So,
My husband and I are taking a class at our church, Woodland Hills, called Discover the Kingdom (DK). We are only 2 weeks in and I can tell we are going to really be learning a lot in it. It's inspiring me to come back here to write a bit.
The past week was on Christ and the metaphors he used surrounding Jewish marriage during his 3 year ministry. I've heard the bride church metaphor before, but this really shed some amazing light for me.
Context is everything. It turns out, in a first century context, marriage was much different than modern day. Then it went something like - an engagement, a betrothal and then a marriage.
So whats a betrothal? A betrothal came immediately after an engagement. It was a period about one year long, when the husband-to-be would go back to his land and build the house for him and his new bride. The bride, would be home gathering cloth to make her wedding dress and learning necessary skills to being a housewife, as well as saying goodbyes to her family if she was moving to a new land.
Then, one day, the husbands father would decide it was time and would go to his son and tell his son that today is his wedding day, and they would leave. The bride would have no warning except for the arrival of her husband to be.
Oh yes, and once engaged, you had to legally divorce someone to be UN-betrothed. Although you had not yet been officially married, and the marriage had not yet been consummated, to break of a betrothal, you had to legally divorce your fiance.
Now, Christ used bride language throughout his whole ministry. Indeed, right before he was crucified he told his disciples that he was going away to prepare a place for them in his fathers house. He also talked about his ministry years as the celebration of engagement, stating that you do not fast when the bridegroom is with you, suggesting that he is the bridegroom, and there is something to be celebrated before he goes away to prepare a place.
So, what does this mean?
To me, it means that my life is meant to be a dedicated faithful service to my savior, my God, who is working to prepare a place for me and all others who love Him. I see myself now as needing to work to prepare my heart and my life to honor my bridegroom, and to prepare to dwell with him for eternity in His fathers house.
Just like getting married is an adjustment, it will be an adjustment to dwell with Christ in this new house when he returns for us. That is why we need to work diligently now to live in such a way that honors him - so that when we do join him, we can be filled with joy to be with him, not filled with resentment of the change.
How do we do this? How can we work to be the most beautiful bride Christ could imagine when he returns?
Follow his commandments and clothe ourselves in our beautiful dress -
Like the brides of Israel we need to work with our community to make a gown that honors and stuns our bridegroom when he returns. Paul says in revelations that our cloth to make our dress out of is our relationships.
This is the heart of Jesus.
That we can work together to build a fabric of relationships that is fitting for the bride of the universe.
Love thy neighbor.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Forget what you've heard about Christ.
Who is Christ?
He is more than "death" and "sin" and "be saved" and "rose again".
Christ is more than flesh and body. He is more than you've heard.
Christ does not live in a church, his body and eyes and arms, are yours and mine.
Christ does not live in the words, but is the meaning and power of language.
Christ cannot be simply defined, but is meant to be infinitely experienced.
Forget what you've think you've learned, forget what you've heard about Christ.
Have you ever sat and wondered at the beauty of a sunset?
Taken pause at the happenstance of a series of events?
Have you ever been lost in the beauty of a simple leaf or tree?
Been in awe of mystery and mastery? Of the greatness of the universe?
The creativity of creation?
Have you ever looked to the stars and felt small?
Or seen a spiders web, beautifully made and sprinkled with dew, and wondered how magical?
Have you ever felt connected to the fabric of being?
Or part of something greater than yourself?
Have you ever felt the power of the energy that holds the whole world, the whole universe, together?
The fragility of life?
Felt the balance that it all hangs on?
Have you an awareness of the power that brought existence into being?
That spoke a word forth, and created?
Christ is that.
The word spoken, that created.
The power out of which became existence.
The balance
The fragility, the life.
The energy that holds it together
The 'something' greater. That to which you, and I, belong.
The fabric of being to which we are all connected to, and from which we all came.
The wonder and magic of dew and webs and spiders.
The greatness within, the smallness through out.
The creativity
The mystery and the mastery
The beauty and complexity
The happenstance
The wonder
The beauty
The sunset.
Christ is the power, the energy, the force behind everything, that holds it all and created it all and is alive within it.
That power which, being so great, was made small into the body of a man.
Who came to love, and show the world what it really means to live.
Who died a bodily death, but rose above and still lives.
For if Christ truly died, all would cease to exist.
And because He lives, we can also live.
Forget what you've heard about Christ, and let Him show you the true meaning of His name, the word, the love, the light, the living, the life, Christ.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
He is more than "death" and "sin" and "be saved" and "rose again".
Christ is more than flesh and body. He is more than you've heard.
Christ does not live in a church, his body and eyes and arms, are yours and mine.
Christ does not live in the words, but is the meaning and power of language.
Christ cannot be simply defined, but is meant to be infinitely experienced.
Forget what you've think you've learned, forget what you've heard about Christ.
Have you ever sat and wondered at the beauty of a sunset?
Taken pause at the happenstance of a series of events?
Have you ever been lost in the beauty of a simple leaf or tree?
Been in awe of mystery and mastery? Of the greatness of the universe?
The creativity of creation?
Have you ever looked to the stars and felt small?
Or seen a spiders web, beautifully made and sprinkled with dew, and wondered how magical?
Have you ever felt connected to the fabric of being?
Or part of something greater than yourself?
Have you ever felt the power of the energy that holds the whole world, the whole universe, together?
The fragility of life?
Felt the balance that it all hangs on?
Have you an awareness of the power that brought existence into being?
That spoke a word forth, and created?
Christ is that.
The word spoken, that created.
The power out of which became existence.
The balance
The fragility, the life.
The energy that holds it together
The 'something' greater. That to which you, and I, belong.
The fabric of being to which we are all connected to, and from which we all came.
The wonder and magic of dew and webs and spiders.
The greatness within, the smallness through out.
The creativity
The mystery and the mastery
The beauty and complexity
The happenstance
The wonder
The beauty
The sunset.
Christ is the power, the energy, the force behind everything, that holds it all and created it all and is alive within it.
That power which, being so great, was made small into the body of a man.
Who came to love, and show the world what it really means to live.
Who died a bodily death, but rose above and still lives.
For if Christ truly died, all would cease to exist.
And because He lives, we can also live.
Forget what you've heard about Christ, and let Him show you the true meaning of His name, the word, the love, the light, the living, the life, Christ.
Biblical evidence:
New International Version (NIV)
John 1
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
....
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
So if Christ was the Word, what did the Word do?
Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God
blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the
water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals
according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and
all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then
God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole
earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours
for food. 30 And
to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the
creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of
life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
What the Bible says..LGBT
My my my how I struggle against people who claim to be christians, but whore the name in the act of hate against brothers and sisters who are different from them - specifically against the LGBT-(TQQSIUU) population. The ones that claim that it is a sin to be gay, and that if you are you are surely going to hell. They say "The Law condemns it" - then they tell you "it's all in the Bible! Turn from your evil ways and be SAVED!"
UGH. This boils m blood.
Lord have MERCY.
Brothers and sisters, I want to begin by stating that we, as Christians, are not called to live by the Law, but are called to live by the Spirit, given to us by the grace of God. (1 Corinthians, Romans, Hebrews). There is nothing you can do to deserve this grace, or to lose this grace, you can only accept it. Whether black, white, gay, transexual, inter-sex, married, unmarried, man or woman, or anything else for that matter. If you were created by God (which you are), then you're welcome to this grace. You cant earn it and you can't do anything to deserve it. There is simply nothing you can do. Nothing. Except accept it.
If you are so freely welcome to it, indeed your brother and sister next to you - no matter how uncomfortable it makes you - is also freely welcome to it.
So stop judging them, stop telling them they need to be saved. Stop telling them they are lost or some how inferior to you and denied your grace. Remember, you did not earn it, and neither can they.
No. Our God freely gives this grace, this spirit, this unconditional un-dying love - to anyone, anyone who chooses to accept it.
Whether you like it or not.
In this light, the law is irrelevant. Jesus made the law- which leads to death- irrelevant. To follow the law is to lead yourself to death. Be free. Leave the Law behind. The law that condemns you will condemn you to hell. You will never escape it or please it. (read 1 Corinthians (especially the last few chapters) or 1 Colossians (Ch. 12 and 13) or Romans (romans 8 is particularly good) or Hebrews (chapters 8-12 or so)or just about any part of the New Testament really, if you don't believe me). It's there.
That, brothers and sisters, is what the Bible says.
There is good news- there is Gospel!
You can be free of the law. Christ has come and He has risen! He has put the law to death and given us the spirit to live by - living through and by the spirit leads to life. And this spirit sees everyone as loved by God. As a perfectly imperfect impression of God and His love, and this spirit loves unconditionally - just as God does. It knows not how to hate or judge or condemn, but only to love.
That, brothers and sisters, is what the Bible says.
The true mark of this Spirit within you is unconditional love for all. No matter what. No matter if this person is loving another, or torturing you. You are called to love them, to welcome them with open arms, to validate them as Gods child.
So my challenge and question to Christians is this -
Christ says from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.
What comes out of your mouth?
Check yo self.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Judges Ch. 9
Reading judges now. Wow the Isrealites really have a hard time following God's law (who can blame them). Joshua is dead, Moses is long dead - and now the isrealites are left to follow God on their own. But, they stray and worship other gods and so things fall apart. They cry out to God who sends a judge to tell them what to do, and to rescue them - delivering them. God almost gives up on the Isrealites a few times. Still very hard. But, I really like this passage:
Judges 9:8-15
Judges 9:8-15
New International Version (NIV)
8 One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’
9 “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’
10 “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’
11 “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’
12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’
13 “But the vine answerevingd, ‘Should I give up my wine,(A) which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’
14 “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’
15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade;(B) but if not, then let fire come out(C) of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’(D)
Thank you to http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+9%3A8-15&version=NIV for having typed this out in advance for me.
9 “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’
10 “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’
11 “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’
12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’
13 “But the vine answerevingd, ‘Should I give up my wine,(A) which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’
14 “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’
15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade;(B) but if not, then let fire come out(C) of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’(D)
Thank you to http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+9%3A8-15&version=NIV for having typed this out in advance for me.
Joshua
I read through the book of Joshua pretty quickly because it's very eventful. Basically, the Isrialites come into the promise land and kill a lot of people to inhabit the land.
I praise God that he doesn't work like this anymore.
I praise God that he doesn't work like this anymore.
Deuteronomy
Well, I've made it through Deuteronomy - a book I really liked actually. Like I mentioned in my last post, I feel like I finally started seeing the heart of God as revealed in the New Testament through Jesus. God promises to be God, and the Israelites promise to be His people. But wow- thank you Lord for sending jesus to fulfill this promise because we were in such bondage to the law, which seems so simple yet is so impossible to follow.
I couldn't help but feel like I could never measure up to all of the laws and rules, and I kept thinking wow, am I a failure? Do Christians still need to follow these laws?
And after reading some New Testament passages, like those found in 1 Colossians and 1 Corinthians, I am glad to learn that to follow the law is to lead yourself to death (precisely because it's soi mpossible to follow), but tht we have been set free from the condemnation of the law if we accept Jesus' sacrifice. That instead, we are to be led and to follow the Spirit through Jesus Christ. That to follow the spirit means to not need law. That all of our failures to follow the Law have been forgiven, completely forgiven. Now we are called to be liberated and to follow through the Holy Spirit. How amazing? God has not only forgiven us for our failure, but has given us new life, a new way to worship him- from our heart rather than out of duty.
Praise God.
I couldn't help but feel like I could never measure up to all of the laws and rules, and I kept thinking wow, am I a failure? Do Christians still need to follow these laws?
And after reading some New Testament passages, like those found in 1 Colossians and 1 Corinthians, I am glad to learn that to follow the law is to lead yourself to death (precisely because it's soi mpossible to follow), but tht we have been set free from the condemnation of the law if we accept Jesus' sacrifice. That instead, we are to be led and to follow the Spirit through Jesus Christ. That to follow the spirit means to not need law. That all of our failures to follow the Law have been forgiven, completely forgiven. Now we are called to be liberated and to follow through the Holy Spirit. How amazing? God has not only forgiven us for our failure, but has given us new life, a new way to worship him- from our heart rather than out of duty.
Praise God.
Friday, June 1, 2012
In my own skin- Inspired by (quirky) women
Recently, I have re-kindled an old friendship from way back when, and my friend and I have been talking about a lot og great things. I've decided these things are great enough to share here too.
One topic we were talking about was our tendency to want to be liked by everyone. Can you relate? I struggle pretty much every day with trying to 'say the right thing' and trying to be liked by everyone around me. It gets under my skin so much when someone 'doesn't like me' or 'disapproves'. But lately, I have found some peace with this, and so I thought I'd share why and how I've started to worry less if I'm liked or approved.
Always seeking approval and wanting to be pleasant to, and liked by, everyone you meet and are surrounded by is something I think humans were made to feel. We are social beings, and we want to be of service and bring joy to others around us. Not only that, but we want a community where we fit and belong, a family we can build for ourselves where we can be ourselves.
As I've grown over the past few short years. I have been blessed by being surrounded with a lot of women in my life. Not just women my age, women of all ages and stages, and this has profoundly impacted me. From these (mostly older) women that I've met and had the privilege of spending my time with, I have gotten to witness something beautiful that comes with aging- finding yourself. From these women, I have learned that we are not all perfect, that at times we will rub people the wrong way, or not agree, or think each other 'weird' or eccentric- but that these are not things to hide by conforming. Instead, these are things to be celebrated.
There is something really beautiful about someone who can gracefully be themselves, something inspiring and moving. You know that your experience with that person is going to be authentic, even if it is weird or uncomfortable at times. As I have learned to love the imperfections in these women, and then learned to see the woman who is being 'imperfect' as greater than her awkward or quirky comments, I have begun to see how everyone brings something unique and beautiful wherever they go. To not be fully 'you', deprives the moment of what only you have to offer it.
Some people are funny. Some people are smart. Some people are up-front. Some people are hippies, some people are sporty..etc.etc. I have started not only to learn to embrace the quicks in others, but to love them for their quirks. From this I have learned to embrace more the defining sides of myself, the serious side,the spiritual side, the nerdy side, the hippy sider, the oblivious side, the 5-years old side, the grandma side... the list goes on. Before, these were things I would try to suppress, while trying to highlight others, or 'tone down a little".
But now, I have embraced them more instead of judging them as things I need to fix. I haven't stopped comparing myself to others all together, but through seeing how great it is to have such eclectic and different people around me that get along so well and each bring something different to the table, I have begun to see that I too can bring something wholly unique. I have come to accept that I'm not always interested in things that other people are interested in, that I'm not always as clever or outgoing or personable as other people, but that isn't wrong or bad. Other people aren't as quiet or gentile in conversation as me, aren't as nerdy or whatever I am, as me. And as I accept that, I realize that it's OK to be different. And if it's OK to be different, then it's OK to be myself and not try to conform to what I think other people want.
People don't always want to see reflections of themselves in the people they hang out with. People want to see something new, learn new perspectives, share different experiences and stories. People will be drawn to you no matter what. The question is, are they drawn to your authentic self (with all of it's imperfections) or are they drawn to something you're trying to hold up? It's so much more work to hold something up than to just say OK, well here I am and maybe I'm not always x-y-z but at least you know who I am, and I am authentic.
This doesn't mean you cant still strive to be things you aren't today, it just means that you can let go of working to be someone you're not. It has helped me stop worrying about if someone likes me, if what I said was taken the right way, if I reacted the 'right' way to a situation.... it's relieved a lot of the anxiety. And I feel like I've made a lot less mistakes because of it.
One topic we were talking about was our tendency to want to be liked by everyone. Can you relate? I struggle pretty much every day with trying to 'say the right thing' and trying to be liked by everyone around me. It gets under my skin so much when someone 'doesn't like me' or 'disapproves'. But lately, I have found some peace with this, and so I thought I'd share why and how I've started to worry less if I'm liked or approved.
Always seeking approval and wanting to be pleasant to, and liked by, everyone you meet and are surrounded by is something I think humans were made to feel. We are social beings, and we want to be of service and bring joy to others around us. Not only that, but we want a community where we fit and belong, a family we can build for ourselves where we can be ourselves.
As I've grown over the past few short years. I have been blessed by being surrounded with a lot of women in my life. Not just women my age, women of all ages and stages, and this has profoundly impacted me. From these (mostly older) women that I've met and had the privilege of spending my time with, I have gotten to witness something beautiful that comes with aging- finding yourself. From these women, I have learned that we are not all perfect, that at times we will rub people the wrong way, or not agree, or think each other 'weird' or eccentric- but that these are not things to hide by conforming. Instead, these are things to be celebrated.
OK, yes, I've heard this all before but it's finally sinking in.
There is something really beautiful about someone who can gracefully be themselves, something inspiring and moving. You know that your experience with that person is going to be authentic, even if it is weird or uncomfortable at times. As I have learned to love the imperfections in these women, and then learned to see the woman who is being 'imperfect' as greater than her awkward or quirky comments, I have begun to see how everyone brings something unique and beautiful wherever they go. To not be fully 'you', deprives the moment of what only you have to offer it.
Some people are funny. Some people are smart. Some people are up-front. Some people are hippies, some people are sporty..etc.etc. I have started not only to learn to embrace the quicks in others, but to love them for their quirks. From this I have learned to embrace more the defining sides of myself, the serious side,the spiritual side, the nerdy side, the hippy sider, the oblivious side, the 5-years old side, the grandma side... the list goes on. Before, these were things I would try to suppress, while trying to highlight others, or 'tone down a little".
But now, I have embraced them more instead of judging them as things I need to fix. I haven't stopped comparing myself to others all together, but through seeing how great it is to have such eclectic and different people around me that get along so well and each bring something different to the table, I have begun to see that I too can bring something wholly unique. I have come to accept that I'm not always interested in things that other people are interested in, that I'm not always as clever or outgoing or personable as other people, but that isn't wrong or bad. Other people aren't as quiet or gentile in conversation as me, aren't as nerdy or whatever I am, as me. And as I accept that, I realize that it's OK to be different. And if it's OK to be different, then it's OK to be myself and not try to conform to what I think other people want.
People don't always want to see reflections of themselves in the people they hang out with. People want to see something new, learn new perspectives, share different experiences and stories. People will be drawn to you no matter what. The question is, are they drawn to your authentic self (with all of it's imperfections) or are they drawn to something you're trying to hold up? It's so much more work to hold something up than to just say OK, well here I am and maybe I'm not always x-y-z but at least you know who I am, and I am authentic.
This doesn't mean you cant still strive to be things you aren't today, it just means that you can let go of working to be someone you're not. It has helped me stop worrying about if someone likes me, if what I said was taken the right way, if I reacted the 'right' way to a situation.... it's relieved a lot of the anxiety. And I feel like I've made a lot less mistakes because of it.
Thank you to all of you quirky women out there for showing me how beautiful you are.
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