Sweet, Sweet Scripture

I like Scriptures.  They are positive.  They bring JOY!  If we practice them, we will walk in great health, peace, and prosperity in our souls.

Scripture is beautifully-written, indeed the most beautiful writing in existence.  Some may argue with that, but that’s OK by me.  I will always contend that God is the best Author of all.  In fact, He created you and He created me.

He is so creative!  God created us in His image, meaning we are creative too (wow, how humble of Him to allow us to share this remarkable trait!)  Creativity is an amazing quality, a powerful force, yet our Father found delight in sharing it with us… I believe it’s an intrinsic quality in every human being.  Just think of some of the most creative people you know: Didn’t their art inspire you?  Draw you in?  Touch some deep part of your heart and soul?  That’s God shining through them!

God is also light.  That means He does not — indeed, cannot – deceive.  He is honest through and through.  WOW!  Can you imagine never having bad motives?  Never pretending to be something/ someone you’re not OR misleading someone that you had pure intent when really you wanted glory, affirmation, money, status, power, or some other self-seeking desire?  Not Him.  He is pure of heart, pure of mind, pure of intention.  I’m reminded of the Scripture describing a man named Nathanael as one “in whom there is no guile”.  Jesus is described the same.  That’s exciting to me that Jesus Himself qualified Nathanael’s character as a man without guile.  Exciting because IT IS POSSIBLE FOR US!  One of my deepest, most heart-felt goals is to be a person in whom there is no guile.  That is my plea for my husband and my fellow church members.  I know God can do this in us — He can make us people of pure intent, pure heart, pure motivations.  But note the key word: pure.  To be pure denotes a purifying experience that burns away impurities.  I believe holiness is one of God’s chief goals and works in His people.

I wonder… do we tremble at the thought of Him?

Do we bow in humility when presenting our requests at His throne?  Do we realize we’re bowing before the Maker of heaven and earth?  Wow!  I know I forget that more often than not, and that needs to change.

Repeatedly it’s been burning in my heart that my heart needs help.  God, I often seek my own glory…. my own comfort…. friendship with man instead of friendship with the Man.  I seek the wrong things.  I stay busy instead of staying still.  And I repent — but do I really?  Because my history keeps repeating itself.

But then You intervene.  And suddenly I’m doing things I never dreamt I’d be doing!  Or old habits that clung to me for far too long begin fading away!!!!!!!  SUDDENLY, as in the blink of an eye, I am FREE to be …. You?  No no, You IN ME.  YOU IN ME — the unique expression of You as only I, Your unique creation, can be.  WOW!

How magnificent and wonderful and beautiful this creation is!  I am at times in awe of who I am when You show up in me.  But when You don’t, all I tend to see are vainglorious attempts at winning praise and affection.  Half-hearted attempts at, well, anything.  Emotion-led living.  Judgmental thoughts, a sharp tongue, and that ugly demon pride.

But You in me — that is a sight to behold!  That is where glory emits from my being….. because You peek Your head out and are free at last to use my feeble hands, my weak knees, my limited resources to do Your unlimited work!  To achieve the impossible.  To reach the ‘unreachable’.  To push harder and longer and endure well past my breaking point.  You, Sir, can do anything.  Through me.  Yes, even through me.

Most of us are well aware of our shortcomings.  But I like what my pastor said recently — if we as the Body of Christ operate together (as one), we don’t have to experience the pain of our weaknesses.  We don’t have to suffer on behalf of what each individual is limited to, not only because we all have CHRIST IN US (“the hope of glory”) but also because we can lean on Christ in each other to get us through.  And Christ is a beautiful thing, indeed the beautiful One.

But we must let loose our dead nature for the alive Christ to burst forth!  Our flesh only drags us down and keeps us — where else? — but on earth.  Taking on Christ’s nature and removing our dead selves allows us to soar in the heavenlies with Him.

Christ, who is our peace….

He is our peace.  He keeps us there, in peace, and at peace with one another.  He is the Keeper of the Peace and the Bringer of the Peace!  When we link arms and join hands, we are emulating Christ Jesus.

So what are we waiting for?  Why don’t we dive into the Scriptures?  Why don’t we — ahem, ME! — stop wasting time and FOCUS instead on Him, on His words to us, on what He may wanna teach us?

Why are we scared?  He only wants to remove the dead, whittle away the impurities, bumps and lumps!  He is making us beautiful, truly beautiful, what every woman longs to be (and every man longs to be near). 

John 8:12: Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I Am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Don’t we want the LIGHT OF LIFE?  Don’t we want Him to illuminate our soul, riddled with passionate lusts that the heathens are controlled by, and bring peace and healing there?  Don’t we want Him to rise up in our spirits and spread love, glory, humility and wholeness wherever we go?

Do you want to touch the blind — and them see?

Do you want to comfort the brokenhearted — and bring healing to their loss?

Do you want to snatch the hell-bent from the flames?

Do you want to cooperate with our Father in the greatest Redemption story ever told?

Then what are you waiting for?  Go.  Do it :)  Just don’t do it alone.  Take Him with you — and invite other people to share the journey.  For our spirits are willing but our flesh is weak.  Let our kind Father’s Holy Spirit illuminate His word to you, one verse at a time, and see how your spirit comes alive.  See how He bursts forth and overcomes even your fleshly temptations, your temperament’s failures, your habitual behavior.  He can, has, and will continue to conquer all.

“Koinonia”: A Taste of True Community

Once upon a time, I attended the Focus on the Family Institute (now Focus Leadership Institute) in Colorado Springs.  An amazing, life-altering experience, and one of the best decisions I’ve made in my spiritual journey. 

What made it so awesome?

Fellowship!  Up until that point, I walked out my faith largely alone.  Sure I churched, retreated, Bible studied, mission-tripped, worshipped and prayed.  Yay for me!  But those didn’t change me the way people did.  Until FFI, I was living day-to-day by myself. 

The Focus Institute’s focus on community turned my world upside-down.  Suddenly I was surrounded by believers who lived their faith and passionately loved the Lord!  I felt safe, valued for who and how I am, and respected, and everyone around me was too.  It was amazing.  The men stepped up and treated us ladies with love and service – the way God designed women to be treated – instead of pursuing us for worldly reasons.  It was a slice of heaven. 

Weekly we came together for “Koinonia” – fellowship, worship, food and just QT.  I adored it!!  People were honest about where they were at.  Broken from their pasts.  In such intimacy, facades couldn’t survive, and it rocked! 

Since leaving Focus, I’ve hunted for a community of believers that compares.  I’ve struggled to find others (especially my age) willing to live their lives openly.  After several years of searching, I found myself retreating to old ways of doing relationships and feeling vulnerable at how vulnerable I became after Focus.  Being fake and “having it all together” became the norm again.  There seemed no other option. 

This is precisely why I love the article below.  God’s church – His beloved bride! – is meant to be raw, honest, confronting and confrontable (in love).  We need each other to be honest so we can grow.  We need a place we can let our guards down.  Church hasn’t been that place for me, yet.  But biblical church does not mean playing the Christian part, speaking Christianese and announcing “I’m too blessed to be stressed!” when your world’s crashing down.  It’s being the part — doing it together — and sharing when life is just plain hard. 

It’s been said that Joy shared is doubled, and grief shared is halved.  This is why everyone needs community, even the ‘independents’ among us.

So thank you to people who don’t sugar-coat life, who confess their faults and let me know mine :) because how else can we grow if we’re not challenged?  How else can we stand in tough times, like what our country’s facing, than together?  I believe the answer is we can’t. 

We need true church!  So let’s recreate it, starting with us… but if you enjoy a superficial, comfortable world, I wouldn’t apply: http://charismamag.com/index.php/fire-in-my-bones/30788-koinoniaa-missing-ingredient-in-todays-church

P.S. Enjoy these young men’s Focus Institute testimonies.  I, too, shared their sentiment, and 5+ years later some of my great Focus friendships endure!  http://focusyourstory.com/?p=1884, http://dustenharward.com/blog/?p=133, and http://dustenharward.com/blog/?p=97.

Mastering Relationships

Mastering relationships is one of life’s most challenging and rewarding pursuits.

Relationships are so… complex.  Dynamic.  Constantly-moving targets and shifting emotions: the pure JOY of connecting with someone, then pain when they betray us, break promises, stop caring, or just plain forget about us.    

I’m seeking friends who don’t go away.  Friendships that sustain new boyfriends, crazy new jobs and schedules, misunderstandings and weeks of phone tag.  I want true friends.  As I get older and try desperately to stay faithful to Him and who He created me to be, I’m learning such friends are nearly impossible to find. 

But I have this rather annoying quality.  My heart doesn’t give up on finding this love.  It persists in seeking out the best in others and believing God will bless me again with close friends.  It wakes me each day and tries to keep an open heart despite being disrespected, manipulated, envied, underestimated.  It keeps me believing I will find true connection with someone else one day, true friendship.  I refuse to accept that it doesn’t exist.   

Why?  Because I’ve tasted it!  In Colorado Springs.  With my mentor Patti.  In South Africa.  At Bimini Bay Church.  I don’t seek it out with non-believers because I know love can only come from its Author Himself!  He is the only One that helps us overcome ourselves, our bad habits and cycles in order to put someone else first in our lives.  It’s His love that pours out through us.

At my job, I encounter hundreds of people every week.  It’s like a live course in sociology, and it’s taught me much.  One thing I’ve witnessed is how most adults are super fake with each other.  At some point they stopped being real and now revolve their conversations around gossip, shallow discussions about the weather and economies, or competitive contests to see whose kids are smarter, thighs are thinner, or husbands are banking more.  Some days it’s an all-out Fake Fest!    

I’m stunned how much people change from day to day (and how others remain the exact same), how they talk about their in-laws (or their own kids), how their talk doesn’t match their walk.  I see the same people come in like clockwork and watch how they respond to life — to struggles, to pain and surgery, bad weather and bratty kids, and to me the “front desk girl”.  Some don’t give me the time of day, to be expected, while others treat me as one of their own.  I help people who aren’t appreciative or are downright demanding.  I hear boasts of brand-new yachts and business successes.    

Then I see others, the humble few.  The amazingly persistent who face serious trials but ALWAYS come with a bright smile on their faces (incredible to see every day!).  People undaunted by challenges.  Yes, many curse our country and political climate, but these refreshing others find the best in each circumstance.  I see them bite their tongues.  I see them help each other. 

I also notice the hurting ones, the withdrawn ones who don’t reach out or are so entrenched in their pain that they fail to respond when someone reaches out to them.  I hear thin women obsess about their physiques and be threatened by a beautiful woman in their midst.  I witness miscommunications and hurt feelings.  I’ve learned that some people, no matter what I do, may never smile back.   Their bitterness at life, at unmet needs and burst dreams, is etched on their faces.  It’s on the tip of their tongue.  It sours today for them because they’re still heartsick over yesterday and unable to envision happier tomorrows.

But why?

As I’ve adjusted to life away from my family, I’m beginning to experience similar struggles.  In my family’s absence, I’m not opening up to people like I once did.  Part of my heart seems hardened beyond repair, unable to forget the many friends I’ve invested in who turned away or just plain weren’t loyal.  They only wanted a piece of me, not the whole thing — but I’m not a “piece of me” type of girl.  I’m either in or I’m out.  I’ve found so few friends with the same approach to friendship that I’ve about given up. 

And I see that… I see that in them, the members of my country club.  I see some who don’t engage others or make eye contact.  For the first time ever, I’m beginning to understand their distance.  I hear them talk about spouses who don’t treat them well, at all, who tear them down, neglect them,  and demand their own way.  And lately, I’m surprised to find myself empathizing!

On days like today, my mind hops back on the “merry-go-round” wondering when I’ll find that magical, faithful friend.  The Bible says there’s a friend who sticks closer than a brother.  I know that Friend as Jesus, and yes He most certainly does.  He doesn’t go away.  But I’d really love to have such a friend here on earth.  I need a confidante, a best friend, the first one I’ll call when my day goes well – or takes a nosedive off an unforeseen cliff, who’ll laugh with me when my week is a disaster (like last week!).  Someone who won’t judge… or compete… or be threatened… one who won’t walk away when I need them most or when they fall head over heels for another.  Someone who’s down for a night in as much as a big night out.  Numerous people have filled this role in my lifetime, but none have lasted.  So why do I still have this longing – a longing God hasn’t met?  

I wonder if He can fill it, if He’s designed to?  Nothing is impossible for Him, but I wonder if He allows certain voids in our lives to encourage us to pursue earthly relationships.  It’s not just “Me + You vs. the world”.  I believe He’s created room in our hearts for others, otherwise I’d be content in Him alone. 

So where are these friendships, true-blue ones that remain despite circumstances, that don’t fade away?
 

And where, Father, are theirs?