Victory

"V.I.C.T.O.R.Y., THAT'S OUR CHRISTIAN BATTLE CRY!"  This is the Easter tune we sang in church choir once when I was little. The tune is entirely true. In the first chapters of the 2 Corinthian letter, the theme is that we ought not be sad or discouraged because our God does not want us to be sad or have sorrow! He wants gladness for us, which makes me glad already! Our heavenly father wants us to live in joy because he has made arrangements for us to be with him forever in heaven. In the end, JESUS WINS. Therefore, we have already won!

Paul stresses comfort. In Christ, we can have comfort that our God and savior are on our side.  He tells the Corinthians the truth of why he is not planning to visit them.  Although he knows they will be disappointed, he shares that it is for their good, continued joy, and for their comfort.

What can we take from this?

Dwell not in the temporary.

(Once more, for emphasis...) Dwell NOT in the temporary.
These pains and struggles are not eternal. On the flip side, Paul reminds us to forgive the sinner and anyone who has caused us grief.  Do not punish too harshly or fall to some bitter extreme. Display love and allow second chances if the situation fits.  Reestablish your love to him. Since the sinner needs correction, just like Corinth did, there comes a time after it for love and healing. This situation can also be similar to a family member who has done you wrong. Reaffirm them and remind them of your love. Don't you love to hear that you are loved and wanted? Especially after being in the wrong? Do this sometime this week. I challenge you to remind somebody that you love them and care for them.

Chapter 2:9-11 says "9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs."

What Paul is saying here is that we are familiar with Satan's schemes. We know his game plan and Jesus Christ is triumphant. He will establish His kingdom and we can be with Him in heaven. Celebrate!!

Much love,
V

I am broken

I read an incredible sermon once on the relationship with our Lord and brokenness. The message was based on 1 Corinthians when Paul talks about the Lord's supper and the order of communion. "24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, 'This is my body which is for you. Do this is remembrance of me.'" God is glorified through the broken things.

In one way or another, we are all broken. We break things that we own, we break bread at communion and we have broken hearts, broken dreams, broken visions, broken families, and even broken lives. But there is one thing that we forget: God can be glorified through this! God has instructed his people to break rocks for water, to break loaves of bread to feed thousands, to break pitchers, alabaster boxes, and even then; God was ultimately glorified.

God's people, therefore, can also be broken. We are weak and helpless. This is often perfect timing for when the Lord can take our hearts and do with us what he has been wanting. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12, "For the sake of Christ then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, perceptions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

I have recently started a book on how the Lord is glorified in the broken things. It is called Shattered Dreams: God's Unexpected Pathway to Joy by Larry Crabb. If you have experienced a shattered dream, or if you just watched My Girl last night (like I did :) ) and have questions regarding loss and grieving, please pick up this book and join with me to journey through why life can really hurt sometimes. In his book, he says that it is important to know that God does not have to give us perfect lives. When becoming a Christian, we will not have perfect weeks with a great family 24/7 and perfect homes with plenty of time to solve the world's problems. Crabb says "we can count on God to patiently remove all the obstacles to our enjoyment of Him. He is committed to our joy, and we can depend on Him to give us enough of a taste of that joy and enough hope that the best is still ahead to keep us going in spite of how much pain continues to plague our hearts."

I hope He does break us so that we can learn to draw hear to Him in this brokenness. We can break bread and reflect on how Jesus was broken for us, all to glorify our holy God.

Much love,
V

PROGRESS REPORT:

One more thing... Through this pain and suffering, blessings from the Lord are so abundant.  My daddy got married this weekend :) to a beautiful woman named Amanda. She and her two children are officially a part of our family and I truly cannot be more blessed.  She has come to know the Lord as her savior, and brings so much joy to our lives. If you creep on some of my past blogs, it might help to fill you in, but after five and a half years, I am so sincere in the fact that my dad deserves to be the happiest person in the world.  He is my hero in every way and I hope that as time passes, some of relatives on my mom's side will be able to appreciate and love him again the way they once did.  I know the truth of where my dad's heart is, how he feels about my mom, and this truth has and does set me free of any bitterness or anger. I pray that those who have judged him will take a glance back into his or her own heart. I look forward to the next season of life with hope and optimism, Jesus is so good!!

Mother Knows Best

Is this true? According to my newest favorite Disney movie, Tangled, mother claims to know best. She also claims to be the mother of the kidnapped princess. The story unfolds to prove that she really does not know best for the daughter, as she only cares enough for the daughter to use her magic hair. The daughter ventures out on her own and into the scary world to find it is really not so bad. She makes plenty of new friends and learns everything she had ever wanted to know about life and love.

It may be a cute story, but this is not how the world works. According to 1 Corinthians 10, we have freedom. Paul says that we are to do all to the glory of God, 23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?”

Why would we choose to forsake the will of our creator and worship idols with our words or even with our actions? Our question should not be, what can I do to get as close to the line of right and wrong as possible, but what can I do to follow the Word and really reach the overarching message, how to do life well; how to put Christ on display; how to allow Him to have ownership of our hearts, minds, and bodies. If we are living life in these directions, then it makes something like sin a little harder to find a place for.

“31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.”

I hope this blesses you today.

Much love,
V

Guardrails

Message at Redstone Church Here

Here is the video I would like you to watch today. It is called “Guardrails: Flee Baby Flee” Part 3 of a series by Andy Stanley at Redstone Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

The caption beneath the video reads: “If there is one area in your life that absolutely needs some guardrails, this is probably it. It's the area that is the most difficult to recover from. It's the most needed yet most resisted area of all. Fortunately, the Bible is pretty clear on how we should approach it: Flee.

Our culture invites us to flirt with sexual immorality. The Bible tells us to flee from sexual immorality. So you've got to decide -- flirt or flee? To flee is to honor God with your body. But in order to do that, you need guardrails. So what guardrails will you put up?

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 says "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins people commit are outside their bodies, but those who sin sexually sin against their own bodies. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."

A guardrail is something we need to have. It doesn’t exist to be obstructing life experiences or keeping you from going somewhere; it exists to save your life. I pray that you will take some time to think about where you need guardrails in your life, and I am thankful that we have a father who cares enough to provide us with Scripture to do so.

Have blessed night.
Much love,
V

Apostle Auditions

Let’s be honest, Paul was like, the best apostle ever. What did he do to deserve it? How did he learn to do it? God’s help is a pretty obvious answer here. But regardless, Paul had many characteristics that were extremely obedient to God. First of all, he would never agree to me writing that he was the best apostle ever. He was the one of the most humble of humble ever to walk the earth. He was also extremely patient. He addressed the same problems with the same churches time after time; mistake after mistake, and he still expressed his love for them and affirmed them as the body of Christ. Paul was obviously courageous as he was put in prison and obeyed the Lord with every command.

So what did Paul want from the when he wrote letters and visited the people in Corinth? He didn’t want to get paid, he didn’t ask for food or shelter, or credit for being a famous apostle. But he was still judged. So he depended on the Corinthians, just as they depended on him. He acts in the way that he does so that Corinthians “may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.” He wanted to edify and admonish them. His calling was to strengthen them and teach them how to live. In 1 Corinthians 4: 16 he says, “16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me. 17 That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.” Similar to a parent, Paul switches from compliment and encouragements to warnings of what may happen if they do not obey the will of God.

Paul says we should boast not in ourselves. The best boast is about being dependent on God and living according to the Spirit. In this way, the circumstances come together: the positive response of the community is important both to Paul and to the glory of God, as these two things are linked to one another. Even with his reputation at stake, he is not afraid to declare the truth to the Corinthians. The Holy Spirit can share with us His wisdom through us if we obey and open ourselves to be vessels. In 1 Corinthians 2:2, Paul says “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Our role to know Christ crucified, is to know that Christ, in the words of C.S. Lewis, is “not safe, but good.” It is also to know that Christ loves us in our sin and weakness enough to go to the cross. This brings Paul, and should bring us to joy and a passion for expanding His kingdom. Lewis says, “to know Christ crucified is to enter the world and love it.”

Hope this helps you to reflect today!

Much Love,
V