The Other Side

James 4:14 – “What is your life? It is even a vapor.”

This week when I was discussing my long-term goals with my roommates, I was really humbled when one of them told me that they just wanted to continue passionately loving God and living for Him for the rest of their life. She basically told me that she did not want to limit God by making plans of her own. Not to say it is wrong to have goals or plan ahead, but I realized that when we have such specific goals and are pretty set in stone with making these happen, sometimes we end up missing God’s plans for our lives.

I included a devotional below from “Our Daily Bread” that I feel relates to this well:
When someone said to my friend, “See you in a year,” it sounded odd when he replied, “Yes, see you on the other side.” He meant that he’d see him on the other side of a one-year deployment for the US Navy. But because the phrase is often used of heaven, it made me think about the uncertainty of life. I wondered, Who will be here in another year? Who might by then be on the other side—in heaven?

We certainly don’t know what the next year—or hour—will bring. In his epistle, James wrote about this uncertainty. He rebuked the greedy merchants for boasting about what they would do that day, the next day, or even the next year (4:13). Their sin wasn’t that they were making plans; it was forgetting God and arrogantly boasting about those business plans.

James reminded them: “What is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (v.14). Commentator Peter Davids says that James was pointing out their foolishness and saying, in essence, “Come now, you who make plans—you don’t even understand how little control you have over life itself.”

No part of life is outside the control of God. So when we make plans, we need to remember, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that” (v.15). — Anne Cetas

Tomorrow’s plans I do not know,
I only know this minute;
But He will say, “This is the way,
By faith now walk ye in it.” —Ryberg

Write your plans in pencil and let God have the eraser.

This devotional is such a great reminder to give God the steering wheel in this road trip we call life. I pray that we will remember this as we consider our goals in life. And let us ask ourselves how open we are to God changing these plans.

May grace and peace follow you as you follow the Lord!

God bless!
<3 Shannon

“My Savior, My God” by Aaron Shust
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt0WluTpFTg&feature=fvw
“I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned
I only know at His right hand
Stands one who is my Savior”

The Heart – Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church Pastor

Happy New Year! We made it to yet another year!! :-D

I recently heard this AMAZING sermon about the heart so I have included a bit of it below with a few comments of my own. Enjoy!

Proverbs 4:23 – “Keep your heart with all vigilance [meaning, keep an eye on your heart] for from it flows the springs of life.” = Your heart is the source of that which flows into the river of your life. Everything in your life flows from your heart. This means that all of the issues in our life can only be dealt with by ultimately going back to our heart.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart…” – Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27; Matthew 22:37; Deuteronomy 6:5
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” – Matthew 5:8

The heart really matters. Jesus cares a lot about the heart. We can see this by how often He speaks of it. In the Bible, the heart is mentioned over 900 times! It is considered the center of our being (in essence, it’s who we are) according to Scripture. So if we want see God, we need to have a pure heart.

Problem: Our hearts are unclean because of sin.
Sin defined = anything that dishonors or disobeys God (thoughts, words, deeds, motives)
By nature and choice we are sinners, therefore our hearts are impure and this is where sin lies.

Question 1: So why do we do the things that we do? Why do we sin?

According to the Bible – Ultimately we have a sin nature. This stems back to the fall of man (Adam & Eve – Genesis 3). Romans 5:12-21 basically states that because of one man’s sin, the whole race fell. When Adam sinned, we were all implicated. Just like when a president chooses to go to war, that whole country follows him into war because they do not live apart of the people in which they are numbered. However, it goes on to say that because of the resurrection of Jesus, many are made righteous. We have our sin nature from our father Adam and our salvation from our Lord Jesus. (We go more into Jesus’ solution for our sin later in this message.)
Psalm 58:3 – “We are wicked from our mother’s womb.” We are born with the inclination to rebel against God.

Pastor Driscoll brought up an interesting point on how it’s amazing that today we want to address behavior. We want to stop drinking too much, stop doing drugs, stop being addicted to something, or stop being angry or depressed. I can think of a couple, being that it is New Years and I’m sure a few of us have already started thinking of our New Year’s Resolutions. All in all, we want behavioral change.

However, Jesus says that all the issues that we struggle with regarding sin come from the heart. (See Matthew 5:28 where He says that if you have a lust problem, in reality, you have a heart problem.) Matthew 6:21 states “Where your treasure is, there your heart is.” So we don’t have spending problems, we have a heart problem. Additionally, Luke 6:45 says, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” We can start controlling our tongue when we get to the issues of the heart.

Mark 7:20-23 “What comes out from a person is what defiles him. For from within come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these things come within and they all defile a person.”
We can deal with all of these issues when we go straight to our heart. What usually happens with us, however, is that when we see sin in our life, we try to deal with the issue rather than asking God, “What is going on with my heart?”

Question 2: What can we do about this heart problem? What’s the hope?

The world says the answer is behavior modification. Yet God wants more than this. Behavior modification may lead to pride or despair. This may come to a shock to some of us, but God wants more than for you to become a good person. He wants you to be a worshipper out of your heart, loving Him and others in your life. The Lord needs to regenerate our heart first.

Christianity is different than other religions in that it is about getting a new heart. (See Ezekiel 36:26) And going back to Proverbs 4:23…when we get a new heart, as a result, we will also get a new wellspring. When we have a new heart, we have a new Lord. Jesus is in charge, not us. Also we have a new power because of the Holy Spirit living inside of us. We are now able to overcome the addictions we were once powerless to. We have a new purpose. With a new heart, we want to live in a way that honors God. Lastly, we have new desires. We will now want to read the Bible, go to church regularly, pray, grow as a Christian, and draw nearer to the Lord.
Does this mean we’re perfect? No! We are being sanctified (cleansed), constantly learning and growing with the Lord’s help. However, when we are resurrected from death, we will be made perfect in Heaven. But until then, this new heart allows us to live a new life. (2 Corinthians 5:17 calls us a “new creation” where “the old has gone, and the new has come!”)

The new heart has:
*Faith (Proverbs 3:5)
*A desire for obedience (Proverbs 4:4)
*The ability to be corrected (Proverbs 5:12)
*The ability to be taught (Proverbs 10:8)
*Contentment (Proverbs 14:30)
*A love for wisdom (Proverbs 15:14)
*Cheerfulness (Proverbs 15:15)
*Helpfulness (Proverbs 15:28)
*Discernment (Proverbs 16:21)
*Persuasive abilities (Proverbs 16:23)
*Humility (Proverbs 18:12)
*Intelligence (Proverbs 18:15)
*Beauty (Proverbs 27:19)
*A repentant spirit (Proverbs 28:14)

Proverbs 20:5 – “The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.”
Psalm 37:4 – “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
Pull these two verses together = “Deep desires”

Ultimately, while religion is saying, “All your desires are bad and you need to modify your behaviors through a lot of rules.” Religion is all about fear, intimidation, control, shame, guilt, and what you can’t do. Christianity is completely different. Because we have been given new desires, it’s not about what you don’t get to do, but rather what you get to do. It’s about not always denying what you really want to do. It’s about going for your DEEPEST DESIRES. [Our DEEP DESIRES are God’s desires for us.] Psalm 37:4 instructs us on how we can get these desires.

Basically the verse is saying that if we love God and are satisfied in Him, He will put desires on our heart AND a passion to pursue them so that our will and His will come together. In the end, we get to do exactly what we want to do! Ex: Be kind to our neighbors, know Jesus, have a loving family, serving others :)

Questions to ponder (and feel free to message me your answers if you’d like to discuss):
Do you have a new heart? How do you know if you have a new heart?
What has God been showing you about your heart lately?
What can you do to nourish the DEEP DESIRES of your new heart?
What desires are even deeper in your heart than your desires for sin? What are you passionate about? What are you hopeful for?

I challenge us to pay attention to our DEEPEST DESIRES today, because these desires are most likely given to us from God. When you find these desires, get passionate about them and pursue them!

May the Lord open your eyes to the new heart He has created for you!
God bless!
<3 Shannon

Song: Hillsong United – Hosanna
“Heal my heart and make it clean….Break my heart for what breaks Yours.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXCoHxX1OC8

Love Defined

“’What does love look like?’ is the question I’ve been pondering. ‘What does love look like?’ is the question I’ve been asking of You. Once believed that love was romance, just a chance. I even thought that love was for the lucky and the beautiful. I once believed that love was a momentary bliss, but love is more than this. All You ever wanted was my attention. All You ever wanted was love from me. All You ever wanted was my affections to sit here at Your feet and tell me ‘What does love look like?’ If all of life comes down to love then tell me, ‘What does love look like?’

Then I sat down a little frustrated and confused. Your fire of life comes down to love. And love has to be more than sentiment, more than selfishness and selfish gain.

Then I saw Him there. Hanging on a tree, looking at me. He was looking at me looking at Him, staring through me. I could not escape those beautiful eyes and I began to weep and weep.

He had arms wide open, heart exposed. Arms wide open, He was bleeding, bleeding. Love’s definition was looking at me, looking at Him. Hanging on a tree. I began to weep and weep and weep and weep. This is how I know what love is.

And as I sat there, weeping, crying, those beautiful eyes full of desire and love. And He said to me, ‘You shall love Me. You shall love Me with arms wide open, heart exposed. With arms wide open, bleeding, sometimes bleeding. ’

‘If anybody’s looking for love in all the wrong places. If you’ve been searching for love, come to Me. Come to me. Take up your cross. Deny yourself. Forget your father’s house and run. Run with Me. Cause you were made for Someone greater, Someone bigger, so follow Me. And you’ll come alive when you learn to die.’” – Lyrics to Arms Wide Open by Misty Edwards (a worship leader @ International House of Prayer – IHOP)

Note: I do not say these things below to condemn of the love we lack, but to challenge and encourage us to love like Jesus does. Just like the quote, “Jesus loves us where we are, but He refuses to leave us there.” We were made for so much more! :)

We’ve made love into “What can he/she do for me?” Love has become all about “What can I get out of it?” rather than “What can I give to my loved one to show I appreciate them and care about their needs above my own?” My favorite part of this song was where Misty says “Love’s definition was looking at me, looking at Him. Hanging on a tree….This is how I know what love is.” If love is this kind of sacrifice, how come we are seeing such flaky love in the world?! When did it become all about ‘ME?’

I challenge you this week (it’s a big challenge, that we’ll constantly have to work on throughout our lives) to love like God loves - selflessly and unconditionally, with arms wide open, heart exposed. Remember that God’s command to love was not a choice or option.

For help with this, ask the Lord to humble you and see others the way He does. And ask Him to give you the strength to love when you no longer feel like loving others. May you walk in His love!

With prayers and love,
Shannon

An Extraordinary Proposal and The Bridegroom

Note: This message applies to both women AND men.

It is said that an individual’s greatest desire is to love and be loved. The best news about this is that our Heavenly Father loves us at all times as a flame of fire. His ardor never cools and His longing for our love and affection is deep and constant.

I am really excited to write this devotional , along with yesterday’s devotional, because I just recently found out of a few symbolic parallels in the Bible that I’m interested in sharing with you all.

A recent book I’ve been reading, called Completely His by Shannon Ethridge, devoted an entire chapter to the Lord’s passionate love for us, so I have included a few points below:
The First Last Supper – The night before Jesus was crucified, He gathered His twelve disciples in an upper room, where they experienced the origin of a sacred tradition we call “taking communion.” Jesus’ body (the bread) is “broken for you” and His blood (the wine/grape juice) “was shed for the remission of your sins.”

A side note: In Biblical times, a bride-to-be had a say in whether she would marry her potential groom. After he had negotiated a bride price for her (I’ll explain this more later), the groom would seek her approval of the arrangement by pouring a cup of wine and handing it to her. The quality of the wine signified, in his opinion, the bride’s worth. By this act, he was saying, “I offer you my life.” At that moment, the potential bride had a decision to make. If she did not care to marry the man, she could refuse the cup. But if she was willing to marry him, she would take the cup and drink from it. By her actions, she was saying, “I receive your life, and I give you mine in return.” Then preparations would begin for a wedding celebration, which included the groom’s returning to his father’s house to build an additional room where the marriage would eventually be consummated.

With this in mind, let’s return to the Last Supper. When Jesus handed the cup of wine to each of His disciples that night, He was saying, in essence, “Will you marry Me? Will you be My spiritual bride?” At that moment, His followers had a decision to make. They could reject the cup and refuse Jesus’ spiritual marriage proposal, or they could drink from it, receiving His life and offering theirs to Him in return. Once they drank from the cup, Jesus explained that He was going away and that they couldn’t come with Him. The disciples were bewildered, but Jesus responded, “Don’t be troubled. You trust God, now trust in Me. There are many rooms in My Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am” (John 14:1-3).

Jesus was referring to the Jewish tradition of the groom’s going to prepare a place for his bride that adjoined his father’s house. He was saying, “I am going to My Father’s house to prepare the wedding chamber, where we will one day consummate our love for one another and enjoy each other’s presence throughout all eternity.” He was telling His disciples – and you and me – that He was returning to His Father’s house in order to prepare a place for each one of us, for we are all His beloved bride.
How incredible is this that God would make such an offer, particularly when He knows our tendency toward unfaithfulness?! :)

An Unfaithful Bride
None of us are faithful to our Bridegroom – not one – but He has known this about each of us all along. The Bible is filled with unfaithful brides, from Adam and Abraham in the Old Testament to Peter and Paul in the New Testament. Yet these stories of sin often turn out to be success stories of how God cleansed these individuals and called them His own. He can do the same for us. In fact, God in His loving kindness, has already taken care of the necessary wedding arrangements in order to make good on His extraordinary proposal. Two important arrangements – the payment of the bride price and the provision of the wedding garments.

Payment of the Bride Price
In ancient times, a suitor was expected to pay the bride’s family a hefty price in order to receive her hand in marriage. Jesus did the same for us (His spiritual bride). However, Jesus wasn’t simply negotiating the price for one individual, but for all individuals, for all Eternity. So what price did He pay? No amount of money could possibly have made that kind of purchase. The price had to be exorbitant. It had to cost Him everything. And it did. It cost Him His life. Yet He paid the price willingly.

Just hours before He died, Jesus fell face down on the ground in the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from Me. Yet I want Your will, not Mine” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus paid a high price for each one of us. He drank the cup. He offered is very life to purchase His beloved spiritual bride, to purchase you and me. I love this analogy, because it makes me see the importance taking communion truly has! It is as if we are accepting Jesus’ marriage proposal or rejecting it, depending on whether we partake in it. It also is a great reminder to embrace our roles as His spiritual bride. Jesus has also purchased our wedding dress…

Provision of the Wedding Garments
He knew we could never purchase our own garments for the wedding supper of the Lamb, but He could, so He did (see Revelation 19:6-7). However, we need the proper garments – we need to be clothed in righteousness. The problem is, we cannot clothe ourselves with the necessary righteousness, regardless of how successful we are in refraining from sin or how many good deeds we manage to squeeze into a day. We can never be good enough. But when Jesus paid the price for us by dying on the Cross in our place, the blood He shed cancelled our sins and paved our way into the presence of God. He clothed us in His righteousness (see Isaiah 61:10).

Because Jesus has clothed us in His righteousness, we can proudly wear white at the wedding feast of the Lamb. And when we clothe ourselves with the white wedding dress that Christ has purchased for us to wear, we are the fulfillment of all he has dreamed about for us from the beginning.

A Pure and Spotless Bride
At the wedding supper of the Lamb, we will have absolutely no regrets. All our guilt and shame has been completely washed away by what Christ has already done, and we will know that we are the pure and spotless bride that God intended for His Son.

Perhaps you struggle with feeling less than worthy of God’s love because of your unfaithfulness to Him. Perhaps you can’t see yourself as a pure and spotless bride. If so, let me put some light back in your eyes. In Colossians 1:19-23, 28, Paul says we are perfect in Christ and that we are holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation. It doesn’t matter that you don’t feel worthy, because God’s lavish love and unconditional acceptance of you isn’t based on your worthiness. It’s based on HIS goodness. It’s based on the bride price that His perfect Son has already paid for you and me. We are no longer just anybody. We are His chosen. We are His beloved bride.

We may remember the sins we’ve committed in the past, but as far as God is concerned, we’ve been justified (meaning “just-as-if-I’d never done those things!”). Our sins are no longer held against us. We’ve been set free. We’ve been redeemed. Even in our unfaithfulness. Jesus has betrothed (engaged) Himself to us forever.

How Will We Respond?
It is the most moving and compelling love story of all time – Jesus extending such an extraordinary marriage proposal to us, paying the exorbitantly high price to redeem us, and permitting us to wear white as His pure and spotless bride. But the ending is up to each of us, individually. Will you dismiss this as some fairy tale? Or will you embrace those Truths and give Jesus the response He longs to receive?

May the Lord give you wisdom in this decision and bless you richly in your obedience to Him.

In Christ,
Shannon

“I Can’t Wait” – Merchant Band: Lyrics (Sorry, I could not find a video this time)
“There's a place I've been more real than what I've seen
You led me by the hand into the chamber of the King
Take me away to the place that I never want to leave

I've tasted and I've known of a love that's better than wine
Come to me my Lord only You can satisfy
Take me away to the place that I never want to leave

I can't wait for our wedding day to come
Let me see Your face let me feel Your arms of love

I have been betrothed to a King above all kings
I am not my own and You've pledged Yourself to me

I can't wait for our wedding day to come
Let me see Your face let me feel Your arms of love

Take me away to the place that I never want to leave
Take me away to the place that I never want to leave

I can't wait for our wedding day to come
Let me see Your face let me feel Your arms of love”

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Jeremiah 2
Israel Forsakes God
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:
" 'I remember the devotion of your youth,
how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the desert,
through a land not sown.
5 This is what the LORD says:
"What fault did your fathers find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves.
6 They did not ask, 'Where is the LORD,
who brought us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness,
through a land of deserts and rifts,
a land of drought and darkness, [a]
a land where no one travels and no one lives?'
7 I brought you into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land
and made my inheritance detestable.
8 The priests did not ask,
'Where is the LORD ?'
Those who deal with the law did not know me;
the leaders rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
following worthless idols.
13 "My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
32 Does a maiden forget her jewelry,
a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
days without number.
33 How skilled you are at pursuing love!
Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.

I chose to write on Jeremiah 2 tonight because I felt God set it on my heart. Earlier today a friend had read it to me and later tonight it was read during a Christmas program. There are no coincidences! ;-) I love this message because it speaks to those who are beginning to backslide (turn from God), those who have been backsliding for awhile, and for those who will in the future (as a warning to them).

When we begin to backslide, God instructs us first to “remember” (vs.1). He is telling us to remember the beginning of our love relationship with the Lord. This is such great advice! Think of what marriage counselors say to couples during a session, “Tell me about what life was like for you both when you first met.” It is important to remember all the work that God has done in our lives for us to avoid taking Him for granted. In the beginning stages of a relationship or marriage, your loved one holds chief priority in your life. God is asking us, “Remember when I was more than enough for you?”

The passages above goes on to talk about how we have left our first love (God Himself). In spite of the past, where are you now? What choices have allowed you to get here? Has forsaking your first love been one of them?

The Lord uses a visual of broken cisterns to describe the life of those who have left Him for other things (other lovers). He is warning us that these other lovers that we are pursuing for fulfillment such as other relationships, money, sex, etc. are like broken cisterns that hold no water. We will always come up again and again running dry. He goes on to say those who pursue these worthless things, become worthless themselves. This is so true! Here’s an EXTREME example: Think of someone who gets so caught up in their looks that they end up having multiple eating disorders and become so self absorbed that they cannot hold a conversation that does not include, “Me” or “I.” They are empty cisterns! They have forsaken the God, the “river of life.” It’s absurd, right?!

Why does this person do that? Or the real question, why do WE do this?
It is because we have lost our sense of who God is. We have forgotten His worth, the greatness of His being, and the ability He has to fill our hearts with the utmost joy! :) Without Him, we begin to deteriorate inside. Our insecurities drive our actions, our fears dominate our thoughts, and Satan gets that foothold we were warned against! How disguisting we must look when God sees how we lust after anything that comes along with a temporary high, thrill, or drive. How easily we are satisfied!

The beautiful part of this story, however, is that time and time again God calls us back to Him. He is a devoted and faithful love. In Jeremiah 3:22 He says, "Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness." Let us recognize our wrongs and return to His unconditional love. His love is unfailing and it radiates with grace. What greater love is there?! He is waiting to heal our hurts and beautify us once more. God calls us saying, "Return to Me. Come back. It's not too late. I will restore you. I will open your eyes. No longer will you have to walk in ignorance or darkness. I will heal your faithlessness."

How will you respond?

I pray that you will rejoice in His gracious and undeserved offering for our return. May your eyes be opened and drawn back to the Lord.

God bless,
Shannon