of the book with the same name, was an atheist who was a journalist who was trying to prove people wrong about believing in Christ.  Well, he noticed within two years of his research and writing down pros and cons to both Christianity and Atheism that it would take more faith for him to believe in his Atheism than his new found belief in Christ.  Now, God does not say that life is going to be easy; it's actually going to be very rough but He does say that we will be fulfilled even when we have nothing but Him because we seek Him and we want more of Him.  Our lives will be fulfilled without anything?  Sure will.  Now, don't go sell all of your things and live homeless for a while, though I do know people who have done that, but I challenge you to start analyzing what you are doing in your life to worship God.  Is your life too easy or is your life one that when you open your eyes, Satan trembles?  Your choice.

"Be Still and Know I Am God"

Being still is one of the hardest things in this world to ever do.  I mean seriously!!!  Think about all the things you have to do today and then think about what you're probably not going to get done at all.  Yeah, your brain is probably running so fast, you're blowing smoke out of your ears.  Okay, now stop thinking of those things because you're only going to get stressed out about it.  Just take a minute or two and just allow God to talk to you, regardless of where you are at.  Seriously!  It helps so much to take time and sit and just listen.  You may have the urge to pour your heart out to Him and ask Him every question in the book, but have you ever noticed that most of the time when we do this, we never listen for an answer?  I know I do this all the time.  I ask God for help in certain areas in my life and then I tell Him about all the bad people I am upset with and for Him to take care of it.  Then I start asking for things like where my life is headed and then I'm done.  I had to take a deep breath right after that in order to write this sentence.  How many of you (and me) actually just sit and listen to what God has to say?  Don't run a to-do list in your brain, or what requests you have in your head, or even the fact that you may not even sit down to talk to Him at all..... just listen.  Be still.  Take a Bible, a notebook and pencil with you, ALONE, and be still, even if it is for 3 minutes of your day.  At least you are starting somewhere.  Just put your pencil down in your notebook and don't write.  Just sit.  Then write whatever comes into your head.  If it is some "unknown" talking to you.  Write it down.  I have done this numerous times and I don't know what I am writing but when I go back and look at it.... I see that God has finally spoken to me.  Finally?!  You say.  Yeah, I actually listened this time.  Even if you are unable to do that, just sit and listen to the wind and the silence and just let God speak to your heart.  This will relieve the stress in your life and your relationship with God will grow ever stronger because.... SURPRISE.... It's a two-way street instead of your pummeling Him with words.  Do this and if you like, get back to me and tell how your experience was.... if you don't want to, just thank God that you were able to do so.  It will start changing your relationship for the better.  And because of this, it will change your life.

God opens doors

Believe it or not, God does give us opportunities that allow us to serve Him every day of our lives.  Now whether or not we have open ears and are listening is a whole other story.  God grants us gives and desires and opportunities when we ask for those opportunities and our hearts are in the right place with Him.  They may not be exactly the way that we were hoping for them but they are so much better.  I have had many questions lately that are based around why God does not give us answers when we ask for them.  Well, I can assure you that He does, it just may not be the answer we were hoping for.  Sometimes God is like our dad and He may so no.  But, He does have things lined up for us that are much better off than what we were thinking.  If you open your heart and SEEK WITH your heart, God will be able to answer those questions in a way that may have been an answer we were looking for.  Now, He may not give us an abundance of what we are asking.  Like for instance, I have had many financial situations in my life where I would ask God to provide a way for me to pay for certain things or whatever and maybe even a little more knowing that I just wanted some to keep myself protected.  But, He will only give what I need.  God provides what you need in the time that you need it.  So pray for God to open doors for you and just wait and see what's on the other side.  It's going to be amazing.

stretching our spiritual muscles

So, for all of you who don't know.... I took a pretty big tumble the other day.  Scraped my knee up pretty bad (as in I probably should have gone to the ER but I'm too chicken, unless I have my mommy or daddy with me).  Anyway, I woke up today feeling less than under the weather.  I could hardly move.  It was like walking like a newborn deer.  I couldn't bend my knee... still can't.  My whole left side feels like it was run over my a truck.  Meaning, I basically pulled as many muscles as I could to catch myself falling when I did.  But, I now see it as a blessing.  A small lesson of faith as you will.  I was talking to my sister today and I told her this.  I also told her that there were a few songs on the radio that I heard on my way to class that I really like about God's healing hands and how I probably need that right now.  Her immediate response was, "That's so much like when we fall spiritually that we need to use all of the spiritual muscles we didn't know we had in order to catch us when we fall."  THIS IS SO TRUE!!! Our spiritual muscles are stretched further than we thought possible when we do fall spiritually, much like when we try to catch ourselves when we fall or tip over ourselves.  I had never thought of this before.  I just looked at it as my knee hurt and I need to make it feel better.  But, what about letting God handle that department.  Yeah, I may have a bruised spirit and sporadic pain but I need to let God handle that part of my life.  We may be stretched to the max when we spiritually fall and we often question why God would put us through situations that we feel like we cannot handle anymore and so we are so close to giving up.  It is a very strenuous feeling, like pulling our muscles or stretching them as far as they can go.  However, I do not believe that God allows situations to happen that we are not prepared for.   If anything, most of the situations that we go through are preparing us either for another great struggle or even our ministry that we didn't know that we were going to be called into until God knew we were ready.  It's amazing what little things you can learn in your everyday life that can directly correlate to your spiritual life. 

Everything just fell into place.  With this whole discussion with my sister to reading about Mary Beth Chapman and her family's struggles with losing Maria.  That family still has a strong faith even through such tragedy.  Not saying they did not have questions about their situation and why it happened but that they trusted God to use it for something better.  They were stretched to their max and God is showing them a bigger purpose for their lives and showing them that Maria is now saving more people than anyone thought possible.  So when your spiritual muscles are being stretched just know that there will be a greater purpose and plan for that pain and something amazing will come out of your heartache.  God has a plan that we cannot see but that He is preparing us for.

no strings attached

When you have surrendered something in the past, who was it about?  Think about it honestly.  Did you buy or give up something for the benefit of yourself or someone else?  Let me give you an example.  Those clothes that have been sitting around in your closet for five years (I have them too, it's okay), did you think about donating those to a shelter where those people do not have clothes because you knew that it would keep them warm or show them who God really was?  Or did you give them those clothes so you can make room to buy more?  Writing that out right now, I never thought about it.  I guess I need to go through my stuff and truly think about why I would be getting rid of it.  Sure it would make my place a lot neater and the clutter would be gone, but would I replace those empty spaces with something else I don't need or could I live without things for a while in order to benefit those around me?  It's amazing when we "surrender" something and then we start to think why we do it, how often it really is about us. 

Leslie mentions that when we give something up or surrender something then we should NEVER expect anything back.  I know of people (once again, I'm guilty of this) who have surrendered their job or certain areas of their life expecting God to return the rewards in a matter of days.  We are a "right now" society and so if something is not returned to us in our timing, we think that God is either not listening, not giving to us, or He doesn't care.  All of these are not true.  I am giving up my life of being with someone for the sake of being able to serve God better until He tells me otherwise.  This is something huge for me but if I go and "give up" marriage and expect for my earthly prince charming to walk through my front door and sweep me off my fee tomorrow, I'm sadly mistaken.  It will happen when God wants it to happen.  Another thing that Leslie states is that the majority of the time, God does answer the desires of our hearts when we choose to follow Him without anything in return.  If we EXPECT things to happen, we are just disappointed because we do not know what is best for us.  God knows what we need and if it is to be single the rest of my life or to not have that multimillion dollar deal, then so be it.  It was not meant for me.  Instead, I would rather have that love only meant for Him with no expectations.  In other words, God wants us to have unconditional love.  GASP!!  He does?!  Of course, He wants us to be able to love Him and those around us the way that He loves us.  It's never easy but it's so worth the surrender and lack of expectations.  Are you able to love unconditionally or do you have some strings you need to cut?

a God-centered relationship

So, I know I may not be in an earthly romantic relationship but I sure know some things about them.  After all, ALL of my friends come to me for advice about them.  What?  Yeah, I know.  But, what can I say, they like me.  I know some are reading this now so they must REALLY like me.  Anyway, Leslie was sharing some stories about relationships that are solely focused on God.  As a Christian, this is something that I strive for.  I long for a relationship with someone but I know God is in control and so I am focusing my relationship status on Him.  I will continue to do this, I pray, when/if I eventually find my certain someone.  But, she was sharing these stories about different people that she knows who have had their relationships (all worked out) who focused all their time and energy on what God has planned for their relationship.  Many times the couple had to wait YEARS before they knew for a fact that God wanted them to be together.  They each said that they had feelings for one another and a few times they each said that they were in love with one another.  However, they stayed friends because they were not sure if this is what God wanted for them. 

Leslie made the comment "No matter how strong their feelings were, they would not rush ahead of God."  I love this quote because in this society it is so rare to find someone who is pure and searching after God's own heart.  I have had conversations with friends who are either no longer pure for their future spouse or would rather have their future spouse impure because of them being as impure as they were hoping they would never be.  This is sad.  I pray that those people can become spiritually pure again for the sake of their relationship with God.  "No matter how our selfish, fleshy side feels about it, laying everything on the altar before our King, and allowing Him to do with our lives whatever He sees fit, is where true Christianity begins."  This quote also is very powerful because once again, I see lots of Christians today, including myself, who tend to see Christianity as "okay, I accepted Christ into my life, now I need to be Christ-like and do everything I'm supposed to do."  I thought this way for years until I discovered that being a Christian is so much more.  So if you are in a relationship or if you're single like yours truly, then refocus your life and take a step back.  Are you in a God-centered relationship or a self-centered relationship?  I know earlier last week it was about me; now, I'm praying constantly that I make it about Him.  Are you doing the same regardless of what the world OR your feelings are telling you? 

He gives all. He asks all.

This title explains everything.  I could end it here, but I won't.  As I am sure that you have read my last couple of blogs, have been realizing I'm human and I make mistakes.  I know, it's a surprise to me too.  So, needless to say that I have had a hard time giving things up to God.  I mean, I thought I had.  I know my heart is the right place because I really want to give everything I have to him regardless of what others may think.  Even Christians around me think I am insane.  But, that's alright.  I am but moving on to other things you may not know.  I know I have been content with giving my love life over to God even if that means a life of singleness.  Well, I have been content knowing I NEEDED to do that.  Ha.  I had for a little while and then I took that pen back.  Well, I can say I am now giving it back to Him. 

Christ gave His all for us.  He died on the cross so you and I could end up in eternity with Him.  That is one amazing sacrifice.  However, because He gave all to us, shouldn't we give all to Him?  Leslie makes this simple statement that I wrote in the title, but it really does explain just about everything.  We not only NEED to give everything to God but we HAVE to in order for us to have a fulfilling life that allows us to lead a life solely for Him.  There will be times when we want to take back what we gave Him, I mean I sure did and it won't be the last time.  If I expected anything different I would be kidding myself.  But, the most I can do is try and try and try again.  However, back to my love life.  I took the pen back and the way I discovered that I did this, was I was back to thinking about every guy that walked in the room that I could be interested in just by looking at him.  I mean, there have been a few people I have met recently that I was thinking, "Oh, yeah, I could end up with him."  Instead, of just allowing God to control my thoughts, I just let them run away with me.  So, in order for me to allow God to take the pen back I need to give all because He asks me to.  Not saying it'll be easy in the slightest but I know it's worth it.  How about you?  Can you give your all to Him?

working an everyday life

I have never really been much of a worker.  I'm not saying that I don't work but I really just don't want to; at least, not unless I have my heart involved.  You know, I really believe missions is where I am supposed to be now that I have been in school for six years for the same major.  Oh well, life pans out differently then you expect.  However, John Piper has a chapter dedicated to working an everyday, normal, monotonous job.  I have one as I am sure most of America does.  I have had horrible jobs and I actually love my current job (though I am not there very much because of school commitments), but I always wondered how you work a job that is mundane with non-Christians who are pessimistic all the time (not like I have one of those right now).  But John made it clearer to me when he explained 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 about working with our hands so we don't have to depend on anyone.  But he went further into explaining that God made us to upkeep his planet for his glory.  He made us to work to shape His world for His glory instead of creating a world where we work for ours.  It is a rough illustration I know.  But I am praying that you get the point.  In the other book I am reading "Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be" it talks about not working for money but having our money work for us.  If we are able to make our money work for us, think about the amazing things that we could do for God. 

John talks about our work becoming more like God.  Showing people how to work the way that God wants us to work is actually a witness that some people forget about.  Growing up I always thought as being a witness meant going out and sharing the Gospel with those who did not know Him.  Well, this is true but it can also be done with the way that we treat others.  Once I started my journey with giving God everything, people started noticing a change in me.  Not just my non-Christian friends, but even my Christian friends.  I know this seems backwards but if my Christian friends are noticing a difference without knowing why and THEY want to ask about it, then of course you can bet that the non Christian friends are probably wondering the same thing.  You can do this in your monotonous job.  Use it as a witness to show those around you who God is.  Work because God gave you the ability to do so.  In my case, because I don't have a career job or a full time job for that matter; my work obviously consists of that job but also school and even everyday living for me is work.  I was thinking about this when John mentioned how after Adam and Eve broke their promise to God about not eating from the tree of life, that God told Adam that in order for him to eat he has to eat off the land but he also has to work to eat off the land.  He said that Adam would endure sweat and labor in order to provide food for him and his family.  I started chuckling a little bit because I was thinking about how much I hated making my dinner every night.  All I could think was, "Thanks Adam and Eve."  Just because I don't want to make dinner tomorrow night.  But, looking at what I have learned through these books, I need to think of it as a blessing that I get to work diligently and sweat over my labor because then I get to enjoy the food that I initially "slaved" over.  How are you going to portray to people who God is at work?  Is work for you an actual job or just going through life doing the normal routine?  Are you able to work with a joyful, unconditional heart?