Plato

So...I'm sitting her (supposed to be) reading Plato's Republic...bleck.  I seriously reading hundreds of pages from "the great philosopher" Plato.  I mean, yeah, it's great to study primary sources and all that edyoo-muhkashonul stuff, but I'm kinda over it.  Plato is literally spending hundreds of pages defining "justice."  And answering the questions "What is a just person?" and "What is a just city?"  Really now.  Come on.

Then, as I was feeling as though this task of reading was beyond my capabilities, I had a thought.  (Don't be too shocked...yes, Plato can stimulate thinking though what I was thinking about was totally unrelated to justice.)  K...so my thought...

People spend their whole lives studying Plato and Aristotle and Socrates trying to come up with some cohesive meaning behind it all.  Meanwhile, the text is about as hard to read as it gets.  Words that I've never seen before.  Phrases that don't make sense.  Paragraphs comprised of one stinkin sentence.

Then I got to thinking, how incredibly BLESSED we are to have a God who understands us in our weakness--that He would not only send us His son in our place, but that He gave us a whole book for us to study in order that we might live to glorify Him!  His Word is easy enough to understand that Kindergarteners can understand John 3:16 and yet so complex that you can study it for a whole lifetime and be learning more and more until your dying breath.  The Word of God is SO rich and so good, it's water to my weary soul.  I'm so thankful that we have a God who sympathizes with us in our weakness, He gave us His love letter in words we, mere humans, can understand.

That said, I need to get back to Plato (ugh), but I thought I'd take a minute and remind you of the sweet, sweet words of Paul:

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."  Colossians 3:16-17

With this command, how can we not find time to spend in the Word each and every day?  Our God is worthy of our intellect, our study, our early morning hours.  Our God is worthy of our devotion, our focus and our desire.  Our God is worthy of our time, talents and treasure.  Our God is worthy of our praise.

My prayer for you today :)

This is my prayer for you today:

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you , being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you many be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is the work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen."

~Ephesians 3:14-21

Blessings,

Isaiah believed.

What a whirlwind of a week already!  I'm exhausted, but I'm trusting that the Lord will continue to sustain me--He always does  :)

Today I was reading in Isaiah and something hit me like a ton of bricks.  Yesterday I was reading through the famous calling of Isaiah, where God asks, "Whom shall i send?  And who will go for us?" And then Isaiah pipes up in his shaky voice and says, "Here am I.  Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8).  First of all, I think we often times envision Isaiah to be this bold, saintly warrior who just starts talking to God like He's his bestie.  False.  Isaiah was honestly probably shaking in his boots like nobody's business.  No one just starts talking to God like it happens everyday, I mean let's get real here.  Isaiah was a man, just like you and just like me.  He had emotions--scared, happy, sad--whatever the case may be.  God chose Isaiah because Isaiah was willing.  Other than that, Isaiah was just an average guy.  God will use anybody and anytime to do anything when we are willing to die to ourselves and live for Him.  K.  Point one.  Moving on.

So following this verse, God tells Isaiah what to say and all that jazz.  Great...moving on.

Have you ever realized how hard God's message to Isaiah must have been for Isaiah to receive?  God basically says, "Look Isaiah.  Your people are going to turn away from me.  And in the midst of all that, I want you to proclaim me as Yahweh.  I want you to be the light in the darkness.  You're my guy."  I'ms sure Isaiah was like, "Uh...God.  Me?  Really?  I think you picked the wrong guy."  Can you imagine being told that you were going to be the ONLY one who would still believe God?!  The awesome part about this passage is the very end of chapter eight.

Isaiah 8:17 says, "I will wait for the LORD who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob.  I will put my trust in him."

Against all odds, Isaiah believes God.  It wasn't like God chose Isaiah and then was all "buddy-buddy" with him.  God chose Isaiah and then allowed him to feel just as alone as the ENTIRE house of Jacob felt.  Regardless of what he FELT, he still trusted in faith that God would deliver and that he would come through on his promises.  Isaiah believed His God was bigger than any army or people group.  Isaiah believe His God was Mighty and Powerful.

The funny thing is, God calls us to be just like Isaiah.  Believing against all odds.  Seeing the unseen.  Trusting in a Most High God.  Are we up for the challenge?

Zealous?

Wow!  This week has been filled with blessings upon blessings upon even more blessings!!!  I think that's how every week is, but this week the LORD made Himself so evident in my life.  I am truly thankful and praising Him for what He's done!  Here are a few highlights:

1. Last weekend, I got to spend time with the Ortiz family in Irvine!  It was such a blessing to be able to see good friends, and meet lil' Miss Violet, Renee and Jon's little girl.  And it was such a gift to be able to talk with Anna, since we haven't seen each other in what feels like ages!

2. I got to be in the classroom (elementary) for the first time on Wednesday!!!  I'm in Mrs. Walker's first grade class, and I absolutely adore her as well as her 25 little ones.  They are so sweet, and have lots and lots of energy!  Mrs. Walker was so gracious and let me introduce myself and tell a little tiny bit about who I am.  AND...she even let me go around and help all the little kiddos one-on-one during their work time!  I was so excited.  My first day went so well, that I've set up two more times to go in each week, so I'm in the classroom three times each week instead of only one!!!  Can you tell I'm STOKED?!?!?!

2. Also on Wednesday, Cat (my roomie this year, AND last year) asked us (me and our two other roomies) to be in her wedding in May!  So, there's lots of excitement going on in our little apartment.

Those are just a few happenings in my life, but none of these even compare to the Cross of Christ.  The LORD is continually teaching me and molding me into His likeness.  Though it's painful at times, it is so worth it.  It is an absolute honor to be called His and to be an image-bearer of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This morning I read Galatians 4, and this verse stuck out to me:

"It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you." Galatians 4:18

Paul is writing to the church of Galatia and he basically encourages them, "Look, it's great to get excited about life happenings, but please, make sure they're worthy of your excitement!"  I love this!  You know, as excited as I am about getting to teach, and being in one of my best friend's wedding, my excitement for those things should be NOTHING compared to my excitement for Jesus Christ.  And Paul also cautions that our excitement for those "good" things shouldn't just show when we're around Pastors, or Missionaries, or Professors or Parents.  This excitement should come from the heart and should be authentic no matter who we're with or where we are.

So with that, I want to encourage you to really examine your life--what are those things that get you excited?  Sports?  School?  Family?  Church?  Video games?  None of those in and of themselves are bad....but I want to challenge you to find a way to be intentional about glorifying God through those things.  If the Cross of Christ is not at the center of our every move, our every thought, our every activity, then Christ does not have first place in our lives.  After all, shouldn't that be the goal of every Christian?  Think on these things.

Blessings,

PRAY FOR DAISY

Please read this blog!  This is a powerful story of a precious little girl's fight against cancer.  The more prayers, the better!

prayfordaisy.com

This is my life right now.  What an encouragement!  You too, be encouraged.

Ministry

I'm just forewarning you...this is probably going to be one of the most hypocritical posts you are ever going to see me write.  But I know that this is what God wants me to say; He has laid it heavily on my heart, so I will gladly share.

I have been thinking a lot about ministry.  Not just ministry in foreign countries--like Mexico, or South Africa or the Dominican Republic.  Those are all fine and dandy, and could even be classified as "cool."  I've been thinking about ministry close to home and close to my heart.  In our world, it becomes easy to deliver PB&J sandwiches to homeless people that line the streets of L.A.  It is so easy to hand the street musician a few quarters to put in his guitar case.  It's easy to love the "unlovables" when there is no risk to us.  We will probably and walk away from that nameless face and think about them not more than a few times from then on out...if any at all.  We live in a world scarred by failure and chances not taken.  We live in a world paralyzed by the fear of risking ourself for the sake of another.  

I came accross this verse: 

"He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy."

This verse implies that there is some connection between neighbor and needy.  It implies that the neighbor is the one who is needy.  This ISN'T the person who I randomly see with a cardboard sign.  This is the person who I walk past each and every day.  The person who screams silently and no one hears...or more than likely, no one takes time to listen.  This is the person who is close to my heart, the person who requires me to risk myself in order to dig deep into their mess.  This is the person who Jesus loves.  This is me.  This is you.

You see, this is exactly what Jesus did for us.  He risked His very will, His reputation, His LIFE to reach down into the mucky, messy, miry clay that He found us in.  And He simply asks us to do the same with those around us.  

How many people do we have within our immediate circle of friends who really need someone right now?  I can think of countless names.

How many people do we see each and every day who we know are crying for help and yet we ignore them?

How many people do we know NEED the truth and light and life of Jesus, and yet we are more concerned with how WE might look if we share?

One thing I know is this: Jesus called us to be the salt of the earth as He lights up the world--that He might be seen and they might be saved to the Glorious praise of God.  

Blessings,