On God Going Ahead

In seeking the Lord these past few weeks, I've felt moved to beseech him to go before us--in all things. God has set out our path in front of us as only the Almighty could. Puzzle pieces falling together, forming a picturesque image of where He is leading us. Just as worry seeps in about this detail or that, His peace overwhelms me.  

Our God is so good. 

I've asked Him to go on ahead of us, to lead us into the home He wants us to inhabit, to establish relationships with those He knows will encourage us, counsel us, and receive the same from Kevin and me. But also, I've asked him to move ahead of me and show me my place in all of this--how I am to minister, where/how/when/if I am to work. 

And our Great God is doing that already. My desire would be to establish a successful piano studio in town. And even before we move, I have 2 potential piano students and connections with the instrumental music director at the public school. I may even be considering a role as choir accompanist. Wow. 

And I will give the LORD the glory due Him--all this is from Him.

The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. 

Deuteronomy 31:8

On Seeking Perfection

I am Melanie, and I am letting go of perfection. 

This is a scary thing for two reasons. 1) I am a seeker of perfection and have often driven myself crazy as I strive. 2) Doesn't Jesus call us to be perfect just as He is perfect? 

Yes, he does, but he doesn't call us to work and achieve and beat ourselves up when we fail. He calls us to himself, He draws us near, and the closer we become to His heart, the more in unison our hearts will beat with His. The goal is not the trying, the striving. The goal is to be Holy as I AM is Holy. We can only reach such perfection when we release our efforts and accept the life changing, new-covenant-making, total atonement of the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. 

He became our once-for-all sacrificial lamb. 

This doesn't mean we give up, stop seeking, or accept our sinful state as part of the deal. Absolutely NOT. By receiving that redemptive blood of Christ over your sinful heart, you have been given new life. We begin to stumble along beside our Master and experience discipleship for all it's worth. We are created to learn from Him, to long to be like Him. 

It all starts with believing in the Lord Jesus and accepting His all-surpassing grace and love into our lives. Then we offer all we have back to him--our love. Jesus will know the truth of our love by our obedience, and our obedience is simply the outpouring of our heart's desire to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.  

There is no striving, no achieving involved. Only grace. Only love. Only pursuit of the One who has given us life. We can't know our Lord intimately and not experience His holiness as a part of our life. He commanded us to be perfect, knowing it would be the natural result of a life truly and wholly in love with Him. 

Freedom.

On Jesus Leading

Jesus says, 

Follow Me. 

You do not need to know where the road will lead you, because I am your Heavenly Father. I would never take you into danger, and if we walk into a place of pain or hardship, you need not fear. I am taking you through it--you are not going it alone. 

I have a beautiful plan in store for you. Oh! I can't wait for you see where I am leading. You will be in awe of what I will do in you life, and your heart will sing my praises. That is the point of your life, dear one--to bring me glory. You can do that by leaving your fears at the foot of the cross--I will carry your burdens--and trusting me to lead you through the troubles of this world with the peace I bring you. 

I Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxieties on Him, for he cares for you.


Matthew 11:29-30 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.


John 14:27 Peace I live with you. My peace I give. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 

On Striving. and Holiness

Jesus says,

I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have pulled you out of the mire and muck of your sin-laden life. I have redeemed you, dressed you in my purest garment, and written your name in the Book of Life. Never will I forget you or forsake you. 

Look at Israel. She was a nation with the most predictable cycle of sin. I would rescue her. She would serve me. Hard times would come. She would reject me. I would pursue her heart. She would come back to me begging for forgiveness. 

And I never loved her any less. She was my precious child--the one set apart for my purposes. 

You are now a part of my family. I created a new covenant so that you could enter into this beautiful relationship of love and mercy, of worship and holiness. All I ask of you is that you be consecrated unto me--set apart for my sacred use. I will do great things with your life if you let me. 

Love me with all of your heart and the obedience will follow. You will never be able to earn my acceptance, so stop striving. Know my love as yours and float in it, worship me for it, honor me because of it. 

You needn't worry about your eternal destination. If you confess with your mouth I am Lord, and you believe in your heart that my death and resurrection cover the cost of your sin you are saved.  

With an unquenchable passion for me, holiness will be your pursuit.

On His Leading

Jesus is calling, saying, "My child, don't look to the left or to the right. I am leading you along a path which is for you alone. No one else will ever experience what I have in store for you. All I need from you is your hand tightly in mine, your eyes fixed on me. It may seem difficult to be living in a way that is becoming more and more set apart from this world. This is not cause for fretting--that only leads to evil. Your path will increasingly diverge from that of others. But you know what? This actually gives you even more freedom to love people. 

Today, stop and take the opportunity to rejoice in the intimate communion we share. Experience my peace and be filled with eager expectation of losing yourself in Me."

On rest...and focus

You know, I've realized in my many many years on this earth (Soon to be 24 of them) that there are a few things that Christianity just doesn't do well.

We are absolutely terrible at learning from those we disagree with.

I've went through life cursed with an overabundance of confidence. I frequently joke that my left brain killed off my right brain shortly after birth. I don't have a whole lot of respect for an argument unless you can make it logically, and from a sound premise.

Unfortunately, Christians allow ourselves to fall into a pretty deep pit...every theological or moral discussion we enter into starts with "God says" or "The Bible says."

I'm waiting for that last sentence to sink in, and just checking to make sure that I haven't offended everyone to the point that they quit reading...yet.  Maybe there's still time for that.

I think that every time we start an argument with our interpretation of the Bible or of God...God winces just a little bit. I think that our reliance on our religion's truth being an accepted and foregone conclusion for everyone isn't an endearing little quirk...it's a dangerous flaw.

To explain that sentence, let me be a bit more blunt. When we assume that we're talking to people that believe that the Bible is true, that there is an Absolute Truth, and that there is a God...we're subtly implying that we can't prove these things.  Worse yet, we're implying that we can't make an argument for what we believe unless you agree with our perceptions of God, the Bible, and Truth.

That gives those that aren't already Christians free license to ignore us as a marginalized, irrelevant oddity that will go away in time if we're only ignored and patronized for long enough.

I'd like to propose something different.

The Bible is God's Word. God is Truth. Truth is the most important thing we have, because it leads us to a right relationship with our Creator.

If we really believed those three statements, then shouldn't Christians be leading the charge into Scientific inquiry, logical argument, and passionately (and respectfully) debating facts? Shouldn't we be the most assured, the most logical, and the most fearless investigators of all things Truthful?

Paul went to Athens. He found an altar with the inscription "TO AN UNKNOWN GOD."  Rather than dismiss the Athenian beliefs as wrong and sinful, he set out to show them that he knew exactly who that unknown God was. Rather than run from understanding those who disagreed from them...Paul sought to understand them, and explain how their own experiences and beliefs led to the God of the Universe.

How often do we seek to understand those we disagree with? How often do we dismiss them as being wrong, sinful, misguided, or simply stupid? Shouldn't we, as loving children of God, be the first to seek to understand and sympathize? If we are to effectively love our enemies, shouldn't we understand them first?

I realize I started talking about this from the perspective of my own experience, being Science and Logic. But what about that insensitive person at church that just keeps grating on your nerves? Do you really understand where they're coming from? What would they say about you, if they were to be asked what they really thought? If you don't know, then you haven't made anywhere near a decent effort to bridge that separation. The Church needs to stand unified, and we can't afford your petty squabbles to get in the way of the greater Work of God.

As a society, I think Americans severely undervalue peace. We've become accustomed to having our secure borders, our victorious armies, and we like being able to assert our will. We were shocked and appalled when the two towers crumbled on September 11th...and we saw it as only fitting when we started a war on two different fronts to punish those responsible.

We've taken that national perspective, and we've gotten very good at creating a nation of individuals. We've created a Church filled with individuals...which has resulted in a group of individuals gathered in a church building.

Subtle differences, but they are there.

We devalue peace, so we assert our will.  When things don't go our way, we try to arrange those around us to fix the issue. We never stop to realize that we're attempting to arrange other peoples' lives to make ours more convenient. We've lost the art of compromise.

The old phrase goes: "Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater." I think that we've strayed one way or the other. In convincing the Church in America that we have let some of our moral boundaries slip, we've become obsessed with keeping the baby in that tub...at the expense of the fetid pile of sludge the kid is now sitting in.

It's time to change the water...clear the air...relax and let things go.

To quote a movie, "To let that which does not matter...truly slide."

If you are not being sinned against, why hold a grudge? If someone is doing something in a different way...is it working well enough? Then why not let it be?

Let the chips fall where they may.

Focus on what matters.

Pray more.

Read your Bible.

Care for others...

           ...more than yourself.

On the Foresight of Jesus

As I opened my favorite devotional (Jesus Calling) today, I read these words that went straight to my heart:

"Be willing to follow wherever I lead. Follow Me wholeheartedly, with glad anticipation quickening your pace. Though you don't know what lies ahead, I know; and that is enough! Some of My richest blessings are just around the bed: out of sight, but nonetheless very real. To receive these gifts, you must walk by faith--not by sight. This doesn't mean closing your eyes to what is all around you. It means subordinating the visible world to the invisible Shepherd of your soul."

Oh, Jesus, how perfect those words fit into my spirit today. 

By now, you may have noticed the trend in the words I've used to describe my life. I'm giving up my rights. I'm following Jesus no matter what the cost. (Or at least I'm striving to do that wholly.) I'm no longer letting myself get bogged down with the demands and expectations this world has for my life. I'm listening closely and looking intently at Jesus as He leads me down this path for His name's sake.

Today Jesus reminded me of these things...

...that He knows exactly what's coming and because of that, I don't have to even think about it. I can just follow along for the ride. And along with that, my heart was convicted--to live in this present moment--not for what may or may not come in the future. But the best, most glorious promise I was met with today was that what is awaiting me is an extravagance I cannot imagine. God has some of his richest blessing waiting just ahead. 

My job? To focus on the life He brings to me today. To be specially attuned to His voice so I don't miss a turn. To be joyful up the mountain side when I could give in to fear, and then when I can see His plan clearly to be perfectly content and truly thankful.  

And really it all begins with thankfulness. 

I am thankful for this new day. 

Thankful for God's omniscience. 

Thankful for His faithfulness. 

Thankful for His peace. 

Because when I pray for His peace, I'm not asking for Him to become what I need Him to be. No, I should be thanking him for being Peace and asking for the grace to experience what He has been to me all along.