Jesus

So, recently at our core meeting for InterVarsity, we were challenged to write out who this guy called Jesus is in our own lives...Here is what I came up with:

"Who is Jesus?
- The sacrifice for my life
- The example for the way I should live
- My hope: I know that no matter what I do, I'll never be "good" enough to be with my Father in Heaven, but through Jesus' death on the cross, I can be there anyways...
- My definition: When I look at myself through Jesus' eyes, I know that I see who I was really created to be - not who the world says I am, not who I say I am, not who my friends or family say that I am...My worth and identity are entirely secure in Him...

He paid the price for my sin, and loves me still...He knows my sin, and loves me still...

My sin separated him from his Father, and yet, he loves me still...Greater love has NO ONE than this...

Astonishing, loving, faithful, forgiving, sacrificial, honest, gracious, patient, humble...All the things that I am not, He is...And He loves me still..."

Something about that last thought struck me really hard last night...MY sin separated him from his Father....And he loves me still....

When my dad had his accident, I spent years HATING the men that he worked with...How could they be so careless? Didn't they know how to do their jobs? What kindof reckless, heartless, shameless, stupid person would be careless enough to almost take my dad from me?!? Didn't they know that we needed him? Didn't they care that we would not have been able to go on if he wasn't there?

And yet, Jesus was willingly separated from his Father...for my sake? Because of me?

"What do I know of holy? What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame, and a God who gave life its name? What do I know of holy?"

Value

What kinds of things do we place value on? Money? Possessions? People? Jobs?

Can you imagine if God did the same thing? And yet, Jesus tells us in Luke chapter 12 that this is totally not His outlook...

"Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will He clothe you-you of little faith?" (verses 27-28)

How amazing is it that the God of the universe cares more about us, his rebellious, prideful, sinful children than He does the about the rest of His creation? I mean, let's be honest...I've never heard of a flower or a bird giving God the metaphorical middle finger or thinking that they know better than He does...And yet, He loves those of us that do that on a daily basis more than them?? Radical.

What would it look like for us to live/love that way? One of my favorite reminders of how to live that out goes like this: "May I become less, so that He may become more..."

I think I'll try to become less this week...that He might be glorified, honored, and seen in the way that I live...

Who Am I?

I know, I know...That age-old question that everyone has to deal/wrestle with at one (if not more than one) point in their life...However, I actually reference it here, because it is the first line to a song that just started playing over and over again in my head...

"Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You're

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me"

I want to see myself through His eyes...I want to know what that looks like...I want to run hard and fast towards Him...Not towards what people think of me, not towards the things that so often consume my thoughts, not towards other peoples' approval...I want to stand, arms high and heart abandoned, in awe of His grace, His mercy, His love, His power...


Now, as the title might suggest, this is not going to be a place of hugely intellectual thoughts...I'm just not that kind of person...This is just going to be a place of real life...Ugly, battered, torn, broken, redeemed, forgiven...Life....