Living by Example

In Galations 1:12 (NCV), Paul says:
"I did not get it [the Good News] from humans, nor did anyone teach it to me, but Jesus Christ showed it to me."

I think the real hard-hitting importance of this passage is the word "showed". It's not right for a person to say one thing, and live the other way - preach one thing and perform the opposite. And I've been increasingly aware of the fact that I see it in my own life.

In recent months, I've found that by pursuing the word of God and life change, God has revealed to me new ways to understand scripture and apply it to my life. He has also given me a new strength and passion with how I interact with people. But I think that as I seek to see people experience life change like how I have, I become less compassionate and more focused on rules. It's easy to say that life should be lived a certain way, but it's another thing to make those things a routine in personal life. And what I need is to find a balance. But at the heart of everything, if I want to see life change in others and encourage people to seek God, I must show that in my own life first.

People will respond when they see the change in your life, of responding to Christ's love. Rebecca Manley Pippert put it this way, "People will understand as much of the love of God as they see in our own lives." And I think that's an important concept to dwell on.

Fill Up

The sermon for Grouplife on Wednesday was marvelous. Rory was talking about how digging into God's word is like fuel to fill up life's tank and it got me thinking. So, first I think I should set out some foundations of what he was saying. He focused on this verse:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success
-Joshua 1:8 (ESV)

And said:
Some world religions, Buddhism for example, are about ridding oneself of all desire, becoming empty. And meditation in those cultures is about being able to think about nothing, which is kind of an oxymoron in itself. But what God wants for us is to fill us up, rather than leave us empty. The meaning of meditation in the Joshua verse is to read in on God's word, so that we may live our lives exactly how God has communicated that we should.

After hearing that, I thought of a different sermon that I'd heard at Leavenworth. And I find myself constantly coming back to this idea that: When it comes to a relationship with Jesus, if you are not growing, you are dying. Nick mentioned this at the winter retreat, but it's basically the idea that you cannot rely on your past experiences to sustain your faith. They are not enough to keep you strong in Christ. Growth must not only be intentional, but also routine. And you could easily apply these principles to exercising. If you exercise really hard once a year, it's going to get you nowhere, but if you exercise half an hour every week, the routine commitment will lead you to make progress in staying healthy and growing stronger.

In essence, what I was thinking was how you could combine both ideas. Experiences, like camps and learning at church and being with God's people, will make the capacity of our tank grow larger and larger in order that we will be able to hold more knowledge and understanding of God. But, unless our tank - our potential of knowing God better - is filled with the fuel from God's word, the past growth of our tank that has prepared us to gain more wisdom and a closer relationship will all be useless. Again, it can be applied with exercise. The more we exercise, the more we get the ability to exercise longer, harder, and in increasing complexity. The improvement developed from routine activities is exponential. The more you read the Bible, the better you will get at picking out the wisdom and applying it to your life, and pretty much living out God's hope for you. I guess the idea is to:

1. Fill up life's tank with God's word.
2. Make your tank capacity grow.
3. Repeat, constantly.

Comfort

The last few days have been scary for me as I find anxiety and depression completely taking over and consuming my thoughts and actions. I can't go an hour without trembling. Worst feeling.

Some people claim that true Christians never get depressed or worry, or have major "issues", but that's just sickening and wrong! Sure, the last week I've neglected my exercise and spending time with God, but that doesn't make me any less of a Christian. Or any less LOVED by Him. I think it is in these times that my life has the most purpose instead of (how I feel) the least purpose. In these times of darkness over my mind and body, the Lord is trying to get my attention. When I need Him the most, He reaches out to me the most. He is my comfort. It is in these times that I force myself to see him and he meets me right where I am. God's love and comfort is what helps me keep breathing.

These verses comfort me the most:

Hebrews 13:5-6 God has said, "Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid."

Psalm 34:4: "I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me, freeing me from all my fears."

Matthew 6:27: "Can any of you add a single hour to your life by worrying?"

My God, My Love

Hi everyone! I want to share a poem that I wrote on the way to a mission trip in Chile.  I was sitting in the plane admiring the sunrise when I was inspired to write this:

My God, My Love
You are the sunrise that brightens the sky
kissing the world with Your beauty
like soft rosy petals
drifting to settle on mountaintops

Your love surrounds us as we live out our life
like strolling through fields of yellow daisies
sun-kissed
that wait for us to bend
to breath their aroma

Your love is like those daisies
who wait and wait
patient
and wait
longing for our response
and wait and wait
but are not idle in the waiting

for while You waited scarlet blood seeped from Your holy hands
death became Life
the world thrown on its head
...or maybe
it is now the right way up

as the world cartwheels I open my eyes
Your glory, brilliant, shines
stronger than the noon sun
renewing

Your love surrounds me and I frolic among the daisies

Chazown

So lately I've been wandering through life super unsure of myself and what I'm supposed to be doing. Part of the student leadership program at OCC that I'm involved with is participating in the Chazown experience (click on the title to go to the webpage). For those of you that don't know Chazown is either a Greek or Hebrew(not really sure.....) word for vision and you should definitely check out the website. In this experience, we are finding vision for our lives that will follow along with God's plan and purpose. I had to set some goals in order to get my life into a place where I can really serve God's purpose for me. I have decided to work on my work/school life and my relationships with people, and hopefully by writting this, it'll keep me accountable for myself and anyone who reads this can help keep me acountable. So here tis': 1) work/school: for 30 days, i will do all my homework and come prepared to class every day 2) relationships: for 90 days, i will call at least one person once a week that I do not talk to often So here's the rundown: This isn't something I can do on my own, but it's going to be something I do with the Lord's strength and prayer. Feel free to chat to me about this. :)

God's crazy

Gods crazy? Yes HE is. He is crazy amazing!! Haha. I have been going up and down these past few months with my relationship with God and last night I was in Pursuit (a student lead worship chapel at my school) and was just able to sit and read my bible. I came across James 1. Now I am a big believer in the book of James and if you never know what to read I highly suggest it. Anyways, I am reading James and for some reason the passage just really got to me. Like James 1:21 in the NLT, it says:

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

Like wow!!! Its just so crazy how deep the bible gets. I know that people know to put there faith in God because he died for us to save us, but right here it says it in plain jane! So now, people are probably thinking, what would be considered filth and evil? and is it always there? and how do we get rid of it?

I would say if you believe in Jesus and love him and try to live a life that is pleasing to him then there most likely isn't much evil and filth. Also once you accept this truth about Jesus and God then your slate is wiped clean so you don't have to worry about how to get rid of it. And for people that feel like there is stuff still there, just talk to God about it and he will clean it all up for you!

MCKENZIE

♥ FAVORITE VERSE:
Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light.
-Matthew 6:19-22 (The Message)

♥ TESTIMONY:
I've grown up in a Christian home all my life. I've been blessed with an amazing family whose support in my spiritual walk has been IMMENSE. I'm home schooled, which is also an amazing experience which helped me find my footing at a young age. So, I guess you could say I've had a pretty "easy" life. I met God intimately when I was 7, and have followed Him ever since. But while my life was "easy" and safe, I wasn't growing and understanding like I wanted to. God was just always there, and I wasn't actively pursuing and pushing myself. 7th grade was when I started to ask questions, and a lot of that curiosity came from church. I met people who LOVED and KNEW God, and who loved people the way Jesus loved people. I got involved, went to camps, and became a Student Leader. I continued to grow, and am now leading a group of incredible seventh grade girls. I guess my testimony is pretty typical, but I've had my ups and downs. I've seen God work, and am so stoked to see what He is planning!

The Ultimate Acceptance

So, recently I was talking to a friend from school named Tyler. We talked about the issue of acceptance and after sleeping on it, I got inspired by the conversation. This is what I realized:

As humans, we are constantly and naturally looking to others for approval and for acceptance. But at the end of the day, no amount of acceptance from other people will be enough to satisfy you. Until you learn to accept yourself, life cannot be fulfilling or satiable. But I believe that the only way to personally accept that you are worthy is to realize that a greater being, that God, loves and accepts you exactly the way you are.

Because face it, your thoughts alone aren't enough to give you confidence in yourself, because when you depend on yourself, that becomes borderline egotistical. And even acceptance from someone else, by itself, is not going to be enough, because they are human just like you. The thing about God's acceptance is that it's a love from someone else, who is above all else, and above you. His is the only acceptance that will ever matter & the only one that really counts.

And the amazing thing is that this is an acceptance that you don't have to prove your worth for, because He already accepts and loves you for the person you are, for what you've overcome, and for who you've become. In his eyes, you are beloved. And that's the one love that matters and it's already there. And you know what? There is nothing you could ever do to make God love you more.

You are worthy, you are loved, and you were created in God's image to have a purpose in this world.