Just Do It!

:) Reading my title probably brought to mind the Nike brand. Personally, I have always liked their slogan because it evokes a sense of action, passion, and a call to get out and DO! Jacob and I went to an evening church service this evening to check out the church next door. The guest speaker, George Kovoor, who is Chaplain to the Queen, spoke about how modern day Christians really lack action. We talk and talk and talk, but do we really go out and LIVE our beliefs? He talked about how the mark of a true believer is someone who, when he has a revelation, or he learns something new about God that really excites him, doesn't just go away and do nothing. But goes away changed. Goes away and does something with what he learned. He applies his knowledge to everyday life.

This got me thinking about my own life. I can read books beyond measure about how to pursue God and live for Him, but if they don't radically alter my living, what is the point? We grow spiritually when we are obedient to the call of our Lord Jesus. We grow spiritually when we aren't content to only be a Christian that talks the talk...we need to walk the walk as well! We need to just do it!

I can read books. I can talk. I can look like a "good Christian"....but if I am not getting out there and living it, it is all useless.

Kovoor gave an analogy this evening that I really liked. He asked "How many of you know the Queen?" Almost everyone raised their hands, because she is on our currency! It is almost impossible not to know who the Queen is. "But" he challenged,"If you were in a crowd of people...would the Queen recognize you?" Probably not, unless you were one of her intimate friends. Then he likened this to Jesus, do you know "of" Jesus? Or do you really know Jesus? The question is not "Do you know Jesus?". The question is:

"Does Jesus know you?"

Why do we simply settle for a kind of, halfway, "if it will get me into Heaven" type of relationship with the Savior of the universe? He desires to know us thoroughly and intimately. Let's strive for this living breathing relationship with the One who formed us by hand! Let's get out there and make a difference in this world doing something that counts for the Kingdom! Something that is worthy of the words "well done my good and faithful servant."

What are you waiting for??

Stop talking and...

JUST DO IT!!! :)

It was then that a teardrop fell...

In the middle of my quiet time this afternoon, I suddenly felt God giving me an idea for a poem...so here it is. I tried to put it into words. It brings back a lot of memories for me. Every tear that I have ever cried in my life...Jesus saw...and he cared...and he cried with me.

It was then that a teardrop fell

My twelve year old heart trembled within me
As my mom pronounced that she had gall-stones
And that she had to have surgery
It was then that a teardrop fell

Confined to a bed all summer, waiting to be free
Her eyes told me the story
About her quiet agony
It was then that a teardrop fell

Alone and trembling
Mad at God I cried
Why are we moving?
It was then that a teardrop fell

Away from all that I knew
From good friends
And childish crushes too
It was then that a teardrop fell

With my mom at a conference
A quiet knocking on my hearts door
Falling on my face in reverence
It was then that a teardrop fell

Freeing me from guilt and shame
Cleansing water flowed down
At that moment, Christ broke all my chains
It was then that a teardrop fell

Fifteen and fearful
Emotions swirling, storms raging
Life is no longer dull
It was then that a teardrop fell

Sitting on a hospital bed
Looking at my precious mom
Hearing her say "This is where Jesus has led"
It was then that a teardrop fell

"Jesus will give me the strength to cope"
Oh mom how can you say that?
When the doctor’s words are "There is no hope."
It was then that a teardrop fell

Sweet sixteen out on the lawn
A big party with lots of food
My mom still hanging on
It was then that a teardrop fell

Didn’t feel like celebrating
Ran up to my room and cried
Because my mom was slowly fading
It was then that a teardrop fell

Months passed, fall came
I didn’t want the change
Things would never be the same
It was then that a teardrop fell

So that I could cry aloud
I Ran to the middle of a field
Where at his feet I bowed
It was then that a teardrop fell

One day she slipped away
Out of her room
Where her body lay
It was then that a teardrop fell

My heart leapt within me
For her wonderful gain
She was finally free
It was then that a teardrop fell

A few months later
Reality sank in
I would have to live without her
It was then that a teardrop fell

Never before had I been so low
Lying on the cold floor
Nowhere for my aching heart to go
It was then that a teardrop fell

The pain was too great
She should still be here
Death should have been my fate
It was then that a teardrop fell

2,000 years ago, someone was given
He came to save the lost
By doing the will of his father in Heaven
It was then that a teardrop fell

Hanging on the cross, He died
As He satisfied my debt
"It is finished" Jesus sighed
It was then that a teardrop fell

Salvation came to humanity that day
When a sacrifice was given
Jesus came to pave the way
To our Father in heaven

The tears that fell 2,000 years ago
From Heaven to the dirty ground
Are the same ones that still flow
In my life when pain is all around

I am not alone when I grieve
He is always right there
Has promised to never leave
And hears my faintest prayer

The majestic Adoni
That made the mountains and the seas
Still hears my cries
And still cries tears with me

Remember, when you can’t feel anymore
When, all around you there are walls
And in agony, you fall to the floor
It is then that a teardrop falls

As the deer...

I am a reader. I love books and have always loved them. I used to stay up late and read by my nightlight just so I wouldn't have to put the book down! (It's probably why my eyes are so bad to this day! Sorry dad!) I am the type of girl that starts a million books at once and then reads a chapter here and a chapter there from each one...a new one each day. Which is why when people ask me what book I am currently reading I give them a list of five or six titles!

Regardless of this, the books that I read really fill my spirit. God seems to help me pick up a book at the exact time in my life when it will be the most beneficial to me.

One of the many books that I am currently reading is called "Radical Reliance - Living 24/7 with God at the Center" by Joseph M. Stowell. The chapter I read this morning was talking about how much we really desire God. It made the claim that a lot of Christians view God as the "divine 911" of their lives and don't really long for Him, unless their is a crisis. The book likened Christians to Camels and Deer. It explained:

"...it crossed my mind that many of us are more like the camel than the deer. Rarely sensing our need for God, we go for months without desiring Him.......The problem is that we weren't built for a life in a spiritual desert. We were built for regular satisfying access to the refreshing presence of God in our souls..."


Why do we not desire God simply because He is God?


As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?
Psalm 42:1-2

In "Radical Reliance" the author asks why the composer of Psalm 42 would express such an acute longing for God:

"....we might think he is in deep trouble or has a deep desire he wants God to fulfill. Yet surprisingly there does not appear to be a pressing material crisis or special reason for him to appeal for largess. Adequately supplied with health and wealth, the psalmist's pressing need is simply to experience the presence and the pleasure of God in the depths of his being, and that conviction drives his desire for intimacy with God."

I was amazed when I read this paragraph, because this is how I have been feeling about my own walk with God lately. Sadly but truthfully this is one of the first times I have longed to know God, for no other reason but to know him...and I am so excited! At first I was trying to think about why I had this unquenchable desire to know God deeper. When I couldn't come up with any reason, I thought..."okay....well this is great, but I wish that I knew why I am feeling this way towards God." It is awesome to know that there doesn't have to be a reason to want to know the lover of my soul! I am praying that he will take me far deeper with Him than I have ever gone before.

I find myself acting like the camel in the desert some days...but I pray that God would continue His work in my heart so that I can truly become like the deer...who doesn't need a reason to long for her creator but chooses to drink daily from the river of life.