So...I really don't know how to title these. On my other blog, it's easy. Because I'm really just venting and I can usually sum it up in a few words. Or, if not, I can just make it completely random. So...I guess I am just going to use random words from now on. Or quotes. Depending.
So, in pursuit of life. I guess would be the way to say it. I started reading this book called "Follow Me" by David Platt. And I really like it. I haven't really gotten much out of it for my own sake, other than in order to live like Jesus, I have to die everyday. I have to die to myself daily and let Jesus do the walking and talking.
But, what I have been getting out of the book lately is ways to get this idea across to others. And this is really important to me because I am going on a mission trip to CT this summer, and I am going to be hanging out with a lot of the local teens in the area. And I am sure that many of them could use a friend, and someone to show them what God's love can do and all that. But that's really not the ONLY thing that God wants us to share. And this book, has really cleaned a few windows.
So, I was reading a little yesterday, and here are some of the basic things I pulled out of what I read.
The first one is, that we need to realize that Jesus pursued us. We did NOT pursue Him. Even if we did, it wouldn't have gotten us very far. He came and pursued and chased after us himself. He did not send someone else, and he didn't wait for us to go to him. He came for us himself.
Proposal is an example that David uses in his book, which is a very good example once you stop and think about it.
A man wants to marry his significant other. Because he loves her and wants to spend the rest of his life with her. Makes sense, right? So, he walks up to her, and he gets on one knee, pulls out a ring, and asks her to marry him. He went on his own, by himself, to ask her a question that will change her life forever. Jesus did the exact same thing.
Jesus loves us. To the point where HE came to US, to show to us just how much he loves us. He came to us, and personally extended his invitation to us. A great line that David says in this book, he said "In matters of love, one my go himself." Which is true. You don't send a stranger off the street to propose, or to ask a date to the prom. You go and do it yourself.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
Hello!
Sorry it's been a while, to those of you who are so wonderfully checking back in. I have been struggling with an addiction to self-harm and bulimia. And, I have started the long process of dismantling those habits, and those addictions, and the emotions and things that caused them. I am dealing with them. Through God. Well, really He is dealing with them.
So, today, after having a serious talk with God about it all. I was given some missing pieces. Which is key to this post. I only started reading a few pages more into "Follow Me". But really, that's all I needed to confirm this. It's the part that ties the whole lesson together.
The sentence I left off on was: "What does repentance look like in their lives?"
Meaning us 'Christians' here in the Western part of the world.
When you think about worshiping something, you think about people who worship statues and dictators and things. Yeah, that is a form of worshiping, but God says that nothing is more important than Him. And if something in your life is taking precedence over him, than you are worshiping it. Because God doesn't share the stage with any one.
So, those people who struggle with any addiction, whether it be porn, self-harm, eating disorders, sports, getting mad when things don't go how we think they should go, getting all worked up when things change, just stupid things we don't think about. Even our relationships; boyfriend/girlfriend, marriages, friends, if these things take place before God, and we all do it (obviously not intentionally I hope), it's worshiping that thing. Because God is the only one worthy of our devout attention like that.
So, that probably didn't make any sense, but that's okay.
I just kind of realized, over the course of the things I've been going through lately, that I had a problem, and I placed worrying about it and obsessing over it, before God. And I needed to talk to Him about it and get right with him. So I did. And I thought I would share this with you all. Thanks for reading guys. c:
Sincerely,
Me.
So, today, after having a serious talk with God about it all. I was given some missing pieces. Which is key to this post. I only started reading a few pages more into "Follow Me". But really, that's all I needed to confirm this. It's the part that ties the whole lesson together.
The sentence I left off on was: "What does repentance look like in their lives?"
Meaning us 'Christians' here in the Western part of the world.
When you think about worshiping something, you think about people who worship statues and dictators and things. Yeah, that is a form of worshiping, but God says that nothing is more important than Him. And if something in your life is taking precedence over him, than you are worshiping it. Because God doesn't share the stage with any one.
So, those people who struggle with any addiction, whether it be porn, self-harm, eating disorders, sports, getting mad when things don't go how we think they should go, getting all worked up when things change, just stupid things we don't think about. Even our relationships; boyfriend/girlfriend, marriages, friends, if these things take place before God, and we all do it (obviously not intentionally I hope), it's worshiping that thing. Because God is the only one worthy of our devout attention like that.
So, that probably didn't make any sense, but that's okay.
I just kind of realized, over the course of the things I've been going through lately, that I had a problem, and I placed worrying about it and obsessing over it, before God. And I needed to talk to Him about it and get right with him. So I did. And I thought I would share this with you all. Thanks for reading guys. c:
Sincerely,
Me.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Follow Me
So, I have started reading the book Follow Me by David Platt. And I decided to start a blog about my journey through the book and how I apply it to my daily life. Sounded good to me.
I am almost to the end of chapter 1. And I have read the prologue, so I thought I could do some notes after each chapter.
Prologue:
"I am convinced that certain qualities should always be true of Christians and the church." (page ix)
I was hit by this for a number of reasons, but mostly because I have always thought the same thing. But was never able to really put it into words. In the rest of the paragraph above this quote, he (Francis Chan, the author of the prologue,) talks about how what he read in the Bible felt really inconsistent. And how his life, was nothing like the life of Jesus. I relate to this extremely well because my life (after cross examination) does not line up with Jesus' either. I knew that I would get a lot of this book, and that God was trying to tell me something BIG. SO, I kept reading.
"I told people to make disciples while I spent my days dealing with problems and preparing sermons." (pg x) Immediately I thought of something I had learned at my leadership program this past summer: to lead by example. And I had started to. But then things got complicated in life, as they always do. I started to slip up. Not that there is anything wrong by that, because we all do (that's why we're the humans and God is God). But what is wrong with slipping up, is that I still continued to ACT like I was leading by example. When in reality, I was leading the people who looked up to in the COMPLETE WRONG direction. I didn't look to God first as I should have. I was sure that life would be okay, and that everything would be okay. And as Francis goes on to say "It's weird how uncertainty can actually bring peace while ease causes the opposite." (pg x), I found it true. I was so sure, that when it didn't get better when I thought for sure that it would, I got anxious and panicked. Versus if I had just turned to God and followed the example that Jesus gave me, I would've had a lot more peace in my life at this time.
Chapter 1: Unconverted Believers
This chapter talks mostly about dying to yourself every day. And that when Jesus said "Follow me.", he wasn't talking about just saying a prayer and being a good person.
"Jesus said, 'Slay yourself.'" (pg 3)I was kind of taken back at this. I have never read this verse, nor heard of it in church or at a conference. Never have I heard of this being said by Jesus. But after I looked it up, I saw it. In this section, David Platt shows that that is what happened to the fisher man Jesus had called to follow Him. "Peter was crucified upside down, Andrew was crucified in Greece, James was beheaded,and John was exiled." (pg 3).It just kind of hit me that being a Christian is more serious than the people at church let on. And then I got mad because I am supposed to learn from these people. I felt kind of stupid after because I was so focused on following the way they acted rather than Jesus. It all kind of ran through my mind at once.
There's a lot of notes I took in this chapter, but I think this is enough for now. If you are curious as to what other notes were taken on this chapter, feel free to comment and I will post them.
I am almost to the end of chapter 1. And I have read the prologue, so I thought I could do some notes after each chapter.
Prologue:
"I am convinced that certain qualities should always be true of Christians and the church." (page ix)
I was hit by this for a number of reasons, but mostly because I have always thought the same thing. But was never able to really put it into words. In the rest of the paragraph above this quote, he (Francis Chan, the author of the prologue,) talks about how what he read in the Bible felt really inconsistent. And how his life, was nothing like the life of Jesus. I relate to this extremely well because my life (after cross examination) does not line up with Jesus' either. I knew that I would get a lot of this book, and that God was trying to tell me something BIG. SO, I kept reading.
"I told people to make disciples while I spent my days dealing with problems and preparing sermons." (pg x) Immediately I thought of something I had learned at my leadership program this past summer: to lead by example. And I had started to. But then things got complicated in life, as they always do. I started to slip up. Not that there is anything wrong by that, because we all do (that's why we're the humans and God is God). But what is wrong with slipping up, is that I still continued to ACT like I was leading by example. When in reality, I was leading the people who looked up to in the COMPLETE WRONG direction. I didn't look to God first as I should have. I was sure that life would be okay, and that everything would be okay. And as Francis goes on to say "It's weird how uncertainty can actually bring peace while ease causes the opposite." (pg x), I found it true. I was so sure, that when it didn't get better when I thought for sure that it would, I got anxious and panicked. Versus if I had just turned to God and followed the example that Jesus gave me, I would've had a lot more peace in my life at this time.
Chapter 1: Unconverted Believers
This chapter talks mostly about dying to yourself every day. And that when Jesus said "Follow me.", he wasn't talking about just saying a prayer and being a good person.
"Jesus said, 'Slay yourself.'" (pg 3)I was kind of taken back at this. I have never read this verse, nor heard of it in church or at a conference. Never have I heard of this being said by Jesus. But after I looked it up, I saw it. In this section, David Platt shows that that is what happened to the fisher man Jesus had called to follow Him. "Peter was crucified upside down, Andrew was crucified in Greece, James was beheaded,and John was exiled." (pg 3).It just kind of hit me that being a Christian is more serious than the people at church let on. And then I got mad because I am supposed to learn from these people. I felt kind of stupid after because I was so focused on following the way they acted rather than Jesus. It all kind of ran through my mind at once.
There's a lot of notes I took in this chapter, but I think this is enough for now. If you are curious as to what other notes were taken on this chapter, feel free to comment and I will post them.
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