In His Image

The past few days, I've been doing a theology Bible study, and I've been reading about being made in the image of God. 

I finished the study for the week and decided to read in 1 Corinthians. I read chapter 15 and verse 49 stood out: "Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven."

In the beginning, God created man in His own image (Genesis 1:27). So many times we think "in image of God" refers to looking like Him, yet recently, I've learned differently.

I have a sticky note stuck on the Genesis 1 page in my Bible. It's a quote from Brent Crowe: "To be made in the image of God seems to refer to the fact that God created us to be like Him and to represent Him in creation." This is what "made in God's image" means: we are like Him the attributes we display—love, creativity, kindness, etc.

But sin distorts. It distorts us from being in God's image—God doesn't sin so that's not like Him.

So back to 1 Corinthians 15:49, "Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven."

Because of sin we are now born in the image of the sinful man of dust.

But there's hope! When we receive salvation, we are made into the image of the Man of heaven—God! Back how it's supposed to be! We then can be like him in displaying love, mercy, wisdom, creativity, etc.

As Christians, are we displaying the image of Christ righty? If not, let's get our head back in the game because this is what we were made for!

ONE THING

In Luke 10:38-42, it talks about Mary and Martha where Martha is comparing her life and job to Mary's. Jesus sweetly calls to her and tells her that she is "anxious and troubled about many things, but ONE THING is necessary" (vs 41-42). 

In Mark 10:17-22, the rich young ruler goes to Jesus in search of eternal life. He tells of all he has done (kept the commandments since his youth) yet Jesus says, "You lack ONE THING" (vs 21).

So many times, we Christians get so caught up with " the next event" or other ministries we can get involved in. While that can be good, too many times I believe we focus on the mission--what we do--instead of the message--who He is.

Martha and the rich young ruler were good people, serving and obeying commandments, but Jesus called them out for missing ONE THING.

I've been challenged to ask myself: what is my ONE THING?

 For Martha, it was stepping aside from busy tasks and soaking in Jesus' teachings by sitting at His feet. For the rich young ruler, it was selling all of his possessions and giving the money to the poor.

What ONE THING is keeping me from a complete and focused relationship with Christ?

SLU ~ 5 things I wish every high schooler knew

Student Leadership University has encouraged me to share 5 specific things I wish high schoolers were more aware of and followed.  My inspiration was out of God's Word in 1 Timothy 4:12. If you have any questions regarding SLU, feel free to contact me or go to www.slulead.com

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"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

1) Speech ~ As high schoolers, we try to forget middle school. High schoolers think that they're annoying little people who are loud and awkward. Or we try to forget middle school because those were some of the worst years of our lives, submerged in bullying and awkward friendships. We hated those uncomfortable years so we try to disregard middle school in general.

The first thing I wish high schoolers knew is that middle schoolers need encouragers—we are those encouragers. This is a new time in their lives so we need to rightfully use our speech.

2) Conduct ~ The Bible says in Matthew 7:20 that Christ followers will be recognized "by their fruits." Too many times high schoolers are not known by their fruits and do not display the fruits of the Spirit because they are too consumed with living now. "#YOLO" and "Live your life!!" are things the world screams at us, discouraging us to be an example in our conduct. People watch everything we do.

Secondly, I desire high schoolers to know that life is not about "now." The life we live now should point to Who we will spend eternity with (this is sanctification).

3) Love ~ Several months ago, I finally had enough courage to ask our Bellevue Arlington student pastor's wife to chat over some coffee. I was so nervous... I mean, she was goals—beautiful, popular, sweet, and caring—what more could you ask for? But I wanted to get to know her better and glean wisdom from her. We met at Starbucks and talked for almost two hours. Plus, I gained a lot of wisdom from her! We've gotten to grow closer—we even went on a double date with her husband and my boyfriend. But a couple weeks ago, I found out my sweet new friend was moving almost six hours away! I'm sad she's leaving, and I'll miss her, but I'm thankful I had enough courage to get to know her better in the first place. 

Thirdly, I wish high schoolers knew getting to know people is the best thing you can do! Not just in your circle of friends, but people you've had a desire to get to know—this will help deepen your walk with God and will also strengthen the body of Christ.

4) Faith ~ If I've learned anything in my Christian walk, it's been that being a Christian isn't comfortable. There have been many things that have made me uncomfortable—like sharing the gospel with a stranger or giving up something for the sake of Christ. But as I've learned this, I've learned that it is totally worth it—outside of our comfort zone is the perfect spot where Jesus can use us. The theme of our summer camp this past year was "this changes everything," meaning salvation affects every area of our lives—our attitude, actions, and appearance.

Additionally, I desire high schoolers to know that salvation changes EVERYTHING. It may not be comfortable, but it's totally worth it.

5) Purity ~ I've learned a lot through my relationship with my boyfriend. From the very start, we both desired to have a relationship of example that younger people could look up to and follow. As I've grown closer to my boyfriend, I've learned that a relationship with Christ is so much more important!!

Finally, I wish high schoolers knew that every relationship we have here on earth is meant to deepen our relationship with Christ.

From Enemy to Faultless

Colossians 1:21-23(NLT)

21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

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I am the worst sinner. 

I have disobeyed God and spit in His face. Because of my thoughts and actions (both evil), I was separated from God. 

I was His enemy.

 But His love couldn't stand to be apart from me. He loved me—His enemy—enough to die.

His blood has brought me into His presence. 

He calls me holy and blameless! He sees me without a single fault through His eyes of mercy. 

What a God! What a love! 

But this should encourage us to continue in our faith, stable and steadfast, and not shifting from this hope.

This knowledge—reaffirming knowledge that we were enemies and now are holy—should push and encourage us to share the gospel without fear.

For Christ lives in us and this should give us the assurance—this should give me the assurance—of sharing his glory.

Growing in What We Believe

“We learn to believe by believing… The practice of acting on a certain thing, even (or especially) when feeling is absent, embodies the entire ‘how’ of growth.” Eugenia Price

Growing is difficult. How do we grow in what we believe? By acting on what we believe even when we don’t feel like it.

“Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” Hebrews 2:1

If we don’t grow closer to God, we’ll find ourselves drifting away. The next couple of verses in Hebrews talks about if we neglect this great salvation—if we choose not to deepen our walk with Christ, we will receive punishment.

God promises in James 4:8 that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.

There’s so much more of God that He wants to teach us. He desires us to grow in Him because only then will we obtain true joy.

“Eternity will never be long enough to learn all He is, or to praise Him for all He has done, but then, that matters not; for we shall be always with Him, and we desire nothing more.” A W Tozer

Holy Confidence

One of the primary ways the devil attacks us ladies, I believe, is that he steals our confidence. Not the “I’m more beautiful than anyone else” kind, but the inward beauty of Christ. Not the “I can do this all by myself—without people or God” kind of confidence, but the “I can do all things through Christ.” (Phil. 4:13)

This is the real world… I know. It’s so hard to walk with your head held high when someone has just finished making a rude comment about your makeup/outfit/overall appearance or mocked inward beauty. It’s tough.

Satan knows that by stealing our confidence, he’ll more easily be able to steal other things from us. But by living life in the confidence of the Lord, He will give us three specific qualities as our reward (not limited to these three, but these are the ones that stood out to me).

With holy confidence, we will display joy.

We can’t have the confidence of the Lord without the Lord. He is the one who puts the spring in our step even when our outfit is labeled “boring” or we’re internally a roller coaster of emotions. He promises to give us joy! “Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.” 1 Chronicles 16:27 When we spend time with Jesus, we will experience his splendor and majesty, His strength and joy.

With holy confidence, we will exhibit peace.

“You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3 By focusing on the Lord we will come to the point of peace where we’ll realize how much better inward beauty is than our outward beauty. The world constantly tells us to lose our focus and look to the “treasures” the world offers… whether it be a better outfit or just the mindset of doing things yourself (“You don’t need anybody but yourself”). Peace comes through Jesus not the world. When we focus on Jesus and keep our mind on Him, we will keep the confidence and peace we desire.

With holy confidence, we will gain compassion.

Compassion for others. You and I aren’t the only ones losing our confidence. Every female—young girl or elderly woman—at some point or another will experience a loss of confidence. With this knowledge, we can encourage others through our compassionate hearts. Everyone who struggles desires to have someone to sympathize. We have influence to encourage our sisters in Christ, telling them that we don’t have to give up our confidence!

By choosing to continue in the confidence of the Lord and keeping our focus on Him, we will receive joy, peace, and compassion. It’s not going to be easy, but with this knowledge we don’t have to give up what’s ours… we can live in the fullness of holy confidence!