The Joy of Salvation

"The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile." ~Plato


How empowering! If you don't like something, change it! But wait...
You don't like your hair? Dye it. You don't like your shape? Loose weight. You don't like your attitude? Change it. You don't like your anger probelm. Work on it. You fight anxiety. Trust God more. And on and on.... Yet how frustrating and neverending this changing, fighting,  and changing some more can be. It can actually be maddening!  If you have lived for any amount of time, you know that once you "conquer" one problem (if you ever do!), another one arises.  Suddenly you are trapped in a cyle of perfecting yourself! Sure, you may have a picutre of what "perfect" looks like, and a self-help plan to get there.  But let's be real: will you ever be "perfect"? Have you ever heard someone say, "Finally, I have attained perfection. I never sin; I am beautiful; I have enough money. I am living in a way that pleases God. I have gained control."  No, we never reach that point because we can't. And since we're on the subject, what does it mean to please God?
 
Romans 2
¹² All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. ¹³ For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
 
Yikes. "Those who obey the law will be dedlared righteous."  Well, we know every one of us has disobeyed the law.
 
That's right; even if I read for Bible for one hour a day, pray for three hours a day,love your neighbor, and do all of this before breakfast,  I still have not done enough to please God. Why?? Because I cannot be perfect. So, if you're not depressed about this situation, let me summarize. I am a sinner by nature. Therefore, by nature I cannot please God. Even if I go to church every Sunday morning and Sunday night, I am destined to hell, because I cannot please God.   
 
But there is hope.
 
Galatians 1
^"3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father"
 
I have been rescued! Jesus has rescued us. Did I do something to deserve this? No!
 
Ephesians 2
"1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature^a and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast."
 
I was dead. Dead people can't  do better; dead people can't respond. Therefore, I have no reason to boast. Did God save us so we can make Him proud? Absolutely not. He saved us to show His power, His grace, and His kindness. So, were in that do you see yourself working, or showing off? Umm, yeah.
 
Tullian Tchvidjan is one of my favorite pastors. His series "Free at Last" has been life changing for me. I honestly believe I have never know the "joy of my salvation" until very recently. 
 
Galatians 1 explains why I (and maybe some of you) struggle to find that joy. Why I struggled even wanting to go to church. Yeah, that's right. That is the last place I wanted to go.
 
10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.


Read the whole chapter (actually the whole book!). Grace is incredible!!  

It is not possible to please God any more! I was not saved because of my good works, therefore, any good works I do now cannot please God any more! It's all about Jesus, nothing about me. And what a relief! It doesn't matter if I don't pray before breakfast; God is still pleased because He is pleased with Christ's work in me. It doesn't matter if I skip church Sunday morning; God is still pleased because He is pleased with Christ's work in me. Do you feel that joy?? That relief????

Why don't we talk about grace more? Why do we hear so many mesages about what we need to do? Because grace is embarrassing. Grace is messy. Grace means: you are worthless without Christ. Grace means there is nothing you can do; you are helpless. People would rather be told a list of things to do no matter how long and hard that list is than the fact that they can't do it.

Paul explains his previous manner of life. He really thought he was pleasing God while persecuting these Christians. What are the "good deeds" I think are pleasing God? Doing my quiet time every day, praying every day, going to church, tithing.... Isaiah 64:6 tells us how "good" those things are: like menstrual rags. Yuck. Kind of embarassing to think we are giving this to God to please Him.   

So, why do I have a quiet time? Why do I tithe? And the biggest question for me: why do I go to church? Because I get to! I get to spend time with God everyday; I get to worship Him on Sunday mornings; I get to talk to Him whenever I want to. It is a privilege that I enjoy. And it doesn't make God mad when I don't. Now that is true joy. 

Keeping Up With the Jones'

As you well know by now, I absolutely love quotes (especially the Bible). Here are a few I found that address a topic close to my heart right now. To be honest, it is something that has been revealed as a personal struggle and it's danger is unavoidable.

"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy "stuff" we don't need."    -Brad Pitt in Fight Club


"They has their cynical code worked out. The public are swine; advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill-bucket."
-George Orwell, Animal Farm


That demon of comparison: it is attacks from every angle. You cancel your cable subscription to avoid the commercials advertising the fast new cars you need to succeed, only to drive past billboard  promoting the newest phone, the  prettiest hair, and the best food. Subliminally (or often, not so much) we sent messages about things we need in order be truly successful. I mean, after all, everyone knows you don't have a real phone until you get the new iphone; that is, until they come out with the next smart phone. And only houses decorated with Pottery Barn are truly a cozy home. Truly successful people shop at Barney's and Dash. Life is purely seen in black white until you get that new red Shelby; only then can you see in color. And of course, the more education you get the more esteemed you will be. You get my point. And let me be honest once more; each of these examples are lies with which I personally struggle. 


How destructive these lies are!!  I mean, if I acted on every one of these lies (and more....) I'd be most assuredly deeply depressed from the constant dissatisfaction (and probably in a poor house somewhere).


What is true success then? I believe it is the exact opposite. The people who have truly  succeeded are the ones who have been able to counter these constant attacks. While iphones and Mustangs are not bad (that would be the easy answer!) they should not symbolize success. My black-and-white, purely logical personality would love to say Banana Republic and Pottery Barn are evil and should be avoided. Instead they need to be included with balance. 

1 Timothy 6
³ If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, ⁴ they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions ⁵ and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

 ⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹ Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

I hope you are thinking," Wow..'some have wandered from the faith'!? That's serious." Yes, it really is. God has used a week in south Florida to reveal the intense danger of this. To see people so consumed with things, living the life I have always dreamed of, yet so completely empty and discouraged. It has been humbling and quite frankly is has been terrifying. It is so easy to get into the "keeping up with the Jones" mentality; the traps are set everywhere. How do we avoid them?

The answer is found in the following verses.

¹¹ But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ¹²Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

It's not about turning off your TV or not looking at magazines. It's about pursuing godliness, fighting the good fight of faith. It is about doing whatever it is you need to do to stay focused on the goal: make God famous. For you that may mean avoiding the mall; I know for me there are going to be some changes in made in my daily life. And instead of being bitter about being two hours from Starbucks and forty minutes from my favorite gym, I am learning to thankful that God has given me a break from those "traps", and has highlighted others.  

So next time you see Starbucks as a necessity, or even a necessary evil, view it in the Biblical light. Will this help or hinder my ultimate goal of glorifying God?


Verse 18 says, "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share."

Warning of the Danger Ahead

With my previously mentioned extensive experience with traffic cops, one of my favorite services to the community has become the "warning lights." "Warning lights" is that courteous blinking of your car head lights to cars headed in the other direction when there is an accident or more importantly a cop hiding up ahead. Every time I successfully pass a cop, I feel it is my duty to warn passing cars of the danger ahead. Maybe it's revenge, but it gives me such a rush of pride and  that "haha, you won't be giving any speeding tickets as long as I have anything to say about it" feeling.  Don't lie; you know the feeling.

Now don't take this analogy too far. I do know that cops are GENERALLY my friend. I will always be indebted to that cop who came to check out the strange man knocking on doors at my apartment in Statesboro, and the one who picked up the drugged up lady banging on our door last month at 2 am. However, it may take me years of counseling and reconciliation to appreciate the role of traffic cops; just give me time. 

Last Friday I had the opportunity to perform my civic duty with pride. Suddenly it hit me: I was warning them of the danger to come, much like we should warn our friends of the Judgement to come. Yes I know, for all of you perfect drivers out there it is a stretch to compare passing a cop to eternity in hell, but I have faith that there is at least one of you out there who shares my terror of blue lights. Work with me here. 

This thought brought more thinking. Why do I get so much pride and joy from my "warning lights" yet have to work up my energy to even mention church or Bible study to my coworkers, friends, and neighbors? My job is to warn them of the "Danger" ahead; it is part of the Great Commission. Not only am I called to warn them of hell, but I am also supposed to "make disciples." That means warning (and preparing) young believers of the trouble ahead in the Christian life. Why is there so little pride and joy from that??

More thinking brought the following conviction (it was a long drive): my measurement of worth has been off. As an average American girl, I subconsciously expect immediate results. I want a job now or I feel like a failure; I want to shop now or I feel behind in the styles; I want to watch someone drive by the cop safely now or I feel that their evil scheme to provide everyone in the world with a speeding ticket has succeeded....

 

My point: making disciples is not something that produces immediate results. But it is what produces true and lasting results. The generation of immediate results has resulted in churches that base their growth and success on how many people attend church Sunday morning rather than how many are involved in active discipleship.  Numbers is an immediate result, but that should not be what gives us pride and excitement. 

So next time sometime kindly warns you of the "danger" ahead on the roads, take that as a reminder to warn those around you of the dangers in this Christian life. 

Funny Face

I firmly believe that you can learned life lessons from anyone and anything if you look for it. I mean, even the famous New York Yankee (woot woot!) Yogi Berra was full of wise words: "If the world was perfect, it wouldn't be."  


For those of you classic movie fans (ahem.... Rebecca!) you know this next quote to be from none other than Audrey Hepburn. She is without a doubt my favorite actress of all time. And no, I have no deep spiritual explanation for this admiration. I just love her work! 


“I was asked to act when I couldn't act. I was asked to sing 'Funny Face' when I couldn't sing, and dance with Fred Astaire when I couldn't dance - and do all kinds of things I wasn't prepared for. Then I tried like mad to cope with it.” 


So, what can we learn from this luminary who "had it all together"?  Even our classic heros and Hollywood stars who seem to be living the life they'd always dreamed of have to deal with the cards dealt to them. Audrey Hepburn didn't feel prepared for her role in "Funny Face"; but did she give up? Thank goodness no! As a result, we can now watch her stunning performance with Fred Astaire in this exemplar film.   


In my own life, things have not been panning out like I planned. Nothing horrific or awful, just my own personal "Funny Face" kind of year. Am I going to let the fear of the unknown paralyze me or will I "try like mad to cope with it"? 

What are your "Funny Face" situations? Will you rise up to the challenge and let God use you? 
   

The Call to Missions

Webster defines missionary as "one who undertakes a mission, especially a religious mission".  When most people hear the term missionary that think of someone who has this major calling from God to go overseas. Not too long ago I heard a lady tell an overseas missionary, "I am so sorry you have to live over there." Somehow people have developed a wrong view of true missions. I would like to submit that every Christian is called to missions.


In Matthew 28, Jesus gives all Christians what is known as "the Great Commission."
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”


That is the mission given to all believers. So, technically, every one of us  is a missionary. The teacher is a missionary to her students and her fellow teachers; the athlete is a missionary to his team, coaches, and fans; the doctor is a missionary to his patients and staff. And that's just on the career side of life; we are missionaries to  our neighbors, we missionaries to the people we see at the grocery store. 


So, I am a missionary to the people in this new south Georgia town (the culture shock makes that one not hard to believe!); I am a missionary to my neighbors; I am a missionary  to the students and teachers when I sub. You never know what action or word those around you notice that makes them say "She is different!"


  Now, before you can applied this call to missions you need to ask yourself, "Am I different?" This should be a relief to Christians. "I always knew I didn't fit in; what a relief!"  But if that is not the case, some evaluating needs to be done. Why do you fit in with the world? Can they even tell you are different?!


You have been called to missions. Now go live it! 

Standing in the Gap

The most immutable person I know is my husband; what an amazing man! I will not lie to you: God is still working on my ability to show patience and mercy, and I have a LOT of learning to do. Yet He has given me a husband who excels at both. And, man, is it humbling! Isn't it funny how God uses the actions and kindness of others to convict? I can think of more than one occasion just today where I made life difficult and he had every right to just quit being so nice; but he never does. You see, when life gets tough, I interpret that as the "time to move on" signal from God; how naive, and yes, weak!! Fortunately, my husband is much stronger and wiser than I; otherwise, God would have "called" us to several different life situations by now, and we'd be well on our way to living on a secluded island somewhere.

I am the chief offender of chalking up hardship to being "out of God's will." Jobs, people, cities; I mean, I'm even reading to a book to try and figure out what to eat and not eat in order to avoid cancer. Whatever makes life easy...yes, I am weak. But God calls us to tough situations: daily actually. Luke 9:23- "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily, and follow Me." So loneliness, depression, difficulty all should be encouraging. Jesus even warned us in Matthew 9:37- "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." Clearly this is not gonna be an easy walk on this earth!

God is searching for people to stand in the gap (Ezekiel 22:30). This is not a small task or a "group" effort. It is a call to loneliness and discouragement. But it is a call to serve the ultimate calling. I mean think about it: if it were an easy job He would have to look very long for people to fill it.

What "gap" has God called you to fill? Could it be that the difficult situation in which you've found yourself is right in the middle of God's plan? In the midst of the hardship, you are "standing in the gap." Wow! How exciting is that?! Be faithful to cover that gap He has entrusted you with. We may not know the difference we are making until we get to heaven, but oh boy, will it be worth it!! Who will have the chance to hear the gospel because you were there to stand in the gap; who will be discipled only because you were there, willing to handle the tough times? Joshua 1:9- "Be strong and courageous!" 

Contentment

If you haven't noticed already, I love my animals. My first pets were two cats named Three and Four. (I had just learned to count that week.)  My pets progressed to a rottweiler named Moe who lasted maybe a month before he ended up at the ominous Wal-mart. You see, this is where we took the pets who didn't quite fit in. Needless to say, a stray rottweiler puppy did not fit in with my baby brother and sister. Then came Wendy the black mutt who lasted only a few weeks longer than Moe, then Tumnus the grey cat.  (I was reading the Chronicles of Narnia at this time.) Tumus was the proverbial "cat with nine lives". One winter he climbed up into the engine of a car, only to come out with three and a half paws. :(  In our humanistic minds,one might say "Well he has every right to become a grumpy old cat!" But he was a real trooper. You'd never know the difference ten years later when he was still walking around, purring away. I do not have a memory of Tumnus in which he was not purring. Talk about a content cat! And he never met a dog he didn't like (or more importantly a dog that he provoked to chase him!). Rain or shine, black lab or shi tzu, Tumnus had learned the secret to contentment. 


Similarly, our new addition to the family Aubri the cailco kitten has that same laid-back approach to life (though 90% of the time, we are convinced she is on Speed!). A few weeks ago her hyper-active lifestyle got her in a bit of trouble, but did that slow her down? Not one bit. Yes, she nearly lost her tail and spent two weeks in a cool whip container with stitches. But I'm quite convinced that the entire process was more painful for me than for her. "What if the vet cuts off her tail!?  I can't believe she is in so much pain!" And blah blah blah, worry worry worry. Meanwhile, Aubri is pouncing on air, and yes, purring incessantly. I mean, she was on a streets just months ago; losing her tail is the least of her worries. Why is it easier for my cat to be content than it is for me!?


Ouch. Did you feel that twinge of conviction, too? As a culture and in our own personal lives we have lost that feeling of true contentment. How can we regain that peace??


Philippians 4:12-13
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.


Contentment is found in acknowledging God's sovereignty. Romans 8:28 says, "God causes all things to work together for the good of those He has called according to His purpose." EVERYTHING! Whether you working and would rather be at home, or are at home and would rather be working, God is working! Whether you're a city girl in the country or a country girl in the city, God is working! Through depression, and breakups, deaths, and discouragements, God is still God and He is working!


In fact, if things aren't going your way, get excited because that means you are not in control; Someone greater is! Only then can we claim Philippians 4:13 and then find true contentment.


I have realized after adopting Aubri that I am one of the very few cat lovers. But I hope you will still learn from the attitudes of Tumnus and Aubri. 

Romans 8:28-30

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.