A light in dark places

"Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you." -Isaiah 60:1 (NKJV)

This verse has recently been brought to my attention. At first, it's easy to take it at face value and think, "Yay! get up early in the morning, worship God, He's shining on me!" And there's nothing wrong with that thought, but as I have recently been made aware, that's only half of it. Let's look at it from a different version:

"ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you--rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!" (AMP)

Let's dissect this. The first part of this verse: ARISE. That means, get up, dust yourself off. It doesn't matter what life or people have thrown at you or onto you. Get up from your beaten down position and MOVE. If you lay in the same spot, your circumstances will NEVER change.

The second part of this verse: SHINE. Not only is God shining on you, but He shines His light on you, so you can turn around and shine for Him! Think of it like a mirror. When you shine a flashlight into a mirror, you get an exact replica of the flashlight's light shining back onto the flashlight. But what's more, you can direct that mirror to shine light in other areas of the room to illuminate that area. That's awesome! God (the flashlight) is shining on us (the mirror) so we not only can show forth His light to others, but be an EXACT reflection of His light and glorify Him with it!!

Choose today to be "radiant with the glory of the Lord". Get up, move, make something happen. Don't let life beat you down, keep you there, and make you useless because of guilt, lethargy, depression, or anger. That's just what Satan wants, is to make you of no effect in your world. There are people out there in the dark who need to have God's light in their life. Be that beacon in the darkness and show them what you've been made of!

***Jess

02/11/2010 - True beauty

"For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation." -Psalm 149:4

It's easy to read this verse and think it's an automatic "beauty recipe". You might say to yourself, "Hmmmm... if I get saved God's gonna make me fiiiine. I can have any chick or dude I want!" Ahem, No. However, think about it this way: Those that are humble and seek God out become more attractive to people that are searching for the Truth. When you immerse yourself in God and His ways, you become more like Him, which in turn makes you a people magnet. People that need the love of God will come out of the woodwork to be around you and ask you questions. The more brightly you burn for Him, the more you shed light on things that people know they need to change in their lives and therefore they will seek you out to find out how to make those changes. Not to mention, when you focus on God, He makes you totally attractive in all the right ways for the one he has for you. When we were younger, even when we were just friends, I always loved the fact that Kevin was so passionate about God and worshipping Him. That was totally hot to me. The reason is because Kev immersed himself in God. He wanted to be more like Jesus all the time, and since I was the one for him, it drew me to him.

God wants to make you beautiful (or handsome, guys) from the inside out. But the key is, you've got to press into the Presence of God. Just reading a daily devotion isn't enough. Just listening to Christian music isn't enough. Just praying over your meals isn't enough. Those are good starting places, but there must be a progression. I'm talking about getting on your face and sucking some rug. I'm talking about worshipping Him more passionately and more desperately that you ever have before. I'm talking about applying the Word in your life. :) You've got to pray and seek out God and all His ways. It's a commitment, but He deserves nothing less!

Be made beautiful!

***Jess

02/08/2010 - Snow, beautiful snow!

"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well."
-Psalm 139:14

God is so amazing! Did you wake up this morning and see the beautiful snow? I LOVE IT! One of my favorite things about snow is going outside when it's still snowing and looking at the snowflakes that land on my coat. Have you ever done that? If you haven't, try it sometime. It's mind blowing. Each tiny snowflake is so beautiful and intricately made, and each and EVERY snowflake is different. Think about how many billions of snowflakes it takes to make just an inch or two of snow, and each one is unique! God cares enough to put that kind of detail into a snowflake that is here one minute and gone the next.

How much more special are you to Him than a snowflake?

Food for thought. Enjoy your snow day!!

***Jess

02/06/2010 - Weenie dogs and expectant hearts

"Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them."
-Luke 12:37

This verse makes me think of our weenie dog, Misty. When Kevin leaves, she never stops moving. She paces the floor, she goes to the front door and aggressively sniffs at it, she whimpers, she whines, she scratches the door, she does tricks. She would rip the door off it's hinges to follow him if she was physically capable. Her whole world is wrapped up in waiting for him. Her expectation is completely focused on his return and being excited and pleasing to him when he walks in the door.

Why the heck do we let a weenie dog outdo us?

We have such a better Master than a human one like Kevin. Jesus specifcally told us to be found watching for His return. Like Misty, we should be watching, waiting, expecting, and excited about our Master's return and be focused on Him and His Kingdom more than anything else. Our hearts should be so desperate to see Him again that we let it consume our lives and our thoughts. If we focus on the Father our attitudes and our hearts will begin to reflect His. We will begin to put His desires in front of our own and long to please Him with our lives. Seek the Master, watch for His return. Focus on His heart and pleasing Him above anyone else. Don't be outdone in devotion by a 8 lb. weenie dog! :-)

***Jess

02/05/2010 - With hands lifted high

“But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your Name be joyful in You.”
-Psalm 5:11

God is so good! Isn’t that awesome that He defends us?! Think about that: NO ONE can defeat God. That’s why He’s God, He’s the ultimate winner of everything! The only thing He asks for in return is our love and devotion. Such a lop-sided trade! We have the best Daddy ever. When you think about His goodness and everything that He has done for you, how can you NOT praise? Even on your funkiest day, you are SO BLESSED. Lift up your voice, sing to Him. Lift up your hands, give praise to his Name. Lift up your eyes, focus completely on Him. He is great and greatly to be praised!

***Jess

02/04/2010 - This heart, it beats, beats for only You.

"Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts."
-Proverbs 4:23-26 (The Message)

Let's look at this scientifically. Your heart is such an important organ. Not only does it pump blood to every little nook and cranny of your body, but it works harder than you might think. Check this out:

*Your heart beats 100,000 times per day, 35 million times per year, & will beat over 2.5 billion times in your life!
*Your heart is so strong, that when it is AT REST (that means in between beats), it's muscles work twice as hard as someone's leg muscles in mid sprint!
*The Aorta which is the largest artery in your body is about the same diameter as a garden hose.
*The heart pumps about 1 million BARRELS of blood in an average lifetime. That's enough blood to fill 3 super tankers!

No wonder the Bible says, "that's where life starts"! Your heart is literally a machine, pumping blood throughout your body to keep you alive day in, day out, while you're sleeping, ALL the time. We are fearfully and wonderfully made! But even more than that, your heart is what drives you. Your heart is where your passion lies. Your heart is what tells you to keep going even when you don't feel like it. It's a VERY important part of you.

So why give it away to every schmo that walks down the pike? Why let every guy or girl you meet and think is cute, take your heart and abuse it however they want? Why do we let ourselves get so desperate that we give our heart away to whomever, wherever, whenever, for no real reason at all? GUARD YOUR HEART. The best One to watch over it for you is Jesus. He's got your heart's best interest in mind, and He will NEVER break your heart. Only He can hold it and not damage it. Only He can carry it through things that it could never live through on its own. Only He can keep it forever, and only HE can protect it from anyone who would try to break it. Above all else, guard your heart. Bury your heart so deeply in the heart of the Lord that the man or woman of God who is the right one for you will have to search the Lord's heart to find it. It's an important thing. GUARD YOUR HEART.


***Jess

02/01/2010 - Ah...correction...such a lovely word...

"To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding. To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgement, and equity."
-Proverbs 1:2-3

Ah learning, correction, & wisdom. I know, as a teenager, that is one of your most favorite things, yes?

Don't look at me that way. It is natural and "fleshy" to not want to learn when someone older than you is having a teaching moment with you. It's easy to pout, and think you've got life all figured out and you don't need any help. I know adults would like you to think that that's only a "teenager thing", but truth be told, adults don't always like to be told when their missing it either. It's human to not want to change or be told your faults. But that's the key: it's HUMAN. Don't you want to be more like Jesus every day? Isn't the supernatural fascinating? That's because you've been called to be more than you are naturally. God wants you to succeed, and do supernatural things so you can be a light for His Kingdom. But, in order to grow, you have to listen when wisdom is crying out in your life. And that means, being told how to do things by people older and wiser than you.

Learning to be teachable is often a painful journey. You get told things you sometimes don't want to hear, but you need to hear them nonetheless. I like to compare it to pouring alcohol into a cut. Man, does it sting when you first pour it on there! But, in the long run, it kills the bad stuff and cleans that cut out so it can heal alot more quickly and that part of your body can be effective again. However, if you just left the cut alone and didn't put anything on it, it would get infected, oozy, and if not treated, you could have to have surgery to remove that part of your body! UGH! Ok, that was a gross analogy, but I like to help you picture things. Now compare that gross analogy to being teachable. Say you've got an attitude toward certain people, or about certain topics. People that love you would confront you about it and tell you that your attitude needs to change and why it needs to change. However, if no one ever confronted you or corrected your attitude, or they did, and you didn't listen, and you went on through life with a crappy attitude towards people, then the day would come when your boss, or your friends, or even your spouse would get tired of this attitude and you could end up losing your job, your friends, or your spouse over it. All because you wouldn't let someone teach you when you were younger and thought you knew everything. It sounds quite dramatic, but it happens every day.

The bottom line is this: be open to being taught. You don't hafta have your whole life perfect and in order, but if you keep your heart teachable, and take on the attitude that you're going to listen to instruction, God can use you to do unlimited things.

***Jess