Representation

So today I went home to vote in the primary election and decided to show my support for Obama by wearing a shirt with his name and a button. After running random errands all day, I began to notice how people were looking at me and how they began to form opinions about my character without even talking to me. So then I felt that it was my duty to Obama to represent him well; to say "yes mam, no mam," open doors for people, and constantly smile. I felt that people would see that if I am a nice citizen then they would rethink their political standing. And then it got me thinking how we as Christians are constantly representing our God, and what He stands for.

Why is it hard for me sometimes to tell others that I am a Christian?
What does fear of rejection have to do with representation?

I find that there are so many times in my life where I am fearful to let a person know that I am a Christian, because they will automatically write me off. I hold back that little fact about myself until I am comfortable and know that they are not in a position to reject me. It is such a lukewarm position to be in and easy way out. To represent something means "to symbolize, to be the embodiment of," it means to not be fearful and step out of your comfort. I feel like many people hold such a false sense of what a "Christian" is, and it has effectively inherited a negative tone. I don't want to be represented as a Christian to some friends because they would automatically view me as judgmental, superior, close-minded, and "anti-fun." And those are things that I don't want to be a part of, so I completely stray from that stigma.

But recently I have found how truly wrong I am. I am called to represent God. End of story. I cannot escape that calling. I am called to be a disciple of the nations, to spread the word of good news to the world and to truly "be the embodiment of" Jesus to others.

"Lord I give my life
A living sacrifice
To reach a world in need
To be Your hands and feet

So may the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You"
-Lifesong by: Casting Crowns

I have heard this song a dozen times, and never has it spoke to me the way it did tonight. We are called to give our lives over, to be a sacrifice for God and His kingdom. There is no room for our interpretation on the worldly view of Christianity. If we don't like it or want to be part of it, change it, don't stray away from it because it makes you uncomfortable. Be a beacon of hope to people that hold the negative regard to Christianity. Be the one person that changes their opinion.

I think another reason I am reluctant to claim representation of Christianity is the fact that the moment I claim the faith, is the moment I become accountable for all of my actions. I can no longer be conscientiously sinful or prolong dealing with sin in my life. It makes me accountable, because I realize that I am representing God to that person. If I claim Christianity to friends or other people, I am subjected to become part of their scrutiny of the entire religion. And that my friend is a lot pressure...

But why should there be so much pressure in claiming the name of Christianity? Why should there be such debate and discrepancy in taking on the name of Christ? There shouldn't. It should be something that comes completely natural. Jesus was not someone that made people uneasy to be around because of their sins, he was someone who gave those people hope. He was not someone who grilled and ridiculed his friends for their sinful desires, but merely loved them and helped give perspective to their place in life. Christianity is not something we should be afraid of taking on, but something we delight it being a part of. I am not saying that we should try and become one of "those" Christians, but become someone who truly loves people, and someone whose "lifesong" sings truth.

Love above all else,

Meg

Hallelujah

Sunday while I was at church I noticed something that I had never really noticed before. All my life I have been worshiping and singing out the word Hallelujah with great passion and joy, without even really knowing what it means.
What exactly does Hallelujah really mean?
Can we live a life entirely of Hallelujah?

Hallelujah means to "praise the Lord!" 1535, from Heb. hallalu-yah "praise Jehovah," from hallalu, pl. imper. of hallel "to praise" also "song of praise," from hillel "he praised," of imitative origin, with primary sense being "to trill." Second element is yah, shortened form of Yahweh, name of God. Replaced variant formation alleluia.

What is so cool about this word is that, there was an entire word created just to describe the indescribable. We sing out the word "Hallelujah" all of the time in church. Whether we are using it as an affirmation, or merely reciting hymns, it is constantly a part of worship. Praising the Lord is something that our lives must be centered and founded on. The underlying theme of our existence must be Hallelujah.

"1AFTER THIS I heard what sounded like a mighty shout of a great crowd in heaven, exclaiming, Hallelujah (praise the Lord)! Salvation and glory (splendor and majesty) and power (dominion and authority) [belong] to our God!"
-Revelation 19:1 (Amplified Bible)

Lately I have been dealing with the concept of how truly magnificent God is and how often I take for granted His being and power. I am beyond blessed and fortunate that six years ago I went on a mission trip and heard a sermon that forever changed my life, a sermon that opened my heart to God in a very real way. I had the opportunity to listen and hear about this amazing God that has the world in the palm of his hand and all he wants to do is love me. I had the opportunity to learn of a spirit that can cleanse me and save me from my brokenness. I drank in the forgiveness that He promises us and my life was forever changed by the knowledge of such a loving God.

In so many ways, some days I wish that I could go back to that state of mind. Back to the state of awe and amazement of this God I worship. Back to merely praising him for letting me know him. We become so wrapped up in our own lives, problems, and stresses, that we forget to "praise the Lord." It is easy to say that "every morning I am going to wake up and praise God for giving me a new day." To plan a praise, and to check it off for the day. But Christianity is not about a check list and about being easy, it is about getting down to the hard and real aspects of life and dealing with them in a different way. What is hard is finding out a loved one has cancer, and then praising the Lord. Or suffering of injury or hearing someone say hurtful comments about you, and then praising the Lord.

We are called to live a life of Hallelujah, even in the hard times. Praising God, for essentially letting us go through the hard times to appreciate the good times that much more. From my personal experience: after my last foot surgery this summer and going back to school I went through one of the toughest times of my life. I was miserable and did not understand why I was in such a hard situation. Now that I am at Baylor I have such a unique sense of appreciation for every small detail that I give praise to my Lord that I went through such hard times. It is something that we need to remember, and constantly be aware of. PRAISE GOD!

We have been given the opportunity to live such a meaningful and fruitful life, praise God for that. He has given us salvation, and it is impossible to be thankful enough.

Hallelujah,
Meg

Hope

Over the past two days I have been battling the idea of hope and what its definition truly means to me.
Is hope something we can put in false objectives just to keep ourselves moving?
Can our entire basis of life hope be tied around something that is already gone?

As a Christian I am constantly in a state of dispute with myself on my hope. I know what it is supposed to be, but I am not sure if that is what I truly want. We are supposed to pursue a life of service to better the world, to essentially bring "heaven to earth." But I find myself wanting to pursue things that involve my heart and my desires. What I want to do and what I want to be. Where does that leave me, but broken and constantly disappointed. So what do I put my hope in?

" I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will live in hope,
27because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
28You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence."
-Acts 2:25-28

This is probably one of the most powerful verses I have read in a really long time, and the way Paul's poetic language speaks to the reader is absolutely incredible. We as the human race took God and nailed him up to a cross. The same God that created the heavens and earth, we thought we could defeat. But even though He died the most painful death, He left us with a message that changed the world forever. He left us with hope. He will never abandon us; no matter how amazing our life is or how detrimental it might get, he is always "at my right hand." And the thing that gets me about this verse is that it is not just one of those "feel good" verses, it also reinforces our mission of the world.
"You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence." Our hope is derived from others happiness. Our hope lies in a future, a past, and a present. We are hopeful that our God died for our sins, hopeful that He is right beside us, and hopeful that He will help us be instruments of change in the world. Not only are we hopeful, but we are cognizant of truth as well.
Hope is an energy, it requires action. Hope requires one to think optimistically, which to many people is more difficult than pulling teeth. But hope in the Lord falls much deeper than optimism, because it is hope in something real. My hopes for my life are constantly changing.
1) I hope to one day fall madly in love and raise an amazing family
2) I hope to have my dream job and never worry about finances
3) I hope that Obama wins the election, ending the war and poverty
4) I hope that people can be nice and genuine without effort
5) I hope we can work together to help those in need

My hopes are of things that can pass with time, and never be remembered. But God's hope is on such a larger scale it is incomprehensible. I hope that His hope is to feed and clothe every body on the earth. To absolutely improve the quality of life for every breath we take. That every relationship we build is found deeply in our love for Him. That we can genuinely love one another without wanting anything in return. His hope is for us to love and nothing more.
We can live our lives of misdirection and distraction, but at the end of the day that life is still worth living because He was there in every wrong turn and wrong decision. He stood by us and continues to stand just to give us hope that we are always loved. And all He does is encourage us to do the same to others.

Love is contagious,
Meg

Change

So today I went in to get my hair cut, and for me that accounts for a drastic change. I have had the same look for about five years, and when I saw my hair falling to the floor, my stomach actually hurt. So it got me to thinking about change.
When is it okay to change?
When are we called to change?

Paul writes in his letter to Corinth of what it means to die, and what is going to happen to our bodies. Which seems to be a very morbid tone, but he exults it as an amazing experience. Saying that with the twinkle of an eye, everything is going to change. Everything is going to change, completely we are going to be lifted up to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Everything will change...
So when is change in our lives here on earth called for? I think it is something that God calls us to do while we are maturing in our faith. He takes us as we are and changes us, shapes us, and molds us to vessels He can use. So change should be welcomed. Everyday we should be looking for things to change in our hearts and our minds. Recently I have been dealing with the idea of dating and finding my husband, because lets be honest... Baylor loves to make people feel that way. But for the first time in my life God has changed my heart. Changed the way I look at the whole process, and has called me to embrace my single life. With this change I am able to fill my thoughts with new ideas and global issues rather than meaningless drama that follows the dating games. I am trying to look at men as brothers of Christ rather than just a face or body. Looking into hearts and seeing others as Jesus saw people. Change is so important to our growth as Christians, and we should be welcoming it with open arms. It is the only way to truly be a follower.

1Corinthians 15:58
58With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.

I loved this verse, because I feel that it holds the essence of the church movement right now. We are to "throw ourselves into the work of our Master." Now what a better way to call for change than that. Knowing nothing you do for Him is a waste of time or effort. Right now it is so exciting to be a Christian because of the election and the movement within the church. The feeling of change is omnipresent. God is calling us to change. Change how we "do church." Change how we interact with one another. And change what we are pouring our lives into. The world is feeling the calling, and responding in a very evident way. I am so excited to take part in the change, and see how much we can truly help the world. For us to change though, we have to be open to it, and ready to see what God has in store for us. Because trust me, it is going to be amazing!!

Love is the only way,
Meg

Submission

Today while I was sitting in British Literature I was thinking about submission, and what it truly means to be submissive.
When are we called to be submissive?
And when are we called to be bold?
Is being submissive just a feminine quality?
Webster defines submissive as: inclined or ready to submit; unresistingly or humbly obedient: submissive servants.
James then talks of being submissive in liking manner...
17-18Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. (The message) James 3:17

17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. (The New Living Translation) James 3:17

It is interesting to look at the different translations and their definition of being submissive. Growing up in a house that views women as pretty much more than equal to men, I automatically get roused up when I hear the word submissive. But it has been interesting how much I have been dealing with it lately in my walk. I feel that the Lord is constantly calling us to be submissive. But in looking back to the scripture "willing to yield to others," shows us that His definition of submission drastically differs from that of the world. We view submission as a sad, unappreciated servant, but in reality God sees submission as a gift. When we humbly put His people's needs before our own, we are being submissive to Him, and getting more than enough in return. It says God's wisdom is overflowing with mercy and blessings, and can enjoy the results of His wisdom when we are truly submissive to His people.

So whenever I read and see what it means to be a good wife, or a good worker, and the word submissive is an underlying adjective, it will make more sense to me. But in essence God is telling us to not stop there, don't just be submissive to our husbands, bosses, or professors, be submissive to the world. Be "willing to yield to others" at all times, meaning always putting others before ourselves. And in doing that, His wisdom is not only contagious but it will also come full circle in us receiving it as well.

To me this lies as an interesting topic, and one that can be misinterpreted in many ways. But again I think it comes back to looking at the life of Jesus and how many times He showed us that being submissive is a key characteristic. But He did not shy away from the fact of boldness as well. I feel that as much as we are called to be submissive we are to balance that with our gallant as well. Because being a woman of God, I feel very abrasive sometimes. So as we are called to be submissive to the people of the Lord we are also called to be bold.
We are called to be Submissively-bold.... always "willing to yield to others" first.

Love above all else,
Meg

Humility... not on purpose

Today I found out one of my friend's grandmother had a heart attack, and it made me really think how truly short our time is here on earth.
What is our purpose while we are here?
And how soon are we supposed to be fulfilling that purpose?
I know a lot of people, including myself, always think that they will begin their life when a certain thing starts or they finish the next step. But I think we forget that we are given the time of here and now. Now is the time to begin all of the things God has planned for our lives. I kind of have a hard time understanding the whole "calling" process. Because truly when we feel a "calling" towards something, is it something that we are just passionate about, or is it something the Lord truly wants us to live out? I think its a fine line between our wants to Gods wants. Lately I have really been looking at Jesus' life, and they way he treated people and the lessons he taught through his life.
Luke 14:1-14
Tells a parable that Jesus was revealing about humility. And I feel that this story really gives a sense of what our purpose is. We are here to truly be "the least of these." To be so humble we are exalted for our humility. And to be truly humble, we must have the absolute best interest for those around us. And in a sense, loving beyond our capacity.
"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you," Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guest. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Either way the Lord finds a way to humble us, so why not be humbled in the first place, to later be exalted? I truly think God's purpose for every person he creates is to love, and nothing more. Love Him, love others, and love ourselves. We are all living examples of God's most intricate art work, and anything we end up being "called" towards better have the foundation of love. Imagine a world where every single person wanted everyone around them to be the best person they can possibly be. Now that is a cause worth living and fighting for. Love is our purpose, and what better time to start than now?
Love above all else,
Meg