Pursuing Holiness

lauryn_minor

11 Jan, 2023

The Call

Over these last few months, the Lord has been working on my heart about a new season, spiritually speaking. Prior to this call, I had been in my word more consistently and had been more proactive about asking the Lord what He wanted to do inside my heart. I wish I could say that when He laid, “pursue holiness,” on my heart, that I felt excited and uplifted. Instead I quickly felt discouraged and even scared, as though I had somehow been secretly disappointing the Lord for who even knows how long… I asked the Lord what He meant, confused about what part(s) of my lifestyle were not up to the Christian standards that most everyone knows to live by.

In response to these feelings, I reached out to a couple of spiritually wise women in my life, and they each gave me a piece of advice that changed my outlook on the situation:

If God is calling you to pursue holiness, just remember that He is trying to pull you in, not push you away.
Do not try to define pursuing holiness in your own terms. If He is making the call, He knows what He wants to change. Look to His word and to His wisdom.

I was left with two new truths after these words were given to me:

I do not have to leave God’s presence, clean myself up, and come back once I have gotten myself “put back together.” That burden is not for me to carry but one to submit to the feet of Jesus.
I cannot rely on my own understanding of holiness or my own culture’s definition of holiness to inform me about how to live.

Just as quickly as the enemy brought on fear, shame, confusion, and doubt, the Lord provided women of wisdom in my life to speak truth, clarity, and peace into my mindset. The enemy’s goal was to shut me down and make “obtaining” this goal seem utterly impossible. However, I asked the Lord to give me the strength to pursue His word and keep my heart open to what He desired to do. Within a matter of days, I was reading scripture that gave me a foundation of truth and wisdom to stand on, opening my eyes to see that God would be faithful to make the transformation in my heart.

The Word

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:1-2 CSB

This passage in Romans opened my eyes to that fact that pursuing holiness is not about creating a checklist of different “good behaviors.” Pursuing holiness is about understanding that our bodies, our lives, are a continual sacrifice to God. In order to know what pleases God, we must be men and women of the word, constantly having our minds renewed and fighting against the simpler desire to conform to what everyone else is doing in this day and age.

“Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance.But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct;for it is written, ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”
1 Peter 1:13-16 CSB

This passage in 1 Peter echoed what I read in Romans just a few weeks prior. Pursuing holiness goes hand in hand with being transformed from older, ignorant ways of living. Just to be clear, to be ignorant means to lack information or awareness… that word is not used as an insult here. God is calling us to holiness because He IS holy, and He desires for His people to resemble that in their own lives. We are not called to resemble our cultural or our own biases/beliefs because our culture and our biases are prone to getting watered down if we are not pursuing the wisdom of the word.

Disclaimer

I am sharing this, not because I have it all together or all figured out. I am not an expert, and I still have so much that God is working on me about each and every day. However, I have been convicted about my boundary lines for what is acceptable and unacceptable in my lifestyle. This is not because I was diving into the deep darkness of sin, but I was not actively pursuing what God’s definition of holiness was either.

I made it a point to ask the Lord to define what needed to go, what I needed more of, and everything in-between.

Making changes related to music, tv shows, time spent watching Facebook videos, forgiveness, reading my Word, serving my husband, being more intentional with relationships, and more started to occur. I would listen to a song or spend my down time on social media detoxing from my day, and the Lord began to challenge my desire to sow my time into those things rather than sew my time into His kingdom. A shift began to happen in my perspective, and I realized that although the things I were doing were not “necessarily downright sinful,” they were becoming idols, things that were obtaining more of my attention and my heart than the Lord was. I began to see that those seemingly harmless things started to become barriers between me and God, between who I was and who God was calling me to be.

Now, I am not by any means trying to enforce my personal convictions on anyone. My personal convictions lately are convictions that God brought forth, into the light, for me to see, evaluate, and change. I do believe that we should all share convictions that come straight from the word, but this blog is not designed to highlight those convictions.

The Bigger Picture

What I have hoped to communicate through this blog is that I am on a journey that will not be figured out over night. I almost let this journey/process keep me from sharing because I get wrapped up in the lie that I cannot be effective and helpful until I have perfected something. Instead, God reminded me that there is beauty in the process of refinement and that my lifelong process of refinement will never end. All my life, I will be presented with choices. The Lord is helping me to be more sensitive to His Holy Spirit and to His word so that I can make choices with a renewed mind, knowing that I am to offer my body as a living sacrifice. God is showing me that when I am more intentional about creating room for His kingdom, that there is less room for the things that do not really matter.

Pursuing holiness is not about the artificial Christian badge that we get to wear on the outside. Pursuing holiness is not about removing every ounce of fun out of our lives. Pursuing holiness is not about living in guilt and shame after being buried underneath an impossible task. On the other hand, pursuing holiness is about living a lifestyle that is not conformed to this world, making ourselves more aware and less ignorant of the time wasters that we give our lives to, and knowing that our bodies are meant to be living sacrifices to a holy and merciful God.

I would love to share more about my personal journey… challenge… call to change… refinement… whatever you want to call it. For now, I want to leave you with a few questions:

Based on the scripture passages shared above, what does it mean for you to pursue holiness?

What emotions do you feel?
What things are slowly becoming idols to you?
Do you trust God enough to follow Him even if He asks you to cut out the most innocent things in your life?

Encouragement

I feel like I need to emphasize again that I am no expert. This is a journey that God is taking me on right here, right now. Every day, I feel as though I am receiving more correction and instruction. The enemy tried to convince me that this would break me and make me feel like a “worse Christian.” Instead I have felt more joy, more freedom, and more of God’s LOVE for me in this process than I could have ever imagined! If God is asking you to put something down or to remove it from your lifestyle, it is because He desires to fill it with something more fulfilling to you and pleasing to Him. Do not fear change. Do not fear instruction. It is for your benefit and for His glory.

Not for Man, Not for Me

lauryn_minor

27 Oct, 2022

I Hope You Can Relate

Have you ever wanted to do something well? You’re given a task, you’re entrusted with something valuable, and/or you’re expected to complete something? Or maybe you have a ”status” you want to maintain: someone who works well with others, leads well, maintains his/her fitness, owns a very clean/tidy home, and/or keeps up with his/her schedule and family needs.

These are just a few examples, and maybe nothing I mentioned relates to you other than wanting to do things well. Recently, I found myself disappointed with my ability to do things well. My relationship with God, household chores, school assignments, leadership obligations, marriage, relationships, and so many other tasks encompass my day-to-day lifestyle. I recently found myself frustrated when my to-do list for the day was actually longer than what my day could afford. I thought to myself, “UGH! I want to go to the gym. I hate how I use to go four times a week, and now I’m lucky if I make it more than twice.” I reached for my phone to vent to a friend, and the Holy Spirit said, “Don’t talk to anyone else about it until you talk to me.”

… Ummmm, what is the harm in phoning a friend? Nothing! However, sometimes the Holy Spirit wants us to give him his job back! So I stopped in my tracks, and I started to verbally vent my feelings to God. It went something like this:

”I am so frustrated right now! I feel like I have so many things to do. I feel like I am not able to complete or manage them all the way I want to. I am SO sick of school. I am sick of assignments. I am sick of not having a lifestyle that affords time for all my friends and family on a consistent basis. What do I even do?! I feel like I was so much better at this last semester. I want to be in shape. I want to meet my workout goals. I want to get ahead on assignments. I want to be able to do it all and to do it all well. God… *big, deep sigh* …what am I suppose to do?”

God’s reply: ”Do everything as if you’re doing it for me, not for man.”

My reply: ”I don’t do all these things to impress people? I mean right? I don’t think I’ve ever been the kind to need to impress?”

God’s reply: ”’Man’ means you too… You can’t do things for you. You have to find the joy of doing them for me.”

My reply: ”Oh…”

It hit me in that moment how much stock I was putting in my tasks to fulfill me. If I could hit the gym four times that week, I was accomplished. If I could maintain all my emails, assignments, and projects without getting stressed out, I was accomplished. If I could make time to see friends and family without an assignment breathing down my neck, I was accomplished. If I could read my Bible every morning, I was accomplished. Or so I thought… my problem was not the fact that I cared to do these things or wanted to manage them as priorities. My problem, according to God, was the fact that I was doing all these things to make ME happy, to make ME feel accomplished and proud, to manage MY sense of identity.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Colossians 3:23-24

I have a few other things from Colossians chapter 3 that might be worth mentioning, but for the sake of today’s blog, I will leave that task up to you!

Disclosure

I am not saying that there is ANYTHING wrong with being a good steward of your spiritual health, your physical health, your social and family relationships, your marriage, your house, your work/education, and whatever else you can think of! It is so important to steward those things well. However, stewarding and idolizing those things consist of two completely different mindsets. If my joy, my identity, and my sanity rises and falls on my ability to do ___, I have idolized that thing. I have done whatever I was doing for me, for man, not for God.

On the other hand, if I do everything as if for God, not for man and not for me, I consequentially become a good steward for that thing. To steward something well is to submit it to God and rely on Him to give you every provision you need to complete the tasks set before you. To steward something well is to realize it’s better off in God’s hands than it ever was in my own hands. To steward something well means to find purpose and fulfillment in being obedient to God’s call rather than checking off another box.

The Main Point

My main point is this: Do everything as if you are doing it for God. When you go to work and your boss entrusts you with a major project, do it for the Lord. When you come home and you stare into a pile of laundry so high you think it might eat you, do it for the Lord. When you meet up with a friend for lunch despite the tight schedule, do it for the Lord. When you wake up in the morning and grab your Bible, do it for the Lord.

Steward the things God has given you without slowly integrating them into your idols and the foundation of your identity. You are a son and daughter of Christ first; everything else is simply a factor of your temporary life. Allow God to impart in you the joy of doing things for Him, not for man, not for you. Reap the heavenly rewards that come with being kingdom-minded. Rest in the satisfaction of knowing who you are and what you’re called to do!

They Had Been With Jesus

lauryn_minor

23 Sep, 2022

Today’s blog comes from a verse that I read in Acts 4.

Just to catch you up, if you have not read in the New Testament lately: Jesus came. Jesus performed miracles. Jesus had a team of 12 disciples and a loooot of self-righteous haters. Jesus was crucified on the cross and paid for our sin debt. Jesus rose from the grave, victorious over death, hell, and the grave, three days later. Jesus ascended into heaven. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit. The disciples went to work after being empowered by the Holy Spirit.

I forgot about this, and maybe you did too… but the self-righteous haters are still found throughout Acts. They did not all change their minds and repent in the Gospels like I assumed. Peter and John have just been arrested after healing a lame man at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they are being questioned about their actions. Peter, being filled with the Holy Spirit, replies to the rulers, elders, scribes, and all members of the high-priestly family:

“If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man, by what means he was healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead — by him this man is standing here before you today healthy. This Jesus is ’the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation for no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:8-12 CSB

What I love most is the very next verse. This verse is marked off by a subheading: The Boldness of the Disciples.

“When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.”
Acts 8:13

There was nothing that made Peter and John pre-qualified to handle this situation other than the facts that they had been with Jesus and that they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. No training, no education, and no former miracles prepared them for this moment in time. Their boldness was not found in anything other than a genuine, messy, complicated, yet REAL relationship with Jesus.

What this means for us:

I could go into more detail about the disciples’ boldness, the power of the Holy Spirit, or even the fear/hatred of the rulers, elders, scribes, and high-priestly family. However, for the sake of conveying what God laid on my heart about this passage, I want to focus on Acts 8:13.

You may be desiring to be bolder in your faith. You may be desiring to know scripture off the top of your head or have really eloquent conversations with believers and nonbelievers of all kinds. You may just simply desire to feel more confident in who you are as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. (Or maybe this is just me…)

The ONE THING that is necessary for us to be effective and equipped believers and followers of Jesus Christ is this: to spend time with and be with Jesus. In order to ”pull a Peter,” you have to ”pull a Martha.” In order to go to the lost and see miracles, you have to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn to be with Him. NOTHING eternally impactful changes without Jesus, without God. All the education and training will fall short EVERY SINGLE TIME if it is not rooted in spending time with Jesus. Bible College cannot give me what spending time with Jesus can. Therapy cannot give me what spending time with Jesus can. Friends and family cannot give me what Jesus can. Do-It-Yourself training manuals cannot give me what spending time with Jesus can. Sunday morning sermons cannot give me what spending time with Jesus can.

Disclaimer

Before I go any further with what I’m about to say, if what you read was, ”Education/Training, Bible College, therapy, friends/family, DIY training manuals, and Sunday morning sermons are no good,” then let me clarify. All of these things are in fact good. All of these things are in fact things that I would have no problem seeking after. However, NONE of these things are capable to REPLACE time with Jesus. These things are bandages compared to a surgeon, a match compared to a bonfire. It’s not worth piecing apart and trying to determine what numerical value they hold compared to spending time with Jesus.

The Main Point

If you want to impact those around you, if you want to see change in dead situations, if you want to see real fruit, consistent with repentance (as John the Baptist said in Matthew 3:8), in your life… then spend time with Jesus. It is EVIDENT, especially to the lost, when we have spent time with Jesus. When we have spent time with Jesus, we carry a light into the darkness, and the darkness cannot prevail against it/cannot comprehend it (John 1:5). We have a responsibility as believers to attach ourselves to the vine (John 15:1-8). We cannot produce the necessary fruit without being attached to Jesus.

God worked on my heart the other day about this verse. I was in a medical environment, looking at a situation that I did not have the training, the education, nor the power to fix. While I sat there, utterly blown away and deeply concerned, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said, ”You may be untrained, and uneducated… but you have been with Jesus.” Right then and there, I began to pray behind my mask and do the only thing I knew to do: invite Jesus into the room and allow His will to be done.

We can do all the “extras,” but guys and gals… ONE THING IS NECESSARY: You must spend time with Jesus. Nothing replaces it. Nothing comes close to it. The lost, the sick, and the hurting need the version of you who has spent time with Jesus.

His Authority, Our Faith

lauryn_minor

26 Aug, 2022

The Scripture

For the last few weeks, I have been reading through some of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). Most of the stories in these books are repeated over and over, sometimes with a few differences. While reading the stories of Jesus healing, teaching, and leading, I cannot help but be mesmerized by His power and authority over just about anything and everything.

Over the last week or two, I have been trying to figure out how to effectively use the authority of Jesus in certain areas of my life. I kept thinking, wouldn’t it be great if I could speak to a dead situation in my life and there be life in it again? Wouldn’t it be so cool if I could command the enemy to leave from meddling in certain situations in the name of Jesus? It was not until recently where the Lord shifted my perspective on this situation.

I was at home, reading my Bible at my desk a little later in the day than I intended. The song ”Something Has to Break” by Red Rocks Worship came on, and I instantly felt the Lord drawing me into His presence. So I got on my knees and expressed to the Lord how desperately I needed ____ to break. In that time with the Lord, He reminded me of all the scripture I had been reading, but this time, I was reminded of one key factor that I had been missing: faith.

Jesus, many times in the Gospel, displayed all power and all authority over sickness, disease, lameness, blindness, unclean spirits, and even death. Jesus multiplied one meal enough to feed thousands. Jesus brought healing to those who desperately needed a miracle. Jesus made the demons beg and flee. If you turn to Luke 8:26-39, you’ll see the story of Jesus driving out an unclean spirit.

“32 A large herd of pigs were there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged him to permit them to enter the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33 The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.”
DEMONS BEING DRIVEN OUT BY JESUS – Luke 8:32-33 CSB

The very next passage is about a girl being restored and a woman being healed in Luke 8:40-56.

”47 When the woman saw that she was discovered, she came trembling and fell down before him. In the presence of all the people, she declared the reason she had touched him and how she was instantly healed. 48 ‘Daughter,’ he said to her, ’your faith has saved you. Go in peace.’”
A GIRL RESTORED AND A WOMAN HEALED – Luke 8:47-48 CSB

One simple realization came to me while reflecting on these scriptures: The authority is Jesus’. The faith is mine. Now, I am not saying that faith is MINE in the idea that I fabricate the faith I need and that it has nothing to do with Jesus. What I feel like the Lord highlighted to me here relates to Mark 9:14-29, Mark 11:27-33, and Luke 17:5-6.

“19 He replied to them, ’You unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.’ … 22 ’But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.’ 23 Jesus said to him, ‘’If you can?’ Everything is possible for the one who believes.’ 24 Immediately the father of the boy cried out, ’I do believe; help my unbelief.’ … 25 ’You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: Come out of him and never enter him again.’”
THE POWER OF FAITH OVER A DEMON – Mark 9:14-29 CSB

“28 ‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things?’ … 33 And Jesus said to them, ’Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’”
THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHALLENGED – Mark 11:27-33 CSB

“5 The apostles said to the Lord, ’Increase our faith.’ 6 ‘If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,’ the Lord said, ’you can say to this mulberry tree, ’Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.’”
FAITH AND DUTY – Luke 17:5-6 CSB

Not once in these verses did Jesus address the authority of His people. He knew all too well that only He had authority because it came from God. However, Jesus addressed the people’s faith.

“1 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not yet seen. 2 For by it, our ancestors won God’s approval.”
LIVING BY FAITH – Hebrews 11:1-40 CSB

The Reality

So many times I want to channel my inner Jesus-authority and speak to a situation and command it to flee, be gone, leave!!!! I mean come on now… the same power that crushed the enemy lives inside of me now right? Although that is true, I believe God had a different lesson in mind for me today. If I had all the power and authority to command what I wanted, my situations would look a lot different than they do. Maybe rather than focusing on commanding my way through a sticky situation, God wants me to focus on my faith in Him.

This is hard for me because if I focus on my faith in the one who can do anything and everything, this means I have to get out of the driver’s seat. This means I have to forfeit my idea of what should and what should not be. This means I have to surrender Lauryn’s plans and let God sit on the throne of my life!

The Disclaimer

Now let me make myself very clear: I am NOT suggesting that we don’t have any association with God’s power and authority over death, hell, and the grave. However, I am suggesting that in reality, that power and authority is not OURS. We are and have nothing compared to God, compared to Jesus. Even Jesus came to this earth and operated in the authority and will of His Father, and when He did, He said one thing over and over to those He healed: ”Your faith has healed you.” People’s faith in Jesus, in the authority and power of God that He operated in, saved them… healed them… set them free.

The Takeaway

Jesus’ power and authority shook the earth. It left people astonished, sometimes even left people scared! They had never seen anything like it before! (I’m just saying, I’d panic a little bit if I saw Jesus cast out a demon…) People were not only physically touched by Jesus, but they were touched spiritually too. As Jesus’ name spread, people ran to be with Him… to hear Him preach, to be healed by Him, to touch the hem of His garment. Their faith in their savior grew.

For you and for me, this causes an inward reflection: Do I have faith in the authority and power of Jesus, of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, of the God of the universe? Have I let my faith grow small and hard, believing that Jesus’ authority doesn’t affect people like me or situations like mine? Because if so, we need to let Jesus address our faith! We need to get out of the driver’s seat. We need to relinquish our “control”. We need to hop off the throne and let God reside there.

The authority is Jesus’. The faith is mine. Faith as small as a mustard seed can uproot a mulberry tree and a mountain and plant them in the sea. Put your faith in Jesus, the one with all power and all authority, and watch Him do what only He can do!

The Estate Sale

lauryn_minor

8 Aug, 2022

Futility

Can I admit that I read something that actually scared me a little in scripture not too long ago? I know what you’re thinking… Revelations. Close, but no. I read Ecclesiastes and all about how futile everything in life is. Life comes, life goes… things live, things die… stuff matters, stuff doesn’t matter. It was quite the emotional rollercoaster while reading some verses.

There’s two passages that stuck out to me in Ecclesiastes most: The Emptiness of Possessions (2:4-11) and The Emptiness of Work (2:18-26). If you go and read these passages for yourself, you’ll see that you can obtain anything, accomplish anything, and labor to complete anything, and in the end, it’s all futile (pointless). Possessions and the results of labor all go to someone else in the end. (Not to say there isn’t an eternal purpose behind some of the things we do, but you get what it’s trying to say.)

These passages can come off quite discouraging. However, I took away an important lesson from them that followed me straight into an Estate Sale this past weekend. Before I knew it, the message came to life and sent a shockwave through my core.

The Estate Sale

I love a good deal. I love good deals so much that they actually ruin other reasonable prices for me. I mean, who wants to spend $16.99-24.99 on a blouse at Target when I can go to Goodwill and buy the same brand/blouse for $3.99? This love for a good deal landed me at an Estate Sale after I saw a picture of some beautifully drawn vintage prints listed. I came, I bought, and I returned the next day for the 1/2 off special. I loved what I bought. However, I began to have these thoughts during my time at the house:

”I’m in the house of someone who is either no longer alive or is no longer able to stay here… I am rummaging through someone’s personal belongings… Everything in here is SO NICE, but the price tags don’t match the value of anything in here… I wonder how the owner would feel to know that she paid who-knows-what for this print that was bought in New Orleans, and I’m leaving with it for $4…”

It wasn’t until I came back the next day that the reality of Ecclesiastes and eternity started to kick in. I picked up a very ornate, yet simple vintage frame with a red velvet backing. In this frame contained a black and white photo of a young girl, possibly the owner of the estate or someone the owner knew. Looking into the frame and staring into the woman’s eyes, I realized, ”It’s all futile… I’m here. She’s not. I have what could be her stuff. These are her items… items she probably worked her whole life to accumulate. And for what? Because she’s gone, and now this picture of her has a $2 price tag on it! It’s all futile… And if it’s all futile, then what in my life is so valuable, so eternal… that nobody could ever put a price tag on it when I’m gone?”

The Price Tag

I get it… For some of you who have yet to understand WHERE I’m going with this, I’ve probably bummed you out. If you’re like me, your stomach may even be turning a little bit thinking about your life, or the life of someone you know/once knew. I promise, I’m about to really change the tone of this. I really want you to hang here with me just for a few more minutes.

The Price Tag is the next idea that I want to write about. The price tag is something we’re all familiar with. You take an item, you give it a value, and you put the price tag on it. When someone wants to claim that item for their own, they see the price, and they pay it. Price tags are usually (but not always) put on objects: something tangible, something that is to be claimed for one’s self, something that you can put in a bag and take home. The price tag reflects worth or value. If you find it on a thrifted item, it’s usually valued far less than what the person originally paid for it.

After leaving the estate sale, I asked myself, ”What in my life can someone NOT put a price tag on when I’m gone? Am I investing myself more into those things, or the things that will get a $4 sticker on them when I’m long gone?”

What is Eternal?

I wrestled with myself to answer this question, and a few things came to mind:

”Well, my relationship with Jesus. That came with a price He paid. Ummmm, okay! My relationships with friends and family! Ministry! Marriage! Memories! Those are all things given to me by the Father, things I didn’t pay for, but they do require for me to invest time and effort into them.”

The things I’ve just listed come with an eternal value to me. Although I cannot necessarily take anything other than my relationship with Jesus into heaven, these things are not merely earthly possessions that will be sold and taken to someone else’s house later. These are things that carry more value, weight, and lasting effects on my life.

So I messaged my friends and asked them to put a numeric value/price tag on relationships that they care about, and these are the summarized versions of the responses that I got:

“2 Million Dollars… really anything. Any price, even if it’s my entire life’s savings.” “Everything I own + my future finances… everything, even if there’s not a dime left to my name.” “Anything I could afford while trying to avoid total bankruptcy.” “Any amount, even if I had to take out loans.” “Any amount, even if I had to open up a couple credit cards.” — As you can tell, the consensus is that for the relationships that truly matter, there’s not a price these guys and girls wouldn’t pay. Why? Because of the joy that uplifting relationships bring… the kind of relationships crafted together by Jesus Himself are worth of any amount you’d try to put on them.

The Resale Value

What I am trying to get at here is that not much of anything, other than our relationship with Jesus, is eternal. Everything comes to an end. Everything fades away, just as the earth will… down to our own bodies. However, we have one life to live, and if we’re not careful, we can spend all our time, money, and resources chasing what is futile instead of what is eternal. We can spend our lives paying the value of price tags instead of enjoying the “free” relationships, ministries, and memories that God has already paid the price for! These are the things that count. These are the things that cannot be resold for a couple bucks at the end of our lives. These are the things that bring to life the goodness of Jesus.

These are the things, that over time, increase in value. Our relationship with Jesus, with friends, and with family are worth investing in. Our God-given ministries and other ministries around us are worth investing in. Our marriages are worth investing in. Our memories are worth investing in. The nice cars, the fancy clothing, the 5-star meals, the big houses, and the fat bank accounts will be here one day and within the next, vanish. Although these things are not always bad, they are futile. They come. They go.

The Take Away

Let me make it very clear by disclaiming: I DO NOT think that having material possessions, ambitions/dreams, or nice ____s (fill-in-the-blank) are bad! I also do not think that Estate Sales are bad. (Just in case you were wondering by my personal account of my visit this weekend.) I think all of these things are fine and dandy, but this weekend opened my eyes to the reality of Ecclesiastes. THINGS are futile. Material possessions, though they may have had great purposes, are futile. My eyes were opened this weekend to the value of non-materialistic things: people, memories, ministry, marriage, a relationship with Jesus, etc.

I want us to take away one thing: Focus more on the things that God has bought for us (salvation) and has freely given to us (relationships, memories, ministry, etc.) rather than the things we can buy ourselves. Find God’s joy, presence, peace, and goodness in the things that won’t have a price tag on them in your Estate Sale one day. Don’t place eternal value in material/earthly things. Invest in what God has given you. Make the most out of who surrounds you and what you’re called to. Don’t waste life chasing THINGS. Don’t waste life chasing futile items. Focus on what’s eternal.

Seek First the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Heart’s Reflection

lauryn_minor

5 Aug, 2022

God’s Lesson To Me

I am an evil person. No seriously, without Jesus, there is not one GOOD thing about me or my nature. Just like everyone else, I was born into sin. This sin is the kind of sin that leads to death. In reality, all sin leads to death.

I realized this one day while I was praying for something that was on my heart for the one-thousandth time. (Ironic timing, huh?) Just as I was praying, I felt the Holy Spirit in such an overwhelming and consuming kind of way. In this moment I asked myself, ”Where does this come from? Why does, out of nowhere, this desire to pray come over me so powerfully?” In that moment, God showed me that my desire to pray wasn’t a reflection of myself or my ”spiritual radar.” This moment was a reflection of the Father’s heart being shared with me for a specific cause and for His will.

The Heart of the Father

I feel very inadequate to write about the Heart of the Father. To be honest, I feel like sometimes I know absolutely nothing about the depth of His heart and His will other than what I can find in scripture. So I am going to try to paint the picture as best I can in hopes that you see what God has been showing me in scripture and in my quiet time with him.

Proverbs 27:19 says, ”As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the person.”

Matthew 7:11 says, ”If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.”

After reading these two verses, I realized two things. One, even at our best, we are nothing compared to God. Two, the heart of the Father reflects who He truly is. If we desire to do good, to pray for others, to support others, and/or to encourage others, (to give good gifts) HOW MUCH MORE does the Father? After reading these verses, God showed me that every good desire I have and every good thing I do are all because of Him. My prayers, encouragement, and support are all reflections of His heart being shared with me.

What This Means for Us

In knowing this, my heart becomes more encouraged during times that I pray for others, share words of encouragement with others, and feel strong emotions for others’ situations. The reason is that though I was once evil, I have been made righteous because of Jesus’s sacrifice for me. And because of my relationship with Jesus, I am able to taste and see the goodness of the Father’s heart. If I am feeling sorrow for someone’s recent tragedy, HOW MUCH MORE does the Father feel sorrow for them? If I desire to see a victory in a friend’s situation, HOW MUCH MORE does the Father desire that victory for them? If I am burdened for someone to the point of weeping during my prayers for them, HOW MUCH MORE does the Father feel that burden?

We get to see a glimpse of God’s heart for His people all the time if we are paying attention, if we align ourselves with opportunities to open ourselves to His heart. During those times, we learn nothing about us. We learn nothing about how ”amazing” we are. Instead, we learn everything about how loving, holy, and powerful God is through the reflection of His heart. If we desire to give “good gifts” to our friends, family, coworkers, or strangers, HOW MUCH MORE does and will the Father? He, out of all on this earth and in heaven, desires to give good gifts to His children, to work on their behalf in light of His glory.

God’s heart is a reflection of who He is. For people that see God as cruel, harsh, scary, or ______ (fill-in-the-blank), they have the opportunity to see who He really is when they see God’s people sharing compassion and love for them. We have the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus!

Disclosure

I want to make it clear that I fully recognize our potential as Christians, as humans, to be flawed representations of God and His heart. Sometimes, we share the exact opposite of God’s heart.

Sometimes, we are cruel.

Sometimes, we are careless.

Sometimes, we are too busy to pay attention.

However, any time that God’s people act with compassion and care, we are not merely representing who we are or a personality trait we have. We were first evil. We were first flawed. Because of Jesus, we have been redeemed. Because of Jesus, we have direct access to God, His presence, and His heart. And WHEN WE CHOOSE to align ourselves with His heart and obey His commands and promptings, we have the opportunity to present to people a glimpse of the Father’s heart. When people see a glimpse of the Father’s heart, they see a reflection of who He truly is and how He truly feels about them. If we desire to give good gifts, how much more does the Father desire to give and WILL give good gifts?

One Thing Is Necessary

lauryn_minor

30 Jul, 2022

If you could sit down right now and make a list of everything that you have to do that is NECESSARY, what would be on your list? Here’s mine:

School (Classes and Assignments), Work, Church, Chores (Dishes, Laundry, Sweeping, Etc.), Bills (ugh), Cooking, Grocery Shopping, Seeing friends and family, and so on…

All of these are necessary for me. It’s necessary that I go to school. It’s necessary that I grocery shop and do the household chores. It’s necessary that I see friends and family and go to church. There’s really not one thing that I can take away from the list and still have a smooth-flowing month. However, when reading through Luke chapter 10, I came across a story about two sisters that taught me what one thing is truly necessary.

“³⁸While they were traveling, he entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said.⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.’ ⁴¹The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴²but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.’” – Luke 10:38-42

As you can probably see by the bolded scripture in this passage, a lot jumped out at me as I read. The first phrase of scripture, ”distracted by her many tasks,” captures the root of the problem with our to-do lists. Martha’s tasks weren’t bad. She was clearly tending to her guest, the Son of God… the Messiah, to her household duties as a hostess, but scripture describes Martha as ”distracted.” How many times can we admit that distraction stands between us and Jesus? Our to-do lists are real, reasonable, and routine. However, our to-do lists can leave us distracted, distracted from the one task that is necessary.

Scripture then describes Martha as ”worried and upset,” …time out. Martha is in the presence of Jesus, but she’s… worried… and upset? How is that so? But doesn’t this sound familiar? I have access to the presence of Jesus on a daily basis, yet my mood can quickly turn to worried and upset about many things for most of the day.

The key to this passage is when Jesus tells Martha, “…one thing is necessary.” Jesus did not deny that the other tasks were part of Martha’s reality, but He emphasized that only one was truly necessary. Jesus also shared that Mary, ”made the right choice.” One thing was necessary. One choice was right. What does this mean for you and me?

This means for us that we cannot deny our many tasks. We cannot deny the fact that we have things to do, places to be, people to please, and then some. We cannot deny the fact that deadlines exist and tasks must be completed. What we need to realize is that there is one necessary thing, and once completed, this ”thing” overflows joy, peace, and purpose into allllll the other things.

My chores can be full of joy when I have made Jesus the ONE THING that is necessary. My education and my assignments are full of purpose when I have made Jesus the ONE THING that is necessary. My marriage and family time becomes sweeter when I have made Jesus the ONE THING that is necessary. My ministry, my influence, becomes more saturated with power and authority when I have made Jesus the ONE THING that is necessary.

The enemy wants me DISTRACTED by my many tasks, WORRIED and UPSET. Jesus wants us and invites us to make the RIGHT CHOICE, and promises that it is the one thing won’t be taken away. I encourage you to take a few notes from Martha and from Mary and ask yourself: ”Am I distracted? Am I worried and upset? And if I am… have I made the right choice to sit at the feet of Jesus? Have I chosen (out of all the tasks) to do the one thing that is necessary?”

Provision and the Provider

lauryn_minor

6 Jul, 2022

The Flood

Life sometimes hits very hard… so hard that you look out the window from your workplace and see your car halfway submerged under water. Talk about a wave of emotions hitting you all at one time. (Pun intended.)

During the following week, I dealt with my very first insurance claim. That week consisted of photos, documents, phone calls, vehicle ads, and budgets. It was not my favorite week. My car had 106,000 miles on it and no payment attached to it. In my opinion, my car’s life was ended too quickly due to a mistake. Who knew a Flood Zone sign actually meant ”this area will flood hard enough not just to ruin your shoes but also your car”?

I was frustrated. I was mad. I was disappointed. I was completely overwhelmed by the decisions I was going to have to make in order to purchase a new vehicle. My pastor encouraged me to allow God to show me that He is more than just a thrift store kind of provider… that He is a God of ”Gucci provision,” as he stated. Let me just clarify that this was not a prosperity Gospel kind of comment. Pastor was encouraging me to allow God to provide for me in a way that stretched my perception of Him. At the end of the story, I ended up with a younger, nicer, and more reliable vehicle with 26,000 fewer miles on it.

Although I am sharing only my story, there were other stories that God showed up in. Cars were provided, jobs were provided, ministry opportunities were provided, new seasons of life were provided, healing was provided, and so much more. As the week came to a close, God laid the word ”provision” on my heart over and over again. So I sat down Saturday afternoon and Googled, ”the definition of provision.”

The First Key Word

If you were to sit down and Google, ”the definition of provision,” Merriam-Webster.com would reveal the definition to be:

[noun]

a: the act or process of providing

b: the fact or state of being prepared beforehand

c: a measure taken beforehand to deal with a need or contingency: PREPARATION

Desiring to link this word to a passage of scripture, I quickly went back to Google and started to type, ”scripture about God’s provision.” Before I could hit “Enter”, God quickly spoke to me and said, ”don’t Google that.” I sat my phone down, quickly, and a little confused.

“Well… where would I…”

“Abraham and Isaac.”

”Okay… but I need to make a direct correlation to the word ‘Provide’ or ‘Provision’ or ‘Provider’… something like that.”

”…”

The Scripture and The Second Key Word

With that being said, I quickly flipped to Genesis chapter twenty-two verses six through eighteen.

⁶Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together.

⁷Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”

And he replied, “Here I am, my son.”

Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.

⁹When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. ¹⁰Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.

¹¹But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

He replied, “Here I am.”

¹²Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” ¹³Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. ¹⁴And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said, “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.”

¹⁵Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, ¹⁷I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. ¹⁸And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.”

Provision VS Provide

The difference between provision and provide unfolded right in front of my eyes and my heart. In those moments, God showed me that provision is His process, one that He takes care of BEFOREHAND. We see God provide after the fact, after the provision has been made, during the exact time that we need it most. When my car flooded, God’s provision was already being taken care of. The insurance details, the money, the wrong car, the plot twist, and the right car, that met all the right needs, were a part of God’s provision. God was faithful and at the right time, I saw Him provide me with exactly what I needed, what I could afford, and what ultimately stretched my perception of Him.

You see, this topic is applicable in our every day lives. From the smallest moments to the largest moments, we have the opportunity to witness God provide to us His provision. When we don’t know that our AC is going to cut off, God’s provision is Him preparing someone to come to the house who is able to fix it for $15 before the service guy comes out for $100. When we don’t know that our day is going to start poorly, God’s provision is Him preparing the heart of someone to send an encouraging text moments after the chaos begins. There are larger issues than these… when sickness comes, when anxiety rushes in, when death overwhelms a family, or when a situation seems too far gone.

These are the moments where we can trust that God is a provider, and the provision is His. God is on top of everything before it happens, preparing a way, taking measures long before the storm. However, we don’t see this until He provides it. When He provides it, we then see the community, the ”God-appointments”, the funding, the peace, the wisdom, or the ram caught in the thicket that was all a part of His provision.

If your car has just been flooded, if the door to your job has yet to be open, if the check has yet to deposit, if _____ (fill in the blank) has yet to occur, I challenge you to know that the provision is His. He is already working on it, and you will see Him provide, just as Abraham did.

Seek First the Kingdom

lauryn_minor

3 Jul, 2022

Me, Honestly

I am one who likes to “be-in-the-know.” I like detail and organization. I like structure. I like plans that DON’T change unless I specifically change them myself. I love anticipated surprises… yes, anticipated surprises. I like to set itineraries for vacations. I like to eat the same things at restaurants because I don’t want to bother with the disappointment that follows trying something new.

With all of this being said, I’m sure that I’ve painted a picture of a very flexible, go-with-the-flow kind of woman, but I have to admit that I’m far from it most days.

As you can probably imagine, God and I have spent a lot of time, over the years, conversating about my trust, my relinquishment of control that is not even really mine to begin with. It has been a process for me. One that has stretched me, stressed me, yet ultimately strengthened me. As I have anticipated sitting down and writing this first blog, I have asked myself and God a hundred times what I would write, what details this blog would contain, what kind of structure I would format the content around.

The Command

God has responded with one answer over and over: “Seek first my Kingdom and all will be added.”

Every question has been answered with, “Seek first my Kingdom and all will be added.” That’s where the name has come from. That’s what the overall theme is built upon. Before writing this, I turned to Matthew and found the scripture behind God’s command to me. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you,” Matthew 6:33 CSB. I flipped back a few pages to find the beginning of this scripture’s context, and I laughed to myself, in awe of God’s all-knowingness when I read the section’s title: The Cure for Anxiety.

Anxiety, according to the DSM-V is an “anticipation of future threat.” It is “associated with muscle tension and vigilance in preparation for future danger and cautious or avoidant behaviors.” It’s different from fear because fear is the response to an imminent threat. Imagine fear as running away from a dangerous situation whereas anxiety is the anticipation of dangerous situations that have yet to happen or will never happen.

Anxiety is something I wrestle with. The What, Who, When, Where, Why, and How’s of life leave me anticipating future threats both realistic and unrealistic.

What will become of my life? Who will my future kids be? When am I going to figure out the answer to ___? Where will I live and go to work? Why hasn’t ___ happened yet? How is ___ going to work itself out? I ask myself these questions, and if I am not careful, the enemy tends to throw out draining, hypothetical answers for me to wrestle around with for hours/days/weeks/months on end.

The Cure for Anxiety

Matthew 6:1 opens up with, “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?” The rest of the verses go on the share that if God takes care of the birds of the sky, the wildflowers, and the grass of the field, how much more will He take care of us? The passage ends with, “Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” This scripture teaches us one simple thing: Anxiety is a lie from the enemy. We, God’s children, do not have to anticipate future threats, future problems, future details with worry and chaos. We do not have to worry about our lives. We do not have to worry about tomorrow.

From the large things including health, family, careers, and marriage down to the “small” things including blog posts, we do not have to worry. We are not designed to take on the weight of every detail, the weight of structuring our lives, or the weight of organizing our futures. Knowing this, God gives us one command in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God.” Why? “All these things will be provided for you.” In verse 32 scripture says, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” God knows what career He has planned for you. He knows what spouse has been set aside for you. He knows who your children are, what their names will be, and what their futures hold. He knows what you will wear tomorrow and what you will eat and drink. He knows everything because He IS everything.

Seek First the Kingdom

When we Seek First the Kingdom of God, we align ourselves with a perspective that overshadows the natural things we see on this earth. When we seek first God’s kingdom, our eyes are opened to the bigger picture instead of the hourly details of life. We are able to see God in a new light, outside of the box, the timeline, and the framing that we are constantly trying to shove Him inside of. We no longer rob ourselves of the “life more abundantly” that Jesus came and died for according to John 10:10. You and I can rest in the not-knowing. We do not have to “be-in-the-know” if we are constantly seeking first God’s kingdom because then we know all that we need to know. We can break the cycle of anticipating future threat, operating in cautious or avoidant behaviors. God’s kingdom allows us to live in peace, living in assurance that He is in control.