Featured

Jesus and Human Rights.

I recently went to an amazing and eye opening experience as a human rights researcher with my university. While intellectually challenging and emotionally charged, this trip was definitely a life changing experience. Yet, the most unexpected and perhaps most important part was how spiritually, my point of view got a little tested and a lot more clearer. While I’ve only been studying human rights for a short period of time, I’ve had a lot of realizations.

Why Jesus?

Jesus came for the forgotten, the marginalized, the sick, isolated, the belittled, the disabled, and the persecutors. He came to bring freedom, life, peace and dignity. When women were second class citizens, he looked them in the eye and said you are worthy. He healed the sick and disabled and brought them freedom. Freedom from sickness, shame and guilt. He dined with the outcasts and the marginalized and brought love and redemption to a dark and isolated life. He changed the heart of the persecutor, to a missionary. He brought DIGNITY to all. He didn’t look at race, class, gender or belief. He saw the humanity in all of these people, and he saw the reflection of God. The bible says that humanity was made in the image of God, therefore to by bringing salvation to us, Jesus brought dignity too.

Dignity and Identity.

²⁷“And God made man in His own likeness. In the likeness of God He made him. He made both male and female.” Genesis 1:27 NLV

Dignity, this word repeated over and over in my head as we moved from the Holocaust museum, through the hill and the African American museum. Dignity, that’s all we are asking for. For the children fleeing violence, for the families separated by war, for the thirsty, the hungry and the marginalized. What we all want is dignity.

The Gospel.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. ” Matthew 25:35 ESV

Jesus was counterculture with his message of radical grace. He saw people for what they were made to be, bearers of the image of God and carriers of the Holy Spirit. He didn’t look at circumstance, or our broken identities. He saw vessels waiting to be filled with his love. When we are saved by God’s grace and accept Jesus as our Lord and saviour, it doesn’t mean our circumstances change instantaneously. It means our heart, mind and soul are transformed. We are reminded who our maker is, and where our identity comes from. The way we think of the marginalized, the forgotten, the isolated and the sick changes as our heart goes through a holy defrost, that’s I like to call it. We love our neighbors, and seek to bring the Glory of God to the Earth no matter where our feet happen to be. In third world countries, or in the most powerful place on the planet. We love because he first loved us.

“Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” Proverbs 31:25

Strength and dignity become our clothing, our armor in times of fear and strife. Our identity no longer in what was and what will become. Our identity firm in the Gospel of love, grace and redemption. Now, how amazing would the world be if we all lived with strength, dignity and love of Christ in our hearts and minds? What if we truly believed in the Gospel, and traded shame, into freedom. What if we looked at the homeless and saw the image of God? What if those who don’t speak our language and look differently than us were seen as children of God, instead of as the “other”? What if we actually loved our neighbor, and that means getting to know the messy and finding the beauty in it too.

Human rights were created as a response to the Holocaust and genocide, as a tool to prevent these inhumane acts to prevail once more. While there have been worst times to be alive, if you look around there’s still a lot of loving to do. For those fleeing persecution, war and famine are children of God too. Stripping people from their humanity is the same as stripping away their dignity. My biggest take away from my week in DC was the need for people who are spirit filled to change the dialogue. Yes, there have been horrible things done in the name of religion or christianity, but those are the same kind of people who Jesus condemned on his time here on Earth. The need is great, but the workers are few. To truly love and walk in dignity and freedom is not an easy task, but if we want a world where there is less famine, war and genocide. If we want true freedom from bondage, oppression and addiction. We need more Jesus. We need grace, love and healing. We need to look at humanity with the eyes of Jesus. To see the amazing transformation that can happen when we recognize where our true identity comes from. To see water turned into wine, the lame to walk and the blind see again.

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.“Psalm 139:13

All of us are creations of God, knitted in our mother’s womb and the image of God himself. Wow, what an amazing thing it is to be human! What if we looked at humanity in the same way God looks at us? With love. Let’s love our neighbors, speak in truth, love and grace. Let’s not diminish the value of human life because of what society deems as valuable. The elderly, the child, the disabled, the immigrant and the marginalized. They matter. We are called to bring compassion and care for those who suffer. Let us not forget this mighty charge of love, grace and dignity. For you once deserved it and still do, too.

Featured

Smiles all around.

I recently went to a lovely tea with a group of women of various ages and one of the pieces of advice that stuck with me was what one of the ladies said to, “go to the throne, instead of the phone.” That tidbit stuck with me as I filled my days. As someone who likes to process externally and one that sometimes feels too much, I often talk to my mom or my closest friends about a lot of things. If I’m feeling a bit off, overwhelmed or excited I need to share it and often feel better once I have. But, one thing I’m learning is to go to God FIRST and then share. Sometimes, I don’t even feel the need to share because in my prayers, things get a new perspective, they shift.

Something amazing happens when you cast your anxieties and worries at the feet of the father, I mean, it’s like it’s biblical or something… That’s because it is. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? … Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”(Matthew 6:25-33, ESV)”

God has given me a sweet gift of rest this Summer and while I’m trying to make the best of it, this is the first time I’ve truly rested in a long time. Among many pressures, responsibilities and worries, I’ve learned to trust and rest in his presence. No, that doesn’t mean I have to spend all day at a beautiful church service or all day in my quiet space, it’s having that amazing connection with God through the Holy Spirit. It’s going to the throne before the phone. It’s telling God what I really feel, even if it can seem silly. It’s thanking God for what he has already done, and for what he will do. It’s as simple as believing that his promises are true when the world tells you there’s no way, not you. Rest has been reading, cooking and hanging out with my favorite people and bonfires at the beach. Rest has been trusting God and not putting too much burden on myself. It’s knowing that God gives me choices and I’m FREE to take them. It’s knowing that he doesn’t force me to do anything, yet gives me the option to, like a beautiful walk through a meadow, I can choose to linger or to walk through swiftly.

This weekend a good friend of mine told me how I seemed so happy, free and peaceful. I smiled. A long way from my anxious, talk over everyone to be heard, worried and stressed self. Here I am, happy free and peaceful. I used to ask God to help me talk less and listen more, to live free without anxiety and have peace in him. That day those prayers were answered. God is doing a good work in you if you allow him to. Talk to him, tell him how you really feel. Ask him to lead you in this intricate and delicate dance called life, he will, gracefully.

So if anything has caused such change in my life recently it’s to go to the throne first. That’s the best piece of advice I can give, and that I have been given. Pray, pray, pray. The more you communicate with God, the more you will have the eyes to see what he is already doing, and if you don’t see, you will be encouraged. I was feeling very discouraged and I prayed to God about this, honestly and tearfully. That same day I ended sharing with another friend all the ways that God has taught me to trust in him, and all the ways he has blessed me abundantly more than I even knew. I laughed in the car ride back home and thought, thanks God. It’s funny how on the days where you are feeling at your worst, God can use you, the same person to uplift someone else, and to be reminded all that he has already done. It’s a shame our memories are so short sometimes…

So, I’ll leave you with this. Cast your anxieties, your thoughts, your worries, your pain, your dreams, your plans, your excitement, your love and your doubts all to the Father through prayer and supplication. And then watch, watch how he transforms your anxieties into your victories, your thoughts into actions, your worries into peace, your pain into gardens of life, your dreams into reality, your plans, excitement and love into something so much more than you could even imagine. He never worries, never forgets, and never leaves you. Yet, he always does abundantly and infinitely more, even if that begins with changing your anxieties into peace. Smiles all around.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20, NLT)

Gifts.

Gifts of the Spirit.

This morning I was thanking God for the amazing gifts he has given me recently, both big and small. As I was thinking of thankfulness I was reminded that the most important gifts we can have are not gifts as we see them here, or as we monetize in our daily life, but more the gifts of the spirit.

These are things that are indeed gifts, little doses of heaven given to you in your soul and blossomed into fruits in the tree of your life. Wow, how beautiful, kind and wonderful is this God we call our savior. Up until this morning I thought of the gifts of the spirit as things we earned as we grew in our faith, maybe such as milestones we are rewarded as we go on this journey of faith, but no, they are gifts. We are given them out of God’s love for us as we live a faith filled life. Favor, friends, is fabulous.

The gifts of the spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.

Often broken down into the categories of ethical and intellectual. These gifts are essential to a happy and healthy life. These gifts encompass all that we are body, mind, and spirit. In the day in and day out of decision making, responsibilities, environments, and circumstances. These gifts give us the ability to recognize our creator and all that we are incapable of solving without the holy spirit in us. It’s the relational that changes the circumstance. It’s having the ability to process without fear and loving thy neighbor. It’s going after your dreams with hope and conviction. It’s a smile and a hug. A hand stretched out or an ear to hear. It’s problem solving, and strategic planning with a heart. It’s being slow to anger and listening. It’s trusting in God in the midst of trials, pain, and tribulation. It’s laughter and community. It’s adoration to the one who empowers in love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

I sit here this morning, awe inspired by this great love, and realize that Pentecost is just a few days away. The day that celebrates the day on which the Holy Spirit descended upon the followers of Jesus, and I thank God for the greatest gift of all. The Holy Spirit, and I pray to never forget nor dismiss the vitality of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Every day, no matter the situation, location or circumstance. He is always with us.

So, instead of thinking of Christmas day when you think about gifts, let everyday be a gift, after all Christ is among us every single day. The gifts are in and all around us, let’s celebrate!