Joyjoyjoy

So, this was a Buzz post, and I did warn you that it may turn into a blog post in the near future. Well..here it is. This is something I've been thinking about for a while...basically, a very substantial reason (for me, at least) to always have joy, no matter what else is happening. Let's talk about it.

First, I want to distinguish between two very similar things, in order to clarify: joy and happiness. As one of my friends pointed out..how is it possible to have joy all the time, even when something really tragic happens? That's where these definitions are helpful.

I define happiness as sort of a surface-level emotion. You can be happy for one moment, but if something bad happens, it can change, and you can be sad. Etc.

On the other hand, in my mind, joy is deeper than that. It's more than a quickly-changing emotion. It's an underlying reason to be thankful. A reason to live, maybe?

Okay. That was helpful. I like definitions.

The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 to "be joyful always." In order to be joyful always, we need something to be joyful about, right? Right. And in order to to be joyful always, that thing we're joyful about needs to be always there, right? Right. Okay.

When I really think about it, God is the only thing that is always there and will never disappear. More specifically, His two biggest blessings: love and salvation.

It's so crazy to think that the Creator of the universe, the King of the world, and the One who knows your every awful thought and secret sin...loves you. He doesn't just tolerate you. Doesn't just kind of like you. He loves you. Seriously, you have no idea. Think about the person you love most in the world, and multiply that by a hundred. He's crazy about you. So, that's reason enough to be joyful. But God is so cool, He throws in another reason...

It Is Well With My Soul is one of my favorite hymns. I normally don't like hymns, actually, but I love this one. One of the verses reads,

"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!"

Anddd that pretty much sums up the point about salvation. Just like you have no idea how much God loves you, you probably don't have any idea how many times you've sinned..or are going to continue to sin. But you know what? All of them were nailed to the cross right next to the God who loves you.

And that's a reason to be joyful.

Most cliche post ever.

It's funny how God takes things that I thought I knew, and teaches them to me in a whole new way. He teaches me things when I'm least expecting it, and somehow, it's completely new to me, even though I may have heard it all my life.

Where does beauty come from? The good Christian answer is beauty comes from the heart. Beauty is only skin deep. Blah blah blahhh.

As a girl, sometimes I fail to believe that. Or, even if I do, I'm like..why can't I be beautiful inside and outside?

(This is not going to be a post about me and how I worry about my appearance. Just bear with me.)

So yesterday, I was thinking about that, and God told me something: beauty comes from the heart. ...Okay, I knew that. But for some reason it felt really new to me. And so then today, out of no where, He says..."there's a big difference between looking beautiful and being beautiful."

Maybe you already knew that. But for me, it was really, really new. The statement can be applied in a couple different ways, but how I think of it is this: Someone can look beautiful on the outside, but you know, that doesn't really make them beautiful. You just look good. But what God said was true. Beauty comes from the heart. You are beautiful (or not) because of your heart.

You know what's ironic? I think worrying about outward appearance is one of the things that makes a heart sort of disfigured. I never want to say someone's heart is "ugly", but some things that can hinder beauty (maybe?) are jealousy, pride, anger, selfishness, etc. I would categorize worrying too much about what you look like under selfishness.

Obviously, everyone has some of these. You are never going to be perfect, and you'll always deal with sin. But that's not to say you can never have a beautiful heart. Why?

Well, here's the good news: Jesus specializes in beauty. He has the MOST beautiful heart. I believe that he enjoys taking sinful, grimy things, and making them beautiful. All we have to do is ask.

Honestly, I want to look beautiful. But even more, I want to be beautiful. And, luckily, I don't need eyeliner, a flat iron, or designer clothes for that. I just need Him.

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." - Psalm 51:10

I've always wanted to be a secret agent!

Seriously. When I was anywhere from 7-12 years old, my friends and I would always pretend to be spies...usually spying on my parents (never letting them see us, of course) and writing down "clues" in a secret language in our notebooks, then running back to our secret hideout (usually a closet) and discuss what we observed.

That dream has passed, and I've moved on to different things. I still think it would be cool to work for the FBI though.

But do I already?

Obvious answer: no.

Surprising answer: Sometimes I act like it.

But not for the federal government. Nope, I'm undercover for Jesus!

Seriously, Katie?

...Yes. It's a new idea that God revealed to me that I am so ashamed of. I think I, and a lot of other Christians, act like I'm an undercover agent for Jesus much of the time. My real identity is Katie, the Jesus-follower, but aside from revealing my true self at Secret Agent HQ (church), I'm undercover, trying to blend in with the world, and hoping they all think I'm normal, making great efforts not to reveal my true identity.

Okay, obviously, it's not that drastic. I don't intentionally try to hide the fact that I'm a Christian or purposely blend in with the world. But I think we get on the verge of that sometimes.

The truth is, we were never, ever, ever meant to be undercover for Jesus. We are meant to be obvious, conspicuous, totally noticeable flames in a world of darkness. We were not made to blend in with the darkness. The world is full of grimy, ungodly things: do we really even want to be like it?....I don't. And truthfully, I don't think the world needs anymore grime and slime in it. It needs light. We are the light.

We only have one chance to live in this world, with the people around us, in the situations we're in. So I propose that we shine as hard as we can. Take risks, Jesus is worth it. (They say that faith is spelled R-I-S-K.) Live out LOUD. We have so much freedom given to us by God and our country, and I think we need to take advantage of it. Don't be a secret agent.

I liked Lady Gaga better when she just danced.

And when she was the paparazzi. And even when she was kinda busy and couldn't talk on the telephone.

Okay, you know I don't normally write about current issues like this, but I have to get all my thoughts out about this crazy, talented, creative, powerful woman. Forbes magazine just named her most influential celebrity in the world. So we have to ask the obvious: What influence is she having on us?

If you keep up with pop culture at all, you know that Lady Gaga is getting really creepy lately. Random horns growing out of her body while she sings about being in love with Judas? Mmm, no thanks, I'm good.

This is just my personal opinion, but this girl has changed a lot since she first came on the scene, and it's gotten weirder, darker, and more infused with twisted spirituality. I was okay with Just Dance, and even Telephone. But I think it started going downhill with Bad Romance and that whole "era" - when "art" started becoming eery and non-human. And so now we're here and she's the most influential celebrity in the world with her new single telling us that we were born the way we are - whatever that may be at the moment.

At this point, Lady Gaga is mixing feel-good messages with twisted religion. The feel-good message in Born This Way is, obviously, accepting yourself; knowing that you don't need to change anything about yourself. However, the song literally says "No matter gay, straight or bi/Lesbian, transgendered life/… I'm on the right track, baby/I was born to be brave". Um, seriously? Talk about an era of tolerance. Obviously, blatant sin like that is not something to be accepted, etc. "Brave" does not mean living in sin. You are not "brave" just because you go against what's right.

But besides that, I just find it kind of twisted that Lady Gaga mentions Jesus in so many of her songs. But she's not blaspheming. She talks about praying, and serving Him, but the blatant truth is that you cannot serve two gods. Jesus said that you can't serve both God and money, and I think it applies to other things as well. You can't serve both God and your own fleshy desires.

Those are the problems. But I think the reality is, she's saying that:

1. You were made to be just the way you are, whether you're living in sin or not.
2. Yeah, of course I can serve Jesus and sleep with a bunch of people!

So, in the end, I liked Lady Gaga before she got really popular. When she..just danced.

It's good that I don't always get what I want.

Seriously. If I always got what I wanted, and didn't get what I didn't want, out of everyday life, I would never get anything done. I would never meet new people, never reach out to anyone else. I would never take any risks or be challenged in any way.

It's the same with little things in life as well as the big things. If you asked me at any given time if I wanted some ice cream, I would probably say yes. But, if I wanted ice cream all the time, and got it every single time I wanted it, I wouldn't be very healthy. On the other hand, 2 years ago, I didn't want to leave the church we were currently attending. We did though, and the new church is where I met my best friends. If I wasn't forced to do that, because I didn't want to, I would never have met these people who have blessed my life so much.

Life isn't always fair. We don't always get what we want, or what we feel we deserve. But God isn't as interested in what we want, as what we need. I need to not have ice cream everyday, and I needed to come to Calvary to meet these people. Because the thing is, we can't look very far beyond ourselves. But God can. He sees the huge, entire, complete picture, in which you and I are just a small part of. Whether God is interested in our wants or needs, He's definitely interested in our greater good, and sometimes that means giving us what we need, even if it's painful, rather than what we want.

NO ONE CARES.

Okay, well..people do care. They care about themselves. Most of them even care about you. But, when it comes to their image, or appearance, people are pretty selfish. It's kind of a crazy cycle: People are concerned with their own appearance because they're worried about what people think of them. At the same time, they're too worried about their own to really speculate on anyone else's. So um...doesn't that make the process kind of...counter-productive?

The point is, we as a society are too concerned about what we look like, and not enough on really who we are as people. Besides that, tailoring ourselves to what people think limits us, keeps us from taking chances, and sometimes keeps us from being who we really are.

I don't have an answer or a quick solution to fix this. But I think we should just remember that people are not as judgmental as we think they are. It's true: you really are your own worst critic. And as it turns out, God is the best critic. He's the truest. Maybe we should listen to him more.

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I value your opinion. Seriously. More than you know..and more than what's healthy. It's not just me, though....it's a problem people have been dealing with like since the beginning of time: worrying about what others think and altering themselves to fit those opinions. Some deal with it more than others, but I think everyone does it a little bit. Why else do girls wear makeup, guys act tough, and all of us exaggerate?

But the problem is, everyone has a different way of thinking. Everyone has their own perceptions. Besides that, people change their ideas and perceptions all the time. So how can we possibly please everyone?

..We can't. There is only one person who never changes, and that's God. His perceptions, ideas of what's good, ideas of what is beautiful, ideas of what is right...those never change. He's the one we should want to please. And if people don't agree with His ideals, they're not worth it anyway.

I know you've heard it before, but God's opinion is truly the only one that matters. It's impossible to please all your peers...but it IS possible to please God. He's given us a handbook on living for Him, and besides that, He loves us way more than anyone else ever could.