Liz Blog, Faith

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)

Liz Blog, Faith

The Choice

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

(John 10:10 NIV)

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure how to start off this post. It’s going to be a bit more personal than my previous ones, but I do hope and pray that sharing my experience will bless and encourage whoever is reading in some way.

So, today I started my summer internship, and well, it was hard. I was able to spend the first few hours of the day meeting other interns, which was definitely my favorite part of the day. I met undergrad and grad students, and I always find it fascinating to learn about other people, especially their goals and dreams. At this point, I was convinced I was going to love this place.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t love it now. I really appreciate the fact that I am here and what my assignment is. My co-workers are very kind, hardworking, and friendly. What shocked me was my workload, however. I expected to have assignments, deadlines and projects, but I just wasn’t expecting to get so much work so soon. I felt I entered this internship fairly, with an open mind, but now I was thinking, “God why did you bring me here? I can’t handle this.” The last thing I needed was stress in the summer.

Let me now trace back to a blog post I wrote a couple weeks ago called “The Power of Encouragement.” One of the points I expressed  was that I’ve seen God use other believers in my life to encourage me in different ways that I knew had to be from Him–often times, He uses these people to meet me right where I am.

Over the weekend, preparing for the internship, I naturally felt nervous, yet I was able to see how God provided for me while I was stuck in this emotion. A ministry leader I hadn’t spoken to or seen in years messaged me just to say that he’s been keeping my brothers and I in prayer during the past few years. A friend from a past retreat also reached out over the weekend to share a scripture that was on her heart and just to say she’s praying for me. Words cannot express how much I needed their encouragement. I wouldn’t have even thought that these two would have reached out to me. Nevertheless, I think this is a great example of how obeying God’s direction and acting on the commands that He places on your heart can greatly minister to others and ultimately reflect His awesome love.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  (2 Cor 1:3-4 NIV)

Looking back to this moment after a long day gave me encouragement.

But then I started thinking, what if this never even happened? What do we do when we don’t clearly see encouragement in our lives? How do we gain hope when there seems to be none or nobody in sight? Although God is always present, sometimes it’s hard to be reminded of His goodness and comfort. It’s easy to feel distant from Him.

In those times, I think it’s important to remember and understand one, simple fact:

God is a good God. No matter what is happening in life, God is a good God. This is a fact that never changes.

We have access to a good God as believers. But Satan can catch us in a snare–that is, a trap–of disappointment and discouragement. It is essential that we understand that this is not of God. Negative thoughts, fears, and insecurities are not of God. It’s not enough to even acknowledge that these are attacks from the enemy–we must reject these emotions in the name of Jesus. There is power in that name.

We may be asked to do big tasks on this earth–ones we feel completely unqualified for. Yet God has equipped us to do all things that come in our path. He’s equipped us with the grace to get through the day before it has even started.

This is what encourages me. I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but God hasn’t given me life to worry about it. He’s given me rest to rejoice in it.

Now it’s hard for me to obey. It’s hard for me to accept this truth I cannot always see, but faith itself is the hope in things that are not seen (Hebrews 11:1). So I’m taking a stand to hold onto the Lord’s promises, remembering that He has provided for me before (even this past weekend!)

In all of this, I realize how essential it is to submit my way to the Lord. My way–my mind, my actions–and He will bring it to pass. I have a long summer ahead, but I’ve already been thanking Him for all the breakthroughs, strengths, and lessons that will come to pass. I realize how much my life is not about me at all. I’ve been so worried about my performance that I became caught in the enemy’s trap of despair. But when I realize that there’s a reason God has placed me in this particular experience, my performance is no longer this heavy thing looming above my head–rather it’s my performance for God that counts. I don’t know why He brought me here, but I trust that if I submit my ways to Him in all things, He will bring this to pass and in some way, me being here will glorify Him.

My experiences all come down to a choice: falling into the enemy’s trap–where my fears and my doubts reside–or serving God–my Rock, my Redeemer–instead.

I thought I’d end this post with a song I feel fits the topic. Listen and read the lyrics–I feel it has some serious, thought-provoking ideas to take away.

Jaeson Ma | Glory

Liz Blog, Faith

On Increasing Your Faith

Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

(Micah 7:7 KJV)

Lately, I’ve realized how easy it is to forget God’s promises. Unanswered prayers and continuous trials are circumstances in which the enemy can slip into our minds and cause us to doubt or limit God. It’s key to acknowledge that this is deception. The enemy tries to infiltrate our thoughts by any means possible especially through negative situations, because he does not want us to reach our full potential in Christ.

Nevertheless, whom God calls, He equips. By taking practical steps to increase our faith, we can stand firm in His promises and persevere:

1) Ask

Go to God in prayer. When we have a relationship with Christ, we have access to actually communicate with the Creator of the Universe (which still blows my mind). It can be hard to believe that He is working things out for good, but we do not have to stay in this struggle alone. We are told in the Word that we can ask for godly qualities in which we might lack such as wisdom–surely we can ask for better faith as well.

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13 (KJV)

2) Replace

Replace negative thoughts. This is something even society teaches us in order to think positively. Any form of discouragement can be replaced by the truth. We can hold onto thoughts like “Things will never get better” or we can claim “Things will get better.” Catching yourself in these moments of negativity and making effort to correct them will dramatically change your outlook on your situation. In my experience, I’ve found that this change in mindset is a process, and it can take time. Our minds constantly want to doubt when we do not see transformation in our lives. However, declaring the truth is not a one time thing. It’s a daily thing. Keep claiming it. There is great power in rejecting lies and deception.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8 (KJV)

3) Praise

You have gone to God in prayer, and you have been claiming the truth of His promises. Get excited, because He has already been working in your life! Every year, during Thanksgiving dinner, each member of my family shares things that they are thankful for. When I hear even my youngest cousins thank God for “food” or their “house” or “parents,” I realize how easy it is to forget that these “little” things (things that are so common to us that we take for granted) come from God. At college, I’ve realized the things that have drawn me closer to Him, such as godly relationships, a solid church, and Bible studies are all blessings from the Lord. There are even so many things God has brought us out of, such as sickness, stress, etc., that we should praise Him for.

Acknowledging the things that have been provided in our lives is a great reminder for us that we can trust God. We can take our minds off what has not yet come to pass, give power to Him, and have security that He will never fail to meet our needs.

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Hebrews 13:15 (KJV)

4) Thank Him

Claim your victory. Claim His promises. Thank God for what He is going to do in your life. God has answered your prayers before, and He will do it again. Yes, sometimes prayers are not in the way you expected. Rejoice in that, because as humans, we are 100% fallible, and God sometimes answers our prayers in unexpected ways to correct what would have otherwise gone wrong (if we had our way).

Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Micah 7:7 (KJV)

For me, I’ve found that I love to discuss God’s goodness with others. It allows me to see what He’s done in my life and how He’s blessed others, and it’s always super encouraging for me.

Remember that God loves you. It’s a concept that seems easy to grasp, but if we really understood that, we’d understand that His promises are true. Every last one of them. That we have no reason to fear (Joshua 1:9). That we will be provided for (Philippians 4:19) That we have no reason to fear death (John 11:25). And so on.

Through Christ, we have victory. We have already conquered the challenges that seem near impossible. Seek after Him during these “impossible” times. Seek after Him during times in which everything seems possible. Study the Word, obey God’s commandments, and dare to live righteously in a world that will tell you otherwise.

I have security in understanding that the God I serve is not bound by this world. He works things out supernaturally in ways that no human can imitate.