A New Year Full of Awesome Things

I absolutely love a new year. A new year holds so much promise. I get another year older, another year wiser, and married a little bit longer to my main man. My children continue to grow and discover the world around them and it is just all a really awesome thing. As do many, I love to organize things and declutter my life as well as work on priorities. Just like most others, I probably don't keep a lot of these new habits, but I'm a dreamer. That's just the life of a dreamer like myself. I love to dream of new possibilities and what might be. I love to think of better ways to do things and how I can make myself become a better version of me. I would love to be more of a doer. Hmmmm....maybe that should be a goal for 2015. But I have digressed.....

I was studying my last devotion of the year and one of the scriptures to read was Romans 15:13.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." 

Then I read in another devotion, John 14: 26-28 It is Jesus speaking. The words gave me chills. I'm pretty sure I've read this passage often, but for some reason it really hit me.

"But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative - that is, the Holy Spirit - he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart. And that peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid."

So these two passages stayed in my heart over the course of the day. We have a gift. A very important gift. We have peace of mind and heart. It is a kind of peace that nothing else in the world can give. Sometimes my anxiety is over the top, but then I read this. He gives ME peace. A peace that is different. Our God of Hope fills us with JOY and PEACE as we trust HIM. We can OVERFLOW with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit. Did you read that? It said overflow. Overflow with hope. Wow.

I don't know about you, but those promises are comforting. So as we go into our new year filled with new adventures, new life, new jobs, moving,  possibilities,  major life changes, or whatever it may be for you - remember, He's got this. HE has GOT this. He has you. He gives you peace. Be brave. Take risks. You might fail. In fact, you probably will fail at some things. It is okay. I promise. You'll keep going. You'll make it. Do some hard stuff. Do some fun stuff. Do some silly stuff. Allow yourself to love and experience joy like never before. He doesn't promise a perfect life, but he promises us something that the world cannot offer - a peace like no other - and I'm clinging to that promise. 

~ Peace out homies. May your 2015 be peaceful, full of hope, lots of joy, and rockin' all at the same time. 

Christmas is a BIG deal!

Merry Christmas Eve! I sit here blogging in my bed and rather feeling sorry for myself. I'm sick at Christmas time. My throat and neck are in a ridiculous amount of pain. I relented and saw the doctor this morning because I did not want to spend Christmas day in bed. The last time I remember being sick at Christmas was when I had the flu as a teenager, and that was pretty crappy too. 

As I sit and think about all of the things I should be doing and all of my favorite traditions I'm missing, I am reminded that Christmas really isn't about any of it those things. Christmas happens whether or not I make it to the Christmas Eve service at church. It happens whether or not I get to drive around and enjoy lights, while listening to Christmas music and sipping my peppermint latte. It happens regardless of how many gifts I have purchased and lovingly (or hastily) wrapped. 

Christmas happened a really long time ago because our God wanted to relate to us. He sent Himself in the form of a baby, the most vulnerable life form possible, so that He could experience human life and relate to us. That is HUGE. He understands life. He gets it. He knows what it is like to grow up, to be tired, to be hungry, to work, to feel betrayal, to be tempted, and so much more. Christmas happened because God loved us so much, He gave us Jesus. He gave US Jesus. Christmas happened a really long time and it continues to happen every year, because we celebrate our Savior. The Savior the world waited for after so many, many years of thinking God was seemingly silent.

Christmas is about remembering Jesus. Plain and simple. May your hearts be filled with peace this year as you celebrate our Prince of Peace. 

"Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name."

The Rich Man

The Rich Man (Mark 10:17- 31)

¹⁷ As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. ¹⁹ But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.”
²⁰ “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”
²¹ Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
²² At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
²³ Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” ²⁴ This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. ²⁵ In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”
²⁶ The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.
²⁷ Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”
²⁸ Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.
²⁹ “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, ³⁰ will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. ³¹ But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then

 We studied this passage in Sunday school this morning. We read it, retold it, and discussed the implications of this passage in our life. We are also challenged to share it with others. I decided I would write about it.

There are a few things that stand out to me in this particular passage. The first being in verse 21 where it talks about how Jesus felt genuine love for the young rich man and the exchange between them.

This young man probably truly believed he was doing everything right. He probably thought Jesus was going to pat him on the back for keeping the commandments. But Jesus looked at him and felt genuine love. What does it mean to have genuine love? Jesus knew that this young man wasn't keeping all of the commandments. His wealth was his idol and it was keeping him from placing his entire value in the kingdom of God. Because Jesus felt genuine love for this young rich man, He spoke the truth. He knew the young man's heart. Sometimes the truth hurts. The truth certainly made this young man sad. I mean, he probably wasn't expecting Jesus to say that. If he had expected it, he might not have asked. 

I do not think the God requires most of us to sell all of our possessions and give away the money to the poor. I do however think that He expects them not to be barriers to our faith walk. 

When we have people in our world that don't know from where their next meal will come and we are planning a weekly menu with our stocked kitchens, there is a problem. A big problem. I don't believe God intended for us to be this way. And believe me when I say that I'm calling myself out just as much as anyone. 

So many people view material wealth as a blessing. Wealth is not a sign that someone's faith is stronger. It does not mean that God loves that person more than you and has shown them favor. 

Then why do we seek it? Why do we cling to it? Do we actually want to obtain wealth so that we can be more generous and help more people? 

Matthew 5:3 [ The Beatitudes ] “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. 

God expects us to take care of the poor.  

Is our money in the collection plate enough? Is our once a year donation to a charity helping impoverished countries cutting it? Does purchasing those sparkly Toms really help that child in need? 

Does He want us to do more? How much more?

Proverbs 28:27 Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed.

So what does this mean for me and very likely you? Well, I think that the Bible is clear that we should not let money and possessions become our idols and we should give generously. But I think in addition to challenging ourselves to be more generous, we can look at this passage and ask what our own idol is? What is keeping us from seeking God completely? What is keeping us from following Him with all of our heart, mind, and soul. It may surprise you. I am challenged in many ways after dissecting this passage.

Matthew 6:33 
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

I challenge you to evaluate your priorities this week? Are they in check? Is there something that you need to release in order to follow Him completely. 

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” -Mahatma Gandhi

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." - Leo Tolstoy

Ask yourself hard questions this week. Make yourself a little bit uncomfortable. 

-Peace out. 

Jesus, Can I tell you how I feel?

"Jesus, Jesus,

Can I tell you how I feel?

You have given me Your Spirit.

I love you so."

These are the lyrics to a very simple song that I learned this weekend at my Emmaus Walk.  Those lyrics now give me chills every time I sing them.

Guess what scripture was in my devotion this morning?

Psalm 27:8

My heart has heard you say , “Come and talk with me.”

And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

The purpose of this post is not really about my Emmaus experience. I’m honestly still processing it as I haven’t even been back a full day. I will say that the secrets and mysteries make sense. I guess you could say I drank the kool-aid. I was insanely annoyed with almost everyone in the Emmaus community before I left for my walk. It all makes sense now. It was a magical experience for me. I experienced God’s love like I have never experienced in my life. And what I felt was just a tiny portion of His love and quite frankly that is overwhelming. Like I’m still kind of freaked out about how much He loves me. I have a hard time accepting love and He revealed that to me this afternoon as I was thinking about a certain part of my walk. 

But the cool thing about this weekend….I was able to tell Jesus how I have been feeling.

Friends, I’m burned out. That’s how I’m feeling. Burned out, overcommitted, and not enjoying serving Him because I have my hands in too many baskets. I started looking through some of my older blog posts, starting about 4 years ago. I was eager to find out where He wanted me to serve and praying for new opportunities. I got so caught up in how good to felt to serve, that I didn’t question any new service opportunities.  Before I even realized what happened, I was hanging at the end of the rope and not sure what to do. I have so much going on that I barely have time for my family and close friends (who fit in the family category for me) or my own personal quiet time. That is not okay.

Here’s the thing. I love Jesus. I absolutely do. He is freaking awesome. He gives me hope. He gives me courage. He carries me. I love Him so much that I don’t want to let Him down. He’s done so much for me that I can’t ever do enough to repay Him. But you know what?  I don’t have to repay him. I can’t repay Him. I just have to accept His love and grace. I don’t have to serve Him to repay Him. I serve Him because I love others and I want them to see just a tiny glimpse of His love.  But I don’t have to do everything. I’m not called to do everything. So, I’m going to chill out a bit and start praying about the new opportunities that come along my path. It may not be my time.  One thing was loud and clear to me over the weekend. I need to free up more time so that I can spend more time in His word and then write about it.  I also need to be careful and evaluate if I am serving to please a person because I simply cannot say no, or if I am serving because God wants me to do so. I’m a people pleaser. I always have been. I gave that to Him this weekend. I’m excited to see how making these changes will impact my walk with Him.

I continued reading in Psalm 27 and I came upon one of my favorite verses.

Psalm 27:14

Wait patiently for the Lord.

Be brave and courageous.

Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

Waiting patiently for Him is difficult. Really difficult. It actually can really suck. I pretty much hate waiting. The beauty of it is that He will give us patience. There are many things I’m waiting to understand right now.

Lamentations 3:24-26

I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!

The Lord is good to those who depend on Him, to those who search for Him.

So it good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.

Keep waiting and searching for Him. Be brave while you wait. He does not give us a spirit of fear. Keep telling Him how you feel. He will reveal Himself to you in some pretty incredible ways.

Peace out, homies. Let me know if I can pray for you. It would be an honor.

Love is in the Air

Chris and I have had the privilege or working with our high school students since this past August. We both absolutely love it. We have an amazing group of students and I love hearing their insight on life. We also had the privilege of going to our very first Resurrection as chaperones. For those of you who don’t know, Resurrection is a ministry that offers a weekend retreat for 6^th-12^th graders in Gatlinburg, TN. It is a good time for spiritual renewal for all parties involved.

The theme of our weekend was Love. The pastor, Andy Nixon, really encouraged us to love like Jesus. He shared great stories of love and hope. The band that led worship, The City Harmonic, was phenomenal. The music really bestowed upon us a mountaintop experience. The lyrics to all of the songs are so deeply entrenched with Scripture. The presence of God was very alive this past weekend and will most definitely remain a memorable and life changing experience for all of us.

The theme of love has really been impressed in my heart for the past year or so now. If you read my blog, you might remember me writing about it from time to time. I personally have felt the Holy Spirit convicting me to love on a deeper level for quite some time.

Well, fast forward to this Wednesday’s lesson with our high school group. We are studying the book of James. Tonight we focused on loving without favoritism. We dove into some Scripture that really explained what love is, how we do it, and why we do it. We challenged the group tonight to really pray about how they might be able to show love to someone they might not normally want to love.

One of my favorite passages of the Bible comes from Romans 12:9-10.

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

I did a quick search and I found the phrase “love your neighbor” is mentioned 11 times in my translation of the Bible. (Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:39, Matthew 5:43, Mark 12:31, Galatians 5:14, Leviticus 19:18, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, James 2:8, Romans 13:8, and Romans 13:9)

I don’t know about you…but I’m going to deduce that it is a pretty BIG deal to love our neighbors.

Notice the Bible doesn’t say any of the following: Love your neighbor if they are rich. Love your neighbor if they think just like you. Love your neighbor if they drive a nice car. Love your neighbor if they are nice to you. Love your neighbor if they don’t get on your nerves. Love your neighbor if they live the exact same lifestyle as you. Love your neighbor if they love God.

It just says to love your neighbor. That’s it. No exclusions.

I don’t know about you, but that is pretty convicting. It is really easy to love the people who think just like me. It is really easy to love the people that I enjoy being around. It is easy to love the people who don’t challenge me. That kind of puts me in a really vulnerable position and I don’t always like to be vulnerable.

Romans 12:9-10 actually says not to pretend to love, but to love genuinely and to actually take delight in honoring each other. Seriously, I can’t pretend? I have to enjoy this love stuff? I have to take actual delight in it?

Wow, God. Just wow.

How is anyone to ever come to know the love of Jesus if we don’t mirror the heart of God in our actions?

That is powerful stuff people. This love stuff…it’s hard. Really hard. It isn’t easy. But we are commanded to do it. And by doing so, we are showing others just a small glimpse of the love Jesus has to offer.

I’m going to end on this challenge. We asked our high school students to actually show love to an unlovable (in their eyes) person this week. I’m going to ask you to do the same. I’m going to ask myself to do the same. I’m honestly not around tons of people as a stay at home mom, but I’m praying that God will put that person in my path and I will be able to show him or her a tiny glimpse of God’s love. It may be a co-worker, family member, fellow student, roommate, but we all have a person that we can love this week. I’m asking you to be bold. Do what you are called to do as a fellow believer and make a difference by putting yourself out there and loving. Let’s see what kind of difference we can make for the Kingdom of God. Maybe your act of love will be the example a person needs to know that the one true God loves him. This has the potential to be huge, if we all just take the time to show a little bit of God’s love and grace that He so generously pours onto us. 

-Peace out. Go love someone unlovable this week. 

Joyful

What does is really mean to have joy? What does it mean to be joyful?

joy.ful adjective \ˈjȯi-fəl\ : feeling, causing, or showing great happiness: full of joy

Synonyms: blissful, delighted, gratified, happy, glad, joyous, pleased, satisfied, thankful, tickled

Friends, I've struggled with this for a long time. I can remember as a teenager praying for the joy of the Lord. It has always been something I've wanted so badly but I've honestly been afraid of having it - so I've never truly asked for it.

There was a message at church this past week that really spoke to my heart. The gist of it was that we need to stop being afraid to ask God for little tiny things and to be bold and let Him know the desires of our heart. Don't just ask Him for socks and underwear when He wants to give you the big screen TV. It hit me and has been weighing heavy on my heart. I always feel guilty for asking God for things because I feel like there are so many other things that are more important. Like people who are starving, dying, or homeless. The truth is that God cares about my desires as much as He does the person with needs that I can't even imagine. The truth is that we all have the same need - which is our salvation.

John 16:24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. 

I've decided that I'm asking joy. The unspeakable joy that I sing about in worship. The joy that I know is real because I know Jesus. The joy that I have little glimpses of daily, but I am afraid to let consume me because of what that might actually mean. The faith-altering, life-changing joy that changes my view of the world and I how respond to basically everything in my life.

I am praying to be blissful in my spiritual walk; delighted in my husband and children; thankful for my struggles; satisfied with my materialistic possessions; and happy with my friendships and family.

I want a life full of joy and I'm asking God for it this year.

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers,^[when you meet trials of various kinds,  for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 

-Peace out. May you find joy in all things. 

This is what it is all about...(not the hokey pokey)

Matthew 22:37-40 has been on my mind a lot lately. Like for months actually. It has been consuming my thoughts, so I guess it is time I write about it.

37Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

What does it really mean to love God that much? I’m fairly certain it is a level of perfect love that we as humans will never actually reach, but we should strive for every second of every day. I think as Christians, we get that. We need to love God. We need to put Him first. We need to trust Him. We need to let Him lead our lives. Putting those things into action is what is really more difficult. Let’s face it. We have a lot of distractions in our lives that keep us from loving God with all of our heart, soul, and mind.  But like I said, I think we know we should strive for that love.

The second part of that command which Jesus says is EQUALLY important – to love our neighbor as yourself? Wait……what? I’m supposed to love everyone as much as I love myself?

1 John 3:11

11This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

Romans 12: 9-10

9Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

1 Corinthians 13: 1-13

1If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

4Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.8Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.11When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

13Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Romans 13:8

8 Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.

These verses are just the tip of the iceberg. Seriously, love is kind of the theme.  Especially loving others.

Here is my question. Why is this so hard for Christians? Sadly, Christians are known to be some of the most hateful and ugly people around the world. What kind of disservice are we doing to the name of Christ? I mean, really? Friends, what are we doing?

Dude, Jesus loved. He loved everyone. He hung out with the unlovable.  He taught them. He fed them. He healed them. He loved people.  Jesus was love. Jesus is LOVE.

Aren’t we supposed to be like Jesus? That is a rhetorical question, in case you didn’t know.

I seriously get all warm and bubbly thinking about Jesus. He was hands down the coolest guy who ever walked the face of the earth. I want to be like Him. I really do. I eff it up daily, but He is patient with me.

So my challenge for whomever reads this little blog of mine is this….

Walk the walk, people. Stop giving Christianity a bad name. Stop doing things in the name of Jesus that aren’t Christ-like. LOVE. Love unconditionally. Forgive. Help. Use your spiritual gifts. Make a difference. Show grace. Love others. Don’t pretend to love. Really love them. Look at people as Jesus sees them and remember that God made that person too.

The church isn’t about pretty candles. It isn’t about whether or not you think the music is at an acceptable level. It isn’t about the Sunday School rooms being big enough. It isn’t about the thermostat setting in the worship area. It isn’t about sermons that make you feel happy and don’t challenge you. It isn’t about whether or not you agree with every little thing. Being the church is about coming together as a unified body of believers who have one greater purpose.  

John 17:20-23 (part of Jesus’ prayer)

20I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

22“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.