Living My Faith Out Loud

This was by far the best Christmas I have ever had because of my family. It is amazing to think that prior to me accepting Christ, we rarely even spoke to each other. My brothers and my mom sometimes didn’t even know where I lived or whether or not I was alive. It has been almost 7 years since I made the most important decision of my life, giving my heart to Jesus, and He continues to amaze me every day. I am so thankful and the gratitude in my heart will never even come close to the sacrifice He made for me. Tomorrow I will post about the past year.

Here are some pictures of my beautiful nieces and nephews, and of course my brothers.
Shige, Jr and Gavin, Amina Rose, Alana Marie. My brothers JoJo, Shige, Taka and Mom.

This weekend our pastor was talking about the gift of significance that God wants to give us. We try to achieve this significance through people, possessions and pursuits instead of receiving this gift that comes being a child of the King. Only when we stop striving for it and look towards Christ can we really begin to understand our value, our worth and how much God truly loves us.
My pastor also shared a few points about what significance produces:

• Security
• Sanctification
• Service
• Satisfaction

Another point he shared was people of significance:

• Know they are loved and valued by God
• Are settled in their relationship with God
• Are settled in their relationship with others
• Move from being consumers to contributors

The Scripture my pastor shared from was in Luke 2:8-20, when the angels came to the shepherds to announce the birth of Christ. I never really thought much about this Scripture in regards to why the Lord would choose these lowly shepherds to make such an incredible announcement to.

I started to think about people He uses and I am convinced that God has a special place in His heart for the lowly, the broken hearted, the prodigal, the least of the least. I thought back to His resurrection and how He chose to show Himself to Mary Magdalene, the former demoniac. I thought of Gideon, the “Mighty Warrior” who was hiding from the Midianites in a cave and threshing his wheat because he was afraid. God used this man from the weakest clan (he was the runt!) and subdued the Midianites. How about Rahab, the prostitute? I could go on and on. my point is that no matter what we have done, no matter where we have been, no matter what people say about us, if we know Christ, if we have put our faith and trust in Him, than we have significance. God knows us by name and each one of us matter to Him.

I am doing my Bible study on grace and came across a quote from Andrew Murray which really stuck out to me. (Ok, it convicted me to my core!) It’s in a chapter titled Liberty and Legalism. I have shared many times here about my struggles with legalism. For me, keeping rules is my natural bent and I want to grow out of it. I want to be a woman of grace. I want to extend the grace that the Lord has so freely extended towards me. Here is what Andrew Murray wrote:

We may be seeking for our growth in a more diligent use of the means of grace, and a more earnest striving to live in accordance with God’s will, and yet entirely fail. The reason is, that there is a secret root of evil, which must be removed. That root is the spirit of bondage, the legal spirit of self-effort, which hinders that humble faith that knows that God will work all, and yields to Him to do it.

Ouch. Today, I will, by God’s grace, make a choice to be a woman of grace and mercy.

Have you ever just set out to be blessing then all of sudden you realize that you are the one being blessed? Yesterday I took off from work to help a friend named Rosemary who started a foundation to give presents to underprivileged kids. She raises funds and every Christmas blesses a local school in our area. The program is called, “If you had a hundred.”
Basically each child has a budget of $100 and they make a wish list for their family members. y Rosemary then gets volunteers and we take them to the Target and buy the gifts on the list . There are about 100 kids and it was crazy fun! I had 2 kids that I spent the day with and we picked up everything for their families.
To watch their little faces light up with pride at being able to pick out gifts was something I will never forget. They also write something they really want but they don’t get to buy anything for themselves. When all the shopping is done, we took all the packages back to the kids’ school and we ate pizza and they wrapped all of the presents. There was much laughter and giggles galore. When all the wrapping was finished, Rosemary gathered all the kids and had them sit in a big circle. She then handed out gifts that were on the kids’ wish list and there is nothing that can compare to the excitement that filled that room. They were screaming so loud and were totally surprised.
Rosemary also pays for all the wrapping paper, supplies, pizza and everything else. What a way to share the love of Christ in a tangible way. I actually got to talk to one of the teachers about the Lord and invited her to come to church on Sunday.
Next year, I will definitely help her more. She does most of the stuff herself with a few volunteers but what a way to be blessed. I came home feeling such a warmth in my heart and I know those kids will never be the same.

It reminds me of Matthew 25:37-40, “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

I am in a Bible study on the book of 1 John and yesterday in class something really struck out to me and I wanted to share it.
In 1 John 1:6-7 says, “So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”
The word translated “living” in these verses is a Greek word that literally means “walking continuously.” It has it roots in the Old Testament concept of “walking” in God’s Word and His ways instead of ungodly counsel. This speaks of our lifestyle, how we think and act every day. If the consistent patterns of our life reflect spirtual darkness, then we do not truly have fellowship (koinonia) with God and we are not living in His light.
Here are some practical questions that we can ask ourselves:

• Do the consistent choices I am making reflect an understanding of God and His ways?
• Do my daily thoughts, attitudes and actions demonstrate a desire to purge sinfulness and pursue righteousness in my life?
• Is there a hunger in my heart to grow in my love for God and the expression of His love through me?

I know for me, I need to ask myself these questions on a daily basis. How about you?

I was driving home from work yesterday and I drive by several farms and fields and I was amazed at how beautiful the snow looked. It was so pristine and pure. It reminded me of how the Lord takes us and makes us pure again. In Isaiah 1:18 it says, “Come now let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow…” In Psalm 51:7 it says, “Wash me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.” I looked at the snow at the side of the road, brown and dingy and dirty and that represented me and my past sins. I could almost picture the scarlet red creeping over the pure snow, standing out for all the world to see. One glance at the snow way out in the fields and everything was clean and untouched. This is how the Lord sees me now, pure and untouched. Holy and righteous. It’s almost too much to comprehend. To think that I am once again clean, that I have been cleansed by the very blood of Christ; healer of the sick, raiser of the dead and Savior of the world. Wow…
I will post some pictures of my real backyard when I get home from work.

I started doing a new Bible study on grace and it amazes me what I have learned in just a few short lessons. I think most of us can understand the concept of grace but do we really grasp how powerful and freeing it really is? I have a natural bent towards keeping the Law. It is much easier for me to make a little “law” checklist and adhere to that than to simply accept grace as a free gift. Ephesians 2:8-9 couldn’t be more clearer, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.”
We know it, most have memorized it. My prayer is that as I continue in this study, the Lord would reveal to me and make His grace known to me in ways that will blow my mind!
Here is an excerpt from Jerry Bridges on the spiritual principle regarding the grace of God:
“‘…to the extent you are clinging to any vestiges of self-righteousness or are putting any confidence in your own spiritual attainments, to that degree you are not living by the grace of God in your life. ‘
This principle applies to salvation and in living the Christian life… Grace and good works (that is, works done to earn favor with God) are mutually exclusive. We cannot stand, as it were, with one foot on grace and the other on our own merit. “
What a way to start the day…