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Man Down

Can you imagine what the world would be like if Christians chose to pursue servant status rather than celebrity status? If we lived this way, the world would come to the church and say, “Why are you like this? Who changed you? Can we know this love?” I’ve been thinking on this for quite a while and have come to the conclusion that it is extremely hard (read: impossible!) to turn away from the flesh and its desire for glory.  It seems that the chief cultural issue that facing our generation is the same one that started at the tower of Babel. “We will make a name for ourselves!” (Genesis 11:1-9) Human nature always gravitates toward glorifying itself rather than God. This could be why we love celebrities-they are tangible objects of worship. What are we to do? How can we “humble ourselves before the LORD”?

  1. We acknowledge that the fact that our nature (by nature!) wants to be above or be equal to God. Something beautiful and deep happens when we see this in ourselves.  Take-away? We just admit it to the One who knows us better than we know ourselves.
  2. Ask God to show (this is tough!!) you where you crave attention, importance, and value. All of us have different gifts and personalities yet all of us have blind spots. It’s ugly-be ready to see this weed in the garden of your heart. He will help because He wants to do something new in you. Do you want Him to?
  3. Read Scriptures that portray Jesus as servant. The majority of Christians try to emulate Jesus without Jesus. You cannot push your flesh into the mold of obedience. If we do and deceive ourselves that we are “servants”, we unconsciously steal glory from God.
  4. Take a step of faith by believing His word. Recently, I was reading James 4:10 (and contemplating the fact that I CAN’T change myself!), I noticed that James says “Humble yourselves before the Lord …”. As usual, I told the Lord “That’s too hard , Lord. I can’t and I’ll never know how to do this!” Suddenly, a thought drifted past .”If I say humble yourself, its because you CAN through me. I don’t ever give you a command without the promise of power!” Bottom line? This is do-able and available!
  5. What are steps to “humbling yourself”? In human interactions, ask God to remind you to take the lowest place. In moments of self-absorption, ask Him to give you His strength to reject the idolatry of self. He will give this because it’s HIS will that you love Him first.  IMG_3358
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Revelation 1 for kids ?

Nearly every other week, Revelation 1 is my fave thing to read to my kids. (This didn’t come from a lofty plan-in a moment of Mom exhaustion, I racked my brain trying to remember a text that was full of the identity of Christ! Now, it’s part of us.) It reads like a movie-full of color, drama, & power. This is Jesus in His splendor! He is identified, described & revealed. This could be the chapter that changes your life because it’s not about you-but about the One who invented life! (Thanks to my amazing daughter who drew this gorgeous pic!💕) #revelation #revelation1 #bible #jesuschrist

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Top 4 Religious Myths-you might be surprised!

myth-v-truthTop 4 Religious Myths
1. “I guess God gave me this because He knew I could handle it.” The fact is, we CAN’T handle it. Every trial and challenge is allowed for us to experience moment-by-moment communion with God. He knows who can effectively “handle it”-Jesus. We don’t understand the power of God until He’s all we have. We can know He’s after so much more here. He wants us to come to the end of ourselves and lean on Him. Then, He can move on our behalf.
2. “God helps those who help themselves”. This is one saying that is actually utterly OPPOSITE. We can’t help ourselves because we cannot save ourselves. Jesus never need die if we could, in fact, help ourselves. If anything, we are helpless. God delights in that moment when we cry out, “God, I can’t do this anymore! I need you to help me!” Then, the Father can activate His power.
3. “God doesn’t listen to my prayers.” Typically, we say this because He’s either saying “No” to something we want or we have given up praying to a God that seems to ignore us. The fact is, He is overwhelmingly aware of us. He loves us, likes us, & wants to direct us. It startles us to think how much better God knows us than we know ourselves. He knew before He invented time that we would be so loved that He would give His only begotten Son. He listens constantly to us and reacts out of love.
4.”God couldn’t use me because I do so much wrong.” Tell yourself the biblical truth-He wants to use you. Because we naturally weigh our sins , we tell ourselves if the sin quota is reached, God’s done with us. Again, this flies in the face of the previous points . God knew that His Son would come to remove sin and transform the broken human to the victorious human. When He made us, He knew He would have to create an utterly new creation out of death. God wants us to embrace our true identity-not based on merit or mistakes-but on the effective blood of Christ. He makes us acceptable to our holy God and then gives us a calling to tell our story to others. When we doubt, we can ask ourselves, “Did Jesus take care of that sin? Is what He did enough to deal with my mess? Is my sin higher than the power of Christ?” No-it’s so much more-you are not only forgiven but commissioned as His representative on earth. May we speak this truth to ourselves, “God only uses the broken.” Like Paul.