For Such a Time as This

The story of Esther.

Has been captivating me.

More specifically the words of Mordecai in Esther 4:14 ...

"And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (ESV)

...have been speaking very loud to me these past few days.

For such a time as this.
For such a time as this.

In a world where sin runs so rampant, where Godlessness is the norm, and where materialism is praised and pressed into the minds and hearts of not only my generation but especially the generation that is just coming of age...All I can think about is the question, "God why have you put me here?"

And I'm not asking why God has chosen to put me on Earth, I'm asking, 'Why now? Why this time? This place?' Why did you bless me with parents and a good education, why did you bless me with citizenship in such a free country?

Me, why me?

Not that I'm not grateful... I am. But what will you have me do with this time, this place, this area in my life? Why was I chosen to be a part of God's kingdom for such a time as this?

These are all questions that we need to wrestle with at one point or another in our ministry.

Yes, I said ministry.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 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 12:1-2

We've heard these verses numerous times.

NUMEROUS times, and it's because these verses are packed with so much meaning, so much power, so much truth about our role, our job, our identity, our abilities, our future, and our desires in this life and the life to come... both little parts of God's Kingdom.

Because the Kingdom of Heaven is what it's really about.

But we are never told to look up, stare at the sky and wait til then to start making a difference.

Jesus said, 'GO!'

Go where?

Go into all the world.

Ministry. Our lives are not about us.

"in view of God’s mercy... offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."

Because the moment our lives start reflecting us, we are no longer reflecting Christ.

The moment we decide that this life is actually our life and that it's time for us to get what we want... we've lost the Great Commission.

We need to represent the gospel everywhere we go, in everything we do.

Because we don't know... when our moment will come.
We don't know if God has something big.
Something special.
Just around the corner.
Perhaps Christ has you in a position 'for such a time as this'.

Perhaps you are in a job that you despise, but your co-workers do not know Christ.
Perhaps you are at a school where you are the only Christian on campus... or at least it feels that way.
Perhaps you work with Christians, you have a wonderful environment constantly surrounding you, but there's a guy who walks in looking down and gloom.
Perhaps you are at a Christian college and the work load from the professors seem to be just too much.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28

'Called according to His purpose.'

So many times we forget about the second part of that verse. God does the calling, we do the answering.
Keep answering.
Keep pressing on.
Don't live a fake life.
Don't live a life for yourself.

We are all ministers of the Gospel of Christ if we bear His name.

We need to live like it... offering our lives as living sacrifices, not conforming to this world, but renewing our mind... literally changing our mind about how we view God. I pray that this blog helps us grow in doing that... I know it does for me just posting about the different topics God has laid on my heart.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. -Psalm 19:14 ESV

But along with this idea I have an announcement to make. This past week was my first week at Ozark Christian College. I'm planning on majoring in Theology with an emphasis in preaching. Obviously I no longer have the time to devote to this blog for consistent updates, in fact this past month I've been rather inconsistent much of the time.

So I've asked my good friend Kirk Curtis, who has guest posted multiple times to join me as a regular blogger.

I'll still be posting whenever I can... as much as I can. But I welcome a new voice with me in this.

Our styles are different, our ideas may be different, but I truly believe God has a ton of things to say through Kirk. He's been a great friend to me and has a passion for God's word that surpasses even my own.

So welcome aboard Kirk, for such a time as this.

My prayer has been closely associated with the premise behind Esther these past few days.

God's plan will always prevail, His will makes a way, and He plans our course. I'm in the position I'm in for such a time as this.

"The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." -Proverbs 16:9

I should devote every effort of my life to preparing, to establishing, and prayerfully discerning what God would have me know.

His will.

"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."

How do we know God's will?

By renewing our mind.
Making a commitment to His Word.
Submitting to the authority of God's Word.
Storing His Word in our hearts...

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. -Psalm 119:11 ESV

Because when we are committing, submitting, and storing God's Word up in our lives... we're really committing to Jesus, submitting to Jesus, storing up more of Jesus.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." -John 1:1

Shouldn't that be our goal as Christians?

Submission is an attitude of Reverence, if we submit to the Word of God, we must also Revere it, if we Revere it, we should Love it, if we Love it, we should Memorize it.

Renew your mind with scripture. Practice it. Memorize it. Know it. Because in essence you are getting to know Jesus by doing so, and the more we get to know Jesus, the more we become like Him, the more the Spirit works in our lives in ways we never could foresee.

And to be perfectly honest... This post has been directed right at me. My professors are giving me memory work in loads... so I'm going to wrap this post up so I can get back to studying.


As we ponder with everything, as we go about our daily lives, our struggles and our times of joy. Remember, think, discover... Is there something in your life right now that God is calling you to do?

Perhaps he has placed you in those situations, 'for such a time as this'. Esther responded and saved her entire nation. That's what her response called for.

How will you respond? 
And...

What will it entail?

Simple Sunday: Waiting Well

I follow another blog called, "An Idol Heart" by Grant Jenkins

I stumbled upon this post yesterday and honestly it's better than anything I could have written on the subject, so today's post is just a forwarded link. I encourage you to read Waiting Well.

Not so Simple Sunday: Moving Forward

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 3:10-14

It's not about what you have obtained.
It's not about what's in your past.

It's about what's ahead.

Moving forward.

Obtaining.
Straining.
Pressing on.
Being called heavenward.

Pursuing the things that are eternal.

Now I don't mean that our entire lives need to be about Heaven... or maybe I do.


Maybe Rob Bell wasn't too far off the mark when he said,

"With every action, comment, conversation, we have the choice to invite Heaven or Hell to Earth." 

Maybe the way we live every day, every single choice we make, determines how in tune with God we are.

I was at MANY summer camps this summer, and with EVERY group I led, I asked this question,

"Why are we doing all this? Why are we Christians?"

The answers were disheartening.

The number one response sounded something like, "So we can go to heaven and live with God."

Well... yeah.
But is that it?
Really?

Is Christianity really that simple, THAT cut and dry?

We live this way...
We say these things...
We go to our conferences and our churches...

SO THAT...

One day.
In either the very near, very distant, or somewhere in between future...
We can go to heaven and live with God.

Because I believed Christianity was about God coming to live with us.

There are a lot of things not right in the church these days.


But this isn't a post to address all of those issues. I want to see a mental revival in the way we view ourselves, God, and what this whole Jesus thing really is.

Because if our whole purpose of living is to just get somewhere else... Why live here at all?

Why go through the struggles and temptations and trials of this life if our whole purpose is to press on to heaven?

The answer is in the first five words of what Paul started this particular passage with:

I want to know Christ.

Jesus was born. Lived 30 years.

And then... he began his ministry.

Why the wait?
Why did God wait?

Maybe because Jesus was showing us... that living is first and foremost... our job here on earth.

“The Bible tells us that Christ’s full humanity is important because of the unique purpose of His mission.” -Joshua Harris

By living 30 years, before beginning his ministry, Jesus showed us the importance of developing ourselves.
Our person.

What makes us, us.


Jesus was defining what made him, him.

The Gospels refer to a lot of what Jesus did, what Jesus' job was, what his work was.

But even before all of that, Matthew, Luke, and even John define who Jesus is in the beginning chapters of their Gospel narratives.

Why is that so important?

“The person and work of Christ are meant to be kept together. You can’t grasp the significance of either without the other.” -Joshua Harris

We can't grasp the significance of who Christ is without seeing what he has done.
We can't grasp the significance of what Christ has done without seeing who he is.

We can't relate to an eternal God who transcends time and space if we don't take the time to feel the impact and the weight of time and space.

Time is just God's way of not letting everything happen all at once.

Time is God's way of letting us develop a relationship with Him, pursuing Him, loving Him, serving Him.
Here.
Now.
On earth.
Bringing pieces of Heaven down to earth.
Showcasing God off to the entire world.
Building His Kingdom, for His glory, by His grace.

And isn't it significant that he uses our very lives, not necessarily our words or deeds, but who he made us to be, to accomplish just that?

And so we're back to our first point: Moving forward.

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead."

In our minds we need to grasp this idea of God shaping us. Pursuing who God is making us to be.
Because though our job is to live life... HOW we live matters.

"Your job is the relentless pursuit of who God made you to be. And anything else you do is sin and you need to repent of it."-Rob Bell

Pressing on is all about understanding who God made us to be:

He made us in His image. (Gen. 1:27)
He prepared us in advance to do good works. (Ephesians 2:5)
He knows us before we are even born. (Jer. 1:5, Psalm 139:13)
He has plans for our hope and prosperity in this life, and life to come. (Jer. 29:11)

...and our reaction to that understanding makes all the difference.


Our past doesn't define us.
God does.
Our failures don't chain us down.
God frees us.
Our choices don't condemn us.
God forgives us.




Live a life knowing God...Really knowing him. Really straining to understand him.
And you will live a life knowing who God made you to be.


With all of that in mind... We don't have to give an answer of our whole life being about living with God in heaven some day, but rather living a life on earth, in the midst of evil and suffering all around us, and having the hope of knowing God, of knowing Christ, within us. We will have the hope of heaven within us, carrying it to the ends of the earth.

 “Being a Christian means being a person who labors to establish his beliefs, his dreams, his choices, his very view of the world on the truth of who Jesus is and what he has accomplished...”

“We’re either building our lives on the reality of what God is truly like and what he’s about, or we’re basing our lives on our own imagination and misconceptions.” -Joshua Harris

**Quotes taken from Rob Bell 'Velvet Elvis' and Joshua Harris 'Dug Down Deep'
See my review of 'Dug Down Deep' here.

1 Peter 3:15

Hey everyone! I'm sorry for my lack of posting over the past month. I have been very busy with camps, work, and just life and haven't had the chance to put together a full length post.

I'm also packing for college which I leave for in just a few more days. :)

So I just wanted to give an update that I will get back into the groove of semi-daily and weekly postings soon.

Meanwhile, 1 Peter 3:15 has been on my mind a lot.

"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,"

I believe this verse is demanding us to know the 'why' of our faith.


REVERE Christ as LORD.
What does that mean?
God doesn't need to be defended.
But he needs to be shown.
Not that he needs US to be the ones who show Him.
But He desires us to.
We need to LONG to be believers who love God by loving those in need. In Jesus' Name.

Because if what we have really is this great joy, this great hope, and we truly own it. It's ours. It's our hope. Our joy. Our faith.

Then, we need to live it.
And living and loving are one in the same when you live in Christ Jesus.


How can we love God BY loving others...Daily? Hourly?
God isn't looking for perfectionists.
He's looking for participants.
He doesn't desire the scheduled successful people.
He's looking for available people.


Be open.
Set apart Christ as LORD. Declare Him to be in charge and have sovereignty over your life.
Become available.
Listen.
Pray.
Obey.




Because if God is calling you to something... it will always be something that will be loving toward others.

That's the real hope we can have. Knowing that He doesn't let go of us in our time of need, and he doesn't let go of us in our time of longing to help others in need.

Mystery

 Truly my soul finds rest in God;
   my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
   he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

How long will you assault me?
   Would all of you throw me down—
   this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
Surely they intend to topple me
   from my lofty place;
   they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
   but in their hearts they curse.
 Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
   my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
   he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
   he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
   pour out your hearts to him,
   for God is our refuge.
 Surely the lowborn are but a breath,
   the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;
   together they are only a breath.
Do not trust in extortion
   or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
   do not set your heart on them.

One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
according to what they have done.”
~Psalm 62

-----

Two things the Lord has told us;
that He is powerful, and He is loving.

And I am living proof.

"How so?" 

You may start to ask.

Two simple things we have all learned in Sunday School, from our parents or from listening to maybe 5 minutes of your youth pastor:

God is powerful, and God is loving.

Again, simple. Everyone knows that. But have we ever closed our eyes, sat back, and really listened to what that means? Have we ever really allowed ourselves to be... 

In awe of that very truth?

This past year of my life I have never been more aware of the fact that I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. 

Ever been there? 

This brings me back to those two simple truths.

I know that God is powerful, and that He is loving.
And that simple assurance might just be all I'll EVER need,
especially if I take my own life into consideration:

Because...

I know me. 

I know the desires, and the thoughts, and the passions that no one else sees.
I see the pride and the lust that never dies and I can feel the dark blood that pulses in my veins.

We all know ourselves in this way. 

What do you look like? 

If everyone only knew what really goes on inside our heads, nobody would want to be anyone's friend... let alone hear what we all have to say.

And so, it is an absolute mystery that God would be good to us...

That He would carry us through our own confusion, deceitfulness, and sin and bring us to a place where we have an education, loving parents, health, friends, and if none of the previous... the promise of being just a prayer away. The promise of being all we'll ever need. The promise of being a father to the fatherless. The promise of being the great physician and comforter. The promise of being a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

And that's why God calls us to live in the mystery.

In the midst of the unanswered questions, unanswered pains and turmoils of this world... these two words, these two simple words:
Strong.
Loving.
...can begin to lose it's meaning... BUT when we truly think about it... they begin to help tremendously.

God is not loving toward us, because we have deserved it.
He is loving to us, because Christ deserved it for ALL of us.
He isn’t good to any of us, because we’re really good at saying our prayers and really good at loving other people.
He isn’t faithful to us, because we’re faithful to Him.
He loves us, because that’s who He is.
He is faithful to us, because He cannot deny Himself.
That’s who He is.
That’s what He’s about.
And it’s that knowledge that begins to change us.
It’s changing me.
It’s only that knowledge that will allow us to love Him back
in the way that He desires.

“We love because He first loved us.” ~1 John 4:19

And so truly we can find rest in God...Our salvation comes from him. He is our rock and our salvation; he is our fortress, we will never be shaken. Our hope comes from Him... because His promises remain: He loves YOU. He is Strong. He is loving. He does not fail. We can show Him by loving others, standing up for others and just being a friend to those who need one. And we can pray to know God's love and to live in it... wholeheartedly and intimately. That's what He wants for us.

But then there are verses 5 through 8:

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
   my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
   he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
   he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
   pour out your hearts to him,
   for God is our refuge.

"My salvation and my honor depend on God;"
Back in Bible times... honor depended upon other people.
A daughter brought honor to her father.
A son brought honor to his father's name and his father's household.
A woman brought honor to her husband and her husband's name.
A man's honor was weighed against the people in his life.

Today, we measure people's honor based off what they have done with their life, or how they live their life.
A soldier lives an honorable life... "Because they stand upon a wall and say, 'Nothing's going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch.'"(A Few Good Men, *Excellent Movie!)

A psychiatrist lives an honorable life because they treat mental illnesses and try to give people their lives back.
A doctor lives an honorable life because they save lives every day.

Must I continue?

But this Psalm tells us that our honor depends upon God... and to trust in Him at all times. To pour out our hearts to Him... Why? Because God is our refuge.

Refuge.

-shelter or protection from danger or distress. (Merriam-Webster)

Danger from comparing ourselves to other people.
Danger from having our self worth defined by other people.
Distress of thinking we have to work for something to have any kind of honor.
God is our refuge... our shelter from those thoughts and feelings.
Because our honor comes from Him.
Mirrors of His image.
He defines us.
He created us.
He pursues us.
He redeems us.


Will we trust Him?
Will we pour our hearts out to Him?

Trust in him at all times, you people;
   pour out your hearts to him,
   for God is our refuge. 

 Let's live in the mystery of what that means.

Satan Fears

Satan doesn’t fear our sin; he knows God can forgive it. He doesn’t fear our depression; he knows God can drive it away. He doesn’t fear our lack; he knows God can provide. He fears our discovery of God’s Word, because our ignorance of it is the most effective weapon he can use against us.

Simple Sunday: Love Never Fails

 

 We know these verses. We use them all the time.

God's definition of love.

But what we leave out sometimes is when we say we love someone... do we mean it? 

I'm not just talking romantically... although I do believe we need to apply this to our romantic relationships.

Love Never Fails.

When we say we love someone... Are we willing to also say that we will never fail them as long as it is up to us?

Are we willing to put everything aside to be there for them?

Are we willing to, as Jesus talked about... die for them?

Love Never Fails.

God Never Fails.

God is Love.

Love Never Fails.

God's love dwells in us.

And so this changes things...

It means we need to act toward others in love... even our enemies.

But it also needs to warn us...

Our society has connected 'love' with romance so closely that when you say 'I love you.'

It usually implies romance.

When you say 'I love you' to your boyfriend/ girlfriend...

Are you saying that you won't EVER fail them? 

And that you will ALWAYS love them?

In fact... with divorce rates so high... maybe engaged couples also need to really think this through... feel this through... and understand this.

Maybe some married couples need to re-commit to this. 

But maybe... we need to start understanding biblical love...

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. -Ephesians 3:16-21

I will have a few future posts on God's Love and how we react and live out the love the Bible seems to talk about.

Ships

A ship may be safe in the harbor, but that's not what it was built for.

It was built to go out in the seas.

We are those ships, and sometimes we park in the harbor instead of letting God be our captains, we tie up in the harbor instead of trusting that He will steer us in the right direction.

It's time to change that. 

It's time to start up the engines. 

It's time to invite The Captain on-board.

Because the truth is: without Him, you'll either waste your life in the shallow, safe waters of life, or you'll sail by yourself and become reckless... shipwrecked.

God is not only our captain, but our designer, our builder, and our repairer. There isn't one ship He will refuse to captain, and there isn't one ship He will refuse to repair if we would only ask Him to and trust Him to do it.

We can be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Let's go on a cruise with Jesus. :)

Day After Day

Men will try to rule the world You made
But we know power is Yours alone to give and take
A day will come when every knee will bow
And every tongue confess that You are Lord both now and forever

Day after day our God is reigning
He's never shaken
My hope is in the Lord
Time after time our God is faithful
Trustworthy Savior
My hope is in the Lord

The fear of man and what they plan will fade
When we know you alone are God of everyday
Like the flowers man will rise and fall
But you are everlasting never-ending God eternal

Let the songs of adoration rise
Our God is reigning up on high
He's worthy to receive the praise and the glory

 

I have been meditating on this song by Kristian Stanfill all day. I have just a simple thought for today: Could we pray this... and mean it? Could we kneel down and say these words and mean them with all our heart, all our mind, all of our strength, and with all of our soul? Do we believe what this song says?

Unbelievable