goodness again

I have been asking the Lord to show me His goodness these past few weeks. Tonight, I worked about 8 hours at Applebees. I got a job as a server there a few weeks ago. I have never served before and there is a lot to remember and constantly think about. Which means there is a lot to potentially mess up. And I messed up pretty bad tonight. There was a table of 8 people who all had individual checks and when I went to close them out, I dropped all their bills, credit cards, and gift cards on the ground. So I reorganized them as best as I could, but found out when I went back to the table that I had used a womans credit card on some one else's bill. I had to get the manager and it took me a half hour extra to sort the whole thing out. Thankfully, the ladies were really kind and actually offered to help me figure out what I did wrong. Oh yeah, I was also late for work because I forgot my name tag and card.

After the night was over, my manager asked me what I learned that day. "be organized" I told him. As I left, the thought crossed my mind that I was a failure and I let my boss down. Instantly right there I had a choice. I could dwell on that though and believe it, or I could speak truth to myself. I chose to stand in the truth. I realize that even when we feel like failures, when we screw up or do not meet someone's expectations, God is still good. Even in the hardest times in life, god is good.

Believing the goodness of God is the most important thing we can do. If we believe god is good, then we will trust him. If we trust him, then we will obey him.
I am learning that I need to remember that God is good in every aspect of my life. When I am pissed at my co workers, praise God because God is good. When I am frustrated with the people I live with, praise God because God is good. When I do not get my way, praise God, because God is good. When things in life are going great, praise God because God is good.

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living! Psalm 27:13

proclaiming the goodness of God

Recently, I have been learning how often I forget what I have in Christ. It is so easy to live our lives with a sense of entitlement, that the world owns us something just because we are human beings. Often times I find myself expecting things and circumstances in life to bring me happiness. So often I forget how good God is just because He is God. He has given us everything. We have eternal life. There is nothing on this earth that should steal our joy. I am learning that how in the midst of the adversity of life, we need to proclaim the goodness of God. To others, but most importantly to ourselves. As Americans, we are so tied into our happiness coming from the things and the security we have. As the american Church, this thinking typically does not differ. Our joy must be in Christ. Our joy must be in who God is and what He has done for us. When we think life is not going our way, we need to remember that it was never supposed to. We need to stand on the the goodness of God and proclaim it until we believe it and it changes our attitude.

I love the simple Psalm.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His steadfast love endures forever"

Psalm 136

It is so simple but so true. God is good. We have no reason not to be joyful and we have every reason to be. So be joyful today! Proclaim the goodness of God!

rambelings

This blog has sat dormant for awhile. Its been harder for me to blog lately. Life has gotten a bit busier. I have been in a place recently where life has been very routine. One of those seasons where I find myself doing the same things over and over again each day. In the midst of those places, I can easily become routine in my walk with the Lord. Sometimes it is as though the excitement of life is just gone. Routine sets in its course. I think there are seasons where life can become mechanical. They are not necessarily bad, they just happen.

And then, something happens and God lifts the shutters on my eyes and I realize that I have been missing Him all along. I read through 1 Peter this week and there was a verse that spoke so much truth to me. Verses 1:3-4 says

According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading".

I don't often realize that I am now a living hope and I have an eternal inheritance that will never be corrupted. So often I live my life not thinking on or remembering the promises of God. I am learning that who I am must come out of my identity in Christ. As a child of God, this is my new identity. I am no longer a wretched sinner. I am loved and forgiven by the King of all Kings.

It is so important to remember who we are. This is what separates us from the world. The fact that we know we are loved, forgiven, and set free from sin and that we don't have to be bound to please our flesh or man any longer. We are free to please Him.

If I do not remind myself of God's promises, then I am so easily swept into sin.
But thanks be to God for though we were dead in our sin He is rich in mercy.



JN

looking to the end

Often times in life, when we are in a process of accomplishing something, we ask ourselves "What is the end goal". These past few months, I have been living with a former Marine, and he always needs to know what the end goal of everything is. For him, the task or project is not worth the effort put into it if he does not know the end goal.

I think this is a very important question to be asking ourselves. I ask my self it a lot. But I often forget to ask myself that question in the most important aspect of life; life itself. Americans are very good at not knowing why they do the things they do. I am an American and I am very much included in that statement.

I often do not think about the end goal of life throughout my day. It seems silly when I think about it. As followers of Christ we know our end goal: to preach the gospel and bring Christ's kingdom to Earth, so one day, when every tribe has heard the name of Jesus, He will return as our King bringing the perfection we so long for. Yet so often I just don't think about that in the midst of my day. That should always be on my mind. If I really want to follow Christ, that is the culmination of the life of a follower. That needs to be on my mind constantly. I need to realize that in the midst of my interactions with people, my commute to school, in the shower... everything, I need to be aware of that reality.

Jesus is coming back. Does my life show that I am aware of that and am preparing for it?

longing

I read The Journey of Desire this past month. Many of the words Eldredge penned really spoke true of something I have been sensing over the past year. As the pages of a calender continually change, I am struck with the awareness that what I truly long for in this life will never be fulfilled. Eldredge reminds us wherever humans look, we see traces of what was. Eden. Perfection. Perfect Relationship with God. He says

"What if nature is speaking to us? What if sunrise and sunset tell the tale every day, remembering Eden's glory, prophesying Eden's return?" P. 107

And that is what we long for. A perfect world where we can have perfect relationship with God. Complete restoration of what was. I have been sensing that truth more and more. That longing of my heart will never be filled on this side of eternity.

The other night was I was reading revelation before I went to bed. It was comforting, but disappointing at the same time. It is not here yet. No matter how much time I spend in prayer or in the Word, this sense of longing will still be there. And that is good. We need not be discouraged because we do not yet have who we desire. For our perpetual awareness of who we do not have in His fullness is our hope that one day we will indeed obtain Him.

Winter

It's getting colder. The leaves outside my window have just about died. Fog encapsulates the morning, and leaves its trace of fresh layers of frost. As I have grown up, I have always loved the change of seasons. I am captivated by the stark transition from autumn into winter. Seeing the ground become brisk and eventually frozen, coupled with my breath on a cold night often reminds me that this life here is temporal. But in the midst of this earthly life, there are seasons. I am understanding more about the seasons of my own soul and why they happen the way they happen. The winter of the soul is one of those seasons that inevitably come, sometimes unexpectedly. It is often a barren place. Feeling and emotion are rare. The monotony of life tends to dominate those weeks and months. It often feels like the exitement of life has died. And in most cases, it has. But in the midst of winter, there is still life. Its outward appearance may be lifeless, but inside every living thing life awaits to show its life again.

I think the Lord takes us through these seasons because they are a necessary part of our growth. In Psalm 1, it takes about how man is blessed if he delights himself in the law of the Lord. It goes on to say

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water
that yields fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither."

I noticed that the fruit is produced in its season. At least the visible fruit. And that is what we all look for. We want to see the fruit our life. We want to know and feel the love of our Lord and see that love grow in the people around us. I think winters of the soul are there to remind us that even when we do not see or feel that love, it is still real. God is still working when we do not see it or feel it. I often need reminded of this.

November arrived again yesterday. Time continues to move and seasons continue to change. But as this body wastes away, His Spirit in us does not. There will be a day when there are no more seasons, and this longing for arriving face to face with Him will be met. But let us hold on to that longing, for it is what keeps us keeping on.



JN

a man

Over the last few weeks, I have been struck with the reality that God became a man. Flesh and bone. Human. I know that I know this. But it often doesn't sink in. I forget who was talking about it, but someone said that for most people in the world, the idea of God leaving heaven and becoming a human being is completely foreign almost unheard of. Yet we in Christendom have become so accustomed to hearing this, that the significance of this beautiful truth easily becomes overlooked and common.

God taking on flesh is anything but common. I have been reading through Luke, and my favorite part of it so far has been the detailed account of the birth of Christ. Luke spends a good two chapters recounting the infant Christ. God as a fetus.

I often forget that I am loved by a person. I often forget that it is a person I am praying to. I often forget that when I sin, I hurt a person. I've just been challenged these past few weeks to reexamine the truth of the person of Jesus Christ. I am amazed by the fact that right now, He is sitting on the throne, yet He is with me at the same time. Until the day we see Him face to face.



JN


"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" John 1:14