Joy in Suffering

I have a theory:

Most of us miss out on the LIFE we could have in Christ because we are afraid to obey Him. We obey him in the obvious things; don't cheat on your spouse or taxes, go to church, don't beat kids behind closed doors. But we are afraid to obey Him in the LOVE things; have that conversation, be vunerable, tell that person what you really believe, how you really feel, call that lady and tell her you care about her.

And with the people who have loved us but hurt us sometimes, we harden our hearts and let them grow cold when He wants us to keep our hearts open and soft and vunerable.

We are afraid of taking the risk of rejection. Rejection causes suffering. Is there a worse kind?

But if we are willing, God works. He changes us. He changes others through us. We get to worship Him with our lives not just our mouths.

But the sweetest part, the most beautiful part; we get to share in His suffering that way. Who can offer themselves in love more than He did? Who can be more rejected than He was? He understands our feelings and He blesses us with His pleasure when we get to share in the tiniest glimpse of that suffering. When we are willing to pour our lives out for others, even when they have no idea what we are going through for them, He blesses us with Himself. There is NOTHING I love better than hearing Him saying, "I am pleased with you, Child" in my heart. I don't want to miss one bit of His will for my life. Not one thought, not one word, not one breath. I want to live out every single bit of His plan for my life. I don't want to be afraid to suffer. He calls me to suffer. And to rejoice in that suffering!

I praise you Lord and ask that I would truly be willing to do ANYTHING you ask me to do. Make me who You want me to be, that is all I want...

Gal 5:6b The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

1Pet 4:12-13Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

Question of the Day

What is gentleness?

Phil 4:4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I picked up "The Mind of Christ" by TW Hunt. He said the oposite of gentleness is hardness and the perversion of gentleness is being too soft.

Jesus was gentle. Always. But the whips in the temple and the "Get behind me, Satan" do not seem gentle. So it must be a state of heart. I need it. I also need the peace which transcends all understanding. I am so thankful that all we need comes directly through Him. If all we have is Jesus, we can be complete.

I love His people though, I don't want to ever be without them. Thankfully, He feels the same way. :)

Devin 7th Grade

Availability

You know one of the things I love about Jesus?

He makes Himself available to us all the time. It may not always feel that way, but if we seek Him, we will find Him. He wants to be with us even more than we want to be with Him. Sometimes A LOT more.

I love that I don't have to make an appointment to be with Him. I can just say His name, and He listens.

Amazing, the most important Being in the universe wants to be at my side. All the time.

Ok, that just makes me cry.

Micah 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Secrets and Mysteries

I think it is so exciting that Jesus said this to His disciples. Which means it could apply to you and I:

Matthew 13:11-12 (Amplified Bible)
11And He replied to them, To you it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

12For whoever has [spiritual knowledge], to him will more be given and he will be furnished richly so that he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

If we know Him, we have access to all the secrets of the universe. The important ones, anyway!

The True Family of Jesus

Matthew 12:46-50 (New Living Translation)

46 As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 47 Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to you.”
48 Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49 Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. 50 Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

I am reading through the Gospels in the mornings. I already read Mark.

I have the strangest feeling when I read the Gospels. I read them over and over when I was little and liked Jesus less and less. Of course, I didn't have His Spirit inside of me to open up my understanding. I did not see His humility. I thought He expected WAY too much of us. This was one of the passages I thought were mean. Why would He treat His mother like that?

Now I love it.

He does not love His mother or brother or sister less, just because He includes me in His natural born family, since I obey His Heavenly Father as much as He makes me able.

Yay, He calls me His sister. What a wonderful thing to think about as I go attempt to do something with my hair.

Circling the Mountain

Wow, what a roller-coaster ride the last couple of weeks has been! The first week, I was on such a high, it was almost ridiculous. :) Then I sorta crashed. I say sorta, because it could have been a lot worse! I realized my old high is now my low, so life is definitely getting better. The more my perspective changes the better things get. It is amazing how much of our lives are in our minds! I was thinking about that analogy of circling a mountain. Dealing with the same things, but less intensely and more quickly as we grow. It seems very true for me at the moment.

The Adventure Has Begun!

I read in a book recently that every day should be an adventure. I thought, "Really? Every day? Is that possible? That would be so cool! I am happy if one day a week is an adventure! If everyday adventure is possible, I WANT it!"

Lately, everyday has been an adventure. I am loving it. This feels like LIFE to me!

I am even forgetting to eat! That usually only happens at the Retreat once a year. :)

I know the REAL adventure began the day I gave my life to Jesus, but I still believed so many lies and my heart was still such a mess.

I am still a mess, but I KNOW God is Good. I have HOPE and JOY in Him and I know He is making me good and righteous and complete for His pleasure, through His strength, since you know, I don't have any.

Bring it on, My Lord!