Posted in America by John Blair on 1/8/2012
No one can truly ever tell what their future will be like, and if someone ever thinks they can tell you, then they're selling a lie. Alone from the moral obvious results of what your life can be like (i.e. drugs to jail) we do the best we can with what we've been given, trusting the Lord will "work all things for the good of those who love Him".
Today is a beautiful day, sitting in a lawn chair of a back patio in warm Charleston, SC. It's winter time, but from what I'm used too this just seems paradoxical compared to home. At the end of the Race to think that I'd be here, moved to South Carolina and getting married in less than three months to Jennifer shows how our plans can change. My plans weren't awful and could even come later, but I believe there's a reason Jesus tell us to worry about today and not tomorrow. It doesn't exclude planning and preparing, but it does remind me that ultimate trust is given to God with full acceptance that everything inside of me is His.
The truest lesson of 2011 for me was all about trust. I read a devotional everyday called "Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon; if you don't have it I highly recommend it. But Spurgeon is not afraid to tell it like it is. He is quite confident to share that if we doubt God, worry about our future, it is truly disobedience and sin. If we forget who holds us in the palm of His hands then we are acting like misfits to a God who will never abandon us, treat us as orphans, or keep what is true for His children.
This I've been learning. I'm come from the Race, had surgery, worked jobs that aren't my passion, met a girl, fell in love, got engaged, went back to my job after leaving, and now have moved to a new home, place, people, and now permanent. But my God doesn't change. He has always provided, been faithful, true, and the best hope is that He is always there to speak. What makes change easier and trust a little more assuring is hearing God's voice in the transitions. Being surrounded by noise drowns out the still small voice that He speaks to our hearts. If the tv/radio is on all the time, city sounds screaming, chaos around, find a place to get away and listen. Finding our home is in the heart of God, and no matter what change may come your doubts can be washed away just by taking the time to listen.
So who knows what your future will look like, good luck with it. Maybe you'll be engaged. Maybe you'll find yourself in a new place. Maybe you'll be serving orphans across the world or our own jobless in America (please get rid of the lie that you can only live passionately or make change overseas). Maybe, like Jeff Goins, you'll take a dream you have so long in your heart become alive and START!
Whatever the outcome, God is hearing you, and He calls you to trust Him. Find comfort and rest, O my soul. He is there in your tomorrow. He's been with you thus far, let us not forsake His hand for tomorrow. If you're passionate about something, or even interested in it, you should just do it and let it run its course.
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Posted in America by John Blair on 12/12/2011
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Hey
guys. A while back Jennifer and I had entered a photo contest. It
ends in a few days on December 15th, which is also Jennifer's B-day.
We are losing not by too much, but I'm really hoping that as a birthday
gift and Christmas gift I would be able to rally up my friends to vote
at least once for us and on her birthday to be #1 and win the contest;
For a while we were leading but a couple unexpectedly took over the last
two days. If we win Jenn win's the earrings from the jewelry company
plus gets a picture with the company wearing them for their Facebook
page; I think it's a great surprise for her.
I'm asking if you
would please just take five seconds and vote for us; it doesn't take
any time at all to do. You cannot vote more than once from your
computer with the same internet connection BUT if you have more than one
computer at the same house and even internet on your phone, you can
vote on all of them and they will all count. You can vote more than
once!!
PLEASE once you get this message, go to this link and click "VOTE" for us and also "like".
http://apps.facebook.com/offerpop/Contest.psp?c=40331&u=11864&a=254553244581393&p=230034550667&v=Entry&id=131787&rest=1
The vote really counts. We have 60 hours before it ends and I think it
would be awesome surprise to make a comeback and win it. It only takes a
few seconds and if everyone does it I'm sure we'll win.
Yes
they are diamond earrings, but they are free and we've even discussed
with the cost of wedding planning selling them to help pay or sell them
and give the money to a good cause. But first we have to win. Please
go to this link and click VOTE!!! If everyone does, we should win.
http://apps.facebook.com/offerpop/Contest.psp?c=40331&u=11864&a=254553244581393&p=230034550667&v=Entry&id=131787&rest=1
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Remember if you have more
than one computer/phone at home you can vote more than once on all of
them!!! Make sure you click "VOTE" too and not just like. I appreciate
all of your help. Also, if you want to read the engagement story,
Jennifer put a link to it beside our description or go to a previous post : )
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Posted in America by John Blair on 11/6/2011
Hey everyone,
There is an engagement photo contest going on right now that's through December 16th that we are signed up for. The winner receives a couple of .5 Karat diamond earrings, and if we Jenn said it would be my Christmas present for her since her birthday is the day before, and you know during wedding planning that's huge, haha just kidding!!! All you have to do is click on this link (it's leads you to the voting page on Facebook). We started a few weeks late but know with your help and plenty of time we can do it!! We're not really sure what we'll do with the earrings, I know it sound unWorld-Race like, but we have even discussed selling them to help pay for the wedding or giving it to a good cause; so know this isn't for "selfish reasons". Please go to this link, copy it and paste it in another browser to go to the page and click the "Vote" button when you see our photo, simple and easy. Would really appreciate it!! You all have been a wonderful influence in my and our lives.
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Posted in America by John Blair on 11/1/2011
A couple of days ago I came to the realization of more importance in meditation and applying God's truth in our lives. Since the beginning of October I've been reading a couple of chapters a day starting in Genesis and moving through the Bible. Last year on the Race I read the Bible through in less than six months and it's amazing the stories that come more alive when you actually take time to read the Word. But I've decided just reading isn't enough, but to look for the key lessons that bring those pages to life. I hope to be more consistent on the blog, part of that will be the truths that the Word brings out.
This morning my chapters dealt with Joseph and his temptations from Potiphar's wife. Knowing that he was in a mix of trouble Joseph fled from the temptation. He didn't give it a second look like so many of us do, but he fled realizing his integrity was dependent upon each decision he made. What is my attitude on sin and temptation? Do I utterly despise and take forever to walk away from it not realizing the damage it can do to me, but to others around me? We must flee from it against all thoughts of the instant self-gratification or fleshly gain.
Once he did this and stood up for the Lord, we shouldn't be surprised that the world wold find some way to respond and persecute, and so Potiphar's wife accused/lied about Joseph sending him into prison for a crime that he had not committed. But even in this time Joseph still trusted the Lord and found favor among the prison guard. His integrity was so amplified to those around him that even the lost trusted Joseph and God blessed them. When I am in the work places or amongst the lost, can they still see me and the Lord in me that my life is still favorable to them; whether it leads them to salvation or not. People trust someone who has integrity and dignity, and it leads to trust and blessing from the Lord. It's only a result of obedience.
But Joseph still trusted the Lord and walked with him, the Bible in the ESV translation says that God still showed his "steadfast love" to Him, and therefore God still gave him the gift of dream interpretation. Last year when reading the Word in Africa I began to notice how much the book of Psalms would say the "steadfast love" of the Lord, I counted it and it was so many to count. It's another meaning of "patient love" or "strong love". God's love is patient and strong; much more than my human capacities could ever match. His love is steadfast believer, can you trust that?
But because of these things, he was remembered and soon out of prison when the cupbearer finally remembered him after the Pharoah's dreams. When Joseph interpreted his dream, it led to him eventually becoming the number two man in charge of all the land of Egypt (a Hebrew former slave). Joseph never gave up on God and still trusted Him even when he didn't know what the future was at all.
As I soon walk into work at a bank where I will work with people who don't know the Lord, I pray my aim is that people can see that I've walked with the Lord that they can trust me in a world where God isn't top priority to many. That I would literally see my integrity with others around me or not as the most important thing to me, my future wife, family, and ministry. That is God is always there, but even more, His "steadfast love" is always patient, strong, and life-changing.
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Posted in America by John Blair on 10/28/2011
It's true that you never really truly can know a person from the outside without knowing the inside. It's apparent that in a world where the push comes to shove, even those who try to do the best will inevitable fail at something or feel the pressure to fit into the crowd. Years go by, and we all of a sudden get a lesson learned in life that makes us feel sorry for what we may have done or wish we had done something different.
Ten years next month is pretty much my official call to ministry, and even though there's been great things that I've seen God do and also trials that are hard to bear, he still can use the past to keep us focused.
A few months ago I was asked to do some songs and preach at a small little church in an broken home area of Lexington called "Irishtown". The church didn't have fancy lights, the latest Mac computer, sound systems, or the coolest band. There were about eight people, all of them women except one guy who came with his wife. But they came to have a little Jesus' time with a stranger from a richer part of the city who didn't have a clue about each other, just one God that united us both.
Then there she was. It had been over a decade since I last saw her but this time it was different and heart breaking for me; not in regards to her state but my former state of life.
In high school, even after the summer I truly came to Christ, I still struggled with peer pressure and wanting to fit in the crowd. If you didn't look right, smell right, dress right, or act right then you were one "of those". Yes, sometimes I would join the crowd. And she was "one of those". She was overweight, walked funny, and had a weird mole on her neck. But instead of really seeing her like Jesus does and calls me to do, I joined the crowd. I stayed away, talked about her with people who were of no benefit to me being a real moral man.
So to stand in this small little church, open hymnals and singing in the worst chords but humble hearts, she was there. And in that moment I realized that I had never knew she came from such a rough background. She never had a chance, wasn't even given one, and it's like life cheated her out of it just like many others. She was smiling, but in a community she was in was a war to fight. Everyone was, and diabetes was winning the battle. Where does someone get out of something if everyone around them keeps pushing them down? That's what I felt like I helped do a long time ago. I was sucker punched in the stomach. I never knew her home, where she came from, and because of my ignorance a while back I took the opportunity to fit into the crowd. Now a decade later, she's still there and now I'm standing and leading as a minister would.
The whole rest of the day I couldn't stop thinking about it. What a jerk I was back then? How she never hurt anyone to deserve what she had gone through, and what chance I had as a Christian to be different and show love like God would have me do.
When the hour was done and the few that came to hear me speak, we were done and she walked out with the others. I never said "sorry". I should have. I should have told her I shouldn't have been leading, but a man back then acted like a boy. And she is not "one of those", but a chosen daughter of God. At least, she, after going through all the "uncool" nonsense she dealt with by people like us who think somehow we have rights to push others aside for our own gain, still is trusting a God who sees her for who she really is. I am sorry. For me, and everyone else, may we never judge or make fun of someone we never really know, never at the expense of my own integrity and the other person's value.
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Posted in Engagement by John Blair on 9/20/2011
So I know there's been many questions, inquiries, and people wanting to know details of the recent engagement to the love of my life, Jennifer Leverett. So I thought for the sake of many repeated stories (though I will be willing to always share with joy) I would write the story for you. So please know this isn't the shortest story but I believe the God has been writing it from the beginning. This isn't from the beginning of our relationship, just the engagement. This is from my point of view:
Back in the beginning of Jennifer and I talking countless nights and hours getting to know each other, we would literally talk about everything and learning the hearts of each other. One night I opened up about the topic of "bucket lists" and things we would like to do before we die. Jennifer that night opened up about how, no matter how random she thought I'd think it to be, that she would always love to play a really hard piano piece on a grand piano on a stage in a really nice shinny red dress. At that moment she told me of it, I thought to myself "If I ever came to the point where I wanted to marry this girl and that the Lord would lead to that, I think that would be an epic engagement idea."
Fast forward a few months and after two and a half months of talking endlessly, doing Skypes, and only seeing each other for a few times doing long distance, Jennifer and I were able to spend the whole summer together for an incredible time of getting to know each other. What was giving signs of evidence that the Lord was at work was being more confirmed together. I began to truly fall in love with her and to me there was none more beautiful inside out than her. (details of our relationship will be spared for the story's sake).
It eventually came down to where we believe the Lord was leading us to be together and the talks of marriage had come up and we had eventually went looking for rings. Jennifer eventually found the one that she really liked with another friend and there was no reason to mess with a good thing. Windsor's Jewelry company where the ring came from so much like my engagement idea so much that they thought about making it a commercial of theirs, but wasn't guaranteed.
In the middle of August I decided to start making some phone calls to schools, universities, and churches that could possibly have both a grand piano and a stage; this list isn't easy to make. I had come down to a few options, but one that really seemed great was Maxwell Theatre at Augusta State University. I got in touch with Kelly Thomas, the theatre manager who at once really was welcoming and willing to look into helping it become real. On his own he thought it would be a great idea to do it after a night of a concert and I thought it would be good since it would be hard to convince Jennifer that something wasn't up if we just randomly showed up at a church or a concert hall for a random reason. The following weekend I went to visit Jennifer before I started working back at the bank.
On a Friday that she was teaching I decided to check out all the places that I had contacted when Jennifer was teaching so she wouldn't know that morning. I made my visit to ASU and met Kelly. They showed me the stage, dressing room area, and we started talking about all the possibilities. He even told me of a concert that would be going on September 16th (our anniversary date) by the St. Petersburg Quartet that night and we met even the director who was excited about the idea. I thought the place was perfect and to have real dressing rooms made it all more real and exciting. So after visiting Jennifer and a week later I then called Kelly and told him that I wanted to go with the idea.
A couple of days later I got in touch with one of Jennifer's close friends named Jenn Eckert. I thought it would be even more surprising if Jennifer didn't even know I was in town. So I told Eckert what I had planned and she was more than thrilled to be part of something potentially big event and even an engagement. She agreed to help and that I would buy the tickets to the concert and just had to convince Jennifer to go with her that night and soon before she scheduled anything. Jennifer said yes to the invite, not knowing that it was my idea and Eckert told her she had won the tickets. The plan was to take Jennifer to the concert and do it afterwards without her knowing I would be there.
So for the next three weeks the planning of smaller details begun without Jennifer knowing. I had bought the music of "Prelude in c sharp minor" by Rachmaninoff; a piece Jennifer knew and played and was very difficult. I bought three copies with a plan to tea stain it to make the music look old, and in case I failed would still have one extra. I bought the dress after help from some friends about styles and casual conversation with Jennifer about what type of dress she would like to wear and her size. Guys....it's a risk to buy your girl a dress when she doesn't know!!! Then the ring had arrived from Augusta, GA and was shipped to Lexington, KY on September 9th, a week before the planned engagement. Petals were bought, and more things all in preparation for the evening. Jennifer never knew all what was going on.
On September 5th I asked her father, David Leverett, permission to marry his daughter. He said "Yes" and prayed for both of us upon request and cried. He is truly a great man and loves his children much, but also loves the Lord saying "I'm sorry John, I just don't see how you can pray to the Lord and not get emotional." Amen!
When September 16th came, our anniversary, I had told Jennifer that I couldn't come that weekend because I had to close at work and was just starting and didn't know my schedule yet. That morning I called her on our anniversary to say hello and as we talked it had been 10 days since we last saw each other and was getting hard. She asked me when I would see her again and I said I didn't know, but she didn't know I was coming that day. That everything was planned for me to be there all weekend and even as she said the concert would be fun she would rather be together for our anniversary, she didn't know it was going to be quite a memorable evening.
I worked till 11am at the bank and hit the road, every once in a while texting Jennifer about how busy work is and she assumed I was still in Lexington not know I was just an hour away. Eckert picked up Jennifer just a few minutes after 6:00 to take her out to dinner making it a "girls nice date night" so Jennifer would be already dressed up for the evening. I arrived at her parent's house around 6:25 in time to say hello to her parents, show her mom the ring to honor her, and I had picked up 15 dried roses I gave Jennifer over time with plans on giving her the 16th new (her favorite number is 16) that night, have a quite soup her mom made and then left the house at 7:45 to go to the concert.
I arrived at the theatre around 8:10 and when I received a text from the manager that they had gotten their tickets and were in the auditorium I then got all the belongings, flowers, dress, (and ring) and met the manager at the side door and down the steps to the dressing room. During intermission and the second half of the concert, without Jennifer knowing I was there, I set up the dressing room with the dress hanging, photos, letters, and made a rose petal trail from the top of the steps to another staircase that would lead to the front of the stage. When the concert was done, the manager and his stage quickly took down all things from the concert and rolled their best Steinway piano out to the front of the stage, and when I knew for sure the girls were gone I went out and laid the 16th rose, the music, a letter, and the last of the petal trail to the piano. When all was set, I then texted her friend "Eckert" saying we were ready.
Eckert and Jennifer went to a pie shop just a couple of minutes away while she was awaiting my text. She she received it she then mentioned that she had "forgot" her pearl earring her grandmother had given her and Jennifer, on her own, mentioned about going to the theatre. The concert ended at 9:35 and they got back to the theatre around 10:15. As the girls walked to the theatre, Kelly the manager acted like he was talking on his phone and Eckert told him she lost an earring and Kelly told them to come inside and that they have a lost and found. As they came in Kelly opened the staircase door to see a trail of pedals going down and said "I think if you follow these petals you might find what you're looking for." I was hiding just a few feet away in the dark in an office. Jennifer thought it strange but Eckert made nothing out of it as they went down only to eventually lead to the dressing room as it was lit up and set up.
I wish at that moment I had a voice recorder but all I know is Jennifer told me she almost felt like fainting once she saw it all and the dress. The dress had fit!! Jennifer read letter #1 which had a list of things I loved about her and then was instructed to put the dress on. When done Eckert left and came up the same way to meet me and get my camera to take photos and hide in the dark. I then waited behind the stage curtains where Jennifer couldn't see me but I could her. Then in just a couple of minutes she walked up the small stair entrance to see a beautifully lit stage with a black grand, red rose, music, and a letter in her beautiful dress. I almost dropped my mouth to how beautiful she looked, it was all magical.
She walked to the piano to read the letter I put on there and then she played her piece incredibly well. Just six days before Jennifer cut her left index finger badly trimming her bushes in the front yard and became a scare for us when we weren't sure if she could play, but her finger seemed to heal quickly as many people were praying for her finger for that night. She played so well, and I'm sure with nerves. She said at that moment she just wanted to see me, but maybe realized it wasn't going to happen until she played. She played her piece well as I had the joy of watching her from behind and taking in the moment, then the final note was done.
When there was a pause I then took my shoes off and started to read my last letter as she turned around to see me. I wasn't worthy of this moment or for the gift that God gave me, and I felt in that moment that it was holy; so I took of my shoes. I read the last letter about my love for her and our relationship, a prayer that I read out loud to God about us and our future and then read a quote of Bonhoeffer about his desires to always love and live with the woman who says "Yes" to him. And then from that quote I then got on one knee and asked Jennifer for the honor of wearing my ring and that she would marry me....and she said "YES!"
I think she wanted more than anything just to hug me and kiss me before the ring came on since we hadn't seen each other in a long time, but eventually it went on and fit perfectly. It was beautiful. She was in shock and awe of the night and at that moment one or two things on that bucket list were coming true. It was the most beautiful moment of our lives that she would be my love who would say "YES". After we hugged and celebrated I had invited her closest friends and family over to her parents house. She called her parents to tell them she was "engaged" on the phone not knowing we were heading over to see them and many more.
When we finally left the theatre, she stayed in her dress, we then arrived at her parents late at night only in her surprise and joy to see that her parents, brother Jonathan, and many of her closest friends were there to celebrate. It was a night of our lives as we all celebrated and made a toast of champagne in which her dad gave a blessing.
I am so humbled and thankful for what the Lord has done. I am very thankful to those who helped me with this, Jennifer Eckert, Kelly Thomas, Maxwell Theatre staff and the Leverett family. I am going to marry the most wonderful woman in the world.
I share this to you not in a way of pride, though I am proud of Jennifer, and to explain some story. I share it for those who want details, but I did it big that night because I loved her and wanted to make it special in the most incredible way I could for her. But in the end, she said "Yes" and that big decision for both of us I pray the Lord will bring many years of lives together in joy. The wedding is March 31st, going to be the next greatest day of my life.
I love you Jennifer Leverett, and I'm so thankful for you. Thank you to everyone who has invested in my life to be the man I pray I can be for the Lord, and thank you to those who have loved Jennifer and made her the woman she is.
And lastly, I want to thank Karen Jan Leverett, for showing us all that every second of life should never be taken for granted. This one's for you.
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Posted in Ukraine by John Blair on 6/3/2011
It's an incredible thing to come back from the Race and to see God continue to work even after being gone. Especially for those who have supported me as a Racer in prayer and finances. Your seeds planted have made a great effect all around the world as many of you reading my blogs during the World Race. If you will remember this post I had during our time in Ukraine:
http://johnblair.theworldrace.org/?filename=nov-7-2010-journal-entry
I still remember that night when Michael, Vika, and I sat down in a room and was able to share the gospel with him during a long two hour conversation. Recently, our Ukraine contact sent me an email that Michael who came to Christ that night just a couple of weeks ago was recently baptized in a river. What an awesome news to receive from our contacts. It's a joy to know that when you're sharing the gospel and seeing someone receive Christ in their life across the world, that they are growing strong in their faith and soon to be baptized later but those who continue to minister. I think this shows not only the power of those who water, grow, and harvest. But I think it shows the power of what God can do in one moment, even if you're in a country for a short time. I'm excited that I could be a part of this process and that others will be able to disciple him!! Praise God for Michael and continue to pray for those who leave the comforts and go to bring the Good News. How beautiful are their feet!
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Posted in America by John Blair on 5/23/2011
"Everyone dies, but not everyone lives" William Wallace, Braveheart
A couple of weekends ago, four of us guys (Ryan, Derrick, Ronald, and I) from home decided to take a "man's" trip up to Chicago with the hopes of seeing the Cubs play the Reds in old historic Wrigley Field, a guys trip for the ages. What more do you need than a car full of Mountain Dew and Ale 8 (Kentucky Drink), homemade brownies from mom, and four guys who just love the Lord heading up north to see a baseball game.
On the way Friday afternoon we had planned to make a quick pit stop to the west-side of Chicago to visit Ryan's grandparents, possibly the last time to see his grandfather. His grandfather is a World War 2 veteran, and on D-Day was one of the men storming the beaches of Normandy; I'm a WW2 nerd. But recently he had a stroke where one side of his face, arm, and body were paralyzed as a result. Now he is confined to a nursing home where his wife comes to visit him everyday. He is 92 years old, and they have been married as a couple of 69 years, 69 YEARS!! The thought of that would be a miracle considering how marriages are struggling these days.
But the story isn't of them, but of a different kind. As our visit was coming near end and Ryan was pushing his grandfather in a wheelchair to his room, I walked beside his grandmother for a moment, and then she spoke. "I always hate coming into places like this, seeing all the people with white hair just laying around waiting to die. They all just want to die." I held her hand and said, "It's a hard place to be."
Jonathan Eldridge, in his book "Wild At Heart", said, "You can lose your soul, by the way, long before you die." Maybe that's in some way what Jesus was referring too in Mark 8:36. For instance, many of us try to live a life of security in many things and we literally sacrifice our soul and true power when we insist on controlling things. Like the guy Jesus talked about who thought he finally had pulled it all off, built himself some really nice barns, and died the same night. Isn't life sometimes feeling like a race?
I couldn't imagine what many people in the nursing homes around the States go through. Lives that were young, played in the streets, kisses on first dates, married to sweethearts, awards on the walls, unique jobs, a life lived until one day you find yourself in a small four wall room...alone. The race ends and there's still time left.
The house that was built is still there, it's just now that someone else is in it. That car you drove is replaced for some with two large wheels on the side and a vinyl seat. All things that were personal now become communal. People die inside long before they physically die outside.
I'm sure if I was in Ryan's grandfather place, there's plenty of meditation going on. How did I live my life? Do I have regrets? Did I love? Did I ever feel true love? I wish I had the one last conversation. Why did I invest in this when it won't last and not for something eternal.
One of my favorite parts about the Christmas movie Home Alone, is of the older neighbor who finally comes to find redemption with his son and the family. He wasn't in a nursing home, but his heart was caged with another small room of four walls; fear, resentment, unforgiveness, and apathy. He was dead inside, but it wasn't too late for a new birth and for him to come alive again.
I believe these are questions that will keep our hearts burning within no matter how white our hair gets or bald we go. I pray that I will never have to end up there, but if I do, I know that my home after this life is much bigger than any barn I can build only to end up somewhere else at the end. And as for now, I pray I just might be able to visit those places where people have given up, hear their stories of past, and know that they are loved where they are.
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Posted in America by John Blair on 4/9/2011
Whatever your opponent gives you to work with, use it.
For instance in wrestling, if your opponent gives you only one vulnerable arm to
work with, use it to your advantage. If your opponent aggressively
attacks you, use his own momentum to bring him down.
I think you see this same kind of technique in the lives of people
like the apostle Paul. And it's the reason why he was so effective. He
used whatever was given to him. He saw the potential in every situation
and this allowed him to be adaptable and useful in every situation.
If he was put in jail, he converted the guards.
If he was executed, he saw it as gain.
If they let him live, he'd preach the gospel.
If he was given a thorn in his flesh, he'd use it as an opportunity to let God's power shine in his weakness.
This made Paul the freest and most powerful man on the planet. And
there's no coincidence that he walked in a level of joy and intimacy
with God that most of us fall cosmically short of.
But it doesn't have to be this way. The same technique that worked for him can work for us too.
The circumstances, struggles, and attacks you face are not the ultimate determining factor of the kind of life you live. How you use them is. And there isn't a single situation in your life that can't be used for your good and God's glory.
If you're facing adversity, use it to develop patience and endurance.
If you're in a place of financial scarcity, use it to display God's sufficiency.
If you've failed, use it to learn.
If Satan is exploiting one of your past failures, use it to display God's past faithfulness on the cross.
Whatever you do, refuse to be a victim of what's thrown at you.
Whatever you're given in life, use it. And God will use you.
I think one of the hardest realities to accept is the fact that there
is absolutely nothing in your life that isn't good or beyond God's
ability to work for your good. Yet it is absolutely essential if your
faith is going to remain intact in the midst of the difficulties in
life. Everything is for your good. by Pastor Steve Furtick
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Posted in America by John Blair on 4/1/2011
I
totally admire creative peopleâ€"people who can just make something out of nothing; like an artist who creates a beautiful display off a blank canvas. That kind of thing has never come easy for me. Too many
possibilities of getting it wrong. Too much white space to fill. I am
more of a paint-by-numbers kind of person. Tell me the area I need to
fill in and the color that needs to fill the space and I can handle it.
Then I am certain to get the results I want because I followed the
appropriate steps through the process. Paint blue, red and green here,
here and here, and you get a masterpiece. Totally easy. Do these three
steps, and you will get this desired result.
If only all of
life promised and delivered such desired results. If only we had a
guarantee that if we did something a certain way we would have a certain
end. But we don't. And the truth is, this isn't a surprise to you. You
know that even if you did all the right things, made the "right choices", got the right job, house, car, followed the right
rules, got the good grades, practiced the hardest and studied the most,
it wouldn't mean that you would always get the results you expect. And
the reason this is the case may be a lot simpler than you think.
Life isn't lived off the recommendations of a step-by-step formula
like we might find on a paint-by-numbers. Life, as followers of Jesus,
is spent colliding with a very real, very alive, very unpredictable and
big God.
If you think about it, this makes sense. Because if
life was all about a simple procedure with simple rules and simple
guidelines than I think the Bible would be a lot shorterâ€"especially the
Gospels where Jesus encounters people on a regular basis to heal their
internal and external wounds. If there was only one way things were
supposed to goâ€"only one desired resultâ€"than I think all we would get is
one story. Jesus would tell this one person what they should do, and
whatever one thing He said would apply for all of us.
But it
doesn't really work that way, does it? There are four Gospels. And each
Gospel is filled with storiesâ€"stories of individuals, stories of
personal pain, delicate hurts, specific pasts and particular
relationships. And Jesus doesn't just say one thing to each of them.
Jesus doesn't just have one word, one cure, one message. When Jesus has
an encounter with people, He collides with them. The Gospels are a
collection of stories where time and time again a person collides with
Jesus Christâ€"in fact, all of Scripture is the story of people colliding
with a Creator God. And no collision is exactly the same.
So
what does this mean for you?
Someone who would consider himself or herself to be a follower of Jesus,
but isn't exactly sure what to do now? Well, if there was a phrase, if
there was one thing that Jesus said over and over again to people He
encountered, it was this: Follow me. In Matthew chapter 16, verse 24, Jesus says this to His disciples: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
“Follow me,” Jesus said. Where? Doing what? How? Well, you may not
want to hear this, but I am not sure how to answer that. Only you can.
It may mean going on a mission's trip. It may mean serving in a place
and serving people you don't typically interact with. It may mean
extending kindness, forgiveness and care to people who don't deserve it.
It may mean getting up early to pray one day a week or giving one
week's allowance to a charity or cause bigger than yourself. The point
is, only you know what following Jesusâ€"what colliding with Jesusâ€"looks
like in your life.
See, just like the Gospels are uniquely
personal, so too is your story. If you are interested in following
Jesusâ€"if you are interested in being a disciple and in colliding with
Jesusâ€"then you are the only one who can determine what that means for
your life. Colliding with Jesus is personal. It is unique. It will
result in a story no one else can tell because it involves you and the
God who made you.
I can't give you a list of steps,
directions or rules to follow to determine the collision that will take
place when you intersect with God. I can't make a promise about the
result, about the destination or about the implications for your life.
No one can. Except you. There is only one thing that is the same for all
of us, only one call and one mandate that we can be certain applies to
everyoneâ€"regardless of age, maturity, location, skills or fears. Jesus
says to follow Him. He says to walk in His steps, even without the
certainty of where you will go and how you will get there. Yes, it can
be a scary propositionâ€"the idea of colliding offers little guarantee for
what just may happen as a result. But you can be sure that something
will happen. To you. In your story. Because of your obedience. Because
of God's bigness. Because of your desire to love and honor the call
Christ asks of you. Collide with Godâ€"not because there is a promise
involved but because there is a big God involved, and because your story
is involvedâ€"your story is on the line. And you just may be surprised to
see what God can and is able to do when you surrender yourself to His
lead. Follow Him and hang on. Only God knows where you will go from
here.
By: Sarah Anderson, Post Collision Devotional
© 2010 Orange. All rights reserved.
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