God or Love? God of Judgement?

One thing that I love so much about being home is that my neighborhood is completely flat. Because of this, I have recently rekindled my love for rollerblading. While living in Athens, the hills made me run off the road and into parked cars one too many times for my comfort, so I had to get new hobbies.

While gliding around and avoiding killing the dogs which nip at my wheels, I like to listen to thought-provoking podcasts. I highly recommend Ravi Zacharias' "Let My People Think," if you are looking for such a podcast. Not only do Ravi and the other thinkers talk through some deep, hard questions, they also have lovely accents, which  make them sound that much more intelligent.

Today, I came across this podcast called "God of Love: God of Judgement" by Michael Ramsden and really wanted to share. I know it is a bit long, but it is definitely worth the time! 

Teasers:

Compassion indicates not only a moral judgement of an occurrence, but also the movement to do something about it... When God has compassion, He looks at us as we are and rightly judges us as wrong. He was moved to do something about it.

"True love exists not in the absence of judgement, but in the presence of it."

"If you've never known truth, then you've never known love" -Black-Eyed Peas

"How you respond to the prospect of justice and judgement tells you a lot about what side of the law you stand on."

Getting to Give

After having moved three times in the past four months, it's kind of nice to have slowed down for a bit. True, I may only have landed somewhere for the next two months, but it's a new phase for sure. Still, God has definitely given me grace to transition well into each of the new phases of my life. Living with my mom, again, is much slower, but I have the time to chew on and digest the things that the Lord is teaching me.

With that, also comes time to type it out in blog form. So, for all three of you who might read this, I hope you enjoy. Even if this goes to no one, at least I can better process as I type. 


I am still being blown away by the Good News daily (as I suspect I should be for the rest of my life). Recently, I was reading through Luke 6,  and I was stricken by Jesus' idea of giving love and forgiveness. We're to be a people who give love to those who don't deserve it, give mercy to the unmerciful, give without expecting anything in return. (v.30-37)


But, why? So we can feel holier-than-thou [whoever thoust art] or gain points with God?
No. 


The Word does promise that our reward will be great, but only because, as Christians, we are already children of the Most High God.(v.35) This is just how His sons and daughters act, because these are His characteristics. We're merely expressing our new-creation DNA when we love and give in ridiculous ways. This is what He did for us and continues to do for us daily. 
 "...because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."(v.35-36) 


When we understand what He does for us in forgiving us, it blows away every idea of judgement or condemnation of others. Moreover, it results in the overflowing thankfulness that we see in the woman who anoints Jesus' feet in Luke 7. 


"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven-as her great love has shown."(v.47)
"Jesus said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved you. Go in peace." (v.50)


Note: 1. her love shows that she has been forgiven. 
         2. Her faith in Jesus (not her offering) saved her


Man, Jesus is good to us. 

So, I lied about going to Tumblr. It really did seem like a good idea at the time, but this site makes it easier to keep up with more people I actually know, even if it doesn't look as cool as the other.

Life updates: the waiting period is a different one for me. Up until this point in my life, everything has been planned out for me: daycare, school, college,. True, I did get a little say-so in the particulars, but stepping out and making big-girl decisions is something new to me. I mean, I can barely pick out which cereal I want to buy at Kroger, nonetheless quickly decide upon a future path.

Fortunately for me, it isn't about my plans as much as it is God's purpose (Proverbs 19:21), and I'm learning to trust in God, Himself to be my security, my consistency.

As a natural people-pleaser, I have always wanted people's approval in what I'm doing. I want a title for it. I want to seem legit. Therefore, a period of just working a minimum wage job at a fast-food joint after college graduation has really humbled me. Does it matter if I have something to present family and friends when they ask "what do you do?": no. Still, it bothers me.

When the Spirit tells me to move (or not), though, I have to know that He won't necessarily give me something explainable in human logic. Let's look at Abraham, Noah, Job, Moses, the disciples, Jesus Himself, and many more. They were obedient to the Father, knowing that they could trust His character, even if they didn't understand the particulars.

Yes, He gave me a brain to use, but He also likes to make me walk out in faith when logic says it would be dumb. So, I will finally swallow my pride (or hopefully kill it once and for all). I can spend this time of not knowing my plans by trusting in God Himself. If only I can grow to know Him more through all of this, it will be well worth it.

Quick note: I've now moved to tumblr if you want to continue to read what I'm posting. Just click the link there and it should take you there...

Throughout this semester, I’ve really been learning a lot about prayer and its importance to the daily life of a Christian [i.e.- for me]. So often, I tend to overlook it and trend towards actively doing something more measurable or profitable [in the world’s eyes, that is]. However, why do I keep on trying to control my surroundings myself without asking the One who is in control of it all?

[Answer: because I'm dumb enough to practically think I have control]

As the teacher that I am, I started to investigate and found a LOT of really interesting points that the Bible has about communicating with God in prayer. Of course, this isn't an exhaustive list, but it's just a few things I've learned.

[Mark 9:29] Prayer is sometimes the ONLY way to accomplish certain tasks.

[Mark 9:31-32] Sometimes, Jesus tells us things fairly clearly but we still don’t understand. Why do we not just ask the Lord for clarification of these mysteries? [Daniel 2:28; 1 Corinth 4:1] True, God doesn’t always reveal everything to us, but He will clarify points He wants us to know…

[Matthew 6:5-8] Prayer is NOT: meaningless words, religious show, telling God anything He doesn’t already know. The Lord just wants me to humbly come to Him, and realize how little control I actually have.

[Mark 11:24] Prayer and belief are closely correlated

[Luke 18:9-14] Prayer is between God and man, individually. When I'm stepping into the throne room of heaven, there's little room to be comparing my "righteousness" on human terms.

[Philippians 4:6-7] Surrendering everything in prayer is one means to God’s perfect peace.

[Luke 11:5-10] Persistence in prayer is essential

[Luke 11:11-13] God is ready and willing to give us what we ask.

In light of this, I don’t know why I ever think that I can just do things on my own without presenting it all to the Father. God doesn't need our prayers to get things done, but He allows us to talk to Him on a relational level. Why would I ever take that for granted?!