The OK Plateau

http://www.therebelution.com/blog/2011/02/pushing-past-the-ok-plateau/

 

the blog above was one posted that I find extremely helpful whenstriving to live a life worthy of the calling you’ve been given.

 

 

I’m a little different

I didn’t go to college after high school, I didn’t even go to a normal high school. I spend 90% of my time working for my church. My closest of friends are in leadership at my church. I have never tasted alcohol, I have never smoked anything. Cursing is not a part of my daily vocabulary. I watch Disney movies. I read my Bible and pray daily. I listen to music that glorifies God and recorded sermons can be found being played on my phone every morning. I give the first tenth of my increase to God. I don’t date. In bible times I would be known as a “follower of the way” in Ireland I would be a “born-again” at my church I’m an “intern” and a “student” in America I am a “church-goer” among my peers in this country I am an “goody-two-shoes” but there is a God in heaven who calls me His. He says I am Chosen. He called me by name. He brought me an irrevocable, irreplaceable, and indescribable love. And he says I’m worth dying for.

Because my life is not about me.

By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. (Hebrews 11:11, 12 ESV)

Your faith could be the vehicle God uses to bring someone to their destiny. It could be the key to someone else’s promise. Your life is not your own. You are meant to do far greater than experience victory in your own life. And we have been arrogant enough to think our life is about us… My own ticket to heaven, my dreams, my hopes – if that’s all I’m living to see fulfilled, then what a small, limited task I have given everything to pursue.
I am here not just for my own gain, but to be a supporting character in my sister’s story, my parents and step parents, my grand parents, aunts and uncles, my cousins, my peers.. THEIR stories. every time I have the opportunity to minister to someone, every chance I get to fight along someone, every time I am used to inspire, I Live up to a little more of my potential.
If this life is just about me, then I am living trapped in the skin of this flesh, but when my nature is replaced by the nature of God, when I put on Christ, when I step into the destiny I was designed for, then my life is no longer about one story of struggling to fight my way out of defeat… but it becomes fueled by THE ONE STORY that unlocks an endless list of stories if victory, triumph and undefeated endless love.

airport ramblings.

oh my goodness… i’m about to post a real BLOG.

usually i post my biblical findings or something thats burning in my heart.

right now… this is more so my thoughts as they come. sounds like an adventure… care to join me?

So here i sit. Sacramento International Airport. Gate A14.

so far the handful of people who showed up way too early and now have to waste time until our plane arrives are a mix of buisness men, one family, a buisness woman and an eightteen year old gril off by herself typing away on a mac book pro (can you guess which i am?)

you know… in movies and on tv, the airport is the place where crazy stuff happens. people buy tickets and run across terminals to catch their true love before they leave, people bump into the person they are meant to be with for their entire life, tragic breakups and goodbyes. That has never happened in front of me in real life. ever. and i travel a lot. i’ve been in airports in Washington DC, NYC, Dallas, Denver, Huston, Little Rock, Orlando, Palm Springs, LA, San Diego, Sacramento, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Phoenix, two in chicago, somewhere in North Carolina … i think thats everywere… maybe . . . but still… all of those flights and airports, and i’ve never seen it happen like the movies. So here i sit. maybe this time someone will bust in expressing their undying love for me… doubt it. thats really not my style. plus i’m only leaving for a week.

although… i do wonder.

what kind of people am i in the midst of?

is the guy with the messy curly hair and the windmil sticker on his laptop a genius?
is the guy looking very thoughtful as he texts, about to make a life changing decision?
Is that business woman about to see her baby nephew for the first time?
Is the girl in the washington state shirt coming home to her husband?
I wonder if i’m related to any of these people.
or if my brother would date the girl in purple.

what i really wonder is if these people realize i’m writing about them … awkward.

or if they are writing about me. DOUBLE awkward.

what i really wonder more than all of that …

is what type of peole i am in the midst of every day.

world changers? geniuses? evil people? scared people? people who know the secrets we all search for? people  i would like to know?

,.,.,.,.,.,.

who on earth are the people around me?

just like the owl said about tootsie pops…

“the world may never know”

I’m religious.

I’m going to have to be careful with this one… i don’t want to say anything that is not biblically sound… but lets just try and see where it goes.

Sitting in Starbucks reading James 1. love this chapter.

lets take a dip in to it… starting at 19 ….

¹⁹ My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

²⁶ Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

 

meaningless religion. worthless religion in fact.

i used to be one of the people who would be highly offended if you called me religious. … mostly because i was.

I used to be the one who was doing all i could think to do to earn some sort of shiny seat of glory in the kingdom. as if having a better status amongst christians would give me a gold star beside my name in God’s eye. (Fail.) come to find out, James dealt with people with a similar mental dysfunction.

You see the “Religion” that was so offended to be associated with, is what Christians are usually assumed to be like. The stuck up, holier than thou, non-accepting, judgemental punks who claim Jesus but have yet to live in the his power. And yes, it is still true that I don’t want to be known as such.

but after reading this recently I’ve come to realize that, that isn’t religion at all.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

those are the things that God looks down and thinks, “yep. I like that kid. that’s a kid I can be proud of”

I’ve come to realize in reading this, God is an “IF, THEN” God.

(yes, the same if/then as you learned in school. if you press the button, then the elevator will come)

Every action has a reaction. its true in science, its true with God.

Religion can’t save you. lets just make that clear. it even says above that the perfect law (as in romans 10:9-10, if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth THEN you can be saved. ) that’s what saves you.

but IF you do things according to the way God sets before us and desires us to follow, there is great reward to follow.

IF you love God and are called according to his name, THEN he will work everything out for the best for you.

IF you put God first, giving him a tithe and offering of your first fruits, THEN you will be blessed so much so that there will not be room enough to contain it.

IF you ask, THEN it will be given

IF you seek, THEN you will find

IF you knock, THEN the door will be opened.

religion is defined as a  ”commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance”

people believe that they must live according to what they believe to be true to receive something of value in life.

well… yeah. so do I.

so … I guess I am religious.

“But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

“Getting rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.”

I have committed and devoted my life to getting rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accepting the word planted in me, i commit to looking continuously into the perfect law that gives freedom, continuing in it and not forgetting what I’ve heard and doing it.

if I embrace true religion (and no I don’t mean the jeans) THEN I will be blessed in all I do.

good deal eh?

so to all of you who are like i once was, drowning in meaningless religion… take a step on the wild side. join me in some true pure and faultless religion. IF you do, THEN you’ll never be the same.

you need. he wants.

Have you ever noticed how much Jesus loves you?

Not only enough to Create you. Provide for you. Die for you. Give you a free ticket out of hell card.

Nope. not just that much. In a sense… I feel like  (and I  mean to in NO WAY disrespect God.) that was the easy part. Its not hard to love what you’ve designed. thats why he designed us that way: to love us. In that moment of love its also easy to provide for what you love, and ultimately die for our sins… it was out of love.

but BEYOND THAT.

reading the first chapter of Isaiah I couldnt help but smile at the picture of God’s love for us that is depicted.

He talks about his beloved people.

Talks about how much he cant stand to be near their sin. in detail.

He even mentions that the fat that they don’t respond to discipline makes him want to not even try disciplining them.

but for a moment starting in verse 18, God almost pleads with them.

¹⁸“Come now,^(AO) let us reason^[c] together, says the LORD:though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as^(AP) white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
^19(AQ) If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
²⁰but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
^(AR) for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

 

God DESIRES you.

even when you don’t desire him.

He has to be true to his word and let you have the consequences of your actions, but he desires to have you home.

YOU NEED GOD … GOD WANTS YOU.

 

Babel Disorder

I’ve heard many songs, stories and speeches with reference to the tower of babel. I never really understood what the big deal was. Why was God threatened by a people so unified that they began to strive toward building a tower to reach God himself. ( Gen 11 ) Ever since the fall of man, it seemed as though a connection to God would be a good thing, right?
Well first off I must have skipped this verse when I had read it previously, but I absolutely love the way that the message translation puts it: Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let’s make ourselves famous so we won’t be scattered here and there across the Earth.” (Genesis 11:4 MSG)
That is absolutely terrible motives. Makes a LOT more sense now. Second:
Wow. You must think you’re pretty special, huh? That you can bridge the gap between you and God. Huh… You must be pretty awesome. Sin is that terrible little “go directly to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200.” sentence. Praise God for grace, the ONE AND ONLY “get out of jail free card” but the only way we get such a card is through Christ. Romans 10:9-10 – repentance and forgiveness is required. That is the only bridge to get us back where we originally belonged.

This brings me to an awesome little story where I had what I like to call babel disorder:
So here I am on a tour with a van full of world changers. We have been witnessing God move mightily at every stop and were just over half way done. We made a pit stop at a gas station on our way to San Jacinto, which is in the Los Angeles area. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. A bad mood that just about had me spitting profanities and insults at anyone who crossed my path. Why you ask? I just realized that, yet again, my wallet wasn’t where I thought it was. In fact, it was sitting in my moms car about four hours back. Awesome. No ID, no cash, no debit card and no jamba card. At this point I said something along the lines of “Forget it and my life!” ( stupid, right?! Yeah. I know, I’m super awesome when I’m ticked off {insert sarcastic eye roll here} ) then I tweeted some Snide sarcastic remark about how awesome I am ( which probably just came off as arrogant – seeing that sarcasm isn’t very clearly translated with 140 emotionless characters ) so what did I do? Well I did what every other 18 year old, ruled by emotions does when they are frustrated – I grabbed my iPhone and headphones and turned it all the way up. The only problem is that I’m one of those radical super Christians that only listens to Christian music. So I hit shuffle, bad idea. A song about joy, next. A song about how happy God makes me, next. Slow worship, next. A cute song that makes me bob my head, next. Ugh. And the only song that somewhat fit my mood was a 11 minute song about a guy who had a lame life then died, but gets saved at the end ( to be honest, deathbed by reliantk one of my favorite songs … Because of the happy ending ) awesome. And the angriest song I could come across was by superchick. Great. So, it was one of those moments that you kinda just have to realize just how stupid you’re being.

Why was I so frustrated? What had me so worked up? It’s a dang wallet and I told myself not to spend any of that money anyway.
It was the simple issue I seem to wrestle with oh so often: why can’t I be perfect? It’s the same problem that sparked the discord of the tower of babel.
My search for perfection has landed me struggles in many areas of my life. From being guilt-ridden to the point of making myself sick, to being to scared to attempt tasks that I might fail at, to struggles in purity, modesty, self esteem, loneliness. They all sparked from this delusion that I’m supposed to be perfect.
How dare I ?! How dare I be so arrogant, pretnsious and pompous to expect myself to have the power to bridge the gap between God and I with my own hands
Pastor Dan is just about the single most influential person in my life. On several occasions he has described one of the tactics of the enemy in modern culture and the current Christian church. You see the devils main Goal is to get us not to accept our one and only “get out of Jail free” card. And one way he does this is by making It seem unnecessary by making sin seemingly nonexistent. It there is no sin, then we don’t need the cross. That’s a heavy dose of the babel disorder. If you’re like me, and you have fallen for the dilution that perfection is obtainable, I pray that you will, like I had to, humble yourself and pray for a reminder of the relevance, necessity and beauty that is Grace. And not only that but as I mentioned earlier, as I realized that I was striving for perfection I also realized that it sparked so many other issues when I fell flat on my face with the realization that I’m human. How depressing must it have been for the builders of that tower when God sent them in a million seporate directions as it became evident – they weren’t gods. They were just men and women who, like the rest of us, are plagued with this terrible disease of sin.
So what’s the antidote for this terrible dilution of perfection?

I have one guess:
What if we stepped out of the discord of believing we are gods with the ability to each a level of perfection and stepped into the unity of Christ that clearly proves that we are solely reliant on the gospel alone.
When the gospel is all we live and breathe, when every dream, plan, hope, etc hinges on the desperate need of Christ intervening and petitioning on our behalf as he died on the cross for us, we find IT. the place where we can actually live for something worth living for. The bible describes that kind if living like this: In your generous love I am really living at last! My lips brim praises like fountains. (Psalm 63:3 MSG) When we are in unity with CHRIST we are in a disunity with the things of this world. We are in a disunity with the pretension that says we are ok without the precious saving blood of the lamb who was slain. I know I’m using a lot of big words and a heavy dose of christianize – but it’s only to show how serious I am about this sad dilution that we and the builders of babel were under that said that perfection was obtainable. Sorry bud, it’s just not true.