Christians are like Teabags.

Receiving a blessing from God is probably one of the most exciting things ever, especially when it's clearly evident. One thing I have been struggling with lately is that as soon as God sends a blessing my way and answers some prayers...here comes Lucifer (aka Satan). I have been journaling/asking God through prayers why a burden always comes with a blessing. 

I found this book yesterday called "Breakfast With Jesus." Not really sure where it came from...but it was on my "Jesus shelf" so I thought I'd check it out. The title of Chapter 2...How to Resist Temptation. Opening sentence went something like this:  

Being tempted soon after a blessing isn't a bad thing, in fact, it means you are on the right track.

I love when God makes it easy for me to understand the answers to my questions. He doesn't just point me in the right direction, He literally puts it word for word on a page for me to read. 

The chapter explains this by using the example from Luke when Jesus went out in the desert for 40 days after being baptized. Let's break this down, shall we?

The blessing: Baptism -- Jesus receiving the Holy Spirit sent from God

The trial: the accompaniment of Satan during Jesus' time in the desert

Satan tempts Jesus 3 different times over the course of those 40 days. Each time, we learn something new about the trial and how as Christians we should handle it.

Temptation #1: Physical Needs

Satan tempts Jesus by telling Him to turn the rocks in the desert into bread (given that Jesus is out in a desert, there's probably no drive thrus). Instead of giving into His physical needs, He tells Satan, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." -Luke 4:4

Now I know this type of temptation isn't quite as relevant to us today as it was to Jesus then, but regardless...physical sin is physical sin. No matter what it is or how it is presented, we must use the Word of God to fight it. That's the point Jesus is making here.

Temptation #2: Shortcuts

*This is my favorite*

Satan is asking Jesus to worship Him. In the words of Satan, "Come on dude, just one bow...that's all I'm asking for." 

But here's the thing. A moment of worship can mean a lifetime of service. I know it all too well that doing something "just once" doesn't satisfy. Therefore, if we give Satan that "just once," that one inch, he'll take a mile. The problem with the prowling lion we call Satan is that even when he does deliver his promises (that one temporary satisfying feeling), we still lose.

Just a moment at the altar of greed can lead to a lifetime of regret.

This quote from the book hit me hard and is legit...so I wanted to include it. 

"And too late you discover that all that glitters is the point of a dagger."

Intense.

Temptation #3: Misusing God's Promises

We cannot, I repeat, CANNOT violate God's word and then turn around and expect Him to bless and protect us. It doesn't quite work that way. God calls us to be firm to His word and live our lives solely devoted to it. God isn't a "get out of jail free card," He's our Savior, our Redeemer, our Protection. And to experience that part of Him, we have to take His word as a whole. We can't take bits and pieces and use them as we choose. It's an all-or-nothing type of deal.

To end this, I want to leave a few quotes from the book that well, I liked and thought would be a good way to effectively end this post.

After the dove came the devil. 

Christians are like teabags. You don't know what they're made of until you put them in hot water.

Taking and Forgetting to Give.

I take so much for granted.

My education.

My family

My friends.

My freedom.

My God.

The Anatomy of God's Heart

This weekend has been...long. I have an anatomy test tomorrow, which means I spent all weekend looking at diagrams, blood traces, and the anatomy of the pelvis. 

Though I spent more time looking at the thorax, abdomen and pelvis than I did looking at Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...God still did work in my heart. If you know me at all, I'm not productive for long periods of time. I can sit down and study maybe a solid hour before I drift my attention to something else. 

Saturday morning I sat down in a corner of Panera and talked to Jesus. I asked Him to give me the diligence this weekend to be the student He has called me to be. I asked that He would protect my mind from wandering and being distracted. The result of that repeated prayer over the last 48 hours...14 solid hours of studying. 

Am I prepared? I hope so. I do have 4 hours tomorrow to study. But even if I don't know everything, I do know that my God is Sovereign. I do know that He will provide. And I am confident that I trust Him. I could say that I want a good grade on this test...and I do. But what I want most of all, He already gave me. He gave me confidence, not in knowing the material, but in knowing that He hears me. He assured me that He's going to direct my path that best directs His light. I love this whole "not being stressed" thing. 

More college students should try Him out, I think they would like it.

Oxymoron?

It is February 17th. It is 66 degrees outside.

My outfit: a sleeveless floral dress from Gap and my cowgirl boots.

My mood: delightfully uplifted

My God: good

A Medley

I have mixed feelings about my life right now. In some aspects of my life, things are absolutely amazing. God is answering some prayers that have been on my heart for a long time now. Growth is being seen in areas that make my heart flutter. But then there are people/areas in my life that are suffering...and suffering bad. 

I don't know how to feel about my life. Serious trial and overwhelming rejoice have never both been present at the same time before. I guess this is yet another lesson from the Lord. There really isn't a point to this post, which I'm a little down about. I haven't blogged in about a week and when I do, there's no avid reason or motivation behind it. No underlying message to be learned, just me talking (typing rather) out my thoughts in hopes of coming across an answer. 

I went home this weekend and the sermon I heard on Sunday at church really surprised me. (One of my answered prayers) I have been struggling to agree with the way the preaching and teaching are lead in my home church, which makes it hard to want to go. This weekend I left thinking, "Wow, that was good." The last two days I have spent meditating on these verses in my quiet times...

"Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly -- mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. You are still worldly. For since there is jealously and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you acting like mere men? For when one says, 'I follow Paul,' and another, 'I follow Apollos,' are you not mere men? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe -- as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building."

-1 Corinthians 3:1-9

In the sermon on Sunday, the point of the message was that as Christians, we must act like Christians and perform our duty...to plant and water. NOT to conform to this world.

This is a story that my pastor told Sunday to go along with the scripture.

 

This is  the story of the farmer who was walking along one day and found an eagle egg.  He took it to his house and put it under a setting hen.  It was not too long until that little eagle was hatched.  He was the oddest looking chicken that they had ever seen.  When the other chicks chirped, he screeched.  When the mother hen clucked, he would not come running.  There seemed to be no understanding between them.  They spoke two different languages.  He was odd. The chicks picked on him.  He was an eagle.  One day when he was in the barnyard, father eagle passed over.  He noticed a baby eagle down there in the barnyard.  He gave out a loud screech.  Father eagle asked the baby eagle what he was doing down there in the barnyard.  You are not a chicken.  You are an eagle.  Eagles are not made to live in a barnyard.  Eagles are meant to fly.  The heavens are your domain.  Come up here with me.  The little fellow did not know what to do.  He had been living in the barnyard all of his life.  Father eagle urged him to just jump and flap his wings.  You can fly if you try.  The little eagle made a feeble jump and flapped his wings and landed on top of the barnyard fence post.  Father eagle screeched again.  Child, jump higher!  Try again.  Make a jump and see how high you can fly.  The little eagle did what father eagle asked him to do.  And father eagle did what he said he would do.  And by a mighty jump of faith the baby eagle was riding on father eagle's wings on his first solo flight into the heavens. 

 We are eagles. We are not meant to be surrounded and "raised" in this world. We are meant to live and "soar" with our God in Heaven. And if that means being made fun of, being persecuted, and being condemned...then so be it. We are not meant for this world.

"Remember, you are an eagle."

I thought that was a pretty cool metaphor. But then again, I'm a sucker for corny metaphors, so you can be the judge. I often forget that this world is but a mere vapor in comparison to what God has in store for us. This was a good reminder. An answered prayer. And the perfect thing to reflect on in this time of my life. 

Thanks Jesus :)

Since I haven't blogged in a while, here are some pictures of what has been going on in my life...

Flowers from my valentine -- Logan Cox :)

Where Amy thinks cows are milked.

The flowers my mom got me for Valentine's Day :)

A view from Interstate 64 on the way home.

Remember When

Titus 3

Remember to be obedient. (1-2)

Remember what I used to be. (3)

Remember the salvation of God. (4-8)

Remember to stay focused. (9-11)

I often think that reading the gospels aren't what God wants me to focus on during my quiet times. My thought: "I know it well enough. There are other books in the Bible that I haven't even looked at."

Sitting in my bed just now, I grabbed my Bible and flipped to Titus. Why, I'm not real sure. But I know I had only ever heard one sermon preached out of Titus and I didn't really know what Titus was all about. 

So you know how I said that I wanted to read something other than the gospel...well, God had other plans. I flipped open Titus and started reading. The first 2 chapters are about leadership and living right in the church. Great stuff. Then SMACK. Hey there chapter 3. What do you know? It was the gospel. It was a reminder God saw that I needed.

One of my most fervent prayers lately have been that God ignite my heart. In a way that I can't contain my joy for Him, despite any circumstance. He gave me that joy today through this reminder. Though my "old self" was only 2 years ago, it feels like such a long time ago. Looking back on how He transformed who I was then to who I am now is the best reminder of how absolutely gracious and loving He is.

Thanks for the reminder.

On a lighter note, and because I want to include it without having 2 posts today...this joy that God gave me today, it completely wiped away my disappoint from last night's game. Love my Steelers.

My defeat. 31 pushups for the Packers.

Taking it for granted...

What I did tonight: prayed

Where: in front of Burruss, Wilson steps, and the sorority dorms

With who: some amazing CRUers 

Why: because we take it for granted

Being able to speak the name of Jesus is such a blessing in itself. A blessing I almost daily take for granted. Walking around just a portion of JMU and praying for the lost souls that surround me on a daily basis was a wake up call I have been praying for. 

We don't get prosecuted. We don't get killed. We don't get held captive.

We may get called names. We could possibly not be considered "popular." But that's the extent of our worries.

As a Christian at JMU, I'm convicted. I have thousands of opportunities to share the amazing truth of the gospel. On occasion, I do take advantage of it. But for the most part, the only thing I worry about while walking around campus is where I have to be, what I have to do, and how much time I have to spare. Not all of this is bad in a sense, because the majority of the time most of these events revolve around Jesus (CRU, bible study, dtime, prayer, leadership, church). 

But this is what gets me...I seldom stop. I don't take a break from sprinting from one location to the next and just sit, listen, and pray. Praying for this campus is something that NEEDS to happen. This campus is in desperate need of some Light. And I'm called to be one of the ones called to go around a light the candles. 

Can you picture it? If every Christian at JMU were to light a candle once a day every day...we would need sunglasses to walk around. Okay, corny metaphor...to the extreme. But still, you get the picture. 

 "Would you light my candle?" That's what God is asking. Now I know this question is used differently in the movie Rent, but consider it. God's asking us to light candles for Him...will we do it?

"Lighting a candle" doesn't necessarily mean witnessing, though it would be amazing to see the Christians at JMU witnessing to someone every day. It also means praying. Praying for specific friends who don't know Jesus. Praying for the campus as a whole. Praying.

He's sending laborers into the harvest. -Matthew 9:38

Worth More Than Rubies.

"We are never more beautiful portrayals of mortals who know and believe God than when others can look at our lives, hear our testimonies, and say, 'It is true.' That's what it means to be living proof." -Beth Moore

As a woman, it's often hard for me to dissociate beauty from a physical appearance. Although I still struggle with this, I have seen God work wonders in my heart when it comes to this self-conscience topic.

At the end of bible study last night, we read Proverbs 31:10-31. If you're like me, this is one of those passages that you know what it talks about, think you know and don't really spend much time reading it. Well, last night the passage was divided up and we were each to take a few verses and summarize what was being said. Some of the answers that were given were something completely new to me. I want to share with you these verses and then attempt to talk about what I got from them.

"A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.

Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.

She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.

She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.

She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.

She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.

She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.

In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:

Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a women who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Give her the rewards she has earned, and let her words bring her praise at the city gate."

She's worthy. She uplifts her husband with only love and encouragement daily. She serves with an eager heart. She provides not only for her family, but for her servants too. She's a wise businesswoman. She doesn't just feel sorry for the poor, she helps them. She's modest. Her words are full of wisdom and given to her children. Her children admire her and her husbands praises her.

Her beauty is found in her service and words. Her beauty is selfless. 

This passage is both an encouragement as well as a conviction. It allows me to see the areas in my life that desperately need God's intervention, but it also reveals the ways in which God has changed my life to mirror some of these qualities. 

She fears the Lord, not the future. She fears the Lord, not the load. She fears the Lord, not anyone else. She fears the Lord...she will be praised.