divine podcast moments :)

I was listening to a podcast from Crossroads today on my beautiful drive back to Grace from home and man, it was good for the soul! here and check out a little bit about the Crossroads ministry on the website

It was a guest speaker, so I was a little.. anxious to see if this guy would give as good of a biblical message as the normal speaker, because man, the usual speaker, Greg Pinkner, he's a BOSS.

He focused on Ephesians 5:1-21, right off the bat he explained its practicality. Imitate Christ. That's something we can do every day, all the time, each decision we make. Imitate Christ. Seriously, how stinkin' hard is it to imitate someone? I mean, it might be easy for a little while if we really focus on it, but in every action in every moment. Do I really stop and think about if the choice I'm making, the attitude I'm portraying, even my intentions...my thoughts. I think back on my life about the moments I really evaluated what following Christ meant, there are several instances I can recall very clearly just assessing how I was doing and experiencing life change as I decided to push harder, to delve deeper in what it meant to really sell out. To die to myself and to become more like Christ. I've made some pretty huge strides from where I first started. I think sometimes I cut myself some slack. I'll think "well, I've come so far..." or "I'm more like Jesus than a lot of other people". But I'm coping out. My standard needs to be Christ, not others or the way I have been. He challenged us to think on our life and to see if we just lived in segmented portions that we made the most out of and then at other times we shifted into neutral. Wow. I don't want to live a segmented life! I don't want to focus on Jesus and my decisions and my demeanor just in chapel, just in the good times, just in the serious times. I want my jokes, my frustrations, my school work, every single portion of my life to glorify Him.

He also focused on verse 14. Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you I immediately thought of this song. Haha, good song (; But he gave this example. Imagine you're talking with your friend and your favorite movie gets brought up. And you friend mentions that he's never seen it. You're like "DUDE. WHAT?! You haven't lived til you've seen such & such!" And that was super extra funny to me because I'm like that about practically everything I like. What can I say I'm passionate? So, you and your friend start the movie and you're pointing out all the critically acclaimed parts, all the frequently quoted lines, all your favorite parts. And you look over about half way through to find your friend snoozin' up a storm. And you freak out! "HEY! How long have you been sleeping?!! I'm starting it over, it's too good to miss!" That's what Paul says in the verse. Goodness I think it's so easy to go through the motions. Especially at a Christian college. It's easy to just endure, because everything's so busy. It's really hard to consciously, constantly think about how you're glorifying God with each and every moment. But that's such a trap. If it's not fresh in our minds that Christ suffered for us, we might not view Him as the reverent, worthy God He is. He is so prevalent in our lives. Why do I dare take advantage of that?

And then the last part of this passage kind of refers back to imitating Christ. It talks about making wise decisions. And man I feel like I'm learning a ton about that lately. Like, love. Love is soooo complicated. I want to love like Christ loved me, and I have a really tough time confusing that with people pleasing. But God has been revealing to me what a cop out that is. True love is so difficult. Because it involves humility, openness, confrontation, and glorifying God above everything. Above our comforts, above what's easy, above it all! And another one is just with time. Time is so easy to waste. I'm learning how to manage without my very wise mother who always imparted her wisdom and advice unto me (haha not that she doesn't anymore, but she can't be there for every little thing anymore) Haha, for instance, going to bed at a decent time. I've learned that I can not function on no sleep. I ENVY my roommate's tolerance for sleep deprivation. But for me it is just not so! So I try to get to sleep by 11 or 12 every night. But there are still those stupid nights when I get caught up talking with people or on facebook or haha oh my gosh there are so many things to get distracted with at college :) But there's a verse that says don't get drunk which will lead to debauchery. There are so many things that can become debaucherous for us. By the way I know that I just made that word up! Like for me, love and time. I abuse them, therefore I sin.

God's Will is tough stuff. But it's totally the thing that never gets old for us Christ followers. Because we're so imperfect. It's a constant struggle to strive for that perfection Christ calls us to always work toward. And sometimes, when I'm not letting Him work in my heart on my attitude, I can get really worn out and frustrated about it all. But thankfully He never gives up on us. And with Him all things are the best they can be on this sucky, sin-filled earth. I am so more than content when I let Him to fill my heart with His word, and I'm real thankful for that guest speaker on a Crossroads podcast for reminding me of that :)

Ephesians 5:1-21