When We Die

The enemy has been defeated

Death couldn't hold you down

We're gonna lift our voice in victory

We're gonna make your praises loud

We lift your name up!

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What happens when we die? We go to heaven.

As Christians, we think we know what happens when we die. We get to go to heaven and have eternal life. Shouldn't this excite us, and let us be unafraid of death?

Today, I read in 1 Corinthians 15. This chapter is a heavy chapter for me. Paul writes about Jesus' resurrection. Paul writes about who buried Him, and who saw Him rise. Paul explains that Jesus proved to every person that there is life after death, that resurrection can happen. Paul went on sharing about death, and what happens when we die.

Why do we die?

V22-23 We die because we belong to Adam. Because Adam sinned, we sin, and the punishment for sin is death. BUT because we belong to Christ, we will be given new life.

So when we die, there is hope, not sadness. V42-44 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. ⁴³ Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. ⁴⁴ They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

When we die we live again! We are being transformed into our heavenly bodies. Here is the rest of chapter 15 that I couldn't break into parts because the WHOLE thing is worth reading.

⁵⁰ What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.

⁵¹ But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! ⁵² It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. ⁵³ For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

⁵⁴ Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
⁵⁵ O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶ For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. ⁵⁷ But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

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Satan thinks that death is his victory. But oh is he wrong! Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, death is now means Satan has been defeated. Death does not mean the end of life. It means the beginning of eternal life. A life better than earthly life. A life you get to live next to our Lord. A life of all knowing. A life of no school, work, stress, emotion, money, dos and donts. A life you can ONLY achieve if you live your earthly life the way God wants you to.

Will you achieve eternal life? Will you defeat Satan?

An Audience of One

Lately I have been struggling with being a more "God like person" if you will. When put in certain situations, I act like someone who is not following this great and mighty person. God calls us to not judge. To love your enemy. To love everyone because we are all children of Him. I find myself day to day getting those automatic thoughts when I see certain people. If I see a car with huge rims, I think mexican and ghetto. When I see funny clothes that aren't "in style" I laugh. I see a guy thats older with a creeper mustache I think he is going to hurt me. When I see smoking I think rude. It goes on and on and needless to say, I want that to change. I have been praying lately about my actions and help with looking at people the way Jesus sees them. They are no different than I, because we were all put here with one power, God. Other than judging, I also seem to say the wrong things, or act the wrong way in situations. I am almost afraid to be embarrassed or not be "cool" because of they way I live my life. I do not have this problem with my friends and community that also love and know Jesus Christ. However, when I am at work or in public and something will come up, I will almost conform to that crown to "fit in." I'm not saying if they smoke, I start smoking. But just the little things, like certain remarks on people, etc.

Saturday night I went to this conference for the Garden where Darren, our pastor, explained our view or mission of the church. There was one section Darren touched on which stuck. Darren said he wants us all to be disciples, he wants us all to know how to pray, how to pray for healing, how to talk to people and invite them in to this wonderful life. He left us on this note: Do you live a life work following?

Do I live a life worth following? I say no. Yes, I love and have a relationship with Jesus Christ, yes I do my best to serve Him, yes I go to church and life groups, Yes I have SOME things right. BUT there are things I need work on, things Jesus would never do, things I wouldn't want others to do in the name of Jesus Christ. I need to drive better, slower, less angry. I need to have more patience with "dumb people." <--I need to not think people are dumb, they just think differently than me. I need to stop caring what people think of me and start showing I love Jesus and they should too. I need to stop avoiding conversations that could turn into sharing of the Good News. I need to see the world Jesus sees it. I want God to brake my heart for what breaks His. I want God to open my eyes to the things unseen. I WANT TO LIVE A LIFE WORTH FOLLOWING!

Last night at church I asked Hartley to pray for these things I've been struggling with, and during the prayer she said "let us be an audience on one" I want to start living for an audience of one. and that one is God. He is the only one that matters in the end. He is the one that will judge me when time comes to. He is the one that can say "well done good and faithful servant" Let people think I'm crazy. Let people think I'm weird. Let them see I am different. I will be crazy, weird, and different to live this life worth following.

Today is the day to change. And people reading this; be my accountability.

Creative?

Sometimes, no always, I wish I was creative. For some reason or other God did not give me the gift of having a creative eye. I cannot paint. I cannot draw. I get too distracted and bored when I attempt any art project. I have to see other peoples work to get ideas for my own. I am NOT creative.

I took a class at RCC my senior year in high school. It was photo 8. Intro to Photography. I learned how to use film cameras, how to develop film, what an aperture is, how to meter, etc. The main thing I remember about that class is how impatient I am. To develop film you first have to use a black bag made for NO light to leak in, to take the film out of the canister and put it on a film real and into a different canister. Then you go into the dark room and put this canister that has my film reel into some liquid stuff and wait about 15 minutes. (I forgot a lot so bare with me) Then there are like two other liquids that it has to sit in from 5-15 minutes each. Now the film is ready to not get ruined by light. So then you cut the film into strips and put it in this oven to let it dry. So this is now about 30-45 minutes just to process the film into strips. Not even getting prints yet. Now we look at the film and choose what we want to develop and go to an enlarger. Then you play with how much exposure (light passed onto the photo paper) you need, how big you want it, make sure its in focus, and most importantly is that it is dust free.

After you expose light onto the photo paper you develop it. Again with the different liquids where you have to time it, and make sure its in the right temperature etc. Finally you see a picture and then you put it in an over to dry it. At the end you may look at it and realize there are dust spots, or its under/over exposed, its out of focus etc. Wow 45 minutes to get something that looks like crap. I am not patient enough to try again, so that sucked.

So I found DSLR (digital single lens reflex) cameras. I'm in love. I also learned more about photoshop. Even more in love.

So now I have a camera, I am getting photoshop. The only thing missing is the artistic eye. How can I find or see something that will become a cool picture? Can you learn to be creative. Is there a class. Or is it something your born with? I can try and try and try to get creative with my camera or photoshop but I never seem satisfied. (another problem is the technical side. This new camera has a lot more setting than I know so its hard to get more than just point and shoot shots)

There is a point to all this information about my thoughts. I wish I was more creative so I can use it for the glory of God. (after time in the word the other day the one verse that stuck was to do all things for the glory of God) I want to express my love for Christ through photos. but I don't know how. I want to be on the "look out" for ways to express my love for Christ and His love for us through photographs. I HAVE NO CLUE how that will work or what I will find, but its time to start thinking CREATIVE thoughts. and to just go out and shoot :)

Photoshop

So I was bored at work:

Growing?

Last night at church was amazing! Darren decided to have community time. Which I absolutely adore! He invited people to come up front and share with the church their story. He also had a time of prayer. Where complete strangers felt comfortable to stand up and ask other strangers to pray for them. How wonderful is our community that we can feel comfortable to ask for prayer when needed, to share stories with our neighbors and to have fellowship. When Darren asked for people to come share their stories I thought to myself what mine would be if I went up.

Four months ago I moved to Long Beach. I grew up in Riverside, I loved Riverside, my family was in Riverside, my friends were all in Riverside. No complaints at all about being in Riverside. But I had to opportunity to move out with friends. I like to be independent and always wanted to move out, just for the adventure of it. So when people asked me why I moved my answer was just cause there was an excuse to move out. There was absolutely no other reason to move to Long Beach, except for adventure.

So when I was thinking about my story I realized, God doesn't open doors for us for the heck of it. Theres a reason behind everything that happens. I know that I moved to Long Beach because God had a plan for me. He got me going to the Garden. He stirred my heart for serving. He placed me in an area to serve. He opened doors for me, and for a reason, not just for an excuse. He brought me here so I can grow.

Growing:

-I have the amazing community that helps my heart to stay on fire for Christ. I see things they do, or their actions and it is a fuel to my fire. I needed the family to "keep me in check"

-I have started making decisions based on Gods will and not mine. I felt the call to serve, I prayed about it. I was given the chance to help set up and tear down the church. 2 months ago I would have told God no and would have went on to seek something more "glamorous" but now I love it, I know that serving God can happen in so many different ways. I gave it all to God and am now being patient and whether God has something else for me or not I feel content with the service opportunity I have.

-I had the chance to get a job doing event ems. This is something I have always showed interest in because you pretty much go to these cool event and get paid for it while responding to injuries when needed. It sounded awesome! This job paid more than I get now, I make my own schedule and it seemed very laid back. There was nothing wrong with it. However I already work 4 days a week and so with this job I would have added at least one day a week of work. I ended up saying no to this job and realizing life is not about working so I can have extra spending money. I need more community time. More God time. More time to serve.

Thank You God for loving me so much

Thank You God for being so forgiving

Thank You God for the friends and family I have been blessed with

Thank You God for giving me a church to call home

Thank You God for life!

Relationship's

It's funny how my time in the Word always seems to reflect conversations or events that have happened recently. Last night Sara, Emma, Billy and I sat in the living room and a conversation started about relationships. It was really Billy and Sara talking about it as I listened in and Emma half slept on the couch. None the less there were some interesting things stated that I enjoyed hearing. I have started to read through 1 Corinthians. Today I am on chapter 7 and this is a whole chapter of Paul expressing opinions on marriage and relationships. One main thing he said that caught my attention was the God gave some of us the gift of marriage and some the gift of singleness. Paul has quite strong feelings about singleness as he states that being single makes it so much easier to focus on God, because marriage is a strong commitment and there is just that much to be a part of taking away from God time. As I wrote down in my notebook/journal thing about what I just read and learned I decided I would also write down how I feel about it. Half way through writing I came to a realization. As much as I would love to meet some "perfect" guy that is all I want in a relationship and is a complete possibility for marriage I have to wait. I am such an impatient person and waiting is not what I want to do. But I have realized that I need to put my trust in God and know that He knows best. I now know that the reason I am single, the reason there are no potential "guys" is because I am not ready. God knows how immature and young I am in OUR relationship. God knows how much more learning I have to do and how much closer I can be to Him with out the distraction of an earthly relationship. I do not and will not know if it is Gods will to let me be a married person when I am older but I know for now, I am not ready to have a relationship. 1 Corinthians 7: 34 says "...in the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband." I am not married AND I am not completely devoted to the Lord. I need to first be completely devoted to the Lord BEFORE he can put me into a relationship. I know for sure a relationship would be way to much of a distraction for me and so I will now work on committing myself to God. Not for the reason of reaching the goal to be ready for an earthly relationship, but for the goal to be satisfied that I have an excellent, everlasting relationship with Jesus Christ.

PS. Paul gives me assurance when he writes, "I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible." 1 Cor 7:35

Realization

The other day at work I had a depressed psych patient ask me "Are you happy?" I responded saying yes. He then asked why. I simply said because I love Jesus. And then it was quiet for like 5 mins, then he said "Was that a serious answer?" I told him yes, I am in love with Jesus Christ and He loves me. He said oh.

That made me realize, I love life. I have nothing to complain about, I have been given so much and forgiven so much. There is a great and mighty God out there and I am so lucky to know Him. :)