The Real Me

"The only thing that can reforge and change a life at its root is love." page 105

"Your real self will not come out as long as you are looking for it; it will only emerge when you're looking for him." page 106

For the past 2 months or so I've been suffering from what I call my "post quarter life crisis" where I've been feeling anxious about not being in a career because I haven't really known what I've wanted to do. It has always been in my heart to help people, I just wasn't sure in what capacity that would look like. The more I root myself in Jesus, the more God has revealed the real me. God knows I love music and being able to help change people's lives, so one morning I woke up and just thought... music therapy. Helping people through music. You know it's from God when I'm excited to go back to school because I've never enjoyed school at all. So now I'm on the journey of becoming a music therapist. I'm love what God can reveal to us if we have an open, alive, awake and surrendered heart.

Be Bold & Persistent! :)

Approaching God persistently and boldly is sometimes easier said than done. Ch. 8 reminds me to approach God's throne boldly, assertively, and persistently.  Not backing down, not giving up,  to stop at nothing.  The faith of the Syropheonician woman , to me, parallels with the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8; however the Syropheonician woman 's daughter is in serious jeopardy and will not back down, begging, persistently begging Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.  I don't blame her either!  I definitely would do everything I could to save my child.  "Give me what I don't deserve on the basis of your goodness".  I know that I don't deserve any of the blessings that God has given me, but because He is good and has infinite mercy, if  I continue to persist, approach Him boldly and with mustard seed faith, He will give me what I need.  He always gives us what we need.  "Approach Jesus boldly with rightless assertiveness to take up both the offer and challenge of God's infinite mercy."  love you fam bam!  ~Dommy Dom Dom 

Oops! My Apoligies

I have gotten a little behind in the reading - my apologies to the group!! But what I read this AM Really encouraged me and inspired me all day long...saying "if he is Lord of the storm, then no matter what shape the world is in you will find Jesus provides all the healing all the rest all the power you could possibly want." helps me in my anxious moments to remember who is really in charge....(and it isn't me!!) so I can get that REST knowing my trust is in the lord and he's fighting my "storms" for me, even if it feels like he's sleeping thru them.

SJ

Patience

"Patience is love for the long haul; it is bearing up under difficult circumstances, without giving into bitterness. Patience means working when gratification is delayed. It means taking what life offers-even if it means suffering-without lashing out." King's Cross, page 59

I am absolutely loving this book and learning more about our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus and all his power commanded the storm to be quiet and be still. I'm so grateful for Jesus and the power, rest and healing he provides for us in our storms. As I fall more in love with Jesus, patience just makes sense. The more storms I face, the more I understand what our Lord and Savior had to endure. No matter how intense things get in my life, I don't want to lose sight of the hardships God is allowing me to go through because He loves me. Do I want to take the easy way out, check out emotionally and not suffer anymore? Heck yes, but I will choose Jesus' way over mine. Today, I will love God and follow Jesus, regardless of my circumstances.

Hey family,

Just so you know, in case you didn't, I leave comments on the entries you make :)

"Be aware that when you go to Jesus for help, you will both give to and get from him far more than you bargained for.  Be patient, because the deal often doesn't work out the way you expected."


First of all, I don't know if I'll get over the fact that Jesus (who has been given all authority in heaven and earth Matt. 28:18), has made himself available to me.  It's an overwhelming thought that he wants to help me.  The more that I walk with God, the more I realize how much I need Him.  It has been true in my life that I've received far more than I bargained for.  This includes blessings as well as challenges.  One of the biggest challenges for me was to realize that God, at times, needs to use pain to teach us.  While I might have been hurt by past situations and was clueless as to why God allowed them, I now look back with a new appreciation for those challenges.  It is when life has been challenging that I've been forced to go to my knees to pray.  It is when I've been able to learn the most about myself. In Romans 8:28 it says, "God uses all things for the good of those who love him."  Honestly, I can say that it has been the worst times that have drawn me closest to God.  Because of his unlimited grace, support and help, I am now grateful for some of the things I've had to deal with.

New Skin

I'm so behind on my posting. I need to start doing these as soon I finish a chapter. This book is like punch after righteous punch. So many great thoughts. Im starting to regret getting the ebook cause I really want to underline and highlight. I will probably end up buying the hard copy.

Ive always loved that part in Voyage of the Dawn Treader and it perfectly illustrates the process I have been going through. I look back at my journey and see the ways I've tried by my own hand to scrape off the dead skin. But God wanted to go deeper. And it hurts when He really digs in there. Its funny how my reflections and prayers have been paralleling everything Keller addresses in this book. No it's not funny, it's so God. I remember not too long ago meditating on those deepest wishes that I thought I wanted and realizing that God knows what the desires of my heart truly is. And that is precisely what he continues to uncover. The observation about the actors who "fulfill" their dream definitely spoke to me. "I'm not going to play that rotten joke on you. I'm not going to just heal your body and let you think you've gotten your deepest wish." Praise His name for loving us this much!

I am feeling that fresh new skin, the new self that can only be explained by God's hand. I am thankfully seeing right now what God wants to reveal to us all. That our deepest wish "is for Jesus himself. He will not just have granted that true deepest wish, he will have fulfilled it." My prayer is continue falling in love with Jesus and living for him rather than all the counterfeit dreams that can so easily deceive and seeing him as the best gift in the world.

Parrishute

King's Cross

Really cool visual...
"Imagine you're falling off a cliff, and sticking out of the cliff is a branch that is strong enough to hold you, but you don't know how strong it is. As you fall, you have just enough time to grab that branch. How much faith do you have to have in the branch for it to save you? Must you be totally sure that it can save you? NO, of course not. You only have to have enough faith to grab the branch. That's because it's not the quality of your faith that saves you; it's the object of your faith. It doesn't matter how you feel about the branch; all that matters is the branch. And Jesus is the branch."

I think this is pretty cool because more often than not, for me with my weak character, insecurities and flaws I feel like I can be falling off of a cliff. Trying to grab on to anything I can, I try to grab on to security in the way that people think of me, music, or just trying to numb out to things but my relationship with God is the only thing that I can truly hang on to. And the even cooler thing is that when I grab and to God as my "branch" He grabs me back.

T-boog

Take it up with God.

Ch 6: The Waiting

This chapter looked at the faith of two people who came to Jesus for healing. The author speculates that Jesus presented both Jairus and the woman with "a test of faith far beyond anything they had expected." My perspective is that Jairus and the woman probably had enough faith to get to Jesus and both had the willingness to go where and do what he told them.

There are so many concepts and evidences in life I don't understand. Events I can't explain, like violence and disasters and lack of relief of poverty or suffering.* I am never comforted by "God has something 'better' for you" or any metaphor about doors and windows, hindsight, and so on. I don't want a metaphor. I want to understand. I want to know.

Timothy Keller calls what we don't know "some essential variable that is unavailable to us." That's a great way of putting "I don't know why this is happening and I don't know what is next." I am willing to admit that, however, my goal is to take it further. "I trust my Creator." I don't know and I trust God.

One of my perspectives lately is "Take it up with God." Talking to people, which is one of my favorite activities, is just venting or mulling or hypothesizing and speculating. When I spend time praying on my knees and being in solitude to clear my mind, I am taking it up with my Creator. He knows what's up and I can really vent and be comforted: I don't know/The Creator knows. Calling out to my Creator and holding Him responsible for me increases my faith.

After taking it up with God, I look at my responsibility in situations. What will I do with the faith that has been strengthened and increased? What will I do after I've had a time of solitude and go out into the world again? I don't know why my Gma is ill. I know people become ill. I know I will pray for her, visit her, hug and kiss her and serve her. I may even begin to visit others in the hospital because I see people need support. I don't know why that job didn't call me. They didn't call. I know I will pray and continue to search.

The waiting can be a kinetic energy.

- Amber

*I read "How Long, O Lord?: Reflections on Suffering and Evil" by D.A. Carson, which is a very thick book. It was amazing. I recommend it to everyone. It is a supplement to faith in the face of tragedy and a tool for offering compassion and preparing one's self for the unknown.

Deep Healing

I have been listening to the audio book of this fascinating work by Timothy Keller, and I have to say that I am truly convicted and enlightened by all the connections I have been making!  Chapter 3, 'The Healing' has shed so much light on my character.  I thought that my suffering was the main problem.  I used it as an excuse.  "The main problem is not suffering it's sin." I would blame everybody and everything else for my suffering when it was the sin of discontentment all along.  "The main problem is not what people have done to you....it is the way you've responded to that...empowering"  Ding ding ding! That was an epiphany for me.  This whole week Jesus has been peeling back the layers and layers and layers of "dragon skin" so my true self can be set free.  It's a wonderful feeling but also kinda scary because it means complete vulnerability and humility.  But I'm embracing the deep healing that only God can do.  This is gonna be one heck of a journey!  ~Dominique a.k.a Songstress08

I know this has nothing to do with the blog. I just want everyone to know how amazing Troy is. God seriously gifted that guy.

Dope book

I like it...the author shines a lot of insight on God's selflessness. "We have gone the way of self centeredness. And self-centeredness destroyes relationships. There's nothing that makes you more miserable (or less interesting) than self-absorption: How am I feeling, how am I doing, how are people treating me, am I proving myself, am I succeeding am I failing, am I being treated justly?" As I constantly have to check myself in this area, the way that keller puts this is pretty refreshing. I see this kind of outward focused mentality as a huge on-going theme in the message that Christ preached, though something that I think is overlooked quite frequently, especially by bozos like my self. Definitely looking forward to reading the rest of this book and reading yous guy's posts :)...pretty dope.

Good Vibes,
T-boogie

Taking responsibility

I just finished reading chapter 3 and I am deeply moved and convicted.  Here is something that really stood out to me:

"The main problem in your life is not what's happened to you, not what people have done to you; your main problem is the way you have responded to it." Page 28

Even though I don't typically blame people for the most apathetic time in my life, I do blame what has happened to me. I admit that I handled the challenges in my life very poorly. I chose to not let people hurt me anymore by shutting off my heart and numbing out and by doing so, I not only blocked out the pain but I wasn't able to experience the goodness of God. As much as we want them too, our hearts cannot compartmentalize. I choose to take responsibility for the poor condition of my heart and give all glory to God for any of the good in me.

-K8E

One word titles are cool.....

I enjoy them. Seriously, I do. Sounds like a very obvious observation, but even the simplicity of the titles that Timothy Keller uses in this book show me that Jesus does not want us to have trouble "figuring him" out. He just wants us to love. I always overcomplicate it.

   Jesus is God and I will NEVER figure Him out. That should be a liberating realization, however my arrogant nature is annoyed at that very fact. Before my baptism, I still envisioned Jesus, well God for that matter, as an unattainable being. A being way above me that I could never coexist with. After reading "The DANCE" chapter, it blew my mind how much God wants to outpour this love to us, to me. My mistake had been that I felt I knew God. In my skewed mind He was unipersonal, and that misunderstood view of Him gave me the misconception that His love could eventually end. That I would be the ONLY being in the entire world that His love would run out on. Understanding the Trinity and seeing how each part exists to glorify the other to create this dance of never-ending love, blew my mind! It is a dance that I am invited to partake in and am called to do it without ANY selfish ambition.

  Then comes the CALL of Jesus. Looking back, I realized that I didn't view the Gospel as the "good news"! Its silly, I know, but up until about 6 months back I was still trying to earn my way to salvation. In my mind, the bible was just this book of rules that needed to be followed to arrive at that place of righteousness and salvation.

    "The essence of other religions is advice; Christianity is essentially news. Other religions say, "This is what you have to do in order to connect to God forever; this is how you have to live in order to earn your way to God." But the gospel says, "This is what has been done in history. This is how Jesus lived and died to earn the way to God for you." Christianity is completely different. It's joyful news.

-King's Cross p.13

Now, I have stopped taking the advice to earn my way to God and am embracing the grace given to me. As a disciple of Christ understanding that HE is the good news is the foundation of my walk. Once that foundation is laid, then comes the next step of HEALING. 

AAAAHHHHH, this is sooo deep! I can't handle it! J/K, I love it. 

-Mar

Thread

I am usually being discipled about being faithless, so i think a lot about Indiana Jones. You know - he was in some temple and he had to cross a big hole to find a special cup. He had heard there was a bridge but couldn't see it. Then, he threw sand over the hole and it landed on invisible stuff and you could see it was there... So of course I love the thread analogy! It has me participating in the journey, not just showing up at a certain point. Like, a constant choice to trust and keep going because I know who set me on my path. I hope that I can remember during my "cave" moments or "goblin" moments that I am following an invisible thread that will help others along the way and ultimately take me to Jesus!

Also, u really appreciate the history mingled in. I think it's really important to know what the gospels meant to those at the time - it gives more weight and also clarifies seemingly confusing scriptures.

THX- SJ

A God-centered life

There are several things that stood out to me in reading the first couple chapters, but I would have to say the one which really pulled at my heart was the discussion on 'self-centeredness' or 'self-absorption'. I've always equated self-centeredness with the concept of one thinking highly of themselves and putting there needs and desires before others... but for some reason i never thought that focusing on my 'failures' or areas that I'm insecure in also straddled the definition of being self-centered.

One such area I've been challenged the most and has brought up a lot of my insecurities is with my career. I've been cautioned to make sure it doesn't become an idol in my life. Which, i'm starting to see it becoming. If God were to say...just like the book says, " I want priority over your career," as much as I would obey, I have to say that there might be some resistance on my end. Why? Because my self-centered tendencies have put this area of my life which has caused me more stress and anxiety, insecurities and boundary pushing as means to measure my success. I'm convicted as I write this.

"Knowing me, loving me, resembling me, serving me must become the supreme passion of your life. Everything else comes second."

I've known this truth, but I'm not sure how closely I've connected with it especially in regards to how I view myself and work. Maybe I'm just finally open to hearing it. Like people keep telling me..we work to live, not live to work. Thanks Seth for recommending this book.

-ja

Satan And His Arrows

Loving the book so far! I am really trying to grasp the measure of Gods love for each of us individually and the last few paragraphs of chapter one really strike a chord with me. "...we still have satan's lie in our own hearts, because we're afraid of trusting God - of trusting anyone in fact. "
Satan has really tripped me up the last week, twisting some old wounds and trying to distract me from the truth - the fact that who I was and my past experiences before Jesus were bought at a price and I am no longer defined by them. I am, instead, a beloved child of God, whom he is proud of! Praying to hold onto this truth so that fear no longer controls me...!

SJ

Can we sign our entries? I can't tell who is writing what on my phone. :-) love you all!

The Word with Friends

So I was pretty psyched last night because I just started this book and already I got to put it to use. Billy called me yesterday so we could talk about a game plan for the evening. He's had the little lady by himself all week and between that and work he's had little time to focus on the devo. So we chatted and I remembered a game that I had read about that seemed like a lot of fun. It was called human scrabble and each kid gets a letter and they have to go around and form words among themselves. That seemed like a blast so we decided on that and some Tim Hawkins comedy (If you haven't seen him he's hilarious).

As I was sitting down to write down the game logistics and rules, a moment of inspiration hit me that was clearly from God. I decided to call the evening "Words with Friends Live" and then I made the connection between words and The Word. I started thinking about how random human language is. Its just a bunch of random characters thrown together to make some sort of sense. I thought about the design of language and how words can be extremely powerful. That lead me to contemplating the fact that God designed the Bible and put the words in just the right order that it would change lives. Then I remembered something I had read just the previous day in the book:

...The best way I can put it is that, before the change, I pored over the bible, questioning and analyzing it. But after the change it was as if the Bible, or maybe Someone through the Bible, began poring over me, questioning and analyzing me...

I went on to talk about the professor of philosophy who, through his own search for meaning, serendipitously stumbled on the Bible and had this to say:

“Lo and behold, as I looked through them [the Gospels] the One who spoke and acted in them became aliveto me... This is the book that would understand me.”

I love that because 1) I love the phrase "Lo and behold" and 2) because it speaks so perfectly to how the Bible, the Word of God can speak to our lives and know us so intimately.

Lovin the book so far!

I hope you dance...

"You're glorifying something when you find it beautiful for what it is in itself. Its beauty compels you to adore it, to have your imagination captured by it." Page 6
Through Jesus and the grace of God, I am still here in God's kingdom after 11 years. In the past, I often saw God essentially as a 'spare tire' for life, a just in case when I die option. When I fall into that mindset I know that I have taken my eyes off of Jesus and what his life has to offer not only me but others as well. I desire to truly glorify God, not for what He has to offer is but rather out of a genuine and deep adoration for Him. When I am in touch of who Jesus is and what He has done for me, I see the beauty and glorifying him becomes second nature.

Lastly after reading the first chapter, it reminded me of the song "I Hope You Dance" by Leann Womack. Although the song itself is cheesy and a bit too country for me, I do love the lyrics. Here is a little snippet of the lyrics:

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance I hope you dance
I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance

"But God didn't leave us defenseless.  God said to Jesus, "Obey me about the tree"-only this time the tree was a cross-"and you will die."  And Jesus did.  He has gone before you into the heart of a very real battle, to draw you into the ultimate reality of the dance.  What he has enjoyed from all eternity, he has come to offer to you." Pg. 13

Wow.  As many times as I've heard and thought about the bravery of Jesus in the garden, his surrender to God never fails to leave me awestruck.  I cannot imagine the level of fear that he must have felt knowing what kind of pain was going to be inflicted on him.  On top of the overwhelming physical pain, Jesus was going to be separated from his Father for the first time ever.  I believe that is what scared him the most:  Not being in relation with God and being out of the light.  Yet, he did it anyways.  I love how Jesus led by example.  He never asks us to do anything that he hasn't already done.  He fought the most important battle in the history of the world, in the Garden of Gethsemane, and surrendered in order to give you and I the chance to know him.  Why he loves us so much I will never understand.  I am so grateful that our Savior came to us.  He came to us to give us the opportunity to spend eternity with him just because he loves us.  So amazing.

Jumpin' In

I am holding the book in front of me. Pen is in hand and blank pages stare at me ready to absorb notes on the various tidbits of wisdom that Timothy Keller will share. I'm ready for the journey and look forward to walking it side by side with each of you. I have to admit, it is a bit daunting. By reading this book, I have chosen to immerse myself into the world of the man who I call Savior. A world that I can not truly comprehend, yet I look forward to reading what your thoughts, ideas and revelations are as we experience this together. For now, I've tested the waters and am going to just go ahead and just jump right in! Enjoy!