Smile

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Yikes. THAT is a lot to live up to. I can begin learning to love as Jesus loved. I can create peace or give patience or show kindness. I could even show goodness and be a faithful woman and be gentle and express self control. But, how do I fake Joy if I don’t feel joyful? Why is this three letter word the second fruit mentioned behind the great "love"? How do I display joy if I cannot describe it or tangibly see it? The Lord’s plan for how we should live our lives is a perfect one. It is a life that we should all aspire to have, and aspire to live. Also, it is a life we should give. While in Honduras this past week I learned that Joy is the most contagious complex we as Christians must catch. Those that do not know the Lord, will never want to follow or serve a Lord that does not bring joy into their lives and does not encourage joy being expressed.


“A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.” Proverbs 15:13



One of my best friends in the world responded to this idea in such a brilliant way. “Joy is the fruit of perfected love.” Beautiful, isn’t it? The only perfect love (the definition of perfect love) is Jesus. And, when His perfect love infiltrates our lives, we will see Joy. I have seen imperfect happiness. I have never seen imperfect, impure joy. When I have sinned, I can still feel happiness. Joy is revealed once sin is diminished. The two cannot and will not live together. I saw pure, raw joy in Honduras. Innocent children free of the world’s worries will captivate you with their laugh and presence. The most compelling way they do this is through their smile. I was born with what the doctors call a cleft lip. Not as severe as a cleft palate, the split will affect a child's smile. Being blessed with expert surgeons in the states, I now have the ability to smile. There are so many children in the world that cannot afford the surgery to repair their smile, or even the funds to seek doctor aid of any kind, as clefts can often affect chewing or swallowing. It has been on my heart recently to pray for these young children that they do not lose hope. Joy, real joy, comes from the internal willingness and desire to seek Jesus in all that we do. It is the gutteral emotion of gratitude that radiates from unique individuals. While some children and adults may never have the incredible and priceless opporuinty to physically "smile", the Holy Spirit still shines through their spirits. The Lord did not create a smile for no purpose. Why do you think he blessed each of us with this feature? It is the outward expression of the Spirit of God alive and well within us. As blessed Christians I pray we learn to smile more. A smile is the only universal language we have. I pray we stray from sin and grasp on to perfect love. It is waiting for us. And, from what I can see, a joyful life leads to a fruitful life glorying the kingdom.



“Then Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; in
the LORD my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I
delight in your deliverance.” 1st Samuel 2:1





I now know you can see joy…and see it CLEARLY.

Awake

I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
—Psalm 3:4-5




Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.
—Ecclesiastes 5:12




Five years ago I had the incredible experience of serving the Lord in Mexicali, Mexico. The spring break of my Freshman year contained a girl who was lost and immature, yet carefree. I had never been on a mission trip before, and the thought was daunting to me. I would be traveling across the border with 600 other high school students from the mega church I attended to lay in tents and attempt some Spanish. Yikes. Little did I understand the goal of a mission, or even what I was going to do. The theme of the mission was “Beautifully Awake”. Throughout the week, as a church, we began to delve deep into what it meant to be an “awake” Christian. And, what it meant to not simply live a “numb” life of sleepiness, disregarding the purpose the Lord had in our lives. The sermons reinforced the idea that we as followers must notice and eliminate distractions keeping us from fully seeking the Lord’s presence and glory in our lives. I left confused. I was awake. In fact, I was so awake I just served for seven days straight with an athletic body and a clear mind. That is what I had presumed.


On the last night of the mission, they asked us all to pray as a group to be “woken” up by the Holy Spirit. I remember getting down on my knees and praying in odd, youthful language for Jesus to jerk me awake so I could be the Christian He desired me to be. And….six months later to the exact date of that prayer, I was diagnosed with cancer. I do not believe the Lord GAVE me the disease, but it was certainly a clear and blatant message that my daily routine of lipgloss, boy-searching, Abercrombie-wearing days would be inverted. Priorities shifted, goals were reversed, and I began to look upward. I believe true “awakeness” is the releasing of wordly burdens and consistently looking upward. Taking every chance to your eternal conversation with your creator- Daily prayer. And, that is what I did. My numbness and sleepiness onset by worldly temptations and distractions desinigrated as my goals changed. My long sleep was immediately terminated by a blaring alarm that had no snooze button. But frankly, I didn’t want to press snooze anyway.


When we live an awake life, our daily routine changes. Let us look at an incredible, or perfect, example of sleepy death to vibrant life. Before analyzing Jesus last days before crucifixion and after resurrection, it is imperative we remember he was never asleep, but even Jesus saw a transformation post-resurrection . In John, the author focuses on a few common themes of Jesus final actions before the cross. Jesus Prayed for himself, prayed for His disciples, and prayed for future believers. Whether we have felt the calling of the Lord pulling us from mundane to sleep to an influential life or not, we must begin our journey with prayer. We must pray that the Holy Spirit is not grieved by our actions. We must pray for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and we must pray for those who have heard of the power of Jesus Christ. Our eternal conversation will also prompt the beginning of a longing for a life of significance. Prayer refocuses and prayer re-prioritizes. The lower we become and the higher we lift the lord up in prayer, the quicker we will see God bearing fruit in our and others’ lives. Regardless of a sleepy or awake life, we MUST take time to pray. And, if asleep, we must ask the Lord to intervene. And that can be the scariest prayer one will over mutter.


After Jesus’ resurrection we see other pieces of His ministry we can adopt and apply after we have been woken up. Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene in the gospel of John. Why? I pray I do not interpret this piece inaccurately, but I believe it is safe to say that Jesus had his woken state moved to proclaim the glory of God to one person in particular. Who is the man or woman in your life that you can mentor, befriend, and take under your wing? Then, who is the person the Lord is directing you to, to truly pour all of your testimony and “Jesus moments” with? I know who that is in my life, and I pray the Lord continues his work with me and this blessing in my life.


Next, Jesus revealed himself to His disciples. We as followers of the Lord, must seek our brothers and sisters and share the good news. In fact living the good news is not enough; we must proclaim it! We are no longer sleeping…we are alive. And we awake each day for one sole purpose: the Great Commission.


“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” This amazing passage from the Bible (Romans 10:15) was the anthem of my week in Mexicali freshman Year. Our goal was to be a group of servant leaders, eager to spread the Gospel and be on the Move! To use our new found awakeness in the light and glory of Jesus to truly make a tangible impact. Real impact- God impact- can only result through people that are awake in Christ. Think of inspirational Christian Mentors that have encouraged you in your walk- can’t you notice an undeniable light beaming from them?


Last year during an incredible mission in Honduras, I know I was jolted awake. It is easy as Christians to fall into “nap time” even throughout the day! When we surround ourselves with negative influences, entertain gossip, or forget to be in God’s word, we will feel the effects. For me, I become physically exhausted as well as mentally and spiritually. Each day I spend in Honduras this next week, (I leave tomorrow! ), I pray I do not grow tired. I pray that the 100 degree weather does not toll on my spiritual vibrance and awakeness. I pray that we come awake as the body of Christ. I pray that we are so awake, resurrected from our old lives, and ready to enter onto the Great Commission path Jesus Christ has paved for us.



“Come awake
From sleep, arise
You were dead
You’ve come alive
Wake up wake up
Open your eyes
Climb from your grave
Into the light
Bring us back to life”
-Come Awake
David Crowder Band


“ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. “
-1 Corinthians 15:51
A hope for what is to come.