.i dare you.

When was the last time you were truly thankful? If you have been to church at least a hundred times, then you have probably heard the phrases “in everything give thanks” and “always be joyful”. Yet how often do we really practice these things and not simply fool ourselves into believing they are true?

Today I started reading the book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp. It is definitely an interesting read with a writing style that often is confusing and aggravating to me. However, Ann Voskamp has a lot to teach.

Her book focuses on how she lost her little sister when she was four years old and how she wanted nothing to do with God for a while. She was living life broken and sad. she would tell herself she was thankful for everything God had given her but would still live day-to-day in a state of semi-depression. So she came up with a dare: find 1,000 gifts that you can be thankful for that God has already given you.

I have heard others tell me about this before and have always thought it was a lovely idea but not very feasible. Reading this book has shown me that it is a very simple process and something that I needed to start yesterday.

This is my acceptance of the dare for the rest of this year. I am going to write down 1,000 things to be thankful for by December 31,2012. Thankfully the rules for the things that go on the list are up to my interpretation. They can be as serious or strange or hilarious as I want them to be; they just have to exist in my life. From now until the end of the year, it will only take about six or seven items a day to add to the list to make it to 1,000 things to be thankful for.

I am praying that God will begin to show me how to be in a constant state of joyful thanksgiving. I know that I am in desperate need of a heart that is continually grateful and I believe that this is how God is going to create that attitude in me.

What about you? Are you willing to take a few moments out of everyday to write down a small things you are thankful for? To find 1,000 things in a period of 365 days, it only takes three things a day to be thankful for. To find 1,000 things between now and December 31, 2012, it only takes seven things a day to be thankful for. Are you ready to find a sense of joyful thanksgiving about your life? Are you ready to fall deeper in love with life and God? I dare you to join me on this journey of transformation. What do you have to lose?

 

.numbered.

Many people will probably automatically think “nerd” when I say this, but I am willing to embrace that title on my life. I really like numbers. Numbers make sense to me because they represent things like time, finances, people, communication, important dates, and even places. It wasn’t until a few years ago that God showed me that I was going to deal with numbers the rest of my life and actually enjoy it. Praise God that he makes us all unique! Lord knows that I could never put my hands in someone’s mouth like my dental hygienist studying sister! 

God has also shown me that my days are numbered. To avoid getting too depressing, the obvious statement of “Life is short” will suffice. However, life is not meant to be mundane. 

I was reading Psalm 139 this morning and a portion of it really stood out to me and I desire to share my thoughts with you on it.

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! {Psalm 139:16-18a}

God has given me three extravagant goals to accomplish during my lifetime. I have no doubt that they can be accomplished but I do know that they cannot and will not be achieved through my own human efforts. Only with God’s guiding and timing will these dreams come to fruition. Yet looking at this passage in Psalm 139 God shows me (and you) that He already knows exactly what will happen each day of your life on this earth.

Think about it: God knows the exact day, year, month, time, and place of the things that are going to occur in your life. He already knew before you were even born. If that fact doesn’t make you stand in awe and say, “Thank you, God!”, then it might be time for a heart check.

I know I am just one person, but I also know that God has big things for my life. How big those things are I’m not exactly sure of just yet, but they are big enough to often scare me. Yet the idea of one day looking back on my life and being able to say, “Yeah, God did that” keeps me moving forward.

Our days are numbered and God has a wonderful life planned for you that will be so amazing and so full! But the choice is yours whether you will renumber your days or allow God’s numbering system to be in control. I promise you that man’s wisdom of numbers is so miniscule compared to God’s. He’s waiting to show you the things He has had planned for you since before you were born. Are you ready? 

.in pursuit.

A while back I wrote a post that I would like to publicly apologize for. In my head, I was writing the post as an encouragement when it only came across as judgment. A few days after writing it I quietly deleted it but never apologized for it. I am still learning how to process life and how to find the balance between judging someone in their sin and loving someone out of their sin. I am truly sorry for coming across as judgmental and being so apathetic at the time about how I could truly hurt someone.

I am writing this post sort of as a “do over.” I hope this time the message that I desire to convey comes across in a tone that does nothing less than encourage.

I am a wicked person through and through. At times I have evil thoughts set up camp in my mind. Often I waste my time doing meaningless things when I know that I could be using that time to grow closer to God and studying His Word. I allow my flesh to win the battle over my soul. I neglect to remember that God is with me and where I go, what I see, what I hear, what I do, He is right there seeing, hearing, and doing everything I do.

Oh how wonderful the thought that I am not enslaved to myself and my desires! How amazing is the truth of God sending His Son to take my punishment for the evil I have committed against Him all so that I can know Him!

I am a sinner saved by grace. In my human form I have never been nor will I ever be perfect. And if you are honest with yourself, you know you aren’t perfect either. Since I’m not perfect, I cannot expect perfection of anyone. All I can ask is that if you are a true follower of Christ you begin to wholeheartedly seek holiness.

If we are called to be like Christ, we need to understand that first and foremost Jesus is God. Therefore, we are called to pursue godliness which starts when we pursue holiness. So how do we do this?

For me, I am learning that this means always seeking to put God first. This is a struggle because I naturally want to put myself first. Should I really go see that movie? Does going to that place show others that I see my body as a temple of the Lord and I honor Him above myself? Do the people I spend the majority of my time with build me up in Christ or drag me into the darkness of the world?

Christians are not called to be strange or outsiders or the awkward person in the room that no one really cares to be around. We are called to be in the world but not of it. If this means a change in where you go or who you hang out with, then so be it. Do not allow the world to entice you and squelch the Holy Spirit in your life.

Jesus lived on this earth. He knows what it is like to be tempted in human flesh. Yet despite all the beauty that Satan wrapped sin in, Jesus never once allowed his flesh to win. When we know who we are in Christ, we don’t have to worry about if we will fit in with certain groups of people or what others may do to us. We just ask God to keep growing us in Christlikeness and we praise Him for the gift of salvation.

So keep staying strong. Keep asking God to remind you that where you go, what you hear, what you see, and what you do, He is right there next to you the whole time. May we begin to understand that we can live our lives on a daily basis in such a way that bring people closer to God with every encounter we have with someone. By no means is this an easy task, but with God’s help I believe it is possible. And I can only imagine the blessings that would result in one’s life when the pursuit of holiness is the forefront of one’s mind. May we begin to live every day truly and passionately seeking to bring God glory. Amen.

.discipline.

I started reading a new book today entitled Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney. It is one of the treasures I found when we went to Value Village and even though I am only three chapters in, I wanted to go ahead and share the parts that I have highlighted. They are just too good to keep to myself.

This book was written in 1991 and focuses on the disciplines that lead to holiness and Christlikeness which is to be the goal of every Christian life. Although the list of disciplines can be extensive, this book looks at those of Bible intake, prayer, worship, evangelism, serving, stewardship, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, and learning. The sixty pages I have read so far are insightful and convicting. I am excited to see what the rest of the book holds. So without any further ado, here is what I have gained from Mr. Whitney thus far:

• Discipline without direction is drudgery.
• God’s eternal plan ensures that every Christian will ultimately conform to Christlikeness.
• We aren’t merely to wait for holiness, we’re to pursue it.
• Godly people are disciplined people.
• Sometimes God uses our friends to sharpen us into more Christlike living, and sometimes He uses our enemies to file away our rough, ungodly edges.
• Christians are called to make themselves do something they would not naturally do–pursue the Spiritual Disciplines–in order to become what they’ve always wanted to be, that is, like Jesus Christ.
• And if we are going to be Christlike, we must live as Christ lived.
• Discipline is the price of freedom; freedom is the reward of discipline.
• The freedom of Godliness is the freedom to do what God calls us to do through Scripture and the freedom to express the character qualities of Christ through our own personality. This kind of freedom is the “reward” or result of the blessing of God upon our engagement in the Spiritual Disciplines.
• Godliness is a lifelong pursuit.
• Jesus was the most disciplined Man who ever lived and yet the most joyful and passionately alive. He is our Example of discipline.
• It’s one thing to be unfamiliar with Scripture when you don’t own a Bible; it’s another thing when you have a bookshelf full.
• There simply is no healthy Christian life apart from a diet of the milk and meat of Scripture.
• The worst dust storm in history would happen if all church members who were neglecting their Bibles dusted them off simultaneously.
• Regardless of how busy we become with all things Christian, we must remember that the most transforming practice available to us is the disciplined intake of Scripture.
• The purpose of all methods of Bible intake is obedience to what God says and the development of Christlikeness.
• Ongoing worship of God cannot be separated from the Word of God. We are to discipline ourselves to go and hear the Word of God.
• If you want to be changed, if you want to become more like Jesus Christ, discipline yourself to read the Bible.
• You need to encounter Christ in the Scriptures when it will still have an impact on your day.
• Any financial reward would be minimal when compared to the accumulating value of the treasure of God’s Word deposited within your mind.
• If you know your birthday, phone number, and address, and can remember the names of your friends, then you can memorize Scripture. The question becomes whether you are willing to discipline yourself to do it.
• True success is promised to those who meditate on God’s Word, who think deeply on Scripture, not just at one time each day, but at moments throughout the day and night.
• It is possible to encounter a torrential amount of God’s truth, but without absorption you will be little better for the experience. Meditation is absorption.
• The outcome of meditation should be application.
• Praying over a text is the invitation for the Holy Spirit to hold His divine light over the words of Scripture to show you what you cannot see without Him.
• Because God wills for you to be a doer of His Word, you may be confident that He wants you to find an application whenever you come to the Scriptures.
• Because of God’s inspiration of Scripture, believe that what you are reading was meant for you as well as for the first recipients of the message. Without that attitude you’ll rarely perceive the application of a passage of Scripture to your personal situation.
• For the better we understand the Bible, the better equipped we will be to apply it.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to find a copy of this book and to read it for yourself. It’s not the kind of book that will build up your ego and make you think that God is going to make you successful in the eyes of the world because God is on your side. It’s the kind of book that sheds light on your life, takes the focus off of yourself, and shows you how God instructs us to practically become more like Christ. This is why we have been adopted into God’s family–to become like Christ and to show others God’s love through us.