Mysterious Text

i got a text today from a number i didnt recognize and it said this,

"22 missionaries in Afghanistan are being tortured to death today. Please be in prayer for them."

my first instinct was to be sad because people are being killed as i type this, but then it dawned on me what they are dying for!!!! they are dying today because they did not hide their faith. they were not ashamed of the Name of Christ! that is such an encouragement to me! they find so much worth in Jesus that even in the face of death they stay true to their Savior :) i dont think they need a bit of prayer, God has them in His hands and soon enough they will be by His side. i think the people that need prayer right now are the people that are killing them and the families. i pity the people that are killing these missionaries because they are going to have to face this one day, hopefully before they reach the end of their life and its going to hurt. at some point they are going to realize what they did and it'll be a thorn in their side. i hope and pray that they realize the weight of what they did today and find forgiveness before its too late. and i hope that the families of the missionaries that are being killed today see this as a beautiful thing. beneath all the pain of losing someone they love i hope they'll have a peace that their loved one died a noble death! and the most glorious thing about today is that they may be in pain right now but they are about to be in the full presence of the Lord and any pain they felt today will be forgotten due to the magnitude of Gods glory shinning before them. im actually jealous of them. what an honor to die for the only thing that really matters. Praise God!

Am I doing this right??

i have been going to a bible study for about 6 weeks now and we have been going thru the book crazy love and we always go around and share what stood out to us personally in reading the chapter that previous week. now to preface, this book is all about motivating the people that go through the motions of Christianity to do it with heart and passion. so this week the quote that i particularly enjoyed was this,

"when you are pursuing love, running toward Christ, you do not have opportunity to wonder, am i doing this right? or did i serve enough this week? when you are running toward Christ you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry, or fear. as long as you are running, you are safe."

as long as your goal and hearts desire is to serve God in everything you do then your heart is pure and like the quote said, your safe! its when you ask questions like, how far can i go for this to still be "ok"? if your asking those kind of questions and you call your self a follower of Christ you may want to sit down and think about what you really want. do you want to glorify Christ or yourself? there are way to many people in this world that say they are "Christians" and then they live their lives for themselves! being a Christian is about sacrificing yourself for a greater purpose, giving to people freely, loving people when they dont deserve it, putting yourself in situations where God has to show up in order for you to continue living! Christianity is so messed up in eyes of people that dont know the Lord because they see the people that claim Christ but dont actually follow Him and dont live in the way that shows people there is hope and a greater love than ANYTHING they have ever experienced. we need to be living lives that people see and before we utter the words that we follow Christ, they KNOW something is different. that kind of living is powerful.

so if you find that your living for yourself or your wondering if "your doing this right?" then you need to figure out who you want to follow, either way, and give everything you've got cause Christ isnt up for half a heart. He wants ALL of you! if you can muster up the slightest desire to follow Christ then pray for that desire to grow. of course God will give you more desire for him if your seeking it. and for everyone wherever you may be in your walk, ask yourself this question.

"if you could have heaven, with no sickness, & with all the friends you ever had on earth, & all the food you ever liked, & all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, & all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, & no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?"

Disciples

ive been reading the book Velvet Elvis, by Rob Bell and in one of the chapters i got a better understanding of what a disciple really is. the way it used to work back then was that students would do their schooling and at age 14 they would go out and find a rabbi that they appreciated and they would ask the rabbi if they could follow. if the rabbi said, "go home and learn your family business" that meant that the rabbi didnt think the young man had what it took to follow his yoke. meaning follow in his footsteps, or view scripture in the same way as he did. BUT if the rabbi responded, "come, follow me" then that meant that the rabbi knew that this young man was up for the challenge. soooo just so you keep up, a disciple is someone that not only views scripture in the same light BUT somebody that actually strives to be just like the rabbi they follow! so then here comes Jesus and people saw Him as a Rabbi and just like tradition follows, Jesus says to 12 boys/men, "come, follow me" and they came, they follow and even after Jesus left they continued to walk in His footsteps and continue His mission. well....what do you think we are! we are disciples of Christ! we have made the commitment to follow Him. and i love that cause not only are we seeing things His way but we try to be more and more like Him! sanctification, the continuation of our salvation! something that isnt complete until we are united with Christ in Heaven!!! so anyway, all that to say the part that touched my heart the most. i assume most of you know about the story of all the disciples in the boat with Jesus when a storm kicks up and Jesus steps out of the boat and walks on the water. paul asks to walk to Him. he takes a few steps and then falls in the water. the point that rob presses here is not that paul lost faith in Christ!!! how could he!?! Jesus was standing right there in plain sight on top of the water? paul lost faith in himself. what we need to realize is that God chose each of you. He knew that you were up for the challenge and so He said, "come, follow me". not only do you have faith in God, but HE has faith in YOU. He chose you, so He must know that you are capable of amazing things! i just loved that. Gods love is so huge, it gets bigger and bigger and im trilled to be able to live this life and know that its only going to become bigger and bigger as i follow Him :)

Ministry......right?

so a little while ago i was in my bible study and we were reading a chapter in Crazy Love and the focus was on living a life full out for the Lord, going out to every country making disciple, and living extreme lives for His Glory! well it made one of the girls in my bible study a little confused and a little discouraged. i think there are definitely people that are called into ministry and are called to devote their lives to God through running a church or maintaining a mission field in another country! but i also believe that people have to be back on the mainland! what my friend struggled with was, "wouldn't it just be easier to go into ministry??" she felt discouraged because her going through school to be a nurse wasn't dedicating her life to living on nothing in Africa. it is weird to think that there are people that God has called to be in "ministry" for their job and people to be doctors, and garbage men, and store clerks, and in my case, hair dressers. so it would seem like God might have favoritism towards the people he calls for ministry but i think its something so much more personal than that. the industry that i am going into with hair styles and make up and fashion and putting on a face everyday can be seen by a lot of people as a very shallow job that God would never call anyone into. but if i know God, He's got something so personal in mind. i believe that God is so amazing and knows us soooo intricately that He knows what is going to make us happy. God knows that i thrive in an environment where i can express myself creatively and be around people to love. so obviously being a hairdresser is what i was made to do. God knows that i have such a deep passion for that! i believe he knows that i will glorify him in my passion and i will see His glory in the little things that others may not notice. God knows every one of you so intricately that he takes your passions and shapes them to ultimately glorify Him. for my friend, being a nurse, she gets to experience Gods glory in the little scientific things that other people, like me, wouldn't understand. God has such a cool way of connecting to His people. and whose to say that you have to be in another country or in a church everyday to bring other others into the Kingdom of God!!! we get the opportunity to make a difference every single day. Love the people around you at work or just in every day life. you are chosen by God and He wants to do big things with you whether your a pastor, missionary, or just a garbage man.

colossians 3:23

whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men!

Palm Trees

last night i went to Midtown Church which i LOVE, by the way. there is such an amazing group of people there. i feel encouraged and welcomed the moment i walk in the door! but last night was particularly special because Aaron Keyes spoke. i always love hearing from aaron because i know how much he fills himself with scripture and you get to see it all flow out of him when he speaks. anyway, he spoke last night on worship and took scripture from the Psalms because its full of people who have lifted up worship to God through the good times and the bad. well then he went into different ways that we outwardly worhip the Lord. he compared it to palm trees and willow trees. now ill start with the willow trees because the good stuff comes with the palm trees :) willow trees as you know are droopy. they actually grow downward and bend downward. they bow. in asian country's if you were to meet someone that was older than you or at a higher status than you you would bow before them to show your respect for them and acknowledge that you are lower than them. now with our worhip when you are humbled at the Lords greatness dont you naturally want to bow, get on your knees, or put your face to the floor cause there is nowhere lower to go?! its not a bad thing, its a beautiful thing! you are acknowledging that God is higher than you and so He receives the glory! now onto the palm tree which is my favorite. in Levitcus 23:40 it talks about raising palm branches and REJOICING before the Lord! Aaron hit on 5 facts about palm trees that so define the people who truly rejoice in the Lord and here they are:

1. unlike most trees, palm tree's roots go miles into the ground looking for a water source. but because these roots run so deep they remain rooted through ANY storm! notice how in hurricanes and tornadoes, the palms are practically bent over.....but they never break :) they are strong and after the storm they are actually stronger.

2. palm trees can never be cut down because they get their nutrients from "the heart" which is in its root in the ground! the heart is safe in the foundation. so you can hack and hack at a palm tree and cut it deep but it will always grow back. just like Christians, we may be cut down and attacked but we grow back because we were made to stand strong and tall and our heart is protected by our foundation.

3. the fruit from a palm tree can never be taken or eaten by any animal because they are held high, protected. aaron referenced a verse that talked about how when God protects us, He doesnt hide us from sight, He hides us out of reach. but he took this a little differently than i thought and referred to the fruit on the tree as the 'fruit of our loins'. if you train up your children in the way of the Lord then they will not turn from it (proverbs 22:6). we protect our children just like a palm tree. hold them close where its safe but if they decide to fall, we cant force them to stay.

4. a palm tree keeps growing. they keep growing higher and higher to the sky until they die. and i think this is a vital thing that we have to remember as christians, is to NEVER stop growing. there will always be more to learn and God doesnt have a cut off age for His plans for you, not until the day He finally takes you home!

5. and finally, the only way a palm tree can die is the cold. this is why palm trees are only in like florida and the desert, etc. but this is, i think, the most important to know and hold onto. you have to keep the fire burning inside. that fire is your passion to not only live BUT live to the fullest! if that fire freezes up the passion goes with it.

anyway, i hope i didnt butcher what he said but it was really neat to me and i believe the Lord will have you interpret what he wants you to hear, so im not too worried. i learn well with imagery so i hope you do as well :)

REJOICE!!!