What time is it?

It is amazing how quickly things can change. When you live in a day and time that instant gratification is necessary to achieve happiness is it any wonder that we end up going in circles. If you don't have a phone that connects to the internet, you are looked at with a look of sadness. I want it all and I want it now is kind of what is the popular thing to go for or want.

My life has changed ridiculously fast in the last 2 and a half weeks. God decided to change me situation which had me moving back in with my parents after being out of the house for almost 2 years. The last few weeks have been full of difficult goodbyes, tears of sadness, tons of hugs and words of encouragement from everyone that I hold dear.

I found myself mad and confused at God for why He was letting this happen. I didn't understand why his plans weren't lining up with mine. I had a plan, I had things that were going right and then I a few going not so right. 

The hardest thing was leaving behind my church family. And that's the honest truth. Woodburn is family to me.

God started putting people in my life to speak, or write, the words I needed to hear. The first advice came from a friend who said that life happens in seasons. You grow during them, you look for answers, you cry, you uproot, and ultimately grow stronger. He suggested that I not let the past season keep me from what God had for me during this one. And I thank him for that.

Another piece of wisdom came from that man two weeks later. At the end of choir practice he asked the choir for words of wisdom that then lead to prayer. He prayed that all of us would do things in Godspeed. Being a pastor's kid, I've heard that word for a long time. But what stuck was what he said next. "Help us to speed up or slow down according to your speed. And help us to be okay with it.

That kind of just smacked me in the face. I then realized that I had been going at this the completely wrong way. I had seen that my timing was messed up and made it my mission to blame anyone and everyone in my path. That wasn't what was going on. This had been God's plan all along. 

Now as I am sitting in a church that is 4 hours away from where I was sitting this time last week, I can't help but be excited for what is coming. What I'm trying to say is, Godspeed is the speed that you want to be on. It's not too fast and not too slow, it's just right. Just realize that if you fall down, He'll be there to pick you up again. 

But He judged me

Chapter 7. Judging people. I don't know about you but this is something that I have struggled with for a very long time. There's just something in me that says well they did it to me so why can't I do it to them.

I think verse 3 explains it best. Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye when there is a plank in your own?

Now I've never had a plank of wood in my eye but I've seen plenty of planks of wood in my life to know that it should be pretty obvious if you had one in your eye. But here's the truth. We don't like looking in our own eyes because we won't like what we see. It's much easier to pick up on other peoples' issues than it is our own. Because a plank is more painful.

What I'm trying to say is don't go around judging people for something small when in your life there is an elephant in a tornado in yours. Embrace your mistakes and learn from them. Then get out your magnifying glass and get to work on some peoples specks.

Don't worry

Chapter 6 of Matthew was my reading for today.  I was sitting here thinking of all the things that are going on in my life. There are a lot of unanswered questions and a little bit of hurt to be honest. But this is not the time or place for that.

I love when I am completely clueless about what is going on in my life that somehow God shows me something that I haven't been seeing. He seems to just bring things to light that I have never seen but in the midst of a need, there it is.

Verse 6 says to go pray in secret and that you will be rewarded. My prayer life is something that has really changed over the past year. I have realized that if I claim that Jesus is my best friend, then we need to talk to each other. I am completely reverent when I pray but at the same time it's like a conversation. I say hello and say what I need to say and He listens. And then I listen so I can hear what He has to say. Our times together are so enjoyable and just help everything make sense.

If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. I think that explains itself.

The next part is sometimes really hard for me. But it says to not store our treasures on earth where it can be destroyed. Now I'm human. And I'm not sure about you but I worry about money ALOT. Sometimes it's all I can think about. Why do I not have a better paying job? Why do I not get more hours? Why can I not just worry about the things I want?

There's a problem with all of those questions. And it's the word I. On my own, I am nothing. But then I look around me and see all the things I do have. I do have a job. I have a car to get to that job. I may not have much money but I have what I need. I have a place to live. I have friends and family that support me and love me even with how messed up I am. I'm losing weight which is an awesome feeling to see my clothes get looser.

But more than that, I have a Savoir. I am made in His image. He knows what I need and already has a way to fix it. I takes me as I am and is beginning to show me that I don't have to have the most money in the world. And I don't have all the things that I want because I have everything that I need.

So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today. And He holds it all, so just don't worry.

The first hillside revival

Have you ever been on a mountain? The hike is long and hard. But the view from the top is fantastic.
I love the outdoors. I always have. When given the choice, I'll choose outside every time. I can't tell you how many family vacations where my family and I have hiked to get to a waterfall or see a beautiful view.

That's why I find it so fitting that Jesus' first sermon is on the side of a mountain. Jesus was living in a time of no technology. There where no microphones, no screens and no air conditioning. Anyone who would have wanted to hear him would have to walk there. And then they would have stood in order to hear a great teacher. It would have been a full day ordeal.

Verse 1 stands out to me. One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down . His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them. He didn't tell them where He was going, what He was doing or that He was going to preach. He went and they followed.

A group from my church just recently came back from a mission trip to Haiti. When sharing about the trip one girl said the thing that stood out the most to her was how the people worshiped God. Their church services would last at least four hours. When is the last time that you went to church and stopped looking at your watch every five minutes. When was the last time that you were so in tune with the Holy Spirit that you didn't care how full your Sunday restaurant was going to be.

People in a Haiti, a country that is still recovering from an earthquake and worshiping in a non air conditioned building are experiencing the power of God in more ways than we are.

When will we realize that the only thing in life we need is to sit at the feet of the teacher and listen? When we get there, we'll be going in the right direction.

So you wanna play with magic?

The fourth chapter of Matthew is one chapter of the Bible that has always caused me to question a couple of things. That's why it's taken me so long to respond to it. I had to think long and hard before writing a response.

This is what I've come up with. The fourth chapter is necessary in order for Jesus to be who He says He is.

Let me explain. Chapter four starts out with Jesus leaving after His baptism by John. The spirit has descended like a dove to Jesus and He just leaves. We don't see John's reaction but I'm pretty sure he was pretty confused. The Savior of the world has just been baptized and leaves? Really?

The important part of chapter 3 is that the spirit came to Jesus. Without the spirit, what happened in chapter 4 would not be accurate.

Jesus is tempted with three completely different things. The first of which is food. I personally have never been on a 40 day fast, but it know that on the ones I have been a part of, even looking at food can cause extreme pain or you get to the point where the look of food makes you physically sick.

Jesus is asked if He's hungry, why not just turn some stones into bread. Jesus is perfectly capable of this. He's God after all. But that's not what this part of the story is about. In this part Jesus he is fully human. But He has a little something on His side. He has the Holy Spirit. That's why His response is 'People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Next Jesus is asked to jump from a high building in Jerusalem because there is no way He can be hurt because angels will help Him. Jesus then says 'You must not test The Lord your God.'" This is very important. Here Jesus claims His lordship. He knows who He is and why He is here.

Then Jesus is taken to a mountain and told this can all be His. Here's the great thing: satan is offering something to Jesus that He already has. He is God. Who holds everything in the palm of His hand. Satan likes to think it's his but it's not.  It is a part of Jesus' birthright.

So just remember. You have the power of the Holy Spirit within you. Don't be afraid to use it. If you are in Christ you have been called to be a soldier for Him. You've been given the tools. Just don't be afraid to use them.

You want to do what now?

Chapter 3 of Matthew starts out with a sermon. Now being a pastor's daughter, I have heard plenty of those in my life time. I can probably count on one hand the number of Sunday morning services that I have missed. I say that not to be prideful or boast in what I have done, but to commend the people in my life who have made me realize how important God is.

Now back to Matthew. John the Baptist starts to preach in the wilderness. The book of Matthew doesn't tell us anything about the origin of John but we know from latter gospels that he was a  cousin of Jesus. They would have grown up together and imagine how cool that would have been.

The first encounter that we have with John the Baptist is as a young man dressed in camel wool, a scraggly beard and eats locust and honey for food. I personally don't have any children yet. But if my son came in dressed like that I would think that there was something wrong or he was going through some sort of crisis.

John talks about all of things that he knows about Jesus, the coming Messiah. This would have been quite a lot considering that John was a son a priest and every Jewish male would study the Torah in order to be better equipped for being a man in Jewish culture.

John would have grown up reading the prophecies of a Messiah that would save his people. I personally think that is why John spoke with such conviction and passion that was unparalleled in his day. I wonder if he remembered leaping with joy while in his mother's womb as an unborn child, unable to contain his excitement.

Then comes what is my favorite part of the story. Jesus shows up at the Jordan River. And John's immediate response is surrender. But the Jesus does what His father would do in the same situation. He gets John up and says that is not why I have come. It is I who needs to be baptized. It is I who will take on the job of a servant. It is I that will die the most embarrassing way a person can die. That's always been the plan. I just haven't told anyone about it yet.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew that His life would fulfill all of the prophecies from the Old Testament. And yet He came know the cost. And it all started in the Jordan river.

"And a voice from heaven said, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.""
Matthew 3:17  

The escape of a lifetime

In Matthew chapter 2, we read about the beautiful story of Jesus' birth. People from far and wide like shepherds and kings came to see the child.

But here's where the story gets interesting. Joseph had a dream. Now we don't know why Joseph was spoken to in dreams and why Mary was spoken to in person. What we do know is this is the way that God choose to get his attention. He's told that Jesus is in trouble and that they need to flee in order to save Jesus life.

Now I don't know if you have ever traveled with a small child anywhere but I have.  There are tons of things that you have to bring, you have to make sure all their favorite toys are there and even some not so favorite toys because you never know with a child.

Here's the thing, there were no cars. A crazy thought I know. The distance between Israel and Egypt is 433 miles. This is not smooth terrain by any stretch of the imagination. It is hard, hot, sandy region that would have to be traveled by foot or donkey.

Now imagine trying to take your 2 year old child on a journey like that. If I had been Joseph, I would have just turned over and gone back to sleep. We'll leave in the morning when I have time to get everything that we need. I have a carpentry job that will help provide for us for the next 2 months. I'll go after I finish that. But that's not what Joseph did. He got Mary and Jesus up that night, got on the donkey and left.

They were headed to the land of Egypt, a land where their ancestors had been slaves. But that was just to be in the fulfillment of the prophecy from the Old Testament. "Out of Egypt I will call my son."  We don't know at what exact age all of this happened. We don't know when this family came back to Israel. But we do know if that God kept his promise to protect them.

The question is this. If God called you, would you be willing to drop everything and go. It doesn't matter if it's taking up a shift at work, or sharing the gospel with someone. It could be something as simple as paying for the person behind you in the drive thru.

Or it could be something much more difficult. It could be cutting off a relationship that is harmful to you. It could be moving to a place where you know no one. It could be going to a public school for the first time and that scares you to death.

No matter what God is calling you to do, just be willing to listen, hear his voice, and he will take care of the rest.