"Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." -Psalm 73:23-26. This has been one of my favorite passages since April of last year. I was thinking about it the other day and God was showing me a different perspective on it. The first part that really stuck out to me was the phrase, "You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory." The verse doesn't say, "You guide me with your counsel and while doing that you will receive me to glory." No...it says afterward. There are definitely times when I get so caught up in the "why is this happening?" or "can this just please go away now?" that I forget about the bigger picture. It's more than that though. God promises us that we will go through trials and temptations and struggles. We live in a fallen world, it's inevitable. But God will guide us with His counsel if we let Him. I know that at times I'm guilty of trying to do everything on my own. Honestly though, that is so arrogant and prideful. Who am I to think that I can handle everything by myself, when the Creator of the universe is the one who spoke me into motion in the first place? The God who created everything chose to create me, to make me part of His plan. Not the other way around. Read chapters 37-42 of the book of Job. They're incredible, and very humbling. That's the God we serve. And after we go through the difficult times, God will receive us to glory, the glory that we don't deserve in the first place. When I read the part again that says,"Whom have I in heaven but you?" I was reminded of a quote by John Piper. Piper says, "The critical question for our generation—and for every generation— is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?" Every single time I hear that quote it challenges me. Every time. Can you honestly answer that you would not be satisfied if Christ were not there? I want to get to the point in my life where I can honestly say that there is nothing on earth that I desire besides God. Nothing. I'm not there yet. Our hearts beat for God and God alone. Nothing else even comes close to being deserving of our complete and total love, affection, energy, time, thoughts, praise, worship, etc. For You and You alone, awake my soul.

eternally minded

I haven't blogged for awhile, mainly because the last month of my life has been crazy [even crazier than it usually is!]. A lot of stuff happened, and God has really been showing me a lot. Uncle Dale's funeral was unlike any other funeral I've ever been to. Because he knew that he was dying, he was able to have my cousin Alex videotape him talking. 25 minutes of him speaking was shown at the funeral, and it was awesome. Uncle Dale's message was inspiring and challenging, and it was absolutely incredible to see the legacy that he left behind. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him, and I miss him very much. But I think it is so so so imperative that we as Christians remember to stay eternally minded. It was not goodbye from my family to Uncle Dale. We are going to see him again, and I cannot wait. Although there is a lot of pain and hurt in our hearts, my family and I know that Uncle Dale is far better off than he ever would be here regardless of if he had cancer or not. We need to remember that this world is not our home. This is not our final destination. We're living for something so much bigger and better than this world full of poverty, destitution, pain, sorrow, and sin. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." I gained a new perspective on this verse through the life and death of my Uncle Dale. It seemed as though the more the cancer affected him physically, the more his inner self strengthened. As his body became extremely weak and frail, and in essence disintegrated, the more his testimony was shining through. When I read this verse, I think of my Uncle Dale. His outer self was wasting away, but his inner self was being renewed. What a truly beautiful thing that was to witness. And you don't have to have cancer or a life-threatening disease for this to happen in your life. The next part of the passage talks about how this "light, momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison...". We are not going through these difficult times in vain. God has a bigger plan than we could ever imagine or even attempt to comprehend. These afflictions are preparing us, and they are not even comparable to the glory that will someday be revealed to us. Romans 8:18-19 says, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God." What a comforting reminder once again! As I go through difficult times in life and various hardships, I truly pray that God reminds me of this again and again. Yes there are going to be hard times in life-we live in a world full of sin. It's inevitable that hardships are going to come our way. God even tells us that they are. But what a comfort and joy and peace that God doesn't leave us during those times! And they are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us. The Bible even says that creation waits with eager longing...I love that! There has been about 8 people that I have known who have passed away in the past month, the most recent one being one of my close friend's father. As tragedy continues to enter my life [as it does everyone's lives at some point] I realize more and more my desperate need of Christ. It isn't about us...it never has been and it never will be. God is my rock, my strength, my joy, my peace that surpasses understanding, my comfort, my never ending support...the list goes on and on. God doesn't need us at all, but He chooses to include us in His plan. How awesome is that?! And He continues to use us until the day that He takes us home to be with Him, where we are eternally healed. "Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." – John 14:1-3