altar and plow

Once again, it is getting late. When Jim is gone I burn the midnight oil. I think better at night. And it is quiet. I guess it takes my mind all day to gear up, but once it starts moving...it is hard to gear down. So, here I sit, in the quiet, with my thoughts, dwelling on this phrase that I am falling in love with. NO...it isn't written on my wall...not yet anyway.
I was looking at some Scripture in Acts about the Altar that Paul saw while passing through their town. Inscribed on the altar was 'to an unknown God'. I thought it was quite funny that they would make an altar to an unknown God, as if to say...."in case we missed you....". I have always wondered if people passed through my life, what would they see written on my altar. What would they observe as the object of my worship?
Don't fool yourself. We may think and say that we worship God, but everyone knows what is on our altar and what it is we worship. For some it is an unknown God...a God they don't know, have not experienced and don't really want to let in close. For others, it is an object, an ego, pride or people.
And yet, Christ has called us to place our lives upon His Altar. To sacrifice all. In Fact, Paul reminds us in Romans 12 that our lives are to be offered to God as living sacrifices-as our spiritual service of worship. Consecrated to Him. Our lives are to BE on the altar.
However, for most, as we pass through their lives we can see that they are not on the altar, but instead worshipping at the altar of an "unknown god". Funny...how everyone else sees that when we don't. Deceived....our gods are not really unknown....only to us because we won't admit them. For everyone else passing through sees them.
I want my life to BE on the altar.

The second word is plow. I first started praying over this word as I was studying through Hosea. Hosea 10 talks about breaking up the fallow, hard ground in our lives, for it is time to seek the Lord-until He comes to RAIN righteousness on you. As I have been seeking to sow righteousness, I have also been painfully aware that in order for that to take root and for the rain not to become RUN OFF, that we must break up the hard ground-otherwise the rain comes, but the ground does not absorb it and does not bear fruit-it just runs off. So I have been praying that the Lord would break up/plow up the hard ground. I want to be part of that....I am not asking for the easy way. I don't mind hard work. I don't mind putting my hand on the plow and working the ground so that it is ready for what God wants to do.
There has been a lot of plowing going on. Breaking up and making the ground ready...so that when it does come a deluge...it won't just be run off.
But this week, that thought became even more precious as I read in Luke 9:62 that "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Our lives are to be about the Plow as well. Allowing the Lord to break us up, but also being part of those who til the soil. And if we don't do this...we are not fit for the Kingdom. If we are lazy and not willing to be broken. If we are unwilling to do the work necessary to prepare the soil. If we spend our time looking back instead of plowing ahead. We are not fit for the Kingdom of God. NOT MY WORDS....HIS. We are to put our hand to the plow...break it up and not look back...but move forward.
My heart is to be a plow. Allowing the Lord to break up the fallow ground in me, but also tiling the soil and not looking back in the Kingdom.

And then I was thinking the Altar and the Plow go together.
The life of being a living sacrifice doesn't mind being broken nor does it mind working hard to break up what is hard. Our spiritual service of worship is to allow the Lord to break us and then to break up the hard ground. It is to sacrifice and put our hands to the plow and never look back. To conform us to His image and bear much fruit as we sacrifice ourselves and plow up the hard ground.
So I think I might be ready for the Altar AND the Plow....
neither seem like fun....sacrifice, brokenness, Hard work....yet, when it rains-much fruit will come and thus prove that I am His disciple and He will receive much glory.

Altar and Plow....just a thought....ALL FOR YOU

Jim is gone and the house is quiet, now that I have the other two boys in the bed. I spent the bulk of the day at baseball, which is a good thing. I get to spend time with my boys, while redeeming the time...listening to preaching. I listened to all of John MacArthur's sermons on the BeAttitudes. Since we are teaching that in TREEHOUSE right now, I could certainly use the input to help wrap my mind around the truths we are trying to teach and live out before the kids. (5 hours of sermons...my brain is tired...but it is GOOD!)
But that is NOT what this is about. Most of you know I take TONS of pictures. Well, today I had some of them printed and was busy framing and hanging them tonight around my house. But that is NOT what this is about either. Hanging the pictures on the wall got me to thinking about what I want on the walls of my house. Which led me to the WORD of God. Which led me to ONE WORD-which is a Bible study method I have been using lately. Allowing the Lord to focus my heart on ONE WORD, penetrate my heart with that truth and wrap my heart around it so that I can obey. I am finding that a lot of the time I have trouble with ONE WORD. So why move on?
Anyway, I don't want to get bogged down there. Because this isn't about that either. I was thinking about the WORDS that God has been using to pierce my heart and to change me and the way I think. I was thinking about words like; Breathe, Dream, Checed, Yada, Doxa, Run, Canopy, Perhaps, Naked, Free, Roots, Coffee....all things that bring me back to a truth that I am working on. So, I stopped hanging pictures and went to writing words on my walls. Most of you will think that is weird and would never take a paint pen and begin to write on your walls. But for me....well, I am just weird. So, I picked up the pen and began to meditate on the WORD and allowed the Lord to tell me which words to write....Lampo-the Greek Word for Shine. Ruwts-the Hebrew word for Run. There were more, but I won't bore you with my list of words.
The point is this....We can hang pictures on our walls, but the heart of the Father is that His Word be written on our hearts. So, instead of JUST hanging pictures on the walls, I want a daily reminder of the WORDS HE is writing on my heart. I don't want the Word to just be a picture that is on my wall. I want it to pierce my heart and to get into my bones. I want to bleed it when someone bumps into me and I want it to be the natural exhale of every breath. So, my office is slowly becoming a place full of Words. You may walk in and think....what was she thinking. But to me...those Words....HIS WORDS...they are life to me.
For I do not want the Word written only on my walls. I want it written on my heart.

Exod 34:27 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel."

So tonight, I guess I was just wondering if there might be ONE WORD....that you could write on your wall as a result of HIM writing it on your heart. You don't have to take out a pen, but I was just wondering....in all of us....if we had to write ONE WORD-that explained what God was teaching or doing in you in your heart-would you know what to write on your wall? ALL FOR YOU

a picture says it all...

tracks

While running on the beach one morning during the Beach trip with the youth, I heard the Father whisper into my ear. Some of you may think that is weird, but the Word says that the sheep KNOW HIS VOICE. The Voice was clear and simple. I had been running down the beach, being careful not to get my shoes wet. I don't like sand and wasn't too thrilled about the fact that it was slowly filling up my shoes. Still....I ran. And it was in that moment, I heard the Voice whisper in my ear.
Later in the week, I had the chance to share with the students what the Lord had said to me on the beach. It was obvious that it was the Voice of God because the students immediately latched onto the phrase that was given and began to "run" with it.
What did He say? "Let's Make Tracks!" Not a phrase I would typically use, but on the beach as I watched the footprints of those in front of me wash away and thought about the ones that I was laying down as I ran, the Lord gave me a phrase and word picture of what our calling is to be. We MUST be a people that are running with the Father and leaving tracks for those who come behind. God's Voice to me was "Christy, Let's Make Tracks....run after me and leave tracks for those who are coming behind." And then, I realized that the world was quickly coming behind me and erasing what I had laid. Whether it was the surf or others who were messing up my tracks with their own, the tracks that I lay are in danger.
So, how do I fix that? I make sure that those who are following my tracks are following close enough that they don't miss the tracks that have been laid and end up following another course. I make sure that those who are following are laying tracks as well, so that the consistency of what has been laid continues. I make sure that those who come behind are faithful to follow and make tracks as well.

There is also a different interpretation of the "let's make tracks" thought....for many, that phrase is something that is used to say..."Come on, let's get moving, let's go!" The cool thing about when God speaks-all meanings apply. Come on...let's go, let's get moving and Make some Tracks. Let's lay some tracks that can be followed and let's follow so closely that we don't have to worry about the world wiping away what we lay down.

This week....Let's Make TRACKS!

PS....check out the pics....all about laying tracks, where we walk and the putting feet to what the Lord has said. COME ON LET'S GO! ALL FOR YOU

bleeding

The woman who had hemorrhaged for 12 years and could be healed by no one came at touched the fringe of His garment, wanting to be healed. Her faith was amazing....believing that she only needed a touch of his garment. And she was right, she was immediately healed. It has always amazed me that Jesus stopped everything to identify who touched him. Naturally, He is God...He knew who. He wasn't looking for her or wondering who she was. He knew...all along. And yet, He asked the question, "who is the one who touched me?" The disciples thought this preposterous. People were pressed all around, many touching Him. But only ONE received the power of healing from the touch. Not because she spoke and asked. Not because she cried out. But because of her faith. She merely just wanted a TOUCH of His garment for she knew it held the power she longed for.
When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice and that Jesus knew what had happened, (which is funny to me-she had to realize that she couldn't sneak up and get something from God. And that if He could heal her, He could identify her.) that she came trembling and fell down before Him, declaring in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him and how she had been immediately healed.
Jesus wasn't interested in identifying her. He already knew her. He wasn't interested in finding out why power had gone out of Him. He already knew why. He was interested in her DECLARING in the presence of ALL the people what the LORD had done. He wanted the glory among ALL the people, not in secret. She came and bowed low, trembling and worshipping Him and He was able to show even more grace and compassion and receive even greater glory.
I am just like this woman. Knowing that all I need is a touch of His garment, coming in secret amid the crowd. And yet, His desire is that we would not try to "get" His power in secret, but declare among ALL the people the need and how He meets it. He does not want us to hide in the crowd, but to declare amongst everyone, worship at His feet in front of everyone and fall down before Him in front of everyone.
Her faith made her whole, because her faith was GREAT....a touch of the fringe of His garment. But He doesn't leave it at the healing or at making her whole. He wants it declared among the people.

Isa 43:21 "The people whom I formed for myself, will declare My praise.

Every thing in our lives is an opportunity to touch the fringe of His garment and declare His praise among the people. We can not hide in the crowd but MUST come before the crowd and make His praise glorious.
Ps 66:2 Sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious.
ALL FOR YOU

Random thoughts on sharing life

If Jesus brought the Father glory by accomplishing the work which He had been given to do in reproducing Himself in the life of the disciples....If Jesus realized that all He had been given to the Father HAD to be passed on to those He was entrusted with-given by the Father.....and if Jesus lives in me-I am dead-He lives, then we have been given the same work to do-to glorify God by being sure that we accomplish the work given in reproducing Jesus in the lives of those the Lord has entrusted to us.
God has given us people, not just ministry and our lives MUST be given to pour LIFE into a few. Jesus staked everything on a few. He risked His Father's glory, fame and message on a FEW. (it wasn't really a risk, but you know what I mean.) He put all He had to offer in a few, knowing that it would mass reproduce. He was willing to stake everything, His Kingdom, heaven and His Father's fame on a few. His whole work depended upon what He did with the 12, particularly 3. His whole ministry would have either succeeded or failed based on what He did in those lives. And IF He lives in us....the same methodology and the same truths remain. What if we looked at people that way? as if the whole success of the Kingdom was based on what we did with what we had been given? ( I realize the Father does the work in us...but again..you know what I mean?)
What does it take to think and live like this? TIME....that is all it takes. Not money, not technology, not programs, but Time spent with the Father so that we have something to pour out and time spent with people, to pour out on. God gets glory when we see others through to completion. We MUST continue to flesh out the Word=which is life, to pour it onto people. We were all created to bring glory to God, by Christ living IN/thru us. So, What was Christ doing that He still wants to do in and through me? Reproduce disciples by pouring LIFE onto a few-.
How often are we lazy slaves with the people we have been entrusted? The disciples were God's gift to the Son and the Son's gift to the Father. God has given us people and our gift back to Him is to give back disciples that we have poured everything we had into. People are a gift to us! But most of the time we view them as a burden. That SO needs to change.
We are very quick to share with people what they should DO...and yet, we need to spend more time sharing who they should know. We are to SHARE LIFE-share JESUS, share the WORD. For Jesus is life and the Word. So How do we share Jesus and the Word....by SHARING LIFE.
When Jesus came He came that we might have LIFE TOGETHER....both I in Him and He in me, but me in you and you in me. That WE may be One as the Father is ONE with the Son. How does this happen? Sharing LIFE together. For it is the only way we KNOW one another-that intimate faith. It is relationship in the daily, in the moments. It is the OVERFLOW-what's on our hearts and minds will flow out of our mouths-we will talk about and to the ones we Love-both God and one another.
If the Word is indeed our life and it is not an IDLE Word....then Life together looks like talking about Jesus and His Word in the daily everyday moments of life. If this is NOT happening-Is He our Life? We can't share what is not ours. We should bleed Jesus and His Word. Not works, not programs, not service-but HIM. Jesus' ministry was talking about the Father and glorifying Him by laying down His life for others and investing in 12. What if we began to think like this? Everything Jesus had, He passed on to the disciples. And that is what we are to do. We are to pour our lives out for one another as we SHARE LIFE with one another-living LIFE TOGETHER....for LIFE IS CHRIST and CHRIST is TOGETHER.
Jesus did not say to live life so that Christ is seen in US alone...He said live life so that it is seen in others. God is glorified in THEM-the disciples. What if we began to view success based on not only our own walks but in making sure that the others make it to completion? What if the few became our dream so that Christ recieved glory? Would we be willing to STAKE Everything ON ONE....other than us....making it to completion in Christ. If everyone had ONE who was living life to make sure they made it....we would all succeed.

I guess the thought that is piercing me today is that our intention in life can not be independent but must be staked on sharing LIFE TOGETHER so that He gets glory, disciples are made and the bleed reproduces. The enemy will stand against this, but God's plan is clear. SHARING LIFE TOGETHER is what reproduces disciples. It is not idle life....or idle words, it is indeed our LIFE......
ALL FOR YOU

yawn or yearn

Have you ever passed Yawn gas? You know, when you yawn and then the person next to you yawn's because you did. In fact, you may have just yawned right now thinking about it. Wouldn't that be funny?
Yawning has always been a sign of being tired or perhaps bored. And yet, the Father has called us to run after Him, to follow after Him, to YEARN for Him. However, most of what is seen in us is yawning, not yearning. No wonder the world is not interested in what we have. We look bored and tired of it.
We are such a spoiled people. We have the BEST of the best. We have everything we could dream of available to us. The best music, the best preaching, the best of relationships. We have the best technology, the best air conditioning, cars and houses. We have sung the greatest of earthly responses to the Lord and heard the most well spoken sermons. We have had available to us the Word of God and people to explain to us how to study it. We have had the presence of ALMIGHTY GOD all around us, Living IN US and longing to draw us closer. Yet, all we can do is Yawn instead of Yearn.
Instead of Yearning for His presence, responding to His greatness so the world may see and basking in the blessings of all that He has given to draw us to Him, we Yawn. We stand in our services and act as though the treasure we have received is just another on a list of spoils we have retained. I had someone tell me in the last couple weeks that we just look dead-and that can't be all we have to offer the God of the universe. I CONCUR!
We are spoiled rotten. We are selfish and we are calloused to the truth. We yawn instead of yearn. Which makes me question whether we see and know God. Isaiah 40 says Have you not seen, have you not heard that the Everlasting God of the universe, the Creator, the Lord does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary and to Him who lacks might He increases power. How do we become bored with such a God? How is it that we grow tired of whispering His name, serving His Kingdom and expressing His worth? How is it that we don't long to lavish our love and worship upon Him with each passing breath? Because we don't yearn for Him. We stand in our churches and yawn, waiting for the service to be over instead of yearning for His presence to fall in such a way that we don't want to leave.
Why is it that we don't? We are spoiled. But it is also evidence that we are not IN LOVE with Him. Our hearts are not fully given to Him. We have been taken captive by the things and pleasures of this world. And so we look at Jesus and yawn while we yearn for time on the boat, at a football game or by the pool. We don't have to be taken captive and put into slavery by another country. We are already there. We are held captive by the things of this world that have stolen our love and affection, causing us to yawn instead of yearn.
Eph 5 says it this way, "Awake O sleeper and arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you."
Stop yawning and wake up. Yearn for Him and He will shine on You. And quit passing the YAWN GAS! ALL FOR YOU

cost of following?

The cost of Following Christ seems so high. While we all want to receive what God offers, few of us long to Follow In what He requires. And somehow, in the dichotomy of thinking, we have divorced the idea of Following Christ from being a Christian. Another words, we want the grace without the obedience. We want to accept and not follow. We want what we want without the cost.
I know most of you would disagree and say that you are a Christian AND you are Following Christ. However, let me challenge you to look at the Followers of Christ in the Bible. Just take a few minutes and look at the lives of the Disciples, of Paul and the countless others that the Word calls Followers of Christ. And then look around and see how many people we see in our churches living like that. I am SO convicted when I look at the Word and measure my life against it. Haven't you ever looked at the Bible and then at the lives of American Christians and thought.....could we all have missed it-because what I see looks nothing like what is described in the Word? In fact, my heart aches as I look around and see that is in this Book is Nothing like what I see being lived out around me. And it has challenged me to take a fresh look at my life and begin to count the cost of being a Follower of Christ.... and to ask what does that REALLY look like. I am finding that I must REPENT-change the way I think about Following and the cost of it.
In fact, when we start talking about the cost of discipleship, the cost of following Christ-it just seems too high. Honestly, it just seems like what it will cost me and what I get...just doesn't measure up. After all, I can accept God's grace, live as I want-doing a few good things and coming to church along the way and still get into heaven, right? Is that why Christ died? So that we could live as we want, but still get in? Did He really die so that God could have a people that Followed Him with a half hearted commitment and mediocre love? So, why should I pay the price of Following Him in ALL, when I can still get in if I don't. I mean...He will forgive me of all my sins, if I confess? MAY IT NEVER BE. That is what Paul said. (Romans 6) What crazy thinking! The dichotomy of being a Christian and a Follower is NOT Biblical.
But we still think this way. The cost is too high. Let me give you an example of this thinking. We will spend thousands of dollars on vacation. We will rise early to work out or to go hunting. We will take days off work to enjoy our latest recreational activity. We will forgo time with our family for work. We will mark out time for relationships that we enjoy. But do we do ANY of these things in order to be a better Follower of Christ? Will we spend thousands on time away that will advance our Spiritual journey? Will we rise early to spend time in the Word, make it to a prayer or accountablity small group? Will we take days off of work to attend a conference that will point our hearts towards the throne? Will we forgo time with our families in order to see the Kingdom of God advance? Will we mark out days at a time to spend searching out the things of God? So, tell me again...what is it we value?
You see, maybe it isn't that the cost of discipleship is so high. Maybe it is that we don't value it enough. Maybe, it is that we value other things more highly and thus are willing to sacrifice for them. If we were offered a thousand dollars a verse to memorize Scripture, we would certainly start memorizing like crazy. All of us would TRY. But why does it take that kind of motivation to make us strive to place the Word inside of us? Could it be that we value money more than the Word. That we see the value in memorizing Scripture when we are being PAID for it? Our thought...."we are actually getting something out of it." But aren't we getting something out of it regardless?
The cost of Following is high. But the truth is, we aren't willing to pay it. And so the question begs....are you truly a follower if you aren't willing to pay the price it costs to be one?
A though crossed my desk this week that has sent me reeling into thought about these things.
"the cost of Following Christ is high. But isn't the cost of NOT Following higher?"
It may cost us to Follow Christ. It may cost us our family time, our rec time, our dreams, our vacations, money and much more. But what is the cost if we don't Follow Him? Isn't that cost higher than if we do?
Count the cost....your choices determine your future.ALL FOR YOU

better Daddy

Micah continues to WOW us with his thoughts on life. And His questions! The things that run through the mind of a five year old are scarier than things that run through my mind (which can be pretty intense and scary at times!) We have had all sorts of questions lately, including; Why are bears bad animals? How does the chick get inside the egg? And how do babies come out? But my favorite this week was two fold.
Podcasts are a big deal in our house. And my kids are learning to LOVE preaching. If we are in the car, they are listening to some sermon and it is funny how much my five year old listens and asks questions. On the way to church this week, we were listening to a preacher who was talking about God being Jesus' Father. And out of no where, Micah chimes in to the conversation.
"Mom, is there a better Daddy than God?"
Now, I can guess where the question came from. I am sure he was thinking that Joseph was Jesus' Daddy, after all, that is what the Bible says and we have taught him. So how can God be Jesus' Daddy and is God a better Daddy than Joseph? Not to mention, I am thinking he thinks his Dad is pretty cool and I figured that fit into the equation somehow. So I asked him what he meant.
He replied, "is there a better Daddy than God?" Since I got no more information, I decided to run with that....
"No, Micah, God is the best Daddy ever. And, He is our Daddy as well."
"How can God and Daddy be my Daddy?"
Now certianly, I could have talked about God, the Father and the contrast between Him and the Father of lies-the enemy of our souls. I could have explained how God made us and has the right to be our Father. But instead, I decided to explain the gospel in such a way that maybe he might actually understand. "Well, God desires that we live to listen and obey Him. And when we choose to follow Him, doing all He says to do and when we Love Him with all our hearts, He comes into our lives and tells us how we should live. He becomes our Daddy."
Thinking, I had done a pretty good job at the Daddy question, I waited for his reply.
"I am not so sure about the listening and obeying part, but I want Him to be my Daddy."
I laughed, because I realized how honest his answer was and how much it represents most of us. We want God to be our Father, but we are not so sure about the listening and obeying stuff. We want the salvation without the obedience.
So I asked Micah, "You don't want to listen and obey God?"
He replied, "yeah, I do-because I Love Him and want Him to live in my heart."
The Scripture says that a child shall lead us....and while the honesty of his heart so represents us, he already recognizes that if we love Him, we will obey-even when we are not sure that is what our flesh wants to do.
Micah has the faith of a five year old. It will grow and mature. But the Word says that there are many who remain in this state-babes, never maturing. How odd it would look to have churches full of 35 year olds that never progressed mentally passed the age of five. How strange would it be to think it normal for 50 year olds to have never matured past the five year old standards.
Is there a better Daddy than God? Of course NOT! But sometimes we allow the enemy to make us think there is. Maybe it is time we grow up IN HIM and listen and obey-even if it isn't what WE want, because our love for Him is so strong that nothing else matters. ALL FOR YOU

Ring Tones

Last night, we had a group of young people at the house for Discipling. While the goal has been to impart what little we have to those who are in the house, invariably we are the ones who always learn something. That is what is so cool about discipling. It goes both ways.
While they were at the house, we learned about a new ring tone. A ring tone that older people can't hear. At first, I thought they were messing with our heads and that there was no such thing. However, Jim got on the internet and did some research and found that it was true. The ring tone was developed as a high pitched sound that only young people could hear and was to be used to keep young people from loittering around places. The tone would be played and they wouldn't want to stay around. While at the same time, the older people couldn't hear it.
Now it is being passed as a ring tone on cell phones. A tone that older people-paricularly anyone over 25 can't hear at all, but that younger people describe as a high pitched tone.
So Jim, in his classic humor, thought it would be fun to mess with those who were in the house by sounding the tone in the house on a regular basis until it drove them nuts. They kept yelling at him to stop it, while I was oblivious to the sound or to why they were so upset they were getting agitated with him because he kept playing it. He thought it was funny because we couldn't hear it....that is until about 10 minutes later.
While I could not hear the tone, it seems to have still had an effect on me, because shortly after all this was going I began to realize I had a headache and another complained of their ear hurting. We could not hear the sound, but it still adversely effected us. There were those who heard the sound and fought against it because it hurt their ears, while there were others of us who couldn't hear, but were still effected by it.
Isn't that just like our battle with the enemy? There are those who see and hear the enemy coming. And then there are those who can't hear or see, but are still effected by it.
Isn't that just like sin in our lives? Some of it we can see and hear, while there are other things that we don't see or hear, but are still effected by.
Isn't that just like what is going on around us all the time? We may not see or hear what is going on, but we are still effected by it.
The Bible says in Zeph 3:17 "The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." God is rejoicing over us with singing. He is singing over us right now. We can't hear it. We can't see it. But He is. And just like a ring tone that we can't hear, it still effects us.
What goes on around us that we can't see or hear effects us. Whether it is warfare or singing, just because we can't hear it doesn't mean we are not effected by it. This should make us all the more dependent upon those who can see and hear. It should make us trust the One who is SINGING over us instead leaning on our own understanding-because we are blind and deaf. We need Him. I am so thankful that while there is a battle that rages around me that I can not see or hear that my God is singing over me and that the effects of that will ring true over those things that long to steal my soul. ALL FOR YOU

memorial day

Memorial Day brought with it a day off, cook outs, the chance to chill out and time to have fun with friends. It also brought a chance to reminisce about old times and to look back at what the Lord has done. To REMEMBER. The Bible talks about remembering because we often forget. We forget where we have come from, where we are going and what we have gone through. We get so caught up in the now and the intensity of the days we live in that we forget what the Lord has done and therefore get off track with where we are going.
And so the Lord says to set up markers of remembrance along the way. For the Children of Israel it was an altar beside a river or a monument, so that when others would pass by they would ask what it was and they could be reminded of what the Lord has done. The Lord wants us to set up markers of remembrance, so that when we pass through, we will be reminded of what the Lord has done and is going to do, thus keeping us from getting so caught up in the moment that we miss God along the way.
Scripture tells us to stir one another up by way of reminder. We are called to help one another remember where they have been and where they are going-to NOT allow one another to get so caught up in daily life that we don't stop to remember, but look back and then look ahead.
Setting up some markers of remembrance is important. Making memories, having intentional conversations, involving yourself in activities that you can trace back to as a marker of change...these things are important to our walks with the Lord.
I was reminded tonight of God's faithfulness by looking back and dreaming forward. I was reminded of the value of friendship, the significance of time and the power of looking back in order to allow you to spring forward. We can not cling to the past, but we can certainly learn from it and use it to stir us up. ALL FOR YOU

from louie....to us

Thursday, May 10, 2007
Ashley's Home

You guys remember Ashley, the Florida senior who sent what might be the coolest e-mail of all time. Just after Passion 07 we received this at the Passion House from her:

Hi, I feel kinda weird writing this email. And i doubt if it ever gets to Mr Louie Giglio. I am a Senior at The University of Florida. I got a new roommate this semester and she is a Christian and I have never really been into the whole Christian thing because every pastor or speaker that I have ever listened to didn't speak in a language I could understand. I have believed in God and Jesus, but never really understood it because the preachers at the church that I have always been forced to go to every Sunday of my life. They speak all high and mighty and I never really felt connected, and I felt like God was only for the perfect people.
Well my roommate went to this Passion Conference over winter break. And she came back and moved into my apt and she was real and genuine about all her Christian stuff, like I have never seen before in a person. She said that God changed her at this conference, so i was like what are you talking about. And she told me. She told me about how God was cool, and how God really wanted a deeper relationship with her, and she wanted to really love God the way he loved her, so of course I was like well huh? She then said you need to listen to Louie talk about God, so I asked who Louie was, and she put on the Indescribable talk, and then we watched the Passport talk. And in the Passport talk you said that Christians do not have to just hope for the best at the end, that they do not have to do enough good stuff. You explained how to get to heaven in a simple way, in a way that I have never heard before. I actually got it, I got it that it is not about being so good, cause I am not a good person. I have screwed up a lot. But then you said grace, and talked about how is was different than other religions. Because God is a loving and a kind God who wants to forgive me. My roommate then explained that he wants to forgive me.
Now for one of the reasons I am thanking you. One, I am now a Christian. And two, my roommate said that she had never really cared about telling others about how much God loved her before she went to this conference. So though I am not sure who will ever read this. Please tell Louie thanks from me, for talking about Christ in a way that a college kid can understand. I know that Jesus has changed my life and as I get ready to graduate college in May, I am gonna be a different person. I am sorry this is kinda rambling but I just had to tell you that I now know about the Grace of God, and I have life for the first time in my 22 years

Ashley

I will never forget the day her message came. And I'm not going to forget last Friday. Waking early for the last day of Thirsty, I happened to see this on my Blackberry and opened it.


Dear Mr. Giglio,
It is with a heavy heart that I send you this email. My daughter is Ashley, she wrote you an email that went on your blog and podcast Well, today May 3rd at 4pm we buried Ashley. She was killed in a car accident late on Sunday night. She lost control of her car and hit a light pole. She was the only car involved and had serious internal bleeding. She died in the arms of my husband at the hospital from unstoppable internal bleeding. But I have hope of seeing my daughter again. I have this hope because after years of praying for her, and watching her live a lifestyle in college that is known as the typical college experience. The last semester of her college career I saw a woman, not a college girl that I have never been more proud to call my daughter. I can point the thanks to you and Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Matt Redman, and everyone else involved in your Passion Conferences. Ashley fell in love with our Savior over the last 5 months of her life. She was so excited about graduation this week and moving to California to work her first real job. She had a life ahead of her. I miss my beautiful princess more than anything in this world.

But I just felt like you should know that she listened to as many of your talks as she could get her hands on and read your book I am not but I know I am and she was so excited about God and her new found faith. Words alone can not thank you enough. I may never meet you here on earth, but I know that someday I will be able to meet you and give you a hug in heaven, but only after Ash does. Thank you so much for praying for my girl, and your support of her as she was starting her new life. Also thanks for being a man of God who has a passion, and love for college students.

Your vision to share the gospel and getting college students to do the same made all the difference at a funeral today. Instead of being sad and scared for her. We were able to sing praise and worship songs today. Though there will be tears and I am so very heartbroken and crying as I type this, it is only because I will not hold her for so many years. And I will miss her for the rest of my life. I know I have said thank you a lot in this email, but because of you and Christa (Ashley's roommate) and people at the Bible Study that she was going to she was happier than I have seen her in a very long time. In the email she originally sent you, it said she had life for the first time in her 22 years, and please know she meant every word of that. She lived the last few months serving and loving and learning more about Christ. She will now spend eternity in heaven with Him so one more time thanks. I know this was long and I debated for the last 4 days as to whether or not to write you. I know you are a very busy man, but I also figured you would want to know.
Ashley's Mom
Anna

By the third line tears were streaming down my face, blurring the words, but not the sudden reality of it all. I had just received an e-mail from Ashley a few days before saying how excited she was to finally be through with college and headed to a "real job" in the Bay Area of California. And now she was gone.

I was crushed, but I found myself pumping my fist in the air, confident that Jesus Christ overwhelmed death and the grave. And just in the nick of time, He reached through the confusion and hopelessness and brought Ashley back to life again. Her mom was kind enough to allow me to share her e-mail and sent a photo of Ashley so we could all put a face with the name that has brought much rejoicing throughout the Passion world in recent months. Anna, please know that you and your family will be in our hearts and prayers as you begin the process of living without the daughter you so deeply love. You will see her again. And with our prayers we are praising God for matchless mercy...mercy that saved the day and carried Ashley safely home.
ALL FOR YOU

operating system

Have you ever tried to change computers? Or perhaps, you have changed from Windows 95, to windows 98, to windows 2000? Maybe you have changed from dos to windows or from windows to a mac? Changing operating systems on your computer can be a nightmare.
I have been thinking a lot about changing systems lately-particularly computer/operating systems. As I have thought about it, I have come up with a list of things that are musts for the change;
First it is important that everyone is on the same system. If not, then things that worked in dos won't work in windows and things that worked in windows won't transfer to a mac. Which means the work I do won't benefit anyone else.
Second, changing systems requires that you lay a good foundation for the change. Another words, you have to get ready for change. Me...well, I am a creature of habit and I would choose to use the same operating system on my computer forever, but in order for process and progress to occur, I can't stay in windows 95 forever, eventually I have to upgrade so that I can use the technology available to advance my productivity. And if I stay where I have been, then I get left behind and miss out on what lies ahead. Which means, ready or not....I have to get ready for change and just prepare myself that it is GOING to happen.
Third, it is NOT a gradual change. When I shift from one operating system to another-you just have to do it. You can't partially shift to a Mac, you either go all or nothing. I can't use windows 95 and 2000. I have to totally change-there is no in between.
Forthly, I have to realize that the change is going to bring conflict and glitches. There will be glitches in the software compatibility and conflict in programming from old to new. And if not dealt with it will shut down my system.
Fifthly, the way to deal with such conflict and glitches is to just make the change and deal with it as the problems arise. There is no in between, no easy way, no way to keep it from happening. As you resolved the glitches the new system becomes easier, better and more productive.
Sixth, I will not like the change at first. Why? because I like the ease of the old way. That is until I realize and learn that the new way is better and to my advantage. I may not like my Mac at first, but then I realize that as I learn to adjust to the change that it is better than the old operating system and I begin to love it.

As I have thought about changing operating systems on my computer, the Lord has revealed to my heart how alike these things are for each of us in our walks with Him and in church. God has called us to REPENT...to change the way we think. To line up our thinking with His. To change operating systems. To move from what we think...to what He thinks. His ways are not ours and to change the way we think or repent means to change operating systems.
Changing our system and our thinking requires the same things for us as it does for changing our computer.
First, it is important that we all get on the same system so we avoid not being able to work together. We must all decide that the operating system we are going to get on is GOD's. Whatever HE says we will do. We abandon our opinions and our own operating systems to get on His. How do we do this...we line up everything with the manual-His Word. If it doesn't line up...we can't do it. If it is there....we must.
Second, I better get ready for change. The message of the Word is not to leave us the same but to continually conform us to the Image of God and therefore that means Change. To fight against change is to fight against the gospel. Jesus came to bring change, particularly to the religious. Look at the gospels and see if that measures up...Jesus spent most of his time addressing the church via the Epistles, the religious of the day or the crowds (via the gospels) identifying what they were doing wrong and how to CHANGE it. If change isn't happening...something is wrong. In order for process and progress to occur, I can't stay where I have been forever, eventually I have to upgrade so that change and productivity for the Kingdom happens. . And if I stay where I have been, then I get left behind and miss out on what lies ahead. Which means, ready or not....I have to get ready for change and just prepare myself that it is GOING to happen.
Third, it is not a gradual change. We have to make the leap to getting on God's operating system and there is no in between. Sometimes we try to gradually shift over but we can't be partially on God's system and partially on our own. We are either fully on His system or not at all.
Fourth, conflict and glitches will arise as we change systems. People will not be happy with us. Conflicts with those who are not on His operating system will be apparent. Old programming will become a problem and not work with the new way of operating. But the only way to deal with it...is to deal with it. We can't avoid it. We MUST deal with it so that it doesn't shut down the new operating system and keep us from what we need to do. And the option is not to go back to the old way of thinking.
Fifth, I may not like the change, but I better learn to deal with it. Why? the alternative is to NOT be on God's operating system. And to miss out on what God has because I think my own way, the old way is better.

I am working hard at changing the way I think-at moving away from my own way of operating to being sure that everything lines up with Scripture. I am having to take a hard look at everything in my life and I am realizing that so much of it doesn't line up with God's operating system. I have been deceived in my thinking. Changing over is not easy...there are glitches and I don't always like it, but I am realizing that it is better and that though learning a new system can be difficult at times, it is also something I am beginning to enjoy as I see that changing the way I think to measure up to God's way of thinking is becoming something I desire and not just know I have to do. Because HIS WAY is BETTER. ALL FOR YOU

200th post....

I was doing a little gardening earlier this week. And let me say "a little" again, because it is not really my thing and I know absolutely nothing about it. I don't have one and was simply learning as I went. I can't even get my hanging baskets from Lowes to live....so gardening...Wow...a stretch for me.
But I was thinking a lot about the whole process; from tilling the ground and preparing it for the seed to having to weed it and tend it regularly so that it will produce what you want it to. But the thing that really got me was the grass....trying to keep the grass out. Tilling it up and removing what was once planted so that you could reproduce what you want. And then having to totally remove the remnants of the grass so it doesn't grow back. It was a lot of work just getting ready to plant, to produce what you wanted. And a big part of that was not just tilling up the ground, but removing from it the things that you no longer want there or else it will return and overtake what you are trying to produce.
For many of us, we are just like this garden. We have good intentions of producing good fruit. We even toil the ground and plant the seeds. But most of us do not take the time to remove the grass-we leave a clump or two here and there and think nothing of it. I am not even talking weeds. I am talking grass. Things that normally would be no big deal, but when you are trying to bear fruit for the Kingdom are a natural deterent. Tearing up what can not exist in order to get what you want. And for many of us it isn't about removing sin alone, but about removing those things that might creep in and destroy your crop, your fruit. Those things that would rob us and steal from us the produce of our labor...or later make reaping that harvest even more difficult to find because it would be overtaken with "grass". It is our outbursts of anger, selfishness, pride and frustration, but it is also our TV watching, movies and laziness. It is our lack of sacrifice, insufficient time in the Word and a casual prayer life. It is not putting others before ourselves. These things and so much more can cause whatever had been planted to be choked out, overgrown and keep good fruit from being produced.
We often start with great ambitions, but fall short because we don't remove the remnants....and it creeps back. We don't pull it up, carry it away and cast it aside. And it affects our produce.
There is a lot of work involved in simply getting the fallow ground ready for what it is going to receive so that it can reproduce. We all like the produce, but few of us like the work. I think it is time to get dirty....and to start dealing with the roots that keep creeping back into the garden, because it is affecting the produce. ALL FOR YOU

Convicted or conformed?

I often find myself convicted. Both in the sense of being stirred to change and guilty of wrong doing. I find that the truth that is revealed to me, often pierces my heart and I realize that there is so much that needs to be different.
And yet, I am learning that though conviction is good, we can squelch it and it will never have the desired result, which is conformity. There is a world full of people who feel convicted. They know they do wrong. They feel bad about it. There are churches full of people who have heard the Word of God and have seen where their lives don't measure up. They admit and confess their sin. They have a moment of 'recommitment' and move on.
However, it was never the Father's goal to merely convict us. He longs to conform us to His image. Conviction of the Spirit is always so that Conformity to the Cross might occur in us. My dilemna is that I see some conviction happening, but not so much conformity. Which leads me to believe there is something missing.
It is repentance. Repentance is not being sorry. It is having a godly sorrow that leads to change. Conviction comes so that we might CHANGE, not so that we can confess to be forgiven. Conviction comes so that we might CONFORM to God's standards and abandon the world's. Conviction is good....but if all it does is convict...well, it didn't produce what God wanted...which is Christ followers that repent and return and are conformed to Him.
ALL FOR YOU

ONE WORD

I spent three days this week in Atlanta at a conference to help refuel leaders. It was a fabulous time of worship and Word. I was challenged in almost every area, from leadership to personal sin. While all the speakers were excellent and I learned more than my brain could soak up in one sitting, the ONE thing that has permeated my thinking is that more than words from man, we need a Word from God. ONE WORD from Him will radically change our lives. We can have good ideas, programs and ministries, but if they are just that and not divine callings, instituted and directed by the Father then they are destined to be only what man can make them-at best good.
So, I did the only thing I know to do. I raised the sail and asked the Father to breathe into it and move me in the direction of His deal and not mine. I found space and place to press my head on the floor and to listen for that still small voice that whispers life into dry, dead bones. I set my face towards heaven and cried out asking the Lord to Drip down-thick as honey, a measure of His Voice and that I would trust it. I pursued and harassed until finally in the quiet of taking communion I heard. I wept in His presence and rejoiced at His faithfulness. I grieved over my sin and found joy in His forgiveness. He is God and there is none like Him. He is the One who forms light and darkness, calamity and well-being. And He is the One who wants to speak to each of us.
I am still convinced that just ONE WORD is enough to radically change us-IF it is from Him. And yet, this week, I am so thankful for more than a WORD....I am grateful for a sentence. I am clinging to the Voice of God and trusting HIM and His work to accomplish it. We spend a lot of time seeking the words, favor and direction of men. We pursue advice, lean on our own understanding and thinking, refuse to listen to anything that doesn't "make sense" and yet, God's ways are not our own. He WANTS to do things differently so that HE GETS GLORY. If we can accomplish it without Him....what glory does He get? If we only engage in man size tasks, what glory does He received? If all we do is trust our own understanding, then where does He get to be seen? Why would He command us to do something that we can do, so that we get His glory? He doesn't....God calls us to a God sized task and then to have faith to follow Him through the difficulty, building our faith and granting Him the glory. So, let's get A WORD and CHASE that!ALL FOR YOU

yearn for you

Your relationship with God calls for the greatest measure of openness, nakedness possible. If you want to be truly intimate with Him, then transparency and surrender is a must. You must be willing to have every part given totally over to His control. The choice to compartmentalize parts of life is a mistake and it will hinder your journey. Total abandonment requires total trust. If you trust your Father more than you trust your senses, then surrender will come easy and naturally. What you see, feel, hear, taste and smell give us information so that we can make wise decisions, but cannot always be trusted completely. We must not lean on our own understanding, but Trust HIS WAYS. What seems right to us...is not always Gods way.
When true intimacy is found, you will find that it is your delight. It is delightful and where your joy is found and made complete. It becomes almost like a craving and the superficial is no longer satisfying. And yet, to achieve this kind of intimacy, there is a naked transparency and surrender that must take place. It even feels risky and yet, to not run after such a thing is even greater a risk. Our senses betray us and tell us that we will get hurt. They tell us to lean on our experience and not to trust-and so we don't and we miss out on God's greatest gift-Oneness, with Him and others.

And so, the choice is ours. To be fully known and loved. To risk and feel pain, but find intimacy. Or to play it safe and miss out on the joy of true love and intimacy, never finding our true delight or satisfaction. I don't want to lean on my own understanding, but run after Him as He sets my heart free to love. As I delight myself in HIM...He gives me MORE of HIM which is the desire of my heart. I am satisfied, while yearning for more.
ALL FOR YOU

parables

So, I am headed to lunch yesterday, enjoying the beautiful weather and the company with which I was traveling. We were dissecting what had happened at church and praying over those things together. (yes, I pray with my eyes open when I drive!) The conversation actually was about whether we would all leave and continue business as usual or whether there would be change in our lives. It seems I am growing weary of the knowledge that we spout without change in how we live and certainly did not want another Sunday where the truth went forth and left us unchanged. I find that I am continually asking MYSELF how these things should change how I walk and live, in addition to asking if I am guilty and need to repent of the things that have been brought to light. For too long, ALL OF US have listened to truth declared and agreed with it, while thinking it did not apply to us or that it was meant for someone else. I have been guilty of such thinking, however, the Lord has changed my heart and is making the cry of my heart that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be true of my feet. So, I was spending time, evaluating my own heart and then found myself realizing that I can't be the only one that struggles with such things. I believe that many of us can walk away and say that was great....that really needed to be said...without evaluating our own hearts to see if it was aimed at us-instead we agree, but do nothing and somehow don't even see that it was all about US.
I have come to a place where my first instinct is beginning to be....is this true of me and what do I need to do to repent and get right before the Father-before I begin to pray over the others in the room that need to hear these things as well. In dealing with my heart issues in this way, I have stumbled across a truth that has caused me to wrestle with why so many hear truth and do not respond or don't seem to be pierced by it.
For years, I have thought that the reason Jesus spoke in parables was to illustrate so that others might better understand His teaching. Yet, recently it has come to my attention that this is not necessarily true. In fact, it is the exact opposite. Jesus makes it plain that the reason he speaks in parables was to make it hard for people to understand, that those who truly WANT to know the truth and are pursurers of it will indeed chase after it. For those who are not really interested, it will pass them by and they will never even know what they missed.

Mark 4:1-12
1 And He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very great multitude gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.
2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,
9 And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
10 And as soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, {began} asking Him {about} the parables.
11 And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables,
12 in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return and be forgiven."

Did you see that? To those outside the Kingdom, they get everything in parables-that while seeing, they don't really see or perceive. It doesn't pierce them. While hearing, they do not hear or understand, or else they would return from their wicked ways and be forgiven. But they don't return. He who has ears, let him hear!
Jesus doesn't teach in parables to make it easier, but to weed out those who are not really hearing and seeing. He is NOT trying to make it easier, make it more understandable. He is trying to make it hard...so that those who TRULY want more of Him will chase after Him. Jesus is not for the faint of heart or for those who are looking for an easy gospel. Jesus wanted his followers to know that there are no short cuts, no easy ways in the Kingdom.

Sometimes I think we are just like those outside the Kingdom....we don't see the forest for the trees. We think it is cool to see change in others, while not realizing we need it in ourselves. I don't say that lightly. I am sure there are those who think that about me-always speaking and never looking at myself. But that is not true. I do not speak or teach anything that I have not sorted through with Jesus first and have spent time confessing and crying out for Him to change it in me before I challenge people with it. And though I am in process like everyone else, I am quickly coming to a place where I must first deal with ME-otherwise I invalidate the gospel with how I live. Which means, I am spending a lot of time asking Jesus to reveal in me His truth and change me from the inside out.

However, one of my greatest fear is that we would be in the presence of truth and walk away unchanged out of a careless neglect to look at our own hearts. That we would be like the people of Jesus' day....it would be nothing more than a parable to us and we would miss the teaching and the depth behind it. Why? because we are not in the Kingdom. We see, but do not perceive. We listen, but do not hear or understand and are not forgiven.
I guess I walked away from church with a prayer in my heart for myself and for those who were there....this could be just another parable Sunday. Another Sunday, where we think the message was good and what needed to be said was said, but we do not see or hear the truth that was aimed our own hearts.
God give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.....and please don't let these things just be another parable in which many miss the point of application for EACH of us. Call us to repent, change, worship and confess. Don't leave us unchanged or unaffected. May God open our hearts to truth that we might look in the mirror and see how it applies to ME.

Matt 13:15-16
15 For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them.'
16 "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.ALL FOR YOU

spill the beans

Did any of you take classes on how to talk and share with people about your kids? Did any of you take classes or have someone explain to you how to tell people about your grandchildren? Did any of us have someone give us a three step plan to best communicating about our spouses or the ones we love dearly?
Of course not....what a stupid idea....the thought that someone would have to teach us how to talk about what we love is crazy. It is preposterous to think that we would not share with someone else about our own children, our grandchildren or our spouse. The idea that we could not communicate to someone else about our best friend or the ones we love is ludicrous.
Why is that? Because we have a real relationship with them. Because we have EXPERIENCED them. Because we KNOW them. Because they are on our hearts. You can't keep yourself from talking about what/who you love. You can't NOT talk about the one you are in love with. You can't help but describe the sweetness of the child and describe how you long to just bury your head in their neck. You can't stop yourself from sharing pictures and stories about the grandchildren that overwhelm your heart. You can't keep yourself from talking about that friend that means the world to you. You just can't NOT talk about what is on your heart.
It is the same for me and my relationship with Jesus. I can't NOT talk about Him, about my love for Him, my passion for Him. I can't keep myself from sharing with others the pictures He is showing me in His Word, the truth He reveals about Himself. I can't stop thinking about Him and therefore talking about what He speaks to my heart. No one has to teach me to talk about Him. No one has to explain to me how to talk about Him. And no one has to show me the right way to do it. It just spills out of me. He is the Love of my life and I can't not "spill the beans" when it comes to what He is doing in me. Every moment of life leads me back to thinking on Him and what He is teaching me. I find illustrations of Him in the way the grass is mowed and in how the rain falls. Why? because I can't NOT talk about what is written on my heart.
Why is it that so many find it so easy to talk about so many things other than Him? Why is it that He is not the first thought of our morning and the last at night? Why is He not at the center of every conversation? I know most people think I am strange and struggle with my intensity, but how is it that we are not all more intense? How is it that if we are in relationship with Him, have experienced Him and He is written on our hearts that He does not just pour out of us? How is it that we can KEEP from singing His praise, praying to Him, worshipping Him and talking about Him?
No one has to tell me talk about Jesus....I just do. He is on my heart....and spills out of me. Maybe that is weird....but quite honestly, I think it is more weird that we call ourselves Christ followers and yet spend more time talking about the things of the world than the things of Heaven.
How can I keep from singing......? I can't.....He is on my heart....He is what I love.....He is real and I have a relationship with Him....I have experienced Him....and I will not be silent. How can we be? If He is on your heart....SPILL the BEANS...don't hold it in. ALL FOR YOU

power of the run

Man.....I almost missed it....the power of the run, that is. I almost opted to stay in bed. I almost justified myself out of the run. I am tired and could certainly use a few more minutes to rest. And the house, well, the house needs some work. I will just spend that time in Bible study.
But the call was clear and I had choice-run or not. I dragged myself out of bed, grabbed some juice and ran to the Word. There I heard the call even louder...run, Christy...run. So I laced up my shoes and donned my ipod and headed out. At first, my heart wasn't in the run. It wasn't really even in the walk. That is until the words of a familiar song began to ring in my ear. Glorious.....over us....You shall reign Glorious. And then I knew why my feet were on the pavement and my heart began to catch up with my feet. Glorious....over us....You shall RAIN Glorious. I heard Him speak....You want rain....RUN....it will be glorious.
I began to ask my heart some questions, questions that have been circling in my head, but today I cleared up within my own soul. WHY RUN? Why sprint? I mean, I know I am walking with God, so why do I need to run? I knew the answer and have been disciplining my heart for months now to chase after that, but today I was reminded of why we are called to run.
Because WE miss out if we don't.
I know that was deep. And for many it won't matter because they don't want more. To which, I respond by questioning the reality of their love. For those who truly love know that you can't go without and you want more. You are never satisfied with only a small part of that which you love...you want it all. We all may be at different stages, but running is NOT an option.
And that is why I run....hard and fast after Him. I am not satisfied with just a part. I love Him so much that I will not be held back or deterred from running hard after Him-because I know there is more. I don't necessarily NEED or WANT anything from Him....I just don't want to miss out on HIM. The experience of knowing intimately and being one with Him.
I am struck by how often we think that just "happens" and how anti scripture that is. We are commanded to run after Him. We are told to seek, perhaps grope for Him. We say we want Him, but not bad enough to run.....so do we really want Him? Or do we just want what He has to offer, part of Him....the part that benefits us.
I don't want to miss out on HIM. And so I run.
As I got to the hill (the hard part of my run), I had a choice....I could slow down and take it easy or I could press in hard and sprint. As my soul began to well up with these things and I was running into the sun, blinded to everything else, I began to sprint up the hill. My breathing was labored. My heart was racing. My muscles were screaming. But I reached the top and realized....Running towards the SON, even up hill and with everything screaming at me, is worth it when He reigns/rains Glorious.
I have a friend. (I know...it surprises me too!) We were talking last week about chasing after Him, loving Him and following hard after Him. I have been talking a lot about being consumed by Him, obessed with Him and possessed by Him. But she summed it up best. "I just want to be eat up with Him".
Me too.....Let's run. ALL FOR YOU

Servant Leadership

While at Disney Word last week the crowds were overwhelming. Because it was one of the busiest weeks of the year, Disney had many of their execs out in the parks working and helping the staff. I assume the point of this activity was not only to help the staff, but also to allow the execs to experience what the "real world" is like in the busiest of days, thus helping them to know how to make better decisions. It was obvious who the execs were...they were dressed differently (not in those crazy colorful uniforms) and they all had nametags and ID that showed who they were. It is actually a pretty cool concept. We should all have to step into the shoes of those we are making decisions for so that we know how to make better decisions.
However, there was a mark of leadership that absolutely floored me from the execs that were all over the parks. Every one of them walked through the parks, helping, answering questions, but everyone of them were carrying a trash picker. And as they were going, they ALL picked up the trash that was lying around and disposed of it. They didn't tell someone else to do, although they certainly had the power to do it. They didn't ignore it, even when they knew there were others whose sole job was to take care of the trash. They didn't assume someone else would see it and take care of it. They all were looking for and assuming resposiblity to pick up the trash as they went about their jobs.
Wow....now, that is a picture of Servant Leadership. Execs with trash pickers. I guess the thing that struck me was that if Disney gets that....why doesn't the church? That we are all called to be servant leaders. We are all called to pick up the trash as we go. That we should not assume someone else will take care of it, think it is someone else's paid job or tell someone else to do it. We can't ignore it. We are called to AS WE GO, be servant leaders.
So, pick up a trash picker and start serving....the church has got to be better than Disney!

ALL FOR YOU

Resurrection

Wow....why would He say that?

John 20:17 Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren, and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'"

I mean really? Jesus has just been resurrected and Mary is so overtaken with that truth that she wants to do nothing more than be with, cling to and hang on to Jesus. To touch Him, love on Him, rejoice with Him...to just BE with Him. And yet, Jesus tells her to stop it. There are many differing reasons why. The main thought being that He had not ascended to the Father yet and that He was not staying. Although He was here, He was still going away and she should not cling to Him but rather do what He says...which is GO to my brethren.

Throughout the gospel accounts of this passage, Jesus is consistent about the same command.
In Mark 16:6-7
6 And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, {here is} the place where they laid Him.
7 "But go, tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He said to you.'"

In Matt 28:5-10
5 And the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
6 "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.
7 "And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going before you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you."
8 And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me."

And then in the last verses in Matt (just 18 verses later than the previous) He again tells them to Go and make disciples of all nations.

Why is it that Jesus was so plain to say don't cling to me, but rather go and take the word, tell the disciples, make disciples? I am so struck by this thought....and the power that rests behind it. The truth of the Crucifixion and the resurrection are not for us alone. It is not merely for us to cling to and rest in. Oh...I have my get out of hell free card-I am protected. In fact, He was very plain to tell us NOT to sit back and cling to Him and do nothing. His very words to ALL who came in contact with Him after the resurrection were to DO SOMETHING! He gave us an instruction, a command of what we are to DO with the truth we know. We are not to sit back and just cling to it...but GO AND SHOW, TEACH AND TELL others about these things. And yet, how often we sit in our comfort and cling to the God we think we know and never DO what He commanded us to do with the truth that was revealed.

I love that I am CLINGING to Him. I want to be like gum in His shoe, stuck in the crevices and unable to be shaken loose. I want to cleave to Him as if super glued together, unable to be pulled apart. But I also want to be clear on what I am to do-and that isn't just to sit on my blessed assurance, but to GO and SHOW forth the truth. He is ALIVE! And we must cling to and rejoice in that. But if we never make disciples as a result of that....then we are totally disobedient and disrespect what Jesus did for us on the cross. How can we NOT be making disciples when it was the ONLY and last command given by our risen Lord?

ALL FOR YOU

Clarity, amplify and understanding

Clarity means to give clear understanding. Amplify means to make clear so that others can have clear understanding.
Recently, while at a Student Life conference called Clarity, I kept hearing the Lord say AMPLIFY. I didn't really know what that meant, but I began to seek the Lord and what He was wanting from me. Amplifiers are those devices that make the signal stronger, enlarging, enhancing and making things clear.
Nehemiah 8:8 is where we sat all weekend in the conference. It says; They read from the book of the Law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.
The Word translating means to give clarity. But it also means to amplify. Although I didn't know this til I got home and dug into the Word...It became clear why God was saying amplify to me. My life is to be given to amplify and bring clarity from the Word of God so that others understand.
Clarity means AMPLIFY which means to give clear understanding. This is my job!
Time to AMP it up!

ALL FOR YOU

friends

A remarkable picture of surrender is found in the image of Ruth. She lived in Moab with her husband, until he died. It was then that Naomi, her mother-in-law, decided to return to Bethlehem. She urged Ruth to stay in her own land where she was known and where she would have the greatest opportunity of provision via covenant marriage. Naomi knew that Ruth's following after her might not be the best thing for Ruth-after all, she would be leaving all she knew to surrender her life and be loyal to the covenant commitment she had made to Naomi's son and give up the promise of her own future to care for another. Regardless of the implications, Ruth begged to go with Naomi, saying "don't beg me to leave you or to stop following you. Where you go, I will go. Where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God."
This kind of loyalty is rare and priceless. Ruth bound herself to Naomi out of Covenant, regardless of what might be lost for her. When all natrual reason shouted for Ruth to remain where she was and not follow Naomi, she rebelled against the norm and surrendered her life to serve another. Her decision to do so was anchored in relationship and rewarded with blessing. Ruth's affection and commitment to Naomi was undeniably abnormal in the eyes of the world. It was also crazy to think that she would give up her own life to serve another. But more than that, the depth of relationship between these two women was what motivated Ruth's surrender. It is the picture of Lovingkindness-the verb of Covenant, the lavishing action of binding yourself to another-not in word alone, but in heart and in deed. In surrendering and losing her life, we know that she actually gained it. For, it was in that moment of surrender, giving her life in relationship to another that God blessed her and gave her a future and a hope in Christ.
Most people miss this remarkable truth. That when we bind ourselves one to another, laying down our lives for one another, we don't actually lose, but rather gain. It is in serving one another and entering into Covenant relationships that we will find ourselves driven to deeper surrender than if we had journeyed alone. It is in loving deeply and surrendering fully that we will exalt our Savior and glorify a God that blesses those who make the holiness of another as important as their own. It is in giving your life away, that you truly find what life is for.
These two women, bound their hearts together and because of their loyalty, commitment, desire for the other's well being more than their own and faithfulness to Covenant, they find themselves written about for all of history to see as the picture of giving your life to another and receiving more than you could ever have imagined in return.
We should all be so blessed to have a friend like this. ALL FOR YOU

take over

“He will NOT be added to your life. He comes in to take over or He does
not come in at all”.
He is not interested in being top of your list. He wants to BE the list. There is no second, no third, no competition. You are HIS. He takes over-or He isn't coming!
ALL FOR YOU

knowing you

I have been sitting in the Word "TO KNOW" for the last few days, just thinking about what the Bible says about KNOWING the Lord. It has been His desire from the beginning for us to KNOW HIM. It is why He has revealed Himself to us, sent His Son to rescue us, came to abide In us and will return again for us. All because He wants us to KNOW HIM. To be fully Known and to fully love Him. INTIMACY. Ironically, the word for to KNOW is YADA, which means intimacy. It is actually a Jewish Idiom for sex-meaning, two becoming one. He wants us to be ONE with Him.
I don't think we can truly fathom what that really looks like. We have glimpses of what the purity of intimacy might look like-in Covenant marriage and friendships, but even that to some degree can not compare with understanding what it truly would be like to be naked, unafraid and unashamed. Loved not matter what.
God's CHECED for us, His loving Kindness towards us because of Covenant is unceasing, everlasting, full of compassion and mercy-simply because He has sworn by Himself to reveal Himself to us. It is not based on anything we do, but solely on His love for us. Why? because He wants to allure us to KNOW Him, to YADA Him.
Knowing You, Jesus, Knowing You
There is no greater thing....
You're my all, You're the best
You're joy, my righteousness
and I love You Lord.
Isn't that the picture of Checed and Yada? NO greater thing....than to know and be known, fully loved, laying your life down for Him and for one another. Can this be attained....I am certainly working on it.
ALL FOR YOU

When it RAINS IT POURS

Okay, so I have been praying for rain since about November of last year. And my heart has been set on "spiritual" rain. Begging God to bring change, transformation from religious to intimate relationships. I have been all about getting naked before Him and allowing the fallow ground to be broken up in my life, so I could receive what the Lord has for us.
Well, when you pray for those kinds of things...you had better get ready. For one, the Lord broke up the fallow ground and then He began to rain. In fact, it rained out my eyes for nearly a month. I couldn't stop crying because of being so overwhelmed by what He was doing in me.
And now...I am absolutely blown away by what He is doing for us. He is raining down his benefits upon us. And we DO NOT deserve them. In fact, we don't even NEED them. It isn't as if we have been crying out in desperate need for "things". We have simply been crying out in desperate need for HIM. And the result...we got both!
Last week, the Lord gave us a suburban and boat. Yep, the Lord just plopped it in our laps and blessed our socks off. Jim was so excited. He has a MAN car. And the cool thing is it was such an answer to prayer. I had prayed only the week before that God would give us a car we liked to drive, for free. And then 8 days later...there it was...sitting in our driveway. But, not only a car...a boat! something for us play on with our family. Something to give us refuge. We weren't looking for either of these things. We were simply looking for Him and He gave us more...
If that weren't enough. God gave Jim a Harley last week. NO, we didn't buy one. God gave one to Jim-for free. He has wanted a motorcycle for years. It is the one thing he really enjoys and it helps him clear his mind of the cobwebs. But he has not chased after that dream. And then, out of the blue...we walk into the Harley shop and there is one sitting there with his name on it. God's CHECED(lovingkindess) towards us. We were awed and stunned. I stood there crying on Jim's shoulder as I realized that God's covenant love for us had just been expressed in the desire of his heart.
So, as we are reeling from the after shock of those things. We step back and ask what did we possibly do to deserve any of this? God reminded me...nothing...we don't deserve it. He just loves us. He just wants to lavish Himself on us as we chase after Him.
While sitting in that thought, thinking things could not get better, I take Drew to the orthodontist this morning to have his braces taken off. We had to pay the balance before they would do that. $450...we were having problems pulling that money together. So, when I got there and handed them my check and she wouldn't take it, I was a little baffeled. However, she began to explain that our debt had been paid. She was told to tell me that our church took care of the debt we owed. Which was SO cool. I honestly almost danced right there in the office...well, that is after I picked my jaw up off the floor. The LORD PROVIDED. And my son got to see the greatness of God and His provision. I will write more on that later...but for today...I am living proof that when you pray for rain and are seeking the Kingdom first...all these things ARE added. When it rains, it pours.
ALL FOR YOU

forget NOT HIS BENEFITS

So often, all we think about is what we have to give up in order to follow Christ. And there is CERTAINLY a cost that we must count in order to follow. But, I have been thinking a lot about what I GET...because I follow Him. This passage has been such an encouragement to me in that thought!

Ps 103:1-22
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, {bless} His holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits;
3 Who pardons all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit; who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who satisfies your years with good things, {so that} your youth is renewed like the eagle.
6 The LORD performs righteous deeds, and judgments for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
9 He will not always strive {with us} nor will He keep {His anger} forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 Just as a father has compassion on {his} children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
14 For He himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are {but} dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more; and its place acknowledges it no longer.
17 But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children,
18 To those who keep His covenant, and who remember His precepts to do them.
19 The LORD has established His throne in the heavens; and His sovereignty rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, you who serve Him, doing His will.
22 Bless the LORD, all you works of His, in all places of His dominion; bless the LORD, O my soul!
(NAS)

ALL FOR YOU