I've been doing a lot of thinking lately on where to start to get to a true relationship, and I've decided to analyze a relationship first. When I look at all the couples around me, whether they've been dating 3 weeks or married 20 years there's one key quality that sticks out. That quality is trust!
Without trust there is no relationship. It's the most important building block, and with God it's no different. I'm to put everything into His hands!!! One verse in particular comes to mind when I think of this and its Proverbs 3:5. God wants us to trust him with our whole heart. That's what I would do with a boyfriend right? If I "love" him then I trust Him with everything I have. Why should Christ be different? He died for us! What more could someone do to show their love and devotion? The Bible says there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for another!! I mean that's Shakespeare worthy right there!!
What really got me today as I sat during my quiet time was that I have a hard time trusting Him for petty reasons like that I can't see him, but God sees me even when I wish He couldn't yet He trusts me to tell others about Him! He trusts a sinner, a really nasty filthy sinner, to help others make the most important decisions in their entire lives!! Who am I to even be given the chance to trust Him?
That's the crazy thing about Christ is He loves us so much He gave us options!! We can believe Him or reject Him, yet He will always be there waiting for us to come back. Always trusting and hoping we'll love Him as he loves us. Now I realize I don't know everything, but that seems like a pretty trustworthy guy. Any guy or girl who gets beaten up, mistreated, and misused but still comes back hoping you'll change your mind and love him or her as much as they love you....is worth keeping! Now I am NOT saying you should beat them up, mistreat them, and misuse them then if they comes back decide you'll keep 'em....that's stupid and ridiculous although for what its worth it would make a funny cartoon.
That's the kicker though....in our earthly relationships we don't want to hurt them or break their trust because we don't want to see them broken, but at least with me I'm not always that way with Christ. Instead of doing my best to please Him and love Him, I sometimes take advantage of the idea that He will always come back. How terrible is that? I can trust a guy on this earth that even with the greatest of intentions will at one time or another probably do something wrong, yet I can't put everything in the hands of an Almighty God who has told me that He will never leave nor forsake me? I don't know everything, but I know that that's messed up.
Now, I've realized that I'm a screw up, but that doesn't do much in the way of fixing it. This leads me to the next part.....how to fix it. I can honestly say I don't have this completely figured out because it doesn't make sense and I'm not sure it ever will, but God says if we go to Him tell Him we've messed up and then put our lives in His hands...He will not only forgive us but use us to do amazing things for Him!!! Now you do the math or the science or whatever kind of logic you would like and explain to me how that ever makes sense? My sin puts Him on that cross, my sin pushes Him away, and my sin keeps Him away, but if I confess my sin to Him, He gives my life a purpose....AMAZING.
I could keep going on this for days, but I think trust is an element we have to research and think on by ourselves. Finding that trust in Christ won't be a simple 3 step program for each of us. Sometimes there's a lot of work to get to a point where we can trust people because of the things we've been through. It won't be easy, but I promise it will be worth it. If we give Him our everything, then we are one step closer to an amazing relationship we never knew we could have.
Now put that in your mind and think on it!!
Until next time,
Lex
Monday, August 22, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
The Checklist
Maybe I'm the only one, but in life I catch myself creating a checklist type faith. Instead of being relational with Christ I do the the devotions and prayers more out of ritual than desire to know more about my Lord and Savior. Sometimes I'll be so excited about getting up for worship or quiet time, but once I'm there I get caught up in making sure every detail is correct, and am relieved when I finish knowing I can go on with my day.
I wrote this paragraph probably about a month ago, and looking back this is still so true of me and my faith. Today when I reread it I tried to figure out what my problem was, and this is the resolution I came to. All of my life I've been very concerned with how Christ is the true and righteous judge, and how I have to have every single one of my ducks in a row. I've always focused on praying enough, making it to church every chance I get, being kind to others around me, and sinning as little as possible. When you stop and think you can't help but ask yourself, is this what God wants from me? To get all the small details perfect? To be on edge and worried every time I do something wrong? Of course not! But then you ask, well if that's not it...then what is it God? What is it that you want?!
As I began to seek out His answer, the obvious became clearer and clearer....He didn't intend the Christian life to be a checklist or a rule book....He wanted it to be a love story, and not just any love story but the greatest one ever written!
Now if you analyze a love story, which probably isn't something you do often but work with me here, you notice a few key things. Obviously there are two people who fall in love, but in most cases there are obstacles that stand in the way of that love. In my life...well all of our lives actually, that obstacle is sin. In a love story there is always some way to overcome that obstacle...in our case that's Christ giving his life on the cross....oh yea that's also the really sad part in the story when you think all hope is lost. Good news is just like in a love story it doesn't end there...I mean besides Shakespeare very few writer's make it big with tragedy, thankfully God is not Shakespeare. In our love story, Christ overcomes death which means we have the chance to be together! Problem is...He's gone away so that He can build the mansion He promises we will have once we accept his engagement, or when we accept Christ into our hearts.
Now here's the good and bad....the good is He's going to come back and take us to that mansion, bad is He's not back yet which leaves a hole in the story. What do we do while we wait? Well in the olden days (lol) when couples were apart from one another they wrote letters....luckily God is in the modern era and we don't have to do that. Instead we have our own direct (phone) line, a way to talk to God without waiting days for Him to get the message. Our direct line is how we keep love alive while He's gone. We send our prayers up, and he sends his answers done usually through the Bible...so I guess technically He's only half modern because He writes us, but we phone Him. Alright so now I know I'm in the writing letters and calling part of the loves story, but it's going to take a lot of work to keep this love alive right? Not really....communication is key...if we keep in touch most of the relationship we've found will stay in tact. At least for me though good enough isn't good enough. I've have the greatest of loves, and I'm not going to lose an ounce of what I've gained through Him if I can help it.
This brings me back to why I wrote that beginning paragraph....I need to use this time apart from one another to strengthen our relationship, and make His return that much sweeter. How am I going to do that? Well that's exactly what I'm going to search out over the next few weeks. I realize I won't find all of the answers in two or three weeks, but my goal is to lay the ground work for a strong and lasting relationship with Christ in my own life and maybe even in yours.
Until Next Time,
Lex
I wrote this paragraph probably about a month ago, and looking back this is still so true of me and my faith. Today when I reread it I tried to figure out what my problem was, and this is the resolution I came to. All of my life I've been very concerned with how Christ is the true and righteous judge, and how I have to have every single one of my ducks in a row. I've always focused on praying enough, making it to church every chance I get, being kind to others around me, and sinning as little as possible. When you stop and think you can't help but ask yourself, is this what God wants from me? To get all the small details perfect? To be on edge and worried every time I do something wrong? Of course not! But then you ask, well if that's not it...then what is it God? What is it that you want?!
As I began to seek out His answer, the obvious became clearer and clearer....He didn't intend the Christian life to be a checklist or a rule book....He wanted it to be a love story, and not just any love story but the greatest one ever written!
Now if you analyze a love story, which probably isn't something you do often but work with me here, you notice a few key things. Obviously there are two people who fall in love, but in most cases there are obstacles that stand in the way of that love. In my life...well all of our lives actually, that obstacle is sin. In a love story there is always some way to overcome that obstacle...in our case that's Christ giving his life on the cross....oh yea that's also the really sad part in the story when you think all hope is lost. Good news is just like in a love story it doesn't end there...I mean besides Shakespeare very few writer's make it big with tragedy, thankfully God is not Shakespeare. In our love story, Christ overcomes death which means we have the chance to be together! Problem is...He's gone away so that He can build the mansion He promises we will have once we accept his engagement, or when we accept Christ into our hearts.
Now here's the good and bad....the good is He's going to come back and take us to that mansion, bad is He's not back yet which leaves a hole in the story. What do we do while we wait? Well in the olden days (lol) when couples were apart from one another they wrote letters....luckily God is in the modern era and we don't have to do that. Instead we have our own direct (phone) line, a way to talk to God without waiting days for Him to get the message. Our direct line is how we keep love alive while He's gone. We send our prayers up, and he sends his answers done usually through the Bible...so I guess technically He's only half modern because He writes us, but we phone Him. Alright so now I know I'm in the writing letters and calling part of the loves story, but it's going to take a lot of work to keep this love alive right? Not really....communication is key...if we keep in touch most of the relationship we've found will stay in tact. At least for me though good enough isn't good enough. I've have the greatest of loves, and I'm not going to lose an ounce of what I've gained through Him if I can help it.
This brings me back to why I wrote that beginning paragraph....I need to use this time apart from one another to strengthen our relationship, and make His return that much sweeter. How am I going to do that? Well that's exactly what I'm going to search out over the next few weeks. I realize I won't find all of the answers in two or three weeks, but my goal is to lay the ground work for a strong and lasting relationship with Christ in my own life and maybe even in yours.
Until Next Time,
Lex
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
If We Are The Body
Hello my friends! I realize I haven't posted in a while, but with everything that going on lately its hard to find time to breath let alone blog about it! Today after my quiet time I was listening to Casting Crowns and playing games on facebook (shh its my secret obsession), and the song If We Are The Body came on. As I started listening to the lyrics it really struck a chord that went along with what God showed me during my quiet time.
Here lately I've noticed that its very easy to get wrapped up in activites and in my own walk with Christ that I forget what I'm called to do. Yes I'm called to better know Christ in my own life and to follow him as closely as possible, but along with that I'm supposed to reach out and be a light for others around me. I can't even count how many times there's been new people at church or in class that I've noticed needed just someone to talk to, but decided I wasn't that person. I tell myself that that's someone else's job, but the fact is, if everyone thought that then that person would never meet anyone! We'd all be what on Mr./Ms. Someone Else to show up and do it for us.
In reality, that someone else is you and me. We need to be that light, that friend when they're struggling, the person who goes out of our way to help people not for the recognition, but because WE ARE THE BODY! If we're going to live for Christ it can't be done halfway. Christ says in his eyes it's better to be completly cold or hot than just mediocre. He wants us to be sold out for him, and yes there's great reward for those that are, but what if we did it just because Christ told us to? What if we had nothing to gain, but a friend? Shouldn't that be enough to make us reach out to other people? The sad thing is, for most of us, including myself 95% of the time, it isn't. For some reason in my mind its easier just not to bother with it. I convince myself I'm not the friend they need, that I don't have the answers, or that they have enough friends. Today God showed me today that I was right, but not quite how I thought.
No, I am not the friend they need, I don't have the answers, and yea maybe they do have enough friends. It doesn't matter thought, what they need is Christ, not me or anything I can say. They just need me to show them Christ, which I can do as long as I'm sold out for him.
I know that this blog was probably all over the place today, but I hope that at least one of you can get something out of it. I guess it all boils down to what the song says, Jesus paid much to high a price for us to pick and choose who should come, we are the body of Christ. That sums it all up right there. He died for us, the least we can do is tell others about it!
Here lately I've noticed that its very easy to get wrapped up in activites and in my own walk with Christ that I forget what I'm called to do. Yes I'm called to better know Christ in my own life and to follow him as closely as possible, but along with that I'm supposed to reach out and be a light for others around me. I can't even count how many times there's been new people at church or in class that I've noticed needed just someone to talk to, but decided I wasn't that person. I tell myself that that's someone else's job, but the fact is, if everyone thought that then that person would never meet anyone! We'd all be what on Mr./Ms. Someone Else to show up and do it for us.
In reality, that someone else is you and me. We need to be that light, that friend when they're struggling, the person who goes out of our way to help people not for the recognition, but because WE ARE THE BODY! If we're going to live for Christ it can't be done halfway. Christ says in his eyes it's better to be completly cold or hot than just mediocre. He wants us to be sold out for him, and yes there's great reward for those that are, but what if we did it just because Christ told us to? What if we had nothing to gain, but a friend? Shouldn't that be enough to make us reach out to other people? The sad thing is, for most of us, including myself 95% of the time, it isn't. For some reason in my mind its easier just not to bother with it. I convince myself I'm not the friend they need, that I don't have the answers, or that they have enough friends. Today God showed me today that I was right, but not quite how I thought.
No, I am not the friend they need, I don't have the answers, and yea maybe they do have enough friends. It doesn't matter thought, what they need is Christ, not me or anything I can say. They just need me to show them Christ, which I can do as long as I'm sold out for him.
I know that this blog was probably all over the place today, but I hope that at least one of you can get something out of it. I guess it all boils down to what the song says, Jesus paid much to high a price for us to pick and choose who should come, we are the body of Christ. That sums it all up right there. He died for us, the least we can do is tell others about it!
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