Maybe being right isn't the most important thing after all.
Maybe knowing what I'm going to do isn't as important as knowing who I am going to be.
Maybe what they think isn't as important as what He thinks.
Maybe relaxing isn't always pointless; it has it's proper place.
Maybe trusting God isn't quite as easy as I once thought.
Maybe God actually knows what He's doing.
Maybe the good fight really is good, all the time, in every moment.
Maybe following Jesus is simple- loving God and loving people.
Maybe we have more influence than we will ever realize.
Maybe it's not all about me.
Maybe God being good should pervade every facet of my existence- not just when my life lines up with my faulty definition of "good."
Maybe being prosperous and having abundant life doesn't mean having a bunch of nice stuff.
Maybe a life with God really does only get better.
Maybe. Just maybe.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Jesus.
There is so much I could say right now. The infinite depth of the wonder of God is being revealed to me more and more each day. When I stop to think of who He is and who I am because of Him, it's enough to bring me to my knees. It's the living in that constant reality that tends to be the hard part!
Following Jesus isn't easy. It's HARD. It's the hardest thing you'll ever do. But unlike the other hard things we burden ourselves with, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Seem a bit contradictory? It isn't. The yoke of Jesus Christ is light because it is entirely unique from any other- we do not bear it on our own strength.
The beauty of Christianity isn't in the stained glass windows, the harmonious (or not so much) choir/band, or the comfy pews. The beauty of Christianity is the living, breathing, everyday relationship with Jesus Christ. But how often do we who call ourselves Christians trample all over that relationship? We rattle off things to Him for twenty minutes, stop for thirty seconds and when we don't hear from Him, we dare say He isn't speaking! We give our priority to countless other unworthy things while our relationship with Him falls to the wayside and we wonder why we aren't growing closer to Him? We would slap a "I Love Jesus" bumper sticker on our car or like any fan page on facebook for Him, but when it comes to actually engaging with people who desperately need Him and we have exactly what they need, we don't say a word? Who are we anyway? Are we Christians only in name, or in action and word? Is this the way you would treat your best friend? I don't know about you, but when I'm talking to my best friend I am not the only one talking, nor am I hesitant to being her up in a conversation with someone else. She is someone I spend time with, talk to daily, and am encouraged and challenged by. How much more so our relationship with the Lord!? I am talking to myself here. I struggle with this daily. My relationship with the Lord isn't just a part of my life, it is my life. It's why I live, why I love people, why I get up in the morning. I am nothing without Him. Literally, nothing! And it's evident when I haven't spent enough time with Him. I'm not perfect. Ha. Nowhere near. But He's making me more into His image. I desperately want every single person I encounter and those I haven't to enter into this relationship. It's more worth it than anything you will ever do. He'll make you into more than you ever expected to become. He'll take your mess and make it into a ministry....your test into a testimony...all those cliche phrases and such. I want you/them to know that He's REAL! And the Jesus that most people have in their head isn't Jesus at all. That name is the most trampled over, mis-represented, misunderstood name of all names. It's time to start showing the world who Jesus Christ really is- and it starts with you and me having a revelation and falling in love with the person of Jesus Christ. That's what Christian means isn't it? Little Christ?
Remember that we can't do it on our own. Simple, but cannot be over-stated because it is so easily forgotten. Of course we can't do it on our own strength! We're fallen, sinful men and woman. Imagine God taking a housefly and telling it to be an eagle. It just doesn't work that way. But salvation is transformation. Renewal. He takes our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. Then begins the construction- it's a messy but beautiful process. Construction hurts- but the outcome is always worth the pain and hardship along the way, and once the bigger picture is revealed you understand why it had to happen in that fashion.
So I challenge myself and you- whoever you are, my dad, my best friend, and whoever else may happen to read this- deepen the relationship and step out into all He has called you to be. Spend TIME with Him! Talk to Him, hear His heart, let Him speak to you through His word. Sure it's simple. But isn't it so neglected in christianity today? Don't think you can do it on your own. Also, I would challenge you to read through the Gospels slowly and really take a look at what Jesus says. Take it seriously. Throw out every preconceived notion you may have and look on it with fresh eyes. You just might be surprised.
Following Jesus isn't easy. It's HARD. It's the hardest thing you'll ever do. But unlike the other hard things we burden ourselves with, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Seem a bit contradictory? It isn't. The yoke of Jesus Christ is light because it is entirely unique from any other- we do not bear it on our own strength.
The beauty of Christianity isn't in the stained glass windows, the harmonious (or not so much) choir/band, or the comfy pews. The beauty of Christianity is the living, breathing, everyday relationship with Jesus Christ. But how often do we who call ourselves Christians trample all over that relationship? We rattle off things to Him for twenty minutes, stop for thirty seconds and when we don't hear from Him, we dare say He isn't speaking! We give our priority to countless other unworthy things while our relationship with Him falls to the wayside and we wonder why we aren't growing closer to Him? We would slap a "I Love Jesus" bumper sticker on our car or like any fan page on facebook for Him, but when it comes to actually engaging with people who desperately need Him and we have exactly what they need, we don't say a word? Who are we anyway? Are we Christians only in name, or in action and word? Is this the way you would treat your best friend? I don't know about you, but when I'm talking to my best friend I am not the only one talking, nor am I hesitant to being her up in a conversation with someone else. She is someone I spend time with, talk to daily, and am encouraged and challenged by. How much more so our relationship with the Lord!? I am talking to myself here. I struggle with this daily. My relationship with the Lord isn't just a part of my life, it is my life. It's why I live, why I love people, why I get up in the morning. I am nothing without Him. Literally, nothing! And it's evident when I haven't spent enough time with Him. I'm not perfect. Ha. Nowhere near. But He's making me more into His image. I desperately want every single person I encounter and those I haven't to enter into this relationship. It's more worth it than anything you will ever do. He'll make you into more than you ever expected to become. He'll take your mess and make it into a ministry....your test into a testimony...all those cliche phrases and such. I want you/them to know that He's REAL! And the Jesus that most people have in their head isn't Jesus at all. That name is the most trampled over, mis-represented, misunderstood name of all names. It's time to start showing the world who Jesus Christ really is- and it starts with you and me having a revelation and falling in love with the person of Jesus Christ. That's what Christian means isn't it? Little Christ?
Remember that we can't do it on our own. Simple, but cannot be over-stated because it is so easily forgotten. Of course we can't do it on our own strength! We're fallen, sinful men and woman. Imagine God taking a housefly and telling it to be an eagle. It just doesn't work that way. But salvation is transformation. Renewal. He takes our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. Then begins the construction- it's a messy but beautiful process. Construction hurts- but the outcome is always worth the pain and hardship along the way, and once the bigger picture is revealed you understand why it had to happen in that fashion.
So I challenge myself and you- whoever you are, my dad, my best friend, and whoever else may happen to read this- deepen the relationship and step out into all He has called you to be. Spend TIME with Him! Talk to Him, hear His heart, let Him speak to you through His word. Sure it's simple. But isn't it so neglected in christianity today? Don't think you can do it on your own. Also, I would challenge you to read through the Gospels slowly and really take a look at what Jesus says. Take it seriously. Throw out every preconceived notion you may have and look on it with fresh eyes. You just might be surprised.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Back to "Real" Life.
I'm back from Generation Church Camp 2010. If you happen to be reading this and have ever been to a GC camp, you probably know how I feel. God is a expert at exceeding your expectations and blowing you away with His love. God did a deep work in me that has "messed me up" in the best possible way- He's tearing down my pride and all my self-sufficiency and teaching me that He needs to be the One who meets my every need and desire. He is enough for me. I cannot get the fulfillment I desire from pleasing people- but I do need people in my life and I do need to learn to be open and vulnerable at times. I will never cease to be amazed by God's heart for people as I continue to experience it for myself and develop a burden for those who do not know Him.
Anyway, on the way home from camp I was conflicted. I was coming home to my frustrating job, my car that needs an oil change and hasn't been washed in almost two months, my stack of receipts and unbalanced checkbook, a SAT I need to start studying for, a stack of library books I still need to finish, my generator (middle school girls small group) that I need to invest in and prepare for, and most of all the memorial service the next day for my adopted little brother whom I never had the chance to meet. I was frustrated, exhausted, stressed out, and completely unmotivated to tackle my life. I remember saying to myself, "if I could just quit my whole life for a week I would be ready to take it on," but life doesn't give you that opportunity. And yet on the other hand I was coming from youth camp, the ultimate "mountaintop experience"- where I was refreshed and fired up in the deep, abiding presence of God.
I was quite a mess. I hate talking about myself so much, I feel ridiculous...I just glanced upwards and saw how many times I had used "I" already. So here I am on the fourth day of trying to finish this post and I've come to some conclusions. God isn't scared of my confusion, frustration, anger, questioning, doubts, fears, insecurities, imperfections, faults, failures, and mistakes. That's why Jesus Christ came and died and resurrected. For me to live in the constant shadow of my inadequacy is to crucify Him all over again. Our frustration with ourselves leads us to the foot of the cross- but we aren't meant to stay there. We are to take up our cross and follow Him-into the world, into the messes, into the pain, into the dying society around us. I've come to believe that so many Christians are stuck attempting to live up to a label of moral perfection- we have our own genre of music, our own "christianese" vocabulary, our own "christian" t-shirts, our cross necklaces and purity rings. But are we so caught on living up to this American christianity that we have forgotten the Christ? Don't take me the wrong way- I enjoy some of that music and buy those shirts. It's not the fact that it exists that's at fault- but the fact that we have separated the sacred from the secular and we aren't "going into all the world and making disciples" anymore. We're hiding our comfortable christianity within two hours on a Sunday morning and maybe a midweek service or youth group meeting here and there. The simple reality is that Jesus Christ was not a brand or a genre. He was iconoclastic, revolutionary, and just downright unusual. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He loved prostitutes and the demon-possessed. He let the little children come to Him and said those who want to be greatest must be least. He ran from earthly power and prestige. He had no place to lay His head!
The bottom line is that there is something deeply, intrinsically wrong with American so-called-christianity today. When we stop loving the least of these no matter what they look like, when we are more concerned with campaigning against gay rights and abortion clinics without asking why they exist and how we can help stop it, when we think politicians are the answer to out problems (and God forbid they be democrats!), when we sit back and wait for people who don't even know our Jesus to fix the mess we've all made we have lost the Christ in Christianity. I am guilty on all points- I've bought into it all and even advocated it. But God's leading me to ask some of the hard questions. Read the Gospels with fresh, un-westernized (that's probably not the proper term!) eyes and stop-ask yourself what you're doing wrong if Jesus really meant what He said. It has certainly thrown me for a loop.
Now I'm trying to figure out how that came from what I was talking about at the beginning of this post! Ha. God is so good. I don't have to know why or have it all figured out. He's in control, and if I abide in Him He will abide in me and truly, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Even that has become terribly cliche. Lord help us.
Anyway, on the way home from camp I was conflicted. I was coming home to my frustrating job, my car that needs an oil change and hasn't been washed in almost two months, my stack of receipts and unbalanced checkbook, a SAT I need to start studying for, a stack of library books I still need to finish, my generator (middle school girls small group) that I need to invest in and prepare for, and most of all the memorial service the next day for my adopted little brother whom I never had the chance to meet. I was frustrated, exhausted, stressed out, and completely unmotivated to tackle my life. I remember saying to myself, "if I could just quit my whole life for a week I would be ready to take it on," but life doesn't give you that opportunity. And yet on the other hand I was coming from youth camp, the ultimate "mountaintop experience"- where I was refreshed and fired up in the deep, abiding presence of God.
I was quite a mess. I hate talking about myself so much, I feel ridiculous...I just glanced upwards and saw how many times I had used "I" already. So here I am on the fourth day of trying to finish this post and I've come to some conclusions. God isn't scared of my confusion, frustration, anger, questioning, doubts, fears, insecurities, imperfections, faults, failures, and mistakes. That's why Jesus Christ came and died and resurrected. For me to live in the constant shadow of my inadequacy is to crucify Him all over again. Our frustration with ourselves leads us to the foot of the cross- but we aren't meant to stay there. We are to take up our cross and follow Him-into the world, into the messes, into the pain, into the dying society around us. I've come to believe that so many Christians are stuck attempting to live up to a label of moral perfection- we have our own genre of music, our own "christianese" vocabulary, our own "christian" t-shirts, our cross necklaces and purity rings. But are we so caught on living up to this American christianity that we have forgotten the Christ? Don't take me the wrong way- I enjoy some of that music and buy those shirts. It's not the fact that it exists that's at fault- but the fact that we have separated the sacred from the secular and we aren't "going into all the world and making disciples" anymore. We're hiding our comfortable christianity within two hours on a Sunday morning and maybe a midweek service or youth group meeting here and there. The simple reality is that Jesus Christ was not a brand or a genre. He was iconoclastic, revolutionary, and just downright unusual. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He loved prostitutes and the demon-possessed. He let the little children come to Him and said those who want to be greatest must be least. He ran from earthly power and prestige. He had no place to lay His head!
The bottom line is that there is something deeply, intrinsically wrong with American so-called-christianity today. When we stop loving the least of these no matter what they look like, when we are more concerned with campaigning against gay rights and abortion clinics without asking why they exist and how we can help stop it, when we think politicians are the answer to out problems (and God forbid they be democrats!), when we sit back and wait for people who don't even know our Jesus to fix the mess we've all made we have lost the Christ in Christianity. I am guilty on all points- I've bought into it all and even advocated it. But God's leading me to ask some of the hard questions. Read the Gospels with fresh, un-westernized (that's probably not the proper term!) eyes and stop-ask yourself what you're doing wrong if Jesus really meant what He said. It has certainly thrown me for a loop.
Now I'm trying to figure out how that came from what I was talking about at the beginning of this post! Ha. God is so good. I don't have to know why or have it all figured out. He's in control, and if I abide in Him He will abide in me and truly, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Even that has become terribly cliche. Lord help us.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Love.
I've been reading through Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) for two weeks now. I've only gotten through the first chapter. I thought it would be difficult to read something that slowly, that in depth- but it wasn't. It isn't. God's love for people could occupy my thoughts for the rest of eternity and I still wouldn't even begin to grasp it.
I have been struggling all day trying to decide what to share at generator tonight (middle school girls small group). What God has been laying on my heart didn't seem to apply to what we have been talking about for the past month, the power of the Gospel- specifically the power of the tongue. I haven't been able to get away from the fact that God really might have meant what He said when he told the rich man to sell all he had and give it to the poor. I have always been taught that passage means God wanted him to let go of the power his wealth had over him, that "what you have isn't bad unless what you have has you." But when I found out that the amount Americans spend on ice cream in a year could have feed all the hungry mouths of the world I question that interpretation. What about the fact that I own 15 pairs of shoes when so many have none? How about the fact that I could go out and buy a wallet for $200 just because of the brand that's stamped on it when some people have a empty wallet and don't know how that will feed their children the next day? How about those people who sleep on the cold ground at night while I sleep in my heated house, with my own room, in my own bed- and yet I still complain about it being too cold or too hot in the house. What about those people all over the world who are being brutally martyred (murdered!) for their simple faith in Jesus Christ and their passionate desire to share Him with others? Persecution in America equals someone calling you a goody-goody.
What if love is a verb? What if it isn't something we just talk about, dream about, pray for, and read about- but something we live? Has America become like the Roman church of old, where anyone who came to church was a Christian and a good citizen just for showing up? I'm no history expert but it's to see that nothing new is happening. We're cheapening the Gospel by making it a list of do's and don't rather than a expression of God's love and justice which in turn we express to others. Or, we make it so lenient that we can just do whatever we want because "the Gospel isn't a list of do's and don'ts!" If someone really is saved, they cannot stay the same. They can't say the way of the world is ok. That doesn't mean it won't tempt them, that they won't sin, or will be perfect- but it does mean that the revelation of God's love that they have received will revolutionize their lives and call them higher and deeper.
I'm sick of having this fire and righteous anger inside of me and not doing anything about it. God has completely messed me up- almost as if I have just now discovered what it means to be saved. All the plans and ideas for my life have been turned upside down and now I am thoroughly confused. I have always wanted to do something with my life that meant something, that changed the world; now I understand what that means. When people ask me what I want to do after high school and what I want to study in college, I am at a loss for a answer they would understand (except for a couple of people). To quote Shane Claiborne, because it's exactly the way I think on the subject: "I'm not too concerned with what I am going to do. I am more interested in who I am becoming. I want to be a lover of God and people. I am convinced that what we do is not nearly as important as who we are."
I just realized this started with what I am going to share in generator tonight! Ha. I'm going to share about God's love for people. I don't know how it's going to go at all....how can I talk about something so enormous concisely and simply? God help me to do what I understand so little some justice.
I have been struggling all day trying to decide what to share at generator tonight (middle school girls small group). What God has been laying on my heart didn't seem to apply to what we have been talking about for the past month, the power of the Gospel- specifically the power of the tongue. I haven't been able to get away from the fact that God really might have meant what He said when he told the rich man to sell all he had and give it to the poor. I have always been taught that passage means God wanted him to let go of the power his wealth had over him, that "what you have isn't bad unless what you have has you." But when I found out that the amount Americans spend on ice cream in a year could have feed all the hungry mouths of the world I question that interpretation. What about the fact that I own 15 pairs of shoes when so many have none? How about the fact that I could go out and buy a wallet for $200 just because of the brand that's stamped on it when some people have a empty wallet and don't know how that will feed their children the next day? How about those people who sleep on the cold ground at night while I sleep in my heated house, with my own room, in my own bed- and yet I still complain about it being too cold or too hot in the house. What about those people all over the world who are being brutally martyred (murdered!) for their simple faith in Jesus Christ and their passionate desire to share Him with others? Persecution in America equals someone calling you a goody-goody.
What if love is a verb? What if it isn't something we just talk about, dream about, pray for, and read about- but something we live? Has America become like the Roman church of old, where anyone who came to church was a Christian and a good citizen just for showing up? I'm no history expert but it's to see that nothing new is happening. We're cheapening the Gospel by making it a list of do's and don't rather than a expression of God's love and justice which in turn we express to others. Or, we make it so lenient that we can just do whatever we want because "the Gospel isn't a list of do's and don'ts!" If someone really is saved, they cannot stay the same. They can't say the way of the world is ok. That doesn't mean it won't tempt them, that they won't sin, or will be perfect- but it does mean that the revelation of God's love that they have received will revolutionize their lives and call them higher and deeper.
I'm sick of having this fire and righteous anger inside of me and not doing anything about it. God has completely messed me up- almost as if I have just now discovered what it means to be saved. All the plans and ideas for my life have been turned upside down and now I am thoroughly confused. I have always wanted to do something with my life that meant something, that changed the world; now I understand what that means. When people ask me what I want to do after high school and what I want to study in college, I am at a loss for a answer they would understand (except for a couple of people). To quote Shane Claiborne, because it's exactly the way I think on the subject: "I'm not too concerned with what I am going to do. I am more interested in who I am becoming. I want to be a lover of God and people. I am convinced that what we do is not nearly as important as who we are."
I just realized this started with what I am going to share in generator tonight! Ha. I'm going to share about God's love for people. I don't know how it's going to go at all....how can I talk about something so enormous concisely and simply? God help me to do what I understand so little some justice.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Uncomfortable.
Over the past month and at other times over the last couple of years I have found myself in a place of feeling like I'm not in the right place, not doing enough, not changing things like I want to, and being completely dissatisfied and uncomfortable with the state of my life, the church, and the world. (That was probably a run-on sentence. Who cares.) I read books, sing songs, and think things that stir up a fire in me so deep that I can't deny it. I want the world to know God! I want them to be woken up out of their sin and awakened to who God is and what could be. I want to change things- in my life, in the "church", in the world. I am re-reading the book my first blog post was about-Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne- and being convicted every day because I have so much when millions are dying from preventable causes. I can't shake the feeling that there's so much more I could be doing! I feel like what I'm doing right now isn't enough and it's driving me crazy.
I know God doesn't expect to me to save the world singlehandedly. He's the one who does the saving anyway- I am just the vessel. I'm in a place of satisfaction in who God is and dissatisfaction with how I'm living it out. But what I am slowly but surely realizing is that God knows what He is doing with my life. As a matter of fact- He knew exactly what He was going to do with me, in me, and through me before the creation of the world. As long as I am earnestly seeking Him and following Him, He will lead me to where He wants me to be. I'm growing and learning right where I am. That doesn't mean I shouldn't be looking to move forward into what God has- but it does mean I need to live to the fullest and do the most where He has placed me for the time being. This Scripture has both assured and challenged me:
"For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." - Romans 11:29
He is giving me this passion for a purpose. All I have to do is trust Him. How simple. Thank You Jesus.
Friday, March 26, 2010
What's on my mind.
I have been a complete slacker as a blogger. Not as if it really matters anyway since only my Dad and best friend will notice! Haha.
A lot of things are on my mind right now, at 12:26 a.m. when I should most definitely be in bed. My mind won't slow down unfortunately. But the main thing that I have been thinking over a lot lately is the power of our words.
Backing up: I don't want to live with any regrets. Unfortunately, that's not possible, and no one will live regretless (that isn't a word, but it suits the purpose so I am making it one). When I think about what I most regret- it always leads to words I never said that should have been said, or words that I wish had been said that weren't, etc. We just don't realize the incredible power our words hold.
"When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. " James 3:3-8
That says it all, and it even goes further- look up the whole chapter! If we can't control what comes out of our mouth we can't control ourselves at all! And we can't do this without God. I've tried many times. It's much easier to let sarcasm, detrimental comments, and negativity flow. It's the way of the world, and the way of our sin nature. The higher road is just that- a higher road! It's not that hard to go downhill, but the uphill climb is slow and difficult. But the results are beyond worth it! Be encouraged by what God is challenging me with- guard what comes out of your mouth, and don't keep the good stuff back. Kind, encouraging, affirming words can turn around someone's day- and even someone's life.
A lot of things are on my mind right now, at 12:26 a.m. when I should most definitely be in bed. My mind won't slow down unfortunately. But the main thing that I have been thinking over a lot lately is the power of our words.
Backing up: I don't want to live with any regrets. Unfortunately, that's not possible, and no one will live regretless (that isn't a word, but it suits the purpose so I am making it one). When I think about what I most regret- it always leads to words I never said that should have been said, or words that I wish had been said that weren't, etc. We just don't realize the incredible power our words hold.
"When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. " James 3:3-8
That says it all, and it even goes further- look up the whole chapter! If we can't control what comes out of our mouth we can't control ourselves at all! And we can't do this without God. I've tried many times. It's much easier to let sarcasm, detrimental comments, and negativity flow. It's the way of the world, and the way of our sin nature. The higher road is just that- a higher road! It's not that hard to go downhill, but the uphill climb is slow and difficult. But the results are beyond worth it! Be encouraged by what God is challenging me with- guard what comes out of your mouth, and don't keep the good stuff back. Kind, encouraging, affirming words can turn around someone's day- and even someone's life.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Order.
After re-organizing and cleaning out my room on a whim today I realized how much I thrive on order, structure, and organization- and how much I enjoy implementing it. (I have no idea where this is going by the way)
Now I realize this is partially a personality thing- but I believe God has put in each of us a desire to have our lives in order, the same way He has made the universe a perfect and orderly system made up of billions of varying inner systems all running by His master design. That's the one thing I do enjoy about studying science- it reveals so much about how God cares about every infinite detail. I won't make this an argument against evolution or any other similar idea- but I know that it makes perfect sense to me that this world and the vast expanse around it was created by a Master Designer, a Creator, with a plan and purpose put into every atom and molecule. Pure chance- not to mention the billions of chance occasions that would have to have occurred for evolution to be true- just doesn't cut it for me.
Have you ever stopped to realize how beyond incredible it is that this same God- the one who shapes galaxies and orchestrates the future of every living thing from their first to last breath- has created you and me to be in intimate relationship with Him? That He wants our praise and adoration- not because He is needy and doesn't know how awesome He is- but because He has created us to thrive off of that praise and glorification of Him and draw the deepest joy imaginable from it? That He loves us- the ones who wake up every day and constantly sin against Him all day long? Lying, cheating, murderous, wrongly motivated, lazy, self-absorbed, undisciplined individuals that we are- still He wants to talk with Me every day? He will even look at me!? And with love! I can't help but be amazed.
Now I realize this is partially a personality thing- but I believe God has put in each of us a desire to have our lives in order, the same way He has made the universe a perfect and orderly system made up of billions of varying inner systems all running by His master design. That's the one thing I do enjoy about studying science- it reveals so much about how God cares about every infinite detail. I won't make this an argument against evolution or any other similar idea- but I know that it makes perfect sense to me that this world and the vast expanse around it was created by a Master Designer, a Creator, with a plan and purpose put into every atom and molecule. Pure chance- not to mention the billions of chance occasions that would have to have occurred for evolution to be true- just doesn't cut it for me.
Have you ever stopped to realize how beyond incredible it is that this same God- the one who shapes galaxies and orchestrates the future of every living thing from their first to last breath- has created you and me to be in intimate relationship with Him? That He wants our praise and adoration- not because He is needy and doesn't know how awesome He is- but because He has created us to thrive off of that praise and glorification of Him and draw the deepest joy imaginable from it? That He loves us- the ones who wake up every day and constantly sin against Him all day long? Lying, cheating, murderous, wrongly motivated, lazy, self-absorbed, undisciplined individuals that we are- still He wants to talk with Me every day? He will even look at me!? And with love! I can't help but be amazed.
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