Why do I do right? I know why I do wrong, but why do I do right?
For the last week I have been considering the answer to that question, turning it over in my mind.
So why do I do right?
I'm afraid my answer is not, for the joy set before me. To be honest, and to speak from the depths of my heart, I believe that the regular motivation in me serving, forgiving, helping, keeping quiet, etc. is the desire to be superior than those around me, or at the very least to "measure up".
What got me thinking on this was last Wednesday night when I dropped my grandmother off at her small group. A couple of people said how wonderful of me it was to go out of my way like that almost every week. I was caught off guard and didn't know how to respond, so I just kept saying it was because I loved her, which is true, but not the right answer and defiantly not the only one.
I know that by doing certain things you get a certain reputation. I want people to think about me in a certain way, so I know what things to do. I want people to think of me as a godly, self-sacrificing young woman, so I do the things that make me look like that, even if at the moment I'm feeling anything but godliness.
Not all of it is a show though. I don't think I could keep it up this long and this well if all of it was just out of a desire to look a certain way. I really do love to serve, and there have been times when the glory of Christ and my joy in Him have been my motivators, and it is my desire that they become the true motivation, and that when I'm praised the first words out of my mouth will be praise to my God and not to myself.
I would covet your prayers for me in this. Thanks.
~Lauren Christina
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.-1 Cor. 10:31
Why do you "do the right thing"?
What are your motivators?
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Right Motivation. Wrong Motivation.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Must Watch: Seven Pounds!
The back of the case says: Will Smith stars as Ben Thomas, a man at a crossroads searching for a way to redeem his heavy conscience. He discovers he has the power to change the circumstances of seven strangers who deserve a second chance. But when one of them captures his heart, he must decide if he should reveal his secret---even if it means giving up on his plan. From the creators of The Pursuit of Happyness, SEVEN POUNDS is an"emotionally charged, captivationg mystery with a soulful, tender love story and tearful but joyfully inspiring ending"
That doesn't come close to revealing to you the true depth and sacrificial love the story holds. I would write a review, but I don't want to take away from the power of the movie. You'll just have to see it for yourself. It left both Erin and I in tears.
When you watch it, don't look at(Will Smith's character)Ben's motives merely as the director intended, but look at them through spiritual eyes. Consider what a love driven by Christ would look like. I think it could look much like Ben's.
Watch it. It will be well worth your time.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Becoming A Bride...For Christ
My heart longs to be married. To be a wife; a help meet.
Although these desires are good and righteous they often times can distract from or replace a healthy longing and desire for the Lord.
See, I have found myself striving to become a godly woman for all the wrong reasons. I want to marry a strong, God-fearing man, and I know that that kind of man would be looking for a strong, God-fearing woman with a gentle and quiet spirit, so that's what I have tried to become. But I have discovered that I have been striving for man and not my Lord. I want to become someone who would make a good bride to a godly young man someday, but what about the God-Man who has already bought with blood the right for me to become His bride? I realize that I have not been putting nearly as much effort in becoming a fit bride for Christ as I have for a mere creation of His.
The whole purpose of husbands and wives is to mirror the relationship between Christ and the Father, and Christ and the Church, yet so often we get caught up in the shadow-the mere replica, that we forget to look at the Son-the real thing. We are so busy trying to be good wives, mothers, daughters, etc. we forget that the whole purpose for these relationships is to give us a picture of how we are to relate to Christ, and how He relates to us.
God created love! He IS love! And in His wisdom He chose to use marriage as an example of how He loves us. But not only is God our Lover and our Bridegroom, He is also the Father of the groom, preparing a beautiful bride for His Son. Every trial, every time of sanctification is meant to be God making us into a more beautiful bride for His Son, Jesus! We are being sanctified FOR Jesus, not for ourselves, but so that we can be a fit bride for GOD's Son.
I have been so moved and convicted as God has been opening my eyes to these beautiful truths that my whole view of Proverbs 31 has completely changed. Instead of looking at it through earthly eyes, I have begun to look at the chapter with a more heavenly perspective. Take verse 12 for instance; "She does him good and not evil all the days of her life." Is that not what we are called to do as Christians and earnestly long for? "Be holy for I am holy." {1 Peter 1:16, Lev. 11:44} Would not us being holy as He is be doing Him good all the days of our lives? Or what about verse 20? "She extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy." James says that pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is, "to visit orphans and widows in their trouble..." {James 1:27}, and Jesus says, "I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me." {Matt. 25:35}
So I guess what I'm trying to say is: "seek first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness, and all these things [being the godly woman you desire to be; marriage; patience with children; etc.] shall be added to you." {Matt. 6:33}
Oh Lord, I have loved the world, I have sought after other lovers besides yourself; yet you have always been faithful; and have wooed me with your steadfast love. Let my earnest desire be to seek YOU, Father and not my own desires, however godly they may be.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Today's Devotion
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, as was necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith-more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him, Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls....Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
~1 Peter 1:3-9,13
Friday, February 27, 2009
I know I have changed my blog template at least a half-a-dozen times, but I finally found one that I'm going to stick with. It's hard finding just the right one when you're as picky as I am. Besides, I like changing things around, it gets boring if you don't. :P
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The Latest Rebelution Post:
"Brett and I have received a lot of emails about this video (and rightly so). Despite being threatened with disqualification for her controversial topic, 12-year-old Lia chose to deliver this speech for competition at her public school in Toronto — and won! Now her eloquent defense of life has been viewed almost 400,000 times on YouTube — and even saved a baby’s life."
Take five minutes, follow the link, and watch the video; it's worth the time.
Video-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOR1wUqvJS4&feature=chann...
To read more about this rebelutionary go here: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09021605.html
or here: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09021807.html
Monday, February 16, 2009
Glory In The Wilderness
Today, while the kids slept, I opened Pierced By The Word by John Piper, which I have been reading sporadically. The next chapter was called, "Wilderness, Worship, Treason, and God. A Meditation on Psalm 63." I began to read. I didn't have to go farther than the first two verses to find what I didn't even know I was looking for.
It all seems so obvious now, but one can only understand even the simplest truths by the illumination of the Holy Spirit in opening our hearts and minds.
Before I tell you what the two verses said and how they impacted me, let me give you a bit of history from the last month or so.
Anyone who really knows me knows that I'm an impulsive, easily impassioned person. I always have something to say, and have a very strong opinion on pretty much everything.
Well, over the last month or so I've felt very, well...dry. Not empty, for God seems constantly to be filling me up with more knowledge of Himself; but dry when it comes to feeling emotions. In all that time I never cried, -though there where things to cry at. And during worship, though my heart(mind) would respond my emotions didn't. I never felt what I thought.
This really bothered me because I felt I wasn't glorifying God with my lack of soul in my response to the glorious truths of the gospel. So I took it to my parents.
My father told me not to worry, that what I was feeling wasn't sin, only a season, and through faithfulness in this dry time I glorified God. I went away encouraged.
Since that time, God has revealed to me at least one reason for this wilderness time; and it was only because God had so quieted my heart to listen that I was able to both hear and accept what I would not have otherwise.
Even though I have learned much, I found myself in the wilderness. And although I had not consciously pondered how this season might come to an end, these verses struck a chord.
David says in Psalm 63:1-2, "O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory."
David was right where I am. Seeking God, longing for the water of the Spirit to wash over him, and feeling alone and dry. So what was his solution to this problem? "So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory."It was like a light went on inside of me; "of course! That's the answer!" When we are dry, and in a wilderness season, David seems to think that the only logical thing to do is to gaze at the glory of our God; to ponder the greatness of His power throughout the world.
The simple truth of Psalm 63:1-2 really struck me, so I thought I would share it on the chance that someone who reads this is also going through a wilderness experience. May God reveal His glory to you in a new and living way.
~Lauren
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Christ and Coffee
As I was driving home tonight with a nice cup of Starbucks, I began to pray, and God laid a heavy burden on my heart.
The burden was proclaiming the gospel to EVERYONE I meet. Not merely living the gospel out in our families and work places, but giving it to everyone we come in contact with during the day; whether they be our banker, a cashier, or the person behind the ticket counter. But how do you evidently live out Christ in the mundane for those who do not know you? How do you proclaim Christ to the Cashier at Starbucks? This is where I came up short. How do you be a light to a world, who doesn't understand the gospel, in merely your passing interactions with them? How do you share Christ while getting a cup of coffee?
I must thank God for Casting Crowns, who first opened my eyes to the reality of all "the hope that's tucked away in you and me." (Does anybody Hear Her) For a Christian, there is hope immeasurable, "To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27) Yet that hope was not given that we might horde it away for our own use; but like every gift, it was given that we might share it with a hopeless world.
What this looks like, I'm not quite sure yet, but as God continues to teach me I will share it with you.
~By Faith, Lauren
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Hidden Hope
Does Anybody Hear Her
Does anybody hear her?
She is yearning
Does anybody hear her?
If judgment looms under every steeple
Does anybody hear her?
He is running a hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction
Monday, December 15, 2008
What If It's God Speaking?
Last night I was contemplating what I was called to and realized that for the first time I had absolutly no idea. I know that as a christian, as a human, I am called to glorify the Lord, but how? What kind of minsitry should I be prepairing for?
The following is part of my musings on this question, and the conclusion that I came to.
"For the first time, I don't have a plan. I have no idea what or where God is calling me to. The only step I know I'm called to take is to go to INSIGHT. Beyond that, I have no clue what things look like. It's hard not knowing. How do you plan if you have no idea what you're planning for? But that's the point; I'm not supposed to plan, I'm supposed to trust. As God has been freeing me from my desire to plan, I've come to the point where I don't care if I'm on the mission field, running a home, a paster's wife, or a full-time journalist; so long as my life is being used for God's utmost glory I am happy. Oswald Chamber's devotional title are the cry of my heart, "My Utmost For His Highest". I want to expend myself for the glory of God."
So that was last night; this morning I sat down, as has become my custom, to read Oswald Chambers. The title of the devotion was, "The Key To The Missionary's Work." I would paraphrase what Chambers said but then I don't think you would be able to get the full picture of what I believe God is beginning to teach me. So here is the devotion for today:
"The key to the missionary's work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don't go-He simply says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...." He says, "Go on the basis of the revealed truth of My sovereignty, teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me."
"Then the eleven disciples went....to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them." (28:16) If I want to know the universal sovereignty of Christ, I must know Him myself. I must take time to worship the One whose name I bear. Jesus says, "Come to Me..."--that is the place to meet Jesus---"all you who labor and are heavy laden..." (Matthew 11:28)----and how many missionaries are! We completely dismiss these wonderful words of the universal Sovereign of the world, but they are the words of Jesus to His disciples meant for here and now.
"Go therefore..." To "go" simply means to live. Acts 1:8 is the description of how to go. Jesus did not say in this verse, "Go into Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria," but, "...you shall be witnesses to Me in [all these places]." He takes upon Himself the work of sending us.
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you..." (John 15:7)---that is the way to keep going. Where we are placed is then a matter of indifference to us, because God sovereignly engineers our goings.
"None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus..." (Acts 20:24). That is how to keep going until we are gone from this life."
It was as if God was saying to me, " I have called you to seek Me, to find Me , and to live like Me. Where I send you, and to whom I send you is for Me to know. I will make your path clear to you when it is time for you to know." It was such a confermation to me in the conclusion that I had come to last night, as well as an encouragement that even when His voice isn't clear, God's always speaking to you in one way or another. sometimes it's clear and obvious like through His Word or through multiple angents saying the same thing; and sometimes his voice is just wise advice said in passing, or a wise choice prompted by the Holy Spirit inside us. Either way, He speaks to us, we just need to learn to listen.
Note: I just discovered that the devotion I read this morning was actually October 14th's devotion not December, and yet I was so careful to make sure it was the right month. Isn't it neat how God does that? It wasn't even the right day, but God said, "this is what I want you to read today, and to make it so clear that it's not a coincidence, I'm gonna make it the wrong day."
