All of this? We (well, at least I) spend so much time waiting and stressing and thinking and thinking and thinking. But all of this is worthless. Jesus has a plan for it all. My life is to serve Him, to tell of this hope that I have found, to worship with my all because anything else I could do would be worthless. He is my Creator, my Redeemer, my Savior, my BEST friend. He is my all and He is all that matters. Hope, faith, love, peace and perseverance cannot come from anywhere else but in Him. He is the Creator of them all. So all this stress, thinking and planning and trying-to-distract-myself-so-I'll-forget is the flesh screaming out to me to take my eyes off of Him. It's goal is to keep me far away and convince myself that I know what's best and I can make it without Him. But that is just a big fat hairy lie that doesn't belong in the mind and heart of God's children, it doesn't belong to me. Love, faith, hope, peace, grace, mercy, and perseverance belong to me.
Not because I deserve it, but because Jesus paid the price, He made a way. It is by HIS grace that covers me that those are mine and for me to cling to and take hold of. HE is mine to cling to in ALL times of life because HE loved me, because He has plans for those He calls His own; plans to prosper and to give a hope and a future. HE made a way so that we can share His love and grace with others too.
Today we celebrate Valentine's Day, but how many people that celebrate it actually know the true, free PUREST of pure love that is given them?
There is a Savior who made us all just for His own pleasure so that we could constantly bring Him praise, but we failed Him from the beginning and have been failing Him all the time since. But because of LOVE, He came and was slaughtered on our behalf. He took our place so that we could have life-everlasting, a perfect life (that is yet to come) of worshipping Him all the time. He did it because of LOVE and not only does He give us life eternal, but He promises to walk with us through the steps of life. He carries us and gives us strength that is found nowhere but in Him because of LOVE. He guides, He speaks, He gives peace, He calms the storms, moves the mountains, and He breathes life into these dry bones of ours. And when we fall and mess up, He's there to pick us up again and dust us off because of LOVE. He gave the ULTIMATE gift, He made the ULTIMATE sacrifice for us because of LOVE.
So there is hope, there is love, there is a purpose for this life; to get to know Him by spending time with Him, waking up in the morning and being so excited and not being able to wait to hear from Him, to meet with Him, to fall in love with Him and to commit to Him for all the days of the rest of our lives through sickness and in health, through the good and the bad. There is a love that grows more everyday, that doesn't burn up or fizzle out. And that is the love of Jesus Christ.
How could there ever be a better valentine than that?
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.."
The most well-known prayer ever heard; The Lord's Prayer.
Before I was adopted and even before I went into foster care, I remember and reciting this prayer as a stereotypical 5 year old girl, on my knees with my hands together at the side of my bed just before Mommy Melissa read to me my favorite Winnie the Pooh and Piglet story book. I had no idea what it meant, I didn't even know what half of the words were. Who ever said, "art," and "thy," and "hallowed"? I just figured it was "big people stuff" and only recited it to be the perfect little angel I thought I was and wanted everyone to think I was.
Years later I learned that Jesus actually said that prayer. Really? That guy that everyone told me about, that everyone told me He loved me is the One who came up with those words? I relearned the passage of scripture in a Bible Club we attended every week on our cul-de-sac so I could win an extra prize.
Now as I've gotten older, I've heard a few different people telling their point of view and wisdom on it. And I think there could be several ways you could interpret it. Tonight as I was washing the many dishes after dinner, I had a thought..
What if He meant for there not to be people going to bed every night with a rumbling tummy? What if those of us who have been given much learned to give and actually fed, clothed, and took care of the people who are in real need? What if there would never be people with empty tummies and the people currently without homes with a home to call their own? What if world poverty vaporized and people lived equally without unfair deaths and illness and suffering simply because they didn't have the basic necessities for life such as water, clothing, a roof over their head, sanitation, and money for even simple medical care?
What if we learned to love our Jesus more than life, more than these material things we get ourselves attached to? What if that love came in us and consumed us and overtook our thoughts and actions? What if we learned to love with a love that even we don't understand, the love He gives us unconditionally?
But what if while we vaporized the poverty and that love we were given splashed out onto others as we serve, and what if we taught them to worship Jesus and give him the praise and glory He deserves? What if we all together praised Jesus all the time for everything because we are so in love with Him that nothing else matters? What if this earth got turned upside down because of the defeat of the enemy and his lies because the author of LOVE itself defeated him a long time ago? What if we always clung tightly to His name, trusting Him in every circumstance, loving with His love, serving with His passion, giving with His heart, and surrendering and following with reckless abandon? What if God was brought all the glory and honor He actually deserves because even the rocks cry out to Him? Would that be 'His will done on earth as it is in Heaven'?
What if we sang in one giant chorus the song we were made to sing, bringing the glory we were made to bring to the Beautiful name of our Jesus?
What if we sang the words,
"Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come."
and,
"You are wrthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."
and,
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power
for ever and ever!"
from the moment we opened our eyes in the morning until we close them at night as we fall back asleep because we reccognize that He is all we need?
What do you think the earth would look like then?
Could we actually make that happen?
Are you ready to try?
I know I am.
God, may Your name be brought all the glory and the honor and the praise forever and ever. May You be exalted high above every other name, may You be the fortress we cling to and look to in times of distress. May we take refuge in Your love and mercy and may we never let go. Help us to radically love you more and help it to spill out to others as we go and make disciples for You, Lord! You are good and there is nothing that we could ever offer you that would come close to what you deserve. We desire You and only You. Come and fill us and don't stop filling us until there is nothing left inside but You. May YOUR will be done here on earth as it is in Heaven. Amen.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.."
The most well-known prayer ever heard; The Lord's Prayer.
Before I was adopted and even before I went into foster care, I remember and reciting this prayer as a stereotypical 5 year old girl, on my knees with my hands together at the side of my bed just before Mommy Melissa read to me my favorite Winnie the Pooh and Piglet story book. I had no idea what it meant, I didn't even know what half of the words were. Who ever said, "art," and "thy," and "hallowed"? I just figured it was "big people stuff" and only recited it to be the perfect little angel I thought I was and wanted everyone to think I was.
Years later I learned that Jesus actually said that prayer. Really? That guy that everyone told me about, that everyone told me He loved me is the One who came up with those words? I relearned the passage of scripture in a Bible Club we attended every week on our cul-de-sac so I could win an extra prize.
Now as I've gotten older, I've heard a few different people telling their point of view and wisdom on it. And I think there could be several ways you could interpret it. Tonight as I was washing the many dishes after dinner, I had a thought..
What if He meant for there not to be people going to bed every night with a rumbling tummy? What if those of us who have been given much learned to give and actually fed, clothed, and took care of the people who are in real need? What if there would never be people with empty tummies and the people currently without homes with a home to call their own? What if world poverty vaporized and people lived equally without unfair deaths and illness and suffering simply because they didn't have the basic necessities for life such as water, clothing, a roof over their head, sanitation, and money for even simple medical care?
What if we learned to love our Jesus more than life, more than these material things we get ourselves attached to? What if that love came in us and consumed us and overtook our thoughts and actions? What if we learned to love with a love that even we don't understand, the love He gives us unconditionally?
But what if while we vaporized the poverty and that love we were given splashed out onto others as we serve, and what if we taught them to worship Jesus and give him the praise and glory He deserves? What if we all together praised Jesus all the time for everything because we are so in love with Him that nothing else matters? What if this earth got turned upside down because of the defeat of the enemy and his lies because the author of LOVE itself defeated him a long time ago? What if we always clung tightly to His name, trusting Him in every circumstance, loving with His love, serving with His passion, giving with His heart, and surrendering and following with reckless abandon? What if God was brought all the glory and honor He actually deserves because even the rocks cry out to Him? Would that be 'His will done on earth as it is in Heaven'?
What if we sang in one giant chorus the song we were made to sing, bringing the glory we were made to bring to the Beautiful name of our Jesus?
What if we sang the words,
"Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come."
and,
"You are wrthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."
and,
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power
for ever and ever!"
from the moment we opened our eyes in the morning until we close them at night as we fall back asleep because we reccognize that He is all we need?
What do you think the earth would look like then?
Could we actually make that happen?
Are you ready to try?
I know I am.
God, may Your name be brought all the glory and the honor and the praise forever and ever. May You be exalted high above every other name, may You be the fortress we cling to and look to in times of distress. May we take refuge in Your love and mercy and may we never let go. Help us to radically love you more and help it to spill out to others as we go and make disciples for You, Lord! You are good and there is nothing that we could ever offer you that would come close to what you deserve. We desire You and only You. Come and fill us and don't stop filling us until there is nothing left inside but You. May YOUR will be done here on earth as it is in Heaven. Amen.
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