04/22/11: HE IS RISEN!

Hello all! It's been waaay too long since I last blogged! That's what happens when you let busyness take over...not cool. So without further ado, here ya go:

"But the angel answered and said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples the He is risen from the dead...'" - Matthew 28:5-7 (NKJ)

I've made an unofficial tradition of reading a the Crucifixion and Resurrection story the last couple of years on Good Friday. It's amazing, every year I see something else new that I haven't seen before. I want to encourage you, read this story of God's great love for us. It's recorded from four different perspectives, which gives such insight. Here's where you can find it in the Gospels:

Matthew chapters 26-28
Mark chapters 14-16
Luke chapters 22-24
John chapters 18-21

It's not a long read at all. It's so awesome to remind ourselves what Jesus did for us and how He willingly gave His life so that we would have relationship with God.

***Jess

04/11/11: ANYBODY GOT A SWORD??

"So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. " - 1 Samuel 17:48-51(NKJ)

As you all know, I love David. I love how bold he was! He knew that God was going to be faithful no matter what. In this story about of David killing Goliath, I noticed something I hadn't really noticed before. In verse 50 and 51, it says that David didn't have a sword so he used Goliath's sword to kill him and cut off his head. I think it's interesting that 1) David was so confident he took no back-up weapon. He fully believed that God had given him the victory and he didn't need to take anything else, and 2) He used Goliath's own weapon to both kill Goliath and chop off his head. I think this is especially significant, and it applies to the way God works. He takes what Satan means for harm and turns it around for our good and His glory!

Sometimes it's easier to look at that "giant" screaming out on the battlefield of life and and shrink away and let him take control. But what God wants us to do is see His faithfulness and to TRUST HIM like David did. Take your weapon of choice (the Word) to the battlefield and trust that no matter what, you've got all you need. Use the Word on that giant and when he falls, TAKE HIS SWORD and chop his head off! Don't shrink away, step up to the mic and tell that situation to SHUT UP! You have the most powerful weapons in the world. We've got the Word, and Jesus gave us His Name. NOTHING can stand against us because God is on our side! Be bold today!

***Jess

04/08/11: THE WORD SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

Good Morning! I love Psalms, and today I was reading and this one really stuck out to me:

"Praise the Lord! How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying his commands. Their children will be successful everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed. They themselves will be wealthy, and their good deeds will last forever. Light shines in the darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous. Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly. Such people will not be overcome by evil. Those who are righteous will be long remembered. They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly. They share freely and give generously to those in need. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. They will have influence and honor. The wicked will see this and be infuriated. They will grind their teeth in anger; they will slink away, their hopes thwarted." - Psalm 112 (NLT)

The only thing I can says is, God is so faithful!

***Jess

04/05/11: FACE DOWN

"Here I am, Your invited guest - it's incredible! I enter Your house; here I am, prostrate in your inner sanctum, waiting for directions to get me safely through enemy lines." - Psalm 5:7-8 (MSG)

I love this Scripture! Not only are we welcome in God's personal space, but He's invited us as His guest to come in and be with Him intimately. He WANTS to spend time with us so He can give us the directions how to do life and not only do life, but do it well. Even when we are surrounded by the enemy on all sides, the Father knows exactly what we need to do to get through safely and effectively.

You all know me. I LOVE to worship. But the time you see me worshipping at Church is just the tip of the iceberg. When I am alone with God, I get down on my face and get still before Him. That's what the word "prostrate" means; getting face down on the floor and humbling yourself in the presence of God. Do that this week. Take the time and effort to shut off the phone, turn off the tv, shut your door, put on some good praise and worship music, and get in the presence of God. I know if we all did this, the face of our XS church services would change as well as the whole dynamic of Church. If you want to see change in you from what you've developed yourself to be to who God has created you to be, the first thing you must do is go where you're invited, get in His space, and then wait for instructions from the Master.

***Jess

04/04/11: Sound Mind

Another Scripture snack for you guys! It's a good one! :)



***Jess

04/01/11: RUNNING, RUNNING, FAST AS WE CAN. DO YOU THINK WE'LL MAKE IT?

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" - Psalm 46:10

It seems like in this day and age we get busier and busier. Between running to band events, sporting events, school events, jobs, job events, Birthday parties, chef parties, jewelry parties, family reunions, friend get-togethers, and not to mention every Church related function known to man. Our society is so driven to do, do, do all the time that it's so easy to let life take over and forget to BE STILL occasionally. Let me ask you this: when is the last time you sat down and were still? Maybe just sat on the couch and read a book, or fell asleep in a hammock? Can't remember, can you? That's because its been entirely too long.

I was talking with a good friend the other day, and as I was talking and encouraging them, I totally felt the Holy Spirit take over. I would like to share a little of what I was talking about with you: We should be identified by who we ARE and not by what we DO. It all goes back to the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible. Jesus came to their house to visit, and Martha played the perfect role of hostess. She took care of dinner, she made sure that the Master's glass was never empty, she cleaned up after dinner, she took care of everything and everyone under her roof. Mary, on the other hand, sat at Jesus' feet and listened to everything He had to say. She was content just being with Him. Now, was Martha wrong for being the hostess with the mostest? Absolutely not. Where she went wrong is when she compared herself to Mary and tried to get Jesus to make Mary come help her work. Jesus corrected Martha and told her that Mary was in the right. What can we learn from this? That Jesus is more interested in a relationship with you than having a maid or a butler. He'd rather have your heart than your hands. Not that the ministry isn't work, but you've gotta check yourself. Make sure that you don't become all about the doing and forget the being. That's all He wants. Just for you to come spend time with Him and learn how to be the man or woman He created you to be.

The Message Bible puts Psalm 46:10 like this: "Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything." I couldn't have said it better myself. Always take the opportunity to step outside of the traffic of the rat race of life and look lovingly into the eyes of the Father. He wants nothing more than to be with you and have ALL of your attention. So STOP! Smell the roses! Enjoy the beautiful day, see God's Hand in everything around you and you will begin to see who you ARE.

***Jess