|
DeathHugPanda
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Y
Country: United States
State: Pennsylvania
Gender: Female
Interests: Let's keep this simple:
Jesus. Art. Tattoos.
Expertise: Falling flat on my face
Occupation: Missionary
Industry: Art/College Ministry
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
5/10/2002
|
|
| Luke 2:8-14
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Hello!
I hope that you are doing well and that the Lord is continuing to teach and stretch and grow you. The Christmas is just about upon us, and I’m sure we’ve all had our fair share of shopping, or Christmas music, or card-writing, or even rejoicing that you get to have a break soon either because the school semester is done with or because of a work holiday.
I was listening to a song by The Myriad today and some lyrics stuck out to me. I thought I would share:
“I’m waiting with my arms up high
My eyes pulled tight to lines of worry
That you won’t meet me here tonight
Am I reaching enough?
Am I reaching at nothing?
Am I reaching enough?
Am I reaching at all?”
Sometimes I feel like I could echo this lyric with ease, especially “Am I reaching enough? Am I reaching at all?” I’m sure that you’re not a complete stranger to this feeling either. But before we go and wear sackcloth and ashes on our heads in mourning about how much we feel like a disappointment to God, let me point out something that’s really important.
As you know, it’s around this time of year that we hear one of the names of God tossed more so than other times: Emmanuel. Emmanuel means “God with us.” Think about that for just a moment. Let it go from your computer screen to rest in your mind and settle somewhere in your soul.
“God with us.”
“God with us.
God
With
Us
To other religions this kind of idea, the idea of God dwelling with His creation, is totally outrageous. But this is exactly what Jesus did: fully God and fully man. Divinity wrapped up in human flesh. God coming down to live with humanity. Let me repeat that: God coming down to live with humanity. When Jesus ascended into heaven, then the Holy Spirit came to dwell with every believer. God with us.
While it’s important for us to yearn for God and seek His face, it’s crucial to remember that God reached down to us way before we even wanted to reach for Him. In all His amazing grace and humility the Almighty Creator took the initiative in making our relationship with Him right. He took the initiative to be a sacrifice for sins so that we can have a relationship with God at all.
How freaking crazy is that?
Rather than bury your head in “I’m not reaching enough,” look up and praise the Lord for coming and reaching down to you! There isn’t an amount of reaching that is going to make up for the distance He’s taken to bring you lovingly into His presence. We ought to pursue God and pray to God as a reaction to how amazing His love is. I pray that I can do that; I pray that you can do that. I pray that we are continually humbled by God’s redemption but also overflowing with thankfulness.
I pray that your Christmas and New Year’s will be joyful as you celebrate our Savior, Emmanuel, “God with us.”
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne
| | |
| Psalm 37:4-7
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Matthew 6:33,34
…Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Hello friends!
A lot has been going on since the last time I wrote out the Weekly Thing (should it now be the bi-Weekly Thing??). But one primary reason that I’ve been lax in getting this out is due to some rather distracting events. Nov. 26th, I was involved in a minor car accident – from which I am not injured, nor is anyone else. But in case any of you were wondering: a sedan type vehicle is no match against an SUV. Due to related reasons I’ve decided to do without a car right now. This isn’t as big of a deal because I live in the middle of a big city, so public transportation is easily accessible.
However, in some ways it is a big deal. Now that I am without a car, and because of other current circumstances, I’m really feeling the sting of my desire to be independent. Let me explain. Having my own vehicle meant that I could almost go where I wanted whenever I wanted to go. Without a car, I need to humble myself and depend on others and ask for a ride – which will sometimes mean I’ll need to be forgiving and patient and still grateful when a friend is late; and that I shouldn’t be manipulative by talking someone into giving me a ride. Not only that, I also need to find out the when’s and where’s of public transportation.
Sounds pretty simple, right? But on the inside I know I don’t want to depend on others for little tasks that I once could do so easily myself.
Yet the most important and biggest thing this all points to is that God is probably teaching me to just TRUST and DEPEND on Him first and foremost. I have to trust that He is going to provide the means for me to get to places, and that He’ll keep me safe in the process (taking public transportation or walking at night in the city can be a little unnerving!). I have to trust that He’s going to sustain the relationships I have with others outside the city, and simply allow myself to be fully present in the place I live. There’s a lot more that I could probably go into, but the point is this: God wants me (and surely all of us?) to trust Him more with the finer details of our lives. Sometimes that means we need to sacrifice something in our lives. Sometimes that means He’ll take that something away, knowing that in so doing it gives us the opportunity to respond in faith and trust. I can’t say that I understand it completely but this is where I understand it at the moment, and I’m praying He continues to teach me to be less independent, and more dependent on Him as my provider and sustainer. I ask myself questions such as these and use them to encourage you: Did He not provide for so many of the men and women in the Bible, like Abraham and Moses and Ruth? And if He's provided Jesus, won’t He provide everything else?
I pray the same for all of us, so that in faith we can grow more as God’s children, knowing that our Father is good. I also pray that He teaches us to be more reliant on Him in all circumstances, having our hearts and minds transformed more and more into the image of Christ.
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne
| | |
| Hello!
I pray that this finds you well and that you’re learning a lot from our Lord through whatever your circumstances – good or bad – and that you are continually growing closer to Him. There are a handful of things that He’s been pulling from my own life, and particularly pointing out things that I thought I already went through a few times already.
Recently, I’ve begun to realize more and more how much I allow busyness (and contrastly, procrastination?) to veil over my daily life. While I encourage others to be diligent in prayer and making sure to spend time with God, I’ve found that I have not been taking my own words to heart and my own personal time in the quietness of God has been lacking. This is a dreadful realization. If you’ve been keeping tabs on the Weekly for a while now, this is going to be familiar news to you: you’ve seen where I’ve talked about this before, and probably would have seen it crop up again and again. You would think that I would be able to take hold of the bugger and toss it out, right? Oh - but cyclical sinner that I am, apparently I’m having a terrible time shaking it off even when I see it coming up again. and again. and again. (perhaps there is something you deal with of another sort that follows this particular trend?) BUT-- Praise be to God our Father for being so gracious and patient! How good He is deal with, bring us back, continually love us with discipline and faithfulness. How deep is God’s love for us that He would call and treat us as His children.
And through this busyness of mind, this disordered sense that makes me feel unbalanced and weighed down, there are so many good things that peek through. This Weekly Thing, I wanted to share with you some Scriptures that have cropped up over the past few days. It has encouraged me and a good portion of it has revolved around resting and finding/having peace in the Lord. That’s what I need right now: rest. God’s peace. an assurance that He is in control. that He is using me even when I feel feeble and weighed down. I need refinement and a sharpening. I pray these passages from Scripture, through our faith in Christ, would encourage your hearts as well.
Philippians 4:4-9, 12,13
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
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 everything through him who gives me strength.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 23,24
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
2 Thessalonians 2:16,17
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
Praise be to God.
In love and in Him,
Yvonne
| | |
|
Matthew 5:13-16
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its
saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything,
except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A
city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it
under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone
in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may
see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Hello everyone!
It has been quite a busy time for me; I should probably be
taking more time and paying more attention to rest. I’ve been neglecting
certain things that I love doing and certain things that I don’t necessarily
love to do, but should get done (particularly the kind of things that require
cleaning the apartment – oi!). But with that thought aside, I hope that you
have been more restful than I, and have been able to celebrate the gift of down
time.
As always, there is much that I could share. There are still
things from the last Weekly that I sent that I’d like to talk about, and it’s
amazing what can happen between now and then that brings up other thoughts.
Lately I’d been in conversations about following Christ and faith; and then I’d
also been thinking about serving Him where we live and having the compassion
and loving the places where we live. When God called Abraham, for example,
Abraham had no idea where he was going. God said “Go to the place I lead you,”
and Abraham went. While I don’t think that too many of us (though some of us
do) get the direct voice of God telling us where we ought to live next, I do
believe that there is a purpose in being in the places you and I are currently
at. This was the case with Esther, who
found herself in a royal position around the same time when n edict was sent
for the destruction of the Jews… she became the king’s wife and was able to
plead for her people (Esther 4:14, “And who knows but that you have come to
royal position for such a time as this?” said to Esther when she was not
completely willing to speak to the king.)
Whether you are in school, or working in a business, or
working part-time while you look for a career, there’s a reason for being where
you are right now. Now, I can’t tell you what that might be. But, I can suggest
that perhaps you are where you are to grow as a Christian. I can suggest that
maybe there is one person – maybe even the one that annoys you the most – that needs to hear/see
the Gospel and the love of God. I could suggest a lot of things but the point
is that it can be so easy to be discontent with the place we’re in, that once
we start complaining about it we end up missing the opportunity to be blessed…
or to bless someone else with the kind of blessing that comes from a servant’s
heart. Our scope becomes too small, or too self-focused, or too boxed in. Worse
yet, maybe we’re too busy living in our prospective future situation that we
totally miss what’s going on in the present. Rather than do that, look for how
God may want to use you or teach something to you in your current situation.
Look for ways that you can serve those who are around you right now. Take joy
in the little things you can find so that your heart can be more grateful for
the fact that you have what you do.
There’s a phrase that I heard a long time ago and recently
heard again: “Bloom where you’re planted.” Maybe your neighbors need to know
that Christ’s love is deeper and more forgiving than they think. Maybe your
coworker needs to see what a compassionate Christian looks like. Maybe your
classmate’s wounds need to be healed. Maybe your family needs to see what God’s
grace really looks like. Maybe you need to learn how to trust in, wait on, or depend
on God. Maybe you’re not willing to budge but God really is calling you to go
somewhere else.
“Maybe” a lot of things; I don’t know your situation. Take
courage though: the God who saved you and holds you close is the same God that
gives you strength to be a light in the world. He isn’t going to let you down
as long as you look and listen to what He’s got in store for you. And that’s my
prayer for all of us.
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne
| | |
|
Hello everyone,
Can I tell you how good God is? Just a day after last week’s email, my mood and outlook on current situations flipped completely around and the only one that I can think of crediting for that is God. There are still some struggles, but my perspective has been bettered somehow. So praise be to God.
Moving forward, there was something I had been reading in Scripture this morning that caught my interest. It was something I’d read over a few times before and it didn’t particularly stand out to me, but today it hooked my attention. At the very end of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul expounds upon the importance of Christ having died and resurrected; directly afterward he writes, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Cor 15:58) The Corinthian believers probably struggled with doubt and persecution just as anyone else in the early Church, amid the other questions and issues they were having that caused Paul to write his first letter to them.
I think what sticks out to me most in this verse is that the Corinthians (and ourselves) are told to “always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” While I admittedly do not know what the work is specifically, I would imagine that it is not completely set apart from when we are asked to be “living sacrifices” in Romans (Rom 12:1,2). This and the verse in 1 Corinthians are said in such a way that would lead one to believe this is meant to be a constant motion of giving ourselves to God. Dying to self and living unto God. ‘Working’ towards the Kingdom of God yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Following Christ through thick and through thin because it is an endeavor that is not in vain; it is not worthless, pointless, or arbitrary to believe in and follow Jesus… despite what many things around us may want to tell us. Despite our temptations and thoughts to just say that it’s not all that important to talk to God every day.
Now, this wholly-giving/living to God thing isn’t easy. If it were easy, we wouldn’t necessarily have to be told or reminded to do it. We would just do it. It isn’t easy to give myself fully to the work of the Lord, because although I know it may not be in vain, I tire quickly. But I must also remind myself that my labor in the Lord is not in vain. Your labor in the Lord is not in vain. If I come to think of it, there really isn’t a grade system for how good our work in the Lord is; so how could even the smallest thing that we do for the Lord (as opposed to ourselves or to please other people) be in vain? “… Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10:31) If matters of eating and drinking can be done to the glory of God – and therefore, not done in vain – how much more anything else we do for the purpose of wanting God glorified!
Perhaps I’m beginning to tangent. How exciting and challenging it is to think about where I fall short and where I would want to encourage all of us to live wholly for Christ and to give ourselves fully to His work! But I digress… and pray that each of us would learn these things and hold them close to our hearts… that the Lord would teach us through His Spirit to love Him wholly. I pray that we would also be people who desire to work for the Lord – be we pastors, missionaries, artists, business-people, teachers, or whatever we may be. May we all do our own work for the glory of the Lord.
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne
| | |
|
