Part 1 launches tomorrow 8.1.16!
Read more about the Love Series here.
Worship Wednesdays #11 | Great I Am
The profile // about the artist
New Life Worship
- Christian worship band (singers, musicians, songwriters)
- From Colorado Springs, Colorado (New Life Church)
The pull // why i like it
Another one of my favorite worship songs, “Great I Am” is so focused on who God is. Caught up in our daily lives and busyness, it’s easy to fall into the trap of forgetting the mightiness of God, but worship puts the focus back on Him. “Great I Am,” full of praises, is the mindset we need to carry every day.
The message // what it means
God is worthy of our worship and praise. There is nothing too hard for Him, nothing impossible, He is the most holy–He is our awesome God. His name itself is powerful. As followers of Christ, we have access to a powerful, eternal God.
“There is no power in hell
Or any who can stand
Before the power and the
Presence of the Great I Am”
The call // best to listen when
Any day. Like I previously mentioned, this song reminds me of the mindset that we should always have towards our God. Singing praises to Him and claiming His promises bring much glory and honor to Him.
Worship Wednesdays #8 | Dream for You
The profile // about the artist
Casting Crowns
- Contemporary Christian rock band
- From Daytona Beach, Florida
The pull // why i like it
Casting Crowns has been one of my favorite bands for years. I heard “Dream for You” a few months ago, and I love that this song is refreshing and uplifting. When we follow God, we allow the space for His amazing plan to manifest itself in our lives.
The message // what it means
The God we read in the Bible is the same God today. This song incorporates the narratives of many well-known Bible figures like David, Mary, and Joseph, and although they each had different stories, God pulled them through great difficulty, remaining true to His character. It’s easy for us to separate ourselves from those we read in the Word, but this is our portion as well. Just as God acted on behalf of those who honored Him in the past, He does the exact same today.
“I’m stronger than you think I am
I’ll take you farther than you think you can
You sing and call me Great I Am
So take your stand”
The call // best to listen when
You need encouragement. Every time I hear this song, it not only puts me in a good mood, but it reminds me that no matter what’s going on, God is and has always been in control.
Worship Wednesdays #7 | Good Good Father
The profile // about the artist
Chris Tomlin
- Contemporary Christian music artist/songwriter, worship leader
- From Grand Saline, Texas
The pull // why i like it
I love the straightforward message of this song: God is a good Father. It’s a simple fact, yet the enemy tries to deceive us to think otherwise. However, we can fight back by having a firm foundation in the truth of who our Savior is.
The message // what it means
God is the source of everything. He’s a loving Father, and our identity is tied to Him. In order to understand this life and our purpose, we must know Him.
“I’ve seen many searching for answers far and wide
But I know we’re all searching
For answers only You provide”
The call // best to listen when
Anytime! I love that wherever you are, this song encourages you sit and meditate on God and rest in His presence.
Worship Wednesdays #6 | Learning to Breathe
The profile // about the artist
Switchfoot
- Alternative rock band
- From San Diego, California
The pull // why i like it
I’ve been a long time Switchfoot fan, and “Learning to Breathe” has been one of my favorite songs. The song has relatable lyrics that speak about God as our ultimate source of peace.
The message // what it means
“Learning to Breathe” is a reminder that God is the God of all comfort. He hears us. He sees us. He cares for us individually. Try searching for this comfort elsewhere, and you’ll get lost. However, by His grace, even when we fall, God is there to restore us.
“I’m finding that You, and You alone can break my fall”
The call // best to listen if
You’re a Switchfoot fan or if you’re looking for a tranquil song that praises God for who He is.
He Heard You
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
1 John 5:14 (KJV)
At the beginning of the spring semester, a good friend from high school visited me at college.
We kept in contact as she traveled, but after she got off her last train, she sent me a frantic text:
I FORGOT MY PURSE ON THE TRAIN!
She fortunately had her phone in her hand, but everything else, besides her backpack, was left behind.
The first instinct I had was to pray, and I replied to her that I did afterwards.
In the meanwhile, an employee searched the train, and she had gone to the lost and found at the station, but nothing turned up. Despite this, she had a great attitude about the loss, and we still had a fun weekend together. Nevertheless, I was a bit bummed and confused that she hadn’t found the purse, especially since I did believe that God heard my prayer and would answer it.
A few weeks later, I got a message from my friend about something she had forgotten to tell me. Days after she had returned from the trip, she received a package in the mail from someone that contained her purse and everything (including money) still inside it.
When I heard the news, I was utterly shocked and overjoyed. I was happy that she found her purse, and even more in awe that God had answered the prayer–even though I had forgotten about it.
Even when we forget about what we have asked the Lord, He hasn’t forgotten our requests, so we must remain submitted to Him.
Submitting to God means that despite the outcome of our prayers, we will still trust and follow His direction. We can have peace in this, knowing that He knows our needs. He is taking care of us, although He might be doing so in ways we don’t expect.
I had no idea that my friend’s purse would be returned in such an uncanny way, yet the fact that it was completely unharmed made the situation a larger testimony of how God works. She could have found it at the station, but instead, the purse was returned in a way that was out of her control–proving that a bigger miracle was behind it.
God hears every one of our prayers. As we wait on Him, we can have confidence and excitement knowing that He is preparing a great testimony in our lives of His faithfulness.
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Hebrews 10:23 (KJV)
Worship Wednesdays #1 | Saved Secure
The profile // about the band
Citizens & Saints (or Citizens)
- Christian rock band
- From Seattle, Washington
The pull // why i like it
I first heard the song when I was in a friend’s car, and I was immediately drawn to its compelling instrumentals. I listened and realized it had incredibly powerful lyrics to match.
The message // what it means
God is alive and real, and He is our rescuer. This song is a reminder and praise of how He has saved us and that true security comes from Him. It’s a beautiful depiction of surrender and freedom.
“You answered. You rescued.”
The call // best to listen when
Whenever. Wherever. Just plug that AUX cord into your phone and turn your speakers up.
Ask LizMargaret
Have a Question? Need Advice? Need Prayer?
If you’re looking for answers from a Christian perspective, submit your question here at the LizMargaret Tumblr site, and it might just appear in a future blog post.
Not sure what to ask? Topics you can think about: Relationships, friendships, college, faith/Christian life, and more!
This new series has been something that’s been on my heart for so long now, as I would like for this blog to be a very interactive experience for whoever reads it! I hope it creates a space to engage in conversation that inspires spiritual growth and encouragement.
What do I mean by a Christian perspective? As a follower of Christ, I consider the Bible to be the foundation of my worldview, shaping the way I live my life, so any of the responses I give will be based on the Word.
Please send in any questions, prayer requests, or any topic ideas for future posts–I am very excited to hear from you and to see how God uses this!
Click here to check out all Ask LizMargaret posts and videos!
God Wants Us to Be Empty
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
(Luke 9:23 KJV)
We will do anything to avoid feeling empty. Nobody wants to go to bed at night feeling unfulfilled, no matter what good has happened during the day. We are afraid of emptiness. We make rash decisions to fill voids. We don’t want to acknowledge our brokenness, our mistakes. We’ll do anything to be happy. We’ll do anything to push away hurts. We’ll do anything to forget. Anything.
God works with brokenness and emptiness. These heavy burdens that we are carrying–He wants us to give them to Him. Think about that: God wants you to give your burdens to Him.
In fact, He wants us to give everything to Him.
Because of our fear of emptiness, we try to hold onto things that are not even good for us: Relationships, grudges, memories, anger, habits, false ideas, pride. God wants us to come empty. When we give these things to Him, then He can use us. If we are so full of these things we hold onto, we are leaving no room whatsoever for Him.
When we pursue the things that pull us away from God, we can’t be used by Him. He’d love to work through our lives and give us that breakthrough, the desires of our hearts, but it can’t happen if we continuously walk away from Him. I imagine there are things we have been convicted to let go of, but we are refusing to do so. And God is just waiting for us to make room in our lives to get to the next level.
Imagine giving all your cares to Him–all your desires, concerns–and saying, “Lord, I realize I cannot do this on my own. Do with these things whatever You’d like to, and I will follow You.”
Now that’s an attitude that God can work with. God can do wonders with willingness. If we just lay EVERYTHING down, I imagine that He can create the most beautiful things with that.
This is how I see it:
We are canvases, and over time, we’ve gotten used and worn, and there’s years worth of paint that’s smeared all over us. When we allow God to take us, it’s not that we’re in some flawless condition (because we’re really not)–what’s happening is that we’re surrendering control and allowing Him to cleanse us. Surrendering to Christ is acknowledging that we are filthy–in need of cleansing–that we are sinners, and allowing Him to take care of the mess. The truth that we’ve been running away from is that we are needy, we are weak, we are not capable on our own. But God can chisel away the layers of muck that we have been drowning in so that we are clean, and from then, He can paint the most beautiful masterpiece of our lives for us.
That’s the beauty of it–God can use anyone. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone. He loves everyone. It’s the heart that matters.
It comes down to you:
Are you willing to let go? Are you willing to turn away? Are you willing to let God transform you?
Why are you holding on?
The main idea here is that we are not called to remain as we are. Yes, God loves us. But we cannot live our full purpose on this earth unless we make that first step to empty ourselves. There is shame and guilt in sin. Living in sin, there is fear. Living in sin, there is doubt. Many times we get ourselves into the worst situations. Other times, our situations are not even our fault–it’s just the nature of the world that we live in. The world has fallen, and because of that there is no sense of justice and fairness–there is so much bad that can happen that we have no control of. But remaining stagnant in our nature is where we go wrong.
Jesus instructs those who want to follow Him to deny themselves and to take up their crosses. What does this mean? Taking up your cross encompasses your whole life–it radically changes your entire life, your decisions, your perspective. Why? Taking up your cross means to live fully for Christ. This involves giving Him your burdens, but it also means something greater–that we dedicate our entire lives to Him–every aspect of our lives. Our innermost thoughts. Our actions. Denying ourselves is a daily rejection of our natural, sinful ways–a complete denial, or emptying, of self.
Again this goes back to the truth that we are filthy, in need of a Savior to cleanse us. That we have needs, and that Christ can fill them.
This is the emptiness that God calls us to have. It is not one that is hopeless. It is not one that leaves us awake at night, deep in fear. It is not one that is bound by the troubles of this world.
This is a shedding of our past selves–in which we invite God to come inside and give us life. It is one that gives us security–that if we have accepted Him as Lord and Savior and confessed our sins, we know that we have eternal life in Heaven.
As humans on this earth, we will be filled of something–we will either choose to be filled with God or we will choose not to be. We can make the choice to be filled with life abundantly or we can choose to live in our own understanding that leads to a path of confusion, hurt, and destruction.
We see the decaying state of the world we live in, but we don’t have to choose to be part of that decay. Please don’t let anything get in the way of this understanding. We have all fallen short, and there are consequences for that. But there is an answer. There is a hope. There is contentment–and it is in God.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
(Matthew 11:28 NIV)
Friendships, Rejection, and The Bigger Picture
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
(John 15:20 KJV)
At 1:00 a.m., when I should’ve been asleep, I caught myself in my thoughts. I found myself thinking:
There’s some people I really wish I was never friends with.
In the past, there’s people I felt I gave my best to them–my time, my love–and it felt as though they just took it (or maybe not even that!) and left without even looking back. I didn’t know if this was the right attitude to have, but I sincerely felt hurt and confused by that.
Was I taken advantage of? Did I do something wrong? Did they?
The longer questions poured into my mind, the more I found this “human hurt” so interesting, because we–and by, we, I mean everyone–have treated God the same way. The world has and continues to do so. God created the world–a world that has come to reject Him. What’s mindblowing is the fact that He still loves us unconditionally. He still gave His only Son for our salvation, being fully aware of the kind of rejection that He would experience.
I then started thinking: Would I have still offered just my friendship to certain people, if I knew that in the future they would have just betrayed and rejected me?
My first instinct was to say no. Why would I have wasted my time?
Yet God provided His Son to give eternal life–not just to anyone special but to everyone in the entire world. Everyone.
Ever felt ignored by someone who you care about? People deny the very existence of God–the same people He loves in ways we cannot fully comprehend and the same people He just wants to have a relationship with. He does not turn His back on them.
So I prayed: Okay, God. How am I supposed to see the people who have rejected me?
That’s when I started picking apart John 15:20.
“A servant is not greater than his lord.”
“If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”
I quickly realized that there’s a much larger struggle going on here–one that is beyond human relationships. We live in a world that has rejected God. The mere name of Jesus Christ–the Son of God–alone is hated by many. So, if you are trying to reflect Him, don’t be surprised if you lose relationships along the way.
Our purpose on Earth is much greater than the people we might lose. I believe people are often in our lives just for a season. And because of this, the most important job I believe a Christian has is to radiate God’s love despite this–especially while we still can to certain people.
Love, knowing that you may not receive it in return–which honestly, might often be the case. Love, knowing that you may be rejected but understanding that Christ Himself has done the exact same thing and was rejected in a way we never will be.
He was rejected in this way–crucified on a cross, where He was brutally beaten, spat on, mocked–so that we might have freedom and eternal life with Him in Heaven. And yet we, as humans, still have the choice to reject Him (but He did it anyway!)
As Christians, we have accepted Christ as our Savior and now we have this eternal life that He died to give! The best we can do is to share His Word in hopes that others join in on this freedom.
And if people are ever placed on your mind at 1:00 a.m., that might just be the Holy Spirit giving you a little reminder to show Christ’s love by praying for them.
“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”
John 15:12 (KJV)
LizMargaret 