Really God? Paul!?

"Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant."

2 Corinthians 3:4-6

I have to make this short because I still have massive amounts of homework to do for midterms this week but I have just been epiphanized (making up words is fun). It amazes me how inadequate we think we are to do God's work... or anything for that matter. We are the only ones that shoot ourselves down, because we let people get to us when we are discouraged. But it all depends on who you're listening to. Others might say stuff, but are you listening to what God is telling you? Who deserves to be listened to? Others aren't watching you through God's eyes. There are lots of times that God affirms us through scriptures and sometimes we (myself definitely included and maybe previously the leader of this pack) choose not to listen or brush it off. I get it though, it's like when your mom says you sing so well. She has to say it cause she's your mom. But God means it!

Look at Paul. God is so funny to me sometimes. I love the way He works. I'll bet God looked around and found the worst person to use and changed it all around, just to show that He has no limits. Paul didn't have a crappy faith, or not think much of God. Paul HATED God's people and what they stood for. He made a living destroying (or attempting to destroy) what Jesus was building and God used him to basically start the church! Is this not craziness to anyone else!? And the best part is that Paul didn't do any of it on his own. Jesus transformed him into the man of God he became. Paul didn't have to do anything to qualify himself. If anything, he did everything in his power to DISqualify himself.

Anyway, I really have to get back to homework but the next time you think you shouldn't do something for God because "it's not your thing" or you "don't have that gift," shut up and do it. :)

Don't try to qualify yourself, God has already done that.

Sometimes we just forget the power of asking...

This last summer, I honestly don't remember at all where I was, but I remember someone talking about passion. He was talking about how we have passions for things that we love, but also about passions and desires that God gives us in order to do His work. As most of you know, I have a passion and love for youth. Since high school, but more intensely just in the last year or so, God has taught my heart how to hurt for them and the things they have to deal with, things they should not be having to deal with, especially at their age (probably because I sang the song Hosanna one two many times... "break my heart for what breaks yours." Gotta be careful what you ask for).

Anyway, early this last summer, I was definitely feeling a lack of passion just in life in general. I was worrying a lot about my future that seems to be sneaking up on me. And this speaker said that passion doesn't just come from within us, it comes from God; and sometimes we just simply need to ask for God to renew our love for Him, for life, and for the things we are passionate about. I think it's easy to ask for things with little faith that it'll actually happen, or give some other reasoning for when this prayer is actually answered. But I can really say that since that day I asked God to renew my passions for Him, His Word, life, and youth, He really really has. For the first time I actually feel more excitement than anxiety about my future. I don't even care what He wants me to do or where He wants me to go. I believe He's given me this passion for youth for a reason and that He's going to take me through some crazy stuff; and I feel ready for it. It's that kind of excitement that makes me want to just jump out my skin. I almost don't want to do something that'd I'd feel comfortable in, because God's always got something bigger and better and crazier in store. Plus, our own stories are always so much smaller than His. Why wouldn't we want to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves?

Anyway, the point of all of this is just to challenge all of you to ask God for the desires of your heart. He gives those desires for a reason, He wants to use you! And He wants you to enjoy what He has in store for you. So just ask, knowing he gives.

"The prayer of a righteous man is POWERFUL and EFFECTIVE."
James 5:16

"Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you."
Luke 11:9

"Commit to the LORD whatever you do and your plans will succeed."
Proverbs 16:3

"And in WHATEVER you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
Colossians 3:17

"Devote yourselves to prayer being watchful and thankful."
Colossians 4:2

God doesn't guilt trip

Tonight I was lucky enough to get to do one of my favorite things in the world. A big group of us went to Newport beach for a late night worship session. I love people, I love the beach, and I love worship. It was such a good night.

My alone times with God have been few and far between the last couple of weeks. I've always had a problem with self-discipline in this area. As soon as I start reading I feel like I don't want to stop but for some reason, I have such a hard time reading regularly and before I know it, it's been a week or two since I've even opened my Bible! It's a constant guilt I take everywhere with me, and it effects my worship times. Tonight when I heard we were going to do worship on the beach, I was excited yet part of me was not looking forward to it. I felt as if I wasn't in a place to worship God. Like I was just picking up where I left off with God because my friends were doing worship. I feel like God wouldn't take this worship as right; like I have to wrack up some minutes in my Bible-time before I can worship. Sounds ridiculous right?

Even as I write this now, a part of me believes it. But tonight during worship God brought me back to His unfailing LOVE... his unjudgmental, pure view of me. He wants every piece of me I'm willing to give him. I think one of the most amazing things about God is that He is able now (because of Jesus) to look at us and not see us as we see ourselves. There has to come a time when we are able to push to be more and more like Jesus, but be okay with the fact that we will never achieve perfection. Striving for perfectionism isn't spirituality, knowing and loving Jesus is spirituality. Mike Yaconelli is probably my favorite author and he says in his book Messy Spirituality that, "Accepting the reality of our broken, flawed lives is the beginning of spirituality; because we let go of seeking perfection, and instead seek God."

I think sometimes we make our walks more complicated than they need to be. God appreciates simple I think. It's about Him, and about us loving Him, and about us letting God love on us.

One of the previous pastors at Rock Harbor Church, Ian DiOrio put it like this...

"God thinks more of you than you think of yourself because He knows who we really are... the sinful little mistakes you make now do not define you as much as the God who defines you! ... When we know whose we are, we know who we are... If you live out of the reality that you're a sinner, you're sick, you're broken, then that's all you're ever gonna be. But if you live out of the reality that your identity is firm in Christ and that there's nothing you can do to change His opinion of you then you will have freedom in your Christian life like you wouldn't believe because you know whose you are. You are accepted as you are, not as you should be, because you'll never be as you should be."

This is not the way we are taught to think about ourselves, nor is it the way we naturally see ourselves. I believe the only way to see ourselves this way, or even understand this idea of God seeing us this way, is through prayer. Prayer that asks God to help us go a little easier on ourselves. Prayer that asks a big God to teach us to see ourselves the way He sees us. Prayer that asks God to show us how to see others the way He sees them. And prayer that thanks our Abba for His Son, that made it possible for Him to see us this way.

I'm the new kid to blogging

So I have to be honest, I kinda always laughed when I'd hear that people actually blogged. It makes me think of Creed in the season finale of season 3 of the Office when he blogs about Pam and Jim at the beach outing. But there have been at least three or four blogs I've been reading from friends that have blessed me so much and even taught me a thing or two. Then it got me thinking, God doesn't teach us things just for us. He teaches us so we can share them with others and teach them too. That's fellowship. That's the Body.

So anyway, all this to say that I apologize to bloggers around the world for making fun of you.

I'll be using this to share with all of you the awesome things God is constantly teaching me. I hope you are blessed by it. :)