Shepherd's Follow

We usually think of victory and success as a lack of disappointment, no failure, no mistakes, no stumbling. It’s easy to see why; we live in a culture that is soaked in media recognition: from sports, celebrities, to famous entrepreneurs… we see these people as our model for success. All we see is the fame, the money, the ease of life. We neglect to think of the struggle, the strife, the failure. 

See, now this is where the world and the Bible are completely at odds on this concept (well duh, the world is captivated by the lies of satan). The world views failures as weakness; and weakness is automatically rejected, written off, disgraced. Let me tell ya, that is the complete opposite of the gospel. 

By associating victory with success, not making mistakes, and no room for error… we have missed it. We attempt to go on our own way, and that will always lead us down a destructive path. It is through problems and failures, weakness and neediness that you learn to rely on the Lord. 

This complete dependence and reliance is a faithful walk, taken one step at a time, leaning on the Lord. This is not a path that is full of continual success but of MULTIPLE failures (in my case… ASTRONOMICAL amounts of failures). BUT, but but; here is the joy… each failure is followed by a growth spurt…hallelujah! 

These growth spurts are nourished and cultivated by an increase in reliance on the Holy Father. That is a true victory, true success. To know that we are guaranteed failures and promised weaknesses, oh the freedom! To have God walk us, lead us, and guide us? Sounds like a victory that is already won to me…

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7

     I am always baffled at the concept of grace. My mind is so trained to require perfection; for myself and others. We really don’t see the extension of grace much, and when there is, the feeling of entitlement, that it was deserved typically comes to the forefront… at least it does for me in my sinful heart. I also forget that grace is the CENTER of the gospel. It’s the foundation, the cornerstone, the reason that we’re offered salvation. 

      Recently I got engaged to the cutest man of all time. He is absolutely adorable, loves the Lord, makes me laugh, means the world to me… and is far from perfect. He has hurt my feelings (visa versa, on everything I will mention. I’ll go ahead and preface that), frustrated me, and disappointed me. But I still love him. I love that boy more than words can ever describe. It isn’t a feeling, it’s not because he is perfect, or because he does everything that I want/think he should do. I have decided to make a commitment to him despite all of these things, because they just don’t matter. He can’t earn any of my love and he can’t take it away… my feelings towards him may change from time to time (anger, joy, etc), but my love for him is unwavering. So what does this have to do with grace?

     No human being has ever been perfect (shocker I know). Except for the man who was fully God and fully man. He was perfect so that we DON’T HAVE TO BE, because WE NEVER WILL BE. No one. Ever. Like… ever will be perfect. So that’s where this beauty called grace comes in. 

        For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9

        HELLLLOOO GOSPEL. I read this verse and I think it is one of the most concise, yet richest verses in all of scripture. It describes the gospel so perfectly. 

       Ok, so God, you’re telling me that it doesn’t matter what I do… I will never do anything to really “impress” you so much to accept me into heaven, but I also can’t mess up my salvation once I get it? I don’t have to start all over again if I lie, cheat… I don’t have to start over trying to earn salvation? Literally, I don’t have to do anything to earn salvation? To earn your love, I do nothing (this ain’t what the world is preachin’ thats for sure)? Lord you must be crazy. If you really knew me, you wouldn’t want me… wait you do? Wow, you really are crazy…. no… HE IS LOVE. 

        To think that the Lord, the Creator, the Alpha and Omega, the Savior, the infinite, all powerful, almighty God will take me? Loves me? Oh. My. Word. I can’t even begin to express the gratitude and joy that I have in my heart when I think about this. I even think about how my fiance (eeeeek #girlmoment) could even love me?! Bless him, bless that poor man’s soul! But that’s the only way that we really can love each other… is through grace. If we are constantly concerned about what the other does in order to earn our love, they will never, NEEEVVA, come close. And if God was concerned with what we could/could not do for Him, in order for Him to love us… well homeskillet, we are shoot outta luck.

       Isaiah 6 describes the prophet Isaiah’s reaction as he encounters the Lord, and it’s purely epic. You would think that Isaiah’s first reaction would be to start clapping, worshiping, or just celebrating the fact that He is in the presence of God in the temple… but NO. What does he do? He immediately falls to his knees and begins to cry out as to how unworthy he is! And what does God do? Atones for his sin. Forgets it. Forgives it. Gives him grace. LOVES him, with the only true love their is. God’s love and through grace. 

        It’s easy to see that Isaiah understood. He understood that his wretched heart deserved hell. But God had offered him freedom. God had extended His almighty hand and offered up the gift of salvation by His grace. Lord I pray I get it someday. I pray that I soak of the grace that you have to offer. That we extend the grace to others, and when we receive it we turn our hearts to gratitude and flee from self righteousness. Teach us to abide in that grace. To live in it. To absolutely DROWN in that grace, so that the only we can live is through You. 

      You know… John Newton had it right when he wrote one of the most famous hymns of all time. It really is Amazing Grace. It is sweet. It has truly saved a wretch like me. I have been set free. 

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:10

    So it’s been exactly that… a while. It’s hard to believe all that has happened. However, I have seen the Lord’s provision through it all. From event to event, friendship to friendship, place to place… oh how I have seen His hand interwoven. God’s intricacy and love humbles my prideful heart, and has it bursting at the seems with gratitude. 

This bestie got ENGAGED. Her relationship with Christ, and her now fiance’, are such a blessing to me. I am speechless and teary eyed thinking about the blessing she has been to me and the life that is ahead of her. 

    Worked beside these two goobs all summer. Great men, no candle to someone I know (oops I said it), but a blessing to learn and work with these two. 

       Jackjack officially left for Greece a few days ago. I can’t believe she will be there for a YEAR. Good glory. This girl is such a gift from the Lord to all she meets. I can only imagine the ministry she is going to have over there. I stinkin’ miss her sweet, tender, meek, and compassionate heart already. 

      Annnnnd, I can’t believe it, but I am moving to the land of WPS. Yep, that’s right. Gonna be in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I am moving to a place where basketball isn’t king and they call “hogs”. The Lord has been evident, faithful, and clear in this move; both in the location/people… :-). I will forever remain a Jayhawk, this I am sure of. 

      These past few summer months have been indescribable. I have experienced more sanctification than ever before. I have woken up with zero strength of my own, had sleepless nights, and many a moments of tears. But it’s all for His purpose. I have come to realize this life is more about my holiness than my happiness. He brings happiness and joy, but through His Son being my sufficiency. More to come on this, but for now… embracing the sanctification process… and for the first time, content in the fact that this is His will. 

“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified…” 1 Thessalonians 4:3a

     It’s the greatest commentary in Scripture. It outlines virtually all aspects of the gospel. It was written to a nation that mysteriously received the gospel. The book was written by a man who had been radically transformed; a man who understood the good news and desired to have all understand who God is and the Gift that he had freely given. 

       It all began when Saul, who we know now as Paul, was converted. He was a Jewish man who was persecuting those who believed, when he was suddenly converted by the ascended Jesus himself. This set the stage for Paul to set out on his journey to preach the good news through a series of missionary journeys. Towards the end of his third missionary journey, Paul wrote a book called Romans. Possibly the greatest commentary on overall aspects of the Gift given to all. This book goes through key concepts and arguments, and Paul’s style of writing to the Gentiles, but also the Jews is heartfelt. 

      The progression of topics throughout Romans is done so well for the organized/analytical minds like me (with the exception of a couple chapters… to be discussed later…). It begins with Paul declaring that he is UNASHAMED of the gospel (Romans 1:16-17). Notice that it says that he is unashamed of the gospel that is offered to both the Jew and the Gentile. This was Paul’s huge point throughout this entire book (other than salvation of course). He was called to minister to the Gentiles, but Paul, being a Jew, has a heart for the Jewish people and desires for them to understand that this is a gift to all. Therefore he is unashamed of the gospel that is free to all who will accept it. After declaring that he is unashamed, he goes into to the fact that we are CONDEMNED. We are worthless. We are nothing, we just kinda suck. First glance, kinda a downer. But Paul uses this to build up justification which is the next theme that he discusses. Paul goes into describing that we are all JUSTIFIED because of Christ. God sees Christ through us, if we accept Him, and therefore we are completely justified in sin because of His death and resurrection. However, this justification is not to be taken for granted. Yes, we are justified/seen as new/perfect in His eyes, but that does not mean that we are not without sin. Paul then moves into SANCTIFICATION. He describes that this is a process! We must understand that we are sinners, every single one of us, but through Christ we can, overtime, seek more freedom from sin until we reach glorification in which we are free from it completely. Sanctification is living life; it’s hard, stinking hard sometimes, but all things are done to strengthen our faith in Him and to love Him even more. 

       Paul has a fairly easy flow up until this point (around chapter 9). This next section is about Israel, and this is the part in which we see Paul’s heart for ALL to understand this. He goes into describing the fact that Israel is still the chosen land and people of God. They have the history, they will be restored, but they must not be ignorant to the gift that is front of them. Paul of course has a heart for Israel, because, as stated before, HE WAS A JEW. This is so important for us to remember as we follow Christ; Israel is still God’s chosen people and He has a plan for them, just as He had a plan to save us. 

       Finally Paul brings us to a close starting in chapter 12. Until the end of the book Paul goes into APPLICATION of our faith, until his concluding remarks. The beauty of these last few chapters is that Paul, continuing in his writing style of asking questions then answering them himself, emphasizes the fact that we have to apply our faith. We can believe all we want, but we are not TRUE servants if we are not applying what Christ has done to our own lives (examples can be our speech, our sexual purity, fulfill the Great Commission, etc). Faith without works is dead (James 2:14). 

       The purpose of Romans is to encourage believers; to push on towards eternity, to make disciples, and to build one another in the faith. Through this, we see God’s righteousness, His perfection, His mercy, His generosity, His wrath, His LOVE. Yes, we are to know this: God is good, He has given a free gift to all; and we NEED it. We are nothing without Him, but made to be everything in Him. How beautiful it is…

“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” Romans 1:11-12

    One of my greatest struggles in life is anxiety. I struggle with this sometimes so much that it is debilitating. This is not of the Lord. I know that it is isn’t, but yet I still tell myself too often that it is. I cling to my anxiety because I am a sinner, and sin is unfortunately what is familiar. I cling to what I know and am constantly led into a battle with my flesh, which is wired for anxiety. I hate it, I hate the sin, I hate the state that it puts me in, and I hate that I am completely distracted from the Lord. I don’t trust that God that works in every part of my life and does not communicate with anxiety because He is just the opposite of that. And because He has the opposite of that, He has a Spirit that intercedes for me. 

       The Holy Spirit is: Counselor (John 14:26), truth (John 16:13), Comforter (John 14:16), our Helper (Romans 8:26), He is our Sanctifier (Romans 15:16), He testifies on my behalf (Romans 5:16), and He convicts (John 16:8)… and so much more. Upon accepting Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells in us. We are filled with the Spirit from that point on, but we can still refuse and quench the Spirit. I do this all to often. I convince myself that the Spirit brings upon my anxiety because something isn’t “right”. Oh how wrong I am. The Holy Spirit does not bring upon anxiety, but it can use it in order to draw me closer to the Lord. It uses Christ’s death and resurrection to assure me of my salvation, and the sovereignty and love of the Father. The Spirit Counsels, Helps, Guides, and Convicts me through difficult situations in order that I a may have life. I am filled with the Spirit: it never ceases to fill me, it never leaves me, it just guides me to difficult situations in order to bring in closer communication with God.

      Through knowing all of this, I know what I must do. I must think of what God is. The Holy Spirit has placed this on my heart, He has filled me. The Spirit desires to see me trust in the Lord and to have faith. My anxieties are not of Him, but they can be used by Him. I cannot expect to “feel” the Spirit, but I must trust. The Spirit will not lead me astray or outside of God’s will. The Spirit desires to see me prosper and to glorify the Lord, and in order to do this it must bring me to brokenness… to my knees. I cannot see the Spirit, but I must trust that the work is there. The Spirit is a Counselor, a Helper, a Guide, He testifies for Me, He intercedes for me, He convicts me of my sin, He is good. He is good, and I have an inexpressible joy knowing this.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” 1 Peter 1:8