Glory to Glory

The Problem

The other day I was in an FMA¹ worship leader meeting, when someone made a comment that surprised me. To a woman who had just shared her story, he said, “It surprises me that you felt unqualified, because you carry yourself so confidently.”

His comment surprised me not because she does not carry herself confidently, but because in my experience everyone I’ve talked to has doubted their qualification for God’s calling at some point in their life. It may not have been an overarching theme of their life at one point, but I feel fairly confident in saying all whom God has called have at some point been faced with the question, “Am I qualified?”

Asking the Right Question

It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve heard the phrase, “God doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called.” The fact of the matter is that the closer we get to the perfect, holy, fully transcendent God, the more clearly we see our sin and humanity. And the more clearly our humanity sees our sin, the more we wonder why the Glorious One would want us.

For many people, that’s when pride is revealed. When we tell God He somehow made a mistake in choosing us, that is exactly the same as saying we know better than He does, that we’re somehow smarter than Him and know ourselves better than the all-knowing One knows us.

I don’t say this to shame anyone. I still go through periods of wondering why, with all the more talented musicians out there, God picked a kid from an island in the outer reaches of Alaska. Wanting to know why isn’t wrong; telling Him He doesn’t know what He’s doing is. That said: He does want you to know why you are qualified.

The Covenant and Glory

In 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about the glory of the old covenant and the surpassing glory of the new covenant.

“If the ministry that condemns men was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!”

- 2 Corinthians 3:9-11²

Just before this, Paul references Exodus 34, which tells how after Moses would speak with God, he would put a veil over his face because the radiance would frighten the Israelites. If that glory came from the giving of the law by which no man can be saved, Paul reasons, how much more glory will be released through the new covenant of Jesus the Messiah, Who is life to all who receive Him?

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

- 2 Corinthians 3:18³

The veil was torn when Christ died. Now, in every believer, Holy Spirit, God Himself, dwells. We live our lives constantly closer to God than Moses was able to go. The result of this is that we are transformed into His image, going “from one degree of glory to another.”

There is an assumption that comes with that phrase. The assumption is that the believer already has been transformed into something glorious. After all, it is impossible to go from one degree of glory to the next if one is not at the first level of glory to begin with!

The Point

The moment you accepted what Jesus did for you on the cross and received the Holy Spirit, you became glorious. You began to look more like the Glorious One Himself. That is your qualification. Where you are right now is glorious, who you are right now is glorious, and you are a reflection of God – and I guarantee God is qualified to do the job He has assigned to you!

God doesn’t call the qualified, but He does qualify the called by making them into His image and placing in them His glory. So next time the accusation comes against your heart that you aren’t worthy of His calling for your life, remind yourself and the enemy that you are qualified. You are more than qualified; you are glorious.

1.  FMA = Forerunner Music Academy

2.  New International Version

3.  English Standard Version

The Impossible

God likes to do the impossible.

When there was nothing, God spoke and created everything. (Genesis 1)

He holds the earth together. (Colossians 1:16-17)

He took a barren woman in her nineties and gave her a child. (Genesis 17:16, 21:2)

He took a people who had been enslaved for 400 years and gave them freedom. (Exodus 1-15)

He took a nationless race of shepherds who had been wandering in the desert for 40 years and gave them land. (Pretty much all of Joshua)

He took a shepherd boy who was the least in his family and made him the king of His people. (Story starts in 1 Samuel 16)

He defended His city Jerusalem against an army that could have destroyed it. (Isaiah 36-37)

He made yet another old woman pregnant with a child she should not have been able to conceive. (Luke 1:1-25, 57-80)

He became a man by being born of a virgin. (Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-7)

He died. (Luke 23:46)

He came back to life. (Luke 24)

He takes broken people and changes them into a likeness of Christ. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 2 Corinthians 3:18)

He is coming again to restore all things to perfection. (Revelation 19-20)

Why does He love the impossible?

In so many of these things, while God did the impossible, He did/will do it through people doing what they can do. Even in the case of Mary the mother of Jesus, she said yes to giving birth to the Son of God. He takes something that we could never do and works with and through our actions to accomplish it. God loves the impossible because it unites us to Him.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning?
    Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

“To whom will you compare Me? Or who is My equal?” says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name.
Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”?
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

- Isaiah 40:21-31 (NIV)

And God doesn’t do the impossible solely on a universal stage. He brings people into His world plan and then does the impossible in their lives.

A God who can create the heavens and call each star by name is capable of a whole lot more than we give Him credit for, and He doesn’t just care about the stars; He cares about you.

See, while He’s holding all creation together and remembering each star’s name, He is also holding you together, and He remembers your name. So when you feel like you’re breaking and can’t go on, look to Him. He gives strength to the weary. Bury yourself in Him and let His arms carry you. He won’t let you go.

Let Him do the impossible in your life.

Life Tips for College Students: How to Keep Ramen Interesting

The dilemma of the college student:

Budgeting for food can be frustrating when you’re in college. While ramen is by far the easiest food to afford, it’s not that healthy and can very quickly become boring. That said, there are a few things you can do to add flavor, some of which add nutrients as well. So, to help spark your own creativity, here are my favorite things to do with ramen. (Some of these mix and match pretty well.)

1.) Drain the water

               If you add other things to the ramen (which I’ll go over later), cooking the ramen with the flavor packet, then draining the water, is a great way to get the flavor of the packet without all of the excessive salt.

2.) Replace the water with milk

               My first roommate when I first moved away from home taught me to drain the water that the ramen was cooked in and mix the flavor packet in with some milk. The hot ramen thickens the milk a little bit and leaves it wonderfully creamy. This works best with real milk, but soy milk and almond milk work too, although they won’t thicken like real milk.

3.) Make it a desert

               This is my favorite nighttime snack after peanut butter on crackers. Drain the water and add milk. When adding the milk and flavor packet, also add a little bit of honey, some cinnamon, and just a hint of cayenne. The ramen will be sweet with just a little kick.

4.) Add vegetables

               Whether you are planning on using milk or water, vegetables are your friend. If you don’t get to the store much like me, frozen vegetables are great because a few bags will last for a long time, and if you get different blends, you can change up what kind of veggies you add very easily. But if you do have the chance to go to the store every week, get fresh vegetables. They will add to the nutritional value of your meal, plus you can change what you get every week to keep things interesting.

5.) Make it a stir fry

               Adding ramen (cooked just enough to soften it up) to a stir fry or putting stir fry on it is a fun way to use ramen in a slightly healthier way. The sauce from the stir fry will soak into the noodles and add great flavor.

6.) Add soy sauce when cooking

               Putting soy sauce on ramen along with the flavor packet can make ramen too salty. Putting both the flavor packet and a little soy sauce in the water while cooking and then draining the water, however, adds the flavor of both to the noodles without making them too salty. It’s a win-win!

I didn’t mention meat in any of these, but that doesn’t exclude it! Play around with it, and come up with your own favorite ramen recipes. Have fun and happy eating!

Talent Is Not An Advantage

I have a confession to make.

I’m smart. I’m not just kind of smart; I’m actually smart.

I once took an IQ test and scored 4 points shy of genius. I have an almost frighteningly good memory, and my ability to understand new concepts and pick up new skills is above average. Getting good grades in school is not that difficult for me.

I don’t say this to brag; on the contrary, I find it embarrassing. It’s not uncommon for me to feel guilty when I get a good grade, because I know there are people whose grades are lower but who put far more effort into studying than I did. Sometimes I wish I were less smart and had to work harder.

Why am I telling you this? Because I’m tired of feeling guilty for something that 1) I didn’t choose to be and 2) isn’t an advantage anyway.

See, it really doesn’t matter if I get a score of 79 out of 80 on my timed midterm with twenty minutes left to spare. What matters is the effort I put in to get that grade. I greatly respect two of my friends who took that same midterm three times before passing, because I know how hard they worked for their passing grades.

Talent and intelligence have a big disadvantage: they make things require less effort while still giving a temporary appearance of effort having been made. It doesn’t matter how much talent a drummer has; if he or she will not take the time to do basic skills and perfectly master techniques, a less talented drummer who works their butt off to become skilled will be the better drummer and build a good work ethic to boot.

The important bit:

The point I want you to take away is this: talent is a tool, not an advantage. God grades not on our final destination, but on how hard we worked to get there. Don’t believe me? Check out this parable from the gospel of Matthew.

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability... He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance.’”

– Matthew 25:14-29 (ESV)

Notice each servant has a different number of talents entrusted to them, and each of them added – or didn’t add, as the case may be – a different number of talents to what they were given. But the servant who added five talents and the servant who added two talents were told the same thing: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” The master didn’t look at the two talents the second servant had made and said, “Well, nice job, but Joe over here added five talents to what I gave him, so you could have done better.” No, not at all! He looked at the five talents and the two talents and saw that each servant had doubled what he had given them, and rewarded them equally.

Think of what that means for the one talent servant. If he had gotten just one more talent, he would have shared the same reward as his fellow servants! Even though his effort would not have produced as noticeable of results, equal work and dedication reaps equal rewards in the end.

This story could easily have been flipped. If the two talent and one talent servants had doubled their money, but the five talent servant had buried his, he would have been the one who’s talents were taken away and given to another.

Talent is not an advantage, it is a tool.

Character is the advantage.

Don’t focus on the talents you wish you had. Don’t feel guilty for the talents you’ve been given. Use the tools God gifted you with to build something that will delight Him. He can’t wait to show you what it was worth in the end.

An Untitled Song

Sometimes the oceans overwhelm
Sometimes the waters drown
Yet here I stand atop the waves
With no land to be found
I shouldn't even be here
Standing here shouldn't work
And yet You still uphold me
By the power of Your Word

So when my heart is overwhelmed
I will trust in You

Time and time again You've shown me
Your love never fails
And even when I walk through darkness
Still Your light is there
Through Your strength and through my weakness
I can finally see
Your faithfulness is everlasting
You will not fail me

Sometimes stuff happens 'cause I fall but
Sometimes life just comes down
But even when I cannot feel You
I know You're still around
I know You're still around

So when my heart is overwhelmed
I will trust in You

Time and time again You've shown me
Your love never fails
And even when I walk through darkness
Still Your light is there
Through Your strength and through my weakness
I can finally see
Your faithfulness is everlasting
You will not fail me

Pick me up and hold me closer
Let me feel Your heartbeat now
As these waves come crash against me
Please don't let them take me down

Pick me up and hold me closer
Let me feel Your heartbeat now
As these waves come crash against me
Please don't let them take me down

And when my heart is overwhelmed
I will trust in You

Time and time again You've shown me
Your love never fails
And even when I walk through darkness
Still Your light is there
Through Your strength and through my weakness
I can finally see
Your faithfulness is everlasting
You will not fail me


Written October 8, 2014

An Attempt at Continuation: Learning to Draw

So.

While writing a blog for class (see previous post), I realized how much I've missed blogging. (And learned how much I love formatting! Haha.) It's kind of like a public personality outlet. It's fun.

But since it's been a while since I've regularly blogged, there will probably be a few posts that aren't up to par just for the sake of getting into the habit of posting semi-regularly again.

We'll see how this one ends up.

"Learning to Draw" - a short story by KatieBelle

    "Carry me, Daddy. Carry me!" four-year-old Tasha cried joyfully as she ran to him. Laughing, he scooped her up into his arms.

    "And how is my little princes today?" he asked with a smile.

    Beaming, Tasha proudly declared, "I made you a picture. Come and see." She squirmed out of her daddy's arms, grabbed his hand, and dragged him to the fridge where her crayon drawing was now displayed. "See? Here's you, and me, and Mommy, and that's the kitten I want."

    Her father smiled at the nearly unrecognizable scribbles. "It's beautiful, Princess."

    Twenty-four-year-old Tasha entered her apartment and slumped up against the now-closed front door.  Looking up to the ceiling, she said, "I had a bad day today, Daddy."

    Her Daddy smiled down at her and stroked her hair. "Tell Me about it, Princess."

    Tasha sighed. "This afternoon, I tried to talk about Jesus with someone at the store, but my words got all mixed up and I couldn't think of what to say. They looked at me like I was crazy and walked off. I failed so badly."

    "No you didn't, Princess. I'm so proud of you; you did well."

    "Ha. Yeah, right. Nothing about that went well."

    Then Tasha remembered the pictures hanging on her parents' refrigerator. To her, they looked awful, but her parents loved them. And eventually she had become a good artist, graduating college with a degree in illustration.

    "You did well, Princess, and you'll get even better."

    And with that thought in her mind, Tasha smiled and went to make dinner, delighted to realize that just like her parents, her heavenly Father enjoys her as she learns to draw.

Where that came from:

I was sitting in the All Nations Prayer Room one Friday afternoon and suddenly realized that I wanted to write a story. I had no idea what I was going to write, when all of a sudden Tasha appeared on the page. Before I ever thought of what the point of the story was supposed to be, she was showing her daddy a picture.

I was actually halfway through the second part of the story before I knew what the point would be. I guess Holy Spirit is better at planning ahead than I am...although I'm pretty sure one of my stuffed animals (the big dog, to be specific) is better at planning ahead than I am.

Anyway, when I'd finished, I sat there and looked at the story I'd just written. It's pretty simple, and even at this point I haven't gone back through with much editing, and to be perfectly honest I think it's horribly cheesy. Yet even with all that, it has a simple yet profound point that I often forget.

Be honest: when was the last time you felt like you did horribly at something? For me, it was just yesterday when I tried to play the bass part for "Higher" by Jaye Thomas and the Cry (if you listen to it you'll probably get a pretty good idea why). Maybe you tried to follow a cupcake recipe and forgot an important ingredient. Maybe you were in a car crash that was ruled your fault. Maybe you forgot about a homework assignment that was due the next morning. Maybe you stumbled on the same sin you've stumbled on a thousand times before. Maybe you forgot to do something you told a friend you would do.

The fact is, all of us mess up. ALL OF US. But God loves us anyway.

"As a father shows compassion to his children,

so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear Him. 

For He knows our frame;

He remembers that we are dust."

Psalm 103:13-14

We so often forget that God remembers we aren't perfect but loves us anyway. He has compassion on us - how beautiful is that? Whether you made a stupid mistake or committed a sin, He knows you are made from dust and because of that, He has compassion on you.

So, where am I going with this?

I think it's time to ask for help to give ourselves the same grace He gives us.

Go on, see what happens.

I dare you to try.