Tuesday, April 22, 2014

This Great Love : Part two



   If you look about twenty verses back in the book of Luke, you'll find there was a time during the last supper when Jesus fortold Peter's denial. In Luke 22:31-34 it says this:

   And the Lord said,
 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."
 And he said unto Him, 
  "Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death."
 And He said,
   " I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me."

 
So we see the devotion of Peter. This man who was nothing but a humble fisherman when Christ came to him and changed his life. The man who walked on water because of his faith, the man who said "I am ready to go with thee, both into prison and to death."


 
 He loved Jesus with his whole heart. He had been brought to light and life by Jesus, and in return he gave Him his whole heart.
  

  There is a new song which describes some of the disciples in a much more eloquent manner than I can. The first verse says this:


   
I was born a slave to the water, Casting nets in a sea of disbelief. There you were saying "Don't be afraid." Then you called me. Oh, Son of God. You have made me whole. ( Son of God, Francesca Battistelli )


  This is the heart of who Peter was when Christ rescued him. And because of this, he loved God.


  Jesus understood that Peter was going to make a mistake because he was human. And He was giving Peter a look at the big picture. 

    "Satan hath desired to have you...But I have prayed for thee." He was telling Peter that He was fighting for him because Peter was precious to Him, and He would not let Satan destroy him. He was showing how much He loved Peter by letting him know that even in his shame and despair He would be waiting for his heart to come back to Him.




 We know that Satan desires to crush all that is good, that means Jesus and all that follow Him. Perhaps he was well aware of the potential that Peter had to be a great servant for the Lord, and wanted to destroy it while he still could. Thus the attempt to persuade him through fear or some other method to deny Jesus.
 
  Then Jesus said, "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not :"


  Even though he could already feel the hurt of the betrayal, Jesus was telling Peter, Satan wants you, but I am fighting for you.
 
  He goes on to say, " ..and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." I think "art converted" can be more accurately described as "art converted back". Basically He was saying, "When you've repented."

  Put yourself in Peter's shoes for a moment. Consider what it was like for your closest companion to be the Savior of the world, and walk beside you every day. To love you enough to fight for you when He knew you would deny Him at the very moment He needed you most.


   What kind of love is this? Can we even fully understand it? In the midst of all of this emotional and spiritual turmoil going on in Jesus' human heart, He was still fighting for the one's He loves.
                                                  
                                                                                    ~

  The third time Jesus appeared to His disciples after the resurrection, they were on a boat on the sea of Tiberias, as they dined together for one of the last times, the following conversation occurred in John 21:15 -17 :

          So when they had dined Jesus saith to Simon Peter,
 "Simon, son of Jonah, lovest thou me more than these?" He saith unto him, 
  "Yeah Lord; thou knowest that I love thee." He saith unto him,
 "Feed my lambs."
  He saith unto him again the second time,
  "Simon, son of Jonah, lovest thou me?" He saith unto Him,
"Yeah Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." He saith unto him,
 "Feed my sheep." He saith unto him the third time,
 "Simon, son of Jonah, lovest thou me?" Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time "Lovest thou me?" and he said unto Him,
 "Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee." Jesus said unto him, "Feed my sheep."

 
In this passage it's almost like Jesus is giving Peter a chance to redeem himself. Three times He asked him to confirm his love. Just like three times Peter denied Him.


   This conclusion, which takes place after the repentance of Peter and after the resurrection of Christ, helps us understand the depth of His love for Peter.
The depth of love He expresses for all. And because of this great love we have hope and beauty and life through Him.
 
   Christ did not die just for the world, but for each. If you had been the only one there was to die for, He would have done the same. 
 

   Instead of looking at Peter's story as one of failure, I believe the intention was more to show us ourselves. We probably would have denied like Peter, or doubted like Thomas or betrayed like Judas. The point is that Jesus loves us deeply anyway, and calls us back to Him every time we step away. He is not willing to let us go. Peter understood this better than most because of his trial.

          John, another disciple of great heart, had this to say about love :
 

   And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. ( 1 John 4:16 )
 

 So as you reflect, remember that there is a God who loves you more than anything He's ever created, one who lives for you, died for you, fights for you, intercedes in prayer for you and loves you. Seek Him out and try to know Him better.
 

                                      

Saturday, April 19, 2014

This Great Love : Part one



     I've been thinking and learning a lot lately about the disciples. The men who lived and walked with Jesus during His time here on earth. The ones who helped Him heal, teach and love the world around them.
 
  Imagine how close they must have been to Jesus, they were His best friends, His closest companions bonded together by this one great commission and the knowledge of a God and a Love much bigger then all of them.
 

  In light of this weekends holiday I thought it appropriate to elaborate a bit on one particular disciple I've learned more about recently. His name was Peter.

  In church a few Sundays ago we heard a sermon preached on Peter, one that brought many things to light about him that I didn't understand before.

 
  I think we all remember that Peter is the one who denied Jesus three times the night before His crucifixion. He was the one who devoted his allegiance to Jesus whole heartedly, and nearly in the same breath turned around and denied the man he knew to be the Messiah. Peter is remembered as a failure.
 
   And if Peter was one of Jesus' closest companions, why deny Him at the very moment when it was time to fight for Him?
Why have Peter known forever as a failure for that one mistake? And what hope is there for us if Peter could not withstand the selfish tendencies of our flesh nature?

  I never understood this character in the bible until a few Sundays ago.
 
  Let me explain what I learned. Luke 22: 54-62  ( KJV ) says this :

Then they took Him, and led Him, and brought Him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, 

   
"This man was also with Him." And he denied Him saying
    
"Woman I know Him not." 
 
  And after a little while another saw him and said, 
"Thou art also of them."
And Peter said,
"Man, I am not."
   And about the space of an hour after another confidently affirmed saying,
"Of a truth this fellow also was with Him : for he is a Galilean."
   And Peter said,
"Man, I know not what thou sayest."

 
In John's account of this same story it says that Peter grew angry the more he was asked about Christ. Peter raised his voice and cursed saying again that he didn't know Jesus. It was making him angry that they would not take his word for it, he was afraid of being found out.


 And immediately as he spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him,
"Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice."
 
  And Peter went out and wept bitterly.

 

  The second the words left his mouth, the rooster crowed. And Peter's realization of what he'd done hit him full force.
  He might have closed his eyes, breathed in deeply and felt the shame crush him beneath it's weight. And what's worse, when he opened his eyes they were met with Jesus'.  


   Just after his fear, his denial, the Father looked him in the eye and Peter could not hide his shame. He remembered the words that Jesus had said to him.
  Cowardly he'd denied the man he swore he would die for. And because of his shame, he wept.


  Consider Peter's position, it was just after Christ had been betrayed and captured and these people he was sitting with were sure they'd seen him with Jesus. Peter had walked by His side for nearly three years, his reputation proceeded him, and maybe this scared him. Perhaps he had a fleshly, selfish moment where he was very afraid the authorities would treat him as they were treating the man he was so loyal to. And so he denied his closest companion in order to protect himself.

 
  This is the story we hear of Peter, the failure. The one who didn't stand for what was right when the time called for it.
  
                                              But his story doesn't end here.



 

Friday, April 18, 2014

The Epitomy of Beauty



  Recently I watched a video about actress, designer, and Christian Jessica Rey and her take on modesty and the use of the bikini in todays culture as well as in the past. It prompted me to think about the idea of modesty, where our idea of beauty comes from, and where it should come from as Christian women. The video is at the bottom of this post, it's about ten minutes long but well worth the time spent!
    
 
  Personally I agree with everything Ms. Rey says and believe that we should help other girls be more influenced to think this way. But I'll let you decide for yourself.
  
 
  In the video Jessica Rey talks about how bikini's were very looked down upon until around the 1960's. When the sexual revolution of women sort of stormed the country. Which is when women, who were tired of not being treated as "equals" and not being given fair treatment by men, decided that they'd had enough.
 
  As a result of this there was a rise of "women empowerment" idealists who said that women should decide for themselves what to wear, how to act, etc.
 
   But as Jessica Rey says in the video what they were doing was not empowering them but objectifying them before men.
  
   Since then, over years of acceptance of that idea we are now in  place where the objectification of women is not only accepted by society as a whole, but pressured onto young women as they grow, and condoned by the women themselves.
  

  When some of the most popular songs on the radio today are ones like "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke or "Talk Dirty" by Jason Derulo, then we know we're in trouble.
   
  This objective way that a lot of men tend to view women ( and worse, the way women are proud to view themselves ) is very dangerous and perverts the way God originally planned for women and men to behave.

  
It really kills me that young girls ( 13,14,15 ) hear this music and see themselves in it. And I feel like us young Christian women aren't doing our job to help educate the people around us. The world is full of lies and it's our job to combat it with the truth, so let's explore the truth about how women should be viewed, by men and by themselves.

 
   For the last few summers I've gone to a Christian worldview conference hosted by Summit Ministries. There we hear from a myriad of speakers on subjects about everything a young Christian adult may face in the current 21st century world that we live in. From abortion to eastern religions to homosexuality, etc. One of my favorite sessions though, is given by a married couple named Sarah and Barton Stone. At the end of each two week conference they separate the guys and girls, Sarah talks to the girls and Barton to the guys. Then they switch it up, Sarah goes and talks to the guys and Barton comes and talks to us girls.
 

   The purpose is to spend a little while talking to specific genders about specific gender related purpose. Sarah touches on the objectification of women not just from men's point of view but how women see themselves as well. And the reasons why we've come to view ourselves in this way over the past half century. She then goes on to explain how God has taught her how we should be viewed as young women and how we should view the world.
 

  First it is made clear that women and men are equal but unique. As in there are things women can't do that men can, and vise versa. The idea is that it's not a competition but a partnership. In which each has a specific role unique to their gender.
 
  Her explanation of God's purpose for the female gender is this : women were meant to be giver's of life.
  

   Now, before you start thinking that I'm about to go all, "Women should never leave the house and have twenty-five kids a piece!"  Hear me out. I don't mean just physically, I mean in any and every way possible.
 

  Think of the commonly used term, "This place needs a woman's touch!" Why do we say this? Because we know that most likely, a woman can and will walk into a situation, observe the potential and then bring out it's beauty. It is a natural, God given gift.
 
  But this gift can be used with people, places, events, etc. And our physical ability to be the only gender which can bring another human into the world is another manifestation of that.
 

  But how can we give life to others through our speech, our behavior, our dress if we see ourselves as objects to be used to please sexual impulses?
 

  We can't. So you see the perverseness of this problem our generation has.
 

  What's worse ( and I think far more if not just as tragic ) is that while Sarah talks of woman's ability to give life, Barton talks of men's ability to sustain and protect that life. Instead however, popular behavior says to do the exact opposite.
  

  With my own siblings here at home ( because I don't have children yet ), I can never stress enough the importance of guarding our eyes. Because not only do we not want our little men to lust after a scantily clad woman, but we don't want our little women to get the idea that that is how they should behave in order to be seen as important, attractive or worthy of attention.
 

  They need to understand first who they are in Christ. How precious they are to Him and how much He truly loves them. Then, where their place is in the world in relation to who they are.
 

   So I propose that we throw out the idea of being sexy, and stop lending it our bodies to turn them into an object for men to gawk at and women to envy. And replace it with something like class, which brings to mind an image of a confident, dignified woman who is influential in every area of her life. Because let's face it, men are not going to respect a woman who does not respect herself.
  
   With a heap load of dignity and self respect, a good portion of humility and a whole lot of seeking out the heart of Christ, we can change the image that women have gained over the years. And influence those around us to do the same.

 

  Women perceive themselves as not good enough, because the ideas that society and the media present to us about beauty are unrealistic. So we spend our days feeling unworthy, because we know we'll never measure up. But what we're trying to measure up to is a computer generated image of a woman who's body only exists to look unrealistically "sexy".
 

  The truth is, women are beautiful for so many more reasons other than their bust or waist size. And we drowned daily in a sea of images and lies that the world is ever ready to provide.
 

  The idea of objectification as a good thing, as something that makes us feel worthy and useful and even powerful, doesn't help. Because not only are we being told we're not good enough and never will be, were also being told that the only value we have is as a sexual object.
 

  This mold desperately needs to be broken.
 
  Women are far too valuable a creation to be exploited and abused in this manner.
 

  Often times when my sister's are going through difficult times and feeling alone,  I give them this image to ponder :
 

  Imagine yourself after a long, rough day sitting by yourself. Maybe your thinking about how you didn't measure up in a certain situation, or how you couldn't conquer something you've been trying to for weeks, or maybe your just feeling like you need a shoulder to cry on, and there's no one there. Then picture a man who is your best friend, knows you better then anyone in the world, and who would do anything for you. Picture him sitting down next to you, looking you in the eye and saying:
 "You are more than enough for me."
 "Yes, but who is this man?" They might ask. "Your Savior." I'd reply.

  We can change this mold that the world has set for women. But it starts with knowing who we are in Christ, and understanding the depth of love He has for us.
 

  So I urge you to forget about the world and their endless lies. If you believe that God created you than seek out what He has to say about beauty and worth. Only in Him will you find the truth.




Below is the video of the small lesson about modesty taught by Jessica Rey. Like I said before I know it's long but please watch, it'll give you a lot of insight on culture and modesty in relation to it. Below the video is also a link to her website were you can find very classy, modest swimwear, which is not an easy find nowadays. ;)

 



                                                                                           http://www.reyswimwear.com/
                                                                                                   Great swimwear site!
                                                   

These last three videos were done by the new Dove beauty campaign. While I would like to express that I don't necessarily agree with everything they support, I do think the material in the videos below accurately defines what I was speaking of above.