So Why Do I Worry?

So WHY do I worry??
WHY do I freak out?!


Rejoice in the Lord always,
I will say it again: Rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all.
THE LORD IS NEAR.
Do not be anxious about anything,
But in EVERYTHING by prayer & petition,
With thanksgiving,
Present your requests to God.
And the peace of God,
WHICH TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.


I lift up my eyes to the hills -
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
The Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip -
HE WHO WATCHES OVER YOU WILL NOT SLUMBER;
Indeed, He who watches over Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you -
The Lord is your shade at your right hand;
The sun will not harm you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm -
He will watch over your life;
The Lord will watch over your coming and going
Both now and forevermore.


So WHY do I worry??
WHY do I freak out?!
God knows what I need.

Mighty To Save

...my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I HAVE HOPE:
Because of the Lord's GREAT love we are not consumed,
for his compassions NEVER fail.
They are NEW EVERY MORNING;
GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS.
I say to myself, "THE LORD IS MY PORTION;
therefore I will wait for HIM."
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord...
For men are not cast off by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
SO GREAT is his unfailing love.

Lamentations 3:20-26, 31-32

Cast Your Cares Here, Please.

Sometimes it's just really comforting to be reminded that we have a God who INVITES us to voice our concerns and contentions to Him, because He cares for us.

An excerpt from Psalm 69:

Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.

I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
the floods engulf me.

I am worn out calling for help;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
looking for my God.

But I pray to you, O LORD,
in THE TIME of YOUR favor;
in YOUR GREAT LOVE, O God,
answer me with your sure salvation.

Rescue me from the mire,
do not let me sink;

Do not let the floodwaters engulf me
or the depths swallow me up
or the pit close its mouth over me.

Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love;
in your great mercy turn to me.

Do not hide your face from your servant;
answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.

Come near and rescue me.

Scorn has broken my heart
and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but I found none.

I am in pain and distress;
may your salvation, O God, protect me.

The poor will see and be glad—
you who seek God, MAY YOUR HEARTS LIVE!

The LORD hears the needy
and does not despise his captive people.

Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and all that move in them,

for God WILL save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then people WILL settle there and POSSESS it;

the children of his servants WILL inherit it,
and those who love his name WILL DWELL THERE.

Pslam 46:

God is our REFUGE and STRENGTH,
an ever-present help in trouble ["tight place"].

Therefore we will NOT fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she WILL NOT FALL;
God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire.

"BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our FORTRESS.

Happiness. :)

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

As I've been contemplating the gravity of what Easter really means for us, I can't help but think that I am somehow just not quite getting it, I guess you could say. Up until tonight, I've probably spent more time picking out an Easter dress... and shoes... and the works... than I have really meditating and being purposely grateful for the meaning behind it all. I feel like I should be more somber, more sorrowful knowing that Christ had to die because of me. But instead, I spend the weekend going to movies, getting a tan (er, sunburn), and being preoccupied with anything and everything else, as usual. But tonight, being intentionally in thought about what this weekend really means, my thoughts were directed not to the crucifixion scene, nor the resurrection. I began thinking about the Passover and the Jews of the Old Testament. Looking back, I see that they had so many different feasts and festivals, such as the Passover, that God commanded they have every year because, like us, they were pretty stupid and had a tendency to forget what God had done for them, where God had brought them. God commanded they have these feasts every year as a remembrance, to 'commemorate' a great thing that God had done for them. And so it is with Easter and us today. It's not that we shouldn't be thankful for Christ's death and resurrection every single day. Of course we should. But God knows that we have a tendency to get very caught up in the busyness of our own little lives, and therefore forget how precious this thing really is, how imperative it is. It is because of the events of 'Easter' that we even have a foundation to our faith at all. And while we should be grateful for this every day, Easter is our Passover, in a way. It is our one day a year to go all out, to get really dressed up, and to really, truly celebrate. It is the day we are to set aside every year to commemorate this great thing that God has done for us. Namely, the salvation of our souls. So, get up in the morning. Put on your fancy Easter outfit, go to church, and CELEBRATE! Celebrate the very reason we have a hope at all.

"This is a day you are to commemorate, for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord - a lasting ordinance."
Exodus 12:14

Sticks and Stones

This is my soap box, but bear with me. I think I have a point.

I was recently discussing Adventureland with a friend of mine. The comment was made that it was pretty crude, containing a lot of sex and drugs stuff, but that it was still a good movie. Now I know the typical 'good Christian' response to this, but I have to say, I beg to differ. While the Bible does tell us 'if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things,' it does not tell us to go hide under a rock. The reality is, we live in a fallen world, and these things - the drugs, the violence, the sex outside of marriage - they come along with that. While, of course, I am by no means condoning those things, I dare say that they are a part of our nature, our humanity, and they are, therefore, something we must face, not pretend don't exist, lest we fall. People don't just wake up one day and decide they are going to be 'bad' people. It is usually a series of incidences in their lives and choices that are made that take them down a certain road as opposed to another, and the sooner we grasp this, the closer we will come to understanding the hearts of those around us and why they are where they are.

I encountered an old friend several months ago who is now married to a youth pastor, and we began discussing other old friends and what they are doing these days. I mentioned a friend of ours, who is not married, who recently had a baby, and suggested we go visit her. My friend responded that she didn't think she wanted to do that. When I asked why, she told me that it was because she "didn't agree with the situation." I was baffled. Taken completely aback. And quite honestly, I was irate. Seriously? Is THIS how we as Christians are supposed to be? Is THIS what Christ has called us to? Is THIS the example we are setting for the next generation of leaders in our church? The Jesus I know hung out with the sinners, the rejects. The Jesus I know reached out and touched those who were considered untouchable. The Jesus I know hung out with prostitutes and thieves, and all around the 'worst of the worst.' This is what Christ has called us to. He has called us to love and to forgive, just as He has loved and forgiven us.

Furthermore, in the presence of Jesus, I believe we are all on equal ground. There is no room for a "holier than thou" standing for anyone. We are all the worst of the worst. All our righteous deeds are as filthy rags. I love how Jesus ALWAYS turned things around on the pious religious leaders of that day and pointed things straight to the heart of the matter. He told them that they have only to think a bad thought about someone, and they have already committed murder in their heart. They have only to look lustfully toward another, and they are guilty of adultery. So why do we as Christians still keep walking around with our noses in the air thinking that we hold a higher standing with God because we have not done THAT, nor would we ever? I'm afraid we are gravely missing the point. We have ALL sinned and ALL fallen short of the glory of God. We ALL deserve death. We ALL deserve hell. It is ONLY by the grace of GOD that we live and move and have our being. And because He loves us, though we do not nor ever can deserve it, we are to extend the same courtesy towards others. Because He has forgiven us of our rebellious hearts, how then can we even conceive of not forgiving those around us, when, in reality, we are no better than they are? After all, we are called to be like Christ.

I was watching one of the Truth Project videos last night, and one of the people they were interviewing was a tattoo artist. When asked his opinion of the church, he just went off on a rampage. He clearly had a very strong aversion, as many people do, and I know that they don't just wake up one day and decide to hate the church. There must be some past incidences that have distorted their view, some point of broken humanity at its prime, in the name of Christianity, that turned them against God and religion so severely. And for that, I am very sad. For them and for the church as a whole. I think the church, including myself, could use one major attitude check. We need to become more consciously aware of how we portray Christ to those around us, realizing that "we may be the only Jesus they see." Are we resembling a God that offers love and forgiveness, or a God that turns His nose up at us? We also need to recognize the effect of our attitudes and actions on those who look up to us, on those we lead. What are we saying, without words, to them about what it looks like to follow Christ? The answer to that will determine the kind of people we are molding them to become as future leaders.

I think it is high time those of us who claim the name of Christ recognize the past for exactly what it is - the past. Nothing can be done to change it. Ours or anyone else's. And because of that past, we are all on equal ground, no one better or more deserving than another. All we can do is move forward, in Christ, and extend the grace that He so graciously offers us day in and day out to those around us. We have been given the mind of Christ; it's time we start acting like it.


Oh God, give us grace to walk HUMBLY with You.



Years ago, I used to really want to sing this song in church. It's by Point of Grace, but don't completely write it off just yet. I think the words contain a lesson we could afford to remind ourselves of on a daily basis.

Lord, I know sometimes you look down and shake Your head
When we know what we should do and do the other thing instead.
We're living in glass houses & we're throwing sticks & stones.
The love that will come to us is the love that we have shown.

Ignite a fire in my spirit.
And when I want to make a difference,
This will be my prayer:

Begin with me!
Turn my world upside down,
Come change my heart around,
Lord, keep on washing me clean.
Begin with me!
Come and renew my mind,
And lead me to the light,
'Til I am more like You, Jesus.
Begin, begin with me.

Have you ever noticed how we love to give advice?
We offer up suggestions without thinking twice.
Got 20/20 vision when we're watching someone else,
But it's a little blurry when we're looking at ourselves...

I can't forget to check the mirror.
That's where I find the only one
That He wants me to change.

Starting right here, right now,
Lord, I surrender to You.
Ready to serve.
Ready to love.
'Cause that is all that matters in the end.

Begin with me.