physical

Physical space can be seen as a limitation.

God isn't limited by human flesh.  He is everywhere and everything at once, He is greater and stronger and perfect and free from the limits of a human body.

God stooped when He became Man.  He took on a limitation.  He accepted the humbling status of human; of having a physical body.

But God uses all for the best.  He gave us physical bodies in order to glorify Him most, and though the devil tried to contort and twist our physical existence into something ugly through sin, Jesus entered our world and through His resurrection redeemed the flesh; turned our human existence into something beautiful.

The devil wants our physical bodies to be a hindrance to our soul's praise of God, but Jesus became Man, and as the perfect One, He praised God perfectly being fully human.

We'll never be perfect, but we can glorify God with what He's given us: our physical bodies.

Dancers have a huge gift: use our bodies to praise the Lord in a way set apart from average living.  The devil wants us to believe that our bodies are a limitation, but it's just not true.  Our bodies were created by God, and though we are flawed by sin, we can still use our bodies to sing to Him.

This is part of the fight.  Our bodies can be used for good or bad, but when we dance to glorify the Lord, His kingdom is being fulfilled in and through us.

Dance is part of the fight, part of the struggle, and we know how the struggle ends: with victory.

So I'll dance now, though I'm flawed and sinful, because he uses all for the best.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time." -Ecclesiastes 3:11

image: http://worldofballet.weebly.com/what-is-ballet.html

It will make you stronger

My head is spinning with new choreography.

My body aches from hours of dancing.

A voice inside of me screams, You're terrible.  That's awful.  It's horrible.

And then from out of nowhere:

It'll be hard, but it will make you stronger.

And with this strength I can rise to new heights.

It'll be hard, but it will make you stronger.  And God has never gone back on a promise.

Photo found on: http://www.emptykingdom.com/featured/henry-leutwyle/

Take Me Deeper

I've been realizing lately that there is SO MUCH MORE that I could be putting into dance.  The harder I work, the harder I can work; the more I see how much I need to put into this to make it beautiful; to make it worthwhile.  It's a cycle of perfection that is fulfilling but also can be draining without God in the middle.

And that's another crazy thing.  The more I pray the more I realize there is SO MUCH MORE that I could be giving to the Lord.  There are crevices and cracks in my heart that I haven't handed over to Him and the Devil takes advantage of that.  I came to God today, and I realized I was scared to give Him everything.  Scared to give Him it all.

And then a song began to play: "Take me deeper where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters wherever you may call me." -Oceans, Hillsong United

So why am I not working my hardest, practicing with every chance I have?  I must give all my energy.  I see that lack in myself when I dance, and I tell myself so.

Why am I not growing in my prayer life with every chance I have?  Why don't I take every opportunity?

Why am I holding back?

Take me deeper where my trust is without borders.  Let me walk upon the waters, wherever you may call me! Yes yes yes yes yes!  Father, I was literally, physically, jumping with joy when this song was played.  Fulfill that joy.  Take me deeper.

Mandy

A point to the pain

e

On the Dance Floor!

If this is true, I want to be on the dance floor of life every day.  Like I want to have opportunities to shine on the dance floor, I want to have opportunities to work for God in my life and live life to the fullest; dance the best Divine Dance that I was meant for.

Here I am on the dance floor, Lord!  I'm scared and incompetent and get distracted easily.  But I trust in you.  Use me!

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

-Mandy :)

(Image from pinterest.  I'm sorry that I don't have better info!)

Why Walk?

"I'd rather waltz than just walk through the forest" - Owl City, Plant Life

He is risen.  We are saved!  The joy of the Lord is filling us, overflowing.  A dazzling light shines from Jesus, risen today.  It's spilling on us and we can receive and let the love spill over to others.

So the question stands: why walk when you can dance?  Why walk through this crazy, lonely, overwhelming life when God is allowing us to dance through it with Him?  It won't always feel like a dance, but with God beside us, every moment is a moment to give your all and live your fullest.

And that, even though we all fail many times, is dancing through life.  Dancers fail many times, but they get back up and try again.  It wouldn't be worth trying again if it wasn't for the promise of salvation that is in the Resurrection.  The promise is there!

Let's Dance!  He is Risen!  Alleluia!!!!

The Joy of the Lord is my strength!

Mandy

First Picture from: webshots.com (found on pinterest)
Second picture from: liveboldandbloom.com (found on pinterest too ;)

{Humble}

“Humility is ‘thy will be done.’ Humility is focused on God, not self. Humility is not an exaggeratedly low opinion of yourself. Humility is self-forgetfulness. A humble man never tells you how bad he is. He’s too busy thinking about you to talk about himself. That’s why humility is such a joy and so close to the beatific vision, where we will be so fascinated with God that we forget ourselves completely.” – Peter Kreeft, How Does the Weakness of the Cross Make Us Strong?

So it's not pretending to be a bad dancer when you aren't, or pretending to be amazing when you aren't.  It's giving God the glory.  Being so overwhelmingly in love with Him that that's all that matters.  I need this in my life.  When I saw it on this blog, I wanted to share it with you all.

Christ, let us live humbly for you!  You are in control!

Amen