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Last night we did a service with our youth that was all about bringing heaven to earth. Like in the Lords prayer “on earth as it is in heaven.” We really want to be a place where God is dwelling. Like in heaven.
We had 3 of our youth give testimonies.
One about harmful relationships; mom, dad, members of the opposite sex. That kind of stuff.
One about Addictions; drugs, alcohol.
One about emotional pain; guilt, worthlessness, failure and the results of those like…cutting and how you can view yourself in a negative way.
As I listened to these testimonies I began to see that each one was a form of escape. What one girl did with guys made her feel better about herself. What a guy was addicted to helped him forget the pain of his life. Another girl cut herself to release her pain, but each one found that it only plunged them deeper into their guilt, pain and feelings of worthlessness.
All of these were an attempt at escaping pain, escaping reality. They desired to escape the reality that their life had become by covering it with something that only proved to make it worse.
We desire to see these youth embrace reality and not run from it. Embrace the reality that their life can be changed by the power of God. Teach them that we don’t need to escape reality, we need to embrace it. That heaven can be on earth. That we can trade hell on earth for heaven on earth. That God can take our pains and we can trade them for His healing, joy, peace and freedom.
Well today is Wednesday and i am on vacation. No real exciting news. I’ve just been knee boarding, eating, fishing, tubing, eating and of course napping. (eating is twice b/c it is an awesome part of vacation). The good life right.
I think this is the good life only b/c i dont do it all the time. I put in the hours, live for a purpose, invest in my family and work for the goals that God has given me. Vacation is only the Good life when the rest of the time is used for meaning. I reall think God blesses the time you take off when you are faithful with the “little things”.
I reallly try to stay faithful to God and to my family. I’m not always the greatest, but you can bet you pants i am going to try my hardest.
God is pretty good at what he does. If we follow his plans it is all going to work out.
When i was a kids pastor we had serveral rules that all the kids memorized so that we could keep the chaos to a minimum. One of them was: Don’t be a space invader. I really liked this rule b/c: 1. no aliens alowed in class and 2. no matter what, one kid couldn’t affect another kid’s personal space. We had them stretch their arms around and make a bubble for them to stay in and that is where they had to stay until the end of class.
This last sunday Pastor Scott (our senior pastor) shared a quote. I really liked it and agree with it completely. It defines how we should be in awe of God’s greatness and respect his personal space. His personal space is like a really really big bubble and if we try to say that we understand it or have a complete understanding …well we are wrong.
The quote is as follows:
“It is just as blasphemous to define God as it is to deny God.”
As I am writing this I am thinking, did I spell blasphemous right? But then I forget that and hone in on the areas of my life that I tend to define God. When I pray am I trying to say the right thing to force God’s hand in my favor? Do I define him in my interpretation of His word? am I limiting God’s personal space or His ability to work in my life when I try to define Him?
Dont get me wrong. God is a personal God and loves to have us near, but he doesnt want us to put him in a box or a bubble of our own understanding. Just b/c we dont understand doesnt mean He can’t do it that way.
Just a thought.
