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This blog is simply meant to bring God the glory; no more and no less. I'd love to hear from you! Comments, questions, conversation. rebecca.labriola@gmail.com

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Switchfoot Concert. Tuesday, October 30. 2012.

This Sunday I had the privilege of seeing one of my favorite bands,
Switchfoot.
It was seriously awesome.
The lead singer, Jon Foreman, is just a man filled with such tremendous joy.
He is an incredibly talented musician
who also has a magnificent way with words.
I could literally start a whole new blog just simply gushing over Foreman’s stunning lyrics.
Their newest CD, Vice Verses, is a legitimate work of art.
I honestly do not know if I could pick a favorite song off of Vice Verses
but one of the best ones is Where I Belong.
Foreman closed the concert with this song,
leaving the attendees with something incredibly important to think about.

Where I Belong is just a whole bunch of awesome
but my favorite lyrics are close to the beginning of the song:

But I'm not sentimental
This skin and bones is a rental
And no one makes it out alive

The dude has got it.
He understands it all.
He understands this life.
He knows that this life is
our holding place and
he understands our aim and
our eternal goal.

We are not supposed to be bound to this world by material things.
It is all His.
He gives and He takes away.
We do not belong in this world
and the things of this world do not belong to us.

“I’m not sentimental.”
I would like to vouch for that
but I know that I cannot.
Far too many times I find myself
being sentimental towards material or worldly things.

My iPod has a deep scratch on the back.
My brand new Converse have a scuff mark on them.
In the moment that I find that scuff mark or that scratch,
it seems like my world is ending.
I need to remind myself though that
IT.
DOES.
NOT.
MATTER.
My materials things are damaged
but really, what does that amount to?
Nothing.
Jesus is not going to be in heaven asking me about my material things.
He is going to be asking,
“Were you a good Christian?”
“Did you live your life well?”
“Did you live your life for Me?”


“This skin and bones is a rental.”
Uh, blunt.
Our bodies our not our own,
they are His.
He has gifted us with these bodies
and with the life that he breathed into us.
What an honor,
what a gift these bodies are.
What a blessing for our bodies to be temples of the Holy Spirit.
How amazing that He has given us these bodies as a means to bring others closer to Him.

The other side of that is, praise God these bodies are rentals,
that they are not permanent.
Praise God that “No one makes it out alive” in this life.
Life is hard.
It is pain.
It is a struggle.
And He knows that.
He has given us a goal,
a reward,
and an end.
HIM.
HEAVEN.

Praise God that He does give us this life
to learn how best prepare for the next,
for our true home.
And hopefully on that day we can sing to Him:

And on the final day I die
I want to hold my head up high
I want to tell You that I tried
To live it like a song

And when I reach the other side
I want to look You in the eye
And know that I've arrived
In a world where I belong

We do not belong here.
We belong with Him.
Praise.
God.


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Subjectivity. Tuesday October 23, 2012

Through certain experiences and just life in general
one thing that I have learned is that
essentially everything in life is subjective.

And I guess subjectivity works equally to our advantage as well as to our disadvantage.
Say grades on a paper-
if the teacher favors you
or if the teacher is an easy grader
than in that sense,
subjectivity would work to your advantage.
But if the teacher is a tough grader,
your grades might not be looking so hot.

Subjectivity is a bizarre thing to me.
It honestly amazes me that everything is what it is because someone cool said so.
Get that? Yeah. It just sounds so unstable.
I dislike that it seems like society gets to decide what is and what isn’t whenever they choose to.

Though most of life is subject to society’s subjectivity,
I have found one thing that is not subjective in this world
and luckily for us,
it is the only thing in this world that truly matters:
God’s love for YOU.
His love for you is
totally,
completely, and
100% not subjective.
His love for you is real and true.
Society does not dictate His love for you.
Society does not get to decide how much He loves you.
He.
Just.
Does.

God is Love.
That does not mean that God is super duper good at loving His people,
well He is but it means more than that.
It means He IS love.
That means He can do nothing other than love.
He is not capable of anything other than love.
God’s love for you is something that society cannot and will never dictate.
His love is not something that you must earn.
He.
Just.
Loves.
You.

With all the subjectivity in the world,
all the changes, and
all the fluctuations,
in this mad, mad world,
know that one thing is not subjective,
one thing will never change,
God’s love for you.

Let His love for you be your strong hold,
your saving grace,
your constant,
your everything.

He loves you.
That is not subjective.
That will never change.