Sunday, February 27, 2011

Relationships

So you remember some of the verse I posted (I think) yesterday?  I just realized that I didn't put a reference down with them.  In case you were wondering, they're from Ecclesiastes 4:12 (and I definitely almost typed Ephesians instead of Ecclesiastes...oy...).  Well guess what the sermon was on today at church.

Yep, it was on that verse and the verses around it and the need for and power of companionship.

You think God's trying to tell me something?

I'm not one of those people who has a million and one close friends.  I have people I consider friends from tours, people I grew up with and family friends, but often I don't consider them to be my closest friends.  That title is reserved for a select few.  All of whom, I realized as I was listening to the sermon, live in Michigan. And I live in Indiana.  Which can make it difficult, because I don't have really any close friends down here.  I love my Michigan friends, but sometimes I need someone down here.

And I've been lax.

I haven't been super good at cultivating friendships down here.  Relationships that I need to survive.

I can make excuses that I'm an introvert and it's difficult for me to make friends.  Which is true, but it's not a good excuse.  It is more difficult for me to make friends than my sister who's an outgoing extrovert.  But it's something I have to do.  I have to step out of my comfort zone.

So, anyone looking for a new friend in Indiana? Because it looks like I need some.

loving this video...

This video is pretty awesome. Just saying.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Road Through Ephesus... Members Ephesians 2:19

We had three school cancellations this last week.  And as much as I like sleeping in, cabin fever hits rather quickly at times.  By day three of no school I was more than ready to go back.  We were out of school more than in last week.  And of course the reason was the weather.  I can't wait for spring!

The funny thing is that even with three days off, I didn't get a ton done.  I got my hair cut and studied a little for the EIPA written test, but other than that I was fairly unproductive.

So in an effort to get back into being slightly productive, I thought we could dive back into Ephesians.

Ephesians 2:19

"So now you Gentiles are no longer foreigners and strangers.  You are citizens along with all God's holy people.  You are members of God's family."

I don't know if you've ever felt like you didn't quite belong.  I know I've been there.  If you can imagine it, I wasn't your "typical" high school student.  I wasn't a risk taker, I hated roller coasters, and I was fairly sheltered growing up.  I cared a lot about academics and got along better with adults than my peers.  All of this made me feel like I didn't necessarily fit the mold of "normal" (not that normal actually exists). I didn't know all the latest music trends (and frankly unless it was in Christian music, I didn't care) and I was pretty picky about the movies I saw.  All of that to say, I never quite felt like I "fit in" with that group.  Sure I had some friends, but there were other places I definitely fit better.

And maybe that's why I connect with this verse so much. I have somewhere that I "fit in".  I belong.  I'm home.  I'm a member.

There's power in having a group of people support you.

"A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken."

We need people in our lives.  Belonging to God's family gives us that opportunity.

This week I want to challenge you (and me) to stop and take a look at the people God has put in your life to show you that you belong.  Take a look at the people that have your back.  Take some time and thank God that you are no longer a stranger, but that there are people who will stand with you to fight your battles.  And be that for someone this week.  Be someone who tells another person that you're there.  That they belong.  And that when they're too weak to fight, you'll fight for them.

Be who God created the church to be.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The Road Through Ephesus... Go to God Ephesians 2:18

We have a snow day today.  And while I relish the chance to sleep in and the time to get stuff done that I didn't think I was going to be able to get done, I'd really like the snow to go away.  Even though it means allergy season (for me) is right around the corner. I'm ready for a change in the weather!

So anyways, the snow day is why I'm posting so much earlier than I normally do.  And I debated for some time about what to post about. I debated if I should deviate from normal and post about hugs and how much I like them just because I'm in a rather random mood, or if I should stick to posting about Ephesians because I'm pretty excited about this next verse.

For the record, I chose Ephesians (though I guess you also now know how I feel about hugs).

Ephesians 2:18

"Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us."

I love this verse.  I love the truth that is in it.  I love the reminder it gives me.  That I can approach God. That I can have a relationship with the creator of the universe. It's beautiful.  We have a confidence in approaching God (1 John 5:14).  We can go to him when we need something, when we are rejoicing, when we just need to talk.  We have nothing to fear in approaching him.

I love that.  I don't know about you, but my dad's pretty great.  I have no fear about approaching him.  Whether it's for a hug, to cuddle, or to talk something out, I know I can go to my dad.

It's the same with God.  Because of what Christ did for us on the cross, we can approach him without reservation.  Sometimes I just want to be near my dad, feel his strength and his love.  Sometimes the same is true with God.  I just want to be near him.  I want to feel his strength and his love and know that everything will be okay.  Because I serve a big God.  And while it may not work out exactly the way I want it to, just being near him is enough to calm my heart.

And I hope this post doesn't seem really random and like I jumped topics a lot, because I don't know about you, but I think I need to spend some more time going to God.

This week will you join me?  Will you spend time going to God, telling him what's on your heart, and just knowing that he is strong and loves you?  Because this is the same God that is with you, who is mighty to save, who sings over you with rejoicing, who's love calms and quiets you, and who is in the midst of everything you are going through (Zephaniah 3:17) .  Go to him.  You won't regret it.

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Road Through Ephesus... Peace and Freedom Ephesians 2:17

There is white stuff falling from the sky again. And have I mentioned how much I hate scraping my car?  However, scraping my car makes me thankful that I have a car to drive, so I guess it's not all bad.  Just not what I want to do every morning/afternoon.

But enough about the dismal weather conditions.  I'm in the mood for some good news instead, so I thought we could jump back into Ephesians.  I hope that's okay with you, and if it's not then you can stop reading here.

So. Here we go.

Ephesians 2:17

"He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near."

I want to focus on a few words here: "Good News of peace".  The Good News.  The Gospel.  Jesus coming to earth, living as a man a perfect life, dieing on the cross, taking our sins upon himself, being buried, and rising again three days later.  But if you look, Paul (the writer of Ephesians) adds a description of "this Good News".  He calls it one of peace.  How often do we really look at God's words as being a source of peace?  I know that too often I forget this and it's not until I'm in way over my head and I turn back to the Good News that I find peace again.

When I was looking up the word peace in the dictionary (because I love words), I noticed that several of the definitions started with the words "freedom from..." And that's what the Gospel is.  It's freedom.  It's freedom in Christ.  It's freedom to not "do what your sinful nature urges you to do." (Romans 8:12)  It's not the fake freedom that the world offers.  It's freedom to follow Christ.

Do we actively pursue that freedom?  Do we live like we're free?  Or do we walk around day in and day out as if we are still in chains?  If we believe in Christ and trust the work he did on the cross for us, then we are free.  It's a truth we need to believe.  Sadly, we often put ourselves back in bondage.  We willing enter that oppression.  Here's the good news: That bondage we put ourselves in is a lie.  We are FREE!

Let's start believing the truth of John 8:36:

"So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free."

Sunday, February 20, 2011

The Road Through Ephesus... Reconciliation Ephesians 2:16

The weather has been fabulous the last few days.  Sadly it seems to be coming to an end. It was a nice break from the frigid temperatures but alas, it's back to winter.  For one of the first times ever, I really can not wait until it's spring!  Other news in my life: I had three high school freshmen boys decide that they wanted to try to set me up with someone.  They didn't have anyone in particular in mind, they just wanted me to be dating someone since I've never had a boyfriend, never dated, and never been asked out.  I was left slightly speechless when this conversation came up. Oy Gevalt!!

Anyways, I thought today might be a good time to jump back into Ephesians.  I know it's been a little while but I want to start doing this a little more regularly again.  So, with that said...

Ephesians 2:16

"Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility towards each other was put to death."

I was looking at this verse and the word reconciled caught my attention.  So with my love of words, I looked it up in the dictionary and the thesaurus.  The word comes from Latin meaning "to come together again". For definitions we had "to restore" or "to settle". And then my favorite, synonyms: to make up, to make peace, to resolve.  I love that through Christ's death on the cross, he brought two totally opposite groups together.  Not only did he bring them together, he restored their relationship, he resolved their differences.  Christ is the ultimate reconciler.

And maybe I love this because I'm such a peace maker. I hate to see people fighting or at odds with each other.  It leaves me feeling uneasy.  Yet, so often in the church, in our daily relationships, we aren't at peace with each other.  So often we allow conflict to drive us apart.  Which is horribly sad.  Maybe it's time to let Christ reconcile us with each other again.  Maybe we should start to take Romans 12:18 to heart:

"Do whatever it takes to live in peace with everyone." 

Are you with me?

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Living like Jesus

1 John 2:6

"Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did."

Wow.  I read that and couldn't stop thinking about it.  If we say we live in God, which when we say we are united with him in Christ that's pretty much the same thing, we are to live like Jesus.

Now, I want to be doing that anyways but to see it spelled out like that in black and white makes it a little more urgent.  A little more like it needs to happen now.  I'll admit, some days are really good.  Some days are really bad.  But to live like Jesus did.  What does that look like?  Here's a few ideas.

1. It means loving without limits, without conditions. It means loving that kid in a couple of my student's classes that just drives me insane.  It means loving the people that have the tendency to make me slightly crazy. Simply because Jesus did.

2. It means serving without reserve.  It means holding a door open. Helping a few kids with their homework. It means washing dishes and wiping down tables.

3. It means praying without ceasing.  Jesus was in direct communication with his father the whole time he was here on earth.  How much more so do I need to be?  For the needs around me.  For the people God has placed in my life.  For my friends, aquaintences, co-workers, family, and people I've never met.  It means praying about the little and the big things.

4. It means obeying without hesitation.  Ouch.  That one hurts. Because I think we all really struggle with this one. Immediate obedience.  Obedience that stems from love, not fear. It means living life not just listening to the words of Jesus, but putting them into practice.

All of these require action.  None require passivity. All of these are areas I need to work on.  What about you?  Will you take these next steps with me and start living like Jesus lived?

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Thankfulness in sickness...

So. I'm sick. Again.  But I'm getting better at it... this time I went 6 weeks without getting sick :-) and then the weather changed (which was good weather wise, bad sickness wise).  But since I've been sick so much lately with colds, I have some things that I have found I am very thankful for.  So here it goes.

1. Cold medicine-- it might not make the cold go away, but it does make it so I can function during the cold.

2. Tissues with lotion

3. Sleep

4. My normally healthy body

5. Chapstick

6. Hot showers

7. Menthol Lyptus Cough Drops

8. Comfy clothes

9. Wearing my glasses instead of my contacts

10. Time to chill with Jesus, because when I'm sick there's not much else I want to do.

11. Breathing through my nose. Something I take for granted all too often.

Monday, February 14, 2011

My weekend in pictures...

 I went home this weekend. And the following pictures tell the story of what happened...

This was the car ride on the way to the birthday parties...what you can't see in the picture is the sound effects she was making.  Which is sad, because it might have been the best part.




 And then the birthday madness ensued...

 The birthday girl and boy








The rest of the craziness...












 The Birthday chaos...







We only had a few cakes to choose from...






Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Road Through Ephesus...Believe Ephesians 2:15

It's cold outside in case you haven't noticed.  Bitterly cold.  Normally I don't mind winter.  It actually used to be one of my favorite seasons.  This year I can't wait for spring. Breezy days in the 70s.  It sounds a little bit like heaven right now as the wind chill is below 0. I'm praying for an early spring, even if it means horrible allergies.

But enough about the weather, it will change soon enough and then I'll probably think it's too hot :-)  Let's talk about something that isn't going to change: God's word.

Yep, you guessed it.  It's time to go back to Ephesians.  I'll be honest. I struggled finding a way to relate to this verse.  I struggled to hear what God was saying to me in this specific verse.  I don't know why.  But I hope that now that I feel like I have something to share with you, that I can find the words to do so.  So, here we go.

Ephesians 2:15

"He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between  Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups."

At first as I looked at this verse, I immediately focused on the second part. I focused again on unity.  But as I thought about it I realized that I had written on unity before.  And while I think it's an important topic and one that we don't actually accomplish much in the way of, I felt like I had spoke my piece on the subject and maybe I was missing something else.  So as often happens, when I started writing this blog post I typed the verse and still had no idea what I was going to write on.  And as I looked at the verse for what must have been the millionth time, I finally saw it.  Apparently I'd missed the first part of the verse this whole time.

Go back.  Read the first sentence.  I'll wait until you see it too.

Did you see it?

"He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations."  With Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, the law, with all of the commandments and regulations, rules and procedures, was finished.  He ended it.  It no longer exists.  Do you understand the freedom that comes from that?  Not freedom to do whatever we choose, but freedom in Christ.  To love him and to obey him out of that love.

It reminds me of Romans 7.

"4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead....6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit."

I love it.  My heart beats a little bit faster when I read this.  Not only because the law no longer has power over us, but because we can serve God in a new way, by living in the Spirit.  It's power cannot hold us captive any longer unless we give it that power.  We now live in the freedom to serve God, to love him through the Spirit's power.

And yet, my heart also becomes a little sad when I read this.  Because I know that all too often I choose to live as if I'm still under the law.  As if I don't have the freedom that Christ has given.  I choose to live with guilt and shame, even after I've been forgiven.  But here's the good news.  Just as I choose to live this way, I can also choose to live God's truth.  That I am forgiven.  That I am free.  That I am loved.  That "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ" (Romans 8:1).

I heard it said the other day that if you see a promise in God's word, you claim it.  A commandment, you obey it.  And if you see a truth, you have to believe it.  There is no other way.

So this week, will you join me in choosing to believe the truth?  In choosing to believe God? I hope so.  And I'll be praying for you. Please be praying for me.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Mundane Everyday Life

I've been contemplating something recently.  I don't know that I've ever really thought about it before, at least in the scope of how I'm considering it now.  And this is what I've been thinking: God uses every moment, every experience. None are wasted. And while that may not seem like a big deal to you, just think about it. Every experience.  Not just the good, the bad, and the ugly, but the mundane, everyday, ordinary things we experience.  God uses them.  And it's amazing.

So as I'm working on learning Arabic with a friend, God will use that.  I don't know how.  Maybe he just wants me to learn perseverance or compassion for people learning another language. Maybe in the future I'll have a neighbor that speaks Arabic and I'll have a connection point for sharing Jesus.  I don't know how he will use it, I just know he will.

Every encounter I have with a student, every dinner I cook, every shopping trip I take, every conversation I have, every text message I send, God will use.

I love that he chooses to use the mundane as much as the outrageous.  I think it's incredible that the things I hate to do he'll use.  Scraping the frost/ice/snow off of my car in the morning, I don't know how he'll use that one.  Maybe to teach me to appreciate the warmer months, maybe to appreciate the fact that I have a car to transport me places.  I just know he'll use it.

As I look back on the short life that I have led up to this point, there are mundane everyday things that God has used already.  The decision to sign one song in a talent show before my senior year of high school.  The jobs I've had and the people I worked with and for.  I can't even explain all that God has done.  I just know he has and will continue to work.

So. When I become frustrated this week at the seemingly endless, mundane everyday life things, I will choose to remember that God doesn't waste an experience.  Through what I may think of as mundane, God will shape me and the people around me. And that makes those mundane things not so mundane doesn't it?