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I have heard it said that you know that you are a threat to Satan when you are being tempted. If you aren't a threat to him then he just leaves you alone. I believe it is wise to acknowledge all the ways that you are tempted so you can be more prepared to face that temptation when it comes. Today I was reminded that temptation isn't the only way that Satan can hinder a Christian in their relationship with God. I believe that he also uses complacency. I believe he lets us feel satisfied in where we are in our spiritual walk and therefore we become stagnant. I don't want to get entirely too personal with this whole blog thing, but I can see how that has happened my life lately. My days get filled up with random this and that and before I know it, I haven't opened my Bible in a week and haven't given it a second thought. I find myself doing just enough to get by, continuing prayer life as normal, but then I realize I haven't really learned anything new because I haven't been spending time with God so He could teach me. So, all this to say, be aware of complacency and stagnation.
And on to an uplifting thought from Ephesians, my favorite book in the Bible....
Chapter 3 verse 20
"God can do anything, you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us." ~ The Message
I think that sometimes we (atleast I do) forget Who we are working with here. God.
The Powerful and Almighty Creator. He can do anything. ANYTHING!! Why do I limit him so?
Why is it that fundamentals of Christianity are so hard for me to get sometimes? I was raised going to church and reading the Bible and after 23 years I should have a pretty good idea of what Christianity is all about. It's funny to me the way things hit me out of nowhere that I think I should've gotten all along.
For years and years my thoughts about being a Christian were that I should be set apart from the world, apart from sin, apart from all of the evil things that are taking place. I spend most of my time with my Christian friends, hanging out with them, eating with them, living with them, and going to my church and my Bible studies and everything that is safe. I have come to realize however, that while it is ultimately true that Christians are set apart from the world, we are also put in the world. In Matthew chapter 10 Jesus is sending his disciples out to go to the "lost sheep." He tells them, "I am sending you out as sheep among wolves, therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." Matt 10:16
As Christians we are not called to spend time in our comfort zones where we feel safe. This is not where we are needed. We are needed by the lost. The people who are in sin, in the gutter. These are the people who aren't just going to stumble into church where all the Christians are spending their time being holy and apart from everything associated with sin. We have to go into these gutters and show them the way out, the way we got out. We can do it too because, "God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self discipline." 1 Tim 1:7
I came to this realization when I read the book, "The Gutter" by Craig Gross. He has a ministry for those involved in the porn industry. He isn't standing outside the porn conventions telling everyone that they are going to hell. Instead, he is setting up his own booth at the convention and forming relationships with the people there.
I always thought you could help people know God by just being an example of what a Christian should be. Yeah, being an example is great and wonderful. But people don't just need examples, they need relationships.
I could go on and on about this, but I think you should just read the book. It makes a lot of sense and I don't know why I didn't realize this before......
"I can feel your presence here with me. Suddenly I'm lost within your beauty. Caught up in the wonder of your touch. Here in this moment I surrender to your love."
-Mercy Me
"You spoke and made the sunrise, to light up the very first day. You breathed across the water, and started the very first wave....It was you. You make all things new. You redeem and You transform, You renew and You restore, You make all thinks new and forever we will watch and worship you."
-Stephen Curtis Chapman
Those two quotes pretty much sum up all that I have experienced in the past month. I was laying on a beach in St. Thomas, surrounded with the beauty of God's creation when I stumbled across those two songs on my ipod. I couldn't believe how much they applied to my life at that moment.
In the past month I have gotten to experience quality time with good friends, spending time in God's amazing creation, visiting our country's capital, making new friends, getting reaquainted with old friends, spending time with my family, and just being myself and enjoying life. Coming up on the agenda: more fun things!
In a week I get to go back to the beach with my family and then go up to Impact in Nashville for three days to take care of Cameron, Carson, and Cambridge, my youth minister's children. I am looking forward to this because I get to experience Impact and spend time with their family before they move away to Australia. Then, with July comes more time with friends (hopefully some will come visit me) and my mission trip to New York City!! I am going to chaperone the youth group trip to Camp Shiloh, a christian camp for the inner city children of the Bronx. It is awesome and I am so so excited that I get to go! With August comes the nausiating, sickening feeling and dread of starting back to school. We won't think about that now.
God bless the summer and God has truly blessed me this summer. I am very very thankful!
Most people I talk to: "So Katie, what are you doing this summer?"
Me: "I'm just hanging out."
Them: "Are you working?"
Me: "No."
Them: "Are you taking classes?"
Me: "No."
Them: "You suck." or "That'll be a nice break for you." or, my personal favorite,
"You are going to get so bored!"
BORED?!!!!! BORED?!!!!!
The more I have thought about this response the more it bothers me. It seems as though people have become conditioned to think that school and work are the only things in this life to keep you occupied. Some seem to have lost touch with the fact that we go to school to get a job to fund our life. We do not work because work is life.
I hope that this is something that I never forget. It must be an easy thing to forget because so many people seem to think that without work or school to keep one busy, there is nothing else to do.
How can this be so? There is so much about this life to enjoy. There are so many amazing things and places in this world to learn about and experience. There are friends and family to talk to and spend time with. There are games and books and activities....there is so much to be learned! The more I learn, the more I realize that I don't know. I know probably .1% of all the things there are to know about, if that. That's crazy considering that I'm about to start my sixth year of college and I am in my 24th year of life.
Then there is God and all things spiritual. Can you ever learn enough, study enough , worship or experience enough when it comes to God?
Bored. Ha.
p.s. If anyone reads this and then hears me say that I am bored, please slap me in the face.
I am completely stunned. I was doing a little bedtime reading and decided I'd skim through my last three unread issues of Marie Claire to see if they might contain something interesting. I hit the jackpot with the May issue. I was stunned when I read the lead in from this article. Here is an exerpt:
"In a workaholic Japan, career-driven women can find themselves, at age 30, lacking in sexual experience. Embarrassed to admit their perceived shortcomings to boyfriends, they grapple with a dilemma: Where do good girls go to learn about lovemakling? Enter the volunteer sex corps, a secret group of men who deflower women."
Needless to say, this article caught my attention so I read on. Turns out, there is an actual organization where men "volunteer" to have sex with these initial virgins free of charge. According to the article, "The volunteers are necessary because Japan is a chauvinistic society. Men have mistresses or the huge sex industry to cater to their needs, but there are few outlets for single women, or unfulfilled married women, to address their sexual wants." Here's another kicker, the "volunteers" are often married and have children. The article also states that in Japan, you're not a real woman if you are still a virgin. "In the past, virginity was prized, but now, men prefer their girlfriends to know what they are doing in bed."
Seriously?!!! What is the world coming to?
Hebrews 13:4
"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and the sexually immoral."
I am not trying to be all preachy with this entry by any means. I understand that people mess up all the time and that no one is perfect. That is why we need Jesus. But what I don't understand is how people can have such disregard for the Truth. Perhaps they don't know it. Maybe they need someone to show them what the truth is. Maybe if they new about God, and about our Savior then they wouldn't be looking for solutions to their marriage problems at a sex corps. Maybe then women wouldn't feel inadequate for being virgins. Is anyone sharing with these people the good news? Is anyone telling them that they can find a longterm solution to their problem and not just a temporary fix? I hope so. I pray so.
"He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not will be condemned." Matthew 16:15-16
I have heard it said that you know that you are a threat to Satan when you are being tempted. If you aren't a threat to him then he just leaves you alone. I believe it is wise to acknowledge all the ways that you are tempted so you can be more prepared to face that temptation when it comes. Today I was reminded that temptation isn't the only way that Satan can hinder a Christian in their relationship with God. I believe that he also uses complacency. I believe he lets us feel satisfied in where we are in our spiritual walk and therefore we become stagnant. I don't want to get entirely too personal with this whole blog thing, but I can see how that has happened my life lately. My days get filled up with random this and that and before I know it, I haven't opened my Bible in a week and haven't given it a second thought. I find myself doing just enough to get by, continuing prayer life as normal, but then I realize I haven't really learned anything new because I haven't been spending time with God so He could teach me. So, all this to say, be aware of complacency and stagnation.
