O.K. Jesus Freaks, Who Is God?

This question has been haunting me. In the huge and ever growing world of twitter I follow #jesustweeters. I like watching the verses and small tidbits of encouragement scroll non-stop down the twitter stream. Yesterday, as I’m trying to keep up with the incoming posts, one pops up that clearly doesn’t belong. It went something like this,

”O.K. Jesus freaks, Who made God? #atheist”

I froze the screen for a second staring at it in disbelieve. Part of me was surprised at the audacity that someone would come into a great stream of Jesus lovin’ and throw a zingler in the middle of it. Then, I woke up realizing that the Jesustweeter hashtag could be people seeking after God and people who are watching the tweets, just like me, but for insight into what Christians know that what they don’t understand.

I wanted to throw back a quick response in 140 characters or less, but couldn’t muster up the brief words. So this post is for you, whoever you are, who just might be asking, “Who made God?”

First of all, God is. (period.) Nobody or nothing made God. The first verse I wanted to respond to my atheist friend was Revelation 1:8, “I am the alpha and the omega, who is, was, and is to come, the almighty, ” but I just knew that when I asked that same question growing up that a question like that was not going to cut it.

I can’t answer this question and give a short, flipant answer that will satisfy the skeptical and disbelieving heart. In Paul’s message to the Thessalonians he says in chaper 1 verses 4-6; “ 4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.”

My dear seeking friends, God is incomprehensible. Our finite minds cannot grasp his magnitude, but my personal testimony is this; His power is real, He is real, and He wants to to search after that question as searching for silver and gold and hidden treasure so you will know the truth. For me, once I surrended my life to Christ and admitted that I was helpless and limited in my own human strength, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that His is who He says He is because of the Holy Spirit He gave me.

I wish I would have saved her post and I wish I could have gotten an offline chat going to tell her that God loves her, wants a relationship with her, and encourage her to keep searching. This morning, I am praying for her and millions like her, who are not seeking after Who He is?

Even online you can live out loud for Christ. It just isn’t as evident in your actions, you may have to deliberately stop and engage in a conversation with someone who God places in front of you, right there in your twitter feed.

Double Personality Disorder!

One thing about my personality is that I am the real deal. In other words, what you see is what you get. I guess I'm the epitome of a life "lived out loud", but maybe I should get a tattoo on my forehead with the disclaimer, "I'm a shameful sinner!"

If you read my blog, facebook posts, tweets, or status updates, you know that I really put myself out there as a wife, mom, sister, neighbor, taxpayer, runner, and friend. Why? Well... I want my readers to relate to me. I think that I am more interesting if my followers can laugh at my jokes, feel my pain when I hurt, or get a glimpse into my heart. Then again, if my posts aren't all about Jesus, and scripture, and biblical examples, am I REALLY living out loud?

When you want to live out loud for Christ, yet be transparent to the world, the lines get muddy. This is the problem when you are a Christian and a sinner. The Christian's life is surrendered and submitted to a Holy God, while the sinner makes it very evident that we are imperfect people in a fallen world. So, what message am I sending my friends, followers, tweeps, and connections? A mixed message I'm certain.

I really don't want to stand before God one day and have him disappointed with me because I lived with two separate idenities. Picture it? The Christian with a multiple personality disorder! I also don't want to stand in front of a Holy God and answer for being one of those "bible thumpers" that turned people completely off either.

In a way, we all suffer from this "identity crisis." Our outward appearances confuse people and no matter how transparent we are, nobody on earth has the ability to know our inward heart.

So here's my philosophy. I want people to see me... the real me. I want them to see that I hurt, laugh, get frustrated, can be impatient, and get cut off on the highway just like them. BUT - I also want them to see forgiveness, love, tenderness, joy and a peace that surpasses all understanding.

I love the visual God's word gives us in John chapter 8, when Jesus says, "If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw the first stone at her." Well, I declare, I am NOT without sin so I won't be throwing stones at anyone. I can only hope that will hold true for those who are watching my life. Then again, Jesus was crucified, should I expect anything less.

It's Only a Hill, But It Feels Like a Mountain.

I ran a 5K this morning, which is 3.2 miles. It's called the Soleburner, and it's Appleton's largest race with over 7,000 participants. The cause is to support the American Cancer Society and this is my 6th year participating. The interesting thing about this run is that the last half mile has a large hill. They call it the "Hill of Hope" because it symbolizes the journey that a cancer survivor takes to overcome the feelings of defeat and the obstacles endured to survive cancer.

Interestingly, even though I have never had cancer, and pray I never will, when I get to the foot of that hill, I empathize with a cancer patient who gets to the point in their own race that they want to give up, even quit.

I usually run with my ipod and I turn up the music loud enough that I can tune out everything else and keep the beat. Not this year. This year I wanted to focus on the race and when I made the decision to leave my ipod at home, I wasn't even aware how different this run would be.

Left to myself and my own thoughts, my head was my biggest fan and my worst enemy. I would sabotage my pace by telling myself that I need to stop and that I was tired. In the next breath I would be thinking that I feel good and I can visualize that finish line and the clock registering my record time. I continued to toss my thoughts, but then I get to the hill. I'm tired, but I'm determined and the minute the grade of the road began to slant upward, I leaned into it and immediately started to pray.

My prayer went something like this. "God... it's you an me. I'm tired and I want to quit, but I bet cancer survivors cry out with that same prayer. I think I can only get to the top of this thing without stopping is if you push me up this baby. So here we go God, it's you and me."

Since this morning I have put a new perspective on my cry out to God. The perspective that it's really just Him and me ALL THE TIME. I don't get to pick Him up when I need Him and toss Him aside when "I think I can handle it." No! I need Him all the time and the good news is, He's there regardless.

I want to 'Live Out Loud' with my words, thoughts, actions, and deeds and not just when times get tough. My hill was a small obstacle that felt more like a mountain. My prayer for you today is that you acknowledge Him, thank Him for being there and know that when the hills in your life seem too overbearing, He's there and He is faithful to help you through.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 "The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."

Open my Eyes

As I type this my eyes are burning after just removing my contact lenses. I, apparently, had them in too long today. As I tried to pry them from my eyes, my 8 year old daughter watched curiously. Being a very inquisitive young lady she asked, "Mom, how do you get those contacts out and why do you have to wear them?"

I have been wearing contact lenses for over 20 years and almost daily I eagerly remove them from my eyes as night time approaches. Being a morning person, the days get very long and my eyes get very tired. As you would expect, my contacts are one of the first things I put on shortly after waking up.

So I chose to use this opportunity as a teachable moment and I explained that on this side of heaven, our bodies don't always work very well and one of the things that I don't have is good eye sight. "Huh?", she said, "How will you have contacts in heaven then." I went on to say, "That's one of the best things about heaven, our bodies won't be broken, they'll be perfect and I won't need contacts in heaven."

The the mind of an 8 year old with all of her innocence reminded me why I need to open my eyes to eternal things, not earthly temporary things. In John 14:2 for example, Jesus says, "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you."

WOW! Can you only imagine?

Let this message help all of us remember that a life lived out loud is a life with an eternal perspective. Reaching out to others in a real, genuine, and sincere way, not only in words, but in actions. After all, as long as we're here we have a very specific assignment which is to keep a heavenly focus with an earthly purpose, through living our lives as an example of who God is, tell others about Him, and let your life shine bright, so many can enjoy the place He is preparing for those who know Him.

A Gift I Do Not Deserve.

In Romans 7:15 Paul says, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."

This week's message is more for me than any one of you. Regretfully, it's been one of those weeks that I behaved more "of the world" than "of God." Sin causes us to act in a way that does NOT demonstrate Christ living in us. When that happens, the message others interpret from our lives gets muddy. When people around us don't see that Christ is the Lord of our lives, they can label us as "hypocrites." Ouch! When that word applies, it is definitely a contradiction to what "Live Out Loud" is all about.

So if you say you are of God and you act according to His will you have established boundaries right? Those boundaries, taught to you from God's word, demonstrates your love for God. So why are those boundaries so easily compromised when sin tempts us? I have a short answer to that complex question. Satan knows we are weak and he knows where we are most vulnerable.

So what did I do about it? I repented and confessed my sin to God. I'm sad to say it's not the first time and unfortunately it won't be the last, I'm sure. It's such a humbling experience when you have to go to God, pray, admit that you've messed up, and ask Him to fix the mess you've made. It's times like these that I become a genuine God fearing woman because I am completely in the palm of his hand.

On the flip-side. It's was so freeing to release the guilt, regret, and shame that I was carrying. Once I got it out and talked to God, I was reminded that Jesus died on the Cross for me because it is inevitable that sin will raise it's ugly head. I'm a sinner and even with the blood of Christ, I still inherited a sin nature from my ancestors, Adam and Eve.

So, in humility, I share this message because I am not the epitome of a Life Lived Out Loud. I had a setback this week and I've taken some time to redirect my path. Thank God for his Son, Jesus. As we approach a week celebrates His perfect sacrifice, I am reminded that His sacrifice is an example of His abundant grace. A gift I do not deserve, but He gave so I can have life and live it to the fullest. Even when I screw up.

Please read Psalm 40 - It is the cry of my heart this week.

It's a sad day, but rejoice!

I woke up this morning and ran to my FaceBook page. I just couldn't wait to see what all the buzz was about regarding the ObamaCare Health Care Bill. Interestingly, it took me awhile to scroll down to someone who actually commented.

Surprised to find that my 500+ friends were relatively quiet on the subject. As much as I was tempted to post something to the point of "The health care bill passes gloom and doom," I resisted as to not stir up controversy. Instead, I went to God's word with a very heavy heart.

My thoughts bounced back and forth, between "I know God is in control, but why do I feel so depressed." I'm generally a happy person, an optimist, and a "half full" kind of girl. I find myself having a very tough time this morning adapting to the news, and trouble knowing exact HOW to feel about our world right now.

I don't fully understand the ins and outs of this whole Health Care thing, but what I DO know is that the process that this Health Care Bill traveled was THE MOST political maneuvering I have ever witnessed from a group of elected officials that are supposedly "For the people, by the people."

So to share a glimmer of hope that I found in the word of God, I hope you will be encouraged as well. Open your bible to 1 Peter 4 and read it yourself. It's packed full of insights, but here are a few points I gleaned.

1 Peter 4: 1-2, The first verse jumped right out at me! "Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God."

"Arm yourselves also with the same attitude?! What exactly IS the same attitude? The application that I take away from this message is that Christ suffered, and we will too, so our attitude should turn away from the focus of this world and the circumstances that we are in, but toward heaven and know that our actions and our words need to be Christ-like now more than ever.

Take these circumstances that we are in and trust God. We don't have the full picture and we don't know how God is ultimately working in this time of our own earthly uncertainty. We can and DO know through his word that every man must give an account. We need to pray for our countries leaders, we need to pray that God's will be done, and we need to cling to his word, demonstrate a Christ-like attitude, and rejoice in our future.

Keep reading in 1 Peter 4. Verse 13 says, "But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."

Rejoice! We have so much to be thankful for and the political agenda of the lost is no match for God's power. Hold your head high and LIVE OUT LOUD!

Spiritual Resume

Are you constructing a spiritual resume? If you are making a conscious choice to perform many "works" for the Lord, you have a spiritual resume.

What does it look like? Are you making a list of qualifications and experience? If so, you might have a bullet point list that goes something like this:

Qualifications:
Pastor
Member of a church
Associated to a "religion"
Serve in youth ministry
Attend a bible study
Choir and worship team leader

Experience:
Door Greeter
Usher
Coffee maker
Janitor
Prayer team
Present for every potluck
Always sit in the same row EVERY SUNDAY
Give offering, perhaps even a tithe
Wear a cross around my neck
Have a W.W.J.D. bracelet
Attended a missions trip
Adopted a child through Compassion International
Fast and pray
Church Board
Take communion
Obedient to sacrifice for lent

...I think you get the picture.

In James 2:26 says, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." In other words, as impressive as it is to have a list of "good works", without faith, belief in Jesus' atonement for your sin, your works are in vain. Don't put on a show and think that your list will impress God to the point where he makes an exception for you.

Picture this scenario. Upon your death you submit your spiritual resume and it's a thousand pages long. God glances over your list and raises His Holy eyebrow toward you. He sets your resume down and says, "I gave my son Jesus to die on the cross for your sin, but I will forget about that because you have such an impressive list of "good things" on your resume that I'll let you enter on your own merit."

I DON'T THINK SO!

Why would God admit a sinner into heaven because they worked hard enough? Jesus IS enough. Sin separates us from God, there is no way that He would allow a human, under their own efforts enter heaven.

So this I conclude. Ephesians 2:8 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God, not by works so no one can boast."

When you accept God's grace-filled gift that He, alone, sent His son to live a perfect life on this earth so that by His death our sins are covered. You accept that Jesus' sacrifice alone is sufficient to pass heaven's admissions test. Because of THAT faith, your life work is to honor God and "Live Out Loud" for Him because you and me are overflowing with gratitude that can't be measured by a spiritual resume, nor do we have any desire for it to be. We understand that we live a life that honors him and contributes to advancing God's kingdom in the short time we are given on this earth, it's not about working our way there. We can't.