With a new semester starting just days away, I have had a lot on my mind. A lot happened last semester, and it was tough, but it was exciting. When I say that it was exciting, I am referring to the excitement that comes when you look at God's work and realize that He has been so faithful. At the beginning of the semester, God began to place a lot of new people and friends in my life, and throughout the semester, I was able to see the reason that each one was placed in my life, and also to see the potential for relationships in the future. I hate surface-level relationships, and it is exciting to me when I can develop relationships with people and have good conversations. Every relationship, no matter what type, is an opportunity to love someone as God loves us, and to put another person's interests above our own.
Philippians 2:3 says that, in humility, we should count others more significant than ourselves. 1 John 4:19 says that we love because He first loved us. John 15:13 says that there is nothing greater than the man who lays down his life for his friends. It is so challenging for us to love like Jesus, but it is so beautiful when we do. This past semester, the relationships I already had before developed, and I started a lot of new ones. I met a lot of new people, or got to know acquaintances a lot better. You know who you are, but I am so blessed for each relationship in my life, and it is so great to see God working in each one. Every relationship is different, and some are deeper or more personal than others, but if you are open, honest, and genuine in your relationships, each one will be special in its own way.
You will find encouragement, accountability, and love. You will see the light of Christ in others when you may have not seen it before. You will talk about things you have never revealed to anyone other than God. You will share your heart, and you will find that it is a lot easier than you thought. You will realize that you are not perfect, and that no one is. You will see that no relationship can be perfect, but that you can have unconditional love in relationships, and that does make them a lot easier. As you develop strong relationships with people, you learn to judge less and less and to accept, respect, and appreciate more and more. But most of all, you learn that the most important relationship you will ever has is the relationship you have with Jesus Christ. That relationship will always be a struggle, and you will have to learn to devote the most time to it in order to grow, but it will be more than worth it. Without that relationship, you leave a hole in your life that cannot be replaced by anything or anyone else. You can try to fill the hole, but you will constantly fail and look for something else to satisfy you.
I've been thinking about fear recently-fear in relationships. There is a difference between fear and fear of the Lord. Fear comes from Satan, and fear of the Lord comes from one's relationship with the Lord. Fear of the Lord is good. But fear is not good. When we fear, we are allowing Satan to control us, to manipulate our feelings. We allow anxiety to take over. The Lord tells us not to fear, for He is with us, and He will never leave or forsake us. We are to not fear the future or to be anxious about what is to come. Proverbs 31:30 says that a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised. People who fear the Lord are serious about their relationship with Him. They want to please Him in everything they do, but they also know that we please the Lord through our faith, not by our works. They trust the Lord with their lives, and they believe that He has a perfect plan. They are not anxious about what is to come, but they have faith that He has it under control.
Luke 1:50 says that "his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation." Our relationship with the Lord should be based on fear, but a fear of the Lord, which is also a realization and appreciation of the mercy He gives to us. If we want our other relationships to mirror our relationship with Christ, then we need to allow our fear of the Lord to control those relationships. Trust the Lord to work in your relationships with other people, and to use them to allow your relationship with Him to improve. Ask Him to show you ways to improve your relationships, and ways that you can learn from each other and encourage one another. Thank Him for the relationships that you have, and pray that they will continue to develop into Christ-like relationships, and that they will last.
Our earthly relationships are not eternal, but our relationship with God is. It is the toughest relationship to maintain unless you are disciplined and genuinely want to grow, but it is also the easiest relationship to have. Christ offers everyone the chance to have a relationship with Him because He loves each one of us and died for each of us. He wants to work in us and change us, and He also wants to show who He is through the other relationships we have. Treasure your relationships, and make your relationship with God the most important, and it will change the way you look at life, and the way you look at the other relationships in your life.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Staying Positive
My throat feels like it's swelling up. My taste buds are all weird. I've had about 20 cans of ginger ale or sprite in the past 2 days because everything else tastes disgusting. I've had a queasy feeling in my stomach since yesterday morning. These are some of the realities of chemo and it's effects. It flat out stinks. I hate chemo. I wish they would call it something else. Something that describes it better. Instead, they call it chemotherapy. Therapy is supposed to be good for you and make you feel good. Chemo doesn't make you feel good until you're completely finished with all of it. Chemo is good only because it heals us, which is obviously great. I can stay positive because I will be finished with chemo less than 6 weeks from now, and I'm more than ready. God has a plan, and even if sometimes, things stink, you can always learn from them. He is in control, and He will be faithful, even through the storms of your life. Today I'm just being honest. It's easy to stay positive, and to have a good attitude, and to trust God, especially since I just found out that I'm basically already cancer-free, which is awesome. Praise God. But I also just wanted to be realistic. Chemo stinks. But God IS WAY BIGGER than chemo and cancer.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year!!
Hi:)
I haven't been feeling too great lately, and today I've just been hanging out in my room, reading and journaling. I wanted to share what I was journaling today.
Happy New Year! 2010 was a pretty interesting year. It was full of ups and downs, surprises, both good and bad, and a lot of learning through experiences. I can't remember what I was doing on this day a year ago, but I do know that God has continued to transform me into the woman He plans for me to be. I'm so thankful for that. About two years ago, I decided that I wanted to give my whole life to Christ, not just part of it. I want to grow to be more like Christ, and I know it is a process, and He continues to show me that. As soon as I made the choice to follow Christ, He began to change my heart, and I began to see life in a different light. It wasn't just about me, and I wasn't ever going to find anything to make me fully content.
Only God can fulfill our discontentment. He gives us life, and He forgives us and cleanses us of our sins. In Him, we are new creations, for the Lord makes all things new. Before I wanted to know God, He knew everything about me, and He had a plan for my life. I was selfish and wanted to be in control of my own life, yet the Lord is the only one who can be in control-- He is sovereign. I can plan my course, but the Lord will establish my steps.
This past year, I have learned more about what it truly means to follow Christ and to genuinely love and want to live for the Lord. Sometimes I do things and later wish that someone would have stopped me in my tracks and told me that I was making a bad decision or that I was trying to justify something in my head, but that I wasn't following the Lord with my actions. Satan takes a hold of us sometimes, and no matter how hard we try to fight against it, we are prone to sin. However, God has my heart. Satan can try to mess with it, but it belongs to God, and no matter how many times or how far we stray from Him, He always wants us to come running back to Him. If you have regrets, think about what would have happened if you hadn't experienced whatever it was that you regret. When I think about that, it helps me to see how God has strengthened me, through EVERYTHING.
We turn against the Lord, but if we desire to follow His will, and if we've entrusted our heart to Him, He will work through everything. This year, God has taught me to trust Him, to depend solely on Him, to give Him everything daily, to be fearless because He holds me in His hands, to be patient and wait on His timing, to love others unconditionally like He loves us, and most importantly, that I can desire to follow all of this, but that I will always struggle, and that I can only boast in Him because we cannot earn righteousness through anything we do. We are righteous only because of Him, and we will fail, but He wants a relationship with us anyway! He knows we are imperfect, and He loves us for our imperfections. If only we could all love each other like that. One day in Heaven, it will be like that, and it will be amazing.
God has also taught me that if you have faith in Him, He will be faithful to you. In the past year, I have also been clearly shown that because God is our source of strength, when we face situations that scare us to death, like sharing your faith in front of a room full of people or fighting cancer, He supplies us with the strength we need. It might not be the most pleasant experience of your life, but He will shine in everything, and nothing is impossible with God.
I'm excited to see what God has in His plans for 2011. I'm slightly nervous, but I know I can be at peace because God already has a perfect plan! No matter how hard we try to be in control and manipulate our lives, God will show us that He is sovereign. Also, His grace covers our sins. We are saved by grace, and He has set us free. I hope that in 2011, you can all see and embrace your freedom in Christ, and allow Him to work in you and through you with that in mind.
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." -Galatians 5:1
I haven't been feeling too great lately, and today I've just been hanging out in my room, reading and journaling. I wanted to share what I was journaling today.
Happy New Year! 2010 was a pretty interesting year. It was full of ups and downs, surprises, both good and bad, and a lot of learning through experiences. I can't remember what I was doing on this day a year ago, but I do know that God has continued to transform me into the woman He plans for me to be. I'm so thankful for that. About two years ago, I decided that I wanted to give my whole life to Christ, not just part of it. I want to grow to be more like Christ, and I know it is a process, and He continues to show me that. As soon as I made the choice to follow Christ, He began to change my heart, and I began to see life in a different light. It wasn't just about me, and I wasn't ever going to find anything to make me fully content.
Only God can fulfill our discontentment. He gives us life, and He forgives us and cleanses us of our sins. In Him, we are new creations, for the Lord makes all things new. Before I wanted to know God, He knew everything about me, and He had a plan for my life. I was selfish and wanted to be in control of my own life, yet the Lord is the only one who can be in control-- He is sovereign. I can plan my course, but the Lord will establish my steps.
This past year, I have learned more about what it truly means to follow Christ and to genuinely love and want to live for the Lord. Sometimes I do things and later wish that someone would have stopped me in my tracks and told me that I was making a bad decision or that I was trying to justify something in my head, but that I wasn't following the Lord with my actions. Satan takes a hold of us sometimes, and no matter how hard we try to fight against it, we are prone to sin. However, God has my heart. Satan can try to mess with it, but it belongs to God, and no matter how many times or how far we stray from Him, He always wants us to come running back to Him. If you have regrets, think about what would have happened if you hadn't experienced whatever it was that you regret. When I think about that, it helps me to see how God has strengthened me, through EVERYTHING.
We turn against the Lord, but if we desire to follow His will, and if we've entrusted our heart to Him, He will work through everything. This year, God has taught me to trust Him, to depend solely on Him, to give Him everything daily, to be fearless because He holds me in His hands, to be patient and wait on His timing, to love others unconditionally like He loves us, and most importantly, that I can desire to follow all of this, but that I will always struggle, and that I can only boast in Him because we cannot earn righteousness through anything we do. We are righteous only because of Him, and we will fail, but He wants a relationship with us anyway! He knows we are imperfect, and He loves us for our imperfections. If only we could all love each other like that. One day in Heaven, it will be like that, and it will be amazing.
God has also taught me that if you have faith in Him, He will be faithful to you. In the past year, I have also been clearly shown that because God is our source of strength, when we face situations that scare us to death, like sharing your faith in front of a room full of people or fighting cancer, He supplies us with the strength we need. It might not be the most pleasant experience of your life, but He will shine in everything, and nothing is impossible with God.
I'm excited to see what God has in His plans for 2011. I'm slightly nervous, but I know I can be at peace because God already has a perfect plan! No matter how hard we try to be in control and manipulate our lives, God will show us that He is sovereign. Also, His grace covers our sins. We are saved by grace, and He has set us free. I hope that in 2011, you can all see and embrace your freedom in Christ, and allow Him to work in you and through you with that in mind.
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." -Galatians 5:1
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
The Beauty of God's Grace
These are the lyrics to Mercy Me's song "Beautiful":
The days will come when you don't have the strength
When all you hear is you're not worth anything
Wondering if you could ever be loved
And if they truly saw your heart they'd see too much
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are made so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful
And praying that you have the heart to find
Cause you are more than what is hurting you tonight
For all the lies you've held inside so long
And they are nothing in the shadow of the cross
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are made so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful
Before you ever took a breath
Long before the world began
Of all the wonders He possessed
There was one more precious
Of all the earth and skys above
You're the one He madly loves
Enough to death
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
In His eyes
You're beautiful
You were meant for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You're meant for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
This song reminds us of how much God loves us for who we are and thinks we are beautiful no matter what. We are beautiful because Christ has shed his blood for us and we are new creations. Made in Christ's image, we are beautiful in God's eyes. 1 Samuel 16:7 says " Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Then, Song of Soloman 4:7 says "You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you." This is how God sees all of us! We don't deserve it at all, but He sees us as flawless because of His grace and because of Jesus! When Jesus died on the cross, He bridged the gap between us and God.
One of my favorite songs called "O, how he loves us" says " if grace is an ocean, we're all sinking." I don't think there is a better way to describe the immensity of God's grace. It also says "We are His portion and He is our prize, drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes." My question to you is, do our lives show that He is our prize? Do we prize Him, praising Him and giving glory to Him through everything that we do? I know that I don't do this consistently. I'm selfish; you are selfish; we are all selfish. It's a fact. And it's why we need the grace of God! But, we cannot constantly give excuses and continue to sin the same sins and ignore it. That's not showing other people that we prize God above all. I encourage you to think about that. It's something that has been on my mind lately. I want my life to show that I know and understand the depth of the grace I have been given, and that I want God to always be my utmost prize. I know it is a struggle because it is a radical change to do this daily, but we can surely strive to do so.
The days will come when you don't have the strength
When all you hear is you're not worth anything
Wondering if you could ever be loved
And if they truly saw your heart they'd see too much
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are made so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful
And praying that you have the heart to find
Cause you are more than what is hurting you tonight
For all the lies you've held inside so long
And they are nothing in the shadow of the cross
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are made so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful
Before you ever took a breath
Long before the world began
Of all the wonders He possessed
There was one more precious
Of all the earth and skys above
You're the one He madly loves
Enough to death
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
In His eyes
You're beautiful
You were meant for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You're meant for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
This song reminds us of how much God loves us for who we are and thinks we are beautiful no matter what. We are beautiful because Christ has shed his blood for us and we are new creations. Made in Christ's image, we are beautiful in God's eyes. 1 Samuel 16:7 says " Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Then, Song of Soloman 4:7 says "You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you." This is how God sees all of us! We don't deserve it at all, but He sees us as flawless because of His grace and because of Jesus! When Jesus died on the cross, He bridged the gap between us and God.
One of my favorite songs called "O, how he loves us" says " if grace is an ocean, we're all sinking." I don't think there is a better way to describe the immensity of God's grace. It also says "We are His portion and He is our prize, drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes." My question to you is, do our lives show that He is our prize? Do we prize Him, praising Him and giving glory to Him through everything that we do? I know that I don't do this consistently. I'm selfish; you are selfish; we are all selfish. It's a fact. And it's why we need the grace of God! But, we cannot constantly give excuses and continue to sin the same sins and ignore it. That's not showing other people that we prize God above all. I encourage you to think about that. It's something that has been on my mind lately. I want my life to show that I know and understand the depth of the grace I have been given, and that I want God to always be my utmost prize. I know it is a struggle because it is a radical change to do this daily, but we can surely strive to do so.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Rejoicing in all circumstances
"Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will be joyful in God my Savior. The sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to tread on the heights." Habakkuk 3:18-19
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say it, rejoice!" Philippians 4:4
What is my reason for rejoicing today? Well, there are many, but right now I feel like rejoicing because I know who my Lord and Savior. It's really been on my mind since church this morning. Today we read from Matthew 1, and the phrase the pastor kept repeating was "He is with us." That is what I have had to constantly remind myself of and place my hope in over the past month or so. Emmanuel: God is with us. He never leaves or forsakes us, and He is with us wherever we go. He is our hope in time of need, and He is our rock and our shelter, our fortress and our shield.
About two years ago, I decided that I wanted to have a relationship with God. I realized that I had made God a part of my life, but my life was not centered around God. It's easy to do this in high school and when you first get to college because there are so many distractions, temptations, and worldly things that, at the time, matter a lot more than they should. I had some Christian influences in my life, but no one had been keeping me accountable, and I never wanted to be very involved with church activities. I remember being busy with sports and school, and being a perfectionist about school especially. My excuse for not going to youth group was either school or the fact that I hadn't been going consistently and everyone else had, and they had made their friends already. It's so sad that I thought that way. I was completely missing out on God because I cared so much about what other people thought about me, and I also lived to please other people. I think I wanted to please other people to make me feel better about myself, and maybe because I thought it would get them to like me more. Sounds a little immature, right? Maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but until the end of my senior year, this is what my life looked like.
At the end of senior year, I started to grow up a little bit, and read my Bible every now and then. It started with my college decision: I wanted to go to God for that because I couldn't decide on my own. So I started praying a little more than normal, and for some reason I landed on Samford. God already had that in His plan for me, and He wanted to do big things with it. I had absolutely no clue about this, and I couldn't care less at the time. I thought I was a good person; I was fairly satisfied with my life, and when I came to God with a problem, it usually got solved eventually.
After some serious self-examining and searching, as well as being surrounded by a few friends who were living for God and growing, I finally figured out where I wanted to find my identity, and that was in Christ. A lot happened in between, but I'm making a long story short. This is a VERY short version of my testimony. Haha. Basically, God did a LOT of work in my heart during my first semester at Samford, which I am SO thankful for today. God really is so good.
I just wanted to share a little with yall today because I am feeling so thankful that, for the past few years, I have felt God's presence with me and not ignored it! Of course there have been some times when I have, but overall, He has been there and I have been letting Him work in me and I hope through me a little as well. God has ALWAYS been by my side, I just didn't acknowledge it much for most of my life. I went to Him only when I needed Him for something, not because I desired to know Him better and because I loved Him with all of my heart.
We all struggle in our relationships with God, but we are all imperfect, and that is a part of walking with Him. When I thought I was a good person, I was 100% wrong. I am a sinner, and I am dirty, but Christ cleanses me and makes me into a new creation, and I am only worthy because of His grace and mercy. We can rejoice in the fact that we are not good people, but we have a Savior who loves us with all of His heart and who is with us ALWAYS!! My heart hurts for those who do not know Christ. It is impossible to fully express what He has done in my life, but He changes you, and it is amazing! I can rejoice because He has a plan for my life, and He forgives me every day. We can rejoice in the good times and in the bad because God is sovereign and God is good.
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say it, rejoice!" Philippians 4:4
What is my reason for rejoicing today? Well, there are many, but right now I feel like rejoicing because I know who my Lord and Savior. It's really been on my mind since church this morning. Today we read from Matthew 1, and the phrase the pastor kept repeating was "He is with us." That is what I have had to constantly remind myself of and place my hope in over the past month or so. Emmanuel: God is with us. He never leaves or forsakes us, and He is with us wherever we go. He is our hope in time of need, and He is our rock and our shelter, our fortress and our shield.
About two years ago, I decided that I wanted to have a relationship with God. I realized that I had made God a part of my life, but my life was not centered around God. It's easy to do this in high school and when you first get to college because there are so many distractions, temptations, and worldly things that, at the time, matter a lot more than they should. I had some Christian influences in my life, but no one had been keeping me accountable, and I never wanted to be very involved with church activities. I remember being busy with sports and school, and being a perfectionist about school especially. My excuse for not going to youth group was either school or the fact that I hadn't been going consistently and everyone else had, and they had made their friends already. It's so sad that I thought that way. I was completely missing out on God because I cared so much about what other people thought about me, and I also lived to please other people. I think I wanted to please other people to make me feel better about myself, and maybe because I thought it would get them to like me more. Sounds a little immature, right? Maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but until the end of my senior year, this is what my life looked like.
At the end of senior year, I started to grow up a little bit, and read my Bible every now and then. It started with my college decision: I wanted to go to God for that because I couldn't decide on my own. So I started praying a little more than normal, and for some reason I landed on Samford. God already had that in His plan for me, and He wanted to do big things with it. I had absolutely no clue about this, and I couldn't care less at the time. I thought I was a good person; I was fairly satisfied with my life, and when I came to God with a problem, it usually got solved eventually.
After some serious self-examining and searching, as well as being surrounded by a few friends who were living for God and growing, I finally figured out where I wanted to find my identity, and that was in Christ. A lot happened in between, but I'm making a long story short. This is a VERY short version of my testimony. Haha. Basically, God did a LOT of work in my heart during my first semester at Samford, which I am SO thankful for today. God really is so good.
I just wanted to share a little with yall today because I am feeling so thankful that, for the past few years, I have felt God's presence with me and not ignored it! Of course there have been some times when I have, but overall, He has been there and I have been letting Him work in me and I hope through me a little as well. God has ALWAYS been by my side, I just didn't acknowledge it much for most of my life. I went to Him only when I needed Him for something, not because I desired to know Him better and because I loved Him with all of my heart.
We all struggle in our relationships with God, but we are all imperfect, and that is a part of walking with Him. When I thought I was a good person, I was 100% wrong. I am a sinner, and I am dirty, but Christ cleanses me and makes me into a new creation, and I am only worthy because of His grace and mercy. We can rejoice in the fact that we are not good people, but we have a Savior who loves us with all of His heart and who is with us ALWAYS!! My heart hurts for those who do not know Christ. It is impossible to fully express what He has done in my life, but He changes you, and it is amazing! I can rejoice because He has a plan for my life, and He forgives me every day. We can rejoice in the good times and in the bad because God is sovereign and God is good.
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