A Blessing or Not a Blessing?

While I'm on this theme of our many, MANY blessings. I thought I would share this fun little game to play. I got this idea from Beth Moore, who used to do this with her daughters.

"I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse."

- Genesis 12:3

To add a little biblical humor to your everyday situations and experiences, what you do is put everything under one of two headings...

1) A blessing.
2)Not a blessing.

or abbreviated...

A.B
or
N.A.B.

For example, I would categorize tea as A.B. while I would place waking up early for 8am classes everyday as N.A.B.

I'm pretty sure that you will soon see that all things either are-or are not-a blessing.

In all seriousness, however, I am confident that through God, anything is possible. He can take even the most icky of non-blessings and redeem them. Through the blessing of a holy God all can be recovered. Never forget that.

Have a "blessed" weekend!

Snow! Definately A.B.

Radically Blessed

I am currently knee-deep in another amazing read.

The book is called "Radical" by a guy named David Platt. He is pastor at a mega church out in Birmingham and he is a man passionate about the Lord and His Word.

He begs the question, "Is Jesus worth it all to you?"

In the last couple of weeks I have been faced with thing after thing about how blessed I am and the blessings that God gives. Sometimes I am tempted to feel like I just might deserve a blessing every once and a while, but I don't. I have to fall flat on my face countless times before Him and remind myself that I am so unworthy. Scriptures like this one reminds me what, ultimately, it ALL about...

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude
that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and
language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.
They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches
in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."

Revelation 7:9-10

In the end, it will be God who will be glorified, not me. Any way he blesses me is so that I can glorify him further on earth. David Platt talks about how "God blesses his people with extravagant grace so that they might extend his extravagant glory to all peoples on the earth." As I see this greater purpose for God's blessings, I want to make the decision not to hoard and hide the blessings I recieve, but to use them to make him famous.

Blessed Through Abram

Before Abraham was Abraham, he was Abram. Before he was called by God, he was just an ordinary guy. He would have faded into the rest of the crowd in the polytheistic society of Ur, until the one true GOD called him by name. "The glory of God appeared" to him (Acts 7:2-3) and from that point on, there was no denying which god Abram would serve.

Abram's calling is clear in Genesis 12:2-3. How does this apply to me and to you? I can't wait to show you! Here's what God said...

"I will make you into a great nation

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you;

and whoever curses you,

I will curse;

and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

Wow. Key words: "and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Put quite simply, who knew that a guy in the Old Testament would directly affect me? I mean, I (as you may have) grew up in church singing,"Father Abraham had many sons; had many sons had father Abraham. I am one of them, and so are you. So let's just praise theLord!" But, a blessing from a Holy, Holy, God? Crazy.

So I began a bible study on the patriarchs by Beth Moore this week and I am already blown away by what I can learn from what God did...and is still doing today through men like Abraham in the Old Testament. I could go on and on about what God is showing me (and I probably will)!

Concerning this blessing that we (people of faith) receive from Abram's obedience so long ago, Beth Moore has this to say...

"If God blesses us, we don't have to ponder whether that blessing has further purpose. We're blessed to bless. Blessed with spiritual gifts? Bless with
them! Blessed with intelligence and and skills? Bless with them! Blessed
with finances? Bless with them!

You and I have been blessed. Nothing mystifies me more me more than why God
has chosen a former pit dweller like me. Others tell me they feel the same.
Imagine being Abram, however. One blessed man among all peoples on earth.
Why Abram?...Genesis 12:4 suggests a marvelous initial answer: "So Abram
left." Perhaps one answer is simply, 'Because he'd go.'"

I don't know about you, but this rocks my world. This applies to me in so many ways. When God asks me to do something, will I be obedient? Will I be willing to drop everything to follow God somewhere that I don't even know about? Will I allow God to bless me so that I can be a blessing to others and make His name famous? I hope so.

I want to say yes to Him. I want to be wherever He wants me to be. And the blessing is just a bonus.

Gray Hairs

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet
inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles
are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our
eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary,
but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

As beloved children of the Most High God, we have no need to loose heart. You know why? Because though our physical bodies are growing older, weaker (and maybe a little grayer) it doesn't really matter. What is important is that we have the opportunity to be renewed inwardly day after day.

As I grow older, I want to avoid complaining about wrinkles and those pesky gray hairs. I don't want to be an adult who dreads every birthday. I want to concern myself with my life and "age" spiritually. I have an eternity with God to look forward to. So really, each new birthday signifies one year or moment closer to spending forever with God. No momentary trouble should keep me from the joy of that eternal perspective that we should all think of more often.

So, I choose not to lose heart. I will rest in the promise that He is, was and will forever be holding me in is hand.

"Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all you who remain of the house of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since you were conceived,
and have carried since your birth.

Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Isaiah 46:3-4

Me + two people who aren't letting a few gray hairs get in the way of doing great things for God! I love them so much!

Tasting

Taste and see that the LORD is good...

Psalm 34:8

Everyday, I want to taste and see that the Lord is good. I want to just enjoy Him and experience His goodness. I realize that I will not be able to see that the Lord is good without first tasting of Him. For me, that is going to include spending special time in His presence and making myself more aware of Him all around me. I will wait upon Him in expectation. So, today I want to work on tasting of the Lord.

Aren't these little cupcakes just divine?! Emilie and I discovered a little bakery that makes them and we are in love! Whenever I eat one of these scrumptious things I will remember to taste and see that the Lord is very good indeed!

[Insert Name Here]

This is one of those verses you just have to insert your name into to make it personal : ) My mom taught me how to do this...

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts [Lindsey Johnson],
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

Noah and How He Relates to Preschool Messes

The blog has gone through a bit of a makeover.

It definitely reflects what my life is like right now.

School is going well. I think my Senior year is going to be bittersweet, as I am having a lot of

melancholy feelings right now.

I will be graduating from my Christian school in the year 2010 (the best grad. year ever!) with four other wonderful ladies, who are also some of my best friends. We are certainly sharing an important part of our lives together.

Anyways, I have taken a part-time job working childcare at my church one night a week. I have a great class of precious 2, going on 3 year olds. They keep me on my toes and we have SO much fun!

Those sweet kids are some of the inspiration I have to go back and read certain bible storys. Last week, we learned about Noah building the ark. We let the kids finger paint the water and a rainbow around a picture of the ark and it was MESSY! I had paint all over my pants when we were done! Regardless, It was worth it because these little guys thought it was so cool and got excited about the story of Noah. Their favorite part (which is mine also) was the promise God made using the rainbow!

The movie, Evan Almighty, is a great movie that puts the story into an interesting perspective. Imagine the entire story of Noah and the ark happening in mondern day! You have to see this movie! I can picture just how much scorn Noah revieved from others. They must have thought that he was a crazy man! But Noah was a man who followed God. Enough so that God spared his life.

I want to be like Noah; who was obedient and loyal to God despite what others thought about him.

"Samuel, Samuel"

Do y'all want to hear what I learned from Samuel?
1 Samuel 3:1-10

This is one of those incredible stories in the Bible in which our holy, holy God's voice is audible. When I was a kid, this story didn't even phase me. I thought it wasn't surprising at all that God would choose to speak in an audible voice...it was NORMAL.

Now that I'm older, I pray more than ever for that child-like faith; to see God as HUGE and STRONG... instead of putting him into a box or limiting him. I appreciate the story of Samuel far more now! What an encouragement to hear this story again and be inspired by God's literal calling on the young boy's life!

I believe with everything in me that God is as living and active now as he was in Samuel's time. Unfortunately, God doesn't seem to speak to people ( at least not to me) in an audible voice as much as he used to. I think it probably has something to do with how loud we are! : )

Anyways, here's my little summary of this awesome story...

*1st off, Samuel is growing up in the temple of the most high God. He is sleeping where the Ark of God is! (vs. 3) Can you imagine?!

*Now, this is where Samuel hears God. God's voice must have been very clear because Samuel thought that it was Eli, the priest, who was calling him!

*I can just picture this old guy, Eli, trying to get some shut-eye, when Sam keeps keeps on showing up at his bedside waking him up! haha (vs. 5)

*Well, God continues, trying to get Samuel's attention. (vs. 6) He calls Samuel not once, not twice, BUT three times! "Samuel, Samuel!" He says. Can you imagine God calling your name like that? The very thought gives me goose bumps! Finally, Eli gets the picture and tells Samuel that it is probably God calling him.

*So finally, Samuel answers! He says, "Speak, for your servant is listening." (vs. 10)

Honestly, how often do we ask God to speak to us? Ha! Most of the time, we are rattling off our requests to him or complaining. Man, I hope God owns a pair of ear plugs for all the times I absolutely talked his ears off! : )

Samuel could have easily started talking to God, asking him questions and listing his complaints (or gone back to sleep!). But, this young boy realized how amazing it was that God wanted to speak to him. (And God wants to speak to our hearts too! )

Way better than doing all the talking, Samuel absolutely just basks in God's presence, listening to what all he had to say.

When I personally think about it, I would much rather hear from God than doing all the talking my self! There is no such thing as a one-way conversation! : )

A challenging question to ask is...

How often do we ALLOW God to speak to us?

This is one gigantic lesson that I'm learning from Samuel's story.

I need to be quiet sometimes; listening for God's still small voice.

The B-I-B-L-E ...

...yes that's the book for me!

I'm a baby sitter.
I baby sit...
...A lot.

I adore the kiddos that I get to care for and I treasure the time I have playing with them.

I always think it is absolutely precious when little ones have a children's Bible that they adore and love to read. Nothing is more sweet than that childlike faith. They believe with all their heart that GOD IS STRONG!

I was baby sitting a little girl the other day and she was only 2 years old, yet she was bringing me her Bible and saying "blue Bible" "blue Bible" (it was blue). And so we sat and read through her little Bible.

I will never forget the moments I had with sweet little Brock, who we lost last year, when we would read his Bible together in his rocker.

Reading the Bible with these children has inspired me to go back and take a look at some of my favorite bible stories as a child; looking at them with a new set of eyes. I tend to neglect many of these stories that I "grew up with" in Sunday school. Just because I know them like the back of my hand doesn't mean I shouldn't go back and read them! I'm excited to see what fresh, new things God shows me through these amazing (true) stories!


What was your favorite Bible story as a small child?

This was the Bible that I grew up with...