Skip to main content

Now Presenting...(your name here)

I think its safe to say that we would all like to see our name in lights at some point in time. Whether you have a personality that craves the spotlight or the one that is content working behind the curtain, we all want to know that our life is important to someone else...that our life has a purpose. Your.Life.Counts.

Jude 24-25 reads (The book of Jude only has 1 chapter...not a reference typo.) :)
"To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy -- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen."

Action words always stick out to me while reading the Bible.
Imagine heaven in all of its splendor, magnificence, beauty, the angels, the throne room, the Kingdom of Heaven. My mind cant truly fathom Heaven, let alone how completely "small" I will feel compared to its vastness. Yet, the word reads that Jesus will PRESENT us before his glorious presence.

February 13th, 2010 I tweeted the following: "Literally about to take take the stage to a dream in my life". I will never forget that moment, it took place at the annual youth conference "Immersed" that our student ministry hosted. I had not only served at this conference for years upon end, but it was a conference that I had attended throughout high school. This conference had stirred so much passion inside of me for the things of God, it had connected me with incredible leaders that would eventually help mold and shape my life, it was in my opinion one of the most incredible youth conference in the southeast. And in 2010, I was invited to speak during one of the sessions. Upon being invited to speak I responded with "are you being serious....or are you kidding me right now?!?!?" It was one of those moments where the present moment feels more like a scene out of a movie than it does reality. I had always dreamed of preaching at Immersed, it was a stage I hoped to be able to take one day. NEVER did I imagine it would take place that early in my life.

Leading up to the conference I looked around me and saw other leaders that were just as and even more qualified than me to take the stage for this event. I knew the things in my life that I struggled with, my flaws and hang ups that try to hold me back from being all God has called me to be. Compared to former speakers, I was definitely not the most well polished speakers out there. It was like one second I was sooooo stoked to be speaking and then the next minute I would ask God, "seriously? why me? why now?". He never answered me, He didn't have to. All I knew is that He had called me and all I had to do was be obedient to His voice.

I remember approaching the spotlight as Pastor Lance Batiste introduced me to the crowd. As he handed me the microphone he whispered, "ready?" and shot me a confident smile that reassured me that he believed in me. My very surreal moment was in fact a blissful reality. However, as incredibly honored and excited as I was to be given the opportunity to preach the Word of God and challenge a crowd of young people, it was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

For those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, you can add your name into that verse.
"To him who is able to keep you (your name here) from falling and to present you (your name here) before his glorious presence..."
What an honor! To be presented by Jesus Christ into the Kingdom of Heaven. That moment shall surpass every "win" that you have ever had on earth and every "fail" will no longer matter. The beginning of this verse is key. Because no matter how good we are or how much we fail at times, at the end of the day its all about finding strength in Him. He is the the one who is able to keep you from falling. Its His blood that covers us, His kindness that leads us to repentance, His grace that is sufficient, His joy that is our strength, His stripes that heal us, His sacrifice that made the way, His life, His death, His love that is the motivation of everything that He did & continues to do and its His love that keeps you.

"without fault and with great joy."
Isnt it refreshing to know that we will not only be presented before his glorious presence, but a list of faults will not be mentioned? I dont know about you, but that encourages me. He delights in you!

Dont rob yourself of the life God has for you here on this earth! Forget lifeless religious tendancies that have no value. Live in confidence that the Creator of the universe is smitten with you! Live your life for the audience of One. He has a role for you to act out. The stage of your life has been set. The script is written and the ending...is EPIC. The life of God is award winning. Show up and play your part, listen to the Director, dont question His voice or commands...He knows the bigger picture.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rambling Contentment

The months of October and November for me were full of conferences, preaching, church events, house-sitting, friends going through crisis' & work.....lots of work. Out of sheer stress I told a friend on the week leading up to our trip to Nicaragua, "If I had known how crazy my  month was gonna be, I probably wouldn't have agreed to go on this trip".  It's in moments like those, that I am so glad we don't "know" everything. It's just like God to bring us a refreshment that is disguised in serving others, when we ourselves feel we have nothing left to give. I just kept reminding myself that God's grace is sufficient and that He would supply my every need. On November 17, 2012 myself and 16 others headed to Hartsfield-Jackson airport to jump on a plane and head to Nicaragua. I had the honor of being the Pastoral Lead on our youth ministries first Missions Trip. Once we hit the airport reality set in for me, "Holy Lord, lik

The Beautiful Mess

***I am writing this at 3am. I am sure there are a plethora of run on sentences and grammatical errors...sue me*** When I was growing up, I used to love to rearrange my room. I started this process at a very young age (like elementary school). It wasn't just the furniture that I would change up either; I would rearrange the photos, the endless posters of Jonathan Taylor Thomas and every other BOP, Teen Bop and Tiger Beat heart throb of the late 90's that was taped onto my walls. :) I seriously, probably kept Scotch tape in business back then. :) *You're welcome Scotch*. This rearranging would happen quite often, were talking every couple months, but no less than 2 times a year. Me and my childhood best friend Sarah (who happens to have a great blog "The Lovely Life"....you should follow) would help give each others room their regular "face lifts". The need for new and exciting is a part of my personality. I get bored easy when I see the same thing day

Relationship status: LOVED

Song of Solomon 8:4 reads, " 4 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires." In the Jenny B translation that would read... DON'T JUMP IN FRONT OF CUPIDS ARROW IF IT WAS NOT AIMED AT YOU! I was spending time on Facebook and Twitter this morning and of course I expected the Timelines to be inundated with genuine Valentines AND sarcastic Single Awareness "I'm not the only one alone today" shout outs. But, the more I read the more I started thinking about this thing called romance & silly concept of Cupid. It's funny how some are so lonely that instead of celebrating LOVE from all sources, (i.e. God, family, friends, ect.) on Valentines Day they mourn the fact that they dont have a "Valentine". Its the typical story of "focusing on what you feel don't have instead of what you really DO have". So, maybe your relationship status still reads "SINGLE"...you have to realize that