Things happen. Different things happen everyday to us that hurt us, damage us, cause us to think about who we are and challenge us. People are sometimes unaware of the things that they do to us. Being a Christian is sometimes hard. So here I am this past week going through a tough time. You know those times when you just feel empty and drained and thirsty something, anything that is God. So I found this cd...Glory Revealed...and I turned it to song 2 and it was like God had been planning that out for weeks.
The song is called We are Healed...
It talks about how all that he went through gives us healing. The first thought in my mind when I hear 'by his wounds we are healed' is physical healing. But God really let me into a deeper truth at least for me. I feel wounded often. Wounded by words and actions of others. I feel like I am being tested and sometimes I fail and stumble and I am not who I want to be. After I heard this song it hit me that all that he went through wouldn't just be for a physical healing. It goes deeper. It goes deeper to the point that it is a healing for everything we go through. Emotionally. Spiritually. Relationally. Daily. Hourly. Every minute. The world is always taking away from us scarring us and leaving its stain and its reminder that we are a fallen people. Yet Jesus' work on the cross heals us, daily. How shallow I have lived in the massive ocean of the grace that is Jesus and his infinite love for me. We get so caught up in just trying to get by that we get so stretched and thinned out that we lose sight of the depths of Christ's love. I sometimes get so narrow minded that it can only be the way that I see it and there is no time for any other way.
May God help me to stand back and view the vast picture that he is still in the process of painting which he will call my life when it is finished. May I come to know his healing of every part of life. The uglyness and the sinful. The tests and the mistakes. May I see that by his wounds I am healed.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Going the second mile
“You have heard that it was said, Eye for an eye and tooth for tooth. Bit I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.”
Matthew 5:38-41
I’ve started reading a new book by Mel Blackaby entitled “Going the second mile”. It is based off of this verse obviously. It started to make me think about how I fit this verse into my every day life. I tend to be like a river and go with the flow to the least point of resistance on many things in my life that don’t really matter. Such as, when Sarah and I are trying to decide what to eat the best response is “Wherever you want to go dear”. This is the easiest way to get food to my mouth the quickest! Or if I am trying to decide which brand of toilet paper I tend to choose the one with the most in it so that I don’t have to keep making that “we are out of t.p. trip” to the store when you are walking about with only the toilet paper. People always look at you funny when that is all you are carrying. They might be trying to see if you are walking funny or fastly (or at least that is what I tend to do when I see this sort of thing happening). Honestly, no one really ever goes to the store just for tp unless they are completely out, right? So back to the point here…I like things to go smoothly. I like for things to come easy and for life to be laid back. I like things that are worry-free because there is enough in my life that isn’t worry free. So then I read this passage and it says that if someone wants you to go one mile, you should go two. After having started working out about 6 months ago and having started running on the treadmill about 3 months ago, I thought to myself, “One mile was pushing it! Two? Well, I wouldn’t have to worry about taking a shower after working out because they don’t take showers in heaven.”
But seriously. The question is: what in your life is pushing you to go the second mile? Is there anything? What about in your walk with Christ? Is there something that you feel burning inside you that you know that when you take the easy road or go with the flow you should have gone the opposite direction?
We are so consumed with having everything come to us easy in our culture. We don’t want to have to push ourselves or challenge ourselves. We try to keep everything in check and don’t let ourselves open up too much. Still, Jesus is challenging us to go that extra mile. To do that thing that we don’t really know how we can do it or when we will find the time. He wants us to make the commitment and give our time, our energy and our heart to reaching out to those around us.
What will your second mile look like?
Matthew 5:38-41
I’ve started reading a new book by Mel Blackaby entitled “Going the second mile”. It is based off of this verse obviously. It started to make me think about how I fit this verse into my every day life. I tend to be like a river and go with the flow to the least point of resistance on many things in my life that don’t really matter. Such as, when Sarah and I are trying to decide what to eat the best response is “Wherever you want to go dear”. This is the easiest way to get food to my mouth the quickest! Or if I am trying to decide which brand of toilet paper I tend to choose the one with the most in it so that I don’t have to keep making that “we are out of t.p. trip” to the store when you are walking about with only the toilet paper. People always look at you funny when that is all you are carrying. They might be trying to see if you are walking funny or fastly (or at least that is what I tend to do when I see this sort of thing happening). Honestly, no one really ever goes to the store just for tp unless they are completely out, right? So back to the point here…I like things to go smoothly. I like for things to come easy and for life to be laid back. I like things that are worry-free because there is enough in my life that isn’t worry free. So then I read this passage and it says that if someone wants you to go one mile, you should go two. After having started working out about 6 months ago and having started running on the treadmill about 3 months ago, I thought to myself, “One mile was pushing it! Two? Well, I wouldn’t have to worry about taking a shower after working out because they don’t take showers in heaven.”
But seriously. The question is: what in your life is pushing you to go the second mile? Is there anything? What about in your walk with Christ? Is there something that you feel burning inside you that you know that when you take the easy road or go with the flow you should have gone the opposite direction?
We are so consumed with having everything come to us easy in our culture. We don’t want to have to push ourselves or challenge ourselves. We try to keep everything in check and don’t let ourselves open up too much. Still, Jesus is challenging us to go that extra mile. To do that thing that we don’t really know how we can do it or when we will find the time. He wants us to make the commitment and give our time, our energy and our heart to reaching out to those around us.
What will your second mile look like?
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Update from Jellyville
do
Hey...just wanted to give you a quick update from the Jellison household.
1. April 1st at church we had a our second annual chili cook-off. It went better this year planning wise but we didnt make any money...it really wasnt a fundraiser per se. However, this year, I made a chili and I actually won! Mine was the most creative. See pic below...
2. Sarah got in an accident this past monday. It was the other guys fault and Sarah is fine. However, the car needed $2500 worth of repairs and a new door. Yikes...it could have been her door so we are thanking God for his protection.
3. We are waiting to see what happens with the housing situation. There is a possibility that we might be moving into the parsonage and the Senior Pastor buying his own house. So this is a wait and see kind of thing.
4. There is another thing that is going on but we will wait to see what happens with that later down the road in the fall.
5. We started softball practice and the atmosphere is completely different from my first two years at Shiloh. There are more people from Shiloh and it was a great time last Saturday. Softball starts soon.
6. Finally, Sarah and I went fishing today and I caught a Large-mouth Bass. It was a good time!
I will catch you up on more later...
Jelly
Hey...just wanted to give you a quick update from the Jellison household.
1. April 1st at church we had a our second annual chili cook-off. It went better this year planning wise but we didnt make any money...it really wasnt a fundraiser per se. However, this year, I made a chili and I actually won! Mine was the most creative. See pic below...
2. Sarah got in an accident this past monday. It was the other guys fault and Sarah is fine. However, the car needed $2500 worth of repairs and a new door. Yikes...it could have been her door so we are thanking God for his protection.
3. We are waiting to see what happens with the housing situation. There is a possibility that we might be moving into the parsonage and the Senior Pastor buying his own house. So this is a wait and see kind of thing.
4. There is another thing that is going on but we will wait to see what happens with that later down the road in the fall.
5. We started softball practice and the atmosphere is completely different from my first two years at Shiloh. There are more people from Shiloh and it was a great time last Saturday. Softball starts soon.
6. Finally, Sarah and I went fishing today and I caught a Large-mouth Bass. It was a good time!
I will catch you up on more later...
Jelly
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