Hello all! I know it's been a while since I have posted anything. I have been extremely busy!! I started school in August and a few things have changed over the last few months. First of all, I have decided I am not going to become a counselor. I don't know what I was thinking! I can't even manage my own life, family, emotions, etc. How could I possibly tell someone else how to do it? =) Oh well! My career search has certainly been a process of elimination to say the least! Ha! But what I do know, now more than ever before, is that Jesus is who He said He is, He did what He said He did, and the Bible is a reliable account of it all! I have decided that I want to spend the rest of my life studying the truth found in God's Word! Where that will lead me, I have no idea at this point. But I intend to enjoy the ride! I wanted to share a bit of what I've been studying so far. I hope you find it helpful in your search for the truth. I hope it answers some questions, piques your interest in the Bible and what it claims, and solidifies your faith in the God who wrote it! If it makes you think and you come up with more questions, ask me! If I don't know, I will research it, and we'll figure it out together! Anyway, I can't get enough of this stuff...hope you're not bored to tears! Enjoy your introduction into Apologetics!
This is a collection of essay questions designed to help you make a defense of the faith when faced with common questions concerning the Bible.
1. You are speaking with a new friend in the neighborhood. The conversation takes a turn towards religion, and you begin to share your faith and background with your friend. This friend shows a smirk across his face, and then states that he doubts that Jesus ever lived. How would you respond to him?
I would begin by asking him if he had ever considered the historically documented evidence for Jesus’ existence on the earth that comes from secular sources outside of the Bible. I would ask him if he was aware that ancient historians who were not believers or sympathetic to Christianity included accounts of a man named Jesus in their records? Not only is Jesus mentioned within their pages, the facts concerning His life interestingly correspond with the biblical account, though often in a negative or neutral light and not from the perspective of the Bible, which relieves us of any belief that they were made up in the attempt to spread a falsified record of a man who never lived.
One of those historians was a man named Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian born in AD 37 or 38 (Habermas, 2008, 192), just a few years after the Bible says Jesus was crucified and resurrected. In his account of Jewish history contained in his work entitled Antiquities, he mentions Jesus and gives several historical facts concerning Him. From his writing we can gather that:
1. Jesus was known as a wise and virtuous man, one recognized for his good conduct. 2. He had many disciples, both Jews and Gentiles. 3. Pilate condemned him to die, 4. with crucifixion explicitly being mentioned as the mode. 5. The disciples reported that Jesus had risen from the dead and 6. that he had appeared to them on the third day after his crucifixion. 7. Consequently, the disciples continued to proclaim his teachings. 8. Perhaps Jesus was the Messiah concerning whom the Old Testament prophets spoke and predicted wonders. 9. Jesus was the brother of James and 10. was called the Messiah by some (Habermas, 2008, 195).
Another historian who mentions Jesus in his writing is a man named Cornelius Tacitus. He was a Roman historian who lived from AD 55-120. “He has been called the ‘greatest historian’ of ancient Rome” (Habermas, 2008, 187). He wrote thirty books included in two collections called the Annals and the Histories. “Tacitus recorded at least one reference to Christ and two to early Christianity, one in each of his major works” (Habermas, 2008, 188). What we can learn from his writings about Jesus is that he suffered the extreme penalty (crucifixion) at the hands of Pontius Pilatus, during the reign of Tiberius (AD 14-37), he ignited a “mischievous superstition” and was followed by people who were named for him (Christians), who were so devoted to him that rather than recant their devotion they submitted themselves to death (Habermas, 2008, 188-189).
Yet another ancient historian who records information about Jesus Christ is a man named Gaius Suetonius Tranquillas. He was also a Roman historian and had access to imperial records because of his position as chief secretary of Emperor Hadrian (Habermas, 2008, 190). In his records he says that the Jews in Rome “caused continuous disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus” [a variant spelling of Christ], and were expelled from the city, which is corroborated in the book of Acts (Habermas, 2008, 191).
There are also ancient writings of various government officials that contain proof for the existence of Jesus in history. A Roman author and administrator who served as governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor named Pliny the Younger mentioned Jesus and his followers in a letter he wrote to Emperor Trajan to explain how he was handling their perceived inflexibility and political threat by interrogation, torture, and execution (Habermas, 2008, 198).
Jesus is also mentioned in the Talmud. The Talmud is a collection of Jewish oral tradition and commentary. The earliest period of compilation is called the Tannaitic period and is dated from AD 70-200. A portion from this early period records that Jesus was “hanged” (a variant term meaning crucifixion) on the Passover for “practicing sorcery and enticing Israel to apostasy” (Habermas, 2008, 203).
Another ancient source of documentation concerning the life of Christ is the writings of a Greek satirist who lived during the second century named Lucian. In his writings he criticizes and mocks early Christians for their belief and worship of Christ. From his material we can learn that Jesus was worshiped by Christians, introduced new teachings, and was crucified among other aspects of his life (Habermas, 2008, 206).
I would conclude by appealing to my new friend to consider the improbability of Jesus never existing in light of all the extra-biblical evidence of his existence. These records were made by historians, government officials, religious leaders that did not accept him as God, and even a satirist, all of which had no reason to convince people of the existence of a made up person but rather criticized, mocked, tortured, and executed those that were devoted to him. Because of all the available historical data we possess today there is no logical reason to doubt that Jesus actually existed on this earth. I would ask my friend to consider the evidence and the chance that based on the fact that the biblical account of the life of Christ is corroborated by secular sources of history, he might just be who the Bible says he is!
2. You are speaking with a friend who is a believer, but struggles periodically with her faith. Lately, she was confronted by a relative who mentioned that apart from the Bible itself, we really don’t have any information regarding Jesus. To secure all of our faith concerning Jesus from one source seems short sighted and prone to circular reasoning. Are there any other sources that might support the historicity of the Jesus of the Bible? How would you answer your friend?
I would assure her that there are several sources that support the historicity of the Jesus of the Bible outside of the Bible itself. These sources are from a variety of people existing in antiquity who recorded information concerning the life of Christ. Their record of Christ is especially convincing because of the fact that none of them were believers themselves. In fact, some of them were adamantly opposed to Christianity and even tried to stop its spread by persecuting and killing believers.
The first source of information outside of the Bible concerning Jesus comes from a man named Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian born in AD 37 or 38 (Habermas, 2008, 192). As I mentioned above, in his account of Jewish history contained in his work entitled Antiquities, he “corroborates important information about Jesus: that he was the martyred leader of the church in Jerusalem and that he was a wise teacher who had established a wide and lasting following, despite the fact that he had been crucified under Pilate at the instigation of some of the Jewish leaders” (Strobel, 1998, 80). These references made by Josephus are very significant and can be trusted in light of the fact that his accounts of other happenings in history, such as the Jewish War, have been upheld by archaeological excavations and corroboration by other historians (Strobel, 1998, 81).
Another source of outside information about Christ, also mentioned above, comes from a reference made by a man named Tacitus, who was considered “the most important Roman historian of the first century” (Strobel, 1998, 81). What we can learn from his writings about Jesus is that he suffered the extreme penalty (crucifixion) at the hands of Pontius Pilatus, during the reign of Tiberius (AD 14-37), he ignited a “mischievous superstition” and was followed by people who were named for him (Christians), who were so devoted to him that rather than recant their devotion they submitted themselves to death (Habermas, 2008, 188-189). “This is an important testimony by an unsympathetic witness to the success and spread of Christianity, based on a historical figure – Jesus” (Strobel, 1998, 83).
There is also a reference to Jesus in the writings of a governor in northwestern Turkey named Pliny the Younger. The reference is found in a letter to his friend, Emperor Trajan from AD 111 concerning Christians he has arrested (Strobel, 1998, 83). It “attests to the rapid spread of Christianity, both in the city and in the rural area, among every class of persons, slave women as well as Roman citizens…And it talks about the worship of Jesus as God, that Christians maintained high ethical standards, and that they were not easily swayed from their beliefs” (Strobel, 1998, 84).
We even have “non-biblical attestation of the darkness that occurred at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion” written about in the Gospels (Strobel, 1998, 85). This attestation comes from a reference to “a historian named Thallus who in AD 52 wrote a history of the eastern Mediterranean world since the Trojan War. Although Thallus’s work has been lost it was quoted by Julius Africanus in about AD 221” (Strobel, 1998, 84).
So, even if we did not have the Bible:
We would still have a considerable amount of important historical evidence that would provide a kind of outline for the life of Jesus…We would know that first, Jesus was a Jewish teacher; second, many people believed that he performed healings and exorcisms; third, some people believed he was the Messiah; fourth, he was rejected by the Jewish leaders; fifth, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius; sixth, despite this shameful death, his followers, who believed that he was still alive, spread beyond Palestine so that there were multitudes of them in Rome by AD 64; and seventh, all kinds of people from the cities and countryside – men and women, slave and free – worshiped him as God (Strobel, 1998, 87).
All of this information gleaned from non-biblical sources paints a picture of Jesus Christ identical to that of the Bible. In fact, “we have better historical documentation for Jesus than for the founder of any other ancient religion…the situation with Jesus is unique – and quite impressive in terms of how much we can learn about him aside from the New Testament” (Strobel, 1998, 86-87). We have every reason to believe in the Jesus of the Bible and put our hope and trust in Him alone!
3. You pick up a magazine article referring to the Jesus Seminar as representing the pinnacle of New Testament scholarship. This magazine article, when referencing the opinions of biblical scholarship, repeatedly references only the conclusions of the Jesus Seminar. You decide to write a letter to the editor of the magazine. What will you say?
I would tactfully attempt to educate the editor on the facts surrounding the Jesus Seminar. I would first address the magazine’s stated view that the Jesus Seminar is representative of the “pinnacle of New Testament scholarship.” I would argue that the truth is that “the Jesus Seminar represents an extremely small number of radical-fringe scholars who are on the far, far left wing of New Testament thinking. It does not represent mainstream scholarship” (Strobel, 1998, 114).
The Jesus Seminar is a group of seventy-four scholars who assembled together and voted on which of the sayings of Jesus recorded in the Gospels were actually spoken by him, which resulted in a coded copy of the Gospels indicating the likelihood that they were actual sayings of Christ as judged by this group (Habermas, 2008, 121). They conclude that, “Eighty-two percent of the words ascribed to Jesus in the Gospels were not actually spoken by him” (Habermas, 2008, 122). The problem with their method of examining the Gospel accounts is the fact that from the onset they “severely restrict the supernatural, if not reject it outright, in favor of a modern scientific outlook (Habermas, 2008, 122). They have loaded presuppositions and criteria, and “loaded criteria, like weighted dice, inevitable bring the results that were desired from the beginning” (Strobel, 1998, 118).
I would conclude the letter to the editor by again pointing out the Jesus Seminar is not representative of the pinnacle of New Testament scholarship as alluded to in their article. They are a radical group of scholars who in no way represent mainstream theological thought concerning the New Testament material. In fact, there is a “growing crescendo of criticism coming not just from prominent conservative evangelicals but also from other well-respected scholars representing a wide variety of theological backgrounds” (Strobel, 1998, 127). I would encourage the editor to provide varying viewpoints from other scholars in the field of theology and New Testament thought and seriously reconsider their view of the Jesus Seminar.
4. You are in conversations with an old high school friend about your conversion to Christianity. In the ebb and flow of conversation, your friend claims that the New Testament is not really reliable because the writers were obviously had a theological bias in their recording and reporting of history. How would you respond to your friend?
I would argue that while it is true that the authors of the New Testament books did indeed have a theological bias in that they believed the things they were writing had great theological importance and implication, that fact in no way lessens the reliability of the New Testament accounts. In fact, we have ample evidence that suggests the history as recorded by the authors of the New Testament is accurate and reliable.
Throughout the Gospels and in the book of Acts there is a clear attempt to record accurately the events of Jesus’ life as well as His teachings as they actually happened in history. For example, the author of the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, Luke, was a physician and a historian. “The general consensus of both liberal and conservative scholars is that Luke is very accurate as a historian. He’s erudite, he’s eloquent, his Greek approaches classical quality, he writes as an educated man, and archaeological discoveries are showing over and over again that Luke is accurate in what he has to say (Strobel, 1998, 97). In fact, there has been no archaeological discovery that has ever disproved a fact as recorded in scripture, in either the New or Old Testament. “Although the primary interest of the Gospel writers was spiritual, history was also very important. There is no good reason why they would pervert the historical in order to preserve the spiritual, when both were so important and even complemented one another” (Habermas 2008, 54). Consider this fact, “If all the Gospels are judged according to the standards of ancient historiography in terms of date and reliability on issues that can be compared to other known data, they measure well and ought to be accepted as good sources for historical information about Jesus” (Habermas, 2008, 108).
As for the New Testament as a whole, we have many reasons to believe that the information they contain is trustworthy and true. Consider the fact that,“The New Testament has better manuscript evidence than any other ancient book. There are over 5,000 New Testament manuscripts and portions of manuscripts. By comparison, the majority of classical works have less than 20 manuscripts…None of the canonical New Testament is lost or missing” (Habermas, 2008, 276). This means that, “We can have great confidence in the fidelity with which this material has come down to us, especially compared with any other ancient literary work” (Strobel, 1998, 63). In other words, we can rest assured that our modern Bibles say what the original authors (God through inspired men) intended them to say.
The Gospels were all written by eyewitnesses or based on the account of an eyewitness. “They are very close to the events they record, with three out of four being dated within one generation and all four within seventy years of Jesus’ life, all during the lives of eyewitnesses” to the accounts they record (Habermas, 2008, 277). This is important because if the authors were recording false information people would have noticed and their accounts would not have been believed. “The early church couldn’t have taken root and flourished right there in Jerusalem if it had been teaching facts about Jesus that his own contemporaries could have exposed as exaggerated or false” (Strobel, 1998, 260).
So, again, the New Testament authors included many historical facts within their writings that can be measured and tested for historical accuracy. These facts include the names of cities, rivers, landmarks, rulers, genealogies, currency, customs, and historical events. In the words of a prominent Australian archaeologist, “Those who know the facts now recognize that the New Testament must be accepted as a remarkably accurate source book” (Strobel, 1998, 107). In addition, we have the non-biblical corroboration of ancient historians, government officials, the Talmud, and other ancient sources that provide us with a picture of Jesus exactly as painted in the New Testament. Taken as a whole, there can be no doubt that the New Testament is reliable in every way.
In regards to the theological bias the authors had in their recording and reporting of history, consider this “modern parallel from the experience of the Jewish community” given by Craig Blomberg, PH.D:
Some people, usually for anti-Semitic purposes, deny or downplay the horrors of the Holocaust. But it has been the Jewish scholars who’ve created museums, written books, preserved artifacts, and documented eyewitness testimony concerning the Holocaust. Now, they have a very ideological purpose – namely, to ensure that such an atrocity never occurs again – but they have also been the most faithful and objective in their reporting of historical truth. Christianity was likewise based on certain historical claims that God uniquely entered into space and time in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, so the very ideology that Christians were trying to promote required as careful historical work as possible (Strobel, 1998, 31-32).
In conclusion, “people can so honor and respect someone that it prompts them to record his life with great integrity. That’s the way they would show their love for him. And I think that’s what happened here…these disciples had nothing to gain except criticism, ostracism, and martyrdom…they proclaimed what they saw, even when it meant suffering and death” (Strobel, 1998, 48).
5. You meet a person on the ski lift at a local ski area, and in making small talk, you mention that you are taking college classes in the Bible. This new acquaintance is not trying to be antagonistic, but nevertheless, brings up something that he had heard regarding the “corruption” of the Bible. Upon further inquiry, you discover that this man has taken for granted the argument that the New Testament was corrupted over the centuries through the transmission process, and is thus unreliable. How might you answer him?
There are many people who claim that the New Testament cannot be trusted because it has been corrupted through centuries of being copied. However, we must consider several facts before coming to such a conclusion. We have many reasons to trust that our modern copies of the Bible are accurate reflections of the original manuscripts.
The first fact to be considered is the unprecedented number of copies that have survived throughout the centuries, more than 5,000 have been catalogued (Harbin, 2005, 54). This is significant because, “The more often you have copies that agree with each other, especially if they emerge from different geographical areas, the more you can cross-check them to figure out what the original document was like” (Strobel, 1998, 59). “The quantity of New Testament material is almost embarrassing in comparison with other works of antiquity…the manuscript evidence for the New Testament [is] overwhelming when juxtaposed against other revered writings of antiquity – works that modern scholars have absolutely no reluctance treating as authentic” (Strobel, 1998, 60-61).
Another significant fact concerning the copies we possess is their age. “We have copies commencing within a couple of generations from the writing of the originals, whereas in the case of other ancient texts, maybe five, eight, or ten centuries elapsed between the original and the earliest surviving copy” (Strobel, 1998, 59).
So, especially in comparison to other ancient documents we have good reason to believe that the New Testament has been meticulously preserved and passed down throughout the centuries. We possess today in our modern New Testaments a reliable rendering of the original documents, which are “99.5 percent free of textual discrepancies, with no major Christian doctrines in doubt” (Strobel, 1998, 260).
6. In an essay, answer the following question: Why is it important for the Christian to believe in the historicity of Jesus Christ? Or in other words, why is historicity important? The key word in this question is “why”; be sure to answer accordingly.
“Christianity is a worldview that makes claims about reality. These claims are either true or false. If they are true then there is evidence that can be given to support them…to know that Christianity is true must mean more than knowing it in some subjective, private, internal and personal way. It means that we can know that it is true in an objective, public, external and factual way” (Beckwith, Craig, and Moreland, 2004, 25). “Christianity is rooted in history and is corroborated by science and philosophy, Christians have at their disposal ample evidence for its truthfulness” (Beckwith, Craig, and Moreland, 2004, 33); evidence that is objective, public, external and factual.
Historicity is the foundation for our faith in Christ. If what the Bible claims is true concerning those things that can be known objectively are true, we have reason to believe that what it claims concerning things that are otherwise unprovable are true as well. In other words, “Theological truth is based on historical truth” (Strobel, 1998, 125). “The New Testament often claims to be based on historically accurate accounts. Paul reminds us that, apart from a historical Gospel, there is no basis for faith whatsoever, since it would be vain and groundless (1 Cor. 15:1-20)” (Habermas, 2008, 49).
REFERENCES
Beckwith, Francis J., William Lane Craig, and J.P. Moreland. 2004. To Everyone an Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.
Habermas, Gary R. 2008. The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ. Joplin: College Press Publishing Company.
Harbin, Michael A. 2005. The Promise and the Blessing. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Strobel, Lee. 1998. The Case for Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Back to school!
I am about to embark on three more years of school! Yes, I meant to put the ! there because it is a dream come true for me! I have had the hardest time figuring out what I wanted to be when I grow up. I think it was so hard to decide because for me it was about much more than just a career decision. It was about figuring out what God has created me to do with my life. I see work as much more than something you do to earn a paycheck, I've never been able to connect the two in my mind in a way that made doing some meaningless, monotonous task worth it. Where you work is where you spend most of your time, and where you spend most of your time is where you spend your life. I want my life to be spent doing something that does more than just pay my bills. I really believe that work is from God. It pleases God. I believe He made us all specially equipped to do certain jobs and if we can figure out how He's wired us we will make the biggest impact and have the greatest joy in what we do. In Ecclesiastes Solomon says that it is a blessing to enjoy your toil under the sun. I think that is so true! And it can be a curse if you don't! So, anyway, I have been going to college off and on (mostly on) for the last oh....13 years trying to figure out what I am supposed to do! I started in psychology, changed to sonography, then stuck with studying American Sign Language and became an interpreter. Well, I HATED it! Totally goes against all that God's made me to do! To be a good interpreter, you must not share any of yourself - your thoughts, feelings, convictions, etc. That is called "leaking". You must be faithful to only say or sign what your clients say or sign. You must fade into the background and become a necessary tool in communication and nothing more. Now, I have great respect for interpreters. It is an extremely hard thing to do well and the profession is severely misunderstood and under-appreciated. The thing is though, while I did a good job interpreting, I could not fade into the background! I can't keep my big mouth shut! I love people. I am a people person through and through! I love to help people work through their problems. I love to encourage and listen and pray with people. So, imagine how hard it was for me to sit in a group of people everyday and listen to their struggles and not say anything! It was like my hands were tied! What I really felt lead to do, my profession prevented me from doing. It was really hard. But through that experience God really spoke to my heart and showed me how He had wired me! And I believe He has called me to become a Christian counselor! So, I will begin the journey to complete my bachelor's degree and go on to earn a master's in counseling so I can do just that! I am so blown away, because He has opened that doors for me to go back to school! My husband, Matt, has been a pilot in the Army for 7 years and they have now opened up the GI bill for spouses to use! My school will be paid for in full! The Lord has given us a place to live and Matt a good job so that I can afford to stop working to dedicate all my time to school. And not only has He worked out the big things, but He has truly given me the desire of my heart in what I am going to study and where. I am going to Liberty University, which is a Christian college whose main purpose is to raise up "champions for Christ". I will be able to finish my bachelor's studying the Bible! That has been a dream of mine for years, but I never thought that that would be possible! But here I am enrolled in 14 Bible classes ranging from the books of the Bible to apologetics to Biblical archeology! And it all fits the picture that the Lord has given me for exactly what He wants me to do. I believe with all my heart that psychology on it's own is empty and unable to truly heal the human heart and mind. We need the Lord! We need His healing! Only in Him can change truly take place in our lives. I have experienced it myself! Only with Him is there hope. So, the foundation of my practice will be Him. His Word, His Truth. His Power. I want to join Him in what He is doing here on this earth. He sets people free! Free from their hurt, their sin, their past, nothing is impossible for Him! He is absolutely awesome and I feel so blessed that He has given me a vision of what part in His story I am to play. I only have to wait another couple of weeks to get started. The closer it gets the harder it is to wait! I am so excited and so ready to start this journey! I pray that the Holy Spirit will open my mind and my eyes and truly give me understanding. I don't want to just check a box, I want to learn and remember so I can teach others! Lord, help me to do a good job and to do it all for your glory! I am so thankful!
Friday, August 6, 2010
The love of a friend
There is this woman in my life. She is the most amazing woman. She has shown me true beauty, true wisdom, and true love like no one else in my life ever could. She takes care of those that are broken, in fact she can't stay away from broken souls. It's like she is magnetically drawn to them. Her love is free, her love is strong, and her love DOES NOT GIVE UP. She is the most stubborn woman I know. And that is the truth. I have watched her love people who continually fight against her love, refuse to accept it, blatantly throw it back in her face, hurt her on purpose, and drag her down with them. Yet she continues. At times I have not understood it and advised her against it. I'm glad she's the most stubborn person I know and hasn't listened to me though, because it's a beautiful thing when the object of her affection stops fighting. The tears come and she's right there to cry with them, pray with them, walk the road to healing with them, and finally enjoy the fruit of love with them. Her love is a powerful thing. It's the love of a true friend.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Truth
The earth, it groans in labor pains.
We helplessly watch as our nation's strength wanes.
Where do we turn? Who can we trust?
Of all our leaders, are any still just?
What's the truth?
The truth is the powers that be
well, they are all under God's authority.
Any position that they have has been given to them,
and not for one second are they fooling Him!
That's the truth!
God was, He is, and He will always be
the author and finisher of prophecy.
Eventually His perfect plan will be played out,
so trust in Him and have no doubt...
that He is the Truth!
He is the Truth!
We helplessly watch as our nation's strength wanes.
Where do we turn? Who can we trust?
Of all our leaders, are any still just?
What's the truth?
The truth is the powers that be
well, they are all under God's authority.
Any position that they have has been given to them,
and not for one second are they fooling Him!
That's the truth!
God was, He is, and He will always be
the author and finisher of prophecy.
Eventually His perfect plan will be played out,
so trust in Him and have no doubt...
that He is the Truth!
He is the Truth!
Lies
It started in the Garden
when Satan told Eve
to follow her heart
and do as she pleased
He said...
Take of the fruit
did He even really say
do not eat it?
No. It will all be ok
But Satan lied
and oh how she cried
Satan lied
and oh how she cried
Cause there is nothing greater than God
no one greater than God
no, none greater than God!
It's the same today
not much has changed
Satan still tries
to lure us away
He says...
You need that body, that house, that car, that job
that'll make you happy
no, you don't need God
The grass is greener
on the other side
follow your heart
it will lead you right
But Satan lies
and oh how we cry
Satan lies
and oh how we cry
Cause there is nothing greater than God
no one greater than God
no, none greater than God!
So what is the Truth and how can we break
free of these chains
and have our lives changed?
Go to God!
He has made a way
His name is Jesus
He paid the price, believe in Him and be saved!
He'll break those chains
He'll make you clean again
He'll fill you up
and then He will be your friend!
He'll break those lies
and He'll wipe the tears from our eyes
He breaks those lies
and He wipes the tears from our eyes
There is nothing greater than God
no one greater than God
no, none greater than God!!
when Satan told Eve
to follow her heart
and do as she pleased
He said...
Take of the fruit
did He even really say
do not eat it?
No. It will all be ok
But Satan lied
and oh how she cried
Satan lied
and oh how she cried
Cause there is nothing greater than God
no one greater than God
no, none greater than God!
It's the same today
not much has changed
Satan still tries
to lure us away
He says...
You need that body, that house, that car, that job
that'll make you happy
no, you don't need God
The grass is greener
on the other side
follow your heart
it will lead you right
But Satan lies
and oh how we cry
Satan lies
and oh how we cry
Cause there is nothing greater than God
no one greater than God
no, none greater than God!
So what is the Truth and how can we break
free of these chains
and have our lives changed?
Go to God!
He has made a way
His name is Jesus
He paid the price, believe in Him and be saved!
He'll break those chains
He'll make you clean again
He'll fill you up
and then He will be your friend!
He'll break those lies
and He'll wipe the tears from our eyes
He breaks those lies
and He wipes the tears from our eyes
There is nothing greater than God
no one greater than God
no, none greater than God!!
Miracles
Situations that seem too far gone
people who have done too much wrong
life when there is no hope left it seems
places that are too dark for dreams
I've seen miracles
He is alive
Situations are never too far gone
no one has ever done too much wrong
the darker the darkness the brighter His light
only Jesus can make all things right
I've seen miracles
He is alive
people who have done too much wrong
life when there is no hope left it seems
places that are too dark for dreams
I've seen miracles
He is alive
Situations are never too far gone
no one has ever done too much wrong
the darker the darkness the brighter His light
only Jesus can make all things right
I've seen miracles
He is alive
Value
I want to be like Mary
dousing your feet with anything I have of any value
I want to be like the woman who brought
all that she had and offered it to you
because she knew her value was in you
I want to be like David
dancing in the street to offer praise to you
because he knew his value came from you
I want to be like Moses
he gave up all his treasures, he had to be with you
because he knew they held no true value
I want to be like Paul
and count it all as loss, except for knowing you
because he knew that you are the only thing of value
I don't want to hold on to anything that is of this world
Lord, help me to let go and grab ahold of you
because I know that you are the only thing of value
and I know that anything of value is in you
dousing your feet with anything I have of any value
I want to be like the woman who brought
all that she had and offered it to you
because she knew her value was in you
I want to be like David
dancing in the street to offer praise to you
because he knew his value came from you
I want to be like Moses
he gave up all his treasures, he had to be with you
because he knew they held no true value
I want to be like Paul
and count it all as loss, except for knowing you
because he knew that you are the only thing of value
I don't want to hold on to anything that is of this world
Lord, help me to let go and grab ahold of you
because I know that you are the only thing of value
and I know that anything of value is in you
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Two Trees
I have always had the tendency to be a people-pleaser. I learned a long time ago the way to make people happy is to do what they want you to do. Obey the rules and your mom and dad are happy. Follow the directions on school work and your teacher is happy. Follow the guidelines at work and your boss is happy. I usually had success in all these areas because I was able to take rules, directions, and guidelines and carry them out. Give me a list of things to do and I could do it. Tell me what not to do and I'd try not to do it. I have always had a good amount of willpower and am a pretty disciplined person. In fact, I tend to thrive on little disciplines. I love the fact that if you do something small over and over it amounts to a huge payoff after a while. The point is I'm really good at DOING. In my life I have been successful at being (or at least appearing) "good" and it has paid off. The problem is that I had carried that over to my relationship to God, and it doesn't work that way with Him.
About six months ago it all fell apart. While I have always been successful at controlling myself and being good (or so I thought) all of a sudden (for a period of about a year) it was as if I could not control myself! I was compelled to sin! All I could think about was the sin that I wanted so badly to do, then would become overwhelmed with guilt that I wanted to do it. It was a horrible cycle. I think that God in His love for me let me fail on every front. The illusion that I had it all together and was such a "good" Christian was shattered and I was crushed! Where I had pride in my heart, it was now gone. I saw myself for what I was....a failure. Now, no one would have known all this was going on because it was mostly a struggle in my heart and mind, but had God not rescued me from what I was doing, I know it would have "surely led to death."
Let me explain. After hitting the bottom and my knees in desperation and crying out God to save me, He led me to a wonderful Bible study called, "The Gracewalk Experience" by Steve McVey. In it I learned a critical lesson. It's based back in Genesis.
In Genesis chapter 2 verse 9 the Bible says that God placed two trees in the Garden of Eden - the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There is a lot of truth wrapped up in those two trees. The tree of life represents Jesus. Jesus is the way, the LIFE, and the truth. He is the LIVING water. He is the Word and it was the Word that breathed LIFE into all of creation. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents the law, our knowledge of right and wrong, rules and our efforts to follow the rules, basically our fleshly attempt to achieve righteousness in our own strength independent of God. Adam and Eve had a choice. They could eat freely from any tree in the garden as well as from the tree of life. However, if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil God said they would surely die.
We all know the choice they made. They ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they did die. And mankind has been dying ever since. Romans 5:12 says that sin entered the world through Adam and death through sin. There is physical death, which none of us can escape since sin entered the world and death through it. Then there is spiritual death, which is even worse. The good news is that while we can't escape physical death, we can be saved from spiritual death through believing in Jesus - or eating of the tree of life! We still have a choice of which tree to eat from in our lives today. Eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (or the law) still leads to spiritual death. And eating of the tree of life (trusting in Jesus) will give us life.
We are all tempted to sin. The reason we know what sin is is because we have the law. So, the law in itself is not a bad thing. The problem is when we try in our own strength to keep the law. Even though it is impossible to keep from sinning, and the Bible says that ALL have sinned and that there is not one that is good, we become proud of our perceived "goodness" when we are able to act right. It is much easier to have a set of things to DO to be right with God then to just trust in Jesus to make you right before Him. Because of our pride, we like to do to earn. We don't like to admit that we are helpless and hopeless on our own. Before we can trust in Jesus' power to free us from sin and help us not to fall to temptation, our pride has to die. We have to admit that we can't keep from sinning in our own strength and we need Jesus to help us!
We are so focused on the rules! It's all about what we do and don't do as Christians. We have formulas to stay on track with God. Read your Bible for 15 minutes every day. Pray. Spend quiet time with the Lord. Go to church. Tithe your income. All of these are good things to do, don't get me wrong! But do they make you right with God? No! The Bible says that if you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior you are right with God!! He even says you are righteous and holy! It's a done deal! The old is gone, the new has come! You can stop striving. God knew every sin you'd ever commit from the time you were born until you die. He knew what you did before you were saved and He knew everything you would do after being saved. And He still saved you. Why is it that we realize that there was nothing we did to get saved. It was a work of the Holy Spirit. Yet we think that living in a way that is glorifying to God is all up to us? We focus on keeping the rules. We're proud of ourselves and feel right with God when we succeed and beat ourselves up and despair when we fail. It is a needless struggle. It does not lead to life and freedom. It will "surely lead to death." Maybe that's why people walk away from the Lord, churches fizzle out, ministries cease. There are different type of death.
As Christians, we have to let go of the rules and trust the Holy Spirit living within us to guide us. That is eating from the tree of life. Turning away from the rules tree and turning fully to the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! It's scary to let go of the rules. I felt like if I let myself be free in Christ and stopped trying to follow the rules, I would do something horrible or lose my salvation. The truth is that the Holy Spirit will show us how to live. He will guide and direct our actions. We can trust Him to keep us from evil. If we are truly surrendered to Him we will do good works. Our lives will make a difference in the world. God will finally be able to use us for His plan, His purpose, and His glory! We will stop getting in His way!
For so long I was not even aware that I was trying to DO and EARN God's favor by following the rules. They were His rules after all. I was trying so hard to obey. I was striving to be "good" and not sin. I was so focused on His law that I was no longer focused on Him at all and it was leading to death. I had lost the joy of my salvation. I had burdened myself with that which Christ died to relieve me of. I thank God for opening my eyes again. I thank Him for the joy and freedom found only in Him! I pray that today you would stop striving and just be in His presence. I pray that you would eat of His fruit and enjoy the freedom of being His child. Taste and see that the Lord is good! Eat freely from the tree of life and LIVE!
About six months ago it all fell apart. While I have always been successful at controlling myself and being good (or so I thought) all of a sudden (for a period of about a year) it was as if I could not control myself! I was compelled to sin! All I could think about was the sin that I wanted so badly to do, then would become overwhelmed with guilt that I wanted to do it. It was a horrible cycle. I think that God in His love for me let me fail on every front. The illusion that I had it all together and was such a "good" Christian was shattered and I was crushed! Where I had pride in my heart, it was now gone. I saw myself for what I was....a failure. Now, no one would have known all this was going on because it was mostly a struggle in my heart and mind, but had God not rescued me from what I was doing, I know it would have "surely led to death."
Let me explain. After hitting the bottom and my knees in desperation and crying out God to save me, He led me to a wonderful Bible study called, "The Gracewalk Experience" by Steve McVey. In it I learned a critical lesson. It's based back in Genesis.
In Genesis chapter 2 verse 9 the Bible says that God placed two trees in the Garden of Eden - the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There is a lot of truth wrapped up in those two trees. The tree of life represents Jesus. Jesus is the way, the LIFE, and the truth. He is the LIVING water. He is the Word and it was the Word that breathed LIFE into all of creation. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents the law, our knowledge of right and wrong, rules and our efforts to follow the rules, basically our fleshly attempt to achieve righteousness in our own strength independent of God. Adam and Eve had a choice. They could eat freely from any tree in the garden as well as from the tree of life. However, if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil God said they would surely die.
We all know the choice they made. They ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they did die. And mankind has been dying ever since. Romans 5:12 says that sin entered the world through Adam and death through sin. There is physical death, which none of us can escape since sin entered the world and death through it. Then there is spiritual death, which is even worse. The good news is that while we can't escape physical death, we can be saved from spiritual death through believing in Jesus - or eating of the tree of life! We still have a choice of which tree to eat from in our lives today. Eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (or the law) still leads to spiritual death. And eating of the tree of life (trusting in Jesus) will give us life.
We are all tempted to sin. The reason we know what sin is is because we have the law. So, the law in itself is not a bad thing. The problem is when we try in our own strength to keep the law. Even though it is impossible to keep from sinning, and the Bible says that ALL have sinned and that there is not one that is good, we become proud of our perceived "goodness" when we are able to act right. It is much easier to have a set of things to DO to be right with God then to just trust in Jesus to make you right before Him. Because of our pride, we like to do to earn. We don't like to admit that we are helpless and hopeless on our own. Before we can trust in Jesus' power to free us from sin and help us not to fall to temptation, our pride has to die. We have to admit that we can't keep from sinning in our own strength and we need Jesus to help us!
We are so focused on the rules! It's all about what we do and don't do as Christians. We have formulas to stay on track with God. Read your Bible for 15 minutes every day. Pray. Spend quiet time with the Lord. Go to church. Tithe your income. All of these are good things to do, don't get me wrong! But do they make you right with God? No! The Bible says that if you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior you are right with God!! He even says you are righteous and holy! It's a done deal! The old is gone, the new has come! You can stop striving. God knew every sin you'd ever commit from the time you were born until you die. He knew what you did before you were saved and He knew everything you would do after being saved. And He still saved you. Why is it that we realize that there was nothing we did to get saved. It was a work of the Holy Spirit. Yet we think that living in a way that is glorifying to God is all up to us? We focus on keeping the rules. We're proud of ourselves and feel right with God when we succeed and beat ourselves up and despair when we fail. It is a needless struggle. It does not lead to life and freedom. It will "surely lead to death." Maybe that's why people walk away from the Lord, churches fizzle out, ministries cease. There are different type of death.
As Christians, we have to let go of the rules and trust the Holy Spirit living within us to guide us. That is eating from the tree of life. Turning away from the rules tree and turning fully to the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! It's scary to let go of the rules. I felt like if I let myself be free in Christ and stopped trying to follow the rules, I would do something horrible or lose my salvation. The truth is that the Holy Spirit will show us how to live. He will guide and direct our actions. We can trust Him to keep us from evil. If we are truly surrendered to Him we will do good works. Our lives will make a difference in the world. God will finally be able to use us for His plan, His purpose, and His glory! We will stop getting in His way!
For so long I was not even aware that I was trying to DO and EARN God's favor by following the rules. They were His rules after all. I was trying so hard to obey. I was striving to be "good" and not sin. I was so focused on His law that I was no longer focused on Him at all and it was leading to death. I had lost the joy of my salvation. I had burdened myself with that which Christ died to relieve me of. I thank God for opening my eyes again. I thank Him for the joy and freedom found only in Him! I pray that today you would stop striving and just be in His presence. I pray that you would eat of His fruit and enjoy the freedom of being His child. Taste and see that the Lord is good! Eat freely from the tree of life and LIVE!
Forgiveness is Freedom
The best definition of forgiveness I have found is "to cancel a debt." That's what Jesus' sacrifice for us on the cross did. It cancelled the debt we all owe but can't pay. Because we have all fallen short of God's perfect standard, therefore sinning against Him, we incurred a debt. That debt caused a chasm that separates us from God. What Jesus did was (to a much lesser extent) like someone coming along and writing a check to pay off your mortgage. You didn't have to work to earn money to pay it off and you didn't do anything to deserve or earn His favor of paying it off. Yet paid off it is! In the same way, it is by His grace we are saved. You didn't ask Him to do it. You could never have earned it. The Bible says that "while we were still sinners Christ died for us." The debt is paid. It is finished. All we have to do is believe that it really was and accept the gift of being made right with God through Jesus' sacrifice of His life. Jesus is the only way back to God because His sacrifice is the only way that chasm could be closed. Jesus is the bridge that gives us access to God through the forgiveness (the canceling) of our sin (our debt).
In the same way, it is only through Jesus's power inside of us that we will ever be able to forgive others for things they have done to hurt us (debts they owe). Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Jesus Himself says it like this in Matthew 6:14-15, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Yikes! I know, sounds harsh, huh? I really struggled with what Jesus said until He began to show me what unforgiveness does to the one who won't forgive. It puts them in bondage. They can't escape the pain and hurt that the debt caused. They will forever be crippled by what happened to them. Crippled by anger, mistrust, bitterness, and fear. They will not be able to fully love or accept love as long as they are holding on to that debt insisting it be paid. And the thing is that it can never be fully paid off by the offender. Whatever they do to make up for what they did will never be enough. Think back over a wrong someone did to you and then apologized for. Was it enough? Did sorry fix it? Or did you still have to make the decision to release that person from having to pay for what they did? I am willing to bet that sorry wasn't enough and that if it was truly dealt with you had to decide to forgive. Forgiveness isn't for the other person, it's for you! I'm convinced that is why Jesus is so stern in His words about forgiveness. He came to set us free, and unforgiveness will only put us back in bondage.
The thing about truly forgiving though, is that the only part we can do is make the decision to do it. The work of forgiveness is the Lord's. It is His grace and power that truly cancel the debt. What I mean is this: you won't ever be able to forgive and forget just like that. Forgiveness is a process. I believe it is one that is impossible in our humanness apart from Christ. It is a work of the Holy Spirit. It's a decision we may have to make over and over while He working it out in our heart.
This is true in big and little offenses in our every day lives. For big things it may take longer and like I said you may have to pray something like this every day until the sting of the offense is gone. That's how you know, by the way, that forgiveness has taken place in your heart. You won't actually forget, but It doesn't hurt anymore. The edge is gone. Pray, "Lord, I choose to forgive them, now please come and do the work and heal my heart." I have had situations where I had to pray a prayer like this THOUSANDS of times before I was totally healed of the hurt, pain, anger, and mistrust the offense had caused. But healed I was! I have heard people say so many times of a woman hurt by an unfaithful husband that she will never be the same. In God's hands that may be true, but not in the way they mean it. When you give it over to God through letting go of it yourself (the process of forgiving) God will use it FOR YOUR GOOD like He promises in Romans 8:28. He does miracles in horrible situations. A woman hurt by adultery can absolutely be free from all pain and hurt. She can love and trust again! Nothing is impossible for God to use and change and make new. We serve an awesome, powerful, loving God! Trust Him with all your hurts! Nothing is too big for Him! And be aware that nothing is too little to cause bitterness over time. Be quick to forgive little offenses. Don't hold on to anything but God!
In the same way, it is only through Jesus's power inside of us that we will ever be able to forgive others for things they have done to hurt us (debts they owe). Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Jesus Himself says it like this in Matthew 6:14-15, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Yikes! I know, sounds harsh, huh? I really struggled with what Jesus said until He began to show me what unforgiveness does to the one who won't forgive. It puts them in bondage. They can't escape the pain and hurt that the debt caused. They will forever be crippled by what happened to them. Crippled by anger, mistrust, bitterness, and fear. They will not be able to fully love or accept love as long as they are holding on to that debt insisting it be paid. And the thing is that it can never be fully paid off by the offender. Whatever they do to make up for what they did will never be enough. Think back over a wrong someone did to you and then apologized for. Was it enough? Did sorry fix it? Or did you still have to make the decision to release that person from having to pay for what they did? I am willing to bet that sorry wasn't enough and that if it was truly dealt with you had to decide to forgive. Forgiveness isn't for the other person, it's for you! I'm convinced that is why Jesus is so stern in His words about forgiveness. He came to set us free, and unforgiveness will only put us back in bondage.
The thing about truly forgiving though, is that the only part we can do is make the decision to do it. The work of forgiveness is the Lord's. It is His grace and power that truly cancel the debt. What I mean is this: you won't ever be able to forgive and forget just like that. Forgiveness is a process. I believe it is one that is impossible in our humanness apart from Christ. It is a work of the Holy Spirit. It's a decision we may have to make over and over while He working it out in our heart.
This is true in big and little offenses in our every day lives. For big things it may take longer and like I said you may have to pray something like this every day until the sting of the offense is gone. That's how you know, by the way, that forgiveness has taken place in your heart. You won't actually forget, but It doesn't hurt anymore. The edge is gone. Pray, "Lord, I choose to forgive them, now please come and do the work and heal my heart." I have had situations where I had to pray a prayer like this THOUSANDS of times before I was totally healed of the hurt, pain, anger, and mistrust the offense had caused. But healed I was! I have heard people say so many times of a woman hurt by an unfaithful husband that she will never be the same. In God's hands that may be true, but not in the way they mean it. When you give it over to God through letting go of it yourself (the process of forgiving) God will use it FOR YOUR GOOD like He promises in Romans 8:28. He does miracles in horrible situations. A woman hurt by adultery can absolutely be free from all pain and hurt. She can love and trust again! Nothing is impossible for God to use and change and make new. We serve an awesome, powerful, loving God! Trust Him with all your hurts! Nothing is too big for Him! And be aware that nothing is too little to cause bitterness over time. Be quick to forgive little offenses. Don't hold on to anything but God!
My Story
My story is not very interesting or exciting except for what the Lord has done. Your story probably has much more drama, comedy, and tragedy than mine. But it's all that I know. It's my experience. It colors everything I will ever know and ever be. So, I set the stage by sharing it with you.
I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. I had a quiet childhood. Boring would be a better word to describe it really. I was raised by parents who loved me, my brother, and two sisters but had trouble loving each other. After my dad, who had been raised Catholic and went on to test the waters of new age thought became a Christian, we began going to a Bible believing church. From my earliest memories I was aware of God's presence. I knew He was real and I believed what the Bible said about Him, even when I didn't live like it. Seeds of Truth were planted in my heart during that time. I loved learning about Jesus and hearing the stories in the Bible.
At eight years old I decided that I wanted Jesus in my heart so I walked down the aisle to give my life to the Lord and was baptized with my dad. Although I know I meant it as much as was possible for an eight year old, I strayed far from the Truth in my teenage years. Just before my parents' marriage fell apart, I began caving to peer pressure and doing things I knew were wrong to be accepted. I've always been a people-pleaser and I can honestly say I wanted to be loved and accepted so badly that I turned from what I knew to be right and went wrong. I went down this road from the young age of 13 until I was 17. During those years I was thoroughly saturated in what the world had to offer. In all the "fun" I was having, I could not shake the emptiness that would creep into my soul anytime the music was silenced and my friends went home.
The summer before my senior year in high school my mom and step-dad moved to a bigger town and took me with them. At my new school I made new friends that were a new kind of fun. They loved the Lord and they loved me. They never passed judgement on me even when I tried to get them to. They truly accepted me as I was. They showed me the unconditional love of Christ in a way I had never experienced before.
Through their love God began to knock on my heart's door again. I could feel Him whispering my name, calling me to return to Him. I started going to church with my dad and each Sunday His voice became louder and louder and my need for Him became more and more achingly obvious. He opened my eyes to the sin and brokenness in my life. I was hurting. I was hurting because of all that I had done. I was hurting because of my parent's divorce and the breakup of my family. I needed someone to lift my out of the pit that I had gotten stuck in. I needed someone to make me clean again. I needed to be freed from the lies I had believed about myself and what I had to do to be loved. It all climaxed one Sunday when the ache in my heart grew so strong that I couldn't fight it any longer. I surrendered my life to Jesus that day. He lifted me out of that pit, cleansed me in His precious blood, broke me out of the prison of lies I had lived in, and filled me up with His love and His presence in my heart. I have never been the same.
It is amazing to me that the Creator of the universe would care about me, about any of us. But He does. So much so, that He left His Kingdom behind, put on the flesh of His creation, and came to earth as a servant and a sacrifice for us. He rescued us. He did what we could never do. And all because He wants to have a relationship with us. He wants to walk together as He walked with Adam in the Garden of Eden. He wants to heal our hurts and ease our pain. We could never comprehend His greatness or the cost of our salvation. But I stand before you now, and tell you with all my heart that it is true. Everything His Word says that He does in the life of a person who believes is true. I am living proof of that.
I have now been walking with the Lord for 12 years. My life hasn't been perfect, far from it actually. It hasn't been easy. Storms still come from time to time. But when you walk with the Lord, there are rainbows in the storm. Not only AFTER the storm, but IN the storm. Only God can take the painful experiences of our lives and use them like sand in a oyster's shell to make something of beauty and worth far beyond anything we could hope or imagine....a pearl! He's given me a few!
I am just a normal, American woman trying to handle all the demands of life. I have been married for 10 years. I have 2 kids. I have juggled marriage, babies, college, work, and running a home like most women do these days. I try to stay sexy to my husband, loving to my children, obedient to my God, and true to myself. Some days it feels like I'm one of those people balancing spinning plates on thin sticks trying not to let the plates stop or the sticks drop!
Although my life is full, I can't escape the feeling that there has to be more than this. I know there is. The Bible says that God has a plan for each of us, good that He has for each of us to do. I want to do that good. I want to live according to God's plan for my life. I once read that the greatest place of satisfaction in our lives will be found where our passion meets the needs of the world. I believe that. God has specifically designed each of us uniquely with exactly the personality, mind, emotions, and experiences that will equip us to fulfill the plans He has for us.
I have a passion for the Bible. In fact, I'm going back to school this fall to study it formally. I also have a passion to help others apply God's Truth, found in the Bible, to their lives. There is no other source of answers for our problems and hope for our futures then God's Word. I believe that with all my heart. I hope to join Him in the healing of people's lives by becoming a counselor. I want to comfort others with the same comfort I have been given. I guess in a way this blog is the informal start to that. I hope that by sharing my experiences, you will gain understanding of His Word, His plan for your life, find comfort and hope, and be encouraged!
I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. I had a quiet childhood. Boring would be a better word to describe it really. I was raised by parents who loved me, my brother, and two sisters but had trouble loving each other. After my dad, who had been raised Catholic and went on to test the waters of new age thought became a Christian, we began going to a Bible believing church. From my earliest memories I was aware of God's presence. I knew He was real and I believed what the Bible said about Him, even when I didn't live like it. Seeds of Truth were planted in my heart during that time. I loved learning about Jesus and hearing the stories in the Bible.
At eight years old I decided that I wanted Jesus in my heart so I walked down the aisle to give my life to the Lord and was baptized with my dad. Although I know I meant it as much as was possible for an eight year old, I strayed far from the Truth in my teenage years. Just before my parents' marriage fell apart, I began caving to peer pressure and doing things I knew were wrong to be accepted. I've always been a people-pleaser and I can honestly say I wanted to be loved and accepted so badly that I turned from what I knew to be right and went wrong. I went down this road from the young age of 13 until I was 17. During those years I was thoroughly saturated in what the world had to offer. In all the "fun" I was having, I could not shake the emptiness that would creep into my soul anytime the music was silenced and my friends went home.
The summer before my senior year in high school my mom and step-dad moved to a bigger town and took me with them. At my new school I made new friends that were a new kind of fun. They loved the Lord and they loved me. They never passed judgement on me even when I tried to get them to. They truly accepted me as I was. They showed me the unconditional love of Christ in a way I had never experienced before.
Through their love God began to knock on my heart's door again. I could feel Him whispering my name, calling me to return to Him. I started going to church with my dad and each Sunday His voice became louder and louder and my need for Him became more and more achingly obvious. He opened my eyes to the sin and brokenness in my life. I was hurting. I was hurting because of all that I had done. I was hurting because of my parent's divorce and the breakup of my family. I needed someone to lift my out of the pit that I had gotten stuck in. I needed someone to make me clean again. I needed to be freed from the lies I had believed about myself and what I had to do to be loved. It all climaxed one Sunday when the ache in my heart grew so strong that I couldn't fight it any longer. I surrendered my life to Jesus that day. He lifted me out of that pit, cleansed me in His precious blood, broke me out of the prison of lies I had lived in, and filled me up with His love and His presence in my heart. I have never been the same.
It is amazing to me that the Creator of the universe would care about me, about any of us. But He does. So much so, that He left His Kingdom behind, put on the flesh of His creation, and came to earth as a servant and a sacrifice for us. He rescued us. He did what we could never do. And all because He wants to have a relationship with us. He wants to walk together as He walked with Adam in the Garden of Eden. He wants to heal our hurts and ease our pain. We could never comprehend His greatness or the cost of our salvation. But I stand before you now, and tell you with all my heart that it is true. Everything His Word says that He does in the life of a person who believes is true. I am living proof of that.
I have now been walking with the Lord for 12 years. My life hasn't been perfect, far from it actually. It hasn't been easy. Storms still come from time to time. But when you walk with the Lord, there are rainbows in the storm. Not only AFTER the storm, but IN the storm. Only God can take the painful experiences of our lives and use them like sand in a oyster's shell to make something of beauty and worth far beyond anything we could hope or imagine....a pearl! He's given me a few!
I am just a normal, American woman trying to handle all the demands of life. I have been married for 10 years. I have 2 kids. I have juggled marriage, babies, college, work, and running a home like most women do these days. I try to stay sexy to my husband, loving to my children, obedient to my God, and true to myself. Some days it feels like I'm one of those people balancing spinning plates on thin sticks trying not to let the plates stop or the sticks drop!
Although my life is full, I can't escape the feeling that there has to be more than this. I know there is. The Bible says that God has a plan for each of us, good that He has for each of us to do. I want to do that good. I want to live according to God's plan for my life. I once read that the greatest place of satisfaction in our lives will be found where our passion meets the needs of the world. I believe that. God has specifically designed each of us uniquely with exactly the personality, mind, emotions, and experiences that will equip us to fulfill the plans He has for us.
I have a passion for the Bible. In fact, I'm going back to school this fall to study it formally. I also have a passion to help others apply God's Truth, found in the Bible, to their lives. There is no other source of answers for our problems and hope for our futures then God's Word. I believe that with all my heart. I hope to join Him in the healing of people's lives by becoming a counselor. I want to comfort others with the same comfort I have been given. I guess in a way this blog is the informal start to that. I hope that by sharing my experiences, you will gain understanding of His Word, His plan for your life, find comfort and hope, and be encouraged!
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