What is Jesus Doing?

"He will convict the world...in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer."
John 16: 8, 10

Today during my morning devotional, AKA Quiet Time, AKA Personal Worship Time (abbreviated by my Hubby as PWT) God showed me something awesome. The devotional was talking about the Holy Spirit, how He helps us learn how to live a righteous life. While Jesus was with the disciples, they knew what righteousness looked like.  Now that Jesus is no longer on Earth, he left us a gift that helps lead us to righteousness-himself.  The Holy Spirit is his presence; and he convinces us of what righteous living is all about.

The best thing that I read this morning was a new spin on the old catchphrase, "What would Jesus do?" Though it is not a bad question, it implies that Jesus is a dead example.  It's better to ask, "What is Jesus doing?" It recognizes his living presence.

It's that awesome?  The God that loved us enough to die for us back then is alive! Not only did he love us with that powerful love in the past, but he currently loves us! How amazing.

What is Jesus Doing with you?  With me, He is teaching me to place all my trust in Him because He is faithful!

Don't forget to love.

Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving! In my family, the Christmas season officially started today.  We don't decorate for Christmas, listen to Christmas music, or watch Christmas movies until Thanksgiving is over.

Thanksgiving and Christmas is a great reminder for us to stop and appreciate our blessings. And I think one of the reasons this time of year has such a great spirit about it is because we are all reflecting on the good in our lives and it makes us want to bless others. As Christ followers, hopefully this time of year has a great signficance to us.  I know that when I take the time to recognize my blessings and celebrate Christ's birth, it makes me want to give back to others.
1 Chronicles 16:8

     “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.”

But there is not just one time a year that we should celebrate what we have been given. Each day we should take the time to remember what we have been given through Christ.  Then we should take that love we have been given and pass it on to others.  It is so easy to forget to love others.  Let's count our blessings each day until we are overflowing with gratefulness and love.  If we're overflowing, it can't help but spill out and touch others, right?

Is Love an Art?

Philippians 1: 9-10 (The Message):
     So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well.  Learn to love appropriately.  You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush.  Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of.

I'm reading a book called The Art of Loving, by Erich Fromm.  It's a book that one of my professors recommended in class that I'm just now getting around to reading. Fromm makes some interesting points about society's view of love. He states that though we are usually seek love everywhere (endless movies about love- AKA "chick flicks," romantic novels, dating websites, sappy love songs, etc.), hardly anyone thinks that there is anything that needs to be learned about love.

He said we have that belief for three reasons:

1. We assume that love is an object (or a thing) and not an ability.
2. We confuse the initial experience of "falling" in love, and the permanent state of "being" in love.
3. We worry more about being loved than showing love.

This sort of ties in with one of my previous posts, "Love is a Choice."  I think we forget that a lot. Fromm makes this statement: "There is hardly any activity, any enterprise, which is started with such tremendous hopes and expectations, and yet, which fails so regularly, as love."

Obviously, the love here is not the love that we are capable of.  But all too often, we get ourselves into trouble by thinking that love is something that does not require learning and by worrying more about whether or not we are receiving the love that we want.
When I read this verse that Paul wrote, I started thinking about what he meant by "learn to love appropriately" and "sincere and intelligent love."

My idea of appropriate, sincere, and intelligent love is this:
We prepare and practice for times we can show love. We learn what real love is, and train ourselves to exhibit it.

My question to you:
How can we love appropriately, sincerely, and intelligently?

A Depressed Christian

Can a Christian be depressed?

This is probably one of the only times I'm going to get up on my soapbox. This is one of those topics that's close to my heart, as I work with adults with mental illness.  Too often I hear from my clients (and sometimes friends and church family) that they have been told that if a Christian is depressed it is because of a lack of faith.  I have a problem with this philosphy, and I will tell you why.
First, though, I want to explore depression a little deeper. NAMI, The National Alliance on Mental Illness published a brief overview of Major Depressive Disorder that I'm going to use. I also looked over my DSM (Diagnositc and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) briefly.

What is its cause?

There is no single cause. Psychological, biological, and environmental factors may all contribute to its development. Whatever the specific causes of depression, scientific research has firmly established that major depression is a biological, medical illness.

What are the symptoms?

I'm just going to go through a few: persistently sad or irritable mood , physical slowing or agitation, and feelings of guilt, worthlessness, hopelessness, and emptiness.

So, as Christians, how do we treat brothers and sisters who are depressed?

Here's two statements that I have heard often

1.You need to have more faith
2. Don't let Satan steal your joy.

Now, when I say that those are statements that I have heard, I should also emphasize that these are things I have said. It has just been the past couple of years that I have come to a better understanding of depression.

So, regarding number one:
    Hebrews 11:1- "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Depression is a medical illness. We don't tell people with cancer that they need to have more faith! If one of the symptoms of depression is hopelessness, how much faith does it take to hold on if your emotions are screaming at you that there is no hope?  Great faith.  Feelings of guilt are another symptom of depression.  The DSM states: "The sense of worthlessness or guilt may be of delusional proportions."  These people already feel guilty, let's not add to it by telling them their faith isn't good enough.

Regarding number two:
    1 Thessalonians 5:16- "Be joyful always."
Are joy and happiness the same? I think that sometimes we take the idea of what Paul means about joy and twist it a little bit.  Paul isn't saying, "be bouncing-off-the-walls-freaking-out-with-joy always."  We can be joyful even when we are unhappy.
I just want to wrap this up by saying that yes, depression can be a result of sin, but it is not always a result of sin. And who are we to make that judgment anyway?
      James 1:12: "Blessed is the man who perservers under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him."
      Galatians 6:2: Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
I don't beleive that our friends and family should have to wear a mask when they are depressed.  I've always thought that we should be able to be open and honest about our struggles. 
So what are your thoughts on depression and faith?

http://www.nami.org/
http://www.christian-depression.org/

Love is a Choice

I frequently hear about people "falling out of love." Can that REALLY be true? Because from my understanding, love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). I think what our real problem is we don't understand what love is.  And how can we possibly understand what love is if we don't know Love?

1 John 4:8
"Whoever does not know love does not know God, because God is love."

So this could be our first problem.  We don't know God.  We have no understanding of what love is like, because we don't know Love (AKA: God). Until I knew God, no one had any kind of chance to be loved by me.  I loved them in the capacity that I had, but it was very small compared to the abundance of love in Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8:
"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil be rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

If you want to know what God's love is like, just take the word "love" and subsitute it for "God."

As believers, we have the power of God inside of us.  I truly believe that we can best showcase God's power when we do things out of love. Our love should look like God's love.  Look at Jesus' life. He lived a life of love on Earth and still lives it in Heaven today!

How is your love? The best way for me to examine where I'm at is by taking my name and substituting it for love in that verse.  Is my love patient and kind?  Not always.  Sometimes I act like I've never read this verse in the first place.  But love isn't always a feeling, sometimes it is a choice. We may choose to act in love, or to allow our emotions take over.  I don't know about you, but it's usually a disaster when I allow that to happen.

So tell me, how is your love?

No Strings Attached

Are you ever cursed with a song that just won't get out of your head? Well, that was me the other day with N'Sync's "No Strings Attached."
Baby, you’re not the only one

You don’t have to be afraid to fall in love 

And I know that you’ve been hurt in the past 
But if you want it, here’s my heart 

No strings attached

I'm not ashamed. And if you don't mind me going off on a tangent for a moment, I went to an N'Sync concert when I was in the 7th grade with my middle school BFF. Her dad was able to get front row seats and I totally touched their hands. I think I scared Justin because I came fairly close to yanking him off stage. I remember to this day that Lance had baby-soft hands. I should have been suspicious then...

Anyway, with this song in my head, I started thinking about God's love. I remember before I became a Christian, the main thing that held me back was the fact that I didn't want to change my lifestyle. I didn't want to be required to live a certain way, speak a certain way, and I sure as heck didn't want to give up the things I had at the time.

Galatians 5:1

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Wait... Freedom? And that's what I have found out about what God's love truly is, a no-strings-attached love. God loves us just the way we are, just where we are, and just who we are. I am now free from this world and the struggles the held me down. I am free of the overwhelming sense of nothing-ness that I tried to fill with other things that damaged me when I didn't know Him.

And that's how I was changed. I wasn't forced...it was my choice. When you encounter love so extreme, so unconditional, and that you are so completely undeserving of, I don't think you can ever be the same.

Hello....la, la, la.

Hello, world.I've had this recurring idea to start a blog for a while now. I questioned whether or not it was actually God calling me to do it or just an idea that I've had. I've put it off for so long because of thoughts like "I'm not the blogging type" (if there is such a thing), or "I have nothing interesting to say." Then I saw that Google (which I'm obsessed with) had a blogging site! So here I am, Missy the non-blogging boring girl!

I plan on posting things that God is teaching me and questions that I would love to discuss with believers and non-believers. So in celebration of my first blog EVER, I want to share my favorite verse with you:
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6b
The reason I love this verse so much is because I have learned a lot about what love really looks and feels like coming from someone when they are loving you like Jesus does. I want people to know what God's love feels like, and I want them to experience that love through me. If I have faith in Christ, then my love should show it.

Any feedback on the first post ever?