Baby Ballerina Cuteness

I was teaching my little baby ballerinas earlier today and we were getting ready to pray and I always ask them what they would like to pray for. One little girl goes:

"I would like to pray for my mommy and daddy" and she proceeds to whisper confidentially, "those are my parents!" :)

Lamb of God

It's kind of awesome that one of Jesus' names is Lamb of God.

I've been reading through the Torah and it's so interessting the detail and attention they pay to sacrifices and blood sacrifices for sin. So when Jesus came, he became that ultimate blood sacrifice - being called "Lamb of God."

We are no longer under the sacrificial system because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. Our own Lamb of God. How amazing?!

Gentiles have been engrafted into God's people. When Jesus came, God had set up the world so it was ripe for the Gospel to be preached. Alexander the Great had "hellenized" that part of the world so they all spoke the same language and the Gospel could be preached and understood. (Even where there were different languages Pentecost happened so people could know the Gospel too. God's awesome like that!)

Things changed when Jesus came - the curtain in the temple to the Holy of Holies was torn. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. The great commision was time to be fulfilled by God's people, which was expanded to Gentiles. That is humbling and amazing that we are children of God!

Those are just some thoughts running through my head lately... Sometimes I wish I could grow faster and learn more quickly but my friend brought me to the verse from John the other day.

John 16:12 I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.

I wish I could be done with sin already. I know it doesn't happen overnight and we aren't perfect but I long for that. Being home forever without sin to get in the way of my relationship with Jesus. That unity and perfect peace without being broken or distracted by things. But I also do love the journey - life is a beautiful thing - a gift not to be thrown away. With alot of laughter and moments to be cherished - glimpses into heaven and perfect peace and communion with our Lord.

Calling

We are a doing culture. I heard a sermon a while ago where the guy was talking about how God had brought him from a human doing to a human being and the difference in his life. Then I heard an amazing sermon this Sunday at my church and heard this quote:

"Satan's biggest trick is to get you to do good things that God has not called you to do." ~John DeVries~

Scattered thoughts on a page about brokeness.

There is so much pain out there. I remember last summer when I was out at camp in Colorado, Molly really challenged us with the passage in 2 Kings 4 when Elisha prays for the Shunamite woman's son after he had died and he comes back to life.

"When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. He went in shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon the boy, the boy's body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth across the room and then he got on the bed and stretched out upon him again. The boy sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes."
2 Kings 4:32-35

I have noticed alot of Christians don't want to go to those places and be entirely intimate in a hard situation. What am I going to say to this person who's hurting? What if they ask a question about God I can't answer? What if I "get dirty" in the process. I think this passage expells alot of that. I get so frustrated with people who are not willing to "get dirty" or dive into others' pain. There is so much pain in the world that needs to be addressed like Elisha did. He laid on top of him and prayed to the Lord on his behalf. People NEED this type of love. It's hard to jump into others pain but if we don't who will? Yes it hurts me to the point of tears that rack my whole body sometimes. My heart breaks for people who are hurting and in pain and I wish I could take it away but I can bring them to Jesus who will ultimately use the pain in their life to draw them unto Himself and to shape and change them. That is so hard in the middle of it but I would not change the hard times that I have been through because of how much closer they have brought me to Jesus.

So who is it in your life right now that you need to go in, shut the door and cry out to the Lord for and dive into their pain with them?