The Forgotten One

Vulnerability is not something that comes easy to most of us and yet, I am embarking on an incredibly vulnerable journey that begins today on the first day of Lent. Some friends and I have decided to read a book, Draw the Circle, for the 40 days leading up to Easter. It's day one and I'm already struggling due to the content.

See, it is a prayer journey and the basic idea of it is that you pray big, bold prayers consistently and watch God do big, bold things. Here's where it gets vulnerable for me (and I in turn get incredibly vulnerable with you): 

I struggle with prayer.



Source: Public Domain

Yes, I know. What Christian struggles with prayer?! Well, probably more than you think. Many people think that Christians are supposed to have everything together, which is why so many people are distraught when we mess up. The truth is that we are all just a big hot mess like anyone else and we need God to help us. You'll never meet a Christian in this life who has it all together perfectly; if you think you found one, pinch yourself really hard cause, baby, you're dreaming.

So here's my deal. I have no problem praying for others. I believe God wants to heal, save, bring peace, give comfort, bless, show love, and all of those wonderful types of things. It's easy to pray those prayers because they are no-brainers. It would be like me praying that my husband would drive his car to work tomorrow morning. OF COURSE he is going to drive his car tomorrow morning because he always does. So praying for that would be easy and, naturally, my prayer would be answered.

Easy prayers. Sure things. Comfortable prayers.

Yep, I'm ok with those. It is the difficult prayers, uncertain things, and uncomfortable prayers that get me, especially when they are in regard to my own life. Most of my prayers are for other people. It's easy for me to believe that God wants good things for others. It is hard for me to accept that he wants those good things for me as well so I don't ask.

I've had many bold prayers that I have prayed with consistency that weren't answered the way I hoped. I've put my faith on the line many times only to have others get what I asked for, but I was left with an "unanswered" prayer. After too many of those, I began to feel like "the forgotten one" not only in my relationship with God, but with others as well. I began to see myself as someone who’s thoughts, feelings, hopes, and dreams didn't matter.

The forgotten one.

 Source: Public Domain

What happened was a huge block of doubt and disbelief got dumped into my prayer life without me even noticing. It sat there for many years causing me to question the point and effectiveness of prayers. I began to only pray those safe prayers that would surely be answered and go on about my business. It brought with it a darkness that clouded my vision of God's hand in my life and in other people's lives. Expecting less of God and others, I believed that if I expected little I wouldn't be disappointed when I received little, whether it was from God or mankind.

 

(Insert friend here with a suggestion to read a book about big, bold prayer for 40 days.)

 

Hmmm. Perhaps God is trying to tell me something. Surely he wouldn't torture me for 40 days by getting me to pray only to NOT answer. Fear. Trepidation. Uncertainty. AHH!

So, God and I had a "come to Jesus meeting" this morning after a long season of worship (drawn to "Oceans," of course). I left that "meeting" feeling like God was calling me to surrender the block of doubt and to accept faith and truth in its place. God wants me to know that I am not the forgotten one. He wants me to know that I am a royal child of the King of Kings. He loves me. He knows me. He sees me. He hears me. He wants to heal the hurt in my heart and teach me about the power of prayer and faith. I have been remembered. I have chosen to accept his offer and to shed this old identity and accept my true identity in Christ.

1 John 3:1a - The Father has loved us so much! This shows how much he loved us: We are called children of God. And we really are his children. 

 

I bet there are others out there like me who have believed the lies and allowed a block of doubt to hinder your faith and trust in God. You have nothing to fear. He wants you to let it go as well. He wants to show you how much you are loved and he wants you to see the GOOD plans he has for YOU. Join me in throwing off the old identity (whatever yours may be) and accepting your true identity as a royal child of the King of Kings. You are not the forgotten one either. He loves you. He knows you. He sees you. He hears you. He wants to heal the hurt in your heart and teach you something. Listen.

 

With love,

 

The Remembered One

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Singing Egg Guts

I hate to even admit this publicly and I often get mocked by my mother for it, but what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't share my own stupidity? You may wonder why I am sharing it at all, but it will all make sense in the end. So here goes:

 

I was about seven or eight years old when I decided that it would be cool to play with an egg. The thought never crossed my mind that I might drop it. In that moment, I was invincible and I was going to prove it by playing with an egg without making a mess. I'm sure you know where this is going. I didn't even get the refrigerator door closed before the egg slipped from my fingers and gravity took over. As it turns out, I realized I am not invincible as I looked at the floor and saw a pile of egg guts laying there singing, "Somebody's in trouble!" Well, ok...the guts weren't singing, but that's how I felt. I knew I was in trouble and all I wanted to do was hide. 

 

Instead, denial took over and I simply walked away. I was fully prepared to blame my grandmother for breaking an egg and leaving the mess on the floor. Unfortunately, my mother was too smart for that. She knew I was the culprit and immediately called me to come to her when she found the mess. She said, "Christy, did you make this mess?" With all the bravery I could muster, I put on my best "I'm confused. Where am I?" face and said, "Ummmm....I don't remember."

 

Hey! It's all I could come up with at the time. Give me a break! Well, at least you can see why my mom still mocks me to this day. I guess I deserved it.

 

Have you ever felt like that, though, in the grown up world? Have you ever just felt like you wanted to hide and let someone else cover for you? I know I have. We have so many challenges to face in this world and God knew that we'd need help. I drew this picture many years ago when I felt like I wanted to hide in Jesus from the dangers of this world. I'm no artist, but you get the idea.

 

 

¹⁸ We know that those who have been made God’s children do not continue to sin. The Son of God keeps them safe. The Evil One cannot hurt them. ¹⁹ We know that we belong to God, but the Evil One controls the whole world. ²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding. So now we can know the one who is true, and we live in that true God. We are in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God, and he is eternal life. - 1 John 5:18-20

 



Since we belong to God, He will keep us safe from the evil one. The devil is limited in what he can do because we are IN Jesus much like the picture above reveals. This becomes our new identity. Many times in the Bible, we come across the words "in Christ" as it is talking about the new identity of believers. This is what I think of now, when I read those passages.

 

As we face the evil, stress, sin, temptation, and the traps of this world, we can remember that this is how we face them. IN Jesus. We are guarded by the very Son of God! My prayer is that you will feel empowered by that today.

 

Just don't test it out on an egg.

 

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Na Na Na Boo Boo!

Have you ever been bullied as a child? It may have been at school by the playground hoodlums or even by a friend at their house. I know I have. I have met some seriously pushy people in my lifetime! If you have been in that situation and were lucky, you may have had a grown up step in on your behalf to defend you.

I'm telling you, that is the BEST feeling when someone steps up beside you, puts their arm around you, and tells your bullies, "If you're going to get to her, you've got to go through me."

The looks on their faces let you know they have been defeated because they do not want the kind of trouble they'd get for going against an adult. A feeling of relief and peace washes over you knowing that this person has just saved you by identifying with you and standing with you so you didn't have to face it alone. In fact, she was willing to stand in FRONT of you and take whatever was about to be unleashed. In that moment, you wanted to wrap your arms and legs around her leg and let her drag you through the rest of your life to protect you!

 

By standing with you to identify with you, the message that teacher sent to your bullies was that you have a big body guard who's not afraid to do business. Your identity shifted from "the lone wolf" to a pack of wolves. You were no longer alone.

 

 

Source: Public Domain

What a feeling!!

 

That is the scenario that comes to my mind when I read these verses:

Colossians 2:8-10 (NLT)

 

8 Don't let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ. 9 For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, 10 and you are complete through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe.            

This world is full of "bullies" (whether they are human or spiritual in nature) who work hard to lead us astray with their philosophies, paradigms, and perspectives on just about everything. They will use any topic to try to disprove that we are who Christ says we are not to mention the fact that they try to disprove Christ himself. The bad news is that living in a world full of these people can be challenging and discouraging at times, but the good news is that as followers of Christ, we will never have to stand alone.

 

When we give our heart to God, we are immediately blessed with a Heavenly Companion to go with us through life who is also not afraid to do business on our behalf. United with the Spirit of Christ himself, we are made complete (lacking nothing) by our connection with him. He is the head over every "bully" we could ever face and is the ultimate authority. Our very identity shifts so that it's not just us anymore, but it is "us and Christ." I am no longer Christy, but I am "Christy and Christ." He is always with us. He will never leave us, nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6). That means he is not giving up on us. Ever.

 

That just makes you want to go through life singing, "Na Na Na Boo Boo, you can't get me!!"

 

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Blog Challenge 2014

I am often amazed by things and am constantly learning from people, scripture, and God (not necessarily in that order, of course). As you may have noticed, I also love blogging about what I learn. However, it's been a while since I went on a "blogging adventure." I went on a blogging adventure two summers ago when I did a 30-day challenge of blogging about the names and attributes of God. It was an amazing and enlightening time for me!

If you missed any of those, you can always sneak back to my past blogs and get caught up (wink, wink).

Recently, I've been itching to do another challenge so I've decided that it's time to go for it, but I'm not going to put a number on it this time (e.g. 30-day). The reason for this is that I want to spend plenty of time praying, meditating, studying, and seeking God about each blog topic prior to actually posting the blog. It might take one day or it might take four days. Who knows? I am just going to let the Holy Spirit guide me instead of forcing everything into a 24-hour period. I am very excited about this, which is why I have written this introductory blog to tell you about it.

The goal of my last "blog adventure" was to answer this question: "Who is God?"  The goal of my new adventure is to answer the question, "Who am I?" or better yet, "Who are WE?" I want to know what the Bible has to say about my identity and, of course, I want to share what I learn with you.

Each New Year's holiday brings with it a desire to be better, to learn more, to do something new, or to try something again that was previously a failure. As I mentioned in my last blog, I have chosen a REVOLUTION over the typical "resolution" and this blog series is a part of that. I hope you will join me and pray over each topic, meditate over each scripture, and allow the Holy Spirit to tell you who YOU are to God in 2014.

Do me a favor, though. If you plan to join me, either comment below or leave me a comment on my Facebook page so I can be praying for you on your journey. I'm excited to see what God wants to show us.

How about you? Are you in?