Ch. 786 - The List: Friends

I wish I had a group of friends I know I could always fall back on. You know. "The group." I've never had that. Ever. I've always been a bouncer. I've had friends in different circles; I find myself able to hang out with a variety of different people. It's not that I'm an absolutely amazing people-person or anything. But I think I'm well-rounded enough that it's easy enough to relate to a lot of types of people, and have a wide array of similar interests.

Even so, I still desire to be part of a close-knit circle. I think part of this desire comes from looking at the model we find in the New Testament with Jesus and His twelve disciples. Why exactly He chose twelve men to be his close companions, we do not know. At least, I don't. Not too few... not too many? Representative of the twelve tribes of Israel? A number of perfection? I suppose it doesn't truly matter. I just know that I would love nothing more than to have a group of twelve [although I'd rather go with maybe eight to ten] people with whom I can learn and grow and love and be discipled.

It's important to have friends.
Basically all my life I've on-and-off felt like I don't have any friends.
There are times where that's been true.
Honest-to-goodness.
A plain and simple truth.
Sometimes it bothers me to a greater extent than at other times.
My mom said something last night along the lines of, "It comes in cycles."
I know it's true.
But that doesn't make me like it any less.

Oh, but I forgot!
"I have a friend in God."

[I hate that song/saying. Yes, hate. I think that partly I don't like the idea of God being my friend because I know Him as my Father. And parents are not supposed to be your friend. I mean, I have great relationships with my parents. My mom and I are especially close. But that's what she is... my mom. Mutti. She is not my friend. And I am so thankful that neither she nor my dad ever tried to be "friends" with me or my siblings.]

Anyway.
Friends.
Friendships/relationships take work.
Sometimes I just feel like there aren't any people with whom I truly desire to work on having a good friendship. That may not sound very kind. But I'm not going to put all of my heart, time, and energy into being friends with someone whom I don't even like that much, or can't see as a truly good friend.

Maybe more on this later.
Time for chapel.

Ch. 785 - The List: Family

[Ahem... this was actually written on 23. April 2011. I will get caught up with my every-five-days posting... and then after that, I plan on trying to write every day again. Or perhaps only every other day... we shall see.]

I love my family.
A lot.

A lot, a lot, a lot.

I am so thankful to my Lord God that I have good relationships with my immediate family, especially my parents. I would not trade them for anything in this world. I think what I am most grateful for in them is their showing of love through the support they offer me. Their confidence in me is comforting, and I can rest assured in the fact that they believe in me and the journey I am on.

What a blessing my family is.

I really don't feel like I need to say anything else.

Ch. 784: The List - Spirit

Spirit.
Holy Ghost.
Comforter.
Counselor.
Helper.
Wind of God.
Fire of God.
Oil of God.
Rain of God.
Holy Spirit.

Whatever you want to call Him, He is greatly debated and discussed - probably just as much so as Jesus or God in general... and if not more so than the other Two within the Christian community.

My views of the Holy Spirit have changed over time, especially within the last two years. I went from not even realizing He was GOD to thinking He was just a come-and-go type of presence, and then from thinking He was only for those "super-Christians" to believing and knowing that He is very real and very available to those who confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

It is my fear that most Christians simply live their lives 'knowing' about the Holy Spirit, and not living by the Holy Spirit, fully believing in Him and what He can do. This is such a shame... I think a relationship with God includes fellowship with Christ and guidance by the Spirit. We need to realize how greatly we have the ability to rely on and trust in the Spirit. It is my belief that God works through us by the power of the Holy Spirit within us.

What a lot of people tend to focus on are the following two aspects of the Spirit: fruit and gifts.

Now, the fruit of the Spirit are as follows [according to Galatians 5:22-23]:
Love.
Joy.
Peace.
Patience.
Kindness.
Goodness.
Faithfulness.
Gentleness.
Self-control.

And gifts of the Spirit [according to 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12] include:
Wisdom.
Knowledge.
Faith.
Healing.
Miracles.
Prophecy.
Discernment.
Tongues/Interpretation of tongues.
Administration.
Service.
Teaching.
Exhortation.
Giving.
Mercy.

I personally believe that all these gifts are continually given to believers today and that they can all be used to edify the body of Christ and glorify God, as well as build up His Kingdom. I have experienced each of the mentioned gifts in one way or another - recognizing that they had to have been given to people as a gift from God. Unfortunately, I should say that I have also experienced some of these things in both positive and negative experiences. It saddens me to say that there are people who think they have an understanding of these things, but do not. And so they may attempt to forcibly use them in an improper manner, thinking they have the gift but in reality do not; or they may, indeed, have the gift but then misuse/abuse it. So it is important to have as great a biblical understanding of the things of the Spirit as possible... and then be able to pray about and have discernment of such things.

I think that everyone should attempt to know whether they have been given gifts of the Spirit [for the Bible states that not everyone will be given something], as well as work towards developing fruit of the Spirit. Easier said than done, at times... but well worth the time and effort when you consider what's been done for us in order that we may have the Spirit and His fruit at all... And when you consider how these fruits can affect other people, especially those who do not yet have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Ch. 783 - The List: Jesus

You are Good, You are Good,
You are Good, and I worship You.

You are Love, You are Love,
You are Love, and I worship You.

You are Truth, You are Truth,
You are Truth, and I worship You.

You are Light, You are Light,
You are Light, and I worship You.

You are God, You are God,
You are God, and I worship You.

You give rest, You give rest,
You give rest, and I thank You, Lord.

You give grace, You give grace,
You give grace, and I thank You, Lord.

You give peace, You give peace,
You give peace, and I thank You, Lord.

You give joy, You give joy,
You give joy, and I thank You, Lord.

You give life, You give life,
You give life, and I thank You, Lord.

Jesus is the Son of God.
Holy.
Perfect.
Sinless.
A Lamb.
A Lion.
Alpha.
Omega.
Eternal.
Beautiful.
Powerful.

Glorious in all ways, worthy of all our praise.

Ch. 782 - The List: God

For awhile I was thinking about grouping the next three topics on the list [God, Jesus, Spirit] into one post, just like I did for dislikes, hates, complaints, annoyances, irritations, and aggravations. I suppose the obvious reason is that these three "things" comprise the Holy Trinity: God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And I mean, I could easily spend hours upon hours and posts upon posts writing about each of Them... but I feel that They each "deserve" Their own post, if you will. However, I am going to try and make these next few posts quite short, actually. Concise. To the point. I'll say what I feel I need to say, and that's that!

So.
God.

It basically goes without saying that God the Father has greatly affected my life in a profound way. And while it is quite easy to describe how, it is also quite difficult. After all, He is the Designer and Creator of the universe, our tiny world, and... me!

Omniscient.
Omnipotent.
Omnipresent.

It saddens me to think that there are people in this world who refuse to give their lives to Him because they hate the idea of a puppeteer controlling them. While I do not see God as a puppeteer, I am glad that He knows everything about me and has a plan for my life. It makes me feel... secure. Safe. I live a very stress- and worry-free life, and I credit it to knowing that God holds me in His hands.

God is... good.
God is... faithful.
God is... loving.
God is... merciful.
God is... just.
God is... jealous.
God is... eternal.
God is... holy.
God is... unchanging.
God is... freedom.
God is... glorious.
God is... awesome.
God is... relentless.

And, as I'm very well sure you know or have heard: God is... love.

......

The truth behind these things brings me to praise my God.
My Lord God.
My Father God.

He deserves our everything.
He gives us life.
He pours out blessing upon blessing.

All honor and glory is due unto Him!
HE IS THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE.

And it is my sincere prayer that He is the King of your life.

Ch. 781 - The List: Lovingkindness

Lovingkindness.

Say it aloud.

Don't you just love the way it sounds?
The way it feels?

I do.

But more than the way it sounds and feels, I love what the word implies.

I feel that to show or feel lovingkindness towards another means to show affection, and perhaps even to care for, out of a desire to do good for someone other than yourself. I think that it is characterized by a sweetness or a tenderness, loyalty and devotion; and surely mercy plays a part in the lovingkindness of one to another. In doing a word study for my Hebrew class a few semesters ago, I focused on the word chesed, translated as 'mercy'. However, through my research for said study, I quickly discovered that chesed has been translated into several words, 'lovingkindness' included.

Anyway, I know that the greatest example of lovingkindness we have is our Lord God. First and foremost in that He has loved us since... before we can even imagine... and that in so loving us, He sent His Son to die for our sins, so that we can be in communion with Him. We can have a relationship with Him, and be near to Him always - and even spend all of eternity in His presence.

Wow.

I was thinking about that a lot during the time I spent driving from Missouri to Alabama last weekend. And I think I will when I return to Missouri on Sunday. I mean, it's pretty heavy stuff! Here we are in the Lenten season, approaching Easter. Are we preparing ourselves? Are we truly reflecting on the life and ministry of Jesus? How often do we meditate on His word, on the beautiful Good News that is Christ Jesus, Son of God and Messiah? It pains me to see that year after year, people turn remembering both the birth and death of Jesus into holidays of sparkle and show, gluttony and greed, and emptiness and earthly things. The symbolism behind traditions that Christians and non-Christians alike partake in have been, over the years, covered up and even lost entirely. How very sad.

And yet regardless, our Lord God loves us the same. He extends His lovingkindness towards us... minute by minute, day after day. Always merciful, always loving, always kind, always loyal, always devoted. If only we were to follow His example, which can be found in His Son, Jesus. If only we were to extend these things to one another - to the lost, and the broken, and the hopeless.

... If only, if only.

Pray.

Pray that others would feel the great desire and need to show lovingkindness to those around them. And that they would share the hope and joy and love that they have in Jesus Christ with others.

Ch. 780 - The List: Thankfulness

Alright, Thanksgiving is only eight months away. Better start thinking about what you're thankful for so that when it's your turn at the table to say something, you know just the right thing to say.

It has to be simple.
It has to be thoughtful.
It has to be meaningful.
... And you have to use the words 'God' and/or 'blessing'.
Preferably.

In all seriousness, though, I don't have a lot to say.

We don't give our Lord God 'thanks' often enough.
At least, not in my opinion.
Which means that really, I don't give Him thanks often enough.

But perhaps it is true that you do not, either.

So I challenge you to do exactly that.
Right now.
Just... give thanks.
Talk to God.
Thank Him for those blessings that He has so graciously bestowed upon you.
Thank Him for the seemingly meaningless things.
Thank Him for the small stuff.
Thank Him for... anything. Everything.

After all... He is God.
He kinda-sorta-totally deserves our thanksgiving.