(Will)ingness

Okay so I was gonna name this one "Spiritual Strength" and decided that (Will)ingness might be what, at the core of it, is what I mean. I've got a couple things I wanna talk about.

First, while in a prayer meeting with my church this morning, we were praying for the city, we were praying for the furtherance of the Kingdom in the city of Richmond, we were praying for God's WILL. The first thought in my head was about this word Willingness and how it just so happened to have Will in it. One of my favorite truths about Christ is that he was a willing participant in His sacrifice, in His Father's Will for his life. Not only that truth, but the truth that God is Willing to use we broken humans to do his Kingdom work and to be his salt and preservative on this earth. We are referred to as Salt in Matthew not because we make things taste better, or we some how just make something bad seem okay...but because of its power to preserve. (because really if we believe we can make ANYTHING better just by our shear presence or "how great" we are, then in my opinion we have turned our backs on Christ in a big way. we've somehow believed that we can do the world a service on our own). This says to me that we have a worth something, SOMEONE, way bigger than ourselves. Not a worth in our own movements or accomplishments, but a worth in the (Will)ingness of GOD the FATHER. Any way I just want to pass on this small but incredibly huge truth that God is WILLING and delights to use us to preserve his Kingdom.

I promise this ties in. I listened to a Tim Keller sermon today that broke me. The sermon was called "blessed self-forgetfulness" and in this sermon he spoke about the true meaning of humbleness. He says "The true mark of a humble person is not when you walk away from them remembering how humble they are, but how intensely interested they are in you." (paraphrased at best). This drove me to think of why I feel that i'm humble. And through Tim's words I found that the more humble I felt about myself to others...the more arrogant I become. PROUD TO BE HUMBLE...now there's a contradiction. I found that I have such a high opinion of myself, because of how low my opinion is. Well back to TK (we're on an abbreviation basis). "A true man of humbleness doesn't think less of himself, but he thinks of himself less." (again quite paraphrased). Jesus was quite the example of such a thing. This man never thought of himself as righteous because of the miracles he had done, or because of the amount of followers he had...but because of who His Father was, is, and will be. He thought himself righteous because, well, He was the definition of Righteous, He was God made man...a (Will)ing participant in the plan to save those who he became less than to save.

I leave you with this. Be willing to not think of you, but of who. Who is you're life furthering? your self, or God? Be willing to be a chosen preservative in the Kingdom. And take utter joy in (Will)ingness that God has to run after you...when you don't run after Him. He Loves You, I Promise.

Calloused Hands, Calloused Feet, Open Heart

"Can you show me this...what is it? A new way?"

If you've ever seen Wet Hot American Summer, you know where the title of this post is comin from. If not...I urge you to watch that movie asap.

Anyway I wanted to update and say that i've been less than stellar at expressing what i've learned in life since my last post, and I intend on making this more of an outlet for where I can pass along the things I'm learning in sermons, books, and life experiences. Hopefully a couple posts a week! Y'all can keep me accountable on this.

So to start it off with a bang, I'm currently reading a couple books. The Reason For God (Tim Keller), Abba's Child (Brennan Manning), and a commentary on the book of Romans (which I am actually going through verse by verse, and its epic). I've learned a lot from the first chapter in Abba's Child about being okay with myself.

Brennan Manning is one of my favorite authors and in this he talks about stories of self realization and how we, like Adam and Eve, have been ashamed of who we are so we hide. From God and from each other, we hide.

Adam and Eve covered themselves when they saw that they were naked and even hid from God when he came to see them in the Garden. We are doing the same thing when we try to become something we're not to impress others and to avoid guilt, shame, rejection, and loneliness. We are so good at hiding who we REALLY are that sometimes, if not most times, we cant even recognize that person when they show up. Im convinced that the reason men battle with lust, women battle with self-esteem, and many more struggles on both ends of the spectrum, is because we're so afraid of spending time with ourselves, THE MEN AND WOMEN GOD CREATED US TO BE.

Is that a slap in God's face? Sure is. Can we come back from it? Sure can!

The redeeming POWER of Gods love and Grace tells us "you're okay. you're beautiful. you're interesting. you're perfect. because I made you and I LOVE YOU."

Folks I'm tellin you this. we dont need anyone or anything else, than our Father who made us. I encourage you to be okay with you, and not worry about who you should be, but take pure joy in who you already are.

I'll leave you with my favorite quote from Brennan Manning. "He Loves you as you are, and NOT as you should be."

Here's a little treat- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gINtHqwjr2M

Calloused Hands, Calloused Feet, Open Heart