Triumphant King

Matthew 21

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

 1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

 5 “Say to Daughter Zion, 

   ‘See, your king comes to you, 

gentle and riding on a donkey, 

   and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

   “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

   “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

   “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

 11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus, our King and Sovereign Lord, came into Jerusalem not dressed in heavy robes or fancy garments,  riding with a royal caravan, but wearing a simple cloak and riding on a donkey. He instead was clothed in garments of praise and holiness as the crowds laid palm branches on the ground and shouted "Hosanna", which in Hebrew means "Save", an expression of praise. 

Jesus Christ is our friend, our comforter, our redeemer, yes. But he is also our KING and is to be revered and praised in his holy majesty. He is our PRINCE of Peace, come to save the world from the chaos of sin and to judge with justice. He is the LORD of Lords, no one could ever be higher.

share a little love

It's that time of year again! And if February 14th hasn't proven to be your favorite holiday over the years, it may be time to start looking at it from a different perspective. There's a lot of people who just love Valentine's Day and there's a lot of people who can't stand Valentine's Day. Granted, the specific people who love and hate it tend to change periodically depending on whether or not people actually have someone they prefer to call their Valentine that year. 

So maybe in that regard Valentine's Day does seem like a superficial holiday celebrating the have's and shunning the have-not's (of a Valentine that is). But maybe we don't have to be either giddy with glee or miserable and lonely on Valentine's Day...

Personally, I've always loved Valentine's Day. For me the fondest memories were those of grade school Valentine's parties, filled with heart-shaped candies and little mailboxes made from shoe-boxes and covered in red construction paper. Mine usually incorporated detailed Disney princess sticker scenes and arrays of fuzzy baby animal cut-outs, but I digress. :)  

The best part of the party was when you got to go around and slip your carefully crafted and expertly signed Valentines into each person's box. I remember having selected the perfect Valentine for each of my classmates (usually picking out princesses for the girls and Scooby-Doo for the boys), and spending hours taping on candy and writing their names in pink gel pen. So it felt so good when I finally got to give those Valentines to my friends. Of course opening the Valentines I received was always great fun too, and I felt very happy and cared about and loved.

Now, nearly ten years after those kiddie Valentine's parties, I'm still making and handing out Valentines. This year, as I was looking for a box of Valentines in the seasonal aisle at Target, a little boy also scanned the shelves, looking for the perfect Valentines. When he finally spotted them, he scooped them up in his short little arms and shouted out to his mother who was standing behind him, "Cool! Look Mom, these Superhero ones are for the boys and these kitty ones are for the girls!".

 I smiled and laughed quietly to myself, remembering the excitement of those childhood Valentine's Days. For me, its not so much about whether I have a particular person to call my Valentine, but about showing the people in my life that I care about them. Of course there are innumerable more mature ways to show people you care, but I believe one of the most loving things you can do for a person is give them something you created especially for them. A Valentine is not given to be some incredible gift or make a lot of commotion. It's just a little something to show you care, and that's just it: showing you care.

And this year, I have been blessed with some really wonderful people that God's brought into my life unexpectedly. I am so thankful to call them my friends, and even if a Valentine cannot express how very much they mean to me, at least they will know I care about them and love them enough to take a little time and a little thought to show it.

As Paul says in Colossians 3:14, "Love is more important than anything else...it is what ties everything completely together". God's love is the biggest, bestest, most beautiful love we could ever receive; the only kind of love that will ever provide us with real, ultimate fulfillment. And to share even just a little of that love we've received with another person is to tie a tiny knot that connects me to you and us to everyone and all to God. 

So whether you enjoy all the American Valentine's Day traditions or not, just take today to say something kind to someone or tell them you care or even give them a little Valentine that says I love you (if you feel so creatively inclined :) ). Because love is what's holding us all together and its just a Jesus-like thing to do to share a little love everyday.

faith

He will always provide

forgive

We are forgiven, so we need to forgive

creator

"I don't need these worldly things, more of you and less of me"
Lecrae

trust in God

God gives us just what we need

Philippians 4:8-9

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things"

Kick every thought that comes from the enemy out of your mind and think only about the things that glorify our God. Hand over every sinful thought or lie to Him, and only think of His love for you and His desire to dwell in your heart!

(un)answered prayers

PRAYER CHANGES THINGS.

Those are the words on the little statue on my bookshelf. And they couldn't be more true. Prayer is an incredibly powerful and beautiful gift that allows us to speak to God on the most intimate and wholehearted terms.

Sometimes I pray as I'm laying in bed, unable to sleep. Sometimes I get down on my knees with my eyes closed and my hands raised. Sometimes I pray as I'm walking to class or doing homework or when I see something that is beautiful or painful or upsetting or exciting.

I love to talk to God, and for me prayer is an amazing comfort and delight. Such peace can be found through prayer.

We often pray to God asking him to help us or comfort us or to bless his will for us or to protect us. But sometimes, we can get carried away and start asking God to bless our will instead of his. And this is where that 'un' barges in and pushes in front of the 'answered' we so desire.

For a long time I had prayed for God to bless my actions, my decisions, my will. And then I became frustrated and wondered why God wasn't listening. Finally, after a trip through Psalms, it hit me. Well, duh. God was listening (he always is), but he was probably not too happy because I was praying the wrong way. So I started praying for his will to be done through me. And no, I didn't get an answer right away. But I waited (in patient hope) and trusted in God's perfect timing. And when my life started to converge with his plan, my life was no longer my own but his, the answers started to show themselves in a myriad of ways.

I had prayed for comfort in a time of distress and God blessed me with a friend who already knew and understood what I was going though and gave me the support and love I needed.

I had prayed for just a semi-normal roommate and God gave me a wonderful friend with a beautiful heart and a love for the Lord.

I had prayed to fit in and make new friends in college and God brought me to an amazing group of Christians whom I have come to love deeply and to rely on and connect with in ways I could never have imagined.

I had prayed for health in a time of sickness and fear and God healed and blessed me with a brightened heart and a fire in my soul.

Most recently, I prayed for guidance on my journey through life and for understanding and support from the people I care for in my life. The Lord answered with a call for me, (YES!!!!) and it came through the very person I wanted to hear it most from. The Lord spoke and I heard his voice clearly. I knew then exactly why I'd been waiting and hoping. His timing is so incredibly perfect. God is totally amazing and his plans are so much more AWESOME, BEAUTIFUL, INCREDIBLE, AND PERFECT than I could have ever possibly imagined!

So wait on his timing and KEEP ON PRAYING! Even if he doesn't answer right away, or if he answers in a way different than you expected, just know that the Lord has the ultimate plan for your life! He wants your life to be full of joy, happiness, beauty, and growth and most of all he wants you to live with a passion and a fire for his glory.

The Lord wil answer with a BANG! if you let him handle your burdens and trust in his will.

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" James 5:16

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope" Psalm 130:5

"I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth"Psalm 121:1-2

"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer" 1 Peter 3:12

"Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart" Psalm 37:4

'Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these"' Matthew 19:14

Let us be like the little children, and trust the Lord without hesitation or reservation; and let us seek him earnestly and glorify him with our whole hearts.

This is our call.

patient hope

"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him" Romans 15:13

I've always been a dreamer. I've tried for years to plan out my life, imagining the perfect house, the perfect job, the perfect husband, the perfect number of children. I've changed my job plans from interior decorator to architect to landscape architect to wedding planner to fashion designer to nurse to physician assistant to baker to writer. I've wanted to travel and volunteer and explore. My Pinterest wedding is utterly gorgeous and probably costs more money than I'll ever see. I've picked out enough baby names to fill a classroom. Honestly though, after all this planning, I don't really know what I'm doing with my life. And I don't feel any less worried about it either.

But lately, I've been trying to remember that none of my 'perfect' plans are actually perfect, nor are they up to me. God has written the plan for my life and I believe that it is truly more perfect and amazing than I could ever imagine. I know that the Lord has promised to do what He knows is best for me, even if I don't know it yet.

My new prayer is "Lord, let your will me done in me. Instead of listing my requests and asking for God's blessing, I pray that He will show me what He wants me to do in order to glorify Him.

With this mindset, I've felt more fulfilled and at peace than when I was worrying about my life's direction. I trust that the Lord will provide and I am filled with joy in His promises that never fail.

So instead of worrying about what the future might hold, I'm putting my life story in God's hands. He has the master plan and I will wait in joyful and patient hope as it beautifully unfolds.

living

when it all boils down, it seems all one really needs to do to live is breath, sleep, and eat. essentially, doing these things should keep us 'alive', but to me, those things are like specks of nearly invisible dust in the definition of being alive.

for many of us, its difficult to budget time to really live. frankly, i suppose that may be a result of the fact that we find the need to organize every instant of every day of our lives. calendars, planners, checklists. we can't seem to 'get anything done' if its not part of the schedule. but sometimes, the best moments in our lives are not part of the plan at all.

think back to last time you were entirely and unexplainably at peace, even if it was just for a moment. now think of what you did, or what someone else did, or what happened to leave you with that sense of peace, that sense of comforting freedom, and the feeling that in that particular moment everything was still and you thought to yourself, "life is good'.

sadly, these moments seem to be rare and fleeting for so many people. with everything that is on today's to-do (or maybe yours is more like 'NEED TO DO FOR SURE OR ELSE... UH OH') list, how can we even hope to feel that moment of peace and tranquility?

sometimes, i just can't bring myself to do those need-to-get-done-now things on the list. and i think at that point, something inside of me is whispering, "be still". or possibly, "be still and know that I am God".

when i have one of those be-still moments, its a little like getting to a hotel after the stress and chaos and tension of pulling a 50 pound suitcase (that they made you pay to check) all over the airport and spilling your coffee on your white shirt and sitting in the middle seat on the plane and then staring at that endless moving belt waiting for your suitcase and calling a taxi and checking in so late that you really only hear part of what the person at the desk is trying to tell you and then, finally, getting to your room.

and then you just kind of drop your suitcase on the floor and flop without caring a bit onto the slightly suspicious hotel comforter... and finally breathe.

that's what it feels like when i have a be-still moment.

and while every moment doesn't end in a nice hotel and a needed vacation, i must say that my day progressively improves after that first real breath.

entering the world of college life this year has certainly had its ups and downs. although i will say honestly that the ups enormously outweigh the downs and 99.9% of the time i am happy and excited about life and God and pretty much everything! but being happy doesn't necessarily equal being still and at peace. with 18 credits and the homework that accompanies them, organizations and activities, church and volunteering, keeping up with friends, and hopefully a potential new job, this semester is sure to be a busy one!

and now, more than ever, i pray that i will be able to experience those be-still moments with the beauty and clarity of mind that they bring.

so as you are scrambling to accomplish every last task and make every appointment on time, i pray that moments of peace will sneak up on you and bring you the rest and clarity you so desire and need.

remember to live to be alive, not just to breath, eat, sleep, and repeat. remember to take time to do the things that give you a chance to rest and to reflect, and to hand over your burdens to the God who has the strength and the love necessary to carry even your heaviest ones.

so whether you sit in a noisy coffee shop reading your bible with a peacefully quiet heart and spirit, or you turn up the 90's tunes and dance alone in your room with the windows wide open, or you sit on your bed with a good book, a cup of tea, a big spoon and a jar of peanut butter, or you take a walk along a forest trail or the beach or the city streets, or you fall to your knees and pray and cry and sing aloud,
                                                          i pray that you will be at peace.

finding our center

It has been on my heart lately how easy it is to get caught up in the worldliness of our lives. We live in a consumer society where the idea that happiness can be bought has become a maxim for more than a few companies. When we are surrounded by all of the readily available material things of this world, our priorities can get a little wacky.

For example, when we are consumed in worldly pleasures, we tend to put our own selfish desires before those of others and of God. Most often the people we love can be pushed aside when we become consumed in our own 'stuff', interests, and social life. And more importantly, God is pushed aside too.

Our Lord desires that we die to our lives of worldliness and consume ourselves in glorifying His name and loving others the way Christ loved us. No, God doesn't tell us its easy to live the life of a Christian, but He does say it'll be worth it. And by making Jesus the very center of our lives, all of our priorities seem to fall into place - the right place.

When we decide to make Jesus our top priority and to die to our sins and selfish desires daily, unconditionally loving others reaches a higher spot on the list. So does forming and maintaining authentic friendships, caring for others' needs selflessly, and finding joy and peace in both the storms and calms of life.

When these Godly desires become our high priorities, the things we thought were just so important to posses begin to seem entirely unimportant. They pale severely in comparison with our growing relationship with our King.

God wants us to find pleasure in HIM, not in satisfying sinful desires or in having lots of stuff. It IS hard to tear away from worldly selfishness and run towards God, especially when we are constantly tempted by the so-called pleasures of this world.

But God tells us that the pleasure of living a Christ-like life is far more beautiful and satisfying than anything money could buy. Nothing else in life could bring us greater joy than claiming Christ as our center and our savior.

"The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever"
1 John 2:17