make the most of me

Marie Miller’s song Make The Most Of Me has become one of those songs that captures my attention every time I hear it. Its not the melody or the beat of the music that moves me, but the lyrics that have captured my heart and every time I hear them my heart cries out to God as if the words have never before been spoken; as if its a new song over and over again.

 

On my own, I’m afraid to step out on the sea
All alone, no mountain will move fore me
But you breathe your life into my soul
You take away the impossible 

I can feel your mystery moving in my hands and feet

You make the most of me, You make the most of me

With you here, I see sight return to the blind
When you're near, I can watch the dead come to life
You shine your light into our souls
You make all things possible

I can feel your mystery moving in my hands and feet
Leading me through disbelief, finding strength when I feel weak
You make the most of me, You make the most of me

You make the most of me, You make the most of me

I can feel your mystery moving in my hands and feet
Leading me through disbelief, finding strength when I feel weak

You make the most of me, You make the most of me

captivating and irreplaceable

- An excerpt from the book Captivating that I am currently reading

There is a scene near the end of the film Anna and the King…let me describe it. The setting is nineteenth-century Siam, a tiny but beautiful Asian country still in the grips of its ancient past. Anna, an English woman living in Siam as a tutor to the king’s many offspring, has helped King Mangkut prepare for a state dinner. He wants to show the British that his country is ready to enter into the affairs of the world, so the dinner is given in the English style – silverware, tablecloths, candlelight, and, at the end of the meal, ballroom dancing.

When the feast is over and it comes time for the dance, the king stands and extends his hand to Anna. He invites her to dance with him. He fixes his gaze upon her and is distracted by nothing and no one else. He waits for her response. She is clearly surprised, taken aback, but has the grace to respond and stand. As they walk past the long table, the king’s eyes never stray from hers, a smile playing on his lips. Others are upset that he has chosen her. Some watch with contempt, others with pleasure. It is of no consequence to the king or to Anna.
Anna came to the ball prepared. She was beautiful in a striking gown that shimmered like starlight. She spent hours getting herself ready – her hair, her dress, her heart. As they reach the dance floor, Anna expresses her fear of dancing with the King before the eyes of others. “We wouldn’t want to end up in a heap,” she says. His answer to her questioning heart? “I am King. I will lead.”
Jesus is extending his hand to you. He is inviting you to dance with him. He asks, “May I have this dance. . . every day of your life?” His gaze is fixed on you. He is captivated by your beauty. He is smiling. He cares nothing of the opinion of others. He is standing. He will lead. He waits for your response.

‘My lover spoke and said to me,

“Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me”’ Song 2:10

 

This week I decided to pick up the book Captivating and read through it again. This excerpt captured the beauty of the story from the film (Anna and the King) and the story of our own lives in Christ. After reading this book for the first time, two years ago, I was left with an awakened responsiveness and even a new awareness towards the heart of God and this beautiful romance that He beckons each of us to be apart of.

 

In the world we are living in today, our perception can become so compromised from being surrounded by the deceptive images of beauty that the world has fabricated and thrown in front of us. For girls especially, finding their identity is challenging enough and when they don’t recognize that their identity has to be found in God, they easily accept those images of beauty, perfection, and  acceptance. They accept this as the mark they have to meet, the image they have to become. Through this distorted vision they desperately seek to find their worth, to find their role in this world. Inevitably they are left with an even deeper desperation because the world cannot, and will never be able to fill that God-shaped hole in our lives, a hole that only the Father can fill.

 

As I am continually discovering a deeper identity in Christ, I still have to diligently guard my heart and my mind against those lies about what the world believes is acceptable, beautiful, and even worthy.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will” Romans 12:2

It’s unbelievable how these lies are shaping a mold that people left and right are trying to conform to, a mold that they are trying to fit into. Sadly, none of them realize that they are trying to fit into this mold, this role, this image, that they were not created for. God created each of us to fill an irreplaceable role, one that no one else could fill; no one but you.

“Of course this is scary. Responding to the invitations of Jesus often feels like the riskiest thing we’ve ever done. The life of the friends of God is a life of profound risk. The risk of loving others. The risk of stepping our and offering, speaking up and following our God-given dreams. The risk of playing the irreplaceable role that it yours to play. Of course it is hard. If it were easy, you’d see lots of people living this way. How it turns out is no longer the point. Living this way, as people who are alive, is a choice we make because it is the person we want to be. It is our loving response to our Lover’s invitation”

 

“If you are called, God will make a way. Either where you are or through a change of circumstances. Follow your Lover; respond to his invitations. With him, there is no stopping you”

How else do we respond when God speaks to us and says, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me”. Total and complete surrender. Trust. Acceptance to the invitation that He is giving us. This is our loving response; our answer to the call He has for each of our lives, to play the irreplaceable role He has given us.

when you find yourself in a valley |continued|

We’ve all been there. We’ve all been at that place where we couldn’t see straight, that place where nothing made sense; we’ve all walked through one of those valleys at some point in our lives. Earlier this week I was reading through some of my old notes and I was encouraged and challenged with a particular few, some of which I’ve already shared through my blog. I planned to finish sharing the rest of them the following day but somehow life happened: crazy busy real life, and time flew right out the window. So, after being delayed a few days, I now find myself sitting here by my open window, listening to the rain and finally feeling like I am able to breath, finally able to slow down for a moment and just be here, all of me here in His presence.  I was compelled to read Hebrews chapter twelve before writing anything else, and I after I finished I was almost tempted to write out the entire chapter below because it is such a powerful and encouraging word, it sums up everything and it was just what I needed to hear,

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:2-3

  I feel almost as if my simple notes are just an afterthought proceeding those verses. However, the reminders that these notes have presented are found time and again throughout His word and still I am challenged by them and inspired to share them . . .  

 

When You Find Yourself in a Valley

- Stay Connected

two are better than one, woe to him who is alone – read Ecclesiastics 4 - when you are in a valley, you can’t see straight, but believe that God is moving!

When we find ourselves walking through a valley, the hardship we are facing, the pain we are experiencing, and the very idea of a valley can cause us to take our eyes off of the focus: which is Jesus. Things around us may become unclear and seem distorted but when we have a focus we know that we have a hope and a destination; not in the valley, but far beyond it. In Psalm 23:4 it says “I walk through the valley”. There is an absolute hope that we are going to get out of the valley we are in, but sometimes it takes time. Sometimes that walk through it, tries our patience, our faith, and things start to get even more distracting around us. That’s when we have to press in like never before so that we don’t loose focus, so we don’t take our eyes off of Jesus.  

- Stay Connected

Don’t loose focus! – read Hebrews 12! - refuse to take your eyes off of God’s promises the power is in the cross, keep your eyes on the cross

When we take our focus off of God, our eyes immediately focus in on our fears, our doubts, the pain, and our own plans about how to make it out of the valley on our own. That’s where we tend to loose it. That’s the moment when our focus is disrupted and in its place all of these distractions come flooding in. That’s why it is so important to stay focused. We should want to stay so focused on Him and His promises, so that we can make it through the valley as quick as we can. Pressing into his word and grasping the fullness of his promises and the hope that they bring is the only thing that will get us through. He promises us that we are not destined to stay in the valley, but to move through it. "God has planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:40 “ I consider that our present sufferings are not compared with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18

when you find yourself in a valley

Earlier this year I was blessed with the opportunity to go to the Generation Unleashed youth conference. It was such a powerful time of being in God’s presence. God did some amazing things in my life and I was filled with this new passion to pursue Him like never before. It was an unforgettable experience and I learned some powerful, challenging, and encouraging things.
 

 
This morning, with a cup of tea in-hand, I was reading over my notes that I took while I was at the youth conference. I had not anticipated to re-discover the powerful reminders that I came across. When I came upon the section titled when you find yourself in a valley my heart kind-of did this partial leap, and then stopped. Immediately I knew this section was going to be one of those challenging yet powerful lessons, scratch that, it was going to be one of those very challenging yet very powerful lessons.
 
Despite what I was anticipating at that moment, I knew that I didn’t want to rush over this section, and so, I thought maybe if I rewrote it, the words would sink a little deeper, and perhaps it would be encouraging and helpful to you as well.
 
When You Find Yourself in a Valley
 
- Stay Active

keep moving forward, help other people  

the moment your stop giving, you stop growing  

this whole thing is about helping other people 

serve somebody

I remember the speaker talking about how to make it through a valley and the first point was to stay active by helping others.
   
No matter what our circumstances are, there is never a reason to stop giving out of ourselves, to stop loving, or stop caring. However, helping other people when we are struggling through a valley is probably the last thing we think of to do. This idea can be so abstract because we live in a world with a mentality that focuses on “what can help me, who can help me, me, me”. This is especially true when things in life start to get tough: the very notion of helping other people kind-of vanishes, we go into survival mode and we begin to only think about ourselves and our situation. Believe me when I say that I am speaking this probably more to myself than anyone else. I was challenged at the conference, and now as I read through my notes again I am challenged once more, probably even more so than before. 

When you don’t want to help someone … help lots of people

“Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4


to be continued. . .