You're the God of this City

There is no one like our God. Can I get an amen? :)

As I sit here in my room, unable to sleep again at 2am, I decided I should blog. Sometimes, with no reflection upon one's day, we so easily forget how God is at work in everything-things we do not even know and things we can not even see. But He is there, working, preparing, and being ever so faithful to the promises He has made to His children. Now that I reflect back on the day-WOW-has He done so much, even just in the past 24 hours of my life.

I recieved a text message today from a friend. She has recently decided to put Christ back in the center of her life and she is already doing some ROCKING things for the Kingdom. Like so many of us who have gained our faith later in life, she struggles sometimes with people assuming that she is the same person she used to be. When I first decided to follow Christ, and I mean truly surrender my life to His will, it was just a year ago. In the weeks that followed my decision (which is actuality felt nothing like a decision on my own part but instead being handpicked by God to recieve His Holy Spirit) I had to sacrifice many things, one of them being hanging out with friends. Now, I am not saying that you cant have friends who arent believers, and I am not at all saying that being Saved means ditching the people who surround you that need Jesus too. Hear me say that I made a personal decision to stop going to toxic places and surrounding myself with temptations that were only harder on my own walk with God. I was hanging out with a big bar hopping karaoke crowd at the time, and for me to continously turn down offers to go out or hang out with the group that had become like family to me for over a year, probably really confused and hurt them (and for that I am deeply sorry). But to make my point, some of those people as well as many others in my life chose not to see that I was a changed person and insisted on treating me like the same old Meg. The Meg who cussed like a sailor, the Meg who liked to drink, the Meg who was not filled with the Holy Spirit but filled with the brokenness and the anger of someone whom satan had been working on all her life. But I am not that girl anymore. Christ gives me my identity. Nobody else.

The text I recieved today was similar-a girl at work listening to her co-workers talking about affairs and things she in the past had laughed along with. But today, something inside her told her 'This isnt funny. These people are broken and need to be loved on. Are you the girl for the job? Or are you going to sit back and act like I never came into your life and rescued you?' WOW. (Talk about a Holy Spirit nudge right there!)

If you have ever been or are in a situation now where you find yourself getting defeated or frustrated at things in your past coming back to haunt you then just remember that it does NOT matter who people think you are because the Lord in Heaven KNOWS who you are. And your life should be a living testimony to His love for us by how you love on others. Satan loves to make us think that we are not worth it. That we can not be used for ministry because we used to lead jacked up lives. That we will never amount to anything because of decisions we once made. But do you know what? SATAN IS A LIAR!!

Simple as that. Dont listen to the voice in your head, listen to the voice in your heart. The heart that is the dwelling place for the LIVING GOD!

There are a few songs I want to share that relate to the topic of being remade one by tenth avenue north and the other by casting crowns.

"Remade"
You are more than the choices that youve made. You are more than the sum of your past mistakes. You are more than the problems you create. Youve been remade
"Who Am I"
Who am I? That the Lord of all the earth, would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt? Who am I? That the bright and morning star would choose to light the way for my ever wondering heart? Not because of who I am but because of what Youve done. Not because of what Ive done but because of who You are!"

The second thing that happened to me today was a situation with a friend, where God hit me over the head and reminded me that something I was doing was hurtful-completely unintentional, but hurtful nonetheless. As people who love God and follow His will in our lives I feel like it can become difficult in areas where you have to blur lines in order to help. In this particular situation I had a friend confess a hard situation she was going through and immediately wanted to share with another friend-not for gossip sake, but from one prayer warrior to another asking for help. But the friend who confided in me wouldnt have looked at it that way at all because she is not follower of the Lord. In that situation God very clearly told me to apologize to my friend and how I need to watch out for doing things that others did to me when I was not a Christian, things I hated then and now find myself doing to people who were like I was a year or more ago. Funny how God works huh?

The last incident today that really showed me how God is doing SO much more than we know or give Him credit for is the community prayer service held at my church tonight. Spiritual leaders from congregations and denominations all over NEA came to pray for families and marriages and soldiers and the world and churches and everything you could possibly think of. It was beautiful, hearing these men of God asking the Lord to show up in all of these places. I was particularly touched when things were mentioned about churches and spiritual leaders, and prayers were made that they be reminded to that God is in control and not them. So hard I pray that (not just spiritual leaders but) people as a whole could recognize that what we think is important sometimes is in fact, not that important in the grande scheme of things.

In my own life I weigh decisions with "In the grande scheme of things how important is worrying about this fill in the blank issue?" or "Is a new pair of shoes that would make like 50 plus that I own really that important when there are shoeless children all over the world who could use them more?"-that is just the way my brain processes things. So when I sit in church (and not just my own church but churches in general especially in this part of the world) I cant help but deviate from the sermon sometimes to notice the things that seem to be going unnoticed. In the grande scheme of things is a church remodel more important than using the money for more outreach in the community? Well, no not really-because "church" which is really just the body of christ, could be held in a tent for all I care ya now? Is making people feel comfortable while their butts are in the pews on Sunday mornings what is more important? Catoring to the crowd we already have? Well...I would say no, because we are not called to live "radically" we were DESIGNED to BE radical. Always.

The things of this world have so many Christians being lukewarm that sometimes I fear that we have forgotten what it is all about. And we all have moments of this, sure. There are no fingers being pointed here. I just feel like it is a nice reminder for us to put priorities in check and to figure out the things that really need to be DONE and SAID in order to recruit for the Kingdom and show Gods love to others. (Sorry, once Im on my church and religion soapbox it is HARD to get me off)

WRAPPING UP---it was an absolute PLEASURE and BLESSING to have the worship and prayer time with members of the community tonight. I feel like God IS doing something in this city, and if we all work together as one body stripped of denomination and prejudice or grudge or whatever, then we can TRULY Impact this world!

God is not only working in this city, but as you read this He is also doing AMAZING works in your life...works you may not even see for years to come. But they are happening. If you find yourself in a rut, or find yourself being hit over the head by God who is constantly teaching, or if you find yourself waiting for Him to reveal His plans for this city or for your life then stop a second. And REMEMBER that He is a FAITHFUL and GOOD God.

"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord "They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with HOPE"--Jeremiah 29:11

In Him
Meg

WORLD'S GREATEST DAD!!!!

In elementary school we used to have this little store on wheels that you could buy things off of, pencils, pens, paper, erasers, books, etc. Around each holiday they would have small magazines of things you could order for gifts for people (aprons and candles for mothers day, ornaments for christmas, cards for birthdays, and so on and so forth). I remember one upcoming Fathers Day I had saved up my pencil and scented eraser money and bought my dad a mug that said "Worlds Greatest Dad" My dad was so happy and so proud to get that mug, and I was so happy and so proud to be able to give it to him because in my eyes he was the worlds greatest dad. He held so many characteristics of what one small child would consider the "perfect father". When my mom left us I was about 8 years old, and up until that point I dont remember seeing my dad very much or having a close relationship with him. But when he was left as sole parent, everything changed. He learned how to cook for us (yes fish sticks and friend bologna but still). He learned how to do the laundry (yes i had pink and purple panties and socks that were once white but who cares). He owned his own business, kept up with the housework, coached my sister and I in all of our sports, never missed a game, never missed a play or choir concert, took time to do homework with us when we struggled, took us to church, and did all of the things that gives the impression of LOVE. And of COURSE it was LOVE, my dad adored us. Was he perfect? Not at all. Once we get older we realize our dads arent perfect, and sometimes it is a struggle because we have this superhero image of our dads and when they let us down, or screw up big time it can alter our perception of them forever. My dad was killed in a car accident a little over a year ago. Given ways he screwed up, times he scared me, mean words he'd say to me, times i may not have felt so loved, etc...given all of that I would give anything in the world to have him back still.

I say all of that to move on to chapter 3 in Crazy Love which talks about our relationship with God as our father. And not just a father to fear, but a father to recognize as the one and true worlds greatest dad. I know it's a hard concept, even for me, but the creator of this world LOVES me. Me? Little ole me? Yes!!! As a matter of fact he intimately knew me before I was even a thought in my mother's head.

Francis Chan depicts an image of how God wants us to love him and come to him, and it compares to that of a small child crawling up into the lap of God and hugging on him, laughing with him, crying on him, asking him questions, learning from him, and without fail LOVING HIM. If I could do that to my earthly father, despite all of his flaws, then why cant I do that to my Heavenly Father who is PERFECTION. He doesnt just love us he IS Love. One thing I loved about this chapter was how Chan put it that Jesus doesnt have to love us-he is utterly perfect and does not need us at all. But he WANTS us, He CHOOSES us! So how come it is that often times we dont choose Him?

As a continous challenge I want to extend: Getting intimate with God. I dont just want to SAY I love Him (which obviously I DO love him) but just as with any relationship I want that love to thrive and survive through the tests of time, worldy hardships, and growth. I want God to be my choice in Dad, best friend, lover, husband, mentor, teacher, etc. He should be everything to us because he IS...EVERYTHING! And it is time we started behaving that way. Not just so we can get the blessings that come from Loving God, but so we can genuinely show our father how much we love Him!

If God were our human, earthly fathers we would buy Him Worlds Greatest Dad mugs everyday. We would color Him pictures, make him surprise deserts for dinner, lay in bed at night and watch cartoons, wrestle on the living room floor, take walks with him, share events in our lives with him, take his advice to heart, kiss him on the foorhead when we get out of the car, play ball with him, listen to music with him, WE WOULD DO EVERYTHING WITH HIM and EVERYTHING FOR Him...we would want to make Him proud and show Him how much we Love Him...so why dont we REALLY do those things for God?

BE LIKE CHRIST

I took the weekend off of reading Crazy Love. I am really trying to use this book and the information with it to challenge myself in order to plunge into a deeper relationship with God. If you have been keeping up with the Crazy Love blogs, you will note the last challenge I felt tugging at my heart was to Witness and Be an Example of Jesus to everyone I come in contact with, as well as using every breath to HONOR AND WORSHIP Him! It is late Sunday night, and I am reflecting back on the weekend and the challenges of this challenge. Being like Jesus.....until today, while I was talking with a friend about being a new Christian and wanting to be Christ-like, I thought that I had failed this challenge. I havent gone into the streets screaming scriptures to people passing by. I havent stood up in front of a church to confess my sins or give a testimony. I havent done alot of the blatent attempts some religious people would consider "witnessing"....but talking to this friend today, I noticed him staring at me like he'd never seen me before (weve known each other since I was in middle school mind you). I said "what are you looking at? You look like youve never seen me before." He said "I havent seen THIS you before...Its very nice to see" All he could do was smile. When I got to the source of his weirdness (ha!) it turns out that he had never heard me talk about God before. Never seen my face light up when I talked about loving Christ and Christ loving us. See, we were talking about his nicotine addiction and I was explaining to him how whatever we used substances, and people, and relationships, and all other worldly things for-whatever void we are using them to fill-that God wants to FILL it. He wants us to rely on Him to do those things. Since we had never talked about God and such like he said, I wasnt sure how he'd react and I almost witheld (but once Im on a roll Im pretty impossible to shut up :)) He wasnt mad at all. He was...speechless for lack of a beter word. When I left him I wondered if I word-vomitted Christ on people like that often so I started reflecting back over the weekend. I reflected not on times I beat people over the head with the Bible...but instead, just genuinely loved people as Christ would. To my surprise, I didnt miserably fail the challenge I had set before me. Sure we can ALWAYS do more. Our grandest gestures and greatest deeds are nothing but dirty rags before God so yes I can ALWAYS do more. But I learned a different lesson instead...You cant measure Christianity or your salvation or the depth of your relationship with God on how many times you read scripture to someone (check), how many mission trips youve been on (check), how much money you give in the offering (check)...instead we as Christians should be LOVING people. Loving to the ends of our fingertips, as Christ would have us love one another and non-believers too. So much more can be said with pure love than all other modes of message transportation.

The second part of my challenge (which i DID fail miserably) was to honor and glorify God with every breath I take, every thought I think, every action I commit to. My "excuses" were not feeling well, very busy, etc etc. We are not giving our everything to God if we only give him "everything" when it's most convenient for us. I failed miserably. But will try, and try again. Im not scared to admit my failures to my 3 followers and possible readers in cyberland. Learning from our mistakes and failures is how we GROW. I want to expand my faith beyond my wildest imagination. I want to fall so hard in Love with God it will be impossible for ANYONE to compete with my heart afterwards. I truly want to better myself and the lives of everyone who come into contact with me. I may read chapter 3 tomorrow of Crazy Love, either way my continuing challenge will be what I failed so horribly at this weekend "to truly Glorify God with every word I say, every thought I think, every breath I take"

I am human, and I will make mistakes. And I will fall and fail a billion times before I ever get it close to right. But knowing that God forgives me when I stumble and offers Grace to pull me back up...is FAITH

Todays challenge (Extended by myself) and visions of Heaven

If you read last night's blog then you are aware that i have started reading the Francis Chan book "Crazy Love". Wow...the winds of change they are a blowin'! Last night I issued a challenge to myself (how thoughtful I am) to take today to stop and notice God's creation and to just praise Him and thank Him and NOTICE HIM in ALL I see!! Leaving my subdivision this morning I noticed a large patch of wildflowers I have never seen before! I noticed landscaping in people's yards with full bloomed flowers Ive never seen before. Driving to town I noticed beautiful Dogwood trees on the sides of the road, the most brilliant shade of purple and never even knew there were trees in this particular spot at all. I praised God for each color I was seeing, each pattern I was seeing, each new and glorious intricate design that is all for Him and His glory, I THANKED Him! I basically had a never ending conversation with God that lasted all day. I gave thanks to the clouds rolling in, to the different shades in sky, for the gentle rain we got before we got the torrential downpour. I threw my hands up in worship to the CREATOR of this earth when the storms came in and it was thundering and lightening. I could hear God crying out NOTICE ME!! And boy was I. It was such a thrilling day, seeing with new eyes, and learning so much about my KING by shutting up and SEEING what God has done!

To end my amazing day I had the oppertunity to worship at an awesome place in town. I had never been there before so initially I was nervous and kind of shaky. I have never felt like I really "fit in" somewhere, but my Spirit is screaming at me to be plugged in somewhere-to find fellow believers to interact with and share life with. I feel that is one of the next steps in my spiritual progression. After the initial nerves I felt SO at home there. The songs sung were glorifying God and His creation and fit in SOOOOO well with what I had been doing ALL DAY! The minister there touched my heart with his words, and his passion, and his relatability (new word of the day? webster? eh)...all in all it was an incredible experience. You know how when you first meet someone you meet their first impression self, and usually it takes you a few or several encounters to truly get to KNOW them? Well the few girls I had the privilage of shaking hands with tonight did not give me a "first impression self" I met the spirit inside of them. When Christ dwells inside of you then that is what people see, and getting to meet them that way I felt immediately like that place is somewhere I could fit in....even if I stand out (which I tend to) I could still find a home there.

If you read last night's blog (again) you know I had not finished chapter 1. Well I have now. The rest of the chapter shows you WHO God is (to the best of man's ability) and what Heaven is like as described by Isaiah the profit and John's as in Revelation. The description of what it would be like (again as best put into man-made language) is nothing short of HUMBLING. FREAKING HUMBLING I should say. I was blown away at my arrogance, my stupidity, my SMALLNESS. We are all UNWORTHY but because God is SO Good He STILL Loves us!! Isnt that amazing!?

The past couple of days it has been layed upon my heart the issue of "fear" (for lack of a better word). The desire to fit in because of the fear of sticking out. I have the oppertunity to meet some new girls tomorrow and just visit with them and fellowship with them and to be THROWN in FULL FLEDGED with strangers. I feel like getting past this one stepping stone could rocket launch my spiritual growth and further deepen my relationship with Christ. So all fear aside, my challange tomorrow for myself is to be FEARLESS. (and to start chapter 2 which Im sure by the end of the day will give me new challenges).

I look at it like, if we are not going to challenge ourselves to do better for God and to BE better in Christ then who IS going to challenge us? We can choose great company to walk with but inevitably the choices and decisions lie within ourselves. Will you choose fear? Or will you choose LIFE?

In Him,
Meg

God of all CREATION

So I am doing what I like to call the Crazy Love challange. (Reading the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan). Today I officially started chapter one and let me tell you, I can feel LIFE happening and GOD moving through my Spirit. Watching the videos that come with the chapter and reading the chapter (not even all of it yet) itself has made me come to what I like to call realization number one. Realization Number One: God.....is.....CREATIVE. He is not only creative He IS the CreatOR....of everything. I have never been much of a science nut but whatever side of your brain logistics or skeptics is in I think out of that side quite a bit. With having recently been saved the past few months I have never questioned of course the existence of God. I have never doubted Him as the creator. I guess though I never put much thought into creation at all. I thought God created the foundation of life, science created the next level, and then man created materials to sustain in it. Tonight I found out just how WRONG I have been. LIterally I have been punched in the face with "HELLO!!!! MEAGAN!!!! I am the Creator. I took the time to count the legs on a caterpillar, make different species of birds, put lines in this flower and not this one, create animals who can only sustain life in this specific area, etc etc" (From God).
WOW...so youre telling me the God who took the time to intricately detail every part of HIS creation also LOVES me? Loves me so much that He sent His son in human form, watched him suffer, and did this so that I could have a relationship with Him? He did that...for me? *GULP* Uh, I feel like an idiot. It's a huge humbling wakeup call when you realize how freaking SMALL you are and how amazingly HUGE God is.
Having coffee with a friend today I not only realized how huge God is but that He also has HUGE plans for my life. He has a hand in EVERYTHING that is life. The good, the bad, the ugly, the BLESSED-it ALL comes from God.
Im creating my own challenge for tomorrow. 1. To stop, Look, and WORSHIP God by choosing to see His creation for the first time with new EYES. 2. To give THANKS not just for the Good that has happened in my life but also the BAD-because God's hand is in ALL of it, and if the creator has something happen in your life then there is a REASON for it. Sometimes finding that reason could take your entire life. Sometimes, just knowing that there was a reason for it happening to begin with, you immediately see the good of bad. The purpose. The intent. And eventually....His PLAN...for YOU.
I am excited to take tomorrow to meditate on CREATION and PLAN. I am excited to finish the second part of chapter 1. And Iam excited to know that I am in a season of my life right now where I am BLESSED with the oppertunity to grow, change, and gain perspective of "Why am I here?". It has taken a hard road, and some bumps to get here but again, through the bad times there is still a plan.
God Bless
Meg