For Freedom

I like Reality TV quite a bit. Most of the shows I watch happen to be about people in their "real-life" situations, even though I realize most of them are either inappropriate or completely scripted. (Did anyone else watch The Hills or Laguna Beach?) I could go on for days about how I've been watching this stuff since I was too little to understand it, but I will now get to the point. The other day I was watching "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" on E! and heard a quote by one of the girls, of which I wish I could change the last half of the sentence.

"The best thing about life is knowing you’re not gonna be here forever. You know why? Because it makes you live that even more free.”

-Khloe Kardashian Almost, Khloe, almost. I would reword it like the below so as to relay the Gospel in a simple manner.

"The best thing about life is knowing you’re not gonna be here forever. You know why? Because God sent his one and only Son to die for ALL of our sin. It's only in the death and resurrection of Christ that we even have the freedom to LIVE at all, so let's do it for His glory."

-Children of God

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 (ESV)

~LeeAnn

The bigger picture is there is a Holy calling
O, how I'm slowly falling!
Falling, falling in love.
And your water has been pouring out on me!
How could I be so naive?
It is for freedom, it is for freedom,
It is for freedom He set us free
Jimmy Needham's "For Freedom"

April Thankfulness

People in general (myself included) tend to forget about outward thankfulness until November rolls around each year. In the United States at least. I'm sure we all have our own list of what we are thankful for each day: being healthy, having the ability to put food on the table and a roof over our heads, and heck- even getting to see a new day and enjoy all that God has created for us. This is just the basic first few items on my list, but most of my list I choose to be inwardly thankful for. That is, not verbalizing to others that I thank the Lord for those things. Today, I've got a little nugget of April Thankfulness in my pocket.

This morning I was moved by such a small display of outward thankfulness. Bill, who blogs personally here and contributes here was praying with Leslie and I before we began practicing for Sunday morning worship for our Life Group at church. Towards the end of the prayer he said, "and thank you for the ministry we serve in." WOAH. Whiplash for me. Do we often take the time to thank God for even creating the ministries we serve Him through, or are we too busy serving in them? I didn't mention it to Bill yet, but I must say that his outward thankfulness brought a new perspective for me, starting today. Thank you, Bill, for this little nugget! (Does it count if I thank you indirectly through this post?) By the way, our motto has been "The Fellowship of the Believers" from Acts for the past few years. I think being outwardly thankful for the ministry as a whole is part of this.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

(Acts 2:42-47 ESV)

~LeeAnn

VICTORY!

In light of the most glorious holiday that we just celebrated!

On a hill Your blood was spilled

Your brow, Your hands, Your feet

with nails and thorns the veil was torn to make a way for me

You made a way for me

Jesus, Savior, my God, my King, my Lord

Jesus, Savior, the victory is Yours!

Wrapped and bound they laid You down - a perfect sacrifice

But in three days the stone was rolled away!

Forever You're alive!

Jesus, Savior, my God, my King, my Lord

Jesus, Savior, the victory is Yours!

Death has been beaten!

The grave has been conquered!

Jesus is risen!

Life ever after!

These are the lyrics to Phil Wickham's song "The Victory".

Captivated

Someone may have already posted this song at some point but I am so moved by this song and what I am reading in Scripture right now that I just had to post.

Captivated

Your laughter it echoes like a joyous thunder

Your whisper it warms me like a summer breeze

Your anger is fiercer than the sun in its splendor

You're close and yet so full of mystery

Ever since the day that I saw Your face

Try as I may I cannot look away, I cannot look away

Captivated by You

I am captivated by You

May my life be one unbroken gaze

Fixed upon the beauty of Your face

Beholding is becoming so as You fill my gaze

I become more like You and my heart is changed

Beholding is becoming so as You fill my view

Transform me into the likeness of You

This is what I ask for all my days

That I may never look away, never look away

Captivated by You

Captivated by You

May my life be one unbroken gaze

Fixed upon Your beauty, fixed upon Your beauty...

No other could ever be as beautiful

No other could ever steal my heart away

No other could ever be as beautiful

I just can't look away...

This song coupled with reading through the first verses in the letter to the Hebrews just moves me to tears:

"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs."

Hebrews 1:1-4

I am also reading Jared Wilson's "Gospel Wakefulness" right now and if you have not yet read it, then I highly recommend that you do!

You Get What You Need

I have entered in to a season of being without. In my life I have found myself in many similar seasons - without a friend, without a date, without answers, without direction,etc - but being without a job can be a little terrifying at times. The endless number of question marks stemming from this one blank space can wreak serious havok on the mind, the spirit and the body. And thus was my life over the last two weeks - seeking and searching and applying and waiting... and waiting... and waiting... for answers that are not forthcoming. And in the middle of that waiting, I had become anxious. It is not natural for me to wait and see. So, in this "wait and see" season of my life, I have found my spirit growing restless within me. But what I have also found, is a desire to quiet that spirit with truth. And because I have knocked, the door has been answered. The Lord has been filling the spaces in my life with His truths.  As I dove in to my devotional this week, I was rewarded with an excerpt about contentment. The verse that accompanied the topic was 2 Corinthians 9:8 - "And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."
And the truth of this verse begin to come to clarity for me and it rooted itself in my heart. God has the ability to bless us abundantly, but He chooses instead to give us only those things that we need to do His good work. So, if we don't have right now, it is because it is not needed. If we believe that God gives us what we need then we must be able to look at our lives, and the things we are without, and understand that they have not been given (or have been taken away) because they are not needed for what God is doing or is about to do in our lives.

The things that I really need will be more than taken care of by the Father who loves to lavish us with His riches:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
   “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Matthew 6:25-31

Just as He takes care of the flowers and the birds, so will He also provide for us. He will give us exactly what we need. And sometimes not a fraction more. Sometimes all we get is our daily bread - enough for this moment. So that we may learn to trust Him in every moment. And we can begin to understand that what we have already, right now, is enough for God to do what He wants to do.

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that."

 1 Timothy 6:6-8

So, this season of being without is exactly where I am meant to be. I am not wasting it, or abusing it, I am accepting it and trying to find what God is doing in and through it. And there is a part of me that still wants to pray: "But, God, I need a job." And, infact, I do still pray for Him to provide one. But standing on these truths helps me to know that I will have one in His timing. I will be without until God requires that I am with. It eases anxiety considerably to know that I have all I need. And for the rest I am taking my cues from Paul:

 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13

Peace Like a River

The above is a painted canvas embossed with wooden letters. I got the idea from Pinterest, my latest web obsession (aka websession). 

When we first started this blog, Leslie didn't take long to name the page "It is Well" (so that she could start sharing her thoughts!!) and told Sarah and I that we had free reign to change it if we wanted to. However, I thought it was perfect and so fitting, especially for the points the three of us were in at that time. We'd never really considered anything else! There used to be a time in my life where things were not so well with my soul. Even after many years of being a Christian had passed, while not necessarily always walking alongside my Sweet Savior, things were not well with my soul. But things changed, and not by my own efforts. The Holy Spirit awakened by soul by knocking really heavily on my hard head in October 2006 when I realized I had been trying to "do life" by my own strength for far too long. What a crazy thought! I flung that hard-headed door wide open as if welcoming a close family member to stay for a while. The metaphorical door stop I used was apparently one that did not have good grip on the floor, as the door s l o o o w l y drifted to a propped position through material successes, going through school, and figuring out what to do with the rest of my life. The Holy Spirit then came again and knocked more heavily a second time, literally bringing me to my knees, in December 2009. Prayer had not been a huge part of my life until this point. Neither had close close close community in the church. (It was just more like unity among church friends - missing the closeness and the community altogether!) I had just graduated from college and was about to start my new job I worked so hard for, so this was a sort of make-it-or-break-it point in my relationship with Christ. I am so glad our Lord never gives up on us! And I'm so glad that I answered the knock!! Things are so very well with my soul right now, and I wish the same for others. I would like to encourage you to also feel free to shout from the rooftops "It is Well With My Soul!!! And I don't care who knows it!!!" This is one of my FAVORITE HYMNS of all time. I could sing it all the day long, and just reading the words makes me feel so peaceful!

~LeeAnn

It Is Well With My Soul (click link to listen)

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Horatio Spafford

"That Time of Year"

A lot of music plays in my head in a sort of whimsical medley ---CONSTANTLY. Of course, right now, I have Christmas carols and jingles and jollies rotating their way through my sing-song brain. "Jingle bells, falalalala farararara, winter wonderland, harking the herald, ye faithful coming...it's the most wonderful time of the year!" 

These past few weeks have been filled with folks trying to spread Christmas cheer by spending endless amounts of money to present their friends with gifts. Not just regular gifts of hugs, laughter, and time well-spent. Not just kindness, and loving, and cheerful giving. But more like a type of giving that has turned away from voluntary representations of love and appreciation and into mandatory searching for material items that are down to the nitty-gritty detailed specifications of the receiver.

What happened to the mystery of material Christmas gifts, anyway? Does anyone really not know what you'll be receiving this year? The gifts, they can't all be surprises, but can any of them? Back when Jesus was born, I'm sure Mary and Joseph didn't request the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh they received. I can just see it now, "Where's their registry??" The origin of Christmas gift-giving is found in the Bible in Matthew 2, where the Wise Men offered these gifts to Baby Jesus (but probably when he was more like 18-24 months old, according to some Study Bibles). At your eyes' first passing, it seems they literally just dropped the gifts and ran to escape King Herod who was cray-cray, and they were warned against him in a dream... because they probably didn't really understand the true symbolism of their participation in the world's first baby shower! (Baby showers were previously held to shower the baby with gifts, not just the parents... but parents really do need all the help they can get from family and friends!)

You know what I'm giving my family this year? Trash bags. They're useful and meaningful in more ways than one. Sure, you don't have to buy any for a while for the kitchen or the yard clippings or to pack up all your Christmas decorations in or throw away the wrapping paper. They are also good reminders that we all probably have too much junk lying around that could either be thrown away in these bags, never to be seen again. Or maybe you realize they will be good for collecting up things you don't really need anymore, but a family down the street is struggling to obtain. I hope that this year, my gift of trash bags (and yes, I got some for myself!) helps me remember a few more things than the fact that the kitchen can needs to be emptied. However, giving material things to those in need means nothing without the truest meaningful gift of all.

What is a true and meaningful gift? The BEST gift we could ever give friends or family is to share with them the love of Christ, and our purpose in this world - to faithfully serve Him only and explicitly share the Good News that God sent His Son into this world to die for our sins, and that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life in Christ! How ironic is it that the BEST gift we have ever received is also the BEST gift we can give! Hallelujah!

~LeeAnn