He insisted on trying it at a restaurant the other day.  And because his experience with that little lemon set his little mouth/world on twang overload, I guarantee you, Moses BELIEVES that lemons are dangerous.  In fact, he screams ‘No, No, No!’ if he start to bring one close.  For a long time, I guarantee you, Baby Moses will RUN from lemons.

His EXPERIENCE led to a

BELIEF that led to an

ACTION

Most people in this world formulate their belief systems from their experiences:

Your father might have been angry and distant, so you believe God is that way, too.

To be at the cool kid table, you have to look perfect, so you believe you need to look perfect at all times to be accepted.

You’ve been cheated on, so you believe you can’t really ever trust anyone.

Someone in grade school told you that you were ugly, so when you look in the mirror, you believe you’re ugly.

When you have a belief system, I promise you, you’re going to have an action.  We all behave according to what we believe.  In fact, if you’re wondering why you are the way you are, just look at your beliefs!

That’s why ‘behavioral control’ in Christianity is so backwards.  We attempt to prove to God that we love Him by cleaning our lives up, and it’s not only painstaking, but actually impossible!   We have a lifetime of EXPERIENCES in a natural world that have defined our actions for years, possibly decades!  We may have been known to steal, cheat, lie, binge, restrict, cut, gossip, hate ourselves, sleep around, and party.  But now we’re Christians so we have to STOP IT!  Stop that bad behavior!   Comeon love, muster up your greatest self-control and change yourself!  

The problem is, there’s nothing supernatural about that approach.  And a relationship with God is rarely apart of that process.

So let’s go back to the chart.  If of our EXPERIENCES usually lead to BELIEFS that usually lead to ACTIONS, then there would be a lot of Christians that argue changing the belief category……, “Just have faith!  If you haven’t seen it, just believe it!  You don’t need an experience!  Just read words on a page in the Bible, maybe say a few out loud, and shift your entire belief system based upon YOUR ABILITY to then throw the light switch in your head and heart!  JUST BELIEVE!”

This approach has always made me want to throw up in my mouth a bit.  And produced massive feelings of inadequacy because of my inability to truly believe certain things about the gospel.

For years while trying to get free from the cage of an eating disorder, I took this approach.  I would wake up and declare scripture about freedom, hoping that this time (like a magic spell), they might work!  I would worship harder at church!  I would serve longer!  I tried, tried, tried to make myself believe these scriptures that I had never experienceD, but hoped to be true.  If scripture said it, then gosh darn it, I was going to MAKE myself believe it!  SOMEHOW.  I tried every approach under the sun to change my own belief system in order to change my actions.

And to be honest, it rarely worked.  Why?

Because, once again, there was nothing supernatural about the approach.  And a relationship with God is rarely apart of the process.

BUT WHAT IF THERE’S A BETTER WAY?

IF most of our belief systems come from our experiences,

Then we need to have a GREATER experience with acceptance than with rejection.

We need to have a GREATER experience with unconditional love than with conditional love.

We need to have a GREATER experience with healing than with pain.

We need to have a GREATER experience with life than with death.

WE NEED TO HAVE A GREATER EXPERIENCE WITH THE SUPERNATURAL THAN WE DO WITH THE NATURAL.

…..and friends, we can.

See, everything in the Kingdom is relational.  Scripture is absolutely powerful, and we need to declare it in order to remind ourselves of the truth, but it’s never about ritualistically spouting out something.

It’s about intimacy, relationship, and experiences with a Someone.

YOUR TURN:

For years on end, I would wake up, petrified of what I was capable of in the kitchen.  Can I control myself around food today?  Can I have enough strength not to binge on everything in sight?  Can I be kind to be people, instead of annoyed and cruel?  Can I look in the mirror without a barrage of negative thoughts?

And then, I realized something.  I have access to experience the HEALER, to experience UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, LIFE, and THE SUPERNATURAL because the veil has been torn.  I don’t have to spout out scriptures like a magician casting spells.   I don’t have to hope that it’s true.   I can learn, right here, right now, to have an EXPERIENCE with the God of the universe.

Some of you may need to do what I did, and do it for a while.  You need to wake up 20 minutes earlier than normal, pop in your headphones filled with your favorite worship cd and INVITE THE HEALER INTO YOUR PAIN.  Invite LOVE into your rejection.  Invite LIFE into what’s been stolen and killed.  Invite a SUPERNATURAL God into your natural world that needs His power.

BE STILL AND KNOW.  Sometimes you actually have to be still in order to know.

Position yourself to actually EXPERIENCE a God who says he’s ready to speak to you, to touch you, to heal you, to restore you, to walk with you, and to commune with you!  John says “My sheep hear my voice,” so guess what?  You can hear Him.  Jesus is the model, and when He says he ONLY did what he SAW the Father doing means….YOU CAN SEE FATHER, TOO!  Jesus EXPERIENCED the manifestation of the Kingdom of heaven every day, and so can you!

Either He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever, or He’s not.  If it’s in the Bible and He says it’s available for us, then it is.  I’m tired of hearing about all the miracles in Africa and not seeing them manifesting in the lives of believers in Western culture.  We serve a REAL God who wants to REALLY meet with us.  In our EXPERIENCES.

The more you EXPERIENCE Him, I promise you, the more you BELIEVE.  You can’t help yourself!  And the more you BELIEVE, the easier it is to ACT like it.  

xx,

THE WINNERS OF THE FIRST GOD LOVES UGLY BOOK GIVE-A-WAY ARE:

1)  LIZ who commented yesterday on my blog.

2)  @tawnisattler from who RT on Twitter!

Email your info to askchristablack@gmail.com!  CONGRATS LADIES!

We’ll have more give-a-ways in the next week so stay tuned!

If your life has been impacted and changed by the book, then here’s your assignment……lead others into the same freedom you’re now experiencing!!!  Get a group together (college, sorority, youth group, or just friends) and teach others the truth you’ve received.  As you give away what you’ve been given, guess what?  You experience even MORE freedom, life, joy, and peace!

PRE-ORDER 10 BOOKS +

-Christa will Skype in for 30 minutes of teaching and sharing!   There’s nothing like setting a spark and HEARING the message of God Loves Ugly personally.  Christa wants to help give your group vision for the weeks ahead, encouraging them to set the bar high for TOTAL FREEDOM in areas where they’ve been managing pain!

-Each person in the group will receive a free download for the song God Loves Ugly

-Each person in the group will receive a free mp3 teaching from Graham Cooke, Christa’s FAVORITE teacher

-Group Leader will receive a PDF Group Study Guide

PRE-ORDER 25 BOOKS +

-Christa will Skype into your group for 30 minutes of teaching and sharing

-Each person in the group will receive a free download for the song God Loves Ugly

-Each person in the group will receive a free mp3 teaching from Graham Cooke, Christa’s FAVORITE teacher

-Group Leader will receive a PDF Group Study Guide

-Group leader can pick ONE autographed item from the following:

*Brit Nicole   (Grammy nominated singer/songwriter)

*Michael W. Smith   (Grammy winning singer/songwriter)

*Josh Hamilton   (Angels baseball player)

*Jonas Myrin   (Grammy winning songwriter/European pop star)

*Johnnyswim   (Award-winning musical duo)

*Kim Walker-Smith   (Jesus Culture)

*Natalie Grant   (Grammy nominated singer/songwriter)

*Kellan Lutz  (actor in Twilight, Hercules)

PRE-ORDER 100 BOOKS +

-Christa will Skype into your group for FOUR 45-minute teaching sessions!

-Each person in the group will receive a free download for the song God Loves Ugly

-Each person in the group will receive a free mp3 teaching from Graham Cooke, Christa’s FAVORITE teacher

-Group Study Guide

-Group leader can pick ONE autographed item from the following:

*Brit Nicole   (Grammy nominated singer/songwriter)

*Michael W. Smith   (Grammy winning singer/songwriter)

*Josh Hamilton   (Angels baseball player)

*Jonas Myrin   (Grammy winning songwriter/European pop star)

*Johnnyswim   (Award-winning musical duo)

*Kim Walker-Smith   (Jesus Culture)

*Natalie Grant   (Grammy nominated singer/songwriter)

*Kellan Lutz  (actor in Twilight, Hercules)

Hurry!  June 4. 2013 is almost here!!!!

When setting up your prizes, email all receipts to lucasgifford@gmail.com from vendors (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Mardel, Target.

(Photo by Kelly Moore)

I just got the phone call you pray you never get.

It’s the one where your husband calls in a panic, telling you he’s just been in a wreck while your baby screams in the background.  And you’re helplessly standing in line at the airport boarding a flight to Florida.

And then everything goes dark.  You start to shake.  Violent sobs begin to heave from your belly like a volcano, caring less that all eyes are staring, wondering why the girl is losing it in the middle of gate A-3.  But you don’t care that you’re causing a scene, because all you can think about are the two people on this earth that are the most important to you.

Wondering if they’re going to be ok.

The night before the terrible phone call while nursing Moses to sleep in the dark, I began praying over him like I always do, cuddling him a little tighter than usual knowing I was headed to Florida for the last Revolve Tour date the next day.   I blessed his little body, his little life as it grows and blossoms.  I blessed his eyes, his teeth, his hearing, his hair.  Prayers for angels to sing over him as he sleeps, for heaven to be opened, for dreams and visions.  Prayers of adoration, prayers of hope, prayers of wonder that you’ve been entrusted to guard and help shepherd the life of one so precious.  And then all of a sudden, like an arrow sinking deep into my brain, my head began to swirl with horrific thoughts.

What if this is the last time I see him?  What if something bad happens to him while I’m away?  What if a tragedy occurs and I can’t do anything about it?  

I knew the thoughts weren’t my own–I don’t deal usually deal with fear of tragedy happening, so I began to pray and release the opposite spirit over him instead, dialoging with Jesus as I prayed.  The room was dark and so I couldn’t see much, but as I closed my eyes, I could see the outline of a man sitting in front of me.  Whether this was in the natural or in the spirit, it doesn’t matter.  Jesus was there, and he wanted to talk.

“Christa,” he said leaning forward, eyes fixed into my own.  ”Do you trust me with your son?”

“Yes, of course, Jesus,” I replied with tears beginning to form tracks down my cheeks.  “Of course I trust you.”   How could I not trust this man?   This man that had saved me, the man who had healed me, who continues to make me whole…..He was sitting in front of me, making me personal promises to be a stand-in parent while I was away for the weekend speaking.  

“Will you make sure he doesn’t feel abandoned, Jesus?”  Now the tears really began to pour out.  I love what I do, but it’s never easy to leave your baby behind, even for a couple of days.

“Of course I will, Christa,” He replied with such certainty, never shaking his piercing gaze from my own.  ”I’m going to be by his side every moment you’re away.  And I’ll watch over him day and night.  Moses will be ok.  I promise.”

I waited in the airport for painful minutes that felt like hours, snot and tears pouring from my face, waiting to hear back from Lucas as to what had happened and what I needed to do.  And then my phone rang.

It was a three car collision.  The woman in front had slammed on her breaks while they were all accelerating from an intersection, causing the wreck.  The two women in the other two cars went to the emergency room with minor injuries, even though they had minimal damage to their cars.  Our Prius was definitely totaled and endured the most damage, engine smashed, airbags deployed.

But as Lucas gave me the details of the accident while standing on the side of the road, his words began to drown out from the little sing-song voice I could hear in the background:

“Uh-oh.  Uh-oh.  Uh-oh,” followed by a string of baby giggles as the fire trucks pulled up.

And then I knew.

Jesus had kept His promise to me, like He always does.  He had been with my son and my husband.  And what was a traumatic event that could have ended very badly, Jesus had made sure my son came out singing and laughing.

I cried all day on my way to Florida.  I cried in agony not being able to cuddle my little boy and my husband.  I cried because I needed the Comforter.  I cried thinking about those minutes I waited in the airport sobbing, praying they were ok.  I cried knowing we have beautiful friends who raced to help (Thanks Chase & Tessa!)  But most of all, I’ve cried for joy, knowing this story could have ended a lot worse than it did.

We lost a car.  Who cares, cars can be replaced.  But my boys can’t, and Jesus kept them safe.

Just like He promised me He would.

I wrote this blog on Saturday before the tornado tragedy in Oklahoma.  Some would say celebrating the safety of my son while others have lost theirs is insensitive, which is as far from my intention as could be.  My heart as a worshiper and believer is to continue celebrating, rejoicing, and believing in the goodness of God, even in the midst of pain, hardship and tragedy.  I will live my life to overcome evil with good. 

As a mother able to hold her son, let’s take a minute and pray for the mothers and fathers unable to find their children in the Oklahoma tornado tragedy.  It grieves my heart more than words can express, and I absolutely cannot imagine what they’re feeling right now.  

Lucas and I immediately donated to help the disaster relief to the American Red Cross, and you can, too.  Every little bit counts!  Donate your Starbucks money for a couple of days.  Skip the movie you were planning on seeing.  Be the answer to someone’s prayer right now by providing aide while they’re in need.  Let’s be the hands and feet of Jesus!

xx,

Know someone who needs a steroid shot of unconditional love today?

Love them enough to send this story their way.

xx,

Yes, it overwhelms and satisfies my soul.

My first BMI Award for the song One Thing Remains!!!

(I’m just slightly excited, can you tell).

If you’re anything like me, at some point in your life you’ve opened up a magazine or turned on the TV and thought,

I bet that girl never has a zit.  

I bet she wakes up perfect, birds chirping, angels singing.  

I bet she never goes #2, and if she does, it smells like roses.

I bet she looks in the mirror and her head explodes with fireworks of positivity.

And then, I moved to New York.

The more models, actresses, and singers I came into contact with, the more I realized that a lot of them were actually MORE insecure than the rest of the world.  Why?  Because they made a living appearing perfect.  And if they didn’t look perfect….then they didn’t make rent.  Talk about pressure.

And then I met my lovely bestie Amanda Sudano Ramirez.

The world loves to look at pretty things, so there will always be eyes who love to gaze at her beauty.  But the funny thing is, if she unzipped her outward shell, I guarantee you, there would be just as many people wanting to stop and stare.  Her compassion, sensitivity, grace, humility, generosity, and authenticity make her an irresistible magnet, attracting everyone and everyone she comes into contact with.

Do models, singers, actresses, and superstars have bad mirror days like the rest of us?  Yep.  And they have to contend for their thoughts to head back into the land of truth.

And one of the best ways to get there is simply…..to dance.

Your welcome.

xx,

PRE-ORDER your paperback cover of God Loves Ugly today!

And don’t forget, JOHNNYSWIM has new music released June 18!

But my neighbor down the street got the pink Barbie Corvette, and she wasn’t happy.  Her parents were fighting a lot, and the toy wasn’t enough to make her stop crying at night.

So if the pink Barbie Corvette wasn’t the cure-all for making 7-year-olds happy, then what was?  Was there a toy that made all your blues go away?

Most people spend their whole lives trying to find that ‘toy’ that gives the savory satisfaction of happiness.  They crave it like a pill that will clear away their internal storms.  The problem is, when you live to simply be happy, most of the time it’s just about you.

It’s about what you can get.

It’s about your circumstance.

It’s about your feelings.

And ultimately, it becomes a selfish posture looking at the world saying, ‘”What can you give ME so I can finally feel satisfied?”

I find when my life simply becomes focused on obtaining happiness, my perspective is very internal.  And as a result, I’m not happy at all, always measuring my internal emotions instead of living for a larger cause.   And this always makes me feel emptier than ever.  This ‘empty self’ is so common in our Western culture that it’s sometimes referred to as a cultural plague.  According to psychologist Philip Cushman,

the empty self is filled up with consumer goods, calories, experiences, politicians, romantic partners, and empathetic therapists… (The empty self) experiences a significant absense of community, tradition, and sharing meaning…..a lack of personal conviction and worth, and it embodies the absences as a chronic, undifferentiated emotional hunger.  

In the book Kingdom Triangle, J. P. Moreland introduces the reader to the leading professor and the nation’s leading researcher on happiness, Professor Martin Seligman, who has devoted over 30 years studying the topic of happiness.  He found repeatedly that when people live for “happiness,” they turn their attention inward and become shriveled selves who are anything but “happy.”  In 1988, he found that the Baby Boom generation of American experienced a tenfold increase in depression compared to earlier generations.

Why?  Because they stopped living for a cause bigger than themselves like their ancestors.  Baby Boomers began spending their energy on living for themselves and their own pleasurable satisfaction.  And the result was sadness.

But what if there’s a better way?

Here’s the thing:

Happiness comes from circumstances

Joy comes from relationship

Peace comes from trust

The more I shift my desire for happiness to peace and joy, a funny thing happens.  I’m happier than ever.  The more I shift my focus to living in the joy that’s available to me in Christ, the more that relationship fills me with a smile that can never go away–no matter what happens circumstantially.  The more I meditate on the promise of peace, the more I realize the Guy giving me peace is in charge of everything–and His peace always surpasses my understanding.

I don’t live for happiness anymore.  I live to see the fullness of peace and joy grow deep root systems inside the soil of my heart.  The more I do, the happier I become.

YOUR TURN:

Have you bought into the Baby Boomer generation search for happiness?  Is your life’s focus to make sure your relationships, your job, your house, your appearance, etc make you feel the fleeting emotion of happiness?

If the answer is yes, take a minute to pray and refocus:

“God, I rethink my lust for happiness.  I rethink my focus on internal things.  I renounce the enemy and his authority to torment me in this area and take back that land in my heart, handing it to you.  I replace the lie and search for happiness with the truth–that I live for something greater than myself.  I’m filled with joy in every circumstance, because it’s a promise!  I’m filled with peace that passes all understanding, guarding my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.  

 I will live to receive your love, your joy, and your peace, and then give it away to a world that needs it.  Amen.”

xx,

I remember taking one of my first flights in grade school, unable to understand why the businessman who hoarded the window seat had closed the little oval shade and ruined my view while we took off into the wild blue.  I stared at him with frustration and confusion, swearing to myself that I would never become like that that.  Promising that I would always appreciate the beauty and wonder of flight!  Forever, I say!

Years and thousands of flights later, where I’m often conked out with my eye patch even before wheels are up in the air, I sometimes remember my little vow and take a moment to stop and peer out at the landscape down below.

Because I live in LA, most of my flights these days are going to cross over a desert at some point.  Deserts aren’t pleasant if you’re on the ground, as you know if you’ve ever made the painful drive across the Mojave desert on I-40 from Arizona to California.  The signs warning that there is no gas, no restaurants, and no civilization for 100 miles is less that disconcerting.  It’s downright depressing.  With the sun scorching and shriveling almost all life in it’s path, you see waves of heat rising from the cracked, dry ground, and nothing but dirty, lifeless brown as far as the eye can see.

But from up above, the desert is breathtaking.  Deep canyons run for hundreds of miles, carving windy paths into the hardened rock.  Deep crags are painted orange then brown then crimson, only to repeat the desert rainbow again.

Back down below, the desert feels overwhelmingly inescapable.  But from up above, the desert feels peaceful and beautiful.

Down below, the heat and barren land can kill you.  But from up above, nothing can touch you.

I was reading in my Bible on the plane as I flew over the majesty of the desert canyons.  Ephesians 2 says,  ^”But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…”

Translation:  if you are in Christ, you are not of this world.  That’s right, let me say that again….your truest self isn’t part of this world anymore.  You’re a citizen of heaven.  You’ve been raised up with Christ, and where is Christ?  Seated at the right hand of God.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says that you are IN Christ.  That’s right…YOU’RE IN HIM!  And He’s seated in heavenly places!

That means you’re seated in heavenly places, too.  RIGHT NOW!  You’ve already been raised up!!!

We’re in two places at once, friends.  Our physical bodies are here on this earth, but scripture promises that somehow we’re seated with Christ in heavenly places right now.  Does that make sense to my head?  Nope.  But it makes sense to my spirit.  As believers, we have the beautiful privilege of NEVER seeing the desert from the ground.  We can always see it from the heavens.  Why?  Because we’re seated there.  We have access to the counselor, the healer, the one who restores, the one who always has a solution to every problem.

We never have to endure the desert ground again.

YOUR TURN:

Are you living life on this earth from the ground, fighting towards victory, or are you living life on this earth from the heavens, fighting from it.  It is finished means just that.  It’s finished.  He’s done the work.  The more we can shift our mindsets (because remember, our minds are what need renewing!), the more we can experience the peace that passes all understanding as we see our problems, our deserts, and our circumstances from up above.

You’re seated in the heavens.  You can see from that perspective.

Take a moment, close your eyes, and think about a circumstance you’ve been looking at from the ground.  It probably looks overwhelming, doesn’t it?  It probably looks like there’s no solution, and it might suck the life out of you.  Now, SEE yourself seated with Christ, far above earthly things.  Talk to Him about it.  What does He have to say?  There are no problems in this world–only opportunities for the Holy Spirit to give you a solution.  Why?

Because every one of His promises are true, and He loves you with an everlasting love.

Now, renew your mind every time you begin to descend into the desert today.   Get back up in that airplane, far above your circumstance.  See how it changes everything.

xx,

Just got this picture from my editor hot off the press—the paper back version of God Loves Ugly!  It’s like watching your daughter change outfits for the first time.

Same crying face.

Same smeared mascara.

Same internal organs.

Different coat.  (:

You don’t have to wait much longer.  It will be out in June!

Pre-order your copy today!