The Wave of Blogs Come and Go...

My 2x4 came to me this week in the form of the beatitudes. These are the 9 teachings that get the heart of what Jesus taught that day on the Mount! I love this passage in the bible, Jesus is specifically speaking to his disciples, however right at the beginning of the passage it talks about how Jesus saw the crowds, which we are led to believe that this teaching was not only meant for the disciples, but rather those who were not yet “followers” of Christ. Coincidence? I think not! But whoever Christ was teaching at that moment is not as important as what he was teaching. As you look over each one of the beatitudes, they stand out on their own, each with something to “be” and the result of becoming it. The more I read them the more it stuck out to me that they might be individual attributes of Christ, but they all work together…because Christ is and breathes all of them. If this who Christ is, then shouldn’t we look at all of them as a whole?

Matthew 5:3-12

1.       Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

2.       Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

3.       Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

4.       Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled

5.       Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

6.       Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

7.       Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Children of God.

8.       Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

9.       Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me, rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Anyway, it’s hard for me to think that we can “be” one of them without the others. How can we be merciful without a pure heart? How can we allow others to persecute us, if we are not meek peacemakers? How can we hunger and thirst for righteousness without being poor in spirit? I think we can strive to be better at each one of these, but we will never fully “be” poor in spirit, if we are not pure in heart or a peacemaker, or merciful. We will never “be” one without the others. I don’t mean this to be discouraging, rather I want to be encouraging as to what we should strive to become in our daily walks with Christ.

Which one do you have to strive after more than others? Being at the end of your rope, yet maintaining an attitude because with less of you, there is more of Him? Losing someone that you loved, so you can be embraced by the one who loves you the most? Being content with no more or no less, so you can be proud of what you have that is priceless? Relying on your nourishment to come from the best source, so you can please Him in all you do? Caring for others, so you can know Christ cares for you? Setting right your inside world, so you can see the outside world through God’s perspective? Agreeing to disagree, rather than taking sides so you can discover the “you” God created you to be? Saying Yes to Him amongst trials, so others can see who they need? Being blessed when others throw you under the bus, because the truth is slowly being shown to them and it brings them discomfort?

Whatever one it may be, it is my prayer that God would reveal to you how to strive towards it with faithfulness.

I leave you with this to ponder… feel free to backfire thoughts or comments to this!!!...to any of it really!

There is only one or two accounts I can recall when Jesus sought someone out personally or arrived at a place with a specific visitor in mind. All the other times, the crowds saw Him and what He was doing and followed Him. Maybe with the intent to learn, maybe to just simply watch what He was doing. But my question is, what made them follow Him in the first place? It must have been His radical way of living, and his actions that caused people to take a step back and observe or take a step forward and follow. One way or the other, it seems to be the way Christ lived that attracted people to Himself. How do you live that makes people take a step back to observe how you live, or take that step forward like you have and follow Christ?

The One True Light...

A couple nights ago I was laying in bed, it was dark and I saw a small light on my ceiling. I’ve lived there since May of last year and I have never noticed it before, and I couldn’t think of what it could be. My first thought was that there was a small hole in my ceiling coming through the floor above me. Sounds crazy, but on our first floor, there are tiny holes that you can see light coming through the basement. I wasn’t quite sure how a hole could possibly be in my ceiling, but that’s what I thought. It was cold and I didn’t want to get out of bed, so I laid there convincing myself that I could leave it be and let my curiosity rest till morning. WRONG! Well, we all know how curiosity gets the best of us, especially for someone who would probably lay there all night thinking of the many possibilities of this mysterious light. So I decided to brave the cold, hop out of bed and take a closer look. With my overhead light still off, even getting closer to the so called hole I couldn’t tell what it was, and now I had to convince myself to turn on the bright light after getting used to the darkness. You’re probably thinking “Okay, Chelsea get on with it already”. Anyway, I decided I didn’t want to know what it was so I got back in bed and went to sleep…

JUST KIDDING…I turned the light on, and low and behold, it was the little light on my smoke detector.

Why do I share this story with you? Simply because just like this smoke detector light and having to turn on the overhead light to reveal the truth of the object, it’s much like our own lives. Except that God is the overhead light through which the truth is revealed. 1 John 1:5 says, “⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”  Sometimes we have to convince ourselves to take initiative and hop out of bed, but God is there with us just waiting for us to embrace the light he offers.

Science shows that there are three functions of light. It reveals, measures, and energizes. It allows us to see everything that is around us, it measures distances, angles and speed, and it summons us from our slumber as it rises. It glorifies, intensifies, and fulfills the earth every morning as it slowly replaces the moon. Just like physical light, God is light –ONLY BETTER! Through Him the truth is revealed, we can measure our lives with His character through His light, and He gives us the energy to push through and embrace each and every day. God wants us to have a daily dependence on Him.

Mark Batterson wrote, “We want a one-week or one-month or one-year supply of God’s provision, but God wants us to drop to our knees every day in raw dependence on Him. And God knows that if He provided too much too soon, we’d lose our spiritual hunger. He knows we’d stop trusting in our Provider and start trusting in the provision.”

1 John says that “in him there is no darkness AT ALL”.

Darkness conceals, but light reveals! What is God revealing to you?

Walls

I don’t know about you, but the Lord is blessing me in so many ways! Part of God’s blessing came through a phone call with a friend this week. As I began to think about what she was saying on the phone I was reminded of new things, not necessarily myself personally, but new things in general. The start of a new year. A new relationship. A new found confidence. A new look. A new challenge. A new hope. We can get such gratification out of new things. In fact some people can’t wait for something new. (Especially if they know it’s coming). The crazy thing is, a new year only comes every 365 days. A new relationship may be hard to come by. Confidence, may never find its way into our lives. A new look may only come around once in a while, and we may never accept the new challenges in front of us. And hope, one must first find through the belief in God.

The truth of it is, these “new” things or “new” feelings may only come once a year, once a month, or it may take decades, but there is one thing that we have new! It’s every second, minute, and hour of EVERYDAY! It the gift of life, and every second is an opportunity to make a difference for Christ in the lives of others. Sometimes there are things that stand in the way, we guard ourselves because we are scared of the pain, fear, and rejection that may result. We hide behind these giant walls that we’ve built overtime. Give it enough time and the walls become more permanent, they harden and can come to the point where they filter our relationships with others. These walls tend to make us pick and choose what we share with others based on our relationship with them. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to hide my faith behind anything, or allow hindrances in my relationships with others. So that has been my challenge this week, to look at my relationships and find the walls, and to figure out how to tear them down! J No more filters!

"Just a Touch"

When God created us, he gave us a spine to be able to hold ourselves up. Much like books have a spine to hold the pages together. He gave us a "cover" and a couple of pages to begin our journey but left the other pages blank, so He could draft our stories as we grow in Him. As I think of stories I think about the story I recently read about the woman who had been, "subject to bleeding for 12 years, but no one could heal her." (Luke 8:43).

I have heard this story so many times throughout my life, but it has never had the significance that it rings now. 12 years! WoW!!! If I would subtract the last 12 years of my life I would be 11years old, and to be honest I don't really remember a whole lot of my childhood, but it's been a while since I have been 11, and I don't really remember a whole lot that has happened in the last 12 years of my life. 

12 years of time seems like an eternity, but for people to treat you, like this woman was treated for that long is something I can't grasp. According to Jewish law she was in a state of uncleanliness and a social outcast. No one would talk to her. She tried EVERYTHING she possibly could to be healed from this disease and spent every penny she had, yet every attempt failed. YET, she STILL had faith that if she could get close enough to Jesus that just a touch would heal her. The power of Jesus had healed her, and Christ knew it by just a touch. A moment later Christ calls her out and despite the embarrassment and her past health condition she comes forth proclaiming what He had done for her.

But wait, how does Jesus respond to this? With the most tender words, he says (NLV), "Daughter, your faith has HEALED you."

With just a touch, His daughter (our sister) was healed. And it wasn't a physical touch, it was a faith touch. Christ didn't say because you touched me you are healed...he said by your FAITH.

So is this the answer?

Could it be that simple? 

Could it be just a touch of faith?

100,000 miles and counting...

I remember when I bought my very first car...I probably remember so well because I am still paying for it. But it only had 23,482 miles on it, when I made the commitment to make this 04 Honda Civic (Also known as my "Plain" Jane) a part of my life, that would take me from point A to point B. It will be an even better mile stone when I have the lovely thing paid off, but for now I cherish a moment. I have hit over 100,000 miles... I have put over 76,532 miles on this car since I went to the dealer and drove it home for the first time 5 years ago, that is roughly 19,000 miles a year.

Assuming that each mile was going at a rate of 60mph, that would be 1,147,980 mins a a year. That is approximately 52 miles a day or a total of 317 hours year. Assuming that most of the miles I drove were at 60mph I would have spent about 1,276 hours in my car since I bought it, which would equal about 53 consecutive days. It's hard to believe that I have driven that far in just my car. All math aside, my point is, I have spent so much time in my car. I have traveled to Florida twice, back and forth from college most weekends, back and forth from Goshen to Van Wert several times when I lived with my brother and sister-n-law for the summer, and now back to Van Wert, OH from Harrisburg, PA. Those were the times when I put the most miles on my car. I have laughed, sang so many songs at the top of my lungs, and have even cried. I have left a lot of places in my review mirror as I've said goodbye, and I experience new scenes out my windshield every day. Every day is a brand new adventure.

Every day I trust God will get me and those around me safely from point A to point B. But is our everyday journey just to make it from point A to point B. Our destination or point B shouldn't be our ultimate goal, it should be what we do with the miles and time it takes us to get there. I'm not sure that I spend this time wisely everyday.  I know I haven't used it wisely as I've "yelled" or "honked" at the driver who just cut me off, as I've cursed the red light that turned from green ever so quickly and made me late for a meeting, or the times when I've found myself at an annoying stand still in traffic. All opportunities I was given and blown just as much as the driver behind me honking at me because the light turned green and I didn't notice it as quickly as he did.

I want the journeys I experience to mean just as much as the point B's that I experience, because if I don't love, if I don't serve, if I don't share God's love along the way, what good will it be when I land at yet another point B and haven't used it for His glory?

שם חדש, מטרה חדשה, עתיד חדש

New Name...New Purpose...New Future...

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW creation; the old has gone, the new has come."

When is the last time you stopped to smell the roses? Really, who has the time? I could not even tell you the last time I saw a rose and thought to stop and enjoy its wonderful fragrance. What a wonderful God given creation that I couldn't even describe to you the smell. Sad I know...

Well whether you've taken the time out of your schedule to stop or you've passed by without the slightest recognition, it's there. If I am not careful this is the state in which I can so easily find myself. The state of just being there. I guess they would call it, "Going Through The Motions". At any moment of your life you could be living the "normal". When times are hard, and you are just barely able to keep your head above water...you go through the motions to stay afloat. When things are easy and you like to keep them that way...you go through the motions to stay comfortable. When things are "normal"...you go through the motions to keep the normality. Whatever the reason, let's face it...we can go through the motions.

Different circumstances drive us to different actions , but only the circumstance where God has created in you a new life and you are using it for His glory can you really stop going through the motions and begin a fragrance full life of smelling the roses!

As you begin or continue your journey with Christ, despite your past, if you choose Christ he will give you a NEW name. You will no longer carry the name your past labeled you as, you will no longer be seen how man sees you, and you will no longer be seen how you see yourself. You will be given a "New God-Centered View of You!"

With this NEW name, comes a NEW purpose.... Matthew 16:17, "Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Judah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in Heaven." Like Simon (Peter)- He was given a NEW name, and instead of being a fisherman all his life, God gave him a NEW purpose "To be a fisher of "men".

Just like Simon (Peter), God has given us a NEW name, whether that is forgiven, saved, healed, found, whatever name it is, it comes with a purpose. And once you find the purpose you will be able to live radically amongst a world worth saving, and watch as your NEW Christ-Centered future unfolds.