The Value of Effort

I’ve been realizing how much I take for granted. Not the usual items like water, my mom, or my functioning legs. More like taking for granted the work that goes into a final product, more specifically, people. Mind you, people are never finished products, but rather beautiful creations that are consistently evolving and growing into better (maybe sometimes worse) versions of themselves. But we’ve all accomplished things that have required work.

I look at things like my parents’ marriage and see how after 28 years, they love each other madly, have built a beautiful family that they take great care of, have never fought in front of their kids, and have never left each other. It’s common for me to look at that and go, “Oh it’s so great, my parents love each other and always will. They’ve just figured it out and made it easy.” It’s simple to look at a long lasting marriage full of love and think things like, “They must have very few differences or problems with each other.” “That couple must just love each other more than other couples do.” “Nothing fazes them, so they’re really content.” Some of those statements may be true, but they are never at the core of what creates a successful marriage. I didn’t understand or recognize any of this until I became married myself.

The bottom line is that happy marriages require EFFORT and lots of it. This is in no way a slam to marriages that didn’t last forever, but a tribute to the ones that do. Couples who stay together until they die have laid an incredible foundation, and worked very hard to have what they have. It’s a concept we all have a head knowledge of, but experiencing and truly realizing that is something else.

I am, however, definitely talking about a lot more than just marriage in this context. This blog is dedicated to living a radical life pursuing God, and let me tell you, there is nothing but effort put into that. Yes, you know there are easier times when God blesses us and lets us rest in His goodness, but the behind the scenes, it can be a battlefield. Pursuing God in our lives requires our efforts when no one notices. It’s time alone with Him, in the secret place. Devotions, worship, communication, Scripture. Not just in the half hour of set aside time, but regularly, daily. Being in constant communication and adoration of our Jesus.

Remembering to thank Him for things. Remembering to worship Him, even when we feel dry and drained. Remembering to listen for His voice either for our own personal benefit, or to communicate it to someone around us. Remembering to be obedient when we do hear Him. Sounds like a lot of remembering. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in, who in John 14:26 is sent to “remind you of everything I [Jesus] told you.” Remembering is a powerful tool that is often more important than learning something new. What I am remembering is that radically living and carrying the Presence of God with me is something that requires my effort, and I can never devalue that.

Sometimes people tell me that they see an incredible amount of joy in my life, which happens to be my favourite fruit of the Spirit and my middle name. People have also assumed that this comes from a life without struggles and a natural happiness. While I have a God-given gift of optimism, the JOY I experience is something I have worked very hard for through God’s grace. The same can be said for when I see a person with incredible patience (which I have about zero amounts of). I can assume that they are naturally patient and perhaps a slower paced person, which may have some truth. But often times, it’s the persistence of growing in that gift and using God’s strength to develop that trait in themselves. I think specifically of moms with small kids. :)

To sum it all up, godly traits and character require effort that we should never take for granted in ourselves or the people around us. If you see someone with traits you desire, remember that it probably took them a while to get there, and a lot of personal work on their own flesh. I look at pastors who are doing radical things for God and ask myself why I’m not there yet. Other than maybe time spent in ministry, the basic answer is that I haven’t put the time and effort pursing God’s kingdom in the way they have. And instead of being discouraged by the workload, I choose to immerse myself in His Presence, and sacrifice things to put Him first and see the fruits of my labour. I challenge you to do the same.

Uncomfortable

I learned something new about being radical. Well, more of a realization of how they fit together. First off, this is not always glamorous. Making a true difference and choosing to live a life of significance does not consistently come with recognition, approval, or even happiness. Joy, maybe, not happiness.

The first thing that comes to mind in this scenario are those saints that work in missions overseas in terrible conditions and often dangerous environments. They are literally sacrificing their lives to improve the state of the world and live radically for Him. But we may not all get to that point.

For those of us who live in a first world country, maybe sponsor a child across the globe, volunteer in our local church, and bring baked goods to our neighbors, the reality of packing up and living in Zimbabwe for ten years may not exist. We have all been called to different places, and for some people, it's right where they are now. So how do we still sacrifice and make change in our comfortable and familiar spaces?

What I have been figuring out, is that sometimes all it is, is a conversation.

Have you ever been around someone who was socially awkward? Yes, yes you have. Someone who you would not choose to be BFFs with or invite to a party. Not necessarily someone that everyone makes fun of, but someone who is just on the outskirts of a social circle. I bet you could name at least three of those kinds of people who you have an acquaintance with. I will be the first to admit, that this is not one of my strong points. One of my giftings is to love very deeply and form intimate relationships with people. But those are usually people I get along with in the first place. Reaching out and including new people who the old people may not love, is not something I'm very talented at.

My friend, Helen Taylor, is probably the most beautiful examples of someone who lives this out every day of her life. She can spot a new person in a crowd like spotlight on center stage. Her heart is full of love for people that others may glance over and she forms actual friendships with them. It astounds me, and I am always striving to be more like her in this way. One huge benefit of this gift in her, is that she is able to lead so many more people to Christ while doing everyday things. By the time her hair cut is finished, she'll have the hairdresser pouring her heart out and they'll pray together. Just beautiful.

But it starts somewhere. For me, it was a conversation with someone who is not one of my 20 best friends, or even my 200. But we made a connection, we shared some stories, and they felt welcome and appreciated. It was not glamorous, there was no one who noticed, and it didn't even make me very happy, or at least not comfortable. But it brought the One who created this person joy, which therefore led me to a great deal of joy. Knowing I stepped out and did something radical for my little world, and made a difference.

Habitually

Is anyone else tired of hearing about our sin?

Too bold?

I’m talking about constant reminders of how sinful we are and all the things we need to work on in our lives. The pressing message that we are sinners saved by grace and have an incredible amount to change in our lives on a regular basis. I won’t dispute that this is true. Romans 12:2 tells us to constantly renew our minds, which I believe whole-heartedly. Scripture is chalked full of instruction for how to live in obedience, things to stay away from, and sin we need to repent from.

But it is ALSO full of ways to walk closely with God and live a significant life of love, holiness, and right standing with Him. I think Jesus was a pretty positive guy while still being very real, upfront, and to the point. Though He did preach on what not to do, he also gave a lot of examples of the right way to do things and talked about the goodness of our Father.

I personally learn a lot better from uplifting and empowering messages, and I feel that some of you are with me on that. I’ve spent far too much of my life trying to balance and manage all of the wrong in my life, and spent far too little of my life focusing on the good. I remember having this huge epiphany in high school about this: The more I focus on God, the less I desire to do wrong. Holy smokes. Revelations galore.

Since then, I have really embraced this and have seen it work wonders. I used to struggle with habitual sin for quite a long time. So much energy and thought was put into getting rid of it and replacing habits. I listed to message after message about how to break sin and why what I was doing was wrong. I worked so hard and really wanted to be obedient to what I knew God wanted for me. But what truly broke those things was putting my passion and energy into Him. Just Him. As I filled myself up with God’s Presence and His goodness, those things just melted away. I lost desire for things that were impossible to shake just by being filled with the Spirit instead.

My favourite verse that exemplifies this is Galations 5:16, “But I say, walk and live habitually in the Holy Spirit (responsive and guided by the Spirit); then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh.” There it is. Plain and simple. Live HABITUALLY in the Holy Spirit, and you’ll lose your desire to sin. My 16 year old self was bang on.  

Being an optimistic person, I love this method of being obedient to God and His Word. If spending time with Him and being filled with His words, His way of life, and His life is how to get rid of the garbage and baggage I have, then sign me up! Not to say that this is the easy way out, but gosh is it ever better than the alternative. I would far rather be overflowing with who He is in order to push out the bad, as opposed to constantly fixing those things to be close to Him. It works in reverse. This is a beautiful picture of grace where we know we don’t have to be perfect to enter His Presence. Doing that in itself brings us closer to who we want to be in Christ. I think this is partially why I love worship music so much. It's an incredible way to get into God's Presence and get rid of the things I've been holding onto and need to give up to Him.

I will never ever ignore the commands set for us or take sin and disobedience lightly. But I will grow closer to the One who I obey in order to live a life of significance.

Worship

I have been thinking a lot about worship lately. Maybe not only lately, since I go to a worship practice every week and keep it very close to my every day life. However, I have been looking more closely at its meaning, it’s purpose, and how we exemplify it. While I fully recognize that worship is much more than music, but rather how we live our lives to glorify God through a beautiful variety of means, I am thinking specifically of worshipping through music, particularly as a body. Whether you’re at church, a worship event, or another outlet of corporate music, there are some things we all think about, and some things I’d like to put out there.

Depending on what type of church you attend or grew up in, you’ve seen different styles of expressing gratitude and glory to God while worship music is being played by a group of musicians. And if you’re at all like me, you have analyzed the heck out of it to make sure you do it right and react appropriately.

If you’re brave enough you raise a hand. If you’re extra spiritual, you can raise two hands, but probably only during the bridge of the song when it gets intense. The half raised hands with upward palms is for when you really want to receive, maybe during a slow song. You can sit or lie down if it’s time to reflect, and you can jump and dance when it’s exuberantly exciting. Sound about right?

I’m not trying to be cheeky, I have just genuinely felt this way most of my life of being a music worshipper. And I think most of it is ridiculous. The over analyzing, not the actions themselves.

The place that I think I personally learned the most about worship was at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, California where my brother attended last year. Justin and I drove down there in May to visit for a week and bring him home. It was one of the most radical experiences of my life, which is where much of this blogging stems from. I’m not living off a high, I just received an incredible amount of revelation and real life experience. The way they do worship is absolutely phenomenal, contagious, and full of life and Spirit filled actions. The entire church, school, leaders, and people are filled with the love of Christ, the power of God, and the moving of the Holy Spirit. You can’t help but feel the Presence of God in that place as soon as someone strums on a guitar. It’s an entire culture that I won’t dive into now, except that the worship was incredible. They have Bethel albums and are the church that birthed Jesus Culture.

What amazed me the most about the way they did musical worship was the freedom. Though some of the spiritual reactions seemed a bit odd, it was so incredibly freeing to be a part of something like that. They had people painting beautiful prophetic art on the stage. Sometimes they would have people with ribbons, and other times the most gorgeous dancing I’ve ever seen. The people in the crowd moved in any way they felt led, sometimes in ways I didn’t know was ok. The worship leaders were full of joy and reverence and motion. I wanted it all. Well maybe not the yelling, but most everything else.

The revelation I received from this came down to the Holy Spirit. Being filled up with the Spirit and God’s Presence is such a phenomenal experience, that when you worship Him, all you want to do is outpour what He has filled you with. You can give back to Him in whatever way feels normal and freeing for you. If you’ve thought about doing something while in worship that you maybe didn’t think was regular or you didn’t know why you wanted to do it, there is a chance that it is the Holy Spirit encouraging you to be free in His Presence. And so I danced.

I’ve been dancing on teams for a few years, heard about, and sometimes seen prophetic dancing during praise and worship. But I never felt that it was something I should or even could do in a corporate setting. I had never done it privately either. But Bethel was full of people who danced for their King with such grace and purity of heart. Not everyone would be considered a dancer, but it was done with such honour that they all looked beautiful. One night, I decided to try it, and I think I ended up weeping with joy at the freedom I experienced. I often envisioned myself dancing in God’s throne room before Him, and now I could actually do it with people around. Passion Project is currently my only outlet to dance in a corporate worship setting, but I enjoy every moment of it.

It really has nothing to do with me and what I’m thinking other people are thinking about. That’s the other thing. Since WHEN did worship start being about other people?! It’s been said time and time again that we shouldn’t worry about the people around us and only focus on God. But we do it all the time! Am I singing too loudly? Will I hit someone with my arms if I raise them? Is anyone noticing how intense I’m getting? Do I look too bored? It’s absurd, and completely opposite to our point in being there. Worship isn’t even really about you and what you are comfortable with. Worship is a SACRIFICE. Jeremiah 33:11 says that we bring Him a sacrifice of praise. Sometimes while we’re singing we need to step out of our comfort zones and do something that glorifies God. We decrease ourselves as He increases.

How do you sacrifice yourself when you worship Him?

Radical in Real Life

Now that I've given some context for my faith journey, I'd like to explain what I really mean by "radical living". It's a vast concept that has many different explanations and titles, but this is just what I have decided to call it as it applies personally. You may call it something else and say, "Gosh, that's a weird thing to call it. I just call it '.....' or I don't have a name for it." Sorry, I'm being ambiguous and weird.

Basically, I'm striving for a life style that exemplifies James 2:17, "Faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is dead (without power, inoperative)."

I strongly believe that I, along with others, have spent my Christian life striving to gain all the fruits of the spirit, and forgetting about pursuing what the Spirit Himself is calling us to: works along with our faith. Works including powerful prayer, miracles, worship, boldness, evangelism, prophetic words, and communicating our Father's heart to the world around us. I am personally completely fed up with being a follower of Christ without actually "following" by example what He did while He was on earth. Yep. That about sums it up.

Please never take what I say as preaching or directly forced into your life just because you happen to be reading my quirky thoughts. While I do believe that everyone who has committed their lives to Christ has this calling on their life, timing and exact examples are not up to me to create or decide. I feel that God has called me to inspire people and give practical methods of living out His plan for His followers. I am incredibly excited about this recent revelation and change in my heart, and I feel that writing about it not only helps me share it with my world, but keeps me accountable and focused on closely pursuing what He's called me to. Someone challenged me when I first mentioned this to ensure that I was still pursuing God, not the radical living. Very good point. That would potentially be easy to be caught up in and completely deterring from the purpose. It is BECAUSE of Him that we passionately out pour our lives for His sake and therefore become radical.

A good practical example of what I'm talking about happened in our Passion Project worship night this past Sunday. If you're reading this, you were probably there, but if not, I can explain what happened and how God moved through me in a powerful way. Passion Project is a monthly worship night that we host in St. Pierre Bible Fellowship Church. Our goal is to glorify and honour God by bringing people deeper into His Presence through worship. We worship through prayer, painting, dancing, fellowship, and of course music.  This ministry has grown like crazy and we have seen God work in dynamic ways through our service to Him. What He did on Sunday was a great example of this.

Caleb (my brother and co Passion Project leader) and I decided that our prayer time this month would be a corporate prayer, with God calling forth different things that needed to be healed. I lead the prayer time, and knew that I would need to have a lot of faith for this. Being a planner by career and nature, I was quite nervous to go up on stage with no plan or direction beforehand. Totally goes against every fiber of my being and I was having a mini panic attack. So I had a serious talk with God. I said, "God, if I am nervous, it means I am making it about myself. This has nothing to do with me, I am just being used by You and obeying Your command to put works with my faith. I trust in You that I will hear Your voice at the right time when I need to speak. I am just stewarding what You give me." Still freaked out, but here we go into worship.

The time came for me to hop on stage, explain what we were doing, and communicate what I felt God was speaking to me. Oh boy.

I looked into the crowd and saw some of the most beautiful, hungry faces I've ever seen. People were so eager to be in God's Presence and to let Him speak to them. I didn't even know half of them, but I was completely taken aback by their intensity and sincerity. I started praying. First, we prayed for minds. For depression, anxiety, worry, low self-esteem, and other attacks that do not belong in our God-given mind. If people were comfortable enough, they got a group to surround them and pray with them. I felt His Presence so strongly. Then we prayed for physical bodies; specifically bones, limbs, joints, and muscles. People laid hands on each other and fervent prayers were lifted up. I'm not even completely sure of what I prayed as I just let the Holy Spirit speak through me. Then we thanked Him for what He has done and was about to do. It was powerful and full of joy. We continued on to singing and declared that our God was everything we need.

Shekinah Glory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2eLHe7VqVQ is a powerful song about His Presence that gets everybody full of joy and on their feet. During this song (that our band did an EXCELLENT job of) we had a time of testimony where people could share any immediate breakthrough they experienced. Again, a big testing of my faith with the possibility of no one sharing and me being spontaneous. But hooooo boy did my Jesus show up! There were miraculous healings in backs, hips, arms, thumbs, and migraines! I also asked if there were any breakthroughs with minds, even though that can be a bit harder to tell right away. But there were many people who raised their hands and had just felt a huge sense of peace and wellness. Praise Jesus!!!!!!!!! I was overwhelmingly encouraged and so full of joy. We danced the rest of the songs and thanked Him for everything, including the healings that had not yet taken place that evening. God is so good, plain and simple.

I had a lot of feedback and people thanking me for being obedient to what He was saying. That's all I did. Though terrifying and full of trust, it was as simple as listening to God, and communicating it. There was nothing I did except pursue His heart. "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." -Galatians 6:14

As simple as the concept is, the execution is the part we all struggle with. "Yeah, ok Melanie I listen to God and follow His plan for my life, but what else am I supposed to do? Pray for miracles and be a crazy Christian weirdo?" Well, maybe. This is where loads of scripture, theology, and teaching come into play, which I will save for your pastors, Bible studies, and friends for the most part. But I am full on choosing to be constantly listening to His voice and acting out on what He tells me to do. Gulp. Hold me to that, will you? I don't know if I'm brave enough.

Love you all.

Foundations

Living out God's adventurous plan for me didn't exactly start recently. I thought I should give a bit of background of what probably looks familiar to other people who have grown up in the church, gone to Sunday school, and had a Christian home. I did the whole ask Jesus into my heart multiple times thing, starting at age five under a blanket. When I was six, I thought I'd be more grown up about it, and asked while on the toilet. By age seven, I realized that was far too embarrassing a story to tell, so I tried once more in Sunday school. Bam, done, official Christian. Let's start doing this for real.

I also had the privilege of attending a Christian school my entire elementary and high school years (three schools in total) which taught me a great deal about the Bible, how to treat people around me, God's love for me, and other wonderful goodies. My parents were very involved in my spiritual growth, were my Sunday school teachers for the most part, and always challenged me. Most of my friends went to church and school with me, and I was rarely without an abundance of good ones. I was probably sheltered, but I did learn many things about the "real world" through various experiences and people.

In high school, I was very involved in leadership roles, including student council where I became the vice president, as well as president. I went to youth regularly, was part of the dance team, loved to worship through music, and had a solid relationship with God. Going to a Christian high school made it easier to talk about Him and what He was doing in my life. I saw even more of the real world, went through struggles, had breakthroughs, developed bad habits, tried to apply God in a practical way, attended a few churches, met my future husband, and continued to pursue Christ in the best ways I knew how. And it was all good.

Being an emotionally driven person, I was often looking for that "moment". That time during a sermon or a song where you finally feel like you finally got it, and you truly understand God's Presence and how to truly live for Him. I waited for and pursued a feeling of overwhelming goodness that I could never look back on. And I did get them. But I later felt they weren't "enough" to change me forever, or to turn me into a real radical. I still loved God, did things He called me to do, lived out His will, and learned how to share Him with others. But still I waited.

Although I did have one experience that I strongly consider my "life changing moment", this whole thing was much more of a process than one intense hour long session with God. The most prominent example is how God has often placed me in leadership roles, and I have risen to the challenge, and grown closer to Him than I could have ever imagined. The summer after said life changing moment, I was asked to fill some leadership positions at camp that I did not feel qualified for. But my mind was blown as He worked through me in ways I was never capable of. I believe one of the biggest factors in that experience was my strong foundation in Him that I have been growing and developing since I was five years old under a blanket.

None of my God pursuing experiences and learning was a waste, even though I never felt I was "there". All of it was a building of my faith, my understanding of His word and will, and my absolute and undeniable love for Jesus and His Presence. This scenario may be typical among Christians who grow up with faith, and one day feel they have reached the mature age to really get their life together and follow Him with more passion, more holiness, and more radical living than ever. And although age and maturity are factors, I don't believe they are the goal we aim for before we finally stop being luke warm and start being red hot for our Saviour. I'll share more about my recent experiences that led me to the place where I feel I "finally got it" (Sorry, I am using an excessive amount of "quotations").

But my challenge to you is to use your foundation, however strong or long it may be, and use it as a jumping block, a stepping stone, a gateway; but never a plateau.   

My Purpose

Oh blogs.

What a hilariously wonderful gift to those of us who love to write and publicly express thoughts without ever having to gain education or a career in "writing." I, in fact, did go to school to write, but I got far better marks in Creative Writing than in Journalism. The only time I've had an actual blog was when we had to create one for school and were required to write about things I could probably care less about. I was also forced to sign up for Twitter; a social media outlet I have barely used since.

But here I am, starting a blog. For a few purposes.

One, I love writing and do it mostly privately, things far too personal for the rest of the world. But I'm tired of that. I'm an outward kind of person, and don't spend much time by myself so it gets boring pretty quick.

Two, I do hope to have people read my entries, and have some faraway friends who may want to check up on me once in a while. It's another way of connecting with people, and I am 100% about connection.

Three, I will strive to challenge people, most of all myself. This concept of radical living is just bursting from within me, and I want to share it however I can. As I learn things and grow, I hope people will learn and grow with me. We were all created to be challenged by each other, and I trust that people will challenge me as I write and express my thoughts.

My main definition of radical living, in essence, is living out the dreams and calling that God has placed in my heart. This spills over into my personal, work, and public life as He fills me up and my heart overflows in the places I go. I want to be a change maker. I want to light up the world. I want to live a radical life.

If you know me personally, you will know that I aim to be radical in many areas of my life. I've gone sky diving, am addicted to roller coasters, have a terribly busy social life, and am always up for something crazy. I am created for adventure, and I have truly started to carry that over into my spiritual life. Spiritual life? More like real life. We are spiritual beings and our real life needs to reflect that. Much more on that in posts to come.

So if you haven't been scared off yet, I hope you enjoy and gain something from reading this blog dedicated to living radically.