Who You Are

My last post was all about who God is. The God who created things like what you see on the left (Mt. Everest). But I thought maybe it was time to talk about who you are...because of God. Yeah, I figured you'd know there was a catch. :)

Last night I had a brief conversation with one of my friends from debate. It was just a casual conversation about his public school sports teammates, but one little side comment he made struck me, caught me like an unsuspecting fish going for the bait. "If I hadn't been homeschooled, or hadn't been in the family I'm in...I..." Well, the rest was fine too, but that little statement just did a Hallelujah Chorus in my mind. If I hadn't. Wow.

So much theological meatiness to jump on there. So much philosophical questioning. So much certainty of the present. So much to praise God about. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let's start with the word, "If." The Bible is pretty clear that God is sovereign over every teensy tiny little detail of the whole universe, but he paradoxically acts this way without being a robot operator. Most Christians agree that God knows everything that will go on, but doesn't mandate it. I understand how those conclusions are reached (believe me, I used to think something pretty close to that), but let's dissect that a bit. If God knows everything (which we all agree on), and God is sovereign (which we usually agree on), then God cannot possibly have known everything without having some hand in it. That's the most basic academic argument for God's sovereignty, other than "the Bible says so" (which, by the way, it does).

However, there's another argument that may hit home a bit more for you. Let's put it this way: God knows everything that will happen. He knows, then, that bad things will happen. But he is the God of all justice! If he truly upholds justice, is he going to just let things slide? No. Clearly throughout Scripture God issues judgement upon sinners. But he cannot possibly just fix all the problems. Then he'd have a little more power than your local plumber. God is all-powerful...let's just say he's got the whole world in his hands.

If that's true, then you and I are not random. In fact, the Bible *clearly* indicates that we were designed for a purpose, something the Westminster Catechism summarizes when it says that "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever." Not only does God have a purpose on earth, he has an eternal purpose: that every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the God the Father. In a very glorious and mysterious way, God has already determined who will spend all eternity with him. That is, anyone who puts their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, Paul made it clear that anyone who does so does it only because of the quickening of the Spirit. That is, God chooses to wake you from being dead in your sins to being alive in Christ. Nothing you do can make it happen: only God in his glorious mercy.

Whoa. Mind. Blown.

If God really has this great and awesome purpose for you, though, then he has not placed you in your circumstances randomly. You are not just the child of random Joe: you are firstly the child of the one living God, and secondly the child of the earthly parents God has bestowed you with. Whatever your situation, God has placed you there for a reason.

So now I'm guessing I've pretty well clarified that "if" isn't possible. But it gives those kind of statements so much greater meaning. If you don't follow, allow me to expound.

Since "if" is not possible, it means that you are in exactly the right situation for you right now. I'm not saying it's perfect: God's said that the world will not, and by God's very nature of righteousness cannot be perfect until he returns to set the world right. However, you and I can rest in the knowledge that God has a big plan for us, and that he chose this for us for a reason. Take my friend. He's homeschooled, he's from a great Christian family. God did not place him in some other family. He is not in a public school. If God had him in those circumstances, his plans would have been just as good and holy and righteous. But God placed him here. And that means that he gets to do what God is uniquely calling him to do.

In my own life, this is a very relevant issue. Sometimes I struggle with comparison of my circumstances to other friends' circumstances. Or I just wonder "what if." But that God placed me in the Paulton family, with the exact friends I have, the exact knowledge I have, the exact skills I have, right here in Colorado is amazing. It doesn't mean I won't go on and do other things: it means that I can go on and do those other things, because I was uniquely designed to do them.

There's a reason that Paul compared the Church to a body.

² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves^[d] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts,^[e] yet one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴ which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵ that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸ And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

 Maybe you are called to be a doctor. A pastor. A missionary. A politician. A writer. A teacher. An engineer. A musician. An artist.

Whatever you're called to do, the way God uses you will be unique. But here's the cool thing: regardless of what you're called to do specifically, we're all called to do one thing generally: proclaim God's great name, and make it famous in all the earth. Probably one of my favorite verses of all time, one I quote to myself multiple times daily, is 1 Peter 2:9 --

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may declare the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

 That's you and me. This is where we talk about the next part. If we were. Here's where it get's hard. The book of Romans puts it better than any other: before Christ, we're dead in our sins. That means that all the people out there who don't know the love of the Lord are dead. Corpses. Rotting souls. That sin that you see is just the maggot coming out. I don't want to be grotesque, but that's what deadness amounts to. Total lifelessness. Because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

We may not know who God has chosen, but we know that he has chosen us to proclaim his glory. Peter isn't the only one who got this. Listen to Jesus himself in Matthew 28:

¹⁷ And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Some doubted, but then he said that he has all authority. And with his authority we are to go out and preach the Gospel to our friends, our neighbors, our coworkers, our world. When light pierces the darkness, it is a dramatic thing.

Our lives ought to be as Christ's, who though he was pierced, rose again, and lives for the glory of the Father:

⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

Can you imagine if you were born in a different circumstance? Maybe. But the thought of that drives us to an even greater realization: that we were born in the circumstances we were born in. That we serve the God we serve, and that we are his chosen people. Out of all the people he could have chosen, of the option to kill us all out or create other beings, God chose to live and die and live again for US. You. Me.

Even those in different circumstances are there by God's divine will, perhaps just so that He can use us as light, because HE is God. 

And, even though this post is titled, "Who You Are," I think you'll have to agree with me that this is more about who God is, and who we get to be as a part of it.

Relish in God's goodness, friends, and celebrate your brand-new identity in Christ!

Soli Deo Gloria!

~Meridian

I AM

Excuse me. I am not. But don't worry...I know I Am. :)

If you've already read/heard Louie Giglio discuss this topic, the underlying concept of what I'm about to say won't be new to you, but perhaps the applications will be.

Lately, my life has been confuddled with a multitude of different activities and academics. And all it's done for me is pile into a big heap of worry, stress, and uncertainty. I know, great way to start your senior year.

I find myself asking questions. Who am I, really? What was I made to be? What will I study? Where will I go? What will I do? When will it happen? Can I afford it? Will I be happy?

My thoughts whiz by me at a million miles a minute. And ultimately I end up completely exhausted, unable to sleep, and more than a little stressed. What good is it all doing me?

Frankly, none. But recently I found encouragement in Louie Giglio's excellent book, I am not but I know I AM. That is, if God's name is I AM -- he is goodness, he is greatness, he is power, he is love, he is strength, he is kindness, he is mercy, he is justice -- then my name must be I am not -- not good, not great, not powerful, not loving, not strong, not kind, not merciful, not just. But God in his excellent greatness has called me out of darkness into his marvelous light. It reminds me of Plato's cave, only I'm no longer chained down: I've been set free! What's more amazing, I am part of a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that I may declare the excellencies of him who did this great work. (1 Peter 2:9) But the most mind-blowing, humbling part of the whole deal is that God -- the one who is all goodness, greatness, power, love, strength, kindness, mercy, and justice -- sent his own Son to die for me the worst death, a death stripped of all goodness, greatness, power, love, strength, kindness, mercy, or justice. He looked on him as if my sin was his, and he looked to the future. He saw me, and despising his own Son, he loved me. I, dead in my sins, sick with a gross and unsightly nature, was looked on and loved by this great God. This God who is everything. His name says it all: I AM. And I have to realize, with much humility and gratitude, that I am not. 

Whoa.

So, as I've gone through my daily life, I've been asking myself how God, in his omnipotent greatness, truly satisfies my desires. As I study like some kind of SAT-maniac, and begin to stress over not having high scores, I pray aloud, Lord, you are the source of all wisdom, and I am not. I trust you. My day goes on, and suddenly I panic about my debate case. And I pray, Lord, you are the winner of every argument, and I am not. Speak to me. Again, I can find peace. Then, I realize I have to determine a college application and nervousness overwhelms me. But the Lord is good to remind me of himself, and I pray, Lord, you are the great shepherd, and I am not. Lead me.

These little acknowledgements of the Lord are not magic spells, but they do amazing work on my heart. Each time I remind myself of the Lord's presence and relevance in my life, I realize all over again just how beautiful it is that HE IS GOD, and I am not. 

Many of you will remember the song, "He's got the whole world in his hands." That song was my favorite as a child. I loved to sing it over and over and do all the motions with it:

He's got the whole world in his hands

He's got the whole world in his hands

He's got the whole world in his hands

He's got the whole world in his hands

Looking at it, the song seems pretty repetitive. After you've sung it a few times, you get the idea and you're ready for it to end. But I think there's something profound to learn here: God really does have the whole world in his hands. Because God's name is I AM, and thus, we are not. Even so, he chooses in his goodness to keep the whole world in his hands.

Somehow that's easier to believe as a child. A child's parents feed him, clothe him, shelter him, take him everywhere. His troubles consist of scraped knees and broken Lego sets. Then, at some point, he realizes the world is much bigger than he will ever be able to handle. More than a thousand of him could handle. More than the whole world can handle.

It's no wonder John Newton wrote his infamous hymn, "Amazing Grace." Newton was a slave ship captain, an adulterer, and a drunk. His youth was spent on women and wine. Then, in a

terrible storm, God caught Newton's attention. In months, Newton went from being a slave to sin to being a preacher of freedom, both man's and God's. Newton was considered the worst kind of heathen: no man on earth could have turned around his life. And, God didn't have to do it. After all, he is God. But he did it for Newton.

And he did it for me. And for so many of you. So my stresses come. Tomorrow, I'll study for the SAT. I'll research for debate. I'll work on essays for college applications. I may even do some political work. And you know what? God's name is still I AM.

Soli Deo Gloria!

~Meridian

[i am not]

Some things I want to do in my lifetime...

...possibly in this order.


-Become proficient at singing and piano and perhaps one or two other instruments
- Go to a God-honoring college and major in English and/or History, with possible minors in Music, Education, Physics, and/or Government.
-Become fluent in Latin and possibly Greek
-Consider going to Law School (but most likely, don't actually attend unless I love the prospect)
-Run long-distance
-Work in the political world
-Attend the University of Oxford for at least one term for the experience, or possibly longer for a MA in History
-Somewhere in between the above steps, or shortly thereafter, get married to a Godly, intelligent man, and love him well
-Be a missionary for 6 months or a year
-Have kids any time after getting married, love them as dearly as old Mrs. Sowerby in The Secret Garden, and teach them to fear God and to love his precepts and creation
-Teach a handful of other eager students these same things
-Create a peaceful home where love is abounding and learning is encouraged
-Have a large garden (after all, I'll have plenty of little hands around to help! :D)
-Run a home business of tutoring or something like that to help aid with the family income
-Begin to grasp the things I love
-Paint in Italy
-Spend some time writing in Switzerland
-Possibly publish a scientific paper
-Throughout all of this, finish an epic poem or fantasy novel worth reading regardless of era


Underlying thing to do: Serve my God and be willing to add things to this list, and take them off just as easily, according to his will, and my submissiveness first to my parents, and then my husband. ;)


Meridian

Jane Austen on Sensibility

"Better be without sense than misapply it." -Jane Austen, Emma

20 books for 2012...

...alright, so it's not really that many, but it's a start anyway. I'm a student, and reading 20 books in addition to my schoolwork could end up being a challenge. Of course, I have several books already on my list. (See below). I'm aiming for 5 specific subject matter books, 5 biographies, 5 novels/poetry, and 5 theology/devotional/inspirational books. If your favorite books aren't on this list, however, leave a comment with a favorite title and/or author, and it will definitely get on my list for the year. ;) I'd encourage y'all to do the same. Reading is refreshing, renewing, and good for the restoration of the mind. It is also quite entertaining and informational.

Specific Subject Matter
Logic, by Isaac Watts.
Politics, by Aristotle.

Inspirational/Theological
Be the Change, by Zach Hunter.
The City of God, by Augustine.

Biography
Amazing Grace, by Eric Metaxas.

Novel/Poetry
The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexander Dumas. I've made it partway before...but seriously, this thing is longer than my Bible!
Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott.
Shakespeare's sonnets...or at least, some of them. :)

Let me know your suggestions!! :)

Meridian

Heaven...seriously

"When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library." -Jane Austen

:)

My Top 10 Favorite Novels...

...in no particular order, because I love them all.  (And the Bible isn't on here because it is not a novel, but that is my favorite book ever =D) Most of these books I have read multiple times, and for the ones tat I haven't read more than once, I have every intention to do so.  Go read these books. And love them like I do. :)

 A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. A remarkably moving look at life during the French Revolution. This book had me overwhelmed, amazed, laughing, and even sobbing. Definitely one of the greatest works of literature available.

 Ishmael, by E.D.E.N. Southworth. This book is a sort of rags-to-riches story of a young illegitemate child. He is truly a lovable character, and his life is an inspiring one. Ishmael is out of print, and to my knowledge is only available through Lamplighter Publishing, but do get it! It's sequel, Self Raised, is very good, as well, and satisfies the tragic ending of the first book.

 Tales of the Resistance, by David and Karen Mains. What a book! This is a children's allegory of the Gospel, and is part of a trilogy (Tales of the Kingdom and Tales of the Restoration are the other two books). My friend Cooper recommended it to me, and rightly so! I read the entire book in one sitting, and was brought through smiles, tears, anger, and joy. Tales of the Resistance is a must-have for any family!

 The Chronciles of Narnia series, by C.S. Lewis. If you aren't already familiar with this series, do get acquainted. Enter the story of two children who stumble upon the magical experiments of the absurd Uncle Andrew. Before they know what to think, they are thrust into a wood with mystical pools of water, and the adventure begins! Another allegory, summarizing the key elements of the entire Bible. Absolutely life-changng.

 The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Lewis and Tolkien both were members of a group of writers known as the Inklings (from which this blog borrows its title), and have become famous for their friendship. Tolkien has erected a true masterpiece of literature as he tells the tale of a magical ring, a fat little "hobbit," and a handful of people thrust together in a mission to destroy this ring. A very compelling story, again one that brings out all sorts of emotions. While I wouldn't call this one an allegory, it does take key elements of Scripture and beautifully portray them in this epic fantasy.

 Elsie Dinsmore, by Martha Finley. A sweet, inspiring story of a young girl who, despite having everything in worldly terms, has only one wish in the whole world: to meet her father. Practically an orphan, yet one who is heiress to plantations and mounds of wealth, Elsie is the dearest little character you'll encounter. This book might be a little more geared to girls, but it is really quite suitable and enjoyable for the whole family.

 Beowulf, unknown author. I know. Right now you are thinking, "GEEK!" Well that's because I am one. But seriously, this is an awesome book. I've read it four times in the last three years. It is poetry, yes, but very easy poetry. Readable in two hours. At least I've done it. :) By the way, get the Seamus Heaney translation. Best translation ever, especially since you get the opportunity to learn a little Old Norse along the way.

 The History of the Kings of Britain, by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Let the real geek arise. Technically, this is not a novel, but there are enough historical innacuracies that I count it as one. Matthew, my brother, who read this at age ten (yes, he is just slightly intelligent), LOVED it! Even if you hate history, though, and you can't stand acts of blood and gore, and you think that medieval people were stupid, you're going to love this book. I can almost guarantee it. Give it a little patience, because it takes time to get used to for some people. This book is HILLARIOUS, given a chance to show itself. Really, who can pass up five-foot men carrying eleven-foot giants for five miles and throwing them over cliffs? You can also find the basis for all the legends of King Arthur and Merlin in this book. The only thing I might skip is the prophecies of Merlin. They're kinda weird. :P

 Emma, by Jane Austen. Hahaha! That's all I can say about this book. It is hillariously amusing, and brings in a sweet romance as well. Most definitely worth reading. Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility are other favorites by Austen.

 The Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan. What a story! You most likely know that this is an allegory, and you may or may not know that it is the most widely selling book in history, only surpassed by the Bible itself. Yes, it is that good! You can read it in the Old English, or get various translations of it. I'e read it both ways. I distinctly remember being about nine or ten years old and actually memorizing whole chapters of the abridged version! Excellent stuff. Very convicting, and inspiring as well.

Well, those are my ten. If I could have, I would have listed dozens more...books like Jane Eyre, The Secret Garden, Little Lord Fauntleroy, Deadline, Little Women, The Nine Tailors, The Great Gatsby, Till We Have Faces, Anne of Green Gables, and a billion others for good measure. :) Plus, I could have a huge list of non-fiction, But, I have restrained myself, and your job in return is to read all the books in this list.

Bye then!

Meridian