Out with the OLD, In with the NEW! :-)

²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

-Ephesians 4:20-24

Ephesians 4:22:  You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; - Take it off, become new, wash it away…all of these are ways to describe what Paul is commanding, but why?  Why can’t we just stay the same and live our lives like we were, just believe in Jesus?  Romans 6:6 says, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”  Some translations say, “…ruled by sin might be rendered powerless…”  Sin has a way of taking over our lives.  It becomes a god and we don’t even know it.  The reason we needed Jesus is because of sin.  In order to be the Christians we are called to be, the light in a dark world, we cannot be slaves to sin.  Sin can and will have a hold on us.

But wait, there is hope.  Paul then goes on to describe why you have to take off your old self in verse 23, “…to be made new in the attitude of your minds”.  This is just an outward transformation that needs to take place, it’s you heart, your mind, and your soul.  Your entire attitude is to be changed.  Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  My College Pastor at Mt. Vernon, Roger Critcher, says the number one question he gets from college students is, “What is God’s will for my life?”  If you love the Lord and are obeying His commandments in the Word, it will be revealed to you.  It may not be clear today or tomorrow, but if you follow in His path, you will succeed. 

Finally, verse 24 says, “and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”  Because Jesus died for us, God won’t turn His back on his children.  He created us to be like him in righteousness and holiness.  Living in this world and not being of it is difficult.  The world will reject us because we follow Christ.  It’s okay though, because this world is only temporary.  We get to spend eternity in heave.  Here are three verses that give us a few more examples of how we’re to be like God:

•  Romans 13:14- Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
• Romans 6:4- We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
• Ephesians 2:10- For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

             You are beautiful in God’s eyes.  We were created to do good works, not to be saved, but to be the hands and feet of Christ.  Jesus has given us new life, asking for nothing in return but to show Christ to others.  When Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, a servant’s job, He set an example of who we’re supposed to be to others.  Jesus washed the feet of a man he knew was going to betray Him, willingingly and wholeheartedly.  We have to humble ourselves to be like Christ. 

                My prayer for you is that you will find humility and kindness to share with those around you.  If you’ve been wronged by someone, let it go.  Be Christ to everyone, no matter how difficult it is.  You may be the only Jesus they ever meet.  Please be praying for the CCC staff that we can humble ourselves enough to serve the people in our community and show Christ to them.  Thank you for following our amazing journey.  

Me, the vessel.

Its 1:30 in the morning and a task that normally takes three minutes is seeming impossible in the wee hours of the morning.  The task?  Sleep.  I had tried everything that normally helps me get to sleep and suddenly my feet start tingling.  In a way, it was an “itch” to get up.  At 1:30.  AM.  Ugh!

Not so thrilled by the urge to do something, I snuck out of the warm comfy bed.  I’m not really sure the reason for the sleeplessness, but I got a strong feeling that I needed to post on my blog.  It was like one of those thoughts that pop up in your head, but you TRY to ignore.  Only, the thought gets louder and LOUDER in your head until it won’t go away.  I can only chalk it up to being the Lord’s will. I know this because this is not MY blog, it’s HIS.  I prayed at the very start of this journey that He would use me as a vessel.  Apparently, God has a sense of humor…at 1:30 in the morning.  Well, here I am.  Use me! 

      I’ve started receiving donations for the support we’re asked to raise for the summer.  My goal is to raise $1400.  To most people, this would seem like a lot, but for some reason I have no worries about it.  I know that the Lord can and will provide.  Right now, I’m at $400.  For those of you who can do math, you’ve already figured out I have $1000 left to raise by June 3^rd.  It will happen, and I know it. 

      I was having a conversation with my great friend Briana McLeod one night.  It wasn’t very in depth, but something we talked about really hit home to me.  We, as Christians, tend to put limits on God.  If something rough is going on in our lives we sometimes ask God to handle it, but in reality we try to take control.  Or, we tell God exactly how we want it to work and get mad when it doesn’t work out the way we had planned. 

      The silly thing about this is that God created the universe.  If you believe that, than why are we surprised when the Lord performs a miracle?  He’s the CREATOR of the UNIVERSE.  I challenge you to ask God for something, pray relentlessly, and believe it will be taken care of.  If your intentions are to wholly serve the Lord, you CANNOT fail.  Romans 8:27-28 says:

27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

      HELLOOOO!! It says it in the Bible.  If you are living out your life according to His purpose, He will not fail you.  You must believe that. 

      My plan for this third post was to talk about Ephesians 4:20-24.  For some reason, that changed.  I guess we’ll have to go with it and see what’s in store for the next one.  Until next time…be praying that the Lord is preparing the hearts of all the people we will be coming in contact with and that the Lord will continue to use us as vessels.

You Silly Girl!

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

-Ephesians 4:17-19

                What does it mean to be a Christian?  These days, it seems to me that if you grew up in the Bible belt, you consider yourself a Christian.  Have I got news for you!  Just because you were baptized as a baby, your grandfather was a pastor, or you go to church does this make you a Christian.  I guess the better question to ask yourself is, “Do you follow Christ?” 

In the passage, Paul is commanding Christians to live not “as the gentiles do”.  In today’s terms, he would be referring to people who do not follow Christ.  He goes on to talk about how people are separated from the Lord because of ignorance caused by the “hardening of their hearts”. 

Paul uses the word “they” a lot, referring to other people, but how many of us can relate to them?  I know I can.  I’ve been in church my entire life and from the time I was little, knew who God was.  During my sophomore year of high school, I turned away from the Lord after a tragic accident that killed my friend.  While I went through the motions a “good Christian” should, my heart wasn’t in it.  I broke at least one of the 10 commandments (taking the Lord’s name in vain) because I wasn’t giving my all to the Lord, rather I was walking around, pretending to be a follower of Christ. 

The problem: when trouble came knocking at my door, I had nothing to back me up.  I got into some pretty nasty stuff my freshman year of college.  I finally had freedom and little miss goody-goody didn’t have to exist anymore.  I knew what I was doing was wrong, yet I ran to and embraced it.  I felt like I had finally found my place.  This is who I was now.  I loved it…for a while.  Eventually, the hole in my heart grew larger and larger.  I ached to be wanted and accepted.  The world was failing me, but no way could I go back.  I had turned my back on God completely.  He would never take me back…right?

Wrong.  After a few months of fighting it, one night I was completely broken at an all time low.  It had been so long since I'd even thought about the Lord.  I prayed to God that I was sorry.  Bawling, I confessed what I had done, knowing that it wouldn’t be good enough.  I asked God to come back in my life.  I felt His presence IMMEDIATELY.  He answered with, “I’ve been here beside you all along, you silly girl!”  (Maybe not that exactly, but pretty close.)  I can’t explain it.  The comfort I experienced was the Holy Spirit moving through me.  I knew what I had done was wrong, but God was right beside me the whole time, seeing everything I’d done.  Yet, non of it mattered because I was His. 

I indulged in every kind of worldly impurity.  I was acting like “the gentiles”.  You know what?  God knew I’d turn my back Him and still sent His son to die for me anyway.  He died KNOWING that.  It’s hard to fathom love that great.  I don’t deserve His love and neither do you, but its here.  The best part?  It doesn’t cost a dime.  You don’t have be good enough to “earn” it.  PRAISE GOD! 

I was on a winter retreat with my church this past school year when the speaker, Neil Hatfield was talking about salvation.  I think I accepted Christ into my heart as a child, but I’m not sure.  Suddenly, I started thinking about if I had or not.  Then I started thinking, if I did do it, was it right? My heartstrings were being tugged at.  I couldn’t go another minute without knowing my future.  The problem: my pride kept me in my chair.  Here is the conversation that went on in my head:

I’ll just do it by myself later in my room. 

(Tugging heart strings) Get up…

NO! I don’t want anyone in my college class to know that I wasn’t saved.  What would they say?

Get up, it doesn’t matter.

No.  It DOES matter.  They will know I’d been living a lie. 

STOP BEING PROUD and get up.

Whoa. Me?  Have a problem with pride? No….

Yes, now come to me now.

I got up and accepted Christ on my actual birthday.  Praise the Lord, He saved me. 

I urge you, if you haven’t asked Jesus into your heart, do it.  Salvation isn’t something to take lightly.  This is forever.  If you want to talk to someone about it or have questions, I’d love to talk with you.  If not me, talk to another friend or pastor.  The world is a nasty place to live in, but the great news is that this life is only temporary.  All the hurt and pain will be gone forever. 

If you are a Christian, I urge you to think about your relationship with God.  Is what you are doing for the Lord or are you just going through the motions?  The worst thing you can do is “pretend” to be a Christian.  Do you follow Christ with your intentions, thoughts, AND actions?

CCC, Carly, or C-C-C-Carly?? Both. ;-)

I will be working as a Field for Carolina Cross Connection this summer.  For one reason or another, you've chosen to follow me on the journey I'm about to embark on in a few weeks.  I thank God for you, and I pray He'll move in your life. I pray that you will find the encouragement you need in Christ to get you through whatever comes your way.  


Please begin praying for this summer now.  First, for the potential homeowners we will visit and touch with the love of Christ.  Pray that God is preparing their hearts for the Word and our visit.  Pray for the campers that  will come each camp week, that their minds will be open for God's truth to speak to and through them.  That they will find encouragement in Christ and can't help but spread the good news of Jesus.  Pray for the local businesses in the camp areas.  We rely on donations from them to help us repair homes.  I KNOW that God will provide for the necessities needed to function as a camp.  Rather, pray that they will see the love of Christ through this ministry.  Finally, pray for the CCC staff.  It can and will get hectic and stressful trying to plan for the week, but if we give it to the Lord, we CANNOT and WILL NOT fail.  Pray that we have courage in Christ and that encouragement reflects to everyone we come in contact with.


In my devotions yesterday, I read part of a passage in Ephesians.  It was titled Living as Children of Light.  The passage is Ephesians 4:17-5:21.  Here is the link to an online version if you prefer to read it that way. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%204:17-5:21&version=NIV


My focus before I leave is to really study and focus on this passage.  I hope you'll take a little time to read it and as I talk about it here,  leave comments, suggestions, and notes.  Chances are, if you're reading this blog, you're special to me in some way or how.  Thank you, again, for taking time out of your day to follow my thoughts and journey this summer.