Not that the sermons at my church are ever not good, but today was especially good. I guess "good" really isn't the best adjective to use...how about convicting? No, that one isn't really what I'm looking for either. Well, for lack of a better word, today's sermon was loud. It was loud as in I felt like the Holy Spirit was kind of yelling it at me. So here's a copy of my notes with some extras thrown in.
-taye
Spiritual Maturity-Church-Sunday, Jan. 30th 2011
To start off the sermon this morning, Chad, my church’s teaching pastor, told of a couple of instances where his immaturity has come out. One of them was about when his immaturity shows up in his parenting (he has three adorable kids). I can definitely relate to the whole immaturity thing. Not as a parent, obviously, but simply as a person in general. This year, I will turn eighteen, graduate from high school, and go to college, yet, if I am completely honest, most of the time I feel like I am still seven.
In my opinion immaturity is okay…not responsibly immature, do not misunderstand me, but sometimes the little kid inside just needs to come out. However, spiritual immaturity is an entirely different ball game, and not one where you win.
Age has nothing to do with spiritual maturity. It is absolutely possible to be 21 and extremely spiritually mature, while finding a 70 year-old who is spiritually immature, it has to do with how we listen and hear God’s Word.
“Take care then how you hear…”
-Luke 8:18 ESV
Passage: Luke 8:4-15
“And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to Him, He said in a parable: ‘A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold’" As He said these things, He called out, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear’
And when His disciples asked Him what this parable meant, He said, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.' Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they) believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.’”
It is possible to hear but not hear, and to see but not see.
There are four types of Spiritual maturity:
1. Spiritually Premature—vs. 12, “The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.”
The spiritually premature are the ones who have yet to begin a relationship with God. They are open to know more about Christ and Christianity, but they have never really done anything about it. The people you surround yourself with can influence your spiritual maturity level greatly, therefore, be careful who you give a voice of influence to.
2. Spiritually Immature—vs. 13, “And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.”
The spiritually immature are Christians, but they are lacking to continuously pursue their relationship with God. The lives of the spiritually immature have little differences with the lives of unbelievers. Take a good look at your life compared to non-Christians…is there any visible difference?
3. Spiritually Un-mature—vs. 14, “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”
Spiritually un-mature people are in more danger of never maturing than the spiritually immature are. The spiritually un-mature are the lukewarm “Christians” whom Christ says He will “spit out of His mouth” (Revelation 3:16).
Spiritually un-mature people have themselves as the foundation of their lives rather than God.
4. Spiritually Mature—vs. 15, “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”
The spiritually mature Christian is not a perfect Christian. There is no such thing. It is the spiritually mature who know fully that they are not perfect and how deep their need for Christ runs.
Spiritually immature and un-mature people compare themselves to other people, while the spiritually mature people compare themselves to Christ.
“…put it into practice…” vs. 21
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Comparison-contrast essay
For my British Lit class this week, I had to write a comparison-contrast essay. Since we got to choose our own topic I decided to get a little creative and try and pick something that a lot of people have misunderstood. I ended up choosing to compare and contrast grace and mercy. Here's what I ended up with.
-taye
P.S. I altered the format from the essay format so that it was easier to read.
"Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father..."
Grace and mercy are two things that, I feel, a large number of Christians, and even non-Christians do not understand. Those words, “grace” and “mercy”, are found so many times within the pages of God’s Word, and if you have ever read a Christian book then I am sure you encountered at least one of the two multiple times there as well. But what do those words really mean? And why do they appear so often in the Bible?
Grace. According to Webster’s 1928 dictionary, grace is defined as “...the free, unmerited favor of God.” Growing up, I attended the same small Christian camp every summer, where we applied every activity we did to the gospel. There, I learned a simple, easy-to-remember definition for grace and mercy: grace is getting something we do not deserve, and mercy is not getting something we do deserve. I will return to the latter half of the definition in a moment, but for now I want to focus in on the former portion.
Grace is getting something we do not deserve. Grace is that, but it is also so much more; it goes far beyond simply receiving something that we are undeserved of. Grace is getting something that we do not deserve when what we do deserve is so much worse. The grace of God is so clearly shown in our salvation. Christ gives us something, really two things, which we absolutely do not deserve. He gives us forgiveness of our sins:
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”
[Ephesians 1:7 NIV]
Through His grace, He also makes us a promise. He promises those who have been forgiven, those who have found salvation in Him, that they shall have eternal life after they die in their physical bodies here on earth.
“And this is the promise that He made to us—eternal life.”
[1 John 2:25 ESV]
God gives us these things in spite of the fact that we are bound for hell due to our sinfulness,
“for the wages of sin is death…”
[Romans 6:23 NIV]
Therefore, God’s grace is a gift that we do not deserve, saving us from what we do deserve: eternal hell.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
[Ephesians 2:8 NIV]
How then, is mercy any different from grace? Indeed, it is very similar, in fact, that is what most people understand—the similarities; but grace and mercy are different. Webster’s 1928 dictionary defines mercy as “That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves…” What was discovered with grace was that Christ gives us forgiveness and eternal life even though we deserve hell, but what mercy shows us is that we cannot repay God for what He has given us, and yet, He gives freely anyway. God hates sin, but with Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for our sin, God can forgive us of that sin and give us His grace.
“…but if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins…” [1 John 2:1-2 NIV]
Mercy, as I see it, is most clearly defined in two words: forgiving compassion. Mercy is what God gives us when He looks on us and sees Jesus, His Son, and His righteous perfection instead of our sinfulness, our wretchedness, and our filth. For His blood, as an atoning sacrifice, has covered up our sin and God washes it away through His mercy; it is what He shows us through His forgiveness, compassion and love.
Grace, therefore, is getting something we do not deserve, and mercy is not getting something we do deserve. Mercy is God showing us forgiving compassion, if we receive Him as our Savior, and not sending us to hell, which we deserve; while grace is receiving eternal life, something we do not by any means deserve. Therefore, as you can see, grace and mercy have differences, however, they go hand-in-hand, like coffee and a mug—you cannot have one without the other or they do not serve their purpose.
-taye
P.S. I altered the format from the essay format so that it was easier to read.
"Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father..."
Grace and mercy are two things that, I feel, a large number of Christians, and even non-Christians do not understand. Those words, “grace” and “mercy”, are found so many times within the pages of God’s Word, and if you have ever read a Christian book then I am sure you encountered at least one of the two multiple times there as well. But what do those words really mean? And why do they appear so often in the Bible?
Grace. According to Webster’s 1928 dictionary, grace is defined as “...the free, unmerited favor of God.” Growing up, I attended the same small Christian camp every summer, where we applied every activity we did to the gospel. There, I learned a simple, easy-to-remember definition for grace and mercy: grace is getting something we do not deserve, and mercy is not getting something we do deserve. I will return to the latter half of the definition in a moment, but for now I want to focus in on the former portion.
Grace is getting something we do not deserve. Grace is that, but it is also so much more; it goes far beyond simply receiving something that we are undeserved of. Grace is getting something that we do not deserve when what we do deserve is so much worse. The grace of God is so clearly shown in our salvation. Christ gives us something, really two things, which we absolutely do not deserve. He gives us forgiveness of our sins:
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”
[Ephesians 1:7 NIV]
Through His grace, He also makes us a promise. He promises those who have been forgiven, those who have found salvation in Him, that they shall have eternal life after they die in their physical bodies here on earth.
“And this is the promise that He made to us—eternal life.”
[1 John 2:25 ESV]
God gives us these things in spite of the fact that we are bound for hell due to our sinfulness,
“for the wages of sin is death…”
[Romans 6:23 NIV]
Therefore, God’s grace is a gift that we do not deserve, saving us from what we do deserve: eternal hell.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
[Ephesians 2:8 NIV]
How then, is mercy any different from grace? Indeed, it is very similar, in fact, that is what most people understand—the similarities; but grace and mercy are different. Webster’s 1928 dictionary defines mercy as “That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves…” What was discovered with grace was that Christ gives us forgiveness and eternal life even though we deserve hell, but what mercy shows us is that we cannot repay God for what He has given us, and yet, He gives freely anyway. God hates sin, but with Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for our sin, God can forgive us of that sin and give us His grace.
“…but if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins…” [1 John 2:1-2 NIV]
Mercy, as I see it, is most clearly defined in two words: forgiving compassion. Mercy is what God gives us when He looks on us and sees Jesus, His Son, and His righteous perfection instead of our sinfulness, our wretchedness, and our filth. For His blood, as an atoning sacrifice, has covered up our sin and God washes it away through His mercy; it is what He shows us through His forgiveness, compassion and love.
Grace, therefore, is getting something we do not deserve, and mercy is not getting something we do deserve. Mercy is God showing us forgiving compassion, if we receive Him as our Savior, and not sending us to hell, which we deserve; while grace is receiving eternal life, something we do not by any means deserve. Therefore, as you can see, grace and mercy have differences, however, they go hand-in-hand, like coffee and a mug—you cannot have one without the other or they do not serve their purpose.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Just trust Me
Ohhhhh goodness. Last week was a looooooong week. But, I am bound and determined to make this week much better, and I know exactly how to do that. Trust.
-taye
Trust in the Lord with all your heart...
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
~Proverbs 3:5 ESV
I have read and reread this verse so many times this past week, this past weekend, and even today. It is one of the first verses you learn when you become a Christian. If you have grown up in the church, like I have, then you know exactly what I mean, in fact, you have probably been able to quote, word-for-word, Proverbs 3:5 since you were about five years-old. But have you ever taken the time to actually think and meditate on this verse? I know that I have not, not until this past week, that is.
Trusting in God, I mean really trusting in God is something that is absolutely easier said than done. What does it mean to trust anyway?
I looked up that word, trust, in my Webster’s last night. There were at least three definitions, but the one that I think hit the nail on the head was confident hope.
To me, confident means complete reliance. Sometimes, that means having to rely on something or someone when others do not understand, or even when you yourself do not fully understand. It also means having to rely on something or someone because you cannot do it on your own. You do not have the strength to continue without the support of the something or someone you are having to rely on.
Hope. Hope, as defined by me, is believing in something or someone despite what is going on at the present. No matter your current surroundings, having hope is obtaining a belief that something better is coming along later on. That the present circumstances are temporary and that eventually better circumstances, happier times are coming.
Therefore, trust is having confident hope. Trusting someone completely means that you are relying upon them, and not your own power to get you through whatever is happening now, because you believe that something better is coming along afterward.
Trusting God, despite circumstances, despite other people, and despite yourself is extremely difficult. I am not going to lie to you or lie to myself and say that trusting in God is easy. It is not. But even though it may not be easy, it is worth it. Better things are coming, my friend. Have confident hope until then.
"...Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the [lion's] den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God."
~Daniel 6:23 ESV
"For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in Me, declares the Lord."
~Jeremiah 39:18 ESV
"Trust in the Lord forever,for the Lord God is an everlasting rock."
~Isaiah 26:4 ESV
"Jesus overheard what they were talking about and said to the leader, 'Don't listen to them; just trust me.'"
~Mark 5:36 The Message
-taye
Trust in the Lord with all your heart...
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
~Proverbs 3:5 ESV
I have read and reread this verse so many times this past week, this past weekend, and even today. It is one of the first verses you learn when you become a Christian. If you have grown up in the church, like I have, then you know exactly what I mean, in fact, you have probably been able to quote, word-for-word, Proverbs 3:5 since you were about five years-old. But have you ever taken the time to actually think and meditate on this verse? I know that I have not, not until this past week, that is.
Trusting in God, I mean really trusting in God is something that is absolutely easier said than done. What does it mean to trust anyway?
I looked up that word, trust, in my Webster’s last night. There were at least three definitions, but the one that I think hit the nail on the head was confident hope.
To me, confident means complete reliance. Sometimes, that means having to rely on something or someone when others do not understand, or even when you yourself do not fully understand. It also means having to rely on something or someone because you cannot do it on your own. You do not have the strength to continue without the support of the something or someone you are having to rely on.
Hope. Hope, as defined by me, is believing in something or someone despite what is going on at the present. No matter your current surroundings, having hope is obtaining a belief that something better is coming along later on. That the present circumstances are temporary and that eventually better circumstances, happier times are coming.
Therefore, trust is having confident hope. Trusting someone completely means that you are relying upon them, and not your own power to get you through whatever is happening now, because you believe that something better is coming along afterward.
Trusting God, despite circumstances, despite other people, and despite yourself is extremely difficult. I am not going to lie to you or lie to myself and say that trusting in God is easy. It is not. But even though it may not be easy, it is worth it. Better things are coming, my friend. Have confident hope until then.
"...Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the [lion's] den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God."
~Daniel 6:23 ESV
"For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in Me, declares the Lord."
~Jeremiah 39:18 ESV
"Trust in the Lord forever,for the Lord God is an everlasting rock."
~Isaiah 26:4 ESV
"Jesus overheard what they were talking about and said to the leader, 'Don't listen to them; just trust me.'"
~Mark 5:36 The Message
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Ignore this...
This is just me letting all my frustrations out...ignore this. It's really of no importance. Just some necessary venting/confession time.
-taye
Woe to those who say "Let Him hasten His work that I may see..."
Sometimes I get frustrated. Okay, scratch that…a lot of times I get frustrated. I am not a perfectionist; I understand and like the fact that things are not always perfect. Life, I know is definitely not perfect. I get frustrated with myself, and the fact that I am so selfish. I want to know reasons why God does things, and I want to know them now. Sometimes I wish that my entire life were written down in a book (with pictures, of course) and that I could look through certain sections every now and then. I would not want to read the whole thing at once, that would take all of the surprises out of life, but I want to know certain things that will happen, and why certain things that have occurred have happened the way they did.
Ugh. This is just me rambling on about my selfishness and my sin. I know that if God showed us what was going to happen or why things do happen, that it would take our need to rely upon Him away. I have to learn to trust God, and in that trust Him completely. I need to stop relying on myself to plan things out or to wish for things to happen; things that may or may not be God’s will for me. And I need to begin giving everything to God…all of my plans, wishes, desires, hopes, dreams, confusion, anger, frustration, concern, misunderstanding, pain, hurt, love, etc…
"Do I trust at all in the flesh? Or have I learned to go beyond all confidence in myself and other people of God? Do I trust in books and prayers or other joys in my life? Or have I placed my confidence in God Himself, not in His blessings?"
~Oswald Chambers
“Woe to those... who say, ‘Let God hurry; let Him hasten His work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel—let it approach, let it come into view, so we may know it.’“
~Isaiah 5:18-19
-taye
Woe to those who say "Let Him hasten His work that I may see..."
Sometimes I get frustrated. Okay, scratch that…a lot of times I get frustrated. I am not a perfectionist; I understand and like the fact that things are not always perfect. Life, I know is definitely not perfect. I get frustrated with myself, and the fact that I am so selfish. I want to know reasons why God does things, and I want to know them now. Sometimes I wish that my entire life were written down in a book (with pictures, of course) and that I could look through certain sections every now and then. I would not want to read the whole thing at once, that would take all of the surprises out of life, but I want to know certain things that will happen, and why certain things that have occurred have happened the way they did.
Ugh. This is just me rambling on about my selfishness and my sin. I know that if God showed us what was going to happen or why things do happen, that it would take our need to rely upon Him away. I have to learn to trust God, and in that trust Him completely. I need to stop relying on myself to plan things out or to wish for things to happen; things that may or may not be God’s will for me. And I need to begin giving everything to God…all of my plans, wishes, desires, hopes, dreams, confusion, anger, frustration, concern, misunderstanding, pain, hurt, love, etc…
"Do I trust at all in the flesh? Or have I learned to go beyond all confidence in myself and other people of God? Do I trust in books and prayers or other joys in my life? Or have I placed my confidence in God Himself, not in His blessings?"
~Oswald Chambers
“Woe to those... who say, ‘Let God hurry; let Him hasten His work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel—let it approach, let it come into view, so we may know it.’“
~Isaiah 5:18-19
Friday, January 21, 2011
Forgiveness
I love writing...it's like my own personal therapy. I'm always so unfocused when I try to talk to God that sometimes I just have to write it all down, everything that I'm feeling, and offer it up to Him. Sometimes it's just the only way that I can express or even attempt to express what I'm feeling. This post is basically one of those times, so if nothing I'm saying makes any sense whatsoever, don't worry about it.
-taye
In Him we have forgiveness
Today, I think that God is trying to teach me about His forgiveness…even if He is not I am for sure learning about it. It is unbelievable; I cannot begin to fathom how He forgives people of every crappy thing they do…how He forgives me of every crappy thing I do. But He has not really been showing me of His forgiveness of my sins, He has been showing me how to forgive others as He forgives them…as He forgives me.
I have friends who have done hurtful things to me, and some friends who have not done anything at all, which in turn has also been hurtful to me. But I am learning to forgive them. I am not going to name any names, for I do not feel like that will help anything at all, first by exposing their sins or second by bringing back their sin as theirs and not their sin as forgiven by Christ and laid upon the cross.
When I was younger, there was a person who continually hurt me (not physically, but emotionally) for years, affecting my thoughts in a lot of ways, even now. It took years to come to the point where I could honestly forgive that person, but a few years ago I finally did, and it was a huge burden lifted from the weight of my past. Only God gave me the strength and ability to forgive that person.
More recently, I had a good friend confess a sin to me. In all honesty it has absolutely nothing to do with me, but she needed to talk to someone about it, and I happened to be that person whom she wanted to talk to. Although it was not relevant to me specifically, it hurt me. It hurt me that she was so deeply hurt. But it hurt me because I felt like what she had done had in some way betrayed our friendship. But thinking and praying about that situation, it did not have anything to do with me. She was forgiven by God of her sin, and I had to learn to forgive as God had forgiven her. After all, if I love her, with only a glimpse of God’s love for her, then it was not too terribly difficult to forgive her.
Even more recently (really recently… as in this week) I had a good friend who just, out of nowhere, stopped talking to me, for no reason apparent to me. I still do not know what is going on, or what their situation is; whether I have or have not done something to induce this silence is unknown to me. I have really had to trust in God this week because of this, it has extremely hurt me, but I do not really know why it has exactly hurt me so deeply. This sounds ridiculously insane but I had a dream last night about this situation. Do you believe that God gives answer in the form of a dream? I feel like that sounds really strange, but I never remember dreams and I remember every single detail about this one. I have spent the last two days asking God for some kind of answer; some sort of explanation. I feel like this dream may have been that, or it could have just been the fact that I ate a lot of Nutella before going to sleep. Whichever it was, it has stuck in my mind all day long. I will not go into the details of this dream, but basically, I feel like my friend has done something he ashamed of and that may be the reason he is not talking to me, (our conversations have been filled with discussions of the Bible and God, and a lot of times when people are ashamed of something, they shy away from God and things to do with Him…including people who talk about Him frequently) But I have a desire to forgive him of whatever it is, if that dream even remotely came from God.
Through these three examples from my life, whether from my childhood, the more recent past, or presently, God is teaching me how His forgiveness works by allowing me to feel glimpses of that forgiveness. The forgiveness where the other person has done nothing to earn it, where most people would hold a grudge for the next fifty years, but where I have been able, only by God’s grace to fully and completely forgive them.
“In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”
Ephesians 1:7 NIV
-taye
In Him we have forgiveness
Today, I think that God is trying to teach me about His forgiveness…even if He is not I am for sure learning about it. It is unbelievable; I cannot begin to fathom how He forgives people of every crappy thing they do…how He forgives me of every crappy thing I do. But He has not really been showing me of His forgiveness of my sins, He has been showing me how to forgive others as He forgives them…as He forgives me.
I have friends who have done hurtful things to me, and some friends who have not done anything at all, which in turn has also been hurtful to me. But I am learning to forgive them. I am not going to name any names, for I do not feel like that will help anything at all, first by exposing their sins or second by bringing back their sin as theirs and not their sin as forgiven by Christ and laid upon the cross.
When I was younger, there was a person who continually hurt me (not physically, but emotionally) for years, affecting my thoughts in a lot of ways, even now. It took years to come to the point where I could honestly forgive that person, but a few years ago I finally did, and it was a huge burden lifted from the weight of my past. Only God gave me the strength and ability to forgive that person.
More recently, I had a good friend confess a sin to me. In all honesty it has absolutely nothing to do with me, but she needed to talk to someone about it, and I happened to be that person whom she wanted to talk to. Although it was not relevant to me specifically, it hurt me. It hurt me that she was so deeply hurt. But it hurt me because I felt like what she had done had in some way betrayed our friendship. But thinking and praying about that situation, it did not have anything to do with me. She was forgiven by God of her sin, and I had to learn to forgive as God had forgiven her. After all, if I love her, with only a glimpse of God’s love for her, then it was not too terribly difficult to forgive her.
Even more recently (really recently… as in this week) I had a good friend who just, out of nowhere, stopped talking to me, for no reason apparent to me. I still do not know what is going on, or what their situation is; whether I have or have not done something to induce this silence is unknown to me. I have really had to trust in God this week because of this, it has extremely hurt me, but I do not really know why it has exactly hurt me so deeply. This sounds ridiculously insane but I had a dream last night about this situation. Do you believe that God gives answer in the form of a dream? I feel like that sounds really strange, but I never remember dreams and I remember every single detail about this one. I have spent the last two days asking God for some kind of answer; some sort of explanation. I feel like this dream may have been that, or it could have just been the fact that I ate a lot of Nutella before going to sleep. Whichever it was, it has stuck in my mind all day long. I will not go into the details of this dream, but basically, I feel like my friend has done something he ashamed of and that may be the reason he is not talking to me, (our conversations have been filled with discussions of the Bible and God, and a lot of times when people are ashamed of something, they shy away from God and things to do with Him…including people who talk about Him frequently) But I have a desire to forgive him of whatever it is, if that dream even remotely came from God.
Through these three examples from my life, whether from my childhood, the more recent past, or presently, God is teaching me how His forgiveness works by allowing me to feel glimpses of that forgiveness. The forgiveness where the other person has done nothing to earn it, where most people would hold a grudge for the next fifty years, but where I have been able, only by God’s grace to fully and completely forgive them.
“In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”
Ephesians 1:7 NIV
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Lord, I love so many things...
Oh goodness. God just continues to show me so much; so much that it's a little overwhelming at times. I had a really rough day yesterday, but once I sat down last night and just starting thinking and praying about what made it rough, I realized that it was just one of the many things that distract me from getting closer to God...and that just maybe that was why He was allowing it to fizzle. When I was at Passion, I bought Tenth Avenue North's latest CD...wow. But there is one song in particular that really hit me yesterday in light of what was going on: "All the Pretty Things"
-taye
Look at all the pretty things that take my heart away
We are, we are, we're caught in the in between
Of who we already are and who we are yet to be
And we're looking for love but finding we're still in need
It's only what we have lost will we be allowed to keep
And we're waiting but our eyes are wandering
To all this earth holds dear
Look at all the pretty things
That steal my heart away
I can feel I'm fading
'Cause Lord I love so many things
That keep me from Your face
Come and save me
We run we run to finally be set free
But we're fighting fighting for what we've already received
So we're waiting but our eyes are wandering
To all this earth holds dear
Look at all the pretty things
That steal my heart away
I can feel I'm fading
'Cause Lord I love so many things
That keep me from Your face
Come and save me
We are we are caught in the in between
But we're fighting for what we already have received
We are we are caught in the in between
But we're fighting for what we already have received
Look at all the pretty things
That steal my heart away
I can feel I'm fading
'Cause Lord I love so many things
That keep me from Your face
Come and save me
Huh. After rereading those lyrics it's like someone just punched me in the stomach. It is crazy how much I get distracted and off course by "all the pretty things" this world tries to offer me instead of Christ. When I accept those things and get focused more on them than I am on God, that is when I start to fade. I feel it now though, the fading of my heart. I see how much even the things that my mind sometimes disguises as blessing from God distract me, and how though they may have been a brief blessing from God, how much heart latched on and did not want to let go, so God has to defuse those things in order for my heart to reattach itself to Him.
A dear friend sent me a simple text message this morning: "Psalm 46" was all that it said, but it was exactly what I needed this morning. I love how God encourages us and restores us through other people, it is so beautiful.
"God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling...
Be still, and know that I am God."
Psalm 46:1-3,10a ESV
-taye
Look at all the pretty things that take my heart away
We are, we are, we're caught in the in between
Of who we already are and who we are yet to be
And we're looking for love but finding we're still in need
It's only what we have lost will we be allowed to keep
And we're waiting but our eyes are wandering
To all this earth holds dear
Look at all the pretty things
That steal my heart away
I can feel I'm fading
'Cause Lord I love so many things
That keep me from Your face
Come and save me
We run we run to finally be set free
But we're fighting fighting for what we've already received
So we're waiting but our eyes are wandering
To all this earth holds dear
Look at all the pretty things
That steal my heart away
I can feel I'm fading
'Cause Lord I love so many things
That keep me from Your face
Come and save me
We are we are caught in the in between
But we're fighting for what we already have received
We are we are caught in the in between
But we're fighting for what we already have received
Look at all the pretty things
That steal my heart away
I can feel I'm fading
'Cause Lord I love so many things
That keep me from Your face
Come and save me
Huh. After rereading those lyrics it's like someone just punched me in the stomach. It is crazy how much I get distracted and off course by "all the pretty things" this world tries to offer me instead of Christ. When I accept those things and get focused more on them than I am on God, that is when I start to fade. I feel it now though, the fading of my heart. I see how much even the things that my mind sometimes disguises as blessing from God distract me, and how though they may have been a brief blessing from God, how much heart latched on and did not want to let go, so God has to defuse those things in order for my heart to reattach itself to Him.
A dear friend sent me a simple text message this morning: "Psalm 46" was all that it said, but it was exactly what I needed this morning. I love how God encourages us and restores us through other people, it is so beautiful.
"God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling...
Be still, and know that I am God."
Psalm 46:1-3,10a ESV
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
MY grace is sufficient for you
I woke up this morning to no power...which means no alarm clock, and no coffee, but also it means no heat. Luckily after about an hour or so the power came back on...which means I got coffee, and heat, and my dad even went the extra mile to build a fire...he's pretty cool. Anyway, since I have been home from Passion (read my last post if you don't know what that is or if you want to know more about it), I have really been digging into the Word and God has really shown me a lot through that. It's been incredible. Here's a passage that Paul (Once Saul) wrote to the Corinthians.
-taye
MY power is made perfect in weakness
"I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
~2 Corinthians 12:1-10 NIV
Lately, one of the many things God has been showing me is just how weak I truly am. Therefore, I really do have nothing to boast of, apart from Christ. Compared to His surpassing greatness, I am nothing, and I feel so small and weak in comparison. That is a good thing to feel, and to realize how truly GREAT our GOD is, but I cannot go through life feeling lousy and helpless, I would get nothing accomplished for Christ. That is why, in His great power and strength, He lifts us up to be able to do great things for His name. HIS power is made perfect in our weakness; in my weakness.
I once heard this quote that goes well with this passage of scripture and is definitely an encouragement to me:
"God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called."
-taye
MY power is made perfect in weakness
"I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
~2 Corinthians 12:1-10 NIV
Lately, one of the many things God has been showing me is just how weak I truly am. Therefore, I really do have nothing to boast of, apart from Christ. Compared to His surpassing greatness, I am nothing, and I feel so small and weak in comparison. That is a good thing to feel, and to realize how truly GREAT our GOD is, but I cannot go through life feeling lousy and helpless, I would get nothing accomplished for Christ. That is why, in His great power and strength, He lifts us up to be able to do great things for His name. HIS power is made perfect in our weakness; in my weakness.
I once heard this quote that goes well with this passage of scripture and is definitely an encouragement to me:
"God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called."
Friday, January 7, 2011
The Movie of Life
So I recently started reading Francis Chan's book Crazy Love. I've made it through the first three chapter so far and God is teaching me so much, and convicting me a lot too. I definitely recommend reading it. I want to share a excerpt from chapter two that compares our lives to a movie. It was definitely a kind of "holy slap in the face" to me.
-taye
It Sort of Goes Like This...
Suppose you are an extra in an upcoming movie. You will probably scrutinize that one scene where hundreds of people are milling around, just waiting for that two-fifths of a second when you can see the back of your head. Maybe your mom and your closest friend get excited about that two-fifths of a second with you...maybe. But no one else will realize it is you. Even if you tell them, they won't care.
Let's take it a step further. What if you rent out the theater on opening night and invite all your friends and family to come see the new movie about you? People will say "You're an idiot! How could you think this movie is about you?"
Many Christians are even more delusional than the person I have been describing. So many of us think and live like the movie of life is all about us.
Now Consider the Movie of Life...
God creates the world. (Were you alive then? Was God talking to you when He proclaimed "It is good" about all He had just made?)
Then people rebel against God (Who, if you haven't realized it yet, is the main character in this movie), and God floods the earth to rid it of the mess people made of it.
Several generations later, God singles out a ninety-nine-year-old man called Abram and makes him the father of a nation (did you have anything to do with this?).
Later, along come Joseph and Moses and many other ordinary inadequate people that the movie is also not about. God is the one who picks them and directs them and works miracles through them.
In the next scene, God sends judges and prophets to His nation because the people can't seem to give Him the one thing He asks of them (obedience).
And then, the climax: the Son of God is born among the people whom God still somehow loves. While in this world, the Son teaches His followers what true love look like. Then the Son of God dies and is resurrected and goes back up to be with God.
And even though the movie isn't quite finished yet, we know what the last scene holds. It's the scene I already described in chapter one: the throne room of God. Here every being worships God who sits on the throne, for He alone is worthy to be praised.
From start to finish, this movie is obviously about God. He is the main character. How is it possible that we live as though it is about us? Our scenes in the movie, our brief lives, fall somewhere between the time Jesus ascends into heaven (Acts) and when we will all worship God on His throne in heaven (Revelation).
We have only our two-fifths-of-a-second-long scene to live. I don't know about you, but I want my two-fifths of a second to be about my making much of God.
-taye
It Sort of Goes Like This...
Suppose you are an extra in an upcoming movie. You will probably scrutinize that one scene where hundreds of people are milling around, just waiting for that two-fifths of a second when you can see the back of your head. Maybe your mom and your closest friend get excited about that two-fifths of a second with you...maybe. But no one else will realize it is you. Even if you tell them, they won't care.
Let's take it a step further. What if you rent out the theater on opening night and invite all your friends and family to come see the new movie about you? People will say "You're an idiot! How could you think this movie is about you?"
Many Christians are even more delusional than the person I have been describing. So many of us think and live like the movie of life is all about us.
Now Consider the Movie of Life...
God creates the world. (Were you alive then? Was God talking to you when He proclaimed "It is good" about all He had just made?)
Then people rebel against God (Who, if you haven't realized it yet, is the main character in this movie), and God floods the earth to rid it of the mess people made of it.
Several generations later, God singles out a ninety-nine-year-old man called Abram and makes him the father of a nation (did you have anything to do with this?).
Later, along come Joseph and Moses and many other ordinary inadequate people that the movie is also not about. God is the one who picks them and directs them and works miracles through them.
In the next scene, God sends judges and prophets to His nation because the people can't seem to give Him the one thing He asks of them (obedience).
And then, the climax: the Son of God is born among the people whom God still somehow loves. While in this world, the Son teaches His followers what true love look like. Then the Son of God dies and is resurrected and goes back up to be with God.
And even though the movie isn't quite finished yet, we know what the last scene holds. It's the scene I already described in chapter one: the throne room of God. Here every being worships God who sits on the throne, for He alone is worthy to be praised.
From start to finish, this movie is obviously about God. He is the main character. How is it possible that we live as though it is about us? Our scenes in the movie, our brief lives, fall somewhere between the time Jesus ascends into heaven (Acts) and when we will all worship God on His throne in heaven (Revelation).
We have only our two-fifths-of-a-second-long scene to live. I don't know about you, but I want my two-fifths of a second to be about my making much of God.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
My God's not dead
So I just got back from Passion 2011 in Atlanta. Honestly, it was the most incredible experiences I have ever had, and not only because it was fun, and entertaining, and productive, but it's completely because of GOD. So much was thrown at me and into my mind that I'm still trying to process it all, but here's a look at the three main things I'm taking away from it.
-taye
YOU make beautiful things out of us
Before I begin going on about everything that God showed me during this weekend, I want to start by saying all the things He blessed me with this weekend.
He blessed me with wonderful roommates. I already knew I was rooming with them months in advance, and I've known them since I was born basically, but I continued to realize just how amazing and productive it is when your closest friends are just as in love with God as you are.
He blessed me with wonderful new friends. The community groups (or small groups) continually got better and more effective as the weekend progressed. The groups were supposed to have only eight people in them, but mine had twelve...however, looking at it, each and every single of the dozen people in our not-so-small group were significant and each and every one has and will play a role in influencing my life, and God brought each one into my life for a purpose. The groups were called family groups, but I had no idea how truly like family they would become.
He blessed me with focus. If you know me, you know that I get so easily distracted, but throughout this weekend, I was so much more focused than I usually am. I'm not going to lie and say I never zoned out once during a speaker, or that not once did I find myself singing without praising, but I was more focused and I think I was able to get so much more out of it because of that.
Those were just a few of the tremendous blessings from this weekend. But now for the best stuff...what God has showed me. He showed me so so so much but these are the three main things that really just kind of slapped me in the face.
He showed me His glory. All the time I go to church or read my Bible without even taking a though to think about how glorious and mighty and worthy God is. Isn't that terrible? It makes me sad to think that, but over this weekend I was just shown how powerful and perfect Christ is, especially when I look at myself next to Him. I look so small compared to Him and His perfection.
He showed me His love. Pretty much all of my high school life, but more so this past semester, I have been constantly searching for love. It's like I knew God's love was better, but I thought that I could find something better, because I didn't experience Christ's love on a daily basis. How blind I have been. On Saturday night, some of us went to the David Crowder concert (so incredible in and of itself, but that's not the point. The majority of the concert was Christmas music, but at one point he sang How He Loves and it was like God just jumped out of nowhere right in front of my face and just looked at me and "I. Love. You., why have you not seen that?" It's so wonderful how patient God is with us, but that after a while He just has to jump in front of us and show us where we've gone wrong. After that I felt so loved, and not just knowing Christ's and yet looking for it elsewhere, but knowing His love and being perfectly content in that. In the song By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North, there's a line that I've always loved, it says "Why are you looking for love? Why are you still searching as if I'M not enough? Where will you go child? Tell me, where will you run?" I love that because, first off, that's exactly what I've been doing: continuing to search for love, even though Jesus' love was always right there.
He showed me joy. Being completely joyful; completely and utterly happy, has always been kind of a struggle for me, especially lately (which I think ties in with the whole looking elsewhere for love thing). This was the first time in my entire life where I have felt completely alive and fully happy. This was also the first time in my life where I got truly excited to praise God. I found that almost every time we went to worship, I would be singing my heart out and sometimes I would have to stop singing because I could not help but smile. That's what true joy is. Also, in when John Piper spoke on Monday night, he spoke about joy, and how necessary it is to have GOD as the foundation of our joy rather than ourselves, and I think before this weekend, I had myself as the bottom of the foundation, but Christ close on top of that so that I thought I had Him at the bottom, but in reality it was myself.
Passion 2012 will be at the Georgia Dome next year in Atlanta. I would recommend it to everyone high school senior-college. It will change your life, but really Passion won't change your life, God will.
"Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws,
we wait for You;
Your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts"
-Isaiah 26:8
268generation.com
-taye
YOU make beautiful things out of us
Before I begin going on about everything that God showed me during this weekend, I want to start by saying all the things He blessed me with this weekend.
He blessed me with wonderful roommates. I already knew I was rooming with them months in advance, and I've known them since I was born basically, but I continued to realize just how amazing and productive it is when your closest friends are just as in love with God as you are.
He blessed me with wonderful new friends. The community groups (or small groups) continually got better and more effective as the weekend progressed. The groups were supposed to have only eight people in them, but mine had twelve...however, looking at it, each and every single of the dozen people in our not-so-small group were significant and each and every one has and will play a role in influencing my life, and God brought each one into my life for a purpose. The groups were called family groups, but I had no idea how truly like family they would become.
He blessed me with focus. If you know me, you know that I get so easily distracted, but throughout this weekend, I was so much more focused than I usually am. I'm not going to lie and say I never zoned out once during a speaker, or that not once did I find myself singing without praising, but I was more focused and I think I was able to get so much more out of it because of that.
Those were just a few of the tremendous blessings from this weekend. But now for the best stuff...what God has showed me. He showed me so so so much but these are the three main things that really just kind of slapped me in the face.
He showed me His glory. All the time I go to church or read my Bible without even taking a though to think about how glorious and mighty and worthy God is. Isn't that terrible? It makes me sad to think that, but over this weekend I was just shown how powerful and perfect Christ is, especially when I look at myself next to Him. I look so small compared to Him and His perfection.
He showed me His love. Pretty much all of my high school life, but more so this past semester, I have been constantly searching for love. It's like I knew God's love was better, but I thought that I could find something better, because I didn't experience Christ's love on a daily basis. How blind I have been. On Saturday night, some of us went to the David Crowder concert (so incredible in and of itself, but that's not the point. The majority of the concert was Christmas music, but at one point he sang How He Loves and it was like God just jumped out of nowhere right in front of my face and just looked at me and "I. Love. You., why have you not seen that?" It's so wonderful how patient God is with us, but that after a while He just has to jump in front of us and show us where we've gone wrong. After that I felt so loved, and not just knowing Christ's and yet looking for it elsewhere, but knowing His love and being perfectly content in that. In the song By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North, there's a line that I've always loved, it says "Why are you looking for love? Why are you still searching as if I'M not enough? Where will you go child? Tell me, where will you run?" I love that because, first off, that's exactly what I've been doing: continuing to search for love, even though Jesus' love was always right there.
He showed me joy. Being completely joyful; completely and utterly happy, has always been kind of a struggle for me, especially lately (which I think ties in with the whole looking elsewhere for love thing). This was the first time in my entire life where I have felt completely alive and fully happy. This was also the first time in my life where I got truly excited to praise God. I found that almost every time we went to worship, I would be singing my heart out and sometimes I would have to stop singing because I could not help but smile. That's what true joy is. Also, in when John Piper spoke on Monday night, he spoke about joy, and how necessary it is to have GOD as the foundation of our joy rather than ourselves, and I think before this weekend, I had myself as the bottom of the foundation, but Christ close on top of that so that I thought I had Him at the bottom, but in reality it was myself.
Passion 2012 will be at the Georgia Dome next year in Atlanta. I would recommend it to everyone high school senior-college. It will change your life, but really Passion won't change your life, God will.
"Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws,
we wait for You;
Your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts"
-Isaiah 26:8
268generation.com
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