The Pinterest Lotto

Before I get started with today's blog post, let me just offer up a huge THANK YOU to everyone who read this. Yesterday I tweeted that I was just a few views away from 7,000 - and this morning I was at 7,008 views. This is the 130th post in my blog's existence, so that is an average of 54 views per post. That's INSANE considering I just started this blog to get out my thoughts out and maybe have one person who can relate to me know that they're not alone in this journey. I never could have imagined that in just over a year I'd have this many views. You guys have seen me through a lot - and I thank you, sincerely, for your support! 

Verse of the Day: "For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:8-11

Today I want to address the issue of discernment. So buckle up, let's get started. 

One of my favorite bloggers/authors/tweeters is Jon Acuff. I started following him my senior year of college when Jason showed me his "Monday Morning Memo"  insertion. The Monday Morning Memo goes out to all Samford Journalism/Mass Communications (JMC) alumnae (alumni?) and is written by a Samford JMC alum. Jon Acuff writes the Stuff Christians Like blog, which is now also a book. Then he wrote the Quitter book, which is awesome and you should read it. Yesterday he just launched his book Start, which I pre-ordered and I'm really excited to get in the mail. Anyway, I'm a fan, and if you've never read anything of his, you should at least go follow him on Twitter. 

Moving on...

Last October, Jon wrote a blog called "The Pinterest Bible" on Stuff Christians Like. In this post, he called out all those ascetically pretty, inaccurate, quote pictures that are all over Pinterest that reference a bible verse but are not found in the bible anywhere. 

Initially, I laughed at the post, because it's funny, and kind of wrote it off. I thought that I knew the Word enough to not get caught up in mistaking a fluffy, man-made, quotes for God's Word. It simply would never happen. 

And then it did. 

So now, I play a fun little game I like to call the Pinterest Lotto. 

Our generation, and even the generation before and after ours, is totally caught up in the Pinterest world. It really it like an entire world within a world. You can find anything - including what everyone's wedding will look like someday (hey, I'm not sayin' it's a bad thing...my entire wedding was planned out on Pinterest 3 months before Jason proposed...I'm just as guilty as the next girl). 

Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE Pinterest. Like I just said, I had my entire wedding planned on Pinterest before I was engaged, and it was also a great resource once I was engaged. I have gotten so many DIY ideas from Pinterest that have saved Jason and I lots of money. I have gotten cleaning times, photography tips, and so much more - it really is a great resource! 

But we have to be discerning. 

And that's why I play the Pinterest Lotto. 

This is how the game works: Every time I see something on Pinterest reference a bible verse, I guess if it's real or not real. I've learned that there's about a 65% chance it'll be real, 20% chance it'll be a "sum it up in your own words" type thing, and 15% chance it'll be way off and not even close to what the bible actually says in that book, chapter, and verse. If I'm write, I give myself a point (meaning I pin something new). I don't really know how this is a "lotto" in the traditional meaning of the word "lotto", but it sounds fun so I ran with it.

So let's play.

In the bible? Or not in the bible?

In the bible? Or not in the bible?

In the bible? Or not in the bible?

In the bible? Or not in the bible?

In the bible? Or not in the bible?

Answer key:

1. In the bible.  "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 5:16 (ESV)
2. Not in the bible! "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Corinthians 15:57 (ESV)
3. In the bible. "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." - John 14:18 (ESV)
4. Not in the bible! "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need." - Malachi 3:10 (ESV)
5. In the bible. "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12:2 (ESV)

How'd you do? 

Those were pretty simple, but what about finding truth in encouraging statements that don't reference a bible verse? How do we know if it's biblically sound encouragement?

I was looking for something specific on Pinterest the other day and I came across this:

It honestly made me stop in my tracks to think...is this true? Is this biblical? Do I need to obtain endurance and encouragement from this statement?

I was about halfway done writing the post about looking through things in Philippians 4:8 filter when I came across this, so I decided to use that method to discern if this was a true form of encouragement or not.

I came to the conclusion that it's not - and here's why: The bible says that we don't know what will happen tomorrow.

"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." - James 4:14-17

Just as an example, think about the horrific events that happened last week in Boston. Think about those who were just so happy to go to bed and wake up on Tuesday after the nightmare they'd lived on Monday. If they put their hope in tomorrow, what happens when Boston shuts down because of shooting on MIT's campus just a few days later? What happens when event after event after event happens in the middle of the night and we all wake up to hear these horrible reports on the news? We cannot put our hope in tomorrow - tomorrow is not guaranteed. 

Our attitude should be "if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." (James 4:15). 

I say all of this to urge you to be discerning. Be discerning about what you read, its context, its origin, its truth. Be discerning about what you watch, about what you see, and about what you do. Is it glorifying to God? If you question if it is or not, go back and use the Philippians 4:8 filter. 

May we learn to truly rest in God's truth alone, and be a people who is discerning about what the world tries to teach us instead. And when on Pinterest, let's play the Pinterest Lotto :)

Sin vs. Salvation

One of the podcast that I subscribe to is Desiring God's Author's on the Line. Back in October, the host interviewed Michael Reeve, author of "Delighting in the Trinity". In the 24 minute interview, Reeves presents this paralleled comparison between sin and salvation. 

This is what he says concerning sin:

"Why is it that Eve takes the apple? The action of her sin actually flows out of the affections where her heart is. That she desires wisdom, she wants to be more like God, more than she wants to trust God. So, she's got a love for something else rather than a love for God. And that's how sin works in us. The reason I act sinfully is because I've begun to desire sinfully. I've begun to desire something else more than I've desired God. And this is James 1 - it's desire gives birth to sin; sin gives birth to death."

And on salvation:

"This is how we're built. So the same thing works for salvation. I naturally don't desire God. I desire myself. I desire other things. But what the Spirit so kindly does, is the Spirit opens my eyes to see the glory and beauty of God - and so wins my  heart...I want people to see that the living God is more beautiful and more desirable than our sin. And that's the Spirit's work through the Word. The Spirit opens our eyes that we might see Christ."

Source

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May we focus today on what we desire for. Are we desiring success, money, material possessions, food, love, or other things of this work that are temporary? If so, let us fix our eyes upon Jesus. Let us fix our desires and our affections on the cross. Let us focus on the God who loves you and sent His son so that you and I might live eternally with Him.

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These are my Confessions

Last night a couple of things happened.

1. My internet went out from 8:00 in the evening until I went to bed.
2. Jason called to get Charter to fix my internet...without me asking him to (he gets major points for this).
3. I ate lots of pistachios before dinner.
4. I watched TV for about four hours.
5. I had a relapse. 

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I relapsed.

This morning I woke and felt how I suppose Peter felt in Matthew 14 when Jesus walks on water.

Matthew 14:28-33 says, "And Peter answered him, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.' He said, 'Come.' So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, 'Lord, save me.'  Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?' And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God.'"

Last night as I sat on my couch digging into a pint of ice cream, I felt like a hypocrite. But as I went to bed a few hours later, I realized that this was bound to happen and God will definitely use my lack of self-control for His glory. 

Here's what happened:

I've been waking up every morning and weighing myself. Yesterday, I weight myself and instead of being down another pound or so, I was up two pounds. I thought to myself, "That's okay, just keep on being healthy and it'll be fine." But really, I was kind of freaking out.

So throughout the day, I snacked more than I usually do on things like M&M's. Not a lot of M&M's, just a few here or there. Then, when I got home, I wanted a few pistachios; I ate the rest of the bag. Then, I made dinner. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Then, I wanted something sweet so I poured some strawberry Greek yogurt into a bowl and mixed in a teaspoon of Nutella. Then, I ate the rest of the Nutella that was in the jar (it wasn't much, but I literally cleaned it out). Then, I still wasn't satisfied, so I grabbed my emergency pint of TCBY frozen yogurt that I bought in case I wanted a TASTE of something sweet. I ate the whole thing. Then I had a pity party, watched more TV, got mad at Charter, and went to bed.  

My really large stack of pistachio shells and my leftovers from Tuesday night.

What the heck? I ate fruits and veggies AND tomatoes last week and withstood tons of temptation! What was I doing? 

Nutella is a problem.

I wasn't having faith. I forgot that God is in control and I forgot that my life is completely in his hands...even this! I forgot that I'm in a spiritual battle here.  

Notice the negative calories at the top.

I then remembered that I've always done this. I'd be good at being healthy for a week or two, and then I would start questioning God, "Why do I have to work at this so hard? Why can't I look like her, or her, or even her?" Last night wasn't about the food or the calories I consumed, it was about relapsing into my lack of faith.  

Here's the difference between the dozens of times I've done this in the past and today: it's not a secret. 

Luke 12:2-3 says, "Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops."

James 5:16 says, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." 

These verses directly point to the fact that I must not hide my weakness, or my sin. I know it sounds extreme to say that by eating Nutella and ice cream in the same night, I'm sinning. But as I said, it's not about the food, it's about a lack of faith.  

I know that I am not in the battle alone. So won't you pray with me and for me today?

How can I pray for you? None of us are in alone. 

Today is also the National Day of Prayer. 

Let us stand strong as the body of Christ and take our ramblings to our heavenly Father, for he cares for us deeply.  

*For more background information on my lifelong battle with a healthy lifestyle, read here.