God's Presence and The Hobbit

Tonight I did something I never thought I would do.  Yes,  I caved and saw the Hobbit.  Now, for most people this wouldn't be a big deal, but for me, it was huge.  When Lord of The Rings came out, it was such a big deal and "the thing" to do, that I decided most resolutely that I would not, under any circumstance, read the books or watch the movies while they were that popular.

I still have not done either, though more for the sake of time than anything else (as in, I don't have enough of it). 

I was greatly motivated to see the Hobbit because of the fact that Martin Freeman is in it.  I grew attached to him as an actor when I first saw him playing Holmes opposite Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock (BBC).  And I was reminded tonight why I like him.  He BECAME Bilbo Baggins.  He breathed, ate, talked, fainted, and even blinked him.  Well done, sir. 

But after I got over my awe and love of his character portrayal, I began seeing so clearly the Christian themes in The Hobbit.  No, no character ever screams "Jesus is the Savior of the world" in any part of the movie, but if you know what you're looking for, if you know who Tolkien was and the people he spent time with, you see it ever so clearly. 

One of the first things that popped out to me was the never-ending retrieval of the good characters from their plights.  No matter how many times the dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandolph ran towards trouble and away from what they were supposed to be doing, they were constantly rescued.  It reminded me of how we, as children of God, often run away from Him and what He's told us to do, and when we are caught in trouble, just as He knew we would be, He is always faithful to come and rescue us.  And He will do it incessantly, until we understand how LOVED we are, and that He will never give up on us. 

Another theme that I love, and that C.S. Lewis, another Inkling, frequently used, is light vs. darkness.  And while I am speaking metaphorically, I am speaking literally too.  The Trolls, quite cowardly creatures, actually, turn to stone when touched by the sun.  God's light and truth reach into the deepest darkest depths, where we would never dare to go, and expose the Truth.  His Truth.

The evil characters seemed to be constantly speaking lies to the good characters, taunting them with reminders of their mistakes, flaws, and faults.  But although the good characters appeared to give in and believe the LIES, at least for a while, in reality, it made them stronger.  They learned how to combat the lies, and not recognize them as truth.  Satan speaks lies to us every day.  They come from many different places, as he is quite resourceful.  Family members, friends, movies, songs, professors, television....We are hounded every day with lies.  But when we remember The Truth, they cannot stand against the light of God's Truth.

God's presence is ever-evident; it cannot be escaped.  The butterfly is found in the burning flames, the lark in stone and darkness, and the sun comes ripping through the darkness, exposing everything it touches for what it really is: God's creation.  

Serving

I was volunteering at an Operation Christmas Child warehouse in Denver this past weekend, unpacking shoeboxes from cartons, pulling out checks from boxes, sorting through boxes for inappropriate items, taping boxes, re-cartonizing boxes, scanning labels, and taping cartons up, saying goodbye to them as they slid down rollers to fork lifts.  As I was observing others around me, I was made aware of several things. 

1. We were all working together as the body of Christ.  The head of each "team" was making sure that everyone felt they were using the gifts God had given them in processing these gifts for children in the Philippines.  If we had all run around doing every job as one person, it would have been utter chaos and confusion.  But instead, it was a motivated, organized, steady moving process. 

2. We were SERVING.  What's so unique about that?  People serve others in various ways every day.  It gives the servers a purpose, a point.  It gives the served joy and thanks.  But without the need for service, where would we be?  If we still lived in the perfect world that Adam and Eve lived in, there would be no need for service, and no serving.  What a lovely thing it would be to see no suffering, no need for service, no pain.  But what a blessing it is to serve those in need!  In the midst of the brokenness and the hurting, God created a lovely opportunity for us to begin the process of healing as we serve and are served.  How important it is to be His hands and feet!  We are becoming more and more like him as we help and are helped.  A glorious cause for the glory of The King. 


"For God is not unjust so as to look over your work and the love that you have shown for His Name in serving the Saints, as you still do." ~Hebrews 6:10

"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve..."~Mark 10:45

Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-serving-20-helpful-scriptures-quotes/#ixzz2DLF0l0wi

Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-serving-20-helpful-scriptures-quotes/#ixzz2DLF0l0wi

Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-serving-20-helpful-scriptures-quotes/#ixzz2DLF0l0wi

Unaware

Unaware

“Unaware of my fears, unaware of my shame, nothing else matters here, but glorifying your name.  Unaware of everything knowing you’re aware of me.”

Isn’t this the truth God has called us to?  Mercy Me is one of my favorite Christian bands; I find The Truth, scripture, meaning, and encouragement in their lyrics. 

When we are made new in Christ, everything old fades away.  We are equipped to be unaware of our fears and shame, living only for the glory of God.  But do we take hold of that precious gift we are given?  Often, the answer is no. 

I have struggled with finding my place in God’s world a lot recently.  There is a burning desire in my heart to go and save the world.  Right here.  Right now.  I have this viewpoint that I can only make a difference in the world if I go to a foreign country and am a missionary.  I know it’s not what God would say to me, but somehow I still believe it’s true.  I love the words Mercy Me used to describe this feeling in their song, “In The Blink Of An Eye.”  “How can I further Your kingdom, when I’m so wrapped up in mine?”  Day to day life feels like drudgery; meaningless, wasting time.  How am I glorifying God and furthering His kingdom when I’m brushing my teeth, taking a shower, doing homework, going shopping, watching a movie, or cleaning the house? 

In Oswald Chamber’s book, “My Utmost For His Highest,” he spends a few days in the October section of the devotional going over what being a missionary really looks like.  “We are taken up with active work while people all around are ripe to harvest, and we do not reap one of them, but waste our Lord’s time in over-energized activities.  Suppose the crisis comes in your father’s life, in your brother’s life, are you there as a laborer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ?  No Christian has a special work to do.  Our Lord calls to no special work: He calls to Himself.  ‘Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest,’ and he will engineer circumstances and thrust you out.”

What a powerful statement.  God does not desire that we should we striving aimlessly, in a flurry of activity, to be missionaries, busying ourselves with what we deem important work.  It is just as important for us to minister to a hurting friend, as it is for a missionary in India to save a boy from poverty, and bring him to Christ.  How different life would look if  we lived this way!  Instead of running around like mad people, volunteering everywhere, trying to reach hundreds of people for the kingdom at once, what if we would have time when a friend called and said, “I just need someone to talk to.”  God would be equally, if not more pleased, with the latter. 

My heart

God brought this to my mind when I was driving to work this week. 

I know I am to give my heart to Him, to hand over my cares every day.  But do I hand my heart to Him, or toss it over my shoulder?  I think it makes a big difference.

Because He made me, He knows my heart.  He knows everything about me.  My failures, hurts, mistakes, longings, dreams, passions.  I am made in His image.  But sometimes I forget grace, and mercy, and His unconditional love.  I dishonor Him by thinking of myself as a piece of trash, tossing my heart over my shoulder like some disheveled valentine. 

Handing my heart to Jesus involves coming to Him with humility, knowing I am forgiven, yet also understanding that I am a sinner in need of grace, and constantly being made new by Him.  It hurts, sometimes.  Often I feel like Eustace, in the Voyage of The Dawn Treader, when Aslan must rip off his dragon scales in order to reveal the real Eustace.  It's horrible, at times, but so worth it when I appear more and more like Jesus after every trial. 

Here's to handing your heart to Jesus.

<3

Just You

Inspired by one of my professors at school, whom, though very unwilling, God spoke through today.

"Sometimes I am

Overwhelmed by

The voices

Of the world

Sometimes I

Wonder if

Your voice

Will ever

Break through

But then you

Astound me

As you use

The very lips

You created

To speak

Of you

Your creation

Your praise

Your love

Your passions

Your desires

Those lips

Are often unwilling

They often

Speak foul of you

But you use them

For Your glory

And they

Don’t even know

Vessels

That’s what we are

To be filled

With you

Your words

And you use us

Willing

Unwilling

For Your glory

The world

Suddenly seems

Brighter

Better

More beautiful

Holy

Worthy

Of you

Just

You"

By Chelsea copyright 2012

To The Ends Of The Earth...

I love musicals.  Mostly old musicals.  Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is one of my favorites.  There is a hilarious scene when the brothers have all come to a barn raising, and one by one, some single ladies from the village walk by, each asking if she can help carry anything to the tables.  One by one, the brothers each take one girl up on her offer, and carry the food to the table, while escorting her.  My favorite line is when one of the ladies says, “If you’ll just follow me….”  The brother responds with, “To the ends of the earth.” 

            Now, that scene is a bit dramatic, and if someone said that to me in real life, I imagine that I would probably gag from the line’s cheesiness.  But, it makes an excellent point if you think about it in terms of the Christian life.

            Jesus has called us to follow him.  Not just when we want to, feel like it, or when it’s most convenient.  We are to follow him always, to the ends of the earth.  This sets an example for what our relationships with others should be like as well.  We should be willing to follow each other to the ends of the earth, whether we are in a romantic relationship, or a friendship.  We should be willing to go to great lengths to serve and help one another, just as Jesus has done for us.  So what will you say the next time you hear that line?  Will you gag, or think about the deeper meaning, and smile? 

Don't Waste It

                                                            Don’t Waste It

            Apathy.  It’s a word that grates on every emotion I have, and I’m sure God dislikes it even more than I do.  It’s a disease becoming prevalent among college students, high school students, and young adults everywhere.  It can ruin your life.

            Ephesians 5:15-16 warns against wasting the precious time God has given us on this earth.  Because of the blessed culture we live in, many American teens are accustomed to spending a large chunk of their time playing video games, watching tv and movies, texting, and a whole host of other things incorporated into social media.  They sit there, draining hours of their life away in front of a screen. 

            Well, you may say, God commanded us to relax, and have a Sabbath day.  He certainly did, and He took one Himself, but that was after a hard week full of 6 days of work.  We will only feel the true benefit and reward of relaxation after we have worked hard.  Otherwise, it becomes the norm for us. 

            What is time dedicated to electronics when you can invest your time in the life of a person with a soul, who will either face eternity with Jesus, or hell and destruction?  And to think that you could have an impact on a person’s life if God used you to plant a seed!  Summer can be an especially troublesome time with apathy, as many students don’t know what to focus their time on.  Here are some suggestions.

1.     Go on a missions trip!  Your life will be changed forever, you’ll make an impact on people wherever you’re going, and on the people with whom you’re serving.  Don’t let finances get in the way.  If God wants you to go, He will provide the funds.  Start fundraising early, before the end of the year, when people are getting ready to file their tax returns.  You’ll also beat the rush of other students’ support letters.

2.     Volunteer.  With a Christian organization, public or private, at a humane society, soup kitchen, daycare, youth group, church nursery, VBS….volunteers are always needed!  It may not pay in cash, but it pays in Joy, which is priceless.

3.     Read.  A lot!  It will help you be ready for school, because you know you’re going to have to read there.

4.     Learn a new instrument, and use it in praise and worship at church.  God will be glorified, and you’ll be amazed at how the time will fly!

5.     Work.  While making money shouldn’t be the most important goal in our lives, we do have to survive off of it.  Save it up to go on a missions trip!

6.     Exercise.  Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, so make it worthy of His presence!

A New Way of Looking at Prayer

People always talk about how we don’t come to God in prayer enough during normal times, but we run to him when we are hurting.  But what if, at least for some of us, it’s the other way around? 

Sometimes I find myself running to Him every day, to chat, as if he were my best friend, sitting in the car with him, about whatever is going on that day.  I go on and on about what I’m thankful for, what I need help with, and just whatever comes to mind.  But then, when the bad times come, and they do, I often find myself shutting down, so absorbed in my hurt, pain, suffering, and grief, that I can’t even get off the floor to run to His open arms.  Am I afraid?  Angry?  Feeling rejected?  Will I ever know?  I must seek Him for the strength to run to Him.  He is my refuge.

1 Corinthians 14:15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.

High Maintenance friendships

Whew...they are so exhausting.  I hear the enemy telling me every day to give them up and quit.  But the voice inside me says, "do not give up, my daughter.  Love them as I have loved you."

It is hard, don't get me wrong.  But oh, so rewarding in the long run.  Often those with whom we have high maintenance friendships are insecure, lonely, and need to feel loved.  They push and push for it, starving to be fed.  But we can only give it to them for so long.

Ultimately, we must look to The Father for help, and direct our aching friends towards Him for healing, and a love that will never let them go.