A New Journey Into My Thesaurus

Nice.

This word has been slowly becoming more and more irritating to my subconscious self, making itself more and more consciously annoying.  Is that possible?  I don't know if this is an accurate description of what is actually happening but it makes sense in my mind.  :)  (isn't THAT a scary thought!)

I think it may have started in the fall of 2008 when I attended a church service at a local congregation and was startled and worried when I found the topic of the sermon to be something along the lines of: "Being a Christian is Being NICE".   Essentially what they were saying was we were to be sappy nice, not step on anyone's toes, never disagree, serve our hearts out and be NICE people.   I could not disagree more.   (More on that in a later post....possibly)  I did not return to church there.

In the past 3 years "nice" seems to become an increasingly cop out type description.  The point now is where it practically screams in my head, "LAZY!"  Do I really put such little thought into my words and interactions that I could use such empty phrases as "nice guy", "nice day", "nice time", and "you look nice"?  There are SO many more descriptive words that could convey what I really think but I am too busy or indifferent to put the effort in to use them.

I want to ban the word "nice" from my vocabulary.  From today on I will try to delve into my thesaurus and brain to think of more meaningful words to describe what I actually think.  I don't want to be detached from the world and people around me.  To be more engaged and genuine in the life I live.  Yes, that would be my ultimate goal I suppose. No, banning "nice" will not be a magic *POOF* that makes me a better person, only God can do that, and I will still fail according to his standards, but it may be a small step for me to be able to reflect his love and caring for the people around me.  I don't want my life to be devoid of emotion and filled with cop-outs.

I'm praying for a beautiful snowy wonderland tomorrow morning.  That would be spectacular to wake up to.

Good-bye, Nice!   Hello, Genuine!

PASSION 2011

Hey all!!! I just got back this afternoon from Passion 2011 in Atlanta, GA!!!!!   It was a LONG drive back (about 31 hours total) and I'm still unpacking and getting repacked to go back to school but I'll have details and news of it all and PHOTOS to share :)

Thank You, Oswald

I love reminders.  Not the nagging kind; I like the Post-It note style reminders, the ones that jog a knowledge or stirring of something you intended to act upon but yet again failed to execute.  I am continually humbled by the realization that I am a ridiculously slow learner and that I have an immeasurably patient God.  For that, I am am thankful.

January 18th's "My Utmost for His Highest" lesson, Taught by God and Shared by Oswald Chambers


"Test of Faithfulness"


"We know that all things work together for good to those who love God." -Romans 8:28


"It is only a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls his circumstances.  We take our circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but not really believing it.  We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people.  To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, or object of our faith--the Lord Jesus Christ.  God may cause our circumstances to suddenly fall apart, which may bring the realization of our unfaithfulness to Him for not recognizing that He had ordained the situation.  We never saw what He was trying to accomplish, and that exact event will never be repeated in our life.  This is where the test of our faithfulness comes.  If we will just learn to worship God even during the difficult circumstances, He will change them for the better very quickly if He so chooses. 


Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today.  We will be faithful to our work, to serving others or to anything else; just don't ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ.  Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus.  Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world.  We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers. 


The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that he will be free to do His work through us.  God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities on us.  He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His part.  God wants to use us as He used His own Son."


This was my devo time last night before I went to bed, what a way to end the day.  It followed perfectly with all that we were learning/discussing in our small group.  Everything hinges on our faith.  We just have faith and be faithful to Christ in order for EVERYTHING else to work.  Yet, that faithfulness is SOOOO difficult sometimes.  I can MEASURE how faithful I being to my work by the physical, visible things I see around me.  I can MEASURE how faithful I am to serving others by their response and the fuzzy feeling on the inside.  How do you measure a faithfulness to Jesus?  Sure there are fruits, and knowledge is gained and I can "see" the spiritual things he is doing sometimes, but so much of the time that faith is wholly in the unseen.  Sigh.   Still learning faithfulness.  Yes, I still need lots of sticky-note reminders and so much patience.   I want this faithfulness that Oswald is talking about.  It may be years of growth ahead....but the seed must be planted somewhere.   

A "Glimpse" of PASSION

This is the "Glimpse" video of PASSION 2010.   Enjoy and be blessed!

I do not own the rights to this video.  They belong to 268Generation the founder of Passion conferences.  I have intended no copyright infringement.