The Problem of Conditional Sacrifice

When I was 15 years old, I watched an episode of Oprah where she told a story of how she had sacrificed something really important to her and then immediately received that very thing.  So in all my 10th grade wisdom, I decided that I should sacrifice something that I really wanted, since I figured God wouldn't give it to me until I gave it to Him. So I decided to stop thinking about boys.  I was fairly successful in this and I believe some good did come out of it, but the concept was ALL WRONG.  Thankfully, God did not give me a boyfriend as a "reward" for my "sacrifice."  The problem was that I gave something to God with the condition that he would give it back to me.  Now I think this kind of thinking is one of our most unspoken troubles as Christians.  We have seen all of these people who were content and got something that we want, and we think, "If I can just be content enough then I will get [insert wanted thing here]."  So we work really hard at acting like we are content in God and then even trying to convince God that we are content in him, in hopes of receiving that thing we have been hoping for. Sometimes we even pretend that we don't want these things to add an extra incentive for God to give them.

THE PROBLEM: Looking at an infinite God as a means to finite gifts. Seriously??? Are we really doing this?? We look at our wonderful and glorious God who has created the world and who offers us Himself and all we can think about is the things that He can give us in this world.

We look at a verse like this: (Matthew 6:33)

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness 

and then all of these things will be added to you.

 When we should be looking at it like this:

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness 

and then all of these things will be added to you.

This verse is followed by: So do not worry about tomorrow ; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. We are called not to worry about tomorrow and our needs, instead we should be seeking His kingdom and His righteousness.  So this means that our motivation should not be receiving what we want, we really shouldn't even be thinking much about that.  Our concern should be with seeking God well, the rest is more of an afterthought.  Because honestly, when we are spending the 99.99999% of our existence with Jesus, those things that we " just had to have" are going to be dust. What is going to matter is the crowns that we have to throw at His feet and praise Him with! That is what we are going to care about! Our reward in heaven comes from seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. And I don't know about you, but I think that when I am in heaven and all I care about is Jesus, I will want the best seat that I can get! 

The Reality of Sacrifice and Contentment: I think that something very important to remember when we are seeking to live lives of contentment and sacrifice is that: The young lions do lack and suffer hunger ; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing. (Psalm 34:10) So right now, we have everything that is good and needed for this moment. We might not have what we need 5 years, months, days, or minutes from now. But what we have in this very moment, is enough.  

Secondly, giving up our needs to God and being content in our situation is a daily pursuit.  My room could get really messy and so I finally get fed up and clean it. Well, it is not going to stay clean on its own, is it? It takes daily upkeep. We can have a big moment with God where we decide that He is more than enough and we want to give up everything to Him. But we have to continue to reinforce this later that day, and then the next day, and the day after that. 


Thirdly, giving something to God rarely changes our preferences in the situation.  I can think of one time that I gave something up and received it almost immediately.  It happened a couple of summers ago on a ten hour plane ride.  I was in a part time program at A&M and I had applied for full admittance. I didn't know whether I had been accepted because I had spent the last few weeks overseas.  Well, as I was on this plane, I gave it to God basically with the attitude that- If I don't get in, it's not going to be easy, but I trust that all Your ways are still good.  I met my parents at the airport and immediately found out that I had gotten in.  Now, this does not mean that if I would have been rejected that it wouldn't have, excuse my language, sucked at the time.  BUT, the overall outcome would have been good because it was from God.  

God desires our honesty:  
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will you give you the desires of your heart."  If we are delighting ourselves in God, we can trust that He puts desires on our hearts.  And if we have a desire that is in line with scripture and where God is leading our lives, then He has put it there for a reason.  That reason may or may not be to fulfill the desire, but God has just as much of a purpose for unfulfilled desires.  Instead of taking measures on our own to fulfill this desire, just tell God.  He already knows; He is not surprised.  He may wish to fulfill this desire if we only ask Him. "You have not because you ask not." James 4:2b  And you know what, when we go to God and humbly ask Him, we are putting our needs into His hands. And sometimes, we may have a perfectly good desire and we take it to God and he says no.  David did.  He wanted to build God a temple, but God said no.  He commended Him on His idea which was pleasing to God, but it was God's will for Solomon to build the temple.  And you know what David didn't do? He didn't go in his room and pout or indulge thoughts of bitterness, HE PRAISED GOD! And you know why? Because even though God didn't allow David to do that, He promised to establish David's house forever, and ultimately the King Jesus would come from the line of David. When we seek to please Him with our desires then He gives us what is best, even if it is not what we had originally wanted.  We have gotten it into our heads that God wants to take from us everything we want and give us everything we don't want.  Now, I do not believe our loving and caring God treats us spitefully. Nor will he be fooled if we pretend with Him.

And Remember: As great as our desires might seem to be right now, when we come to the end of our lives, only Jesus will remain.  And if our lives come crashing down, JESUS STILL STANDS.  We have nothing to fear.

Blessed Assurance: Part Four- Filled with His goodness

Filled with His goodness 
As I was contemplating this line today, I realized that if we want be filled with His goodness, we have to empty ourselves of other things.  If we are filled with something that does not mesh with Christ, then we are not going to fully experience the peace and joy that comes with His goodness. There are two major things that inhibit us from this. (Notice I say inhibit us, not inhibit Christ.)  One is sin, specifically habitual sin, and then guilt from that.  The second is anxiety, which is also a sin, but one so consuming that I have given it it's own category.  Both of these things prevent us from being as near to Him as we need and as He desires. Before we go on though, we must understand that Christ died for us, nailing our sins to the cross, and then He rose again defeating sin and death (Colossians 2:13-15). When we accept Him, we are eternally secure, and no sin will keep us from heaven (Ephesians 1:13-14).  But, sin can get in the way of our fellowship with Him on this earth (1 John 1:5-7).
And now, here is how we empty ourselves of the bad, in order to receive the good.

1) Concerning habitual sin: Tell someone trustworthy who will keep you accountable. And then run. Get out of there. 1 Corinthians 10:13
2) Confession: Tell the Lord and ask for His forgiveness. He is faithful to forgive. 1 John 1:9; Hebrews 4:14-16
3) Cast your cares on the Lord: If we do not remember to consistently cast all of our cares upon the Lord, we end up bogged down by 83,449 different weights. Our minds will be so filled with our worries, we will have no room left for Christ. Philippians 4:6-8; 1 Peter 5:6-7

OKAY, well now that we are past the gross stuff, we can move on to the good stuff. Specifically, being filled with His goodness.

Here is how we are very literally always filled with His goodness. (No matter what!).  The Holy Spirit of God who is complete in goodness, lives in us and helps us all the time!

"If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." Romans 8:11

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:26-28

Now, in another sense, how do we experience His goodness?  The answer is through praise.  When we praise God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do, we are delighting in His character and His goodness.  It will fill our hearts and minds, directing them towards Him.  When our thoughts are centered around the goodness of Christ, then our affections will be too.  And I promise you, there is no one more deserving of our affections than Jesus Christ.

Who He is:

• "Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God,compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and truth; who keeps steadfast love for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished..." Exodus 34:6-7a
• "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8
• "And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."' Isaiah 6:3
• "O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." Psalm 34:8
• "You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11

What He has done:

• "Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." Genesis 2:7
• "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
• "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him." Psalm 103:10-13
• "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried ; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities ; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed." Isaiah 53:4-5

What He will do: 

• "[T]he day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." 1 Thessalonians 5:2
• "...in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God." Romans 8:20b-21
• "and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes ; and there will no longer be any death ; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain ; the first things have passed away." And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son." Revelation 21:4-7

Blessed Assurance: Part Three- Looking above

watching and waiting, looking above

Are we living lives in constant anticipation of the return of Christ?  If I am being honest, the return of Christ is not always number one on the "things I am looking forward to" list.  More often than not, my thoughts are spent in anticipation of what I am going to be doing next semester or in ten years.  I am looking to earthly things, when there is so much more in store.  I think a big part of it is ignorance on my part.  I generally have trouble getting really excited for something that I do not fully understand.  When I go overseas, I don't get excited until I am there, because I just have no idea what to expect.  But the return of Christ is infinitely greater than going overseas for a summer, and we are called to anticipate it.  The bible also gives us reasons to anticipate it.  This is something that I know I could do well to learn more about.

Romans 8:18-25 tells us of the "anxious longing" of the earth for all that comes with the return of Christ, as well as the glory that is going to be beheld.
Revelation 19:11 tells of the return of the Jesus, "Faithful and True," to judge all in righteousness.
Revelation 21 gives us a play by play of the coming of the new heaven and the new earth and the new Jerusalem.  I admit, I do not have a profound understanding of everything in this passage, but here are some wonderful things that will be happening at this time:
-God will dwell among people                            
-Every tear will be wiped away and there will be no more death
-God will make all things new

Our ultimate hope and joy is in the return of Christ. We should look forward to that day with zeal.  I have heard numerous times that those who live with an eternal perspective have the most lasting impact on the world we live in now.  So let us all look to the return of Christ, "Faithful and True," with excitement.
                          

Blessed Assurance: Part Two- Happy and Blest

I in my Savior am happy and blest
  I think that I could sometimes characterize myself as 'always joyful, never happy'.  I know this sounds pretty ridiculous, but I make a distinction between joy and happiness.  Joy is the constant hope we have in the promises and character of Christ.  Happiness is the enjoyment we have in our current circumstances. I realized recently that though I may be thankful for Christ and the security that I have in Him, I hardly ever allow Him to make me happy. Sure, I let my friends make me happy, or the kids that I take care of, or the music I listen to, even baking makes me happy.  But I never just enjoyed Christ and his every day blessings, receiving happiness from these things also.  I would equate this to a scenario where I get married and let my husband know how very thankful I am for him and how he he was the best option for matrimony and such, but I absolutely never ever smiled or laughed. Besides being super creepy and awkward, I wouldn't make for a very good wife.  Yeah, maybe I would be thankful, but he certainly wouldn't feel enjoyed or delighted in.

Psalm 37:4 tells us to delight ourselves in the Lord! That's God talking! He desires for us to delight in Him!
Philippians 4:4 and Romans 12:12 both tell us to be rejoicing always!
Romans 8:28 says that God causes all things to come together for good for those who seek Him! We are blessed! Let's act like it!

God's ultimate purpose is to bring praise and worship to HIS name. That is what we are here for.  I think that Joy and Thanksgiving are absolutely crucial in this.  And though circumstantial happiness is not as necessary, it is still important.  Let's take a minute to smile while we think of Jesus, or find other ways to give Him affection in our day to day lives.  Maybe you already do this, and that is wonderful!  Affection is not my strong suit so I am still learning! But I am excited! God blesses us all the time, so let's live it up!

One more thing, happiness is circumstantial and fleeting so it will not always come naturally and sometimes we will lose it.  God's ultimate goal is not for us to live happy lives; it is for us to strive after Him in worship.  But many times, worship and happiness come hand in hand.  There are other times that we are upset and we just need to go to God and share that with Him.  But here is something many people don't know about feelings, and happiness is certainly a feeling.  We do have some control over them.  Our emotions are going to come from our thoughts and what we are dwelling on.  We have the ability to stir up emotions in ourselves by thinking of Christ. When we dwell on Him in praise even when we don't feel like it, our emotions will eventually catch up.

Blessed Assurance: Part One- Submission

I find few things more fascinating than the forgotten verses of old hymns.  It is like finding a treasure in the attic.  Hymns are wonderful because they are filled with scripture and they carry deep theological meaning.  Many hymns were also written in the face of great adversity, making them even more valuable. (James 1:2-4)

I recently stumbled upon the third verse of the hymn, Blessed Assurance, and it blew my mind.
"Perfect submission- all is at rest,
I in my savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting,
looking above,
filled with His goodness,
lost in His love."

What a wonderful picture of what our life should look like in Christ! Don't you want these lines to characterize your walk with Christ? Oh boy, I know I sure do! Let's walk through this side by side with God's word to find out how to attain this.

Perfect submission- all is at rest. 
  From my understanding of this line, all is at rest is a result of perfect submission.  So when we submit our lives to God, our hearts will be at rest. How absolutely wonderful!

-Matthew 6:25-34 tells us to refuse worry because God will provide for us. When we trust Him with our needs, we are submitting.
-Philippians 4:6-7 again says "be anxious for nothing!" We are commanded to hand it over to God with thanksgiving.  It is then, that the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ.
-1 Peter 5:1-2 tells us to humble ourselves before God and to cast our cares on Him. Giving over our cares to the Lord is certainly an act of humility and submission.

So when we joyfully submit our lives to the Lord and let Him take over, all will be at rest.

God: The Greatest Adventure

(Side note: I do not like writing he/she or the grammatically incorrect they when referring to a singular person, so I am going to generalize and write "he" as a representation of a person in general. Sorry about "not getting with the times." :p)

Something that you should, well let's be honest , you probably already know about me, is that I love Disney movies.  Seriously, it is probably the most well known thing about me; people come to me with all of their Disney related questions, it's getting a bit ridiculous.  But there is a theme that I notice in all fairy tales/Disney movies, and also in many other movies, books, and other works of fiction, with some exceptions.  The hero is usually forgotten and unloved, living a menial, purposeless life.  But something changes.  This person discovers that he has been called to a far higher purpose than he has ever imagined and he becomes far more loved and valued than before. (The love part generally happens more with heroines than heroes, but again, I am generalizing.)  If you look at these works of our imaginations, they are crying out for purpose and love.  This can bring us to the conclusion that this is the life that we desperately desire. 

What we tend to forget is that God is calling us to just that! It is no coincidence that we long for these things.  We were made for these things! We were created to delight in God's abounding and steadfast love for us. And even more, we were created with the high purpose of bringing glory to the King of the universe.  

"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."  Are we getting this? We were in the dark, cast out, cursed, controlled by evil.  But when we accept Jesus, we are rescued!! And God doesn't stop there. "He transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son."  We are brought into the kingdom of the Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and I promise you, there is no better place to be. 

Through Jesus, we have been set free. (Galatians 5:1)

Through Jesus, we have been adopted into royalty. (Ephesians 1:5-8)

In Jesus, we have a purpose. (Ephesians 1:18-19)

In Jesus, we are loved. (1 John 4:9-10)

I sometimes fall into the trap of believing that my life is hum drum and static, of little value. I doubt that I am the only one who ever feels this way.  But I would like to challenge you.  If you are really bored with your life, open your bible, because you are missing something.  We constantly need to be renewed and enlightened in the hope of His calling. (Ephesians 1:18-19)  Now this doesn't meant that our lives will ever be constant excitement. But what it does mean is that the ultimate purpose of our lives in Jesus is of more hope and of more value than the things that we seek on this earth.

Now to something that we can constantly be looking forward to! Jesus is coming back to rescue us, and He is coming on a white horse.  I can think of no better "fairy tale" ending than that.  We will actually be living happily ever after. Literally. There will be no more tears. (Revelation 21:4-5) Plus, it will also be ever after, really, forever. (John 3:16)

Valentine's Day and Singleness and Jesus: Part Two- Patience

Okay, and now a little about the most abhorred subject among single ladies: waiting.  I recently attended a seminar where the singles talk was titled, "The long, hard, wait" and as a single girl my thought was, "Wait, you mean I have to learn more about waiting?? And long, hard, waiting at that??? Ahhh."  I, like you, generally dislike waiting, since I am a broken human who generally falls short at Godly things like patience. Unless you love waiting, and are just a lot cooler than than the general population.  But for the rest of us...just WAIT! Waiting is not what it has seemed!  We have been seriously deceived about the nature of waiting.  All of my life I have grown up believing that waiting was just a means to an end.  You wait SO that you can get what you want.  But, guess what! That is not what the bible says about it. 

Here is what the bible says about waiting:

"strengthened with all power,according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience ; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light."

Colossians 1:11-12

So it seems as if patience is the ends instead of the means. Wow, this really revolutionized the way I viewed waiting.  But hold on, that's a little confusing, right? God gives us power so that we can be really good at waiting? Why would God's goal for us be patience? Well here is the thing that I have been told by people of every stage of life. There is always something we have to wait for, whether marriage, or kids, or retirement, or a new house! And here is what I have heard from the bible. We are constantly waiting for the return of Jesus Christ and the redemption of the whole world. (Romans 8:18-22)

Since we will always be waiting for something on this earth, I believe that in order to be truly effective ambassadors for Christ, we must master the skill of contentment in every situation. And yes, we must be really good at waiting.  Why?  Because if we are constantly looking to the next stage of life, we can never live this day to its fullest. (John 10:10) 

Side note: I am not trying to say that singleness is easy, or that waiting is easy.  I do not want anyone to feel like the fact that it is difficult for them makes them a "bad" Christian.  It is going to be hard. I mean for the (almost) 21 years that I have been on the earth as a single girl, there are certainly days that it feels like it's been 100 years! But for the sake of this post, I wanted to show you the hope there is despite all that! 

Thanks for reading! :)

Valentine's Day and Singleness and Jesus: Part One- Joy

I am not sure how long singles have been calling Valentine's Day "Single Awareness Day," but I think that it is time for a change and a fresh outlook! I don't know about you, but I have never woken up on February 14th to find myself spontaneously more single than I was the day before.  I mean, it is never easy for us to see others with something that we desire, but God's will for us is never bitterness.  He calls us to rejoice ALWAYS with prayer and thanksgiving (Philippians 4:4-7), no matter our situation (Philippians 4:11-13).  This is because our joy should rest in Jesus Christ, 'in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.' (Colossians 1:14)

Now, contrary to popular belief, joy is not just another synonym for happiness.  While our happiness is circumstantial, our joy is constant.  This is because our GOD is constant. He never changes. (Hebrews 13:8)  And if our God is constant, then all of His promises to us never change either. He has promised us ETERNAL LIFE! (John 3:16) It doesn't matter how terrible our situation, we ALWAYS have eternal life to look forward to and rejoice over!
Some other promises: This list is by NO means exhaustive, you'll find a lot more in the Bible! :)
He has promised to draw near to those who draw near to Him. (James 4:8a)
He has promised to be near to the brokenhearted and crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18)
He has promised that the Holy Spirit prays for us according to His GOOD will. (Romans 8:26-31)
He has promised to make us more like Jesus. (Colossians 1:21-22)
He has promised to love us all the time. (Lamentations 3:21-25)

So, it looks like we all have an abundance to be thankful for that has absolutely nothing to do with our relationship statuses on Facebook.