Sweatin' the Small Stuff

I have this horrible problem of constantly misplacing my wallet which leads me to panic a little inside because my thinking is that I lost my wallet and now someone can take my identity. Even as I typed that last sentence my chest sank in fear and I padded the right side of my butt just to check if I still had my wallet on me.

Whenever I misplace my wallet I tend to be a little dramatic. You could probably never tell on the outside but on the inside I AM FREAKING OUT. My mind and heart start racing and I think of all the horrible (sometimes unrealistic) possibilities of what could happen if the wrong person grabbed a hold of my wallet. When I am in the midst of my freak out I become irritable, I become short with people, and am not as nice as I know I could be to people who try to help me. I become unpleasant.

Its been about a year now since my last freak out. That's because God humbled me.

Right before I was about to leave the house I was doing my regular mental check list of the things I needed for work. (Phone? Check. Keys? Check. Wallet? . . . panic.) Inside of my wallet was the key that I needed to open up the place I was working at. Without my wallet we couldn't open up the store and I had maybe just ten minutes to find my wallet so I could open up the store on time.

I started flipping couch cushions, unfolding blankets, moving couches, and questioning everyone in the house about where my wallet was last seen. I tried to retrace my steps in my mind but I couldn't even remember if I had it on me last night. My wallet was nowhere to be found and I had no clue about where it could be.

That's when I calmed myself down and started praying.

I began to say to God, "I am sorry about my actions, Father. You know my need, Lord. I need to find my wallet but I am going to give you all of my anxieties, Lord . . ." As I was praying I was walking to my room one last time.  I placed my hands on the edge of the bed and began to kneel. On my way down to my knees I felt something under the mangled blankets I was throwing around on my bed. I lifted my blanket and there she was!

Even though my anxiety was blinding me from seeing my wallet right in front of me God made it clear to me that all my worrying was for nothing. My anxiety was foolish. I should not be sweating the small stuff.

Here are some verses on casting our anxieties on our Father:

Philippians 4:5-6
1 Peter 5:7
Matthew 6:27
Matthew 6:31-33
Lamentations 3:23

Fighting

There are times where we can feel so stressed and burdened by what is going on around us that it can actually drive us to complete silence with God. It's as if our own sin is acting as a gag on us completely keeping us from crying out to God. We start feeling like we are bound by sin and evil, unable to find our joy in God again. Unable to pray.

I was having a conversation with David Borrego (literally an hour before typing this) about stresses and finding joy again. He said to me, "See, what I do is just think about Jesus. I think about what the Gospel is as a whole. I try to fight the good fight. John Piper talks about fighting for joy and that's what I do I fight everyday."

That is exactly what I needed to hear. Lately, whenever I have been praying I felt as if I wasn't getting my point across or voicing my needs to God. But The Spirit knew exactly what I was trying to say even though I couldn't piece together the words, God understood what I was praying for (Romans 8:26). God, through David, told me to keeping fighting, to keep fighting for joy everyday. I have to remember what Christ did for the world and to be filled by this truth.



Here is a great blog post by Ray Ortlund about the inability to pray and how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/06/14/when-you-cant-even-pray/ . This influenced the blog today.

Righteous Headbanging!

I am a lover of all kinds of art that glorifies God. That includes metal. I understand that this might not be everyone's cup of tea but this is actually a ministry that glorifies God. This ministry has actually been a light in such a dark place that is the metal scene. Thank God for this metal ministry.

Now here is your new music of the month! Exiting The Fall!

They Will Say . . .

They will say . . . "You'll get over this. "

They will say . . . "You're still the same. Now lets get back to were we were."

They will say . . . "Like all those other times this fad will pass."


I will say . . . "I will remain in the light of His love."

"What Jesus Did Do" Not "WWJD"

Starting off my walk as a christian I felt so inadequate. Not even the signature phrase "What would Jesus do" applied to me, because I had no idea what Jesus would do! I was just starting to read my bible! I had no knowledge of all the teachings of Jesus or even the most basic stories of the Old Testament.

This motivated me to become like a sponge. I soaked up all the knowledge I could by YouTube-ing sermons, reading blogs, reading books, and learning what was actually in my bible.

But Jody and Jimmy, respectively, both taught me something. Jody's sermon series Start Dancing, Stop Marching (Which could be found on our website and Podcast! Check it!) taught me I needed to start enjoying God's glory and to stop being so religious in my reading. And just this past Sunday Jimmy said "It's not WWJD but it's What Jesus Did Do!"

Jesus died so I am free to act on what God has instructed me, and us, to do! Through His death and resurrection I am free to love! I am now dancing with Christ!

I Will Remain In the Light of Your Love

I will try and post new music from up and coming christian artists at least once a month. Now get into Thad Kopec! Go download the new album for free from Noisetrade.com

Adopted

This past weekend we as Love City Church served in Our Calling Ministries in Downtown Dallas. We helped give out clothing, tooth brushes, water, and we got to worship with some of the homeless in Dallas. We were also encouraged to build relationships with these people and to share God's truth with them.

 I approached one of the homeless men there and asked him where he was from and his name. He said, "Oh, I'm nobody." He said this with all sincerity. This broke my heart.

I knew if he accepted Christ he could see that we become someone because we are adopted into God's family.

When we think about the gospel we often forget this element of our salvation (I am guilty of this as well). This idea of adoption shows us that God accepts sinners as his sons and daughters. Our salvation does not just save us from spending eternity from God but make us a part of a great community that is God. We become someone in God's family!

We are all adopted!