stop trying

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Oh that's easy, I'll graduate college a semester early with my boyfriend who then will propose and we will get married. After that, we will move to a big city and get jobs we love together having free time and money to take spontaneous trips on the weekend and get our yearly missional trip out of the way during the summer, maybe Uganda or something....
"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"--yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil," James 4:13-16. 

What then, do we do? We could sit around binging on Netflix and professional sports putting our efforts into things that matter very little in this fast paced society we have been shoved into. There's probably a special on cheese balls at the grocery store, a coupon for a free scuba diving lesson somewhere on the internet, or even a new recipe to try out...but these things mean nothing without God. Am I saying God is in the cheese balls? Yes, absolutely but thats not the point that's being made here.
We, as a culture, have to stop planning our lives putting an unrealistic amount of tension and stress on our lives and future when all we are is mist. God says that we live in arrogance if we believe we can predict the plans the Lord has for us. Have faith, His plans are good and prosperous...why wouldn't we take all of these gifts He layed out for us so perfectly. The cookie cutter life you so lustfully crave can exist, but at what cost to your soul?

Let go these earthly prides you call your future. Let God take our broken bodies and become anew through His spirit. Take the eyes full of sin we have and transform them into portals for Your vision, making all things we do directed towards Your glory and Your presence in our lives.
"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he," 
Proverbs 29:18.

This is not a blog.

René Margritte was a French painter who created                "The Treachery of Images". It is simply a picture of a pipe with a French inscription that reads     "This is not a pipe."
His work culminated to the simplest of images because it became countless talk of introspection and what it meant to claim reality. This representative reality confused many people and he went on to create many images similar to this.

In much the same way, I propose my own introspective gesture.

This is not a blog.

Yes, it may look like a blog and I am certainly having to type all this stuff out sitting on my computer in the library, but this reality is clouding what you will really find on my small little subsection of the world wide web.

I can only claim this "thing" you are reading as an outpouring of God's infinite wisdom and grace and steadfast love for all of us. To put God into the containment and limit His unending presence in our lives to my blog (yeah yeah okay its my blog) would be a gross mistake and a depressing look into our reality.
"Oh God, you are my God; earnestly I seek You; my should thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory. Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You," Psalm 63:1-3.
We live in that dry and weary land, He is our water. Eternal water, I will give you living water and you will thirst no more He told the woman at the well. Come, follow me He says countless times.

He loves us so perfectly that He would die for us on the cross and cleanse us of all of our transgressions both past and future. But He also loves us so much that He conquered death so that He could live for us, a permanent fixture in our lives. The Holy Spirit lives within us and we become more than conquerors.

"Yeah He loves us, oh how He loves us, oh how He loves, oh how He loves," David Crowder.
This simple fact should resonate to the very core of our being. We are nothing, yet He gave us everything.

Thank you God for Your sacrifice, let me be a living sacrifice in Your name.

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me,'" Matthew 16:24.

you are home

What is loss? A commitment relinquished, a story that's been told, a moment when you realize you won't see someone ever again...
Life has little meaning on it's own, its the relationships you build and the love that is shared that make all of this evil sin filled world meaningful.

"For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." 1 Thess. 5:9-11. 

On days such as today, we reflect on lives lost. Men and women who have carried on past this world in search of paradise through Christ. I pray for the families of the lives that were taken on 9/11 and any other time, because when is death ever greeted, much less expected.
But we should find strength in those that leave us to be with God because they have reached a place much more incredible than this place we try to call home. 2 Corinthians says: "So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord."
So you see, Earth is not our home. We long for our Lord as the Sun longs for the breaking of a new day. So don't be discouraged by the death that looms around us, take heart! Our Lord is a mighty defender and a strong deliverer. He is our strength when we are weak, our All in All.

I personally want to say that I am sad for the losses that have incurred on this day, but I rejoice in the fact that the Lord's children are on their way home. I'll miss you Mamaw.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

in His eyes

"Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil." Proverbs 3:7. 
In many ways, evil can be present in your life. Sometimes it is found in things you would expect. Don't drink that, don't smoke that, no looking over there, shouldn't be hanging out with that person etc etc. But sometimes evil can be found in much more persistent and scary places such as your own mind. Sin is defined by some people as the the absence of God: this can definitely be applied here. 

8:30 Wake up, Shower. 
9:00 Frantic breakfast, scurry to work.
12:00 Lunch, alone.
3:30 Find coworkers to ease the pain of boredom at office.
5:30 Head home tired, ready for dinner.
7:00 Settle for box dinner, sit at television.
10:30 Wake up and head to bed in preparation to start another day the same.

What is wrong with this picture? At what point did this person break from the tedium of this world and find his comfort, his joy, his security from the one person willing and able to love us unconditionally with no restraint? 
"But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption." 1 Corinthians 1:30. 
We are so much more than ourselves when we give our lives to Christ, we are more than conquerers and burning with the passion of a never-ending God. We need God daily to replenish our reserves, to flush out the sin and poison that this world fills us with constantly. Without Him, we crumble and fade. 

When you wake up you will most likely make the decision to brush your teeth, but if you don't then missing a day isn't a huge deal. Miss another day and you'd be fine. Miss a week, then two? Most likely you will be receiving a firm slap on your wrist from your dentist and another appointment because now you have cavities or worse. Keep up this habit and before you know it you are gumming soft foods and chugging nutritious milkshakes because your teeth are gone now. 
Basically, not giving God some time out of your day will make your teeth fall out...Okay that's not true, but without Him you will surely crumble and fall. His wisdom is greater than anything we could hope to accomplish on our own. 
So next time you don't brush your teeth, just remember how God would feel about that.

Wax on, wax off

Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off. The drone of every day life can sometimes muddle our true purposes. Daniel Larusso can't seem to grasp his mentor's (Mister Miagi) odd approach to training him in the highly skilled form of martial arts. He participates in activities such as cleaning his car, doing the dishes and sweeping the floors. It is a point of irritation for our protagonist, but by the karate tournament something magical happens. All of the menial tasks that he thought served no purpose actually were training him for the large goal at the end: to win the tournament. (I'm sorry if you've never seen this movie but he wins the tournament and gets the girl, classic)

There seemed to be a time when I could think with confidence that I understand this world, that the things I see all work together for my own personal good...In other words, I was naive. God sees and knows every facet of our lives. There are tasks we complete drudgingly every day that seem to have no purpose or meaning...Why would balancing my checkbook further God's glory? What does good grades have to do with His eternal love for us?
What most people can't see is that EVERYTHING we do affects His kingdom and His glory. My friend has a sign right under her front door that says, "Your are now entering the mission field" and this should ring true with everyone. All the people we see are influenced by us in some unforeseen way.

He has mighty plans for us, "Plans to prosper and not destroy, plans to give us a hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11. With that in mind we should be living on easy street right?
Well, no. This is a cruel world full of fallible people. Life is hard and living out your faith is even harder. But we can take courage in this: "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith,"John 5:4. 

But we are all born from God not of Him...until something awesome happens. We die to ourselves and become more than we could ever be alone. "You however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you,"Romans 8:9.

Anyways, I don't know where I was really going with this but there are two points you should take from this post:

1.God works in mysterious ways but we should learn to trust His path for our lives (even if it should seem meaningless at times) and carry ourselves as if we are accomplishing the greatest task in the world.(Because we are, people!)

2.We are not enough to fulfill God's plans here on Earth. Without the Holy Spirit we would surely fail (I fail every day as it is). So take heart how incredible you are (or could be) with the unlimited potential of God's love and power sitting right inside of you every day waiting to fulfill what God has in store for us.

I'll stop there because this was a jumble of different idea trains, but I will leave you with this.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, Ephesians 3:20

Interruptible

The five-year plan. The perfect world where you graduate college, find a wife, step into an awesome job generator and get immediately put where you will live happily your entire life. This is what society feeds us. The entitlement our generation faces comes from the individualistic culture we have thrived under this far in our short little lives. There is no room for error, and if you don't know what you are going to be doing for the next 30 years at this exact moment--well you're screwed.
And He said to them,"Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him." Matthew 4:19-20.
This would not happen today: "Yeah, what kind of benefit packages are we talking about? Will I have to travel a lot? But y'all don't even have an office near the neighborhood I want to live, that would be a crazy commute...you should see their pool"
The disciples left everything behind. Their jobs, their security, their friends, their money; their lives. We are so self absorbed that many times God becomes the afterthought to our plans, hoping that He can squeeze His way in somewhere in there.
It's been really heavy on my heart these last few weeks that we, as Christians, need to be more interruptible. There are people with needs everywhere and all around us. Most of the time these needs are not recognized because no one will slow down to acknowledge them (sure makes it easier to disregard them when you don't have to see them).
Maybe God isn't calling you to teach English in Japan to impoverished children, but your neighbor down the street has found out they have a tumor on their spine and needs someone to do their yard work every month or so....or maybe it was a broken leg, no no it was a shark attack...You'll never know unless you open yourself up to the needs of others and become more perceptive to what God is calling you to do. Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work. Jeremiah 1:5
Be inspired. Listen to what He is telling you! Are you going to cram 20 hours into a Summer semester at school? Why not intern at a church for the summer instead. Thinking about going into graduate school? What's wrong with taking a year off to work in a mission in Africa educating the men to be better farmers...There are so many needs in this world and God uses us to further show His love.
It's the little things: paying for someone's lunch at another table, not getting that crazy cool watch and putting it towards a donation fund, even giving someone a ride to work. This is how love works, the more you give the more you receive: maybe not even from the other party but in ways you could never imagine until you take a chance, change a life, be who God has made you to be!

Slow down, listen. What is God saying?
Listen
Listen
And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him" 1Kings 19:11-13

Worship: its what's for lunch

Doing yard work, hot and sweaty. You feel at least 5 pounds of sweat at any give moment escaping from your body. Burned to a crisp, you think there is nothing worse than this, but it's quite the opposite. Nothing could glorify God more! "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Rev. 4:11. Because He created all things, in all things we can glorify Him: meaning we can worship God at all times through all things.

We have been called to worship God and we are a people that love to worship. In our every day lives you find things to worship and devote your time to, I know recently the Zimmerman trial got an absurd amount of media coverage and people could not get enough of the trial and its proceedings...this is an example of worship. If you've ever seen a video of fans during a Michael Jackson concert, they are jumping yelling, doing things they would never do in the "real world" passing out and fantasizing about Him in an unnatural way. That is worship. Even down to college football, putting so much into every week, knowing players and the amount of passion displayed at every game--worship.

So you see, we worship whether or not God is involved at all. "The Lord said,'These people claim to worship me, but their words are meaningless, and their hearts are somewhere else. Their religion is nothing but human rules and traditions, which they have simply memorized,'" Isaiah 29:13. 

We worship God with our words, our hearts and our deeds. These are things that we use every day even (going back to my first point) when we're baking alive in the sun. This means we have the opportunity to worship God the Father in even the most random of times! He made us to worship and made us to cut grass, why not kill two birds with half a stone, am I right?

"So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you; Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. THIS is the true worship that you should offer," Romans 12:1. 

We can offer ourselves up to God in every situation presented to us. We must be different than those of this world, a city on a hill burning brightly, the salt and the light. We have to distinguish ourselves so people can think, "What is it they have that I am missing?" 

What do we have, are we different? Does my life mean something more? 

The answer is YES and we should praise God for that! He formed us in our mother's womb to be special, full of an everlasting peace and joy--that's awesome. Sounds like a reason to celebrate! 

So what if you decide to celebrate while you're cutting the grass.