God has been doing so much in my heart lately and I am learning so much about viewing God, myself and the world through the lens of the gospel. And it's clicking..finally haha. A little bit that is.. This was so cool to learn today: (Most of this post you are going to say duh, Brittni. how did you not get that?? But it just really hit my heart today like whoa.)
The gospel: Christ was our substitute, he died on the cross so that we may be seen as perfect. He lived the life we should have lived(a perfect one) and died the death we should have died(the death of sinners). Ok, but I'm starting to realize that I am not viewing EVERYTHING through the light of the gospel..and I should. Some time ago, someone said to me..every issue is a gospel issue. I believe this is true, and I said I believed it but I don't think I really really did.
Viewing prayer in light of the gospel: How do we know that God hears our prayer? Well, I've always just claimed scripture for this question (Jer. 29:12,13..etc.), but viewing this in light of the gospel makes SO MUCH SENSE! We know that God will answer our prayer in the same way that we know we are perfect before the Lord through the gospel. On one terrible day, God did not answer Jesus when Jesus called to God; He was forsaken (Matthew 27:46). Jesus was our substitute. We are the ones who deserve to be forsaken and to have our prayers rejected. Why? How could we call upon a righteous God as ones so flawed? We can't...without Christ. God is just in this. 2 Corinthians 5:21--Without Christ, God's righteousness would guarantee that He not hear our prayers. With Christ, God's righteousness guarantees that He will!!
This is why petition (asking God of things in our life) unburdens our heart-when combined with the gospel. We know God hears our prayer and He will answer according to His will (which may or may not allign with ours at the time). Thats why when Jesus teaches us to pray it starts with "Our Father." God is our FATHER, only because of the gospel. We come to Him as his CHILD, his loved children, adopted to His family..How can you not love this??? It is amazing. So amazing.
And so it clicked. Finally. And all it is is the gospel, the thing that I think I know and understand but yet keep learning soooo much about daily.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
overflow
I think everything said is very true. And this speaks to me pretty clearly because I have to watch myself closely to make sure when I am studying the Bible and memorizing Scripture that I am not just gaining knowledge for knowledge sake. Francis Chan is correct in saying that we have to "do" also. If we feel as if we are JUST "flapping our wings in our heart", then is it really true to our heart?
Matthew 12:34 says "For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks."
As the Lord opens our heart to himself, as He plants Himself in our heart, making our faith an inward thing...He is, at the same moment, making our faith outward as well. If Jesus truly is the absolute treasure of our heart, we would be living just as that. As Jesus becomes the treasure of our heart, we start to walk like Him more and more..because we start to love the things God loves and hate the things God hates. This is the overflow. Jesus should be such a treasure and a joy, that we would burst trying to hold in our hearts how great He is. Instead, we would walk like Him, tell others about Him, etc. We have to pray for the Lord to become our treasure, to change our sinful heart, to change us daily in order to become more like Him.
Looking at your life, does your life say that Jesus is your true treasure and joy? Or do you just say..."I'm flapping my wings..in my heart"?
Saturday, August 14, 2010
the gratefulness of a child
The pure joy of a child is amazing to me. I love watching children, playing with children, all of the above! They fascinate me and I get so much joy from them...I think their joy is contagious. I love how raw they are, why is it so hard for us to be raw before the Lord now? I found this youtube video of this little girl just talking about how great everything is, how she "likes" everything. She is so grateful and content with all that she has (judging from the video solely)!! I wish I could stand on my sink everyday in my bathroom and just praise God and thank Him for everything...my haircut, my pajamas, everything! This video is so precious! I love it!!!
myMistakenTexts.com
Textsfromlastnight.com =Not my favorite website. But I feel like I could create my own website. I don't think I would call it texts from last night but maybe something like: MyMistakenTexts.com and MistakesOnCall.com
Let me give you some examples about how cool I am: If you know these people it will probably be extra funny to you.
MyMistakenTexts.com:
To Shannon Strodel(a former lax player that I was meeting for breakfast): Hey Shannon, hope I am at the right chickfila! Can't wait to see you!
Mistakenly Sent to Shannon HARTFORD(a lax player at Pc who lives in Boston). She sent back: "Brittni I got really excited when you texted me but then I realized that you probably sent me the wrong text because there are no Chicfila's in Boston!"....Oops.
To Dad, and Mom: Hey I am boarding the plane at 11:40, I will be arriving around 1:30. Can't wait to see you then!
Mistakenly sent to Daniel Hill and Mom. Daniel replied: "I don't even know where you are going?!"...Oops.
MistakesOnCall.com
On the phone with Walt Allen(talking about my new lacrosse team on August 14th):
Walt: So when you start practicing?
Me: Next year....OH no not next year, sorry next week. No wait sorry in two weeks. Wait, first week of September, I guess thats three weeks. Haha
Walt: Next year...hmm thats a new coaching philosophy. No practicing for the whole first year.
On the phone with Josh Bingham:
Me: Happy Birthday! So you are 22,right?
Josh: Yep
Me: So how does it feel to be 22?
Josh: It feels like Im 23
Me: Wait, what? How does it feel to be 22?
Josh: Like Im 23...
Me: OOOh, OMGah! You are 23?!?!
My life is crazy and my mouth definitely goes faster than my brain so things just pop out like whoa! I mix up my words, texts, phone calls, etc. Makes for really funny yet somewhat awkward experiences but it always makes me laugh! And everyone knows that when I laugh...It's just ridiculous! I'll never forget this one convo:
Me: Dang, I really do mix up my words all the time.
John Solms: I thought you did that on purpose...to be funny.
Me: NO WAY! I dont even mean to!
Ashton Yount: No really John, she does. I normally always have to translate for her!
Let me give you some examples about how cool I am: If you know these people it will probably be extra funny to you.
MyMistakenTexts.com:
To Shannon Strodel(a former lax player that I was meeting for breakfast): Hey Shannon, hope I am at the right chickfila! Can't wait to see you!
Mistakenly Sent to Shannon HARTFORD(a lax player at Pc who lives in Boston). She sent back: "Brittni I got really excited when you texted me but then I realized that you probably sent me the wrong text because there are no Chicfila's in Boston!"....Oops.
To Dad, and Mom: Hey I am boarding the plane at 11:40, I will be arriving around 1:30. Can't wait to see you then!
Mistakenly sent to Daniel Hill and Mom. Daniel replied: "I don't even know where you are going?!"...Oops.
MistakesOnCall.com
On the phone with Walt Allen(talking about my new lacrosse team on August 14th):
Walt: So when you start practicing?
Me: Next year....OH no not next year, sorry next week. No wait sorry in two weeks. Wait, first week of September, I guess thats three weeks. Haha
Walt: Next year...hmm thats a new coaching philosophy. No practicing for the whole first year.
On the phone with Josh Bingham:
Me: Happy Birthday! So you are 22,right?
Josh: Yep
Me: So how does it feel to be 22?
Josh: It feels like Im 23
Me: Wait, what? How does it feel to be 22?
Josh: Like Im 23...
Me: OOOh, OMGah! You are 23?!?!
My life is crazy and my mouth definitely goes faster than my brain so things just pop out like whoa! I mix up my words, texts, phone calls, etc. Makes for really funny yet somewhat awkward experiences but it always makes me laugh! And everyone knows that when I laugh...It's just ridiculous! I'll never forget this one convo:
Me: Dang, I really do mix up my words all the time.
John Solms: I thought you did that on purpose...to be funny.
Me: NO WAY! I dont even mean to!
Ashton Yount: No really John, she does. I normally always have to translate for her!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
do you understand the worth?
Just a little something that has been on my heart lately:
"My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God." Proverbs 2:1-5
What does it mean to seek for it like silver and search for it as hidden treasure? What if you had 2000 rocks in front of you, but you knew there was $1,000,000 under one of the rocks. I dont know about you but I would look under EVERY single rock until I found that $1,000,000, I would search for it like silver and like hidden treasures... But why?
Because I know the worth of $1,000,000!! I know that it is alot of money. I know it is worth alot and that I could do alot with it. So what keeps me from seeking Jesus like silver and like hidden treasures? Because I don't truly understand the worth of Jesus, I don't truly understand how GREAT God is. How do I understand the worth and greatness of Jesus? Through his word!
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17
My prayer is that the Lord would continue to open my heart to His scriptures; that God would allow me truly understand His greatness. I know that I will not be able to understand everything but I pray and pray Christ would be my treasure and one that I seek after DAILY like silver and as I would hidden treasures!
"My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God." Proverbs 2:1-5
What does it mean to seek for it like silver and search for it as hidden treasure? What if you had 2000 rocks in front of you, but you knew there was $1,000,000 under one of the rocks. I dont know about you but I would look under EVERY single rock until I found that $1,000,000, I would search for it like silver and like hidden treasures... But why?
Because I know the worth of $1,000,000!! I know that it is alot of money. I know it is worth alot and that I could do alot with it. So what keeps me from seeking Jesus like silver and like hidden treasures? Because I don't truly understand the worth of Jesus, I don't truly understand how GREAT God is. How do I understand the worth and greatness of Jesus? Through his word!
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17
My prayer is that the Lord would continue to open my heart to His scriptures; that God would allow me truly understand His greatness. I know that I will not be able to understand everything but I pray and pray Christ would be my treasure and one that I seek after DAILY like silver and as I would hidden treasures!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
prayer
"When you have time all to yourself, when you don't have to think of anything, where does your mind most effortlessly go? What do you enjoy daydreaming about, what do you think about in your inner sanctum? THAT is your real god, your real faith, the thing that has captured your heart and imagination. If you instinctively pray when you have time, you can know that your heart is beginning to rest in God as the reward or ultimate prize of your life." -Tim Keller
Dang.
Dang.
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