God, I feel useless…

Is a statement, and certainly a feeling I know many of my friends, anyone college-age, and even myself can feel or say sometimes.  Please understand me, trying to “figure out life” is something that there seems to be so much pressure put on by parents, teachers, and even random people that strangely pop into your life that have no investment in you, but feel the need to tell you to “get the ball rolling and get your life together.”  The great question “what are you going to do with your life” is a huge one; and strangely becomes overwhelming after highschool.  I hope this post gives someone struggling with a job, school, or life that doesn’t seem to be going as planned.  One man said, “Life isnt about a title or position, but about who you are at the end of life.”  I know that life for me hasn’t always turned out as planned, and no dream is always as sweet as it is when it is in your head, but when life gets hard please remember to “look to the Author and Finisher of our faith,” Jesus, and be reminded that he is writing your story..our story… and the story of the world… Check out this post from Relevant, it deals with this discussion….

Also, be reminded, God isn’t “upstairs” trying to make life harder for you for no reason, neither did He create you to live a life to seek money, big houses, multiple cars, and fancy clothes.  He didn’t create us to meet a certain quota, or pray a certain amount of time a day to fill some sort of ”spiritual time sheet” as if to appease him.  Jesus came to set us free from living lives that live up to other’s standards, and freedom from feeling like we have to “do it all” and keep up with the Jones’.  Jesus-life is about peace, grace, humility, and realizing that its ok to be yourself, without apology.  So if it is a hard time, be patient, because Jesus is working on you, to make you more life him.. and that is always beautiful.  Even in the midst of job hunting, college, school work, and simply life.

Check out “To Build a Home” from The Cinematic Orchestra as well..

 

Simply, Beautiful

So here I am taking a bit of time to read “Through Painted Deserts” by Don Miller, before I hit the hay, and I find myself firing the laptop back up to write a blog post.  As I was reading I was really struck by one certain portion/excerpt and I really want to share it with you.  Maybe it will cause you to read the book, or maybe not; but that isnt the purpose anyways (although I would surely recommend it).  I just want to share it with you hopefully to inspire you, or at least give your faith a deep thought or breath of fresh air. Strangely, today I wasn’t just hit by a passage from an author that was fresh and inspiring, but I read something from the Word of God that was simply beautiful, and was so fresh to me, all the while painting an amazing picture of creation that lives to worship God.  So excuse the length of this post, but please, read and enjoy..

Excerpt from “Through Painted Deserts” by Donald Miller..

“I was raised to believe that the quality of a man’s life would greatly increase, not with the gain of status or success, not by his heart’s knowing romance or by prosperity in industry or academia, but by his nearness to God.  It confuses me that Christian living is not simpler.  The gospel, the very good news, is simple, but this is the gate, the trailhead.  Ironing out faithless creases is toilsome labor.  God bestows three blessings on man: to feed him like birds, dress him like flowers, and befriend him as confidant.  Too many take the first two and neglect the last.  Sooner or later you figure out life is constructed specifically and brilliantly to squeeze a man into association with the Owner of heaven.  It is a struggle, with labor pains and thorny landscape, bloody hands and a sweaty brow, head in hands, moments of severe loneliness and questioning, moments of ache and desire.  All this leads to God, I think.  Perhaps this is what is on the other side of commercials, on the other side of the curtain behind which the Wizard of Oz pulls his levers.  Matter and thought are a canvas on which God paints, a painting with tragedy and delivery, with sin and redemption.  Life is a dance toward God, I begin to think.  And the dance is not so graceful as we might want.  While we glide and swing our practiced sway, God crowds our feet, bumps our toes, and scuffs our shoes.  So we can learn to dance with the One who made us.  And it is a difficult dance to learn, because its steps are foreign.” Pgs 90-91

Psalm 148

   ¹Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.

   ²Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

   ³Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.

   ⁴Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.

   ⁵Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.

   ⁶He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.

   ⁷Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:

   ⁸Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word:

   ⁹Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:

   ¹⁰Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:

   ¹¹Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:

   ¹²Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:

   ¹³Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.

   ¹⁴He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD.

…simply, beautiful..

Embrace Self

God has been reaffirming myself to me lately. I look at those who are striving to be better or just someone else.  All the while not being ok with who they are at the moment (and this can definitely be everyone of us at one point in time).  If you are trying to lose weight, if you are a new follower of Christ, a leader trying to be more like someone else… Accept yourself. God does..

You creative? Like a different type of music? Enjoy art? Enjoy reading? Enjoy sports? What is your passion?  What makes you..you?  Because that’s who God created. Embrace your ambitions, desires, passion, and life.  Embrace yourself.  God already does.

One of my favorite thoughts that I’ve ever heard, is the idea that you can use Gal 5:22 as a sort of “litmus test” to your actions, situations, and ambitions.  Can you see the fruits of the Spirit in what you are doing, dreaming, living, and speaking?  If not, then God’s probably not in it.  In sight of God’s acceptance of us, God wants to change us. Change us to be apart of things bigger than us, our ambitions, desires, and dreams weren’t meant to be selfish and for self-absorbtion. So embrace you, but embrace more the “you” God has created you to be.

Who you roll with?

Hallo all!  I wanted to take a post and kind of showcase a few friends.  These are the faces of the people that I have been able to sit with, laugh with, worship with, be real with, and share the scripture with.  Feel free to take a moment and check them out or leave them a comment.  I can’t promise that their pages/website/blogs are serious, or “world changing.”  But I can guarantee that they will be themselves and are honest about it.  Two are worship leaders, one is an aspiring English major, one is an aspiring  journalist, one is just plain smart, and the other is my personal mentor.  These friends of mine are the people I am able to wrestle with about modern Christianity, the scriptures, and life.  Enjoi.

          

           

Who are the people you bounce ideas off of?  Who are the people that you laugh with and discuss the deep things of life with?  Who are those that wrestle the scripture with you?