On Earth as It Is In Heaven...

When I was fifteen I was given a new understanding on life and what I believed to be God's purpose for it. It was through a scripture I had read and heard many times before but it wasn’t until then that I began to think of if differently. John 3:16- "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son so that who ever believed in him should not perish, but have everlasting life".  Until that point, I took the scripture to mean simply, God loved us so he sent Jesus to save us and if we believed it to be true we would go to heaven- hence, the "everlasting life" part. (I am an english wiz and literary analysis is kinda my thing :) Simple right? But then I began to look at and think about the concept of everlasting life not in time, but in content.  After all, it says "everlasting life" not "everlasting existence".  It is not meant for us to merely exist; to breathe, to work, to just be until we don’t. We were made to live! To discover and change and manifest, meaning so much more to us personally than if we were simply to accept ourselves for the ways in which we are and do things as an end-all-be-all.  My favorite scripture, Jeremiah 29:11 says, " For I know the plans I have for you", says the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and to give you a future and a hope".  He created us for a purpose, and those dreams and hopes and things we've always wanted to do are no accident. For believers this world is not our home, but we serve a LIVING God and how controversial is it to think that he would wish anything less than the same from his creation? He places those desires in our hearts for us to go after and to utilize to show others that being a believer doesn’t mean you are lifeless, dull, and un-aspiring, but the opposite.  We are meant to do all things as an act of worship, even our daily tasks. You don’t think that it would be easier to show the love and compassion and grace of God when doing the things you enjoy? The things you were meant to do? Holy doesn’t mean boring. If our lives are advertisement for the kingdom of heaven do you think many would want to come if all they think we do is bible-beat and sing and pray? The bible says, "With love and kindness have I drawn thee".  How romantic right ladies? So, he isn’t some un-fun, cold prude who demands our love.  If you wouldn’t choose to spend the rest of your life with a man like that why would you seek that in God? You wouldn't. God's purposes are much more practical than it is made out to be. We seek fellowship and friendship with others based off of mutual interests and qualities, and if we never develop those interest or qualities what do we have to offer?  Not just to ourselves but to our world and to everyone in it? We shouldn't be so task oriented that we completely ignore and overshadow the reason we are here, and why we do what we do, which is to live a life that not only pleases God, but that exemplifies him as he is; creative, knowledgeable, kind, gracious, loving, and joyful to say the very least. Life is hard. We experience so much in its short span of grief and struggles and worry and self doubt, pity and fear.  We experience so much heartbreak and are constantly battling between everything that fights for our attention. But lets not forget what having life is and allow it to be so overshadowed by those things. Remember whose you are. Where you are. That you are. 

Who Do You Think You Are?

I think it's safe to say we encounter a good number of defining moments in our lives.  Moments that challenge us, break us, grow us, and ultimately shape us for better or for worse.  It is in these moments that we are forced to take a real look at who we are and whether we admit it or not, we come to terms with either our satisfaction or disappointment in ourselves in comparison to who we thought we were or aspire to be.  In a healthy lifestyle one experiences a fair number of both feelings of contentment and frustration with self- awareness.  If we are honest with ourselves we would admit the necessity of our failures and shortcomings to make way for our success. If I were to settle for every mediocre habit I exhibit I would never grow and I doubt I would be very happy with a life of challenges I have avoided instead of conquered.  There is something truly life-bringing and and refreshing about change; it is a really good thing whether the change be positive or negative.  I believe as long as we have breath in our bodies we should keep moving, seeking, aspiring and should never be okay with just being.  With all the negativities in life there is still much good to be experienced in comparison.  I think it's a shame when we don't go after the things we aspire in life no matter how small it may seem.  The world is a different place now than it has ever been and that is due in part to all the ones who set out to make things happen.  Who would have imagined 100 years ago that we would have telephones you could take with you, and that with the same phone you would be able to take pictures and video and have access to something called the internet which has to be one of the most innovative creations there is, giving birth to a world more of things. It only takes one person to dare to think that in their imagination lies something more powerful; possibility.  As a creation we are limitless to the number of things we can experience in comparison to any other creature on earth.  We are constantly evolving and changing whether we realize it or not.  We have thoughts and feelings about the world around us.  Some people want to explore it, seeing all they can see not being limited by the boundaries of the state they were born in.  Some want to explore it, learning all there is to know about the different kinds of people, cultures, histories.  Some want to express it.  We have artists, writers, painters, and musicians.  Or preserve it, like environmentalists and those who work for animal sanctuaries and humane societies.  There are those who wish to heal it such as doctors, nurses, and therapists.  Others seek to protect it- policemen, firemen, armed servicemen.  We all have our part and the first step in doing it is discovering it. It may be none of those, or many of those and then some.  Personally I have a passion for healthcare.  I ask God how I can make a difference in the lives of those I encounter beyond just performing the task and as I get older I see more areas where I wish to be useful.  I don't want to be limited to just one language.  I hope one day to learn sign language and to use that and my knowledge of spanish to help communicate with other who don't speak the way I do; to give them a voice.  I hope to learn to play piano and other instruments to and increase my love of music.  I love to learn and I love to do crafts and I want to make time to be more creative, in writing and in craft. You were created for a purpose so unique, and it may be cliché, but you truly are the only you.  You ever stop to think how we all learn the same alphabet, the same sentence sequencing, grammar techniques, and vocabulary but no two people share the same handwriting.  We all interpret and convey the world differently.  We can see the same things but we perceive it differently.  We can hear the same things yet we interpret it differently.  A lot of relationships would be saved if that weren't true!  If only both people heard the same way and experienced things in the same manner.  But we don't, which is why it is such a crucial habit in a relationship to learn one another as individuals and create a collective harmony made up of both characteristics.  It is for the same reason that it is harder for those outside of the relationship to understand and empathize.  Development is not limited to a certain time in our lives; the beginning where we have to chose who to be and then live it out for the rest of our time.  Or near the end where we scramble to do what we always dreamed of after living un-fulfilled.  As long as we are living there lies opportunity.  Follow one, conquer it and explore the next.  Time is not promised.  All we have is now.  Ask yourself who you think you are, and then challenge yourself to be that much greater.