What We Really Need

Personal change can be kick-started by any number of things: a traumatic experience, a long-awaited opportunity, or several other things. Sometimes, life change is brought about by a single crystallizing moment in which someone realizes that life is not meant to be the way they have been living it. I know what those moments are like, and from my own experience, that moment is the realization that life isn't about my accomplishments, my glory, and my "needs". Now, the moment that I truly realized this was a couple of years ago, but I find myself having that same realization over and over again, not because I forget that its true with my mind, but because I continuously fail to acknowledge this fact with my lifestyle. No matter how much I try to avoid it, as humans we all feel an inherent need for people, and the desire that is felt by EVERY person on the planet is the desire to BE needed by others. As Christians, there isn't a magic switch that is suddenly flipped when we accept Christ that causes us to stop wanting to feel needed. I still can't go a single day without wanting to feel important and wanting to feel needed. Yet, as I continue to grow as a believer I have been confronted with the seemingly harsh truth that nobody needs me. What people really need is Jesus, and to see Jesus through my lifestyle.
 It is a complete lie to tell ourselves that people need us, because in reality they don't. There is no possible way that anyone in the human race can completely fulfill the needs of another human being by their own efforts. The only way we can even begin to help others is by pointing them to Christ. Now, don't shaft the call that God has given you. By all means, feed the hungry, clothe the poor, and give comfort to the needy. But, while you are doing this, remember the real reason Jesus came and what He has ultimately called us to. Jesus came to rescue us from sin and provide atonement for us. He has called us to bring the Gospel to all nations, and He desires us to meet their physical needs so that we may reveal Him to them. So, while you are meeting their physical needs, FEED them with the Gospel, help to CLOTHE them in God's righteousness, and show them the ultimate source of COMFORT, the Lord and Savior of all men, Jesus Christ. That should always be the motivation of the good things we do for others. Don't do it to feed the ego or to show others how "holy" you are, do it to show them how holy and magnificent God is, because in reality, God is the only one who will never let them down. We may come up short, but God never does and He never will. In Isaiah 41:10, God speaks through Isaiah and says "Do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." When you feel alone and people have let you down, remember this verse, and remind others of this promise, as well. God will ALWAYS be by your side, no matter where you are. Whether you are faced with issues of abandonment, commitment, failure, or whatever it is, God will be there to life you up and protect you. He is not just the God of Jacob or the God of Moses, He is the God of all of us, and He promises to never leave us. He is the only one that anyone needs.
When we commit to change our lives, the best way, the only way, to truly make a permanent change is to realize that the change we are making shouldn't be for others or even for us. It should be for God. If we are motivated by anything else, it just becomes another empty promise we are making to ourselves and others. God uses the situations in our lives and the people in our lives to change us and to use that change for His glory. While we all only really need God, we can't escape the fact that we are all connected and that people are always affected by other people. That is the whole point of fellowship and evangelism. God uses us to help bring about life change in others. The best part is that we aren't even needed. God doesn't need us for anything. As humans, we are anything but needed. If anything, God could have seen us as a liability and left us out in the cold without a Savior. But he didn't. He sent Jesus, His only son, to die and suffer for us on a cross. God's love was perfected in that sacrifice, and by accepting Him we are saved and we accept His call to share this truth with others, despite the fact that He doesn't need us to. God has his plan, and He is going to do what He is going to do, regardless of whether or not we are a part of it. The fact that we aren't needed, but God chooses to use us anyways because of how much He loves us, that is so much better than being needed. But that's just my opinion.

I Will Rise

"But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior, my God will hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light." Micah 7:7-8

It appears that in our lives we feel constantly surrounded by seemingly uncertain times. Uncertainty about the direction our country is headed, when our lives will finally make sense to us, and so many other things. It seems like no matter how hard we try, Satan and our enemies appear to be winning the battles of our lives. Micah was experiencing these same issues thousands of years ago. Corruption and chaos was all around, and nothing seemed to be going correctly. However, despite Micah being surrounded by all of this sweeping uncertainty, he knew one thing was certain: That God, when the time was right, would lift him and all of God's people up and that this temporary "victory" by Satan and his enemies was just that: temporary.

Tough times are something that we all face, and its even worse when you feel completely alone. Sorrow and despair can set in, and its hard to see a way out. Sometimes we can feel as Micah felt hen he says "I sit in darkness". Yet, as Micah acknowledges, the Lord will always be our light, and He will be to us what no other person can be. Though we can feel temporarily healed by our friends and family, the Lord is the only one who can provide true healing. Friends and family will come up short, and it may not even be intentional, but it is jut because they are human. God is the only one who can lift us up and give us joy in times of trouble. Though your enemies may seem to be gloating over you, the Lord will always be your light. There will be an end to these times of uncertainty, because though it all seems uncertain to us, nothing is uncertain to God. Romans 12:2 tells us that His will is good, pleasing, and perfect  (Centrikid shoutout) and it always will be. Whether its fear, addiction, or impatience, the Lord will give us strength to get through it and to get past it, and one day, we will rise up in the face of Satan and our enemies and begin an eternity with God. When Christ died for our sins, the story didn't end there. Christ was resurrected and rose up, defeating death. One day, Christ will return for us, calling out our names to come and be resurrected with him. Death has been defeated.  There is nothing uncertain about that. The war has already been won. Therefore, when we are faced with times of trials and temptations, remember the God-inspired words of Micah, "I will rise."

God's Proposal

"He did not enter by the means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption" (Hebrews 9:12). We are the recipients of the most incredible gift of undying love ever given. Jesus Christ, the son of God, came down from His throne in heaven to suffer and die for humanity. If I ever forget the magnitude of this sacrifice, all I have to do is look back on my life and the many, many, many times that I have sinned, and I am left in awe, and wondering why in the world Christ would die for me.We play a part in the greatest love story ever told, yet sometimes we seem to forget that it even happened, and since I know that I tend to forget such a wonderful sacrifice, I figured it would be a good idea to take some time to truly examine and appreciate what God has done for all of us.

The risk we always seem to take on love are always around us, and the main reason why some of us are unable to truly feel love as Christ intended it is because of those risks. We are afraid to open our hearts to the world around us because we are scared of getting burned. However, that fear is not what should fuel us, but it is the heart of God that should be fueling us. Fear drives us away from love, but God leads us into his never ending love, and when we are truly exposed to that love we can't help but open our hearts to those around us. God took the ultimate risk when He sent His only Son to die for us on the cross. Jesus was broken and beaten in order to atone for our sins, all the while knowing that we could turn our backs on him and not accept the gift of love He gave unto us. The sacrifice Christ made was intended to set us free, yet we still live enslaved by sin and strangers to true love. We are enveloped in lives of greed, lust, envy, pride, lies, and so many other things, but it does NOT have to be that way. With the sacrifice Christ made, we can be set free from the addictions and the pains that so easily overtake us. 2 Corinthians 3:14 says "But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away." Before accepting Christ, a veil covered our hearts and separated our hearts from the pure and complete glory of God, yet when we accept Christ, that veil is ripped away, and as 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us, "...we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lords glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." So, if this is true and we all are reflecting the Lord's glory and have access to His incredible power, why do some of us that are  saved still live as if that veil still remains? We act like God is on a throne far away from all of us and we have no way to reach Him. But that could not be further from the truth. Christ dying on the cross for us rescued us. He saved us from the sin that so easily controlled us before, and the sin that still seems to control us now. The ransom has been paid, we are free. The veil is gone, and Christ is King over all, as He always has been. He defeated death and the power of sin, and we no longer have to run from fear and pain and the addiction that plague us, but Christ can pick you up off of your feet and He will fight alongside you against the demons in your life. We are not alone in our fight against ourselves. Christ will be there to strengthen you and to help you. The power that such a notion holds is incredible. The power that makes the demons run and flee is accessible to us through Christ, because of the risk that God took for love.

A common question that my mind has wandered to quite a bit is, why did God have to take that risk on love and send His Son to die for us? If God is all powerful, wasn't there some other option? While it is true that God can do anything, His love is too powerful to not give everything He had to display his love for us. In the book Soul Cravings, Erwin McManus is illustrating the reason for this sacrifice through his personal story. Speaking about his proposal to his wife, he says, "I did not send my brother, nor did I send a friend. For in issues of love, you must go yourself." This is a fantastic illustration of the love that God has for us and why it had to be Jesus. God's love is not passive, but an active love that risks everything for us. No one can make the argument to me that God does not love us, because he gave His most prized possession to set US, a people who constantly turn away from Him, free. The sacrifice of Jesus dying on the cross is the story of God's love. The sacrifice Christ made is God's proposal. He wants us to spend the rest of our lives wrapped in His unconditional love. The only question is, have you said yes?

Love has already found you

I am tempted so many times in my life to think about things that lie ahead: what I'm doing for the summer, next semester's classes, the career that I want after college, etc. But the thing that I look ahead to the most, and I'm guessing what many people look ahead to the most, is marriage. My mind is so often enraptured in the thought of finally finding the "love" that is written about in countless books and portrayed in countless movies (yes, I do sound like a little girl), and my thoughts almost always consist of things like, "Oh, boy, I sure hope someday someone will love me like that, and I'll love them back! That would just be the cat's pajamas!" (My inner self is apparently a young lad from the 1920s). However, when I take a step back from those thoughts, it occurs to me that in all of God's promises that he has made towards us, he never promises everyone a wife or a husband. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, God speaks through Paul and says that "...it is good for them [the unmarried] if they remained even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion" (NKJV).

Now that this thought has occurred to me, I realize that marriage is not a guarantee, and I may never find that "love" that is in so many movies. So the question I pose to myself, and everyone else reading this, is: If marriage is not a God-given promise, why do we all seem to be living for it, and why do we act like it is something that God owes us? I can recall several occasions where I, or someone else, have said, "God has someone out there for me, and I don't need (insert name here) because God loves me and has someone in mind for me." To be blunt about it, what the heck is wrong with us? We have a God who loves us so much that He sent His one and only son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die on a cross for us. Yet, when we are heartbroken or upset about a worldly relationship, instead of taking refuge in that love that exceeds all worldly standards, we try and take solace in the warped expectation that God owes us a "soul mate", as if being a Christian suddenly grants us a wife or husband in the future. The harsh truth is that the love that we waste so much of our lives seeking out and waiting for, is neither needed or guaranteed. But don't get me wrong, many of us have already realized that, so instead we spend our lives groaning about the fact that we may never find love, and that is perhaps the saddest aspect of this whole scenario. We may never find this so-called love that we spend all of our time seeking and hoping for, but the thing is that we don't need to try and find love, because love has already found us. God IS love. Jesus IS love. Why must we seek out earthly gratification that some other human being loves us, when the God of the universe who created everything loves us more than anyone else is capable of. In no way am I anti-marriage, I believe it is a magnificent way to show the love of Christ in our own lives. I am just pro-Christ and I am choosing to try my best (though I fail on numerous occasions) to focus my mind on His word and the love that He provides. That being said, don't blow off earthly relationships, love others as Christ loves you, but also don't be horribly sad and heartbroken when they don't work out the way you want them too. And if you are heartbroken, examine your heart, because if it breaks after the failure of an earthly relationship, maybe, just maybe, its not being held together by the right kind of love. 1 John 4:8 tells us that "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." God is love, and without Him, there is not true love. Earthly relationships and people come and go. Remember that Christ loved you so much that He laid down His life for us, and that His love is a love that is not fleeting and will always be with us no matter what we have done in the past. You don't need to find love, because love has already found you. Stop looking, and embrace it.

The Temple We Build

1 Kings 6:11-12: Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: "Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgements, keep all my commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David."

God is speaking to Solomon about the mighty temple that He has chosen for Solomon to build, and the Lord says to him that if he would just follow the commandments and regulations that He has given, that He will perform a magnificent work through Him and fulfill the plan that God has in mind for him. It is fairly simple to understand what God is saying for Solomon to do, but the bigger question is, how do we apply these verses to our own lives?

It all boils down to the "temple" that we are building. God has given us all specific commandments to live by and ways in which we ought to conduct ourselves. Many times I feel as if God isn't working in our lives as much as i would hope for, but recently I've been convicted that it is because maybe we aren't building the right temple. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" Paul is telling us that our body is a temple for the Holy Spirit to reside and work in us, and maybe the reason that we sometimes feel like we aren't being used is because our temple isn't a fit environment for the Holy Spirit to live. Take a step back from life for awhile and examine the temple you are building and whether or not it is being built according to God's statutes. Lust, lies, and sinful desires of every kind plague our lives and hinder our growth as Christians, and I know that personally I am not building a temple that is wholly glorifying God. But the beauty of grace is that it can change. We are all sinners and we fall away from the Lord's commandments, but with Christ at the center of our lives, we can always come back and build our temple God's way, because as Paul states, you "are not your own", and our bodies aren't really ours, they belong to the Lord. Treat them as such.