Ask Away

The past few months I have been faced with an overwhelming amount of newness. New places, new people, new pastimes, new habits, new churches, new weather, new home! I have adjusted to most of it pretty easily, since I believe that God has been preparing me for this stage of life for a while. What I don't feel prepared for, however, is the future. I am completely at a loss as to the specifics of what I want to do, where I want to be, and who I want to be with. A lot of the time I find myself frustrated that God hasn't magically revealed those things to me already, and that I feel confused and unsure when I should feel confident. The problem is always with me though, not God (which seems to be a trend in my life...) I realized recently that I do not ask Jesus for guidance in my life like I should-it is not enough to simply pray about the "essentials". No, a true relationship with Christ, and a true submission to His will as your Shepherd, Father, and Lord is talking to Him about every aspect of life! It's asking Him about amoral decisions, instead of relying on your own judgement. It's crying out for help and asking for His protection in the sinful world in which we live. Here's what John Piper had to said about prayer:


Christians have stopped believing that we are in a war. . . . what did they do with the walkie-talkie? They tried to rig it up as an intercom in their cushy houses . . . not to call in fire power for conflict with a mortal enemy, but to ask the maid to bring another pillow to the den.

Clearly prayer is not simply for us to submit our wishlist to God. I have often had to remind myself that my focus should be on the Creator, not his created things. And yet He loves to hear my heart's desires! I can share my fears and excitements with Christ, like I would with any other friend. That to me is such an important, yet neglected part of prayer in my own life, and doing so destroys any "religious" aspect of my Christianity and promotes what it should be-a relationship. Not part of my life, but my life. He loves it when we call out to Him-I can literally almost feel His smile when I talk to Him. And all we have to do is ask :)

This Title Would Be "Speak" Were It Not For Taylor Swift

Talking is a strange thing. Not the actual words, or even the sound of them coming from one's mouth. Rather, the process of speaking is was puzzles me. Let me explain. Have you ever noticed that you can only do so much thinking before losing your train of thought and going down more than one rabbit trail? Sometimes this flow of conscience is peaceful and relaxing when there is no agenda or purpose. But when one is attempting to arrive at a conclusion about a specific issue, getting a thought process out of one's brain and into words is almost always the most efficacious way of working through something. (This transfer of thoughts to words can be done through either writing or speaking.)

I have personally found that if I want to figure something out, it is necessary for me to talk through it, or at least write so that I can see a concrete visual of the journey and destination of my thought process. In doing this, I often find that I know things that I did not know I knew. For example, once when I was talking with my friend about a certain theological issue, a random connection between Israel and our topic tumbled out of my mouth before I even knew what I had said. (Speaking in tongues! Glory hallelujah! jk ;] ) I had not even thought before of that connection, or if I had it had been a long time. And yet, through talking, the idea came out and was, if I may say so myself, a valid and interesting point. If I had been left to simply think about our conversation, I can honestly say that I do not believe that connection would have ever come to my mind.

How then can a person talk without thinking previously about what he or she is going to say? I have no idea! Have you ever thought of that? Even now, I am not thinking about what I am going to write, but rather the words are simply flowing from somewhere inside my brain, through my fingertips and onto the keyboard. How do words exit our mouths without any preparation of what we are going to say? Where do they come from? Perhaps I cannot explain my wonder at this phenomenon, as it is such a daily occurrence. I can only say that I am amazed at how God has designed the human body and psych to perform such involuntary tasks.

Aside from the physiological process of speaking, words are noteworthy for their strong ability to influence others. While that may seem obvious, since the purpose of words is for others to hear them (although there are people who talk into thin air, but we won't go there,) have you ever thought how words can either elevate or devastate a person? As it says in James 3,

"Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things."

You have been given the amazing ability to speak. How are you going to use it?

Good News

A lot of great things have happened to me in the past few months...and when I say great things, I mean those little things in every day life that make you smile. For some reason these simple pleasures give me an insatiable urge to share what's making me so happy. I literally cannot keep good news to myself. Upon finding Toms shoes this summer at a little Boutique downtown for 75% off, I told so many of my friends about the sale that the store was sold out literally a day later. Whenever I hear music that makes me want to dance, I love to share it with anyone and everyone. I had a random math-lab partner that I mentioned a certain band to, and he downloaded their whole cd that night! My school changed the cafeteria around and it actually looks like a decent cafe now instead of a ghetto dump, and I couldn't help but tell all my friends about it [it really is pretty cool]. I could go on, but basically good news just gets to me, so I always have to find a way to get it to others.

The fact that good news is so hard for me to keep in begs the question, why do I keep in the best news there is? That is, the Gospel. The human race was not lacking Toms, good music, or nice looking cafeterias, but rather a right standing before the God of the universe! And Jesus was the remedy for our grievous sin against Him. He loved God perfectly as we couldn't, and gives His children His status before God-heir of the universe. So I need to remind myself of this amazing news more often so that I can keep it in perspective and be as explodingly excited about the Gospel as I am the things that have no eternal consequence.

So...guess what? I have something cool to tell you :)

Fountains

         Jesus summed up the law with one seemingly simple idea: love God, love others. John stated in his first book that if one claims to love God and yet does not love his brother, he does not even know God. All my life I have known the importance of loving Christians and non-Christians alike with a self sacrificial, genuine spirit. While I have a burning passion to serve and do whatever humanly possible for the kingdom, it has often caught up with me, and I have often found myself in a battle between giving and receiving. The two should be on the same team rather than the opposite, and serving Christ through serving others should bring me joy and satisfaction. Often it does. But it can also be very draining to me, and that is something I have not understood. My life is no exception; plenty of Christians who have the kind of joyful, selfless, servant hearts that I desire have experienced more stressful circumstances than I will ever know. A passage in Luke that I recently read shed a bit of light on the subject. Jesus and His disciples were with the crowds of people, and had been for some time. The disciples told Jesus of the crowd's hunger, expecting Him to magically produce enough food for everyone. While He did do that in one sense, He went about it in a way that the disciples did not expect. Rather than the "Sure, pals!" that they were eager to hear, Jesus said bluntly, "You feed them."
      Often I have heard Jesus saying the same thing to me. Of course He could be the perfect friend, counselor, listener, and provider for those around me. But He's not about to let me off the hook. He says, "You feed them, Jenna." Can I? Not in the least. But look again at the story.
      The disciples show Jesus that all they have is a few morsels of food; really only enough to feed themselves, if that. And Jesus says, perfect, and performs a miracle, feeding the 5,000 and wow-ing the disciples by taking their little, and turning it into plenty. Jesus can do that for me as well; take what He has given me and multiply it for others to be nurtured by. All I have to do is hold up the small amount of spiritual food that I have, acknowledge that only Jesus can provide, and let Him be the source of life to others. Although Jesus told the twelve that they should feed the multitude, in the end it was really Him who did it. Similarly, Jesus may use me to be a blessing to others, but in the end He is the one who provides and ultimately, receives all the glory. If I try to feed 5,000 people with my meager rations I will run dry. Only Jesus can be the inexhaustible, never tiring, ever flowing fountain in my heart. It is then that He will spill out of me onto others and create life everywhere I go.

^{Ezekiel 47
1Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east...
9}And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes...
¹²And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.


^{Psalm 36
9}For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light


^{Psalm 116
12}What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits to me? ¹³I will lift up the cup of salvation
   and call on the name of the LORD


Please more, Daddy :]

When Life Stops for a Month

The Christmas season is an awesome time of year. It's the time of a few birthdays in my family (including Jesus',) vacation time, rest, Christmas specials, amazing food, snowboarding, singing, and reflection on the Messiah. I had a milestone birthday recently which was a lot of fun. It's the kind of age that really does make me feel different, with new responsibilities, privileges, and question marks. Who am I going to be? What am I going to do with my life? Is it going to be all about me and getting as many toys as I can before I die, or giving myself to others for the sake of Christ?

In Cairo, Egypt on New Years Eve, 20 Christians were killed and 100 lost the ability to see due to a strategic car bomb outside of their church building. I have heard of numerous accounts of similar tragedies thru International Christian Concern, but this one hit me in a way that I have not experienced before. Over the Christmas break I have learned more about Jesus; Who He was on earth, what He did, and how that defines who I am today. I am sad to say that though I love Him with all of my heart, His life does not influence mine as it should, considering the magnitude of what He did. Hearing about these Christians who knew Who Christ was and were so in love with Him that they continued to live for Him, go to church, and do ministry despite threats from the corrupt government and persecuters in Egypt, convicted, humbled, and broke me. Would I continue to be public about my faith in Christ if my parents were victims of a car bomb and my eyesight was ruined? I am incredulous at how apathetic we Christians are in unpersecuted nations, while those whose lives are in danger are more bold in their faith than we.

On a lighter note, I went to a retreat up north where several churches gathered for some good ping pong, singing, devo's, improv, swing dancing, games, and preaching. I was challenged not just to go out into the real world and do amazing things for Christ, but to know how amazing Christ is and then go out into the real world and live for Him. "Will this make me a better Christian?" is a question introduced to me at the retreat that I have often since implemented in my own life. Perhaps better understood to mean "Will this honor Christ best?", the question reminds me to think with an eternal perspective of the choices I make with respect to my words, thoughts, and actions.
I met so many awesome people at retreat! I learned that looks can be deceiving, and it's good not to judge others before you get to know them. People can be unimpressive on the outside, but completely surprise you on the inside. And vice versa. But we won't go there

It's going to be hard to go back to real life after Christmas vacation, but instead of surviving the beginning of the year, I can now thrive with all the rest, fellowship, and good teaching I have enjoyed the past month.

2011, watch out