Lesson of the week. . .

Do you ever feel like everything you hear or read keeps pointing you back to a specific topic? Like maybe God is trying to tell you something by repeatedly bringing up the same issue? I remember writing in my journal one day (as a very young girl) that everything around me seemed to be dealing with female issues, and wondering what that meant. Turns out it didn't mean much of anything, besides pointing out the obvious fact that I was thinking and obsessing a lot about female issues when I was 11.

Well, I'm having the same feeling right now (thankfully not about female issues), and am wondering if it is just mere coincidence or if God is trying to get my attention. We started a sermon series a few weeks ago on the Holy Spirit. During bible study with my girls last week we had a phenomonal revelation about the Holy Spirit and Jesus' baptism, and the new bible study I started this week has so far focused quite a bit on the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

In addition to what I am learning about the Holy Spirit, I have also these last several days been facing situations in which I desperately needed the Holy Spirit to provide wisdom, discernment and direction.

To be totally honest, I haven't thought much about the Holy Spirit in the past. I'm beginning to think that I need to spend a lot more time thinking about Him and understanding Him if I'm going to experience success in this Christian life!!

It is pretty amazing to think about all that the Spirit does in our lives. . . After all, Jesus did say that it would be better for us to have the Holy Spirit in us than Jesus Christ Himself with us. Pretty hard to understand why Jesus would say that - until you start to understand who the Holy Spirit is and what He is capable of. . . I hope you feel the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in your life - I'm praying for more of Him in mine today!!

But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate [Holy Spirit] won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. Acts 16:7

'Atta girl

A little encouragement goes a long way. It is amazing how simple words can change the course of a day. I am so grateful for the people in my life who choose to verbalize the warm fuzzies they feel, because it gives me the strength and determination to wake up tomorrow and do it all again.

We need encouragement - every single one of us. . . We need to know that even when things are difficult and discouraging there is hope and joy and potential untapped. . . I know that God is still here, and that my faithfulness still honors Him and brings Him great joy, even when it feels like no one else recognizes it or applauds it. . . but, it is still good to hear it from the people who God has put in my path.

Oh, how I needed that encouragement today. I am a pastor's wife, and with that role comes great joy, fulfillment, responsibility. . . and sometimes, great struggle. I've had a hard time knowing what to write these last few days, because what is most on my heart and mind is not the stuff to be verbalizing on my blog. . . but know that my love for Christ is always strengthened by the difficulties I face - and my passion for ministry never decreases even when the struggles and stresses of ministry seem overwhelming!

I hope there is someone in your world putting words to their warm fuzzies too. . . reminding you that you are God's child, His precious one, and that His love for you is greater than any difficulty you will ever face.

I hope we all wake up tomorrow with the strength and determination to live wholeheartedly, unashamedly, and boldly for the One who lived and struggled and suffered and conquered for us!!

Stop asking why

We ask a lot of questions. It starts when we're little (ie the perpetual "Why, Mommy?" that can drive moms crazy) and continues through adulthood. We wonder why we have to do our homework, why math matters if we want to be a music teacher, why everybody can't just get along, and why any of this matters in the first place.

Questions are good. They force us to really think about what we're doing and why we're doing it. In matters of faith questions are an absolute necessity. There are way too many people out there who don't really have any idea what they believe or why they believe it. I have grown so much and learned so much as a result of other people questioning my faith. I'm grateful for the challenges those questions provide and the opportunity to seek answers and gain a greater level of assurance about my faith.

But questions can also be bad. Questions can be discreet ways of avoiding what we know is true. They can help us justify choices that we know we shouldn't be making. For example, why is drinking before 21 wrong?

Really, why is it wrong? I'm sure I could talk to an assortment of people and get a long list of all the potential hazards of underage drinking. Many of their thoughts and concerns would prove to be very meaningful, and might even keep a few young people from dabbling in that particular activity. But to your average, non-Christian teenager those thoughts and concerns are not weighty enough to make them say no.

In fact, those thoughts and concerns don't even seem to have much impact on "Christian" teenagers. Why? Well, because all of the potential consequences seem much less severe than all of the guaranteed fun of living it up with friends.

But this is where I have a problem: Why are Christian teenagers even analyzing this question in the first place? Why are they asking it? If you read the bible it is about as plain as day. Romans 13:1-2 says:

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

(Side note: the bible is not commanding that we follow our government into sinful and dangerous behavior. There are plenty of biblical examples where Godly men and women have said no to the governing authorities because they were asked to deny God or act out against God's revealed will)

Ok - back to the point here - whether we like it (or agree with it) or not, our government has decided that 21 is the appropriate age to drink. When we rebel against the authority of our government we are rebelling against God. You can come up with a thousand clever excuses why underage drinking is no big deal. . . it doesn't matter. In the end, it is illegal. So if you believe the bible is true, then it is also sin.

My question to those of you who consider yourselves Christians and yet still want to find excuses to drink with your friends is this: do you even care what God thinks? Does it even matter to you that you are grieving Him - literally grieving Him every time you make that choice?

Stop making excuses and asking unnecessary questions. It is time to decide whether or not you actually love God enough to follow him. . . and then, if you can fully admit and acknowledge that He is worth more than anything this world has to offer - actually follow Him!

Follow Him anywhere and everywhere He leads (and if you were born anytime after 1988, you can be pretty sure He won't be leading you to the local brewery anytime soon). . .

Blogging Block

Last night I realized that a few days had passed since I last blogged, so I sat down at the computer to write a new entry. I was completely lost. I had no idea what to say. It was weird, because I always have something to say.

So, instead of forcing words to come or just not posting anything, I thought I'd point you back to a post I wrote this summer. It was on my mind because we had worship practice last night and was again reminded of the pure joy and beauty of singing to my Savior! Oh, I do love Him. . .

Have a wonderful day, and if you have any words of wisdom to end my blogging block, please pass them on. . . =)


http://thehillforgirls.blogspot.com/2009/07/worship.html

Unstoppable

There are a lot of reasons why I believe the bible is really true. One particular reason, though, is on my mind this morning. The whole notion of Christianity is pretty crazy, right? God comes down as a man and lives, preaches, dies, and then rises from the grave and says that we should follow after him. Hmmm. . . It isn't a particularly logical faith, is it? But despite the illogical nature of Christianity's main claim there is another word that describes this faith as well: unstoppable.

There are followers of Jesus on every continent all over the world. In some places that fact alone is still a reasonable cause for persecution and death. In countries where Christianity is against the law, the church seems to be growing all the faster. Millions of people meet together each week in underground churches to silently worship the Savior that died to redeem them. Just last night some of my girls and I were singing in my basement. . . Oh, it makes me so sad to think that there are young people out there who can't sing out loud to Jesus.

Gamaliel, a Pharisee during the time after Jesus' death and resurrection, had interesting words to share at a hearing condemning the apostles for preaching about Jesus.

Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God. Acts 5:38-39

Interesting that a man who did not believe in Jesus would so accurately explain the nature of the situation, isn't it? And does it strike you as amazing that those words were written almost 2,000 years ago? Christianity has not yet failed. It has grown, and multiplied, and miraculously moved through out this world.

People are dying for Jesus just as readily as the apostles did in the beginning. I am so encouraged and inspired when I think about the faith of the millions who have gone before me, and I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that the church of Jesus will continue to grow and enlarge until the day He comes back to take us home.

I will leave you with another quote taken from my bible study in Mark. We are nearing the end of the book, and Barabbas has just been released and Jesus sentenced to death. It is unjust and unreal to think of a radical murderer being released, and Jesus, a preacher man making crazy claims, dying in his place. . . but then again, nothing about God's work in Christ is logical, is it?

Barabas was a guy burning the system down, he is killing people. . . But if you let Barabbas go, you can always stop him. The most Barabbas will do is go out, round up another bunch of guerrillas and start another riot. You can always stop him by bringing out the national guard and putting down his riot. Find out where he is keeping his ammunition. Raid his apartment without a search warrant and shoot him while he is still asleep. You can stop Barrabas.

But how do you stop Jesus? They nailed him to a cross. . . Then they buried him, rolled a stone over his grave, wiped their hands and said, "There is one radical who will never disturb us again. . . " Three days later Jesus Christ pulled off one of the greatest political coups of all time: He got up out of the grave. .. the leader of a new creation - who has overthrown the existing order and established a new order that is not built on man." (Tom Skinner, "The U.S. Racial Crisis and World Evangelism" in Christ the Liberator, p. 208)

Jesus is unstoppable. People may reject him as God and refuse him as Savior, but that does not change the reality of who He is and what He came to do. There are millions whose lives testify to these truths. Oh, how deeply I long for my life to be one of them!!

The Cross

I'm getting to the end of the book of Mark now. . . Having spent the last several weeks learning about Jesus' life and ministry, it is especially meaningful to read about His death. I am so deeply moved and encouraged when I think about the fact that he willingly walked the way of the cross. He chose to obey His father and fulfill the scriptures.

Sometimes I think we loose sight of the enormous sacrifice that Jesus made. We minimize it in so many ways. . . It hit me again today as I was reading in Mark 14. . .

They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Why would Jesus be so crushed with grief? Why would he beg his father to change the plan? Because the pain and agony He was about to face was excruciating. Maybe we tend to minimize the cross because Jesus was God. . . So we subconsciously think that it wasn't really that bad. That somehow He didn't really feel the pain because, after all, He was God. But I think we have it backwards. I think Jesus felt all of the physical pain one could possibly bear in His body because He was fully human - and He felt all of the grief and anguish He could possibly bear in His soul because He was fully God, carrying the sin of the world.

Whatever the reasons are that we minimize the cross, this passage is an in-your-face reminder that the burden Jesus carried was bigger than anything any one of us has ever experienced. . . He willingly walked to the cross not because His "God-ness" eased the physical pain and agony of the cross, but because His love for us propelled Him forward and led him to endure the pain and agony of the cross.

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. Hebrews 12:2-3

You are the joy that propelled him forward. You are the reason that He endured. You are the soul that He died to save. . . Do not become weary, and don't ever give up. The Creator and Sustainer of the universe is on your side. And there is no length to which He will not go to draw you into His arms of love.

Mighty is the power of the cross.

Food for my Soul. . .

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

and on that note. . .

have a good day friends.