To be broken

But I didn’t choose this.

When I said ‘yes’ to Christ, I wasn’t saying yes to being broken. “Of course not” He said, “brokenness is not a choice, it’s a chance; and it happens because I love you”

Brokenness is not a choice, it’s a chance …

That’s when I decided to listen; so of course, that’s when He decided to speak.

Brokenness happens for everyone

and it looks different for everyone. For some, brokenness is a result of a failed relationship; yet others face it when their life of lies finally catches up to them. No matter how it looks, it happens once we finally realize that our own efforts and devices will only let us down; they won’t deliver that which we truly seek. Brokenness happens when we’ve run out of options and are faced with the decision that we all have to make at some point: Life or Death?

The truth is, we are broken to the point of no return — totaled. We can’t be fixed. And this is where the rubber meets the road. The choice to be made is not whether or not to be broken, it’s whether or not to surrender. 

An unsurrendered heart still operates in its flesh – broken flesh. An unsurrendered heart believes that its brokenness can be fixed — so, she tries to fix it. She uses her own logic, her hands, and methods of the world. She may consult God and His word, but only for quick comfort, never for true conviction.

She doesn’t recognize that she is beyond repair.  She is completely broken, but she’s searching for a band-aid large enough to put things back together. She still wants control, but freedom and control can not coexist.

Freedom and Control Can Not Coexist!

Then there are those who are sweetly broken and wholly surrendered. This person knows that she can’t be fixed and has stopped looking for a mechanism to do so. A surrendered heart realizes that the only solution is to be made over, to be made new.

Oh, to be fully surrendered!

To understand that there is NOTHING of the past worth salvaging or holding onto. The surrendered heart is ready for her future. She has seen and sat in her brokenness long enough. She knows that her old life was made of cheap materials — a life painted with glossy coating, but no real ability to withstand the hits and blows that life brings.

This is why she was broken to begin with; to go back to a cheap version of herself, even if it is a quicker fix, would inevitably lead to being broken all over again. But to surrender and be made new, there is nothing sweeter in this world. Even if the unknown looks scary right now, the promise of eternity is too good to pass up.

The unsurrendered heart is still looking for glue, but the surrendered heart is ready for new!

We will all be faced with the reality of our own brokenness at some point. What’s your solution? I pray you choose surrender. I pray you choose new.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, [she] is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

My Body, the Temple.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? – 1 Corinthians 3:16

Do you know? Yes, you … Do you REALLY know?

What does it mean to be the temple of God? What does it mean to be the place where the Spirit of God dwells?

Before Jesus died, allowing every person access to God, the temple of God was the tabernacle. The Old Testament is full of rules and specifications regarding how the tabernacle was to be constructed,  who was allowed to enter it, and when they were allowed access.

The bible is extremely clear in this regard.

The tabernacle was HOLY and it was to be treated as such.

The Bible is also clear about the purpose for Jesus coming to earth – to fulfill the law of Moses

So if the Bible clearly states the laws pertaining to how the place where God dwells is to be reverenced, and if the Bible also clearly states that Jesus & the New Testament did not abolish said law, and if we (who have accepted Christ and are found in Him) are now the dwelling place of God – because of Christ’s fulfillment; then I guess the only thing that is not clear to me is the way many of us self-proclaiming Christians treat (and allow others to treat) our bodies, our temples.

We subject ourselves to filthy language and substances.

We accept physical, emotional, and verbal abuse from others.

We give ourselves away to people and things that are not holy, and are not of Christ.

We refuse to take care of ourselves through exercise and a healthy lifestyle.

I guess if you’re confused about anything that I’m saying, ask yourself this one question:

Should the things that you allow in your body, mind, and heart also be allowed in the Temple of God?

 

Why Do We Stop?

Why do we stop? Stop what? Stop anything … fighting, running, working, praying, loving – why do we stop doing that?

I believe we stop when we’re finished. We stop when we’re tired. When we’ve achieved, when we’ve failed, when others stop watching or stop caring – we stop when there is no longer a reason to not stop.  

I believe the Lord has given me great faith, but sometimes I feel as if my perseverance does more harm than good. There have been many occasions where I’ve wanted to stop: stop loving that person who who didn’t love me; stop fighting for causes that seem to be lost; stop believing for something after years of praying and nothing to show for it. Most recently I’ve wanted to stop caring – yep, that’s right, I wanted to just stop caring about things. Anything. Everything. All the things.

Caring sucks sometimes. It’s easier to not care, but something inside of me just won’t let me stop.

I work for a missions organization in Gainesville, GA – it’s literally my job to care for people all over the world. I sat with some of my mentees at work this week and shared with them that I was tired of caring for other people, other people’s problems, other people’s worries, & other people’s circumstances. I admitted, in a moment of weakness and vulnerability, that I wished I could go back to the time when I wasn’t in leadership – a time when people didn’t look up to me, didn’t expect anything from me, didn’t come to me for encouragement and prayer. But even as I was speaking, I realized that the things that make me tired and want to give up are the very same things that drive me to keep fighting, running, working, praying, caring, loving, moving, going, believing.

As I spoke, one of my mentees went to a quote from The Lord of the Rings to encourage me:

Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.

Because of this blessed faith that I’ve been given, something inside constantly reminds me that the reasons to not stop are far greater than the reasons to stop. The main reason being that my enemy is not stopping. On the contrary, he is moving straight ahead at full force, claiming territory and ruining lives left and right.

I watched an excerpt of a 20/20 interview with Bruce Jenner this morning, and boy did it hurt my heart! It hurts me to hear and see people who are utterly blind and lost. There are some people who are so confused that they are willing to fight, just as hard as I am, for a losing team! If you read the bible and if you know the Lord, you know that the results have already been determined: God wins. Satan loses. Case closed. But there are people who are willing to put their life on the line to, unknowingly, fight a losing fight. Why is it? Because they are presented with a reason to not stop! The reason is a lie and full of deception, but it’s a reason nonetheless.

So let me present to you a reason to not stop. A reason to fight for something good. A reason to play for the winning team.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

We are entering a day and a time when everyday seems more evil than the last. It’s sad and depressing, for sure, but it’s also evidence that we are not finished. There are billions of people in this broken world who are living like sheep without a shepherd. It’s our job to care for them, to have compassion, to show them who Jesus is. It’s our job to not stop, and as long as there are people who are hurt, lost, and hopeless, they are the reason why.

Jesus Christ is Coming To Town

I never believed in Santa Clause (or the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny). I grew up in a church that didn’t celebrate the ‘Paegan holidays’; but before you start feeling sorry for me, or shooting darts at me to defend the traditions you grew up celebrating, understand that I had a really great childhood. My parents taught me to love the Lord and to love other people. They provided for me and gave sacrificially so that there were very few needs or desires that went unmet.  Most of all, they loved me unconditionally and did their best in modeling what a follower of Christ looks like. My life was far from perfect, but I never knew that I was “missing out” on this wonderful childhood experience by not going trick-or-treating or getting a picture on Santa’s knee.

In addition to being one of the very few light-less and tree-less homes on my street, I also didn’t learn or sing the widely known Christmas carols. That is, I didn’t learn them the way they were meant to be sung. One particular carol came to mind this year as it played on the radio.

You better not shout

You better not pout

You better not cry, I’m telling you why

SANTA CLAUSE is coming to town

It’s a cute and innocent song, except for the fact that I don’t, and never did, believe in Santa Clause; nor did we want to make Christmas about some fictitious man in a red suit who lived at the North Pole. No, no, no … Christmas was about Jesus! So instead of singing Santa Clause is coming to town, we would sing ‘JESUS CHRIST IS COMING TO TOWN!!’, and we were so proud of our adjustment. Proud of our ability to be in this world but not of it.

So when I recently heard this carol, without even thinking I substituted ‘Santa Clause’ with ‘Jesus Christ’. This time it wasn’t as simple of an adjustment as before. This time I was able to really listen to what I’d just sung, and this time I didn’t agree with the words that came out of my mouth. They just didn’t sit well with me. I’m not saying that I now believe in Santa Clause. I’m not saying that I no longer believe that Jesus Christ is, in fact, coming back one day. Most of all, I’m not writing this to argue about whether or not Christians should recognize Christmas with presents, lights, ornaments, and Santa Clause. I think that too often we battle one another over very trivial issues, all the while our real enemy is gaining ground on the battle field by pitting us against each other.

I do, however, want to talk about some of our false perceptions of Jesus Christ as this perfect person whom we must perform for, if we know what’s best for us. I understand that the intentions for altering this song are very innocent, but I also understand that there are too many people in this world who really believe that they better watch out, not pout, and not cry if they’re going to please this Jesus fella. Our religious views have done more to push us away from a critical judge than to draw us closer into the arms of a loving Father. We preach this Pharisaical message of working for perfection when that isn’t what God has asked of us. What he wants most from us is to love Him with our entire being and to love others in the same fashion. Everything else comes as a result of loving Him and knowing Him, not as a result of trying our best to act right. The truth is, we couldn’t act “right” if we wanted to … and for those of you who believe you can, here’s what I have to say about that:

“We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.” (Isaiah 64:6)   — Ouch!

Instead of putting on a show for Jesus (two days of the year) how about living a life that recognizes the greatness of our God who is able to be perfection for all of us. It isn’t our job to be good and to do good, and I’m getting frustrated by the ‘perfect’ hypocrites who try to make others feel like it is.

Finally, my brethren, be strong IN THE LORD and in the power of HIS MIGHT. (Ephesians 6:10)

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy (Jude 24)

We are called to ‘be perfect, even as our Father in Heaven is perfect’; and we are to do that by loving one another, not by performing good deeds to stay off of Jesus’ naughty list. Our ability to do good and to keep from falling isn’t our ability at all! It’s all accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit, and it’s the Holy Spirit who will bring us home to Jesus Christ as His eternal, spotless bride.

I do believe that Jesus is coming back one day, and He is coming for an immaculate bride, but I also KNOW that JESUS CHRIST HAS ALREADY COME TO TOWN. Or have we forgotten about that part? If I recall correctly, He didn’t come to check off a list or to separate the saints from the sinners. He didn’t come to tell us to stop pouting.

He came to set us free

He came to forgive our sins

He came to redeem, heal, and restore

He came that we might have abundant life

He came to defeat death

He came to show us love

I’m so glad that He came. I’m so glad that I have received Him and His love. I’m so glad that I don’t have to be afraid of His second coming. When Jesus Christ comes again, He’s coming to take me home; there isn’t a song in the world that can make me think otherwise.

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The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. – John 1:9-13