Something Beautiful - the Video

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this song! Check out the video...

http://www.needtobreathe.net/blog/something-beautiful-official-video/

"I know that I'm in reach, I am down on my knees..."

My Sister Finds the Greatest Videos

Check out the video on my sister's blog.

I Love My Church

I love my church and I'm excited about the future...

What's Your Umbrella?

There’s an expression that says, “If you’re going to pray for rain, carry an umbrella.” Now, personally, if I’m praying for rain, I don’t want an umbrella. If I’m praying for rain, it’s so that I can dance in it, play football in it, take a good nap, or get off work early – none of which require an umbrella. However, I understand the idea of the expression. If you are going to pray to God for something, believe that He is going to answer.

In John 14 Jesus says, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

Does this really mean that Jesus will give us anything we want? No. Just before saying this, He says, “…whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do…” And in Psalm 37.4 we are told, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

God will actually place His desires on our hearts, so that we “may all be one,” as Jesus prayed, “…just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us…” (John 17).

As our hearts align with God’s heart and our desires become His desires, He will call us to certain things. He will direct our paths and our ways. Our prayers will become God’s desires for our lives - His calling on our lives.

But when God calls us to something, we don’t just pray and wait for Him to act. (Sometimes He may tell us to do that, but not always.) When God calls us to something, He intends for us to act. Our initial action may not be what we saw or heard in our vision from the Lord, though. That action or task may still be far off in the distance. We may not currently be able to see any possible way of accomplishing what God has called us to do. But we can still act. There is always preparation time for everything.

God has been showing me lately how the acts of preparation are really acts of faith. When God calls me to something or I am praying for something I believe is in line with His will for my life, my prayer is not the end of my action. I don’t just pray and wait for God to do something. I pray and listen for God’s direction, and then I act in accordance with it. I do what I can with what He has given me to reach the goal that He has placed in front of me.

I realize that I have been talking very theoretically, and many times it is easier to talk theoretically than it is to act practically. So here is a practical application from my life…

About 6 months ago, I sensed God telling me to sell my car and pay, pay off the loan on it, and buy a car with cash so that I could have more money each month to give away. Well it took about a month or 2 to surrender to that call from the Lord. Once I did, I made very weak efforts to sell the car. Honestly, I was overwhelmed with the thought of selling a car, buying a car, and figuring out how to still have something to drive to work.

Well, I began to hear God giving me very simple, practical steps of preparation so that the whole process wouldn’t be so overwhelming. Some of those steps were: call the bank and get an idea of what the pay-off on the loan was, clean my car so that if someone wanted to see it that was already done, set parameters for the purchase of a new car so that my search was narrowed down, and (my least favorite thing to do) ask some people for help/advice.

Long story short, my car was sold and loan paid off, I am borrowing a truck right now, and I think I have a car to buy. None of this was based on my efforts, but on God’s faithfulness and the willingness of my church family to be a blessing in my life. However, I discovered that as I faithfully took steps of preparation, God showed His faithfulness to me in many ways.

Oswald Chambers has this to say about preparation and readiness:

“Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are…the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes…Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing…It means we have no choice in what we ant to do, but that whatever God’s plans may be, we are there and ready…Think of the time we waste trying to get ready once God has called!”

So what has God called you to that you need to be making yourself ready for? Has He called you to surrender your idea of success and spend more time preparing yourself for better for ministry? Has He called you to give your finances completely to Him so that He can use you and them as He wishes? Has He called you to prepare to be a spouse and parent, even in a stage of singleness? Or has He called you to something completely different that He has called me?

What is your umbrella? Are you ready to carry it?

Sheer Awesomeness

My friend just showed me this awesomeness. I need 50 friends this cool and willing to be this awesome...

She did what she could when she could...

"She did what she could when she could..." (Mark 14, The Message)

That is what Jesus said about the woman who anointed Him with perfume. She had an opportunity to glorify and honor her Lord, and she did.

Could the same be said of me when I have opportunity to glorify and honor my Lord?

Worth

So I’m buying a new (well, new to me, used) car. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at cars for sale, and I realized most people think very highly of their cars. They probably think very highly of all of their possessions, but I’ve mainly been looking at cars, so that’s what I’ve been thinking about. People will put amazingly high prices on cars that are really not worth that much.

But what determines worth?

Worth is determined by what someone is willing to pay for a particular thing. Now I’m sure some economics nerd could go into all of the details about supply and demand and other “economics” words I have forgotten, but let’s be honest – I only went to enough Econ classes to get my A. I vaguely remember the graphs, but I’m sure I wouldn’t do a great job explaining it at this point.

So let’s just get back to “worth is determined by what someone is willing to pay.” As I thought about this, I thought about Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross. Christ was willing to pay, not a large monetary sum, but his life – his perfect, sinless, holy life – for us. That must mean we are worthy of Christ’s death, right?

Wrong.

Honestly, when this thought first came to mind, I was focused on Christ’s death for us, and thought it must have to do with worth, but I had the wrong word. The word I was looking for was love. It was not because of our worth that Christ died; it was because of His love.

Romans 5.7-8 – “One will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (emphasis mine)

We are sinners. We are not worthy of Christ’s sacrifice. We are not worthy of life. We are worthy of death.

Romans 6.23 – “For the wages of sin is death…”

The only thing we are worthy of is death. But I feel a strong resistance when I see the first half of Romans 6.23 written without the second half. There is a comma. I think that is meant to allow us to pause and drink in the punishment of justice we deserve. The second half of the sentence is there for a reason, though. It is meant to go with the first.

Romans 6.23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The FREE GIFT. We did not earn it, but He still gave it. We are not worthy of it. So why did God choose to give us this free gift? In Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die, John Piper gives an excellent explanation:

“There is only one explanation for God’s sacrifice for us. It is not us. It is “the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1.7). It is all free. It is not a response to our worth. It is the overflow of his infinite worth. In fact, that is what divine love is in the end: a passion to enthrall undeserving sinners, at great cost, with what will make us supremely happy forever, namely, his beauty.”

John 3.16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

We have established that we are not worthy of Christ’s sacrifice, of redemption, or of life. So what about the verses that tell us to walk worthy of the Lord?

Philippians 1.27 – “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…”

Colossians 1.10 – “…to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord…”

If we are unworthy, how to we walk worthy? Only through the Lord.

2 Thessalonians 1.11-12 – “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

...to Express Glory and Beauty.

Yesterday, I went with a friend to check out Artisphere in downtown Greenville. It was fun to walk around and check out all of the interesting and unique forms of art on display. From paintings to sculpture to photography, each tent was unique. They also had performing arts, music, and even culinary arts, though we didn't make it in time to see those.

I appreciate all kinds of art, even when it's not necessarily my style. I think there are some forms I appreciate mainly based on the fact that I can't create them myself. I really enjoy painting and drawing, but please don't ask me to pain a portrait of someone. It will, at best, be disappointing, and at worst, offensive. God just didn't gift me in that area.

He did gift others with painting, sculpting, singing, playing, dancing, and other forms of art. I was reading in Exodus this week about the design and creation of the tabernacle and everything that went along with it. In Exodus 31, God tells Moses that He specifically gifted Bezalel and Oholiab with abilities in crafts, design, and the use of gold, silver, bronze, and wood. I don't ever remember seeing "craftsmanship" on the list of spiritual gifts, but here God says that He specifically gifted them in these areas. So why did He give them these gifts?

In Exodus 28, as a part of instruction for making clothing for the priests, we read:

"Make tunics, sashes, and hats...to express glory and beauty." (Exodus 28.40, MSG)

God gave (and gives) gifts of art for the same reason He gave (and gives) all other gifts - to bring Himself glory.

Is it possible to create beautiful art without brining God glory? Of course. But it's like what we were talking about last night with the high school students. Our life is meant to be a life of continuous worship. As Jeremy put it, "Anything in your life that isn't sin has the potential to be an act of worship."

So if you have artistic ability - dancing, singing, painting, photography, etc - do it all unto the Lord (Colossians 3.23). And when you see, hear, or otherwise experience beautiful art, give glory to the Creator of all beauty, your Lord, Jesus Christ.

OK

Here are some lyrics for the weekend:

Mute Math - OK

Down on my knees down on my face
You just say it's ok
So many days I've thrown away
You just say it's ok
I don't think I could ever repay
Your perfect grace, but it's ok

It's ok, It's ok
It's ok, It's ok
You've become my embrace
Just tell me it's ok

Your precious words intoxicate
A heart that aches; it's ok
You don't recall my past mistakes
You just say it's ok
The human mind can't calculate
Your perfect grace, but it's ok

Even though you've seen a thousand times
I've let you down
You're always there if I should call your name
You're unashamed, unashamed

Gotta love Mute Math.