You Would Not Believe Your Eyes If Ten Million Fireflies Lit Up The World As I Fell Asleep…

Cuz they'd fill the open air and leave teardrops everywhere
You'd think me rude but I'd just stand and stare... -a relevant stanza 
from Owl City   

Written at Summit, from my journal:

Tonight, I took a walk in the dark and looked at the stars. Contentedness. Peace. Joy in looking up at the canopy of stars and the wonderful feeling I love of feeling so small and the even more delightful feeling of God being so BIG! I felt so excited, so calm, and so happy. I sat down by the lake, letting the sound of crickets and buzzing frogs and all that typical night stuff pour into my brain via ears. A cool breeze came off the lake. The dew had come out, already. I felt at ease. The moon was gorgeous reflecting on the lake.
Then, I saw it. A little blinker. Blink. Blink. Blink. Blink. Slowly, but surely, this little girl- or was it a guy?- shone her light in the darkening evening. Blink. Blink…I watched as the firefly blinked for a long time- maybe 10 minutes. I never lost sight of him(-her-it?) as I looked around for others. But she- he- it was the only blinker out tonight. It made me feel kind of lonely. Wanting to find a mate…
At first glance, it appears the life purpose of fireflies is to mate. But it’s not. God created them to light up and adorn the darkness. No other flying bug has a chemical coding in them to make light. They mate the same way everyone else does. It’s the light that makes them unique.
That’s why he predestinated us to choose Him of our own freewill. To light up the dark, crooked, perverse nation around us. Our job is to find a life purpose bigger than marriage. It’s to find out why we’re here. Maybe we have no other purpose but to serve him. We aren’t lighting up the world around us to find a husband. We’re doing it for Christ. He’s all that’s worth living for.
But we get distracted. We start blinking for the wrong reasons. I have a neat thought every now and then. “Hey Lauralea, you’ve got no real prospects in sight!” Good grief! It goes downhill from there- daydreaming, losing sight of God, flirting with “Hot Dude Number A”… and then I realize I’m still waiting around, waving dust out of my face as my friends ride off into the sunset with their dudes.
Now I’m in the launch zone to life purpose, I wonder what direction to aim for? In other words; I have too many choices to aim for. I want to do SO much in say, 80 some years, 18 of which have already been spent. 62 left, if I’m blessed enough. Think about it. 62 more summers. 62 more winters. 62 more springs… when you break it down, not a lot. We make goals and plans; and we realize we have a little time to do it. Then we realize we’re too busy making the plans we actually accomplish nothing. We’re like that firefly. Blinking for… nobody at all, except ourselves. What am I living for?
My focus on life has changed today. Thanks to a firefly… and Jeff Myers. The world will keep turning, and I will keep living. Just because I’m not sure what to do doesn’t mean time will stop. It makes me think of Owl City’s Fireflies “I’d like to make myself believe that planet earth turns slowly…” It doesn’t, if you know what I mean. That’s why we need to devote ourselves to growth, the gospel, and the great commission. Our time is short.
Still blinking, Lauralea

I love looking back at the times I was on spiritual super highs. It makes me learn things all over again, even when I thought I had them down. 

There is always room for growth; in Christianity, you should never arrive. I am constantly changing and gaining new insight, learning something new, and becoming the someone that God wants and needs me to be. For example, I used to love being Baptist. Now I find it not completely in line with the Bible. Or the idea that skirts were modest. I went through a time where I would not wear skirts to now where I feel modest and feminine in them. Those are just some little  examples I’ve seen as I’ve ‘grown up’. 

Who are you blinking for?

Where are you headed?

Parades With The Devil (again)

This is a re-post from October 2010, with some additions.

Growing up, we never participated in Halloween. The whole festivity is rooted in evil! Just look at all the decorations and costumes next time you’re in Wal-Mart. Everything is scary, black, death related, or devilish. It appears hell has spilled over into the aisles. Walking by Wal-Mart’s prominent Halloween section (right at one of their entrances!) makes me think of Dante’s Inferno. The rubber masks with contorted faces, the fake blood, the skeletons… what parent in their right mind would let their kids parade with Satan in the name of … getting treats?

“Oh it’s only for fun…”

Really? How is spiritual death in masquerade fun?

2011-If one explores all the legends, history, and folklore behind Halloween; you will end up somewhere in Celtic history. The people at the time believed spirits were closest to them; some reported magical things happening year after year. These beliefs, combined with Catholic’s All Soul’s Day (the day chosen for thinking and praying for those in purgatory), became modern Halloween. Read more here about Samhain here:  http://www.packratpro.com/celts/celtholidays.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain

http://www.imbas.org/articles/samhain.html

Back to the original post:

It annoys me to hear the parents at church tell everyone what their kid’s costume is, where they are going to get the most candy, and how they plan to keep their kids safe. In my opinion, if you want to keep your children safe, don’t let them roam the streets with demons! That’s basically all Halloween is: Satan’s attempt to lure those into his eternally damned fold.

2011- During Samhain, people feared the bad spirits would come back along with the good spirits; they began to disguise themselves in hopes of outsmarting demons.

I personally believe that demons are more at work on All Hallow’s Eve (All Souls Night, Devil’s Night, or Demon’s Night in some regions) and on Halloween. I detest the feeling of spiritual oppression that comes over you the minute you walk outside on or between these days. The air has a totally different feel to it.  Many people agree it’s a strange feeling.

Under the guise of Devil’s Night pranks, demons influence teens and adults to do rather dumb, and sometimes harmful, things. You may think I am a prude and don’t want to have any fun. Quite the opposite. I love having fun! It has to be theright fun. Detroit, rather near to where I live, there are always reports of many arsons on Hallow’s Eve. There are more cases of rape, murder, break-ins, and theft all Halloween week. What reasonable Christian can call this fun whilst remaining under Biblical principles? How can one of the faithful not see through these pranks?

Demons and Satan are always at work, but more so this weekend than any other.

My family and I have done many things to ignore Halloween. Here are some ideas for those of you who are interested:

• We’ve gone to a restaurant and spent the entire trick or treat time fellowshipping. 
• We have a family tradition that many people laugh at, including ourselves. We set up our Christmas tree the day of Halloween. We can’t wait for the all clear siren to sound. When it sounds, my mom turns on our Christmas tree lights, and my dad plugs in the deck lights. 
• On Devil’s Night, I can never sleep. Three years ago, I began the habit of reading and studying the whole book of Proverbs as soon as I get in bed. I’m a speed reader, and usually have the book done in an hour and some odd minutes. 
• We don’t carve pumpkins because it invites trouble. They were first carved as lanterns to carry to the cemeteries in Ireland. Not a tradition we want to carry on or participate in. We should do nothing that pleases the devil if we can help it. (To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin)
• We don’t buy candy to celebrate.
• I don’t accept candy offered to me that has Halloween wrappers. I also turn down candy that is offered to me in celebration of Halloween. 
• We turn down ‘Halloween’ party invites. (We will attend “harvest” parties or bonfires).
• We don’t go to haunted houses or corn mazes. We avoid Cedar Point’s Halloweekends. It‘s not the fun thing they make it up to be. (Cedar Point is the world’s best amusement park that is about 1 1/2 hours away ).
• We don’t call it a holiday (holy-day) unless by accident. There’s nothing holy about it!
• We play worship or Christmas music the day of Halloween.
• We went grocery shopping one year. There was nobody there. (Except some weirdo in Darth Vader costume who wandered up and down the aisles). 
• We don’t decorate for Halloween (you probably knew that already). We save candles with harvest smells for November.
• We only go down Halloween aisles in stores if we have to (like a shortcut).
• We avoid wearing the combinations of black and orange, green and purple, etc. to avoid any appearance of evil. In fact, some years I just avoid these colors all together.

I know some of you think my family and I are extreme in precautions of Halloween. I’ve had people tell me that we should just avoid Christmas altogether as well. Why? Because it’s the date of Saternalia, the Roman pagan festival in winter. Well, if the American people in history chose December 25th as a celebration of Christ’s birth, then so be it. It’s called “Christ-mas.” Why else do you think the ACLU wants to outlaw that holiday? If we were celebrating Christmas as Saternalia, they would have no problem with it.

I’d like to know your thoughts about Halloween. Why do you celebrate it? Why do you not? Is there anything you disagreed with in this post?

While we’re at it, how about scaring some liberals?  http://www.visionforum.com/news/onlineemail/vision-forum/2010/10/25_scary/

When To Let Go of Your Stuffies

For My Younger Readers…

Every kid has an assortment of stuffies- bears, pigs, dogs, cats, things that aren’t animals, dinosaurs, and turtles. They sit along the top of the bed, or against the wall or in a box by the window. Kids spend many a happy hour running around the backyard with a plush Barney or a bucket of army men.

Around the age of 10 or 12, kids begin to realize they really don’t need to play with stuffies. They aren’t real. They don’t do anything. At best, they sit along the wall and clutter up the room; make mom mad when she steps on one on the floor…

So, around the wise age of 13 (often less for some kids) the stuffies get put into a little black garbage bag and taken to Goodwill. Sometimes, this is painful, even though the child doesn’t play with them anymore.

As Christians, we have habits that are just like stuffies. They aren’t exactly bad habits, but they hinder us from growing up and taking on mature faith. As we grow, we see that certain habit hindering us from becoming more like Christ. That is what makes it unacceptable. Anything in the way of a closer relationship with Christ is not worth pursuing or keeping around.

Our ultimate goal in life should bring glory to God. Once you rid of one sin or habit, you can be sure Satan will attempt to give you another! Be on your guard!

no excuses: benefits of worldview witnessing

Some people do not understand why I study other religions.

1: “God said it, I believe it, that settles it for me.”

2: “People should already know there’s a God.”

3: “Just start with the Bible.”

4: “If you don’t use scripture, you shouldn’t argue.”

—-

1. “God said it, I believe it, that settles it for me.”

This sounds relative. I’ve heard some people say this with half the room muttering “Glad it works for you, buddy.” This type of statement makes God sound like an option, not the truth.

2. “People should already know there’s a God.”

Why are you witnessing to them in the first place?! Plenty of people, especially young people, don’t believe in a God- much less an afterlife. This is a laziness excuse.

3. “Just start with the Bible.”

Many people today don’t believe in God. Why would they believe His word if they believe he doesn’t exist? We have to start with common ground here. Use logic, facts, and science. The evidence is greater than you think. We must first reveal the holes in their thinking. Last week, with the evolutionists (which are still commenting every so often ),  I asked a lot of questions, and many of them went unanswered or dodged. This is because they don’t know what to say, and probably have never given much thought to their ideas. This is why we should study secular thinkers.

4. “If you don’t use scripture, you shouldn’t argue.”

We hold God’s word in to high a position. We treat it like a love letter, an oracle, a mystical thing that does everything for us. It is indeed, God’s inspired word, relevant, living, and true. We can gain principles from it, learn history, and see God’s plan for humanity. But it doesn’t do everything for us.

We forget that God gave us a mind. We forget we should understand the times and know the culture. It’s all a part of being in and not of.

After you’ve exposed the holes in thinking and false ideas held, then you can take them to scripture and show them the gospel.

What are some other excuses you’ve heard?

“Man Up!”

Walking through the mall, I see dozens of couples. Some hold hands, some spend meaningful time together staring at their iPods, some walk staring straight ahead, and others… well…

One common thing I see among the males is painted nails, skinny jeans, and shaggy hair. There was more than one time I confused a couple for two girls.

Why do young men want to be so feminine? Why sacrifice the toughness and the masculinity for a fad?

Why is it a shame to be a man?

Could it be the idea of “offending” someone? Could it be the oh-so-popular metrosexual?

I’m never going to get an inside look at the reasons for metrosexuality because I’m a man.

But, recently re-reading Answering the Guy Questions by Leslie Ludy shows us ladies what we can do and understand about young men. The book helped me stop manipulating guys- even in the areas I didn’t think I was manipulating! By our remarks, clothes, and deeds we can either give or take.

I want to give all I can to building strong men.

I realize my brother and I don’t get along as well as we should. I’m only learning myself.

I can give my time to take notice of Ryan’s accomplishments (he’s becoming quite the thinker), go along with his ideas (provided it’s legal, buddy), not cut him down (when he affectionately looks down from 6’1″ and calls me Shorty) and praise him for his right choices (such as converting to the First Church of the OSU Buckeyes!).

I can take more interest in what my dad is doing.

I can ask more questions and make my guy friends think.

What will you do to build up guys in your life?

Guys, what are your thoughts?

Is There A Wrong Kind of Comfort?

“Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond’s glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush.
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.”

I’ve heard it at funerals of good Christian people who didn’t believe in reincarnation, but this is what the poem implies.
Of course, those redeemed by Christ technically go on to live in heaven and eventually the new earth, but we aren’t found in rain, or in wind, or in snow, or in fields. When we look at the sparkles in snow, we don’t hear people say, “Hey, it’s Grandma.” Or think “Uncle Billy is out there waving in the field!” Those who do think so imply a sort of pantheistic theology.

‘All is of one, for life is an energy that is fixed and you do not die, your energy only renews itself in a new form’ view.

I’m afraid someone wrote this wanting to bring comfort to those suffering a loss of a dear one. This is a critical point for those suffering loss- a point where they either cling to The God or adopt a new view. Satan could easily trick people into believing false ideas through poems such as these.

Which leads me to the question, is there a wrong kind of comfort?

If so, what kind of comfort should we give?

—-

BTW~ I’m officially a college freshman! I’m studying for my first CLEPs- English Comp and Natural Science. I hope to be a sophomore by spring.

I checked a book out of the library last month called simply “Corrie.” It was published in the mid 70′s. It was a pictoral account of Corrie tenBoom’s life, including stills from the movie “The Hiding Place.” It had dozens of stories, testimonies, and quotes from Corrie’s remarkable life and those who knew her. One story brought me to tears, and I find it impossible to shake:

“Corrie continued her travels [throughout the world telling her story], which led her to Germany- a country she hoped she would never have to see again. But the biggest wounds were IN Germany. Corrie could see it in the people’s eyes- the guilt, the shame, the darkness. The atmosphere was one of defeat and hopelessness.

  After speaking at a meeting in Berlin one eveing, a tall German man came up to Corrie and asked to speak with her. Hesitatingly, his head down, he began to speak: “I was one of the guards at Ravensbruck- I was there at the time you said you were prisoner. Last Christmas, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I repented of my sins but then I prayed, “God, you must grant me an opportunity to ask one of my victims for forgiveness.” That is why I am here. Will you forgive me?”

This was a testing moment for Corrie. She had taught the people being rehabilitated at her house in Bloemendaal that true healing could only come when they forgave their enemies. As she stood face to face with one of her former enemies, she found that deep in her heart she still had not forgiven all that had happened in the past.

  Corrie looked into the face of this man standin there in a dark gray coat, the very color reminded her of Ravensbruck. As she remembered the past his uniform and the peaked hat with the skull and crossbones insignia barbarically displayed, a coldness came into her heart. Memories of Betsie…

There was in her no forgiveness for this man.

So she inwardly prayed: “Jesus please help me! I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”

With difficulty, Corrie put her hand into her former guard’s hand and instantly felt miraculous warmth shooting through her. It was no mistaking the Holy Spirit. It was peace. In tears, she said:
“I forgive you with all of my heart!”

Evil and Suffering: Epic Answers for Epic Questions

Why would a good God allow bad things to happen? -or- Doesn’t evil mean there’s no God- at least a perfect, loving God?
First of all, God knew when he created Lucifer that he would one day fall, and eventually take humanity down with him. He couldn’t have created an eventual evil world without knowing he would redeem it. His nature is perfect goodness. God is the “father of lights” and his word guides our feet like a light. It’s been said countless times for ages and ages that evil is darkness- black magic does harm, criminals causing harm have “dark minds”, etc. God is light. How could he let the two co-exist?

Is light the absence of darkness or is darkness the absence of light? Light can’t be where total darkness is. Dark can’t overtake light. Light penetrates things. You can bring in light to make a room brighter, but you can’t take darkness out by flipping a darkness switch. You can turn off the light, but you’re still using light. Even when you turn off your lights at night, your eyes adjust and we can still see things. You might not see them as clearly, but the point is, light overtakes darkness. Turns out the two aren’t so interdependent- if so at all. In order for evil to exist, there had to have first been good to be opposite of. Could God create evil? More on that below
The spirit of the question “How could God let the two coexist if they don’t depend on each other?” is summed up thusly: God is letting the two remain. If there was no evil, there’d be no need for Jesus.  Well, why doesn’t God destroy evil? If God were to rid of all the evil in the world, he’d have to rid of us too. I’m not sure what agnostic or atheist or sane person would want to be first in line on the day God purged the universe of evil.

Humans with the nature of sin tend to do a lot of bad things to each other. They kill each other like they have no conscience. Hence, we could call this evil ‘moral wrong’ for it defies some kind of standard (see first chapter in Mere Christianity for more).

But of course, we have criminals who have odd feelings of pleasure when hurting innocent people, such as cult leaders who indotrinate followers to give up young girls for rape, or guerillas who force young boys into fighting violent gang wars or drug wars (like the LRA), or people who like to kill babies.

We also have bad things that happen almost naturally, like the Japanese tsunami or famine for lack of rain. They don’t appear to have a purpose other than to cause havoc and injure people. We can label this natural evil. The video below sums it up:

“People starving in the streets/Cuz they can’t get enough to eat from God.”

Logically, they’re asking “Why would a good God allow evil? Why would he make food and then not let the people in his image eat it?”

Their reasoning goes like this:

If God were good, He would destroy evil.

If God were powerful, He could destroy evil.

Evil hasn’t been destroyed.

So there’s no God.

—

Knowing the logic we learned from above, let’s answer the question:

Could God create evil?

NT Wright:

The entire canon of Scripture tells a story which, from a bewildering variety of angles, is all about what God is doing about evil. (From Evil and the Justice of God, 76)

“All things were made by him…” All means all, right?

From “got questions?”

Question: “Did God create evil?”

Answer: At first it might seem that if God created all things, then evil must have been created by God. However, evil is not a “thing” like a rock or electricity… Evil has no existence of its own; it is really the absence of good. For example, holes are real but they only exist in something else. We call the absence of dirt a hole, but it cannot be separated from the dirt. So when God created, it is true that all He created was good. One of the good things God made was creatures who had the freedom to choose good. In order to have a real choice, God had to allow there to be something besides good to choose. So, God allowed these free angels and humans to choose good or reject good (evil). When a bad relationship exists between two good things we call that evil, but it does not become a “thing” that required God to create it.

Perhaps a further illustration will help. If a person is asked, “Does cold exist?” the answer would likely be “yes.” However, this is incorrect. Cold does not exist. Cold is the absence of heat. Similarly, darkness does not exist; it is the absence of light. Evil is the absence of good, or better, evil is the absence of God. God did not have to create evil, but rather only allow for the absence of good.

God did not create evil, but He does allow evil. If God had not allowed for the possibility of evil, both mankind and angels would be serving God out of obligation, not choice. He did not want “robots” that simply did what He wanted them to do because of their “programming.” God allowed for the possibility of evil so that we could genuinely have a free will and choose whether or not we wanted to serve Him.

Let’s go back to the logic:

 

If God were good, He would destroy evil.

If God were powerful, He could destroy evil.

Evil hasn’t YET been destroyed.

Therefore, in the future, God will destroy evil.

If a person is going to answer this theological question correctly, he should study the theology surrounding evil. We’ve glanced at creation- where God said “It’s good.”

It’s called the new earth. Christianity is based on the Bible: God’s drama of redemption. It’s not some fuzzy love letter to us, though some parts are lovely. The bible is there to answer the big questions, to show us what He’s up to next. If people would only pick it up and read it like they meant to learn instead of “getting something out of it.” That’s another story.

Okay, so God and evil are here. He’ll destroy it someday.

Then why does he let me suffer? Doesn’t he care?

On the cross, Jesus felt all our sin and anguish, he was paying the pricefor everyone. ALL our sin. That’s nearly 7 billion of us now, maybe couple more billion. You know how bad it feels to sin and feel horrible about it. How about times 20,000,000,000-ish?

 Isaiah 53:4-5

Surely he has borne our griefs
   and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
 But he was wounded for our transgressions;
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his stripes we are healed.

When people are suffering, we can first of all help them by shutting up. Never say “Oh, it’s okay…” or start quoting Bible verses at them. When the time is right, gently tell them that Jesus felt the sin and sorrow himself. Our God suffers with us.

‘Live With Purpose’ (a tidbit of Chapter 1 of my book)

How often do we think ‘September thoughts’? “Since the school year is starting, I will do ____” or “I can have 30 weeks to study ____ a little bit more.” It’s easy to think we can let our schedules and circumstances determine our life; to help our future along. It’s like living on autopilot: letting social life, full calendars, games, appointments, and homework become our purpose for living. And for us college women and beyond, it’s easy to think housework and college and chores is all that’s worth living for.

These activities are all worthy and many are necessary to living. Chores need to be completed. Homework must be finished. Doctors need to be seen. Teeth need to be filled. It’s life.

But, when we start to look to our calendars to determine what’s next, our lives are set to live on autopilot. And when a huge change comes (like graduation, for example), we aren’t sure what we’re supposed to do. We feel lost, like our social life has been stripped away; we feel like we have no reason to exist: like we have no purpose… like God has taken everything we liked to do away!

I confess I used to live on autopilot. Looking to the next thing on the list to determine what I should do. It is how we young single women start to feel discontent when we’re 18 or 21 or 30 and not married- or even seeing anyone. We’re too used to everything coming at us in an orderly fashion, being in control of our lives. When things like a job, marriage, or college don’t come our way, the discontentment sets in.

In reality, God is not taking anything away from us. WE are living without purpose.

“Our hearts are restless, Lord, until they rest in You.” Saint Augustine

So often, we’re caught up in living life to simply live life, we forget what we’re here for. We were made for God, not the next big thing! It is only when we live for God do we genuinely begin live vibrantly, wholly, and fully.

How do we do that?

Well… that’s what my book is all about!

Romans 8 (and what I’ve learned about the nature of God and the nature of me)

There is something about this chapter that draws me back to it over and over.

1. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This whole chapter tells us who we are as Christians. If I ever successfully lead someone to Christ, and they ask “Then what?” I would take them through a study of Romans 8 then Ephesians. Hey, now that my book is in oblivion, I could start writing a study on this…

Anyway. ahem. I’ve come to realize yet again the only way to be genuinely content, happy, and Christ-centered is when I’m not pursuing things I want.

I’ve been learning a lot about prayer recently, too; and the verse about the Holy Spirit making known our requyests without even saying them eloquently makes me want to burst with peace and assurance! Since we are saved to do good works, and we cannot lose our salvation; we should constantly be seeking things above. Sometimes, sin distracts us, though. It doesn’t take much to pull us away from Christ, but sadly, it happens. We become a little more carnally minded than we should. We fall into a great heap of trouble and see no way out. I am so thankful for a God who loves me, but hates my sin with a holy passion! He opens my eyes to breaches in my wall, to echo Nehemiah’s dilemma. I am determined to not let the wall of my fellowship Christ around crumble or be diminished by anything of the Father of lies. 

That’s why I went through this process recently. Christ has become more real to me. I feel light, clean inside and out. Even if you’re not a set-apart “girl,” you warriors could benefit from taking a step back and examining your life, too. We’re all human. We all sin. Princess or Warrior, lady or gent’a'man, I hope you click on the link and take a look at what “Cleaning Out the Sanctuary” really means.  I dare you. Click on it!