Complicated Simplicity

Took some time to take a walk this morning on my own. The sun is shining and its a beautiful day. A bit cool but warm enough to go out in a long sleeve shirt and a jacket. I walked to the beach and found myself a nice rock near the waters edge to sit and read my Bible.  Been spending some time reading through Colossians and thought I would share some of my random thoughts with you all.

Christianity is so complicated in its simplicity.  I find myself being able to understand why so many people turn to other religions, because every other religion requires you 'to do' something where Christianity requires nothing but faith.  God makes it so simple for us to have relationship with Him. We don't have to do anything to earn our salvation or to prove ourselves worthy to God.  Christ has made us worthy.  He has already done the work for us when He hung on the cross taking on the sins of the world as His own.  It has truly been finished!  All we have to do is to accept His gift of grace.  I think that once we really understand this, the more we will want to serve Him.  It will be a service done out of love rather than a service to prove ourselves or as an effort to make Him love us more.  He has loved us with His life and continues to pour His life into us.  For in Him we are made complete.  For some reason this somehow doesn't seem like enough...to just walk in faith.  Is this an issue of pride in my life?  Is it proof that I truly don't understand the sufficiency of Christ?  In my wanting or feeling like I need 'to do' something.....anything to give back to Him, am I suffering from a need to feel in control?  He has done the work and it is our job to follow Him in love and obedience.  Colossians says we have been buried and raised with Christ and we are no longer subject to the regulations of this world.   We have been made alive in Him.  Christ IS our life!  Is He my life?  Are others seeing Him or are they seeing me?  This journey of faith continues to be a mystery to me.  "God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."  God is helping me to understand Him more and I continue to be amazed by who He is and how much He loves me and has already accomplished for me so that I can have the peace of God in my heart and the hope of the glory to come!

Community

"If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." (I John 1:7)  I have found myself so encouraged and so blessed these last 3 days by the community that exists on this ship.  Friday, Saturday, and today were days full of fellowship with my brothers and sisters onboard and it has been so refreshing.  God has blessed me richly in such a short time with people that I can really talk to and who can tell when I'm having a bad day and will drop everything to listen or will pray for me at that moment no matter where we are or what we're doing.  I've been so encouraged and challenged by others opening up to me and those around them in a real, honest, and transparent way and how others come around them in support, without an attitude of condemnation or disapproval, but rather one of love and acceptance and forgiveness....all qualities of God that in some ways I feel like I'm starting to really understand for the first time.  Coming here as a missionary, you feel like you're going to have awesome times and you're gonna be strong and just shine your light for Jesus (which does happen) but you are also confronted with yourself.  You realize (or are rather reminded) that you don't have it all together and neither does anybody else on this ship.  Everyone has weaknesses, and everyone has those things they struggle with, and everyone is stuck in a world where sin has a hold on all of us.  But, while we all battle against Satan and against our sinful nature we can have confidence because Jesus has already won the battle for us and His grace that was given through the blood that He shed is sufficient to cover all our filth and has made us clean.  We have victory!  In the end we are still His and there is nothing that can snatch us out of His hand and take away our salvation.  Praise the Lord for a happy ending!  But until that day when He defeats evil once and for all and locks it up for eternity we have a war to fight and it is one that we can not fight alone!  We need each other and I am so grateful for the body that He has made me a part of in this time and place.

Picture of the Day

I absolutely love this picture and had to share it! I took it while out on a walk this morning.  I'm not sure exactly what it is but it's one of those pictures that evokes emotion.  Please leave your comments and let me know what it makes you feel or think about.  Perhaps that seems like a strange request to some of you, but sorry, it's the artist in me :)   

Coffee Shops or Cafe's and Coke or Cola

After a very miserable 30 hours of not feeling well and puking out everything that was in me, I have arrived in my next port...Scheveningen, Netherlands.  We will be here for the next 3 weeks and have lots of things planned during our stay.  Its a very beautiful port.  The beach is about 2 minutes down the road, the main city is about a 15 minute walk and we are about a 1 hour train ride away from Amsterdam.  Looking forward to exploring more of the city and walking along the beach on Friday as it is my day off.  Granted the beach isn't quite as fun in winter as it is in the warmth of summer, but I still find it beautiful and love listening to the crash of the waves along the shoreline!  This port is definitely much different from the small village of Harlingen that we just left.  We are definitely in a bigger city and have already discovered that if you walk into a 'coffee shop' and order a coke, you will not be getting a bottle of soda but rather a plastic bag full of cocaine!  You think I'm joking, but I'm totally serious!  Come check it out for yourself!   In this area, if you are interested in having a good coffee or some other similar beverage and pastry it is highly advised that you go to a cafe not a 'coffee shop,' and if you want a soda it is called a cola in this area!  Oh, the things you learn when traveling the world!  

Baker for a Day

Today I had kind of an odd shift.  Every third thursday I am on what they call the X shift and we usually work from 8-5 and its a day of deep cleaning the whole galley and dining room area.  But today, I was lucky enough to be chosen to help in the bakery.  So while my whole team spent the day scrubbing and cleaning who knows what, I spent 8 hours baking.  It was actually a lot of fun but not an easy job.  Everyday they bake 70 loaves of bread for ships company and lots of cakes and cookies and such to serve to our visitors who stop by the I-Cafe down on deck 4.  So during my time today I cracked over 450 eggs, helped make enough cookie dough for 1,000 cookies that turn out to be about the size of my hand (now thats a lot of dough).  I also helped make, bake, and decorate 12 chocolate cakes, 12 coffee cakes, and 10 fruit cakes.  By the time I was finished I was so covered in batter and icing :)  All was going perfectly well until I started having to cover things and put them in the freezer.  Now this freezer is one of those walk-in freezers that you see on the movies, you know, the kind that you could hide a dead body in! Kinda creepy!  I really think that the giant plastic wrap and the plastic things that hang in the entry way of the freezer had a conspiracy against me!  The plastic wrap just would not cooperate for anything and every time I went to walk into the freezer, I swear the plastic came alive and grabbed at me and tried to keep me from walking through and then did everything they could to grab the cakes out of my hands and send them crashing to the floor while dropping chunks of ice on my head!  I'm serious!  It was quite the battle, but in the end I prevailed!! 

Thoughts to Ponder

So, I know its been a while since I've done a post. I've had this one prepared for a while now but I guess I've just been too lazy to actually put it up. Anyway. These are some thoughts out of a book that I was reading called 'Hunger for Reality.' I thought they were good and worth sharing.

We need a constant hunger and thirst for the nature of Christ to be reproduced in us. We need too, an awareness of the unending spiritual warfare surrounding us. We who have Christ's eternal life need to throw away our own lives. This readiness can come as we pray. As Christians we know that we walk daily in a wilderness world, but the attractions of the wilderness need not walk in us. Whenever they intrude through our eyes or ears or minds, the citizen of the Promised Land must pray: "Lord, I used to enjoy that diversion in slavery, but I have died to that in Christ, hold me in your rest and resurrection life." It is ours for the asking and the trusting. The promised land of rest on this earth is not for sleeping; its for fighting-but it is the place where you hear God say: "I shall fight for you." Opposition, danger, temptations, and hardships surround you, but your spirit rests in the fortress of Gods love and power. Will you choose this sanctuary instead of trying to straddle the Jordan and keep one foot in the world?