To "A Friend"

Hey, I don't want to mention your name. But for others, this is a personal message to a friend. Sort of a penpal. I don't know her email. (We were only using limited words chat) So I'm giving my friend the link to this. :) So bare with me. If you must read on, I'm sure my friend wont mind. I won't either. And if you don't understand. Well, it's okay :)

Dear M.,

I know what you're going through. It's tough. But listen. You talk about "its so hard for me to actually believe that 'anybody' could love me." But listen. This God I know, and you can know, Isnt just "anybody" And Yeah... You've heard this so many times. But listen. He's not only the Creator of the entire universe. But He's the Creator of you. And you are "fearfully and wonderfully made." You are a masterpiece. That's not a joke. He is madly in love with you. He created you. He doesnt need you. He's complete, He's a community, a trinity. But God wants you to know him. Because He knows without Him you will be you. You will be your choices, decisions and mistakes.

"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing." -C. S. Lewis

Look M., This is the only hope you have. I have parents. I have fantastic friends. But I cant love unless I'm given real love. And real love doesn't come from some human prince charming. It comes from the Creator of love. God.  You've got to realize that One. In Christ, you are not the choices that you make. and Two. No one can save you from whatever evil your steeped in, whatever pit you've gotten yourself into, no one, but the One who conquered all those things. Who conquered addictions. Who conquered death. Who loves you more than I could ever love you. More than anyone could ever love you. This God I know, He. Created love. You want to feel love? You want to feel wanted? Love him. The Bible says James 4:8 "Draw near to me and I will draw near to you." That's a promise. It's not a joke. It's real. He's alive. And He wants to bring you to life.

To love God takes sacrifice. If I cant have grace and love without Christ sacrificing himself for me and cleansing me, Than how can I love Him without sacrifice? There isnt love any other way. Right now you sacrifice being fulfilled and being in Christ for what? Evil? Death? No. Don't. This can't go on any more. You know it cant. You know this isnt the way its supposed to be. And the truth is, there's an enemy of the soul. He comes like a thief and a liar. And ever since man's fall. Evil, death, hurt and pain have come into the world. That's what you've known. And that’s what I knew. Be rid of it. Take it off. Drop it. Lay your burdens down. 

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7)

I love you. And I've never met you. But we have one thing in common. We both have a God, a Father, a Friend, who sought or is seeking to give us life and take away death.

I know what it feels like to be free. But do you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A44xU35UC1Y&feature=related

It's ironic though. Because I just stumbled upon your comment and I just wrote a blog that’s a lot about this. It's below. I think it was February, my first post :) Please, if you have time, won't you check it out?

--Jacalyn Thompson

Love

Love

Where have they gone?

The ones I loved from stories passed.

People who fought evil and wrong.

How did I know it would not last?

The question is not, “How far have we gone?”

The question is, “How far have we fall’n?”

Oh, man’s splendor has grown…

But friend, who is now on that throne?

I’ve met one or two.

Oh, they were nice.

They cared and shared,

But not more than twice.

Now, there is always hope.

But is there always love?

Their feelings seem so selfish.

True love can only come from above.

Is it too crazy?

Have I gone mad?

That love so amazing

Could exist in a world so bad?

There, there, it exists.

I’m pretty sure of that.

Only if you would love,

Then it would be a fact.

- Poem by Jacalyn Thompson

I, I, You, I, I, I... Rinse. Repeat.

       I. A guy at my bible study once told me, “I is the worst letter in the alphabet.”Agreed. People use the word I more than any other word... Have you ever been chatting with someone on your I.M., and had to say, “Well enough about me! How's your...?” Well, you're not in this boat alone. I'm afraid we're all in it. I struggle with the same thing. Yay! Confession time with Jacalyn! After spending a few hours with a “quieter” family, I realized I was always talking. That's a novelty! Jacalyn, talking. No, I mean a lot. And really, the bulk of the conversation was me. Yep. Guilty as charged.

        These things are symptoms of Imosophorous. That's the Latin translation. In short. It's You. No. I. Not me. I... Understood?

          I is the only pronoun that is capitalized. You is not. She is not. He is not. (Unless it begins a sentence... oh!) And how ironic. Many times you and I capitalize pronouns when we speak of God. Now, I'm not trying to start a movement of lower casing all our i's. But the culture around us... Well let's just say, the devil really likes you to see I. It's nice isn't it? Doesn't it look majestic? Like it should always be there. And the devil, well, he's not stupid. He knows this. In fact the first temptation was the devil flashing the I in Eve's face.

         Think of everything you've done wrong. What the reason (or excuse really) for what you did? It always comes back to I. “Well I wanted to--,” “I couldn't let my--,” “She said I--,” Think about it, it's true. Now I'm not trying to convict you, or even preach. (I'm coaching myself here as well.) So... Now that we've found the cause, can we fix the outcome? Or furthermore, the effects of such selfishness? What the world wants us to believe is that we can fix our problem. You can. If someone's told you that it “lies within you,” or “you have to find yourself,” that's a lie. From the enemy of your soul. Look, the problem can't fix itself. It needs something that can overpower the problem.And I think that's my biggest problem. Me. And the only thing stronger than every issue, every problem I have, and will have is Jesus Christ.

James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

1 Peter 5:8-9 “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

Yeah, I'm A Failure

        Ever heard the saying, “What you say is what you are?” Well, living in a house full of girls, (With nothing to fight with, but words) I certainly have. This may seem a small statement, but I think it's a reflection of our world today. The world wants you to believe that you are what your choices are. And your fruits define you. Okay, but what about all the stupid things I do? What about the time I lied to my cousin? Gossiped about my friend? Undermined my parents decisions? Spat in my sisters face? Hey! What about the 639,039,328,211 things I did wrong yesterday? (yes, I keep count) I believe I'm a child of God. I try to act like one, but like all other fallen creatures... I must be a complete failure according to the world. And I am. According to the world. Haha! That makes me think of the song (which I do not like) called According To You by Orianthi... It goes...

According to you

I'm stupid, I'm useless.

I can't do anything right...

       And sometimes I even find myself thinking this. It's true. I'll never be good enough for the world. Girls. Have you ever been to a grocery store?! You can't even check out without seeing one of those trashy magazines screaming that you need to loose 25 pounds in two weeks! Oooo! Exciting...! Aaaaand then gain it all back a week later. But seriously. Let's face it. We're all failures.

        But I'd like to share with you another song... It's called You Are More by Tenth Avenue North. Good Band. Really solid guys. The song goes like this...

You are more than the choices that you've made.

You are more than the sum of your past mistakes.

You are more than the problems you create.

You've been remade.

       I think that's what the real answer is. It's not about what you've done. But what's been done for you. And that's the beauty of grace. It takes you as you are... Bruised, broken, torn, mangled, mutilated, mournfully mortified. (wow) But the great thing about God, is that he doesn't just leave us there. He redeems us. Redemption. One of my favorite words. It's one of those things that only God can do. It's when you dig a hole. You keep digging, (this is your life) you keep digging, and digging... It only gets worse. But not only does God fill that hole up. But he turns it upside down. Yes by grace he covers what we've done. He gives us something that we don't deserve. But He takes it a step further. He takes all of the things we've done. The things that made us a failure right? He takes all of that stuff and makes it into something that we could never have imagined before. Into something only God can do. Redemption.

        Remember that song According To You by Orianthi? Scroll up if you don't.

After all the pouting and stuff...

According to you

I'm stupid, I'm useless.

I can't do anything right...

                                                                                                          etc.

BUT then it goes on to say...

According to him. I'm special, cute (You know, The normal pop song...)

But, I look at that. And I think of my Father in Heaven. I just thought it was funny, turning a secular pop song into a "Jesus Loves you and the world doesn't," song. It doesn't matter what the world thinks. I'm not who I was. I am a new creation. God no longer sees a mangled, mournfully, mortified mess... He sees his Son. Not me. And that's all I need. The truth is yes. You are a failure according to the world. But now you are more than the choices that you've made. You're the sum of a fathers love for you.

Take a look at this...