We Celebrate a Holy God

Since it is so close to Easter, or Resurrection Day, lots of thought goes into what this day means.  We don't just celebrate a Holy day, we celebrate a Holy God.  I often think in my temporal thinking brain about how "unfair" it was that Jesus died on the cross.  How he didn't deserve that horrible punishment.  He was doing good works, he was healing the sick, he was teaching truth.  He was, in all respects, a "good person". 

More importantly, he was holy.  He IS holy.  It doesn't matter that my carnal thinking can't accept the fairness or the brutality of his death.  The truth is that it was totally necessary for him to die a horrific death.  Without his death, there would be no resurrection, and without his resurrection, he would be just another "good teacher."  Instead, through his death, burial and resurrection, we have the one true God, the Savior, the Messiah.  Through his sacrifice, we have life.  Some still see Jesus as just another "good teacher."  But, he is the only "good teacher" that rose up from the grave and sits at the right hand of God the Father. 

Praise God for the sacrifice of Jesus, the ultimate sacrificial lamb.  Praise God that through Him we can have eternal life, and hope forever.  Hallelujah, He is RISEN!  He reigns!

Passionate Change

When God gave me my Word for 2013, I had no idea how much change it was going to require of me.  I was excited and ready, and then... nothing.  Nothing happened.  I was seeing some areas moving toward passion, but at a snails pace.  Feeling the weight of discouragement can knock us off our track.  In fact, for a few weeks, it totally knocked me completely off course.  But there was this small flame flickering in the wind.

Recently, the Lord put heavily on my heart that no one can serve two masters.  I know, I know, simple message, right?  This time, though, it resonated so deep.  I realized that I've tried to "fit in" my entire life.  Most of the time it was a godly fitting in.  But there have been times that it wasn't for my good to "fit in".  This is where my passion is - to live so in love with Jesus that people KNOW that something is different about me.  I want to be better than the person I was 15, 10, 5 years ago.  Instead of regressing, I want to continually be progressing.  

I have to admit that it has felt more like regression over the past two months.  Much of it has been external stressors, but I have more internal conflict than anything else.  I've gotten too comfortable and content just living the day-to-day life of being a stay at home mom.  Yes, I'm busy.  Yes, I have little ones to feed, clothe, bathe, and teach.  More importantly, though, is the fact that I am a child of God.  He loves me with an everlasting love, and I need to change.  I need to stretch and grow in him, and not worry about where it will take me.  I need to get my mind off me and onto him.  I need to get my eyes off others and onto him.  It's time for a passionate change.  

I am pressing in.  I've been studying His word like never before, and really enjoying my time in his presence.  I know I don't look different from the outside, but I'm changing on the inside.  I've been quietly keeping to myself to grow up in him a little more.  Just because I've been a believer for over 30 years doesn't mean I have no more growing up to do.  In fact, it means just the opposite.  God has more change in store for me than ever before.  Going from glory to glory, faith to faith!  2 Corinthians 3:18 - "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.  For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

We are being transformed into his image from one degree of glory to another!  From glory to glory!  Praise God, I am being transformed to live a more passionate life for him, for his glory!  I'm not near where I want to be, but I'm nowhere near where I used to be!  

Thank you Father for your faithfulness and unfailing love toward me.  I praise you for loving me with an everlasting love, for giving me the tools to walk more passionately in you, for you, through you.  I thank you for increasing my faith and knowledge for your word.  I praise you, God, for leading me and guiding me through the changes taking place in my life.  You are so good to me.  In Jesus Name, Amen!

Remember

Every Friday, Lisa-Jo Baker hooks up a bunch of writers to a key word.  We write for 5 minutes flat and then link together.  It's a great community!  Today's word:  Remember.  Go.

Isaiah 43:18-19 "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.  Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

Thank you, Father, for that promise!  This week brought new things for our family as my parents moved to the country (3 hours away).  We packed up my childhood home, the home they lived in for nearly 30 years.  There were MANY memories made in that home.  Over the years, the wall colors changed, the flooring changed, they pretty much completely remodeled the house all by themselves. 

To say that they were moving is bittersweet would not do justice to the emotions I felt as I helped my dad load a UHaul and then unload it at their new 4 acre country home on the lake.  It's beautiful and peaceful up there.  It is a new beginning for them, a new beginning for us.  My kids, who love to spend the night and go to Nana and Poppa's after school will have to make different kinds of memories with them now.  

But, this is also a time for me to trust God and know that he "is doing a new thing; now it springs forth".  I know that my parents are exactly where they want and should be.  I felt certain of that when we pulled into the driveway at their new home.  I'm sad for myself and my children, but I know that God is in control and is the author of our lives.  So, I will choose to remember not the former things - I won't dwell in the past.  I will enjoy the sweet memories, but I won't stay stuck to what once was.  I will trust that He is working on our behalf.

Stop.