Tag Archives: God

God’s crazy love for us

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Crazy Love

Isn’t it great that God that is absolutely crazy about us? He is! No matter how we screw up, He’s always going to love us. We’ve proved over and over that we can’t handle things. But God’s always had things under control.

And because he is so crazy about us, we don’t have to be hung up on ourselves! We are free!

We don’t have to look out for what we think our best interests are. God knows what is best and is providing for us.

We don’t have to be selfish. There’s plenty of God’s love to go around!

We are free to focus our attention on loving others and meeting needs because of God’s love for us.

His love is steady and overflowing. He is crazy about all of us!

How do you feel free because of God’s love?

Living between the highs and lows

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Elation. Gut-wrenching grief.

Rich. Poor.

Sickness. Health.

Good. Evil.

Sometimes it amazes me how polar opposites exist at the same time in the world.

I remember vividly one day when I was at the end of my rope. I had been very sad for a long time, and I was pretty much at my low point. I was sitting at an intersection in my car thinking about myself and my problems and was on the verge of tears when a truck full of guys rounded the corner. And every single guy in the car was cracking up laughing. Like they were having a blast. Like they’d all just heard the funniest joke. They had huge smiles on their faces. They seemed really happy.

That’s when it hit me. How in the world can such highs and lows exist in the world at the same time? My world tends to revolve around me and how I feel, so this was a big eye-opener. And I think about these differences quite a bit.

But most of the time, we live in the middle. We live in the space between highs and lows. Rich and poor. Sickness and health. Good and evil.

The good news is that God is in all of it. He’s always with us, and he’s walking through it with us. We are fully loved no matter where we are.

I crave authenticity

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I crave authenticity, honesty and truth. I’ve had my fill of the other stuff, and I yearn to be around people who are real. Who aren’t afraid to be themselves. And I am trying to be real too.

Authenticity is different. It is rare. It is beautiful.

God wants us to be authentic too.

I’ve always been pretty open and honest with God in my prayers, but lately I’ve been trying to step up my authenticity even more. I think God wants that from me and is asking/pushing me to be more authentic. He just wants me to be myself.

A few weekends ago, I decided that I wanted to spend some time talking to God out loud just like I was talking to a friend in the room. I realized pretty quickly on that I sounded really churchy, and I didn’t like it. I don’t think there is anything necessarily wrong with churchy language, but it bothered me. Because that’s not really me. That’s not really how I would talk to my best friend. God knows me and likes me for who I am, so I think he wants me to be me with him.

So I changed up my language a little bit throwing some things like “God you are freaking awesome”, etc. in there, and I was good. I felt better.

Now understand that in changing my language a little, I’m still praising God. Honoring and respecting him. I’m just doing it in my own personal way. When you grow up in church, it’s hard to break the mold on what you’ve always known or done. We think there’s only one right way to do things. But it’s OK to change things up. It’s healthy and a part of growing to want to try doing things a little differently.

I’m glad God loves me just the way I am and yearns for a closer, more authentic relationship with me. I want that too!

And that is freaking awesome!

How do you find yourself working toward more authenticity in your walk with God?

And the wall came tumbling down

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Year by year. Month by month. Day by day. Little by little, the wall was built. Carefully, each stone had been set into place.

My heart was a well guarded fort. My defenses were up. It was a hard structure. Envied by others for its strength. I thought it was really good at protecting. A great structure to behold. And for the most part, it was. That’s what I had made it for. That was its job! I took pride in that wall.

That wall doesn’t stand anymore. It’s gone. Some wrecking balls showed up and smashed it. Obliterated it. Destroyed it. No wall remains. The fragments of the wall were hauled away. The hauling away was a lot of tireless work. Back breaking work. But finally, it was all gone.

Sometimes I miss that wall. It was an old friend. There is temptation to start rebuilding. Some days I just want some protection. Some days it just seems like things would be easier if I had a wall again. Some days it’s just plain nostalgia.

But I’ve come to realize that without the wall, I have an awesome view! I just couldn’t see it before. I was crouched down hiding behind the wall, so I missed out on so much beauty beyond the wall. I thought the wall was beautiful, but so much more beauty is out there on the other side. And with no wall anymore, the view is great! It’s absolutely stunning! Breathtaking!

Oh, and the fresh air is nice too. It was really stuffy in my fortress. Not very pleasant. It’s nice to be able to take deep breaths of good, clean air. I feel like I can finally breathe again.

So I choose daily, monthly, yearly not to rebuild. I remind myself of the perks of no wall. Of the damage that the wall created. Of the freeing feeling when it finally fell.

I didn’t choose to have the wall destroyed, but I’m glad it was. I’m glad it’s gone. I feel free, and I’m enjoying the adventure on the other side of the wall.

Mother Teresa, Billy Graham…and My New Friend, Bob

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I had the opportunity to write a post for our church’s blog yesterday.  It’s a fun story, so I wanted to share it here too!

As we began the Becoming a Contagious Christian series, I thought a lot about what a contagious Christian looks like. I wanted to be able to identify people who are contagious Christians.

A few big names stand out.  Mother Teresa, Billy Graham…and then there’s my new friend, Bob.

I met Bob at Starbucks yesterday.  I was out of town, so before I headed home, I wanted to get a coffee and read a little bit.  I got my coffee and then found a really comfortable seat near the front door.  I sat down and was about to get out my book, when the guy sitting next to me asked what day it was.  I told him it was Sunday the 2nd, and he seemed all flustered and said he had somehow lost a day.  He thought it was Saturday.  I thought the guy must have been a little nutty.  (Turns out he had worked all day on Saturday and just got mixed up in his days.)  I can’t remember the next thing he said, but we spent the next hour and a half talking about our lives, God and faith.  Here’s a little bit of Bob’s story:

Bob grew up in Lake Tahoe and did not know about Jesus until he was 22.  He was working for the MGM Grand in Reno and had a friend who had just gone to a Billy Graham crusade who accepted Christ there.  This friend started reading his Bible during his breaks, and was a noticeably changed man.  After watching a movie one night that mentioned God, Bob couldn’t get God off his mind and wanted to learn more.  So he turned to his new Christian friend.  His friend said he didn’t really know all that much since he was a new Christian, but he gave Bob his Bible and a paper explaining how to become a Christian.  Bob went home, read the Bible, wept bitterly for a long time that night, and accepted Christ as his savior.

This started a lifelong love of scripture.  Bob loves the Word of God.  He has gone through countless really hard things in his life (the deaths of 2 children, the loss of a marriage, cancer, etc.), but he clings to the Word of God and his faith.

Bob has friends that he is praying will come to know Christ, and he talks to his friends about God.  He was going to a Super Bowl party last night at the house of one of his friends that he prays for, and he was hoping they would be able to talk more about God.

His non-Christian friends call him “Jesus crazy”.  They know that he loves them unconditionally despite some of the crazy things they do.  And they love him even though he is “Jesus crazy”.

Bob and I were both blown away by the conversation we had just had.  I don’t know Bob’s last name, and I’ll probably never see him again, but he touched my life.  And I had the chance to touch his life and encourage him.  As we stood up to leave, we gave each other a big hug and went our own way.

I am thankful that I got to meet Bob.  I am encouraged by his boldness to show the world his love for God.  I’m glad I decided to sit in that chair at Starbucks.

Who do you know that you would call a Contagious Christian?