My Price - Paid

As I consider Jesus this week - who He was, who He still is, His character, His love, His teachings, His deity - I sense myself covering my eyes, shielding my heart, and forgetting what He actually did for me - and for each soul festering on this planet.

I love the easy:
I love to think about Him as Royal....at Christmas for instance. A little baby - born as King. (Luke 1 and 2, etc )

I love to think about Him as Defender ... rebuking the disciples trying to keep the children away - pulling the babes into his lap to bless them. (Mark 10:13-16)

I love to think about Him as Healer - traveling around touching the pain-stricken. Touching them. Does that strike you in your core? It should. His holy hands touched the defiled. The sore-covered. The bleeding..... The dead. We are wise to get the enormity of that. (Matthew 15:29-31, Mark 7:31-37, etc)

I love to think about Him as Deliverer - freeing people of demonic oppression - rebuking and casting out unclean spirits - thwarting their destruction of human hearts with just a word. (Mark 1:32-34, Luke 4:31-37, etc)

I love to think about Him as Teacher - sitting with the multitudes, having compassion on their souls, opening up their lives to the Divine. (Luke 8:4-15, etc)

I love to think about Him as Revealer - answering the door to anyone wholeheartedly knocking down doors to find Him. (Jeremiah 29:13, Luke 11:9)

But Jesus as Sacrifice? -  As tortured, stricken, beaten, crucified? I neglect it - out of ease and ignorance and haughtiness. All too often I look at the cross - I wear it around my neck and I point people to it and write about it....but I never stop to consider the reality of that tree - stained with innocent blood all for the cause of saving my soul. (John 18 and 19, etc)

 Jesus as Payment? As Stand-In? There's no words for that - and yet I still have very few thoughts towards it.

This may be why:
I fail to recognize the enormity and filthiness and number of my sin. I fail to recognize my absolute need for Him in this way. Sure - I can recognize Him as my King, my Protector, my Mender, my Reliever, my Instructor, my Affirmer - but oh, my Atonement? He is that, too. He is that, mostly.

His whole reason for moving among us? Me and you.

What's so incredible about this...audacious even....is that He knew it would be this way. (Isaiah 53) He knew that the one's He came to rescue would spit in His face. He knew that we would fail to grasp the gift He bestowed on us when He died in our place. He knew we would forget, refuse, and shun Him. And He did it anyway.

I've been praying a daring prayer- that He would show me my need for Him - particularly my need for One who is my Sacrifice and Savior. May it be so - for all of us....that we would get a glimpse of our own sins-pardoned. And that we would see Him, truly.

At Easter and always.

Lord, let us see You and know You for who You are, really. Let us be aware of our need for You. Lead us into truth and belief and understanding. We praise You for the price You paid for us all. Shed light on us, Lord.  In Jesus, Amen.

Funky Mama

Let's lighten it up a bit.

I'm digging this dude. His raps are like sermons, y'all. Fo' real.

Would you believe that this stay-at-home-mama did a little hip-hop dancing in college? Believe it, sista. The key word here however is did. Not does. I'm not so funky anymore, friends. But that doesn't mean I don't get crazy to a sweet rhyme every now and then. The only difference is that these days I listen to righteous raps - not the raunchy ones. Praise Him for it.

Preach it, Lecrea.

Shopping for Socks

Will the real Jesus please stand up?

As you well know, He's been revealing Himself to me lately. The real Jesus, that is. Not the one that I made up in my head. Not the one that I had preconceived notions about. Not the one that is vengeful or hate-filled or down right crazy. Not the one that's made it into books and movies where they twist his story. Not the one that isn't divine. The real One.

And it's knocking my socks off.

A few days ago - my doorbell rang. As I peered through the peep hole I saw what I expected to see - a middle-aged woman, wearing a long dark dress, holding a Bible and a leaflet. I could have chosen to leave her there. But with my children yelling, "WHO IS IT!?!" from the inside of our door - I had to open it. I kind of wanted to, anyway. Since I've been doing a little research on our door to door friends...I thought I might need some armor before I answered her call. So I beckoned for some..."Father, let the Spirit be present and speak through me. Please be here."....and then I unlocked the door. And I was able to do so with more faith and courage than ever before.

She began her spiel, sweetly. As I listened...my heart sank. She was talking about Jesus.  And as she presented her gospel - the one that had been presented to her by a governing body of sorts...not Jesus Himself...I was struck with how crafty the enemy can be. As her words lofted through the too-cold-for-spring air and landed on my eardrums - I felt a surge of defensiveness welling up in every fiber of my being. Her words were littered with just enough truth to make the twisted ones seem safe. The Enemy of our souls is famous for that. He takes truth...God's Word even...and turns the dial on it just enough to create a twisted gospel. (Genesis 3:1-5, Matthew 4:1-11) Since it's mixed and masked with very true messages - the very un-true messages are more easily welcomed and received.

It's trickery. It breaks my heart and makes me nauseated. Please know though... the shattered heart and queasy stomach don't come from a combative, "I'm right, your wrong", overly conservative, closed-minded place in me. They come from a place of compassion...a place that has known the confusion and seen the Truth. People are being led astray. Not only by my door-step lady-friend and her beliefs - but by health and wealth preachers, false teachers, and false doctrines. I know because I've been deceived by it my own self. While Jesus has certainly revealed Himself to me....you must know that I am fully aware of my blatant ignorance on this topic...still. I have A LOT to learn when it comes to Jesus...the Bible...history...life. But there are some things that I'm absolutely convinced of: Jesus is real. The Bible is true. And Jesus Himself will show you that.

After listening to this precious woman for a moment, I stopped her. And I said....

"Who do YOU say that Jesus is?"

I really discovered who Jesus was when I opened my Bible (and my heart) myself and asked God to reveal Himself to me there. When I decided to learn about Jesus  - instead of simply being told who He was by elders or authors or governing bodies or whoever.....that's when I found Him. And that's what I told her.

(Please note though, I consider it very important to seek biblical truth, advice, council, and accountability from mentors, pastors, teachers, and the like. But we are blessed with the privilege of having the opportunity to know Him personally. One on One. Creator with the created. And that's a beautiful thing that you don't want to miss out on.)

If you ask the real Jesus to please stand up...The real Jesus will rise up above the rest - and as He emerges right before your eyes - you'll be changed forever. Open your Bible. Open your heart. Open up your mind. Ask the Lord to show you Himself. And then go buy some more socks....He will be blowing yours off in no time.

"The Bible invites us into life with God, but it does not try to force us into it. It leaves enough space that we can pass by this life if we desire to do so. The living Christ will not overpower us, but he does make himself available to those who want to find him. One of the primary ways he does this is through the Bible." from Life With God by Richard J. Foster

Wow!

I won. And I'm still peeing my pants over it.

Something like 370 women entered a contest on the She Reads blog to win a scholarship to She Speaks this summer. And can y'all believe I won the thing?


I've been praising Jesus ever since. It had to have been Him. The other entries were so clever and beautiful and thought-provoking. Like I said in my last post - I almost didn't try because of the awesomeness that had already entered. (The Enemy will do that to you, ya know. Right before you achieve victory in some area...He will convince you to thwart the pursuit. Keep an eye out for that, sisters. And stay in the race.) I'm just doubled over with thankfulness.

This means that I get to go to North Carolina in July and learn all about how to communicate and teach and witness for the Lover of my Soul. You do know that's what He is, don't you? The Lover of your Soul. He is jealous for you. And He longs for you to really know Him. Yep, you. He isn't in the business of simply revealing Himself to your pastor or your favorite Bible teacher or your favorite author or your Mama. He is in the business of revealing Himself to YOU. He's incredible like that. And captivating. And willing. It's a beautiful thing, isn't it? That the One who dreamed me up - cares enough to chase me down. That's the kind of stuff that will make you raise your hands in church.


May the Lord surprise you in new and refreshing ways this week, friends. Go ahead - ask Him to reveal Himself to you...right where you need it most. He will. And He'll do things that will make you just about pee your pants.

I would know :)

Father, thank you. I'm just so humbled. And honored. And grateful...for your provision.... your surprises...and your never-ending grace. Work on me so that You can work through me. Show me Your glory, Lord. Prepare me for the She Speaks conference. And let me be a blessing there. In the holy name of Jesus - Amen.

My Entry

One college couple. Two pink lines.

That's the story of how I became a Mama :)

I'm entering into a contest over at She Reads tonight to win a scholarship to the She Speaks Conference put on by the ladies at Proverbs 31 Ministries. I had to write a story in 6 words or less. Yep. Only 6 words. Lord, help me.

After browsing through the entries....I almost decided to bow out. They are all so awesome and thought-provoking and creative. Beautiful, even. I don't know how they are going to pick only one winner - because there is some seriously talented sisters who entered. Whew.

But back to the college couple.....That's us. We were just babies when we got married - not even half-way through college yet. A little over a year after we said, "I do" I stood in our tiny apartment bathroom and almost fainted when I saw two lines on the pregnancy test. TWO LINES.

We were immature. (Still are, pretty much.) My husband played football when he wasn't in his engineering classes and I still called my Mama every night before bed. (I may or may not still do this.) We had no money. We had no idea how to be good marriage partners - much less good parents. And we were shocked. "How did this happen?" is what we kept asking ourselves. Don't you love that question? We all know the answer to it - but we ask it like there isn't one. (grin)

While it's true we were utterly clueless when it came to raising a baby - and while it's true the two pink lines catapulted us into an unknown territory....we felt blessed. Three positive pregnancy tests later - and we still feel the same way. Yes - three. While two of my little darlings are sound asleep in their rooms right now....one is sitting at the feet of Jesus. Another 6 word story of mine could go like this: Two pink lines. One empty womb. I miscarried one of our little sweeties shortly after I found out about him or her. Someday - I'll find out which one it was :)

As for now - I'll never forget the day these two babies found out they were having....a baby. And it will always be true that I wouldn't have had it any other way :)

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. - Romans 8:28

Our Armor

One of the first things I do every morning is open the curtains. I can't seem to get myself moving until the drapes are delivered of their duties and the darkness in our home is exposed to a hot sun - ready to fill my home with warmth and daylight.

There's just something about letting the light in that lifts me.

While sunlight is good....Son-Light is even better. 

Like I said in my last post - the Lord has some rays of light that He wants to cast in your direction. And often times - most of the time, actually - He does it with His Word. This once doubt-filled and downtrodden girl can type that without flinching. Why? Because I know it to be true. Praise God in Heaven.

Romans 13:12 says... The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

The armor of light. I love the sound of that. Doesn't it remind you of Ephesians 6? Verse 17 says..."And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Likewise, Hebrews 4:12 says...For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than any two-edged sword....

Know what all that means? I think it means that the Word of God (written and spoken) is living. It means that it is capable of overcoming my raunchiest of ways. It means that it is able to defend my faith against the most deafening of doubts. It's our weapon in battle. Our armor. Our sword. And frankly - any Christian going into their daily wars without it - is entering into a danger zone with zero power. Without the word of God we are charging into battle blind and weapon-less. That doesn't sound like a real good way to find lasting victory.

We.Must.Know.The.Word.Of.God.


Be encouraged by the following:

"The battle is intense. and it cannot be fought with little thoughts in a daily devotional or petty ideas from a preacher on Sunday. It certainly can't be fought with minds numbed by the constant drivel of entertainment on television, DVD's, video games, and the Internet. If you and I are going to penetrate our culture and the cultures of the world with the gospel, we desperately need minds saturated with God's Word." 

(from the book Radical by David Platt)

"You will be prone to confusion if the only place you are getting the Word is through other people."

(from a sermon by Marcus Brecheen entitled Sword of the Spirit)

"We agree with the words of Satan because we don't know the words of God. Your intellect cannot defeat the enemy." (from a sermon by Robert Morris entitled The Water of Life)

"Many Christians remain in bondage to fears and anxieties simply because they do not avail themselves of the discipline of study." (from the book Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster)

Let's be mature in His Word. Let's be people who know what we claim. Let's decide to dive in. Everyday. Let's go into our daily triumphs and trials armed with power and truth. I'm convinced you and I will experience profound freedom and healing when we allow the Scriptures to penetrate our lives. Let's commit to not hurrying through our study of God's Word. The only thing we will gain from that is the trite satisfaction we feel when we check "quiet time" off of our to-do lists. But when we overcome our tendency to be undisciplined, uninterested, and quiet frankly, lazy-we will enter into a completely different realm. When we ask the Lord to open up our minds and hearts to His Word...He will. And we will be changed, transformed, and enlightened because of it. Now that sounds like victory. The lasting kind.

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Resources that may inspire and encourage you in your study:

The sermon series from pastor Robert Morris entitled The Holy Bible. Go here. Find the "Browse By" box on the left and click on "Series Name". Scroll down and click "The Holy Bible." Scroll back up and start with the first sermon....The Bread of Heaven. This series totally changed the way I view and value the Bible. It's a must.

This website rocks. My husband and I use it often. It's a great resource. That being said - this website shouldn't be used in place of a Bible that you actually hold in your hand. There's something about flipping through the pages of the Holy Scripts that's good for you. Also, I've learned to use commentaries with caution. If you are struggling with certain passages in Scripture - let's ask the Author of them to help us grasp their meanings before we head straight to mere humans for enlightenment. He wants to reveal truth to us - ordinary, non-seminary attending, people like you and me! He is faithful.

And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. - Luke 24:45

Lord, meet us in the Word. Give us a desire for it. Help us to not be able to keep ourselves out of it. Open up our minds and our hearts and our souls to what You have spoken and what You are still speaking. Let us be diligent and disciplined in our pursuit of You. And let it bring us joy and contentment to know You more intimately. In Jesus, Amen.

Bright and Shining

He'll bring light into your darkness. It's what He does.

I don't know about you - but I need a light source....

A couple of weeks ago - as I stood at my kitchen sink doing dishes - out of the darkness I prayed, "Jesus. give me something." Not really expecting a reply - I clearly heard a 'whisper': "I'll meet you in My Word." It caught me off guard, honestly. It was so real. So exact. 

And so...true. He DID meet me there.

In the moments that followed that quick and quiet little dialogue we had at the sink - He met me in scripture after scripture after scripture. Scriptures that spoke directly to many of the issues that were ailing me that day. It's His specialty. Bringing light into the darkness is His thing. And the Word is often times how He does it.

I've felt so convicted of this lately. It's been all over my heart and consistently on my mind - that the Word is an amazingly awesome light - for my life - and yours.

Do I really get that? Do I really believe that the Lord will reveal Himself to me in The Bible? Am I giving Him a chance to lead me in to some seriously supernatural stuff - through scripture? Hardly.

This is a monstrosity, really. It's devastating to my faith. It keeps me in the dark. But when I open that Book and I ask Him to make it fresh and alive and new to me - it's like I'm opening the curtains to let some Son light in.

You should try it. For some of us - the pages are gonna stick together because it's bran spankin' new. For some of us - when we crack it open it's gonna have that just-off-the-shelf smell. Or maybe even a mothball smell. For some of us it's gonna seem silly. And monotonous. And weird. But let's do it anyway. If you are like me - you're in need of some light-bulb moments. Maybe even desperate for them.You need a slither of light to shine through. You need some brightness - And He'll bring it.

See for yourselves:

Then Jesus spoke to them again saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

John 8:12 (NKJV)

I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 

 John 12:46 (NKJV)

It started when God said, "Light up the darkness!" and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.

2 Corinthians 4:6 (The Message)

Let's switch gears for a moment. Take another look at that last scripture. It talks about "the face of Christ". Remember this post? The one where I talked about Jesus' face - and all the crazy and uncanny ways that very topic came up over a span of just a couple of months? Well I have another one for you.

My Mom called me up one day - and said, "Sugar, you HAVE to read Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo. It's about a little boy who actually went to Heaven. You must read it. There's some things in it I think you'll appreciate." Being the skeptic that I am - I almost scoffed at the title. "Really? A boy who went to Heaven? We'll see." Two days later - I'm walking through our church with my family and some friends of ours stopped to give us something. Guess what it was? Yep. That book... Heaven is for Real. Out of nowhere - for no particular reason - these sweet friends of ours gifted us with that book. "Maybe there's something to this", I thought. Having a hunch that it was a "God-thing" - I dove right in. Look what I found...

As Colton - the little boy who went to Heaven - explained to his Dad what Jesus looked like he said, "And His eyes....oh, Dad, his eyes are so pretty!" People. If you read my post about this very thing - you get how huge that statement is for me. The book mentioned it again though - this time from a little girl - an art prodigy who lived in the home of an atheist - who had visions of Heaven herself. Describing Jesus she said, "He's very masculine, really strong and big. And his eyes are just beautiful." If you haven't - please read my 'A Whirlwind of Whispers' post. And you'll see why these revelations from these young kids are such a big deal to me. And then let's recap:

1) For months - everything I run into pertains to "Jesus' eyes and face". And I wrote a blog post on it.
2) My Mom calls and tells me I need to read the Heaven is for Real book.
3) Two days later - I receive the book - From people who don't even know I have a blog or that my Mom mentioned it.
4) In the book - I run into two more thoughts about Jesus' eyes and face.

The Lord reeeally wants me to get this. He's after me on it. Do you know He is after YOU for something, too?  He has some light for you that He wants to shed. He looks on you with compassion and longs for you to seek Him...His light and His grace and His healing. It's true. Please don't forget who you are dealing with here... the woman who writes this has known the darkness of doubt. And skepticism. And spiritual blindness. If I can see Jesus pursuing me....If I can sit here and type this in all honesty and integrity and with an ethically upright heart....If I can look around and truly see a God who loves me and longs for me - any ol' person can.

He'll reveal Himself to you. And the light he sheds on your life will change you for good. You know that kitchen sink conversation I had with Him? It wasn't just for me. He's saying, "I'll meet you in My Word." to your sweet soul, too.

The Light is shining. You just need to peel back the curtains a little.