Tag: God

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Where Does Your Strength Come From?

Where Does Your

I think this is one of the most honest posts I’ve ever written. It’s nerve-wracking to post something so open, and even though I’ve talked to so many of you through comments and emails and everything, it isn’t easy to be straightforward. But here I am, and here’s my post. I hope it encourages you.

 

I’m not always sure how people perceive me, whether online or in real life. Like, what’s the impression people get when they read what I write or listen to me talk? Am I quirky? Confident? Cold? Bubbly? Fake? Scared?

 

I don’t know exactly how people see me, but I know how I see myself so many times.

 

Stressed. Weak. Afraid. Uneasy. Uncomfortable. Anxious. Frozen. Apprehensive. Shall I go on?

 

In my prayer journal this week, I wrote this.

 

“Please give me strength to face this day, this year, this life. I can’t do it on my own.”

 

It’s not as though there are too many major things going on in my life. In my head, of course, I run through a million things I need to do, tests to study for, situations and people to pray for, words I need to write, things I need to practice, jobs I need to do for people, how much I need to work, how long it’s okay to spend reading.

 

And it stresses me out.

 

The more pressures I’m put under, the weaker and more vulnerable I feel. I feel these ugly doubts creep up into my mind, that say things like, who do you think you are? A ‘writer?’ Blogging doesn’t even count.  A musician? An editor? *laughs* You think you could actually ever be good at any of those things?

 

I never voice these things out loud, but I hear them.

 

And when I become conscientious of these thoughts, I realize, wow. I really can’t do this by myself.

 

The more I feel this stress and pressure, these things that I feel like I’m drowning under, the weaker I find myself. But the beautiful thing about my weaknesses is that I do not need to rely on my own strength.

 

2 Corinthians 2:9-10

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

 

If I am self-sufficient and relying on my own strength to survive, I reject God in my life. And for the love of all things that taste like coffee, I don’t want to do that. I know I can not sustain myself and succeed, and so I gladly surrender.

 

Matthew 11:28

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

 

Psalm 18:2

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

 

Rest. Rest is what I need. When I know I can collapse into the arms of Jesus and give Him my burdens, I can face my day. My year. My life.

 

Are you overwhelmed? Run to Jesus, not away from Him. Are you scared? Seek refuge in your Heavenly Father, and not in yourself. Are you weak? Find your strength in your savior, and He will give you everything you need.

 

*aj

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Christianity: Hypocrisy vs. Authenticity (+ news!)

Christianity

 

Something I find really interesting is the concept that Christians are hypocrites. Don’t get me wrong, so many of us can be. We’re imperfect, and just accepting Jesus doesn’t make us perfect, stellar human beings. We still have a sin nature. We’re still tempted, and we still fall into sin sometimes.

 

But I think I’m starting to figure out the difference between hypocritical Christians and authentic ones.

 

Let’s compare the two. Comparisons are helpful.

 

Hypocrites are motivated selfishly, to live a “Christian” life for what they can get out of it. However, authentic Christians embrace humility and selflessness.

Philippians 2:3

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

 

Understanding the Gospel means that we understand our lowly state. That because we were sinners, Christ died for us. Not because we deserved it. Knowing that we don’t deserve anything brings us to a state of humility – and also of freedom. HE LOVES ME! I don’t have to prove anything! This is such a contrast from walking around on eggshells, trying to prove that you’re a good person. News flash: no matter how hard you “just try,” you won’t be able to measure up.

 

Hypocrites live to impress others. Authentics (I’m going to coin that word for the moment) seek approval from God. I don’t mean in earning salvation, but I mean in “living the Christian life.”

 

Person A: LOOK AT ME OVER HERE, SLAVING AWAY FOR JESUS, THIS IS REALLY HARD, ISN’T ANYONE PAYING ATTENTION TO ME?

Person B: I love Jesus and want to serve Him with my life – He saved it, after all.

 

I’m not saying we have to have to use Person B’s words, but without that heart attitude, we won’t grow in our faith. Church and Jesus and Bible all becomes like empty religion – meaningless obligation, filthy rags.

 

Galatians 1:10

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

 

1 Thessalonians 2:4

“But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.”

 

Who are we trying to please? What are we living for? To please, or not to please — that is the question. (Hehe.)

 

And one more difference, before I close.

Hypocrites try to be perfect. Authentics know they are new in Christ, and do not have to put on a face of impeccability.

 

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

 

As authentic Christians (meaning that we’re not trying to pretend to be someone that we’re not), we don’t need to “work hard” or “prove that we’re saved” or “pretend to be flawless” or anything like that. We are new creations. We are no longer under condemnation.

 

Romans 8:1

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

 

When we experience God’s love and grace, it’s more natural to be authentic.

 

We don’t have to pretend to love God because we already do. We don’t have to pretend to be overwhelmed my grace because we already are. We don’t have to pretend to enjoy serving God because we already will.

 

Authenticity isn’t hard to come by. It’s true that no matter who we are, because we’re imperfect, we’ll all be accused of hypocrisy at some point. But that’s not our focus.

 

The focus here is to understand this amazing love, and not get caught up in dos and don’ts.

 

We don’t have to get caught up trying to live a perfect life, because we can’t.

 

We must get to the root – understanding grace, and hope, and truth, and love, and out of that will flow an authentic life.

 

—

 

Oh, I have news! If you hadn’t noticed it on the sidebar of my blog, I joined Twitter on Saturday. So, you can follow me and see my tweets at https://twitter.com/amanda_beguerie/ or just search my handle, @amanda_beguerie. All lowercase. So far, I’ve posted Bible verse graphics, and when I think of something profound to say…then I’ll be sure to tweet those too. My goodness, am I new at this.

 

*aj

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Don’t Regret Where You Are.

Don’t Regret Where You Are

Last night stirred up some old memories from my past. Fifteen years old doesn’t seem quite old enough to have a “past,” but trust me, I have a lot of old memories.

 

I did gymnastics for eight whole years. They say I was good, but that’s not why I did it. I did it because I loved gymnastics, and it was pretty much synonymous with my own name.

 

But I’ve changed so much since I was eleven.

 

I had my life all planned out. We’d work hard, my best friend and I would, and go to the Olympics. If that didn’t work out, we would go to college for gymnastics, and become coaches. If not coaches, then judges. And that was that. That was all I knew, and that was where God had me and my priorities at the time.

 

And then I stopped.

 

Last night, as I was getting ready to go to said best friend’s competition, I stared at myself in the mirror, comparing my image with the one of baby-faced me in a red and white leotard. And the thought came to me – so much has changed.

 

But I can think that thought without regrets. Sure, I wish I still had a six-pack, and could do countless push-ups and sit-ups, have backflips at my disposal, and be able to climb a thirty-foot rope without using my legs. (Seriously.) But I don’t regret where I am today.

 

I have a blog with all of you lovely, vibrant readers, where I can share the amazing things God has taught me.

I can focus on things that matter to me, like writing, and reading, and editing.

I have made wonderful online friends, who fangirl shamelessly share my faith and interests, and are wonderful, encouraging people.

I’ve had time to develop musically and teach myself how to play guitar, piano, ukulele, and how to sing.

I learned how to surf and now fight off bad guys amuse myself with karate.

I’ve fostered so many new passions and interests, and matured so much in my faith.

 

Things that were once such huge players in my life have become nothing more than occasionally resurfacing memories.

 

And you know what? I’m good with that.

 

So many times, we let our pasts take hold of us and let us continue to ask about “what could have been.” That’s not right.

 

A poem by Robert Frost, called “The Road Not Taken,” talks about this. The speaker is faced with two paths to choose in life, not right and wrong per se, but two choices, and he must go one way or the other.

 

The last stanza goes like this.

 

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

 

(Read the full poem here.)

 

The poem isn’t called “The Road Less Traveled,” but “The Road Not Taken.” It’s about how we will never know what life would be like if we had chosen to do something else.

 

As much as I love Frost’s poetry, I don’t think our lives should have such a melancholy undertone over “what-ifs.” Of course we’ll never know what things would have been like if we chose a different path. But we needn’t hinge our thinking on that fact.

 

I’m learning every day to be okay with where God puts me. The choices I’ve made – such as stopping gymnastics, and removing that thing that I let define me – have brought me to where I am today.

 

I’d like to share something with you.

 

Your life is not a mistake.

 

God has a plan for your life, whether you’re eleven or ninety-seven. And whoever you are, know that you are exactly where you need to be. You don’t need to spend so much time dwelling on the fact that you never finished your education, or that you never achieved the high goals you set for yourself, or that you have an apartment rather than a mansion.

 

It’s okay to not be rich or famous, it’s okay that you never followed the glamourous dreams you thought you wanted, it’s okay, because you are still living the life that God has planned for you.

 

If you want to go out and try something new, to be bold in your faith, to start fresh, go for it. But don’t look back, because honey, you can’t change what’s happened. You don’t look behind you when you want to move forward.

 

We all have trials. We all have bad days, bad months, and bad years. But with God in our lives, we cannot classify our lives themselves as bad.

 

God has known from the dawn of time the choices we’d make. And through good and bad, He loves us.

 

Don’t regret where you are. It may be hard, but don’t look back. We needn’t dwell on the past because that life, that part of us, that person – is gone. We are who we are now. Let’s make the best of it, and live to be who God has created us to be.

 

*aj

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There is Always Hope + Giveaway!

hope

 

There is always hope.

 

Living in this world, we see so many people every day. Actors, musicians, models, friends, family, enemies, you name it. And towards all of them, we all tend to have the same preconceived notions.

 

They have their life together, and I don’t.

 

They are happy and fulfilled, and I’m not.

 

They have great relationships with others, and I don’t.

 

They don’t have problems like I do, and they don’t know how I feel.

 

Everyone loves them, but nobody cares about me.

 

Have you ever thought that way? It’s easy to look at Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, and say, “Wow. That person has no idea what my life’s like.” Well, you know what? It’s not true.

 

Everyone faces difficulty. We live in a broken world. We’re are all real people with real problems.

 

And as tough as it is to accept, becoming a Christian doesn’t mean that our problems go away. No matter who we may be, accepting Jesus doesn’t mean we’re happy all the time or life is easy. But what it does mean is that we don’t have to face difficulty alone.

 

There is always hope for us. And the Cross is proof of this.

 

Let me explain.

 

Jesus died for our sins and was raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15). This was all because of His grace, and none of us deserved it. I love the first part of 1 Corinthians 15:10.

 

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.”

 

Because of His grace (and His grace alone), we have been brought to a point of renewal. We no longer are condemned by our sins, but we are counted righteous in His sight.

And when we consider how much He loves us – enough to send His Only Son to die for us – how much more will He help us in our daily lives?

 

When we consider the power He possesses – enough to raise His Son from the dead – how much more will He then take on our small problems as His own?

 

Philippians 4:13

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

 

When we have difficulties, and we make it, it is God’s power working in us. His strength. His grace.

 

1 Peter 5:7

“casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you”

 

We do not have to carry our burdens, for God will carry them. He cares for us more than we realize, and all we have to do is cry out to Him.

 

We are never without hope. We can never brush off Jesus’ sacrifice for us, or God’s love. His peace, and joy, and renewal are free for the asking. Hope has come to us, and we must never forget that. God wants us to accept the hope that He gives us, of the saving of our souls and of the taking of our burdens.

 

Now as a reminder of these things, I’m giving away some downloadable wallpapers. I’ve been trying my hand at graphic-making. The first one is a desktop wallpaper, and the second one is a phone wallpaper. Enjoy! Feel free to share on social media with your friends.

To download the desktop wallpaper, click here and you’ll be taken to Google Drive. Click on the download icon at the top of the page, and the image will be saved to your computer.

There is Always

NEVER LOSE HOPE

*aj

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How to Read the Bible {effectively spending time with our Heavenly Father}

How to Read the Bible

I’m back! It’s good to be back. On Saturday, I promised to teach us how to implement reading the Bible into our daily lives. I wrote a post about why it’s important (read it here), but I didn’t tell you where to start. And that, my friends, is the objective of this post.

 

On January 1st, 2013, I started reading 4 chapters of the Bible every day, in order, and finished in October. I’d write a sentence or two about what the theme was, and then I was done. I won’t undermine what I did, because it definitely helped me get into the habit of reading my Bible, but I know I could have gone deeper.

 

Once October hit, I switched gears. I had a pretty little journal lying around and begging to be written in. This is what I did, and it worked for me for a while.

 

Instead of continuing on with four chapters a day (which became overwhelming as the chapters got longer!), I studied one a day instead. I skipped to Romans instead of starting over from Genesis, because as much as the entire Bible is important, we aren’t to take the Old Testament as our life manual – it’s different now, in light of Jesus. We aren’t restricted by the same laws and we have a different focus.

 

I took each chapter one by one, reading through it once, then going back and reading through it once more. I took a few verses and wrote my own commentary on them. Of course, my parents (the Bible experts, haha, love you Mom and Dad) are usually around to ask if I don’t understand something, but there are some good commentaries out there for reference. Check out the Bible Gateway app (which has the Bible in many different translations, audio versions, dramatized Bible, commentaries, dictionaries, reminder notifications for your phone to read the Bible, reading plans, everything), which I love and use all the time.

 

Continuing on with my method.

 

I read each chapter thoroughly, and took a lot of notes. The point here isn’t to read a lot, but to comprehend and take to heart what you’re reading. That, friends, is what it’s about.

 

I’ve used an array of different methods. Please note that there is no right or wrong. All that’s important is growth in your faith and getting to know God better. Whatever works for you is fantastic.

 

This year, I’m reading two chapters out of the New Testament and writing a page-long prayer (something I’ve never done before) every day. Not sure why exactly I haven’t “prayed on paper” before, but this year I thought it’d be interesting to see what I prayed and how God answered those prayers. And I’m glad I decided to go through with it! I’m enjoying writing to God every day and seeing the thoughts on paper that I haven’t gotten outside of my head until now.

 

Something I’ve discovered as I’ve walked this Bible-studying journey is that having time is important. I don’t mean that we should all be monks and nuns and read the Bible for twenty-three hours a day and sleep on cold stone floors for one hour. But setting aside 15-30ish minutes a day to read or even listen to the Bible while eating, (or cleaning, or doing those other things that nobody really wants to do but they have to do anyway) will make a huge difference. There’s 1,440 minutes in a day. If you’re okay with staying up until 2am late watching TV, reading a novel, or browsing the internet, then you really do have 15 minutes at some point in the day to cultivate your faith. Trust me, it is so worth it.

 

So, here. Here’s what you can do.

 

You can read. Read like your life depends on it. Read like the Bible is your food. Read it and take it in, take it apart, and find something to take away.

 

And write. Write verses that are significant to you. Write words that stick out. Write letters to God, being honest, and asking Him to reveal Himself to you. And I promise, He will.

 

Pray. Pray because God knows your heart and delights for you to want to know Him too. Thank Him for what He’s done in your life and what He is continuing to do. Pray continually, because God is our Father, and He wants to have an open relationship with us.

 

I said this already, and I mean it, so I’ll repeat myself. There is no wrong way to spend time with God, the whole thing is about spending time with Him in the first place. When you’re with friends, it’s just good to be together, regardless of what you’re doing. Same with our Heavenly Father. And the more you read, the more you’ll desire to. Really.

 

Resources:

A Project Inspired article about cool ways to study the Bible: http://www.projectinspired.com/bible-study-hacks-you-wish-youd-thought-of/

 

Tips for studying the Bible effectively:

http://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/tips/3-simple-steps-for-studying-the-bible.html

 

Topical search through the Bible:

http://www.openbible.info/topics/

 

The Bible in countless translations and languages:

https://www.biblegateway.com

 

Have a great week, and I’ll be back Saturday!

 

*aj

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Why Should I Read the Bible?

Why Should I Read the Bible?

Why should I read the Bible? That’s a question I’ve been pondering ever since my parents gave me a real Bible when I was five. Oh, I’d flip through the devotionals and read a few chapters I was familiar with, but I didn’t totally have the desire to dig in and devour it like I would a pleasure book.

 

I said to myself, “I love Jesus, and I know He died on the cross to forgive my sins and rose from the dead. I accept His forgiveness, and now I can go to Heaven someday. Do I really need to read the Bible now that I basically know it all?”

 

And that’s the question that so many of us wrestle with regularly. Why should we even bother?

 

My parents are both heavily involved in Christian radio, and that means that growing up, we always had the Christian radio station on (and usually still do). I distinctly remember being nine or ten when I was listening to a sermon on the radio and the preacher said, “Christians that do not read the Bible at least four times a week will most likely not have a strong faith.”

 

While that’s not always the case, the point stuck out to me that I wasn’t reading my Bible that often, and oh, I did NOT want to have a weak faith! It woke me up, in a sense, and I decided that I had to do something.

 

But my prompting to read the Bible didn’t just make my regular Bible-reading “happen.” I felt guiltier that I was only reading my Bible when I felt like it than I was actually motivated to read it more. I might read it five days one week, then the next week maybe three times, and the next maybe twice. My fear of having a weak faith was my motivation, and it didn’t work.

 

Want to know why? Because fear is not a good motivator. But grace is. More on this in a minute.

 

Fast forward to the beginning of 2013. I decided to make a New Year’s Resolution and stick to it. Starting in Genesis 1, I resolved to read four chapters a day until I finished the Bible. And you know what? I did it.

 

Now, don’t congratulate me – that’s not why I’m telling you. I’m telling you this because reading the Bible regularly changed my life.

 

Oh, of course I was a Christian before all this. I loved God with my entire heart and even got baptized in 2012. That was not the issue here. The issue was that I wasn’t really growing. But something stirred in my heart around 2012 – when I was twelve – that made me want to really know who God is.

 

I knew alllll about Him before. I could answer every question in Sunday school correctly. And I did love Him. I wanted to serve Him. But I couldn’t really grow in my faith until I understood for myself how much God loved me.

 

My eyes were opened in the year I was thirteen or so. Things really started to click. Through the whole Old Testament, I saw how holy and pure God is, and how sinful we are. Six hundred commands in the Mosaic law, and we broke all of them.

 

But God never gave up on us.

 

In fact, He proceeded to send His ONLY and blameless Son to take away the sins of the world. Jesus did not come to abolish the law that we broke, He didn’t come to earth to say that it didn’t matter anymore, but to fulfill it 100%. He came to show that the Old Testament Law was what God required of all people, and because we obviously couldn’t keep it, he kept it for us. He then gave up His life – a punishment that we all deserved – and paid for the sins of all mankind.

 

His perfection became ours. All the time, I hear the analogy of Jesus’ sacrifice being the equivalent of ‘cleaning us up.’ But that’s the wrong look at it. We aren’t just a cleaned up version of our sinful selves anymore, for we have been transformed. We are new creations! And only by reading the Bible can we see all these truths unfold.

 

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

 

Day after day, I saw this truth – God’s grace is greater than anything in this world. This is what makes me want to learn more about Him. I wasn’t afraid of losing my faith anymore, I was inspired to strengthen it of my own free will.

One of my favorite twenty øne piløts songs is called Addict With A Pen. You can watch the acoustic studio version here. I love this song because it talks about how far we can feel like we are from God – but that doesn’t change how much He loves us or how He is always willing to save us and wash us with His grace.

(By the way, for all of you who appreciate poetic metaphors, the ‘water’ Tyler sings about in this song is God’s grace. The ‘sand’ is the trials of life.)

 

So, I bet you’re still wondering about the question I addressed in the opening paragraph. To be honest, it’s a good question. Why should we even read the Bible?

 

Reading the Bible shows us who God is and who we are.

 

When we see this crazy dynamic between us and God, we can appreciate His grace. Sinners in need of a Savor? That’s us. And we were saved.

 

Reading the Bible helps us discern God’s will for our lives.

 

How will we know how to live a life pleasing to God if we don’t read what He has given us? The Bible is the holy, God-breathed Word of God. It’s a gift and a how-to guide for the Christian life.

 

Reading the Bible is the way that we can grow in Christ.

 

The Bible doesn’t end with the Gospel. In fact, the New Testament only starts with it. The early Church comes together, and we are taught through the rest of the New Testament how to move forward in our faith. By reading the Bible, we renew our minds. We can be guided to love a life after Christ that isn’t of the world, but rather of the Holy Spirit.

 

Romans 12:2

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

 

I know this has been a long post. I’ll be back on Tuesday with a post explaining how to implement this into our daily lives. If you take one thing away from this 1200+ word post, take this:

 

The Bible is a gift to us. If we feel guilted into reading it, and yet have no desire to examine it for ourselves, we are looking at it wrong. The Bible is life-changing! It’s transforming and eye-opening. Let’s stop thinking of reading the Bible as a chore and start seeing it for what it is – a blessing from our Creator – we will have a whole new experience.

 

*aj

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5 Lessons I Learned in 2015

5 Lessons I Learned in 2015

Hello, everyone! Happy New Year!

 

Wow, I can’t tell you how good it feels to be back to blogging again. It’s only been two weeks, but man, I really missed it!

 

A quick shout-out to all my readers. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be writing. It fills me with such joy to have such amazing feedback day after day and week after week. Thank you for making 2015 – my first calendar year blogging – a huge success.

 

Currently, we’ve hit over 100 posts, over 1,000 comments, over 10,000 page views, and over 160 subscribers. That’s pretty fantastic, in my mind. Keep sharing my posts with your friends!

 

2015 was a very interesting year for me. My faith grew tremendously, and I say that if it wasn’t for this blog, I wouldn’t have grown as much as I have. Here are five lessons I learned in 2015, through the ups and downs.

 

Number One: Life Isn’t Always Easy or Predictable.

 

In my life, things tend to happen without my prior planning or consent. Things just happen, and I have learned to roll with it all. This past year, I’ve learned that though life isn’t predictable, and accidents really do happen, God is unchanging. He doesn’t change like shifting shadows, as it says in the book of James. That’s such a relief for me when everything around me is going crazy!

 

Number Two: God Helps Us Through Everything.

 

I experienced some quite challenging things this year, but looking back, I realize how blessed I am. Not blessed because everything was a breeze, but because God helped me through. Time and time again, God has shown me how faithful He is, even when I am not. Every trial in my life has helped me to put my trust in Him more than I had before. In that way, I am so blessed.

 

Number Three: God Loves to Give Us Good Things.

 

I’ve been blessed with getting to know some online Christian friends very well. I consider this such an amazing gift from God. Just because you haven’t met someone in person, doesn’t mean that they don’t exist! I’ve gotten to Skype, use Google Hangouts, and FaceTime with some absolutely wonderful people this year who have encouraged me in my life and faith. If you are one of these awesome girls, please know that you are so appreciated. Hugs all around.

 

Material and non-material things have a way of brightening up our lives, and God knows this. He loves to give us good gifts because He loves us so much.

 

Number Four: The Gospel is Incredible.

 

Growing up in church, I never saw the Gospel as more than something cool and “I’m glad I get to go to Heaven now.” This past year, in dissecting chunks of the Bible, I’ve learned not to take it for granted. I see it now as such a miracle – the miracle that it is – that Jesus chose to came to earth to save us, when we did not deserve any grace or mercy. We were rebellious and sinful, and He yet offers us forgiveness. Honestly, how can we take that for granted?

 

Number Five: Joy is Not Circumstantial.

 

Joy comes from knowing the love of Jesus, and not from circumstances. We all have things that go on in our daily lives that we can let crush us. Should we become downcast because of unfortunate circumstances? No way. Joy is more than an emotion. Joy is a choice to accept God’s amazing love for us and find peace in all circumstances. Despite whatever may go on, we can have joy. That is amazing.

 

I plan on posting a survey about Scattered Journal Pages soon. I’d like to hear your honest feedback on how I can make my blog better.

 

Now it’s your turn. What have you learned this year? I love reading comments, and whether you’ve been here for two minutes or two months, I can assure you that I read and respond to all comments you leave. I love hearing about your lives! Thanks for letting me share my life with you, and thanks for opening up your lives to me!

 

Happy New Year, everyone. God bless you all.

 

*aj

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The Difference Between Santa and Jesus

The Difference Between Santa and Jesus 

This is part 4 (the final part) in my Christmas series. See the first three parts also: Peace on Earth, Christmas is Love, and Are We Happy Yet?.

 

Just to let you guys know, this is my last post of the year before I take a little break. I’m planning on coming back January 5th after a recharge and refresh, and sharing some new surprises with you all. Feel free to peruse the tag list to find posts on certain topics, or go and leave comments on any post you’d like, because I’ll still get notifications and will be responding.

Onto the post ahead!

 

Ah, we’ve come down to the inevitable. A Christmas-y term that most of us have heard a thousand times. Good will toward men. And, before you ask, no, I’m not talking about the thrift store. (Though Goodwill is pretty cool.)

 

A few weeks ago, I was in a conversation discussing the true meaning of Christmas and what attributes we associate with it. We went through the general “peace, love, joy, happiness, kindness, goodness, giving, good will toward men” list. And I started thinking, “What really is ‘good will?’”

 

So many people put an emphasis on goodness at Christmas. For crying out loud, don’t disappoint the Elf on the Shelf (and therefore forfeit your gifts by being naughty), make sure to be respectful to your parents while the relatives are around, and by all means be civil and nice, and open the door for the lady with a hundred overfull Christmas packages.

 

Because being good is…good? I think?

 

Nobody says this of course, but being good brings us good things too, and who wants to pass them up?

 

At the heart of Christmas, we need to see our motives. Why exactly are we emphasizing goodness now?

 

For children, I can attest that in the average home, they are well-behaved for the gifts. With the threat of getting coal in their stockings (and what about those kids with gas or electric fireplaces?), everyone will be good. “We should be kind around ‘the holidays,’” they all say.

 

My question still stands. WHY?

 

By teaching kids from a young age that good behavior gets good rewards, we do not instill the value of true goodness. We teach good ol’ bribery.

 

If you obey, you get good things. OBEY, YOU HEAR ME?

 

The problem with this mindset is that God does not operate on Santa’s terms. And to instill into human beings the need to be good in order to earn rewards, we completely contradict the whole message of Christmas.

 

Here is the Santa Christmas message.

 

Be naughty. >> Be threatened into being nice. >> Be nice in order to secure your rewards. >> Receive rewards.

 

The whole Santa story revolves around insecurity propelling us toward goodness, not grace propelling us.

 

Let me elaborate a little more.

 

The message we were introduced to at Christmas is the message of grace.

To borrow Christmas terms, this is how our lives work according to the Gospel of grace.

 

Be naughty. >> Be offered grace and forgiveness from God. >> Receive that grace. >> Live a life in light of that grace. Be good – a good that stems from understanding what that grace is.

 

There is no reward system to earn salvation, grace, or forgiveness. It’s free. And that’s what divides Santa from Jesus.

 

That’s what divides between being good to earn something, and being good because you know you could NEVER earn something that was freely given you.

 

Goodness is good at Christmastime. Honestly, I think it is absolutely pleasant and wonderful when people pay attention to how they’re acting and make an effort to help others. It makes the world a sweeter place to be in, when everything crazy is going on around us.

 

But the question we should all ask ourselves when we are stressing “Good will toward men!” should be this: “Why good will? Why kindness? Why all this?”

 

The answer?

 

Grace.

 

Grace is what brought us to the place we are at. Grace is the meaning of Christmas. Grace is love and forgiveness to us at the darkest and most sinful point of our being.

We are to live and love propelled by grace, for without the grace of God, we would not be in the place we are at.

 

Salvation is not earned. Salvation is given to us and then received.

 

Let us fix our eyes on this truth as we approach Christmas. Good will toward men because we are loved, forgiven, and made new.

Thank you all so much for your readership this year, it means so much to me. Have a wonderful Christmas, and I’ll see you next year!

 

*aj