“ Worry implies that we don’t quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what’s happening in our lives.

Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, or lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control.

Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it’s okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance.”

Francis Chan in Crazy Love

This is something that has been constantly on my mind the last week or so. I have been overwhelmed with all I must accomplish before graduation but my workload at the church hasn’t slowed at all either. Basically I felt like I had hit a wall and I was allowing my worry and stress to overwhelm me and it was starting to drain some of my joy.

I was reminded of chapter 2 in Crazy Love as I was feeling justified in all of my worry and stress. How arrogant! So, I am turning it over to Christ… I am struggling with not taking it back every once and a while and I know there is much I must do on my end to completely alleviate  the reasons for my worry and stress but I have been reminded He is God, I am not. I can trust Him in the midst of the whirlwind!

God’s words are better than our own…

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9 ESV)

As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. (2 Thessalonians 3:13 ESV)

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12:3 ESV)

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31 ESV)

Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University, committed suicide on Wednesday. Click here to read more about what happened. This young man felt he had no hope. It’s too late for us to reach out to him but there are so many others around us who are hurting, confused, and LOST. We have a responsibility to share the Truth and hope that can be found in Christ alone.

My heart hurts as I think on this… especially when I see that Tyler posted to his facebook what he was going to do. I so wish someone could have responded and stopped him. That someone could have been there in time to tell him, not this pseudo message of hope from Holywood as well meaning as it is, but the true message of life changing and sustaining HOPE. However, we can’t dwell on this or we will become defeated.

What happened is awful and if I were honest, how this happened makes me angry. What his roommate did is inexcusable. In fact, his responses to the consequences of his callus act remind me of Cain’s response to God in Genesis 4:9. “Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” My study Bible says this about this verse, “When the Lord confronts Cain with his crime, his coldhearted nature causes him to deny any knowledge about his brother. Cain shows no sign of remorse.” I found myself questioning how someone could be so cruel. There will be consequences for both him and his friend. This cannot be where we camp out when we look at this or we will become bitter and revengeful.

The cruelness of this act can and should call us to action but we must respond with compassion. In a hurting world we must show JESUS and His love. I’m reminded of the lyrics in a Brooke Fraser song called Albertine. “Now that I have seen, I am responsible… Faith without deeds is dead… I will tell the world, I will tell them where I’ve been. I will keep my word… I will tell them Albertine.” We must respond to what is happening. We must give feet to our Faith. We must respond as God would have us respond. We can’t sugar coat Truth nor should we want to keep silent. I think of it like this… If we were in a burning building and found the only way out wouldn’t we want to help as many out as we could? Cyberbullying and the other horrific things happening in our world are burning those around us… creating scars… There is really only one True Way out.  The world around us is Lost and without Hope… will you stand up and show them the way to Eternal Life?! John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

I want to close with what I believe our response to this should be. This isn’t just some random collection of my thoughts… this is straight from Scripture (emphasis mine).

Romans 12: 9-21 (NLT): “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.  Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads. Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.“

How many of us reading that just skimmed over it? This is probably the most memorized verse in the Bible. In fact, I can remember having contests with my sister when I was little to see who could say it the fastest. Unfortunately, I fear this is what many of us are still doing today. We just quickly read over the verse and then go on with our lives.

Let’s take a moment though… think about it. I mean REALLY think about it. The PERFECT God loved us enough to DIE for us. He physically died to take our place. We are sinners. There is nothing that we could do about that fact. On our own we fall short. Period. So Jesus took our place. This should stop us in our tracks. We should live each day differently because of this Truth. Do we?

“ForGodsolovedtheworldthatHegavehisoneandonlysonthatwhoeverbelievesinHimwillnotperishbuthaveeternallife” When I was little I ran it all together to say it as fast as I could. I didn’t really hear what I was saying, much less grasp the depth of Truth and Joy found there. I fear as Christians this is how we live out Jesus to those around us. We run it all together without allowing the Truth and Saving Grace of Christ to really be understood. I’m pointing my finger back at me too. We have to stop and really get this! The world around us, the WORLD God loved so much that he sent his Son, that world is dying! Does this break our hearts? Does this break mine?

I went to a conference recently where there were many Christian leaders where someone said something similar to this. Everyone began clapping and saying, “AMEN”. Is that all we do though? We nod our heads and agree and then go back to gossiping about that girl in class or griping about how long our food took to be delivered.

I in no way want to make light of this or say that I’m doing all I need to yet. BUT we have to get on it… there must be a change. We have to stop rushing through it and missing out on what it means… “ForGodsolovedtheworldthatHegavehisoneandonlysonthatwhoeverbelievesinHimwillnotperishbuthaveeternallife” There is life changing power in the truth of John 3:16… something so vast and amazing it should take an entire lifetime of praise and awe to grasp… So what are we going to do? Pause a moment, Thank God for the amazing gift of His grace and mercy, Let it radically change our lives, then get out there and Let this Truth change the lives of those around us!

John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Hebrews 10: 22-25, “So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.”

I know life gets crazy towards the end of a semester. Trust me. I have 4 more papers due in the next 2 weeks. I too can fall prey to the lie that I’m too busy to really spend time in the Word and in corporate Worship. What does that really accomplish though? Here’s the truth. We’re always going to be busy. Trust me. I thought I’d be less busy once I could drive myself places… then I thought I’d have more time in college…. or maybe when I graduated college… no, it was when I got a job. What I hear is that this trend continues when we get married, have kids, even retire. What’s my point? We need to determine NOW what we value most and make it a priority on our list of necessities.

Not all of us get too busy for worship…. there are some that get so busy doing church that they don’t spend time with Christ. Know what I mean? I always think about Martha…

Luke 10: 40-42, “But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

This isn’t saying that we aren’t to serve… no look at the Hebrews passage again, we are to see how “inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out”. We just have to make sure that we don’t get so busy serving that we don’t sit at His feet to learn.

Please know this short post isn’t to condemn… instead it is meant to encourage each of us. To encourage each of us to not get so busy doing that we forget to spend time with our Savior. Whether we get busy doing things in the world or in the church if we skip getting to know Him we are missing the bigger picture. You know the crazy part? You’ll be just as busy but you will have a renewed joy, peace, and strength. Seriously!

“Come to the Word for one purpose and that is to meet the Lord. Not to get your mind crammed full of things about the sacred Word, but come to meet the Lord. Make it to be a medium, not of Biblical scholarship, but of fellowship with Christ. Behold the Lord.” –The Green Letters

Now don’t get me wrong… I love to sit down and watch TV (only after I’ve DVRed a show… dude, I hate commercials)… but how much of my time is spent in temporal things? I’ll stay up late to watch my taped episode of Project Runway but fall asleep reading my Bible? Okay, I don’t really fall asleep reading ANYTHING but I think you understand my point.

What are we doing with our spare time? Before you flip out on me and say “What’s free time?!” let me just take a time out. We all have free time… maybe not a lot but we have time to check our Facebook or text our friends. Even if you only have a minute to do that… we text or check our Facebook a minimum of 10 times a day. So… you add that up and there’s ten minutes of free time.

Maybe we just aren’t wise with the time we do have. How does this affect our lives? Well I’ve realized lately that rash decisions and mediocre planning lead to unproductivity. I know… duh right? We don’t live like we know this to be true. We rush into decisions or go an entire day never mentioning the name of Christ. We become extremely myopic and guess what… STRESSED! When we don’t prioritize correctly we end up with more things to do than time to do them in. This affects us physically, emotionally, socially AND spiritually!

So why am I talking about this? In asking what everyone did for Spring Break I’ve heard that a lot of people did… NOTHING. Again, rest is great! I’m not bashing that… but what if this last week had been used to really seek what God wants each of us to do in the next months?

 I was looking at a verse today where it talks about Jesus rising early in the morning to pray (Mark 1:35—Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.) So I began to look at different verses about Jesus and how he spent his ‘free time’. Look at this verse: Luke 5:16, “ But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” My ESV Study Bible says this about this verse:

But he would withdraw . . . and pray. The Greek construction indicates a continual practice and could also be translated “was regularly withdrawing and praying”. The increasing crowds, the unceasing demands on Jesus’ time, and the fact that no one else could duplicate his ministry did not deter Jesus from spending extensive times in prayer.

If Jesus could find time to use his time to honor God… why can’t we? Why don’t I? It was challenging and encouraging for me today. So, what about you? Take just a bit of your spare time… get in the Word… spend time in prayer and see what amazing things God can do (and use you to do)! James 5:16

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Here it is in the Message:

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody. Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.” Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

I love that! My constant prayer is that I won’t be slothful in zeal, but fervent in spirit serving the Lord. This is my prayer for the Girls’ Ministry at Park Cities Baptist Church—for me and the girls in our ministry. That we purposefully seek Christ. That we are good friends who love deeply and push each other to grow in our relationships with Christ. That we are cheerfully expectant; persevering through the hard times in constant prayer. I pray we have a ministry where we rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.  I know I am only here because of the Grace of God, may he teach me true humility and show me the true beauty in those around me. May I serve and serve with the girls, their parents, leaders, and D-Groups. Through Him may we overcome evil with good.

So, what do I hope to accomplish in Girls’ Ministry at Park Cities? Something that only God can do. I pray that in a year from now we look back and see girls on fire for Christ grounded deeply in their identity through Him and that all we can say is, “Wow… how great is our God… look at all He has done!”

Here is the ESV:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.

Here it is in the NLT:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
⁶ Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

⁷ Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.
Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
⁸ Then you will have healing for your body
and strength for your bones.

Here it is in The Message:
^5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
a father’s delight is behind all this.

Isn’t God’s word awesome? Okay, your turn… what verse are you praying for your own life this week?

Fasting is one of the disciplines we like to leave in the Bible… or use a week before the Homecoming dance to better fit into our dress. However, in Matthew 6 “Jesus is not teaching on whether we should fast or not. He is assuming we will fast and teaching us how to do it and especially how not to do it.” (John Piper) So Jesus expects us to fast. Our question should then be, what exactly is fasting and what is it not?

We don’t fast because we want to appear ‘more spiritual’. That is what verse 16 in Matthew 6 is talking about, “do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others”. For these hypocrites fasting became more about what others saw than what they were seeking from God. The weren’t looking for God, they wanted the reward of praise from other people–and that is what they got. That is all they got… instead of hearing from GOD they got a few accolades from the people around them. That’s not even second best… and yet… do we sometimes make that our aim instead of desiring the reward of intimacy with Christ? Verses 17-18 give us a picture of how we ARE to fast. “ But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Okay, at first glance a few things might seem a bit weird so let’s address these issues. One, I don’t think there has ever been a time I ‘anointed my head’. So what does this mean? You aren’t to try to go out of your way to LOOK like you are fasting–drawing attention to yourself. Again, it’s about the heart! Here’s the second thing that stands out… is this saying that if your friend sees you not eating you are to lie about it? NO. “Being seen fasting and fasting to be seen are not the same. Being seen fasting is a mere external event. Fasting TO BE SEEN is a self-exalting motive of the heart.” (John Piper) There are times in the Bible where people fasted together–look at Esther. It’s a heart issue… do you see a repeating theme here?

I like how the devos’ say, “As you fast, it is important to remember that ‘your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit’, and that you must fast with a pure motive, not with a motive for weight loss.” Fasting in this way makes it all about you and there is no focus on God or hearing from Him. Think about it, fasting isn’t about us!

Look, just because you give up a meal doesn’t mean you are going to hear from God (Look at Isaiah 58). It’s also about what you DO while you are fasting. This morning I read something John Piper wrote and I want to share some of it with you:

Jesus began his ministry by fasting forty days alone. Just before choosing the twelve apostles he spent a whole night in prayer (Luke 6:12ff).

Whenever Charles Finney sensed a lessening of God’s power, he spent one to three days alone in prayer and fasting, and always found renewed zeal.

Wesley Duewel discovered that the world and busyness can so fill the mind with godless thoughts that he would need a prayer retreat in which he read at least fifty chapters of the Bible before he was again really in tune with God.

Okay, I know that probably the only person you knew from that list was Jesus but look what Piper says here… look at how Christ sought the Father. Finney and Duewel are just two men… who longed to hear from God and grow closer to Him. When was the last time this kind of passion and desire for Christ led us to prayer and fasting? When was the last time it drove us to His word? THIS is what fasting is about!

Did you know that throughout the Bible people fasted for different reasons? Let’s look at some of them… it helps us better understand why we are called to fast. (Don’t just read the verses I have listed here, go read the verses in context)

Fasting for Reward
Today’s passage: Matthew 6: 16-18. Look back at Monday’s devo though… our reward is His will to be done. Look down at verse 33 all these things are added unto us when we SEEK HIM FIRST.

Fasting and Prayer for Protection
“Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.” 2 Chronicles 20: 3-4

“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.” Ezra 8:21

Fasting and Prayer of Repentance
“As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1: 4

Fasting and Prayer for Deliverance
“Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” Esther 4:16

“Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.” Daniel 9:3

Fasting and Prayer for Restoration of Intimacy with God
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Joel 2: 12-13

Fasting and Prayer for Direction and Guidance
“…She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.” Luke 2: 37b

“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”  Acts 13:2-3

These are just a few verses from the Old and New Testaments on Fasting… it is a discipline we need to correctly understand and practice. While fasting in our devo’ and these verses speaks directly to abstaining from food the purpose of the fast is to set aside time to sincerely and fervently seek God. In you time of fasting seek Him through prayer and reading His word. So, if it’s fasting from your favorite TV show and using that time to seek the Lord… then do it!

Is your heart hungry for God? What are you going to do this week to practice the discipline of fasting as you follow Him? Thoughts, comments, and lessons God’s taught you… bring ‘em on! =)

Our Devos’ this week discuss “The Follow Me Project”. Who are we following? Christ. Therefore we must look to His description of how we are to pray.

As I first read Matthew 6 verse 7 stood out to me. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.” What does this mean? In my ESV Study Bible there was this note: Pagans repeated the names of their gods or the same words over and over without thinking. Jesus is prohibiting mindless, mechanical repetition, not the earnest repetition that flows from the imploring heart. QUESTION TO US: How often do we just say a prayer without really thinking about it? It makes you stop and think, doesn’t it?

Let’s look at the Lord’s Prayer. I mean REALLY look at it. Most of us can recite it from memory but do we use it as a guide? Or has it become common place to us? Think about it… Jesus SHOWS us how to pray!! How awesome is that? Okay, so what is the proper way to pray?

First, we are to look to the greatness of our God. We are able to have an intimate relationship with him–we can call him Father. However, we must also remember that he is GOD. Hallowed be you name… Hallowed means holy or sacred.

What does it mean for His Kingdom to come? (PS- I’m probably going to quote my study Bible a lot in my blogs, just FYI) “Christians are called to pray and work for the continual advance of God’s kingdom on earth. The presence of God’s kingdom in this age refers to the reign of Christ in the hearts and lives of believers, and to the reigning presence of Christ in his body, the church—so that they increasingly reflect his love, obey his laws, honor him, do good for all people, and proclaim the good news of the kingdom.” (ESV Study Bible) Wow, there is a LOT here. First I want to point out this is talking about RIGHT NOW… not just when we get  to Heaven some day but NOW…  doesn’t that motivate you to want to DO something for Christ?

Thy Will be done… We pray that He helps us to obey His Will. How do we know His will? Through His Word! See how all of this comes together?

Give us this day… We are able to pray for our daily needs. God is concerned about even our daily needs. Look further down in Matthew 6… he tells us not to worry but to cast our cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7).

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors… Remember, we are justified by Christ and our sins are forgiven. However this is speaking more to the intimacy of our relationship with Christ. “This is a prayer for the restoration of personal fellowship with God when fellowship has been hindered by sin. Those who have received such forgiveness are so moved with gratitude toward God that they also eagerly forgive those who are debtors to them.” (ESV Study Bible)

Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil… “The best protection from sin and temptation is to turn to God and to depend on his direction.” (ESV Study Bible)

Prayer is something that we should do continuously but not flippantly. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5: 17. “Pray without ceasing suggests a mental attitude of prayerfulness, continual personal fellowship with God, and consciousness of being in his presence throughout each day.” Look at the second question on today’s devo’… How much of your day actually includes God? To include something it has to be a conscience thought… what’s our list of priorities?

My aim with these blogs… Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” Okay, now it’s time for what God is teaching you… your thoughts, comments, questions etc.: Bring it on! =)

So, why did I call this joy complete… It’s actually been pretty amazing! Last week in our student devos’ we read Philippians 2: 1-11. In verse 2 Paul says, “ complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind”. Last night I read John 15 and in verse 11 Jesus states, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

How then is our Joy Complete? Why does this matter?

Dictionary.com defines joy as the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated. Therefore our JOY is from the realization of WHO Christ is and WHAT He has done for us. This is completely satisfying and HE is of greatest value.

Just a quick thought on how our Joy is Complete in Christ and it is all FOR HIS GLORY. =)