What a Wonderful Thing

I went home for a day to see my relatives visiting from North Carolina. I'm not very big on my family. I love them but I don't really like hanging out with all the relatives. Don't get me wrong it's nice seeing them and know that everything is going well but I'm not crazy about doing stuff with them. I've limited patience with them and only enjoy hanging out with them for a short period of time. There isn't anything that has happened or that they've done for me to feel this way. Completely opposite, I love hanging out with my friends and could do it all day long and have lots of patience with them. In a sense, my friends are more my family, feel more like my family, than my actual blood family is.

My little cousin is 3 and she has downs syndrome. I had only seen her twice before and she was too young to remember me (and I kind of avoided her because she was a baby and I usually make them cry) so her being wary of me was totally understandable. At one point, I pulled out my guitar and she came over. She was totally fascinated by it. It took a bit of coaxing for her to touch the strings but once she realized that she could make the strings sing....there was no putting the guitar away! She couldn't get enough of it! That moment of fingering chords as she brushed the strings with her hand to make music is undeniably one of my most precious memories that I will carry with me forever. I didn't want to put my guitar away. I didn't want that moment to end. That was the fist time with my family where I was completely and utterly happy and content with where I was and in what I was doing. I think that was the first time where there was absolutely nothing that I would rather do other than being there. She was so beautiful. Her face consumed with the joy and excitement at discovering something new. THAT is what childlike beauty and wonder is and I did something to cause that expression on her face. I want to be a part of that. I want to do that more often, not just with her but with other people too. If I could introduce people to something that fills them with joy and wonder....what a wonderful life that could be. This is what I want to do with my life. I want to travel and get to know people and share God. The joy and wonder He brings me each and every day in the simplest and silliest things.....if I could share that, if I could show people that....What a beautiful thing that would be.

Waiting For Our Call To 'Arms'

Do you ever feel like you're just drifting through life, waiting for the next thing? That's where I am right now. I took a year off of college, went on a business/mission trip to India for 3 weeks up and now I'm just waiting for college to start back up.In the big picture I'm waiting for my life to begin and travel, but there are things I need to learn and knowledge I need to gain for these travels and interacting with new people. That's what college is for. It's giving me the 'credentials' I need to be a traveling missionary. I am dying of boredom. Seriously, I get older every day.

When Jesus was born he had to wait before fulfilling his role. He couldn't go out and start teaching right away. He had to gain life lessons and he needed to study scripture. He knew this when He was young. When He was 12, He stayed behind as the rest of His family left Jerusalem to return home from the festival and it was 4 days before his found Him. When they did they asked Him why He had treated them that way and the boy Jesus replied, "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?".(Luke 2:41-52)  Jesus learned more and more as He grew up and as he did, He started performing miracles. Healing people and casting out evil spirits. The demons came out of many people, shouting "You are the Son of God!" But He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was Christ. (Luke 4:41). It wasn't the right time for His identity to be revealed. There was a period of waiting that was needed for growing and making preparations before He became known as the Son of God. 

Similarly, We cannot just jump into the ministry life. There is a period of waiting that we need while our  knowledge of the Bible, our relationship with God, and our character grows into maturity. This does not mean that we should sit idle. Jesus certainly didn't. We need to practice characteristics of God, the fruits of the Spirit. Gain patience, and wisdom. Learn to love everyone. Serve. There is so much for us to do and so little time. Less time than we realize. Of all the areas of our life to procrastinate in, this is the worst place to display this bad habit, yet it's the area that displays it the most. We don't want to get stuck in the waiting process. When Jesus was ready to set out to spread the good news, the people in the area tried to to keep Him from leaving them. But He said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent."(Luke 4:42-44). When we dedicated our life to Christ, this also became our reason. So when our waiting period is over, and we've complete our schooling in Christ, we need to be strong and courageous and face whatever it is the devil throws in our way. We have nothing to fear of the evil one because if God is for us, then who can be against us?( Romans 8:31). Do not fear. With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

Spaghetti Thoughts

Ok folks, here is my first blog post. It's a mess of thoughts that have been pieced together. This is a lot of what's been on my heart and mind the past week so it doesn't exactly flow well but i needed to get it out. Enjoy!

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We are told to go into the entire world and preach, to go make disciples, to go proclaim the message, to follow Him. If we are told to go and seek and do these things, why haven’t we? Why are we sitting on our butts in a building instead of going? I understand that sometimes we get too old or we have to take care of someone and I understand that maybe our calling is a little closer to home but everyone has a role in the church. Elders, grandmas, preachers, all minister to the church body. What does this church body do with this knowledge? The message isn’t for us. We’ve already received, believed, and accepted Jesus as our Lord and savior and God as the one and only God. We got the message. So why are we holding on to it so tightly?

 

Church buildings frustrate me so much. People become attached to them, start to clean them up. Then they start adding ‘frills’ to it to try and attract younger people into the church. This usually results in some killer bills to pay for the lights and a fog machine and the big speakers. Then the church gets scared of telling people to go out and do things the further the Kingdom of God because if the church building doesn’t attract enough people, we won’t raise the money we need through offering to keep the building going and then the building will fail. Just because the building fails doesn’t mean the CHURCH does. The Church is made of a group of individuals that have joined together to become one Body in Christ. “Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21. We already have a ‘building’, so to speak, that was created by God so why are we trying to materialize it permanently? I wish that house churches were still a very real thing here in the States. Then people wouldn’t become so attached to the building as ‘home’. Missionaries are often alone and thought of as brave and radical for going out and living out of their comfort zone or in another country. I would just like to point out that ALL of us are called to go and make disciples and that in the bible many of the disciples were not alone in their travels. Paul was almost never alone as he traveled; he had people travel with him and they strengthened each other along the way. Paul never left his ‘home church’; he and those he traveled with were a church! So where have these ‘adventurous ‘people gone over the years? Has the ‘call’ changed from “go to all nations” to “go to people…if you are comfortable talking with them”? I think not. The ‘Call’ hasn’t changed at all, God is still calling us to ‘Go’, we just aren’t as willing to accept it with open arms. I think that sometimes God just gives a great big sigh and lets us stay within our comfort zones because we start to shut Him out if He tries to tell us something we don’t want to hear. He knows that we could be so much greater over there but we don’t want to hear it. We don’t want to leave our friends, and family, and our life here so we fight to stay here.

Many Christians are familiar with Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”. I do not understand why so many Christians say they look forward to the day Jesus comes back. I’m sorry if this is you, reader, but I just can’t see it as a happy day. We will have joy because we will finally be going home to heaven but that day will also be a terrible day full of pain and sorrow and guilt for those we lost, failed to reach, and failed to be an example to. And many, I fear, will be people of the church who thought they were ‘safe’. “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” James 2:26. But in regarding these two verses I think it is wise that we are very careful in the reasons behind our deeds. We shouldn’t do good deeds because Jesus wants us to and we’re striving to earn His great act of love. This is impossible for us to do. We cannot earn such a great sacrifice; this is why it is called ‘mercy’ (He showed us mercy by saving us from eternal damnation). Likewise, we cannot earn heaven; it is a gift to us called ‘Grace’ (He showed us grace by giving us the gift of heaven along with saving us from eternal damnation. He gave us a bonus that we do not deserve). We shouldn’t do good deeds because it’s what Jesus/God would want of us. We should do them because we want to do them. If Christ lives inside us them His wants become our wants and His desires become our desires and there should be no way to separate them.

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Why are we judging those who aren’t Christians by Christian standards? They haven’t made the same commitment as us Christians. We chose God and the Bible, they haven’t, therefore we cannot hold them accountable to the things we are biblically held accountable to. Now back to judging, why are we doing it? I fully agree with Billy Graham when he said, “It’s God’s job to judge, the Spirit’s job to convict and our job to love. And we dare no mix those up!” Romans 14:10 says, “You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.” If all of us Christians could just get off our high-horses and show love to people, our life style/choice would be a lot more appealing. In Galatians it says, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Notice the last word in that first sentence, “gently”. If this is how we reacted when someone around us messed up, this next verse would be a whole lot easier to do. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16.

Comments would be awesome and don't be afraid to give constructive criticism. Have a wonderful day!

~Liz