an unscripted life

Recently I found myself saying in front of a large crowd of people that I'm the type of girl who lives life unscripted.  Of course, those words were, in reality, unscripted and unplanned.  Now, I'm not really an advocate of just saying any random thing in front of large crowds of people (that's been known to get a person or two in trouble), but there it was leaving my mouth and it stuck with me the rest of the day.

Live outside the box.  Think outside the box.  Educate outside the box.  Play outside the box.


Unscripted.
Not by the world's expectations, political correctness, or even etiquette-obedience.
But by God's script.
A melodrama unfolding scene by scene.  God as the Narrator.

What is our default?  We have all been brainwashed, indoctrinated in a variety of ways.  I hate this.  And I'm trying to cure myself of it by facing head-on every mindless default response I have to a variety of issues.  Why do I have a particular perspective of certain things?  Oftentimes, it is because someone told me to think that way.  I don't want to be told what to think.  I want GOD to tell me the truth and to judge everything against His Holy and Perfect Word.  I want my opinions to be the result of the Holy Spirit's resonance in my soul.

thankful...#39

39. The seven thousand who will not bow the knee.  I am not alone.

"I have left 7,000.. which have not bowed the knee to Baal..."

~1 Kings 19:18

 "God created the world out of nothing,

and as long as we are nothing,

He can make something out of us."

~Martin Luther

(What is 1000 Gifts?)

thankful...#37-38

37. bare feet
38. baseball hats and freckles

(What is 1000 Gifts?)

"The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth

to strengthen those who's hearts

are fully committed to him."

~2 Chronicles 16:9

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"You his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this."

~Daniel 5:22

What did Belshazzar know?
He knew the mighty works of the Mighty God and yet refused to acknowledge Him and humble himself.

"That very night Belshazzar...was slain." ~Daniel 5:30

So Belshazzar wasn't ignorant of the works of God and because he knew, God held him responsible to do the right thing.  But in Belshazzar's pride, he refused to do it.  And God held him accountable.

When unrighteousness is revealed to us, and we pursue it anyway - justifying our excuses and lusts - we fail to humble ourselves and we become disobedient, rebelliously defying Holy God.

"God resists the proud..."

~1 Peter 5:5

"God can still love us and oppose us..."

~Beth Moore

I choose to not be willfully ignorant.  I choose to seek out the truth so that I wouldn't even unknowingly sin.  I choose to do my very best to not put myself in opposition to God.  I choose to resist Christian mediocrity.

More gleanings from Beth Moore's study on the book of Daniel.

an extraordinary spirit

"Caleb and Daniel...refused to blend in.  They never assimilated.  Neither did they settle into the lowest common denominator of devotion practiced by their closest friends or kin.  ...  Anyone who goes overboard or takes it too seriously is considered eccentric, not extraordinary.  For some, the flow of the world can be easier to resist than the flow of Christian mediocrity." ~Beth Moore

NEVER SETTLE FOR CHRISTIAN MEDIOCRITY.

Oh, that there would be revival amongst Christians!!  

Where is principle? Where is conviction? Where is righteousness no matter the cost?

"You and I want God to be able to look on us amid our overindulged, self-absorbed culture, then glance to His right and say, 'She has an extraordinary spirit, doesn't she, Son?'  Perhaps Christ will nod His head and, while thinking the thoughts of an anxious bridegroom, lean over and say, 'And isn't she beautiful?'" ~Beth Moore

O God, could this ever be me? 

thankful...#36

36. Making lemonade from lemons.

It seems a downed tree is way more fun

than one of those boring upright ones.

(What is 1000 Gifts?)

God by default

We drove through Garibaldi on the Oregon Coast the other day.  A “G” appears on a low hill. Jamie and I bantered back and forth over what the G could stand for, and Brandon speaks: “That's God's mountain!”

We drive further down the 101. A sign comes into view: “Welcome to God's Country”...wait, no, it says “Welcome to Coos County.” My first observation was better.

Oh, that God would be our default always. I hope I will be ever mindful of God that, like Brandon, or like my poor physical eyesight, my spiritual eyesight will reign where everything is God's...because truly all is His. (1-21-12)