God Really is Love!

As I move fully into this new semester and new year (well, I still write 2016 sometimes, but that's beside the point), I've had some time to reflect on the semester and year I just finished. There were lots of ups and downs, sometimes both at the same time. And that's normal.

Today, however, I want to tell you all about one of those downs. If you know me well, you probably already know this, but last semester was rough. Really rough. One of those semesters when you truly wonder if you're going to survive.

But the beautiful thing is, on this side of it, I have learned and grown so much from that time. At a time when I didn't have time for myself, let alone give God the time He deserves, I could see Him reaching out to me. With a thousand things vying for room on my plate, God didn't fight me for my time. He was just there.

And I think we over-complicate that. I caught myself the other day basically making myself a mental checklist of everything I need to balance, and one of the pieces stressing me out was having a decent devotional time.

I did a double-take.

Does God want to be another item on my checklist that stresses me out or makes me feel guilty if I don't get around to it?

I mean, I always kind of knew that He doesn't, but it didn't hit home for me until recently. We talk about how "God is love" and "Jesus loves you" and "We are God's children" and then we act like reality is anything but that.

Now, don't take from this that you don't need to spend time with God, please. That's not what I'm trying to say.

What I want us to see is that, if God is love (and He is, FYI), then His love is not going to be limited by the feeble efforts we can put into the relationship. We'll never measure up to His expectations of us, short of the righteousness of Christ. So if you feel like you're not doing enough or that you're failing in your relationship with God, don't despair. He loves you despite it.

But the biggest thing that really struck me is just how much God loves me. He could have chosen to sit back and wait for when I was able to come back and really devote time to Him, and even that would have been more than I'll ever deserve. But He didn't stop there.

God showered me with love.

Sure, it was a hard four months. Yes, I had overwhelming stress. And I didn't always think I was going to make it with my sanity intact.

But, whenever I thought I'd hit breaking point, the right song would come on the radio. Or someone would text me with encouragement. Or I'd just have a random good moment. It wasn't anything bigger than that, really. But they were all little things that reminded me that God was still there. That He was still taking care of me when I couldn't even do that.

I am living proof that our God is not a God of checklists or conditions. He is not a God of limits or pettiness. He is not a God who gives up.

He is a God of unconditional love. Of limitless grace. A God who pursues us even when we don't know where we're running.

Even if it doesn't feel like He is there, God is still with you. Even if your problems don't seem to be going away, God still loves you. Stop...and let God show you just how much.

Because if God can chase me down and love me after my crazy semester, He can catch you too.

There's No Peach Pass to Heaven

There's this thing in Georgia called a Peach Pass. It lets you ride in a special lane, just for people who have this pass, and if there is a lot of traffic on the interstate, it can help you get where you're going a lot faster. To get it, you either pay for it or you register that you're carpooling with other drivers. But the point is, it makes your trip a lot easier.

I think a lot of people have the impression that Christianity is a lot like a Peach Pass. You put your faith in Jesus and everything gets easier. The troubles you dealt with before just go away, and your life becomes a walk in the park.

As if you got a Peach Pass through life on your way to Heaven.

But if you've been a Christian for a while, or if you know Christians, then you know that a Christian's life is not a picnic. Sometimes, it even seems to be harder, because on top of weathering life's storms, a Christian has to be faithful to God and obey His commands.

This is really confusing to some people. After all, if a Christian's life is supposed to be better, and then it isn't, people wonder if it's some kind of scam.

The truth is, there is no Peach Pass to Heaven. Christianity is not an easy life. In Psalm 73, David asks God why his life is so difficult while the wicked prosper. It seems to him that the righteous actually get the raw side of the deal.

Scripture repeats this theme over and over. As you read through the Old Testament, you'll find plenty of time where a godly man or woman is obeying God but their life is plagued with troubles and trials (like Joseph or Job or Daniel). And in the New Testament, Jesus tells His disciples that the world will hate them because it hated Him (John 15:18-25).

So if life is going to be hard either way, and even harder if you follow Jesus, then what's the point? If the wicked have the better life, why would we put ourselves through the extra challenge of being a Christian?

Because our hope is in another world.

It's that simple. If life was all about this world, and once you die, it's over, then yes, we'd be the losers. We'd have all the hard parts of life and no enjoyment, and in the end, we'd end up just as dead as the rest of the world.

BUT

This world is not all there is. It is a temporary stopping place on our way through life. Once we leave this world, however, everything will change. Those who put their faith in Jesus will go on to live with Him in eternity, and eternity with Jesus is what will make all this difficult life worth it.

Because He will be worth it all.

But we're still stuck here, for now. How are we going to get through all the challenges of living as a Christ-follower in a world that hates Him?

Jesus told us.

 “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33b)

Take heart, friends.

Christmas Presence

Merry Christmas everyone!

I want to apologize for not posting lately. The last few weeks of the semester were brutal, and it got to the point where I simply didn't have energy to plan for and write a blog post, even if I had time. Thankfully, I finished the semester and survived with plenty to think about.

I couldn't begin to list all the ways God has provided for me this semester, not only in school but at work and at church and at home. He has given to me abundantly, far more than I could have imagined to ask. But probably the biggest way He blessed me was through my family.

Between working most of the day and taking night classes three times a week, I was almost never home. I missed a lot of time with them, and often the only time we could connect was when I was recharging over the weekend, and even then I had mountains of homework to do.

The wonderful part is that, even though I was pretty absent all semester, my family still loves me. The fact that I didn't have much time to catch up didn't take away from our relationship. Even on weeks when I was only home to eat, shower, and sleep before tackling the next day, they didn't treat me as though I was just taking advantage of their food and hot water; they gave them to me because I'm part of the family. And through the whole semester, as I worked hard for good grades, they assured me that they would love me no matter the results.

The reason I bring this up is because my parents were a model of God to me this semester. No, they aren't perfect, but they have given me a glimpse of what God's love for me is like.

Some days, devotion time just doesn't happen. It's a nonstop day from when your alarm goes off until when you set it for the next morning, and the only interaction you have with God is asking for something. I'm not saying this is how it should be...but it happens. And on those days, we often feel guilty because we know that we're supposed to spend time with God. But here's the truth: God desires to spend time with us because He loves us, but He won't stop loving you because you fail to spend time with Him. He knows you're weak, and He loves you anyway. Give Him your time, not out of obligation, but out of overflowing gratitude and love. And even if you have a dry spell, remember that He'll be right there when you come back.

On top of being busy, we're also very needy. Aside from the regular needs, like oxygen, that God supplies us continuously, we need a lot of things: strength to get through a rough day or peace to ride out life's next storm, or a new job or relationship. Sometimes I look at all my blessings, all the ways God has answered prayers I didn't even make time to pray, and I wonder when He's going to get tired of blessing me. But then I realize that if my parents, who are human, could give me food and shelter and love (and occasionally chocolate) without asking anything in return, then a perfect and holy God could too...not because of anything I have to offer, but because He loves me.

And I don't have anything to offer. I am human, and as such, I am prone to failure. If God's love was based on my performance, He would have left me a long time ago. Thanks be to God that it is not! His love, like His grace, is offered freely, with no contingencies, no strings attached. If only we could remember this, we would be free to spend our lives glorifying Him and spreading His kingdom, instead of always stressing about being perfect. I spend so much time worrying that I'm going to disappoint God; but He will never be so disappointed in me that He'll give up on me.

I guess that's what I've learned this past semester: Even when you've done nothing to deserve it, God cares for you and blesses you beyond your imagination, because He loves you. If you've been anxious about whether He still loves you after all the ways you've failed, let me assure you: He does.

How can I be so sure?

We were rebels and criminals and every kind of horrible when God looked at us and decided that He wanted to make us part of His family. If He could love us at our worst enough to send His only Son to take our punishment so we could become His children, then you can never do something that can separate you from His love. (Romans 5:8, Romans 8:38-39)

This Christmas season, stop trying to earn God's love and start basking in His Presence. Because that's what Christmas is about: God coming to Earth to demonstrate His love for us.

Stop Worrying about this Election!

Ready or not, today is the day that America decides who is going to be our president for the next four years.

Don't worry, I'm not going to add more stress to your day. Actually, I'm here to try to make it a little better.

Look, this election has been hyped so out of proportion that it feels like we're voting not on who is a leader of one country but on who is going to be the supreme ruler of the world for eternity. Thank goodness that second position is already filled (by God, Who is perfect, by the way).

So if the position of Supreme Ruler is already filled, then any other position, no matter who fills it, has to ultimately answer to that Ruler. The Ruler might allow these temporary leaders to act with the desires of their earthly hearts in rebellion against Him, but He will not tolerate treason forever. Any leader who acts in treason will be held accountable (as will any other traitor who has not accepted the pardon offered by Jesus).

Granted, that justice might not come in time to really help. (Ask the Israelites, who suffered through a bunch of terrible kings and queens and captors and Pharaohs and probably wondered each time if they were still going to exist by the time that leader was gone.) At least, it may not seem that way.

But if God really is the Supreme Ruler, then no lesser ruler can do anything outside of His domain. In fact, the heart of any king/pharaoh/president is like water in God's hand, and He can turn it wherever He will.

So if you're feeling anxious, take some time to sit still and cast your cares on God. He will not change after the results come in tonight. He will not change in January when our president changes. He has been faithful and constant all this time...He will not change now. He will not have less control, and He will not be less good or loving, regardless of the results.

I encourage you to silence your worries. Worry is a display of lack of trust in God, as if you doubt that God will take care of us if the election (or anything else) doesn't go our way. I invite you to let go of the anxiety and to let God do what only He can do.

And I ask you to spend time in prayer about this world. Pray for each candidate, each citizen, and that our hearts will turn to God and seek Him.

Rest in the peace God will give you when you place into His hands everything that you have no control over anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've written a lot about this country and this election. While you're up waiting for the results, instead of chewing your nails and worrying, ask God to give you peace and then check out some of my other posts:

To an Uncertain Nation

He's Got the Whole World In His Hands

Not in this World

#WhatReallyMatters

God Bless America

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you take one thing away from this post, take this: God is on the Throne, and (as cliche as that may sound) there is nothing that can ever take us away from His love and plan for our lives. Even if everything gets terrible, He will still be with us. Take comfort in that tonight.

But if I Don't Have Love...

A few weeks ago, I made a comment about how many people I had on my list of people I don't really want to deal with. As soon as I made the comment, I realize how un-Christ-like that was. Would Jesus have a list of people He didn't really like? No way! He would love them.

I mostly forgot about that, however, until a few days ago when For King and Country's song "Proof of Your Love" came on the radio. It's essentially 1 Corinthians 13 set to music, so the content wasn't new (and I've heard the song dozens of times), but something about that time made me just sit and listen to the words.

[If you've been reading my blogs for a while, you'll notice that most of my "epiphanies" or whatever you'd like to call them tend to happen when I'm listening to music. That's just how I am, so roll with me here.]

The song (and Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13) starts off by talking about all the amazing things that a person might be able to do. You might be a powerful speaker. You might be the most generous and giving person in history. You might have the kind of faith that can move a mountain.

I mean, who wouldn't want to be able to do all of those things?

But here's the thing...no matter how strong or smart or spiritual you are, it means nothing if you don't have love.

Hold up there, Paul. Are you really saying that all my good deeds and all my faith and all my gifts mean absolutely nothing if I'm not loving?

Yes. That's exactly what he's saying.

You see, when Paul wrote this chapter, he knew that Christians would get caught up in following all the rules that Jesus had given them. They--like the Pharisees before them--would miss the whole point of Christianity by getting bogged down in trying to look like a "good Christian".

If Paul's words aren't enough to sway you, then check out what Jesus said was the greatest commandment:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

What Jesus is saying here is that none of the rest of the Law (which is extensive) matters at all if you don't love God and you don't love others. Most of the Law was made up of rules to enforce these (for example, "do not murder" is a law that we wouldn't need if we all truly loved each other).

So do you think loving people is important to God...and therefore to us? You bet!

I began to search my own heart and mind about this, and without much searching I realized that I had a bad attitude toward so many people. And I thought about it: if Jesus could forgive and love someone who put Him on a cross and who still fails Him daily, I can love the person who bugs me or who wasn't nice to me.

What does that look like? Well, loving people has to start with your heart. Get your heart right with God and ask Him to give you strength to love even the unlovable.

Then go out and actually do the hard thing and love people. Maybe it's as simple as smiling at someone because they're another one of God's creations. Or maybe it's going up to someone who makes your life difficult and finding a way to make their day better. Maybe it's being intentional about building others up: not only complimenting them to their face, but genuinely honoring them. Or maybe it's just squelching your tendency to think and talk badly about someone.

Look, I know this is a high calling. It seems impossible. Believe me, I go into my day saying, "I wonder how I can be loving to someone today," and before I can even walk into the door, something is already bothering me or someone I don't like is there or I'm just too busy and distracted.

But if this is the second greatest commandment ever, don't you think we should take a little more time and effort? After all, I would hate to go through life, having done so many good and amazing things, and hear at the end that it all means nothing because I didn't have love.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

I've talked about love several times in this blog, so if you're new to the page and would like to catch up on those, here are a few of the links!

If You Love One Another...
Team Playing
#WhatReallyMatters

You Are Not Your Own

I was listening to the radio tonight and they read this verse:

 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

When I heard "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price", I started thinking. If I belong to myself, then every decision I make is going to be for my own benefit because, after all, I'm the one I answer to. Even if I do something for someone else, ultimately, my goal is for the good deed to come back around. All my plans are going to be with my best future in mind. Even if I have to step on other people. 

But this verse says that I am not my own. I don't get to make the calls on my own life anymore.

Coming from someone who struggles with control, this is not an easy statement. I don't belong to myself? I'm not in charge of my life? But what if whoever is in control doesn't take me where I go, doesn't have my best interests in mind?

Under most circumstances, these questions would be completely valid. But this is not most circumstances. This is Jesus, coming to earth to take our punishment and die and rise again to bring us into eternal life. This is the Jesus who loves us enough to save us. And now that we've been bought from our sins, all we must do is follow Him.

Yet, we still get up every day, make our breakfast (or not, if you prefer), go to school/work, see friends/family/people, and hopefully eat a few times before we go to bed. During the day, we make decisions regularly just to get us through our day, and rarely do we ever think about whether what we're doing is pleasing to God. We just go about our lives and try to make them as comfortable as we can.

Friends, if we belong to Christ, shouldn't our lives reflect that? Shouldn't our everyday decisions and attitudes scream the love of Jesus to a broken world?

Don't get me wrong: it's easy to snap back at someone who says something mean to you; it's hard to return a kind answer. It's easy to hold a grudge for a day or two until the offender straightens back out; it's hard to forgive someone who doesn't deserve it. It's easy to have a bad attitude, or to entertain a sinful thought, or to ignore an opportunity to show love; it's almost impossible to keep a godly mindset as we walk through a day in a sinful world.

But that's what Jesus is here for: He came to save us from our sins. He'll give us strength to overcome even our worst habits and addictions. His Spirit can prompt us to become more holy, as He is holy.

In order to do that, however, we have to give up control. Brothers and sisters, it's time for us to be bold! It's time for us to stop living like Christians when it's convenient and living like the world when it's not. It's time for us to realize that we are not our own...God has bought us with a great price and we belong to Him.

It's Really Real

Tonight, in one of my classes, my professor showed us a real company's real financial statements, which we've been learning to do for fictional companies for the sake of learning how. She assured us that these things we'd been learning about did in fact exist in the real world. It brought a little bit of perspective to the class as we realized that the things we were doing as exercises we might one day be doing in real life. The moment when you discover that something you've encountered only in theory actually exists in reality is a very surprising moment for two reasons: 1) You find yourself surprised that the thing is really real and 2) You're surprised that you hadn't yet acknowledged that this thing was really real.

I think we do this a lot with God--and with most of Christianity as well. It sounds nice in church and stuff: love, be holy, obey, don't worry, and so on. Good stuff of course, all of it. But the second we walk out those doors, we don't give it much thought because of Sunday lunch and Sunday afternoon naps and Sunday evening church/youth group/more naps, and then before you know it it's Monday morning and your work/school week has already left you behind and all your focus is directed toward catching up. Maybe we remember to thank God for our food and to do all our "good Christian" routines, but honestly, the reality of God is absent from our lives.

I'm talking to myself here too when I say that the excuse "Life gets in the way" is not acceptable. God gave you life--not just this temporary life on earth, but eternal life in Heaven--the least you can do is spend some of it with Him.

But I don't really think the problem is that we don't have time. I'm not going to be one of those people who says, "If you have time to watch a 45 minute show on TV, you have at least 15 minutes to spend with God." Yes, but that doesn't help.

Why?

Because that show is here and now and present and real. So what if it's about unrealistic people and settings and superpowers? When I pull Netflix up, the show is right there and I get my satisfaction immediately and tangibly.

But when I sit down to have quiet time, it feels a lot more like me just studying about God and thinking thoughts about Him and being able to check that off my list of things to feel guilty about not doing. He certainly shows Himself to be real through answered prayers and all kinds of amazing things. But sometimes, I sit there and wonder when I'm going to feel Holy Spirit Fire...and I never do. I wonder when the weariness I pick up from just trying to keep up with my crazy life will be satisfied in the rest He promises, but I wake myself up from almost dozing off instead.

So what's the problem? I think we talk about God so much that He ends up being more of a topic we talk about than a Person we talk to. I think the reality of how much God loves us hasn't sunken in with us yet. I think we've missed all the importance of Grace.

What's the solution?


I don't have one. Truth be told, this is something I'm working through right now. Trying to transform my head knowledge of God into something beyond the academic level is hard for me. Having a relationship with Someone I can't see isn't something that I understand how to do.

But thank God that it's not about what we do! He doesn't meet us half-way; He comes the whole way to meet us where we are.

So if you're dragging along through life and you need to feel God with you, first of all, realize that I don't have the answers. But I know Someone who does, and I'm confident that He'd be thrilled to make Himself more real to you.

No matter how long it's been since you've dedicated time to God, you can always start now.