How's Your Salvation Looking?

Salvation; what exactly does it mean when someone declares to you that they are indeed “saved?” It was made very clear to me, as of recently, that there are many individuals who have entirely different understandings of the word and in essence its’ true meaning. There is a verse in the Bible that talks about when Jesus makes his triumphant return to earth and raptures His people, there will be many individuals left behind who will be baffled and in a state of shock because they thought they had already purchased their one way, no refund ticket to heaven. It was made even more clear to me that many of those who will be standing with their mouth agape and that, “dazed, get me out of here” face, will be the very ones who sit on the pews every Sunday morning and Wednesday night. You may be thinking, “What in the world is this crazy girl talking about!?” Just give me a minute and hold your horses.  My Sunday school teacher had touched on this topic during our time this past Sunday morning. I was very convicted by it because I realized that I had been viewing salvation and repentance in an unbiblical, if you will, manner. Have you ever experienced a type of brokenness over your sin? Have you been sick to your stomach after you experienced a brief moment of how filthy you truly are? Repentance is a funny thing. You can be sorry but that doesn’t make you repentant of your sin. As I listened intently to the words that were being spoken my mind began to rumble as I examined my own life and my claim of repentance. (I did review my thinking and have my thoughts, heart, and devotion in check. It is never a bad thing to examine yourself spiritually – the Bible calls us to examine our lives and make sure we are walking the right way.) As I continued to dwell on the words that were being spoken, it hit me like a brick. People from my church will be left behind when Jesus comes back because they were never truly repentant over their sins. These people think that they are saved. They said a prayer, they went to church, they go to Sunday school and they even read verses or pray when called upon. But that doesn’t make them a person who is truly repentant. I believe that sometimes we don’t put enough emphasis on what true salvation is - which is a rescue boat ready to take us away from sin and God’s eternal judgment. You may even read your Bible and memorize scripture but until you become broken over your sin, throw it into God’s hands and hand over your mess, the life you’re living in the name of “Jesus” may not be what you have convinced yourself it is. My heart is saddened because I hope that no one I love is in this stage of life. God desires to draw us by His goodness to repentance. I am disgusted at myself. I am a sinner. I am filthy and vile, unworthy, selfish, and broken; which makes the grace of God all the more sweet! If you haven’t experienced brokenness and a true repentant heart I urge you to check it out. 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 says, “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing that you sorrow in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourself to be clear in this matter.” This is a life and death matter. If you claim “life” – it may be a good time to head to the shop for that tune up. Make sure you are living what you claim to be living. Let the love and goodness of God lead you to love others.

One of A Kind

I know I say this just about every time I write something – but man! What a week it has been. Sunday night I was attending an employee dinner at Al’s pizza. (yumm!) What a nice treat. We hallmark employees put up with a lot: robbers, silly band crazies, obnoxious older women who pitch fits when asked for their ID, regular customers who steal precious moments…am I being negative!?  Hallmark really is a wonderful place to work, (I mean this with the utmost respect to men, women, and children of all ages) but sometimes people can be a little wacko. (I am SURE I have witnesses to attest for when I have gone nutty a time or two.) I was sitting next to my darling Fabiola, enjoying my calzone, (you can be sure Fabs was enjoying hers right along with me) when I got a disturbing text message. My sister informed me that the A.D. at my high school had had a heart attack. Obviously, those of you who know me would probably guess I went into a stage of panic. Well SURPRISE, SURPRISE, I actually stayed rather calm about the entire thing. I was confused as to where my sister got her information and tried to contact SEVERAL people who may have known more information than she did. Text, after text, after text….after text; (Okay – I admit it. This is where the millisecond of panic crept its way in.) I eventually got a phone call where the participant on the other end of the line began to explain to me that Coach had had a heart attack while in Virginia visiting family. They doctors tried a stint – it failed. The situation was not a good one and there wasn’t much they could do. Of course I didn’t fully understand the situation but I knew that odds were not in his favor.(Which is why I’m glad I serve a God who continually defies the odds!) Coach Richardson is more than my high school’s athletic director. He is more than a teacher and more than an employee at my high school. Coach is a man I hold in high regard and treasure deep in my heart; a man that I love in Jesus, and a man that has encouraged me, lifted me up, been an example to me, and loved me in Jesus. To understand anything about this man – you’ve just got to know him. I “feel sorry” for those of you who don’t know him because there is NO other person on the face of the earth who would ever come close to being a man like Coach. He is crazy and hilarious, serious and sometimes scary. All in all he’s one giant bucket of love. But the best thing about him, and what I genuinely think of when I think of him is this: he’s a man who loves God. He loves students and athletes and has such a STRONG desire to build their character, and even more so to make sure they have a PERSONAL relationship with Jesus. Coach inspires me in so many ways because he doesn’t care what people think of him; he just wants to share Jesus with you. He won’t shove Him down your throat but he wants you to know that if you are rejecting Him that you realize what you’re doing. The past 2 days I have been praying non stop for this man. I so WISH he was not in Virginia because I feel like if he was here I could do something…anything. (I know, I couldn’t do a thing other than what I’m doing now – praying.) But I wish I could just tell him that I love him. The report I got today was that there was improvement. Apparently last night he was in a lot of pain and the doctors were having to try and calm him down.(so hard for me to imagine) The doctors were going to try a certain type of medicine and see if it would help. I’m praying and thanking God for all that Coach has meant to me and to all the people whose lives God has used him to impact. As I sit here and think about this entire ordeal – I’m reminded that God knew this was going to happen. It happened in VA. for a reason; God has a purpose in it all. I’m pretty sure I can place a safe bet on this statement: Coach would want this to be used as an example to all of his students, all of his players: to remind them that life is short…it’s fragile and you never know when God may decide to take you from this place. So for those people who are playing “Christian,” you may want to re-evaluate the game you’re playing. “Love you, Coach!”

Contentment

Well, I believe it’s been about a week since I’ve taken the time to capture my thoughts and spew them out of my mind; but in that week, God has shown me a lot of things about myself. I’ve been attending a class on Wednesday nights at my church, (FBC), called Self Confrontation. I know I have mentioned this before, but it’s been an area of my life that I have, in some aspects, been “consumed” with. The name speaks for itself – I have been learning to CONFRONT the sin in my OWN life…a very dangerous and disgusting thing to do. Within the past week, the majority of the things God has chosen to show me and teach me have been in regards to DEALING with the sin I harbor in my life. God has really taken the past week to beat into my head how much I NEED Him, His mercy, and His grace. (Ahh, I love that word: grace – God’s unmerited favor.  ) Something I have been dealing with personally is decisions: decisions I have to make to die to myself and the decision to learn to deal with decisions others make. I was reading a lesson in chapter 14 of my Self Confrontation book about marriage. You may be wondering why I was reading a chapter that deals with marriage. Well, the first reason is due to the fact that this particular chapter is the one that comes after the chapter I had just finished reading. The second reason is because whether I’m married or not, which I’m not, what reason is there to not dig into the Word of God and seek out what He says about marriage and the roles the husband and the wife are to play? Exactly…I couldn’t think of a good one either – so that’s why I’m reading it! As I came to the close of the chapter I came across a statement and a verse that simply captivated me and I quickly grabbed my pen and let its dark ink move beneath the words. "If you are single, you shouldn't be searching for a spouse. If the Lord has someone for you, nothing can keep you from meeting your future spouse. You NEVER need to look. Instead you are to focus on serving the Lord with all your heart. In the process of SERVING the Lord, He may lead you to the one who is to be your husband or wife. But you are not to have that search be the focus of your life. You are to be CONTENT in the circumstances into which God has placed you and delight in serving the Lord with all your energy." The reason this stuck out to me was because it seems within the past 6 months of my life I could name off about 10 people who have been so set on having that, “special person,” in their lives and make it seem like their life won’t be complete until they have them. It appears to me that the more we try to look for the person God has chosen for us, the more discontent we become. I will end with this: Philippians 4:11, “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.” I love how the statement from the book said that “In the process of SERVING THE LORD,” He may lead us to the right person we are to spend our lives with. Are you content in your circumstances? Jesus Christ is enough – no matter how sunken you ship may be. Trust Him, Love Him, and LET Him be ENOUGH.

Songs and Sinners

Romans 6:12-13, “Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

Ahh – the sweet release of thoughts and emotions as they hurl themselves out of my head! It has been too long since I have taken the time to write or type out my thoughts. To say I have been busy would be the truest of understatements. So many things have been on my mind lately – things I have wanted to write about for my own personal benefit but more so to encourage those of you who are reading this. I was privileged to attend a Beth Moore conference in April that was hosted at my sister’s church in Tampa. The added time with my sisters, mom, nieces, nephew, AND brother-in-law was icing on the cake! (The list continues to grow!) Beth Moore is a phenomenal speaker who has tremendous insight into the Scriptures. How I hope to one day be used by God in a like manner that He has so graciously used her. Before I really begin digging into what I want to share with you, there are a few things you should know: The first being I LOVE to sing. I may not be the best at it, but let me tell you…if you pass me on the streets of Jacksonville – you can be sure my mouth will be moving to the beat of my ipod or radio. I am so thankful that God has given me a love for words; and I love to sing when the song is giving testimony of God’s grace, mercy, and power. The second thing you need to know is that I am not an avid tear dropper. No, I’m not cold hearted but I usually don’t cry at the drop of a hat; now onto my story. (Excuse my delay…as you can see my lack of tears is made up for with my abundance of words!) There was a very large crowd the first night of the conference. The auditorium was filled to the brim with women from the last seat in the balcony to the first row of pews. What a marvelous picture: a gathering together of believers, all in Jesus’ name, there for a sole purpose: to hear a word from God. The picture gets even greater when that very same crowd begins to sing songs of praise and adoration to our King! Hang in there; this is where the entire point of this rant all comes together. 3 songs that we sang that really allowed me to view what I was singing in a different light: Victory in Jesus, Strong and Mighty Tower, and In Christ Alone. As we began to sing these songs several emotions began to fill up within me to the point I was overwhelmed and convicted by the Holy Spirit. As I stood, surrounded by family and friends, the beautiful voices of God’s children were blaring honor to His name. Praises and words of adoration were catapulted to the roof all in His name. As the sweet sound echoed throughout my head, the only word I could think of was Heaven. To me, this, so miniscule and obviously puny, was a picture of Heaven. The sound filled my ears and I decided that this VERY sound was my favorite of ALL sounds. Why shouldn’t it be? As we moved into the next few songs and I sang the words, “Your name, is a strong and mighty tower, Your name is a shelter like no other, Your name, let the Nations sing it louder, nothing has the power to save, but Your name.,” the holy spirit immediately convicted me and tears filled my eyes and I began to cry. Overwhelmed? Excited? Rejoicing? Why would I be feeling depressed just after I said I caught a glimpse of Heaven? Broken, ashamed, and saddened by my sin. That’s where the tears came from. Listen guys, we are sinners. We are saved by the grace of God, if we so choose to accept Him, but we are still sinners. (Saved by grace!) I believe that we get so wrapped up in minimizing our sin that we forget that it was STILL our sin that placed Jesus on that Cross! Why doesn’t our sin place a burden on our hearts? When is the last time you found yourself in tears because of your sin? I dare to say that for so many, just like me, it is far less often than it should be. It’s time to hit the floor with our knees and THANK God for His grace…His unmerited favor. Let your sin bring you to tears. Because just like me, I’m guessing it’s about time they did.