new things are happening...

My counsins are here and additions are being made... I'm excited!

Two things...

I know i haven't updated in a while, but some things have been pressing enough lately to glue my fingers to the keyboard.

1) Jonathan Simon (my cousin) is down. He's part of this whole transcend thing too. You'll be hearing more out of him later, but for now, we've been working on a few songs that we'll hopefully be able to share with whoever reads this soon.

2) I have a regret. I'm sorry. I hate to be negative, but I don't want to have it again. My dad and I just got back from seeing a cute movie at the theater. On our way out, I had the feeling that I was going to get some sort of opportunity to share... with the intention of blowing it off. I hate to say that but the thought occurred. We exited the door and surprisingly, there was only one "couple" outside (remember, this is a Friday night at the movie theater) Anyway, I looked at the young man... he couldn't have been more than thirteen and his chemistry partner didn't look much older. I watched them for a few seconds... they looked serious. The kind of serious that lasts for about a week and then they're not speaking to each other. As we made our way back to the car, the lovebirds began playing tonsil hockey which made me absolutely sick. Not the fact that their mouths were touching, but these were young kids with their lives ahead of them and look how they were spending them! Dad opened the door for me and I thought of something I could say to them, "Uh, excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt, but don't you think you could save this for later?" As we drove home the regretfulness grew until it had consumed me enough to share my thoughts with the hopes I will never walk away from an opportunity like this again. I had just told God that I would do whatever He wanted. ouch.
Well, I'll keep you posted on how the CD is coming... hopefully next time I'll write of how I took that opportunity.
Regretful,
Gracie

Freedom Through Security in Christ

Security. Can anyone actually make such a claim? Sure! But does anyone actually claim it for real? Finding someone grounded enough to live in true freedom is getting harder and harder. The world pressures us all into thinking that we need to be ourselves and then it tells us to look exactly like everybody else. So what are we to do? And who makes the decision about which kind of jeans we’re supposed to wear anyway? Think about the world for a minute. Not just the globe, but the people. Narrow it down to your friends. What do you see in your friends? What is driving their actions? Who are they following?

There once was a girl who was middle school age, and I could just tell by the way that she acted, that she didn’t know how to be original. If she saw someone getting attention for doing something (stupid or not) she would begin doing it. My heart went out to her because she wasn’t secure. She couldn’t be herself. She had to do what someone else was doing. And that’s the trap that the entire world seems to have fallen into. But it’s nice to know that there is an alternative. The next verse of the passage listed before says, “Such a confidence we have through Christ toward God.” Obviously, people have been struggling with being confident in Christ for a long time. What a comfort! So how do we get solid?

Think about an old building. It’s getting fragile and starting to fall apart. The owner decides to sell it because it’s pretty much worthless and beginning to be unsafe. Suppose someone else buys it with plans to make it a bigger building and use it for significant purposes. Would he add on to the already insecure building? Or would he tear it down and start again? So it is with our lives. We have to look at ourselves. Has the world built this building that with each fad, gets old? New style, new addition to the structure. We begin to get top heavy and live under pressure. Cracks begin to form and suddenly, we’re unstable. When we realize this has happened to our lives, we have a choice. We can either keep building on as the styles change, or we can let Christ completely take over, demolish, and start anew. It’s hard saying that we’re letting go of the ways of the world, but when we let Christ take over, our lives are made fresh and we have a peace and freedom that the world’s twisted ways could never offer. A little later in the chapter, Paul states, “But whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” That is the true freedom. Now you can really have the freedom to be the person that God created you to be: yourself.

“Heavenly Father, demolish the life that I have built on the sands of this world. Rebuild me on You, the rock that will never be shaken. Burn all the lies I have believed and ruin my sinful ways so that I may be used to further Your kingdom. Help me find my true identity in You, and You alone. Thank You for being my security”

All throughout the Bible, we see great people who walked with God, but they still faced many trials and temptations. Look at how Paul saw his struggles,

"And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh." He had a struggle. Not a literal thorn in his skin, but something that was hindering him or weighing him down. He goes on to say that his thorn was "a messenger of Satan to buffet me- to keep me from exalting myself!" So here, Paul states that Satan sent this particular problem, but it's keeping Paul from exalting himself or becoming prideful. Satan meant for this thorn to weaken Paul's work, but Paul didn't let that happen. "Concerning this (the thorn) I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.' Paul got it! He understood that God uses our weaknesses. Even those from Satan! Think about the weaknesses in your life; the things you wish would just go away.

Maybe you think, "I would be able to serve God better if I didn't struggle with this." Whatever it is, we see that we have the power to overcome and that God can use our experiences for His kingdom! Look how Paul wrapped this up, "Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

Let that sink in a minute. Paul was facing the same things we face today. Yet, he decided to turn them into areas where Christ was magnified through victory. And the same God that was helping Paul and giving him strength, is the same God that empowers us to overcome the battles we face today. Those things that Satan has thrown into our lives that hinder our walk with God, every single one of them, can be turned into a God-glorifying weakness. For when you are weak, then you are strong!

What does transcending mean for your life?

Welcome!

This blog was created to encourage those who want to rise above the standards that the world has set. For those who want to live by God's standards and His alone -- Those who want to TRANSCEND.

More details to come!