Thankful

A cliche Thanksgiving post.

What I'm thankful for and why:

life.

Mark 10:6 But from the beginning of creation, "God made them male and female."

Without God, we would not exist. I'm thankful that He gave life. I'm also thankful that Jesus gave his life so that we could keep ours eternally. 

salvation.

John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

Life without salvation is nothing. It's a wasted existence. I'm incredibly thankful that Jesus died to pay the price for our sins. I will forever be thankful.

redemption.

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

On a daily basis, I'm reminded of what a horrible sinner I am. I'm reminded of my past and my failures. But then I remember that I've been redeemed. I don't have to worry about my past. I don't even have to worry about future sins. They've already been paid for by Jesus' perfect blood. What an amazing gift.

family.

Life can throw some serious curves. I'm thankful that I have a family who sticks by me no matter what. Not only in my darkest hours were/are they there for me, but I've seen their love to my other siblings in similar ways. I know that not everyone has a perfect family. My family doesn't come close to perfection. Every family has flaws because they are made up of imperfect people. But I'm so thankful for the family I've been given. I can look back on my life and say for certain that I would not have come to some of the realizations that I did without their love, mercy, forgiveness. patience, and wisdom. I'm forever grateful for my parents. I'm so blessed.

friends.

Everyone says they are thankful for friends and family on Thanksgiving, but I feel like this time its different. Being thankful for my friends takes on a different meaning this year. I'm a pretty social person, but through my own doing, I isolated myself from most of my friends in past years. I only had a few close friends. When everything was said and done and I went through what has proved to be the most challenging time in my life, I found myself with no one but my family. I found myself alone. And I don't blame anyone but myself. God looked down on me and knew I needed certain people. He knew they needed me. And I can confidently say that I have the most amazing, incredible friends around. Every single day I thank God for them. Every single day my heart feels so happy that it might burst at some point and time because of the love I have for them. Every single day. Oh how blessed I am! I won't even begin to list them because there are so many, some closer than others, but I know that every one of them is in my life for a purpose and I in theirs. I love all of you!

freedom.

This year, freedom doesn't mean freedom of religion, speech, or any other political connotation to me. This year it means freedom from my sin. Freedom from myself. Freedom in Christ. It's incredible to get to a point where you experience real freedom. I can't even tell you. You have to experience it for yourself. It changed my life. It makes me so happy to know I'm free in Him.

These are just a few things. There are so many things in life I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for the people and experiences that led me to where I am now. Many people look back on life with regrets but I can confidently say that I don't regret where I came from. I don't regret those special people I met along the way. I don't regret. I am thankful. Thankful that I continue to learn and grow every day. Thankful that God has unlimited love, mercy, grace, forgiveness and patience. Thankful that I can now see the positive qualities in myself: my strength, my passion, my love, my talents.

I'm thankful that God meets us where we are. When I was wandering and confused, he gave me a family to accept me. They were closer to me than my own blood. But when I was found and had to make hard changes in life, he provided me with an immediate family who persevered through my phases and stages. That meant more to me than anything. The perseverance in my struggles. What an incredible God who looks down and gives us what/who we need when we need it/them. Oh how He loves me. Oh how He's blessed me. My heart is incredibly full. Full of joy, happiness, and thankfulness.

Psalm 9:1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

Stop trying. Start submitting.

Mind blown.

I'm a Christian. I'm not perfect, but I'm a Christian.

I try really hard. I slip, I fall, but I get back up and try again. 

I feel that a lot of things I do please God. I feel that my heart's desires (mostly) please God.

I feel that, for the most part, my priorities are in place.

Even when it's hard, I still give an honest effort to do the right thing.

I seek out opportunities to serve Him.

But all this trying is not what God wants. 

God doesn't want my best effort to please Him and to accomplish things.

He wants my submission.

To explain.. My best effort to please and serve Him falls grossly short of what is required to please Him.

The one thing He wants from me is submission. A willingness to let go of my self-centeredness and to let Him have complete control.

Switch gears for a moment.

When you think about the Bible, what is it? Like physically, what is it?

A book.

A book of stories. About who? What?

Many would say about people. People who walked with God.

But that's completely wrong. The Bible is a book about stories. But our view is wrong. The Bible is a book of stories about God accomplishing His plan through men. It's not about men at all, but about God and God alone.

See the problem is our view. Our focus. We are only human, therefore we view everything in a self-centered, human-centric way. Life is not about you or me. Life is not about what we do or say. Life is about God. Life was created by God. Everything is God centered. We have just developed a self-centered view.

So back to what I was saying about my effort. I try really hard. I put in a real effort to please God and to do things for Him to accomplish the "goal." But I realized that I'm completely missing the point. 

He's already got a plan. I'm just a vessel that can be used by Him to accomplish it if I'll stop trying so hard and just let go and let God use me.

God never asked me to sit down and figure out how to reach the world. He doesn't require that of anyone. What an impossible task to ask of imperfect human beings.  He already has a plan. All I need to do is see where He's working, and get onboard. His plan will be accomplished in the way He wants it to. Not the way I decide it should be.

And ultimately, this is best. Because he is omniscient. Omnipresent. Omnipotent. He sees and knows everything. He is everywhere. So his view on life is much better than mine. I'm pretty sure I can count on Him to see all the pieces and to put them together in the most fitting way to accomplish what He needs to be done.

Let me give you a little visual to put things into perspective...

Take Noah for example. He was serving God. He was preaching, trying to reach people. He had a plan. Tell people about God. But God's plan was to flood the earth and start over.

In the grand scheme of things, if Noah had resisted God and thought that he had things under control, how much good would that have done when the flood hit? How valuable would Noah's efforts have been? Pretty useless.

Any plan, any idea, anything Noah could have possibly dreamed up to do for God would have been pointless given the coming destruction of the flood. So it's a darn good thing he let go and let God direct him. His submission is what God used to save mankind and to start over using Noah's family.

So think about what that means for your own life. Whatever plan you or I have does not compare to the plan God has. If we could stop trying so hard and start submitting, maybe we'd accomplish what He has for us to accomplish on this earth.

Just a thought.

Full

Just what has been on my mind today...

Today wasn't fun. Plans were canceled on me and people were not nice. 

Not a horrible day, but not a good one.

And I made the mistake of focusing on all that was wrong in my life. All the things I wanted and didn't have, all the things I was missing out on, all the things that I couldn't change... all those negative things.

Then I realized how much I have to be thankful for.

My friends are the absolute best. I literally could not ask for better friends. Sure they're human. Sure people make mistakes, they aren't perfect, they let you down. But God has provided some of the sweetest, most caring, loving, funniest people I could have ever asked for. I have been given so much. I am so blessed.

When you're having a rough day, just take a moment to remember what He's done for you, what He's brought you through, what He's provided when you didn't deserve it. It will really change your perspective.

My heart is so full. I am so happy and so thankful for the life God has given to me, despite the ruins I had brought it to. He is incredible. He is good. He is God.

Be still.

I have a wandering heart. A traveling soul. A nomadic spirit.

I wasn't meant to stay in one place.

But when God says "be still," you can bet that's exactly what I'll do.

Psalm 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

Thailand is calling my name. The poor and helpless in India need me. The children of Nepal starving for more than just food, starving for God's love need to hear what I have to say!

But God says be still.

Psalm 131:2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.

My wandering heart, my traveling soul, my nomadic spirit has been calmed and quieted. I know that God has a greater plan than anything I could have imagined. Sure, it sounds great that I would pack my life into a 50 pound backpack and set off across the world to share His story. But He has something even better. Something so incredible I could never have thought it up or figured it out myself. My flesh, no matter that I'm saved, redeemed, or converted, is still sinful flesh. It is still imperfect. It cannot know the incredible ways of our Savior. It cannot compare to the plans He has for us.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Psalm 62:5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him

So when He says be still I will trust Him and be still. I will wait patiently. I will quiet my traveling soul.

I will wait on Him.

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

Be still. Check. Know that I am God. Check. I will be exalted among the nations. ..I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. 

He will be.

Fan or Follower?

I don't really have direction today but here are some short ramblings...

So I was thinking about relationships and how girls will almost always change their opinions on things when a guy comes into the picture. For example, say this girl is dating a Georgia Bulldogs fan. Naturally, she's a Georgia Bulldogs fan. Even when they break up, she's still a dawgs fan. But a few months later, here comes a super hottie who happens to be a Georgia Tech fan. This is a make it or break it kinda thing. What do you think she does?

She jumps ship. She joins the yellow jackets. Typical, right?

And then I got to thinking about our faith, and how so many times we do that to God. When we're with Christian friends, or our youth group, or other church people it's so easy to be bold about our faith. To be a "fan" of Jesus. But the minute we step into a secular situation, we hide everything "Jesus" that we have. We conform to fit in. We don't want to have to defend our faith because we really, truly don't believe in it.

That's the sad reality. 

Luke 9:23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Following Jesus is a daily commitment. Not a one time prayer. It's a burning desire, something that has to be continually sacrificed over and over. Saying a prayer doesn't take away your sinful nature. You will continue to have to make a conscious decision every single day to give your life back to the One who created you and gave His life for you.

James 2:20-24 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

James tells us that faith apart from works is useless. We've grown up hearing that works alone cannot get us into Heaven. That is true. The two together, faith and works, show the true heart condition of a Christian. It's not about the things you do, but the reason you do them and the attitude you do them with. A radically abandoned follower will be willing to do anything, say anything, and go anywhere for his Savior.

There are too many fans of Jesus and not enough followers.

Which one are you?

Praise in the Storm

Many of you know that Thursday was incredibly hard for me. I received the news that I wasn’t accepted for the World Race team. It was a truly devastating blow.

Now that I’m sitting here remembering the content of my day, I have to be honest, it wasn’t that bad of a day. I held so tight to Jesus, speaking to Him in short whispered prayers literally all day, that it was hard to actually have a bad day. It was quite incredible.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m disappointed. I had prayed so much over this. My friends and family prayed for me. It really seemed that God sent sign after sign. He opened door after door. He told me to have faith. And I went out on a limb and did it. And the next door was slammed in my face. A big fat “NO.” Sitting there in my car on the other side of that phone call, I was confused and hurt. Broken, really.

I had faith! I trusted! I prayed! What did I do wrong?!? And there lies the answer.

I. Me. Myself. 

It’s not about me. It’s not about what I can do. It’s about Jesus. It’s all about Jesus.

I don’t think God is closing the door to missions in my life. I don’t even know if He’s closing the door to the World Race. I just really think God wants me to stop being so self-reliant & self-centered. I mistake faith in God for faith in myself. I think He just wants to take all options, all roads, all plans away from me until I am literally stranded and crying out, open and desperate for His direction. I think He sees the passion and love for His people that I have and wants to strip all the fakery away, all the false trust, all the fluff, until I am left with only a genuine, unshakable trust and faith in Him. That is when we are able to be used in the greatest capacities. When we've completely emptied ourselves of us so we can be filled with Him and used in His miraculous and unfathomable ways.

Like I told my dad, it always seems that just as you start to see God working and moving and you think you see His angle, and just as you decide to jump on that bandwagon and “help” God make things move, He changes the plan. He doesn’t need you to see where He’s going. He doesn’t want you to see where He’s going. He wants you to trust and have faith and follow Him blindly. Otherwise, who gets the praise? Who gets the glory? We do. Not God.

And that defeats our purpose in existence.

Think about this: Our sole purpose is to glorify Him. We were created solely to glorify Him.

Revelation 4:11 - Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created.

So if I am doing things through my own strength and resources (although for a good cause), who is getting glory? I am. People are looking at me saying “Wow, what a good Christian.” “You’re doing great things for God.” 

In reality, God wants us to have no options, no plans, nowhere to turn but to Him. He wants to put the pieces of the puzzle together in a way that we could never have imagined on our own so that we can’t possibly get the glory, it all goes to Him. 

He wants us to truly have faith. 

So my 2 hardest battles currently: having TRUE faith & finding contentment in the hard times.

Real faith is difficult. It’s more than an attitude adjustment or a willing heart. It drags you through trials and tough times to see if you’ll break. Real faith is no joke. 

Contentment is also easier said than done, especially when God has given you a passion and then seemingly closed the door to it. It’s hard. But I know that I”m commanded to have faith and to be content, so that is what I’ll do.

I will praise you in this storm, and I will lift my hands. You are who you are, no matter where I am. Every tear I cry, you hold in your hands. You never left my side. And though my heart is torn, I will praise you in this storm.

Fearfully & Wonderfully Made.. Miraculously Ordinary!

I’m ordinary. You’re ordinary.

We are just normal people. But what I’ve realized is that God uses ordinary people in extraordinary ways - that is always what makes miracles so miraculous!

Elijah was an ordinary man who walked closely with God. He had an intimate relationship with God. He prayed that it would not rain and God held the rain for 3 and a half years!

Peter and John were ordinary fishermen. When God used Peter to heal a crippled beggar, they were called in front of the Sanhedrin and questioned. Acts 4:13 - When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 

Wow. Just seeing the boldness and courage in their lives was a testimony that they walked with Jesus. I want people to look at me and know I walk with Jesus. I want my walk with Jesus advertised in every aspect of my life and written all over my face. I want my life to be a testimony of life with Jesus.

In the words of Dwight L. Moody: “If God could use Mr. Spurgeon [Charles H. Spurgeon], why should He not use the rest of us, and why should we not all just lay ourselves at the Master’s feet, and say to Him, “Send me! Use me!”

You don’t have to be a Dwight Moody for God to use you. Dwight Moody was a poor, uneducated shoe salesman who wanted to be used by God, willingly gave over his life and asked God to use him, and now look at the legacy he left behind! He was an ordinary person who sought to be used by God and is now considered one of the greatest evangelists of all time!

All God wants is a genuinely willing heart... a heart that seeks to serve Him and glorify Him. When you doubt and don’t believe anything amazing can happen through your ordinary life, you are saying much more about your belief in God than your belief in yourself.

Don’t doubt God.

Negativity

Negativity is something that plagues our society to the point that no one even seems to notice anymore. It's really kind of sad. 

It has become a way of life for people. Just look through the majority of social media interactions. Nine times out of ten, someone is complaining about something, whether they are being serious, sarcastic, or joking.

What I have realized is that many of the people who are complaining the most, are the ones who should be the most thankful.

Visualize this:

You live in a world of black and white. There are no colors. 

Everything, including yourself, is black and white. Literally.

One day as you're taking a walk, you see a flower that is bright yellow. You don't generally deal with life in color because everything is black and white. You don't know how to handle this.

You take the flower home and it becomes all you can talk about; all you can focus on. 

The beauty of this colorful flower in a world of black and white.

That is similar to how and why so many people are constantly focusing on the bad things in life. Because, if they were honest with themselves, life isn't too bad. It's pretty great actually. So when something doesn't go your way or doesn't work out as planned, you complain. You focus on it. You dwell on it. It is all you can talk about or think about because you aren't use to having to deal with such setbacks. 

Don't be the person always focusing on the negative. Don't be that spoiled kid who can only talk about the things that aren't going their way, when in reality, they have so many other things they could be thankful for. 

This applies to family situations. So many teens have to deal with ridiculous family situations. There is so much unseen pain in the world. So many teens are hurting everyday, wishing they could live in a "normal" family. Don't be that teen in the somewhat normal family (because no family is completely "normal") who complains when your parents don't let you do everything you want. Don't let the one frustrating setback consume your thoughts and energy. 

Philippians 4:8-9 ...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me - practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

God commands us to think about the positive, rather than focusing on the negative. He also says that if we practice what we've learned from him, His peace will be with us. No need to worry and stress about negative things if you have the peace of God. 

So try adjusting your thoughts. Try making a habit out of positive thinking. It will overall make you a happier person and you'll feel much better when setbacks in life do come.

Faithfulness like Moses

I’ve been praying for direction and answers. I’ve been praying for a clear path to take. 

The only word I get in return is faith. 

Today in my studies I jumped around in the Old Testament reading about Moses and his encounter with the burning bush. Many of you have heard this story 1,000 times, but to recap briefly… 

Moses encountered a burning bush in the desert. As he approached it, the audible voice of God told him to be still & remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. God tells Moses He has heard the cries of His people and He proceeds to reveal His plan to Moses. He instructs Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the Israelites go free, and to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses is skeptical, but God reassures him, so Moses does as he is instructed. 

There is a lot about this story that I want to discuss. The first part is the audible voice of God at the burning bush. Numbers 12: 6-8 says “When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face.” 

That is so incredible to me. “he is faithful,” “with him I speak face to face.” I want the faithfulness of Moses. 

The next thing I want to focus on is the fact that God revealed his plan to Moses with the expectation of Moses to join in. He said to Moses “I have indeed seen the misery of my people. I have heard them crying out… So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land.” (Exodus 3:2-8) 

God heard the cries of His people and He revealed His plan to Moses to deliver them. When God reveals what He is about to do, that revelation becomes an invitation to join Him. This was His way of inviting Moses to be a part of His work. He wanted Moses to go speak to Pharaoh. 

The next part of this amazing story is the part where Moses asks “Who am I?” He does not believe he is worthy of such a task. He also says “I have never been eloquent. I am slow of speech and tongue.” I relate so well to this. I have NEVER been a good speaker. I can sit here and write all day, but if you put me on the spot to speak, I can’t make sense of my own name. I’m just not eloquent in speech. 

But God purposefully uses the unlikely just to show that it is Him working through us and not our own abilities. God doesn’t look for those with the talents or abilities to achieve His purpose and plan. He looks for the faithful and the willing. He seeks out those who want to be involved in His work, no questions asked. 

As Moses obeyed God through faith, God accomplished through Moses what Moses could not do by himself. I pray everyday to have the faithfulness of Moses. As I search for answers and direction on my future and the steps to take next, I want to remember to have faith. After all, that is the only word from God I am offered. Have faith. 

So I’ll step out on faith and attempt what I know can only be done by Jesus. And I'll consciously decide not to doubt, or fear, or look backward but to keep my eyes on Him.

Blind Faith

I can't sleep tonight without getting this off my chest...

Do you ever get that feeling? It's not incredibly deep but I feel as if someone needs to hear it because it continues to nag me to the point of insomnia, literally playing over and over in my head.

What is faith? Believing in something or someone you cannot see.

What does it mean to walk by faith? To trust God to provide for you on your journey through His purpose, whether all the answers are clear or not.

So what is blind faith?

I would venture to say that a person walking a tight rope has faith. They keep their eyes glued to their every step, but they trust that they will not fall. This could be offered as a hypothetical picture of faith.

When I picture blind faith, I see the exact same scenario of the tight rope walker, except that this time, their eyes are fixed on someone across the room. The performer takes one step after another, never looking down to see where he/she maybe be stepping; eyes glued on the figure at the end of the rope.

This visual hit me when I was listening to the lyrics of Oceans by Hillsong United. Just process the meaning behind these words:

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders,

Let me walk upon the water wherever you may call me.

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger by the presence of my Savior.

I will call upon your name.

Keep my eyes above the waves.

My soul will rest in your embrace. 

I am Yours and You are mine.

Now go back and read only what I underlined. Walking on water takes faith, just as walking on a tight rope would. But to keep your eyes above the waves, fixed on Jesus and not on circumstances as you do miraculous things in His name... Now that is blind faith.

Matthew 14:29-33

He (Jesus) said "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Incredibly powerful. Peter had the faith to walk on water. Jesus acknowledged that when He said "you of little faith." He indeed had some amount of faith. But he lacked the radical abandonment to practice blind faith by keeping his eyes on Jesus rather than the wind and waves (circumstances) around him. That is what ultimately caused his failure. His doubt. His lack of blind faith.

The lyrics above are my heart's cry. I want that radical abandonment. I want to walk in blind faith in Jesus Christ. I realize that it is the most satisfying place to be. Pouring out my praise, worshiping with my life, walking by blind faith in His holy name. I want nothing more for my life than this.

Someone somewhere needed to read this. Even if it were only for me.

Time

Time.

What do you think of when you hear this word? Is it cliche’ phrases like “time is money,” “how time flies,” “waste of time,” or “running out of time”?

And whose time are you thinking about? Yours or someone else’s?

Something I’ve been personally convicted about lately is my time. Just the nature of that sentence shows you where my priorities. We don’t have time. I don’t have time. It’s all God’s time. He created us and this world we live on and the time we live in. It is not ours and we should not feel as if we can do what we want with it.

In the last blog, we saw that our bodies are an image of Him and we were created to glorify Him with every breath. In this blog I want to show you that time is not your own and every millisecond should be spent glorifying Him, otherwise it is wasted and you are not doing with it what you were solely created for.

Don’t misunderstand. Day to day functions are necessary, I get that. But the point is that when your heart is revolving around the sole purpose of pleasing, glorifying and praising God, all else will fall into place within that. I know that something like washing your hands is not an act of praise to God. Understandable. But the main focus of your energies should be in Him, which will cause all other priorities to be put safely in their place. 

Time we spend doing what we want, rather than what God wants is stolen. What?!?! Am I calling you a thief? Well technically, yes. When we take the life and the time God has given us and use if for anything but His glory, we’re stealing. So many people can be accused of stealing God’s time and they don’t even have a clue they are doing it. Our sinful natures make it so easy to sin.

Exodus 20:15 - You shall not steal.

Most of you just read that robotically and didn’t even think about it. You’ve heard this commandment since you were a child, whether you grew up in church or not. But what we overlook is that there is more to stealing than physical goods. If God created your life for the purpose of glorifying Him and created the time on earth for you to do it in, and then paid the price to purchase your life from hell, then your life and your time is not really your own. It belongs to God. So to take it and use it how you see fit is stealing. 

Stealing can refer to more than things. It’s time, it’s money, it’s effort, it’s energy, it’s desire.

Colossians 1:16 - For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him.

All things were created by him, through him, and for him. Everything in existence exists because of him and for the glory of him. 

My personal conviction is that I don’t spend enough time studying Him and seeking Him out in the pages of His word. I study and I do my devotions, I read, I listen to sermons in my car regularly, I praise Him and worship Him constantly, but often I’m on my own time schedule - not His. I’m giving Him a time slot in my daily schedule, rather than giving Him all of it and watching what He can do with it.

Don’t fall into the trap of believing you don’t have time each morning for God. It’s a lie from Satan that we are all so quick to believe because it seems valid and because it comes from your own thoughts. God made time to send His son to die in your place; you should be able to find some time each morning to seek Him and learn about Him and grow in Him. 

Give back the time He’s given you.

What do I reflect? Who do they see?

I haven't been blogging as often as I'd like and I'm actually pretty convicted about it. I know my blog isn't incredibly popular, but the fact that someone, somewhere reads everyday is reason enough to update. I also can't spend as much time with some of my girls from the summer as I'd like and this is one important way of keeping the passion alive from summer camp. Though miles may separate us, God's word brings us together.

Lately I've run across the idea of worship more than once. I think I've mentioned before that it always excites me when something I am reading or learning about in my private study time or my reading shows up in church or bible studies, etc. The typical misconception about worship is that it is a 30 minute music segment in a church service. That grossly misrepresents what worship is and should be.

To take things back to the basics, we were made to glorify God. That is our sole purpose in life.

Revelation 4:11 - Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.

In order to glorify Him, everything we do and say must be to the glory of His name. We glorify Him through worship. "What is worship" you may ask. It is a lifestyle. It is not a 30 minute music segment in a church service. Most often, worship has nothing to do with music. Your highest form of praise and worship should be the way you live life everyday. If you live for the sole purpose of glorifying Him and spreading His name around the world, you are worshipping with your life. 

Isaiah 29:13 - The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men."

One of the hardest things for Christians is to remember to go back to the Bible and what Jesus says about certain issues. More often than not, we rely on spiritual figures in our lives to give us instruction, without looking at what the Bible says for ourselves. In Isaiah 29:13, the Lord is clearly agonized by the false worship of His people. While they are engaging in the "acceptable" means of worship (such as music in a church service), their hearts are not worshiping Him on a daily basis. Their lives are not being directed by the sole purpose of glorifying and worshiping Him. They may sing the words, but their hearts are far from Him. In short, they are only going through the motions.

But why should we worship? Why live our lives for God? Because of the second part in Revelation 4:11 that says: "for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." And not only for His creation of us, but because He sent His son Jesus to die on the cross so we wouldn't go to hell for the sins we've committed. Think about that.. God created human beings to bring glory to Himself. Adam and Eve sinned against Him, causing humankind to be stained with a sinful nature. As we sat around sinful and dying, He sent His only Son to be the payment for our sins. Without Jesus' blood we were doomed to eternal damnation.

Why would the God who CREATED us for His glory, give up His son to save people who consciously reject Him on a regular basis?
Love.
Because He loves us.

And we don't deserve it. We will never deserve it. But He has offered eternal life, why would we be stupid enough to reject it? And once we accept it and begin to grow in Him and learn about what an amazing God He really is, how could we not DESIRE to worship with our lives? In fact, how can we even call them our lives? He gave His life to save ours. Our lives were bought with His blood. So we can't really call them our own.

So when people look at you, what do they see? Genesis 1:27 says "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Because we were created in the image of God, and now that we understand we were bought by His blood and our sole purpose is to live for Him, we should be a direct image of Jesus. That is how you worship with your life. When you live every moment for Him, you glorify Him with your actions, and you are literally a walking representation of Him; a mirror image. Of course you're not perfect - that's not expected. But a daily relationship and constant desire to live for God is expected.

And when you represent a mirror image of Him, you're showing people Jesus without even trying. You're spreading the good news without ever opening your mouth. Your life and your actions show the unsaved who He is.

So really think about it... When people look at you, who do they see?