Meditation Monday: Katy Martin

Disclaimer: This may come across as a post for only single ladies, but it’s not! Just written from the perspective of a single lady ;) Also, grab some coffee, because I always love a good excuse to drink a cup.

Psalm 37:4

“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” – NIV

“Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart.” - NASB

“Get insurance with God and do a good deed, settle down and stick to your last.
Keep company with God, get in on the best.” – The Message

I specifically remember being introduced to this verse.

It was in high school after a leadership retreat my youth group had. We had a weekend full of community building, scripture learning, in the midst of Smith Mountain Lake’s beauty—along with a handful of older, attractive college-aged guys.

Needless to say my teenage heart throbbed in that environment. I developed a minor crush, and began mindlessly indulging on “what-ifs”.

Of course, what better person to talk this out with than with my youth pastor. She, like always, assured me of God’s plan and faithfulness. But, during this particular conversation she reminded me of Psalm 37:4. Let’s break this down as to how high school Katy translated this: If I was delighting, enjoying, seeking after the presence of God, He would give me the desires of my heart (which at the time was a very attractive, college guy).

Fast forward about five years (wow, that was a long time ago).

I’m listening to this fantastic sermon by Anne Lincoln from Matt Chandler’s church. (It was a segment from their singles weekend) Around midway through this chat, full of beautiful truths on singleness, Anne brings up Psalm 37:4. Immediately my brain goes into (in a rather sophisticated voice) “Oh yes, Psalm chapter 37 verse 4. I do love this verse.” She then, though, rocks my world.

Think about the desires of your heart.

Write them down (yes, right now)

A few of mine:

·      To fall in love and get married

·      Take photos of people and capture their stories

·      Lose about 40 pounds

Now look at what you wrote down, and let’s dissect them.

To fall in love and get married: this is my heart’s longing to be with a guy, but it’s more deeply my heart’s longing to feel loved and worthiness of pursuit.

Take photos of people and capture their stories: what I believe God has designed me for, my passion for photography and people. It’s also my heart’s longing to feel accomplished in doing something for the Kingdom and for loving on people.

Lose 40 pounds: this is me wanting to be happy in my own skin. To not be ashamed of what my jean size is or what the numbers on the scale say. It’s also my heart’s longing to feel beautiful, healthy, and “fearfully and wonderfully made”

Slowly I began to realize what Anne was getting at here.

If I’m delighting myself in the Lord, then all those things my heart desires, they are present!

*insert explosion of heart, probably fireworks too*

What an astronomical change of perception! It totally reversed my selfish mindset of getting what I want to soaking in Jesus and being satisfied with that!

Now, I don’t want to downplay God’s beautiful desire to please us, and give us the wonderful blessings of this life. But don’t be like me and get caught up in the “what do I need to do for God to give me what I want”.

Mediate on how you’re delighting yourself in God this week, and are you satisfied in that?

Have a beautiful day, ladies!

Love,

Katy

Ps. Here’s the link to Anne’s sermon: http://www.thevillagechurch.net/sermon/walking-as-beloved-daughters-of-god/

Women's social: Pinterest Craft Party

6:33 Recap

This week's 6:33 was focused on 1 Thessalonians 4, How do you live a life that pleases God? Becky Clark wrote our recap this week so let's keep the discussion going, but in case you missed it, you can listen to the audio here.

This 6:33 was a little different because both Ryan Mason and Darrell spoke. Ryan was affirmed as the next president after giving the following vision. As a body of believers, his goal is to see the BCM be more intentional about campus and community missions. Matthew 28:19-20 states “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” But even beyond the basics of the great commission Ryan has connected two very important verses in the New Testament dealing with our love for God and how we show love to those around us. In Matthew 22: 37-38 “Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And in John 4:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

If Jesus is the only way to the Father, and we have a calling to love our neighbors, we need to be sharing the life saving gospel of the life and death of Jesus Christ! Everyone has a part to play in this vision. Not only does the BCM offer opportunities to serve, we as a greater body, need to step up to the plate and find ways that we can serve. We also need to be intentional. If we are living out this vision, we can be an encouragement to those around us. We can help find and promote opportunities not only for ourselves but for those around us. And finally, we don’t need to view people as projects to be brought in and converted. But rather we need to intentionally love individuals by living and showing the grace of the Father. Amen!!

After that, we pretty much stepped right in the middle of conversation between Paul and the Thessalonians in Chapter 4. We weren’t there, so we really don’t know what instructions Paul had given them but we do know, that faith is supposed to grow (vs 2). There should be expectancy. This also points us to focus on the future and not make a shrine out of our pasts. While it is good to look back on what God has done, we also need to expect growth.

This quandary about what Paul was talking about is just one of several other BDQs (Big Deal Questions) in the Bible. And we must always view these questions in light of the gospel. Some of them include: What does God require of me? Micah 6:8, What must I do to inherit eternal life? Luke 18:18,22, What is the greatest commandment? Mark 12:28-31.

Now back to the original point of discussion. We can find out generally what Paul spoke about as we read Acts 17: 1-4. “² As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, ³ explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said.” He spoke the core of the gospel, and then encouraged them in verses 1-2 to continue to grow with the goal (found in vs 3) of sanctification.

So a quick run through verses 3-10.

Sanctification: This is Gods will for your life. It is a process that only God can do within us but sometimes we can get in the way of this process.

Sexual immorality: Darrell stressed that he could talk about this for a while. We as Christians are to avoid this because it gets in the ways of the sanctification process.

And finally brotherly love, verses 11-12.

So what does all this mean? What does it look like for you to root out the things that keep you from being sanctified?

Do you want to write a Meditation Monday?

Email lindsay@bcmvt.org if you are interested in writing a post this semester.

Friendly Friday!

This week we will meet Shannon Wilkinson!

Name: Shannon
Major: HNFE (exercise option)

Favorite childhood toy/fad: Disney princessess. I'm seriously obsessed.

Favorite thing about being a student at VT: I absolutley love the unity of the body. Going to such a big school but being so connected is really amazing.

If you could do anything without the possibility of failure and money wasnt a restraint: what would you do? Wellllll I think probably something with hunger and feeding more people. Or maybe invent a way to use the epedimic of obesity here in America and by decreasing that, increasing the amount of food for those in chronic starvation.

What is my favorite thing to do to rest and relax? I love to read or watch TV. I literally like just about everything I read or watch so I never get bored.

Are you reading any books right now? I am actually, my girls in brown fam and I started reading Boy Meets Girl together. If any of yall want to join, holler at Becky cause we just started. And I also ready my anatomy book on a regular basis.

Favorite place to eat lunch? Um on campus probably ABP but in the whole world, theres this little mexican place where I live called Tippy's Tacos. Its the only legit non chain place in Springfield.

How has God encouraged you lately? I think I've been pretty encouraged just by how joyful I feel when I'm surrounded by the body. Like no matter how the day has been, just grabbing lunch or going to 6 33, being with my sisters and brothers just gives me a whole new zap of energy and I love it. One of the best things is that I have that in my apartment so our joy just kind of builds on eachothers and all of us are crazy and happy all the time.

6:33 Recap

This week's recap is by the lovely Gabrielle Randall. Darrell spoke last night on 1 Thessalonians 3, What can we be sure of? If you missed it, you can always listen to it here.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”- 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Even though this verse was not mentioned by Darrell in tonight’s message, it encompasses the two main themes under tonight’s question, “What can we be sure of?” The answer: the surety of trials and the power of encouragement. The first part of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 states the fact that being a Christian does not mean that life is going to be full of rainbows and unicorns. We are going to have hardships but God never fails in bringing us hope. God tells us that he will comfort us in the hard times. This in turn allows us to comfort and encourage others.

Darrell started off last night in Acts 17:10 and spoke of Paul’s time in Berea and Athens. He used these examples to demonstrate how Paul experienced a different kind of trial in these places than he had in others. Paul’s usual way of evangelizing to people did not work in Athens because there was a prominent amount of other idols that were being worshiped. Paul still had a calling to witness to these people. He figured out that by using the Athenians own philosophies he could find ways to preach about Jesus to them. Even though Paul was not expecting to be faced with this trial he was still able to glorify God through it.

Sometimes it is easier said than done to praise God even through the hard times. We have to realize though that we were destined for trials; we are promised hard times. “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.” -1 Peter 4:12. And as Darrell stated, “We will suffer in his name at points.” “However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” 1 Peter 4:16

Darrell shared the verse 1 Peter 2:21 which states, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” Darrell spoke of how this verse tells us that we need to share our sufferings because in our sufferings others can find encouragement. Not solely because we are suffering but that we are reminded of Christ’s suffering for us.

Darrell continued to James 1:2-3, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” Darrell connected this to a story about his Doctor, Dr. Chad who had asked God to put many trials in his life for a year and help him to find joy in every situation. What Dr. Chad found is that that year was an extremely difficult year and he did not always automatically find the joy in situations. Some took longer than others, but he was eventually able to see the good God was able to produce. In 1 Peter 4:13, God commands us to find joy in our suffering, “But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”

As humans this can be extremely difficult. I myself admit that I have been angry at God in the past for placing so many trials in my life. I wanted to shout at him, “Can I please get a break?” But the fact is we live in an imperfect world. Bad things are going to happen, but what we can rejoice about is that God will turn every bad situation into something that we can learn from and reap something from.

Ryan Goude came up and shared a story about how he and two other members of his family group got their cars towed at a family social last week. His family was able to pray and come together and pay for the cars. They saw that even though getting their cars towed kind of stunk, it gave them the opportunity to still glorify God and have a family bonding time.

Like Dr. Chad’s story showed though, joy does not automatically happen. Sometimes it takes us a while to see the reasoning behind a trial in our life and appreciate what has come from that trial. Like I said, I have been angry at God for placing some trials in my life but I have not held on to that bitterness. Now I know that's rather silly, to get mad at God because trials are inevitable, but the comfort and love God gives us through these trials is never-ending.

After talking a good while about trials, he wrapped up the night with a good talk about encouragement. Since we are looking at 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 3:4-8 speaks of how Paul expected persecution, but was encouraged by the faith that Timothy still embodied after it all. We are able to encourage one another through our actions, but Darrell focused on how our words can encourage. He spoke of how sarcasm is so prominent in everyday speech. Sarcasm broken down in Greek means flesh and hole, which states the effect sarcasm can leave on people. Sometimes sarcasm is like being stabbed with a knife. We need to be conscience of our speech to others. We need to learn to be slow to speak and quick to listen. And that is listening to the words we are saying as well and realized how they can affect others.

“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other for everyone else, just as ours does for you.” 1 Thessalonians 3:12

This is a verse that we as BCM should try to embody so that we may encourage through speech and actions. How can you this week build other people up?