Embrace and Pursue Life to the Full

A former student stopped by to talk.  He had been told God doesn’t  love him anymore because he listens to a certain kind of music and hangs around certain types of people.  The person who told him this loves him and was not being mean, but might have simply overstated their opinion…which happens everyday.  We talked and seemed to make some progress.  I said, “as you walk out that door there are a few things I am certain of:  1. God loves you, 2.You are ugly and 3. I love ya.”

Sometimes things we fear scare us into holding onto convictions that are not from the heart of God.  Our world is full of competing and opposite convictions that are constantly being played out all over the world.  There are so many people with ideas, thoughts, emotions and beliefs.  I am not an expert on your beliefs or even my own…but our time on this planet is so short.  Its precious. Most of us won’t invent something that alters human history.  Most of us won’t rise to superstar status or become president with the power to change our world.  But each and everyone of us has the ability to choose.  We can choose to love.  We can choose to impact lives and influence our world by choosing love.  I am certain love is the best choice.  No matter how much you disagree…love.  When you love everything changes.  That co-worker you can’t stand try love.  The parent who is driving you crazy…try love.  The couple in the bar…try love.  When you are not sure…love

A long time youth ministry pioneer wrote a book a few years ago titled “Messy Spirituality”  These few lines really helped me remember that what qualifies me to be His Child is Jesus…not my performance, not my efforts…

Spirituality isn’t about being finished and perfect; spirituality is about trusting God in our unfurnished-ness (pg.29)

…it turns out that what disqualifies you and me from “spirituality” – the mess of our lives and our crippledness – is what most qualifies us to be chosen by Jesus… Some of us actually believe that until we choose the correct way to live, we aren’t choose-able, that until we clean up the mess, Jesus won’t have anything to do with us. The opposite is true. Until we admit we are a mess, Jesus won’t have anything to do with us. (pg. 37)

Last night I heard a message centered in the story of the rich young ruler found in Mark 10.  In my journal I wrote something the speaker had said,  “The gospel is about risk and costly sacrifice.”  As the speaker was finishing up he asked a few questions as a challenge for our lives.   What is Jesus asking you to risk?  It It is a great question!  Which made me think of availability and what God is asking me to risk.

It got me thinking about all the stories of people in the Bible that God asked them to go, do, speak, or die.  It made me think of Moses who was asked to risk his life, practice self denial, and endure extreme hardship…and he did it…because he decided to risk being available to God.

David stepped out of a multitude or warriors and said, I’ll be the one to fight Goliath…and he did it…because he decided to risk being available to God.

Isaiah proclaim his willingness to be available through a simple statement, “Here I am send me!”

Esther a great women of the Old Testament faced death, but said, “If I perish, I perish.”  She chose to be available to Gods call.

Mary, another great women of the Bible who was told as a virgin that she would bear a child; simple said, “I am the Lords servant, may it be to me as you have said.

Paul though at his trial everyone deserted him, Paul risked being available to God for the sake of the gospel.

All these people could have said no.  But they chose to risk everything in order to be available to God.

What is God asking me to risk and am I willing to be available to His call?

How about you?

Last night I was part of a group of guys who get together and hang, talk, and encourage each other to trust in Christ. Our discussion flows across a diversity of topics in the course of 90 minutes.  It is a highlight of my week and I am really thankful to be with these guys.

Last night the topic was about forgiveness. It was a good discussion that led to to other conversations. The night went well. As I was looking through some old studies the next morning I found a Forgiveness Test. So I thought I would throw it up on my blog for the guys and for anyone else who reads this blog…to think through and process.

Ask yourself:

1. Do you frequently experience God’s love for you?
2. As you consider God looking down on you, what is His countenance like?
3. After you sin, how long do you feel guilty?
4. After you sin, can you come quickly to God in prayer?
5. When others offend or hurt you, are you quick to forgive?
6. When you see character weaknesses in other peoples lives, how do you respond?
7. How moved are you by God’s forgiveness to tell others about Christ?
8. When you feel like you are “not doing well”, do you ever doubt your salvation?
9. Do you ever dwell on your past sins or the sins of others?
10. How frequently do you think upon the cross, Christ’s blood and your forgiveness?

A Little More:

Hebrews 10:1-2; 2:14-18
Col 2:13, 14
2 Peter 1:9
Ps 32, 130:3,4
Rom 8:1

The series continues…My last few posts are letters e-mailed to me from college age students describing the status of their relationship with God.

God and I are in a special place. He just knows me so well, and more than ever I feel the pursuit of His heart in my life – to have all of me. I feel His movements in my arrogance, in my selfishness, in my disobedience, in my relationships, in my success. He is relentless. He is completely unsatisfied with any part of my heart being captive to lies. Even when I am growing, I sense His desire to take me even further… to a place I do not know. I do not feel pressured by Him, but I feel energized by Him. I really feel He’s leading me (in each situation) to a place of freedom and wholeness!

 I feel like I am in a place with God where I feel if I am not walking with Him, I am missing out. Seriously missing out. I feel like God is teaching me I can trust Him. That’s radical you know! To really trust and rely on this unseen God whom I seemingly have a relationship with! But I do. I have a relationship with the unseen God.  And that unseen God is teaching me to trust Him.

 Sometimes I think walking away and living my own life could be better, more fun. A lot more fun to be honest. Sometimes I feel like I get bored. And truth be told I have even tested those waters this semester. It’s hard- this whole relationship thing. It takes a lot of work sometimes. It takes a lot of me working to keep my heart open, and asking for His help (which I really don’t feel like doing a lot of the time). It takes a lot of community and digesting truth. To be honest, I really don’t know too much about this unseen God. I read about Him and I talk about Him a lot. But the one thing I do know: I have never been more satisfied or more whole than when I am walking with Him. So, I am going to keep walking with Him and asking for His help to do so. Because I really believe He’s worth it. His freedom, His wholeness, His love – He’s worth it.

When one often defines the status of a relationship with God, we are often caught up in the whimsical do’s and don’ts of traditional religion. Because of this, we often measure the dynamics of the relationship by the appearance of Christianity in our lives and not by the heart.

 

Over the last several months, I have wrestled with many aspects of Christianity. I’d often ask, why do Christians hate? Why are so many of my unsaved friends “better” people than many Christians that I interact with. Looking over these questions, I see now why so many people are scarred by the church. 

 

The last year of my life has been the most hectic, crazed, and bizarre experience that I have had to date. Throughout the time of dealing between my doubts in christian life and staying alive in the other areas of my life, I was out of hours in the day. However, one thing that I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt is that when we are our weakest, God is his strongest. One day at 2 o’clock in the morning God opened my eyes to a long hidden truth: “You are Mine”

 

It was this truth that revolutionized my walk with Christ. Yes, I was saved beforehand, read my bible all the time, and yet still struggled with doubts. However, this truth opened my eyes to fact that I was living two lives. Not in an intentional or Pharisaical way but I was not giving every aspect of my life to Christ. When he saved me on the cross, I gave him my life, but too often I wanted to hold some back. Now I felt as though he was asking me, to dare to live a moment entirely dedicated to him……and so I did.

 

Well, it’s been interesting. I definitely rely on God for everything  from energy to study really late to finances and most importantly my identity.  Sometimes I feel extremely close to God and have had some amazing experiences with him. From prayer times while walking to class to sharing Christ with friends I feel like God is using me here at school and I am becoming more confident that he has a great plan for my life. However there are also times when I feel very far away from the Lord. I know this has to do with seasons or times when I have been walking in sin, or haven’t made God a priority, other times it may just be part of having a relationship with him…no relationship can be exhilarating all the time.  However no matter how I feel, I know that God is working in my life.  I love him, trust him and desire him more today than I did when I graduated high school. With this said, I have made many mistakes in college and have not always honored the Lord through my actions or attitudes, but I am realizing that my relationship with the Lord is not defined by how well I “perform” but it’s defined by His grace.

I also feel like God has used this time to break me down. He has shown me more of my sin and my heart in the last year than I ever thought possible. However, it hasn’t been in a condemning way, but as God reveals more of himself to me, he also has shown me how prideful I am and how He should be praised and not me. My greatest struggle right now is pride… I want to change, but part of me doesn’t. I guess that’s part of following Christ –He reveals himself to us and as we struggle and wrestle with him He forms us into his likeness so that He receives all the glory.

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It is a new year with a great number…2013…orange13… This year I am working on answering some questions connected to my story that will lead me into my future. Huge events, changes in life rhythm and transition times are natural times to reflect on the past. The new year is one of those opportunities to look back as you venture forward.

For me to move forward involves honestly answering the following 4 questions:

1. Where am I called ?(place)
2. What brokenness am I called to confront? (problem)
3. Who am I called to? (population)
4. How am I to do this? (process)

These are not new questions, but are new to the place I find myself in life. Take time over the next few days…pause and think about these questions.

–What comes to mind as you think about these questions?
–Do these questions encourage you, frustrate you or are you numb?
–Do you see Gods calling clearly or is it a blur?

Maybe its time to look in and discover the story of you? The key to moving forward and answering these questions is heavily influenced on your ability to look in and back.

In– are your passions, hopes dreams and fears.
Back– is the story that has been told about you. What has happened in your life? Great things, hard thing, horrific things, sad things…and how have you worked through these experiences…how have you seen God or not seen God during these times.

Take a look in and back over the next few months and then keep doing it as you live your story today.