Alright, so apparently biweekly posts with a newborn was a bit ambitious. I won't make any promises on when the next one will be, I will simply write when I can. Deal? Deal. So my favorite show is Jeopardy (don't judge me) and the other day the Final Jeopardy question dealt with King Midas. I thought back to the classic tale and of course remembered the Wishbone version (I hope you watched the show with the dog who explored all the classics). Anyway, I began to consider the idea of everything I touch turning to gold. During my thoughts, I decided that I don't really want my physical surroundings to turn to gold, but I often want my words to turn to gold.
I have this issue with worrying about what I say. I hate being misunderstood and I always want to present my thoughts and ideas clearly. Yet in person, this rarely happens. And I don't just mean I slip up now and then, we're talking bad. To a point where, during a Bible Study, I had someone react to one of my analogies with calling me blasphemous. Yeah, not really what I was going for. Because of this, I get a little shy in arguments over faith. I have all the thoughts in my head and all of my reasons for believing, but apparently I don't always express them well. If I know the person well enough, things usually turn out alright, but if it is a newer relationship, I get a lot of blank looks.
With that, it has become hard to know when to talk and when to remain quiet. It has taken a huge effort, but I am learning more and more to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit (but yikes I have a long way to go). One thing, though, that has helped me through the frustration of my words and ability to translate my love for God is a beautiful verse in Isaiah. God says through the prophet Isaiah:
"As the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that comes out from my mouth: it will not return empty to me, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (55:10-11).
God can work through your jumbles and bumbles. He can take the words that you speak with imperfection and a little cloudiness and turn them to gold. By all means, don't try to confuse other people or purposely speak in analogies that others will find blasphemous, but know that when you mess up, God can still use your words. God is in the business of turning the ordinary into gold. Just look at what he does with us. I was nothing before him, but since having met him he has turned me into gold. I was broken and lost, but he called me loved and made me his child. In the Christmas spirit, he made my scarlet sins white as snow (Isaiah 1:18), or you could say he turned me into gold. And he can do the same for you and your words.
You may have seen this post coming because, if you know me, you know I recently had a baby. Ellsey will be three weeks old on Thursday and since she has been born, God has taught me a little bit more about how much he loves me each day. Don't get me wrong, I have always known that God loves me. But when this little girl entered my life, I reached a whole new level of understanding.
Before Ellsey, I had a hard time understanding how God can constantly forgive, constantly love, constantly show mercy. What is more, I struggled to understand how he could do this without any effort of my own. You see, I have always been the kind of person who feels the need to work for and earn what I'm given. I have a hard time accepting things that are freely given. Because of this, I have always struggled with trying to earn my salvation. I tried to earn it because, before Ellsey, I could not fully wrap my mind around the idea that God would truly want to give everything for me.
But almost three weeks ago, I reached a new level of understanding God's love. Suddenly, when I look at Ellsey, I know that there is nothing that she could do to lose my love. She didn't do anything to earn this love except open her beautiful eyes and breathe. And right now, this love is pretty one-sided. She knows my voice and can see me if I'm close enough, but that's about it. Yet on my end, I haven't had a decent night of sleep since she's been born (so excuse all grammatical and spelling errors), I have endured hours upon hours of screaming, and I have had to cater to her every whim. But in spite of all this, just holding her is worth it all.
And I think this is how God feels. We sin, we turn away, we take advantage of him, we run. We have done nothing to deserve his love, yet he gives it freely. And the most beautiful part of all this is that it cannot be removed. Nothing can take this love away from us. We learn this in Romans 8, one of my favorite passages, and one that got me through many nightmares as a child.
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (8:35-39)
You see, nothing-- let that soak in-- nothing can separate us from his love. Nothing you can do will make him love you more and nothing you have done has made him love you less. God is love and that love is poured out on you and me. Soak it up. Let it surround you and engulf you. His love is full and complete. His love is perfect and it will never fail you-- no matter how many times you fail him. So take a second today to thank him for how much he loves you. And take time to realize just how special, important and loved you are because "are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. And even the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:29-31). Take this, and love and be loved today.
November seems to be the month of award shows. All the celebrities get together and get awarded for being famous. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate celebrities or anything, I simply don't see what all the fuss is about. Our culture, however, tends to love celebrities. We focus on them and keep up on what is happening in their lives. We debate how they name their children and who deserves the most in a divorce. We get so wrapped up in their lives, we have this tendency to almost develop a sense of worship about them. Maybe you're like me and don't care much for celebrities, but I'll bet there is something on this earth you worship. Fill in the blank for yourself, but our worship is meant to be devoted to God alone.
Now before I get into this, I want to throw this out there: Worship is one of my biggest struggles in my walk with Christ. I've already pointed out in other posts that I have no rhythm or ability to sing, so I often struggle through the "worship portion" of church services. But worship is something we're all called to and it is so important in our walk with God. Please note that there are more ways than singing to worship God. You can worship him in all you do by doing it with the right heart. But in this post I just want to give you an excuse or a reminder to take time out of your day and just worship God in song. I'll throw some youtube videos up of different songs that simply praise God. So many times we approach him expecting answers or talking about ourselves, and yes, that has a time and a place. But even more so, we need to sit in awe of him. He has given us so much and he is so big that we need to dwell on this each day. When we do, our problems feel a lot smaller because we realize who is truly in control.
So today, I challenge you to take time and worship God. Take time to sit in his presence and be amazed. Think on all he has done in the past-- in both your life and the lives of others. Sing him a song or just sit and imagine all he has done while one plays. And do as the Psalmist says: "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture" (Psalm 100:1-3).
You're Beautiful
I Can Only Imagine
10,000 Reasons
Hosanna
Breathe in his love and mercy. Breathe in his blessings and grace. Breathe in just how much you mean to him. So much that he would give his only Son for you. Then, take that attitude with you throughout the day and see what a difference it makes to take time and recognize just how awesome our God is.
I know, it's been a while. Having a baby will really change your life and schedule around! But here is hoping that this is the first of another consecutive string of bi-weekly posts! And, of course, now that it's November, this post doesn't really make sense, but I thought of it on Halloween and am finally getting around to putting words to it, so bear with me.
Trick or Treating never really made sense to me. Never once did I approach a house in a costume as a kid to get tricked. All I wanted was the candy, and thankfully, that's all I ever received. But maybe some of you grew up in strange neighborhoods and approached each house wondering whether you would be tricked or treated. And, if we're honest, I think that is how many people approach Christianity. Those who don't know Christ often assume it is either some great trick others have been fooled into or some treat they don't understand. Those who know Jesus, know it to be quite the treat, but this post is for those who think it is a great trick or a grand conspiracy.
As usual, I am going to take something from someone who is much smarter than me, and if you've ever read anything I've written, you'll guess that it is probably from C.S. Lewis. And congratulations, you've guessed right! Check out what he wrote in Mere Christianity:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that
people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral
teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing
we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things
Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a
lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or
else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either
this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something
worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him
as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but
let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great
human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
Jesus didn't have all kinds of great moral teachings on the side and then lie and trick people into his main point that he was and is the Son of God. It is all or nothing. Either it is all a trick, or all a treat. And that is the choice we must make. When Jesus himself was challenged by the religious leaders of the day on how he came to be so knowledgeable, he responded: "My teaching is not my own, it comes from the one who sent me. Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own" (John 7:16-17). And so Jesus challenges them to choose to obey God. If they do and it aligns with Jesus and his teachings, then he truly is who he says he is. If not, then we must look somewhere else.
I challenge you to do the same thing. Sit down and really think about how God would want you to live your life. Ask him, if you don't know. And then begin to live it in that way. When you do, you will draw so much closer to God and learn more and more about his great love and sacrifice for you. And when you do that, you will see from the example Jesus set that he truly is the Son of God, sent to the earth to save mankind. And by understanding that, you will turn away from the fear of being tricked and learn what it means to be offered the treat of salvation from the God of all.
