Spirit

the Holy Spirit is good. He is refreshing. He is ALIVE IN ME. yes. alive. my heart pounds, my head swirls with thoughts of His intimacy & His enormousness.

our God is an all-consuming fire. consume me Lord. all of me. i love You. You alone my heart beats for.

Father, find me when i stray. lead me back to You. for it is in Your presence that i learn to forget myself & focus on you. that is my joy. that is my strength. Your love, Your joy is my sustenance.

how have i survived so long without it? how have You waited so patiently? You are a mystery. Jesus Christ is my Mystery.

You are God-centered. teach me to be like You. i love You.

love's a crazy thing

so - this semester my accountability group decided to read through "crazy love" by francis chan. sweet. i'm absolutely stoked! i've heard nothing but good things about the book. most importantly, i've heard it shakes up who you are and challenges your beliefs, thoughts and convictions. bring it on.

i am going to try and capture a synopsis with some of my own measly commentary each week. i have some catching up to do - so bear with me. but, i have a feeling that it's gonna be good!

[chapter one: stop praying]

francis challenges us to stop talking at God and realize just who He is. "the wise man comes to God without saying a wor dand stands in awe of Him." when was the last time you stood in silence before the Holy God that we serve? let this video from francis put you there!

our God is unfathomably big. who are we compared to that... really?

"mean are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God." - r. c. sproul

God is HUGE and creted the univrse, but He is beound detailed-oriented & created the other side of creation. we don't often realize that God din't have to create such diversity, but He did. "whatever the reasons for such diversity, creativity and sophistication in creation - the point of it all is His glory. God's art speaks of Himself reflecting who He is and what He is like." - page 28

everything echoes that God is glorious. there is no other like Him. He IS the King of Kings, the Beginning and the End, the One who was and is and is to come. know that God will not be tolerated: He instructs us to worship and fear Him.

as humans, we are all guilty of spiritual amnesia - that is - we forget Him, His glories and His majesty. reality testifies that living out our fear and love of God is so difficult. "when we love God because we feel we should love Him, instead of genuinely loving out of our true selves, we have forgotten who God really is." - page 30

to combat spiritual amnesia, we have to intentionally and consistently remind ourselves of Him. we must remember that we already have everything we need in Him. and we are to fear Him for who He is. A.W. Tozer writes that "the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives god to be like."

francis reminds us of what God really is:

God is holy: we don't get to decide who God is. our words can't contain Him. we can never fathom Him. He is perfect and set apart from us.

God is eternal: He's always been there and always will be there. we can't grasp this concept because of our perception of time. scripture reminds us - "but You remain the same and Your years will never end." - psalm 102:27

God is all-knowing: He knows everything about us before we even do. nothing surprises Him. God's knowledge of us should lead us to worship like david did in psalm 129. most importantly, He doesn't have to know us so well... He chooses to.

God is all-powerful: so often we live as though God is created for us and our needs. reality check - he's not obligated to fulfill our "needs". we must wake up and realize that He is GOD! it's our own arrogance if we think God owes us explanations.

God is fair & just: He sets the standards. period. "to put it bluntly, when you get your own universe, you can make your own standards." - page 34. God is holy. therefore, He hates sin. He is just and far for punishing sin.

ultimately, many facets of God are beyond our comprehension. scriptures shows us pictures of the very throne room of God in revelation 4 and isaiah 6. but, these are mere glimpses of Him. our God radiates like jewels on the throne more than flesh and blood. and isaiah reminds us of what our response should be - "woe is me! a people of unclean lips!"

what do we ultimately take away from all of this? His tremendous worth dwarfs our puny existence and causes us to stand in silent awe of Him.

thanks francis. praise God. can't wait to learn more.

my love to you in Christ Jesus,

ashleigh

what's the big deal... it's just a bible.

"the law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple." - psalm 19:7

don't you love the days when the Lord shows you something through the eyes of a child? it doesn't get much better than that kind of honesty & innocence. i'm so thankful for the Lord's way of reminding me of the necessity for a child-like faith!

at church this morning, rhonda smith - our children's minister - gave each of our first graders their first bible. we always have this ceremony each fall for our new "firsties"! but, something special hit me this morning.

as i was watching the eight or nine kids sitting around ms. rhonda, i noticed how intently most of them were listening to the words she was sharing. she showed them her old bibles from when she was a child. she explained just how precious the Word of God is to her and all of us as Christians. she explained how their bibles should come to look like they were worn in and well-read.

after she finished, she passed each one their own bible. if only you could have seen their big, round eyes as they took the big bible into their little hands. one little girl particularly caught my eye. she had been eagerly eyeing the bibles as they sat in their stacks until rhonda passed them out. when she took hold of hers, she opened it with such eagerness to look at the pages. it was if she knew what great secrets lie within those pages. you could see just that she held bible with such care - like she was completely comprehending the preciousness of the Word of God.

the newness of the gift was overwhelming for her. she didn't know whether to flip rapidly through the pages or just hold it reverently. shouldn't it be like that each time we hold God's Word?

as we get older, we lose the preciousness of things in life. what used to make the entire day a hit or a bust is now all relevant to us. we take it in stride and move on. but as Christians, we need to allow things to put us in awe. we need to allow the things of God to stop us in our tracks because we don't know how to respond - except with pure and holy worship for the Lord our God.

opening our bible - the very Word of the Living God - should move us to worship, to eagerly devour all that is within or to just hold it reverently and thank the Lord that He has given us such a perfect and life-breathing gift!

that little girl was so very proud that she had her very own bible. she held it with such tender caring know that Jesus loved her because her bible told her so! she had a determined obedience set upon her face - an obedience to please her God.

how proud are you of the bible that you hold? when was the last time you opened it with the understanding and realization that you were holding the very words of the Living God?

so what's the big deal? it's a bible!

"how sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." - psalm 119:103,105

my love to you in Christ Jesus,

ashleigh

words, words & more words

words, words & words. that's what my profession & major is about. communication is key in the world of PR (public relations for those of you who don't know). but, let's be honest - communication is key everywhere. all the time. end of story.

words record our life, express our emotion, entertain us, hurt us and tell the Truth. just think of how many words you come across each and every day. thousands upon thousand of words cross your line of sight or enter your ear to send some sort of message. but, what does that message really mean in the long run?

do you really want to buy another 89 cent taco at taco bell? do you care about the discounted auto at Cars USA? are you going to absorb every detail about health care reform? did you catch every phrase from the most recent episode of Lost? no, in reality, you probably didn't. it's just a fact. but, does it really matter?

jimmy needham is one of my favorite artist. if you haven't listened to him, then you should get on it. go to the iTunes store and buy some of his music - you won't regret it. but, in his one song, "come around", jimmy has this great line -- "passionate words & beautiful phrases: they don't mean much if i don't have Jesus in it."

and there lies the real Truth. you can say or read or hear all the words in the world, but when you look back at them, it amounts to nothing. it doesn't matter how eloquent you can communicate. it doesn't matter if you can stand on your head and deliver a speech. those passionate words & beautiful phrases don't mean anything if you don't have Jesus in them.

so, it's my new motto. as a PR student and soon-to-be professional, i write words and communicate all the time. but when it all boils down, none of matters if He isn't in the center of it.

"the words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are Life." - john 6:63b

my love to you in Christ Jesus,

ashleigh

the Rock that is higher than i

"From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I." - Psalm 61:2

Mountains and valley surround us - spiritually, emotionally, physically and literally. THey are a constant presence within our loves. Many times we fight the changes in altitude. We struggle against the terrain. We try and find a shortcut around them, only to have to turn back and begin again.

As humans, we want an easy life. A wide, smooth & flat road would seem to suit us well. It's easy. It's predictable. There is no doubt, no questions, not need to lift a finger, no need to consult a map or pay much attention. But are we happy with that? Would that truly satisfy you?

Of course not! There is no life, no excitement, no challenge, no sense of accomplishment. we live for thrills and memories. We live for life and vibrance. We can't find that on the easy road.

This summer, I took a drive. At the suggestion of a close friend, I headed to the top of a nearby mountain in North Carolina. Not knowing what I would find, I headed in the general direction. Reaching the base of the mountain, I began the climb (by car, of course...). A the bas, it was dark. The sky was hidden because of a canopy of trees. The road was steep and filled with twists and turns. No real sense of direction was to be found, except up. I only knew that I was climbing higher and higher. I had to trust that the road would lead me to the top.

Once I reached the parking lot, I got out and again followed another path. This time it was much less traveled and somewhat hidden. But then, all of the sudden, I stepped out onto a huge rock and looked out. My breath was stolen away by God's great creation reaching into the endless horizon. What a view! What a God!!

And then I looked below my feet - a rock. A huge, solid and unmovable rock held me safely so that I could stand and take in God's majesty. It wasn't going anywhere, yet I was everywhere.

Isn't that just like our walk with Christ? When we are at the bottom of the mountain, we can't see anything. It's dark and daunting. All we know to do is to start walking up toward Him. The path to the mountain top is always crazy. It's full of trials and setback. Doors are shut, then opened and then shut again. Switchbacks are everywhere. But then the trees begin to thin. The sun - or should I say Son - begins to shine through everything. The path levels off. We step out of the trials and tribulations and look out. In front of us lies God's majesty. The big picture that we have been searching for unfolds in front of our eyes. We see how beautiful the valley is because of the great growth that occurred. We praise God for creating and molding that growth in us through the long climb to the top.

And then we look below our feet. We see the great and mighty Rock that has been holding us strong the entire time. We see our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. We see how He has been our firm foundation that allows us to stand on the mountaintop and declare God's goodness and faithfulness.

He is always the Rock that is higher than I.

"I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my Rock, my Fortress and my Deliverer; my God is my Rock, in whom I take my refuge." - Psalm 18:1-2

my love to you in Christ Jesus,

ashleigh