keeping the main thing the main thing

April 17 – My Utmost for His Highest - All or Nothing?

"When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment . . . and plunged into the sea" — John 21:7

Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing. The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication
of your being in total bondage.

Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of the will, not of emotion; any positive emotion that results is simply a superficial blessing arising out of the transaction. If you focus your attention on the emotion, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see, whether it is in the shallow or the deep, profound places internally.

If you have heard Jesus Christ’s voice on the waves of the sea, you can let your convictions and your consistency take care of themselves by concentrating on maintaining your intimate relationship to Him.

My thoughts:

Our God has designed His “holistic salvation” to begin in the hearts of His followers and spread outward in ripple effects from there. What an incredible privilege, blessing and responsibility that God has chosen to use our lives as vessels through which to bring His kingdom! As we cultivate our inner connection to Him, all else flows out of that relationship – embodiment of the Kingdom and the Reign of God! We are able to reflect His glory to the world around us when it is first of all manifested in us. This made me think of this passage – such ridiculous and foolish abandonment: All for Jesus!

Matthew 26:7-13 - Jesus Anointed at Bethany

6While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, 7a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9“This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” 10Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Here, the disciples thought they had it right – they had watched and learned directly from Jesus day in and day out. His teachings on money and giving to the poor were ingrained into their heads. So, when this woman “wasted” something that was supposed to have a different use, they came to a very logical conclusion according to what they had seen in the life of Jesus. Except this was a direct offering of intimate worship to Jesus – an outpouring of extravagant love from the very core of that woman’s being. That is where their analytical understanding fell short and the woman's heart motives began...

Interviewed by Brittany Goheen

1. List three or so of the biggest blessings God has given you in the past school year, and how they have changed/will change you.

a) Friends
i) Dorm 26 – my girls are amazing. As I have poured myself into them this year, they have poured back love tenfold which has served to make me grow (I love loving and being loved in return!!) – specifically giving me confidence to be exactly who God created me to be –myself. ii) Those who have been there to listen and support and encourage and love – this year has been a journey of discovering who God created me to be and to have confidence in that. A variety of friends strategically placed by God along the way have served to teach and bless me – encouraging me to be wholly myself in Christ

b) Purpose Driven Life – a certain blessing in disguise because I have never wanted to read it – I actually strongly dislike the book itself and avoid it – but twice over the course of this year I have been at “crisis” moments, have not known what to do and I have both times “randomly” picked it up and read a chapter begrudgingly, only to find that (despite any theological discrepancies) it has applied directly to my moment of crisis and has turned my focus back to Christ and trusting Him above all

c) Neo-Calvinism – another crazy blessing in disguise cause I used to loathe it, but further reading on this blogsite will tell the story – it has and is certainly shaping my life and deepening my understanding and faith

2. If there was only going to be one food on the new earth, what would it be? (and what memories do you attach to that food?)

German Pancakes. They are like crepes (very thin) and you roll them up with fruit or chocolate or whip cream or sugar and syrup inside. As far back as I can remember it is my dad’s specialty and no one can ever make them as amazing as he can. Often in my house, supper would be extra-special when it consisted of these pancakes along with waffles and special waffle sauce (the sauce made by my mother – mmmm) and it was great. My dad would make fun-shaped pancakes in our initials or snowmen or some random shape that we had to guess what it was…I think those ones were just mistakes but it was fun anyways! Now I have carried on the tradition of making German Pancakes, and my dorms throughout the past three years have reaped the benefits – but my creations have never come close to matching my dad’s pancakes!

3. What is your best Camp Kahquah memory?

a) Junior Teen Camp Week - Wednesday, July 24th, 2002 – Three of us lifeguard girls developed a skit that was a personal testimony of each of us and we presented it that night with extreme emotion and passion and God used both it and a guys testimony that night to impact about 70 kids lives for Christ – the chapel was so thick with the love of God and the joy of the Lord that night – I will never forget it and I have seen the ripple effects from that night spread and continue to spread to this day in the kids that were a part of it and in my own life.
b) Wakeboarding
c) Friends
d) Devotions on the Hiawatha Trail
e) Sunsets
f) This list could go on forever…

4. Describe your family (and family dynamics) in a paragraph or so.

There are 4 of us. Mom and Dad, Victoria (younger by 2 ½ years) and I. My dad is quiet. He is a mailman and is such an example of patience and love and servanthood. My mom is not quiet. She used to be a nurse, then became a stay at home mom. She is strict – when I was a kid I used to describe her as “firm, firm, firm!” – but more than anything I appreciate how she has shaped who I am – I would not be where I am or who I am without how God has used my mother to raise me. She, every morning before I would head to school, would pray a “hedge of protection” around me and I have over and over again seen the evidences of that hedge. She has shown me what it means to have God at the centre of your life. My sister, Victoria, is very different from myself. She goes to Redeemer as well and we have always done much of the same activities, but our personalities are VERY different. We don’t get along ALL the time, but she has served to challenge me in what living a selfless, others-centred life truly means by seeing through me to my “dark not-so-nice side” better than most.

5. How has music affected/shaped your life up until this point, and how do you see it shaping your life in the future?

a) I communicate through music – music touches my soul – sometimes I go to the piano rooms and play made up songs of worship that have no words – the notes simply fly from my fingertips as little praises and prayers to God
b) I release stress through music and relax – I don’t know what I would do without a piano – music is such a different sort of expression than anything else – it is beautiful
c) In the future I hope to be involved in musical ministry of some sort – whether it is leading worship within a church, writing, playing or performing songs or teaching this amazing gift to others

Anyone else interested? Send me a note or leave a comment. Here are the rules:1. Leave me a comment saying "interview me." The first five commentators will be the participants.2. I will respond by asking you five questions.3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.