God is so good, I know I say that all the time but it's because it's so true! He always knows exactly what we need and when we need it. Tonight I really was feeling tired and worn down from two very busy weeks, I haven't felt like I had much time to come up for air. I have been waking up at 4am to get in some quality time with God in the mornings and start my day off right; needless to say it's been wearing me out a little bit. I really just needed some rest and restoration and He gave that to me tonight.
God provided a time of fellowship and encouragement that I desperately needed, I really can't comprehend being a secluded Christian. I can't imagine not having the love and encouragement of at least one fellow believer around me occasionally at very least. I am so fed and renewed from spending time in fellowship with other believers, it gives me such motivation and joy. When I can openly talk about Christ and what He is doing in my life and receive encouragement and loving feedback; when I can actually have a conversation with someone about God; it is so amazing, it just makes me over joyed.
It's so nice to be able to tell someone all your hopes and dreams, the plans God has for you, and to have them share in your joy and excitement. I know we should be able to talk about Christ to anyone, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy conversation with believers as well. I would argue it is completely necessary to have fellowship, God even says that where more than two are gathered He is there also, we were not made to be alone. We were created for contact with other people, we are meant first and foremost to share the gospel with those who don't know it and to strive to be Christ-like. We are called to love people, people are also called to love us; it's ok to receive sometimes too, it is acceptable to be fed and encouraged and ministered to. The key is letting God lead you into times of ministering and times of being ministered to; to know when to graciously accept from others and when to selflessly give.
I am so excited for the things God has in store for me in my life, I know that He has some big plans for His Kingdom through me. I pray that I listen and seek Him in everything that I do; I can't wait to see His promises continue to come to life in me.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Just Do It
I don't know how many other people feel this way but I know that sometimes when I know I should be praying I find myself feeling like I am against a wall, kind of like writers block. Sometimes I just feel like I need to have a prepared speech before I pray, of course that isn't true. I know that I don't actually need to prepare or rehearse anything to say to God, He just wants me to talk to Him.
Sometimes I just don't know where to start my conversations with Him, once I get talking I can usually just keep on talking for a little while. I find a good place to start is always with praise and thanksgiving, just telling Him how good He is and how much I love Him. I thank Him for breath of life a lot, I think I do that because it is so basic to us to breathe, it's something we don't even think about. He has to either give or take away our breath so, every day that I wake up I thank Him for giving me breath and giving me the opportunity to further His Kingdom for another day.
Even after I start talking sometimes I find myself at a loss for words, I think a lot of times I feel like He already knows everything so what's the point of talking to Him about it. I came to the revelation tonight that sometimes just talking to God about what is going on in your life, telling Him about your day, telling Him about your problems; it really helps to get the conversation going. I think that is why I find that God speaks to me more when I write in my journal; I am writing about the things that He is doing, about things in my life, He responds when I talk to Him about things.
God does already know everything, He knew long before you were born the exact moment that you would enter this world and the exact moment you will leave it, and everything in between. Although, He knows all of this He still wants to talk to us, He wants to help us through these things. When we don't talk to Him we are just blindly walking through life without direction; it would be like driving to the opposite side of the country and never asking the person in the passenger seat to tell you what the map says. God has the map of our lives and we don't know all the answers; talking to Him, seeking His guidance, and His direction allows us glimpses into the future and keeps us from going astray or getting distracted.
Still other times prayer just overwhelms me, I feel like everyone wants me to pray for them (and I'm not even a pastor or a leader, I can't imagine how they feel). Don't misunderstand me here, it's not that I don't want to pray for people, I do, I just want it to be heartfelt and meaningful when I do. I put to much pressure on myself though, I make up all these crazy rules that make me feel guilty if I don't pray long enough for someone or if I simply forget to pray for them. I never want anyone to ask me for prayer and not receive it, now that I think about it I should never ever have trouble finding something to talk to God about because there are always a bunch of people that need prayer. The focus of our prayers all too often begins "God please help ME with..." maybe we should spend a little less time sending up requests on our own behalf and spend way more time praying for others.
I believe the Lord wants to raise up an entire nation of intercessors; not just people who pray when they have a bad day or think they may die; not just people who pray for themselves or their families. God wants to see people love their neighbor as themselves, pray for other people at least as much as you pray for yourself, I believe God will reward us and those we are praying for greatly for this. He wants us to pray with conviction and belief that His promises with come to pass. Every tongue shall confess, every knee will bow; there are entire nations and people groups that have never heard of His love, there are people here in our own country that have never been told what Jesus did for them. If we can find nothing else to pray for, pray for the salvation of your brothers and sisters across the world, across the nations, across our country, across the street, across the hall, maybe even across the room. I know that I want there to be less of me and more of Him, I want to put others before myself, I want to love all people. God wants to hear people love each other so much that we don't even think about our problems when we are praying, all we can think is that there are 100 other people we know that need prayer on their behalf.
Think about it this way, we have a direct line to God twenty-four hours a day seven days a week, we have plenty of time to petition on our own behalf. There are so many people out there who don't even know Him, they don't know they can ask for His help, those people are dependent on us to pray on their behalf because it is something they cannot do for themselves until they have a personal relationship with Him. I am not suggesting that we never pray for ourselves or talk to God about our own relationship with Him. That is very important, we cannot be of use to others if we don't have a good relationship with Him and maintain that relationship. We have to remain spiritually fed to be able to share with others. Even Jesus took time to pray alone and spend time with His Father, we too should spend quality time with our Father. Sometimes you just need to get really close to Him, be quiet, be still, and listen for Him to whisper into your soul.
Father please forgive me for my lack of communication with you, please show me the opportunities to pray and talk to you that I am missing every day. I love you Lord, I praise you for all you have done, are doing, and will do in the future. I pray that I find new opportunities to talk to you more and more every day, I want to pray without ceasing. I want to hear your voice constantly, I want my heart to become like your heart.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Sometimes I just don't know where to start my conversations with Him, once I get talking I can usually just keep on talking for a little while. I find a good place to start is always with praise and thanksgiving, just telling Him how good He is and how much I love Him. I thank Him for breath of life a lot, I think I do that because it is so basic to us to breathe, it's something we don't even think about. He has to either give or take away our breath so, every day that I wake up I thank Him for giving me breath and giving me the opportunity to further His Kingdom for another day.
Even after I start talking sometimes I find myself at a loss for words, I think a lot of times I feel like He already knows everything so what's the point of talking to Him about it. I came to the revelation tonight that sometimes just talking to God about what is going on in your life, telling Him about your day, telling Him about your problems; it really helps to get the conversation going. I think that is why I find that God speaks to me more when I write in my journal; I am writing about the things that He is doing, about things in my life, He responds when I talk to Him about things.
God does already know everything, He knew long before you were born the exact moment that you would enter this world and the exact moment you will leave it, and everything in between. Although, He knows all of this He still wants to talk to us, He wants to help us through these things. When we don't talk to Him we are just blindly walking through life without direction; it would be like driving to the opposite side of the country and never asking the person in the passenger seat to tell you what the map says. God has the map of our lives and we don't know all the answers; talking to Him, seeking His guidance, and His direction allows us glimpses into the future and keeps us from going astray or getting distracted.
Still other times prayer just overwhelms me, I feel like everyone wants me to pray for them (and I'm not even a pastor or a leader, I can't imagine how they feel). Don't misunderstand me here, it's not that I don't want to pray for people, I do, I just want it to be heartfelt and meaningful when I do. I put to much pressure on myself though, I make up all these crazy rules that make me feel guilty if I don't pray long enough for someone or if I simply forget to pray for them. I never want anyone to ask me for prayer and not receive it, now that I think about it I should never ever have trouble finding something to talk to God about because there are always a bunch of people that need prayer. The focus of our prayers all too often begins "God please help ME with..." maybe we should spend a little less time sending up requests on our own behalf and spend way more time praying for others.
I believe the Lord wants to raise up an entire nation of intercessors; not just people who pray when they have a bad day or think they may die; not just people who pray for themselves or their families. God wants to see people love their neighbor as themselves, pray for other people at least as much as you pray for yourself, I believe God will reward us and those we are praying for greatly for this. He wants us to pray with conviction and belief that His promises with come to pass. Every tongue shall confess, every knee will bow; there are entire nations and people groups that have never heard of His love, there are people here in our own country that have never been told what Jesus did for them. If we can find nothing else to pray for, pray for the salvation of your brothers and sisters across the world, across the nations, across our country, across the street, across the hall, maybe even across the room. I know that I want there to be less of me and more of Him, I want to put others before myself, I want to love all people. God wants to hear people love each other so much that we don't even think about our problems when we are praying, all we can think is that there are 100 other people we know that need prayer on their behalf.
Think about it this way, we have a direct line to God twenty-four hours a day seven days a week, we have plenty of time to petition on our own behalf. There are so many people out there who don't even know Him, they don't know they can ask for His help, those people are dependent on us to pray on their behalf because it is something they cannot do for themselves until they have a personal relationship with Him. I am not suggesting that we never pray for ourselves or talk to God about our own relationship with Him. That is very important, we cannot be of use to others if we don't have a good relationship with Him and maintain that relationship. We have to remain spiritually fed to be able to share with others. Even Jesus took time to pray alone and spend time with His Father, we too should spend quality time with our Father. Sometimes you just need to get really close to Him, be quiet, be still, and listen for Him to whisper into your soul.
Father please forgive me for my lack of communication with you, please show me the opportunities to pray and talk to you that I am missing every day. I love you Lord, I praise you for all you have done, are doing, and will do in the future. I pray that I find new opportunities to talk to you more and more every day, I want to pray without ceasing. I want to hear your voice constantly, I want my heart to become like your heart.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T
Calling someone dependent in today's world is one of the worst things you can say, we pride ourselves on being independent, being able to take care of ourselves. Especially in America, we don't ever want to admit that we need anyone or anything else to be happy, healthy, and successful. We like to think that the other people and things in our life are all there by our choice and that we have complete control over them and the situations. There are songs, books, seminars, and a whole slew of other things out there to help you become independent and completely self-sufficient.
I was one of those people who claimed to be independent, for several reasons, mainly because I felt I couldn't depend on anyone else. After enough times being disappointed, let down, broken promises, and abandonment you learn from the world's standards that the only thing you can rely on is yourself. You learn not to let anyone else hold the keys to your success, future, or heart; they never care as much as you do. I was always fairly mature for my age and felt the need to "mother" others around me, especially my little sister. My earthly father was never there, especially not when I needed him most. None of my boyfriends or my ex-husband ever protected me or cared for me either. The military was always a fend for yourself environment, from the beginning. The world taught me over and over again that people are just a let down and so you shouldn't put any faith or trust in anyone.
I had a revelation a few days ago that dependence is not the enemy, we just choose to be dependent on the wrong things. God created us to be dependent, we are supposed to be dependent on Him though, not this world or anything of it. We are to be dead to the things of this world and alive in Him; He is the one thing I know I can always rely on. God will never ever let me down, He can never disappoint me, He always protects me, He always loves me, and He never deserts me. The world has caused me to be so cynical about depending on anyone or anything that it made it hard for me to let go and rely completely on God. It's difficult to go from distrusting everyone and everything to putting your everything, all of your trust and life in the hands of someone you can't even see. The funny part is that no matter how independent any of us feel that we are, we will always be dependent on Him; without Him we would not be alive, only He can give or take away breath of life.
So, how do I embrace this dependence and learn to trust Him with my everything. The first part for me was realizing that it's not MY everything, it's HIS everything. I am just a steward of the gifts He gives me, I am alive because of Him, everything I have, had, or will have is all because of Him. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me, nothing I do is by my own strength. When you learn that you are really capable of nothing, you also learn you are capable of anything and everything through Him and so you have more power than you ever had before. It's amazing how giving up yourself, giving up your attempt at strength, it makes you stronger and gives you more than you ever could have had on your own. I don't want to be what this world considers as a successful, strong, independent woman; I want to be a dependent, weak, servant of my Father. My desire is to be useful to Him, to go where He leads, to expand His Kingdom on earth.
Maybe the world thinks dependence is a terrible thing, and I can agree that dependence on this world is a terrible thing and you will most definitely be let down if that is what you rely on. However, I rely on the most high King and His destiny for me, His power through me, and His love for me. He will never disappoint me, and I think depending on the Creator of the universe to take care of my life is putting everything in safe hands. I can't imagine a better place to put my complete trust. So, I am grateful for my dependence on Him, I pray it grows daily, that I give up more of me for more of Him every chance I get.
Thank you for being dependable in and undependable world Lord, you are my rock, my fortress, and my shelter. I love you with all that is within me, with every breath I breathe make me more like you and less like me.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
I was one of those people who claimed to be independent, for several reasons, mainly because I felt I couldn't depend on anyone else. After enough times being disappointed, let down, broken promises, and abandonment you learn from the world's standards that the only thing you can rely on is yourself. You learn not to let anyone else hold the keys to your success, future, or heart; they never care as much as you do. I was always fairly mature for my age and felt the need to "mother" others around me, especially my little sister. My earthly father was never there, especially not when I needed him most. None of my boyfriends or my ex-husband ever protected me or cared for me either. The military was always a fend for yourself environment, from the beginning. The world taught me over and over again that people are just a let down and so you shouldn't put any faith or trust in anyone.
I had a revelation a few days ago that dependence is not the enemy, we just choose to be dependent on the wrong things. God created us to be dependent, we are supposed to be dependent on Him though, not this world or anything of it. We are to be dead to the things of this world and alive in Him; He is the one thing I know I can always rely on. God will never ever let me down, He can never disappoint me, He always protects me, He always loves me, and He never deserts me. The world has caused me to be so cynical about depending on anyone or anything that it made it hard for me to let go and rely completely on God. It's difficult to go from distrusting everyone and everything to putting your everything, all of your trust and life in the hands of someone you can't even see. The funny part is that no matter how independent any of us feel that we are, we will always be dependent on Him; without Him we would not be alive, only He can give or take away breath of life.
So, how do I embrace this dependence and learn to trust Him with my everything. The first part for me was realizing that it's not MY everything, it's HIS everything. I am just a steward of the gifts He gives me, I am alive because of Him, everything I have, had, or will have is all because of Him. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me, nothing I do is by my own strength. When you learn that you are really capable of nothing, you also learn you are capable of anything and everything through Him and so you have more power than you ever had before. It's amazing how giving up yourself, giving up your attempt at strength, it makes you stronger and gives you more than you ever could have had on your own. I don't want to be what this world considers as a successful, strong, independent woman; I want to be a dependent, weak, servant of my Father. My desire is to be useful to Him, to go where He leads, to expand His Kingdom on earth.
Maybe the world thinks dependence is a terrible thing, and I can agree that dependence on this world is a terrible thing and you will most definitely be let down if that is what you rely on. However, I rely on the most high King and His destiny for me, His power through me, and His love for me. He will never disappoint me, and I think depending on the Creator of the universe to take care of my life is putting everything in safe hands. I can't imagine a better place to put my complete trust. So, I am grateful for my dependence on Him, I pray it grows daily, that I give up more of me for more of Him every chance I get.
Thank you for being dependable in and undependable world Lord, you are my rock, my fortress, and my shelter. I love you with all that is within me, with every breath I breathe make me more like you and less like me.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Monday, February 22, 2010
Slummin'
I love how God can pick me up out of my most depressing or sad moment and turn it around into a moment of joy in Him. I have been a little bummed out, just having ups and downs over the last few days and I couldn't seem to shake the funk I was in. I knew exactly why I was feeling off too, I haven't been in the word or prayer as much as usual and so I feel like I am not as close to God and that makes me feel bummed out.
We can all make excuses for why we don't have time for God, we all have very busy lives that allow for little to no time spent with our Creator. I can't imagine what it feels like to watch your children ignore you for days, weeks, months, even years for some. I can't imagine loving and caring for someone the way God cares about each of us; I really can't imagine how he does it when we don't even spend a moment to say thank you and tell Him we love Him. The real crazy part is when we do take that time He rewards us so greatly, there has never been a time when I prayed or read my bible and then thought "dang I wish I wouldn't have done that, or man I just wasted my time". I can for sure say I have thought those things after spending time on the computer or watching TV and I realize how much life I just wasted mindlessly participating in the world. I just don't want to mindlessly participate in anything, I believe that God created me with a destiny. When He gave me a future and a destiny in Him, He gave me something to look forward to and strive towards every day. I want to always be purposefully striving towards Him, I don't want to waste time with things that don't glorify Him and things that take away from my time with Him.
I love my Father daughter time and I wouldn't give it up for anything or everything in the whole world, He is the greatest thing I have ever received. I just needed to be reminded how much He loves me and misses me when I don't spend enough time with Him, that quickly pulled me out of my slump into His arms. His arms is the best place in the whole world to be, I love to feel His comfort and love around me, to know that He loves me. It's weird how I can honestly feel like he physically protects me, holds me, loves me, I can really feel a change in myself when His presence is around me like that.
Sometimes you even know that if you would just get in the word and pray your mood would change drastically and you would be out of whatever bummed out mood you are in. Yet, many times we continue to suffer rather than ask for His help or just spend time praising Him. We are stubborn and you can pray and read the word all day but if you aren't putting your heart into it and actually trying to participate in a relationship with Him then you aren't going to get anything out of it. I find that sometimes I am praying and I don't really believe what I am saying, I am just saying it because it's what I know I should say. When this happens I try to just get quiet and imagine God's amazingness in my life and remind myself why I believe in His words, why I have faith in Him, why I am so utterly and completely in love with Him. It really helps to get my heart in the right place to communicate with Him and just bring myself to the throne and get renewed and refreshed in Him.
I am blessed beyond belief to have the most amazing Father in the whole universe who can always make His daughter's day brighter just because He is who He says He is and He always will be.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
We can all make excuses for why we don't have time for God, we all have very busy lives that allow for little to no time spent with our Creator. I can't imagine what it feels like to watch your children ignore you for days, weeks, months, even years for some. I can't imagine loving and caring for someone the way God cares about each of us; I really can't imagine how he does it when we don't even spend a moment to say thank you and tell Him we love Him. The real crazy part is when we do take that time He rewards us so greatly, there has never been a time when I prayed or read my bible and then thought "dang I wish I wouldn't have done that, or man I just wasted my time". I can for sure say I have thought those things after spending time on the computer or watching TV and I realize how much life I just wasted mindlessly participating in the world. I just don't want to mindlessly participate in anything, I believe that God created me with a destiny. When He gave me a future and a destiny in Him, He gave me something to look forward to and strive towards every day. I want to always be purposefully striving towards Him, I don't want to waste time with things that don't glorify Him and things that take away from my time with Him.
I love my Father daughter time and I wouldn't give it up for anything or everything in the whole world, He is the greatest thing I have ever received. I just needed to be reminded how much He loves me and misses me when I don't spend enough time with Him, that quickly pulled me out of my slump into His arms. His arms is the best place in the whole world to be, I love to feel His comfort and love around me, to know that He loves me. It's weird how I can honestly feel like he physically protects me, holds me, loves me, I can really feel a change in myself when His presence is around me like that.
Sometimes you even know that if you would just get in the word and pray your mood would change drastically and you would be out of whatever bummed out mood you are in. Yet, many times we continue to suffer rather than ask for His help or just spend time praising Him. We are stubborn and you can pray and read the word all day but if you aren't putting your heart into it and actually trying to participate in a relationship with Him then you aren't going to get anything out of it. I find that sometimes I am praying and I don't really believe what I am saying, I am just saying it because it's what I know I should say. When this happens I try to just get quiet and imagine God's amazingness in my life and remind myself why I believe in His words, why I have faith in Him, why I am so utterly and completely in love with Him. It really helps to get my heart in the right place to communicate with Him and just bring myself to the throne and get renewed and refreshed in Him.
I am blessed beyond belief to have the most amazing Father in the whole universe who can always make His daughter's day brighter just because He is who He says He is and He always will be.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Saturday, February 20, 2010
You Were Born For Such A Time As This
There is a worship song by Jake Hamilton (who is amazing by the way), there is a line in it that says, "wake up child it's your turn to shine, you were born for such a time as this." It really hits me hard because it speaks so strongly about the plan God has for each of us. We were all born specifically at the time we were because he created us to live in that time, nothing He does is by accident.
I think if people knew that God had a plan for us to be born at a specific time and place that they would have a better understanding of His love for us. He didn't make any of us by accident, regardless of how your or what your parents did to bring you into this world, it really doesn't matter very much compared to the fact that God planned for you to be here. I think that is WAY more amazing than any parent's plans, or lack there of, to have children; can you believe that God actually planned from the very beginning for your life?!? I don't know about you but that is a pretty humbling thought to me; the God that created the universe also created me! Not only did God take the time to create me, He took the time to write my life story. When I say that God created me and you, He didn't just create people and then we multiplied for generations and here we are. Although, that did happen, it was all part of God's plan from the very beginning; He had perfect plans for your life from your creation until He calls you home to Him.
God is just so good, He knew exactly the time we were meant to be here, every detail of our destiny in Him. He also gave us free will to pursue Him or pursue the things of the enemy and the things of this world. There is no such thing as middle ground, you can't half-heartedly pursue God's destiny; you might think you are but God doesn't like lukewarm, it's hot or cold to Him.Personally if you tell me that I have the chance to write my own life story or I can be obedient to the God of the universe and let Him write it; I choose Him! Either way don't know how that story ends except in His version I know I am going to heaven and I know I have someone in charge that already knows what happens next. When I try to write the story I try to guess what is supposed to happen next; I feel like it turns into "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" there are usually good intentions but I just don't usually make the right decisions all on my own.
I think the song really captures this truth well, not only does it tell us that we were specifically born for this time, and later on it talks about our destiny as well. The song also says for us to "wake up" because "it's your turn to shine", God didn't plan for you to be born and be useless. God planned something amazing for His Kingdom through your life, don't allow the world to ever convince you that you aren't good enough. Who cares if the world thinks you are worthless, my treasures are not here but with my Father, The King, in heaven. I just want to live my life for Him and His glory, it's my time to shine! It's my time to shine His light, expand His Kingdom, and glorify Him in all I do; nothing is about me, it's all about Christ and Him living in me.
Don't ever forget you have a destiny, you were always meant to be born and live this exact time, it's your turn to shine for Him! Don't turn your light off and let the enemy convince you that you aren't meant to shine, God intends for all of His Children to shine His light!
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
I think if people knew that God had a plan for us to be born at a specific time and place that they would have a better understanding of His love for us. He didn't make any of us by accident, regardless of how your or what your parents did to bring you into this world, it really doesn't matter very much compared to the fact that God planned for you to be here. I think that is WAY more amazing than any parent's plans, or lack there of, to have children; can you believe that God actually planned from the very beginning for your life?!? I don't know about you but that is a pretty humbling thought to me; the God that created the universe also created me! Not only did God take the time to create me, He took the time to write my life story. When I say that God created me and you, He didn't just create people and then we multiplied for generations and here we are. Although, that did happen, it was all part of God's plan from the very beginning; He had perfect plans for your life from your creation until He calls you home to Him.
God is just so good, He knew exactly the time we were meant to be here, every detail of our destiny in Him. He also gave us free will to pursue Him or pursue the things of the enemy and the things of this world. There is no such thing as middle ground, you can't half-heartedly pursue God's destiny; you might think you are but God doesn't like lukewarm, it's hot or cold to Him.Personally if you tell me that I have the chance to write my own life story or I can be obedient to the God of the universe and let Him write it; I choose Him! Either way don't know how that story ends except in His version I know I am going to heaven and I know I have someone in charge that already knows what happens next. When I try to write the story I try to guess what is supposed to happen next; I feel like it turns into "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" there are usually good intentions but I just don't usually make the right decisions all on my own.
I think the song really captures this truth well, not only does it tell us that we were specifically born for this time, and later on it talks about our destiny as well. The song also says for us to "wake up" because "it's your turn to shine", God didn't plan for you to be born and be useless. God planned something amazing for His Kingdom through your life, don't allow the world to ever convince you that you aren't good enough. Who cares if the world thinks you are worthless, my treasures are not here but with my Father, The King, in heaven. I just want to live my life for Him and His glory, it's my time to shine! It's my time to shine His light, expand His Kingdom, and glorify Him in all I do; nothing is about me, it's all about Christ and Him living in me.
Don't ever forget you have a destiny, you were always meant to be born and live this exact time, it's your turn to shine for Him! Don't turn your light off and let the enemy convince you that you aren't meant to shine, God intends for all of His Children to shine His light!
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Close, But Not Too Close
As humans we like relationships and contact with other people; I think that most people would even agree that these connections are a necessity. There have been studies done, people require human contact just to stay sane, people don't do very well alone, at least not for long. Yet, we are becoming more and more of a disconnected society; as we connect more electronically (like this blog) we are not forced to connect face to face the way we used to. You can live in complete seclusion if you want; you can work from home, buy anything including groceries online, pay bills online, and have just about anything delivered straight to your door. I don't want to talk about the ways we are disconnected as much as I want to talk about why we are this way.
A few friends of mine have told me that they don't like small churches or small towns for pretty much the same basic reasons: they are too small, everyone knows each other, everyone knows your entire life, every one just knows way too much about everything, more specifically about everyone. I think our shift away from this small church /town environment stems not from a desire for disconnection, I don't even think it stems from a need for privacy, although that's what we tend to call it. I think we desire to not be judged, shunned, or have our reputation and acceptance in the community jeopardized. We all want to be loved and accepted and especially in a smaller environment it is all too easy to judge others and voice that judgement to an entire community. The funny part is the list of reasons that people give for why they don't like the small church or town are not actually what they dislike; if we really think about it, it doesn't matter that everyone knows I buy my groceries on Saturday mornings at Tom's market. We don't care about things like that, we care about people not only judging us but holding us accountable for our lives and our actions.
Judgement is something that we are not supposed to do, in fact God specifically tells us not to judge others less we be judged. I have no right to judge another sinner when that is exactly what I am myself; it's all sin to God no matter what we as people have defined as more or less severe; sin is sin, period. Think of it this way what if someone was eating their fifth double fudge brownie right in front of you and with their mouth full they decided to tell you that you really shouldn't be eating pretzels because the carbs will make you fat, you'd likely be upset. I know this sounds silly but I want to illustrate how ridiculous it is for one sinner to judge another. It just doesn't make sense and you will probably be pretty offended that someone who has blood all over their hands is worried about the drop of blood on yours.
Now that we got the huge obvious reason why people dislike community out of the way, let's talk about the reasons we don't like to admit and maybe don't even realize. We like to keep people at an arms distance, we don't want very many people to get too close to us because then they can hurt us. If you give someone access to your life, and essentially your heart, you give them access to cause you pain and that requires trust. We just don't trust people, mostly because most of us have been hurt by people we loved before and we don't want to feel that way again. I think that judgement is a problem but I think it's really an excuse for fear and lack of trust more than anything. If someone is concerned that we were not in church on Sunday many of us immediately become defensive and feel attacked. I know it sounds crazy but some people actually just love and care about other people; our defensiveness is rooted in the accountability issue. I have been the wounded victim of pain inflicted by a loved one on more than one occasion, I think we all have; I would even say if you haven't then you haven't loved anyone and for that I am truly sorry. I have also hurt people that I love and that love me, not intentionally but it still hurts all the same. I think the real goal is to recognize when you have hurt someone and take responsibility and ask for their forgiveness; likewise, forgive those who have offended you.
I don't think the number of people matters as much as the community aspect does. If as a church you can maintain the community with 10,000 then go for it; I just am not that talented and I can't remember that many names...haha! I challenge all of us to not just live in a small town or attend a small church, I am not suggesting that we all live lives judged by others. I am suggesting that you allow yourself to be held accountable for being the person you proclaim to be in Christ, that means sometimes you mess up and when you do you ask for forgiveness. It also means that those in your community are expected to remind you in a loving manner when you are not living up to those standards, no one enjoys this but in Christ we can learn to humbly accept it and respect the fellow Christian who had the courage to hold us accountable. Let me be clear that I am not suggesting the entire community be aware of your every fault or that you are always publicly held accountable. When done properly, in love (I keep saying that because it's the most important aspect to this), accountability is a good thing; it is never done with an intent to embarrass, shame, degrade, or harm the person in anyway. It's not easy to tell someone you love that they need correction in an area, we don't like it but we do it out of love.
I think it's the community itself that we dislike, not the small church or town. We don't want to be required to live our lives in a way we are proud of all the time; we like how easy it is to have a dirty little secret life; more importantly we don't want anyone to point out the incongruence in our lives. It's easy to talk the talk if no one ever has to see you walk the walk. I personally want that community in my life; I want to know who my fellow believers are; I want to know who to look to for support or advice or prayer. I want to be held accountable even when it's not easy, I want someone to love me enough that they refuse to let me stumble because of pride or fear.
So get too close, just be respectful and loving when you do it!
Please love me that much, get close, be my community of believers!
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
A few friends of mine have told me that they don't like small churches or small towns for pretty much the same basic reasons: they are too small, everyone knows each other, everyone knows your entire life, every one just knows way too much about everything, more specifically about everyone. I think our shift away from this small church /town environment stems not from a desire for disconnection, I don't even think it stems from a need for privacy, although that's what we tend to call it. I think we desire to not be judged, shunned, or have our reputation and acceptance in the community jeopardized. We all want to be loved and accepted and especially in a smaller environment it is all too easy to judge others and voice that judgement to an entire community. The funny part is the list of reasons that people give for why they don't like the small church or town are not actually what they dislike; if we really think about it, it doesn't matter that everyone knows I buy my groceries on Saturday mornings at Tom's market. We don't care about things like that, we care about people not only judging us but holding us accountable for our lives and our actions.
Judgement is something that we are not supposed to do, in fact God specifically tells us not to judge others less we be judged. I have no right to judge another sinner when that is exactly what I am myself; it's all sin to God no matter what we as people have defined as more or less severe; sin is sin, period. Think of it this way what if someone was eating their fifth double fudge brownie right in front of you and with their mouth full they decided to tell you that you really shouldn't be eating pretzels because the carbs will make you fat, you'd likely be upset. I know this sounds silly but I want to illustrate how ridiculous it is for one sinner to judge another. It just doesn't make sense and you will probably be pretty offended that someone who has blood all over their hands is worried about the drop of blood on yours.
Now that we got the huge obvious reason why people dislike community out of the way, let's talk about the reasons we don't like to admit and maybe don't even realize. We like to keep people at an arms distance, we don't want very many people to get too close to us because then they can hurt us. If you give someone access to your life, and essentially your heart, you give them access to cause you pain and that requires trust. We just don't trust people, mostly because most of us have been hurt by people we loved before and we don't want to feel that way again. I think that judgement is a problem but I think it's really an excuse for fear and lack of trust more than anything. If someone is concerned that we were not in church on Sunday many of us immediately become defensive and feel attacked. I know it sounds crazy but some people actually just love and care about other people; our defensiveness is rooted in the accountability issue. I have been the wounded victim of pain inflicted by a loved one on more than one occasion, I think we all have; I would even say if you haven't then you haven't loved anyone and for that I am truly sorry. I have also hurt people that I love and that love me, not intentionally but it still hurts all the same. I think the real goal is to recognize when you have hurt someone and take responsibility and ask for their forgiveness; likewise, forgive those who have offended you.
I don't think the number of people matters as much as the community aspect does. If as a church you can maintain the community with 10,000 then go for it; I just am not that talented and I can't remember that many names...haha! I challenge all of us to not just live in a small town or attend a small church, I am not suggesting that we all live lives judged by others. I am suggesting that you allow yourself to be held accountable for being the person you proclaim to be in Christ, that means sometimes you mess up and when you do you ask for forgiveness. It also means that those in your community are expected to remind you in a loving manner when you are not living up to those standards, no one enjoys this but in Christ we can learn to humbly accept it and respect the fellow Christian who had the courage to hold us accountable. Let me be clear that I am not suggesting the entire community be aware of your every fault or that you are always publicly held accountable. When done properly, in love (I keep saying that because it's the most important aspect to this), accountability is a good thing; it is never done with an intent to embarrass, shame, degrade, or harm the person in anyway. It's not easy to tell someone you love that they need correction in an area, we don't like it but we do it out of love.
I think it's the community itself that we dislike, not the small church or town. We don't want to be required to live our lives in a way we are proud of all the time; we like how easy it is to have a dirty little secret life; more importantly we don't want anyone to point out the incongruence in our lives. It's easy to talk the talk if no one ever has to see you walk the walk. I personally want that community in my life; I want to know who my fellow believers are; I want to know who to look to for support or advice or prayer. I want to be held accountable even when it's not easy, I want someone to love me enough that they refuse to let me stumble because of pride or fear.
So get too close, just be respectful and loving when you do it!
Please love me that much, get close, be my community of believers!
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Took Back What he Stole From me
"I went down to the enemy's camp, and I, took back what he stole from me, now he's under my feet!"
Some of you may have heard this song before, It happens to be a favorite of mine for obvious reasons, it's a real triumphant song. I love to sing that song when I feel like God helped me "win" a spiritual battle with pesky Satan; it's like a really sweet victory/fight song.
So anyways, let me tell you why I am talking about this song. God has really spoken a lot of destiny and hope for the future into my life lately, much of it in specific detail; like who, what, when, and where kind of stuff. I feel really blessed that God has spoken so much prophecy into my life, both through other people and directly to me. I am even more blessed that He has given me quite a bit more detail and information than I feel like He normally gives because I needed to see things from prophecy come to life to really really put my faith and trust 100% in Him. Now that He was kind enough to remind me why He can be trusted, not that I should have needed the reminder, I was having a little trouble swimming in faith.
There are a lot of things that God has told me will happen in my life but not for a couple years and because they are a little ways off and because they are pretty amazing; Satan tried to steal them from me. Satan tried to seal my hope and my joy and replace it with doubt and unbelief, I almost let him gain some ground for a minute too. I was feeling a little bummed yesterday and I wasn't sure why at first, then I realized it was because I was having thoughts of doubt about God's plans for me. It's really easy when you feel like God spoke to you for you to jump to doubtful thoughts; thinking things like, what if I'm wrong, what if I made it all up in my head, God doesn't care that much about me, I'm just not good enough etc. These thoughts are planted by the enemy, when I really think about it the words God spoke to me could not have possibly come from anywhere else and I think we can all agree that the words of God are not to be questioned! When I think about His plans for my life and they just seem so big, so overwhelmingly amazing, in my humanity I feel so small and insignificant. I know that I would never have come up with these plans on my own; I just don't have enough confidence; I don't think this highly of myself; only God could think these things were possible, and through Him they are.
I don't have faith in myself, I am human and I mess things up a lot. Maybe I don't mess things up terribly all the time but God is just so much better at handling my life and the whole universe, I can't imagine putting any faith in myself again. It's not that I don't think that I am capable of anything, I am just aware that the only reason I am capable or talented or gifted in any way is through Him. So, this is why I put my faith in Him in me, not just in myself or my abilities because without Him I really don't have much to offer. The thing is the enemy tries to remind me of my inadequacy and then I start to allow those subtle thoughts of doubt creep in and before you know it you are questioning the words God himself spoke into your life.
I have been freed from so many chains and strongholds the enemy used to have over my life and because those lies have been exposed the enemy has no power with those tactics anymore. So he tried some more subtle ways to get into my life and try to gain a footing again, it took me a day or two but I figured out his games and lies and recognized them for what they were. Then I asked God to restore my joy and my hope in Him because I know that anything He has spoken into my life will not return void, God always keeps His promises. God is never wrong, he knows everything I will ever do or ever have done; I think I can trust that when He speaks something about my future it will be accurate. If there is ever anything that is incorrect it is me allowing myself to filter His word rather than just accepting it for exactly what it is.
God is so good, all I had to do was ask and He restored my joy and hope in my future and my destiny through Him. He reminded me that on my own I am not worthy but through Jesus Christ I am crowned a daughter of the King and that makes me worthy of everything He has for me. I need to remain faithful and feed my soul daily with prayer and His word to remind myself that no matter what things look like to me, no matter how much it seems impossible, that through God everything is possible and He works for the good of those who love Him.
Praise God for the future and the destiny He has planned for my life, and yours!!
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Some of you may have heard this song before, It happens to be a favorite of mine for obvious reasons, it's a real triumphant song. I love to sing that song when I feel like God helped me "win" a spiritual battle with pesky Satan; it's like a really sweet victory/fight song.
So anyways, let me tell you why I am talking about this song. God has really spoken a lot of destiny and hope for the future into my life lately, much of it in specific detail; like who, what, when, and where kind of stuff. I feel really blessed that God has spoken so much prophecy into my life, both through other people and directly to me. I am even more blessed that He has given me quite a bit more detail and information than I feel like He normally gives because I needed to see things from prophecy come to life to really really put my faith and trust 100% in Him. Now that He was kind enough to remind me why He can be trusted, not that I should have needed the reminder, I was having a little trouble swimming in faith.
There are a lot of things that God has told me will happen in my life but not for a couple years and because they are a little ways off and because they are pretty amazing; Satan tried to steal them from me. Satan tried to seal my hope and my joy and replace it with doubt and unbelief, I almost let him gain some ground for a minute too. I was feeling a little bummed yesterday and I wasn't sure why at first, then I realized it was because I was having thoughts of doubt about God's plans for me. It's really easy when you feel like God spoke to you for you to jump to doubtful thoughts; thinking things like, what if I'm wrong, what if I made it all up in my head, God doesn't care that much about me, I'm just not good enough etc. These thoughts are planted by the enemy, when I really think about it the words God spoke to me could not have possibly come from anywhere else and I think we can all agree that the words of God are not to be questioned! When I think about His plans for my life and they just seem so big, so overwhelmingly amazing, in my humanity I feel so small and insignificant. I know that I would never have come up with these plans on my own; I just don't have enough confidence; I don't think this highly of myself; only God could think these things were possible, and through Him they are.
I don't have faith in myself, I am human and I mess things up a lot. Maybe I don't mess things up terribly all the time but God is just so much better at handling my life and the whole universe, I can't imagine putting any faith in myself again. It's not that I don't think that I am capable of anything, I am just aware that the only reason I am capable or talented or gifted in any way is through Him. So, this is why I put my faith in Him in me, not just in myself or my abilities because without Him I really don't have much to offer. The thing is the enemy tries to remind me of my inadequacy and then I start to allow those subtle thoughts of doubt creep in and before you know it you are questioning the words God himself spoke into your life.
I have been freed from so many chains and strongholds the enemy used to have over my life and because those lies have been exposed the enemy has no power with those tactics anymore. So he tried some more subtle ways to get into my life and try to gain a footing again, it took me a day or two but I figured out his games and lies and recognized them for what they were. Then I asked God to restore my joy and my hope in Him because I know that anything He has spoken into my life will not return void, God always keeps His promises. God is never wrong, he knows everything I will ever do or ever have done; I think I can trust that when He speaks something about my future it will be accurate. If there is ever anything that is incorrect it is me allowing myself to filter His word rather than just accepting it for exactly what it is.
God is so good, all I had to do was ask and He restored my joy and hope in my future and my destiny through Him. He reminded me that on my own I am not worthy but through Jesus Christ I am crowned a daughter of the King and that makes me worthy of everything He has for me. I need to remain faithful and feed my soul daily with prayer and His word to remind myself that no matter what things look like to me, no matter how much it seems impossible, that through God everything is possible and He works for the good of those who love Him.
Praise God for the future and the destiny He has planned for my life, and yours!!
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Monday, February 15, 2010
God is good- ALL the time
It amazes me every day, usually several times a day, how good God is; He is the definition of good. I think it's just so awesome that we have a God that never has ill intentions towards us; He always loves us, He always cares for us; He is always after our hearts. The crazy part about God being after our hearts is that He doesn't need us, He actually wants us; more than that He wants us to want Him, to love Him.
God will never desert me, no matter what stupid thing I do He still loves me just the same. In His eyes I will always be Daddy's little girl, it doesn't mean that I am allowed to sin without being held accountable, it just means that He will still love me anyways. It is so comforting to know that even on my most terrible day, in my most terrible circumstances; He is with me, He loves me, He has good intentions towards me.
With all the tragedy and terrible things going on in the world today it's all to easy to believe the lies of the enemy; the lie that God doesn't care about us, that He has left us alone, or worst of all that maybe He just doesn't even exist. I can see how it could be easy to believe any one of these lies without faith in Him; it's all too easy to blame our sin on God. The truth of the matter is that the world causes these terrible situations, allows them to occur through our sin, and then we yell at God and say "how could you?!". He gives us all free will, that's one of the most amazing things about Him; we have never been forced to believe in Him, to love Him, or to follow Him. Our free will also allows us to choose sin and when we do make that decision we can't then look to the heavens and ask God why He did to us what we have truly done to ourselves.
The good news is the HE STILL LOVES US!! He is so good that even after we accuse Him of committing our sins (remember the cross?) He still can forgive us again and again and love us just as much as He always has. His love for us is not based on good deeds, we can never do enough to earn His love, He loves us because we are His children. In return all He desires is that we love Him and seek Him. No matter what bad situation I am in, even when I feel like everything is going to come crashing down on me; I know I can take comfort knowing that He is still God, He still loves me, and His intentions towards me are always good (even if I can't see it at that moment).
Daddy,
I love you, thank you for always being there for me. Thank you for loving me every day regardless of the mistakes that I make or the promises I break. Thank you for always holding my hand and even carrying me when I need it, you have never failed me. Thank you for never deserting me, never leaving me alone, never wishing ill upon me. Thank you for calling me your daughter and creating me to be a princess in your Kingdom; it's an honor I can never earn and am eternally grateful for. Thank you Daddy for the million things I will never know or understand that you did for me. Thank you for always protecting me when no one else would, you are so good. You are the best Daddy in the whole universe! I love you, I want to spend forever in your arms. Thank you Daddy, thank you. I love you!
Love forever and always,
Your Daughter
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
God will never desert me, no matter what stupid thing I do He still loves me just the same. In His eyes I will always be Daddy's little girl, it doesn't mean that I am allowed to sin without being held accountable, it just means that He will still love me anyways. It is so comforting to know that even on my most terrible day, in my most terrible circumstances; He is with me, He loves me, He has good intentions towards me.
With all the tragedy and terrible things going on in the world today it's all to easy to believe the lies of the enemy; the lie that God doesn't care about us, that He has left us alone, or worst of all that maybe He just doesn't even exist. I can see how it could be easy to believe any one of these lies without faith in Him; it's all too easy to blame our sin on God. The truth of the matter is that the world causes these terrible situations, allows them to occur through our sin, and then we yell at God and say "how could you?!". He gives us all free will, that's one of the most amazing things about Him; we have never been forced to believe in Him, to love Him, or to follow Him. Our free will also allows us to choose sin and when we do make that decision we can't then look to the heavens and ask God why He did to us what we have truly done to ourselves.
The good news is the HE STILL LOVES US!! He is so good that even after we accuse Him of committing our sins (remember the cross?) He still can forgive us again and again and love us just as much as He always has. His love for us is not based on good deeds, we can never do enough to earn His love, He loves us because we are His children. In return all He desires is that we love Him and seek Him. No matter what bad situation I am in, even when I feel like everything is going to come crashing down on me; I know I can take comfort knowing that He is still God, He still loves me, and His intentions towards me are always good (even if I can't see it at that moment).
Daddy,
I love you, thank you for always being there for me. Thank you for loving me every day regardless of the mistakes that I make or the promises I break. Thank you for always holding my hand and even carrying me when I need it, you have never failed me. Thank you for never deserting me, never leaving me alone, never wishing ill upon me. Thank you for calling me your daughter and creating me to be a princess in your Kingdom; it's an honor I can never earn and am eternally grateful for. Thank you Daddy for the million things I will never know or understand that you did for me. Thank you for always protecting me when no one else would, you are so good. You are the best Daddy in the whole universe! I love you, I want to spend forever in your arms. Thank you Daddy, thank you. I love you!
Love forever and always,
Your Daughter
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Retirement = Death
I know the title sounds a little crazy, "Retirement equals Death", I honestly believe it does though and my goal is never going to be to die so therefore my goal is to never retire. I think retirement is for the world because the world gets tired of what they do, no matter what your passion is in this world you almost never meet someone who says "I want to work until I die".
I know I want to work until I die, although I wouldn't call it work. I think serving in ministry in God's Kingdom and worshiping Him is an honor and it's something I don't ever want to stop doing. I know that the actual work I do in the Kingdom will probably change over the span of my lifetime but I don't ever want to cease worshiping Him and sharing His love with the world. I honestly believe that's why our life expectancy has gone down; in the Bible God's people were living to be well past 100 years old yet today that is a rarity. God doesn't call us to lead a certain number of people to Him, or serve for a predetermined number of years and then we are allowed to buy a beach home and just sit on the front porch in a rocking chair all day because we have reached our quota. I will reach my goal when He see's fit to call me home to be in His presence forever, until then I am never going to just quit.
Even before I was walking with the Lord I used to think about the concept of what we are really doing, what we are really accomplishing, every day at work. What exactly will it matter 100 years from now what silly database I maintained or how many evaluations I wrote, it used to drive me crazy; I knew even then that I was destined to do something with so much more impact. I love the Navy and I couldn't wait to get back to it full time, I think mainly because I felt like at least my seemingly meaningless work was contributing to my nation and therefore garnered some meaning and importance. God has a much higher calling on all of our lives than to just live in a 9-5 routine that pays the bills and little else. There is a place for business in God's Kingdom, the difference is are you called to be in the marketplace, and if you are, are you called to be in the market you are in?
I don't ever want to live just to make enough money to retire, I want to love what I am doing because I know that God called me to do it. I want to know that what I am called to do will have eternal impact because I was called to do it by God and He is eternal. Once you find that thing, once you seek for God to reveal to you what He has called you to do, you won't ever be able to settle for the world's definition of successful ever again. Keep pressing into Him until you find it and once you find whatever it is, keep seeking His direction and be flexible to change in faith as He asks you to.
I'm never going to retire! I will worship and serve my King, the King of all kings, for all of eternity!
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
I know I want to work until I die, although I wouldn't call it work. I think serving in ministry in God's Kingdom and worshiping Him is an honor and it's something I don't ever want to stop doing. I know that the actual work I do in the Kingdom will probably change over the span of my lifetime but I don't ever want to cease worshiping Him and sharing His love with the world. I honestly believe that's why our life expectancy has gone down; in the Bible God's people were living to be well past 100 years old yet today that is a rarity. God doesn't call us to lead a certain number of people to Him, or serve for a predetermined number of years and then we are allowed to buy a beach home and just sit on the front porch in a rocking chair all day because we have reached our quota. I will reach my goal when He see's fit to call me home to be in His presence forever, until then I am never going to just quit.
Even before I was walking with the Lord I used to think about the concept of what we are really doing, what we are really accomplishing, every day at work. What exactly will it matter 100 years from now what silly database I maintained or how many evaluations I wrote, it used to drive me crazy; I knew even then that I was destined to do something with so much more impact. I love the Navy and I couldn't wait to get back to it full time, I think mainly because I felt like at least my seemingly meaningless work was contributing to my nation and therefore garnered some meaning and importance. God has a much higher calling on all of our lives than to just live in a 9-5 routine that pays the bills and little else. There is a place for business in God's Kingdom, the difference is are you called to be in the marketplace, and if you are, are you called to be in the market you are in?
I don't ever want to live just to make enough money to retire, I want to love what I am doing because I know that God called me to do it. I want to know that what I am called to do will have eternal impact because I was called to do it by God and He is eternal. Once you find that thing, once you seek for God to reveal to you what He has called you to do, you won't ever be able to settle for the world's definition of successful ever again. Keep pressing into Him until you find it and once you find whatever it is, keep seeking His direction and be flexible to change in faith as He asks you to.
I'm never going to retire! I will worship and serve my King, the King of all kings, for all of eternity!
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Friday, February 12, 2010
Beauty for Ashes
This entry is inspired by the end of my last entry, which was my testimony in its shortest possible format.
Specifically based on this section:
"God has called me to take his joy into the nations and to restore the daughter’s heart, he took me through all of this and carried me into my destiny to free His daughters from the grips of the enemy. Praise God my mourning has turned into dancing my ashes into beauty."
Beauty for ashes, I can't think of two more opposite things, I don't think I've ever seen beautiful ashes because I'm pretty sure they don't exist. This is exactly what makes God so amazing though, He literally takes the ugliest most terrible things in our lives and turns them into beautiful things for His Kingdom. He takes the very least and makes them the greatest, God just loves to make our impossible happen. When we feel our lowest is when we need Him most, He loves for us to need Him; the goal is to need Him when you are at your highest points too. He doesn't only want us when we are in our low moments that just tends to be when we cry out to Him. I want to cry out to him on a constant and consistent basis, I want to consciously need Him every moment of my life.
God accepts us for exactly what we are in this very moment, He never tells anyone to go clean up their life get righteous and then come to Him. He wants us to humbly admit that we need Him, we love Him, we not only can't but don't want to live without Him. God really enjoys taking the things that we used to be ashamed of or the things that we were powerless to and use them for His good. For me my sexual immorality was something I struggled with for years and years and it was something the enemy really used to separate me from God by making me feel dirty, inadequate, and unlovable. God took that past sin and completely turned it into a passion for the heart of His daughters, to see his daughters restored to the destiny He has for them. He turned my darkest moments into the ability to relate to His daughters being held captive by the enemy, because I have been there, because I know what those demons look like, I know what it feels like to be chained to that evil, I know what it feels like to have your soul tied. Now I look back at those moments and I can see that I was never alone, I was never abandoned, He was always right there with me just waiting for me to cry out to Him. It is so completely amazing to me how God can literally use ANYTHING and everything for His good and the good of the Kingdom.
We are all sinners and we all have terrible pasts, I don't care who you are you have sin and you aren't perfect. In God's eyes sin is sin and the world's standards of which sins are worse than others doesn't matter to Him, all of it is equally terrible in His eyes. I brought God a huge pile of ashes, some of the ugliest most terrible ashes you've ever seen and now He planted an entire garden of daisies and more and more keep sprouting up every day. God's goodness doesn't even make sense to me sometimes; it is so amazing I just feel like how could it even be real?? The real crazy part is that it is so much more than just real, it is eternal. I don't look back on the things I did in the past and think how awesome those things were, I look back now though and see God's hand in all of it, I see His love for me in every moment of my life. I can look back now and see that even when it looked like something truly terrible was happening to me that God was still there and He was protecting me from horrible things the entire way.
To describe how truly amazing it is to take ashes and turn them into beauty, imagine that your house burnt down to the ground, there is absolutely nothing left except for the ashes of what used to be your comfort and shelter, your refuge and hiding place. Then imagine if someone took those ashes and used them to rebuild a brand new house, one that was far better than the one that previously stood in the same place. When you look at this new house you can't even hardly remember what the old one ever looked like, this one is so much more comfortable, its shelter is far more secure, it is not just a refuge but a fortress; it's everything you ever thought you had, and now realize you didn't have, in the old house. If you could have ever dreamed of your perfect house this house would still be so much more amazing, your every need is always met. This is what God does with our lives, he takes that old burnt down house that is only a pile of ashes now and builds us a brand new beautiful house in its place.
We just have to quit trying to rebuild our own houses; we spend much of our lives watching sections of ourselves burn down, we try to take the ashes and rebuild these sections. We never succeed at getting anything more than temporary structures in place before the next storm or fire tears it all down again. If we just decide to be obedient to Him and allow Him to be in control of our lives instead of us then He can take those ashes and begin to create something beautiful and new. Now when storms come I can sing and dance in the beauty He gave me, I don't have anything to fear because my Father protects His daughter, He will use all things for His good, He will always love me. He will not allow me to be reduced to ashes ever again; He only wants to expand upon my beauty in Him.
Praise the Lord I have beauty for ashes; I pray I will always reflect His love and beauty.
Specifically based on this section:
"God has called me to take his joy into the nations and to restore the daughter’s heart, he took me through all of this and carried me into my destiny to free His daughters from the grips of the enemy. Praise God my mourning has turned into dancing my ashes into beauty."
Beauty for ashes, I can't think of two more opposite things, I don't think I've ever seen beautiful ashes because I'm pretty sure they don't exist. This is exactly what makes God so amazing though, He literally takes the ugliest most terrible things in our lives and turns them into beautiful things for His Kingdom. He takes the very least and makes them the greatest, God just loves to make our impossible happen. When we feel our lowest is when we need Him most, He loves for us to need Him; the goal is to need Him when you are at your highest points too. He doesn't only want us when we are in our low moments that just tends to be when we cry out to Him. I want to cry out to him on a constant and consistent basis, I want to consciously need Him every moment of my life.
God accepts us for exactly what we are in this very moment, He never tells anyone to go clean up their life get righteous and then come to Him. He wants us to humbly admit that we need Him, we love Him, we not only can't but don't want to live without Him. God really enjoys taking the things that we used to be ashamed of or the things that we were powerless to and use them for His good. For me my sexual immorality was something I struggled with for years and years and it was something the enemy really used to separate me from God by making me feel dirty, inadequate, and unlovable. God took that past sin and completely turned it into a passion for the heart of His daughters, to see his daughters restored to the destiny He has for them. He turned my darkest moments into the ability to relate to His daughters being held captive by the enemy, because I have been there, because I know what those demons look like, I know what it feels like to be chained to that evil, I know what it feels like to have your soul tied. Now I look back at those moments and I can see that I was never alone, I was never abandoned, He was always right there with me just waiting for me to cry out to Him. It is so completely amazing to me how God can literally use ANYTHING and everything for His good and the good of the Kingdom.
We are all sinners and we all have terrible pasts, I don't care who you are you have sin and you aren't perfect. In God's eyes sin is sin and the world's standards of which sins are worse than others doesn't matter to Him, all of it is equally terrible in His eyes. I brought God a huge pile of ashes, some of the ugliest most terrible ashes you've ever seen and now He planted an entire garden of daisies and more and more keep sprouting up every day. God's goodness doesn't even make sense to me sometimes; it is so amazing I just feel like how could it even be real?? The real crazy part is that it is so much more than just real, it is eternal. I don't look back on the things I did in the past and think how awesome those things were, I look back now though and see God's hand in all of it, I see His love for me in every moment of my life. I can look back now and see that even when it looked like something truly terrible was happening to me that God was still there and He was protecting me from horrible things the entire way.
To describe how truly amazing it is to take ashes and turn them into beauty, imagine that your house burnt down to the ground, there is absolutely nothing left except for the ashes of what used to be your comfort and shelter, your refuge and hiding place. Then imagine if someone took those ashes and used them to rebuild a brand new house, one that was far better than the one that previously stood in the same place. When you look at this new house you can't even hardly remember what the old one ever looked like, this one is so much more comfortable, its shelter is far more secure, it is not just a refuge but a fortress; it's everything you ever thought you had, and now realize you didn't have, in the old house. If you could have ever dreamed of your perfect house this house would still be so much more amazing, your every need is always met. This is what God does with our lives, he takes that old burnt down house that is only a pile of ashes now and builds us a brand new beautiful house in its place.
We just have to quit trying to rebuild our own houses; we spend much of our lives watching sections of ourselves burn down, we try to take the ashes and rebuild these sections. We never succeed at getting anything more than temporary structures in place before the next storm or fire tears it all down again. If we just decide to be obedient to Him and allow Him to be in control of our lives instead of us then He can take those ashes and begin to create something beautiful and new. Now when storms come I can sing and dance in the beauty He gave me, I don't have anything to fear because my Father protects His daughter, He will use all things for His good, He will always love me. He will not allow me to be reduced to ashes ever again; He only wants to expand upon my beauty in Him.
Praise the Lord I have beauty for ashes; I pray I will always reflect His love and beauty.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The W.A.R. Path
The W.A.R. Path is the path of a sinner to the redeemed, the path of despair to hope, loneliness to companionship, oppression to freedom, pessimism to faith, and more than anything it's the story of a Daughter falling completely in love with her Father, the King!
W.A.R. stands for Weird August Rain, it has a lot of meaning behind it but basically it's just how I feel about God, He is so amazing, He shows up in the biggest ways when you least expect it. To me He is that weird thunderstorm in the middle of August that just pours rain down on you out of nowhere and you are so taken back by it you just want to dance and sing and jump in all the puddles. The kind of rain that washes over your soul and you could stay right there forever and never even realize that you should be uncomfortably wet and cold because all you feel is His warmth and presence washing over you like Weird August Rain.
I grew up in a Christian church and I was for the most part a “good Christian girl”, at least on the surface. I knew that Jesus loved me and that he cared about me but deep down on the inside I felt worthless, alone, and unloved. I knew that my mom, and sister loved me very much but it only took the rejection of my Father to make me feel less than. As I grew up without the protection of a Father over me, I desired a boyfriend as young as 5th and 6th grade and by middle school I could hardly think about anything else. My heart would break whenever a boy I was interested in was not interested in me, I cried a lot. My first kiss was forced on me at 15 years old, my first boyfriend was a boy that attended my church but sexual immorality began to creep in although I did not want to participate I felt pressured to, I was afraid to be alone again.
The real destruction in my life began when I started a relationship with a boy that would one day become my ex-husband. He was very jealous and controlling over me and secluded me from the world, I lost countless friends, and he pulled me away from my church completely. I gave up my purity and virginity to him at 17, I justified it because we were going to get married someday anyways. I was just afraid to say no and be alone, I thought I was in love and that’s what you do when you love someone right? After we were married things only got worse, my marriage was more like prison, I felt like a servant. I worked, cooked, cleaned, did the laundry, and any other chores or responsibilities were mine as well, the bedroom was no different: nothing I ever did was satisfactory in his eyes. I was completely worthless. There were many days I would long to be back in the church and a few times I even got the courage to ask him if we could go, the answer was always no. The enemy told me that I wasn’t good enough to go back to my heavenly Father anyways that He didn’t want me either.
We ended up divorced 3 years into our marriage when I got the courage to leave. I became promiscuous and tried to fill the attention and love whole in my heart with many different men over the next 18 months, several times I attempted to get back to God and the enemy would take me back to my place of inadequacy and I would run away again. I finally started attending the Rock shortly before I deployed to Afghanistan where I vowed to myself to spend all my free time with God, I got involved in the Chapel there as soon as possible and I spent every free moment in the chapel or with other Christians. I was still broken and lost but I was moving in the right direction at least! God began to move in my life and called me back to a life of purity, I told the man I was dating at the time that I did not want us to be intimate until we were married, he left, I didn’t waiver.
When I returned from my deployment I went straight back to the Rock and attended every event I could find, the Jim Anderson conference came up and I knew I needed to be there. God used Jim to cast demons out of my spirit, break chains that had held me for years, and begin to provide healing and restoration to my heart. He gave me the revelation that God sees me as His daughter that He loves, not just another girl who sins and fails constantly. I longed for connection with other believers, He finally provided me with an entire community of people who love Christ and love me too.
I was baptized when I was about 10 years old and although I did understand and believe that Jesus had died for my sins I didn’t understand the concept of living a whole new life in Christ. God put it on my heart for a couple months to be baptized again, I was resisting because I wasn’t sure that I was desiring it for the right reasons. Finally in a group of believers one night we did spontaneous baptisms and I knew it was my time, so on January 22,2010 I was born into a new life! That night I was also baptized in the Holy Spirit and I have been so filled by His spirit every moment since then.
God has taken me from a scared, alone, worthless sinner who was broken beyond repair and turned me into a precious and beautiful creation in his sight. He took all of the terrible things that have ever happened to me and turned them into His good for the Kingdom. I am so filled with the Holy Spirit:
I have been given visions for other people’s lives where I used to have none for my own.
I have been given revelation where there was no hope or understanding.
I have been given the power to give deliverance and cast out demons that I was once afflicted and tortured by.
I have prophecy and destiny spoken over my life where there once was only depression and despair.
God has called me to take his joy into the nations and to restore the daughter’s heart, he took me through all of this and carried me into my destiny to free His daughters from the grips of the enemy. Praise God my mourning has turned into dancing my ashes into beauty.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
W.A.R. stands for Weird August Rain, it has a lot of meaning behind it but basically it's just how I feel about God, He is so amazing, He shows up in the biggest ways when you least expect it. To me He is that weird thunderstorm in the middle of August that just pours rain down on you out of nowhere and you are so taken back by it you just want to dance and sing and jump in all the puddles. The kind of rain that washes over your soul and you could stay right there forever and never even realize that you should be uncomfortably wet and cold because all you feel is His warmth and presence washing over you like Weird August Rain.
I grew up in a Christian church and I was for the most part a “good Christian girl”, at least on the surface. I knew that Jesus loved me and that he cared about me but deep down on the inside I felt worthless, alone, and unloved. I knew that my mom, and sister loved me very much but it only took the rejection of my Father to make me feel less than. As I grew up without the protection of a Father over me, I desired a boyfriend as young as 5th and 6th grade and by middle school I could hardly think about anything else. My heart would break whenever a boy I was interested in was not interested in me, I cried a lot. My first kiss was forced on me at 15 years old, my first boyfriend was a boy that attended my church but sexual immorality began to creep in although I did not want to participate I felt pressured to, I was afraid to be alone again.
The real destruction in my life began when I started a relationship with a boy that would one day become my ex-husband. He was very jealous and controlling over me and secluded me from the world, I lost countless friends, and he pulled me away from my church completely. I gave up my purity and virginity to him at 17, I justified it because we were going to get married someday anyways. I was just afraid to say no and be alone, I thought I was in love and that’s what you do when you love someone right? After we were married things only got worse, my marriage was more like prison, I felt like a servant. I worked, cooked, cleaned, did the laundry, and any other chores or responsibilities were mine as well, the bedroom was no different: nothing I ever did was satisfactory in his eyes. I was completely worthless. There were many days I would long to be back in the church and a few times I even got the courage to ask him if we could go, the answer was always no. The enemy told me that I wasn’t good enough to go back to my heavenly Father anyways that He didn’t want me either.
We ended up divorced 3 years into our marriage when I got the courage to leave. I became promiscuous and tried to fill the attention and love whole in my heart with many different men over the next 18 months, several times I attempted to get back to God and the enemy would take me back to my place of inadequacy and I would run away again. I finally started attending the Rock shortly before I deployed to Afghanistan where I vowed to myself to spend all my free time with God, I got involved in the Chapel there as soon as possible and I spent every free moment in the chapel or with other Christians. I was still broken and lost but I was moving in the right direction at least! God began to move in my life and called me back to a life of purity, I told the man I was dating at the time that I did not want us to be intimate until we were married, he left, I didn’t waiver.
When I returned from my deployment I went straight back to the Rock and attended every event I could find, the Jim Anderson conference came up and I knew I needed to be there. God used Jim to cast demons out of my spirit, break chains that had held me for years, and begin to provide healing and restoration to my heart. He gave me the revelation that God sees me as His daughter that He loves, not just another girl who sins and fails constantly. I longed for connection with other believers, He finally provided me with an entire community of people who love Christ and love me too.
I was baptized when I was about 10 years old and although I did understand and believe that Jesus had died for my sins I didn’t understand the concept of living a whole new life in Christ. God put it on my heart for a couple months to be baptized again, I was resisting because I wasn’t sure that I was desiring it for the right reasons. Finally in a group of believers one night we did spontaneous baptisms and I knew it was my time, so on January 22,2010 I was born into a new life! That night I was also baptized in the Holy Spirit and I have been so filled by His spirit every moment since then.
God has taken me from a scared, alone, worthless sinner who was broken beyond repair and turned me into a precious and beautiful creation in his sight. He took all of the terrible things that have ever happened to me and turned them into His good for the Kingdom. I am so filled with the Holy Spirit:
I have been given visions for other people’s lives where I used to have none for my own.
I have been given revelation where there was no hope or understanding.
I have been given the power to give deliverance and cast out demons that I was once afflicted and tortured by.
I have prophecy and destiny spoken over my life where there once was only depression and despair.
God has called me to take his joy into the nations and to restore the daughter’s heart, he took me through all of this and carried me into my destiny to free His daughters from the grips of the enemy. Praise God my mourning has turned into dancing my ashes into beauty.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Consuming Fire
I feel like the church has become consumers of the fire instead of being consumed in the fire. What does that even mean? Well I personally don't understand the need for a different sermon series, conference, seminar, or book on "how to stay on fire for God" every other month. I used to be one of these consumers and I'm not saying that all of this stuff is completely terrible, what I am saying is there is way too much of it.
We really shouldn't need someone to constantly remind us how and why we stay on fire for the Lord. Just think about the cross for about ten seconds and that should light the fire again really quickly. If we are honest with ourselves the reason the fire goes out or stops burning with the same intensity is because most of the time our fuel is us not God. We are fueled by how we feel, how worship is, how our life is going in general; usually it's just our own boredom with our lives that is to blame. We have to step back and ask ourselves if we are living Christ-centered lives, I don't believe we would find any room for boredom if we are truly living that way. The truth is our relationship with God is often all about us; it's about what God can do for me, when I wasn't feeling on fire previously it was often because I wasn't as entertained and served by the church. The times we aren't seeing God move or do as much as we would like is because we are not actively pursuing Him, when we pursue Him with any sort of passion He shows up in amazing ways; it never fails.
Churches tend to spend a lot of time figuring out the next big event or the newest gimmick to get people in the doors and keep them entertained and coming back week after week because we are fulfilling them. The question is once you are fulfilled by others are you giving back. I honestly believe if we served others half as much as we allowed them to serve us we would be consumed by the fire continuously. It is so amazing to me how the more obedient you are to God, the more you actively listen for His direction in your life and follow it, the better your life is overall, the more on fire you are for Him. I have been so blessed to be completely consumed by His Holy Spirit and I can't even imagine not being completely on fire for Him ever again. I can't imagine needing someone to give me additional reasons to get excited. When I share my joy with people of how amazing life is with the Holy Spirit and God being so active and present I often hear "it won't last", the only reason it doesn't last is because we quit obeying, we quit listening, we quit going after Him. God doesn't just give us a taste of Him and then disappear, we are the ones who disappear and then blame Him for not being where we want Him to be when we want Him to be there. Maybe a better way to approach this would be asking God where He wants us to be, I'm pretty positive that if I am where He wants me to be then He will be there also, usually in a really big way.
Imagine if you were in need of a heart transplant and someone gave you their heart would you ever forget that or quit being grateful for it? Could you ever think to yourself "wow, I completely forgot I got a new heart", there is no way you would ever quit being excited about something like that. Just like I think once we truly grasp His love for us and what He sent His Son to do for us we will be so utterly transformed that we could never forget that love and sacrifice, we could never not have joy overflowing because Him.
I'm not saying there won't be moments, days, maybe even longer seasons in our lives where we are in a low tide time and we are struggling to be as joyous as we know we should feel. I just don't think we should need entire seminars and sermons dedicated to this topic on a regular basis. If we live the gospel the fire within us will not falter, the Holy Spirit will keep you so ablaze you will not be able to tame it for even a moment, let alone need someone else to remind you why you are so on fire and so in love. We shouldn't need someone to remind us to be in love with our Creator or to spend time with Him. Spending time with God on a daily basis is our reminder of why we are so completely in love, I have my own daily "stay on fire" reminders with God, I talk to Him, read the Word, pray, and seek Him constantly and the fire always follows. Seek Him constantly and you will never have to attend another "get on fire" conference again, you will know how to be on fire and you will stay that way. Be consumed in the Holy Fire don't just be a consumer of the sparks of others.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
We really shouldn't need someone to constantly remind us how and why we stay on fire for the Lord. Just think about the cross for about ten seconds and that should light the fire again really quickly. If we are honest with ourselves the reason the fire goes out or stops burning with the same intensity is because most of the time our fuel is us not God. We are fueled by how we feel, how worship is, how our life is going in general; usually it's just our own boredom with our lives that is to blame. We have to step back and ask ourselves if we are living Christ-centered lives, I don't believe we would find any room for boredom if we are truly living that way. The truth is our relationship with God is often all about us; it's about what God can do for me, when I wasn't feeling on fire previously it was often because I wasn't as entertained and served by the church. The times we aren't seeing God move or do as much as we would like is because we are not actively pursuing Him, when we pursue Him with any sort of passion He shows up in amazing ways; it never fails.
Churches tend to spend a lot of time figuring out the next big event or the newest gimmick to get people in the doors and keep them entertained and coming back week after week because we are fulfilling them. The question is once you are fulfilled by others are you giving back. I honestly believe if we served others half as much as we allowed them to serve us we would be consumed by the fire continuously. It is so amazing to me how the more obedient you are to God, the more you actively listen for His direction in your life and follow it, the better your life is overall, the more on fire you are for Him. I have been so blessed to be completely consumed by His Holy Spirit and I can't even imagine not being completely on fire for Him ever again. I can't imagine needing someone to give me additional reasons to get excited. When I share my joy with people of how amazing life is with the Holy Spirit and God being so active and present I often hear "it won't last", the only reason it doesn't last is because we quit obeying, we quit listening, we quit going after Him. God doesn't just give us a taste of Him and then disappear, we are the ones who disappear and then blame Him for not being where we want Him to be when we want Him to be there. Maybe a better way to approach this would be asking God where He wants us to be, I'm pretty positive that if I am where He wants me to be then He will be there also, usually in a really big way.
Imagine if you were in need of a heart transplant and someone gave you their heart would you ever forget that or quit being grateful for it? Could you ever think to yourself "wow, I completely forgot I got a new heart", there is no way you would ever quit being excited about something like that. Just like I think once we truly grasp His love for us and what He sent His Son to do for us we will be so utterly transformed that we could never forget that love and sacrifice, we could never not have joy overflowing because Him.
I'm not saying there won't be moments, days, maybe even longer seasons in our lives where we are in a low tide time and we are struggling to be as joyous as we know we should feel. I just don't think we should need entire seminars and sermons dedicated to this topic on a regular basis. If we live the gospel the fire within us will not falter, the Holy Spirit will keep you so ablaze you will not be able to tame it for even a moment, let alone need someone else to remind you why you are so on fire and so in love. We shouldn't need someone to remind us to be in love with our Creator or to spend time with Him. Spending time with God on a daily basis is our reminder of why we are so completely in love, I have my own daily "stay on fire" reminders with God, I talk to Him, read the Word, pray, and seek Him constantly and the fire always follows. Seek Him constantly and you will never have to attend another "get on fire" conference again, you will know how to be on fire and you will stay that way. Be consumed in the Holy Fire don't just be a consumer of the sparks of others.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Radical
Radical, radically saved, radical Christian, just plain radical. I think all Christians do have a desire to be titled as "radical" for Christ, we want to have that really amazing testimony, or be the person who drops everything and goes on a mission, or just talks about Jesus without being concerned with the world.
We all say or at least feel that way on some level, you hear a story about these things happening and you just think to yourself "I wish I had a radical story like that". The truth is we all have a radical story to tell, the story of the cross is pretty radical in my mind, I mean how many people can say that someone died for them, that someone really loves them that much. The truth is we can all say that someone died for us and that He really does love us that much, some people just don't know the one that died for them yet (it’s our job to tell them). We all (myself included) just get so wrapped up in the fact that someone might think we are weird or at the very worst yell and curse at us, here in America it doesn't get much more brutal than that. I think that there are a lot of guys in the bible, like all the apostles maybe, that would have much preferred this type of persecution to the physical beatings and eventual death they incurred. I don't believe any of them would however, trade their life-long persecution for one second of our idle comfort.
What is it to get radically saved anyways? Does it really make your salvation any more meaningful, important, or valuable if you have a story of how you used to be a murderer, a prostitute, and a drug addict and one day God intervened and you've never been the same since? Although we as people might define this story as more interesting or dramatic than one of the young boy who grew up in suburbia and went to church with a friend for a few months and then came to accept Jesus into his heart. I actually think the story of the young boy is a more difficult path to walk on to salvation, he was comfortable, by the world's standards he didn't need to be saved or rescued from anything so his decision to follow Jesus when he is not in any particular state of need is a pretty radical one. The drug dealing, murdering, prostitute on the other hand is likely in some pretty terrible situations everyday that definitely require salvation and rescue. I am not discounting either story, I would argue that EVERY testimony is equally amazing in God's eyes, and in mine, I think every time a sinner is saved is a radical event. He just wants us to love Him in return, you don't get any extra credit based on the way you came to know Him. Remember that no matter what your testimony sounds like to you, no matter how 'boring' you think it is, there are people all over dying to hear the good news in your testimony.
Or maybe you fall into the category of ministry envy; ministry envy is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, you hear about some amazing ministry where people are being led to the Lord daily and wish you could do something that “radical”. Maybe the ministry involves going to a crazy country or hanging out with the murderers and prostitutes of the world and you tell yourself you really wish you had some amazing God stories to tell. These are really amazing stories but the most important thing is that these people aren't doing anything through their own strength or intuition they just obey God and allow the Holy Spirit to move in power through them. You have probably noticed that these people don't brag about how amazing they are and how they personally brought 100 people to the Lord; you probably hear things about how wonderful God is, how He always provides, how He has such power, and how He has blessed them. We can have this too, you have to actually do something though, you can't just sit back and wait for God to drop a ministry in your lap. You can start by just telling people about Him, seeking to hear His voice, and obeying when He gives you direction.
I used to be the person who wished that I had a radical salvation story to tell, then I realized I do, you don't know how lost you ever really were until you have been found. I'm still discovering more and more every day the ways that God has rescued me and changed me.
I used to be the person who wanted to go on a crazy mission trip to a crazy country and come back with awesome stories about how people were healed and saved. I still desire those things but I desire them because it is what God has called me to do not because I want the glory of everyone saying what an awesome Christian I am to do such radical things for Christ.
We all have the choice to be radical and live like Christ, I promise you if you just start obeying Him and letting the Holy Spirit work through you, you will see radical things happen all around you. You just have to overcome the fear of people thinking you are crazy or just plain stupid, the truth is that if you want to be radical then people are going to thing you are crazy and stupid and to them you will be (1 Corinthians 1:25).
Don't wish you were radical, realize that you ARE radical and start living it!
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
We all say or at least feel that way on some level, you hear a story about these things happening and you just think to yourself "I wish I had a radical story like that". The truth is we all have a radical story to tell, the story of the cross is pretty radical in my mind, I mean how many people can say that someone died for them, that someone really loves them that much. The truth is we can all say that someone died for us and that He really does love us that much, some people just don't know the one that died for them yet (it’s our job to tell them). We all (myself included) just get so wrapped up in the fact that someone might think we are weird or at the very worst yell and curse at us, here in America it doesn't get much more brutal than that. I think that there are a lot of guys in the bible, like all the apostles maybe, that would have much preferred this type of persecution to the physical beatings and eventual death they incurred. I don't believe any of them would however, trade their life-long persecution for one second of our idle comfort.
What is it to get radically saved anyways? Does it really make your salvation any more meaningful, important, or valuable if you have a story of how you used to be a murderer, a prostitute, and a drug addict and one day God intervened and you've never been the same since? Although we as people might define this story as more interesting or dramatic than one of the young boy who grew up in suburbia and went to church with a friend for a few months and then came to accept Jesus into his heart. I actually think the story of the young boy is a more difficult path to walk on to salvation, he was comfortable, by the world's standards he didn't need to be saved or rescued from anything so his decision to follow Jesus when he is not in any particular state of need is a pretty radical one. The drug dealing, murdering, prostitute on the other hand is likely in some pretty terrible situations everyday that definitely require salvation and rescue. I am not discounting either story, I would argue that EVERY testimony is equally amazing in God's eyes, and in mine, I think every time a sinner is saved is a radical event. He just wants us to love Him in return, you don't get any extra credit based on the way you came to know Him. Remember that no matter what your testimony sounds like to you, no matter how 'boring' you think it is, there are people all over dying to hear the good news in your testimony.
Or maybe you fall into the category of ministry envy; ministry envy is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, you hear about some amazing ministry where people are being led to the Lord daily and wish you could do something that “radical”. Maybe the ministry involves going to a crazy country or hanging out with the murderers and prostitutes of the world and you tell yourself you really wish you had some amazing God stories to tell. These are really amazing stories but the most important thing is that these people aren't doing anything through their own strength or intuition they just obey God and allow the Holy Spirit to move in power through them. You have probably noticed that these people don't brag about how amazing they are and how they personally brought 100 people to the Lord; you probably hear things about how wonderful God is, how He always provides, how He has such power, and how He has blessed them. We can have this too, you have to actually do something though, you can't just sit back and wait for God to drop a ministry in your lap. You can start by just telling people about Him, seeking to hear His voice, and obeying when He gives you direction.
I used to be the person who wished that I had a radical salvation story to tell, then I realized I do, you don't know how lost you ever really were until you have been found. I'm still discovering more and more every day the ways that God has rescued me and changed me.
I used to be the person who wanted to go on a crazy mission trip to a crazy country and come back with awesome stories about how people were healed and saved. I still desire those things but I desire them because it is what God has called me to do not because I want the glory of everyone saying what an awesome Christian I am to do such radical things for Christ.
We all have the choice to be radical and live like Christ, I promise you if you just start obeying Him and letting the Holy Spirit work through you, you will see radical things happen all around you. You just have to overcome the fear of people thinking you are crazy or just plain stupid, the truth is that if you want to be radical then people are going to thing you are crazy and stupid and to them you will be (1 Corinthians 1:25).
Don't wish you were radical, realize that you ARE radical and start living it!
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
Monday, February 8, 2010
Jesus was a Homeless Hitchiker
"I knew the only time I would NEVER get picked up was when I was in a town where Christian church just let out. A Hindu temple, or just about anywhere else I could get picked up in a second."
This is the true story of a friend of mine and the million problems in that sentence break my heart. Why is it that a homeless man looking for a ride not only didn't find it but could absolutely guarantee that he wouldn't find it when he was surrounded by a group of people that proclaim the name of Jesus. How is it that even possible? He should have had people begging to help him and show him love and compassion, offering a ride should have been the bare minimum offered.
I'm not going to bash on the American church, I think we all know the double-mindedness that is going on there. I am going to talk about what we should look like and act like as followers of Jesus Christ. The answer is simple really; we should look like Jesus, after all he is alive within us! It would be really easy to blame "the church" and take little to no responsibility for things like this. Oh, and by "the church" I mean that building where a bunch of people that all claim to believe in the same things. It is all too easy to pass of the responsibility and say that the church should really do something about these terrible problems going on today. Guess what WE are the church! It is our personal responsibility to care for ALL of our Father's children (you know our brothers and sisters) and provide for them when they are in need.
Most of us know the passage of scripture Matthew 25:40 where God tells us that whatever we did for the very least of people we did for Him. We all here this verse and get that little pang of guilt and make a note to donate a few cans at the next food drive, put an extra couple bucks in the offering plate, or if you are really feeling guilty do something crazy like volunteer or something; now that's radical! Somehow this makes us feel better about ourselves, we feel accomplished, we pat ourselves on the back and check it off of our imaginary list of things Jesus wants me to do to be a "good Christian". Please don't misunderstand me these are all truly good things to do and I'm not saying we shouldn't participate in them, what I am saying is Jesus calls us to do more! We are called to give up everything if He asks for it, He doesn't want our guilt relief giving He wants us to give out of the love in our hearts. In Matthew 25:45 Jesus says that whatever you did NOT do for the least of people you also did NOT do for Him; this means we are not only accountable for what we do but what we don't do. In other words you can't give at the canned food drive and choose to ignore the homeless man and not be held accountable for both. This truth is a little harder to swallow, I don't believe any of us would walk by Jesus on the street and ignore Him, we would never deny Him if He was in need, yet we deny Him of things He asks for of us every day.
This all boils down to love, love for Jesus and love for His people (your neighbors, that's all people by the way). If we honestly love people like Jesus does then it would break our hearts to see a man with his life on his back looking for a ride and maybe a warm meal. We would not be able to drive on past those in need (especially right after a meeting of believers) and not even think a second time about them. What if we quit spending so much time creating a new program or donation fund, which are good too, and spend more time just loving people and striving to live like Christ. Maybe just maybe the whole church would change in all the ways it needs to.
People should know that when they enter that building we call a church and see the people we call Christians that they will be loved, accepted, and cared for no matter what! God didn't call us to determine who deserves our love (we sure don't deserve His in that system) or our care or what they are entitled to receive. He called us to love and give where there is need. We are called to give those who receive are called to be good stewards of what they have received, and we are held accountable respectively. We just need to quit making everything so complicated and get back to wholehearted-Christ-like love and start letting it overflow from us.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
This is the true story of a friend of mine and the million problems in that sentence break my heart. Why is it that a homeless man looking for a ride not only didn't find it but could absolutely guarantee that he wouldn't find it when he was surrounded by a group of people that proclaim the name of Jesus. How is it that even possible? He should have had people begging to help him and show him love and compassion, offering a ride should have been the bare minimum offered.
I'm not going to bash on the American church, I think we all know the double-mindedness that is going on there. I am going to talk about what we should look like and act like as followers of Jesus Christ. The answer is simple really; we should look like Jesus, after all he is alive within us! It would be really easy to blame "the church" and take little to no responsibility for things like this. Oh, and by "the church" I mean that building where a bunch of people that all claim to believe in the same things. It is all too easy to pass of the responsibility and say that the church should really do something about these terrible problems going on today. Guess what WE are the church! It is our personal responsibility to care for ALL of our Father's children (you know our brothers and sisters) and provide for them when they are in need.
Most of us know the passage of scripture Matthew 25:40 where God tells us that whatever we did for the very least of people we did for Him. We all here this verse and get that little pang of guilt and make a note to donate a few cans at the next food drive, put an extra couple bucks in the offering plate, or if you are really feeling guilty do something crazy like volunteer or something; now that's radical! Somehow this makes us feel better about ourselves, we feel accomplished, we pat ourselves on the back and check it off of our imaginary list of things Jesus wants me to do to be a "good Christian". Please don't misunderstand me these are all truly good things to do and I'm not saying we shouldn't participate in them, what I am saying is Jesus calls us to do more! We are called to give up everything if He asks for it, He doesn't want our guilt relief giving He wants us to give out of the love in our hearts. In Matthew 25:45 Jesus says that whatever you did NOT do for the least of people you also did NOT do for Him; this means we are not only accountable for what we do but what we don't do. In other words you can't give at the canned food drive and choose to ignore the homeless man and not be held accountable for both. This truth is a little harder to swallow, I don't believe any of us would walk by Jesus on the street and ignore Him, we would never deny Him if He was in need, yet we deny Him of things He asks for of us every day.
This all boils down to love, love for Jesus and love for His people (your neighbors, that's all people by the way). If we honestly love people like Jesus does then it would break our hearts to see a man with his life on his back looking for a ride and maybe a warm meal. We would not be able to drive on past those in need (especially right after a meeting of believers) and not even think a second time about them. What if we quit spending so much time creating a new program or donation fund, which are good too, and spend more time just loving people and striving to live like Christ. Maybe just maybe the whole church would change in all the ways it needs to.
People should know that when they enter that building we call a church and see the people we call Christians that they will be loved, accepted, and cared for no matter what! God didn't call us to determine who deserves our love (we sure don't deserve His in that system) or our care or what they are entitled to receive. He called us to love and give where there is need. We are called to give those who receive are called to be good stewards of what they have received, and we are held accountable respectively. We just need to quit making everything so complicated and get back to wholehearted-Christ-like love and start letting it overflow from us.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
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