Last night, Zach and I attended our church's Good Friday service. It was a great time to reflect on the most important aspect of our faith in Jesus Christ. If Jesus had not died for our sins, he would have been just a moral teacher ( and, honestly, a nut job since he claimed to be God!) We could not have the joy of Easter faith without the sorrow of Good Friday. We all together read the prophesy reading in Isaiah 53:2-12 written hundreds of years before Jesus' birth. It is pretty remarkable. God had this planned all along. Since the fall of man, God began His work to redeem us! This reading is quite beautiful.
Isaiah 53:2-12
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgement he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied, by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
One part in there especially struck me, v. 10 says, "Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer" How have you suffered this year? Reason tells us, "Isn't God loving??" so why would He want us to suffer? We all have it in us, a yearning for an Eden-like world. I know, I have family members who I see especially have a desire for the ideal world. Truth is, God made us that way, and we DID have Eden, but we sinned. We believed the lie that we can be "good without God" we gave into pride, and so suffering and death is the penalty. But God, being all loving, has mercy, He came here to earth Himself through Jesus and suffered and died so that we might be saved.
Ok, so I have accepted Jesus as the "intercession" for my sins. So, why do I still suffer? Paul says in Romans to rejoice in suffering. For suffering produces perseverance, character and hope. While we are here we remember that God never wastes our suffering experiences, but uses it, if we allow Him. We also need to remember that God cares deeply, and has compassion for us (Matthew 14:14). The story doesn't end here. In verse 11, it says "after the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life." It was true for Jesus, and it is true for all of us who believe in Him!
Revelation 21:1,4 says, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth...there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
I better check myself before I wreck myself
Zach here-I want to thank Haley for giving me the honor of being a guest blogger! I have been so encouraged by her blog posts and impressed with her insights. Having never posted on a blog, I have been a little unsure as to what I should write about but here goes...
I want to share some of the things I think God has been working to fix in my thinking. Perhaps you can identify and perhaps not. I am an intellectual property attorney and I spend most of my time working for people who are fairly wealthy and relatively well educated. Likewise, my work colleagues are all attorneys who have both technical and law degrees. Almost all of my friends are college educated and for the most part are doing fairly well financially now that we are in our thirties. The church Haley and I are members of has a congregation that, with some exceptions, is mostly white and upper middle class. In short, there is a real danger that I can live my life in a bubble, which is what I have been doing lately. However, this kind of life is completely contrary to what I think (per scripture) God would have his followers doing.
I started thinking about this a few weeks ago after I spent a half-day as a potential juror in the Dallas County criminal court system. Yes, we attorneys are not exempt from jury duty, even though we are not usually picked as jurors (I didn't get picked). As a potential juror, I was privy to hearing the opinions of my fellow Dallas County citizens. Although many of my fellow jurors seemed like very fine people, a number of other individuals seemed like, how can I say this, pure white trash. During breaks, I heard a couple of them discussing their own future court dates for various charges and just how drunk they had gotten the night before.
I have lived and worked with all types of criminals and addicts previously in my life. You might be surprised to hear that not all of them were lawyers. ;) When I worked on a dock at a fish processing plant in Alaska one summer when I was 19, almost all of my friends/co-workers were felons of some kind or likely on their way to becoming felons if they didn't change paths. Many of them were also hooked on something or another. However, that seems like a long time ago now and I found myself at jury duty beginning to harbor all kinds of negative thoughts about many of my fellow potential jurors. I was annoyed with them and quite frankly, looked down on them. I wanted to get as far away from them as fast as possible. This is when I think God started to work in my heart and I began to question my thinking.
Basically, I think God is revealing just how prideful I am and how wrongheaded my thoughts are. I think my internal thinking was along these lines: my education, perceived morality and upbringing makes me better than the people I was annoyed with and more valuable in God's sight. What a joke. This is undeniably false according to God's word. Not only that, this kind of self-righteous thinking is sinful and will render me much less likely to be used by God.
First, I need to check myself and realize that God isn't at all impressed with how much I think I've accomplished apart from Him:
Isaiah 64:6:
"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
In fact, I would say that I have done nothing in my life of any truly lasting value apart from God's active involvement. Jesus's teachings as written in the Gospel of John support this conclusion:
John 15:1-5:
1 “I [Jesus] am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Second, I need to remember that God loved the entire world of screwed up people (like me) and sent Jesus to deliver us from the condemnation that we deserve as a result of our rebellion against Him:
John 3:16:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
I note from the foregoing famous scripture verses that there is nothing in there about God only loving and using the educated, well-off, non-annoying and the superficially righteous. In contrast, from what I can tell, God has instead made it a habit to pick out the non-educated (many of Jesus's disciples-see Acts 4:13), annoying (Zacchaeus the tax collector) and initially blatantly sinful (Saul/Paul) for his most important work.
The truth is that we are all sick and in the same boat. We all need a savior to heal us:
Luke 5:16-17:
16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
I pray that God would help me see when pride enters into my thinking and that He will help me root it out so that I can be effective in sharing His love for the world.
I want to share some of the things I think God has been working to fix in my thinking. Perhaps you can identify and perhaps not. I am an intellectual property attorney and I spend most of my time working for people who are fairly wealthy and relatively well educated. Likewise, my work colleagues are all attorneys who have both technical and law degrees. Almost all of my friends are college educated and for the most part are doing fairly well financially now that we are in our thirties. The church Haley and I are members of has a congregation that, with some exceptions, is mostly white and upper middle class. In short, there is a real danger that I can live my life in a bubble, which is what I have been doing lately. However, this kind of life is completely contrary to what I think (per scripture) God would have his followers doing.
I started thinking about this a few weeks ago after I spent a half-day as a potential juror in the Dallas County criminal court system. Yes, we attorneys are not exempt from jury duty, even though we are not usually picked as jurors (I didn't get picked). As a potential juror, I was privy to hearing the opinions of my fellow Dallas County citizens. Although many of my fellow jurors seemed like very fine people, a number of other individuals seemed like, how can I say this, pure white trash. During breaks, I heard a couple of them discussing their own future court dates for various charges and just how drunk they had gotten the night before.
I have lived and worked with all types of criminals and addicts previously in my life. You might be surprised to hear that not all of them were lawyers. ;) When I worked on a dock at a fish processing plant in Alaska one summer when I was 19, almost all of my friends/co-workers were felons of some kind or likely on their way to becoming felons if they didn't change paths. Many of them were also hooked on something or another. However, that seems like a long time ago now and I found myself at jury duty beginning to harbor all kinds of negative thoughts about many of my fellow potential jurors. I was annoyed with them and quite frankly, looked down on them. I wanted to get as far away from them as fast as possible. This is when I think God started to work in my heart and I began to question my thinking.
Basically, I think God is revealing just how prideful I am and how wrongheaded my thoughts are. I think my internal thinking was along these lines: my education, perceived morality and upbringing makes me better than the people I was annoyed with and more valuable in God's sight. What a joke. This is undeniably false according to God's word. Not only that, this kind of self-righteous thinking is sinful and will render me much less likely to be used by God.
First, I need to check myself and realize that God isn't at all impressed with how much I think I've accomplished apart from Him:
Isaiah 64:6:
"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
In fact, I would say that I have done nothing in my life of any truly lasting value apart from God's active involvement. Jesus's teachings as written in the Gospel of John support this conclusion:
John 15:1-5:
1 “I [Jesus] am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Second, I need to remember that God loved the entire world of screwed up people (like me) and sent Jesus to deliver us from the condemnation that we deserve as a result of our rebellion against Him:
John 3:16:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
I note from the foregoing famous scripture verses that there is nothing in there about God only loving and using the educated, well-off, non-annoying and the superficially righteous. In contrast, from what I can tell, God has instead made it a habit to pick out the non-educated (many of Jesus's disciples-see Acts 4:13), annoying (Zacchaeus the tax collector) and initially blatantly sinful (Saul/Paul) for his most important work.
The truth is that we are all sick and in the same boat. We all need a savior to heal us:
Luke 5:16-17:
16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
I pray that God would help me see when pride enters into my thinking and that He will help me root it out so that I can be effective in sharing His love for the world.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Coming soon....
As many, or maybe a few of you, may know, I like my television. So, right now I am excited to be like a TV host on my own show through this blog.
Coming soon, on Haley's Blog.........we will be having a guest star!!!!
My amazing and Christ-centered husband, Zach Hilton, will be writing and posting his thoughts making his first guest appearance on John 3:30 blog. Stay tuned!! ;-)
Coming soon, on Haley's Blog.........we will be having a guest star!!!!
My amazing and Christ-centered husband, Zach Hilton, will be writing and posting his thoughts making his first guest appearance on John 3:30 blog. Stay tuned!! ;-)
Monday, March 7, 2011
My confession.
What is confession?
"When we fill our hearts with the glory of God (through Adoration) and pray as Jesus taught us, 'Hallowed be your name,' the natural movement of our hearts is to see the darkness of our lives in light of his radiance." ....
"Confession is the courageous and honest admission that we have violated God's holy law and are in desperate need of forgiveness." (How Do We Pray? Discipleship Essentials)
One question I had for a long while is, how do I confess? Do I tell people? Be it friends or family? Do I chastise myself when I know I messed up? Do I say a silent prayer to God? Do I talk out loud?
The Greek word, confess means "to agree with." How should we look at this? When we confess, we are agreeing with God with what He sees (Foster, 1998).
We often talk about what God blesses us with. "I am very blessed to have a great husband!" "I am so blessed to have a job in this economy!" " My children are a blessing from God!"
While this is true, I think that conviction of our sin is: 1. A blessing from God. 2. Only something God can do.
It is a blessing from God, in that we are clearly able to see our depravity and desperate need for God's rescue through Jesus. Zach and I were watching a documentary following a group of young soilders in combat in Afghanistan. In an extra interview of a young man returned home. He states his severe guilt for the things he has done 'over there.' Innocent lives taken at his hand, in some cases. He said he hated it when well meaning people told him, "Don't feel bad, you did what you had to do." This, he said, made him angry. "I didn't have to go there....I'm not a religious guy, but what is God going to say when I die and face Him? 'Oh, don't worry.' With a pat on the back. 'You did what you had to do, son, just comon' into heaven.' I don't f***ing think so."
This man knows the bad news, that he deserves death for what he has done. I remember when I realized that for the evil things I had done and not done. It is then, that we can really appriciate the Good News! Jesus paid the price. If we take all those terrible things to Him, we can be washed clean. That man, can go to God when he faces him and say, "I claim Jesus, your Son, as my only way into heaven." And God will welcome him in! Today, while still on earth, we can talk to God in prayer because of Jesus. When we confess, we are freed to see that much more and get that much closer to God, our Father.
Proverbs 3:11-12
"My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in."
This is repeated in the New Testament:
Hebrews 12:6 "because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
To be sure, we must be careful not to confuse God's conviction with Satan's accusations. I wrote a chart:
Satan's Accusations: vs. God's Conviction:
- causes feelings of unworthy - leads to godly sorrow
"Blessed are those who morn"(Matt 5:4)
- leads to restoration
- focused on a specific sin
to be God's child -remember "there is no condimnation in Christ"
- General unnamed guilt
-put downs
- feel discouraged
- nagging messages "You call
yourself a Christain? Who are you kidding?"
Here is the link to the video of the service where Zach and I shared our card board testimonies. http://www.northwestbible.org/60thanniversary
I am now going to share how I look at confessing my sins.
ME: I love my dog, Butters. She brings me so much joy, laughter, and love. I am crazy about her. But, Butters does poop. It's gross. She can't not poop, and she can't clean it up herself.
GOD: I love my daughter, Haley. She brings me so much joy, laughter, and love. I am crazy about her. But, Haley does sin. It's gross. She can't not sin, and she can't clean it up herself.
This is what I did. I wrote out each of my specific sins on a note card. Every shameful act. From sexual sin to lying. I read each one out loud to God, and took ownership of the wrong. And told him that I put it at His feet. I ripped each one up and put it in a plastic grocery sack, and then I threw it out, just like Butters poop.
God redeems us, and gives us victories. Once you realize, there is nothing you can do on your own about it. Through the sanctification process, I learn more and more about what sins God has helped me overcome, and what sins I still struggle with.
"When we fill our hearts with the glory of God (through Adoration) and pray as Jesus taught us, 'Hallowed be your name,' the natural movement of our hearts is to see the darkness of our lives in light of his radiance." ....
"Confession is the courageous and honest admission that we have violated God's holy law and are in desperate need of forgiveness." (How Do We Pray? Discipleship Essentials)
One question I had for a long while is, how do I confess? Do I tell people? Be it friends or family? Do I chastise myself when I know I messed up? Do I say a silent prayer to God? Do I talk out loud?
The Greek word, confess means "to agree with." How should we look at this? When we confess, we are agreeing with God with what He sees (Foster, 1998).
We often talk about what God blesses us with. "I am very blessed to have a great husband!" "I am so blessed to have a job in this economy!" " My children are a blessing from God!"
While this is true, I think that conviction of our sin is: 1. A blessing from God. 2. Only something God can do.
It is a blessing from God, in that we are clearly able to see our depravity and desperate need for God's rescue through Jesus. Zach and I were watching a documentary following a group of young soilders in combat in Afghanistan. In an extra interview of a young man returned home. He states his severe guilt for the things he has done 'over there.' Innocent lives taken at his hand, in some cases. He said he hated it when well meaning people told him, "Don't feel bad, you did what you had to do." This, he said, made him angry. "I didn't have to go there....I'm not a religious guy, but what is God going to say when I die and face Him? 'Oh, don't worry.' With a pat on the back. 'You did what you had to do, son, just comon' into heaven.' I don't f***ing think so."
This man knows the bad news, that he deserves death for what he has done. I remember when I realized that for the evil things I had done and not done. It is then, that we can really appriciate the Good News! Jesus paid the price. If we take all those terrible things to Him, we can be washed clean. That man, can go to God when he faces him and say, "I claim Jesus, your Son, as my only way into heaven." And God will welcome him in! Today, while still on earth, we can talk to God in prayer because of Jesus. When we confess, we are freed to see that much more and get that much closer to God, our Father.
Proverbs 3:11-12
"My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in."
This is repeated in the New Testament:
Hebrews 12:6 "because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
To be sure, we must be careful not to confuse God's conviction with Satan's accusations. I wrote a chart:
Satan's Accusations: vs. God's Conviction:
- causes feelings of unworthy - leads to godly sorrow
"Blessed are those who morn"(Matt 5:4)
- leads to restoration
- focused on a specific sin
to be God's child -remember "there is no condimnation in Christ"
- General unnamed guilt
-put downs
- feel discouraged
- nagging messages "You call
yourself a Christain? Who are you kidding?"
Here is the link to the video of the service where Zach and I shared our card board testimonies. http://www.northwestbible.org/60thanniversary
I am now going to share how I look at confessing my sins.
ME: I love my dog, Butters. She brings me so much joy, laughter, and love. I am crazy about her. But, Butters does poop. It's gross. She can't not poop, and she can't clean it up herself.
GOD: I love my daughter, Haley. She brings me so much joy, laughter, and love. I am crazy about her. But, Haley does sin. It's gross. She can't not sin, and she can't clean it up herself.
This is what I did. I wrote out each of my specific sins on a note card. Every shameful act. From sexual sin to lying. I read each one out loud to God, and took ownership of the wrong. And told him that I put it at His feet. I ripped each one up and put it in a plastic grocery sack, and then I threw it out, just like Butters poop.
God redeems us, and gives us victories. Once you realize, there is nothing you can do on your own about it. Through the sanctification process, I learn more and more about what sins God has helped me overcome, and what sins I still struggle with.
Monday, February 21, 2011
God who?
Last weekend, my mom shared her sabfab time with me. I enjoyed the ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and suplication) method of prayer with the movement of my body.
(Deuteronomy 6:5) "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."
We were made to love and admire God with all our heart, mind, body, strength. And yet, this is many times the most difficult thing to do. Praise or worship or adoration means to get outside ourselves and take a look at who God IS and not what we think He is or should be. How do we know who God is then? We MUST look to Scripture to tell us, because otherwise we are just making our own assumptions based on our limited experiences and feelings.
First and formost, God is Holy. Ps. 99:9 "The Lord our God is holy." Whole hosts of angels were created to cry out (Isaiah 6:3) "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
Emil Brunner expresses: "Holiness is the Nature of God, that which distinguishes Him from everything else...Holiness is not a quality which God possesses in common with other beings; on the contrary, it is that which distinguishes Him clearly and absolutely from everything else."
I was once asked about the fact that the word "fear" is used in the Bible to describe how we feel about God. Well, I think that due to His complete holiness, to encounter the living God who is completely separated from sin and blameless in every way is a frightening experience.
It is frightening, because I know that I fall short. I miss the mark of perfection. Because I am sinful and prideful and want my way instead of God's way in my life I deserve death. Does that sound too harsh?
Paul reminds us, "For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23)
Because God is all holy, he hates sin, he cannot have anything to do with it, because He is all goodness and Light and there is no room for darkness with God. And He will exercise His wrath on sin.
Isaiah 13:9 "See, the day of the Lord is coming- a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger-to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it."
I know that God is just.
Isaiah 5:16 "But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness."
I have been thinking this week, about all the injustice in the world today. Murder, rape, freedoms taken away, hatefullness. Don't you want justice? I know I do. It is good to know that God is good and God is just. He will set all things right. I like this until it comes down to me. When I am the one who has done the wrong, that is when I really want the Holy God to show his mercy and love. And he does! As much as God hates sin, He loves His people, He wants us to CHOOSE to love Him and choose to turn away from whatever else drives us in life to be driven by love for Him!
"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." - look at this passage from Deu. "love the Lord your God" He is MY God, not only the God of nations, all powerful and knowing, but my personal helper and friend. There is a Christian song I have been listening to, and one of the lyrics says, "Could the Maker of the stars, hear the sound of my breaking heart?"
God is so personal, we are made to be so personal with Him. He wants in on all aspects of our life. Last week, I was working, and I had been sick the day before. I was exhausted, I felt almost numb. Between patient visits, I was just in tears crying out loud to God because in my own strength, I felt helpless. I could not go on. I told Him that He was going to have to do this last visit, give me the energy and strength. I was too weary, He needed to pick me up. God is always faithful. I felt a rush of joy come over me, and I made it for my last visit. I realized this was another example of how Jesus comes to our rescue. God wants us to call on Him, can I go to heaven? Yes, because you are covered by Jesus, he did it all for you if you just believe in Him. Can I get through this work day? Yes, because God is going to carry you through if you just believe in Him.
God is loving and merciful, he gave us Jesus. I would not be alive if not for Him.
John 5:26 "For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself."
(Deuteronomy 6:5) "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."
We were made to love and admire God with all our heart, mind, body, strength. And yet, this is many times the most difficult thing to do. Praise or worship or adoration means to get outside ourselves and take a look at who God IS and not what we think He is or should be. How do we know who God is then? We MUST look to Scripture to tell us, because otherwise we are just making our own assumptions based on our limited experiences and feelings.
First and formost, God is Holy. Ps. 99:9 "The Lord our God is holy." Whole hosts of angels were created to cry out (Isaiah 6:3) "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
Emil Brunner expresses: "Holiness is the Nature of God, that which distinguishes Him from everything else...Holiness is not a quality which God possesses in common with other beings; on the contrary, it is that which distinguishes Him clearly and absolutely from everything else."
I was once asked about the fact that the word "fear" is used in the Bible to describe how we feel about God. Well, I think that due to His complete holiness, to encounter the living God who is completely separated from sin and blameless in every way is a frightening experience.
It is frightening, because I know that I fall short. I miss the mark of perfection. Because I am sinful and prideful and want my way instead of God's way in my life I deserve death. Does that sound too harsh?
Paul reminds us, "For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23)
Because God is all holy, he hates sin, he cannot have anything to do with it, because He is all goodness and Light and there is no room for darkness with God. And He will exercise His wrath on sin.
Isaiah 13:9 "See, the day of the Lord is coming- a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger-to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it."
I know that God is just.
Isaiah 5:16 "But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness."
I have been thinking this week, about all the injustice in the world today. Murder, rape, freedoms taken away, hatefullness. Don't you want justice? I know I do. It is good to know that God is good and God is just. He will set all things right. I like this until it comes down to me. When I am the one who has done the wrong, that is when I really want the Holy God to show his mercy and love. And he does! As much as God hates sin, He loves His people, He wants us to CHOOSE to love Him and choose to turn away from whatever else drives us in life to be driven by love for Him!
"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." - look at this passage from Deu. "love the Lord your God" He is MY God, not only the God of nations, all powerful and knowing, but my personal helper and friend. There is a Christian song I have been listening to, and one of the lyrics says, "Could the Maker of the stars, hear the sound of my breaking heart?"
God is so personal, we are made to be so personal with Him. He wants in on all aspects of our life. Last week, I was working, and I had been sick the day before. I was exhausted, I felt almost numb. Between patient visits, I was just in tears crying out loud to God because in my own strength, I felt helpless. I could not go on. I told Him that He was going to have to do this last visit, give me the energy and strength. I was too weary, He needed to pick me up. God is always faithful. I felt a rush of joy come over me, and I made it for my last visit. I realized this was another example of how Jesus comes to our rescue. God wants us to call on Him, can I go to heaven? Yes, because you are covered by Jesus, he did it all for you if you just believe in Him. Can I get through this work day? Yes, because God is going to carry you through if you just believe in Him.
God is loving and merciful, he gave us Jesus. I would not be alive if not for Him.
John 5:26 "For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself."
Monday, February 14, 2011
Be Mine!
A friends sent this to me, and thought it was perfect for Valentine's Day!
A Valentine may play a love song for you, but God sings to you the sweetest love song in the universe.
The Lord your God..will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
A Valentine may give you flowers, but God sent you the most beautiful rose of all. Jesus.
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. Song of Solomon 2:1
A Valentine may love you for a lifetime, but God loved you before you were born and will love you for all eternity.
Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love...with lovingkindness I have drawn you. Jeremiah 31:3
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Remember this day that our Lord God, holy and alive forever, is DEEPLY IN LOVE with you!!!!
A Valentine may play a love song for you, but God sings to you the sweetest love song in the universe.
The Lord your God..will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
A Valentine may give you flowers, but God sent you the most beautiful rose of all. Jesus.
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. Song of Solomon 2:1
A Valentine may love you for a lifetime, but God loved you before you were born and will love you for all eternity.
Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love...with lovingkindness I have drawn you. Jeremiah 31:3
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Remember this day that our Lord God, holy and alive forever, is DEEPLY IN LOVE with you!!!!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Walk Like a Christian, talk like a Christian
This week has been absolutely banannas! I really don't like the fact that I have to take time off work and the fact that I am not sitting on a beach or at a ski resort during this forced time off! But, it has given me the opportunity to take care of the things that I have been neglecting lately. I finally signed up for my 401k this week, I renewed my gym membership....went to the gym....spent time with parents, and most importantly, spent time with my Lord and Savior whom I love. Having the opportunity to marinate over conversations and experiences of late, an article by Darrell Johnson had been coming to my mind. Titled: Demands My All, he begins:
"'Life is difficult.' That is the way M. Scott Peck begins his very helpful book The Road Less Traveled. Most people do not see this truth. Most people believe that life should be easy. The road most traveled is the road of moaning and grumbling about life's difficulties. The road less traveled is the road of accepting life's difficulties and meeting them head-on."
Some good stuff. I want to take a closer look even. At first glance, one may speculate that what Johnson is pointing out is that we should just "get over it," with little to no sympathy. That we only have two choices in life, to be upset over the wrongs and hurts we endure or to pretend there are no wrongs or hurts. A pitfall for many Christians is that we think we have to have it "all together" in order to be a good Christ follower, that if things are ugly and testing us we need to slap on a happy face, hide it so others don't know we struggle, for the world to see that as a Christain, you too, could have it "all together" like me. This is a lie, and not what Jesus intended for his followers.
(2 Corinthians 12:9)" But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
We have heard the term "take up your cross."
(Matthew 16:24) "Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
I want to point out something here, Jesus is completely validating the fact that we each have a cross to bear. I know believers and non-believers alike who suffer with depression, death of loved ones, betrayal, cancer, loniness, chronic pain, and regrets. Jesus is not telling you to deny those very real pains, He is telling you to take up those hurts and pains, own them, and bring it to Him. Denying myself does NOT mean denying my self worth, denying myself does NOT mean denying my feelings. Denying myself does mean that I no longer answer to "Lord Haley"
D. Johnson says, "Human bondage in all its forms is the result of being our own gods."
If we can put aside our pride, jealousy, argumentative spirit, resentments, then we become free to be ourselves in a very honest and real way.
This raw exposure of ourselves seems intimidating, Jesus doesn't want you to be a basket case either. It is risky, to go against what the world tells you, and put your whole faith and joy in God. But I know from experience, that it is completely worth it. Remember, Jesus rose from the dead on Easter! He had to go through Good Friday, all the suffering and death, before he could overcome it.
It is also just as important to remember that the gifts God has given you, the unique mixture of your personal checkbook, home, brain, heart, talents, feet, mouth, etc. when given to God for HIS benefit and glory will never leave you short changed in life.
I have been reading Isaiah 43: 1-4 these past couple of days. I like how these verses give me some answers and insight into 1. Who God is. 2. Who I am and 3. What that means for me. When you go about denying yourself, its good to know what your doing it for (or Who in this case: God) and what we do receive in return.
God takes ownership of me (His creation)
"But now, this is what the Lord says- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine." (v. 1)
God protects me
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." (v. 2)
Who is God?
"For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your sted. (v. 3)
Who are we?
"Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you," (v. 4)
God sacrifices for us
"I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life." (v. 4)
"'Life is difficult.' That is the way M. Scott Peck begins his very helpful book The Road Less Traveled. Most people do not see this truth. Most people believe that life should be easy. The road most traveled is the road of moaning and grumbling about life's difficulties. The road less traveled is the road of accepting life's difficulties and meeting them head-on."
Some good stuff. I want to take a closer look even. At first glance, one may speculate that what Johnson is pointing out is that we should just "get over it," with little to no sympathy. That we only have two choices in life, to be upset over the wrongs and hurts we endure or to pretend there are no wrongs or hurts. A pitfall for many Christians is that we think we have to have it "all together" in order to be a good Christ follower, that if things are ugly and testing us we need to slap on a happy face, hide it so others don't know we struggle, for the world to see that as a Christain, you too, could have it "all together" like me. This is a lie, and not what Jesus intended for his followers.
(2 Corinthians 12:9)" But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
We have heard the term "take up your cross."
(Matthew 16:24) "Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
I want to point out something here, Jesus is completely validating the fact that we each have a cross to bear. I know believers and non-believers alike who suffer with depression, death of loved ones, betrayal, cancer, loniness, chronic pain, and regrets. Jesus is not telling you to deny those very real pains, He is telling you to take up those hurts and pains, own them, and bring it to Him. Denying myself does NOT mean denying my self worth, denying myself does NOT mean denying my feelings. Denying myself does mean that I no longer answer to "Lord Haley"
D. Johnson says, "Human bondage in all its forms is the result of being our own gods."
If we can put aside our pride, jealousy, argumentative spirit, resentments, then we become free to be ourselves in a very honest and real way.
This raw exposure of ourselves seems intimidating, Jesus doesn't want you to be a basket case either. It is risky, to go against what the world tells you, and put your whole faith and joy in God. But I know from experience, that it is completely worth it. Remember, Jesus rose from the dead on Easter! He had to go through Good Friday, all the suffering and death, before he could overcome it.
It is also just as important to remember that the gifts God has given you, the unique mixture of your personal checkbook, home, brain, heart, talents, feet, mouth, etc. when given to God for HIS benefit and glory will never leave you short changed in life.
I have been reading Isaiah 43: 1-4 these past couple of days. I like how these verses give me some answers and insight into 1. Who God is. 2. Who I am and 3. What that means for me. When you go about denying yourself, its good to know what your doing it for (or Who in this case: God) and what we do receive in return.
God takes ownership of me (His creation)
"But now, this is what the Lord says- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine." (v. 1)
God protects me
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." (v. 2)
Who is God?
"For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your sted. (v. 3)
Who are we?
"Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you," (v. 4)
God sacrifices for us
"I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life." (v. 4)
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