His Joy is Our Strength

It's kind of all over the place, but I wanted to write it down nonetheless.

I try to find happiness, but I never look in the right places, or when I do I'm blinded. I wait and wait for it to come around thinking, "When I get this paper done, I'll be happy." "When I finally get home for Thanksgiving, I'll be happy." "When this semester is over, I'll be able to breathe and restart." I put my identity in my hobbies or talents thinking, "I'll be happy if I master this." I've discovered a few things lately and I'd like to share.

I believe that my first fault lies in this waiting game. It's our responsibility to take control of a situation and be advocates of our own happiness. I think we too often find situations to be overwhelming or less-than-ideal and we decide that any effort to salvage any happiness from them would be futile. False. There is always something to be grateful for. There is always joy to be found, which brings me to my next point:

Jesus is the author of joy. Nehemiah tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength. What He has done (and continually does) for us is enough to make my heart sing. He has given me life; He has offered the same to everyone willing to give their all. I think of the things I've so mindlessly given my time and efforts to over the years trying to find happiness. I realize that none of these things could ever come close to what Christ offers. He is joy, He is life, He is love, purpose, hope.  We fill ourselves with the things we think will make us happy only to find that we are still utterly and painfully empty.

He wants to bless us. He wants to give us the desires of our hearts. He smiles when we smile, and he laughs when we laugh. He has created us so that we know true joy when we know Him. I believe John Piper got it right when he said,

"The greatest news in all the world is that God's ultimate aim to be glorified and man's aim to be satisfied are not at odds."

We praise Him, He gives us ultimate joy and satisfaction. He carries and sustains us through the tough times and He walks with us in joy during the good times. Stop diverting your attention from the only true source of joy: the fountain of life which never runs dry. I'm trying to do the same.

From the Depths of Woe

I'm not a photographer. Big cameras scare me, and I know I would get distracted trying to get the perfect shot. But I do love seeing awesome photography and I am even lucky enough to have several friends, who are very talented photographers and who capture beautiful shots of the people and places I love. Have you ever seen those photos that look too real to actually be real? Like the sharpest lines and the most vivid and vibrant colors that you've never actually seen in real life.

I find that it is like that with God, often times. Try to bear with this poor attempt of portraying my thoughts. When He captures us, like truly captures us, we finally see this super real image. (In this case it actually is real, though.) We go though life seeing things that are beautiful, things that are sad. We see ourselves in sin and we think "Man. I stink at life." Our society views the cross as "Oh!-What a nice gesture! That was really a kind thing to do." Christians see grace as a free gift and we accept it, we abuse it, and we take it for granted. But we fail to realize the depth of these things and truly see how grave our sin is, how devastating to Jesus the cross was, and how truly marvelous His grace is. We need to see the depth of reality and not just the surface level we live in day-to-day.

You and I need to realize how depraved we are to realize how beautiful the cross is, and how vast God's love is to have done such a thing. We need the true nature of our sin and fallen condition to be impressed on our conscience. Romans 3:23 tells us that all have fallen short of the Glory of God. None of us are good enough. When we realize this, we discover that we have absolutely nothing to boast in accept how despicable we are. I used to have a problem with this terminology of self-loathing and hatred. But it isn't at all that we need to hate ourselves. In fact, humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. BUT, back on track, we need to realize that we cannot do anything apart from Christ, because we truly are that bad. We cannot handle this world without His provision. We cannot fully grasp and accept His provision until we admit that we are a much bigger mess than we think we are. Until we say "Hey, I'm in deep trouble and can't rescue myself," we will not truly grasp the help we do have in Jesus: His saving grace, the good news, the ever-sufficient plan of salvation.

Our salvation has nothing to do with us, but it is something Jesus has done. We need it.  We need it bad. We understand that when we realize how bad we are. And when we realize who Jesus is and what He has done, we can walk in Him with joy and gratitude. We walk in humility knowing it's all Him. Boast only in Christ, as He has done what we could not (2 Corinthians 10:17). He has lavished His great love on us (1 John 3:1) and we must be grateful.

Look at life and truly see the nature of yourself, because when you do, you can grasp the marvelous love of Jesus and what a beautiful thing that is.

The Gift vs. the gift... and LOVE!

You have to read the entire post to understand the title. HA! Fooled you into reading this whole thing, but also it's about love so you were probably going to read it anyway. Seriously? A dating post?! Yes, that's right. A dating post. "What are you thinking," you may be asking yourself. "What am I thinking," is what I also asked myself.  Well, I tell you, after an entire semester of sermons geared toward dating and, quite frankly just being alive, I've heard a lot about relationships. "You don't need to be in a relationship to be happy." "The right one will come along." "Maybe you have the gift of singleness." BLAH BLAH BLAH. Tonight I went to church for our college night. In light of the upcoming holiday, on which we are either doused in love or loneliness, we enjoyed hearing from a panel of experts (our pastor, his wife, and other couples on staff) about love and marriage. I thought to myself, "Self, I think you should go to this, because maybe they have some good insights you haven't heard before." I also, in pessimistic skepticism, thought "oh, just one more love talk. I needeth not attend this, as it will surely slap me in the face once more."  To avoid all suspense, it was not just another love talk. Well, technically it was, but it hit home above all others I've heard thus far. Maybe it just took the 174th time of hearing this stuff, but I think I finally get it. The only thing that could even possibly come CLOSE to satisfying me fully is a relationship with Jesus Christ. There is absolutely nothing on the planet, not any object, not one person, not a feeling, an opportunity, achievement, or earning that can give me that which only Christ Jesus can provide. It's been said many times before that there is a whole the size of Texas in each of our hearts. It just so happens to be God-shaped. Sometimes we are unaware that it's even there until it is so mercifully and graciously filled to the brim with the precious love of Jesus. (Fill Me Up-United Pursuit Band, LISTEN NOW) Once you are quenched by the Spirit, you can only recede in fulfillment from that point forward, because nothing else is going to touch it.  Pastor J.D. Greear said tonight that he regretfully always seems to be unsatisfied with the stage of life he is in, waiting for what he will receive in the next one. Singleness is a beautiful stage in life in which we are able to grow individually toward God, not having to worry about that guy or that girl, also trying to grow toward the Lord. Yes, there will be (if God has willed) a time where you will be growing side by side with another human being. But it is not the same. It's probably not quite as sweet. I mean Paul tells us that singleness* is a beautiful thing that is truly a gift form God. Jesus was single and look how much he was able to advance the Kingdom. (Okay, I know he was God and all, but if he was married he would have had to worry about making His wife feel pretty or something silly like that.)  All I'm saying, and I'm preaching to myself too, is to be content in where you are right now. Once you are in a relationship, married, whatever... you may never have the opportunity to serve the Lord in this capacity. Take advantage of this time and be content in where Jesus has you in life. One final point--Our greatest desire as humans is to know and be known. My thoughts on this are as follows: Jesus knows us completely. He loves us more than anyone else ever could. He thinks you are more beautiful than anyone else on Earth does (and he sees these awfully disgusting hearts of ours).  He does not see us defined by our sins, but rather as the beautiful creatures He gave us the potential to be. He thinks we are as beautiful now as the day we will be upon our completion. How, I do not know, but I've learned not to question the unconditional love of my savior and just accept it. So, those of you struggling with this upcoming "holiday" know that you are loved, you are beautiful, and just be content in living life now, right where you are.

*singleness: I am referring to the gift of singleness in this context as not The Gift of singleness, but rather the gift of singleness. See below:
     the gift of singleness: the state of temporarily being single; this stage of life in which you are single
     The Gift of singleness: forever without a lover, aside from Jesus the lover of my soul, that is

Lots and lots and lots of love (to get you through Tuesday),
Kaylee

Wisdom Teeth Removal: One Girl's Story

This week I got my wisdom teeth removed. We've all either heard the horror stories or survived them. This is mine... illustrated. Sorry about the awkward sizing and positioning of the illustrations. JUST BE GLAD THAT THEY ARE THERE, JEEZ.