John 3:17 tells us that God sent His son to save the world. Some of you just read that verse and thought.....yes I know that. And so many of us are so familiar with Christ's story. And even if you have never read Matthew, Mark, Luke or John you know that Jesus died on the cross. Crosses are displayed all over the place. They are worn as necklaces, placed on top of churches, and hung on the walls of many homes but have we really thought about what the cross means. I think we recognize that the cross symbolizes our forgiveness. And many of us come before Christ and ask for that forgiveness. But one thing I think we fail to recognize is that Christ's death on the cross was personal.
I have often heard people say that right before someone dies they have a flashback, a glimpse of all the things that have taken place in their life. While I do not know if this is true for us, I do believe that this was true for Christ. But instead of reflecting on His life, He reflected on ours. I believe that every single one of our faces flashed through his mind in those last moments. HE DID THIS FOR YOU! Please read that again! HE DID THIS FOR YOU! You went through His mind. Your face, your life He saw in the last moments before He died. While I truly believe that Christ came to save the world, if He had only saved you that would have been enough.
I can not tell you how freeing it has been to come to this revelation. I have heard Christ's story countless times but it was not until I started to take it personally did I really understand what Christ did it for me. There is nothing He would not do for me. I just have to lay it before Him recognizing that He always knows what is best for me. I need to seek Him only. Laying it all before Him. Letting Him move in me. Always reflecting on His cross and always taking it personally.
Jesus, thank you, thank you, thank you. There are not even words to describe what you have done for me. I am truly in awe of your sacrifice. Sometimes I wonder why you did but than I remember your love. Help me, Jesus, to be the sacrifice for you that you are for me. Move in me, Jesus. Help me to always reflect on your cross and take it personally. Help me to show others how to take it personally. Jesus pour out over your people! We need you! Amen.
Blessing to all of you,
Kara
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Popularity: Who is defining you?
Luke 6:26 - "There's trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests-look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular." (The Message)
After I read that this morning something stung a little bit. Actually it more like getting hit by a truck. So many times in my life, I have gotten popularity all wrong. When I was a little kid I was somewhat of an outcast. To be honest, I do not really remember the reason kids did not like me. I actually do not even really remember being teased, I was just more of a loner. If you can relate to me it is you know it is not a fun place to be. I longed to be a part of the cool crowd. I so wanted their approval. As I got older this became more and more important and I became less and less interested in being myself. I just wanted the "cool kids" to like me. What I failed to recognize was that I was compromising who I was for who people wanted me to be. I grew up knowing who Christ was and who He called me to be. I just simply did not understand that sometimes that does not always make you popular. So instead of standing strong in my faith, I abandoned Christ and went with in crowd.
I spent many years going through heart ache because I did not follow Christ. I made a lot of bad decisions, let people define me and ultimately lost who I was in the process. While I still know I have a ways to go in completely discovering who I am, God has revealed something to me that is so precious that I have to share it with all of you. No matter what you have done, where you have been, who you let define you He was always there. There is nothing in this world that can change that. And even more so, while you were out trying to be someone else, HE knew you! No matter how many masks you tried to put on or costumes you wore you could never hide your true self from Him. Don't you just love that even if you have spent your whole lifetime trying to be someone else, He always knew you. And only through Him can you be restored back to that person.
If we were all looking at a map of my life there would be a bright red arrow pointing to a place in the road where Restoration Avenue and Christ Street meet with a sign above it that said "YOU ARE HERE". The road ahead is probably long, bumpy at times, there are bound to be curves along the way and best of all I have no idea where I am going but I don't care because Christ is the driver. You see, it was not until I decided to stop worrying about popularity and worry about what Christ thinks of me that I will truly find myself. I hope many of you will join me in letting God restore you into who He always meant you to be.
Blessings to all you,
Kara
After I read that this morning something stung a little bit. Actually it more like getting hit by a truck. So many times in my life, I have gotten popularity all wrong. When I was a little kid I was somewhat of an outcast. To be honest, I do not really remember the reason kids did not like me. I actually do not even really remember being teased, I was just more of a loner. If you can relate to me it is you know it is not a fun place to be. I longed to be a part of the cool crowd. I so wanted their approval. As I got older this became more and more important and I became less and less interested in being myself. I just wanted the "cool kids" to like me. What I failed to recognize was that I was compromising who I was for who people wanted me to be. I grew up knowing who Christ was and who He called me to be. I just simply did not understand that sometimes that does not always make you popular. So instead of standing strong in my faith, I abandoned Christ and went with in crowd.
I spent many years going through heart ache because I did not follow Christ. I made a lot of bad decisions, let people define me and ultimately lost who I was in the process. While I still know I have a ways to go in completely discovering who I am, God has revealed something to me that is so precious that I have to share it with all of you. No matter what you have done, where you have been, who you let define you He was always there. There is nothing in this world that can change that. And even more so, while you were out trying to be someone else, HE knew you! No matter how many masks you tried to put on or costumes you wore you could never hide your true self from Him. Don't you just love that even if you have spent your whole lifetime trying to be someone else, He always knew you. And only through Him can you be restored back to that person.
If we were all looking at a map of my life there would be a bright red arrow pointing to a place in the road where Restoration Avenue and Christ Street meet with a sign above it that said "YOU ARE HERE". The road ahead is probably long, bumpy at times, there are bound to be curves along the way and best of all I have no idea where I am going but I don't care because Christ is the driver. You see, it was not until I decided to stop worrying about popularity and worry about what Christ thinks of me that I will truly find myself. I hope many of you will join me in letting God restore you into who He always meant you to be.
Blessings to all you,
Kara
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Guard your heart against the media.....
I have to tell you that one of my favorite speakers is Joyce Meyer. I just absolutely love her. She is so full of God's wisdom! Last night as I watching her program on T.V. she touched on something that I brought up in my last blog.....guarding your heart. I can not stress enough how important that is. One of the things that God has been revealing to me about my heart is that I need to guard it against the media.
Romans 2:1-2 tells us...... So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (The Message)
And there it is in BIG BOLD letters, don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Oh how I have struggled with this especially when it comes to the media. The other night as I was sitting there all by myself (Cade was asleep and Trev was at a fantasy football draft) I found myself having a conversation with God about what I was about to watch. I wanted to watch the Real Housewives of New Jersey. For those of you who do not know this show is about rich women. Some of them stay home and some of them work but mostly they just bicker with one another! And bickering they do. They can really be just awful to one another. As I was about to turn it on I heard God say to me "Why do you want to watch that?" Talk about stopping me dead in my tracks. Then I did something rather funny, I began to rationalize with God about how I was just simply watching T.V. and there was no harm in that. I obviously was not thinking. I even rationalized it further with God by saying that lots of people watch it. I was clearly not thinking about Romans. God so graciously whispered to me but Kara you are not a lot of people. You are my chosen daughter and I have called you into a life that has a higher standard then that of this world. Obviously there was no getting around it was just not something I needed to be watching and I turned it off.
I think sometimes has Christians we forget that we are held to a higher standard. For me, sometimes I wish we were not! That higher standard can be so hard to live by. We have to fix our eyes on God constantly to live by that standard. I think over time this has gotten increasing harder with introduction of the media. Our televisions, radios, cd players, ipods, and computers can all be filled with things that distract from this higher standard. I urge all of you to be watchful of the media. Be careful what you listen to or watch. Do not let the devil convince you that watching a show just one time is not going to hurt anything! We need to filling our eyes and ears with Jesus. We need to be placing our WHOLE lives as an offering to God and that includes the media we allow into our lives.
For me, I will seeking God on what is acceptable to watch or listen to. I can not continue to allow wordly standards define that. While I know this is not an easy task and I may stumble and fall at times, the more I practice this the easier it will become. So my practice starts today! :) I hope you will join me in that.
Blessings to all you!
Kara
Romans 2:1-2 tells us...... So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (The Message)
And there it is in BIG BOLD letters, don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Oh how I have struggled with this especially when it comes to the media. The other night as I was sitting there all by myself (Cade was asleep and Trev was at a fantasy football draft) I found myself having a conversation with God about what I was about to watch. I wanted to watch the Real Housewives of New Jersey. For those of you who do not know this show is about rich women. Some of them stay home and some of them work but mostly they just bicker with one another! And bickering they do. They can really be just awful to one another. As I was about to turn it on I heard God say to me "Why do you want to watch that?" Talk about stopping me dead in my tracks. Then I did something rather funny, I began to rationalize with God about how I was just simply watching T.V. and there was no harm in that. I obviously was not thinking. I even rationalized it further with God by saying that lots of people watch it. I was clearly not thinking about Romans. God so graciously whispered to me but Kara you are not a lot of people. You are my chosen daughter and I have called you into a life that has a higher standard then that of this world. Obviously there was no getting around it was just not something I needed to be watching and I turned it off.
I think sometimes has Christians we forget that we are held to a higher standard. For me, sometimes I wish we were not! That higher standard can be so hard to live by. We have to fix our eyes on God constantly to live by that standard. I think over time this has gotten increasing harder with introduction of the media. Our televisions, radios, cd players, ipods, and computers can all be filled with things that distract from this higher standard. I urge all of you to be watchful of the media. Be careful what you listen to or watch. Do not let the devil convince you that watching a show just one time is not going to hurt anything! We need to filling our eyes and ears with Jesus. We need to be placing our WHOLE lives as an offering to God and that includes the media we allow into our lives.
For me, I will seeking God on what is acceptable to watch or listen to. I can not continue to allow wordly standards define that. While I know this is not an easy task and I may stumble and fall at times, the more I practice this the easier it will become. So my practice starts today! :) I hope you will join me in that.
Blessings to all you!
Kara
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