Dancingwoo

Grace in a grocery store

dancingwoo — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:36:33 +0000

Yesterday I was standing in a store when I saw this happen:
A 2-year-old boy and his mother were shopping. The little boy was sitting in the front of the cart while the mother pushed the cart around the store. I saw they little boy hit his mother. The mother reacted by spanking her sons hand and telling him, “we don’t hit, remember. You know better.”

Most of the time, I don’t listen to the dialogue between child and mother in a discipling moment. I feel embarassed to watch. **Side note** I need a right perspective on discipline. It’s not about punishing or embarassing, but loving the child enough to teach them the truth. Anyways, for some reason, from 50 feet away, this conversation peaked my interests. Immediately after hearing the mother’s response, I felt the Holy Spirit say to me “grace.”

“You knew better.” I’ve been saying that to myself my entire life. Allison, you know better than to lie. You know better than to steal or cheat. You know better than to not do your homework. The list goes on for the context in which we all say that to ourselves. Allison, you know better than to listen to the condemning thoughts in your head. You know better. Why didn’t you read your bible today, or pray, or go to church? Why did you withdraw??? For real, the list goes on.

In the moment of hearing the mother say that phrase out loud, I realized how contrary that is to the grace of God. With a repentant heart, God never says, “You know better.” That just feels like an insult. Instead, Jesus says come to me, receive my forgiveness and grace and love. I don’t hold them back from you because you sinned or disobeyed. My love for you will never change.
There may be consequences for my sinning or disobedience, but what father tells you of the consequences first, then loves on you. I feel like God does it the other way around. He loves on you, then maybe later on he’ll tell you or you will just see and feel the consequences. It is so crucial to know Fathers love.

So this mother told her child that he should not hit and then told him that he knows better. Maybe she taught him before of why we don’t hit, I don’t know. I just think that how much the behavior modification process would take place if we focused on the root instead of the fruit. Children have some reason they hit or bit or disobey. Why not ask them why they did those things? There is a reason. And why not replace the lie that lead them to the action with truth that will lead to good actions?

I feel like we’d learn at a deeper level and grow up with truth and grace instilled in us if we dealt with the root of behaviors. Right now, I feel like I grew up having to perform and not do this, this and this, and also this and that. And if I didn’t measure up, then I wouldn’t be loved. Yes, it is a lie. But what if I was told that there was grace for sinning and messing up. That I could ask for forgiveness and recieve grace. That I was still loved.

there is always a root of why a child hits or bits or disobeys. Maybe they are afraid, maybe they are mad, maybe they just want to be noticed? Why not get at the root first and watch the behavior change itself. We, as adults, do similar things. We go drink or party because we want to fit in, or drown out our problems. We manipulate people because we are afraid of not getting our way. We hurt people with our words because we’ve been hurt ourselves. We all have reasons for doing what we do. Letting Jesus deal with the root and him cover it in grace will always lead us to change our behavior. His love and grace, his kindness leads us to repentance. And repentance is a 180 degree turn, a behavior modification.

Filed under: Life, Thoughts Tagged: discipling your children, grace instead of condemnation, root of behavior, you know better

Imitate Jesus

dancingwoo — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 05:58:29 +0000

I’m currently reading the book of Isaiah. It is filled with so many cool things. Here’s something I read this evening

“I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, To open blind eyes, to bring prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house.” Isaiah 42:6-7

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the LORD.” Luke 4:18-19 (Isaiah 61:1-2)

These passages speak of Jesus. Jesus even quoted Isaiah 61 in Luke 4. The Spirit of the LORD came upon Jesus. Jesus came to preach the gospel to the poor (maybe to the poor in spirit?), heal the brokenhearted, bring deliverance to the captives, to restore sight to the blind, and to bring liberty to those who are oppressed. And we can see that Jesus did that. He came to do the Father’s work.

Realizing that I am in Christ, I wondered if I could do the same things. The Holy Spirit lead me to John 14:12. “Most asssuredly, I say to you, he who belives in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and great works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” I believe in Jesus. By faith, I believe in Jesus and believe the words He spoke to be true. So I will do the works Jesus did; I will do the works that Isaiah spoke of. And Jesus did ascend back to the Father, thus we will do greater works than we read about.

It hit me like a ton of bricks! WE can see broken hearts healed and the prisoners released from darkness. Those things don't have to wait until Heaven or until Jesus returns. We can be used RIGHT NOW to see those things happen. The question is: Do I believe? Do my actions match my beliefs that such things can happen? Do I believe that our God IS THE GOD???? Will I put my life on the line? Will I take leaps of faith everyday to believe Jesus and take Him at His Word?

Do you believe?

Filed under: Life Tagged: Do what the Father does, Heal the brokenhearted, imitating Jesus, Isaiah 61, John 14:12

True Identity

dancingwoo — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:19:10 +0000

We have heard about identity at lot in the recent years. Protect your identity from people who want to steal it. Don’t let someone steal all that is precious to you. Most people will read this and think of your financial identity. But there is another identity that is at stake and we don’t even realize it!

This identity is one of far greater value. It dictates who you are and how you will live your life. How do you identify yourself? By the way you dress? By the music you listen to? By the friends you hang out with? By how much money you have in stock and in the bank? By the possessions you own? By what church you attend? By how many hours you spend reading the bible or praying? By your title at work or church or in a volunteer organization? The list can go on… We have MANY things to identify with. But if the primary one is not that you belong to Jesus and you abide in Christ, you will not be able to live the life God has planned for you.

If we do not see ourselves as Jesus sees us, how can we life the life we were created to live? God is our creator. But if we do not know why the creator created us and live according to his purpose, we are bound to get hurt and abuse the gifts He gave us. I believe that is one of the reasons we see so much pain and hurt in our world. We have stopped seeking our maker for our purpose and identity.

This past few years has been a journey to discover my identity in the One who created me. The way I viewed myself was not in line with how God saw me. I could not walk in the ways of God because I did not understand God nor did I understand and see how He saw me. But He has done a work in me to shift my eyes so I can now see what He sees in me.

I see some amazing things. I see a Father who is loving. His love for me abounds. He has grace for me when I fall. He sees the righteousness of Jesus when He looks at me. He is my strength. He is my power. He is my salvation. He is my joy. He is my purpose. He is my beloved!

But for a long time after beginning to see the truth there was one lie that stil kept me trapped. I still thought that it was by my power that I stayed on the narrow path. I thought it was up to me to stay holy. God saved me, but now I had to stay perfect. God saved me, but now I have to follow all his rules by my own power and strength. And it worked most of the time. I can be pretty dedicated at times to follow rules (I definitely am a rule follower by nature). But in the times I messed up, I felt the fall hard. I thought all was ruined because I messed up. I thought the grace God had for me was done. I had run out and he would cast me away! I felt the condemnation and shame and guilt for not being able to follow God’s commands.

But how far from the truth was I. Jesus did not save me to then have me, by my own strength, live a righteous life. I could not live a righteous life before Jesus saved me, how could I do it after? I came to God by faith and He saved me. So now, I come to him by faith to keep me and HE DOES!

I ran across a quote from Andrew Murray’s Abide in Christ in the chapter titled, “As you came to him, by faith.”

“And if you ask what exactly it is that you now have to believe so that you may abide in Him, the answer is not difficult. Believe first of allwhat He said: “I am the vine” (John 15:5). The safety and the fruitfulness of the branch depend upon the strength of the vine. Do not think so much of yourself as a branch, nor of the abiding as your duty, until you have first had your soul filled with the faith of what Christ as the Vine is. He really will be to you all that a vine can be–holding you fast, nourishing you, and aking Himself every moment responsible for your growth and your fruit. take time to know, set yourself heartily to belive, “My Vine, on whom I can depend for all I need, is Christ.” A large, strong vine bears the feeble branch and holds it more than the branch holds the vine. ASk the Father by the Holy Spirit to reveal to yoiu what a glorious, loving, mightly Christ this is, in whom you have your place and your life: it is the faith in what Christ is, more than anything else, that will keep you abiding in Him. A soul filled with large thoughts of the Vine will be a strong branch and willa bide confidently in Him. Be much occupied with Jesus, and believe much in Him as the True Vine.”

All of this speaks to me of how much of the work is already done by Christ to keep us close to Him and following Him. My first step is to believe in all the Christ is. When I see who Christ is and His power to keep me, I will always come back to Him. He can and WILL keep me close to him. His is the True Vine. The vine is responsible for the growth and nourishment of the branch. As long as I, a branch in the Vine of Christ, stay connected to the Vine, the Vine will keep me growing. What a relief that the pressure to perform and be perfect does not rest on my shoulders.

When Jesus said “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest…For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11:28,30), He was telling the truth! Who would have guessed that God actually keeps his word and is faithful to fulfill it?!? His burden is light and He does give rest. He gives rest from our striving to earn His love and approval. He gives us rest from trying to live up to a standard that we cannot live up to. His burden to follow him IS light because it is by him power we have the faith we need to believe him and stay connected to him as the Vine.

His call to you is the same call he spoke to me. Come to Me, Allison. Come hide yourself in my love. Come rest at my feet, in my presence. Come, let me love you and pour out my grace on you. Come, let Me heal your broken heart. His arms is safe. He does not accuse, but he welcomes your weary heart. So humble yourself, and come to Jesus. Believe in Him and in his word.

Filed under: Thoughts Tagged: call to rest, His love will keep you, identity theft, stop striving for unattainable perfection, The Father's heart, True Identity in Christ

prayer is a powerful tool

dancingwoo — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:43:49 +0000

Intercession starts with Intimacy. Intimacy breeds intercession. Need to connect to God? In intimacy then comes impartation of things going on in world and God’s heart. Like Abraham in Gen 18, God came to Abraham and shared his heart. Amos 7 (God doesn’t want to just bring judgement but he has to. Unless intercessor comes before him, He will bring judgment. Abraham came before the Lord and interceded for Sodom) The heart of God can be moved. God is totally consistent yet totally unpredictable.

Staying in prayer even when you feel dry and feel like no revelation is coming, that turns the heart of God. He delights in that.

Every ministry needs intercession. There is much spiritual darkness. Ideas need to be birthed out of power of God not wisdom of man.

Filed under: Prayer Tagged: intercession, Intimacy

Car, oh car, must you teach me another lesson??

dancingwoo — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:38:35 +0000

So my car went into the shop a couple of weeks ago around Labor day and was in the shop for a week. I had only planned for it to be there a day or two. I took it in to get a sensor replaced and they ended up finding another problem. They just took forever; at least that’s just how I felt about it all. So i took the bus places and people took me the places I needed to go. But it was still inconvienent. I just wanted to have my car.

Lesson learned:
1. God always has something to teach me. The question is: am I willing to be taught through any circumstance?
2. People care about me… A LOT! I was given rides to work and bible study and home by people I didn’t expect. Thank you.
3. I need to praise God in every circumstance, no matter how I feel. Fight through Praise because praise brings a change in your heart.
4. It’s really hard to live life in Phoenix without a car.

So I got my car back and was so glad :) But then the odometer wasn’t working and the A/C was acting a little strange. I didn’t want to take my car back to the shop. I had things planned and couldn’t give it up for a day (or two or three, or four… who knew how long they’d take again??). I didn’t want to risk giving it up again for an unknown amount of time while they mysteriously “worked” on my car.

So I waited a week til things calmed down in my schedule to take it in. I dropped it off on Wednesday morning hoping to have it back that evening. Wednesday at 5 (when the shop closes) my car wasn’t ready. Ok, that’s alright, I’m just going to Chi Alpha and somebody can give me a ride home. NBD. But I needed my car today because I was meeting my mentor in Chandler. ARG, the car wasn’t finished in time. I was so depressed (I guess that’s the word, but not sure). I just wanted my car!! I was frustrated but couldn’t do anything about it. What would they do if I just went to the shop and said enough, give me back my car???

It’s still not done and my life just feel inconvienced at every turn. And there is nothing I can do about the situation. I did everything I could, but it was still not enough to change the circumstance. So I look to God and tell him my concerns. But I know I am missing something. What should I be learning from this? What is God trying to speak to me? I wasn’t listening for the lesson. I feel like I am never listening until I try to fix it my way, then, out of options, depressed, worn-out, exhausted I go to God. Ah, how i wish I could avoid the exhaustion of carrying the burden myself. And I realize that I can avoid it, but continually surrendering to the Holy Spirit.

This situation is like the time I was looking for roommates. God used that to cause me to turn to him for everything. Every way or thing I was trying to do to solve the problem was blocked? Why? So I would turn my heart to God. So I would turn to him, the lover of my soul. God wants me to turn to HIM first. His heart longs for me as my heart longs for him. I think that is the lesson God wanted to teach me. So instead of me becoming frustrated or whatever I want to feel, I need to turn to God immediately.

I think

Filed under: Cars, Life Tagged: car, Intimacy, learning, Listeing

Having Insight when I don’t possess it

dancingwoo — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 07:12:19 +0000

Learned something cool at bible study tonight. With the Holy Spirit we can have insight on situations that we are not familiar with. Insight is being familiar, acquanited with something. And with the Holy Spirit we can know things that we couldn’t know. The Holy Spirit knows all things, so when I face new things, I can have insight on it through the Holy Spirit. SO COOL!!

Also, doing my bible study homework this week was GREAT! I am doing a Beth Moore Bible Study called “Living Beyond Yourself: The Fruit of the Spirit”. We have 5 days of homework each week that send you digging deep into the Word of God. So this week I had questions come up in my life. Like, how do I confront someone on a sensitive issue? Or what do I believe or know about the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Or I just needed to know how to overcome the emotions that don’t line up with God. All my questions were answered in this week’s homework. All I have to say is that the Lord is GOOD, and quick to answer! I’ll post later some of the answers to my questions.

And I have been reading good things from “Experiencing Father’s Embrace” by Jack Frost. I’ll have to post those excerpts, too. Enjoy and be blessed!

Filed under: Chi Alpha, Life Tagged: Beth Moore, Insight, Prayer's answered

Day by Day

dancingwoo — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:07:25 +0000

The Lord will change my life, but even more he WILL change my DAY.
I am seeing the immediate changes faith in Jesus brings.
And I see my entire life changing day by day as fears are removed.

Filed under: Life Tagged: change my day, Jesus, transformation

What really matters anyway?

dancingwoo — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:01:22 +0000

I’ve asked myself that a lot lately. What really matters right now? Life stinks. My car is broken, I still don’t have my books for class, I feel totally drained and tired. I feel down. So what am I doing with my life right now? I ponder that. Is it school? Is it getting straight A’s? Is it meeting new people? Is it knowing God? Is it being super involved in Chi Alpha? There are so many things that I can turn to and make the most important thing.

But what can I turn to that will satisfy this longing I have inside? Ever had that longing? That deep longing that you can’t even name or express in words? It’s that desire that calls and hopes that your life counts for something worth while. Is what I am doing making a difference?

On Tuesday, God came and spoke straight to that deep desire. His answer was so simple, but satisfying. The only thing that matters is this: Knowing God’s love for me and loving him back!

How well I perform doesn’t matter. How many times I fall and make a mistake, no matter how big or small, doesn’t matter. Who I meet and talk to during the day isn’t what’s most important. How much I pray and read my bible is not the most important. It’s knowing the Love of God.

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” Ephesians 3:17-18.

It seemed so simple… because it is. And it is all that matters. And somehow, the next day, all I could focus on what how MUCH God LOVES ME, Allison. A weight of performance fell off my weary shoulders. The burden of perfection was erased from my overworked hard drive of a mind.

Praise the Lord! I rested in God’s love through faith.

Filed under: Chi Alpha, Testimonies, Thoughts Tagged: focus, love, purpose

Epiphany on the bus

dancingwoo — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 06:27:09 +0000

I take public transportation to school, everyday. Some days I read, somedays I strike up conversations with people, somedays I sleep, somedays I gaze into the distance. The previous two days, not counting Thursday, I chatted with a neighbor on the bus. Good conversation, crazy connections, cool person.

But today, I wanted to read. I’ve been reading, Experiencing Father’s Embrace by Jack Frost for the second time. The Lord led me to read this book, so I’ve been taking is slow. So slow that I am even rereading chapters to make sure I “GET” what he is saying and “GET” what God is saying.

Today’s reread was in the chapter, “Abiding in Love.” This whole book has been about the Father’s love for us. Then it hit me today!! Everything God is doing right now is about his love for me! And my testimony is about how I’ve experienced his love! And I realized this, my first thought was, “I wish I was going on a GE trip so I could share my testimony.” I laughed at myself when I realized how excited I was about sharing my testimony. Then it HIT me again! I don’t have to wait to go on a missions trip to share my testimony. I can share it NOW!!!

I love that this happened on the bus. Do you ever have those moments when you realize something so big, but everyone around you has no idea what’s going on inside your head or heart? All you want to do is “whew” or scream or tell the person next to you what you just realized? But you realize that it would take you a long time to explain everything that just got pieced together in your mind. But you still have this joy and shout rise up in you and you just need to let it come out your mouth? I totally felt that… on the bus. I didn’t share with them, I just smiled and rejoiced inside, pulled out my notebook and journaled.

My point is this: God can meet you anywhere and speak to you anytime. So be prepared and don’t be afraid to look like a fool in praising God. Let the revelation make you excited and share it with others :)

Filed under: Life, Testimonies Tagged: bus, epiphany, revelation

I fear being wrong

dancingwoo — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 06:57:57 +0000

So while talking to a friend the other day, something was said that made me afraid that I did something wrong. We ended the conversation and I felt confusion set in. I was afraid I had made a mistake and that terrified me. For some reason, I was afraid to have messed up. And because I was afraid, my first instinct was to withdraw, protect (i.e. close) my heart and run away.

But why was I afraid to make a mistake? Because to me, it felt like the end of the world. I felt that making a mistake meant that something was wrong with ALL of me. That somehow that mistake equated to my worth and identity. Through talking to another friend, she helped me realize that making a mistake is not the end of the world and that God’s love for me isn’t based on anything I do. God still loves me even when I make a mistake. IT’S OK!

So after overcoming that fear, I had more to face. So my initial response in times like these is to withdraw and hide my heart. So in an effort to hide, I avoid people and push them away. I pushed my friend away and expected him to push me away as well. But even as I was avoiding and pushing him away, he never pushed me away like I expected. Instead, he stayed right by my side.

I was thinking about that during worship at the First XA of the semester. I fully expect people to push me away and stop loving me when I push them away and keep them at a distance. But my friend didn’t do that and God never does. Even if I push God away and hide from him, he still pursues me and loves me. Even if I do guard my heart from God and keep him out, His love for me doesn’t change. He will still call after me and call me out of the darkness.

I don’t want to withdraw and hid my heart. This summer I really felt the freedom to open my heart to be known. I don’t want to go back to hiding it. I experienced freedom and want to continue living in the light. So Lord, help me open my heart again. I reject the lies that say it will get hurt again and it is too risky to put my heart out there. Actually, it’s too risky not to let my heart be known. So Lord, have your way in me and let your light shine on me. I chose to walk in the light, rather than in the darkness.

Filed under: Life Tagged: heart, light, openness, rejection