Growing up

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:6-8

Did you know that some bibles have reading plans and suggestions in the front cover? I did not, but I was checking out a new bible and found a whole reading plan for Lent. Today’s passage included these verses and I read them without once getting upset, which is a major plus for me! You see, I used to get cranky over this passage, thinking that it was saying that people weren’t good and that the reason that God was so awesome was because people were so bad. I’ve always struggled with the idea that men don’t have any good in them but this verse in particular bugged me because it made it seem like if there were good people then Christ dying on the cross seems less like the amazing sacrifice it was. Who God is or what God does isn’t dependant on people and today is the first time I’ve read this verse and not thought that’s what it was saying. Maybe it’s because I’ve finally reconciled the conflict I had between sin nature and men doing good things; maybe it’s because I’ve grown and am able to read scripture with an open heart; or maybe it’s just because God has been working in me enough that I can understand what He’s saying to me through His word. And today I feel like this verse is God telling me that He loves me.

Sleepy Sunday

I will lie down and sleep in peace , for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

Still thinking about trusting God and how that more trust applies to my life. I don’t honestly have a lot to say about this verse, I’m just tired and hoping to sleep better.

No Chickens Allowed

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7

I used to think this verse was all about me. Well, “me” in the sense that it’s about people and how we shouldn’t be scared because we’re powerful people. Turns out, that’s not really what this verse is about. It’s not saying that I’m a powerful person, or that I can do things on my own. It’s not saying that God created me to be a person who could handle things on my own with my awesome abilities of power and love. It’s pretty clear that the spirit is from God and that He is the one that with the power and love and self-control, not me. Which is pretty good news since God isn’t changed by situations, His abilities don’t falter or fail when faced with troubling situations like mine do. It’s easy for me to be brave when nothing is happening, but much harder when life gets rough. It’s comforting to know that the Spirit within me isn’t so wishwashy, but steady and constant. When I come up against a situation and start getting scared, I know that I’m acting in my own abilities and not in accordance with the spirit that God gave me and that it’s time to change what I’m doing and who I’m relying on.

Give a Little Bit

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16 (NASB)

I love making new friends. The grocery store clerk, the guy walking his dog, the bus driver or janitor or drive-thru worker are all potential friends. There’s just something wonderful about being able to exchange a smile and a few words with other people that makes me happy. My favorite place to make friends is while I’m in line. It’s a cross between everyone focused on the same goal and people not being able to leave that makes it prime hunting ground for chatting. Today I got the chance to talk to a lot of people in line when there was only one lane open at Meijer. Not everybody was so pleased at the extended wait time, but I enjoyed the chance to meet new people. I’m grateful to God for giving me a love for people and an attitude that expresses that love.

It would be easier to buy a new wardrobe…

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord, not for man. Colossians 3:23

Today is laundry day and instead of happily tossing clothes into the washer, I am sitting on my bedroom floor and trying not to be overwhelmed. Crazy hot temps in the 80’s over the past week (and my general dislike of laundry) has put me behind in my chores and I’m faced with lots of dirty clothes. Even if I got started at a reasonable hour, this will still take me a large portion of the day, and “reasonable hour” is passing by pretty quickly. Doing the laundry with a cheerful attitude seems out of the question, and I’m swiftly coming up with good excuses on why I could put it off and dress in old bedsheets.

The thing is, God cares about me and how I act, even when I’m doing my laundry. It’s easy for me to recognize that my attitude makes a difference when I’m working with others or at church or with my friends and family. I know that God expects me to serve with a willing heart, that He expects me to love others and to glorify Him with all I say and do. It’s just sometimes I forget that “all I say and do” extends to when I’m just saying and doing things by myself. Just because there aren’t people around or I’m not out in public doesn’t mean that God’s standards for me are gone. God is always with me and He’s always God, which means His rules for my life are always in place. When God says that I need to keep my thoughts pure, it’s not just when I’m sitting at church. When He commands me to love others, it’s not just when I’m face-to-face with them. And when God tells me to work wholeheartedly as if I’m doing the job for Him, God means that in everything I’m working at, whether it’s on the mission field or doing laundry.

God is right here with me and His word tells me to work for Him with my whole heart. Doing laundry seems like a little task compared to a big God, but if I can change my attitude with the little things, just think how easier it will be to change my attitude with the big things in life!

Conversations In The Dark

I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, and my spirit ponders Psalm 77:6

My bible study has been encouraging us to meditate over God’s word lately and that’s not always easy for me. I get easily distracted by sights and sounds and dust motes and breezes. Trying to focus on a verse gives me super ADD and then I get frustrated with myself and nothing good gets accomplished. I’ve tried all sorts of tricks and what I’ve found to work the best is to try going over a verse at night. There’s the natural fact that the world is quieter at night, less cars and pedestrians and it’s darker too which limits how many things I can look at instead of my bible. There’s also the fact that I find it’s easier to talk to God at night. It feels like there is nothing between me and God. Maybe it’s because I don’t feel like I need to stand on any sort of ceremony at night, or that I feel like I can say anything and my embarrassment is hidden by the darkness. There’s an intimacy at night that I feel with God and it makes it easier for me to devote my whole heart to hearing how He’s going to speak to me through His word.

One of those days….

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Not having a great 24 hours with the whole Lenten fast thing. I definitely need to refocus on God and what He’s teaching me and how this is drawing me closer to Him.

Trust

In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. Psalm 22:4-5

Bible study this week asked us to look over hymns, finding what spoke to us and singing them as praises to God. I’m not much of a singer but I actually enjoyed this activity a lot, I found lyrics and concepts that encouraged me and convicted me.

Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus was written by Louisa Stead after her husband drowned. Her and her daughter were left behind without a way to provide for themselves. The fact that she wrote this song about how she could take His word as something solid and joyful is pretty inspiring.

There are lots of versions of this song on youtube, but I thought this one was pretty fun.

God vs Bad Attitude: No contest!

Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim His salvation day after day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods. 1 Chronicles 16:23-25

Yesterday’s road trip was a great success on so many fronts. Perfect weather, beautiful vistas, safe traveling and even good music on the radio. The two things I was worried about the most, my attitude and sticking with my Lent fast of chips both went well. I had to pray about both, which is good. If I sailed through yesterday without needing to go back to God and ask for help, I would have just thought I did the whole thing on my own. Struggling with my own weakness helped remind me not only that God is strong enough to take care of me, but that my behavior honors Him. Sure, skipping chips for 40 days helps my waistline, but the real reason I’m doing this is to put aside the things that keep me from God, to go to Him when I need comfort instead of finding temporary comfort in food. And having a better attitude with the people around me makes life easier for me, but the real reason is because God wants me to love others, to behave towards them in a way that is pleasing to Him.

I’m excited to be praising God today. I was impatient for church this morning and then I realized I could start praising Him now, there was no need to wait for anything. Today I want to praise God for all the things that He’s done for me, for salvation and sanctification, for placing me exactly where I am and for giving me all I need. But mostly, I want to just praise God for being God because He’s definitely worth it.

Road Trip Preparedness

Hunter and I are looking up good verses for me to use tomorrow on my road trip. Usually I spend the night before a road trip packing coolers or making playlists, but tonight I need to prepare something stronger. This week has been a struggle at times and I’m nervous about how I’m going to act during a long road trip. I don’t want to spend the day being grumpy and unhappy, not looking for God’s blessings. I also don’t want to ruin the trip for others just because I’m not willing to follow God all the time. So I’m coming up with several verses, some about following God, some about controlling my speech and some just about being at peace. I don’t know how the road trip will go tomorrow or even where we are headed…but at least I will be heading there prepared with God’s word!

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29 (ESV)

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10(NIV)

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (NLT)

Driving Through Fog

As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

Raincloud Day

Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. 1 Timothy 4:4

There are days when it seems like such a waste to do…well, anything. It’s like there is a permanent raincloud over my head today. Today has been a hard day with everything, especially with the fasting. Not sure if that’s because it’s a hard day and I’d like the comfort or because I’m struggling, I’m having a bad day. Chicken, egg, whatever…it’s all lousy. It’s a struggle to stay on the right path, much less to remember that God doesn’t create wasted days. I’m going to hope that tomorrow is better and that even if it’s not, that I remember the truth of this verse. God is a good God and His creation should be met with thanksgiving not whining.

A Winner is You!

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33

I’m not a huge video game player and I’ve always said it’s because I’ve got horrible hand eye coordination. Which is the truth, my skills in that arena are pretty weak. But I think the real reason is because video games stress me out. The little characters are my responsibility and my weak skills and short attention span are not going to benefit them at all. If I were at the controls, Mario would never save Princess Peach, Link would never save Zelda and Donkey Kong would never…actually, what was Donkey Kong supposed to be doing anyway? I was just constantly being smooshed by barrels.  The point is, I felt bad that I couldn’t ever win the game for the characters and that added a whole level of stress for me. I preferred games without all the added guilt. The tiny shoe in Monopoly never made me feel bad if I lost!

That doesn’t mean I don’t ever play video games, but I enjoy them a lot more when I can mitigate the stress involved. I willingly give up the controls to someone who can jump and snag a rope in Lego Pirates, or who can throw an apple at the right time to beat the level in Aladdin. Angry Birds was more enjoyable when I used a code that registered all the levels as 3 stars so I can just goof around to my hearts content. I played Plants Vs Zombies for 3 days straight till I beat the game and have enjoyed it much more ever since. It’s so nice to be able to play and think “no worries little plants, I’ve already been through that last level and made it out, this is cake!”

It’s probably sacrilegious to be comparing salvation with video games but that’s what this verse reminds me of a little. Jesus is talking to the disciples about what’s going to happen and it’s not great. There are going to be rough times ahead for them and for the world. But he tells them to take heart, to have courage, to be of good cheer because he’s already overcome the world. Jesus is bigger than any problem here on Earth, he is the solution to the dilemma’s we face and is telling us to be at peace because He’s got this handled. Through His sacrifice on the cross, Jesus has conquered death and gifted us with salvation, a way to spend eternity with God in heaven. Game over!

Sick

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

Another day of not feeling well, but I’m powering through with choosing a verse. It did help to be able to pray about a specific verse yesterday, so I’m going to do that…between all the sleeping that I’m going to be doing, of course. Lots and lots of sleeping.

Melancholy Monday

I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. Psalm 50:11 (ESV)

Today is just one of those days. Not enough sleep the night before, feeling sick to my stomach, rainy morning…I just feel like hiding under my covers. I don’t feel up to writing much today, but I decided that my day would be much better if I at least picked out a verse. I find that if my focus is on God and what He can teach me through His word, then there is significantly less brain power that can be focused on me whining about my problems. I love bible verses about birds. They didn’t use to mean as much to me until I met my friend, Elaine. She has paintings and pictures and statues of birds in her house and now whenever I read about birds in the bible, I always think of her and her relationship with God. We get a lot of large flocks of birds around here and it’s mind boggling to think that God knows each bird, created every one and that they all belong to Him. But the other half of this verse is even cooler/creepier. In a lot of translations, it says “the animals of the field” or “the wild beasts” or even “creatures” but in the Common English version it says “even the insects in the fields are mine”. I almost phobic about bugs and therefore think there are too many of them. Personally I think that one bug is too many and I can’t even imagine how many are in a field somewhere (that is not a question btw, if you know how many just keep it to yourself as I would like to not be terrified to step outside my door…) but it’s cool to think that God has a track on that sort of thing. That it doesn’t matter how big or small the aspects of creation are, God is able to handle it all.