Community

Hebrews 3:12-13 

Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning away from the living God. You must warn each other every day while its still "today," so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.  

I need community in order to really see and know myself. Without community, I will listen to my own arguments, believe in my own lies, believe a false gospel, and buy into my delusions. If I'm going to see myself the way Christ does, I need my brothers and sisters to hold the mirror of God's Word in front of me and point me back to the gospel. 

 amazed at some of the community God has surrounded me with

Without the loving courage of honesty from my brothers and sisters around us, our hearts will harden.

a few dear friends that shower me with grace

I'm really trying to work on living in humble, honest community with others, where personal ministry is part of the daily culture. That's what I'm called to and by the grace of God, that's what I desire more and more. What a gift God has called us to community to show us our sin and encourage one another to look to the cross for everything. 

Thank you Jesus. 

Whispered, lisped prayers in Kids Connection

I sit with 4th-5th graders each Sunday evening, and above all our time together, I melt when hearing their prayers to Jesus. 

Gathered in a circle with 18 kids in popcorn prayer- 

 God, you are.... 

AWESOME

MY SHELTER

STRENGTH

MIGHTY

FORGIVING

MY KING

POWERFUL

GREAT

MY SAVIOR

MY REDEEMER

 God thank you for...

FRIENDS

FAMILY

THE BIBLE

BRADLEY & BLAIRE

CHURCH

YOUR LOVE

FORGIVENESS 

MERCY

TAKING CARE OF US 

God, please help me pause before I lose my temper with...

MY LITTLE SISTER

PARENTS BEING CONDESCENDING 

FRIENDS

FAMILY

OLDER BROTHER

MY MOM 

BROTHERS

MY PARENTS

 

Those precious young voices bowing their heads and talking to the Lord brings warmth and joy to my heart. I smile with tear filled eyes, rejoicing in our King. 

His perfect timing

It's been six wonderful, sanctifying, fun, challenging, new, blissful, and divine months being in a relationship with this man. 


The Lord has done so much in us this past year and we are forever grateful for His perfect timing.  

I adore him. 

Last year I had no idea what God was up to with Dave and I. 

There were many tears. 

And it was all God's plan. 

Dave and I often reflect on last year and our story and smile about what God has done to each of us. Last year wasn't the right timing. We didn't understand then. But we understand now. 

God had this in mind all along. 

Job 42:3  You asked, 'Who this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?' It is I- and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me.

We get to PLANT GRACE

My sweet friend, Ashley and I often talk and process through sin we discover in our lives. We ask ourselves and each other questions to tell whether our thoughts of desires are sinful or not. Jesus points us to the image of bad fruit growing from a bad tree in Luke 6:43-45. I pray the Lord will expose my heart by the Spirit through His Word, but the mistake that I've been making is that I dwell when I'm looking at myself rather than dwelling on Christ. The Spirit is showing me that I'm getting so wrapped up in weeding out my sin, and neglecting to plant grace! 

Tim Chester does a great job at teaching this by saying, "Along with weeding out sin, we need to plant grace. When other plants are thriving, weeds grow poorly because they're deprived of space, light, water, and nutrients. It's the same with Christians. When our thoughts are filled with the glory of God and our lives are filled with the service of God, there'll be less room for sin and temptation (Gal. 6:7-10)  
 
I want to daily harvest the weeding out sin in my heart and planting grace, making less space for sin.  

Robert Murray M'Cheyne said, "For one look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ."



Don't forget to plant grace.

Hope in the Midst of Pain

My friend Jeanine, who is unlike any other person I've ever met, wrote this blog about chronic pain and I wanted to share it. 

God is good. I'm thankful for the hope I am given through Jesus Christ in the midst of my daily pain :) 

The Thorn is a Gift

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Jeanine

Chronic pain is an unspoken issue . . .

Chronic pain is an unspoken issue that is more common than I thought. I’ve dealt with it since age eight, and in honor of some of the most precious and godly women in my life who also deal with chronic pain, here are my lessons from pain in the last few years:

1.  The thorn is a gift.

It makes us see the power of God– We have to turn from our own weak power to rely on ”God who raises the dead” 2 Cor. 1:9

It keeps us from arrogance– “so to keep me from being conceited…”  Pain is a safeguard from conceit and arrogance. In physical pain we are humbled by our inability to control even our own body. 2 Cor. 12:7

2.  We are called to a life of pain “many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” It is simply a part of being a Christian.

3.  Physical pain is a very clear test of what is truly inside of us. Because you can’t escape physical pain, you are forced to face your sin, your lack of faith, head-on. I can’t just shake it off and go get a cup of coffee or clean the house to distract myself. I have to face my pain—face what I really think about it, and about God. These are HUMBLING times. You can’t fake faith here; false faith is too weak to survive the bashing waves of physical pain. “that the tested genuineness of your faith … may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ”

4.  God uses pain…

To make us holy

To make us not rely on ourselves

To make us rely on God

5.  Pain increases our faith

6.  Pain sets our hope on Him

7.  Pain helps us understand Jesus uniquely “… that I may know him … and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”  Jesus was a suffering servant and we can understand Him uniquely in our pain. This is precious.

8.  Pain makes us look forward to heaven.

Though pain can be excruciating (this word, btw, comes from the cross of Christ), the benefits can mysteriously outweigh the burden.

BUT, be aware Christian. Just because you have physical pain does not promise you will be improved by it. If we let God use our pain, He will refine us like gold. If we spend our pain in bitterness, anger, frustration or despair, we will waste our pain.

The thorn is a gift.

Or you can waste your pain, and it’s just pain.

Which do you want yours to be?

 

 http://whdowntownblog.org/2011/10/the-thorn-is-a-gift/

Sleepover at the Abajian's!

Wednesday night I got to do something that was out of the norm and I'm very thankful for it. 
My friends, Megan and Matt, whom I respect, admire, adore, and flat out love, are two people who have taught me more than they'll ever know about Jesus and His gracious love. They are and always will be so dear to my heart. I can really talk about them forever, but that will be on a different post :) 
 So Matt was out of town this week which meant Kellie and I got to go over and have a sleepover with Megan! It was quite a treat. We opened a bottle of wine, baked some Pillsbury choc. chip cookies, watched Steal Magnolias, talked, laughed, and then finally slept. Getting some quality time with with these two women was such a privilege and was one of the highlights of my week. 
I'm so thankful for my friendships with them and learning from their hearts and what God is doing in each of them. The Lord is using them in such a sweet way in my life.

Be a good Jesus

Ephesians 5:1  "Imitate Jesus, therefore in everything you do, because you are his dear children."

Let me share something with you that I've read in a book I'm going through called You Can Change. (Super cheesy title, but the book is legit).

'I was dropping my daughter off at school on the day of her Easter service (she was playing Jesus, miming as the class acted out the triumphal entry). On the way we picked up Anna, a young Christian girl who'd been baptized in our church a few months earlier. As Anna was getting out of the car she shouted to my daughter, "Be a good Jesus today."  "Same to you," I shouted back (though not quite quickly enough for Anna to hear). 

Be a good Jesus! Our job is to study the glory of God revealed in the life and death of Jesus. We're to study his character, learn from his role, and understand his motivation, so that in every situation we can improvise the part. We'll face situations that Jesus never faced. But if we understand his character well enough, we'll be able to improvise. We'll be a good Jesus.'

I always want to represent Jesus well, but I don't always. My sin and selfishness takes my eyes off of Jesus and His gracious throne and tunes in onto me. It's a sin that so easily entangles me. 
May I grow to know Jesus more and more intimately so I can imitate Him well.  




Be a good Jesus!