I think that taking a shower is far more spiritual than taking a bath, because showers wash all your dirt far away never to be seen again, where as with baths you just sort of ruminate in your own filth.
Jon when he was preaching this Wednesday said: "when you meditate on where you've been too long you'll be inclined to go back there." (or something equivalent to that statement) I thought it was an interesting and profound thought and it reminded me of how I think of baths...
What I mean is that at some point you've just got to accept that that old dirt simply isn't a part of you anymore, stop trying to define your current relationship with Christ by who you use to be (the sin that you are sitting in), let the dirt be in the past and down the drain. You are a new creation! old things in your life are passed away and all things (ALL THINGS)have become new! you are begining to live a new life in which you are being made new and becoming like the one who made you! 2corinthians 5:17(ish)
We need to realize that Christ cleansing us is a daily process of letting his blood flow over our life! It dosn't stop at what he DID. It's about what He's DOING!
(Can I get an AMEN!)
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The view through the tree... leaves...and fruit.
When climbing a tree safely be sure to choose branches that are able to support your entire weight. Wear cloths that are closer to the skin to avoid accidental snags, and always consider your path back down as well. Some places may be easier to get up into, than down out of.
When climbing a tree for the experience however the rules are a little different: remember that the branches closer to the top are going to be weaker... that doesn't mean that all of them won't hold you, find that one. wear whatever you want, when you get a hole in those favorite jeans, at least you'll have a great story to tell every time you wear them. Don't look down. If you think about going down you can't think about going up... and worst case scenario the fire department is only a phone call away.
I climbed a tree today. I got pretty high up too... though not as high as I could have, and definitely not as high as I would have during former seasons of my life. Tree climbing for me started in our southern California house with the eclectic array of trees that made their home in our backyard, I remember there were at least five, and three of the five were perfect for climbing. An only child before the days of guitar hero, and cable TV left me few options for entertainment, and this climbing business was the past time of choice.
Climbing a tree is pointless really... unless you are the only girl in a group of guys that is willing to ascend to a certain height, well than it has a point. Or if you're in ninth grade and your boyfriend wanted you to get down a foot and a half lower and you can see that you are really making him upset, well then it has a point too. Or if you are eight and you are pretty sure that you are finally tall enough to get from that branch to the roof of the house, well than it definitely has a point. But the problem with climbing is that at some stage you do have to turn around and come back down.
I think that sometimes we think of faith like this too. Am I wearing the right cloths for this adventure? (God I don't look nice enough to talk to them today). Is that branch going to support me? (If I give that up am I still going to be provided for?) If I don't make it onto the roof how am I going to get back down? (If Jesus just doesn't come through on this one, what's my plan B?). But just like the only way to really climb a tree (and get to the point of the whole adventure) is to just do it. So it is also the only way to follow Jesus. Go. even when it makes no sense. Climb. even if you don't know how (or if) you're getting down.
I came to Christ because I was miserable. I needed him to fix me up. What I found in him wasn't just a "fix" but a totally new life. After this He very simply said, "you aren't getting your life back Jen". I realize now what that really meant.
I chose to go up with Christ, to climb, at first because there were rabid dogs chasing me at the bottom of the trunk, and maybe somewhere deep down I thought "I'll just go this high until the dogs leave". but that's never what he wanted for his beloved. He wants us to see the top. Hebrews 6:7-? ...we are confident of better things concerning you, things that accompany salvation. God wants us to climb that tree with out fear, and not looking for a way to get ourselves out. He gave us this tree of new life, and he shows us how to climb! God I want to see the top! I want to see the view!
When climbing a tree for the experience however the rules are a little different: remember that the branches closer to the top are going to be weaker... that doesn't mean that all of them won't hold you, find that one. wear whatever you want, when you get a hole in those favorite jeans, at least you'll have a great story to tell every time you wear them. Don't look down. If you think about going down you can't think about going up... and worst case scenario the fire department is only a phone call away.
I climbed a tree today. I got pretty high up too... though not as high as I could have, and definitely not as high as I would have during former seasons of my life. Tree climbing for me started in our southern California house with the eclectic array of trees that made their home in our backyard, I remember there were at least five, and three of the five were perfect for climbing. An only child before the days of guitar hero, and cable TV left me few options for entertainment, and this climbing business was the past time of choice.
Climbing a tree is pointless really... unless you are the only girl in a group of guys that is willing to ascend to a certain height, well than it has a point. Or if you're in ninth grade and your boyfriend wanted you to get down a foot and a half lower and you can see that you are really making him upset, well then it has a point too. Or if you are eight and you are pretty sure that you are finally tall enough to get from that branch to the roof of the house, well than it definitely has a point. But the problem with climbing is that at some stage you do have to turn around and come back down.
I think that sometimes we think of faith like this too. Am I wearing the right cloths for this adventure? (God I don't look nice enough to talk to them today). Is that branch going to support me? (If I give that up am I still going to be provided for?) If I don't make it onto the roof how am I going to get back down? (If Jesus just doesn't come through on this one, what's my plan B?). But just like the only way to really climb a tree (and get to the point of the whole adventure) is to just do it. So it is also the only way to follow Jesus. Go. even when it makes no sense. Climb. even if you don't know how (or if) you're getting down.
I came to Christ because I was miserable. I needed him to fix me up. What I found in him wasn't just a "fix" but a totally new life. After this He very simply said, "you aren't getting your life back Jen". I realize now what that really meant.
I chose to go up with Christ, to climb, at first because there were rabid dogs chasing me at the bottom of the trunk, and maybe somewhere deep down I thought "I'll just go this high until the dogs leave". but that's never what he wanted for his beloved. He wants us to see the top. Hebrews 6:7-? ...we are confident of better things concerning you, things that accompany salvation. God wants us to climb that tree with out fear, and not looking for a way to get ourselves out. He gave us this tree of new life, and he shows us how to climb! God I want to see the top! I want to see the view!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
oh brain, why are you bothering me
I really enjoy writing... at least I use to. there is something that happens when you write that seems to clarify things, make life make sense. It's been a hard year. I hate writing that because it sounds so defeated to me, but the truth is it just has. Clarifying moments of your life often means admitting things you don't want to... maybe that's why it's so hard to write lately. It's been hard because things I wanted and hoped for haven't happened, hard because God is bringing me closer to this fear thing than he ever has before. Hard because I realize that who I am and who I am called to become are really really far a part. farther almost than they have ever seemed before.
It seems to me that in life you have two choices... to avoid frustration and insanity. just follow me for a moment. when our perceived reality and our actual reality are different from each other our mind will subconsciously do everything in it's power to make the two correlate. even if that means believing a lie, or doing ridiculous things. We like to be sain and frustration free, understandably. So lets say that you are capable (and what's more called) to live prosperously but instead you always seem to be struggling. your brain will do one of two things. 1)find a way to live in prosperity or 2) decide that it was never meant to be that way in the first place and just getting by is acceptable. It has to do this, for it's own preservation. That's it's job after all-to make things make sense. but the simple truth is that prospering takes more time, energy, and effort than believing that you are called to be average and living in meidocricy does. brain says "fastest way to sanity that's where I'm going"... and really do we blame the thing, it's just doing it's job. taking in the stimulus, deducing, and coming up with a solution. thank God for our brain, really. but God never really likes short cuts I'm finding. no he's all about that character building stuff. He gets us all stocked and excited about who we are called to be, and what he wants to do and than, well and then he looks to see what we are going to do with it. what is going to be anchored in place? is it the promise of prosperity, joy and peace? or will it be the current reality? Can I say that sometimes when I settle for the everyday I'm not as frustrated as when I'm dreaming big. truthfully. I've been through some hard seasons, and man where I am today is much better than other places I've been. And if I chose to believe that this is all God has for me, well my brain would certainly let me... after all things ARE good... but what about all those visions God? what about the promises? man. now I'm frustrated again. I hate being frustrated... oh what is a soul to do? I must anchor the vision so deep that the only option for my soul is to have the promises happen. I must trust that God is who he said he is. and that if I'm patient, my circumstantial reality will lineup with my perceived one. God We all need to see things a little more prophetically.
It seems to me that in life you have two choices... to avoid frustration and insanity. just follow me for a moment. when our perceived reality and our actual reality are different from each other our mind will subconsciously do everything in it's power to make the two correlate. even if that means believing a lie, or doing ridiculous things. We like to be sain and frustration free, understandably. So lets say that you are capable (and what's more called) to live prosperously but instead you always seem to be struggling. your brain will do one of two things. 1)find a way to live in prosperity or 2) decide that it was never meant to be that way in the first place and just getting by is acceptable. It has to do this, for it's own preservation. That's it's job after all-to make things make sense. but the simple truth is that prospering takes more time, energy, and effort than believing that you are called to be average and living in meidocricy does. brain says "fastest way to sanity that's where I'm going"... and really do we blame the thing, it's just doing it's job. taking in the stimulus, deducing, and coming up with a solution. thank God for our brain, really. but God never really likes short cuts I'm finding. no he's all about that character building stuff. He gets us all stocked and excited about who we are called to be, and what he wants to do and than, well and then he looks to see what we are going to do with it. what is going to be anchored in place? is it the promise of prosperity, joy and peace? or will it be the current reality? Can I say that sometimes when I settle for the everyday I'm not as frustrated as when I'm dreaming big. truthfully. I've been through some hard seasons, and man where I am today is much better than other places I've been. And if I chose to believe that this is all God has for me, well my brain would certainly let me... after all things ARE good... but what about all those visions God? what about the promises? man. now I'm frustrated again. I hate being frustrated... oh what is a soul to do? I must anchor the vision so deep that the only option for my soul is to have the promises happen. I must trust that God is who he said he is. and that if I'm patient, my circumstantial reality will lineup with my perceived one. God We all need to see things a little more prophetically.
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