Used by God

As I was reading my Bible, I came across the lineage of Christ. I've read it a million trillion times, but this time, something really stuck out to me.
In the lineage of Jesus Christ, there are only five women mentioned-Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary.
Tamar dressed up as a prostitute and slept with her father-in-law.
Rahab WAS a prostitute.
Ruth came from a land full of idolatry and paganism.
Bathsheba got involved in adultery and it caused the death of her husband.
Mary was just an innocent virgin.
All these women lived different lives. One of them (Mary) lived a "clean" life. The other four out of five didn't. They sinned. They messed up. They did some pretty "bad" things. Yet through all of them came the Messiah. Through all their mistakes and dysfunctional lives, God used them. The savior of the world came through their bloodline. Jesus Christ came from them.
All of this to say one thing: Never say you are too messed up for God to use. Never say you're useless. Because He can take you-mistakes, sins, past, and all-and make something mighty come out of your life.
Romans 8:1-Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

...just sayin'.

Last year (2011), I read the Bible completely through for the first time in my life. (And on January 1st, I opened it up and started all over!) If you have never done it, I really encourage you to find a plan that is right for you, start it up, and read it everyday. It has opened my eyes up to so much. I feel as though I have gained wisdom and learned things that I have been able to apply to my life everyday. I heard a wise man say once "Put the word in when you don't need it, and it will be there for you when you do." In other words, put the Bible in your heart, even though it might not "speak to you" right at that moment. But if you do that, when you need it, it will be there in your heart, and God will remind you of it. You would be suprised at how many times I have said "Hey! I remember reading such-and-such last week...wow...that really helps me with my situation today." So always remember that: "Put the word in when you don't need it, and it will be there for you when you do." It's well worth your time and effort. Plus, when you finish, you feel really accomplished and proud of yourself. Just sayin.

Truth in "To Kill a Mockingbird"

So recently I re-read the book "To Kill a Mockingbird". First of all, let me tell you-that is a wonderful book, and if you haven't read it, you should! Anyways, it deals alot with bitterness and hatred. One of my favorite passages is this passage in the book. The main character is a little girl named Scout. Scout is talking to her brother Jem about hatred and prejudices that they see everyday. Jem says "You know something Scout? I've got it all figured out, now. I've though about it alot lately, and now I've got it figured out. There's four kinds of folks in the world..." Jem tells Scout the four "types" of people in the world, and tells Scout that they all hate each other because they come from different backgrounds. Scout later says, "Naw, Jem, I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks." Jem looks at Scout and responds, "That's what I thought too when I was your age. If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time...because he wants to stay inside."
Although these are fictional people and this is a fictional conversation, I could not escape the truth in these few lines. When it comes down to it, there's just one type of people in this world: people. You can seperate them up into races, genders, ages, religions-whatever you want-but they all have something similar. They're people. Human beings. And no matter what they do or say or think, we should not treat them any less than what they are. People. Jesus never treated anyone less than that. Look at Mary Magdeline. She was an outcast. Yet Jesus accepted her with love. What about the lepers? They were dirty and sick. Nobody wanted them. But Jesus accepted them with love. What about the Samaratain woman at the well? She slept around and was an "easy" girl. Nobody wanted her. But Jesus accepted her with love. And my personal favorite-the adulterous woman. She was trash. Nobody wanted her. In fact, everybody wanted her dead. They thought she was worth more dead than alive. But what did Jesus do? He gave her life. he accepted her with love. The best way you can lead someone to Christ is by showing them Christ's love. Forget about their outward appearence, or their social status, or their personality, or their background or their past. Show them love. It's as simple as a smile or a hug or asking "How are you today?". Because no matter where they're from, or what they do with their life-they're still people. Because like Scout said, "There's just one kind of folks in this world. Folks."

Idolatry Today

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who
suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have
seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his
invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse
for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was
like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise,
they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious,
ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people... (Romans 1:18-23, NLT)

So I read this last night, and I connected it to a book I've been reading called "Radical". In "Radical", the author says almost the same thing, but in different words. He says,:

...We are starting to redefine Christianity. We are giving into the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus WE are more comfortable with. A nice, middle class, American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn't mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have. A Jesus who would not expect us to forsake out closest relationships so that he receives all our affection. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts, because, after all, he loves us just the way we are. A Jesus who want us to avoid dangerous extremes, and who, for that matter, wants us to avoid danger altogether. A Jesus who brings us comfort and prosperity and we live out our Christian spin on the American Dream. But do you and I realize what we are doing at this point? We are molding Jesus into OUR image. He is beginning to look alot like us because, after all, that is whom we are most comfortable with. And the danger now is that when we gather in out church building to sing and lift up our hands in worship, we may not actually be worshipping Jesus. We may be worshipping OURSELVES. (David Platt, "Radical", pg. 13)

I connected those two statements. And felt a bit convicted. Both of them are talking about idolatry. In Romans, it says bluntly "They KNOW God, but wouldn't worship him AS God", and instead, they began to "think up foolish ideas of what God was like". And in Radical, he's talking about how we change the image of Jesus. I'll explain this more.

A few paragraphs before, David Platt was talking about all the things costs of following Jesus that Jesus himself said in Luke 9:57-62. One man said "I'll follow you Jesus!" And Jesus said "Foxes have dens, birds have nests, but the Son of man has no place to lay his head." In other words, shelter isn't garunteed. You might be left out in the cold or have no where to go because you follow Jesus. Yikes. Then another guy says "hey, Jesus-I'll follow you. But let me bury my dad who just passed away." And Jesus says, "Let the dead bury their own dead. You rjob is to preach the Kingdom of God." In other words, put me first, and don't even let the burial of your own father get in the way of your relationship with me. Whoa. Then another guy says "Jesus! I'll follow you-gimme a second, though. I'm gonna go say bye to my family." And Jesus says "Anyone who put his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the Kingdom." In other words, forget your family and closest relationships. FOLLOW ME. I'm all you need. Dang. And what about the rich man in Luke 18:18-23? He came up and was like "Jesus, how to I get eternal life?" And Jesus is like "Well, you know, the commandments." And the rich man says "But I already do that." Jesus then says "Oh yeah, one more thing-sell everything you have and give it to the poor. Come follow me." There is not "in other words" to that. Blunt, straight, and to the point. Give up everything you have. Follow me. Wow.

What David Platt is saying is that we don't WANT to accept the possibility that God might call us to do something like that. We don't like the thought that Jesus might say "Give up all your material things. Follow me." or "Forget your family and friends. Follow me." or "Leave your home. Follow me." or even possibily "Don't attend your own father's burial. Follow me." We're uncomfortable with that. So we say "No, Jesus wouldn't want me to give up those things. He loves me." But in reality, we're conforming to idolatry when we do that. Because we're NOT truly following Jesus and worshipping him for who he is. We're doing exactly what Romans was talking about. "thinking up foolish ideas of what God is like". Our OWN foolish ideas.

I read these two things and was a bit convicted. I had to look at myself and say "Have I done that? Have I worshipped my OWN idea of Jesus? Would I give up those things to follow Jesus?" It takes a heart re-arrange to change the way you look at Jesus. I know I'll be working on mine.

What about you?

When you Hold on to stuff, and that stuff holds you back, it makes it hard to get to Jesus.

A little boy in my kids church, when asked to share about the church-camp trip he had just attended, stood up infront of the entire adult congregation and boldly said this. He’s probably less that 12 years old. I could not believe it. Believe his age. Hid boldness. And the amount of truth in that statement.
“When you hold on to stuff, and that stuff holds you back, it makes it hard to get to Jesus.”
I later approached that little boy and hugged him and said ‘Bill! I’m so proud of you-everything that you said up there!” His response shocked me.
“I wanted to say more, but my mind just went blank. I wanted to talk about when we went on that hike, and they told us when we got to the top of the mountain, to tell something that holds us back-something we never told anybody. I wanted to talk about how we were so high up there, you could just feel the presence of God. And when all these men shared secrets nobody knew,-man, the wind picked up, and you could just feel…God.”
The same day, we took up offering in kids church, and as usual, I asked if anyone wanted to pray over it. All the kids were quiet (as usual). I looked at little Bill and said, “Bill, would you like to pray?” (Just two weeks before, I asked him the same question, and he said “Nah, I don’t like praying.”) This time, he looked in my eyes, and with a genuine look said,
“I don’t know how to pray over offering, but I will.”
I said, “Well, just tell God thank you for the offering, and pray that He will bless it. And just say thanks for letting us learn about Him. Just pray whatever you feel, Bill.” He said "Okay." I bowed my head, prepared to pray, when I noticed something that amazed me.
Little Bill had knelt down on his knees in front of everyone and said "Uhh...God...thank you for this offering. Please bless it. Thank you for the kids church and that we can come to learn. Thank you for the camping trip we just went on. Thanks for everything. Love you. Amen."
Little Bill got up off of his knees, and went back to his seat. I sat in awe at this child. In jusst two days, his life had changed completely. And God spoke something to me.
"This is what I mean when I tell you-Have child-like faith."

Your Eyes, Your Ears, and Your Heart

This weekend, I have been at a church confrence. It's been so great, hearing all these speakers being used and hearing the Holy Spirit speak through them. Last night, the speaker, Pastor G.F. Watkins, spoke about the Holy Spirit, and the babtism of the Holy Spirit, and speaking in tounges. I liked the way he explained speaking in tounges-he said "When the Holy Spirit babtizes you, he gives you a language and way to speak to God-one your brain can't mess up." I never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. Many times I've prayed, using my own words, and stumbled over my words or lost focus on what I was praying about-but when I pray in the Spirit, I feel peaceful-like I know what I'm praying is what I need to be praying about. I liked that explanation alot. So what does that have to do with your ears, eyes, and heart? Nothing at all actually, because all I just said is not what I actually wanted to blog about. So I think I'll talk about that. :)
What I really wanted to blog about was what Pastor G.F. Watkins' wife, Rose Watkins, preached about. She used a verse in Matthew, where Jesus is explaining why he told parables. The version she used said (I don't remember which version it was, but it went something like this-) "They have ears, but cannot hear. They have eyes, but their eyes are closed. They have hearts, but their hearts have grown dull." She then went on to say, "What about your ears? When was the last time you really heard from God? What about your eyes? When do you open them to see things the way God sees them? And what about your heart? Has your heart grown dull?" She talked about herself, and how she went through some hard times recently, and to her, reading her bible and praying became routine things. But she said, weeping, that now, she can't be in the precence of God, read her bible, or pray without hungering for more, and desiring it and looking deeper into it. Her altar call was for if you felt like your eyes are closed, and you want to see things the way God sees them, if your ears aren't hearing, and you want to hear God speak, or if your heart has grown dull, and you want it to become soft again. I went up because I felt like that's where I am right now. I still read my Bible everyday, I still worship, I still pray-but I feel like it's just routine. Like I'm not going deeper. Like God isn't speaking. Like I've gotten a bit dull. And I want that to change. I wanna go deeper. I wanna hear God speak to me. I want him to speak to me through everything and everyone. I want to see things like God does. I want to be like that woman, Rose, and weep at the mere mention of being in the presence of God. I want God to sharpen my heart.
So my question I leave you with is this: What about you? What's the condition of your eyes, your ears, and your heart?

Whew I haven't posted in awhile...

Okay...so I feel like it's been forEVER since I posted. Well, I have a few short things to say.

1) Bible reading. If you read my New Year's post, you would know that I said one of the things I wanted to do was to keep up with reading my Bible and finish it in a year. Well since January 1st, I have kept up with it everyday. I feel accomplished and God has spoken to me so much through it. Let me just show you what I read last night:

"Teach me your ways, Oh Lord

That I may live according to your truth.

Grant me purity of heart,

So that I may honor you.

With all my heart, I will praise you,

Oh Lord, my God.

I will give glory to your name forever,

For your love is great.

You have rescued me from the depths of death."

-Psalms 86:11-13

That verse just meant alot to me. I really loved it, and it made me want to make that my life's prayer. Teach me your ways Oh Lord. Grant me purity of heart. I love it. I want to live my life like that. Praising God, living my life to honor him, because of what he's done and how he rescued me. So think about it. I know this verse will definitely be in my heart and spirit for awhile, and I'm gonna be meditating on it quite a bit for the next few days...or weeks...or months...or whenever. :)

2) Check out my testimony! I posted it on my tumblr blog. Here is the link. http://thepastorskid.tumblr.com/testimony I hope it encourages someone somehow or speaks into someone's life.

And that's all I really have to say...I hope to start blogging more often. God bless! :)

-A Christian Teenage Girl

I find this INCREDIBLE (Matthew 11:1-4)

This is just something that I have been dwelling on lately.
So when John the Baptist got put in prison, he probably knew he was gonna die. And he was probably wondering “Is Jesus really the one? Ahve I given my life for the right thing?” He sent messengers to ask Jesus “Are you really the Messiah?” And Jesus answeres him by saying this:
“Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. And tell him, ‘God blesses those who do not turn away because of me.”
Jesus is bassically saying “Look John, here is PROOF that I am the son of God…” and then lists off all these miracles and wonders that he was doing. I find that incredible. I kinda think he’s saying “Look, I’m living my life out like the son of God should.” His life PROVED that he was God.
All this to say: do OUR lives prove anything? Do our lives say “Hey, look, I’m a child of God and this is how I live my life-like Jesus.” Or do they say “Hey check me out. i’m a good christian on Sundays and Wednesday nights, but on the other days-who cares?” What message do our lives send?