When I first became a believer (or put my faith in Christ) I did not have a background in the church, nor did I feel comfortable within the community of believers at large. I felt like an outsider, and in many regards I was. Though, at the time, what I did not realize is that we are all outsiders in some way-- and that the feeling of discomfort I was experiencing is normal and can only be overcome by perseverance and submission.
What am I saying? Well... essentially, I'm saying I needed to grow. I needed to allow Christ to transform me in this area before I would ever feel at home in His spiritual family.
However, I did not react this way when faced with such a staggering amount of unease and discomfort. In lieu of seeking the counsel of others in my church or choosing to surrender my life in every way to Christ, I chose to believe a lie. A big... huge... prevalent lie in our culture. The lie that I can be a church of one.
Are you familiar with this lie? "I don't need to be in church. I don't need other believers because it's between me and God; and He knows where I am." This lie is VERY satisfying to our American sensibilities; afterall, we do believe in rugged individualism. And Jesus does have an intimate relationship with us on an individual level. He hears our private prayers when we're alone in a closet. He is with us in the shower, the pouring rain... whenever and wherever we choose to come to Him in prayer, supplication, and/or worship.
So, if we can have a relationship with our Lord and Savior on an individual level-- and even grow in that relationship one on one with the Big Guy himself-- why do we need to be in a community of believers? Well, the simple answer is that the Bible says to... it's biblical. What does the Bible say about the need for community?
Friday, June 24, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
A Lesson in Humbleness
Being humble is one of those things that I am pretty sure no one ever truly masters in life. It is an "in process" sort of thing that we should definitely strive toward, but not blast ourselves with insults when we fall short.
In some ways, I fall short on nearly a daily basis. On good days, I seek God's forgiveness right away and choose to ask Him to continue to humble me. It is in those instances that I embrace Him most, and seek out his transformative power in my life. On bad days, I lower my head and choose to hang on to that destructive self pride as long as I possibly can-- knowing all the while that I would feel so much better if I chose the former.
Well, this lesson in humbleness came from a "good day" instance... I am thankful and grateful to report!
Parenting is an unique calling in life that provides ample opportunity to work on one's humbleness. One such opportunity is when you screw up and need to apologize to your child. Apologizing to anyone can be very difficult; especially when you apologize from a truly repentant heart. God has worked in me (and continues to) a great deal in this area of apology.
I have the tendency to be "overly" apologetic... What does that mean? Well, the basic gist is that I am apt to apologize out of some deep set sin issues that weigh on my heart-- a biggie is guilt. So, I would automatically apologize without a truly repentant heart. Sometimes I will have done nothing "wrong", but I apologize for some twisted emotional reward or as a manipulative way to seek out an apology from others. These apologies have nothing to do with humbling myself before God and others or allowing the Spirit to work within me to transform my life for Jesus and the glory of the Father.
I have even found myself doing this in parenting my elder son, Elijah. As I said above, this lesson in humbleness did not come from a "bad day" of misusing an apology; rather, God used a "good day" instance of me apologizing to my son to teach me this lesson.
A few days ago I spoke harshly to Elijah for something he should not have even gotten in trouble for doing. Minutes later I felt convicted by the exchange; so, I apologized. In return, Elijah apologized to me. This has happened before; and when it has occurred in the past he is usually apologizing because I have apologized, not out of a need or desire to apologize for doing something to me. Being aware of this, and concerned because I do not want to develop a dynamic where he apologizes out of guilt or due to manipulation, I asked why he was apologizing. He answered with something he had done earlier which could have been accidental or purposeful, I was unsure. I asked why he was apologizing for this thing that could have been an accident to make sure, again, that this was not an apology prompted by guilt. His response was that he had been purposeful in his earlier actions.
This blew me away! My husband and I have been working with our son for three years on the importance of apology and forgiveness. We've talked and talked to him about it, and have demonstrated as we've had opportunity. And while he has apologized before, though I could not remember that until days after-- this morning in fact, I was never struck by how amazing that was... He gets it! God has used our willingness to humble ourselves before our child in this area to bear fruit in him and his life. He is growing and developing spiritually at the age of three, and God is using us in that growth! When all of this hit me, I felt grateful and truly humbled.
In some ways, I fall short on nearly a daily basis. On good days, I seek God's forgiveness right away and choose to ask Him to continue to humble me. It is in those instances that I embrace Him most, and seek out his transformative power in my life. On bad days, I lower my head and choose to hang on to that destructive self pride as long as I possibly can-- knowing all the while that I would feel so much better if I chose the former.
Well, this lesson in humbleness came from a "good day" instance... I am thankful and grateful to report!
Parenting is an unique calling in life that provides ample opportunity to work on one's humbleness. One such opportunity is when you screw up and need to apologize to your child. Apologizing to anyone can be very difficult; especially when you apologize from a truly repentant heart. God has worked in me (and continues to) a great deal in this area of apology.
I have the tendency to be "overly" apologetic... What does that mean? Well, the basic gist is that I am apt to apologize out of some deep set sin issues that weigh on my heart-- a biggie is guilt. So, I would automatically apologize without a truly repentant heart. Sometimes I will have done nothing "wrong", but I apologize for some twisted emotional reward or as a manipulative way to seek out an apology from others. These apologies have nothing to do with humbling myself before God and others or allowing the Spirit to work within me to transform my life for Jesus and the glory of the Father.
I have even found myself doing this in parenting my elder son, Elijah. As I said above, this lesson in humbleness did not come from a "bad day" of misusing an apology; rather, God used a "good day" instance of me apologizing to my son to teach me this lesson.
A few days ago I spoke harshly to Elijah for something he should not have even gotten in trouble for doing. Minutes later I felt convicted by the exchange; so, I apologized. In return, Elijah apologized to me. This has happened before; and when it has occurred in the past he is usually apologizing because I have apologized, not out of a need or desire to apologize for doing something to me. Being aware of this, and concerned because I do not want to develop a dynamic where he apologizes out of guilt or due to manipulation, I asked why he was apologizing. He answered with something he had done earlier which could have been accidental or purposeful, I was unsure. I asked why he was apologizing for this thing that could have been an accident to make sure, again, that this was not an apology prompted by guilt. His response was that he had been purposeful in his earlier actions.
This blew me away! My husband and I have been working with our son for three years on the importance of apology and forgiveness. We've talked and talked to him about it, and have demonstrated as we've had opportunity. And while he has apologized before, though I could not remember that until days after-- this morning in fact, I was never struck by how amazing that was... He gets it! God has used our willingness to humble ourselves before our child in this area to bear fruit in him and his life. He is growing and developing spiritually at the age of three, and God is using us in that growth! When all of this hit me, I felt grateful and truly humbled.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Becoming Spiritually Full-Bodied
"Water You turned into wineOpen the eyes of the blind
There’s no one like You
None like You
Into the darkness You shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There’s no one like You
None like You" ~Chris Tomlin, Our God
These lyrics have been on my mind lately. Do you ever get songs stuck in your head-- find yourself singing in your thoughts? I've been experiencing this sensation with these lyrics recently. I've been experiencing this sensation specifically with the very first line to be exact, "Water You turned into wine."
As my family and I were traveling this weekend, my husband and I were tossing around ideas for possible blog titles (the reason for which I will not go into at this time)... titles that had some greater spiritual significance, and were fun sounding. The title I felt drawn toward is now the blog you are reading; and the url/title of this post "becoming spiritually full-bodied" was the description that immediately followed in my thoughts.
If you are at all familiar with the life of Jesus, as told in the New Testament of the Bible, the title will be at least somewhat familiar to you. Jesus turned some water into wine at a wedding he attended near the beginning of his ministry at the behest of his mother, Mary. The wine he created from this water was not just any wine-- from what the gospel describes, it was some absolutely incredible wine. It was the best wine the party guests had tasted the whole evening!
This instance was one of the many miracles performed by Jesus during his time on earth before the crucifixion. I'm sure you can think of many words to describe why this event was so miraculous; but, one word has been revealed to me by the Spirit this morning that captures the truly amazing depth of this miracle in a way I've never viewed it before-- transformation...
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