6) Silence is sometimes the best policy.
So often I try to find the perfect words to say. I want to sound intelligent or understanding or wise. But so often words end up being a bunch of white noise. I was about to have a difficult conversation with a friend of mine and I honestly did not know what to say, so I prayed. I asked the Lord to be my mouth and to speak for me, because I did not know what to say. When I got on the phone with my friend, the situation resolved itself. My friend did most of the talking. And I stayed silent. I truly believe that the Lord closed my mouth, like He did with the lions in Daniel. And because He closed my mouth, where I would normally talk and talk, my friend ended up saying a lot of things that resolved the entire conflict. By the end of the conversation, I understood how important silence was. So when in doubt, or even when we think we've got things covered, we should pray. Stay silent, and ask Him to be our words and our mouth.
7) Above all, the most important thing is the gospel.
Denominations, personality differences, different (and unfortunately, sometimes competing) ministries. Is the gospel being preached? Then rejoice! Often, we have a tendency to draw out the differences between different churches and christian ministries. But ultimately, we are all the church. One church. The church is just the body of Christ. We are not different churches with different goals. We are the body of Christ, which is the Church, and we have one goal. One mission. And that is that the gospel would be preached to all the nations. So we should not pick apart other ministries but rejoice in the fact that they are going towards the same goal we are. Sharing the gospel with the world. And in this, incredible unity is found.
8) "Cursed is the one who can't abide."
I'm going to steal this from a shane and shane song because I can't think of a better way to put it. Satan will keep telling us when we screw up that "Cursed is the one who can't abide." And the funny thing is, he's right. We sin, and therefore, we are cursed. We cannot, out of our efforts, abide. But the incredible thing is that Satan left out the best part. Jesus saves! We cannot abide in and of ourselves. And so, Christ saved us!
"Could the father of lies, be telling the truth, of God to me tonight? If the penalty of sin is death, then death is mine. I hear him saying, "Cursed are the ones who can't abide". He's right. Alleluia! He's right! The devil is preaching the song of the redeemed. That I am cursed and gone astray. I cannot gain salvation. Oh the devil's singing over me an age old song that I am cursed and gone astray. Singing the first verse so conveniently over me. He's forgotten the refrain! Jesus Saves!
He's redeemed us from the curse of the law....Jesus Saves!"
(Embracing Accusations by Shane and Shane)
9) The Lord's will does not have to be a mystery. He has given it to us in His Word. This is it: Obey His Word. Seek Him. Trust Him. And when you screw up, get back up and focus on Him again. Speak His Word to the nations. Look forward to eternity with Him. Run the race.
"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" (Matthew 28:18-20)
10) Tomorrow will be better. Today might be so bad that it seems like nothing will ever be okay again. That today is the end of your life. But it isn't. There is always tomorrow. And if tomorrow isn't better, there's always the next day. We have a very focused view. We can't see the big picture. But this horrible day is building and shaping the person that you will be in the days to come. So take it in stride. And let the Lord use it to shape you for the better. Learn from it, and keep truckin. He's right here with you.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34).
11.17.2009
10 things i learned in college...part 1
after four years in college (headed towards 5), i've learned a couple of things. the Lord has taught me so much. i've, of course, learned only the hard way, but sometimes that is the only way to learn. so here goes.
1) Behavioral changes cannot save someone.
For as long as I can remember, I would tell people to read their bibles, don't drink, pray, etc. and the summer after my freshman year of college, as a gate guard for a neighborhood pool I learned how wrong I was. A kid named Tyler would come and absolutely drive me crazy. He was only fourteen, and I guess he thought he would flirt with me while I was on shift. So he would wheel up on his skate board and park it right next to my grubby pool chair, sit down on it, and talk about everything he had done the night before. After about two weeks of visiting me everyday, I actually started to like the kid. He wasn't too bad. But everyday he would talk about the party he went to, the girls he slept with, and how drunk he got and all i could think of was, "good grief! he's only fourteen!". And i remember telling him almost daily, "Be careful. You're only fourteen. Maybe you shouldn't do that stuff. It's not good for you." etc. After one long day at work, I drove home and thought about Tyler and all his escapades. And then I realized something. If he suddenly got rid of all his drinking, sex, and partying habits, and if he started volunteering for a community organization and being kind to his parents, what would it mean? It wouldn't mean anything. He'd be a perfectly good citizen on a direct path to hell. Changing his behavior wasn't going to save him. Only the gospel could do that. Unfortunately, Tyler moved before I had this realization and so I never shared the gospel with him. I pray that the Lord will have mercy on me and send someone else to tell him about the gift that He offers.
2) There is no sin that I am "above".
I am finding that every sin that I say that I would never ever struggle with is the next sin that I struggle with. All through high school I preached sexual purity and vowed that it would never be a problem for me. This was, of course, before I had ever been in a relationship. And lo and behold, as soon as I started dating someone my freshman year of college, purity was a difficult thing to keep. I struggled and failed often with physical boundaries in our relationship. By the grace of Jesus Christ, He saved me from losing every last bit of my purity, but I still had fallen in a way I vowed to never fall. I'd always heard that pride comes before a fall, and it proved true. My pride and confidence in myself set me up for failure. And I am continually finding that this reigns true everyday. I have become someone who I never thought I would become. Done things I never thought I would have done. Hurt people in ways I never thought possible. And so now, I realize: There is absolutely no sin that I am above. I am only a few steps away from any sin. This helps when we are tempted to judge other people also. They have done nothing that we are not capable of. We are, in no way, better than them. Even if we haven't done what they have done, it is only a matter of time or circumstance. In the right circumstance, with the right variables, we would do the same things. And if we don't, it is only by the Grace of Jesus Christ. Only in His power could we ever stand against temptation.
3)The point of grace is that there literally is nothing that I can do that is bad enough to lose Christ.
If there is a sin, Christ died for it. From lying about homework to murder, Christ died on the cross for that sin. Sexual impurity, betrayal, stealing, drug addictions. All of it is covered underneath the blood of the cross. In light of this, guilt should not keep us from the Lord, but rather bring us to Him. It is my tendency that when I mess up I avoid the Lord, because I see Him as eternally disappointed with me. But He wants to heal me from that sin and hurt that I inflicted on myself! So rather than avoid spending time with Him, I should turn to Him. He isn't surprised when we screw up. He knows exactly what we're like. And that's who He loved so much that He died. He loves us as the dirty, wretched sinners that we are. And He's offering freedom from all of that. Through His blood. So just accept and rejoice.
4) Godly sorrow and worldly sorrow are two totally different things.
2 Corinthians 7:10 says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." These words have become so true to me in the past few years. We have a tendency after we sin, to drown ourselves in our own guilt. We figure that if we're upset about it enough, and punish ourselves enough, that we can right the wrong that we've done. But that's a lie! This is only worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow is the only way to true forgiveness and freedom. We sin, recognize it, mourn over it, and turn to the Lord. We know that He is the only one that can save us and we rely on His grace. And after turning to Him, He will begin work in that sin. He will heal us and begin to mold us into a person that can bring Him glory. Only He can do that.
5) God is good.
For years I had heard this. God is good. He is loving. He is caring. He is kind. But I never really believed it. And when you don't really believe these things, it's hard to understand that grace is real. I always said that I believed this, but when a trial came my way that seemed just too hard, I blamed God. I was angry at Him. If He was really "good" then I wouldn't have to go through that trial. I wouldn't have to hurt. Right? I was angry at God for much of my sophomore year of college and some of my junior year. And then, because of the goodness and love of Christ, I began to see the small ways that He loved me. He wasn't giving me trials to beat me into the ground. He wasn't some evil dictator in the sky playing a sick sadistic game to see how much I could handle. He wanted me to grow. He allowed me to go through these trials so that I would turn to Him. Had I never gone through that trial, I might never have truly believed in His goodness. I might have never made my faith my own. And how amazing it is now that I see Him for who He truly is! I imagine that reading this will not convince anyone that God is good. Again, it will have to be a personal understanding and revelation. But I do have one story to show how loving He is, even in the everyday little things.
This summer, at Summer Beach Project, I was sitting in church on a Sunday morning. I had been missing Austin because we had just recently broken up, and I had been on the brink of tears all morning. In the pew right in front of me, there was this sweet older couple sitting together. The husband had his arm around his wife and rather than just resting it there as if for an armrest, he was slowly rubbing her shoulder with his hand. It was such a sweet little gesture. Just a little picture to his wife that he loved her. But it tore me up. I missed that. The tenderness and sweetness. Tears welled up in my eyes and I prayed, "Lord please. I can't handle this. I need something to get me through. I miss that so much. That tenderness. Those small sweet physical touches. Please help me through this." I held back my tears until my eyes were finally dry, and I looked back up at the pastor to pay attention. At that moment, my friend Katie O'Shea, who was sitting next to me, took her arm and put it around my shoulders. She rubbed my shoulder and just kept paying attention to the sermon. She had no idea what I had just prayed for or what I was going through that morning. The Lord knew that I needed that small physical touch and He used Katie to give it to me. I smiled and praised Him. Even in the small moments like that, He is there. Loving us. Caring for us. Being good.
To be continued....
1) Behavioral changes cannot save someone.
For as long as I can remember, I would tell people to read their bibles, don't drink, pray, etc. and the summer after my freshman year of college, as a gate guard for a neighborhood pool I learned how wrong I was. A kid named Tyler would come and absolutely drive me crazy. He was only fourteen, and I guess he thought he would flirt with me while I was on shift. So he would wheel up on his skate board and park it right next to my grubby pool chair, sit down on it, and talk about everything he had done the night before. After about two weeks of visiting me everyday, I actually started to like the kid. He wasn't too bad. But everyday he would talk about the party he went to, the girls he slept with, and how drunk he got and all i could think of was, "good grief! he's only fourteen!". And i remember telling him almost daily, "Be careful. You're only fourteen. Maybe you shouldn't do that stuff. It's not good for you." etc. After one long day at work, I drove home and thought about Tyler and all his escapades. And then I realized something. If he suddenly got rid of all his drinking, sex, and partying habits, and if he started volunteering for a community organization and being kind to his parents, what would it mean? It wouldn't mean anything. He'd be a perfectly good citizen on a direct path to hell. Changing his behavior wasn't going to save him. Only the gospel could do that. Unfortunately, Tyler moved before I had this realization and so I never shared the gospel with him. I pray that the Lord will have mercy on me and send someone else to tell him about the gift that He offers.
2) There is no sin that I am "above".
I am finding that every sin that I say that I would never ever struggle with is the next sin that I struggle with. All through high school I preached sexual purity and vowed that it would never be a problem for me. This was, of course, before I had ever been in a relationship. And lo and behold, as soon as I started dating someone my freshman year of college, purity was a difficult thing to keep. I struggled and failed often with physical boundaries in our relationship. By the grace of Jesus Christ, He saved me from losing every last bit of my purity, but I still had fallen in a way I vowed to never fall. I'd always heard that pride comes before a fall, and it proved true. My pride and confidence in myself set me up for failure. And I am continually finding that this reigns true everyday. I have become someone who I never thought I would become. Done things I never thought I would have done. Hurt people in ways I never thought possible. And so now, I realize: There is absolutely no sin that I am above. I am only a few steps away from any sin. This helps when we are tempted to judge other people also. They have done nothing that we are not capable of. We are, in no way, better than them. Even if we haven't done what they have done, it is only a matter of time or circumstance. In the right circumstance, with the right variables, we would do the same things. And if we don't, it is only by the Grace of Jesus Christ. Only in His power could we ever stand against temptation.
3)The point of grace is that there literally is nothing that I can do that is bad enough to lose Christ.
If there is a sin, Christ died for it. From lying about homework to murder, Christ died on the cross for that sin. Sexual impurity, betrayal, stealing, drug addictions. All of it is covered underneath the blood of the cross. In light of this, guilt should not keep us from the Lord, but rather bring us to Him. It is my tendency that when I mess up I avoid the Lord, because I see Him as eternally disappointed with me. But He wants to heal me from that sin and hurt that I inflicted on myself! So rather than avoid spending time with Him, I should turn to Him. He isn't surprised when we screw up. He knows exactly what we're like. And that's who He loved so much that He died. He loves us as the dirty, wretched sinners that we are. And He's offering freedom from all of that. Through His blood. So just accept and rejoice.
4) Godly sorrow and worldly sorrow are two totally different things.
2 Corinthians 7:10 says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." These words have become so true to me in the past few years. We have a tendency after we sin, to drown ourselves in our own guilt. We figure that if we're upset about it enough, and punish ourselves enough, that we can right the wrong that we've done. But that's a lie! This is only worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow is the only way to true forgiveness and freedom. We sin, recognize it, mourn over it, and turn to the Lord. We know that He is the only one that can save us and we rely on His grace. And after turning to Him, He will begin work in that sin. He will heal us and begin to mold us into a person that can bring Him glory. Only He can do that.
5) God is good.
For years I had heard this. God is good. He is loving. He is caring. He is kind. But I never really believed it. And when you don't really believe these things, it's hard to understand that grace is real. I always said that I believed this, but when a trial came my way that seemed just too hard, I blamed God. I was angry at Him. If He was really "good" then I wouldn't have to go through that trial. I wouldn't have to hurt. Right? I was angry at God for much of my sophomore year of college and some of my junior year. And then, because of the goodness and love of Christ, I began to see the small ways that He loved me. He wasn't giving me trials to beat me into the ground. He wasn't some evil dictator in the sky playing a sick sadistic game to see how much I could handle. He wanted me to grow. He allowed me to go through these trials so that I would turn to Him. Had I never gone through that trial, I might never have truly believed in His goodness. I might have never made my faith my own. And how amazing it is now that I see Him for who He truly is! I imagine that reading this will not convince anyone that God is good. Again, it will have to be a personal understanding and revelation. But I do have one story to show how loving He is, even in the everyday little things.
This summer, at Summer Beach Project, I was sitting in church on a Sunday morning. I had been missing Austin because we had just recently broken up, and I had been on the brink of tears all morning. In the pew right in front of me, there was this sweet older couple sitting together. The husband had his arm around his wife and rather than just resting it there as if for an armrest, he was slowly rubbing her shoulder with his hand. It was such a sweet little gesture. Just a little picture to his wife that he loved her. But it tore me up. I missed that. The tenderness and sweetness. Tears welled up in my eyes and I prayed, "Lord please. I can't handle this. I need something to get me through. I miss that so much. That tenderness. Those small sweet physical touches. Please help me through this." I held back my tears until my eyes were finally dry, and I looked back up at the pastor to pay attention. At that moment, my friend Katie O'Shea, who was sitting next to me, took her arm and put it around my shoulders. She rubbed my shoulder and just kept paying attention to the sermon. She had no idea what I had just prayed for or what I was going through that morning. The Lord knew that I needed that small physical touch and He used Katie to give it to me. I smiled and praised Him. Even in the small moments like that, He is there. Loving us. Caring for us. Being good.
To be continued....
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