The other day I went on a run, a normal run I go on a few times a week throughout my city, and this run I happened to see a political table on a campaign I agree with. 3 miles into my run, a little sweaty, and pretty young, the ladies behind said table were talking to other voters, but neither shot me a smile, or a glance. When I grabbed a flier and mentioned I was interested, the lady shot me a look as to say "Okay, continue on, you're sweaty." But gave me a nod and I was off.
Within the 30 seconds of attention, or rather lack thereof, I had been absolutley turned off. Yes, I still agreed with the platform, but had I been a tentative voter, I would have ran to the other side.
The following verse flashed into my mind, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us" - 2 Corinthians 5:20
Proverbially, these women were ambassadors to their political embassy, and within 30 seconds, their attitudes dashed a young voter.
We ARE Christ's ambassadors, how many times do people only see a snippet of our 30 second witness and are completely swayed away from Christ's platform of justice, grace, and love? I am a totally guilty of this, and although we will never attain perfection on earth, it gives us a goal to strive for. A goal to love, to allow people to look at a snapshot of my life, and to see the love of Jesus resounding through it.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Oh me, Oh my
Wednesday Night. It hit me like a ton of bricks... You know when the pastor says something, and you can almost feel the spanking, and it suddenly gets a little toasty?
Conviction...
The much needed, but not-so-much-fun to get aspect of Christianity. The quote de jour that proverbally spanked me was from Charles Surgeon, "When we worry, we put faith in the Devil."
BOOM! Did you feel it?
For those of you who may not know me, or may not know me very well, I'm a control freak. I like consistency, I like to know point A, point B, and point C. As a younger chilld, I used to get myself worked up in a "what if..." frenzies, on a few occasions crying about fictitious events that may or may not happen. I've been told I'm a bit of a perfectionist (up for debate). You get the gist.
Present Day: Take an overachieving girl, 3 AP classes, Children's Ministry, and everyday life, and you pretty much inately receive stress. The knots currently in my back will attest to this.
Hearing my pastor say that into my ears, and hearing God Almighty say that to my heart really spoke to me.
Yes I worry, sometimes about incessent and ludicrous things. I stress about so many stupid minute details and try to figure out the Lord's will for me. So many times, I try to pull a Gideon. There have been times where I wish I could shake my bible like a magic 8 ball for the Divine Answer.
Rapture Ruckus, a really legit New Zealand band came to the college&career group last Sunday, before this quote was spoken. One of their songs spoke magnitude to me, the chorus was just talking about "hanging on" hanging on to the promises the Lord gives us.
I am now running after Jesus, giving Him my burdens of worry and stress, while clinging to the promises.
Sometimes it would be nice to see what the Lord has for me, but what I truly believe He wants from me is to take it day by day. To cling to the verses He has showed me, to delight in the blessings, to walk in plans (even if it's not my plan), and to Delight myself in Him, above all else.
Conviction...
The much needed, but not-so-much-fun to get aspect of Christianity. The quote de jour that proverbally spanked me was from Charles Surgeon, "When we worry, we put faith in the Devil."
BOOM! Did you feel it?
For those of you who may not know me, or may not know me very well, I'm a control freak. I like consistency, I like to know point A, point B, and point C. As a younger chilld, I used to get myself worked up in a "what if..." frenzies, on a few occasions crying about fictitious events that may or may not happen. I've been told I'm a bit of a perfectionist (up for debate). You get the gist.
Present Day: Take an overachieving girl, 3 AP classes, Children's Ministry, and everyday life, and you pretty much inately receive stress. The knots currently in my back will attest to this.
Hearing my pastor say that into my ears, and hearing God Almighty say that to my heart really spoke to me.
Yes I worry, sometimes about incessent and ludicrous things. I stress about so many stupid minute details and try to figure out the Lord's will for me. So many times, I try to pull a Gideon. There have been times where I wish I could shake my bible like a magic 8 ball for the Divine Answer.
Rapture Ruckus, a really legit New Zealand band came to the college&career group last Sunday, before this quote was spoken. One of their songs spoke magnitude to me, the chorus was just talking about "hanging on" hanging on to the promises the Lord gives us.
I am now running after Jesus, giving Him my burdens of worry and stress, while clinging to the promises.
Sometimes it would be nice to see what the Lord has for me, but what I truly believe He wants from me is to take it day by day. To cling to the verses He has showed me, to delight in the blessings, to walk in plans (even if it's not my plan), and to Delight myself in Him, above all else.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Just a Taste...
I created this blog to recrod, share, and create conversation about my thought, things the Lord is showing me, and things happening in real life. In the event that someone aside from my mom reads this, I thought it might be good you know a little about me.
- My mom is my best friend.
-I eat peanut butter out of the jar.
-I like saying I run 4x more than actually running.
-Sunflowers are the best ever. Unrivaled.
-I'm a total nerd.
-Eating organic=kosher.
-I want to marry someone who will always play the liscence plate game with me.
-Lighting is the coolest thing ever.
-I can't function properly without carmax, water, and a book in my purse.
-I wear flip-flops at least 10 months of the year, sometimes even when it rains.
-I'm 5'3", but with my hair I can probably squeeze 5'4" or 5'5".
- My mom is my best friend.
-I eat peanut butter out of the jar.
-I like saying I run 4x more than actually running.
-Sunflowers are the best ever. Unrivaled.
-I'm a total nerd.
-Eating organic=kosher.
-I want to marry someone who will always play the liscence plate game with me.
-Lighting is the coolest thing ever.
-I can't function properly without carmax, water, and a book in my purse.
-I wear flip-flops at least 10 months of the year, sometimes even when it rains.
-I'm 5'3", but with my hair I can probably squeeze 5'4" or 5'5".
-Pineapples should always be in season.
-Trucks and Jeep are the coolest ever.
-'Autumn' sounds 3x prettier than 'Fall', and is the best season.
-I drink black coffee.
-I'm bad at it, but I like to paint.
-I blare music usually with the windows down, and love car dancing.
-I am utterly sinful, and messed up. But Christ loves me, and His grace keeps me going.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Why?
This week a girl from my rival school passed away. She was highly allergic to peanuts, after prom she went to a party and consumed something with peanut oil. Unknowingly she had caused the catalyst to her death. She was a junior. My grade. Although I never met her, many of my friends knew her, and through the grapevine, I am affected.
A friend asked me, "Why does God allow this to happen?" This is a question I'm familiar with. Yes in my life, but also many people asking me. Many a times I've received "How can you believe in a God who allows..." "If God is loving, why does he allow..." and so on, and so forth.
A beloved Psalm came to my head while musing about how to respond to her text, Psalm 115:1-3 (ESV)
"Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Why should the nations say,
"Where is their God?"
Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases."
Why did God take the 17 year old girl? Why did God allow one of my best friend's mother to be taken while he was a young boy? Why did God allow a family's father to die? Why does God allow children to have cancer?
I don't know... But I know that my God, our God is in Heaven, and He does all he pleases. And throughout the chaos, and the pain, he uses all things to glorfiy His name of steadfast love.
And for me, that is enough to trust Him.
A friend asked me, "Why does God allow this to happen?" This is a question I'm familiar with. Yes in my life, but also many people asking me. Many a times I've received "How can you believe in a God who allows..." "If God is loving, why does he allow..." and so on, and so forth.
A beloved Psalm came to my head while musing about how to respond to her text, Psalm 115:1-3 (ESV)
"Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Why should the nations say,
"Where is their God?"
Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases."
Why did God take the 17 year old girl? Why did God allow one of my best friend's mother to be taken while he was a young boy? Why did God allow a family's father to die? Why does God allow children to have cancer?
I don't know... But I know that my God, our God is in Heaven, and He does all he pleases. And throughout the chaos, and the pain, he uses all things to glorfiy His name of steadfast love.
And for me, that is enough to trust Him.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
As the Rising Sun
After seeing a few great blogs, I have decided to launch myself into the stratosphere of le blog. Another inspiration is C.S. Lewis, whose quote gave me the name of this blog. His literature has not only expanded my imagination, it has radically challenged my faith. The title of the blog comes from a quote I love dearly.
"I believe in Christianity as I believe in the rising sun. Not because I see it, but by it I see everything." It speaks magnitudes.
Like all things that are seemingly simple, they often have deeper magnitude. My English teacher talks about many things we see/hear/experience as a bowl of soup. The broth rises to the top, but the real nutrition, the chunks of chicken, the noodles, the veggies (yum!) sink to the bottom. We tend to skim "the soup" in our lives. We don't take the time or the effort to get to the bottom and eat up the deliciousness lying there waiting.
One of my favorite bible verses is Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."
The Lord gave me this bible verse when I was a young freshman. It is specifically for one aspect of my life, but at the same time has become a very treasured verse, so much so, it's painted on my closest door.
I used to see it as "Sweet! The Lord cares about me, He'll give me the desires of my heart!"
(By all means, I don't believe in 'name it and claim it', I saw it as the Lord would give me things that I wanted if they were in His will.) This aspect is true, but I was missing such a vital part of this verse that I recently stumbled on.
When I am delighting myself in the Lord, when I am completely satisfied in His prescence (Psalm 16:11), I will find the desires of my heart are for the Lord, and for what He wills. It is a beautiful symbiotic relationship between the Lord and myself in which I am blessed, and in which I can bless my Savior.
"I believe in Christianity as I believe in the rising sun. Not because I see it, but by it I see everything." It speaks magnitudes.
Like all things that are seemingly simple, they often have deeper magnitude. My English teacher talks about many things we see/hear/experience as a bowl of soup. The broth rises to the top, but the real nutrition, the chunks of chicken, the noodles, the veggies (yum!) sink to the bottom. We tend to skim "the soup" in our lives. We don't take the time or the effort to get to the bottom and eat up the deliciousness lying there waiting.
One of my favorite bible verses is Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."
The Lord gave me this bible verse when I was a young freshman. It is specifically for one aspect of my life, but at the same time has become a very treasured verse, so much so, it's painted on my closest door.
I used to see it as "Sweet! The Lord cares about me, He'll give me the desires of my heart!"
(By all means, I don't believe in 'name it and claim it', I saw it as the Lord would give me things that I wanted if they were in His will.) This aspect is true, but I was missing such a vital part of this verse that I recently stumbled on.
When I am delighting myself in the Lord, when I am completely satisfied in His prescence (Psalm 16:11), I will find the desires of my heart are for the Lord, and for what He wills. It is a beautiful symbiotic relationship between the Lord and myself in which I am blessed, and in which I can bless my Savior.
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