The Power of "How Are You?"

"How are you?"
… three one-syllable words. Not showy, not particularly profound. But, believe it or not, even these three little words can make a huge impact on a life. We live in a world of fallen humans who are inherently selfish. Ironic, isn't it, that God takes these incredibly selfish, proud little creatures called humans, makes them new creations in His power and love, and then says "okay, now I want you to go out there and love others. By this--genuine love for others--the world will know whether or not you're Mine."

…true Love, if you haven't noticed, hinges on selflessness. It is selflessness. Love also hinges on action. Love is no love at all if not coupled with loving action.
God is asking us to look, to step beyond ourselves and see His creations as He sees them and try to love them like He loves them. Seems like a pretty tall order, right? But lucky for us, it doesn't necessarily require sacrificing huge amounts of our time and energy to show Christ's love to others. You can do right here, today, it in three simple words:

"How are you?"*

These three words, asked genuinely and coupled with listening and caring** about what the answer is, can touch a person profoundly. Most people, I've found, talk about themselves 99% of the time. So when a human steps beyond their favorite subject--themselves--to ask, invite and really listen to what you care about and how you've been coping with this thing called Life, it's truly touching. It shows that you were thinking about them. That you care** about them. But most importantly, it shows them that there's something different about you… that there's Someone in your life who says "this person is important to Me, they should be important to you too."

So I challenge you today, anybody who reads this, just take five minutes to ask someone in your life--could be anyone, anywhere--"how are you?" and give them the time of day. Asking more, appropriate questions based on their answer or about things you know they're involved in gets you bonus points. Using their answer to ultimately talk about yourself equals FAIL.

You're Christ's hands and feet to those around you. Show them how much He cares.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35

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*Acceptable variations: How are you doing lately? Coupling this with a question about something you know they're involved in = serious brownie points. ;)

**sometimes you won't care. At least not right away and very deeply. But sometimes we have to do something because it's right before we "feel" it. We're to imitate Christ so trying is the first step. Do it.

If Christ is Lord...

… what does it look like? We're told we'll know Christ-followers by their fruit. When you think about it, that's a little scary. You mean we can't tell if someone is truly a Christian (Christ-follower) by how much Scripture they've memorized? How sound their doctrine is? How much they understand about God and His Word? Whether or not they hold positions of church leadership? Well, that stinks.

Take me for example. I was raised in a very strong, conservative, doctrinally sound family that took seriously raising their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Even as a preteen, I knew more about theology and apologetics than most adults. I've always been a strong proponent of what I understand to be the truth. I had grand, godly standards/principles and worldview. Everybody thought I was this wonderful, godly, definitely-Christian young woman.

But I wasn't. I was an incredibly proud, bitter, self-absorbed person who hid away from reality as much as possible. I didn't have a personal relationship with Christ. But I didn't know that. After all, I'd prayed "the prayer"… I believed God created the world and His Son, Jesus, died for my sins… I read the Bible regularly…I knew way more about God than most people… I had better theology and lived more morally than some pastors… I was a Christian, right? Looking back, no, I don't think I was. I know for sure that I did not know God until then. I wasn't right with Him. I certainly wasn't walking humbly with Him on the throne of my life. (see Micah 6:8)

My point being… there's a heck of a lot of difference between knowing (about) God in your mind… and making Him Lord of your heart. And only one of those is going to make the saving difference in your life.

The Bible's standard for determining whether or not someone has Christ as Lord of their life has absolutely nothing to do with how much Truth s/he knows or believes. It's about whether or not that Truth changes the way s/he lives. The Bible's standard looks something like this:

I. If we do not actively love (see 1 Cor 13 for the definition) others, we are not of God.
II. If we are walking in pride, we cannot be walking with God.
III. The fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Every single one of us, no matter how much Truth we believe, should really take time to prayerfully and humbly consider that criteria.

Obviously, even once we are saved, there is a large work of sanctification to be done, so I'm not saying you'll see all of these right away in a new convert, nor that a person will never struggle with any of these once they are saved. But if one claims to've been saved for a good long time, and yet has never shown any of this fruit (<raises hand> that was me most of my life)… there could be a very eternal problem.

Thankfully, all it takes is truly humbling oneself before God, and surrendering the reigns to Him to make the biggest, most beautiful difference we can encounter this side of Heaven.

Struggles with Depression

    Depression. Common problem in this day and age for a number of different reasons, physical, spiritual, and emotional. Also something I've been struggling with to varying degrees, sometimes (and lately) very hard, for a number of months (in part due to a seizure treatment I'm on). Sometimes it seems impossible to deal with… when I don't even want to get up in the morning, when nothing in life seems to have any meaning, or even pleasure, when I get the physical feeling that I'm falling into a pit I can't climb out of, when I have no energy to even try… when all I really want to do is go Home. (Stick with me… I'm going somewhere with this, I promise, it's not a pity-party. ;P )
     I wish I could write this post saying I've figured out how to get out of it every time… that I know the five steps for getting out of depression. But no, I'm still trying to figure out my way back to sunshiny lands. To be honest, sometimes, it doesn't feel like I'll ever find them. But fortunately, life isn't based on how I feel.
     2 Timothy 1:12: "…I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day."
     Does the sun go away simply because the day is cloudy? Is it less powerful or brilliant? No… I just can't see it as clearly because of my position beneath some clouds. In the same way, praise God, He remains the same regardless of what might be clouding my view. Beyond my narrow vision, which is currently full of dark clouds, there exists a world of glorious light and peace and freedom. A world without fear or despair. Good news for me (and for you, if you're in Christ), that's the world I'm a citizen of.
    So I'm learning to press on in faith despite how I feel, despite the bouts of hopelessness. James helps me out on that one:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4
    Depression is a trial, no doubt, but that makes it an opportunity. An opportunity to humble myself and lean more fully on the everlasting arms, an opportunity to be weak in myself and strong in Christ, to be sanctified and strengthened through the testing of my faith.
    … if only I saw it that way every day. X) But, praise be to God, I'm not the end-all. I can't pull myself out of it, I can't make myself a useable vessel or good soldier, I can't wipe away my sins. Is that horrible? No, not really. I can choose to lay down my pride, to bend the knee and surrender myself to Christ. I can choose to walk in faithfulness, trusting that God will work His will through me even when I can't see the way.
    In human wisdom, that's stupid. But the wisdom of man is foolishness to God. Wisdom of man says giving up is the worst thing I could do. Wisdom of God says I have to let go of the idea that I can (or must) do anything on my own before He can do His perfect work in me. And He says it's never too late, I've never sunk too deep or gone too far off course to be used mightily in His kingdom. Phew! X) I'll add, too, that, in pride it is impossible to please God, in humility and faith, nothing is impossible (even overcoming depression)! How cool is that? ^__^

Praise God, I will always have an anchor. As long as Jesus stands at the right hand of God interceding for me, I will never fall beyond the reach of help. His grace and power to redeem is deeper than the deepest pit any of us could ever find ourselves in. And as I continue this trek through this tough "slump" in my life, I can cling to that truth… because I know the One whom I've believed and know He is able to guard what I've entrusted to Him (aka, my life + soul).