The Alternate Routes: "I've seen the future and the future's nothing new. Just another day to miss the things we used to do."
I was hit tonight with the full force of the FALSENESS of that line. That's a lot of Fs. Full Force Falseness.
WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD ANYONE EVER WANT TO GO BACK TO "THE THINGS WE USED TO DO"???
I realize that all caps make it seem like shouting. That was intentional. Like I said, I was hit with FULL FORCE tonight. There is a verse for what I was hit with tonight. And by "verse" I mean five verses.
2 Corinthians 5:12-16 (NLT)
12 Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. 13 If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. 14 Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"
"If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Either way, Christ’s love controls us."
Observation #1. Sometimes, we ARE crazy. We do crazy things that don't make sense to our friends or our family or to culture or even to ourselves. But if Christ's love controls us, we can be sure that it's a good crazy. A divinely orchestrated kind of crazy. And like the verse says, "it is to bring glory to God." I like crazy. I like that I can bring glory to God in my unique craziness.
"Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ."
Observation #2.
I've done a lot of dumb stuff. (Ahem, by the way, there is a difference between dumb and crazy). I've done a lot of dumb stuff, and I've made a lot of dumb decisions (I still do. But that is another issue for another blog at another time). All of my bad decisions stem from a deeply ingrained selfishness. But because of "Christ, who died and was raised for [me]," that "old self"...that person with the deeply ingrained selfishness gets to die. I'm a new person. That old life is GONE. GONE FOREVER. NEVER TO COME BACK. Sometimes in my futility of thinking, I invite it back. All. Too. Often. But it will never be who I ultimately am, ever again.
I am so overwhelmed by that. I am a child of God. The God who freely gives out as many second chances as you need. The God who views me as spotless and blameless even though my behavior and actions are far from it. I am declared clean. I am declared innocent. That is how God views me. Because of the gruesome sacrifice of my beautiful Savior. [Enter tearing up here.]
"At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!" Just think about that. Think about how Christ is viewed. Think about a perfect someone who knows your heart and soul at it's deepest level, and painfully gave up his own life to save those deeply hidden parts of you. Not because those deeply hidden parts of you are worth saving. Not because you deserve to be saved. But because that's how great He is. That's how loving He is. Then think about having a conversation with that person. What can you even say? How do you move past all the gratitude to even have a conversation? Honestly, I think I don't show enough gratitude before moving on to the conversation part. But that's the beauty of the "how differently we know him now" part of the verse! We know him on a supernatural level now! Not just a human point of view. He makes it possible for us to enter into a lifelong conversation with him!
I don't think words will conclude that paragraph sufficiently.
I've been thinking about my future tonight. Hence the beginning of the post. (My mind enjoys going off on trails of its own.) I was thinking, and talking to God about it and writing in my journal and I reached a conclusion. It's a girly conclusion, which is fitting for me, so if you're not a girl, well...maybe some guy's blog has a manly conclusion for you.
My future is like a dance. Like a beautiful dance. It has been perfectly choreographed for me. It's as if for every step and every movement, my strength and flexibility and the grace (or lack thereof) with which I move have been taken into account. It's not necessarily an easy dance, it's designed to stretch me, to teach me, and make me a better dancer. But it's not a solo dance. It's a partner dance. And my partner just so happens to be Jesus Christ. And instead of learning the choreography beforehand, I'm standing on His feet, letting Him lead me. It's quirky at times. It's unexpected most of the time. And it has a lot of uncoordinated moments. Those are the times I start to fall off his feet, or when I start to look at the people around me instead of looking into His face. When I step off His feet things get really tangled up, because I don't know the steps and I make them up. But all I really have to do is stand on Jesus, my rock, look into His face and let Him hold me in His arms and trust that he can and will lead me gracefully across the dance floor with beautiful twirls and embellishments.
Yep, that is my life. I rather like it.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
GOSH, My Jesus is GOOD!
Let me just say...there are very few things I enjoy more than a middle of the night heart-to-heart talk with a beautiful, beautiful friend.
I love how pretty much anything in life can be answered by the cross of Jesus Christ. I read in John 12 tonight. It's after the raising of Lazarus where Jesus WEPT over his good friend's death. Even though He knew He was about to do a miracle. Let me just go back to that for a minute. If I'm being completely honest, I have to admit...I avoided reading John 11 for a few days. I think it was because I know how that story speaks to my heart. I am an emotional person, through and through. I feel things deeply. I didn't want to gloss over that chapter. I wanted to live in it for a while. And in my laziness, I put it off. I was being lazy with my time, and lazy with facing head on what I knew I would feel when I went there. It's the same thing I felt when I read The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis. When Digory returns from his journey with Polly and he has the fruit that Aslan said would make his mother better...Digory takes it to Aslan and starts crying. Aslan knows Digory has the fruit, he knows it will heal Digory's mom. But when the crying Digory looks up, he sees tears in Aslan's eyes. AH! That just speaks so loudly to me. Jesus loves me so much that even though He knows that He is working everything out...my pain brings Him pain. My sadness makes Him sad. My broken heart breaks His heart. There is no love in the history of the universe to match Jesus' love for each one of us.
Which brings me back to my original point in John 12. Jesus raised Lazarus and they had a party, and then He entered Jerusalem on a donkey and the people came out to worship Him and welcome Him. But He knows. He knows everything that's about to happen. He knows that the same crowd who worshipped Him is going to demand His death a few days later. He knows exactly what He is going to endure. And in verse 27 He says "Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, 'Father, save me from this hour"? But this is the very reason I came! Father bring glory to Your name." Jesus was human. I forget that a lot. His soul was deeply troubled. I don't know about you, but when my soul is deeply troubled, it pretty much consumes me. My Jesus knows better than I do what it feels like to have a troubled soul. And He has the power and the authority to meet me there with his grace and his comfort and his love and heal me.
Jesus' soul was troubled. He wanted to ask the Father to take the cup of His suffering from Him. But He knew that was the whole point of the incarnation. The entire reason Jesus took the lowly form of one of us. It was FOR US. For our redemption! So that we could have a way to have our relationship with the Father restored to what it was originally created to be. "Who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2 ESV).
Jesus is the ultimate example to follow. We should be striving to be more like Him in our everyday lives. In our interactions with our friends, and with people we don't like, and with the cashier at the store, and with the other drivers on the road, and with every other person we may come into contact with. We should strive for that even from the mundane tasks like getting ready in the morning and walking to class and doing our homework, to the divine interruptions that God brings our way.
That is what sanctification is all about. And it is overflowing in grace. I was reminded in one of my classes this morning (well, yesterday morning) that "nothing I do can make God love me more, and nothing I do can make God love me less." His love is unconditional. Once again, it does not depend on my merit. And it is so great a love that he suffered more physical, emotional, mental and spiritual pain than I will ever experience in a lifetime, to die in the place of the messy. The criminal. The lost. The mockers. The hurting. The wretched. The sinner.
Me, in a nutshell. And you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j0rYJI37yg
“Man of Sorrows!” what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
I think that pretty much says it all.
I love how pretty much anything in life can be answered by the cross of Jesus Christ. I read in John 12 tonight. It's after the raising of Lazarus where Jesus WEPT over his good friend's death. Even though He knew He was about to do a miracle. Let me just go back to that for a minute. If I'm being completely honest, I have to admit...I avoided reading John 11 for a few days. I think it was because I know how that story speaks to my heart. I am an emotional person, through and through. I feel things deeply. I didn't want to gloss over that chapter. I wanted to live in it for a while. And in my laziness, I put it off. I was being lazy with my time, and lazy with facing head on what I knew I would feel when I went there. It's the same thing I felt when I read The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis. When Digory returns from his journey with Polly and he has the fruit that Aslan said would make his mother better...Digory takes it to Aslan and starts crying. Aslan knows Digory has the fruit, he knows it will heal Digory's mom. But when the crying Digory looks up, he sees tears in Aslan's eyes. AH! That just speaks so loudly to me. Jesus loves me so much that even though He knows that He is working everything out...my pain brings Him pain. My sadness makes Him sad. My broken heart breaks His heart. There is no love in the history of the universe to match Jesus' love for each one of us.
Which brings me back to my original point in John 12. Jesus raised Lazarus and they had a party, and then He entered Jerusalem on a donkey and the people came out to worship Him and welcome Him. But He knows. He knows everything that's about to happen. He knows that the same crowd who worshipped Him is going to demand His death a few days later. He knows exactly what He is going to endure. And in verse 27 He says "Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, 'Father, save me from this hour"? But this is the very reason I came! Father bring glory to Your name." Jesus was human. I forget that a lot. His soul was deeply troubled. I don't know about you, but when my soul is deeply troubled, it pretty much consumes me. My Jesus knows better than I do what it feels like to have a troubled soul. And He has the power and the authority to meet me there with his grace and his comfort and his love and heal me.
Jesus' soul was troubled. He wanted to ask the Father to take the cup of His suffering from Him. But He knew that was the whole point of the incarnation. The entire reason Jesus took the lowly form of one of us. It was FOR US. For our redemption! So that we could have a way to have our relationship with the Father restored to what it was originally created to be. "Who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2 ESV).
Jesus is the ultimate example to follow. We should be striving to be more like Him in our everyday lives. In our interactions with our friends, and with people we don't like, and with the cashier at the store, and with the other drivers on the road, and with every other person we may come into contact with. We should strive for that even from the mundane tasks like getting ready in the morning and walking to class and doing our homework, to the divine interruptions that God brings our way.
That is what sanctification is all about. And it is overflowing in grace. I was reminded in one of my classes this morning (well, yesterday morning) that "nothing I do can make God love me more, and nothing I do can make God love me less." His love is unconditional. Once again, it does not depend on my merit. And it is so great a love that he suffered more physical, emotional, mental and spiritual pain than I will ever experience in a lifetime, to die in the place of the messy. The criminal. The lost. The mockers. The hurting. The wretched. The sinner.
Me, in a nutshell. And you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j0rYJI37yg
“Man of Sorrows!” what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
I think that pretty much says it all.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Abiding in Him
Simple statement. I have been blown away this week by the utter joy and peace that is found in the Lord in spite of exhaustion, transition, and busyness.
I feel like more often than not, by the time I'm getting ready to do my devotions and go to bed, I decide that I'm too tired, or I put minimal effort into it. And instead of spending time with God, I'm just reading words on a page and writing out a routine prayer of thanksgiving and requests. I'm not actually spending time with the God of the universe and the lover of my soul. Sure, He's there. He always is. But I'm not--mentally, emotionally or spiritually.
I've been so refreshed this week by the reminder that God is utterly LONGING for me to come to Him. To get to know him. To search His heart and find everything I've ever needed. Every need met. Think about that. EVERY NEED MET. Can you imagine having every single one of your emotional needs met in a day? And He doesn't just stop with our emotional needs! There are so many things God takes care of that we aren't even aware of. Like breathing. Every need met. What a beautiful relationship, just waiting for us to come and take part in it.
This week I've been trying to surrender my plans and my desires to God's design and timeline. I end up taking it all back into my own hands quite frequently. But what I'm realizing is that that's when the frustration and discontent creep up on me. I start to run ahead of God, if not in my actions, then definitely in my thoughts. I compare my life to those around me and I start to de-value what God has blessed me with, and the stage of life that I'm in right now. Nothing brings discontentment and unhappiness like comparison! I have decided that it's one of the most obnoxious evils in my world.
Have you ever realized the complete freedom that comes with surrender? Taking your foot of the gas, giving God the controls. It is so liberating! I think the key to that is trust. If I trust that God is who He says He is, that He is good, and He is love, and that He has a plan. I think of Romans 8:28 (ESV) "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." and Jeremiah 29:11-13 (The Message) "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out--plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. 'When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed."
I know the Message is paraphrased, but it is SO soaked in truth. DUDE! What incredible promises! These two verses are quoted so frequently for a reason. They are so full of hope and care and love. He PROMISES to take care of us! Why wouldn't I let Him? Depending on myself is so frustrating! It's like that verse about the clay saying to the potter, "What are you doing? Why are you making me like this?" We put ourselves in God's place every time we question what He's doing, or try to do things our own way. How arrogant is my heart to think I can run my life better than God? And how completely sad that I try to most of the time.
Surrender is such a beautiful thing. It comes from a place of complete trust, and through it comes a wonderful, satisfactory peace. I don't have to worry about what's going to happen with that application, because I can ask God to take care of the outcome. And He will, for my good and His glory. I don't have to stress over what I'm gonna do when I graduate. I can ask God to prepare it in advance, and let me in on the secret when He knows I'm ready. And He will, for my good and His glory. When I'm not wasting time worrying about all the little details of my life, I have so much more time to spend abiding in Him, trusting Him, falling more in love with my Savior, and walking through my day with Him by my side.
I have found absolutely nothing better in life than walking through my day with Jesus Christ by my side.
I feel like more often than not, by the time I'm getting ready to do my devotions and go to bed, I decide that I'm too tired, or I put minimal effort into it. And instead of spending time with God, I'm just reading words on a page and writing out a routine prayer of thanksgiving and requests. I'm not actually spending time with the God of the universe and the lover of my soul. Sure, He's there. He always is. But I'm not--mentally, emotionally or spiritually.
I've been so refreshed this week by the reminder that God is utterly LONGING for me to come to Him. To get to know him. To search His heart and find everything I've ever needed. Every need met. Think about that. EVERY NEED MET. Can you imagine having every single one of your emotional needs met in a day? And He doesn't just stop with our emotional needs! There are so many things God takes care of that we aren't even aware of. Like breathing. Every need met. What a beautiful relationship, just waiting for us to come and take part in it.
This week I've been trying to surrender my plans and my desires to God's design and timeline. I end up taking it all back into my own hands quite frequently. But what I'm realizing is that that's when the frustration and discontent creep up on me. I start to run ahead of God, if not in my actions, then definitely in my thoughts. I compare my life to those around me and I start to de-value what God has blessed me with, and the stage of life that I'm in right now. Nothing brings discontentment and unhappiness like comparison! I have decided that it's one of the most obnoxious evils in my world.
Have you ever realized the complete freedom that comes with surrender? Taking your foot of the gas, giving God the controls. It is so liberating! I think the key to that is trust. If I trust that God is who He says He is, that He is good, and He is love, and that He has a plan. I think of Romans 8:28 (ESV) "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." and Jeremiah 29:11-13 (The Message) "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out--plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. 'When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed."
I know the Message is paraphrased, but it is SO soaked in truth. DUDE! What incredible promises! These two verses are quoted so frequently for a reason. They are so full of hope and care and love. He PROMISES to take care of us! Why wouldn't I let Him? Depending on myself is so frustrating! It's like that verse about the clay saying to the potter, "What are you doing? Why are you making me like this?" We put ourselves in God's place every time we question what He's doing, or try to do things our own way. How arrogant is my heart to think I can run my life better than God? And how completely sad that I try to most of the time.
Surrender is such a beautiful thing. It comes from a place of complete trust, and through it comes a wonderful, satisfactory peace. I don't have to worry about what's going to happen with that application, because I can ask God to take care of the outcome. And He will, for my good and His glory. I don't have to stress over what I'm gonna do when I graduate. I can ask God to prepare it in advance, and let me in on the secret when He knows I'm ready. And He will, for my good and His glory. When I'm not wasting time worrying about all the little details of my life, I have so much more time to spend abiding in Him, trusting Him, falling more in love with my Savior, and walking through my day with Him by my side.
I have found absolutely nothing better in life than walking through my day with Jesus Christ by my side.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Welcome to the inner workings of my mind...
Well, I did it. I got a blog. To be completely honest, it wasn't entirely my idea--I have to have one for the theology class I'm taking this semester. So every once in a while, you may see a post that is actually being graded. I'll be given certain questions, and through this blog I'll discuss my views and opinions and why I hold true to them. I haven't decided how I feel about that yet, but hopefully it will turn out to be exciting and challenging!
So, I could've just saved this blog for my class. Write when I have to, and leave it at that. But where's the fun in doing only what's required of you? So I'm hoping this will become a place that I return to often, whenever I'm feeling particularly thoughtful, or when I read something profound, or if I just have a really good day and I want to share it with the world.
I don't really think of myself as being very creative, so it took a while to come up with the name for this blog. As you can see, I picked "Recklessly Loved." One of my favorite songs over the past few months has been "Be Near Me" by Bethany Dillon. (Really, I just love pretty much anything by that woman. She has a way of saying exactly what I want to say, only much more eloquently.) One of the last lines of the song is "I believe You are good and righteous. You've given me Your reckless love." I love the idea of being loved that way. I love that it is not just an idea, but it is the reality of my life. My God, my wonderful creator LOVES ME. Me! How does that make sense? It doesn't! And that is why it's so wonderful. There are so many days where I have to acknowledge that my only redeeming quality is that Jesus Christ loves me. Days where I have to acknowledge that His love has nothing to do with my merit, and everything to do with His grace and unfathomable character. That is a reckless love. It's the love that defines me, that gives purpose to my existence...and has nothing to do with me. If that's not humbling, I don't know what is. If that's not a reason to praise God and surrender my life to Him daily, I don't know what is.
So that is me in a nutshell. Recklessly loved. I hope that you will be encouraged by the words God gives me. That you will be reminded of the reckless love God has for you. And if you don't know that love yet, I am praying that you encounter it and that it becomes very real to you. Because it will change you, in a wild and wonderful way, and you'll never be the same.
I like the way The Message paraphrases it in Jeremiah 31:
"They found grace out in the desert,
these people who survived the killing.
Israel, out looking for a place to rest,
met God out looking for them!"
God told them, "I've never quit loving you and never will.
Expect love, love, and more love!
And so now I'll start over with you and build you up again,
dear virgin Israel.
You'll resume your singing,
grabbing tambourines and joining the dance."
That is the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, ladies and gentlemen. His love is definitely a cause for massive singing and dancing.
So, I could've just saved this blog for my class. Write when I have to, and leave it at that. But where's the fun in doing only what's required of you? So I'm hoping this will become a place that I return to often, whenever I'm feeling particularly thoughtful, or when I read something profound, or if I just have a really good day and I want to share it with the world.
I don't really think of myself as being very creative, so it took a while to come up with the name for this blog. As you can see, I picked "Recklessly Loved." One of my favorite songs over the past few months has been "Be Near Me" by Bethany Dillon. (Really, I just love pretty much anything by that woman. She has a way of saying exactly what I want to say, only much more eloquently.) One of the last lines of the song is "I believe You are good and righteous. You've given me Your reckless love." I love the idea of being loved that way. I love that it is not just an idea, but it is the reality of my life. My God, my wonderful creator LOVES ME. Me! How does that make sense? It doesn't! And that is why it's so wonderful. There are so many days where I have to acknowledge that my only redeeming quality is that Jesus Christ loves me. Days where I have to acknowledge that His love has nothing to do with my merit, and everything to do with His grace and unfathomable character. That is a reckless love. It's the love that defines me, that gives purpose to my existence...and has nothing to do with me. If that's not humbling, I don't know what is. If that's not a reason to praise God and surrender my life to Him daily, I don't know what is.
So that is me in a nutshell. Recklessly loved. I hope that you will be encouraged by the words God gives me. That you will be reminded of the reckless love God has for you. And if you don't know that love yet, I am praying that you encounter it and that it becomes very real to you. Because it will change you, in a wild and wonderful way, and you'll never be the same.
I like the way The Message paraphrases it in Jeremiah 31:
"They found grace out in the desert,
these people who survived the killing.
Israel, out looking for a place to rest,
met God out looking for them!"
God told them, "I've never quit loving you and never will.
Expect love, love, and more love!
And so now I'll start over with you and build you up again,
dear virgin Israel.
You'll resume your singing,
grabbing tambourines and joining the dance."
That is the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, ladies and gentlemen. His love is definitely a cause for massive singing and dancing.
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