The Laughing Christ :)

“I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!" John 15:11

What I want to write about is too good to wait until the morning – it’s something I want to share with everyone! Something God has done in my heart that I could have never imagined.  I think I have laughed and smiled more in the past few weeks than I have ever! My parents always told me that I was the most joyful kid growing up, but somewhere through college I kind of lost that. Sure, I was happy. But I wasn’t truly joyous. There is a difference

In my walk with the Lord the past few weeks, I have experienced a joy I can’t even explain to you. I can’t put it into words. I can’t give specific examples. All I can tell you is that it is a feeling that nothing can take from me. It is the God of the universe living inside of me. But what changed? I’ve been a Christian a long time! It’s like every single day the Lord shows me more – He shows me more of His majesty, His presence, His greatness. I can’t get Him out of my mind. I can’t stop seeing His beauty through everything around me. I can't stop smiling. I have found passions in things I NEVER imagined. I like doing things that were once not too fun for me… Because I know that in everything I do now, I can glorify Christ through that. 

 Did you know that we were MEANT for joy? Christ WANTS to give us joy, yet so often we settle for comfort, and we look everywhere for it, whether it be in relationships, addictions, etc. But y'all, God wants to give you more than comfort. God wants to give you joy, a constant, never-ending joy, REGARDLESS of the circumstances. 

Why are we called to this? Well, first of all, why not? No matter what happens in this world, we can remain confident that after this life is over we will spend eternity in Heaven. If that’s not reason enough to jump out of your seat, I’m not sure what is! We get to live forever with our KING! Take a moment and let that blow your mind! Second of all, Jesus was (and IS) joy. Jesus was the EPITOME of joy. I think some people see God as some higher power that sits up there and judges our every move, and waits for us to do something wrong. But this is all wrong. No! “The real Jesus was a man of such merriment, such gladness of heart, such freedom and openness, that He proved irresistible. He became known through Galilee for His genuine strength, the sparkle in His eyes, the spring in His gait, the heartiness in His laugh, the genuineness of His touch; His passion, playfulness, excitement, and vitality: His JOY! He made a dazzling display of love. He set hearts afire. He was an elated, triumphant young man with an incredible quality of life . . . so different from the solemn religious types He constantly encountered...”

And to me that's all the reason I need to be joyful. Because Jesus represented joy, I will make the choice to as well. Despite my circumstances, conditions, environment, etc. I will make the decision to represent joy, and to glorify my King!

I love this picture. I’ve seen many depictions of Jesus, and this is by FAR my absolute favorite. (I must tell you that the teeth crack me up though in this pictures - those are some pretty amazing veneers). If you want a truly fulfilling and joyful life, choose Jesus! I'm not saying it's going to be easy. There will be times in your life that are truly painful. Being a Christian is not about being happy 24/7. What I am telling you though is that Christ will change your life. He will amaze you. 

I leave you with this quote I found that I love - a truly great illustration of Jesus and His joy:

“Jesus said, 'I speak these things in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.' Wow, Jesus had joy! Then it all came together, Jesus and the little children, Jesus and the wedding feast, hanging out at sinners houses for dinner...Jesus knew joy! REAL joy, because He knew what it was to live totally in His Father's will, how to live God's love and when He looked up and saw Zacceaus up in that tree...little man, up there like a kid! He must have had a hard time holding back the chuckles as He talked with the Pharisees at times..."

LIVE life!

I have lived a good majority of my life up until this point just going with the flow, drifting through life. It hit me recently. I don’t want to live life like that – I want to live life radically and intentionally – I want to base my life on my sole purpose for even being here – to glorify Christ.

I was thinking about this idea walking at the Marina in Oak Ridge the other day. I was thinking about how badly I wished I could be running instead of walking. I was thankful for the time to enjoy the outdoors, but as I finished up 5 miles, all I could think about was how it would have taken me half the time to run it and how it would have been a better workout if I could have run. I thought about how frustrating it was that my leg was holding me back from my long runs. I was feeling extra nostalgic that day, and my mind drifted back to my cross-country days in high school.

I thought about how much I’d taken them for granted. I thought about all the times I’d made up excuses to get out of runs, and how a couple of my long runs had turned into Sonic runs with my friends. To anyone who wondered why I never looked exhausted, that was my secret ;) This is only one example. I find that in every area of life, we so often apply this mentality. We don’t want anything until we can’t have it. We don’t want to do something until we are told we can’t.

I thought about this in my spiritual life, and how important it is to live radically and intentionally for Jesus. I don’t want to ever have a moment down the road where I look back and say “If only I’d done this..”

If only I’d shared with them about Jesus

If only I’d lived my life in a way that glorified Him

If only I’d shared the gospel

If only I’d responded to them with love rather than with anger

If only I HADN’T given into temptation that one time

If only….

The list could go on and on. I don’t EVER want to live life like that! I want to live my life in a way that every single thing I do glorifies God. I don’t care if it’s running a race, baking a cake, having a conversation with a friend, or even parking my car. I don’t want an empty life based on meaningless friendships and hollow relationships. In every area of my life, I want to show the same intentional love and grace that God shows and reveals to me every minute of my life.

Glorifying God is an intentional pursuit. If we are going to live the Christian life God calls us to, we must live intentionally.

I’ve preached my whole life on how much I love life, and I do. But, it wasn’t until recently that I realized just how much I REALLY loved life. Why? Because God revealed to me things that I can’t put into words. Even in my sad moments, I am alright. No, I am better than alright. I am good!! Why? Because I have a God who lives inside of me who purposefully pursues me. Crazy? Absolutely.

That’s how I want to live! I want to live intentionally. I want to purposefully stay in the Word. I want to have intentional friendships and shower them with love. I want to one day have an intentional marriage, where Christ is the main focus. To me, life is too short to just take these things too lightly. Our main goal on this earth is to glorify Christ.

I love this version of Philippians 3:13-15 (The Message). It says,

^“I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.”

I love that for several reasons, but in summary it definitely is a great illustration of living intentionally. I definitely do not have it all together, but amidst that I want to reach out to Christ for more and more. I can’t get enough of Him! I want to keep reaching out for Him, like he continues to do for me. My hope and Prayer for myself is to live intentionally and quit wasting so much time. I know my days are numbered on this earth – I want to spend every minute I can sharing the Gospel of Christ. I want every part of my life to reflect the Creator of the universe. 

‎Release yourself from the chains of being perfect and let God's grace cover you

Rarely do I enjoy hearing, “That’s good.” I would much rather hear, “That’s great!” But most of all, I would rather hear, “That’s PERFECT”. This isn’t an easy post for me to write. I don’t want to admit my shortcomings. I don’t want to sit here and tell you the dirtiest parts of my heart, but it’s something that the Lord has really convicted me of the past few weeks. I have been a prisoner of perfection – I have been captive to serving a god that is not THE God.

My life is a constant strive for perfection and accomplishment.  I see it in every area of my life. When I say every area of my life, I mean it.

If I’m going to run, it’s not going to be an easy 2 miles. If I run, it’s going to be a hard 8 mile run.. every day. I don’t like being average -  I want to be the best. I don’t want to be in OK shape, I want to be in the best shape I can be in. My body image is the biggest area of my life I see this perfectionism god rule. Missing a day of working out or eating junk can ruin my whole day. I have been a prisoner of serving a false god that tells me being a size 0 or under 110 pounds is it.

Let's take another example in my life. I enjoy baking. But, if I make a cake, it’s not going to be a sheet cake. If I make a cake, it will be the most perfectly sculpted masterpiece I feel I can do. I don't want it to be an average cake - I want it to be a jaw dropper. 

Don't get me wrong. It is good to have high goals and aspirations. Striving for perfection can be a good thing, but not when it starts to become your identity. I’ve always wanted to be the best of everything. – I wanted to be the best this, the best that. Fill in the blank. I could blame it on being OCD. I could blame it on the fact that I am stuck with the same genes as my father – someone I see as flawless. However, I the problem goes much deeper than that. The pursuit for perfection comes from my own insecurity. The problem comes from an insecurity and a longing – a longing for something that EVERY HUMAN BEING has in all of our hearts; A longing for fulfillment, a longing for approval, a longing for a “well done”. A longing that can only be filled with Christ Jesus.

My whole life I longed for this fulfillment. But why? I feel like I had it REALLY good growing up. I had an amazing home life, good friends, good education, etc. But that longing, that feeling of wanting to hear that “well-done” was always there. So I chased it. I chased anything I could to feel the acceptance that I'd wanted. I chased my identity through my major, my athletics, my looks, my body, etc. And you know what? It was NEVER enough, and it’s STILL never enough. The only complete fulfillment comes from Jesus. I can come to Christ imperfect.  I can come to Christ bruised, broken, flawed, blemished, and weak. Metaphorically, I can come to Him after slaving over a cake 8 hours only to produce a disaster. I can come to Him exhausted after a race to find a peace and rest. In fact, I have found that some of my most beautiful moments in life have been when I've surrendered all attempts at being perfect, and I come broken to Jesus at the foot of the Cross. But, there is hope, especially for someone who so chases perfection. Are you ready for this? Get ready for this. Because I'm so excited to write this right now, I can hardly stand it.

CHRISTIAN: In Christ, YOU ARE PERFECT.

I'm not kidding. I'm sitting here in my room kind of having a hard time holding back wanting to get up and dance and sing. If you are in Christ, you are made perfect. It is finished! But, hear that again. I said, "In CHRIST". Not "in me". "In CHRIST, we are made perfect." I so want to end on that note, but I must address my issues. 

Ever so often, I will feel my flesh fighting this. I feel myself trying to achieve perfection of this world and doing it on my own terms. The chase for perfection is the thorn in my side. It is what I am always trying to fight – whether it be through my weight, or my actions, or my grades, or my baking, or my performance, it is ALWAYS trying to take me down. The best thing is it is no match against my God. MY GOD always prevails. In Christ I am made perfect.  I don't have to try so hard.

So here is where it gets icky. Here is where I confess. Last week I was emotionally exhausted. I was physically exhausted. I’d run my body into an injury running so much trying to achieve what I thought to be physical beauty. I’d made my self weak by trying to serve the false god of perfection.  I was trying to perform. I was chasing an image. I was chasing what I thought looked perfect. But, the thing about trying to be perfect is… it is YOU trying to perfect yourself. So then where is God in all that? We try and we try to live out these perfect lives, trying to maintain a perfect image for all to see on Facebook or other social media. I am guilty of it. I try to perform and perfect my image, and in turn all that really happens is I fail, and my shortcomings and my imperfections are magnified. My trying becomes harder and harder as I focus more and more on myself. And eventually, nothing is ever good enough. I have to be MORE in shape, or skinnier, or smarter, or more “fill in the blank”. The reason for this is it is never enough. We will never be satisfied in chasing this world. 

I must finish with this. Perfection can be achieved, but through one thing and that is Christ Jesus - the ultimate perfecter. We must learn to release ourselves from the chains of being perfect and let God’s grace cover us. I hope today you are encouraged by this and I hope you surrender to Christ and let HIM do the perfecting. It is so exhausting trying to do it on your own. Let the God of this universe take you under his never-ending love and experience true fulfillment. 

“It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.” Psalm 18:32