Pursuing Lent

(photo:unsplash)

 Lent, the time when religious people come out of the woodwork and give up things.  Apparently the act of great sacrifice, doing without things like coffee, wine, bread, meat, shopping…and on and on.  Lent, I believe, could be so much more than that.  We could be in pursuit instead of promoting self. Here is my Lenten creed…

For Lent I will be in pursuit.  I don’t want to give up I want to give in. I want to give in wholly to who I am at the foot of the Cross. I want to give in to His desires, His will, His way.

I want to die to myself so I can live a life that is pleasing to God. That honors Him. That says yes to community, to loving well, to serving, to teaching, to mentoring.  A life that says yes to abundant grace and mistakes and tears and joy. 

(photo:chrystanferrell)

This Lent I will celebrate each day by opening the word, by giving up my time for His glory. I will celebrate the journey to the Cross by giving up my will, to honor His.  I will celebrate the life and death, by dying to my selfish desires to instead desire time in prayer and repentance. 

This Lent may we all by more willing to give up our lives for the glory of his, than we are to give up a food, a beverage, or an activity. This Lenten season may we look for the face of grace instead of the “obligation” of living without.

Forty days with the God of grace at the helm of this ship sounds better than anything else I could pursue today. Let the creator guide the created.

You are beautifully made by the creator of the universe who died for the sins that you refuse to let go of.  Let that sink in a minute, then lay down your life and follow HARD after him.  May this be the Lent season where we give up what He is truly asking for, our hearts.

Isaiah 44:22
"I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like a mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you"

Much Love,

Chrystan

Centered in the Light

(photo by cferrell)

Have you ever just sunk down deep into your depths and wanted to stay there?  Today that's where I am.  And sweet sister, if I'm being honest, it's not a place where I sit with Jesus it's a place where I feel sad.  Today has been hard, and the problem I'm battling will not get easier. So, where do we go from the deep down darkest depths, you get centered back into the light.

My life is ordinary, yet run by an extraordinary creator.  He does sweet things to lift my eyes back up to him and today has been no different, though I continue to battle the back slide.  Everyday faith for me comes fairly easy, I mean God is super easy to trust and believe in in the everyday spaces. It's the places of turmoil where there is uncertainty of out come, when there is attack is where things start to feel impossible.   

My life is not tragic.  Today I am not facing tragedy, and what's interesting I learned something about tragedy at If:Gathering this weekend.  There is not a Hebrew word that translates our word "tragedy" because the Hebrews believed there was nothing tragic, that if something seemed hopeless still it was because God was still moving and working out his plan.  Now that's something to wrap your mind around.  

(photo by cferrell)

My life is Christ centered.  When your life is Christ centered you are walking in light.  When I am not focused on the truth of Christ I am hiding behind darkness instead of staying in the light.  Today things seemed dark, very dark, and sad but I spent a few hours stepping back into light.  I opened the pages of the Bible and read truth.  I re-centered.

Lovelies, things are going to suck. It's pretty much guaranteed (see John 16:33). We are separated from the original plan for us because of original sin, so this world and it's sadness and hurts we cannot avoid.  We can, however, choose to re-center.  We can choose to chase after light with all our might and all our energy.  We are going to get down, but if we allow him, the Lord will give us reason not to stay down.  

(photo by cferrell)

The months ahead may have dark spots but the God who knit us together in the secret place will love us well and lift our face, if we center ourselves in his light.  I'm praying that for us this week.  Don't stay down in darkness girls, let the lover of your soul lift your head and guide you on. Seek Him in prayer, seek Him in scripture, find a church, find a Bible study, find accountability, you were not meant to do this life alone.  God created you special, you are a treasure to him FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY made in his LOVINGLY BEAUTIFUL image.  Run with that as the wind in your sails this week.

Much Love,

Chrystan