You could be the voice someone needs to hear.

If you know Jesus then you know the "bread of life" John 6:35

If you know Jesus then you know the God who is "love" 1 John 4:8

If you know Jesus then you know the source of "all good gifts" James 1:17

If you know Jesus then you know the "word of God" John 1:1-14

I'm reminded of the time Jesus feed the 5,000. The disciples came to him and said "send the people away so they can go by them selves something to eat." I think that is how we look at the world around us sometimes. We see all kinds of needs around us every day. We see hurt, we see pain, we see loneliness around us and we turn to Jesus and ask him to fix it but that is when Jesus does something crazy he says “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”  Jesus took what they had in their hands, a few loaves of bread, and some fish and multiplied it. Jesus took what they could do "pass out some fish and Bread" and used them to bless a pretty large group of people. I want to encourage you to go out and take what you have. Maybe you don't know a ton about the bible, maybe you don't know all the answers to why God allows bad things to happen (it's ok the disciples didn't) , just take what you have and trust Jesus with it. Then go share what you do have. You could be the person who gives someone enough hope to make it one more day. You could be the person who leads your friends to Christ. You could be there person who gives hope to the hopeless. You could be holding the encouraging words, the hug, the hope that will change someones life.

Worn?

So I realize I haven't written or a blog for while now. I've started a few, saved them as drafts and never went back because I couldn't find the words or in some cases the courage to say what was on my mind. But this song "worn" by Tenth Avenue North kinda describes how I've been the last few months.

One of the Books I've read recently for my CML classes suggest that the role of pastoral leaders in this generation is to be "articulators of inner events" So let me articulate some events for y'all.

the last few months has just been tiring and draining. Even taking a week of vacation which was awesome and fun and even kind of relaxing was still draining.


Some things that have helped and I hope will help you if your feeling tired, worn, or drained.

1. Asking for / Letting others  Help: Its ok, to ask for help. Sometimes I think God allows me to run out of energy trying to things by myself so that I will sit down, or fall flat of my face, in exhaustion and actually listen to him whisper "Will you let me help you know?"

• Ask God
• God Is the best Help you can ever find.
• So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?" - Hebrews 13:6
• "Hear, LORD, and be merciful to me; LORD, be my help." - Psalm 30:10 
•  "Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me" - Psalm 54:4
• Ask Others
• Remember that song Lean on me? It has a really obvious statement that I think people often ignore... I know I do sometimes. "no one can fill those of your needs, that you won't let show"
• Galatians 6:2 Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ

2. Rest: Take a break. Take some time to breathe. Sit and enjoy the stars or stop and smell the roses if you like roses. Remember God invited the day off, and even though he never needs rest he still took a day off because its a good idea. I'd write some more useful things about rest but I'm still trying to figure out how to do this better however I'll list some verses that have helped me rest as I reflect on what they mean for me.

• Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus promises rest to all who come to him
• John 15:1-8 Jesus produces fruit in our lives as we abide or remain in him like a branch on a vine. last I check branches don't do a whole lot of work, but they do produce fruit.

3. Remembering who you are: Sometimes in the middle of trying to do everything I get stuck doing so many things that I forget I am a "human-being" not a "human-doing" You are not just what you do or what you have done. I know I never really forget these things but sometimes I act like I do. Sometimes I need to stop and actively remember who I am. (Just like Simba)

• God made you new. If you are in Christ, then New! you are no longer bound to your past 
• 2 Corinthians 5:17
• The fact that I am no long bound to my past self is freeing, and it helps me let go of the burdens of the past I carry.
• God loves you, You are loved!!!
• God loved you and me enough to die for your sins while you and I were still sinners, Thats love! 
• 1 John 4:9-12 
• John 3:16
• Romans 5:8
• God forgave your sin's , You are forgiven, maybe its time you let them go and move on too. You are Forgiven.

You were made for greatness

Do you ever have those moments when you stop and look around at your life? or at the lives of people around you and wonder. "how did we settle for this?" Or maybe you can recall back to when you were young remember what you though life would be like when you "grew up" I don't know what it was for you but I bet it was something awesome and something you thought would be great. I know at times I went back and forth between doctor and lawyer but my first answer was always a super hero until I got to High school... (truth be told I distinctly remember telling a few people I wanted to be a super hero while in high school) As Children its easy to listen to that still small voice that is in side us helping us to believe we were made for something great! that is until something or someone starts to drown out that voice and then somehow we forget that voice was even there at all.

But if your able to get still for a moment if you listen I'm sure you can still hear these words resonate with your soul "You were made for more than this! You were made for more than this world has to offer." For me that still small voice is often drowned out by my fear of failure, or my insecurity that I am not good enough. Sometimes I tune it out in favor of being "practical" or "realistic" Tonight on my way home from class I felt lead to go for a drive through the country as I was driving around thinking, and praying I stopped and checked facebook and twitter for a minuet. Then this thought hit me "how do we all settle for this?"

Wether you know Jesus or not I want to make this very clear. You were made in the image of God! You were made for more than this world has to offer! as I scrolled through meaning less post, and the occasional meaningless picture I realized somewhere along the way we traded the hope of being awesome, a life that had a significant impact on the world; for a life far less than what we are capable of. Then I realized most of the people I follow on twitter and facebook. Have heard about this guy named Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of God, creator of all things; and This Jesus says things like follow me and I will make you fishers of men, Follow me and you will do the things I've done and even greater things. We read about this Jesus in scripture who speaks life in to people and says I love you enough to die for you, I love you enough to give you my spirit and to let you be my hands and feet to change the world. yet somewhere along the way we accept that the world is the status quo and will stay that way. 

All that to say "you were made for Greatness You were made in the image of God You were created to be creative in your own unique ways. You were made for more than the status quo and I hope and I pray you and I come to realize our full potential someday." 

Be encouraged,
L.J.

Reconciliation. (quick unedited thoughts)

It's a tough subject. Forgiving people and asking for Forgiveness. It is hard and what God ask of us is even Harder. Today God really put this verse on my heart

Matthew 5:²³ “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

So I thought and prayed about it, and then a few people came to mind (of which I have already messaged and asked for forgiveness) But then the thought occurred to me It doesn't say Go and tell that person you are sorry, it says "go and be reconciled to them." 
What does that even mean? (don't worry I'll look it up for you)

rec·on·cile  

/ˈrekənˌsīl/

Verb Restore friendly relations between: "she wanted to be reconciled with her father". Cause to coexist in harmony; make or show to be compatible.

So technically I should go about trying to restore friendly relations between anyone who was my friend and now isn't because of something I've done wrong.

Later on in Matthew 18 Jesus tells us to go to people who have wronged us and be reconciled to them too.  Matthew 18:¹⁵ “If your brother or sister^[b] sins,^[c] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’

Mark 11: ²⁵ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

weather or not we caused the problem or they caused the problem The Gospel is clear, we should be reconciled. 

Forgiveness is apparently a big deal to God It seems like no matter the situation as Christians we have to initiate forgiveness, and reconciliation. 

^{2 corinthians 5:18} All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

If God can forgive people like us who sins against him are many, then I think with his help we can forgive the humans we have to share this earth with.  

For more on Forgiveness and reconciliation I recommend reading this article:

http://theresurgence.com/files/2011/04/10/Keller-Forgiveness_and_Reconciliation.pdf