Risky Business

Maybe I should start an exclusive John Eldredge blog. Well, here's another one from his book Wild at Heart (which I believe was written for guys, but girls can like it too).

God's love for us was a risk, one with life or death stakes. He asks us to take that same risk when he invites us to love him, and commands us to love others. I think God might be a bit of thrill-seeker, but also, I think he knows love is a risk worth taking. Read on....

God’s relationship with us and with our world is just that: a relationship. As with every relationship, there’s a certain amount of unpredictability, and the ever-present likelihood that you’ll get hurt. The ultimate risk anyone ever takes is to love, for as C. S. Lewis says, “Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal.” But God does give it, again and again and again, until he is literally bleeding from it all. God’s willingness to risk is just astounding—far beyond what any of us would do were we in his position. Trying to reconcile God’s sovereignty and man’s free will has stumped the church for ages. We must humbly acknowledge that there’s a great deal of mystery involved, but for those aware of the discussion, I am not advocating open theism. Nevertheless, there is definitely something wild in the heart of God.

just say it!

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

-Ephesians 4:29

With approximately 6.1 billion people inhabiting the earth, how is it possible that so many people feel lonely? Why is it that a large number of people, of all ages and types, report feeling unloved?

The reason I'm writing this is because it's Valentine's Day. A day that seems to celebrate romance and magnify the lonely and unloved feelings of those lacking romance. I feel it is only appropriate to address this issue today.

My uneducated theory, (that has been tested in my brain alone) is that the reason members of our 6.1 billion population feel isolated, unlovable, unwanted, and a multitude of other negative emotions, is not because they are any of those things, its just that they don't know the truth.

Tell me, when was the last time an onslaught of compliments hurt anyone? Why is it that we hold back the things we want to tell people, the things we should tell them? I have no clue as to why, but I feel like we may be embarrassed or prideful, or feel silly about telling someone what we like about them. However, I feel like sacrificing the tiny bit of awkwardness to brighten someone's day may have a powerful effect. To say, "I love your shoes" "You have a beautiful smile" "I really appreciate you".....and on, and on, and on. You know you've thought those things, so here's your homework: just say it!

A kind word may erase feelings of being unloved. An invitation for coffee may thwart the beliefs that one is alone. The taking of someone's hand in comfort, may help them make it to the next day.

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. -1 Thess. 5:11

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. -Prov. 18:21

To those Valentine's haters: Believe me, YOU ARE LOVED! By our heavenly Father, who watched his son be tortured and die so that you can live in Heaven forever, by Jesus who sweat blood but carried his own cross for you, by the Holy Spirit that soothes yours soul in times of greif, that lifts your heart when its too heavy to carry. To add to this list: Those who love God are called to love others, seek them out! God will bring friends, co-workers, bosses, teachers, waitresses, children, people into your life to show you how much you are cherished.

To all others: Please don't hold back one more minute. Tell your best friend you love them, and at the very least, smile at a lonely stranger. There is power in the good you do for someone else.

Happy Valentine's Day!

winter.

Look at the life of Jesus. Notice what he did. When Jesus touched the blind, they could see; all the beauty of the world opened before them. When he touched the deaf, they were able to hear; for the first time in their lives they heard laughter and music and their children’s voices. He touched the lame, and they jumped to their feet and began to dance. And he called the dead back to life and gave them to their families. Do you see? Wherever humanity was broken, Jesus restored it. He is giving us an illustration here, and there, and there again.

The coming of the kingdom of God restores the world he made. God has been whispering this secret to us through creation itself, every year, at springtime, ever since we left the Garden. Sure, winter has its certain set of joys. The wonder of snowfall at midnight, the rush of a sled down a hill, the magic of the holidays. But if winter ever came for good and never left, we would be desolate. Every tree leafless, every flower gone, the grasses on the hillsides dry and brittle. The world forever cold, silent, bleak. After months and months of winter, I long for the return of summer. Sunshine, warmth, color, and the long days of adventure together. The garden blossoms in all its beauty. The meadows soft and green. Vacation. Holiday. Isn’t this what we most deeply long for? To leave the winter of the world behind, what Shakespeare called “the winter of our discontent,” and find ourselves suddenly in the open meadows of summer? If we listen, we will discover something of tremendous joy and wonder.

The restoration of the world played out before us each spring and summer is precisely what God is promising us about our lives. Every miracle Jesus ever did was pointing to this Restoration, the day he makes all things new.

From Epic, by John Eldredge

Have you ever been through a storm in life and woke up one day realizing you've survived? After months and months of pain and turmoil, you can finally look back with a sigh of relief. Healing is a gradual process, it takes a long time and there's no quick fix. However, God seems to have a way of gently restoring us, in a way that once we do heal, we are able to look back at our battle, assess our wounds, and thank God that he was there to fight for us, and to carry us away from the battlefield for healing.

One of my current addictions is Grey's Anatomy. Last night I was watching an episode from Season 4 and I was struck but why Meredith (the main character) says in her narrative:

"Don't wonder why people go crazy. Wonder why they don't. In face of what we can lose in a day, in an instant, wonder what the hell it is that make us hold it together." -Meredith Grey

(Do you ever wonder why you haven't gone crazy in your life?)

Left to our own resources, we would not be able to hold it all together. We are human. From the time we are small children, we cry, we scream, we throw fits, we get scared, we fall apart, and we reach for someone who can keep us together. Someone who can make our world okay again.

If you are entering a "springtime" in your life, embrace it. Learn from the Winter. If you are in the middle of the blizzard, hold on, God will make sure you make it to see the snow melt.

the est.

"Somewhere in you is the you whom you were made to be. We need you to be you. We don't need the second anybody. We need the first you." -Rob Bell, "Velvet Elvis"

My niece and her best friend are in constant competition. They fight like cats. Oh no, you read it right, I did say her best friend. The one she loves and plays with, and misses when they're not together.

You know in high school, when a new girl moves in to town--whats the first thing you want to know about her? Is she pretty? Am I right?

Why is there tension when someone is wearing the same dress at the party? When a strange girl looks like she could be your sister? When she even shares your name? Its weird right?

Whats the deal?

The deal is, we girls want to be the "est."

It starts with best. Than it branches off into families of the prettiest and the cutest. The funniest. The smartest. The richest. The happiest. The sportiest. The craziest. The calmest. The boldest. The loudest. The shyest. The nicest. The skinniest. The est.

You may be asking yourself..what is so stinkin' important about this, and where the heck is she going with all this "est" business?

What I would ask you, is: Do you find yourself longing to be the "est" (c'mon, I know you have), and if so.... WHY?

I've thought about this for a few weeks now. From the tender age of 3 and 4, I've watched my niece and her friend struggle with this little girl battle. At the age of 23, I find myself fighting the same one.

The est gives us our role. Whether we like the role or not, we have one. It makes us stand out, it makes our character needed in this drama of life. Its who we are, and if someone take our "estness" from us, they take our spot. Its fragile. When we can't be the est, we are no longer needed. Our friends will love the new "est" girl and forget about us.

WRONG! This is a lie we girls have been tricked into believing.

God made one you. One unique [insert full name here] est. NO ONE can take your spot. Not in God's show. You were made for a specific purpose. Wired with special characteristics, talents, quirks, personalities, the list goes on. Not only that, but you weren't thrown together on an assembly line, your were skillfully crafted..in the image of Your Maker.

Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Psalm 139: 13 & 14 says: You made my whole being; you formed me in my mother's body. I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way. What you have done is wonderful. I know this very well.

What this means for you and me is that we don't have to worry about being "the est." We already are. God has secured your role. Your role is secured in him and by, in your friends and family that love you no matter what. Yes, God's wonderful invention of love makes you his "est."

So, the next time you feel your competitive urge rise up in you, don't worry about if you have all that she has, be certain that you have what she doesn't.

1 Corinthians 12:14-18: Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

find your heart.

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. -Luke 12:34

According to the Scriptures, the heart can be troubled, wounded, pierced, grieved, even broken. How well we all know that. Thankfully, it can also be cheerful, glad, merry, joyful, rejoicing. The heart can be whole or divided—as in that phrase we often use, “Well, part of me wants to, but the other part of me doesn’t.” It can be wise or foolish. It can be steadfast, true, upright, stout, valiant. (All of these descriptions can be found by perusing the listings for the word heart in any concordance.) It can also be frightened, faint, cowardly, melt like wax. The heart can be wandering, forgetful, dull, stubborn, proud, hardened. Wicked and perverse. I think we know that as well.

Much to our surprise, according to Jesus, a heart can also be pure, as in, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8). And even noble, as in his story about the sower: “But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop” (Luke 8:15). The Bible sees the heart as the source of all creativity, courage, and conviction. It is the source of our faith, our hope, and of course, our love. It is the “wellspring of life” within us (Prov. 4:23), the very essence of our existence, the center of our being, the fount of our life.

There is no escaping the centrality of the heart. God knows that; it’s why he made it the central theme of the Bible, just as he placed the physical heart in the center of the human body. The heart is central; to find our lives, we must make it central again.

The heart is central. That I would even need to remind you of this only shows how far we have fallen from the life we were meant to live—or how powerful the spell has been. The subject of the heart is addressed in the Bible more than any other topic—more than “works” or “serve,” more than “believe” or “obey,” more than money and even more than worship. Maybe God knows something we’ve forgotten. But of course—all those other things are matters of the heart. Consider but a few passages:

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deut. 6:5) [Jesus called this the greatest of all the command-ments—and notice that the heart comes first.]

Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. (1 Sam. 16:7)

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:34)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. (Prov. 3:5)

Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You. (Ps. 119:11 NASB)

These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. (Matt 15:8)

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. (2 Chron. 16:9)

--excerpts from Waking the Dead, by John Eldredge

simply love

Galatians 5:13-You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love.

Mark 12:31-The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

Deep at the centre of my being there is an infinite well of love. I now allow this love to flow to the surface. It fills my heart, my body, my mind, my consciousness, my very being, and radiates out from me in all directions and returns to me multiplied. The more love I use and give, the more I have to give, the supply is endless. The use of love makes me feel good; it is an expression of my inner joy. Yes, I love myself, therefore I take loving care of my body. I lovingly feed it nourishing food and beverages. I lovingly groom it and dress it and my body lovingly responds to me with vibrant health and energy. I love myself, therefore I provide for myself a comfortable home, one that fills all my needs and is a pleasure to be in. I fill the rooms with the vibration of love so that all who enter, myself included, will feel this love and be nourished by it. I love myself, therefore I work at a job that I truly enjoy doing, one that uses all my talents and abilities, working with and for people that I love and love me, and earning a good income. I love myself, therefore, I behave in a loving way to all people for I know that that which I give out returns to me multiplied. I only attract loving people in my world for they are a mirror of what I am. I love myself, therefore I forgive and totally release the past and all past experiences and I am free. I love myself, therefore I love totally in the now, experiencing each moment as good and knowing that my future is bright, and joyous and secure, for I am a beloved child of the universe[I would say God] and the universe lovingly takes care of me now and forever more. And so it is.

-"I Love Myself Affirmations" by Louise Hay

Tears Of.

New Years Eve is usually a pretty fun night. Lots of games, good food, fun people, all of that sweet stuff. Mine was like that. It was perfect actually. However, in the early hours of 2009 I sat clinging to my best friends shoulder bawling like a baby.

Weird.

But not so weird. After a way fun party, I was blessed with the priviledge of ringing in 2009 with some really awesome people. And at about 2:30, we decided to pray for our upcoming year; our upcoming lives. The Holy Spirit was there amongst our group of five friends as we loved, cared, and lifted each other up. And when we said amen, all I could do was cry.

I don't know that I've ever cried full on tears of joy. But these were. Straight from the gut, these were tears of joy with the realization that I have a God that loves me so much.

They were also:

tears of thankfullness, to be surrounded by amazing friends.

tears of weariness, for a 2008 that was full of battles.

tears of love, because I felt it really deeply.

tears of brokeness, I needed it. God did it.

tears of sorrow for things lost, and tears of bliss for things gained.

....and probably tears of exhaustion...I'm not usually at 2 a.m. kind of girl.

Something in my soul released last night, through my eyes, into my mascara, on to my best friend's shoulder. I made no resolutions. But I did make a choice. One that I have made before, and one I will have to make everyday.

It was to let God have my life for 2009. Really have it. To take my world and shake it, bounce it, mold it, and to make my life what its meant to be. These words can't describe what I felt, and what I'm still feeling, knowing that my soul has taken one step closer to God, and one step closer to understanding his love.

I hope you welcomed 2009 in with a bang. I hope your heart feels renewal. I hope that in 2010 you will reflect on a good year. I hope you allow God to work in you every day.

And I hope you feel and see and experience his love so greatly that the only thing left to do is let it burst out of you in a big way!

Happy New Year!