Day 8- Isaiah 40:29-31

Warren Wiersbe told a story about a little boy and girl who were climbing. The little boy said something to her about how rocky and bumpy it was on the hill, so it was making it difficult for him to walk. The little girl said to him, "That's okay, the bumps are what you climb on." I loved that little story and it has stuck with me since I read it five years ago. It's true that there are times when you have to grow because of the bad stuff you're going through, but it will make you stronger.

Question: What were some bumps in your life that God gave you the opportunity to climb on?

Day 7- Matthew 22:36-40

Once again, it all comes back to love. I had never realized that Jesus said that the 2nd Commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself," was EQUALLY as important as, "Love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul, strength, and mind." I think the reason he said that it was equally important was because you can't have one without the other. Someone can't love the Lord with all of their being, then do something hateful to another person. If they love the Lord, then their words and actions are going to reflect that.

Question: When was a time that you claimed to love Jesus, but there were people in your life that you weren't loving?

Day 6- Luke 9:46-48

Shane Claiborne spoke at Ichthus last year and he was talking about his experiences in working with Mother Teresa in India. He said that he remembered her feet being pretty torn up and gnarled. I don't remember if he asked her how they got like that because I can't imagine him asking her, "Why are your feet so ugly?" He did find out that it was because they received shoe donations on occasion at their home and they always had just enough for each person who lived there to have one pair. She would go through the shoes, give all of them away, and keep the worst pair for herself. She put everyone's needs ahead of her own and that's a huge reason that she is remembered as one of the greatest people in history.

Question: What is something you can do to make yourself the least among others?

Day 5- Proverbs 4:20-27

This passage of scripture includes Proverbs 4:23, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." You know... the one that many Christians like to use when warning single people not to open up too quickly to the opposite sex because they might end up getting hurt. When I read all of this together, though, it put into perspective what the Father's wise advice is. I had heard someone say before that you should guard the good things in your life as well. They were talking about remembering the good, pure things that have happened in your life and keeping them with you when you're dealing with issues at the present time.

One example from my own life was when I was 14 years old and at Magic Mountain on a youth group trip. I remember looking up at Colossus while we were walking back from the parking lot and thinking that nothing in this life is going to matter when it's all said and done. All that will matter in the end is that I've known Jesus and have told people about Him in order for them to know Him.

It's been over half my life since that thought crossed my mind, but it's also been one that I've kept close to my heart because I know that it was from God. Remembering that experience has helped when times were tough. Like the 2 month time period when one of my friends passed away, I got an ear infection that left me deaf for about a week, and I got the chicken pox. Remembering the Colossus experience during times like that made me more aware of God showing His love to me.

Question: What is a good thing that has happened to you that you need to keep close to your heart?

Day 4- Psalm 37:4-7

Up until a few years ago, I had thought that Psalm 37:4 meant that I would get what I wanted when I took delight in the Lord. Sort of like He was a genie who would grant my wishes if I was nice to Him and did the things I was supposed to. Tim Yee spoke about this verse and was saying that God plants certain desires in each of us when we're taking delight in Him. If I'm truly worshiping God with my entire life, then I'll know the things that I'm supposed to do. If I light up around kids or people with disabilities, then He's showing me that it's my heart's desire to work with those populations of people. Being still in God's presence, waiting patiently for Him to act. These are times when He reveals Himself to each of us.

Question: When have you known that you were taking delight in the Lord? Did He show you anything about your desires at that time?

Day 3- Matthew 6:19-34

I remember working part-time at Project Independence in 2005 and taking 1 week off during the summer to be a counselor at Royal Family Kids' Camp. It was right before I started teaching at Deerfield and I think I got down to about $5 in my checking and savings accounts. I wasn't sure whether I was going to make it to the next paycheck, but I did. God provided for me and I was able to make ends meet during that time. The bottom line is that there is no use in worrying about anything because I can't control any of it anyway. Easier said than done, though, since I'm going to be unemployed in the next 2 weeks. It's funny because last year I only received $150/month and it was fine. I don't think I ever worried about money last year because I still had some left over from teaching and I wasn't paying rent. This year, I rented an apartment, so I ended up spending a lot of money on furniture and have been more worried about my finances since getting a job. I know that the Lord will provide and I just need to trust Him on that.

Question: When was a time that you were completely worried and God did something to ease your mind? Have you ever had a time when you weren't worried about something stressful and God took care of it?

Day 2- I Corinthians 13:1-3

Ginny Owens sings a song called, "I Am Nothing," and it's mostly about these verses. There have been so many times in my life when I've done things for the Lord and/or other people because I thought that I was supposed to. It's my internal Christian checklist: read the Bible, pray, go to church, write in my journal, go to a Bible study, listen to worship music, don't cuss, volunteer somewhere regularly, go on missions trips, etc., etc. These are all great things to do, but they absolutely don't matter if I'm not being a loving person. For example, if I'm talking behind someone's back or am getting annoyed with lame topics that people talk about.

If I'm truly doing something out of love in general, then that's the time that I'm living life the way I should. That is what will make me a light for Jesus to others. It's tricky, though, because I know how easy it is to overanalyze everything. Am I going to Romania because God is leading me there and He's telling me that I'll point people to Him by going? Or am I going because that sounds fun and I heard that we'll get to go to Transylvania while we're there? (Transylvania wasn't my purpose in going to Romania, but it's kind of cool that I've been there now). Am I reading the Bible because I want to learn more about God? Or is it because it's part of my daily routine and I'm afraid I won't understand things that happen in my life if I haven't read it that day?

I guess the bottom line is that I need to be a loving person first and the motives for everything else won't matter because I'm doing what I'm supposed to by loving others. Being loving is the opposite of being selfish, so I'm pretty sure that anything I do out of love for people and Jesus is going to be the right thing.

Question: When was a time that you did something "Christian-y" out of obligation? When was a time that you did something out of love?

Day 1- Ecclesiastes 7:1-4

Church on Sunday was all about Ecclesiastes 7 and it was also included in Chapter 2 of "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan, which our small group was going over this week. With that little introduction...

On our refrigerator in Kentucky, there was a quote that said, "When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice." I've heard so many stories about people who truly lived their lives for Christ and they ended up dying at an early age for completely unexpected reasons. For example, I read the biography of Rachel Scott, one of the girls who was killed in the Columbine shootings. She was a teenager who loved Jesus more than anything, but one thing she said was, "I am not going to apologize for speaking the name of Jesus, I am not going to justify my faith to them, and I am not going to hide the light that God has put in me. If I have to sacrifice everything... I will." She seemed to realize at a very young age how temporary everything is in life and all she seemed to want was to glorify God while she walked this earth. Even though her death was tragic, she left behind a legacy for many to remember her because she was willing to give up everything for her Savior.

Question: How do you want to be remembered when you die? Are you doing things in your life right now that will allow you to be remembered in the way that you want to?

Lent

I've never given up anything for Lent before and I won't be giving up anything this year, either. I did decide that I needed to add something to my life for the next 40 days in order to grow closer to Jesus. I'm planning on writing devotions in my journal every day for the next 40 days and I'll be writing those on here as often as I can. The verses will be ones that I've memorized or have underlined in my Bible because I figure I can write about those better than, say, random scriptures from Obadiah. Each day, I'll write about something that has happened in my life or about stories that I've heard that are applicable to the scripture passage. I'm going to ask at least one question with each one that I write in order for the 3 of you who may be reading this to apply it to your own lives. I have a feeling that it'll be difficult to keep this up for 40 days in a row, but I guess it will also be showing me what Lent is about.