IfYouGiveAMindensenABlog

This morning I had the opportunity to attend church. However, due to some unforeseen car issues, I did not attend the church I typically go to when I have a free Sunday. I knew God had a reason for changing things up, and I was right. It was like the message today was written for me, and where I am RIGHT NOW. The church has been going through a series called 'Spiritual Targets for the Focused Christian Life', and this week was about how WE, as Christians ('truly born again believers') are to be COMMITTED TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND MATURITY.

The pastor talked about how we as humans are expected to grow beyond the 'baby-stage' in life, even though we're considered to be 'cute and cuddly'...in the same way, even though a new born CHRISTIAN can be exciting and fun, they too need (and are expected) to GROW beyond the 'baby-stage' of SPIRITUAL life. However, the process doesn't just END with getting out of the 'baby-stage'. There is ALWAYS another stage to reach...

When it comes to SPIRITUAL growth, our goal is to BE LIKE Christ, which is IMPOSSIBLE to achieve in this sinful world. NOBODY in our world WILL EVER be able to PERFECTLY imitate Christ. The purpose of the goal though is NOT to discourage, but rather, it points to God's holiness, and HIS intended purpose for us to be holy as well. Also, God KNOWS that perfection is humanly unachievable, and simply takes pleasure in our IMPROVEMENTS. It's our CONSTANT STRIVE TOWARD IMPROVEMENT that brings glory to God and is pleasing to him. God doesn't want us to grow stagnant in our faith, but wants us to grow ever closer to him. We, however, cannot do this on our own.In order to grow, we need God's help.

On our own we are powerless to change. The Good news is that God HAS provided ALL that we need 'for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness'(2Peter1:3)Did you catch the key? through our KNOWLEDGE of him The Christian life is NOT about a religion it's about a RELATIONSHIP with GOD. As we grow closer to God, we are able to better understand his will for our lives, and will become more willing to and ABLE to follow his leading. Our love for God makes us WANT to be more like HIM. If we don't LOVE him, we won't want to imitate him.

In order to grow closer to God we need to be getting into HIS WORD. Good communication is key to any healthy relationship, and God uses the Bible to speak to us. If we aren't regularly getting into his word, how do we expect to grow? Going back to the physical growth analogy, if we stopped eating food, we would stop growing, in fact we'd eventually die. In the same way, when it comes to spiritual growth, God's word is our food, and some of us are trying to live as 'spiritual anorexics'. We are SPIRITUALLY starving ourselves and then wondering why we are not spiritually growing. We need consistent spiritual nourishment, through a regular 'diet' of God's Word and pouring in of biblical truths into our hearts, in order to grow and mature in our faith.

The two ways the pastor talked about getting regular biblical nourishment are through daily personal reading/studying of the Bible, and through corporate Bible teaching. It is important to do BOTH. Sometimes, we excuse our not doing of one because we've done the other, but without both we only make it harder for ourselves to grow. "The Spiritual battles of our lives our fought on the battlefield of our thinking"...In Ephesians 4 it says that the lost 'walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them..." If we are not THINKING in a biblical way, we will not LIVE in a biblical way. In order to do that though successfully, according to Joshua 1:8 we need to 'mediate on it day AND night'. Continually, it's important to have CORPORATE biblical teaching because it's through our fellow believers that we are able to be 'sharpened', and by whom we are spurred "on toward love and good deeds' (Hebrews 10:24).

In the end though, it's important to remember that spiritual maturity doesn't happen over night. It's a regular walking with the Lord. A steady diet of His Word. A day-by-day, night-by-night, week-by-week, etc. of mediating and leaning on His TRUTH. It's a LIFE long process taken most often in the tiniest of steps; Baby steps.

God is GOOD! ♥

What was FAIR about the cross???
-I didn't get what I deserved!

As He died He spoke MY name
-He was THAT committed to being in a relationship with ME...

♪♫"What's love got to do with it?" ♫♪ ...EVERYTHING!

JESUS=a GIFT!

It's NOT about us!

I want God to bless ME, so...

"Do unto others..."
"Pray for your enemies..."
"Forgive and you will be forgiven..."

Commitment. A word that tends to scare people these days. Well, this past Sunday I went to a church whose message was about commitment, and boy was I not prepared for what God would do.

Have you ever had people disappoint you? Let you down? Break a COMMITMENT? Well, me too. In fact, as sad as it is, words of commitment to my family have come to be known as 'two week notices'. It's kind of a joke now, which is NOT how things are supposed to be. Commitment is very important, nothing great happens without it. However, with all the poor examples of commitment around us, how are we supposed to take it seriously?

Well, as obvious as it should have been, God reminded me on Sunday how HE made a commitment with us when He sent JESUS, and how HE has NEVER broken a commitment. He is faithful, trustworthy, and will ALWAYS be there. It was like Jesus was saying, "Look Mindy. Look how committed I am to being in a relationship with you...before you were even born I DIED for you. See...you can trust me. I'm here for you, I've been here for you, I'll ALWAYS be there for you." I don't think the speaker was trying for a 'moving' service but I was definitely crying through most of it. Not anything dramatic, but as I stood there during the worship session at the end of the service tears started streaming down my face. I didn't have to fear commitment anymore, or fear being abandoned or left alone because that's IMPOSSIBLE to happen with God.

So, thank you God for being my source of JOY, my refuge, and my strength. Thank you for ALWAYS being there for me. You are my comforter and provider. I KNOW you are in control, and have my best in mind. Thank you for you peace!

God is GOOD! ♥

As most of you know, I am a part of a two-year discipleship program at camp, and I just finished my first year. (This blog is a part of the ‘assignments’ for the program…the monthly newsletter part) I started this program really excited…admittedly nervous, but still excited because I KNEW this is where God wanted me to be, and I KNEW He was going to do GREAT things. However, going into this 2nd year, I have not been as excited. It was a REALLY good year, and God did do A LOT of things. I grew, I changed, I was challenged, I got to witness other people grow, learn and change, but I was tired. I didn’t WANT to be here anymore. The ‘novelty’ of it had run out. It was hard work. It’s tough learning to live and work, do life, and fight spiritual battles with people. Great things happen, but there are plenty of NOT SO GREAT things…However (obviously), I didn’t back out. I had made a commitment for two years, and I knew that I was supposed to stick to it. I thought about my boyfriend, and how God brought us together. How I was really excited…and admittedly nervous, to start out on this new path, but I KNEW God was leading us, and KNEW (know) that God was going to do (is doing) GREAT things…however, I also know that there will come a time when the emotions/the excitement/ the ‘novelty’ will wear-off/go-away. We will face tough times, however, just because I will no longer “FEEL” the same way I did when I made the commitment doesn’t mean I should break the commitment. The reasons for making it don’t change, just the emotions. So, if I wouldn’t drop my boyfriend just because I wasn’t ‘excited’ to be in the relationship anymore or because it ‘got tough’…why would I drop out of the program?

I’m SO thankful that I stayed, because already God has been rebuilding that excitement in me, and has already been teaching me SO much. I LOVE the study we’re doing on Apologetics, and the new people who joined have been really great. It’s going to be another tough year, but it’s going to be another GREAT year of growth, learning, and change.

God is GOOD! ♥