Post Easter Week... A Real Look at the Meaning of Easter

I’m not gonna lie. It’s been a rough week. Ironically enough, it’s the week after Easter and Satan has attacked from all sides. He’s attacked my attitude, he’s attacked my relationships, he’s attacked my family, and he’s attacked my spirit. He’s doing his darndest to reek havoc in my life again. It didn’t hit me until this morning. I was ironing my pants and getting ready to go to church when I found myself thinking… This time last week it was Easter Sunday and I was feeling pretty good about life and where I stood with things. I was grateful for a God that had saved me from my ways that were slowing but surely killing me. Then I got to thinking again… What is different about THIS week and LAST week? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!

I’m ashamed to admit that I had allowed myself to be consumed with my own drama this week and dismissed that fact that my God is RISEN and has promised to come back for me! How in the world in one weeks time I could forget that is beyond me! He was gracious enough to awaken me and spare me of the continuous lies that Satan will so willingly feed me. I’m going to try and do better on celebrating this amazing Truth everyday during the year and not just on Easter Sunday. And this is the true meaning of Easter… That we can live each and every day with the hope and expectation that we will be restored to glory with Him some day! Ahhhhh… Such a refreshing and simple truth He gives us!

He Changes Us

Has it really been over a year since I started this blogging thing? Wow… how time flies! I think I’ve experienced more change this last year than I have my entire life. Seriously; I’m not kidding here. To be one that isn’t real keen on change I guess God knew He better do it all at once for it to be effective. How cool is it to know that He loves us so much that He doesn’t want to see us stay the same?

I’m not going to try and put all of the change I’ve experienced into words because it's simply too much and will take way too long, but I’ll throw this quote at 'ya:

"Without change you cannot have butterflies"

How beautiful is that?!?! I know there is still going to be a lot of change for me to go through in my lifetime, but to know that it is producing butterflies puts butterflies in the pit of my stomach (in a good way of course).

I don’t want to get to wordy tonight, so I’m just going to wish everyone the best Easter Season EVER this year!! You know how I feel about that chocolate bunny holiday and if you don’t…. Well; feel free to check out the Easter post from last year. My feelings on that haven’t changed…

Happy Easter, All!!

Are You at Your Wit's End Yet?

I just want to simply post this quote from Francis Chan's book, Forgotten God:

"When we are at our wit's end for an answer, then the Holy Spirit can give us an answer. But how can He give us an answer when we are still well supplied with all sorts of answers of our own?" - - Karl Barth

He is Not in a Box, 'Yall

Pardon the southern twang in the title. I just couldn’t resist! I love being in the south and proud of the twang if I say so myself!

Well… here I am. Twelve months today was when I decided to let Him out of the box I had confined Him to for so many years. Really though… It has been my experience that He will stay in the little box you have created for Him as long as you want to keep Him there. But once you have had enough of the same ‘ole, same ‘ole in your life; He’ll gladly bust that box wide open and show you things you never could have dreamed of. At least, in my mind (or the box you could say), He was this Holy thing that you dare not have expectations for or dare disturb with your ‘petty’ needs. Twelve months ago today, I had decided I was tired of the same ‘ole, same ‘ole and He was gracious enough to show me that the box I had confined Him to was not His size. Was I really that conceded to think that I knew Him well enough that He would fit in my box? There was (and still is) so much more to learn about Him when He has the freedom to work without the confinement of the box.

Don’t think that all this attitude you are getting here came in an instant and magically everything is a field of flowers now that I have let him outside of my box. It’s a work in progress. I’ve finally realized that God is cool enough that He knows my love language well enough to continue on the journey with me and to speak to me in the word pictures that He knows I love. And last night was one of those times. Earlier, I told you that things had been quiet. I knew He was still with me, but we hadn’t been having the conversations we’d been having on a daily basis like earlier in the year. Maybe it’s because He knows us so well, that He knew I needed to take a breather to catch up with all that He had done in the last year. But, I’m excited to say He’s back. Sorry. I say that as if He left. He never left; but He’s picking up the speed again is a better way to say it I guess.

I was at Winter Jam last night with a friend. My friend was to one side of me and a middle aged lady was to my other side. The stranger conversed with me a little about how she was excited to have such good, close seats because last year she was in the nose bleed section. Funny enough, my friend and I ended up in the nose bleed section last year too and we were determined to get better seats this year. I think it was just that hunger that He gives you to get close to Him whether it be in song, spirit, serving, etc…. We wanted to be close to that stage this year and we were determined to get it. Anyway, I thought to myself how cool it was to be sitting next to a complete stranger that had the same love for God that we did. We were not that far into the show when the stranger leaned over to me and said, “This is not Christian.” Whoa!!! Wait a minute. We had just talked about how excited we were to have such good seats. The Word of God is being spoken and praise and worship songs are being sung all around us and she is telling me this is not Christian???? I was dumbfounded to say the least. Frustration, sadness, confusion… they all hit me like a ton of bricks. Then…. Something else hit me. She is in the same place I was in at one point. Her box had not been opened yet. After more conversation, she revealed that she was all torn up because she could not understand the words to some (well, maybe most) of the songs that were being sung. It was not the typical music she was used to for praise and worship. My heart goes out to her and my prayers go out to her that her box will be opened soon.

One thing that was stated last night in one of the messages was that our God is not republican or democrat; He is not Methodist or Baptist or Catholic or Presbyterian; and He is not black or white!! I took that to mean that He is NOT in the box that we want to confine Him to. And I’m pretty sure He does not have a preference to southern gospel or Christian rock. Let’s release Him out of the box that we’ve confined Him to and see what He can do when we don’t give Him limits! I’m fairly sure it will be pretty amazing stuff!

He is With Us

So the other day I was driving to work and taking in how weird the sky appeared. It was black and completely dark in some areas and clear and blue in other areas where the sun was beginning to rise for the day. It was like I had never seen it before. We’ve all seen a storm coming or going, but this was not like that. It was a spot of darkness, a spot of clear blue and another spot of darkness that was separated by the light. I simply cannot do it justice by this description so you’ll just have to trust me that it was completely weird. Yea, sometimes I think God’s creations can be weird. Call me weird if you want. But I think that is how He gets our attention sometimes.

I’ve recently had this period where I felt like everything was quiet and I wasn’t really hearing from Him like I had in the last 12 months. I’m not in a critical decision making circumstance right now, but I like to know He’s still there. Ya know? Even when I’m not wrestling with Him on decisions I’m making. It’s just kinda nice to have Him there in the everyday life and I’ve been missing that.

Until…. On this particular morning that the sky was wierding me out, I was thinking to myself… I’m not a fan of the rain. Even though I know it’s necessary and I know we are in the negative for this year already; I’d really it rather not rain. It’s just who I am. I like sunny skies! Sorry; I digressed. Back to the point. So of course there was a big black cloud directly over right where I was headed. Naturally (because of who I am and because I like sunny skies, but you already know that), I started moaning and groaning in my heart that I would like a nice clear blue spot over where I was going. I’d really rather not have to fool with taking my umbrella in with me to work not knowing if it was going to rain or not. You know how sometimes you take your umbrella with you when you aren’t sure if it is going to rain? And you know what a pain that is? Especially if it doesn’t rain… And most of the time when you do take your umbrella with you it doesn’t rain and you end up not needing it; and if you don’t take it with you, it rains and you do need it. You already know what I’m talking about.

After I finished throwing my little hissy fit of a tantrum with myself I heard this still quite voice. I hadn’t heard Him in a while so my ears perked up real quick. It was like He’d been waiting for just the right time when He’d have my full attention. He knew I had wanted to hear Him and sure enough He is just that sweet to show up at just the right time. And this is what we talked about... He told me to get over the nasty dark sky over “my area” and quite worrying about taking my umbrella in. He told me that He is not like the umbrella. Instead of having to decide when to take the umbrella with me for protection and possibly mis-judging and not having it when I needed it the most, He told me that He is my umbrella. He will protect me when the rain comes pouring down. And on top of that He is always there because He already knows when the rain is coming and when He will need to open the umbrella of protection. AND He said He would be there even when it is not raining.

Gosh, I was so thankful for that little conversation He took the time to have with me and the reminder of His constant presence with me even when I don’t necessarily feel it. This week, I’m coming up on the 1 year mark of my crazy encounter with Him and as I look back He has been ever so consistent and faithful with me. And for that I am so extremely thankful I can’t even put it into words. His love is beyond explanation! I’ve been playing this song lately and listening to it as though it is Him singing it to me. Don’t just listen to the words, but let them really penetrate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGXW2n33QfI

"I'll Pray for You"

What exactly is a Christian? I have been asking myself this question over the last several weeks. My intent is not to open a can of worms here simply because this topic could go on forever. But I will simply define it as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary:

A Christian is:

A: one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ

B: (1) disciple (2) a member of one of the Churches of Christ separating from the Disciples of Christ in 1906 (3) a member of the Christian denomination having part in the union of the United Church of Christ concluded in 1961

I can’t help but think that if you truly believe something your actions are going to show this. After all, why would you do something that you do not believe in and why would you believe in something if you do not show it? It has been discouraging to me that I have come across several “Christians” that have claimed to be believers, but were not ‘practicing’ or did not want to live their life according to some ‘words on paper’ (this would be referring to the Bible). I guess I get so worked up about this because I’m going on a full year of my crazy journey with God and I just don’t want others to miss out on what I did. Although I had been a Christian and professed my belief nearly 23 years ago, it was not until recently that I actually believed what I believed and acted on it. Did you get that? I believe what I say I believe in. My fear is this: “Christians” are going to continue to settle for less than what we deserve and we will not experience the power of His Holy Spirit in our daily lives. Yes, I said daily lives. For many years, I did not realize that He could work out the smallest of details every single day in my life if I would just let Him and expect Him to do it. Wait. I digress. I’m going in the direction of getting on a soap box, so let me step down and get back on track.

So if being a Christian is defined as the belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ, my question is this: What do you do with that belief? It is my personal experience that you take action in what you believe. Look at all of the other religions that are out there. You have people that are so devoted to their beliefs that they would die for what they believe in. Yes, we do have Christians that are in lands being persecuted and in harm’s way and even make the ultimate sacrifice of death. But think about it. Would you take that step of faith and profess your belief if you knew that you were for sure going to die? My point is proven. So here’s what I propose we do to fix it. Those that claim to be Christians need to step up to the plate and start showing they believe what they claim they believe. I’m so passionate about this subject right now I feel myself making my way to that soap box again so I’m going to conclude my thoughts now.

What are we (Christians) doing to show others that we have a passion so deep for what we believe we cannot even begin to explain it? I’m not preaching to the choir here. I’m speaking to myself. I have this deep, deep longing and desire to start taking action. I have been able to enjoy and experience His many blessings the last 11 months that I have decided it is time for me to start taking action in what I believe and have experienced. I’m not saying I know what that action is yet, but I know it is going to be more than the expected Christian response of “I’ll pray for you.” I want to take the prayer farther and take it into action so I’ll let ya know what happens.

Finally, I’ll leave you with this: “Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps if you are not willing to move your feet”

Greater Expectations

" Nobody succeeds beyond his or her wildest expectations unless he or she begins with wild expectations”

Once again, it’s been too long since I’ve been on here so let’s jump right in!

Ready or not the New Year is here and I’m sayin’ Bring It On 2011!!! I am so excited and ready for this New Year and new adventure I’ve been traveling on to continue. Don’t think I’m getting ready to share some amazing New Year’s resolution with you that I’ve come up with. That is far from the agenda; however, I do want to share some thought’s I’ve been pondering about expectations. How many times have you been told to not get your hopes up or not to expect too much only so you won't be let down? I can’t help but wonder why we should focus on such things of disappointment. I guess it’s one of those many lies you are feed from society that you eventually have to break down and let the truth be revealed to you. And the truth of the matter is that I have definitely got my hopes up to have an amazingly New Year this year and my expectations of what will happen are greater than ever!! Why am I so enthusiastic about the matter? I guess it’s simply because I know my God has something up His sleeve that He is going to share with me and my expectations for Him are beyond measure. You see- I think He wants us to expect great things from Him simply so He can do greater things. I’ll get back with ya on if my expectations were too high, but I have a feeling they’re right on track!!