"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
Cliché, no? I mean, it's not cliché, but I feel like I've heard it so many times that whenever you recite it or someone starts speaking it to you, you can't help but be like, "Consider it pure joy, my brother, blah blah blah". I mean, maybe it's just me and maybe I'm going to be struck by lightning, but I can't help how I feel.
Recently, my friend has been going through some trials of his own and I have NO idea how to encourage him. None. I mean, there is nothing that I can say to make his situation better and there is nothing that I can do for him physically being in a different country and all...
So, I was thinking, praying, and contemplating how I could possibly encourage him through this time and I turned to Scripture and just happened to open up to James 1:2-4. I thought about whether or not I really wanted to send him that verse considering my own personal feelings towards them. But, then God spoke to my heart and changed everything.
Just sitting with those verses for 10 minutes changed everything.
They are some of the most beautiful and powerful verses in Scripture.
Yes, we suffer and, yes, we go through trials. It sucks. No one likes suffering. BUT, we have joy even through those hard times.
Why? Because the God of all grace has blessed us and has a purpose for those trials and sufferings. It would be a different matter all together if we were to go through trials and suffering just for the sake of it. That would be stupid. Yet, we have a God that not gives a purpose to our pain, but went through that pain himself.
Wow.
I suffer because God is growing me, changing me, and making me more like him. And THAT is the purpose of my faith and my walk with Christ.
Why shouldn't I welcome my trials??
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Pride
I think that pride is perhaps one of the biggest issues that we face in life in general. However, I have been EXTREMELY convicted about it as of late. It came though a series of events in my life recently where I realized that I was judging some of my dearest friends because I was taking on a self-righteousness that I don't deserve. God really got to me through that. I realized that I've become extremely self-centered and self-focused to the point where I'm just shocked. How did it get this far??
But, through God's grace and his Scripture, I received the conviction that I needed and the means to work my way to fix it. I'm going to be spending a lot more time memorizing Scripture and praying specifically against this. Every time I sense that I'm judging someone, I shall be praying for them right there and then. I've already emailed my two mentors asking for their prayers and accountability. I'm bringing it up in accountability this week with my friend Joanna. And I shall be making amends with those people that I've offended in all of this. It's a lot, but I know that God is going to carry me through it. I already feel like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders just recognizing this and acknowledging that it needs to be changed.
God is so good. Even when we're not. Perhaps, especially because we're not.
But, through God's grace and his Scripture, I received the conviction that I needed and the means to work my way to fix it. I'm going to be spending a lot more time memorizing Scripture and praying specifically against this. Every time I sense that I'm judging someone, I shall be praying for them right there and then. I've already emailed my two mentors asking for their prayers and accountability. I'm bringing it up in accountability this week with my friend Joanna. And I shall be making amends with those people that I've offended in all of this. It's a lot, but I know that God is going to carry me through it. I already feel like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders just recognizing this and acknowledging that it needs to be changed.
God is so good. Even when we're not. Perhaps, especially because we're not.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
London
London was one of the more unusual holidays that I've taken, but I still liked it. One of the harder parts is that we were touring wth 6 people and that's always tough because you can't please everyone. 
But that's alright...I got to go to the Harry Potter movie set. Let me just tell you, that was one of the most epic experiences I've had. I met a lovely English girl named Tasha who could possibly be a bigger HP nerd than I am. However, we were both big enough nerds to go alone and therefore bonded and hung out the whole time. We had tons of fun and geeked out too many times to count. I may or may not have taken over 300 pictures while there....
The city was beautiful though and I was so glad that my friend Eric got to come from the States and enjoy it with me (that's us laughing like fools in front of the London Tower). We all had such a fabulous time. One of my favorite parts was the church service. We went to the Hillsong London church and it was AH-MAZING. It was so different, so powerful, and incredibly refreshing. They started with a few worship songs of the traditional singing style and then moved into the "message".
The entire Easter message was delivered through different dramas and "acts" if you will. There was ballet to represent Adam and Eve and being cast out of Eden; hip hop; rap; soul music; short films; rock...literally everything. It was so moving and so amazing to watch. These people have genuine talent and I'm sure that it's something that they rarely get a chance to use in church, but they got to use it to show the most powerful message ever- the story of Christ's death on the cross. It was truly moving.
We got to see some of the more traditional things too: Buckingham, Tower of London, Millenium Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminister, Big Ben...all of that good stuff.
And can I just say how weird it was to go to a country where you could talk to anyone you wanted??? Like, if I needed a picture taken of our group, I could choose anyone that I wanted from the group and they could actually understand me!!! Strange things that you learn to appreciate when you live in a country where no one speaks your language and you can barely speak theirs, let me tell you.
But that's alright...I got to go to the Harry Potter movie set. Let me just tell you, that was one of the most epic experiences I've had. I met a lovely English girl named Tasha who could possibly be a bigger HP nerd than I am. However, we were both big enough nerds to go alone and therefore bonded and hung out the whole time. We had tons of fun and geeked out too many times to count. I may or may not have taken over 300 pictures while there....The city was beautiful though and I was so glad that my friend Eric got to come from the States and enjoy it with me (that's us laughing like fools in front of the London Tower). We all had such a fabulous time. One of my favorite parts was the church service. We went to the Hillsong London church and it was AH-MAZING. It was so different, so powerful, and incredibly refreshing. They started with a few worship songs of the traditional singing style and then moved into the "message".
The entire Easter message was delivered through different dramas and "acts" if you will. There was ballet to represent Adam and Eve and being cast out of Eden; hip hop; rap; soul music; short films; rock...literally everything. It was so moving and so amazing to watch. These people have genuine talent and I'm sure that it's something that they rarely get a chance to use in church, but they got to use it to show the most powerful message ever- the story of Christ's death on the cross. It was truly moving. We got to see some of the more traditional things too: Buckingham, Tower of London, Millenium Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminister, Big Ben...all of that good stuff.
And can I just say how weird it was to go to a country where you could talk to anyone you wanted??? Like, if I needed a picture taken of our group, I could choose anyone that I wanted from the group and they could actually understand me!!! Strange things that you learn to appreciate when you live in a country where no one speaks your language and you can barely speak theirs, let me tell you.
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