Hot Button

Everyone has a hot button issue or two (or ten). You know, the type of thing that instantly brings out your gut reaction and deepest passion often soaked in a bit of anger.

Today, I am faced with the difficult question: what would happen if our hot button(s) became peace, justice, freedom for all, or spreading the Gospel? I find myself all too often focused on the wrong things; however, these things are important to me.

I am quite contemplative lately.

Fragile

I am always surprised by how fragile the human body is. Yet, it is also fairly resilient. I would venture to say that God has made our heart the same way. The heart is fragile and in this messy life it gets hurt. Nevertheless, God has made it resilient if we trust our hurt heart to His healing. This is what is swirling around my brain at 6:52 am this Monday... I see a long day of thinking ahead.

Paradigm of Wholeness

Having a certain paradigm shift can be quite monumental in life. Friday I had one of those moments. Kathryn redefined the work of the cross for me in a way that I cannot fully share the impact to my heart.

For the past ten or twelve years I have seen the cross as the place of forgiveness. The place that must be stopped at in order to gain salvation. A place to trust that Christ did indeed pay for my sins and through that payment I have eternal life. This is all true; it is just lacking fullness.

Kathryn told me that the cross is where I was made whole. As in, already made whole. When Christ did his work on the cross it was not only for forgiveness, but for freedom and abundant life. My wholeness has already been completed in the blood and work of Christ. It is my responsibility to learn how to live and walk in the truth of the wholeness and freedom Christ has offered. Sanctification is working out wholeness in Christ daily.

The Truth that I am already whole when I seem and feel so broken was astounding. The magnitude of what Jesus did is so much deeper and fuller than we truly give Him credit for. Learning how to walk this abundant life out is a process, sometimes second by second, but it can be done. It is a mystery to me how God can love us all so much to go to exceedingly great links to provide us a life of wholeness through His son Jesus. I am more and more grateful for grace and providence each day.

Painting the Heart

It is hard to blog this summer. I am exhausted from my job, so much so that I have had this particular blog planned for nearly a week now.

I am painting currently. Right now we are working on the inside of the gym: floor to ceiling mostly white, primed then two coats. It is hard, hot, dirty and boring.

As I was covering blue paint with white, I realized something: we all paint our hearts and lives with certain things to enhance our appearances as we paint walls to improve their looks. We wear make-up, name brand clothes and shoes, drive expensive cars and do all we can to keep up with the Jones'. All this masks who we truly are. This covers up what God has called us to be. I think it is time that we prime our hearts with the Word and worship and let God paint on what He truly wants to be there. I am almost 100% sure that it won't be Nikes and Mary Kay.

Grace Again

It has been several days since I have posted... with the end of the school year and some personal turmoil, I was just not up to it last week and I have decided that, while I would like to post five days a week, I am not going to force posts for the time being.

Grace has been a major topic in my life for the past few months and today has been no different. I read a quote, "Whatever is chasing you-- no matter what it looks like -- it is grace. Grace isn't what makes us feel good: grace is all that makes us more like Jesus." Grace is hard and it can be scary. Trusting God to work His sanctifying grace in us, takes a TON of faith.

Here is to praying that whatever chases me tomorrow will make me more like Jesus in the end.