It's all meaningless.

::a blast from the past::

I love finding old stuff. :) i wrote this my second year of Interns for a "mini sermon." The word of God is ALWAYS relevant though!

**the only thing i would add here is there is amazing, wonderful purpose in the life God put us here to steward... read through before you jump to theological anger ;) to explore that is another post... just sharing my find :)
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It’s all meaningless! Wait, it's ALL meaningless?? The book of Ecclesiastes clearly states that our day-to-day work is not only completely meaningless but also wearisome “beyond description”(Ecc 1:8). The sun rises and sets, generations come and go, the ocean tides rise and fall; yet regardless how many mornings we see the sun faithfully rise, or the miracle of a new life come into the world, we are never truly satisfied. We are never content. Nothing is new under the sun. What is Solomon’s point? What then is there to believe in and if we find an entity on earth to believe in, is it truly reliable? God had revealed to Solomon a most intimate glimpse the only steadfast reality in this life; his relationship with the Sovereign Father. The dictionary defines “trust” as : “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.” We know it is the creator that causes the sun to rise, and commissions generations. He is the only one to give the ocean it’s boundaries and His covenant with man is everlasting!

In Mark chapter 5 verses 21-43, Jesus meets a man named Jarius and agrees to go and heal his sick daughter. When Jesus stops to confront the woman with the issue of blood, his daughter dies. While doubt had it’s chance to defile his promise Jesus tells Jaruis “Don’t be afraid, just trust me”(vs 35). Jesus then went to raise his daughter from the dead! How much more faith did Jarius have after Jesus raised his daughter from the dead? Likewise, the woman healed of her issue of blood had even greater faith after Jesus asked “Who touched my robe?”(vs 30) It’s not that Jesus needed to know who touched his robe; but that he wanted her to go beyond knowing that He can heal her by touching his robe and truly realizing that it is Son of Man she must put her trust in. Trust is going beyond the robe; behind the veil. Christ wants to show us his power in our lives! We have to take the step of trust! 1 Peter 5:6-7 says:

"6-7So be content with who you are, and don't put on airs.

God's strong hand is on you; he'll promote you at the right

time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you"

(MSG).

I love this picture of God. I can rely on him because he is most careful with me.

I can truly believe and trust in God’s promises even as I am “still and know that He is God!” Trust is a daily surrender, and lifetime of faith. The surety of Christ in me is my hope for today. The trust in Christ for tomorrow is my conviction lived out.

::meg

A Kingdom Cityscape

A 5pm, rush-hour "prayer drive" is great for your faith, AND your ever refining patience. :)

As I drove down the connector today I took a minute to focus past the cars ahead, above the traffic signs, over the tree line and just look at the mountains. I forget to do this A LOT; but when i do, it reminds me of so much: like how God is SO much bigger than my "traffic view" of life.

In the traffic view of life it can get crazy, unsettled, bottle-necked and uncertain. We lose patience, trust, and sometimes control: helplessly stuck in a mess of road rage. Even if we aren't the source of the madness, we have to respond. [Stick with me here] :) so many situational thoughts running through my mind; but it's great to know that God puts a few red lights in front of me; He causes me to wait.
Getting past the sheer inconvenience of slow-merging vehicles; I find myself grateful for the slow downs that make me think about someone else; or make me thankful that no matter when a person finally "merges" (aka salvation); God's gracious to lead us to the same place. :)

Yes, It is SO cheesy yet SO relate-able!

Through it all what greater promise to hold onto than "I will never leave you or forsake you." I love the picture in Psalm 61: "... as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Whatever the circumstance/slow down/red light/merging it takes; God keep my eyes fixed on You, my heart transfixed in Your grace, and my hope steadfast in Your will!

So I find myself looking up and I'm so grateful for his grace to even be able to see this Kingdom Cityscape.

{Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote,
God is there, ready to help;
I'm fearless no matter what.
Who or what can get to me? }

yet another moment passed; so graciously given with hope and peace and joy

::meg

RE-VI-VAL

Have you stopped to think about what's this word "revival" means that we keep hearing...?

Websters dictionary defines "revival" as:
"restoration to life, consciousness, vigor, strength or the act of reviving."

What does this mean to me? This means that its not just a "one week/month/moment feeling" of excitement or purpose. It's the ACT of RESTORING the kingdom principles on earth! I got this picture of CPR or reviving someone's heart. How effective would that be if you only gave a dying person ONE chest compression. ONE breath? After wards, if they happen to come around you just give them a high five and tell them "well good luck with that!" No, there is a long period of rehabilitation and NEW ways of doing and sustaining life!
Or how about restoring an old car, or a piece of furniture. We (as the church) don't want to be THAT person who start a project just to leave it tired and neglected months later.

So we keep PUSHING, we keep praying, we keep ACTing on the kingdom restoration principles!

I've been so excited about our GCDowntown services. {Thursday Nights, 8pm, at "The Center"}
Seeing College students really finding themselves smack in the middle of God's love and finding their purpose in Him! But I WON'T be found driven by HYPE. I'm constantly asking Jesus to re align my spirit to be driven by HOPE. Christ in me the HOPE of Glory... HIS glory on earth.

My life hope is this: that my life, my mantra would be to reflect God's heart and ACT as an agent {a person or business authorized to act on another's behalf} of revival.

SO I keep running, I keep praying, I keep Hebrews 12:1-3 in my spirit:

"^1-3Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!"

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I've been MIA from the blogging world for months now- but its definitely NOT because I haven't thought about anything for months. HA! {see previous post "Analyze Much?"} :) Therefore, in advance I apologize (in an un apologetically, sardonic sort of way) for the onslaught of thoughts that have either been cooped up in my head or sitting idly in my blogger drafts :)

::meg

All for nothing.

You know the scripture in Luke that says "NOTHING is impossible with God"? Let me tell you I believe it! God has redeemed my life, he's healed my body from a crippling disease, and he's given me a song!

God is in the business of working with a whole bunch of nothing. Better yet:

"First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness." (Gen 1:2 msg)

ALL you see (present purpose) and ALL you don't see (promise).

Luke 1:37 says:

"For nothing is impossible with God

For nothing will be impossible with God.

For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.

For with God nothing shall be impossible

God can do anything!

For no word from God shall be void of power"

Luke 1:37 in the Message version says:

"Nothing, you see, is impossible with God" (MSG)

To me, this is one of the most beautiful promises given to us. I don't need writing on the wall to believe that God is shaping something out of my nothing. He displayed that on the cross.
I also don't need a dove to dive daily into my room; holding a promise that He'll never leave me or forsake me. He took care of that with a rainbow.

Think on this:If NOTHING is, will be, is ever, and shall be impossible with God :: It is impossible for God to DO nothing when he is on the throne.

SO selah on this for today:{"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."} Phil 4:6-7



::meg

A blog to follow

Hello all! Sorry i've been kinda MIA. Heck, i don't even know how many people read my blog! :)

I want you all to check out a new blog... Her name is Stacey and she's going to change the world! I love when i see people take the simplest things in life and showcase the amazing love of God.

<HERE to read>>
>>meg

My Calling

From the Archives of my computer. I stumbled upon this paper i wrote about what i define as "my calling"

In consideration beyond today’s stereotypical obsession with etymology and spelling, what is in a name? What value or spiritual significance do we find in our names? The prophet Isaiah scribes the Lord saying, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine” (Is 43:1). Our name is that by which we are called. I am called first and foremost a daughter of God, a ransomed heir to the riches of my heavenly Father. What an idea! I can only imagine the thoughts that God has towards me! David in the book of Psalms intimately and exquisitely pens, "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!" (Ps 139:17-18). There are many that have been called and few that have been chosen. Many have walked the beaten path of Christianity and paved the way into both modern day martyrdom and success. The thing that separates us all is our name, that by which we are called. Each separate identity tells a story that we can observe; but none that we can duplicate.
As God was speaking light into the universe, he was speaking purpose into my life. When he pulled a rib from Adam's side, he pulled together the thoughts of my destiny and my calling to be just as unique as each grain of sand on the shore. Therefore I do not believe my calling in its entirety can be written on these pages. My Father knit a beautiful story in my heart from the first word of creation that is only in part revealed as I spend time with Him and heed the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I am called to serve, and to love, and to spread the Good news that Christ has paid the price for sin! I have been commissioned to make my life an anthem of God’s goodness. I have been birthed out of sin and into His glorious light to be testimony of Christ’s love in my sphere of influence. My calling is to be a leader, a voice in the desert and a prophet to the nations. In Psalms 51 David cries out asking God to empty him and to create in him a pure heart. The most fascinating part of the word "create" in this passage is that in simple exegesis we realize it is the same word, inherent with the same power that God used in creating the heavens and the earth in Genesis. I know that when David allowed God to create in him a pure heart he was fashioning something completely unique for him that had never been done before. David had a call on his life that had never been heard before; and has not since.
I do believe that if you do not learn from history that you are bound to repeat it. I also believe that when we walk in the power of the perfect will of God we are bound to walk in a destiny never tread before. I am so grateful for those we can call mentors and role models. They impart wisdom when at times there is no experience. They may reveal truth to a facet of life that I may never have considered on my own. People like Mother Teresa and Dwight L. Moody imprinted virtue into history with such dedication and passion; but the most important and inspiring lesson that we can learn from these is that human kind is fallible. Man will always disappoint but Christ never will. He is the ultimate role model, the perfect son, the perfect teacher, the perfect Rabbi. John 2:22-25 says, “Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew human nature. No one needed to tell him what mankind is really like.” Jesus, the God-son, didn’t need to be told that mankind would fail him, but we do. God puts people in our paths to work along side of; but he doesn’t expect us to fall back on their failures or successes from their time here on earth.
Joyce Meyer wrote an incredible book, The Confident Women. She writes about a time when she thought of what she would do if her husband, David, died. Joyce had given into fear at the thought of doing life and ministry without David when the Lord spoke to her. He said, “if Dave died you would keep doing exactly what you are doing, because I am the One holding you up, not Dave.” She quickly realized that He was establishing her in the foundational truth that God is all you have to have. Mother Teresa was an example of this. She worked incredibly with people yet often ran into a mission field with only pennies. She never relied on any one person, only God. I love to think that my faith could rise to the occasion if every person close to me was taken away and that I could stand unmovable in my calling with only pennies and my name. I think that this thought encompasses the very core of my purpose. This is my calling.

Arms Open Wide

In a state of perfected surrender

God would see my soul as a myriad of
beautiful works and miracles. He would see a self-emptied, available
soul, ready to reflect the will & Kingdom of Christ. Surrendered to
the kingdom; He sees a soul full of worship & melodies from heaven. He
sees the fruit of a college ministry bursting at the seams, He sees a
confident, bold disciple secure in the timing & work of Christ. He
sees the faces of souls rejoicing in the salvation they've found &
walking in dynamic destiny.
A direct reflection of the operating work of Christ: errupting hope,
explosive joy, irreplaceable peace.

I had an encounter with Jesus tonight. Sitting in my room I was thinking about the
recent messages of Christ Follower and Navigate and I had to come face
to face with the fact that I haven't trusted God in EVERYTHING to be
who He has told me He is. Out of not understanding, or disobedience I've been putting MY words in Gods mouth.

There was a moment, sitting in my room when all the noise of my
thoughts was silenced by this song softly in the background...."Arms Open Wide" by Hillsong United. It was at the part where they are singing "have your way".

Starting the song over and putting it on repeat; I just got this picture of the movie of my life...Jesus walking right along side me; running with me when i was running, and then those other times carrying me through the tough stuff...but just smiling
through everything, through all of it- because He knows the end. and it's GOOD.

So tonight God was saying something like this:
"I want to do so much more in you, and through you-but...let me empty
you, even of some good things. Let me do it."

Man, I wanna see the day when a whole generation is totally abandoned to that!

So give it all; just trust. God is good...so let him be good. Let Him be God.

::meg