Christianity

"Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:28-29)

I think when we stop looking at Christianity as being something that we deserve, something that God "owes" us, we'll start to see how mind-blowingly awesome Christ is! We don't deserve heaven. John Piper said, "There was no redemptive plan for the fallen angels. There did not have to be one for us either. Tremble with thankfulness." Many of us have never stopped to think about that fact that the very idea that we are offered the gift of salvation is crazy! We did absolutely nothing to deserve it! In fact, every single day we do things that should really take us out of the running for ever getting a chance at heaven! But how AMAZING is it that we are not what we've done. We are not defined by our mistakes, our struggles, our pain, our fears...we are defined by what Christ has done for us! He took every single mistake, however big or small (because even a white lie or a wrong thought condemns us in the judgement of a perfect, holy God), we made and would ever make and bore the punishment for us! He was brutally tortured and killed and more importantly, separated from His father for the first time in all of eternity, so that we could be forgiven and be with Him forever! So that we could have a chance at salvation!

So many people want to become Christians so that they can go to heaven or, more accurately, not go to hell. But honestly, we should be falling on our faces worshipping Christ even if we weren't given heaven in the end! Because He is STILL amazing! He is still the flipping creator of the universe who made all of us and allows to live each day! The fact that we also get to spend eternity with Him is just beyond awesome! So do we worship Him for His glory, because HE is worthy? Or because we think it benefits us?

Ultimate Love Story

"But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life." (Isaiah 43:1-4)

I've always had the same dream as almost every little girl: to be rescued. I've always wanted someone to fight for me. To look at me and think "she's worth it" and then do whatever it takes to get me. To know me and all of my weird quirks and habits, all of the things I do that even I can't understand, to see all of me and to completely accept it. To want me just the way I am. I've looked for that my whole life. I looked to my friends, to boys, to everything except to the One who could actually satisfy me. The One who desires me and pursues me and thinks I'm lovely. He wants me and He always has!

It's the ultimate romance story! Here's the one who had everything, all the glory and power anyone could ever ask for. He needed nothing, no one could add to His completeness. Yet, He wants you and me! He desires and pursues us! He gave up everything, all that He had so that He could save us and we could be with Him forever! I mean isn't that every girl's dream? To have someone love you so much that nothing can keep them from you? That they'll risk everything to save you? And the craziest thing is, He chose this path, knowing full well that many of those He loved so dearly would reject Him. Leslie Ludy says, "Christ loved us without expecting us to love Him in return. As He lay dying on the cross, those He had come to save were mocking Him and spitting in His face. Can we love Him the way He loved us? Can we surrender everything to Him without expecting anything in return?" Fight for God's presence! Look to Him and Him alone to satisfy, because He's the only one who can! We are made in the image of Christ, so our purest desires are reflections of His desires. He wants to be loved and respected, longed for and pursued, trusted and hoped in! He wants to be our everything!

Will we pursue Him the way we long to be fought for? The way He fights for us?