No Greater Love

Ahhh God is so cool. Every once in a while I have one of these precious moments where in the inner workings of my mind God interrupts my thoughts and implants His own, and teaches me something that I truly did not know until then.

This was one of the most powerful pieces of evidence for me that God is real; when I noticed that some of the 'thoughts' in my head were not actually my own thoughts. When I have no good reason to think or know the things that are being spoken in my mind. When these thoughts convey a truth that I have not learned elsewhere. When these thoughts lead me in a direction opposite to the way that 'I' would like to go but end up being wiser decisions. When these thoughts speak contrary to my own feelings at the time, to encourage or motivate me onward when I am feeling weak and lost. When I feel 'something' telling me to do something that seems utterly ridiculous, but as I have come to believe that this may be the Lord speaking and I have tested the waters of actually obeying this 'voice' that seems so irrational at times, I have been astonished at how later on it all makes sense somehow, and the 'irrational' thing I was asked to do helps me or someone else in a way that I could not have anticipated; but God did.

Over the years since God called me to know Him, there have been occasions where He has... I am not even sure how to explain this... it's almost as though He answers a prayer that I have been meaning to pray, or should have prayed but didn't. A small example, years ago when I was working for the City I came down with a sudden severe flu and had to leave work early. I was delirious with fever and up all night on the bathroom floor, and ended up sleeping well into the next work day before I realized that I hadn't called in sick. My work environment was one that did not feel very compassionate or forgiving in these types of situations, and I was immediately in a panic thinking I was about to get fired for not showing up for work, and not calling in. I fumbled for my phone, still completely ill and nauseous, and noticed a voicemail from work. My stomach churned and adrenaline coursed through me while I waited for the message to play. Sure enough it was my Boss,  - "Hi Carly, I just wanted to call and tell you not to bother calling in this morning. I saw how sick you were yesterday and I don't expect you in today...get some rest and we'll see you when you're feeling better." Click. Wow. I was stunned! This kind of thing did not happen where I worked. Everything was policy, strictness, and unyielding expectations. Even at times in the face of reason. I fell down on the bed, heaved a huge sigh of relief, and lay in awe of God's graciousness, that He knew I would need that mercy even before I did. And even once I knew I had messed up, I didn't even stop to ask for it. Yet there He was, having gone ahead of me, preparing it in advance anyway.

Without taking away from my absolute gratitude to God in these kinds of situations, I usually have this feeling of regret in the back of my mind. I regret that I had not thought to pray for or about whatever the need was, or that I had not devoted myself to more sincere or serious prayer. I always think, "Oh how amazing a story would it be if I could say that I really invested in this issue, faithfully praying, furiously dedicated and determined to hold the expectation that the Lord would come through...and then when He DID - what GLORY that would be! What a powerful testimony of God's faithfulness I would be able to tell..."

This is pretty close to the musing that was going on in my mind today, as I reflected on the goodness God has lavished on me over the past few days. I was wishing I had been praying more for help, because as I saw how God WAS helping me, I wanted a story to tell of His great answer to prayer. Because I love those stories. They were powerful to me when I was discovering who God was, and I'm endlessly hopeful that they will continue to be powerful to others who hear them, especially those who don't yet know that God is a God like that! He is present, current, attentive, and knows you deeply whether you know Him or not, and is anxious to make Himself known, and to show us how real He is, how good, and how mighty.

So today, as I kicked myself for not being a better pray-er and regretted not having a great story to tell of God's faithfulness in answering my prayer...His sweet soft voice came into my mind, and said this:

"What you actually want is a story of YOUR great faithfulness." Oh, shoot. This can't be true. This is true. (See, I would not have said this to myself. I am not this humble). My wish is not that God had done something greater, it's that I had done something greater! What I am actually...sadly...regretting, is that I can not tell a story of my devotion, and my faithfulness, and my amazing prayer that was so good that the God of the Everything answered it. His response was perfect. He is always good. His help was timely and more than sufficient. I am not lamenting that God could have done more. I'm lamenting that I could have. And I am totally busted.

Then He said these words to me:

"There are no stories of your great faithfulness. You are not faithful. There are only stories of your great inadequacy and my great love for you." It is HIS great faithfulness that powerful stories are made of. And as much as some of that might sound harsh and demeaning to us, it is not! There is nothing more spectacular than being loved fully for who we are despite our failings and weaknesses. What a sad world if God were only unleashed through our accomplishments! And what tragedy, if God was only faithful when we were faithful; if God was only good when we earned it; if God only loved us when we were deserving. Rejoice, that is not the truth! God does not require a thing from us to be who He is. He does not expect us to work for His presence in our lives. In fact, I bet He wishes we'd quit trying. I bet He wishes we'd get over ourselves and all the things we're trying to be, and just rest in who He is. Then we would finally be who we are. Who we were made to be. And then His Spirit, everything good and pure and lovely, could flow through us, without our visions of who we 'should' be getting in the way.

Click here to segue to a blog I read earlier this week that started out this journey I've been on with God about who I want to be and who He made me to be. Reading these words gave me such peace that it's okay to just be who I am, without striving or comparing - check it out.

The truth is this:

"God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Read that verse over, and really ruminate on what that means... It was not at all dependent on you.

C.H. Spurgeon, in a sermon delivered November 23, 1856 said this, (I've helped myself you out by dictionary.comming some of this old-school lingo Spurgeon uses that I didn't you might not understand. You'll find new-school lingo in [these]. Here goes.) "Let us for a moment consider what sort of sinners many of us have been [how much we really do suck sometimes], and then we shall see it was marvellous grace that Christ should die for men—not as penitents [people who feel or express remorse for their mistakes], but as sinners [people who are still smack in the middle of making a bunch of mistakes, and could care less to change]. Consider how many of us have been continual sinners. We have not sinned once, nor twice, but ten thousand times [can't seem to get it right]. Our life, however upright and moral it has been [people like you, and you consider yourself a good person], is stained by a succession of sins [but you still mess up from time to time]. If we have not revolted against God in the outward acts which proclaim the profligate [badass...can I say that on here?] to be a great sinner, yet [still] the thoughts of our heart and the words of our lips are swift witnesses against us [they sell us out] that we have continually transgressed [keep screwing up]."

What do you think? Should I be an official Spurgeon translator? :)

My point in sharing that quote is to get us to really absorb the reality of our sin; the hopelessness of our ability to do the right thing, all the time. Any of us. Only because knowing this makes Jesus's death all the more poignant - that even knowing the worst of humanity's filth, He hung on that cross in absolute love with us.

Though it's important to acknowledge at times, do not ever let your sight linger too long on the issue of your sin. God will shine light on it so you can see it and renounce it, and then walk with Him away from it. He will convict you but He will not condemn you. Staring at your sin will bring guilt and condemnation. Staring at Jesus will bring life and freedom. He does not save you as a charity, because you need it and He takes pity. He saves you because you are a cherished one. He wants you, and it is worth it to Him to get you back, whole and holy. He does not call to mind your transgressions, nor does He want you to dwell on them. He wants you to dwell in Him.

Bask in this love that we can not comprehend... The hardest part to understand, because it is so out of this world, is that there is nothing we can do to earn it. We do not need to earn it. It just is. We can not shake it. It is relentless. His love is the promise that never breaks. It's what promises are meant to be. It's why we are hurt when one is broken, because we know they are meant to be kept, forever.

So my prayers do not call God to action, His love does. My devotion does not inspire God's faithfulness, His love does. My behaviour does not earn me favour with Him, His love does.

It's all Him, and no me.

This is why His strength is made perfect in our weakness, (2 Corinthians 12:19) because when we finally know our weakness we are set free from striving. When we stop trying to accomplish anything apart from Him we can be swept up in the love of God that is everything we need, where we finally understand that who we are can only be completed in Him. It's not that we are weak and He is strong...it's that He is strong and we are His.

And suddenly words like this make sense, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)

So when I say that God is faithful despite my inadequacies, this is not an insult to me. This is my glory to God! It's a testimony of God's great love and faithfulness, and my worth and value in Him. That He doesn't need me to be anything special in order to love me. But because He loves me, that makes me something special. If a great man of stature, wealth and fame loved a plain and lowly woman, all people on earth would look in awe and wonder what secret beauty this woman held that this great man could love her so completely. They would not wonder 'if', they would wonder 'what.' The fact that she is loved rules out the 'if'. Love places value on a person. And the greater the one who loves, the more valuable is made the beloved.

I am the beloved. You are the beloved. And the One who loves us is the greatest there ever was, is or will be. The most high God. The mighty King. Of stature, wealth and fame. Your beauty to Him is incomparable. And your value is unaffected by who you are, or what you've done. Your value is intrinsic because He placed it there when He formed you with His hands. He calls you beautiful. He proves you valuable. He made you, and when He lost you, He traded His life to get you back.

You are worth dying for. There is no greater Love than this.

Rosemary Chicken & White Beans

Slowcooker meal #2 was DELICIOUS! (I thought I would be doing 5 meals for the week, but it turns out that most of these slowcooker meals are lasting us for 2 dinners for the 3 of us, and 1-2 lunches for the toddler and me! Bonus.)

Ingredients:

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 tbsp oil

2 cans (30 oz total) navy beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup carrots, sliced

1/2 cup celery, sliced

2/3 cup Italian salad dressing

2 tsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper (reduce slightly if you're not a fan of a strong pepper taste!)

Directions:

On medium heat, brown chicken breasts on both sides in oil (I used coconut, olive would be fine too).

 While the chicken is browning, rinse and drain beans and pour into slowcooker.

Chop up carrots and celery (I used 4 medium carrots and 3 celery stalks) and add to pot.

 Mix to combine.

Lay browned chicken (should be done by now, do not fully cook) over top of mixed beans and veggies.

In a small dish, combine salad dressing, rosemary, salt & pepper. Stir.

Pour dressing mixture over chicken. In the photo you'll see that I did not cover all the chicken with the dressing. I wouldn't do that again! The uncovered areas of the chicken were actually a little dry - not common for a slowcooker. Try to cover as much of the chicken as you can, and I think it will turn out better.

Slowcook on the low setting for 3-4 hours or until a meat thermometer reaches 170°.

Serve, and enjoy!

I had never had navy beans before, but now I am a total fan! They absorb flavour incredibly well, have a beautiful texture, and all of these great health benefits.

Hope you are enjoying these Summer meal ideas! Thanks for visiting :)

Carly

Slowcooker Chicken Fajitas

This was super quick and easy to make, and actually kind of fun! Shredding the chicken at the end was really satisfying. It was soft, moist and came apart just like pulled pork. Easier even!

As for taste, if you're not adding much to your fajitas besides this filling, I felt it came out a bit bland. I did take it easy on the chili powder so maybe using the full measure or even heaping the teaspoons would help. Or play around with your own go-to spices. Adding salsa or cheese to the fajita toppings would also help.

I made this for dinner last night as fajitas, but today we had it on sandwiches with mayo, lettuce and cheese and it was awesome like that too!

Ingredients:
4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can kidney beans, drained & rinsed (~16oz)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained (~14oz, with mild green chilies if you can find it. I couldn't)
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper (all julienned)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced finely
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Place chicken in slowcooker. Cover with kidney beans.

Add diced tomatoes.

Julienne all 3 peppers and spread over top.

Halve and slice onions thinly, adding to the mixture.

Sprinkle spices over top.

 I use Himalayan Crystal Salt - read about it's many health benefits here.

Stir to combine, then cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours.

(I only had 4 hours so I did 2 hours on high then 2 hours on low and it worked great. Typically you can cut cooking time in half using high versus low heat, though low will marinate flavours better.)

4 hours later...

With 2 forks, shred/pull apart the chicken. (No need to remove chicken pre-shredding, should come apart easily while still in mixture).

Stir to combine all ingredients evenly.

Spoon onto 8" tortillas and top with your choice of tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, salsa, sour cream etc. - or leave plain.

Operation Summer Slowcooker Meal #1, complete!

My Best Friend

I never had a best friend. Now I know why. Jesus has always longed to fill that role. You will never have a more powerful relationship than the one that waits for you in God - your maker. No friend could ever lift you up or encourage you the way He can, no one can bring you joy like He does, and the perfect love we are all searching for is found ONLY with Him. But this God Friend is such a good best friend that He does not desire to be your only friend. He will send other friends around you to encourage you, bring you joy, and love you. Because these gifts are from Him, He can lavish them on you however and through whomever He choses!

Today I am utterly humbled and grateful for a few of those God-given friends who have blessed my heart in ways only my best friend Jesus would know I needed. So I thank you, and I praise Him.