Lately I have been dealing with some problems with letting stuff go and forgiving people. This week especially, God has really been giving me a heart to forgive, a heart to let go, and a heart to truly love those who have hurt me in the past. I am so thankful for this gift from God and I hope my heart to love others is but 1/2 the heart I have to love Him. I am finding that it is so much easier to show the love of Christ to people who used to get so far under my skin now than a month ago.
I believe that God has changed me for a purpose and this purpose is to show the love of Jesus Christ to everyone I encounter everywhere I go. My desire is for people to look at me and see my Savior. I want them to see a life of humility, a life of service, a life of compassion, and a life of love. I want them to see the life of who Jesus was and who He is for me everyday.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Scholarships
So, I was writing this essay for an Educators Credit Union Scholarship today and the prompt was to write about your future aspirations in at least 250 words. This got me thinking...what is an aspiration? Why can't they say future goals or plans or write about how you have no plan for the future? Well I looked up this word and according to Merriam-Webster it means " a desire to achieve something high or great."
An aspiration is not actually achieving something high or great, but only desiring it. Simply have a want for it. I have a desire for a mega-hot wife, loads of money and a big boat. Unfortunately, I may never obtain any three of these things in any specific order. This got me thinking, of course not on the essay at hand (which is due tomorrow) but about our Christian lives.
Do we as Christians have just an aspiration to seek God, to truly seek after God with all we have, totally devoted to Him? I think a lot of times this is true for most Christians, myself included. We remember what it was like when we had the heart to honestly love and to run to God as well as show love to everyone around us. We remember these times that did actually happen and long for these times when we were the closest to God we have ever been. We remember these times and instead of being truly convicted and spurred to action, we long for these times, do nothing about getting back there, and say we "aspire" to meet with God.
Aspiration is a key element in seeking after the love of our lives daily. A true longing, deep-rooted, genuine desire to seek after God is essential for us to have that amazingly intimate relationship with Him that He so graciously allows us. But aspiration and desires without action mean nothing. If I want to be the best high school baseball player ever, I don't just sit and dream about how cool it would be. I go and practice, practice, and practice and let that deep longing consume my actions to focus on reaching that goal.
I am truly amazed that God worked in my life today through an essay prompt that I have probably seen at least twenty times. I can only pray that I do not remain stuck in the melancholy, drab, lukewarm waters of "aspiration" but that God will give me a heart to love Him, and act on this love.
An aspiration is not actually achieving something high or great, but only desiring it. Simply have a want for it. I have a desire for a mega-hot wife, loads of money and a big boat. Unfortunately, I may never obtain any three of these things in any specific order. This got me thinking, of course not on the essay at hand (which is due tomorrow) but about our Christian lives.
Do we as Christians have just an aspiration to seek God, to truly seek after God with all we have, totally devoted to Him? I think a lot of times this is true for most Christians, myself included. We remember what it was like when we had the heart to honestly love and to run to God as well as show love to everyone around us. We remember these times that did actually happen and long for these times when we were the closest to God we have ever been. We remember these times and instead of being truly convicted and spurred to action, we long for these times, do nothing about getting back there, and say we "aspire" to meet with God.
Aspiration is a key element in seeking after the love of our lives daily. A true longing, deep-rooted, genuine desire to seek after God is essential for us to have that amazingly intimate relationship with Him that He so graciously allows us. But aspiration and desires without action mean nothing. If I want to be the best high school baseball player ever, I don't just sit and dream about how cool it would be. I go and practice, practice, and practice and let that deep longing consume my actions to focus on reaching that goal.
I am truly amazed that God worked in my life today through an essay prompt that I have probably seen at least twenty times. I can only pray that I do not remain stuck in the melancholy, drab, lukewarm waters of "aspiration" but that God will give me a heart to love Him, and act on this love.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Blah
Lately I have been struggling with maintaining a well-rounded, intimate relationship with God. I have found that my quality times with God have become sporadic to say the least. Once I start getting more and more in God’s word, I find my prayer life slipping, or my prayer life is limited to the time I spend in semi-silence driving to and fro. Once I start talking to God more in prayer about anything and everything, really trying to hear God’s still, small voice, the times I spend in the word decrease drastically. Why is this so hard for me? I feel that I am the only one who experiences these problems but I know I am not. Its not that I don’t have the time, it’s just that I find myself not being able to focus on maintaining a well-rounded relationship with the love of my life. I feel like I’m letting God down by going at this whole thing half-heartedly...I can't even focus enough to pray that God will help me out with this. I don't want to pass this off on school, friends, the girlfriend, work or whatever. I feel like I am stuck spinning my wheels with a one-track spiritual mind.
However, I know that God is Sovereign God and he has a purpose for this challenge and that I will glorify him because of this situation somehow.
However, I know that God is Sovereign God and he has a purpose for this challenge and that I will glorify him because of this situation somehow.
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