learning from God

One of the ways I typically learn from God is through a lot of reflection.

And those reflections, they go something like this.

I'm lying in bed (or driving around, or drinking my coffee, or whatever) thinking about a sermon, or something someone said, or a verse, or whatever.

Remembering the words.

Contemplating if they relate to me or if these are areas that have already been dealt with - and then if I'm ready for God to do some more weeding in my heart.

And then grace appears in my thoughts and quite often verses I've known since childhood come flooding into my memory.

And I listen to what God is saying.

And then we dialogue.

Sometimes I wonder what dialogue with God looks like for others.

I think one of my favourite aspects of God is that nothing He says is ever a one time thing.

Every word can be backed up by scriptures, so I don't need to worry if I've heard from Him. If the scriptures confirm, I can trust the words I hear.

And if I'm unsure, I can talk to the godly people in my life to hear/see what they think.

. . .

This conversation happened a few weeks ago.

. . .

The sermon had been good.

And I had decided that it was one of those sermons that I didn't need to worry about.

Ha! Anybody else do that? Sit in church and feel smug because the sermon is for others? Sometimes even decide who around me it is for.

Oh arrogance, how I hate you, and how often I repent of you (Even this sentence sounds arrogant to me).

So I went home. And went through my week.

But one line from the sermon just kept coming back to me.

(Speaking of the Pharisees and how they)

Made rules about the rules about the rules.

Rules aren't bad. Boundries keep us safe. But when I decide to make a rule about a rule about a rule, ALL in an attempt to look like a good Christian (cue white washed tomb reference), I've completely missed the mark.

Should I stay as far away from sin as possible? OH YES! Sooooo very far! 

Fleeing tempation. 

Running from opportunities that lead down destructive roads.

But.

I hadn't done that in this case. I was just being dumb.

If !this! was a sin, I'd added a formula to avoid it, so that I looked good. I'd turned normal things into sins, and judged others fiercely when they didn't see the sins my way.

So I'm learning (which is something I feel like I should probably put in every single post).

God is breaking down my feeble walls that I've build in a silly attempt to look strong, and He is pointing me back to Jesus.

Because in Jesus is freedom from sins.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new design!

WOOOOOOT WOOOOOOT! FINALLY!!!!!!

Oh my gosh. I am so excited about these pretty changes.

Over the next day or two, things will get tweaked, but seriously - isn't this all so pretty?

Go read the about me. Or don't, because writing about myself was awkward. I guess you should read it - it'll induce a chuckle at my awkward ability to talk about myself. Mostly I just talked about Jesus and made fun of myself. aka the easiest things ever.

I'm so glad you're here.

Whether you are visiting for the first time or have been here for years, it makes me happy to know that you've chosen to spend some time in my neck of the woods.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think about the new design.

AND get ready because fun things are coming in the next weeks and the new year.

a new blog series

sponsorship

fashion posts

and maybe more.

Okay cool!

Thanks for coming.

Stay a while.

Settle in.

I'm glad you're here.

Ending this now . . .

Tune-y Tuesday (the night before Christmas)

Another Tuesday, another song!

This one is performed by Brandon Heath. As I've mentioned on twitter and probably here on the blog, my sister had a baby recently. It's almost a guarantee that if I'm holding her, I'm probably praying over her little life. And having my mind blow over the fact that Jesus humbled Himself to be her size.

The chorus in this song is just so incredible. 

Jesus coming to earth put everything in motion (though it had been in motion already forever) for Him to save us.



Empty manger, perfect stranger, about to be born.
Into darkness, sadness, desperate madness, creation so torn.
 
We were so lost on earth, no peace, no worth.
no way to escape.
 
In fear, no faith, no hope, no grace ,and no light
but that was the night before Christmas.
 
Warm hay, cold sweat, a mother, not yet.
Praying godspeed the dawn.
 
She looks to her man, holding her hand. They wonder how long.
And the shepherds, wise men come to find them, and bow to a king.
One star above shining on love, so bright it lit up the night before Christmas.

And the world didnt know mercy was meek and so mild.
And the world didnt know that truth was as pure as a child.
The night before Christmas.
The night before Christmas.
 
And the world didnt know redemption was sweet and so strong.
And the world didnt know salvation was writing a song.
The night before christmas.
The night before christmas.
The night before christmas.
 
Empty manger, perfect stranger, about to be born.

How to pray {from The Jesus Storybook Bible}

I'm privileged to have a lot of friends who have children, as well as to be an auntie to 8 wonderful kids! In fact, I've almost been an auntie for 14 years! That's a long time eh? Anyways, one thing I love to do is send my friends out for date nights so I can spend time with their kids. I love the time I get to play with and pray for their kids. I especially love when my friends have The Jesus Storybook Bible because I feel like I'm learning things myself as I read through it. If I could I'd share the entire Bible here with you but today I wanted to share a story that I was just reading to one of my very favourite kids in the whole world the other night.

How to pray

Jesus teaches people about prayer; paraphrase of The Lord's Prayer, from Matthew 6.

IN THOSE DAYS there were some Extra-Super-Holy People (at least that's what they thought), and they were called "Pharisees." Every day, they would stand out there in the middle of the street and pray out loud in big Extra-Super-Holy Voices. They really weren't praying so much as just showing off. They used lots of special words that were so clever, no one understood what they meant.

People walking by would stop and start, which might sound rude -- except that's exactly what the Extra-Super-Holy People wanted. They wanted everyone to say, "Look at them. They're so holy. God must love those people best."

Now, you and I both know they were wrong -- God doesn't just love holy people. But the people walking by weren't so sure. Perhaps you did have to be really clever, or good, or important for God to love you. Perhaps you had to know lots of difficult, clever words to speak to God.
So one day, Jesus taught people how to pray. He said, "When you pray, don't pray like those Extra-Super-Holy People. They think if they say lots of words, God will hear them. But it's not because you're so clever, or good, or so important, that God will listen to you. God listens to you because he loves you.

"Did you know that God is always listening to you? Did you know that God can hear the quietest whisper deep inside your heart, even before you've started to say it? Because God knows exactly what you need even before you ask him," Jesus told them.

"You see, God just can't wait to give you all that you need. So you don't need to use long words or special words. You don't have to use a special voice. You just need to talk.

"So when you pray, pray in your normal voice, just like when you're talking to someone you love very much.

Like this . . .

Hello Daddy!

We want to know you.

And be close to you.

Please show us how.

Make everything in the world right again.

And in our hearts, too.

Do what is best -- just like you do in heaven,

And please do it down here, too.

Please give us everything we need today.

Forgive us for doing wrong, for hurting you.

Forgive us just as we forgive other people when they hurt us.

Rescue us! We need you.

We don't want to keep running away and hiding from you.

Keep us safe from our enemies.

You're strong, God.

You can do whatever you want.

You are in charge.

Now and forever and for always!

We think you're great!

Amen!

Yes we do!

You see, Jesus was showing people that God would always love them -- with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.

So they didn't need to hide anymore, or be afraid, or ashamed. The could stop running away from God. And they could run to him instead.

As a little child runs into her daddy's arms.

(taken from The Jesus Storybook Bible, written by Sally Lloyd-Jones)

 As I read the words aloud to my sweet little buddy, I felt like Jesus was whispering to my heart as well.

God listens to you because he loves you. "Did you know that God is always listening to you? Did you know that God can hear the quietest whisper deep inside your heart, even before you've started to say it? Because God knows exactly what you need even before you ask him,

Are you tearing up right now? Oh just me, errr okay . . .

Too often, I complicate things. I get caught up in Christian-ese because I've been fluent in it since birth. I get tricked into thinking that eloquence is the key as opposed to authenticity.

I'm grateful for a God who speaks to me as I get to speak of Him to the children I love.

I feel like for a while now, and I've been ignoring Him, God has been telling me to simplify. 

Simplify the words I use, simplify all the things that I've complicated.

To go back to the basics. Aka - back to Jesus.

cue fresh air feeling

Advent is such a perfect season because it points to the King who came into a world that was caught up in tradition and who broke all the rules by forgiving sin, extending grace, and showing mercy.

That Jesus, that's the One I pray to.

Our culture has all sorts of rules about Christmas.

All the rules are dumb if we're not CONSTANTLY pointing to Jesus in the way we live each day of our lives.

Each day.

We've got to point to Him everywhere that we go.

(I'm not compensated for writing these words, I simply love this Bible and would recommend it to any parent for their kids).

Leaving a legacy

I got a phone call a few weeks after I finished my summer internship. It was one of my supervisors calling to encourage me. She had been driving one of the youth I worked with somewhere and had asked her how her summer had been and how she had liked being paired with me.

The girl, bless her lovely heart, said that I had taught her how to be confident.

WHAT!?!?!


I was blown away that God had used me in this capacity to encourage this girl to be confident, mostly because I had never once, not even for a second, considered teaching this girl confidence.

I just acted like myself.





 Let me let you in on a little secret . . . I'm not actually very confident.


And I think that is something God is trying to teach me.

Which, if you've been reading along this week, is something He's been encouraging me to share.

When I walk boldly into something standing on my own strength, it usually flops.

But when I'm loving Jesus, constantly studying the Word with joyful diligence, seeking His presence, and acting like a normal human being, suddenly everyday things become legacies.

This isn't a pride post. I promise.

It's a go live your life and love Jesus every minute because I bet people are going to notice.

I also promise that I'm not saying "preach the gospel and if necessary use words". Always use words. Every minute. No one should question if you love Jesus and no one will know if you never mention His name. But, with this girl, in the context of working with her this summer, we just talked about life. And somehow I encouraged her to be more confident. And my prayer for her now is that her confidence in herself will lead her to a deep relationship with the One who made her.

I want to point to Jesus always.  





Not well-traveled, not well-read
Not well-to-do, or well-bred
Just want to hear instead
Well done, good and faithful one