No Fear (He who dies with Jesus wins)

Yesterday, I turned on my most recently purchased Third Day albums--Move and Revelation.  As "Trust In Jesus," one of the tracks from Move, began playing, I remembered the first time I heard it and the dread I experienced during the first verse.  I was having a bad day and felt a moment of brightness when my CD arrived (pre-order has its benefits) because Third Day is one of my favorite groups.

Here is the first verse:

One of these days we all will stand in judgment for
Every single word that we have spoken
One of these days we all will stand before the Lord
Give a reason for everything we’ve done

And what I’ve done is 

What a terrifying thought!  For everything I have said, done, or thought, I have to give account to God!  I almost changed the song.  I needed encouragement, not more guilt!  But when the song continued into the refrain, I decided to continue listening:
          (And what I've done is)

Trust in Jesus
My great Deliverer
My strong Defender
The Son of God
I trust in Jesus
Blessed Redeemer
My Lord forever
The Holy One, the Holy One

What are you going to do when your time has come
And your life is done and there’s nothing you can stand on
What will you have to say at the judgment throne
I already know the only thing that I can say I

Trust in Jesus
My great Deliverer
My strong Defender
The Son of God
I trust in Jesus
Blessed Redeemer
My Lord forever
The Holy One, the Holy One

There’s nothing I can do on my own to find forgiveness.
It’s by His grace alone I trust in Jesus

Trust in Jesus 

Oh.  Yes. Christ's gift of salvation doesn't just mean my sins are forgiven, it means they are absolved, gone.  I am completely healed.  I do not have to worry about standing in front of God and having Him list off every evil thought, word, or deed I have committed.  I trust in Jesus!  His grace, His love, His power alone frees me from the bondage of sin!

If you would like to hear the song, it is on Third Day's official website here.

"Marry" Christmas

While I am certainly not above them, I have the blessing/curse of seeing misspellings, homonym errors, and punctuation problems. This can be either a good or bad thing.  It is certainly good when proofing papers. However, it can be a drawback when I read wishes from old friends of "Marry Christmas" and cannot move beyond the first word.  Sometimes I like to think about word-misuses as intentional, especially in cases such as these.  So I asked myself, "What could it mean to 'marry Christmas?'"

For the past several years, I have had difficulty getting in the Christmas spirit.  The first year, I blamed this on the fact I was in college full-time and no one can possibly feel Christmassy over homework and finals (well, maybe one or two people can). The next year was the first Christmas since my Grandpa's death, I was busy house-sitting up until the day before Christmas Eve, and I was in college after a personally rough semester. This year was little better despite my hope for feeling the Christmas magic again.  I had little external distraction and could dedicate myself to Christmas stuff as much as I desired.  And yet, I was still surprised when I realized Christmas was only a few days away.  I just didn't feel it.

After contemplating my lack of Christmas spirit, I returned to thinking about the commanding message I received.  How could it apply to my life? Why did I feel my Christmas happiness was so contingent on my environment?  Isn't the true reason for the season alive in my heart?  Perhaps the way to marry Christmas is to devote--dedicate--fully to the meaning of Christmas.  The love of God.  God sent His Son, Christ, to be our Savior.  The glory of this moment, a true celebration of it, should work from the inside out into our environment.  My Christmas tree, the decorations outside, presents, or even my nativity will not provide a Christmas spirit.  I need to feel the joy in my heart first.  Marry myself to feeling and spreading the awesomeness of God and His gift to us.

Perhaps the misspellings were not misspellings after all.

Merry Christmas, everyone!  And best wishes for the new year.

The Great Romance (yeah, I've been reading the Circle Series)

You walk into a room, and a smile creeps onto your face.  There she is.  Your eyes meet, and she smiles and walks toward you.  You ask how she is, and your conversation flows in low tones.  Everything seems perfect.   Then he enters the room.  Her voice trails off as her gaze follows him.  Your heart sinks. She continues listening and distractedly adds to your conversation.  You try to hold her interest, but she excuses herself from your conversation and crosses the room to meet him.  You watch, downcast and concerned.  They begin talking, and she seems shy at first, glancing over her shoulder in your direction occasionally.  As those looks become less frequent, he grasps her hand.  She starts speaking with animation and awards him with such smiles you've only wished she would display for you.  Your heart aches, not simply because she has devoted to another, but because he is not worthy of her.  He will never fulfill her and will eventually leave her feeling empty and alone, forced to find another relationship.  How can you make this clear to her and win her back?


Something similar to this has likely happened to you.  Most people have some instance of unrequited love or affection.  Many have been in the situation of loving someone who they felt loved them at first but slowly slipped away towards someone who is not right for them. And you are left wondering if s/he ever cared to begin with, if you will win him/her back, and if your heart will ever heal.  This experience is definitely temporally painful, and I believe God feels it far more intensely when his children dedicate themselves to other gods. God is jealous for us.  He is El Qanna.   When we begin devoting ourselves to other gods--whether they be an actual idol, or a god of education, god of money, god of attention, or a sex god like the one to which the Israelites turned--He seeks to win us back to Him.

  ¹⁴ “ Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her.  ¹⁵ I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ “ And it shall be, in that day,” Says the LORD, “ That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ ¹⁷ For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, And they shall be remembered by their name no more. ¹⁸ In that day I will make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, With the birds of the air, And with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, To make them lie down safely.

 ¹⁹ “ I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; ²⁰ I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD."

 Hosea 2:14-20

This Christmas, let us make sure to focus on God.  Ask Him to show you in what areas you might have "stepped out."  He alone can help you turn back to Him.

Unto the Lord

‘Then it happened, as [Moses and Elijah] were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. ³⁴ While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. ³⁵And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” ³⁶ When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.’  

Luke 9:33-36

   Friday at Ab Initio, Beth Bentley taught us a Bible study method using Luke 9:28-36 and having us work along with her.  Since then, I have been thinking about the portion of this passage when Peter speaks, particularly the portion after “Master, it is good for us to be here.”  I have gone through several interpretations of what “not knowing what he said” might mean, but one idea has remained prominent in my mind.  Peter seemed to focus upon earthly needs instead of seeing the heavenly things happening around him.   He focused on wanting to provide shelter for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah instead of hearing the discussion of Jesus’ death and the salvation that would entail. 

  
   I think this stuck with me because I know I am frequently guilty of the same thing.  I often format my work to please whoever my immediate earthly authority is instead of looking at the bigger picture.  Even while doing this practice exercise on Friday, I kept stopping my thoughts because I wanted to make sure I was getting the type of answers Beth would want.  Now, there is nothing wrong with trying to please people, but I definitely should have been willing to share the answers I felt God was providing rather than thinking, “Oh, this cannot be what she wants.”  Once I realized I was doing this instead of focusing on what God was trying to reveal, I resolved to apply this interpretation immediately.  I’m working to be more aware of realizing who the real authority in a situation is.  Learning to focus on the heavenly will also help with having a better attitude.   If I look to see what the long-term is and look to see what God is doing, the difficult or annoying situations won’t be as frustrating. 

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” 

Colossians 3:23

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 

1 Corinthians 10:31

“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” 

Psalm 118:8