A Convicting Word

James 4:1-10 NIV. I really need this today:

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

'God opposes the proud but give grace to the humble,'

Submit yourselves, then, to God. resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."

"If It Doesn;t Break Your Heart It Isn't Love..."

Jon Foreman captured my night...my experience perfectly in the lyrics of Switchfoot's "Yet." http://www.songlyrics.com/switchfoot/yet-lyrics/

Our hearts are tested and strengthened by the moments that seemingly break us. We are not our tragedies, but rather how we react to them. When you are standing in the breech between bitterness and love, will you choose love? Only those with true courage can. There is no drill, no amount of practice that can prepare you for the enormity of true heartbreak, but there is a love that can lessen it. A truly selfless adoration that not only shields but absorbs the pain, with the knowledge that each loss was not in vain. Every crack and fracture will help to create the masterpiece that we are to become.

If this message seems particularly familiar to anyone reading this, with a broken heart and swollen eyes tell those who need to hear it the most "You haven't lost me yet..."

A Challenge

The danger is desensitization. When we see or hear an image frequently enough, it looses its impact. It is natural, but not acceptable.

I know that every TV and radio station, every musician and actor is talking about the crisis in Haiti, and I'm joinging the ranks. I offer a challenge for each of us. In order to discourage desensitization I dare each person reading/writing this to continue to give until the crisis is over. Until the ruble is cleared and the city is being rebuilt.

Honestly, giving is the principle that is skipped the most in our culture. In Christianity we often discuss blessings and overcoming, dream following and a host of other things that benefit us. However, when it comes to giving, consistently that is the part of the conversation/sermon when we usually remember that we are late for an appointment, or we have to go to the bathroom, or can't listen because we just got a text.

I challenge us to be the hands and feet of Christ. You don't have to give money, and if you decide to, it doesn't have to be more than you can afford. Give right where you are, and God will meet you. Accept the challenge by responding to this blog in the comment section, and by spreading the word about the challenge. Feel free to post the link or forward this to friends and family. We have received a call to action, answer.

PS If you are overwhelmed by where/how to start try cnn.com/impact to see what different organizations need.

Lessons I Learned In New York

Some lessons I learned while seizing an opportunity that, like most, was quick and completely unexpected.
1) Expect to be surprised. It is the only certainty.
2) Go hard or go home is a great habit to create.
3) A journey with friends new or old always makes the journey better.
4) Promoting yourself is not vain in business, it's necessary.
5) After a point, failures are less about learning and more about what you didn't learn.
6) Change in scenery every few months is healthy, productive, and an asset for discovering and building dreams.
7) The more you take chances, the more you want to.

Emphasis

The word is a living word. Each time I read a scripture different words reach out to me, and that is usually how I know what God wants to share with me.

Yesterday I thought about Jeremiah 29:11-15. A pretty famous scripture for obvious reasons. We love the comfort of knowing that a sovereign God cares about our future, and holds it in the palm of His competent hand. However, the word that stood out to me yesterday made me see the scripture in a whole new light. It was the word "I."

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I like to plan ahead. I want to have all my bases covered, I want to have a crisis plan A, B, and C. It is not a bad way to be, but it is impossible to always have everything covered in this life. It's why we have a God who covers us.

What was whispered to me through this new found scriptural emphasis was, "Ina, I know, but you don't. Trust is essential, just let me lay the path and you walk it. Don't try to walk ahead of me, or anticipate my next move. You will fail every time, you should know by now, I'm full of surprises."

So for anyone, who like me wants to see the blueprint for every inch of your future, or you are driving yourself crazy because according to you, you "should be somewhere by now," take a deep breath and read the scripture. Remember the sentence starts "I know."

Difficult Truth

Sometimes we simply do not understand how deep the root is. We accept that we have an issue, and even begin to identify what it is, but until we can truly see the degree of its affects on our lives there is no real hope of being delivered.
Right now I am reading Put Your Dreams To The Test by John Maxwell. I just started, but today one of the sections I read was on being “willing to bet on yourself.” The author used an example from Akeelah and the Bee when Akeelah reads her spelling coach's plaque with Nelson Mandela’s infamous speech inscribed on it. After she reads it her coach asks her what it means. She says "That I'm not supposed to be afraid...of me." I couldn't even finish the sentence. The word “me” looked my name, it felt so personal. Sometimes it takes reading a book or having a conversation to realize how deeply old wounds run.
It had never occurred to me that perhaps pursuing my dreams presents a challenge for me, not because I don’t have buy-in from others, but because I don’t have buy-in from me. If confidence is key then perhaps a few of my doors to success are still locked. So that is where I need to start.

What is holding you back from your dreams? This year instead of working around the difficult truth I challenge you to face it head on. We'll do it together. How is that for a resolution?!

A Moving Car, Full Moon, and Good Music

I love road trips! Long or short, I love the opportunity to be alone on the road. Just me, Jesus, and some tunes. Last night for example, I was driving from Savannah to Hilton Head, its a pretty dark drive at night, which is scary for some, but beautiful for me. The moon was still full, and to top it all off I was listening to my most favorite audio ever right now, Switchfoot's "Hello Hurricane." Amazing! If you haven't heard it, make it a priority in 2010, especially if you are going through something especially storm-like.

Anywhoo, when I got to "Always," last night I was so inspired that I started choreographing in my head. Talk about multi-tasking. And by the end of the song, I was so full, of movement, music, and awe, that I was completely surrendered in worship. It was beautiful!

Just thinking of what 2009 was, who I became, and how at every turn I was reinforced by a loving savior. All of a sudden the lyrics to the song sounded as if the Savior Himself was whispering them to me, "...and I am always, always, Always yours..." The most comforting words in a world that moves too quickly to grasp anything for long.
I adore Him.