Imagine this. You are a solider in the midst of battle. As the battle rages on, you notice that you are the only one on the battlefield against the enemy. You are alone. You look behind you and see no one. You look ahead of you and waves upon waves of enemies are flooding your vision. You fight and fight and fight. You strive trying to save your own life, and you cry out for any type of help, any kind of relief from this pain that you are going through. As you continue to defeat enemy after enemy in this battle, the enemies start to transform and when you look at the faces of the ones you have slain you see an eye-opening image. The men you are slaying are all yourself. Think about that for a moment. How is that like our normal everyday lives? Isn't that, if you really think about it, what our daily lives are like? We aren't battling against others. We are not battling against Satan. We are not battling against the world. We are battling against ourselves.
That situation is something lately that I feel has been happening in my life, and I really just noticed it in my life over just the past couple of days. It is always been a battle against ourselves that goes on in our soul. Just think back to this past day. Did somebody say something that hurt you? Yes they did say something, but it was us who chose to listen to it. That is just an example of the battle that goes on against ourselves. Everyday we are presented with temptation, which is Satan tempting us, but it is once again our choice to either give in to that temptation or fight against it. Our sinful nature wants to do it so bad, but the Holy Spirit that is in each and everyone of us fights against it. A battle with ourselves.
Now I know that that seems kind of harsh, that we are in a never-ending battle with ourselves, but I also want to remind you that this war that we wage against ourselves is actually already over. You have already won, not because of what you have done or how many times you let the Holy Spirit win in your heart, but because of what Jesus Christ did on that cross. When he died on that cross and then rose again in three days, he overcame it all and won the war that we tend to wage every single day of our lives. We live as if this life is a battlefield and we are just supposed to tackle every obstacle over and over and over again even if it is with our Sin or temptation or with our insecurities, when you actually think about it. We are fighting a pointless fight. We have won. We are literally kicking a dead horse here people! Jesus died in order for us to live freely, not to be bonded by the chains of our lives, but to live in complete and utter relationship with Him.
This life is not a war. There may be battles, but in each of them Christ has already won. We as followers of Christ have already won. You want to experience that freedom? Just accept that you are capable to overcome anything because you are already set free and you are already on the winning team because Christ already played the game 2013 years ago.
Papa. I come to you tonight in prayer just to praise you Lord, and to thank you for all that you have done in the lives of us all. I just pray tonight that we can allow this idea of living free to seep into our hearts and fill us up with motivation for the next days to come. A motivation to live in complete and utter freedom because your Son, our Savior, has already won the game Lord. He has won the battle and given us a small windy path to follow freely. I just continue to pray that we as your children can experience that freedom and live by it. In the name of Jesus Christ, the one who has paved the way for us all, I pray. Amen.
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."- Galatians 5:1
"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love." -Galatians 5:13
Monday, February 18, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Valentine's Day
It has been a couple of weeks here at college back from break, and I can tell you that I am so blessed by this place, beyond my own understanding. Just the connections I have made through Christ and the friendships I have made really have built me up and made me want to go deeper in my faith than ever before. I praise the Lord for that, but as we all know Valentine's Day is tomorrow. The one day out of the year where boyfriends/husbands pull out extravagant ends in order to express their love for their significant others and where the world treats their spouses or significant others with so much love that it overflows from that person. I am not going to lie to you. I love Valentine's day and what it represents as a holiday which celebrates love in our lives, but I think that especially in relationships we think that this day is the only day that we need to love and pamper and respect with nothing in return. This post is about taking the concept of what Valentine's Day represents and bringing that into your everyday life.
So let's start this post out with exactly what love is in the first place. If we define what love is, and then figure out what it is in our lives then we will be able to apply that concept not only to the day dedicated to it tomorrow, but to our entire life!
In 1 John 3:16 it states the following about love: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." This just explains the love that we ought to have for everyone in our lives, so when you hear the word "love" you should think about Jesus and what he did to show that love to us. I mean think about the phrase in that verse where it says: "...we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." Just think about that. Apply it to your lives. Apply it to your relationships. It doesn't mean that you are going to die for that person. (Okay that might be what you get out of it, but I get a little bit of an abstract meaning.) I think that is saying that we need to lay down our selfish ways of thinking. I mean think about this for a moment. You are in a relationship, and even though you are with that person and made a commitment to them. They just don't seem that invested in it, and choose not to give up anything in order to see you, or they choose their friends over you, or a sport. Even though you are in a committed relationship, they don't really commit themselves to you. Now flip that around. Think about if they loved you like Jesus loved us. Think about if they laid down themselves for you. Think about how amazing that would feel. That is love people. Right there. That is what we are called to be in our lives.
You now have been schooled about what V-Day is about, but why has society overemphasized this one day as the only important day in a relationships stand point? Besides an anniversary this is the only day that most guys are willing to lay down their own pride and love unconditionally. I just ask this question. What about if we lived everyday like it was Valentine's Day? What if we loved our significant others unconditionally every single day of the year? What if we loved every single person that we came in contact with as Christ loved us? Wouldn't that love just be amazing? I think it would be. I just challenge you all to not just pick tomorrow as your day to love, but take the Agape Love that you experience tomorrow and continue it through everyday of your relationships with others.
Papa. I just come to you tonight with a humble heart. I am just completely engulfed in your love, and just want everyone to feel like this Lord. I am eternally thankful for what you have done in my life, and have taught me about the love you have for us. I just pray tonight that we all can take this to heart. That unconditional love cannot be boxed or bottled up into just one day a year, but it has free reign in every single day of our lives! I come to you tonight asking that we be changed by the love you pour into us, and that we may pour this love that we feel into others everyday. No matter who they are or where they are in their walks with you. No matter if they are our spouses or significant other or if they are a friend or family or just a complete stranger or enemy. That we can express the amazing love that you displayed to us on that hunk of tree when your Son sacrificed himself for us out of that love. I say all these things in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who died and rose again to show us the kind of love that we should not only love on this Valentine's day, but in everyday and everything we do. Amen.
So let's start this post out with exactly what love is in the first place. If we define what love is, and then figure out what it is in our lives then we will be able to apply that concept not only to the day dedicated to it tomorrow, but to our entire life!
In 1 John 3:16 it states the following about love: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." This just explains the love that we ought to have for everyone in our lives, so when you hear the word "love" you should think about Jesus and what he did to show that love to us. I mean think about the phrase in that verse where it says: "...we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." Just think about that. Apply it to your lives. Apply it to your relationships. It doesn't mean that you are going to die for that person. (Okay that might be what you get out of it, but I get a little bit of an abstract meaning.) I think that is saying that we need to lay down our selfish ways of thinking. I mean think about this for a moment. You are in a relationship, and even though you are with that person and made a commitment to them. They just don't seem that invested in it, and choose not to give up anything in order to see you, or they choose their friends over you, or a sport. Even though you are in a committed relationship, they don't really commit themselves to you. Now flip that around. Think about if they loved you like Jesus loved us. Think about if they laid down themselves for you. Think about how amazing that would feel. That is love people. Right there. That is what we are called to be in our lives.
You now have been schooled about what V-Day is about, but why has society overemphasized this one day as the only important day in a relationships stand point? Besides an anniversary this is the only day that most guys are willing to lay down their own pride and love unconditionally. I just ask this question. What about if we lived everyday like it was Valentine's Day? What if we loved our significant others unconditionally every single day of the year? What if we loved every single person that we came in contact with as Christ loved us? Wouldn't that love just be amazing? I think it would be. I just challenge you all to not just pick tomorrow as your day to love, but take the Agape Love that you experience tomorrow and continue it through everyday of your relationships with others.
Papa. I just come to you tonight with a humble heart. I am just completely engulfed in your love, and just want everyone to feel like this Lord. I am eternally thankful for what you have done in my life, and have taught me about the love you have for us. I just pray tonight that we all can take this to heart. That unconditional love cannot be boxed or bottled up into just one day a year, but it has free reign in every single day of our lives! I come to you tonight asking that we be changed by the love you pour into us, and that we may pour this love that we feel into others everyday. No matter who they are or where they are in their walks with you. No matter if they are our spouses or significant other or if they are a friend or family or just a complete stranger or enemy. That we can express the amazing love that you displayed to us on that hunk of tree when your Son sacrificed himself for us out of that love. I say all these things in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who died and rose again to show us the kind of love that we should not only love on this Valentine's day, but in everyday and everything we do. Amen.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Radical Love
Hey all you wonderful people! I just first want to thank you for once again reading these posts. It really means a lot to me that you are willing to read my thoughts and my experiences with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I just really appreciate all of you, and have a place in my heart for each and everyone of you. Prayers are always being sent. Let me just give you a little synopsis of what has been going on in this life for me. I have experienced my first week of classes back here at UW-L and I can tell you that I really missed this place. It just kind of sucks that I have to leave a bunch of people at home in order to come back to this wonderful of places. It's not the fact that I am not excited about being here or starting a new chapter with my Lord, but I miss the people from home. My friends that I saw every weekend, my family, and just my community of fellow believers at home. I miss them. I love them. This week has been a roller-coaster though. I mean for one part I was excited to be back and see everyone, but then I fell missing all of those people I listed above. I was just starting to plain out and start getting used to life again here, and then Satan just did some nasty things in my heart and in my mind. I just felt like last night that I was as depressed as depressed could be. I don't know why, but I just hit the bottom. I cried a lot and just prayed to God to just get all of these thoughts out of my brain of suicide and all of those things of no self-worth or esteem. I just was drained, and was not full of love in my heart at all. This morning at worship changed all that for me though, and I feel now as if I am overflowing with that love once again. I love this feeling of when your prayers are answered, and that the things you go through daily are worth so much more because I can continually look at the cross as my source of love and affection.
Anyway, you guys now know how my past week has been, and now I just want to bring a topic up that I have been thinking a lot about lately. That topic being the term "radical love." I know you guys probably have heard of that term before, but I want to apply this in a different aspect of our lives that most of us don't really see it. So in saying all of this, how about we jump right in?
When we think about a "radical" type of love what is it that you really think of? For me, I think of the love Jesus has for us and how he sacrificed himself for the good of all of us sinners here on Earth. You know like it says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but experience eternal life." That verse explains that "radical love" probably the best that I can ever explain it. That is the one and only radical love that I could think of when I first thought about this topic, but then out of the blue I thought of a much more tangible example.
We know that Jesus loves us and fills our hearts up with that everlasting love and happiness, but a lot of us don't ever notice the love others have for us. That Jesus is being shown through people in our lives! When I think of this concept I think about the song "Jesus in Disguise" by Brandon Heath because in this song he sings about this exact concept of being that light of Jesus in other people's lives. 1 John 3:16 really emphasizes this point as well when it says, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." We as followers of Christ are exposed to this love not to just keep it to ourselves and be cynical towards others, but instead love them whole-heartedly. We are called to speak the truth to them yes, and encourage them in their walks with Jesus, but we do this all out of love not for our own selfish wants or desires. I just have had a heart for this in the past week because it isn't really fair to just keep Jesus in a box that I only pull out every now and then when I need some more self-worth. HE SHOULD BE THE REASON THAT I LIVE!!!!!!!!!! I mean honestly I see so many young Christians out there that say they love Jesus, and that he is their own and only God, but don't take it serious when it says in John 3:30 that "He must become greater; I must become less."
In saying all this, I just want to leave you with a final statement. Are you being a "Jesus in Disguise" in your relationships with others? Are you letting that "radical love" that you experience shine through you and onto everything that you touch?
Papa. I just come to you today with unbelievable praises because of how you are and how you use me as an instrument in the orchestra of your love. You are amazing Lord. Today, I just pray that we all can instead of boxing Jesus up in our hearts and only pulling him out when we are hurting or in sorrow or even sometimes when we are on unbelievable highs that we keep him as a constant in our lives. That he becomes our lives! I just pray that the idols that we put in our lives whether that be other people like significant others or our performance in school or people pleasing that we lay them all down in comparison to you Lord. You are the reason we breathe, that we have a heart beat that we can walk, talk, love, pray, eat, drink, and the list goes on and on. I just pray that we all that have come to you Lord can live like that. That we can put you number one in our lives, and love as radical as you love us. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
Anyway, you guys now know how my past week has been, and now I just want to bring a topic up that I have been thinking a lot about lately. That topic being the term "radical love." I know you guys probably have heard of that term before, but I want to apply this in a different aspect of our lives that most of us don't really see it. So in saying all of this, how about we jump right in?
When we think about a "radical" type of love what is it that you really think of? For me, I think of the love Jesus has for us and how he sacrificed himself for the good of all of us sinners here on Earth. You know like it says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but experience eternal life." That verse explains that "radical love" probably the best that I can ever explain it. That is the one and only radical love that I could think of when I first thought about this topic, but then out of the blue I thought of a much more tangible example.
We know that Jesus loves us and fills our hearts up with that everlasting love and happiness, but a lot of us don't ever notice the love others have for us. That Jesus is being shown through people in our lives! When I think of this concept I think about the song "Jesus in Disguise" by Brandon Heath because in this song he sings about this exact concept of being that light of Jesus in other people's lives. 1 John 3:16 really emphasizes this point as well when it says, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." We as followers of Christ are exposed to this love not to just keep it to ourselves and be cynical towards others, but instead love them whole-heartedly. We are called to speak the truth to them yes, and encourage them in their walks with Jesus, but we do this all out of love not for our own selfish wants or desires. I just have had a heart for this in the past week because it isn't really fair to just keep Jesus in a box that I only pull out every now and then when I need some more self-worth. HE SHOULD BE THE REASON THAT I LIVE!!!!!!!!!! I mean honestly I see so many young Christians out there that say they love Jesus, and that he is their own and only God, but don't take it serious when it says in John 3:30 that "He must become greater; I must become less."
In saying all this, I just want to leave you with a final statement. Are you being a "Jesus in Disguise" in your relationships with others? Are you letting that "radical love" that you experience shine through you and onto everything that you touch?
Papa. I just come to you today with unbelievable praises because of how you are and how you use me as an instrument in the orchestra of your love. You are amazing Lord. Today, I just pray that we all can instead of boxing Jesus up in our hearts and only pulling him out when we are hurting or in sorrow or even sometimes when we are on unbelievable highs that we keep him as a constant in our lives. That he becomes our lives! I just pray that the idols that we put in our lives whether that be other people like significant others or our performance in school or people pleasing that we lay them all down in comparison to you Lord. You are the reason we breathe, that we have a heart beat that we can walk, talk, love, pray, eat, drink, and the list goes on and on. I just pray that we all that have come to you Lord can live like that. That we can put you number one in our lives, and love as radical as you love us. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
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