Heaven!

As I continue reading through Exodus, I have been struggling. I’m towards the end of the book, and most of the chapters are about how God wants Moses to design the temple. It’s all about the measurements and adornments for the entire building, and to be completely honest it’s been a bit of a struggle to get through. I mean I completely understand that this temple was a really big deal for the Israelites and that was why God was giving them such detailed instructions as to how to make it, but as a twenty-first century American I was really struggling to make the connection as to how this could relate to me. But then, it hit me!

God gave Moses the most detailed description of how He wanted this temple to look. He told Moses what size the drapes should be, what the priests should wear, what the basins for washing should be like, which incense should be used, what one particular table should look like, what the lampstand should look like, and so many other little details. I was tempted to just skim over the entire section, cross it off my to-do list, and be done for the day. I prayed that God would show me what sort of application I could reap out of reading these passages, because I really couldn’t find anything on my own.

However, I just came to a realization! If God was that detailed about one, single building that the Israelites were building for him, what is heaven going to be like?! God put that much thought and detail into one single building that isn’t even around anymore, so I can’t even begin to imagine what God’s holy kingdom will look like. I can’t even fathom what it is going to look like, but I’m pretty sure that streets of gold are only the beginning. Heaven is going to be so beautiful, so amazing, that we aren’t even going to know what to do with ourselves.

Ah this just makes me so, so excited! God has already created so much wonder and beauty here on earth, and heaven is going to be infinitely better! I’ve heard people say that there are going to be new tastes and new colors in heaven that we can’t even fathom here. New colors?! This might just be my interior-design-self talking here, but I can’t even wrap my mind around the idea of a whole range of completely new and foreign colors. And new tastes too?! Ah God is so good, and He has something marvelous and wonderful in store for us in heaven! I just can't wait!

Who Gets the Glory?

“Jesus is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him.”

Last semester I heard that quote, and every time I have come upon it since it has always caught my attention. It sounds so simple, yet as usual putting it into action proves to be a bit of a challenge. When I allow myself to be completely satisfied in Christ and to put myself aside, others can see God more clearly in me. I mean it makes sense, when I live in a way that is content with God in control, my actions should certainly be more glorifying to God.

When I live for myself, the only person I am glorifying and pleasing is my own sinful nature. What is the benefit of that? What is the point of living a life that only makes myself happy, and doesn’t do anyone else any good? I mean sure we can convince ourselves that we are benefiting the other people around us in one way or another with our actions, but if we get down to the truth of the matter that isn’t true. There is no way that others can see God in my life when I personally don’t have God active in my life. I feel like sometimes I let myself think that even if I’m just doing what I want, people will think I'm a good person and will see good in my actions anyways.

Even if what I’m doing isn’t necessarily bad, having that mentality is only building up my pride. It makes me think that as long as what I’m doing is still good, then people will think that I’m good. That isn’t right either! That still makes it all focused on myself! There is no true, Godly benefit to doing whatever I want to do. And the thing is, once I get in a routine of living for myself, it’s hard to snap myself out of it. It becomes comfortable, and I begin to excuse my actions completely. That’s why earlier when I mentioned that I had kind of fallen out of my devotions over break, I knew I had to make myself get back in them. Otherwise I would have gotten comfortable in not spending time in the Word, and it easily could have been a month before I even really thought about doing them again. That’s so wrong! I shouldn’t have this whole method of living for myself.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that quote is so very true. I need to live my life in a way that is so very content on God that nothing else matters. My pride doesn’t matter. What other people think of me doesn’t matter. My sinful human nature doesn’t matter. All of the things that I allow to dictate my selfishly-led life don’t matter.

I need to allow God to be glorified in my life more than I let myself be glorified.

Sharing Some Honesty.

So the past week or so, I've been in a slump. I was on vacation first of all, which meant any sort of regular devotions just didn't happen. Also, I used being on vacation as an excuse to not do anything I would do in my usual routine, like homework and devotions and blogging. Looking back I'm really wishing that I hadn't just quit all of those responsibilities, but unfortunately I can't change that now.

See usually when I do this, like just fade off on my devotions and stop getting in the Word, I tend to let my relationship with God fade away. Not to say that I just leave God, not at all. But rather, I just kind of keep Him in the back of my mind without really putting forth effort into growing in my faith. This time, I've decided that just won't be the case.

I'm tired of allowing myself to fade away from my reliance on God, and ultimately being stupid for a while until I realize that it's because of me that I'm unhappy and then decide to come back to God. It's not right for me to continue living however I want to until I decide it isn't right anymore. Instead, I want to come back to God before I get back in the swing of life on my own rather than with God's help.

See this morning, I was struck with a thought about growing in my faith. Maturing in my faith isn't something that all of the sudden just happens, it takes work. It takes me looking at the mistakes I've made, and finding ways to fix them so that I won't make those mistakes again. It's a daily process. Looking at the mistakes I've made every day, and finding a way to not make those mistakes again.

I've always kind of thought that you don't really notice when you mature in your faith, you just look back years later and notice you've made some progress. The problem with that mentality is that it makes it seem like an accident, like I just happened to grow in my faith and I didn't really do anything about it. That doesn't really seem to be fair to God, and it doesn't help me be a stronger Christian either.

So now, I'm trying a new approach. I need to have some more self-reflection, and really look at the mistakes I've made and fix them. Rather than just brushing past my mistakes and trying to ignore them, I want to bring attention to them and prayerfully try and fix them. Because I want to be a stronger Christian, someone who really glorifies Christ, and living for myself just isn't accomplishing that.

Letter to God.

Dear Lord,

I want to be used by you.

I want people to see you in my life.

I want everyone I meet to know that I love you,

and that I have given my life into your hands.

I want to make an impact,

I want to be your hands and feet.

I want to set my pride aside,

and I want to live for you.

I want to love you more than myself.

I want to shine for you.

I want others to be encouraged by me,

but for your glory and not for mine.

I want to be yours Lord,

and I want my future to be in your hands.

I want all my relationships to be centered around you,

and I want my life to be rooted in you.

I want to be able to look beyond the stresses of this world,

because I know that you have something better.

I want my life to be a reflection of you.

I want to live like Jesus.

sincerely,

a sinner.

Forgiveness.

Hello!

So I'm sorry that I haven't really written lately, I've been caught up in stress, homework and other things. I've been workin on some projects, as well as relaxing between all the workload. Unfortunately, my lack of posting on here means a lack of time with God too. The past week I have just been really slacking on spending quality time with God and actively reading His word. Instead, I've been avoiding my devotions and pushing off my Bible reading. However, this morning I finally sat down and really got back in the Word, and I feel much better now! So I thought I would post on here and share some of my thoughts.

One of the things I read this morning was in Genesis 50, at the end of Joseph's life. After Joseph and his brothers’ father Jacob died, his brothers became afraid that Joseph would pay them back for all the terrible things they had done to him. When Joseph became aware of his brothers' fear, he responded telling them:

“Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”

Now Joseph clearly had a reason to be angry at his brothers and hold their wrongs against them, but he didn’t do that at all. He accepted them back, he forgave them, he provided for them and gave them far beyond what they expected. I find this so amazing, that after everything they did he simply forgave them. And then after their father’s death, when Joseph could have gotten away with showing anger and vengeance towards his brothers, he still continued showing them love. His forgiveness was genuine, and he loved his brothers all the same.

What if we all started to act this way? What if we simply forgave the people who have done us wrong, regardless of whether we think they have received adequate punishment for their actions? It seems like it’s easier to forgive the people who have already had to pay for what they have done, but what if we all just forgave people regardless? It seems so easy to expect to be treated this way by others, but what if we acted this way ourselves? What if we accepted the fact that God is in control and that He is the ultimate judge, and that nothing we do could ever equal what he can do.

God knows what people have done to us, and more importantly He knows what we have done to others. He knows the wrongs we have committed against each other and against Him, but he still loves us. He can change any situation and make it good. Everything God does is good, so why should we meddle in the middle and try to fix it all ourselves? All that is going to do is make things worse for us, and ultimately point out how small and powerless we are in comparison to God Almighty.

I am so thankful that God is in control of this world, and that all I can do is serve Him.