In the end…

Yesterday I had the great privilege of participating in one of my favorite activities – having breakfast with a life-long friend.  There’s just nothing like it!!  My friend and I were, as we always do on these occasions, sharing some things God has been doing and is doing in our respective lives.  We’re both at a point where we’re starting to see pieces of the puzzle fall into place, and starting to see a little more light on the paths in front of us.  As we were winding down, I had a thought:

When we get to the end, we’re going to look at everything God has done and say “Wow!” and “Of course!”

Wow!

We can’t even imagine the things God can and will do!  This weekend, my friend sang in a performance with a group of incredibly talented musicians.  She said that as she stood on that stage and looked around, she just couldn’t believe that she had ended up there, singing with that group, and doing something she absolutely loves!  That’s a Wow Moment right there!  The apostle Paul had the perfect response for us to use in our Wow Moments:

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever, Amen.  ~ Ephesians 3:20-21

Of course!

Today I finished my first year of Grad School.  It’s been a long, hard year, but at the same time, it’s been a fast, easy year.  When I started this process, I was fearful.  What if I failed?  What if I couldn’t keep up with my school work while trying to work a full time job, a part time job and volunteer with the teens at church?  What if I made the wrong decision?  What if I’m not supposed to go back to school?  But with each class, I became more and more convinced that I was exactly where God wanted me.  Each time I got a grade back, I was in awe at what God had allowed me to accomplish, because it certainly wasn’t all me!  I am convinced more now than ever that God has called me to a particular field, and He will equip me in every way to fulfill His calling on my life.

For all the promises of God find their “Yes” in Him.  That is why it is through Him we utter our Amen to God for His glory.  ~ 2 Corinthians 1:20

When God does something in us and through us, it is always more than we could possibly imagine Him doing.  But when we look back, we see His hand at work so clearly.  And so we are left in awe, saying, “Wow!”.  And, “Of course!”

When was your last Wow Moment?

 

Songs and Stories: A Mighty Fortress

A few years ago, my dad asked me to make a collection of “those worship songs” for Christmas. So I did.  I’m working on Volume 4 right now, and since that time, I’ve noticed that each volume has a theme.  My mom asked me to write about those themes and how the songs I chose for each volume fit in.  I probably won’t do a post for every song, but I thought I’d share my thoughts on some of the songs that have spoken Truth into my life, and at times have spoken the words I couldn’t speak on my own…

A Mighty Fortress  ~ Christy Nockels

I heard this song for the first time when a friend sang it in church a few weeks after she went to Passion.  Have you ever had a song that grabs you from the first time you hear it and won’t let you go?  This is that song for me.  Besides its beautiful, anthemic melody, it is steeped in truths I so often forget:

• God is my refuge and fortress.  My first instinct when faced with a crisis is to run home. I want my parents. I want their comfort, their advice, their prayers.  But God doesn’t want me running to them.  He wants me to run to Him and seek His comfort, His advice, and rest in the knowledge that He already knows, not only what I should do, but what I’m going to do.
• Where my eyes go, my heart will go.  This is something I’ve always been taught, but it’s a good reminder.  If my eyes are focused on the things of this world, my heart will be tied to them.  This world is full of pain and disappointment.  God is comfort and faithfulness.  If my eyes are on Him, my heart will not be so caught up in this temporal life that I am crushed by its inevitable hurts. In Him, I am resilient, able to stand strong in the face of anything this world has to offer.
• I have a forever.  There are times when it seems that something I’m going through is never going to end.  But God’s truth tells me that it will.  What won’t end is my life with Him.  Yes, there are times when the horrors of this life seem unbearable, but in the end, we know that Jesus wins!  The hope we have in Christ is that our forever is secure in Him, and it’s going to be more incredible, amazing, fantastic, and perfect than our minds can ever even begin to imagine!

 

What does this song mean to you?

 

An Advent thought

And then there is me in the world waiting, aching, yearning, for the restoration of all things, for the beautiful redemption of all pain, all sorrow, all brokenness. Advent is just as much about waiting for what God has yet to do as it is the commemoration of what he has already done. And those lines, the now and not yet, they blur for me most days, a tension.  ~ Sarah Styles Bessey

 

Songs and Stories: Lead Me to the Cross

A few years ago, my dad asked me to make a collection of “those worship songs” for Christmas. So I did.  I’m working on Volume 4 right now, and since that time, I’ve noticed that each volume has a theme.  My mom asked me to write about those themes and how the songs I chose for each volume fit in.  I probably won’t do a post for every song, but I thought I’d share my thoughts on some of the songs that have spoken Truth into my life, and at times have spoken the words I couldn’t speak on my own…

Lead Me to the Cross ~ Chris and Conrad

Volume 1 starts with a song that I keep going back to over and over again.  It’s a song that I believe sums up all of history.  From the beginning of time and for all eternity, the cross is the centerpiece.  Paul puts it this way:

For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him.
~ Colossians 1:20a

No matter what life brings, no matter the joy or the sadness, God will always keep His promises, and it is the work Christ completed on the Cross that makes those promises possible.

But if we cling to the stuff of this life, we cannot take hold of God’s promises.  We need God to bring us to a place where we see Jesus and decide that we want Him more than anything else.  In that place, we willingly hand over our lives and take the gift He died to give us: Life.

Bring me to my knees. Lord, I lay me down.
Rid my of myself, I belong to You.
Lead me to the Cross.

 

What does this song mean to you?

 

 

Review: A Year with God by R. P. Nettlehorst

It’s that time of year again. It’s time to pick a Bible reading plan for next year.  This past year, I read through the Bible chronologically.  If you’ve never done it, I highly recommend it!  It sheds so much light on the story of God’s plan for redeeming His creation!

This year, I’ll be using a devotional called A Year with God, by R. P. Nettlehorst.  Each day’s reading begins with a short passage from the Old Testament, where God is speaking directly to one (or more) of His children.  Nettlehorst then offers a short exposition on the passage with application for living out the truth revealed in God’s Word.  The readings are grouped into contrasting topics such as Hope and Fear, Perseverance and Quitting, Faith and Doubt and Peace and Conflict, so that each topic is thoroughly addressed with truth directly from the mouth of the Author of all truth.

Nettlehorst’s devotionals are simple yet illuminating.  Each day offers a new opportunity to see how God interacted with His people in ancient times.  Each day also offers a new opportunity to see how God interacts with His people today.  God does not change, and as can be seen in Nettlehorst’s journey through the Old Testament, neither do people.  The Patriarchs of the Old Testament learned the same lessons God needs to teach us in the 21st Century.

I recommend this book for anyone looking for a daily devotional, especially one that brings the Old Testament to life.  I’ve often been tempted to skip over large parts of the Old Testament and get to the “good stuff” of the New Testament.  This book has reminded me in new ways that God’s “good stuff” can’t be divided into old and new.  His plan for His people is written on every page of Scripture!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

Human motivation

Well hi there!  It’s been a while.  How’ve you been?  Me? I’m good.  I’ve got something on my mind today, so I thought I’d stop in.  What’s that?  This is MY blog?  I belong here?  Oh… well, in that case, sorry I’ve been MIA.  Explanation forthcoming:

So after years and years of waffling (not the delicious, syrupy kind, the other less attractive kind), I’ve gone back to school to get my Master’s in Psychology.  It’s Week 6, and it’s been quite the adventure to say the least.  Lots of reading, lots of writing, a little more reading, and then when I’ve got nothing else to do, I can always write.  Or read.  At the beginning of 2011, someone challenged me to pick a word that would be my theme and my motivation for the year.  I picked “learning”.   Any guesses why?

Speaking of motivation (and learning), I’ve been learning about all the different psychological theories that are out there – Everything from Freud (he needed counseling) to Perls (come to think of it, so did he).  In case you didn’t know, psychology is the study of how we think, why we act, and what we feel while we’re thinking and acting.  Basically, it’s the study of what makes humans human.  And reading all these different theories on human motivation has me thinking. 

We may never agree on what motivates us to act the way we do, think the way we do and feel the way we do.  There are just too many variables.  But one thing we can agree on is this: We were created with a purpose.  Our lives have meaning.  We’re not just here to mark time and die.  When God created Adam, He had a very specific purpose in mind.  Actually, He had two:

1. We were created to be in relationship.  First, we were created to be in relationship with God (1 John 3:1-3).  After Adam and Eve rebelled, God kicked them out of Eden.  But He didn’t cut them  (and by extension, us) off completely.  In fact, God walked with Moses and Abraham.  He talked to Cain, Isaac, Jacob and Hosea.  The fact that God continued to commune with man even after sin entered the world tells us that He wants to have a relationship with us.  In fact, even more boldly, the cross says the same thing!  And second, obviously, we were created to be in relationship with other humans (John 13:34-35). 
2. We were created to bring glory to God (2 Corinthians 3:18).  In fact, everything in creation was created to bring glory to God (see Psalm 19, for example).  Now if you’re anything like me, that sounds a little self-centered on God’s part.  He made people and things so that He would get glory. But Louie Giglio puts it this way: In a nutshell, who else deserves glory but God?  If there was anyone (or anything) else more deserving of glory, that’s who (or what) would be God.

So how does this tie into human motivation?  Knowing our purpose gives us the motivation we need to live out each day to its fullest.  Knowing we were created to be in relationship can help us do everything we can to make sure our relationships are strong and healthy and it reminds us that God wants to spend time with us.  Quiet time isn’t something we do because we have to.  It becomes something we’re excited about because it means spending time with Someone who loves us unconditionally and in ways we can’t even begin to understand.

Knowing we were created for God’s glory helps our awareness of how we act and think.  It helps us make decisions as we go through life.  “Is what I’m about to do going to bring glory to God?  ‘Cause if not, maybe I shouldn’t do it.”  This brings a whole new perspective on our actions, and as a bonus, it helps us avoid sin.  And I think we can all agree, the less sin, the better!

So, how does the truth about your purpose influence your behavior?   

 

We will remember

It’s that time again… Time to take stock.  Reflect.  Evaluate.  How did this past year go for us?  Did we keep our New Year’s resolutions?  Do we even remember what they were?  Where did we succeed this year?  Where did we fail?  And it’s time to plan.  Resolve.  Hope.

Whether we want to or not, New Year’s always forces us to look back and always forces us to look forward.  You may try (like I do) to convince yourself that January 1st is just another day.  It’s a Saturday, just like the previous 51 Saturdays.  Right? 

Not so much, no.  This Saturday, we start over.  The slate is clean, the past is behind us.  The future is full of endless possibilities, hopes, prayers and wishes. 

For some, this past year was full of pain, fear or anger.  For some, this year marked a turning point and a glimpse that life can be good.  For others, this was the best year ever. 

But regardless of what kind of year it was, it’s over.  It’s gone.  It’s time to move on to the next one.  And it’s time to remember.

• Remember the ways we grew and changed
• Remember how God showed His love.
• Remember His faithfulness.
• Remember His leading when we were lost and exhausted.
• Remember the joy of answered prayer and the thrill of worship.

Our Father has walked every moment of every day with us this year.  And He will walk every moment of every day for the rest of our days.  So if this year brings triumph and celebration or if this year brings defeat and sorrow, we have nothing to fear.  We can relax and trust and hope and expect.  God already knows what this year will bring. 

And God has given us the ultimate promise:  Emmanuel – God with us.  He always was.  He always is.  He always will be. 

So today we remember and tomorrow we look forward to God revealing to us His love, His faithfulness, His greatness, and His goodness all over again!

 

Steak vs. PB&J – A Christmas Story

I’m sure they were beyond exhausted.  They’d travelled a long way in hot daytime sun and cold desert night.  And to make matters worse, she was 9 months pregnant.  As the skyline of Bethlehem rose over the horizon, all they could probably think about was finding a warm, comfortable place to sleep.  And prepare for His arrival.

But so many others had travelled too, and it seemed everyone had gotten there before them.  Inn after inn was filled to the brim and they were turned away again and again.  Moving from street to street, perhaps they started to wonder if they’d have to sleep on the side of one of them. 

And I suspect they prayed.  They needed a place to stay.  They needed a place for her to give birth.  But as one door after another closed, did they start to wonder if God wasn’t listening?

Finally, after a long day of searching for shelter, God intervened.  He provided for their needs and gave them a place to stay.  But instead of providing the best room in the best hotel for His Son, he provided a barn.  Yes, Jesus, the King of the universe, the Creator of all that is seen and unseen, the Provider Himself, was born in a barn.

There was no soft bed.  There was little privacy and only minimal protection from the cold that night.  But God met Joseph and Mary’s – and Jesus’ – needs.

So often I think we expect that God will meet our wants and we forget that He has promised to give us the things we need.  We need food.  We want a 5-course meal.  We need shelter.  We want a 25,000 square foot home with a nicely manicured lawn and an in-ground pool.  We need an income.  We want that income to be somewhere in the 6-figure range.

And when God meets our needs in ways that are less than what we want, we grumble and complain and accuse Him of not loving us.  When God sends peanut butter & jelly instead of steak, we whine.  When our shelter isn’t quite as nice as our friends’, we complain.  When the job He provides pays less than we were hoping for, we question His wisdom and guiding.

When, instead of a five-star hotel fit for a King, God provides a stable, we wonder if He really knows what He’s doing.

But this is truth: God provided for His Son.  God provides for us.  Always.  His provision may not end up looking like we envisioned it would, but at the end of the day, it is still His provision that we get.

So why a stable and not a hotel?  I don’t know for sure, but the stable teaches me these two things:

1. God rarely does things by the book, but He is always faithful.
2. Sometimes God chooses to go above and beyond in meeting my needs.  And for that, I will now be all the more grateful.

What does the stable teach you?  What’s your “stable”? 

 

Not enough?

A couple of weeks ago, I gave a talk at one of my Bible studies.  I talked a bit about how I’d grown up in a pretty strict environment – at home, at church and at school, I was always afraid that I was about to get in trouble for something.  Then I talked about how my experiences growing up shaped my view of God. 

In my mind, God was (and still is) sitting up in Heaven, waiting for me to mess up so that He can punish me.  If I said or did something (or failed to do so), I would lose my job, or not have anyone to hang out with over the weekend, or get in a car accident.  I saw the “bad” things in life as punishment.  And when something “bad” would happen, I would start running through a list in my mind of what I could possibly have done this time to merit this punishment.

As you can imagine, this is not an easy way to live.  The constant fear, guilt, worry that I’ve done something to offend God.  Hours spent going over every moment just to make sure I didn’t have any unconfessed sin in my life.  Lying awake at night asking forgiveness for everything that came to mind, asking God to reveal any “unconfessed” sin and then the “and please forgive me for anything else I’ve forgotten about.”

It’s nerve-wracking!  And, it’s completely unecessary.

Do I, or do I not believe that when Jesus died on the cross, His blood covered every single sin I have ever committed and will ever commit?  Do I, or do I not believe that because of Jesus’ death, I am completely, sufficiently, and permanently forgiven?

I’m coming to realize that in rehearsing my sins and worrying about not verbally confessing every last one of them, I am, in a way, negating the work of Christ on the cross on my behalf.  I am essentially saying that Christ’s death and resurrection didn’t quite do enough – I’m still guilty in God’s eyes unless I manage to ask forgiveness for every single sin.

And I am WAY off base!  Hebrews tells us that when Jesus died, the need for sacrifices ended.  In the age of grace, this means that because Jesus died, we’re no longer bound by the need to confess every single sin and to make atonement for it.  It’s done.  It’s over.  It’s forgiven.

But before we get all calloused about our daily sins, keep in mind that no where in the Bible does it say we should ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  Nor does it say God will never punish us for a sin. 

However, there is absolutely no need whatsoever to make ourselves crazy trying to make sure we’ve confessed every last sin before we go to sleep at night.  If we are convicted by the Holy Spirit, then by all means, we should confess that sin, ask forgiveness, and stop doing it!  And yes, we should be very careful not to sin in the first place.

But the fact is this: We are covered in grace and mercy by Christ’s blood.  In God’s eyes, we are right with Him today, tomorrow and for eternity.  There is not a single thing we can do to be more right with God than we are at this very moment.

So we can stop obsessing over every little thing we do and we can rest in the full knowledge that Christ died once, for all.  And it is enough.

Have you ever obsessed over your sins?  What truth helped you break free from that bondage? 

 

So I don’t forget

NOTE: I wrote this last night when I got home.  The title is simply a reflection of the fact that I never want to forget how I saw God’s hand at work in this situation.  But I also never want to forget what I learned:

I got into an accident tonight.  I missed my normal exit and was forced to take a different one.  But at that one, everyone suddenly slammed on their brakes and the next thing I knew, poor Frankie’s face had been smashed into the back of a Jimmy…  But here’s what went right tonight:

1) The guy I hit was amazingly understanding and even kind.

2) His 4-year-old son, once he stopped being scared, made us laugh by how insistent he was that he get to say hi to the trooper who showed up.  In other words, no one was hurt!

3) The guy I hit recommended a body shop near my house and after I got there, I was told that the shop is one of the partner shops of my insurance company.

4) Someone didn’t show up at the shop today to pick up the car they were going to borrow, so the guy at the shop gave it to me.  In other words, I can still get to work tomorrow.

5) I was reminded that I have really good friends up here and that I’m not as alone as I often feel I am. (Thank you, Tiff, Riley, Kari, Lindsey, Shannon & Karen!!)

6) I got to talk to my brother, sister-in-law and nieces for the first time in months because I had to call to tell them I was ok after my mom called them to tell them I’d been in an accident. 

7) The guy who answered the phone when I called my insurance company was incredibly kind, compassionate and reassuring.

God is amazingly good.  He is faithful.  He has been all along. 

Therefore…

I have no reason to think that He won’t continue to take care of me.  I have no reason to think that He won’t provide the money I need for my deductable.  I have no reason to think that this is too big for Him or too far out of His control.  He knew this was going to happen and I am at peace in Him.  To God be the glory!

UPDATE: Tonight, a friend called to tell me that he and his wife are paying my deductable, no arguments.  Over and over again over the last 2 years, God has told me that He will provide and that He is faithful.  I think I finally believe Him