Restoration

This week's theme: God is a God of restoration

Here in South Asia it is so easy to see all of the brokenness and pain and suffering and to feel overcome and overwhelmed by all of it! It is easy to question God and ask him why he allows all of this suffering. But this week God gave me a new perspective.



He showed me that he is a restoring God, that he didn't create all of this brokenness. Instead his creation was good and perfect but we as humans used our free will to sin and rebel against God and to destroy the perfection and beauty of his creation.

God could have just left us there but he didn't he is now actively working to restore all things to himself and he has promised us that he will reconcile everything to himself and create a new heaven and earth where there will be no more pain and suffering but joy forever more!

"For behold I create new heavens and a new earth. The former things shall not be remembered or come to mind....I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress, no more shall there be an infant who lives but a few days, or the old man who does not live out his days....They shall not hurt or destroy in all my Holy mountain says The Lord."
Isaiah 65:17-25

Thankful for the hope that this brings in the midst of such suffering! This isn't permanent and one day it will be restored to beauty! 

Vulnerability

“What if there was a place so safe that the worst of me could be known, and I would discover that I would not be loved less, but more in the telling of it”

There is, with God and other believers

I’m not perfect! Being able to say that and being okay with that and knowing that I’m  not a failure, is something that has taken me a long time to grasp, and honestly something that I’m still working on!

Being able to be free and open and say the hard parts of life brings so much joy and freedom!

If we were perfect we wouldn’t need Jesus! That’s the whole reason he came

You can be freely open and honest with God and he wraps you in his arms and no matter what you’re going through, what mistakes you’ve made what you’re struggling with you are forgiven by God! You don’t have to pretend to be perfect anymore

It’s really detrimental that a lot of Christians think that they have to be a model Christian , but once you become a Christian your testimony doesn’t end, there’s still sin and brokenness and struggles, but through it all there is the thread of God’s amazing grace, restoration and redemption  

when we hide from authenticity and vulnerability , we take away from one of the biggest gifts, being able to genuinely care for one another, encourage one another and share your heart with others, your deepest struggles and your heartache the things that you feel like you should hide, but you don’t have to anymore!

God gave us the gift of community for a reason and if we’re not being open and honest with others than we’re not taking advantage of the blessing that God has given us!

When you start being open and honest with others not only will that help you with your own self-righteousness and pride, but that will help to allow you to love others more and you will receive more of God’s grace. Opening up your heart and asking for help and forgiveness, you will receive true encouragement, grace and forgiveness.

One of the things that can happen when everyone else is wearing their masks and pretending to be perfect you sit there and you know that you aren’t and you feel like you don’t measure up, but then you look around you and you feel like everyone else has it all together and that they’ve figured out the  Christian thing and that they have a perfect relationship with God and consistent quiet times  & if you look that and look in your own heart and see how much your broken and struggling it makes you feel like you’re all alone and are the only ones that have these problems. & if that’s the case then  I’m not going to share it with anyone, because no one else will understand. So we make ourselves feel lonely and alone in our struggles, because we’re unwilling to take off our masks and share our real lives with others. Instead we’re pretending and settling for having fake lives with each other when we could be having genuine relationships and community with others and being able to spur one another on to righteousness and encourage each other in the gospel.

Am I pleasing or loving people?

I recently started reading a really awesome book titled: "The Best Yes" I'm only 2 chapters in and it's already amazing!

There's a quote from the first chapter that just really stuck with me:

                 "We must not confuse the command to love with the command to please"

But wait, what's the difference between pleasing and loving?

Pleasing- To cause to feel happy to take their wishes into account when deciding how to act

Love- Unselfish loyalty, and concern for the good of the other


 

        Oftentimes it's easy to think of pleasing people and loving them to be the same thing, however that is not the case. When you truly love someone with Christ's love that is a completely selfless love, one where you desire their good above yours, and you want nothing in return. This is quite different to trying to please people, when you please someone, you want to make them happy, and while there is nothing wrong with wanting to make someone happy the underlying motivation to this can easily become selfishness, you want to do what they want and make them happy, so that you don't ruin a relationship or so that they'll like you more.

            While sometimes pleasing and loving might look the same the motivation behind them are very different, and because of that loving someone allows you to tell people hard and uncomfortable things, it lets you confront them and speak truth into their lives, because when you love someone your ultimate goal isn't to please them or make you happy with them. You're okay with them not liking you at the moment, because your ultimate desire is for their good and to help them to see and love God more!

I pray I that I seek to please people less, and love people more!

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient bearing with one another in love."
            -Ephesians 4:2

What 2 months with a concussion has taught me.....

After an accident at dance, I ended up with a severe concussion and it has now been 8 weeks and counting with this silly concussion. It's been a rough 8 weeks, but God has really taught me a lot through all of this!


Two of the biggest lessons that God has taught me these past 2 months

 Prayer 
      &
 Being quiet and still 


I am a very busy girl, always doing something, going somewhere with a never ending to-do list. My life is full of lots of noises and too often I do not take the time to rest and refresh, and God has given me this time where all I have been able to do is rest. He has also shown me the importance of being still and quiet before God. When I consistently have the noise of the world surrounding me how do I expect to hear from God. I need to take time to listen for his still small voice and to simply sit and be in his presence. I complain that God doesn't answer me, but in reality I am the one who doesn't take the time to actually listen to Him.

Prayer: I wanted to grow in praying more this year, and because of my concussion I cannot read or have Jesus time, but the one thing I can do is pray. So God has given me so much time just to talk to him and come into his presence with thankfulness as well as requests and just to talk with him as i spent hours laying him my bed.

As hard, challenging and frustrating as this past month has been I am so very grateful for how God has used this to teach me, and bring me closer to himself.

I am grateful for the love and care that I have received from all of my amazing friends, they dropped everything to care for me, and serve me, bring me food, drive me to doctors appointments and tests and have taken notes for me in my classes. I have felt very blessed this past month.

Now, as I slowly recover and being to start therapy sessions, and begin attending classes again. I don't want to forget what I have learned to remember that God is with me to give me strength and patience to male it through the next couple of challenging weeks.

"The only way you will ever run to the Helper is by running away from the delusion of Independence"  ---- grateful that God reminded me that I am not independent that I NEED Him! Because too often I try to be in charge of my life and live like I'm the one who is in control, but in reality I am finite and weak, and thankfully God who is good, gracious and all powerful is the ruler of my life.

God never ceases to amaze me!

Look up!

This month I've been studying the book of Exodus, which is not in my top 10 favorite books of the Bible in case you were wondering, and I've read it probably a dozen times before. But I've really been listening to God lately and really seeking to try and read and meditate on his words and God has been teaching me SO much through it!

My most recent lesson was from Exodus 4, when God called Moses.
It's a great reminder to LOOK UP!

When God called Moses, he was worried that he wasn't qualified and I would have been too I mean a Holy Perfect God that showed up in a burning bush is calling me to lead his people? That's just a little intimidating to say the least! Moses knew that he wasn't qualified and so he tried to remind God of his weaknesses

"Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and tongue."  (v. 10)

Moses wanted to remind God of why he couldn't be a leader, but God looked at him and said:

"Who has made the man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?"

God knew exactly who Moses was when he called him! God already knew all of his weaknesses, but he wanted to work in those weaknesses! 

"Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak."

God told Moses that he would be with him and would speak through him, but moses wasn't willing to go, he was so caught up looking at himself and his weaknesses and failures that he failed to look UP to God and see that God was capable and able to use moses even IN the midst of his weaknesses. Instead Moses was caught in the trap of sizing up the situations to his own abilities instead of look up to God and seeing that he was the one who would give him the Strength and skills needed to lead God's people.

So Moses argued with God and told him to choose someone else to speak for God, and so God did and he chose Aaron. How often do I do that in my own life? Do I tell God he should chose someone else. How often do I fail to follow the tugging of the spirit on my heart, because I'm fixing my eyes on myself, my own fears and weaknesses and not on my Savior who is able to do abundantly more than I could ever ask or imagine! 

Instead of looking at life with a focus on myself and on what I think I can or cannot do I want to live my life with a focus on God and who he is! That the one who has called me is faithful and he wants to use me and glorify himself in the midst of my weaknesses!

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 

 2 Corinthians 12:19

New Year!

I am so excited for this year and the things God is going to do! I began this year by surrendering my life to God, and I pray that this year I am daily surrendering my life more and more to his will. I don't want control over my life, I don't want to my own plans, dreams and desires anymore I'm done trying to live my own life instead I want God to come in and wreck my heart to take all my hopes and dreams and replace them with his beautiful and perfect plan for my life! Because his plan is more wonderful than anything I could ever imagine on my own! 

This year I'm working on fiercely loving others and putting them ahead of myself, I want to fall more in love with my king and savior Jesus Christ every day! I want to keep my eyes on eternity and not the fading jewels of this world! To follow the wisdom of God and not this world! To be okay with the unknown and trusting enough to walk out into the waves with a heart that's confident and trusting instead of fearful! 
So this year I'm not making any New Years resolutions...I'm done trying harder instead I'm letting myself rest in my saviors arms and I'm focusing on my own personal relationship with him seeking him first and everything else in my life will fall into place, he'll bring peace and clarity & comfort and direction and lasting change that's from the heart something that no amount of resolutions or plans can bring. 
So here's to a year of daily falling more in love with Jesus! 

Give up on yourself

When you give up on yourself you begin to rely on him. When you are willing to abandon your own little dreams you begin to get excited about his plan. When your way has blown up in your face again you are ready to see the wisdom of God's way 

This is something that I really need to remember, I want to start embracing those moments when I feel like I'm at the end of my rope, and I'm confused, and don't know what to do and I feel like I've done everything that I can and things seem out of my control, to seize them as an opportunity to completely trust and rely on God. To be excited about moments where God has to be the one to move and come through, where I can totally let go of control and realize that he's the one in charge and he has a bigger, more magnificent plan that I could ever imagine. To remember that his way is always better than mine and that even though I might fail, feel hopeless, defeated and want to give up, God is all powerful, never tires and his plans always come through! 

With God there is no better place to be then at the end of myself ...when I am willing to confess how weak I am I am most ready to reach out for the grace that can only be found in Christ

"I'll sing of the wonderful promise

that Jesus has given to me;

'My strength is made perfect in weakness,

My grace is sufficient for thee.'

And lest my poor heart should forget it,

Or ever forgetful should be, 

He still keeps repeating the promise,

My grace is sufficient for thee.

Yes, over and over and over 

My savior keeps saying to me;

My strength is made perfect in weakness,

My grace is sufficient for thee."