So Much Junk Food

There's no question: junk food is bad. Really bad. Everyone knows that. We all know what it does to us and how much we're addicted to it.

It's so much easier for me to sit down with a box of crackers and eat enough of them to consider it my dinner instead of eating a good, wholesome meal that I have to cook myself. I'd rather pop something in the microwave than take the time to plan, buy, and prepare food for myself that I know is way better and way, way tastier than junk food.

Junk food is easy and it's fast and I don't have to work so hard just to feed myself.

So is social media and Netflix and online articles and music.

It seems like those things dominate a lot of my free time. I get so caught up in the feelings and the emotional highs of it all, but I know very well that it does nothing for my mind, soul, or spirit. It doesn't nourish. And you, reading this right now, I think you know that too.

"Our stomachs are so full of the small, there is no room for the great." -John Piper

A friend and I decided recently that we were going to read a certain number of chapters from the Bible everyday. The first night I made myself stay up plowing through pages of the New Testament, I thought, "Why haven't I been doing this? This is awesome. This is what I need to be doing every single day." It felt good--really it did.

BUT after that first night, it started to feel like a chore. Why? Because I'm addicted to junk food. I'd rather spend my time browsing through Facebook or watching episodes of Community. Just being honest.

But this Bible reading thing is really doing something for me. I'm finding that I'm bored with social media and I don't like the stuff on it. It is so boring. SO boring. Watching another episode on Netflix used to be tempting, but now I'm like... "Another episode? Ehhhh.... blechhhh."

So this is what's happening to me. How is it happening? I'll tell you.

Intentionally saying "no" to my urges and saying "yes" to doing something that doesn't seem that fun. You may not be watching horrible, terrible TV shows or  listening to tasteless music. You could be enjoying good, wholesome entertainment. That's great. But that doesn't mean it's not messing with your attention span and "ruining your dinner"--your real dinner. Let go of it little by little and soon enough you'll be craving what the Bible says instead of what a Facebook meme says.

"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding." -Psalm 119: 103-104

Also see: One Reason You're Bored With the Bible

Take Heart

Think about those words.

Thinking Rightly about Jesus

Over the years and months of being a Christian, my perception of Jesus changes more and more. It gets clearer, deeper, and more intimate. Intimate even to the fact of living and talking to Him like he's my husband.

A passage in the Bible that has become one of my favorites describes Jesus in a way that popular Christianity has failed to do. He is not feeble "girly man" as depicted in much of the classic art of Christianity. (Pardon the term). He's "the man," a noble king who desires the Church like a man desires his bride.

As you read this, imagine yourself saying this to Him:

King Jesus,

"You are the most handsome of them all. 

Gracious words stream from your lips. 

God himself has blessed you forever. 

Put on your sword, O mighty warrior!

You are so glorious, so majestic!

In your majesty, ride out to victory, 

defending truth, humility, and justice. 

Go forth and perform awe-inspiring deeds!

Your arrows are sharp, piercing your enemies' hearts. 

The nations fall beneath your feet. 

Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. 

You rule with a scepter of justice. 

You love justice and hate evil. 

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you, 

pouring out the oil of joy on you more than

on anyone else. 

Myrrh, aloes, and cassia perfume your robes. 

In ivory palaces the music of strings

entertains you."

Psalm 45: 2-8

And then in verse 10, which can be interpreted as referring to the Church, it says:

"Listen to me, O royal daughter; take heart what I say

Forget your people and your family far away. 

For your royal husband delights in your beauty;

honor him, for he is your lord." 

Jesus is probably more than what you think about Him.
Keep finding out who He really is. 

Sweet-Smelling Fragrance

I love it whenever I get to live what I read from the Bible. This morning, I was moving right along through 2nd Corinthians. I read a passage that I hadn't remembered ever reading before. It was talking about how God uses His followers to "spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume."

Paul keeps writing and says, "But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume." (2nd Corinthians 2:15-16)

I completely identified with how some people smell a horrible odor when they realize some kind of outreach is going on. "Oh, it's those stinkin' Christians. Trying to invite me out to church. Why don't they invite someone who'll actually come?"

But then, I asked Jesus if it was possible for non-believers to take all this Jesus stuff for what it really is: a sweet-smelling perfume. He answered me this afternoon.

I was waiting on campus for the last international student to come so I could drive her to our ministry leader's house for an international potluck dinner. A few minutes passed by, and then I saw her running up to me, apologizing for being late. I assured her that it was totally fine and we walked to my car, got in and started driving there. We didn't really know each other well, but were talking about random things like majors and events of our day. Suddenly, during a short pause in the conversation, she said, "I feel really peaceful."

Just a few minutes before, she was rushing to be on time, shared that her day was busy, but now she suddenly felt peaceful. "I'm just sitting here... and talk to you... sit in your car and listen to music... and I just feel... peaceful." She kept explaining her feeling, looked out the window at the setting sun and the open field we were passing and shared how life back in her country was so stressful since she lived in a large city.

After talking with her for a few seconds more she also said, "Your voice... it's... it's... uhhh.... hard to describe... it's very.... PEACEFUL! I think God bless me."

I asked if she was a Christian. She said that she wasn't. I was able to explain God's presence to her and she was very receptive.

Once I realized that Jesus had answered my question from this morning, I had to write about it.

Thanks God, for making your children a sweet-smelling fragrance.

This is my Bible

Every Sunday at my church the whole congregation takes their Bibles, holds them in the air, and says this:

This is my Bible
I am what it says I am
I have what it says I have
I can do what it says I can do


Today I'll be taught the Word of God
I boldly confess my mind is alert
My heart is receptive
And I will never be the same


I'm about to receive the incorruptible,
Indestructible, ever-living seed of the Word of God
I will never be the same
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER
I will never be the same
In Jesus' name

I've been reading this powerful stuff for years. My life has changed a lot because of it.
Literally, I've never been the same and there's no going back.

God uses his words to change the minds of humans if they just open up and let Him do it: "..let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." Romans 12: 2


I totally believe this and I've experienced a renewal of my mind. There's a wisdom there that wasn't there before. There's an understanding that helps me relate to people and reason with God as he directs the course of my life.

It's so valuable that every day people risk their freedom, reputation, and, for some, it means risking their lives.

This is an underground Bible study in North Korea, where a person can be executed just for having a Bible in their possession. But, despite how dangerous it is... these people value the Word of God more than their own lives.

I want that passion. Some days, I'll decide to postpone my Bible reading simply because it's in the other room... or it's in the same room... I just don't want to move out of my bed to get it.

Hope I can change. I want to be in love with the Word of God.