the words from our mouths 2

back in february, i wrote about examining our words: Feb 2012 swearing blog. our words are important, and i have been hearing people exclaim 'Jesus Christ' or 'God' more and more, here and there, almost always as swear words.
of course i think: it's so terrible that people are disrespecting God's name and using it so flippantly.
then i had a new thought... people use the words when they have high emotion about something. like i said in my earlier blog, it can be 'fear, surprise, anger, amazement, irritation unhappiness, happiness, pain, frustration, weariness...' and the list probably goes on. what disrespect, what carelessness!
but think about this: why DO you say the name 'Jesus' or 'God' when you are exclaiming about something? why not Buddha or Mohammed? why not your own name?
could it be because somewhere deep inside you know that God is the only person who could really do something about your situation??
have you ever considered that maybe that's the only Name with real power, and that if something is troubling you, or when something bad happens, you should go to Him?
you see, when you see a car crash happen in front of you and you feel powerless to help, and you find yourself gasping, 'Oh my God,' He hears you. what if your very soul is crying for help from the author of life Himself?
or when your friend throws you the best birthday party ever, you find yourself exclaiming the same Name: 'Oh my God, Suzy, it's beautiful!!' what if it's because you are feeling such thankfulness and appreciation that you can't contain it? it's something so good that it can't possibly just be human kindness, it's something that reminds you of what a good God would be.
how about when someone jumps out of the closet and scares you silly, and you exclaim 'Jesus Christ!' He's actually listening. you've just had a moment when you couldn't control the reaction of your own body - you jumped, your adrenaline rushed, you screamed... and really, if there had been a real threat, Jesus is the only One who could do anything about it.
or even when you stub your toe and cry out in pain and annoyance, you're not going to call on something else to heal you.. and you wouldn't expect anyone else to have prevented it from happening. God is the only one in control.
it is when we come to the end of ourselves and realize we are no longer in control that we cry out for someone else to take over, to DO SOMETHING. you don't cry out your own name because you know you are already at the end of your power. and you may train yourself to cry out some other name, just to spite God, but your soul will always know that God is the only place to go. He is the only REAL supernatural power that can come to your aid. He is the only God who exists.
so even though it IS completely disrespectful and hideous when people yell God's name while simultaneously rejecting Him, and even though each of us WILL be held accountable for every careless word we've spoken, maybe the first step is to realize WHY you say what you say.

"He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; 

yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." 

Ecclesiastes 3:11

your heart knows there is a God. your soul knows that it is made to live forever. if you find yourself crying, yelling, or even spewing God's name in a moment of emotion, think about it. He is actually there. He is waiting for you to MEAN IT when you say it.

trying to find that green meadow...

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" 
Philippians 4:4

ok that sounds nice. i've heard or read that verse many times... it makes me think of green meadows and sunlight, flowers and butterflies. it makes me think of those moments when i can't keep the smile off my face...
but wait, it says, "ALWAYS." ok, there's not always a smile on my face. most days my life is about as far away from that green, sunlit meadow as it can be. most days i'm caught up in the daily-ness of life, wondering what my purpose is, wondering how i got old without knowing it. most days i avoid watching the news because it tells me the world is shooting, stabbing, and killing itself in the midst of wars, injustice, bad government, and broken families. just yesterday, only a short drive from my house, at least 7 people were killed in a terrible and senseless shooting at a sikh temple.
how do i rejoice when i hear that?
and how about the future? is it just more of the same? every generation says they're worried for their children because the world is so terrible... and it's getting worse! what about my own personal future? i'm getting older, which means more pain, more regrets... and death.
where's the joy there? it sounds terrible!
actually, this is not a surprise if you read the Bible:

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 

People will be lovers of themselves,  lovers of money,

 boastful, proud, abusive,

disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, 

unholy, without love, unforgiving, 

slanderous, without self-control, brutal, 

not lovers of the good, 

treacherous, rash, conceited, 

lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God 

--- having a form of godliness but denying its power.... 

always learning but

NEVER ABLE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE TRUTH..."

2 Timothy 3:1-5, 7

is there any doubt that we are living in the midst of the last days? doesn't this describe the USA to a tee??! sometimes i just want to escape! how do i rejoice in the midst of this??!
what's up with Philippians 4:4? what kind of unfair, impossible command is that?? how can i rejoice ever, let alone always?
FIRST SECRET: understand the word 'rejoice.' joy is NOT the equivalent of happy. we often get them mixed up. we think that if we're not happy and smiley, then something's wrong and we've 'lost our joy' - oh panic!
not the case.
JOY is something hopeful, something peaceful, something unexplainably contented, REGARDLESS of the circumstances.
let me tell you the story of Horatio Spafford, a Christian living in the mid-1800s. he was a prominent lawyer of Chicago, with a wife and 5 children. sounds like he had reason to be joyful, right?
well, in 1870, his only son, 4 years old, did of scarlet fever.
1871 rolled around and brought a fire that destroyed much of the Spaffords' wealth.
aching for a break, Horatio planned a family vacation to Europe in 1873. he sent his wife and 4 daughters ahead on a ship... and 9 days later he received a telegram from his wife that simply said, "Saved alone." the ship had collided with another ship and gone down in 12 minutes, along with their 4 remaining children and over 200 other people.
as Horatio made the terrible trip to Europe to meet his wife, he passed the spot where the ship had gone down with his children. alone with his grief and his thoughts, he wrote this song:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.

"it is well with my soul???" how could he write those words? and most of all, how could he MEAN them? there are clues in the next two verses:

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control:

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part, but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

and that brings us to the SECOND SECRET to joy and peace and stability in the midst of the ugliness of the world. everything we do as a Christian is held up to Jesus. everything that happens to us is viewed through eternal eyes. the verse in Philippians says, 'rejoice in the LORD.' it doesn't say, 'have a party when someone dies,' or 'smile while you are being tortured.' the focus of our life, of our joy, is not our suffering, it's Jesus.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus... who, for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." 

Hebrews 12:2

when something horrific happens, we remember the ultimate horror that God CHOSE to go through on our behalf. Jesus came to earth and DIED after excruciating SUFFERING. He did it because He loved us. He did it to save us from ourselves and from the world.
Jesus didn't come to earth so He could feel the breeze in his face or so He could dig His toes into the sand on the beach. He came to earth to SUFFER and DIE in our place. in the midst of His suffering - and it was the ugliest kind of suffering - He looked ahead to the JOY He would have when it was all over.
as Christians, our joy is a response to Him. it comes from the fact that Jesus nailed OUR sins to the cross! our joy is based on His ability and His choice to bring us joy.
we also base our joy on what happens after we die. this is the future that you can have if you accept Jesus' work on the cross:

"...the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. 

And so we will be with the Lord forever." 

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

if you die before Jesus comes, will you be 'dead in Christ' or will you just be dead?
if you are still alive when He comes, will you be raised up to meet your Lord in the air? or will He find that you rejected Him and leave you for later judgement?

what do you trust in to bring YOU joy?
from where does YOUR peace come?

Jesus is waiting for you to experience the amazing joy He has prepared for you. He is waiting for you to live your life with contentment and assurance, no matter the circumstances.

does peace attend your soul?
if you had been Horatio Spafford, what song would you have written on that boat to Europe?

i leave you with the incredibly beautiful and hopeful words from Isaiah:

"Strengthen the feeble hands,

steady the knees that give way;

say to those with fearful hearts, 

'Be strong, do not fear;

your God will come, 

He will come with vengeance;

with divine retribution

He will come to save you.'

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then will the lame leap like a deer,

and the mute tongue shout for joy. 

Water will gush forth in the wilderness

and streams in the desert.

The burning sand will become a pool,

the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

And a highway will be there;

it will be called the Way of Holiness.

The unclean will NOT journey on it;

it will be for those who walk in that Way;

wicked fools will NOT go about on it.

NO lion will be there, 

NOR will any ferocious beast get up on it;

they will NOT be found there.

But only the redeemed will walk there,

and the ransomed of the Lord will return.

They will enter Zion with singing;

everlasting joy will crown their heads.

Gladness and joy will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Isaiah 35:3-7a, 8-10