Keep Singing Oceans

When I read this blog recently titled “Stop Singing Oceans”, I honestly was bothered a bit by it. While I understand what the author (who clearly loves Jesus) intended to say by indicating we sing songs in worship that we don’t fully act upon, I must say that I have to disagree largely with her thoughts overall.

This blog is not a rebuttal necessarily, but merely a composed testimony of my experiences with worship songs. I wasn’t raised going to church, therefore I am coming at this from both sides of being unchurched and being a church attending gal ;-) .

When I truly met and encountered Jesus, I was wild for Him. In my wildness, I wasn’t mature and said and did things that reflected I was definitely a baby Christian. When I began my walk with the Lord, I didn’t know anything other than that I was so in love with Him. I would attend every possible church service that I could and I absolutely LOVED worship nights! I didn’t know that I could/couldn’t should/shouldn’t do this or that. And I certainly didn’t filter my songs to Him. I sang about surrendering my life when I was selfish and not very surrendered. I sang about only loving Him when really I had many other “loves”. My heart was in the right place though and I kept singing.

I still remember the first time I heard the song, “You Said”, while watching a mission’s video of Haiti at the church I got saved at. The lyrics gripped my heart as Rita Springer’s version of this song filled the footage of many broken lives in Haiti.

I cried and that was the first moment I felt called to the nations as a missionary

I became obsessed with the song and constantly sang with tears in my eyes, “You said “Ask and I’ll give the nations to you…” Oh Lord, that’s the cry of my heart…distant shores and the islands will see Your light…Oh Lord I ask for the nations”.

The truth is I had NO idea what I was praying or singing out literally, but I felt it so deep within my spirit. I didn’t know that in fact my first full-time missions assignment would be to live on the distant island of Madagascar some 12 years later.

Fast forward to 2007 when I wrote these lyrics on my mirror (in hot pink lipstick of course) “Heal my heart and make it clean. Open up my eyes to the things unseen. Show me how to love like you have loved me. Break my heart for what breaks yours. Everything I am for Your kingdom’s cause. As I walk from earth into eternity”. These lyrics are from a song called, “Hosanna”, by Hillsong.

I felt those lyrics so passionately in my spirit as I sang them out, but again how could I know the fullness of what I was praying? I’d cry as I prayed and meditated on those lyrics because the truth was, I wanted a healed heart that could understand His heart. I didn’t want to be hardened by the world around me and not be moved in compassion and love for others. I did not know what singing those lyrics would produce in me. When you sing words like that, you can expect opportunity to grow and mature.

Those words ended up launching me into a season of discovering the love of God like never before.

When Stephen and I were getting married, our church wedding coordinator was against us having live worship music for some reason. It was a battle I fought for because we wanted to set the tone of worship for our marriage. We weren’t merely pledging our love to one another, but we were doing so in commitment to the God we love and serve and we wanted to sing about it.

The opening song we sang was by John Thurlow and we sang, “The love that You (Father) have for Jesus. Put it inside of me. Burn it on my heart like a seal, like a seal. That in the famines of Your presence or in the floods of persecution, or in the comfort of the culture, it’s still real…I just want a heart that is fully in love.”

When I had first heard that song, I wrote the lyrics down and knew I wanted to sing it on my wedding day. Stephen and I chose to declare in front of God and all of the witnesses celebrating us that we would stand for Jesus no matter what comforts or what trials we would walk through in our marriage. We had said, “Yes” to Him as singles and we now committing to saying, “Yes” to Him as a married couple.

Little did we know the events that would follow just days after when I got incredibly ill on our honeymoon and then we got into a serious car wreck shortly thereafter. We didn’t know that our “yes” would be tested and tried and that we would spend the majority of our first two years of marriage in doctor’s offices and walking out many physically trying situations.

However even in the darkest and most trying times, our hearts still sing, “I just want a heart that is fully in love”. That song has comforted me more today than when I sung it on the happiest day of my life.

THEN came the time that I first heard the song, “Oceans” by Hillsong at a supporting church of ours that my husband was speaking at. I almost didn’t show up to the services that morning because I was so weak physically. The anointed worship leader and his wife sang this song out with the rest of the band and I let out an ugly cry (kind of like I did the night I met Stephen when he preached about missions ;-)). My spirit came alive and I was infused with this glorious empowerment in my spirit that revived my faith. I knew God was calling me out of comfort. I knew I couldn’t control what was happening to my physical body or anything else in my life, but I could trust in Him. I knew I was being asked to surrender it all. I sang out loudly and boldly. Second service came around and more ugly cries came forth. This song carried me in the following months of our move to Madagascar and it stands as a reminder to many to pray for us whenever they hear that song.

As challenges in life have come, I’ve stood on these lyrics I’ve mentioned above. I believe that God has met me in my places of singing to Him. I believe some lyrics open my heart to cry out to Him and depend on Him to grow and perfect my faith as I seek Him.

I realize that any worship song could be just “lip service” to God and that some people sing “Oceans” and don’t mean a lyric of it.

But what if one person means it? What if one person receives a call into missions because they sing it? What if one person gets freed from an addiction because of it? What if one couple decide to hold onto the covenant they made with one another because of hearing it? What if a brother or sister in Christ sings this to steady their faith in the midst of persecution? Is it worth singing it then??

Worship leaders, I’ll address you and say to you—PLEASE keep singing “Oceans”. You may have a redheaded girl who just needs to remember He’s never failed her and won’t now.

To the worshippers out there, I say to you– sing “Oceans” LOUDLY even if it’s off key ;-)

Maybe the problem is that you aren’t signing it enough! Maybe you just need to sing it more until it becomes so redundant in your head that it finally becomes a conscious thought. As you sing, realize God will honor your words and He will nudge you to step outside of the borders that you’ve erected for your faith. The song says, “there I find You in the mystery in oceans deep, my faith will stand.” You might just be surprised at where you’ll find Him in your everyday life and let’s be honest–everyone’s faith needs to be encouraged. EVERYONE certainly needs to know “I am Yours and You are mine”.

God NEVER says “Stop singing” anywhere in His word.

He loves for us to be free to worship Him and to live lives that reflect His glory and not our man-made statues and limitations. He doesn’t want us to be intimidated by singing songs because somehow we think that we’ll never be able to live extraordinary lives for Him.

If I had not prayed challenging prayers, I wouldn’t have grown in my faith. If I had not dreamed dreams that only God have placed within me, I would be living confined in my own comfort and plans. I certainly wouldn’t be a missionary or writing this blog.

There you have it…My opinion on singing bold and crazy lyrics. Lyrics that our minds may never fully comprehend, but ones that speak life to our spirits and dare us to move beyond our natural lives and into the supernatural ones that depend on a BIG God.

Oh and if you’ve never heard the song “Oceans”, do yourself a favor. Give it a listen.

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Life is like a Swing

Today I watched a friend of ours push his little girl on a swing. She was secured inside those bucket type swings with holes for their legs. Her dad would pull the swing up to him and hold it in the air while she anticipated him letting go. Once he let go, she’d say something adorable through her smiles like, “I-Swinging!!”. Whenever Stephen or I tried to give her a push so that she wouldn’t loose momentum, she would say, “No! Off!” or “Daddy! Daddy!” While my heart broke a little at being rejected (only kidding), I thought her trust in her Daddy was adorable and I sort of envied her faith in him. As long as her Daddy was around, she was very secure and content. She trusted that when He let go, that His hands would be there to keep pushing her on that swing.

Sometimes I try to take things into my own hands. I don’t like being out of my comfort zone and when God pulls me out from those securities, I often freeze. I’m like my friend’s daughter up high in the air, not really sure what will happen next. I don’t want my Father letting go because of all the “what ifs” and the “fear of the unknown”. Yet it’s often in the letting go, that I gain momentum from what He’s doing in my life to soar in a new strength. He never leaves my side and is there for the continual push in the right direction as I need it, but He doesn’t hold me with a tight fist. Instead He empowers me to walk out what He’s placed in me. He lets go and watches my life. He sees the joy that comes over my face and the safety I feel of being found in His grace.

Life with Him is a little bit like a swing. Up and down, up and down in the rhythms of grace. Sometimes we’re going really high and fast and love the thrill, and other times we’ve kicked our feet on the ground and need a gentle push to get going again. Whatever season we find ourselves in, when we call on His name, He’s there to intervene and lift us back up again.

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Finding Jesus in the ER

Last night I had an all night sleepover in the ER. Loads of fun I assure you ;-) ! In the process of being admitted and everything, there were several staff members whom we interacted with. Often I hear people refer to Christians who have a calling to full-time ministry to mean only those who are in occupational ministry such as pastors and missionaries. The reality is that all Christians have a calling to full-time show the love of Christ by ministering to other no matter what pays their bills.

Last night as I was in the hospital I ran into a very mean nurse. I’m not one to quickly say people are mean, but even though I was in intense pain, I greeted her with a smile and was friendly she was very rude. She even made me cry probably because I was already in pain and her remarks added stress. When she left the room, I looked at Stephen and said that I wanted to leave. There’s been such crazy on going health challenges that I’ve had to face and I didn’t want her to add stress to everything. About an hour went by from when she left and I was dreading having her come back into the room.

Fortunately a tall male nurse came in instead. He spoke in a soft tone (which is ENTIRELY appropriate for 3 am unlike the other lady!) and he began to encourage me to do some of the additional tests the doctors deemed necessary even though I’d be there several more hours. He persuaded me in several other areas and brought me a warm blanket, which I hadn’t been offered in my nearly 5 hours there when I was shaking so intensely. From his gentle entrance to the hospital room to his pleasant tone of voice, peace filled my room and my being and my tears stopped.

As he left the room, Stephen said to me, “he’s a Christian”. I was a bit out of it and asked, “Are you sure?” When this nurse named Tony came back into the room to draw my blood and start an IV, he asked us questions and once he found out we were missionaries, he began sharing more direct encouragement from the Lord. I smiled and looked at Stephen once he exited and said, “You’re right!”

We never saw Tony again, but we only saw the mean nurse one more time who came in huffing and puffing, complaining, and treated me very poorly. At this point I’d encountered another kind nurse who was a single mom so I had enough tolerance for this clearly not so happy nurse. I still smiled and was as kind to her as I could be at 6 am after being awake hooked to machines all night lol.

I’m not saying that we aren’t allowed to have bad days and that every nurse working in an ER should be overly happy and chipper. I can’t even imagine what they deal with on a day-to-day not to mention with the night shift drama. However it was apparent how bright one nurse shined against the other. It was obvious that one possessed a relationship with Jesus Christ and while I can’t properly assess where the other person was with the Lord, it surely wasn’t evident if she knew Him.

You might not be working in an ER where people are in great physical pain, but you are interacting with people daily who are hurting and need the love of Jesus. I love Jesus with all my heart and am a missionary, however I definitely need the kindness of the Lord through others. I’m ALWAYS in need of more of Jesus and His presence manifesting through those around me. When Tony entered the room last night, everything changed and I had the peace that I needed to hear God’s voice even in a difficult moment.

Shine where you are! Be the light of Christ in your jobs, your families, and to all whom you meet. You don’t have to be ordained, have a Christian degree, or working for a ministry to minister! You never know the pain that someone might be facing on any level and one word or gesture from you could be the difference between them knowing Jesus or rejecting Him. It doesn’t take a lot to show the love of Christ to someone. Step out and minister to people around you. I found Jesus in the ER last night and he looked like a man in scrubs being kind and encouraging in a difficult moment. Be Jesus to all you meet today!

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The Cost of Compromise

This week I’ve been addressing areas that keep us in places where essentially we are compromising the fullness of our life in Christ. It felt fitting to end the week on discussing the cost of compromise in our lives.

Jesus said that the greatest commandment is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”. (Matthew 22:37) Notice that Jesus didn’t say with “some”. He emphasized that all of us is to be lived for Him.

Often I don’t feel that the enemy tries to get us to give into a life entirely of compromise. I think he tries to get us to give into compromise in small amounts. Teaching on consecration to God and not living a life of compromise is a passion of mine because I believe God loves empowering us to live holy lives. Notice that I didn’t say perfect lives, but I believe His grace allows us to live rightly and continue to mature in our walk with Him.

I think about examples in the bible where people gave in to something that at the time seemed like a small compromise, but it had eternal ramifications. Adam and Eve traded in their close walk with God for a piece of fruit. Esau traded his birthright for a bowl of soup. Demas sold out his calling as a missionary because he loved the world. Samson sold out his anointing because of a woman’s question. Judas turned Jesus over to the Pharisees for 30 pieces of silver. I think it would be foolish to say that the small areas of compromise can’t have big hindrance in our walk with God.

My husband had some great points in a sermon he shared this week. Here are a few thoughts that he shared. In order to avoid compromise;

  • we need an ongoing personal revelation of Jesus
  • we need to deal with internal wounds
  • we need a fresh revelation of His grace

He shared a story of Winston Churchill;

Churchill: Madam, would you sleep with me for five million pounds?

Socialite: My goodness, Mr. Churchill… Well, I suppose… we would have to discuss terms, of course…

Churchill: Would you sleep with me for five pounds?

Socialite: Mr. Churchill, what kind of woman do you think I am?!

Churchill: Madam, we’ve already established what kind of woman you are. Now we are haggling about the price

The enemy is waiting to haggle prices with you. He is willing to wait and continual offer sin and compromise in times of weakness in your life. Compromise for some people is in a name, reputation, or fame. For others it is wealth and the American dream with unlimited resources. For others it is acceptance and feeling liked and valued. And for some it is convenience, pleasure, and comfort.

Whatever compromise looks like to you, the enemy will find out how to tempt you with this. If we sell out 100% to Jesus, then there is no room to negotiate with the enemy when he comes and tries to divide our heart with compromise. When we are living fully for Him, we have Christ’s power and authority in our lives. When we sell out and live in continual compromise, it costs us more than we think.

The Cost of Complaining

I used to have a rule when I team lead missions trip that went something like, “don’t state the obvious”. This meant you will likely be tired, hot, cold, thirsty, hungry, and any combination of those at any given point on the trip. There will probably be crazy smells, lots of traffic, and unexpected things everyday. I didn’t want team members to stand there and complain about the obvious.

It’s easy to adapt this mentality on a 1-3 week concentrated trip where you are out of your element and serving people in a foreign country. It’s NOT as easy to adapt a mentality like this or better on a day-to-day basis. We get impatient. Something frustrates us. We have the ability to cater circumstances to fit our needs and preferences and so we complain when things don’t go as we like. I’m GUILTY!

When I was on a dance team years ago, we had Philippians 2:14-15 on our shirts and it read, “ Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world”. I remember feeling great conviction from this scripture and while I would complain all the time in my heart, that scripture always went through my mind and it made me feel accountable.

While we all may not wear a T-shirt as a daily reminder not to complain, we should meditate on this verse and take inventory of when we are dissatisfied. The verse above states that by not complaining we are able to shine like stars in the midst of darkness and perverse situations in this generation. Are there dark and perverse things around you? Do you want the light of Christ to shine through your life into those places? Then don’t complain about everything and don’t dispute or argue over things that don’t matter eternally.

When Jesus came to the Earth He didn’t get into silly arguments with the Pharisees. He answered them in the spirit of wisdom and stayed true to His Father’s words. He might not have pleased men at times by what He said and did, but He wasn’t complaining. I feel if anyone had a right to complain it was Jesus. I think about the “mess” we’ve made as humans and the times we’ve broken His heart with our sin and rebellion. Even as He stood to be judged and accused on behalf of OUR sin, He kept silent. In all of His innocence He didn’t speak in complaint and accusations.

I believe we can learn to transform our behavior in the area of complaining so that we begin to reflect Jesus to the world around us. When the children of God complained in the Bible, it caused them to wander from the faith of what God had spoken to them. If we are to shine and reflect His purposes for our lives, we must keep a thankful heart and walk forward in what He has for us.

The Cost of Being Critical

I could easily have a job being a critic. I’m a critical thinker who likes to think through thinks and make improvements. If there was a field like movies or food that I had expertise in, I’d have no problem detecting how improvements could be made and point out the flaws in a given presentation. I believe part of my natural tendency to critique is of The Lord when governed by His spirit. I believe this to be true because Holy Spirit produces excellence in us which is only truly possible by submission to Him. However if not led by the Holy Spirit, a critical spirit can actually shut down our ability to hear from God and to cooperate with His spirit. This is an area where I’ve continual struggled particularly as I’ve seen the good, the bad, the great, and the ugly in ministry.

No one is perfect no matter who they are and how well they might do something. Everyone is flawed because we are human. There is no exception for anyone even those in ministry. While many called into occupational ministry might be really great people, they can never be perfect because they too are humans in constant need of the Perfect One, Jesus. When we have expectations that people or organizations particularly in ministry should be perfect, we will always find inadequacies.

As believers we are to rightly test every spirit. “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”-I Thessalonians 5:19-22. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”-I John 4:1. I list these scriptures because I don’t want anyone to think that we are just to accept and endorse any teaching we hear. We need to make sure the word of God is not only being taught with integrity, but lived out rightly as well.

While we do need to make sure we are listening to sound doctrine, we don’t need to openly criticize, exploit and mock people. There is no fruit of the Spirit that results in this and it furthers hurts the testimony of Jesus. I have often been disgusted at times with the amount of arguments and critical things Christians post back and forth on Facebook particularly against other Christians. I wonder what it looks like to those who aren’t Christians to see those who claim to know Jesus being so critical of those in the “same way of life”. I wonder if those outside the Body of Christ feel as if they were to step into a church that they too would be criticized with whatever they might be walking through. If we are so critical of “our own”, how could we ever accept them in their struggles particularly when they know they are in sin?

I’m not making excuses for what the word of God says as it is very clear on defining sin. I can’t excuse someone from sin as it was never a standard set by man. The fact is that men did not write the Bible and if people are preaching from the Bible and it offends people, then the arguments need to be directed towards God as He is the author. However there is a way to communicate the truth of His word in love and in a way that is not critical of others. It’s the goodness of God that leads men to repentance, not critics. God can not be with sin because He is without sin, not because He wants to be mean and exclusive. Sometimes this is how we make Him appear to those who don’t know Him by having a critical attitude.

As believers we must realize that a critical spirit is of the enemy and it hinders us from hearing rightly from God. Satan wasn’t satisfied with his position that God had given him in heaven at the beginning of creation and he wanted to be like God and have more power. Perhaps he thought that he could do things better than God. Maybe he would have changed the way the angels worshiped to look to him more. Whatever his reasoning, he was critical of what God has created and now is eternally damned and unable to worship God.

When we give into a critical spirit and find continual fault in things, we are operating selfishly and saying our opinion is the only right opinion. Again I am not referring to standing by the standards of God’s word, but to a critical mindset. If we believe we are the only ones right and find fault with other things, we position ourselves to not hear His voice and His opinion.

There are many in the world who are critical of the church and if we in the church take the same position as they, how are we supposed to reach them with the love of God? We will continue to see God do amazing things that only He can do and unfortunately we will continue to see ourselves and others at times fall prey to being critical and not reflecting Him well. It’s in the moments where we are tempted to critique and to fault find that we need the help of the Holy Spirit. We need to invite Him in to show us His heart and His opinion. In moving forward He might lead us to pray for that pastor, that elder, that fellow church friend in our private times rather than remain critical of them.

If we don’t take care to eradicate a critical spirit from our lives, it will carry over to how we see God. Let’s pray for God to make us aware of when we are cooperating with being critical and ask Him to help us extend grace, mercy, and restoration.

Are you one who continually looks for faults in people or in a church service? Do you quietly rejoice with a “I knew it” mentality when other people particularly Christians make mistakes? Do you hold on to offenses and project them onto other people and scenarios? Are there stumbling blocks of prejudices in your heart that cause you to be critical? How is your life being reflected before non-Christians? Does it reflect a critical attitude about God or the church to them?

 

 

 

The Cost of Coveting

Yesterday I wrote about the cost of compromise and how was need to find contentment in who we were created to be. This topic transitions into today’s topic of covetousness.

When we covet we are ultimately revealing that whatever we are coveting is more precious to us than the Lord. One of the 10 commandments is, “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17). The definition of covet is:1. To desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without regard to the rights of others. 2. To wish for, especially eagerly 3. To have a wrongful desire.

In today’s society and the materialism that surrounds us, it doesn’t take long to find something we desire and feel we should or must have. Our friends buy a new house, a new car, get new clothes etc., and we feel compelled to have it. The traps come when we feel discouraged or disappointed with what we currently have, be that relationships or possessions because then we feel we must obtain something else.

The problem is that while acquiring things might give us temporal pleasure, if we bank our happiness on this we will never truly be satisfied. Coveting is in such a nature that it never ends. You will always desire something else by fixing your eyes on things of this world and you’ll never be content.

When you covet something, you have an excessive craving for what does not belong to you. This is not merely admiring something someone has or an aspect of someone’s life. This is an extreme dissatisfaction with what you have and a drive to obtain more. I think that God naturally put a desire inside of mankind to desire something MORE. We were made to not be sufficient in ourselves as we were created to need God, and to desire Him. When sin entered the world, this desire got perverted into selfish ambition and thinking that we could fulfill ourselves with things of this world.

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 4:4, “I have seen that all the work done is because a man wants what his neighbor has. This also is for nothing, like trying to catch the wind.” Solomon knew more wealth than anyone reading this, yet he saw it was all vanity. In the end all of our work to acquire things is futile and doesn’t carry over with us into eternity. Yes we need a roof over our heads and clothes on our back and I don’t think it’s wrong to have nice things, but is it really worth it to invest all our energy and desire into obtaining things?

To redirect the covetousness tendency within us, we must seek the Lord and the pleasure of His life for us. I was listening to a testimony this past week of a man who used to be very famous and had been in a lifestyle of drugs including meth for two years. He made the statement that when Holy Spirit came into his life, that it was a greater sensation than anything he had sought out before in his life of drugs. That not even the best “high” before remotely compared to a moment in the presence of God and receiving His forgiveness.

That testimony is powerful to me especially when I’ve seen people earnestly seek more things through means of this world. I’ve seen tears fall from not being able to have the latest and greatest and I too have felt the pain of feeling like I’m missing out at times. Yet when I really consider where lasting pleasure is, I know my heart has deceived me. For ultimate satisfaction comes from knowing Him and not in what I can hold in my hands or see. When my life is over, I will give an account of how I knew Jesus and how my life reflected Him in the highs and in the lows. I will be asked what I did with what He gave me including the family and relationships I’ve been blessed with. I will not have my car, a house, or any possessions with me. This makes Solomon’s words ring loudly in my ears as I don’t want to live my life attempting to “catch the wind”. I want to catch the heart of God.

What do we desire more of—Jesus or this world? What is our motive for wanting more things? Is it that we need for example a newer car because it’s breaking down or because we just “want” it? Are we heartbroken whenever we can’t get what “we want”? Are we willing to compromise integrity to obtain something? Have we invited the conviction of the Holy Spirit to reveal weakness in our hearts in this area?

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

The Cost of Comparison

When we walk through our day, we are naturally evaluating and comparing circumstances in our heads. Think of going to the grocery store. If you’re like me, you examine the fruit and compare the one you pick up to the whole batch and see which ones are the best. My husband loves avocados and I’ve learned how to find the best ones by picking several up and comparing them. As I shop I always look and compare prices of brands and quantity. I ask myself if it is worth paying a little more upfront for lasting quality or for a lesser price per item in the end. As I go to check out, I compare the lines and the speed at which the cashiers are checking people out to see what line I should walk through.

Just this weekend I heard several songs on the radio and began to compare them against each other forming an inner conclusion of which one was really “the best”. While having a mindset of comparing fruit or songs might be beneficial to us in the end, if this mindset bleeds into other aspects of our life, it can be detrimental.

When we feel as though we are lacking, it’s not because we are looking exclusively to Jesus and His plan for our life. We feel we are in lack when we see our lives in comparison to where others are or when compared to our own ideal circumstances for our lives. When you compare yourself to others, you’re in essence telling God that what He has given to you or created you to be is not enough. It’s so easy in the day we are living in to find a “better” or more ideal situation than what we currently find ourselves in. However when we do this, we are often neglecting who God created us to be.

The comparison game is nothing new, it goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. What led Adam and Eve into sin in the Garden was the allurement that they could “become like God”, as Satan told them by disobeying what God had commanded. They weren’t content in being who God had created them to be and they began to listen to the lies of the serpent and compared where they were capable of to what God, their Creator was capable of. Genesis 3:6 says, “When the woman (Eve) saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it”. This act of sin went against what God had called “good” and it caused Adam and Eve to see themselves and their creator in a new way.

God had called the garden “good” and He called the man and woman “good” and asked that they only not eat the fruit of one tree. After they desired of the one thing they were asked not to have, their eyes were open and they stood naked and ashamed. I think when we give into sin and the lies of the enemy by desiring to be in a condition that we were never intended to be, we will resent who we were originally created by God to be.

Comparison inhibits us from being the unique creation that God made us to be. It is an enemy to who God created us to be because it creates insecurities, pride, and jealousy within us to strive and be something we were never created to be. If all we are is distracted and driven by comparison, we won’t have energy to be operating at our potential of who we are called to be. The more we compare our lives to others, the further we drift from fulfilling our God-given purpose. The more we act like Adam and Eve by focusing on the things we don’t have, we miss out on enjoying the rest of life that God has provided for us.

Take a look across your “garden” of life. See ALL that God has created within you and around you for you to flourish in that place. Listen and recognize the voice of the enemy lying to you and persuading you to believe that you are worse than or better than those around you. You can never keep up with the endless and meaningless trail the enemy will lead you down. You can however abide in who you were created to be and flourish in the unique expression of God in the earth.

Tattered Jeans and Our Outward Appearance

I was greatly encouraged as I sat and looked up podcasts of one of my favorite preachers. This minister happens to be a lovely lady whom I’ve been very encouraged through her ministry in the past 6 years or so. I’ve not had great access to the Internet recently and I’ve certainly not had enough to stream or download videos in Africa. Upon watching 3 of her teachings and downloading a 4th, I noticed that she was wearing only 2 outfits between the 4 podcasts. What was interesting is that two of them were in random churches she was visiting and the other two were in her home church within a year of each other. Her full outfit was shown on the home church screen and I noticed that the pair of jeans she had on were a bit frayed in the back as if they’d been stepped on often. This isn’t a high-definition camera either and it was clearly obvious that her jeans were tattered in the back…and I smiled.

I smiled because here I am currently sitting here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, my hometown wearing borrowed clothes because all of my summer clothes are currently 12,000 miles away save a t-shirt or two.I smiled because this woman is well-known and while she always looks decent and put together, she’s clearly not consumed about what she wears.I smiled because it conveyed that she was more invested financially in the Kingdom that her own wardrobe. I smiled because the reality is, none of us should be consumed by our outward appearance, but we are often and this was a redeeming example to look to.

I remember coming across a post on Facebook from another well-known woman in ministry a few years ago. She wrote how she had just had her hair colored for a conference because as she said, “let’s be honest ladies, God may look at our heart, but women look at our hair”. I quickly scanned the over 1,000 comments that were growing by the minute and many said things like, “ I could never speak to that many women unless I lost weight”, or “I would color my hair too and maybe have liposuction and a nose job”! The comments weren’t all so extreme, but many reflected insecurities that would’ve intimidated them from speaking to a group of women on the scale this minister was going to do. I love this particular speaker as well and I don’t fault her at all for saying what she said. I get it. I think that we all do. However, is that the way we should view ourselves?

Do we care too much about our outward appearance? Do we try to buy the newest and greatest things only to make up the outward appearance? And are we critical of ourself and others based on how we are dressed? One glance at Facebook or Pinterest reveals that women care about their outward appearance a lot…oh and babies, puppies, and pumpkin everything, which is perfectly acceptable ;)

Quite honestly I rarely pay attention to what either of these women wear when they’re speaking or how they’re highlights look. I just happened to notice a unique top being repeated and it made me look closer. The reason that I don’t notice if these two women are dressed in expensive clothes or have a $200 hair do, is because I’m not watching them to see what they look like outwardly, I’m watching them to see who they are inwardly. I listen to their words because they bring life and truth from God’s word. I hear their maturity of having walked down paths ahead of me in life. And I receive their impartation of hope and identity to be the daughter of God that I’m called to be.

That’s what I want to do for you, whomever you are reading this post. I want you to feel empowered to be YOU (and yes even if you are a man—sorry you endured this female encouragement)! I don’t want you to feel like you have to go spend a lot of your paycheck on making up your outward self or keeping up with popular trends. Yes, I want you to be confident and feel comfortable, but I don’t want you consumed with it. I want you to be so excited and consumed with Jesus that you look to Him in all that you do. That you spend more time in His word and encouraging your faith, than you spend time doing your hair and makeup everyday. I want you to realize that your inward beauty is what REALLY matters. When you spend time on your purity of heart, no one will notice your tattered jeans, unless of course they do and it makes them smile :)

What are your thoughts? How have you struggled with your outward appearance and how has Jesus helped you in this?

SCRIPTURES:
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Matthew 6:25-30

Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness-1 Timothy 2:8-10

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. 1 Peter 3:3-5

Why I Need to Be More Like a Cheerleader

I’m not quite sure why I’ve been writing about cheerleaders recently, but they inspired me to write this entry. This week I went to my first college football game at the University of Tulsa. My dad has been teaching there on and off for several years in addition to his full-time job, but this summer he became a full-time professor. He bought season tickets to the football games and invited SK and I to attend the opening game. We went and it was a fun experience especially because it brought back memories of my High School, Union, playing on that field for big rival games and TU’s current football coach was the former Union HS coach. I watched as the opposing team scored two touchdowns with TU missing a couple of field goals. TU was hardly on the side of the field where the cheerleaders were during the first quarter as the other team was scoring in the far end zone. I watched as the cheerleaders stepped up their cheers supporting their team. It made me chuckle because all of the fans were disgruntled and even I, an indifferent football fan, was thinking, “c’mon guys! This is pathetic”. Yet, even amidst the scowling fans, the cheerleaders kept smiling and encouraging their team.

I remember being on the sidelines of football and basketball games in High School and feeling dumb when I was all smiley and saying, “Go Big Red—lets GO!” at times when our teams were losing. I remember the cheesiness oozing out of my slap happy smile. Back then I didn’t always understand the rules of the game, but I knew I wanted my team to win! I had worked hard learning routines and memorizing band songs to cheer along to, so I wasn’t about to waste my practice time and not cheer. It didn’t matter how things looked or what the score was, I keep cheering. I didn’t give up in the last few minutes even when the game was going to end in a definite defeat.

In life a lot of times though I am the opposite of my high school cheering days. The day starts off on a bad note and I often immediately project one “bad play” as a lost game or a day ruined. When the enemy seems to be winning and keeps making advances on every front, I throw my pom-poms down and begin to sulk. It just doesn’t make sense to stand up and be joyful. It doesn’t feel natural and at times, I want a pity party. At times I am being defeated and what it will take to make a comeback seems overwhelming.

What’s so great about following Jesus is that I don’t have to be led by my feelings. I can choose to trust in His word even when my feelings are leading me somewhere else. I can rely on the truth that no matter how much I might feel like I’m “losing”, the end of the story is that the enemy is defeated and that Jesus is victorious! That is all that I need to know. I need to pick up my pom-poms, put a smile on my face because I am a daughter of the Most High God, and know I will overcome because of Jesus Christ who lives inside of me.

Stephen and I left the TU game at the beginning of the 4th quarter. It was being televised and that slowed the game down to where the game had already lasted 3 hours by the time we left. It appeared TU didn’t have a chance to come back, so off we went. Stephen turned on the radio in the car to the game and after the opposing team scored yet another touchdown, we turned the radio off. The game in the end was won by TU in double overtime by 7 points! Just like in sports games, our battles aren’t over until they’re over and that my friends is why we MUST keep cheering, keep believing, and hoping! The BEST is yet to come and we will see VICTORY!

Here’s a bonus as I don’t currently have access to my actual Middle School through High School dance team pics…this is 4th grade Halloween when I BEGGED my mom to get a perm–scary! ;) Don’t be a frowning cheerleader!!
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