Hand over the Spoiled Milk

The Lord has a unique way of teaching “adults” the reality of who they are through watching children. We often forget that we are mere infants, and if we happen to be “mature” we are still only children in the eyes of God. The fact that we are children is not only our reality, but also a command! “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus said it, Matthew 18:3 We are children, and called to have a childlike faith.

Back in February I found myself babysitting a little boy named, Sawyer. He was in that precious and hyperactive stage of his life where he happened to be two years old. I happened to be twenty and looking for some extra money and that is how our paths crossed.  I suppose looking back it was more divine of an appointment than I expected.

It was my first time watching Sawyer, I got to the house, introduced myself to the parents, you know the typical stuff. They told me if they needed anything to just call. Easy enough. I wasn’t expecting anything strange or abnormal to happen, and especially not for the Lord to drop a truth bomb on me that night. But it is what it is!

So I was watching this two year old boy, and he had grabbed a bottle off the counter that had milk in it. I didn’t know how old the milk was or when it had been poured that morning so I figured I would simply ask him to give me the bottle and I would just fill it up with some fresh milk! I mean sounds good right? Who likes drinking lukewarm, or possibly sour milk anyway!? I was just trying to make his little life better, like any good babysitter would.

I maturely and calmly ask for his bottle that way I can fill it up. The response I got was “mine.”

Alright, I can handle this, kids always do this. I will just tell him the milk is bad and I want to give him something better.

“Sawyer, give me the bottle, I am going to get you some new milk”

He responds again with some kind of “my” answer and we go into the drawn out ordeal of me getting the bottle away from him. You can imagine for yourself what that looked like haha.

As I am in the process of trying to get this bottle of milk away from Sawyer, the Lord so clearly began to speak to me. I heard myself saying, “give it to me, it’s not good for you. “ “Trust me, I have something better.” “I want to give you something new.”

The same words I was telling Sawyer I could hear the Lord speaking to me. The Lord’s gentle voice, “do you trust me?” “You know that isn’t good for you.” “I have something new.”

It was so profound. Right as I was speaking, God was speaking. Is this making sense? It was that moment of revelation where you are taken back, and you just KNOW God is in your midst. It made me cry a little too, or at least made my eyes tear up! The Lord was asking me some very important questions and challenging me to let go of some things I held dearly to my heart. It was hard, but I felt the heart of the father. I knew his motives were to protect me and give me something better.

So I want to break down this “Battle of the Bottle” in more detail.

Sawyer’s first mistake was thinking the bottle was his. It actually wasn’t his it belonged to his Parents. He didn’t pour the milk he was holding onto himself. His Mom or Dad poured the milk earlier that day, and the milk was good for a while but now it is bad. The point is Sawyer did not provide it for himself. It did not belong to him, so when he said “mine” he was mistaken. That bottle did not belong to him it belonged to his father. Sawyer should have been willing to hand over the bottle, because it was not actually his.

THE LORD IS OUR PROVIDER.  Nothing we possess is our own. (The blessedness of possessing nothing, it’s a gift to not possess anything but God) We do not own, or have rights to anything. The blessings we receive from God are still HIS. He gives things to us, but it is still his and The Lord has full rights to revoke things that we may begin to idolize or hold too closely to our hearts.

Don’t believe me? Look at Abraham and Isaac.

The Lord can give us things, that are good, but they can go bad. They can be good for a season, for a time. Just like Sawyers milk was good and healthy for a time, but then it went bad and would make him sick if he held onto it.  (This has MUCH more to do with our fallen human nature than the Lords faithfulness. God is not an Indian giver, if it is good, and glorifies him, you can keep it, but if it starts to get manipulated and you idolize the blessing the lord will be QUICK to strip it away. I am not trying to challenge the character of God with this point) We cannot hold onto things too tightly. We cannot begin to worship the “blessing” in place of worship for God. We cannot hold onto the blessing more than we cling to God. Does that make sense? Yes we may “love” the blessings God gives us, but we LOVE the father.  It is all about The Lord. When the Lord asks us to surrender/sacrifice something we should be quick and willing to do so because chances are, it wasn’t ours in the first place. We possess nothing but the Father.

What is THE LORDS that you are claiming to be YOURS?

Sawyer’s second mistake, not trusting me! I had just met sawyer probably a few hours before this “Battle of the Bottle” began. I mean I guess I can’t blame him, he had the right to be a little skeptical, I suppose. Why? He didn’t KNOW me. Sawyer is like, “who is this random girl who is trying to take my bottle from me?”  Sawyer didn’t know my character. He may have been having a hard time trusting me. If he had known my character, or we had a relationship longer than a few hours of knowing each other he might have been a little more willing to hand the bottle over. Sawyer needed to trust me that I had good intentions for him. 

Do you know the CHARACTER of God? If you don’t know that God is good isn’t it going to be hard to trust him? If you haven’t spent time with Him, building a relationship with Him, and learned that his character is kind, and loving, it might be hard for you surrender to him. Please, take time to get to know the creator of the universe! Read the bible, pray, spend time in his presence, I promise he won’t disappoint you.

He is a GOOD father! In fact he is the perfect Father.

Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” 

Matthew 6:28 “See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith?”

If the God of the ages cares for the Sparrow, and clothes the lilies and grasses in splendor, how much does he love you? How much more does our good father in heaven care about you?

Matthew 7:9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

Do you have faith that God is good? At the center of what you believe about God what do you think of? Do you believe he has the best intentions for you, even when it is hard to give things up? Do you trust he will give you something better? 

It all came down to it in that moment Sawyer handed me the bottle. He had resolved in his heart that I was good and I was going to give him something better in return. Through Sawyer’s action of surrender it revealed what he believed in his heart. Sawyer trusted me and decided I was good. The lord wants us to be willing to do the same. To trust him. Even when it hurts. Resolve in your heart that God is a good Father.

Sawyer’s third issue. He couldn’t understand me. I was trying to tell him, give me the bottle and I will get you more milk, again, super simple right? It would have been simple if we had the same level of intelligence! But I was trying to communicate with a two year old. It didn’t work.

Picture telling him, alright you give me the bottle, I’m going to open it, you have to unscrew the lid, careful not to spill the milk that’s already in, pour it out. Then I am going to go to the fridge and get the milk out. I determine how much milk is in the gallon, and how quickly or slowly to pour it. Blah, blah blah.. 

Sawyer would not understand EVEN if I explained to him all the steps and how I was going to put some new milk in his bottle and give it back to him.  Why? Because my ways were higher than Sawyer’s ways, my thoughts were higher than Sawyer’s thoughts. Sound familiar? It’s biblical.

Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

The Lord’s thoughts and ways are infinitely higher than ours. The way The Lord is orchestrating our lives, is beyond all comprehension or understanding. We can never fully understand what God is doing, and that is why he is God. He is the Lord who stretched out the skies and he holds our lives in the palm of his hand. He is the perfect God, who is holy and lovely. Even when you don’t understand what he is doing, or asking you to do you, your response is to trust Him. 

John 3:12 “I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” This verse is so revealing. Half of the time we don’t even understand earthly things! How can we even begin to comprehend the heavenly realms!? We are incapable. We need a renewed mind by The Spirit of God! We need to be transformed to have the mind of Christ, to gain a heavenly perspective of the true realities around us. There is a war waging, and our eyes need to long to gaze on Christ, so we may begin to understand our current reality. We do not seek to understand this world, we seek to understand the kingdom of God. We must learn to trust God.

The Lord is not looking for a people who can figure him out. He isn’t looking for a people who always have to understand “why.” He is looking for a people who are obedient. That when he asks us to do something, we willingly say, “yes”. Why is our “yes” easy? Why is saying “yes” to God easy, even when the world thinks you are crazy for giving up seemingly good things? Why is saying “yes” to God easy when they say “you are being too radical”? Why is saying “yes” easy even when we don’t understand?

We say “yes” because we know we have a good father. 

Reflection Questions:

What is the Lords that he wants you to give back to him?

What does the Lord want you to surrender so he can refine and make better /renewed?

Or do you even trust God? (Not in a condemning way, you just haven’t experienced the goodness of the Father yet. God wants to reveal his goodness to you.)

Suffer On

I find it no coincidence that people can be walking through similar seasons of suffering together at the same time. The Lord provides relationships in order to help us share the burden of suffering. Just as Christ himself says, “come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest,” He provides a way for our burdens to be carried. Would we partner together in sharing the sufferings of Christ? We do not have a savior who is unable to relate. He has been tempted and tried in every way. Jesus is the ultimate one who gives us freedom, but it doesn’t hurt to have healthy community around pushing us to that freedom (which is Jesus). It is important to have a healthy community of peers, and elders who will speak life into us!

Humans are built for community. We need social interaction! Being in Relationship with others is needed for the prosperity of any person. Our emotions produce a longing within us to be in community with others. We are called to be loved and wanted. It’s normal and it’s good.

I have noticed over the past year or so, whenever I am facing some kind of obstacle or trial there is a peer or someone near me who may be facing the same thing. Again this is not by accident. The Lord provides people to help carry our burdens. Sometimes it might take a little searching to find someone who is facing the same obstacles as you, but The Lord is faithful in leading you to someone.

If you are struggling and don’t know where to turn or you are overwhelmed I would suggest to start talking about it. How will people know that you aren’t doing well if you never share? So many times I have run into random people at a prayer meeting, or some kind of church event, or who knows where, and realized there are other people dealing with the same challenges that I am. The opportunities for fellowship presented just by being open and willing to share how you are REALLY doing will surprise you. The Lord will bring people into and out of your life for specific reasons, in different seasons!

When we discuss God with others we are strengthened. Our faith is built up and the body is edified! When you get together in community and talk about God, we often find things line up. The Lord is speaking the same thing to his people and it is so cool to watch it unfold before our eyes. When you start talking about God, He reveals more of his character to us through his community. We begin to share revelation of who our God is. We begin to share testimony of how the Lord has been good to us and in turn everyone who hears is strengthened. We will overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.

Back to suffering. There are times in our lives where we feel completely alone, there won’t always be someone there to hold our hand through the specific ordeals we face. Each one of our lives is unique and the stories will continually take unexpected and twists and turns. Although we may not be able to fully relate to one another’s struggles 100% we have the unique ability to support one another in a more general sense and that is through the unity we have in Jesus. We know life is going to knock us down. We know that we are going to be offended. We know we will be wronged, lied about, back stabbed, etc. Name the trouble we have all experienced it to some degree. We know we are going to face trials and hardships of many kind, we have been told that through scripture.  It is no surprise. We are all in this crazy life together. We have all been put on earth for such a time as this. We are called to encourage and uplift one another. Hebrews 3:13 “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” The days are evil, we have an enemy that is prowling around like a roaring lion ready to devour. It sucks!! It’s hard, this world is a tough place to live in. That’s why as the body we need to be focused on being a support for one another versus a hindrance! The last thing we want to do as the body of Christ is not take care of our brother and sisters. So when we see someone going through difficult times, stop and give them a hand and encouragement.

Here is a big chunk of Galatians 6 but it is describing how we should live as the body.

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Sprit, 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. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, ESPECIALLY to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6:1-10

We are called to restore gently. To be uplifting and kind with our words, that it would benefit anyone who is to hear what we speak of others. We need to restore people gently.

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Wow what does that even mean!? We get to fulfill the Law of Christ. We can play a part in that by caring for each other and taking on one another’s sufferings to help support and let them endure. Cool! I want to learn more about that concept of fulfilling the Law of Christ and the part we play in that as His inheritance and advancing his kingdom.

Do not be weary in doing good! You will reap a harvest! Do not give up! Even when life is dragging you down and you have that moment, that option to cheat a little, to just get by the way the world does, or you feel entitled because you have been having a crappy day, week, month or year, keep doing good! Keep pressing on, continue to turn the other cheek because you WILL be rewarded. This is the way of the kingdom, you reap what you sow. Keep on pressing on. Do not be weary in doing good for there will be a harvest! Don’t give up. The reward is Christ Himself! The reward is the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. Seek his presence, be found in him. Live in the secret place of His presence.

Lastly let us do good to all people. ESPECIALLY to those who belong to the family of believers.

Here is a question for us, do we sometimes treat people outside of the church better than our brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we feel like ministering to the lost and broken is more important than clothing the person sitting next to us in church service? How can we get this idea of loving one another right, if we don’t even love the people well who are right in front of us? Sometimes I wonder what our motivation is. Lord what are my motives? Is it easier or more glamorous to go do “homeless” ministry and give myself some kind of pat on the back when the person next to me in church is having a really bad day and I am not even taking the time to stop and pray and encourage them? It’s all a balance but do you see what I am saying? It is scary how “conditional” my love can be. It’s like,” I will love who I want to, when I want to, when it is convenient”.  “I planned on going downtown to love on homeless people tonight God, not the girl crying in the corner at church.”

Just an example but I am trying to reveal the heart motive there. Sometimes we pick and choose how we want to love. It’s not okay. We shouldn’t choose favorites with who we are willing to minister to. People are people. If we ignore the command, love your neighbor as yourself, we are missing it. We are called to love all people, at all times. It is not a matter of picking and choosing what your “ministry” is. We are called to be priests to all people! The main point I want to make here is MOTIVE. If we go out to love on people down town, but we are unwilling to love the unlovable right in front of us, ultimately that love we are displaying is coming out of our own strength and motives and will be depleted in a short amount of time. Our love is conditional when we pick and choose who to love. We are called to love unconditionally.

So that ties back into “do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Let’s not ignore our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering right in front of us. Let us not get distracted from the needs in our community and the people who are crying out for support and help.

My pastor recently mentioned something about “getting down in the pit with people.”

We don’t like doing that do we? Haha Picture it! Someone in a pit, wet, with mud all over them. We have the tendency to stand on the edge of the pit in some kind of white blazer and white plans (we don’t want to get dirty), or business suit, and throw a rope over and are asking them to climb out. We yell down, “I know you are wet, I know you are weighed down by all that mud, even heavier than you were before, I know you are exhausted, yes I know,  but can’t you just get it together? Muster up the strength and pull yourself out! Come on use those arms! I threw you a rope what else do you want me to do?” Should we throw them a rope, or get down in the pit with them? Get down there and push them up. Get below them. Serve. 

That seems a little more of like what Jesus would do to me. The servant of all, coming down into some kind of messy hole and saving everyone. Go Jesus!

He has shown us the way to be the greatest. Be the least. Leave your White Blazer at home, don’t be afraid to get your White Washed Tomb a little dirty on the outside. We are all messy. Let’s help each other out. No one has it all together.

I think I made a mistake recently with this. I didn’t understand that you don’t have to fix people. (I did logically but my actions didn’t portray that) Sometimes there is nothing to say, nothing can be said in times of suffering. Just cry. Just cry with them, weep with them, don’t try and make everything okay. Let God do what he does, The Lord does the healing. Just be with them. Suffer with them, and hold fast to the hope and truth that Joy does come in the morning. Everything has been made beautiful in its time.

Anyway, we find support through friends and peers who get down in the pit with us, but we also find encouragement from those who are older than us. It is that moment when you have your head down, and you are all pitiful and woe is me, then you see someone you admire and look up to, and they tell you it’s going to be alright. Then they share part of their testimony and you begin to actually believe them when they say it is going to be alright.

The mentor gives you a little insight into their life and similar trials they have faced and you realize they still love the Lord and are blessed and on fire for God and you are like, “huh, I guess it isn’t the end of the world after all?”

My advice to you is find someone older than you who can encourage you and give you that “Aha” moment. Find a mentor who will share their testimony and pull you off your butt and tell you “it’s gonna be alright.” After they tell you that, believe them! It is going to be alright. You can do it! We are all in this together, like that cheesy high school musical song.

Read the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. So many people have gone before you, So many people have suffered in the same way you are suffering. Join the body of Christ in our suffering! Welcome to the club, but it is all for the surpassing Greatness and glory of Jesus Christ our Lord. He is worthy of praise. Praise that comes out of our mouths motivated out of anguish and praise that is motivated out of joy. God is good all the time. The lord was good and faithful to those who have gone before you and he will be good and faithful to you! He is the same unchanging God! The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! He will provide. Everything is going to be just fine.

I’ll leave you with an encouraging word from the creator of the universe,

 “Take heart, for I have overcome the world” –Jesus. 

Sharing the Burden of Suffering : Part One

Sharing the Burden of Suffering 

Often in our seasons of suffering when we have a moment to even lift our heads off of ourselves we look up to find others seemingly doing great! They look as though their relationship with The Lord is thriving or that they have it “all figured out.” I am finding that is not so. Chances are, if you were to really dig past the casual “Hi, how are you,” you would find many peoples typical response of “good” is masking a deep sigh somewhere within.

Suffering is not always the case, there are seasons of great success and joy!  There are many seasons of triumph and victory which are essential parts of our walk with the Lord. These peaks create part of the natural undulation found in our walk with our savior; however, today lets discuss the troughs.

Trough :: wasn’t our savior born in one? Haha

He was born in a barn, with animals, I could imagine him being cradled in some rectangular bucket thing that was used to hold water (water trough), dumped out, filled with hay and linens and put down to rest that first night. I don’t know the details but just imagine with me. We as Christians have not been called to a glamorous life! The sooner we learn that the better, and the sooner we learn to embrace the suffering as a gift from God, the sooner we will impact our culture.  Let’s all wipe the fake smile off of our faces and be real. Please. Especially those of us in the younger generation, we have been trained to sniff out what is genuine and authentic and what is counterfeit. So let’s try not to be the obnoxious happy “Kumbaya” singing Christians that we so easily can be. Be genuine, be authentic, it’s attractive. People are drawn to real people. “Jesus grew in favor with God and man”, it doesn’t say Jesus grew in favor with God and his cute Christian bubble friends. He said Man, as in all humanity, that we would be able to connect with all people and influence all people. Be in the world BUT not of it.

What is this Suffering I am talking about? The definition of Suffering is “The state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship.” So any time you are feeling that maybe for a few weeks, months, etc. You could probably say you are in a season of suffering. We suffer from the Lord, as he is teaching us and refining us, stripping us of ourselves. Sometimes we undergo suffering because of consequences from our sin. Who knows what the root is or why it is happening but we all experience this season. It is a beautiful season that will produce much fruit if we let it!

I once heard someone say that hurt is hurt. It doesn’t matter how bad it is. It doesn’t matter if someones hurt was “worse” than yours. It causes the same pain. We need to understand that in order to support one another through seasons of suffering. We cannot judge one another when dealing with hurt or pain, we need to extend grace to one another and be patient in working out our suffering. So what do we cling to when we find ourselves in hard times? I have found three things to be true.

We find strength through seasons of suffering in three ways: Jesus, our peers, and elders who have walked through similar trials before.

We have an incredible savior. Jesus, who feels every single feeling we have ever felt. He sees the depth of the brokenness and despair inside of our hearts. He knows. He weeps with us, he mourns with us, and he rejoices with us. Find strength in the Lord! We can have confidence that he sees the struggles that we face on a daily basis. He sees the war waging between our flesh and our spirit! “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16 We do not have a King, a “ruler” who is unable to empathize. How incredible is this? The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords knows exactly how we are feeling in times of trials, or suffering, or temptation. We have a God who relates to us. 

Recently there was a situation in my life where everything seemed very broken, now maybe I was overreacting, but things from my small perspective were looking pretty bleak. I remember just telling The Lord, “it’s all broken, what are you going to do about it?” I wasn’t challenging God in this question I was genuinely asking him, how is this going to be fixed? The answer I received was not what I expected. Surprise, surprise, The Lord didn’t answer my question the way I thought he would. He simply said to me, I FEEL all the brokenness. I know how you feel. I am with you.

In that moment, The Lord was with me. He always is, but I realized when he is with me, he rejoices when I rejoice, and he mourns when I mourn. (Romans 12:15) I was comforted and The Lord wants to comfort us all. So would you let him? When you feel like breaking down and crying, cry to him! When you feel anger, shout out to God, He will interpret the cries and groans of your heart. In your anger do not sin, turn to the lord and he will refine those feelings, calm your spirit, and teach you His ways.

Now here is the tricky thing about going to Jesus. For a lot of us, that is the last person we want to run to when we have failed. Isn’t it? Don’t worry you aren’t the first one to try and hide your sin and shame from the Lord, humanity has been doing it since Adam and Eve. But seriously don’t we do this often? We mess up and for some reason we feel unworthy to go sit before the Lord all the sudden, when in reality, it’s just because you messed up in a way that feels “more bad” than you usually do, so then we want to hide?

Is this making sense? We categorize our sin, if we would be honest with ourselves there are some sins that we tolerate more frequently than others. Yuck! So because we sin in a way that is “worse” than our normal sin, we act like we aren’t good enough, but that is rooted in pride. It is rooted in pride because we think that for some reason WE and OUR actions allow us to enter the throne of Grace with confidence. When we mess up, all of the sudden we read Hebrews 10:19 “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a GUILTY conscience..” and we think the blood of Christ was shed for someone else. “That’s great God, but you don’t know what I have done.” “I messed up and I should have known better” “Let me just punish myself from not entering into your presence for a little until I get MY MESS figured out and THEN once I am all put back together I will enter the throne of grace with my OWN confidence.”

Brothers and Sisters this should not be! Haha I feel like Paul saying that.

We have confidence in Jesus when we don’t have confidence in ourselves! That is the point of all this, it’s not about your good works it is about Jesus Christ’s GOOD WORK! The good work he did on the cross! One good work, it was finished. We need to shake off our shame and guilt and come before him as we are, broken, and let him fix us. Learn to have Confidence in the Lord not in yourself!

I want to bring forward an Idea here quickly as well. The high honor it is that we get to suffer with Christ.

Right above the verse Philippians 1:29 Paul is contending for people to conduct their lives in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. That we would be a people who strive together with one faith, and stand firm in The Spirit. That we would be a people without fear when others oppose us. You can read it for yourself. But then it goes on to say “For it has been GRANTED to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to SUFFER for him.” Wow. We are called to suffer for Christ. We have been given (granted) the opportunity to partner in Christ’s suffering advancing His kingdom and gain a marvelous inheritance.

Lord, would you teach us to view suffering from your perspective. That through the seasons of trials and testing we would be able to stand confident in you. Jesus strengthen your people who are called by your name to find joy in seasons of despair. Would you enlighten our understanding to the suffering we go through WITH and FOR you!

(So this was a little encouragement on how to face suffering with the strength of Jesus, but I am going to post more on facing suffering with peers as well as looking to elders who have walked through hard times before to find hope!) 

Why America Loves Duck Dynasty

Duck Dynasty, just about everyone has heard of it. That crazy television show that is sweeping across the nation and pulling the redneck out of people one viewer at a time. We can all agree that there are many intriguing things about this popular TV series that keeps us coming back week after week, but I think behind the beards, camo, and duck calls there is more. 

I woke up this Wednesday morning with some random thoughts in my head. First was the VMA's and Second was Duck Dynasty. Now give or take the reason I was thinking about Duck Dynasty could be because this is Wednesday and I subconsciously knew that a new episode would be airing later tonight. Whatever the reason, I still found myself thinking about Duck Dynasty. 

I started thinking about how in the world a family of rednecks could be so popular and win the hearts of so many who live in a culture that would normally find the Robertson's life style boring? 

|| Let's get this straight, a family with three generations, who sit in a warehouse, make duck calls all day, fish, and pray before meals, is going to produce a television show that is more popular than American Idol? 

No, that can't be, not in today's society. Where is the shocker? Where is Snooki? Who is going to cause drama? What about the cat fight? Surely the viewers will get bored? ||


Or maybe not. Maybe the United States will not get bored of this family. Maybe the camouflage, beards, and duck calls draw us in, but I guarantee you those are not the only reasons people keep coming back to watch. 

America Loves Duck Dynasty not because they are a bunch of crazy rednecks. It's not because they wear camo all day, or because of their incredible beards that half the men in America are jealous of. Perhaps the reason why America loves Duck Dynasty is because the life the Robertson's lead points to something deeper. There is something about this family that people long to watch, keep up with and even, "be a part of." Our culture is longing to get back to our roots, there is something appealing about it, after simply watching a episode of Duck Dynasty you are filled with joy and peace! Perhaps it's because the Robertson's represent something long lost to the American people. A Healthy family structure. 

A family that encourages, loves, eats, and prays together. A family who through thick or thin is going to support one another. A family who lives their lives conducted by rules, morals, and hard work! A family that emphasizes the importance of children, protecting and pouring into them, training them up in the way they should go. A family that stands for something, and knows who they are, and could care less what other people think. 
Perhaps it's a family who seems to be unaffected by today's culture. That when they get, fame and fortune, they still focus on the important things in life: God and Family. 

At the end of the day the camo will fade, the duck calls will be forgotten, the series will eventually come to an end, but no one will forget the Robertsons. 

Incline your ear to the sound of Heaven.

Music.

We are drawn to it. The Lord has created us to worship. Isn't it evident in our culture though? Everyone is worshiping something or someone. It is so true. Look at what you spend your time doing? You worship something.

Let's be honest we worship all kinds of things. I think we need to more properly examine idols in our lives and not be so quick to laugh at the stories in the bible.
We look at the story of the Golden Calf and easily can wonder how in the world the people could so quickly forget about worshiping the God of the ages, the God who had delievered them out of Egypt. Split the Red Sea, provided mana from heaven, and allowed water to spring out of rocks. This God.. the only one worthy of worship was quickly put aside and was replaced with a calf formed out of metal.

We worship, facebook, computers, beauty, cars, sports, books, magazines, etc. You name it.. but think about it. We feel like we can some how justify that it is different than a Golden Calf..

a golden calf seems just out there. and weird .. like they couldn't find anything better to worship?

But if you strip down the things we worship in our society.. it is much more similiar than we realize.
Facebook? Computer? that is metal. with some weird form of connection in space haha i don't even know.
Magazines? paper and a bunch of lies. (now when i say magazine I am not talking about you are in the place of .. you actually like the people and want to catch up on the hottest trends and who is engaged to who. I am not referring to "those" people who actually care about it. I mean even if you just find entertainment in it. Like to see how foolish people are.) I believe that is just feeding a greater evil. Put it down. Meditate on whatever is holy, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely. forget the junk .. don't glorify it even for your "entertainments" sake. Dear Lord same thing with the television.
Do not watch stupid shows to entertain yourself. I think we all are aware enough to realize that we don't actually like or agree with most of the shows on t.v. We just watch it because it is fun to see how dumb people are.

stop it. Don't continue to worship them. When we enable the media to continue to profit off of wickedness and immorality we are in agreement with it!

This tangent is all leading to a point i promise. It comes back to worship. We see the life of a celebrity. More often than not. It will end in disaster. Simply because of one reason.

Humans cannot be worshipped.
God is the only one who can handle being worshiped. (please excuse my grammar.. i don't care about right now.. worshiped worshipped.. who cares.)

God is the only one .. who has a capacity to be worshiped.
Humans will fail. We cannot handle it.
It goes to our head.. and you are setting someone up for distruction by setting them on a pedalstool equal or higher than God.

Anyway.. I look at the America and because of the abundant resources and comfort that we possess we can be passionate about ANYTHING. There is nothing holding us back.
I think it is an example of our raw desire. "If we could have anything in the world what would it be? If we could find delight in anything in the world.. what would it be?"

In the United States we have been able to ask ourselves those questions with no limit to the answer. Anything you want.. your delight can be created.

I firmly believe that we (overall as a society) have decided music is the most important thing to us. Or most of us. The coolest, most admired, lusted after, and coveted people in our society are Musicians.

I am making a statement.. maybe it is a generalization. I might be completely wrong. But overall. (IN THIS GENERATION) I believe it is music that people delight in than anything else.
There are many styles and genres as there are people. Whatever you taste in music is. Chances are you can log onto itunes and find it.

So here is my point.

How do we reach Generation? How do we display the Love of Christ to people in such a way that they grab hold of it and want to know the Lord? I think one major way we can do this is through the place of Music.

Music is clearly a part of everyones life. And for good reason! It was created. (yes! created!) By God, and For God. created. placed inside of you.. a longing to sing. a longing to express yourself. It is God Given!!

Now think about this. I am not trying to be legalistic here. Bare with me.

If music was created for the sole purpose of worship then I believe we would stand in agreement that not all of the Music that is being sung, rapped about, screamo-ed about, is all glorifying the Lord. But that music too, (if we stand in agreement that music was created for the purpose of worship) infact is worshiping the enemy.

Just a little bible history for you.
Lucifer was the head angel of worship .. he got prideful wanted to be worshiped.

God (big awesome baller God) was like uhm not up in here. I walk on fire and control all of the universe. there is again.. NO ROOM for anyone or anything else to be worshiped. THE GREAT I AM . THE LORD. BEGINNING AND THE END ALPHA AND THE OMEGA. I am to be worshiped.

you, lucifer, whom I created, you are not to even be thought of worshiped. In fact, you cannot even handle being worshiped. it will lead to pride and destroy you. (seeing the similarity here?)
We can look at the Character of the Lord. Good, gracious, holy, and set apart. He knows that his glory cannot be shared. its too great. it would only corrupt someone if they couldn't handle it.

Kinda reminds me of a part of Lord of the rings when that girl elf like freaks our on frodo? remember with the pool of water? she is like i CANNOT take the ring. 

That elf queen knew that she already had power. If she had anymore then she would be overtaken with it.

Goodness this is why these blogs are so long is cause i start talking about lord of the rings.. ugh

okay so i hope i have conveyed this properly.

God is the only one who can be worshipped because anyone else who is will be corrupted by it.

So again back to music being created to worship god. Lucifer.. was thrown down from heaven.. he is the devil if you didn't know.
and he is still determined to be worshipped.
and guess what.
He is being worshipped.
There is absolutely music that is being poured into hell.. i believe it. He is being worshipped. in a sick twisted.. and failed copy of God way.

Again im not saying burn all your music. Just be aware.. are you glorfying the Lord or something else.

Now here is the exciting part!

I was created to worship!!! So as followers of Christ this is what we do. We live lives of worship unto the Lord. I have the most to sing about, as a follower of Christ. I have the most to sing about!

I have been saved. I have eternal life.

And the Lord is so holy and worthy beyond comprehension.. that all i can do before him is worship.
it is proper of me to do so.

I believe and want to see a group of young people so consumed with the Lord that intimacy abounds in their hearts and minds. I want to see out of the place of sitting at Jesus's feet we hear HIS heart for his people. For his children who are distant from him.

He wants to call them home it is evident.
Now as followers of Christ this is our Job. to help, content for a generation in the place of pray and ministry to bring his children home. So we have talents.. different talents that have been given to us by God. Music. it is one of those talents that we do not want to stand before the Lord and say oops sorry i buried it!

What if we could hear the sounds of Heaven!? Oh what if we could hear the songs being sung in the holy room.. wow. in the courts of the Lord. I can only imagine the noises and harmonies that are being sung up there! out of this world.

We need to hear Gods voice and heart for his people. Would we acknowledge what the place of worship is? We BRING heaven to earth in the place of worship.

WE join with the angels! Something much larger than ourselves. We are literally doing the same thing in the place of worship that is happening in heaven. RIGHT NOW. Anytime you stop and sing to the Lord you are doing something heavenly!!

There are elders 24/7 saying holy, holy, holy, holy,
bowing down before the Lord and looking back up and receiveing NEW revelation of who God is.

They see new Glory every single time they look up.
do NOT think you will be bored in heaven. it is going to be revelation after revelation of who the Lord is.

compare it to this. you are in love with your .. spouse. oh this is great. i love comparing things of heaven and putting them on earthly standards.

okay so i am going to put it this way.
It would be like me, looking at my husband, and EVERY single time I see him, i see another incredible feature about him. Another muscle, another facial expression, and it is always good! Always a good feature. I would be falling more and more in love with him every second. its like every time i turn around DANG you are looking better and better!

okay grasp that feeling too.. the butterflies.. the melting feeling. times A MILLION KAZILLION.
the Lord is an unknowable God. yet he is knowable in a small capacity. and we have eternity to learn and find out about it.

So now that you understand it will be constant revelation of the Lords splendor, majesty and goodness.. DONT YOU THINK.. hahah
don't you just begin to say to youself.. oh if we could only hear the praises in heaven and bring them to earth.

I want my generation, my peers, my friends, my loved ones to know the God i serve. I WANT AND EVEN DEMAND THAT STEREOTYPES of my BELOVED Jesus would be BROKEN and that people would being to see him for who he TRULY is.

That they would see him with unveiled eyes. .. eyes that have been enlightened by the power of the Holy Spirit.. to grasp how wide and high and deep is the love of christ.

this God who went to hell and back to save our souls. literally.
This is the God I serve. know him.

I want to hear the sounds of heaven and bring them to earth. to draw his children in.

Be inspired.
incline you ear to hear the sounds of angels.

Learn to hear his heart for his people. For such a time as this you are hear.

Sing to him! Sing to your God! Sing to your creator. He is longing to hear your creative voice.

I even prophecy right now. That new heavenly inspired songs will consume our generation and that we would usher a generation of people into the holy courts of the lord.

isn't that an incredible thing. WE HAVE BEEN CHOSEN FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.

sing to your lover.

Power of the Gospel

I believe we are in a time where we must begin to live our lives completely dependant on the Holy Spirit.

God has given us the gift of the spirit. We need to see the fullness of it.
Laying our hands on the sick and they are healed.
Opening the eyes of the blind.
Giving prophetic words to people we have just met.

It is time that the gospel once again becomes accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Not just words that are spoken out, but partnered with action.

For the longest time I was thinking that when we share the Gospel it was just us going to others and sharing the Word of the Lord. That is so so important. But the Gospel was also made up of actions.
Jesus HEALED the sick.. did not just speak of the sick being healed. He did it.
He did not just talk of the blinded eyes being opened, he opened them!

We need to be a people led by the Spirit. Listening to the Lord to guide our actions and steps. We have got to start looking different than the world. I believe the way we can best do this is love radically, and without limits. Bless the people around you. We must be marked by The Spirit of God.

We need surrender all to the Lord so he can do as he pleases.

I want to see the power of the resurrection. See the sick be healed, the captives set free, and a generation of people who have EXPERIENCED the abundant goodness of the Lord.

Only good things come from Him. He is good in all things. There is nothing good, apart from Him.

Prepare your Bride

I was made to gaze, all of my days, to gaze on beauty.
I want to see the Beauty of the Lord. The beauty of my Beloved.

I cannot begin to describe the wonder and awe of the Lord, my Jesus.
He is the grandest obsession we can have. It is so wonderful, to fall deeply in love with him. It is the best thing you can ever do.

Not the best thing you can ever do. It is the most important relationship you will ever be in. Your relationship with Jesus Christ defines everything about you. You are consumed with it.. whether you believe it or not. The day you stand before his holy throne is the day you will give an account.

Suddenly everything else you ever pursued in your life besides him.. becomes worthless.. you finally have a deep revelation and sorrow of how much more time you could have spent with him.
However you were too busy seeking success.. popularity.. even "ministry"

If we forget the point of why we are here on earth.. if we forget that its ALL about JESUS, we lose everything.

Paul knew it. He states it bluntly in Philippians!

Philippians 3:8
"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the SURPASSING GREATNESS of knowing CHRIST JESUS my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ."

Beautiful..
Paul understood the Joy of surrender!

When we truly understand.. the greatness of the love of God. When we understand how much the Lord Almighty loves us.. how much Jesus.. our High Priest and intercessor loves us.. suddenly.. everything else in our lives become nothing in comparison to knowing him.

When you are in love.. you go to great lengths to please your loved ones.
Not even please them.. just do little things to make them smile.
I don't think I am explaining this properly.

When you love someone.. going out of your way to do something doesn't even matter to you. Because you love them. It's like.. when your friend or loved one travels miles and miles throughout the night or something to meet you.. its like driving for hours without sleep and then its all worth it because you just get to see their face.

This is what Paul is saying. Suddenly.. laying down your live for Jesus.. becomes nothing! Because you know the reward is Him.

Once we truly understand the greatness of the Love of Christ for us and this wonderful beautiful perfect relationship we are in.. that is when we can begin to follow him whole heartedly.. with our heart, soul, mind and strength.

Okay.. so my point in all of this.. is
I don't even know.
haha

This whole thing is extremely unorganized and that makes me sad.. but I feel like the Lord is preparing all of us for something.

Obviously.. our Nation is in a time of change. I believe that the United States is straying further and further away from the Lord... and something needs to change.

I haven't watched the news in months so I am not talking about anything political necessarily.

We look around and we see that there is a lack of God.
Where people "claim" God is.. His presence isn't truly there.

Many of us call ourselves Christians but fail to follow out that lifestyle very well.

Whatever.. God is on the move .. the end times are near .. and we need to prepare ourselves as the bride of Christ.

Regardless of how soon that is .. it doesn't matter. Jesus will not return to a Bride that is not calling out to him day and night and isn't love sick.
We need to begin to listen to God.. and hear what he is telling us.

My prayer is this.. that you would begin to prepare your Bride! Purify our hearts! Let us begin to walk in pure and holy ways.. sanctify us God. Increase our capacity to love you.. to be longing for you and your return. Things are not okay with how they are! We want to see the kingdom of the Lord come to Earth. Let your Kingdom come and your will be done. Jesus.. we want you. So raise up hearts like Davids and Marys!

God help my heart long after you! After your sweet presence, Jesus, we want to know you better. I want to hear your voice. I am terrified, Jesus, that I don't know you well enough. I don't want to be thrown out with the weeping and gnashing of teeth. I want to be a sheep.. a stupid little sheep that just follows after my Good Shepherd. I am not my own god.. The God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob! That is the God I want to serve and be obedient to..

So Lord strip us of ourselves.. that we would long to sit in your presence.. that we would have hearts like Davids and Marys.. those who truly see the value of your love! That your love is all we need.. that we lay down our live to know your love and fight to understand the surpassing knowledge of that.

God prepare us to do your work.. that we would be in step with the spirit. Again.. to hear your voice.. like a sheep knows his Shepherds voice.. that we would know you so well Jesus.. that we would only respond to you.. that we wouldn't respond to the voices of this world God. But that your Bride would rise up.. that she would become unified and one! We want to see the Kingdom come to earth.
Give us burdened hearts Lord.. to see the world through your eyes.. so see your children who are so deceived walking in darkness! Oh that they would see the great light!

Jesus that you would break the deception that this world has of you, it breaks my heart Jesus.. that people don't know you like I know you! My Beloved one. Jesus that they do not acknowledge you as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.. or they claim it but don't live it at all!!!
You say Jesus, "if you love me, then obey my commands," Help us.. give us the grace and the holy spirit to obey your commands. We confess lord.. that we are dependent on you and your strength to walk out our salvation. Jesus we need you! We must fill ourselves with you every single day to do anything. If we don't mediate on your love.. then we are lost.. we have nothing. We cry out as Moses did.. God if your presence doesn't go with us.. then we won't go. Don't send us without your spirit.

We can do nothing without you, Jesus. But I want to know you better God. How can the world know Jesus if we who profess ourselves as Christians don't even know him. If we don't know you.. then we can't truly love you.

Open our eyes .. give us the grace to see you for who you really are. Give us further revelation of your Love Lord.. our hearts cry out to you.. make our hearts cry to you. Day and night.. to prepare ourselves for the Return of our Loved one.. the glorious creator.. alpha and omega, king of kings and lord of lords.. everlasting father, prince of peace, wonderful counselor, mighty God.

We need more of you. Show us what that looks like Jesus.. let that truly be the cry of our hearts. To know the love that our beautiful savior has for us.

I ask you to examine your heart. Do you long for Jesus.. to meet with him daily?
It is the MOST important thing you will ever do. Spend time with him. Fall at his feet and love him. He longs for that more than you ever will.

God longs for you .. more than you could ever long for him.
Satisfy Him today by entering into his courts. He is waiting for you. Your beloved is waiting.
Step into your role as a bride anxiously awaiting your bridegroom.
You were made to gaze on beauty.