Communion

My whole life, I have understood what Communion meant. I have understood the significance and symbolism of it for many years. Yet somehow, I still never felt connected with it on any level. I understood the significance but I did not see the significance in doing it. Just recently, I realized what it really symbolized for me personally and it finally connected. I suspect I had been over-complicating the practice of it. The purpose and meaning of partaking in Communion is simply for the reminder of....communion. Communion with God.

Communion by definition tells us that it means association, fellowship, interchange or sharing of thoughts or emotions, intimate communication, the act of sharing or holding in common. This definition is so enlightening to me because it opens our eyes to the beautiful truth that we are not just servants of Christ...but friends. WE. are FRIENDS with the Big Guy. Communion symbolizes this-our friendship with Him, friends communicate intimate information with each other. Communion is a way of reminding ourselves that we have fellowship with the All Powerful and can share our thoughts and emotions with Him as He shares His with us. I don't care who you are-that is LEGIT. We share something in common-is that not the best feeling?

So next time I take communion, I will take what they always say before communion, and apply it personally this time. They make mention of how He & His disciples sat at a table together eating dinner and took Communion together. These men He had Communion with were His closest friends on earth. We should feel so priviledged to still share this with Him now even after He is not here physically with us.


"No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."
John 15:15

Good, better, no such thing

While I seem to be in the groove of getting phrases that urk me off my shoulders, I have another phrase to share that makes me flinch every time I hear it. Sometimes it is not even a full phrase, merely the term "good people, good person". There is no such thing as a "good" person. We are all sinful creatures. We all have a nasty, unclean heart. The only reason that any of us are even able to do good things for other people and good works is by the grace of God. He is good and everything good comes from Him, not us. We do not produce good fruit out of our own power. We are the branches, He is the vine. Branches cannot produce fruit if they are solely a branch. All good that eminates from humans is by extension the goodness of God. He cleanses us for HIS glory and gives us the ability to be good for His purposes by His power.


And the term "good or better christian"? Also non-existent. You are either a Christian or you are not. You cannot be a "better" Christian than someone else. You are a Christian that is invested in Christ and following after Him with your whole heart or you are not.

Mm. Feel better.

Empty Me

"I've had just enough of the spotlight
When it burns bright
To see how it gets in the blood
And I've tasted my share of the sweet life and the wild ride
And found a little is not quite enough

I know how I can stray
And how fast my heart could change

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So I can be filled with you

I've seen just enough of the quick buys, of the best lies
To know how prodigals can be drawn away

Cuz everything is a lesser thing compared to you,
So I surrender all

--Chris Sligh

THIS. IS MY LIFE SONG.

"Oh ya, we're so blessed"

I just recently realized how much the phrase "Ya, we're so blessed here" really bugs me. It never seems to be used in full cognizance of what we are truly communicating. Usually this phrase is frequented in the context of conversation dealing with the less fortunate. The less fortunate in other countries, other walks of life, less fortunate situations. But think about it-by saying that "we are so blessed" because we are not where "they are", we are in essence saying that God has blessed us more than those others that are in poverty and less fortunate. No. This is not the case at all. That is not how our God works. He doesn't bless some people more than others because He feels like it. Some of the people in the worst poverty imaginable that have absolutely nothing from our point of view...those can be the most blessed out of all of us. They are blessed because they choose to make Christ their everything. It might even come easier for them, considering they do not have much to give up to begin with. Here we have such a intoxicating plethora of distractions that keep us from what really matters, this often makes it more difficult to give everything up to God. Surrender all to Him. Back to the blessing though. Jesus promises that we will experience the blessings of His fruit through His Spirit if we keep in step with His Spirit and with His Holy Word. God does not play favorites and when we assert that we are "so much more blessed" by where we live and what we have, we are simultaneously implying that God is favoring our circumstances with His blessings moreso than others. Once again, so unbiblical and inaccurate. The correct terminology, I believe, would be to say that we are PRIVILEDGED. We are so spoiled rotten, quite often to our disadvantage, to be in the midst of the lifestyles that we live in. We are NOT more blessed than others with less fortunate circumstances, we are priviledged and spoiled. Sometimes I have caught myself envying (holy envy of course) those whom most others would never see fit to envy. Those in other countries who have nothing but the bare necessities, if even those, these people have such an ample, uninterrupted opportunity to embrace nothing but Christ. I have found that the less I have, the less I have to hold on to...and that's a good feeling. It might also embellish this point to shed some light on the fact that so many of the people with LUXURIES OUT THE WAZOO are STILL not satisfied with what they have, so discontent with life. Then you look at the people in Africa, or anywhere else, who are struggling to survive, yet they are still so full of life and joyful in their place. We should be calling THOSE people blessed-because they truly are. We should strive to be like THEM. We are priviledged here...but we can be truly blessed to-if we choose to.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him."
Ephesians 1:3-4

This verse clearly states that blessings were made available to us anytime we choose to receive them, since before the foundation of the world. Circumstances fall on the back burner when it comes to blessings, even though the world tends to see these two as congruent. Circumstances=blessings, blessings=circumstances. That's what everyone seems to think isn't it. But scripture says the opposite-that's what I love about the Word. Always goes against the grain of this world. Thank God.

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe."
Ephesians 1:18-19

According to this verse, if you are a Christ follower (saint), you have an inheritance in Christ. We are heirs. Saint=inheritance=riches of His glory. It DOES NOT say you receive the riches of His glory through or by your circumstances. We just need our eyes enlightened by Him. Enlightened to SEE the blessings and riches that are ALREADY OURS because of Christ, through Christ, for Christ, and in Christ. The world's idea of riches is not Christs.

"Oh, he's with ME"

Just a little rant about a huge peeve of mine: Overprotective girlfriends. They completely urk me. On one end of the spectrum, if you are protective of them because you don't trust them, you shouldn't even be in that relationship. They are built on trust and it won't last long if you have to keep your eye on them 24/7. On the other hand, if you are leaning more towards the side of being protective over them in regards to other girls after them, this taps in to the insecurity issue. If you are not secure in yourself aside from this insignificant other of yours, you should again, not be in this relationship. Trust and security ensure that you do not have to "prove" yourself to other girls, to show that this is your boyfriend and they can't have him. If this partner boosts your self-image and gives you your worthiness, it is definitely a no-go. Leave the protectiveness to the guys, girls.

Happy Eyeballs

Brendan Cass

Thanks to Sam Leaden for enlightening me regarding these photos which my eyeballs so fully enjoy gazing upon

Consumed: Imperishable

I have never been at a place in my life before as I am now-a time that if I were to ask myself what I would do if the Holy Spirit was taken away from me...I would be left with absolutely nothing. Of course anyone who does not have Jesus has absolutely nothing in all reality. But what I mean is, I have never been at the point of complete surrender, reliance, and saturation with the Holy Spirit as I am now. A state of complete activation, flourishing, robust thriving. A level of life teeming with life and live culture. I wouldn't have it any other way. If you took that away from me now, I would have nothing to talk about. I would have nothing to spend time on. I would have no motivation for anything in life. I would have no interests or passions. I would have no love for people, no joy. I would have no identity-I would have no me. I would be a shell of a person. He is my everything-I have waited, wanted, and prayed my whole life to be where I am now.

For a lot of people, this declaration probably seems extremely naive. Why would I want to place my whole identity in something so "intangible"? Why would I want to put "all my eggs in to one basket" like this? My answer to this would simply be another question: "Doesn't it only make sense to place my well-being, faith, and life path in Someone that can never be taken away from me? Isn't it common sense to invest your treasure in the imperishable? That is what I am doing and I don't regret it for one moment. What I have can never be taken away from me.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Luke 12:34

"For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality."

1 Corinthians 15:53

"...and we have a priceless inheritance--an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay."

"1 Peter 1:4

I have been waiting my whole life to see "things happen". You have to stop waiting, and start living. Now that I'm here, I didn't even realize I was on my way to this place in life when I was working towards it. I was working THROUGH things when things "started happening." The things that you're waiting for in life happen while you think you are waiting for them.

Rise up, oh men!

Lately I have been really pulled to pray for the men and guys in my life, around me, and the ones that used to be in my life. At first I was drawn to one man in specific, then my mind and prayers began to overflow with so many others that I know. After a couple days of this emphasis, I was dialoguing with a friend who shares the same heart for people as I do. During this conversation, she divulged to me the concern she's had for the men in her life lately. keep in mind, this was before I had mentioned anything to her about how I've felt drawn towards the same area. She communicated that she really felt that God is in the process of rising up our men and making men of God. This also reaffirmed for me the prominence and significance of my number 3 answer to the question I had recently asked: "What do you think that the world needs the most today (in this generation, time)? My number 3 answer was "Men of God". And us women need to rise up and support them with prayer, respect and trust. I really cannot fathom what our country and world would be like if more men rose up and stood firm in the faith. On the opposite end of the spectrum, that the worldly men would be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into Spirit-led men of Christ. It is just what the Doctor ordered for this nation.

What Does the World Need Most?

A while back I did a small survey on a group of individuals regarding the question "What do you love the most about Jesus?" I love asking questions and hearing people's opinions so I decided to conduct another survey, only this time include a larger group of people. I started pondering what a good question to ask a wide range of people would be. After only 5 minutes of turning different ideas over in my mind, this question came to my mind. "What do you think that the world needs the most today?" Today as in this generation, this time and age that we are in. Here are the answers that I received. I think hearing everyone's thoughts is really enlightening.

"More work-jobs"

"To save the environment by conserving water, our rain-forests and our animals"

"Jesus"

"To pay more attention to the world and to what and how we do what we do. Not go along so rampantly, blatantly oblivious"

"God and a balance of money"

"Love"

"The Bible back in schools"

"Christ"

"Love because God is love"

"Faith and generosity"

"Help"

"To be free from the things around us"

"Honesty"

"Some morals"

"Compassion and grace for others, Jesus"

"More environmentalists."

"To believe in Jesus and not ignore the Holy Spirit whispering into their lives"

"Art"

"To get back to what's important in life like family and friends, instead of material things"

"Jesus"

"Patience and to be more understanding"

"Role models/hero's"

"The transforming power of Jesus, food, water, clothes, education"

"Common sense"

"God"

"Help, selflessness"

"Smarter people"

"To abide by God's Word"

"Quick erasing of the philosophy that 'you watch out for you and step on anyone or anything to get where you were 'made' to be'"

"To know God"

"More love, understanding and prayer"

"Peace"

"A real 'shaking' to get their attention towards God"

"Unity"

"Christians to be authentic and stand for Christ instead of being too much like the world."

"Faith"

"Compassion, outreach, selflessness"

"Broken hearts, to let themselves be broken for one another. I believe we could all relate in a completely unselfish way through pain."

My personal answer would be the Holy Spirit. I have a top 5 though. My top 5 would be 1. Holy Spirit (The Forgotten God) 2. Love 3. Men of God 4. Awareness 5. Unity

http://vimeo.com/15062433

WATCH.

As the Blood Runs Red Down the Needle and Thread

"Jesus Lord of my salvation, Savior of my soul.

Send me out to the world to make you known.

Jesus king of every nation, this world's only Hope.

Send me out to the world to make You known.

Send me out to the world.

I wanna be your hands & feet.

I wanna be your voice every time I speak.

I wanna run to the ones in need in the name of Jesus.

I wanna give my life away all for your kingdom's sake.

Shine a light in the darkest place in the name of Jesus.

In the name of Jesus.

Carry to the broken-hearted mercy you have shown.

Send me out to the world to make you known.

And to the ones in need of rescue lead me I will go.

Send me out to the world to make you known.

Send me out to the world

Here am I, I will go.

Send me out to make You known.

There is hope for every soul send me out send me out.

Here am I, I will go.

Send me out to make You known.

There is hope for every soul, send me out! send me out!"

"The memories of me will seem more like bad dreams

Just a series of blurs, like I never occurred

Someday, you will be loved

You may feel alone, when you're falling asleep

And every time tears roll down your cheeks

But I know your heart belongs to someone you've yet to meet

You'll be loved, you'll be loved like you never have known"

"Something has been taken
From deep inside of me
A secret I’ve kept locked away
No one can ever see
Wounds so deep they never show
They never go away
Like moving pictures in my head
For years and years they’ve played

If I could change I would
Take back the pain I would
Retrace every wrong move that I made I would
If I could take all the shame to the grave I would

Sometimes I remember
The darkness of my past
Bringing back these memories
I wish I didn’t have
Sometimes I think of letting go
And never looking back
And never moving forward so
There would never bee a past

Just washing it aside
All of the helplessness inside
Pretending I don’t feel misplaced
Is so much simpler than change"

"If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well being would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea."

Isaiah 48:18

Dark Is the Way, Light is the Place

I Hope

"Five Years Later"

(To a Former Lover from a Married Woman)

What can I say to you,

who loved the unknown bits and

pieces of me into being

and watched the fragments weave themselves into another

whole with no more room

for a divided love?

The warp and woof of my

existence lie now

in my own hands,

steadier and wiser with the

passage of my inner time,

knowing more now of what I

chose than when I chose it.

Yes, I would choose again

the same end, but in a

different way, not out of

desperation and the need

to cling to clarity, but out of

freedom and the need to find

my own soul's fabric

The beginning?

I would not change

a single breathless moment

nor do I fail to savor

all the sharpened memories of it

this hot July night.

--Maril Crabtree