our yoke

i had SUCH a cool realization today about what this verse means! once again, i'm continuing through matthew and the very end of chapter 11 jesus says,"come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and i will give you rest. take my yoke upon you. let me teach you, because i am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. for my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden i give you is light." for a while i have known that it is not talking about egg yoke here. it is referring to what cattle or humans wear so that they are able to stay close and carry the heavy weight they are carrying easier. they share the load, they're close, they are working together to get through it easier. i never thought about the fact that by taking HIS yoke we are BOTH in it. we are walking side by side. He makes the hard things easier and heavy things lighter because He is right there helping me through it. just a nugget but SO encouraging! i have been reminded a lot lately by just how faithful God is. when things on this earth disappoint me, hurt me, let me down etc. i am reminded that God is constant. constantly good...holy...faithful...loving...perfect...and more than worthy of my praise! that is the kind of God that i live for and trust! i love knowing that my God is unwavering.

moved by the breath of the wind.

so i have been reading in matthew and today i read something and i guess in the past i just skimmed over it but today i read it with fresh eyes and it was just really cool to me. in chapter 11 Jesus talks about john the baptist very honorably. whats interesting here is that John was an odd character. Jesus obviously knew that people thought lowly of John the Baptist and so i think he just felt it necessary to plead his case. Jesus wanted people to know that some of the greatest people are the people that don't seem great at all. John was dirty, ate bugs, and was even in jail as Jesus was speaking about him. but in verse 11:11 Jesus says, "i assure you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist." i'm still trying to figure out what exactly God's favor is, but whether i understand that or not its clear that Jesus is proud of the life that John has lead and i think Jesus is giving us a clear example of somebody that would be honorable to model our lives after. i mean we are clearly encouraged to do what Jesus did but maybe Jesus wanted us to see that a real person can do it?? he lived a life that was so glorifying to God that Jesus actually said, "and from the time John the Baptist began preaching and baptizing until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing." how cool! ONE person effected the KINGDOM OF GOD!!!! thats huge! definitely somebody that i want to study and figure out what i need to change about my life to make it look more like his. i want Christ to say one day that my life forcefully advanced His kingdom. so awesome!

Who is your God?

in the past couple years of my life i have really been trying to figure out what a life, following God, looks like. obviously i want people to see how wonderful this God is that i follow and being a living example of that has shown to be one of the most effective ways for people to see that. not talk but action. but its been a trip having a good balance of me and God where i'm playing my part and He's playing His.

i've done the "good" route where i make all the right choices and do my best to follow every rule, but that ends up pushing God to the side cause i think i got things going fine on my own.....until i don't. and in the process everybody wants to smack me cause im "soooo" good and i hide my faults trying to keep God name good, like he needs my help there.

and then i've done the lazy route where i just know God has everything in control and so it doesn't matter what I do cause everything is going turn out the way its supposed to anyway. but then i end up feeling empty, my life has no purpose and nobody see's anything different about my life. and when that happens God doesn't get the glory that His name deserves and when we don't give Him the glory He deserves, i think we forget the kind of God that He is! so then, whats the point of loving a mediocre God?

i think there is beautiful harmony that happens when we finally get real and find the balance. because it is neither all our responsibility or all Gods. God is God and He is constant. He is never going to change. He loves His people and His grace is abundant. overflowing!!! He is holy and deserves praise. and He meets our needs. He is doing His part and waits for His people to pursue seeking their role. the first step is coming to Him willing and then following in obedience. when we stop ignoring His soft voice and listen to what He has to say about our worth and what He has for us, we begin to trust Him more and more. so many people in this world settle on things that are just ok because they have drowned out the voice of the One who says they are worth more. even christians do this! i've done this! but i'm done settling. God's promises are true and so i continue to follow Him because He knows what is best for my heart and if mine stays aligned with His then our desires line up and so as long as i'm following God i will have everything my heart longs for because God is good :)

more please

recently i have been reading through matthew and im hoping to continue on through the gospels. i want to do this because i have been going to a house church and my first night i was convicted that a lot of the time i take what the gospel says and i make excuses for not taking it for what it really says and following that. Jesus made it very clear that following Him was very costly! He calls us to drop everything and follow Him. i heard a quote once and it said, "born of the Spirit, blown like the wind". the gospel encourages us to let go of the things that trap us. God desires freedom for us in all aspects of life; not bound by sin, debt, pain, or anything that keeps us from being completely free!!! i know a lot of people have a hard time taking what Jesus said and seeing freedom in it but Jesus is the essence of everything good and so by following him and indulging in Him we feel a sense of freedom that out weighs ANY act of rebellion to try and receive it. for example, when i began to follow what my parents taught me and showed them that i could be trusted i gained so much freedom! i think it is the same with the Lord. when we choose to follow Him it may seem like all these rules are suddenly invading our lives but the Lord just wants us to see that life can be enjoyed SO much greater if we see that nothing on this earth satisfies like He does. when he becomes the center of our lives we don't care about what we are "missing out on" because He changes our heart and we begin to desire good things. it seems like a crazy concept to some, perhaps, but im living proof that its true. God is SO GOOD! His entire being is good and He gives me endless joy :) why would i ever want anything else?

Over The Sun

"im finding that maybe i was wrong, that i've fallen down and i cant do this alone, stay with me, this is what i need, please.

sing us a song, and we'll sing it back to you. we could sing our own, but what would it be without you?

i am nothing now, and its been so long since i've heard the sound, the sound of my only hope, this time i will be listening"

-paramore.

i heard something recently that i knew in my head but the way it was phrased hit me differently and impacted me more in my heart and it was this...

"even the things that are greatest in life can be a burden when Christ is not in them"

for example; going to college, getting a job, marriage, children, a new home, etc. all the things that can be really great in this life are bound to eventually wear us down if God is not renewing our joy daily. in Ecclesiastes solomon repeats over and over that nothing is new under the sun. he did everything imaginable in life to exercise pleasure and happiness and eventually it all sucked and at the end of his life he was done with it. he had no lasting joy. no matter what it is, if its within this world its going to get old, its going to let us down, and its going to become a burden. the only way to keep our joy is to throw God into everything in our lives. He is the one that is going to make things interesting and He is the one that is going to surprise us around every corner. if we come to Him and allow Him to renew our joy daily then all the things in our lives will be exciting because we aren't looking to them for our ultimate happiness. our joy comes from the Lord and so everything else is gravy :) without Christ this life is everything that solomon said it was......depressing and monotonous.