" I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God." -Ezekiel 36:25-27 NIV
Judges is not about the Israelites. It's about God. More specifically its about the cycle of man rejecting God, hitting rock bottom, and then God's redemption. Judges 2:6-23 gives a summary of the entire book. After Joshua dies the Israelites begin worshiping other idols and marrying pagan worshippers, polluting the entire nation. Judges 3:7 puts it this way, "The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs." (emphasis added) As always in the Bible, wording is very key here. When the people of the Old Testament to "forget" their sins or "remember" His great mercy, (Psalm 25:6) they were not implying the Lord could forget His character. (Deuteronomy 32:39) The word "forget" in this context means to not act upon what he knows. Like when you ask a friend to forget what you've done, they obviously won't forget, but they can choose whether or not to act upon the knowledge of your past. So when the Israelites "forgot" God, it means they were no longer using their knowledge of Him to influence them and their actions. It's a spiritual problem. The truths of God were not real to them. This is a problem today as well. We can have knowledge of God and what He has done for us, but until the truth has manifested itself in our every day lives enough to control or influence us, it is not real.
"For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (Hebrews 8:12) In a different light, When Christ died for us, taking the ultimate penalty for our iniquities, Christ's holiness was made ours. Meaning that God has "forgotten" our sins, or that He shall no longer act on His knowledge of our past, present, and future. Just like the Israelites, we need to hide the Word of Truth deep in our hearts in order for them to work in us. In Luke 22:19, Jesus is sharing supper with His disciples and His command is, "Do this is remembrance of me." Not just remember this and say, "Okay! Cool Jesus! Thanks!" and direct your thoughts back to your Sunday lunch plans. But remembering the reality and relevancy of the gospel to penetrate your inner being and bring you to a daily place of surrender. Remembering the gospel should bring us to our knees, people!! It is a reason to celebrate! There should be a difference in our countenance just like there is a difference in remembering to get the mail so you can put a mark on your checklist and remembering the day your first child was born!
When we come to that place of complete surrender and repentance is when God can cleanse us and give us a new heart, faithful to Him. 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" Remember His truths today! Blessings!
"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." -Lamentations 3:22-23
The Perfect Christmas
My world is obsessed with perfection. I am a teen girl who is told every day she needs to be perfect. We all "know" we can't, but we also can't help trying. We want to be accepted and we think perfection is always accepted. So we work hard everyday to be perfect so we can belong in our ever-obsessing and overwhelming culture. Pressures reign in school, in relationships, and especially in social media. (I mean, seriously! Do you really believe she eats that healthy every night?) No one wants to see what your kitchen ACTUALLY looks like on your fifth attempt at scratch cookies!! Or that you wear sweatpants sometimes... well, basically all times. You get the point...
But guess what?! I can't be perfect. And neither can you. But obviously, I have a very strong, almost obsessive, desire to be perfect. And I have this theory that just maybe, it has a purpose. I dance. (Yes, Bonnie. We know!) Well, one thing I have come to realize is that as an artist, I spend, on average, three hours a day perfecting my art. I have an obsessive desire to be perfect technically and asthetically. Now, I could give it the power to destroy and consume me, internalizing every negative thought and mistake. OR I could use that desire to work hard and be excellent. I can even celebrate or rejoice in my dance! Not perfection, but beauty. For after all, it doesnt have to be perfect to be beautiful. Christmas time, I have observed, is the time when this hunger for perfection (and well hunger in general) is most prevalent. We want EVERYTHING to be perfect. Our gifts must be perfect, the food, the eve, the day! We feel disappointment or frustration when we fail to meet our own expectations or the cultures... But just like that's not what dancing is about, that is certainly NOT what Christmas is about!! Its a celebration of how Christ, who IS perfection, came to be with us. He took on the shame and guilt of OUR imperfection and died. That is what we are celebrating. That though I am not perfect, Jesus thinks I was worth leaving His throne, worth being born in a stable, worth dying for.
Drink Tea and Read Books
I LOVE books... Most of these are actually books from my childhood that I thought I'd share with you... (And I know many of them deserved at least one re-read...) Word to the wise... These are NOT in order... That would be like picking my favorite friend or something!!! Too hard!!!!!!
"If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all." –Oscar Wilde
"A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading." -William Styron
1. "The Bible"
2. "Pride and Prejudice" Jane Austen
3. "An Old Fashioned Girl" Louisa May Alcott
4. "Authentic Beauty" Leslie Ludy
5. "Graceful" Emily p. Freeman
6. "The Book Thief" Markus Zusak
7. "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" C.S. Lewis
8. "The Secret Garden" Frances Hodgson Burnett
9. "The Storygirl" L.M. Montgomery
10. "Alone Yet Not Alone" Tracy-Leininger-Craven
11. "Ballet Shoes" Noel Streatfeild
12. "Dancing Shoes" Noel Streatfeild
13. "Anne of Green Gables" L.M. Montgomery
14. "Pollyanna" Eleanor H. Porter
15. "Because of Winn-Dixie" Kate DiCamillo
Born With a Story and a Smile
"Her mouth speaks from that which fills her heart." Luke 6:45 (paraphrased)
Hi! My name is Bonnie and I smile too much.
Well, I guess my friends would say I do not smile nearly enough.. as I talk! I love story-telling. I believe life is a journey, trials have a purpose, and joy is a choice. My Father is the King of Kings and my Creator. I have fallen in love with the man who gave His life for me and is preparing a place for me with Him in Heaven. I do not belong here, but I am here to serve others and live the life of Christ. I worship The Lord through the stage, and bring Him praise with my lips.
But enough of me! What about you? This is for you, after all! (Well, technically it began as a school assignment...) Now, although we may not agree on everything, I hope you like chocolate and tea. Books are great, too. (Fair warning, I'm a bibliophile and may speak of them quite frequently...and possibly fangirl..a lottle-bit) This blog will be a delicious concoction of my life, much like a cupcake... Or a latte. (Or a Chai tea latte cupcake... Recipe anyone??) But please do not expect this blog to be perfect or void of conflict. I am flawed and need grace... All the time. Joy is not always the easiest choice and I never make it on my own strength.
"But he said to me, “My grace is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.” So I am very happy to brag about how weak I am. Then Christ’s power can rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9