Growing Where We Are Planted

"...Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;" Matthew 6:28

This passage in Matthew is talking about trusting God in all things. Yet, today reading My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers something popped out at me. Chambers says, about the lilies, "They grow where they are planted. Many of us refuse to grow where God plants us." He later ties it to the question: "Am I (or are we) continually separating myself and looking to God every day of my life?" For some reason reading that was a completely new thought or analogy or way of thinking about it. We are just like those lilies. God has planted things exactly where He wants them. When He created the garden of Eden He didn't have Adam plant things, He planted them. Adam didn't have to plant or toil or labor until after sin came into the world. That is a completely different topic for a different post. :)

God has planted the lilies of the valley exactly where He wants them. So what makes us think any different about ourselves? God has placed us in a prime location. You or I may not think of it as anything because it may be some place you have been in one place for so long. Or maybe even you are in a new place and know next to no one. God has you right where He wants you. This is not to say you are never ever to move from the location you are in. No ma'am! I would never tell you that. God gives leading to people to stay or go. So if God has you where He wants you geographically (hehe) what is the task at hand? Well, at this point if you know me or if you read my other posts you know what is coming. We have been given a very divine task. It is the task of sharing. We are not to share just anything, but the very thing that could save people's lives. Let me put it in simple terms and then we will go from there.

Think about children playing in a play room or on a playground together. As children we are naturally selfish, this is because we were born into sin (once again...different topic for a different post). Children do not often willingly share their toys at first. They have to be taught how to share. They have to be taught how to even have the simple desire to share. So it doesn't come naturally for us to desire to share. We do not desire to share anything: toys, money, cars, space, ... the gospel. If a child of man has to be taught how to share then what is different for the children of God? Absolutely nothing (well within the aspects of teaching, ha!). He has to mold us and shape us and teach us how to share and how to even have a desire to do so. He wants us to make the most of our time in the field He has planted us in.

The neat thing about flowers is they cross pollenate AND they can be uprooted and moved and still flourish in the new location. Although God may have planted you in a po-dunk town in the middle of no where or even in a huge metropolis ... He has you there for a reason. Look around and see how many people are without Him. See the effects of sin on the world. The effects are all around us. Most diseases seem to have stemmed from sinful behavior. Prisons had to be opened because of this. The list could go on forever, and I will spare you. Just know that there is a purpose for you working the seemingly dead end job or going to school for what seems like no reason at all. He has a reason for you being single, married, or widowed. He has you right where He wants you. Let Him do a work in you as you seek Him out to become more like Him.

Live your life radically for Him. I dare you.

I Am Who God Says I Am

Often times we forget who God says we are, this is such a good reminder that we are not only His but we are forever His.

Here is a sweet article about who He says we are if we are in Him. Also, here is the weblink if you would like to find more helpful articles from this author:

I am a child of God John 1: 12
I am a joint-heir with Christ Romans 8: 17
I am the righteousness of God in Christ. 2 Cor.5: 21
I am the temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. 6: 19
I am the apple of His eye. Zec.2: 8
I am an ambassador for Christ. 2 Cor.5: 20
I am free from condemnation Romans 8: 1
I am more than a conqueror Romans 8: 17
I am the salt of the earth. Mathew 5: 13
I am the light of the world Mathew 5: 14 & Eph. 5: 8
I am a member of the household of faith Gal.6 :10
I am a branch of the True Vine John 15: 5
I am the will of God James 1: 8
I am in the palm of the Lord’s Hand Isa. 49: 16
I am covered by the shadow of His Hand Isa. 51: 6
I am loved by God as much as He loves Jesus John 17:23
I am in God’s Hand and none can pluck me out John10:28
I am delivered from sin Romans 6: 7
I am free from weaknesses and diseases. Matt.8: 17
I am complete in Him. Col.2: 10
I am translated into the kingdom of God’s Son.Col.1:13 I am delivered from the power of darkness Col. 1: 13
I am accepted in Him Eph. 1: 6
I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.Rom.6:11
I am seated in heavenly places in Christ. Eph. 2: 6
I am redeemed from the curse of the law. Gal. 3: 13
I am in Christ. 1 Cor. 1: 30
I am hidden with Christ in God. Col. 3: 3

This revelation of God concerning me is found in His Holy Word. Sense knowledge (the knowledge gained through seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting) and my varying circumstances may not reveal the same and in reality contradict this revelation, but when I stand on the naked Word of God alone, God confirms His Word.

I am the daughter of the Almighty God through Jesus Christ, His Son. Chosen before the foundation of the world to be His witness in this world and to do His will for His glory. My Heavenly Father promised to lead, guide and provide all the days of my life.

I am the Lord’s ambassador in this world. God by His Spirit indwells me and now I am His Temple. My relationship with the Lord is real and it is a privilege to know Him, love Him and serve Him!! Praise His wonderful Name!

Heaven's Free Pass and Mixed Up Theology

Many professing Christians have come to the conclusion that if certain people around the world don't have the opportunity to hear about Jesus, then this automatically excuses them from God's condemnation. Such people will go to heaven because, after all, they never had the opportunity to hear about Jesus.
- Radical by David Platt

Before you start jumping to conclusions like I did, please keep on reading. Reading through this book has made me rethink some things. One of which is mentioned in the quote above. Most of us as professing Christians live our lives as if those who never hear about Christ get a free pass to heaven. Ok, so you may be thinking I am crazy for saying that, but think about how you live your life. Living as a professing Christian is not just piece of our lives, it IS our lives. We are to "cease the day" so to speak. Christ has called us to know Him and make Him known. So the two key elements to following Him involve Him. If you have a job, attend a school, go to the grocery store, rent movies, go to the library, go out to eat, or anything else you are going to realize you are around people. Not just that, most of your life is spent around other people. God has given you the job you have. He has given you the health you have to go to the grocery store. He has given you the money you have to go out and eat. He has given you everything you have. When you go to work, you are around people. Do you know if the people you work with know Christ? Say you know that some of them do know Christ, what about the others? Are you using the job you have to bring glory to God? Are you using it to make Him known to others? These questions can be applied to anything and anywhere you go.

God has given me a unique opportunity to work around a few godly students (and non-students). He has also given me a unique opportunity to work around over 1,000 students from over 70 countries. Do you want to know how many of those students know Christ as their personal savior? My best guess is less than 5% percent of them. Want to know how many of them have heard Christ's name in an evangelical conversation? Probably close to 150 of them. Yes, about 10% or a little higher students have heard the gospel because of the different ministries and other professing Christians on the campus. This is very exciting. But it makes me very sad for the other 950+ students, and counting. Going back to the quote above. If we were to just go about our lives, as we often do, and ignore the other people around us we are not really making use of the space or the "sphere of influence" God has given us. We pretty much tend to live as if people who never hear about Christ get a free pass to heaven. What kind of mixed up theology is that?! We are watching people send themselves to hell because we do not realize how urgent the matter really is. If we truly understood the urgency of salvation we would not just let those we encounter escape our sight without sharing the gospel with them, or however much of the gospel they allow us to share.

Imagine encountering an international student newly arrived on a college campus in the U.S. You ask her if she has ever hear of Jesus, and with a puzzled look on her face, she responds, "No." Now, if this girl is headed to heaven precisely because she has never heard about Jesus, then the best thing you could say to her for the sake of her eternity is, "If anyone tries to tell you about Jesus, just put your hands on your ears, start yelling very loudly, and run away." Obviously this particular methodology is not prescribed in Scripture.

As funny as this is, we kind of live like this. I hate to admit it, but I am going to, I sadly do this almost everyday. Students will come into the office and opportunity may arise for me to discuss this matter with them and I willingly let it slide by. So why exactly am I writing this? To repent and start something new! I also want to encourage anyone who reads this to pour out everything Christ has poured into them onto others. The way God gave me the job I currently have is a constant reminder that I am to be spreading His name and not trying to make mine great.

My deepest desire for my life is to be able to move to a different country (or countries) to share Christ with lost. Yet, if there is a plethora of lost here (domestic and foreign) I want to share with them until God gives me the green light to move. My desire for those following Christ around me is to see them sharing the gospel with others around them. We all have a pool of people that need to know Christ. Are we willing to step out there and share with them? Are we going to continue living as if those who never hear the gospel in the remotest parts of the jungles in Indonesia are going to get a free pass because they have never heard of our Savior? I beg you to seek God and ask Him to show you who does not know Christ around you. God has allowed you to be around the people you are not so you can tip-toe around the gospel but so that He can use you to be bold for His name's sake. Here is the beautiful thing about all of this is you do not have to have a catch phrase or even write a book. You do not even have to know the whole Bible from cover to cover. You just have to trust God and know that He will use you if you are asking Him to. Here is an example. There are two things I really enjoy doing cooking and dancing. God has allowed me to use both of those things to be around women who do not know Christ. He allows me to be around women who either want to learn how to do those things or who enjoy doing them too. God has given you particular interests and talents for a reason. He wants you to use them for His glory and honor and to further His kingdom. So, are you using what He has given you to further His kingdom or are you using it to further yours? Do not let another person come in and out of your life without sharing what Christ has done for, not only you, but for them as well. Do not get stuck in the mindset that they are going to get a free pass if they have never heard of Him. Step up and step out to share the Gospel.

Occupational Hazard

Over the past couple of days I have been watching several movies. This is quite out of character for me, I am not one to sit in front of the T.V. for hours and hours. However, recently I have had my wisdom teeth taken out. So to pass the time by I have been watching movies. To be honest I have watched about 8 movies in the past 3 days. That is right... wow!
Well, one of the movies was Prince of Egypt, it is a personal favorite from my childhood. Anyway, I am babbling but have a point. While watching the Prince of Egypt I noticed many things, but one of the biggest that stuck out to me this time was near the middle/end of the movie. Moses said, "Pharaoh has the power. He can take away your food, your home, your freedom. He can take away your sons and daughters. With one word, Pharaoh can take away your very lives. But there is one thing he cannot take away from you: your faith. Believe, for we will see God's wonders." This made me think about my own job. God has allowed me to work with international students for the past two years. I have been so afraid to live radically for Christ for fear of losing my job. Lately I have been convicted about this thought. No, I am not going to do anything stupid like stand on top of my office building yelling "turn or burn." I mean, God has given me this job for a reason. God has allowed me to be where I am to fulfill His purpose. My boss has the power to fire me from my job. He does not have the power to take away my faith.
Living in fear of the "what if's" and the "could be's" and so on is not going to get us/me anywhere. God's word tells us we are not to fear anyone but Him. The "Pharaoh's" in our lives seem to have so much power over us, yet we fail to see that God is bigger than anything else on this earth. He is the Creator. He is the Author of Life. He is the God of love, the God of hope, the God of salvation, He is the great I Am! There is nothing we can do to make God lose any power. He is the creator of power for heaven's sake! My fear of getting fired or of having my boss upset with me because I use my job as a platform to share the gospel, really is the least of my worries. God places us exactly where He wants us in His timing to do His will. He has told us our purpose is to know Him and make Him known. So my life goal is to know Him and make Him known in all that I do. Our lives are not to be sectioned off like a pie chart. When you look at a pie chart of your life you see what consumes most of your time. For example: work, friends, eating, sleeping, activities, etc. There are so many "compartments" in our lives it is easy for us to want to section them off. Yet, each of our compartments tend to spill over into each other. Our friends at work start becoming our friends outside of work. Our job ends up coming home with us at times. Our activities tend to include eating and friends and more. God is to be in every part of our lives. God is not a section or compartment of its own. He is the center point of each of our pie charts for our lives. He is the controller of each little area of our lives.
Even when we feel like us making Christ known could cause us to lose everything we have. We can remember that who or whatever our Pharaoh is in that situation cannot take away our faith. God promises to protect His children. He tells us in several places that His children will not be ashamed. Although we may be persecuted for our faith, we can stand strong knowing that God knows exactly what He is doing. Our persecutors can never take away our faith in God. How relieving?!

The Great Gift of Ruin

Ruin is a gift, ruin is the road to transformation- Quote from the movie Eat, Pray, Love

A few months ago, the ladies in the office I work in and I decided to go see the movie Eat, Pray, Love. I had never heard of the book or even the movie, but I went along anyway wanting to spend time with the lovely ladies I work with. The scenery in the movie was amazing. The places Liz (Julia Roberts), the main character, went and the food she ate... I would love to be able to go and do and eat haha! Anyway, the point here is not about me. The movie is basically about Liz discovering happiness and spirituality in Hinduism. Although I do not agree with that, one of the greatest quotes throughout the entire movie was "ruin is a gift, ruin is the road to transformation."
This quote immediately made me think about my relationship with God and how I came into a relationship with Him. In order for me to come to Him, He had to completely break me. He ruined me of myself and brought me begging on my knees to Him for Him. I wanted nothing less than Him. In being broken and ruined II Corinthians 5:17 reminds us, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." To become a new creation it has to be transformed from the old creation. The ruin of ourselves is a gift. It is the greatest gift we could ever receive, it is the gift of salvation. Ruin is not only a gift but it is the road to transformation. John 3:30 says "He must increase, but I must decrease." We have to be constantly seeking Him and Him increasing in us to become more like Him. We cannot just expect to be little Christs (Christians)if we are not spending time with Him, seeking Him out in prayer, and begging Him to make us more like Him. We become like those we spend the most time with/around. So if Jane (random name for this) is spending most of her time praying, fasting, in His word, reading books about His character, etc. then she is going to become more and more like Him. Her lifestyle choices, movies, music, books, and all other entertainment of sorts will reflect her convictions based on His word. His desires will become her deisres. The things that break His heart will begin to break hers. Her life will look radically different than it did before she started spending time getting to know Him.
This brings a whole new light to Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." I am going to skip over a major part (to be writen about later...) to keep going on transformation. The more we are in His word, praying, seeking Him, desiring to glorify Him...the more we are being transformed. Our minds are being shaped into Christ-like thinking and we are being transformed into Christ-like people. We will not reach perfection this side of eternity, however, we should not stop striving for Christ-like perfection. Do not forget that your "ruin is a gift, ruin is the road to transformation." Keep pushing on toward Christ-likeness.

God Bless!!

Wreck Me Righteous

Everyone has a story to tell. Some stories seem better than others because of detail or even the way they are told. Here is the story of how I came to know the Lord and some of the events that led up to that point.God is doing and is continuing to do many things in my life.
I grew up in a “Christian” home. My grandfather was a Baptist preacher, nana played the piano at church and was a good strong Christian woman. My parents always went to church but their relationship with each other definitely did not reflect what they said they believed. When I was 10 I walked down the isle of a tiny little Baptist church in a little bitty town. A week later I was baptized. However, those two events sadly meant nothing in my life. I was playing church at the age of 10. I thought I was safe because of praying a little prayer and walking a little isle so I wouldn’t go to hell. My life showed no reflection of what I claimed to believe. Honestly I do not believe I came to Christ until my freshman year of college. My life between 10 years of age and my freshman year (18 years of age) was spent living for myself and everything I could do to be pretty and cool and have the greatest boyfriend and etc. When I was in high school I dated a guy for about 3 months, we began talking about marriage. It freaked him out. He was not ready to settle down or do anything like that. For the most part I thought we had a moral relationship because we were not sleeping together. We did other things that very well could have led into that, yet there was strangely always a stopping point. That is sad but awesome, because even that shows God trying to protect me from something I did not understand. He called everything off. As hard as it was for me I thought, “he will come back.” The next week was the winter formal at my high school. I went with a group of girls. That night when the 3 of us left we left with 2 guys. One of the girls said she had to go home early, so we let her go. The other girl received a phone call from her mother telling her she had to come home immediately. Her mom had a bad feeling about us being out and she wanted her home right away. So we took the girl home. I thought we were going to IHOP or Waffle House, that is what the guys told my mom we were doing. We continued to drive around for a little bit and the guys decided to stop at a gas station. When we parked, the guy driving turned around, looked at me, and said “so you have a choice.” This was a normal thing. He would pretty much play the would you rather game or the ultimatum game. This time was different. He said, “you have two options. One, have sex with me or two, walk home.” I was shocked. That had not crossed my mind with him at all.
About 4 months earlier I made the mistake of having sex with a football player. I did not enjoy it and hate to admit that I even did that. When this guy found out about it he was furious that having dated him off and on I had never slept with him. He decided to change that. He repeated his words “have sex with me or walk home.” I didn’t want to choose either option, I wanted out of the whole game. By this time he had stepped out of the car and walked back to my door. He opened the door and grabbed my arm. “Have sex with me or walk home,” I looked at the guy in the passenger seat. I will never forget the look on his face. No one has ever had that look of fear in their eyes, well at least not that I had ever seen. The guy in the passenger seat took out a $5 bill and said “just go in. Go in and buy what you need. Just do it.” My eyes kept shifting back and forth. I didn’t know what to do. I finally told them I would go in but I was taking my phone with me so I could pretend to be on it and feel less awkward. He allowed me to do so. I called every person in my phone except my parents. Only one person answered, it was a friend’s mother. I couldn’t bear to tell her what was happening, I simply apologized for the late night phone call and hung up. I proceeded to buy a box of condoms and went back to the vehicle. The guy was waiting in the back seat and his friend was now in the driver seat. It was the longest walk back to the first parking space EVER. I got in and he proceeded to rape me. I cried. I just kept saying “please take me home…please just take me home.” He eventually got tired of hearing me say that and stopped. His friend had turned the radio up loud so he didn’t have to hear what was going on. The guy climbed in the front seat being so frustrated I would not just let him “enjoy” what was happening. He told the guy to just take me home. He did. That was one of the hardest things to overcome in coming to Christ. I could not believe that God would allow such a thing to happen and still be considered a loving God. My rape wrecked my view of God. I began to drink, buy drugs (didn’t take them…too big of a chicken, thank God), and race cars. I wanted to be a rebel. I acted out and was punished for my actions. The next year I decided to be little miss smarty pants. I took the hardest classes the school offered and was the president of a political club. Then when that didn’t work out I signed up for a mission trip to Venezuela. It was amazing. God did all sorts of things there and I would love to go back if given the chance.
In the fall I started college. God began working in me. The first day living on campus I met a group of students who were part of a campus ministry called Campus Outreach. One of the girls on my floor started a flag football team as well as a Bible study. I would go to parties but had no desire to drink. I was a busy body, doing anything and everything I could to be around people. I went to the Bible study, was on the flag football team, went to weekly Campus Outreach meetings, went to the BCM, went to fraternity parties, church, hung out in the school cafeteria more than I went to class, and etc. The next spring, He revealed to me how great He is and how I do not need the things of this world to be satisfied. I was not being satisfied because I did not have Him. He showed me that although I had been raped 2 years prior He could use that for His glory. He in no way desires bad things to happen to His children, just like any good father (Matthew 7). He knew that it would happen. Satan has to ask God’s permission before doing anything to His people (read Job…great example). God allowed this wretched thing in my life because He had (has) a plan to use it for His glory and to make His name great among the nations. He in no way wants me to make my own name great, rather His name is to be proclaimed through out the nations (Matthew 28:18-20).
God has given me the desire to share with anyone that breathes and does/does not know Him. Criteria, if they are breathing, hearing, and human…share with them. My goal in life is to make Christ’s name great among the world. He has given me a heart to go to another country to live for Him. He has me here right now for a reason. Because of past mistakes and taking out loans for college I am now tied to the U.S. financially until at least 2013. Until that time He has not allowed me to leave Jonesboro for more than 7 days (seriously … it is kind of funny and frustrating at the same time). God has a plan for me that will far exceed my plans for me. All I have to do is submit to Him and follow Him where He leads. I may not fully comprehend what He wants me to do, but I shall do it anyway .
God had to completely wreck me to put me on a path of righteousness. This seems to be a common theme with God though. A quote from the movie Eat, Pray, Love, "Ruin is a gift, ruin is the road to transformation." While I do not agree where she was going with the statement in the movie I wrote it down because it reminds me of how God has worked in my own life. He had to ruin me and show me that I was absolutely nothing compared to His greatness. II Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." We have to be transformed to become Christ-like. To be transformed we must change completely who we were to something new. God has to wreck us of who we were to make us into "little Christ's"... I am content with being wrecked righteous.

Is "The Modern Family" really "Better With You"?

This evening I watched a television program with my family called "The Modern Family." This show is about a family living in Los Angeles close to other relatives. This is loosely called a comedy. I say that because it laughs at sin. Claire (Julie Bowen) plays the role of a modern housewife. She has a brother who lives with his gay partner and their adopted vietnamese baby girl. Claire's father Jay (Ed O'Neill) divorced his wife and married a much younger woman. It saddens me to think that this is America's view of the modern family. We no longer care about family values. We simply care about what makes us "happy" or "comfortable" or even feel good. The show gives us a message that tells us it is not only ok to laugh at these issues but to allow them into our families.
I beg God that my own family does not chose this path. Everyday we are faced with the option to either choose God or to choose sin. This program shows these people constantly choosing to live in sin and openly laughing at the disfunction it brings about.
We also watched a program "Better With You." This is about three different relationships: 1) the marital relationship of the mother and father (Vicky and Joel Putney); 2) the relationship of Vicky and Joel's daughter, Maddie and her boyfriend Ben of 9 years living together; and 3) the relationship of 7 weeks between the other daughter, Mia -who is pregnant out of wedlock and preparing to marry the father of the child- and Casey.
This program also laughs at some of the issues that breaks God's heart. I found myself laughing at things I knew was not scriptural. These are things that absolutely break God's heart. If I saw my dad upset about something, maybe even crying, I would definitely not laugh at the issue! So how can we, as Christians (how can I) sit and laugh at these very things? I beg God to make me more like Him, to change my heart to desire the things He desires. For His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). "For as the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." We are called to a higher level of excellence. We are not called to be like the world. I John 2:15 and James 4:1-10 let us know that we are clearly not to love the things of this world. We are told that to be friends with the world means we are an enemy of God. We (Christians) were not sent into the world to become part of it, but sent to share with those who do not know our Father in heaven.
There is a silly yet simple question that can be asked, and has been by few, of why Christians remain on the physical earth once they come to know Christ. Why does Christ not allow them to go to Him in death immediately? We are told very plainly in John 17 that we are here to spread the message of Christ. Christ was sent into the world and we are sent into the world. We are not to become part of it, yet we are to take His word to those who are in this world (where else would we go :) ). We are also reminded here that Christ intercedes on our behalf. He also prays for those who will come to know Him after we have brought His word to them. We are not to be out there bashing others for not believing in Him. We are not to be yelling at others telling them they are going to hell for the wrong they are doing. We are to love them, give them grace, show them mercy, and share with them the love of Christ. How can we share with them if we are telling them Jesus hates what they are doing?
It makes me very sad that I have participated in watching these shows. Their elevated rating due to my laziness of walking out of the room. I basically spit in God's face and said the cross didn't matter in supporting both of these 30 minute programs. Is one hour really worth breaking God's heart? Is the modern family really better with you?