Monday, January 31, 2011

throwing a temper tantrum with an invisible Man.

sometimes I get frustrated, practically on the verge of a temper tantrum with God and in those moments I would like nothing more than to sit him down over coffee and have at it.


but God is invisible. We hear His voice, we see evidence of who He is, we see His work in our lives but He doesn't sit in a chair across from us in Starbucks.
(but if He did, I wonder what He would order from Starbucks??)


do I truly trust a man that is invisible? I was talking with my small group girls last week about dating God vs. marrying God. A TON of people date God; dating is when you take aspects of God that you like and scriptures that you like and you live by that. You don't take God in the good times and bad, you take what is convenient. I find myself dating God a lot. 


marrying God  is when you are committed to having an active relationship with Him that isn't always fun, isn't always easy and isn't always accepted by those around you. It's in these times, I just want to throw a temper tantrum with God.


I don't have anything profound to bring to you today; I've yet to come to the end of myself and find resolution with this idea of trusting an invisible Man during the times when it isn't fun.


Maybe you are dating the Lord?
Maybe you are angry with the Lord?
Maybe you are picking and choosing what aspects of Christ you want to follow?
Maybe you want to throw a temper tantrum?
Maybe you (like myself!) just want to slugg God in the face sometimes?

"To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue."
 [proverbs 16:1]


the Hebrew word for heart is Lev = לב, which when translated means:


  1. inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding
      1. inner part, midst
      1. midst (of things)
      2. heart (of man)
      3. soul, heart (of man)
      4. mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory
      5. inclination, resolution, determination (of will)
      6. conscience
      7. heart (of moral character)
      8. as seat of appetites
      9. as seat of emotions and passions 
  2. as seat of courage
  3. so here's the deal,
  4. a relationship with Christ is not easy
  5. .
  6. it's beneficial.

and quite frankly, when you live in relationship with Him
and you submit your heart to Him, you are saying with great courage,
that you trust your everything to a Man who you can't see right now.


this is a lot to digest. i need to make the choice to man-up and stop dating Christ on and off.





Wednesday, January 19, 2011

in case you forgot how much you are loved.

regardless of whether or not your parents planned for you, you are in no way a mistake.
 in fact, you are the furthest thing from it.

when a potter is forming a new work,the first step would be for the potter to establish the shape of his new work.  but what if he stopped there? then every pot and dish would be without personality and detail

after the shape and purpose has been established, the potter then uses his fingertips to delicately add detail, personality and uniqueness to his work.


I believe this is the same concept to Isaiah 43,
the Lord creates us and then He forms us..
"He who created you, O Jacob,
He who formed you, O Israel"
(verse 1)

"everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made"
(verse 7)

these two words are not meant to be synonyms of one another within this passage, but rather to show the great detail in which each one of us was created;the Creator of the Universe  not only spoke us into being, 
though He could have stopped there,
He didn't.

 He then sat with each of us individually 
and used His fingers to
add every freckle,
 every curvature of our bodies,
to place every single hair (even that one that goes the wrong way every day),
to design each fingerprint on our hands.

we are covered with the fingerprints of the God of the Universe.
He  sat down with YOU and used His own hands to form every part of you.
We are His masterpiece, His greatest work. 

we didn't each have to be different from one another,
we could have been exactly the same but we aren't.

so why do we act like we aren't something that is special and has great purpose?


sometimes I forget I'm precious, purposed and perfect in the sight of the Lord.




"... since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you,
and people in exchange for your life.
do not be afraid,
for I am with you."
isaiah 43:4-5

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