Dehydrated

Have you ever been so thirsty, so dehydrated that you crave anything but that thing which your body needs most? Or the when you think you're hungry, but there's only one thing to satisfy that hunger...or is it thirst? You drink a soda, tea, milk, try some chocolate, crackers, cheese, and still there's no satisfaction. You need more. Something else. Water. 

Pour a glass, drink and drink until you think you're going to pop. 

Sometimes we can be in that same position spiritually. To be so hungry, so thirsty for God we don't recognize it for what it is. Perhaps you're not has happy as you used to be, and you need something to fill the gap. Maybe fellowship with women in the Church? More time with the spouse or kids? Join an outreach? A book by a Christian author should do the trick....but it doesn't, not quite. We know we need something, but in all our searching we bypass the very thing that will satisfy. Prayer and the Word of God. 

The leather bound book sits by your bed, untouched, collecting dust as the weeks pass. All the while God is waiting for you to pick it up, to call out to Him and He will fill your soul, quench your thirst. 

When did you stop reading? When did you think you had it all together and didn't need God every minute of every day? Or when were the rough times too hard for God to overcome if you would just ask? 

As thirsty as you are sometimes, it can be hard to pour that cup of water and drink. As burdened as your heart may be, it can be difficult to pick up the Bible, sit down and drink. 

Is it because of fear? Fear that the sins you know are present and have been trying to ignore, are going to be revealed and challenged? Fear that you cannot comfortably live with sin, even the tiniest one, when being fed by the Word? It will call you out. It will bring you to account for your sin, your actions, even if it's heart sin not and not outward. But that is as it should be. If we read the Bible and are not challenged and called to repentance by it, we are reading with callous hearts and deaf ears. The beauty of Christianity is repentance and forgiveness. We all stumble and fall. We all walk through the desert, the valley of darkness. When we repent and ask, God forgives and we become pure in His sight.

"You are all together beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you." Song of Solemn 4:7

Jesus even compares Himself to water--living water. If we drink the life giving water we will never thirst again, He will satisfy. Come back to the well, drink, be filled, and live. 

Act As Though You Love and You Will

As I've been reading books are marriage this summer I've been thinking a lot about what it means to love people, not just your fiancé/spouse, but anyone that God places in our lives. Specifically I've been thinking about it in regards to siblings and close family members. What does it mean to love? How do we force ourselves to love people we are not naturally inclined to love. Perhaps we have been hurt by people close to us, people who we want to have a relationship with, people we want to trust, or people who are daily involved in our lives––yet there is a barrier between you and them. I've been, and sometimes still am, in that position with my family. I am sure that there will be times that I find it difficult to love my husband, though right now that seems nearly impossible. =) What I've been reminded of is that love is not all about an emotion. It is not just a feeling––it is a commandment. We are commanded to love others as Christ loves us. Emotions cannot be commanded, but they can be taught. When we struggle to love someone, we have to ask God to love them through us and to teach us how to love with action and not just emotion. There are a few quotes from Tim Keller's book The Meaning of Marriage that have really stood out to me.

"It is a mistake to think that you must feel love in order to give it."
"Do not waste time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the greatest secrets. WHen you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him."

We have to act as though we love someone even when we don't feel like it. As we do so, we should pray for two things, that God would give us the grace to love them, and secondly pray for that person. When you pray for someone else you will come to care about them more, you will look for the good, you will rejoice in the little triumphs, you will see more of their strengths and less of their weaknesses. It is so important that we be in prayer for our siblings, our spouses, and our children. How much greater could our love for them be if we forget about satisfying ourselves, forget about feeling love, and focus on the act of loving as Christ did? However we can not love with Christ's love if we do not have a proper relationship with God ourselves. We have know His love for us and understand the sacrifices He made for us out of love.
We are to "bare the cross of Christ," the trials of everyday life, but we should not see them as burdens, but as a way to lose our own life for the sake of someone else. To serve, to put the needs of others above our own, and to love with Christ's love. We are told that we if try to save our lives and live for our own pleasure and happiness, we will lose our lives, but if we live a life of service and humility as Christ did, we will find true life and true joy.

"Seek to serve one another rather than to be happy, and you will find new and greater happiness"


*All Quotes from Tim Keller's book The Meaning of Marriage.

Of This, That, and the Other

This is truly going to be a hodgepodge post because life is so full and everything happens all at the same time, or so it feels. The last time I updated was almost three weeks ago and I hadn't even officially started school. Well, a lot can and does happen in three weeks especially in college. Things officially began on August 10th at the NSA 2012 Convocation Ceremony where all the Freshmen signed "the book" for the first time and were welcomed to the school by all the faculty. It was a very exciting and momentous time -- the beginning of any life changing adventure usually is. =)

We got our first assignments at Convocation as well and so the weekend (except for Sunday) consisted of some scrambling to get some reading done before classes began on Monday the 13th. Weeks one and two are behind me and in those two weeks I've met tons of people, had several lectures, taken weekly quizzes, finished two books, started 4 other books, attended Christ Church, played volleyball and frisbee, studied at Bucers, walked through the Farmers' Market on Saturday mornings, spent time with my dear siblings, played games, cooked, and attended CRF. In all that I've managed to find time to run and bike and get a good amount of sleep each night. No, really. I have been. Don't look at the time I posted this. That doesn't matter. ;-)
It's been an amazing experience so far and already stretched and pushed me. I think Latin may be my favorite class so far, but it's hard to have a favorite here. This week we have two paper abstracts due and we write our first declamations. A paper abstract is like condensed form of what your paper is going to be -- the ground work from which you launch into your paper. And declamations are roughly 200 words that we write on any given topic or with some specific guidelines that we then present to our class and teachers. I think that's going to be really fun. We'll see how it goes. Sometimes writing 200 words is harder than a 4 page paper.

So that was the "This" part of the post and now on to the "that" part and later I'll get to the "other" part. Just hang on. =)

At the end of week 1 Mr. N. D. Wilson gave a talk to the whole student body that I found particularly thought provoking. It wasn't something new, but rather something that I've been thinking and talking about with family and friends a lot recently. As college students, whether already in the middle of their college experience or beginning of freshman year, we should all stop to think about why we are here and what we are going to do with our time at college. What is our purpose/calling in being here? It's going to be different for each student, but one thing that doesn't change is that we are all making a choice ever day. Every day is an opportunity for one of two things -- we can either slide away from godliness or we can walk on the path of righteousness. We cannot simply coast along in the middle of the two for four years, or even one year, and get to the end and all of a sudden be firmly planted in the path of righteousness. Each day we are practicing who we are going to become. The little decisions we make today are a part of shaping who we will be down the road. It's no small matter. There is no decision that is of no consequence. Every action has a repercussion. It can either be a blessing or a curse, but there will be an outcome from your actions today.
This is something I've thought about a lot over the last two weeks have I've been faced with tons of choices -- when, where, and what do study, who to spend time with, when and where to hang out with people, what parties and activities to go to and what to say no to. Choices of honesty, friendships, time management, forming good study habits, etc. They are all things that taken one at a time in little doses can seem like a small matter and insignificant, but it is in the making of those little choices that my character will be shaped in one direction or another. You will reap what you sew.

The "other" part of my post is actually going to wait.... one because it's late and I have to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for class at 8, and secondly because it's about a talk that I heard tonight at the CRF meeting that I thought was really good, but I want more time to think about it before I put my thoughts out for all the world to read. So that's it for now, but hopefully I'll have time to update again soon.

P.S. Highlight of the day - a roommate bringing home a box of doughnuts after work and four girls harmonizing and praising God together before returning to homework. Life in and of itself is such a gift, but to add additional joys on top of it all is almost too much. God is so good! =)

Wait

In reply to yesterday's blog post, a friend of mine sent me part of this poem. It is a beautiful poem about trusting God and learning to wait on His perfect timing. It fits perfectly. I love how God uses friends to encourage us at just the right time and in just the right way. What a blessing.

Wait

by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait." 

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign. 

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply." 

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."

What's Your Soundtrack?

On Sunday our pastor asked a question that got me thinking.

What is the soundtrack of your life?

What do you wash yourself with throughout the day? What are the things that take up the majority of your time and thoughts? What are some of the biggest influences in your life, good or bad? Are we continually growing closer to our Heavenly Father or are we being drawn down the slow and gradual path of unrighteousness by the things that fill our life?

"The safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." - C.S. Lewis

The "soundtrack" of your life is not merely what you listen to, but that definitely is a good place to start because our ears are always open and generally people listen to a lot of music while they study, work, drive, and go about every day life. I know I do. I have wondered and questioned standards of media, for christians in general and myself in particular, for quite a while now. How do we determine what we should or shouldn't listen to? 

Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things."

Does that limit us only to things that are strictly labeled "christian" and talk only about Jesus? I don't think so, but neither do I want to be so blinded by the idea of "Christian liberty" that I allow myself to read, listen to, watch, and be influenced by anything or everything. I don't have the answers and there's not a list of "ok" songs and movies behind the concordance in your Bible. It is not so cut and dry. Nothing in life really is. There is always room for grace. And aren't we glad?!

As I've thought about this issue, specifically in regards to music, I have thought of a couple songs in my iTunes that should probably go. But then in the back of my mind I hear a little voice saying things like:

"but it's a really fun song,"

"but I like it,"

"it's got a good beat,"

"I don't listen to it that much." 

"is it really BAD?"

I know in my own life I am sometimes tempted to hold on to things that I know don't glorify God because I enjoy them. Because it pleases my flesh. It feels good. It makes me happy for the moment. If we truly loved and feared God it would be easy to give up fleshly things so that we would be honoring Him, but we don't. We are fallen, sinful creatures. We love the things that please us. However, we do not have to stay in that rut. God has given us weapons to fight temptation; the Word of God and prayer. Spend time in God's word and seek wisdom from Him. 

So. What is the soundtrack of your life?

Time That's Never Waisted

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I just got back from an extremely busy couple weeks preparing for a wedding. In the craziness of busy schedules - running here and there, working on projects, and pulling together the small details, it was easy to let one of the most significant and most important things slip away un-noticed. It dawned on me one of the last days that I had not been spending time in God's word. I was letting myself sleep in, getting up, and then jumping into the day without first spending time with the Lord.

I woke up early the next morning, grabbed my sweatshirt and my Bible and sat out on the front porch steps, the sun low in the sky and the world a quiet and peaceful place. I sat out there, un-interupted for almost an hour! That hour was so precious and I wondered how I could ever be 'satisfied' without that time with my Father. Some times when life is busy and time is in a crunch, I am so quick to let my quiet time be the first to go. I almost feel guilty sitting down to enjoy some peace and quiet when there's work to be done. I've realized though that no matter what, spending time in God's word and talking to your heavenly Father is never waisted time. Sure, you don't always have time to read your Bible for two hours, but whatever time you do have is never waisted. 

"The person who truly knows the Lord develops a love for Him and a closeness to Him, so that He begins to shape one's character and values." 

"One does not divine God's will. One lives God's will as one comes to know Him through His will." 

(Both quotes by Bruce K. Waltke)

Have you ever stopped to consider how awesome it is that God hears our prayers when ever and where ever we are? How cool is that. We don't have to sit down and say "ok, I'm going to pray now." We can be going about our daily lives talking to Him - asking for wisdom, praying for friends, seeking His guidance, lifting up needs and concerns. He truly is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother. He is ALWAYS there. Even when we forget, He is faithful. I've had lots to think about the last few days and I've discovered that picking cherries is a wonderful opportunity to think and pray. =) 

If God is not the focus of our lives we lose the proper perspective on everything else.

Add to Your Faith

"But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

[Quote]

"Look after the purity of your heart and the purity of your life will follow." - Pastor Brainerd

For a good man out of the treasures of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45