more and better.

the best thing about god is that he is always more and better than anything we could ask or imagine. not only can he do above and beyond all we could hope or ask, he is above and beyond. seriously. think about that for a second. unlike everything else in life that eventually leads to disappointment or doesn't turn out to be all that we hoped and dreamed, god is always more than we thought and better than we imagined. the best thing about this statement is that it is 100% true. it is not an exaggeration, it is not simply my own thoughts, god really is better than anything we have ever asked or hoped for. i am so stoked on that. let's live like this is the reality!

my god is the greatest!

so here is "exhibit a" for why my god is the greatest. those of you who have read my blog over the past several weeks may have picked up on a slight discouragement or uncertainty about my purpose in life, a sentiment that i was somehow missing out on doing things that made an eternal difference--the whole temporal vs. eternal thing. anyway, god addressed this with me this past sunday. here is what he said:

it's all about having an intimate, love relationship with the lord not about following practices or principles. it's not about creating opportunities to share the lord with someone. it's about being led by him in doing that. as long as i am sensitive to his leading and actively seeking him and allowing him to speak, i'll be right where i'm supposed to me. i serve a faithful god, and he will be faithful to lead and guide me when he has something for me to do or say.

i was reminded also of how jesus spent 30 of his 33 years on earth doing normal life, being a carpenter, and just living in his community. were those 30 years a waste or time? obviously not. god did not come to earth to waste time. those 30 years were purposeful. that reminder from the lord was so encouraging to me. serving the lord and being used by him does not always mean public ministry in the sense that jesus lived the last 3 years of his life.

it's all about loving god and loving others. i am just a vessel. god is the one who does the work. i just need to be ready and willing. my god will take care of the rest.

my exhortation to you: don't give up. be faithful where god has you. he has placed you there for a reason, whether you see and know that reason or not. god doesn't waste time, and he doesn't make mistakes. continue to follow hard after him for he is the rewarder of those who seek him.

grace and peace be with you today. blessings!

busy.

if i had to choose one word to describe the last week of my life, i would definitely choose "busy." my life is incredibly busy lately...mostly with work. a typical day in the life of lisa consists of the following: get up, eat breakfast, pack my lunch, read my bible, drive to work, make to do lists, complete various tasks, eat lunch, more to do lists, more tasks, go home, eat dinner, sit and not think, take a shower, brush my teeth, go to sleep. with all that said, i've been doing a slight amount of thinking. i honestly feel too tired at the end of the day to put too much thought into any one topic, but i really don't want my life to amount to nothing so i do think occasionally. i feel that to some degree, i do not interact with others in deep and meaningful ways very often in my current manner of life, and in some ways, i am in contact with a zillion people a day. how can i be a light? how can i be salt? the question of my life for the past three months. am i really willing to be like jesus in my daily life? if not, what will it take to get me to a point where i am? once again, i don't know. lord, please do whatever you need to do to make me useful to you.

-checklist life-

does your life ever feel like a checklist? like you're just "going through the motions"?

there's a difference between simply using biblical principles as a guide for my life and actively pursuing the lord and allowing him to direct my path. for me, it's easy to attempt to live my life in line with scriptural truths, but christianity is NOT about simply taking some ideas and using them as a guide for life. what god desires is an intimate relationship. the former is definitely a work of the flesh, whereas the latter is the lord's work. i want that. i don't want me trying to fulfill these things.

i need jesus.

building materials.

ever feel like your life is way too in the temporal realm rather than making an eternal impact? i have. actually, that's my current feeling, and it's not fun. daily life has a way of taking over if i'm not careful. this verse has been ringing in my head lately:

1 corinthians 3:11-14 "for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is jesus christ. if any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. if what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. if it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."

so...pretty intense, huh? what am i building with? am i building my own kingdom or the lord's? am i doing things that matter eternally or i am stuck in the temporal? how can i be certain that i'm doing the lord's thing and not my own? definitely questions worth consideration.

here are my current thoughts: daily getting in the word, consistently fixing my eyes on him, and being disciplined in how i live my life are practical things i can do to purposefully put jesus first.

contemplations on salt and light

so there have been a few things i have been contemplating lately. you may be familiar with one of them if you've read my previous few blogs...i am still trying to figure out how to do this whole salt and light thing. i have come to the conclusion that it pretty much has to be jesus in me. it was also pointed out to me yet again that so much of the salt and light thing happens in relationship. if i don't have a relationship with someone, how are they going to see jesus in me? they won't really. that was at least semi-convicting. so much of the time, i go to work, come home, and do my own thing without even thinking twice about purposefully investing time in relationships with people who don't know the lord. i am not someone who likes to push things on people, but if i actually have a relationship with someone, it is not so much either person pushing anything as it is two people getting to know one another. it seems that if i am interested in being an effective witness for jesus, i need to be someone who actively reaches out to others with the intention of getting to know them. it's not about getting to know someone with the intention of being known, but getting to know someone with the goal of learning who they are. so...if i am actually interested in being like jesus, i need to make time in my life to get to know people, particularly people who don't know jesus or even like the church. all i have to say is that, in and of myself, i am way too in my own little world. i need jesus to make it happen.

mission-minded in daily life.

i want to be actively engaged in god's mission here on earth. this verse has been ringing in my mind for the past week...check it out:

john 10:14-16 "i am the good shepherd; i know my sheep and my sheep know me--just as the father knows me and i know the father--and i lay down my life for the sheep. i have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. i must bring them also. they too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."

after pondering this verse, i am reminded of a couple of others...

luke 19:10 "for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

ezekiel 34:11-16a "for thus says the lord god, 'behold, i myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. as a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for my sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. i will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. i will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of israel. there they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of israel. i will feed my flock and I will lead them to rest,' declares the lord god. 'i will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick.'"

wow. my god is pretty amazing. he really loves people--a lot.

thought for the day--jesus' mission field was his daily life. normal people, normal life. yeah, he did awesome miracles, but it was all in his native country.

question for the day--god wants to use us right where we are. are we willing? are we listening?