One of the coolest phrases (at least, I think so) from the bible is this: Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" - Mark 9:24
When I first read that, I was enthralled by it. And ever since then, I find myself saying it to God whenever I have doubts about life, God, His will...etc.
The phrase is beautiful (and seems like an oxymoron - I love those hah). It is beautiful because while the person saying it asks God for help with his unbelief, he has belief (enough belief to ask God for belief). Commanding God to do something might seem odd or crazy, but a command like this is beautiful because it is a genuine plea for God to do his will. God wants us to believe and have faith in him and when we ask for something like that, he will give it to us.
I was contemplating (a dangerous past-time resulting in over-thinking & a headache) on this phrase...and I thought of it this way: "I have faith, help my unbelief." So...the person has faith in God to overcome his unbelief. And then, I thought of if this way: "I believe, help my lack of faith." So...the person believes in God...and asks for faith in him. Faith and believing in something are very different. Satan believes in God...but does not have faith in him (clearly). One can believe that the chair in front of him exists - but does he have faith in the chair to hold him up? So, with all of this, I was trying to decide where each word (faith & belief) should fit into the phrase because I enjoy over-analyzing things which drives everyone else crazy and leaves my brain thoughtless for my actual school work.
Okay...so, with much thought and writing, I finally decided to conclude that the best order depends on the situation. If someone is in a state of doubt about God's existence and says, "I believe, help my unbelief," he is basically saying that he has faith in God's power to overcome his doubts (his unbelief). However, if someone exclaims the oh-so beautiful phrase because he lacks faith in God, he is saying that he believes in God and needs faith in him also.
Oh hey, it just keeps going in circles...because if someone has faith in God...he must believe. Right? So...it depends on what type of doubts...and now my brain is confused and no longer wants to process anything. So...I am finished with my analytic ranting.
When it all comes down to things, the phrase is beautiful and I say it to God a lot; it helps me. I encourage you to try saying it to God whenever you doubt his existence, his power, your identity, and so on. Also, the wording in the bible is good just the way it is - it gets the meaning across.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Running with Scissors
You might be thinking that I am about to tell you a horrific story about making a poor life choice by running with scissors...the end result being...well, tragic. To those of you who were excited to hear such a story, I am very sorry, but that never happened. Continue reading, and you will soon find out why I am talking about scissors. S"K"ISSORS (in case you struggle with spelling 'scissors' - it helps me).
Living for Christ is like running with scissors on ice (cheesy, but catchy...and true). Originally, it was just going to be, "living for Christ is like running with scissors." Ice adds the thrill to running with scissors and it semi-rhymes with Christ. Running with scissors on ice (or on floor) is dangerous *gasp* (such a shocker)! Doing anything on ice is quite thrilling and incredibly frightening (broomball...iceskating...running with scissors..). Okay, enough with my obvious, side comments.
When you walk with Christ, you will be persecuted, frowned upon, misunderstood, hated, ignored, shafted...and the list goes on. Life with Christ is not always safe and not always happy (you will gain joy though). Living for Christ means that we stop conforming to the world's ways.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing, and perfect will. - Romans 12:2
***Disclaimer - I am not saying that everything in the world is bad and I am not saying we need to stop doing everything worldly-related when living for Christ. Also, even with Christ, life can be boring at times (homework...rainy days..etc)
If living for Christ is so dangerous, why live that way?
-> Therefore, since we are surrounded by such as great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. - Hebrews 12:1
When we live for Christ, we are praising Him. No, we do not need to do good works or be super "spiritual" to receive eternal life with Christ. However, after being offered such a great opportunity from the Maker (though we are undeserving), we should praise and glorify him - he kinda, really, deserves it. It's not just a 'we should' type of thing either. It is something that is hard not to do when living for Christ. God opens our eyes to countless blessings when we view things apart from the world. He provides us with more than enough. When I realize this, I cannot help but praise him for his selfless sacrifice.
To sum this incredibly long post (that few, if any of you are still reading)...I'll keep it simple:
CAUTION: Living a life for Jesus is both thrilling and highly dangerous! (It's like running with scissors on ice). And extremely worth it.
***Please note that while living for Jesus (which is dangerous and thrilling...and like running with scissors on ice) is encouraged, literally running with scissors on ice (or any other surface, or thin air if you can fly) is NOT encouraged. In fact, please don't. Just don't. It would be a poor life decision with awful consequences.
Living for Christ is like running with scissors on ice (cheesy, but catchy...and true). Originally, it was just going to be, "living for Christ is like running with scissors." Ice adds the thrill to running with scissors and it semi-rhymes with Christ. Running with scissors on ice (or on floor) is dangerous *gasp* (such a shocker)! Doing anything on ice is quite thrilling and incredibly frightening (broomball...iceskating...running with scissors..). Okay, enough with my obvious, side comments.
When you walk with Christ, you will be persecuted, frowned upon, misunderstood, hated, ignored, shafted...and the list goes on. Life with Christ is not always safe and not always happy (you will gain joy though). Living for Christ means that we stop conforming to the world's ways.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing, and perfect will. - Romans 12:2
***Disclaimer - I am not saying that everything in the world is bad and I am not saying we need to stop doing everything worldly-related when living for Christ. Also, even with Christ, life can be boring at times (homework...rainy days..etc)
If living for Christ is so dangerous, why live that way?
-> Therefore, since we are surrounded by such as great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. - Hebrews 12:1
When we live for Christ, we are praising Him. No, we do not need to do good works or be super "spiritual" to receive eternal life with Christ. However, after being offered such a great opportunity from the Maker (though we are undeserving), we should praise and glorify him - he kinda, really, deserves it. It's not just a 'we should' type of thing either. It is something that is hard not to do when living for Christ. God opens our eyes to countless blessings when we view things apart from the world. He provides us with more than enough. When I realize this, I cannot help but praise him for his selfless sacrifice.
To sum this incredibly long post (that few, if any of you are still reading)...I'll keep it simple:
CAUTION: Living a life for Jesus is both thrilling and highly dangerous! (It's like running with scissors on ice). And extremely worth it.
***Please note that while living for Jesus (which is dangerous and thrilling...and like running with scissors on ice) is encouraged, literally running with scissors on ice (or any other surface, or thin air if you can fly) is NOT encouraged. In fact, please don't. Just don't. It would be a poor life decision with awful consequences.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Altruistic Motives is A No-Go
I can tell you now, the motives behind my actions are usually not the right motives I should have. Anyone ever lie to themselves about his or her motives to feel better about the action taken? I do, and I must confess that I do it quite often. "Nah, I'm not doing this in order to look really good and impress people...I'm helping people, of course! However, it would make me look like a really spiritual christian...that's a plus. Oh wait, HELP OTHERS!" Smack me in the face! That example is usually how my brain reasons my motives in order to make me feel better about myself and my actions.
Even when motives are truly to help people (a good thing), motives should first, glorify and serve the Lord. For some reason, I find it hard to grasp doing things for Him first, depending on what it is that I am doing. I don't know if the difficulty is caused by the fact that I am unable to physically see God, but I can see people, or something else (or both).
There is also a tendency to do things to simply feel good. When I sing, I just want that awesome, chilling effect I get when I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. When I sing, I should sing to praise the Lord, not to simply feel awesome.
Here is the order I feel motives should be:
1) Serve and glorify the Lord
2) Serve others
3) For ourselves
Here is the order my motives often lie:
1) For myself
2) Serve others
3) Serve and glorify the Lord
Hmm...according to my calculations, those do not match up...at all. FAIL.
Thankfully, because the Lord wants my motives to be pure, I can ask for pure motives and know that I will receive them. See Luke 11:9. Also, see 1 John 5:14.
1 Corinthians 10:31
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."
Even when motives are truly to help people (a good thing), motives should first, glorify and serve the Lord. For some reason, I find it hard to grasp doing things for Him first, depending on what it is that I am doing. I don't know if the difficulty is caused by the fact that I am unable to physically see God, but I can see people, or something else (or both).
There is also a tendency to do things to simply feel good. When I sing, I just want that awesome, chilling effect I get when I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. When I sing, I should sing to praise the Lord, not to simply feel awesome.
Here is the order I feel motives should be:
1) Serve and glorify the Lord
2) Serve others
3) For ourselves
Here is the order my motives often lie:
1) For myself
2) Serve others
3) Serve and glorify the Lord
Hmm...according to my calculations, those do not match up...at all. FAIL.
Thankfully, because the Lord wants my motives to be pure, I can ask for pure motives and know that I will receive them. See Luke 11:9. Also, see 1 John 5:14.
1 Corinthians 10:31
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."
Pride of Humility
Raise your hand if you are prideful! (If I do not raise my hand, I lie). Pride comes in all different forms. I struggle with internal pride...probably worse than external pride because internal pride is hidden from the world (at least, I like to think it is...making me even more prideful). Do you ever say something extremely witty or humorous, and afterwords, you internally think, "dang, that was awesome. I am awesome." PRIDE! There are times when I think that I sound awesome in bible studies talking about pride...really? That is how bad it is.
The funny thing is, it is possible to have pride of humility. There are times when I am genuinely humble (once in a blue moon). I look back on those "genuinely humble" moments...and I become prideful that I was once, humble.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Defeated Flower Surrenders to Love
“Love me,” she says
“Love me,” she fights for
“Love me,” she lives for
One by one, the petals fall and color fades
One bold petal remains strongly determined to win
It tugs and pulls for recognition, cries out for the loved heart
“I love you,” it says
“I love you,” it fights for
“I love you,” it lives for
Defeated flower surrenders to love
One by one, rose buds appear and thorns crumble
New petals bloom into beautiful love and life
Bold color bleeds throughout every blossom
Until she freely says, “I am loved, I am loved,
I fight for my savior, I live for my savior, and I love him”
Beauty in Battlefields
Hello. So here is my first post on this blog. I struggled to find a name for my blog and spent my time (probably too much) making a list of names instead of reading for my classes (shh). I'll get to that later...eventually. Anyways, I thought I would explain why I named my blog, "Beauty in Battlefields."
Life seems to be in a constant state of war and is often an oxymoron. While I cannot speak for everyone, others might agree that life tends to be crazy and chaotic but sometimes slow and boring (oxymoron). Life can be horrible but sometimes it is wonderful (again, oxymoron). Life can be ugly but it is also beautiful (Oxi...you get the idea, if I say it one more time it'll probably annoy you).
Because of previous experiences and events in my past, I can tell you that there is beauty in our battlefields. By battlefields, I mean moments (sometimes years) of suffering, pain, confusion (a.k.a. one of those negative moments in your life). Usually, it is not something we see or recognize until enough time passes for us to see the "big picture" from beginning to end (sadly, we can't always see the end...bummer). Now I will explain what I mean by beauty. When we view things apart from the world, we begin to see the good things through the bad, we learn things that we might have not learned if our battlefields never happened. When I fail to find something that makes my battlefields worth the pain, others always find it for me. This is hopeful (and helpful) through current battlefields and battlefields to come. Whether it takes a while to find beauty or someone else to point it out, there is always beauty in battlefields.
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