My Favorite Time of Day

If I am truly honest with myself, I have become a "morning person" in the last several years. As I drove this morning I realized it so much more strongly. Did I jump out of bed at 5:40 and get excited for my day? Um, no. But after sleeping past my alarm, my God woke me up with enough time to make it to my meeting - on time! Yeah God!

The best part of living 45 minutes from work is the morning drive (I may have to be reminded of that some days!)...this time of year, my drive happens during the transition from dawn to daylight. I get to slowly watch as God paints and creates a new day...and reminds me of His new mercies and the enormity of who He is! Oh how He has blessed me and has caused me to see His world in a whole new light.

A Look at Romans - Chapter 4

I have not yet given up on this exercise. Even though it has taken me 10 days to get through 4 chapters, I am learning so much. I can't just read each chapter through once and write my thoughts - I am reading from several different versions and then doing some other 'research' to get a broader picture of what circumstances Paul is writing in. I know that my "journaling" has different tones to it depending on what is going on in my life on any given day, why wouldn't Paul's?

In Romans chapter 4, Paul is charging the Romans to think about the patriarch of the Jewish faith, Abraham. Because Abraham was from the Old Testament, he didn't have Jesus' death to save him from his sins. He only had the promises from God Himself to cling to, not the hope of eternal life. God told Abraham at a 'young' age that he would be the father of many nations - the thing was, his wife, Sarah, was barren and couldn't have kids. So, Abraham had to wonder, "so, how am I going to be the father of many nations when I don't even have a son?" Abraham didn't try to make a deal with God or look at God's words as a contract. That would have meant that Abraham would have had to do something to EARN what God was promising. God gives His promises WITHOUT strings attached. Even when it doesn't seem possible (fathering many nations without even a son), God lays everything out and just waits for us to walk in faith towards the promises He has given.

What promises does God give to us in 2010? The same ones He gave to those in the Bible. Is He telling each one of us that we will be fathers of many nations? Not necessarily - but He isn't asking us all to sacrifice our first born son either. The Bible is not an exact blueprint for each of us - it is a guide book. We are all asked to step out in faith in different ways, but we are all asked to step in faith.

A Look at Romans - Chapter 3

If most people were asked which offense was worse, either murder or lying, the overwhelming answer would be murder, of course! Yet, in God's eyes, both of these sins keep us apart from Him so neither one is "worse". There are not different "levels" of sins and the consequence for all sins is the same. Jesus had to die in order to pay the price for all of our sins. We can accept that payment or we can reject it. If we reject it, WE have to endure the consequences for our decisions...an eternal death separated from the love of God. If we accept Jesus' payment, we have access to an eternal life enveloped in the love of God!

In verses 5-8, Paul addresses the human thinking that it is GOOD for us to sin because then that allows God to show his mercy and forgiveness to us. That if we DON'T sin, then God would have no need to be glorified. Basically, without us humans being messed up, God wouldn't need to exist to save us and He'd have no purpose. So, in order for us to show His goodness and to bring Him glory, we should sin often to allow His work to be shown in us. Talk about looking for an excuse to be a deliberate sinner!

On the other hand, it is important to realize that even if we work and work to do all things good and follow the law, we are not considered right with God because of our actions. The ONLY way we get right with God is through faith. We can't earn it, no matter how hard we try! The beauty of God is that He isn't picky - He will take the biggest screw ups there are and love them like nobody's business. I mean, He loves me after all. And there's nothing I have ever done to 'deserve' that. He will accept men, women, old, young, Asian, African, American (North AND South), Muslims, Hindus, and everyone in between. Jesus died for every single one of us, He doesn't have a list of people He doesn't want. The invite list is ALL INCLUSIVE!!

A Look at Romans - Chapter 2

In some ways it is difficult to do this chapter by chapter. The beginning of chapter 2 continues on where 1 leaves off. Paul is admonishing our behavior when it comes to sinning and judging others. Whenever we judge others (and yes, we ALL do it) we are not showing ourselves to be 'above' them or better than them. We are just trying to draw attention away from our own sinfulness. If I focus on the negative in someone else, then I don't have time to focus on me. In fact, we are setting ourselves up for God's judgment. Not just for the sins we commit, but also for our judging of others. He can keep up with EVERYONE all the time - we can't distract Him from focusing on us.

The way God treats us (with kindness, tolerance, and patience) is intended to draw us closer to Him and further away from our sinful ways. Why do we not just run straight to His goodness?

Each time Paul went to a new city, he first began teaching in the synagogue to the Jews; who, many times, did not listen or began to rise up against his teachings. From there, he went to the Gentiles (non-Jews) that listened and received what the Lord spoke to them. The Jews, being God's chosen people, were given "dibs" on the Messiah, but when they rejected Him, the Gentiles were then allowed to be taught and believed. The Jews followed the laws of Moses, the Gentiles were not under that law. Yet, many Gentile believers knew and followed the law even though they were not required to, because the knowledge was placed in them when they believed. They WANTED to follow God's law. Many of the Jews "knew" the law and chose to disobey it, yet wanting the reward for being born a Jew.

God is looking for those that follow Him and have a changed heart, not ones that follow the law because it is the "right" thing to do. Doing the right thing with the wrong motives is no better than doing the wrong thing. God looks at our hearts and motives, not the actions. His desire is for us to seek praise from Him and not praise from people for what we do.

A Look at Romans - chapter 1

First of all, I am not a Biblical scholar. I vaguely remember taking a few religion classes in college, but the only one I really remember is the one I cheated my way through - Psalms...and I know I didn't get an A!

Over the past several weeks, I read through the book of Acts. There are a lot of good stories in there - lots of persecution and lots of reasons to rejoice. I'm so thankful for Paul - what a wonderful missionary he was in reaching out to the Gentiles.

Since I finished with Acts, I am now moving on with Romans. My friend, Laurie, is a huge help in keeping me accountable with staying on track to get through all of this reading - we'll see how I do when I try to write about what I'm learning though!

Verse 6 is amazing. In the Message version it reads: "You are who you are through this gift [salvation] and call of Jesus Christ!" How true - I am who I am because Jesus died for me, but even more, He was raised from the dead to show His awesome power and might. He has called me to be His daughter and I can wear His name to show I am His.

I don't know a lot about the people of Rome that Paul is writing to - but it is obvious that they were people that Paul liked to hang out with. As he was out and about, he was missing these people. He was moved on and they stayed behind. Life doesn't stop just because we get moved on. So, the Romans were growing in Christ and faith - but all Paul gets are second or third hand stories about what's going on. He wants to be there in the midst of it - to feel the excitement over what's happening there and to continue to plant the seed of Truth to others in Rome. Every time he tries to head back to Rome, God sends him elsewhere and he becomes involved in a new place preaching and teaching to them so that they can know God.

Can you imagine being Paul? You are seeing thousands upon thousands of people being saved, reaching out to others, and sharing all they have with others - how wonderful he had to feel seeing the POSITIVE difference he was having on the Kingdom. Yet, he just wanted to go home to his "comfort zone" and see what differences were happening in the lives of his friends.

In the second half of the chapter, Paul just lays it all out there. There's no escaping the Truth that is there. Basically, mankind knows who God is and what He stands for - we've known since the beginning of time. We just choose to think we don't have to love or serve Him. And since we "know" the Truth, we don't have any excuse for not following Him. So, in following and worshipping other things in life, we reject Christ. He lets us have our way - in all forms of sin - and we will pay the consequences. In verse 32, Paul talks about those that follow in the sinful way deserving death. In the Message version it says: "And it's not as if they don't know better. They know perfectly well they're spitting in God's face. And they don't care - worse, they hand out prizes to those that do the worst things best." How very true this is in our culture today. What am I doing to reach out to those that are spitting in God's face? My flesh wants me to think "well, they know what they're doing is wrong, it's up to them to change if they want to"...but that is not what God expects of me.

They Don't Teach You This In School

Yes, I work at a school. No, my college years (all 9 of them) did not at all prepare me for what I would have to do on a daily basis. So, what exactly did I spend tens of thousands of dollars and nearly a decade of my life learning?

It is true that life lessons happen even if we don't look for them. Sometimes it takes us looking back on life to even see the lesson.

So, as I am sitting here thinking today, I came up with a list of things that I was never told/taught in school. It may have been presented on the days I skipped class though - I may be partially responsible for not learning it!

1. That I would spend so much time in meetings.

2. That my job really is paperwork with kids attached; not, kids with paperwork attached.

3. That a majority of my day is spent with adults (parents, other teachers, etc.)

4. That the events of my day would really make for a great book - but no

one would buy it because no one would believe it.

5. That I could be mentally exhausted enough at the end of the day that a nap is required.

6. That I would become jaded within 3-5 years of beginning my career.

7. That I could still love my job even though individual events cause upheaval.

8. That my compassion for kids would be exponentially increased.

9. That my evenings and weekends would consist of a laptop and a couch.

10. That I would really look forward to TRUE 3-day weekends and think, "it's a vacation"!

And yes, this coming 3 day weekend is going to be a vacation. I will not do work, I will not do work, I will not do work!

Life Lessons - They're Everywhere!

As I sit here looking out my window, I see gorgeous trees beginning to change their colors. Slowly, each day, they become more vibrant and beautiful. Unfortunately, there are not many days when I have the ability to actually sit at my desk and look out the window! So I will enjoy it for today.

I currently have an 8 year old boy asleep on the floor of my office because life is overwhelming him right now and he just can't handle school today. As I sit here trying to work as quietly as possible so as not to disturb him, I am also being overwhelmed with thoughts of spiritual things. This same student violently lashed out at me on Monday leaving physical marks on my body. I know that his parents are having difficulties with him at home, school is becoming more and more difficult for him, and he just doesn't understand why he's in the situation he is in (he was adopted at the age of 2). So, he lashed out. Understandable, yes. Socially appropriate, no. Did I get hurt? To some extent physically, yes, but nothing major. Emotionally, I was frustrated and angry that he would do this to ME...but, I would rather he do it to me than to someone else. Yet, 48 hours later, he is here with me again, but in a completely different manner - vulnerable, tired, and 'childlike'. He just wants to feel love and acceptance - at the deepest level. Today, I offer him a haven of safety and peace. I hold no ill will against him for how he treated me in the past. I sit here and watch over him, and protect him as much as I can.

Now comes the spiritual correlation.

Life comes at us and never stops. Difficulties arise for everyone regardless of age, socioeconomic status, gender, marital status, culture, or country in which we live. It is easy to get overwhelmed with it all and lash out. Do I lash out at God when I don’t understand, am angry or frustrated? Yes. Is it understandable? Sure. Is it appropriate? Maybe or maybe not. Does it hurt Him? Yes. But, He is still there with arms open waiting to offer me a safe haven to run to. God forgets my past and loves and accepts me for who I am regardless of how I’ve treated Him. I just have to get over myself and come to Him vulnerable and childlike. I know that I am not worthy of His love and acceptance of me, which is why it is hard to accept it. But I do know that He wants to watch over and protect me.

So, why do I fight it?