These twists and turns.

photo cred: rickandridgephotography

It’s such a long time since I wrote.

I got lost in all of it, in life and going by the motions.

I wish I could say I’ve got it together, I mean after all this time I should have something together, right?

But, this being a christian thing, the whole being human thing. It’s hard. Individually hard and then you  put them together and it’s a whole new set of challenges.

I know a lot of people who seem to have it down. The whole living by faith thing, and career thing. I know appearances are deceiving especially in this world we live in today with photoshop and looking good for the cameras.

It’s really frustrating though, so I come here and I read something I wrote, and the pain I’ve been in before and remember that it all passes and it’ll be okay. It has to be okay. So I stop comparing myself to other people, and how far they appear to have come, or how strong their faith looks compared to mine.

But, it’s still really difficult sometimes living the day by day. On days like today when i’m feeling empty, feeling lost, feeling disconnected, and weak in faith.

He says joy comes in the morning, He says all things work together for my good, so I have to believe it will all be okay.

It’s hard, it really is, and if i’m completely honest, I may not make it easy for myself sometimes but i’m trying.

 

God, help me live by faith. Give me the strength and wisdom to walk the path and trust You have it all under control. Amen.

 

Mope much?

In my moments of woe is me, I came across the verses quoted below. God has a sense of humor. There’s nothing i’m more certain of than that. I have been questioning a lot of my life over and over, trying to figure out why?! but, I am now reminded of all the other times God has come through for me, in small ways, and big ways but still I question Him.

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”

(Romans 9:20-25 ESV)

 

God is good, He has promised that He has it all planned out of our good, so why should we sit around and mop about all the things that are not working out? He is God, He created us, He has it all under control. So chill, breathe and enjoy the positive. Give the best you can in everything you have and stop focusing on everything that’s not working.

He has it covered.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

(John 14:27 ESV)

May my heart one day dance.

I had not realized just how long it has been since I was on this page. I took a little break. To be honest I chose a path that had me spiraling toward the opposite direction. It all worked out for my good as He has promised, but my life is hardly perfect.

It’s very hard to believe everything the bible says about our life sometimes. I understand that the bible doesn’t promise a perfect happy life, but I don’t remember a part where it says I have to drown in darkness and pain for months, come out out triumphant only to be thrown back deeper. I walk around life with joy, gladness, a smile permanently plastered on my face, but my heart is far from what the world perceives my life to be.

I am grateful for the life I have been given. Grateful for person I am, I am not complaining. I just wish I could be filled with exuberance.

I want my heart to dance.

Madly inlove.

What is love?

Have you any clue? Can you really describe it, explain it in a way that a child would understand?

Do you really know love?

This here *pointing to the chapter below* that is love.

    O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
    You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
        you discern my thoughts from afar.
    You search out my path and my lying down
        and are acquainted with all my ways.
    Even before a word is on my tongue,
        behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
    You hem me in, behind and before,
        and lay your hand upon me.
    Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
        it is high; I cannot attain it.
    Where shall I go from your Spirit?
        Or where shall I flee from your presence?
    If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
        If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
    If I take the wings of the morning
        and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
    even there your hand shall lead me,
        and your right hand shall hold me.
    If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
        and the light about me be night,”
    even the darkness is not dark to you;
        the night is bright as the day,
        for darkness is as light with you.
    For you formed my inward parts;
        you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
    I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
        my soul knows it very well.
    My frame was not hidden from you,
    when I was being made in secret,
        intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
    Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
    in your book were written, every one of them,
        the days that were formed for me,
        when as yet there was none of them.
    How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
        How vast is the sum of them!
    If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
        I awake, and I am still with you.
    Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
        O men of blood, depart from me!
    They speak against you with malicious intent;
        your enemies take your name in vain.
    Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
        And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
    I hate them with complete hatred;
        I count them my enemies.
    Search me, O God, and know my heart!
        Try me and know my thoughts!
    And see if there be any grievous way in me,
        and lead me in the way everlasting!
(Psalm 139 ESV)

Reading that just made me smile.

All other relationships may be mucky and dirty.

Boyfriends/girlfriends may be unfaithful.

The world may fail us, they may lie and cheat and tear our hearts out of our chests.

but His relationship with us, His love for us. It’s unconditional.

He will always remain faithful, He has never and will never break His vows/covenant with us.

His love is like nothing we have experienced here on earth.

It jaw dropping.

It’s breathtaking.

It’s beautiful.

and I am so madly in love with Him.

If like me you need a pick me up.

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

 

Genesis 28:15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

 

Deuteronomy 4:31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.

 

Psalm 37:25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.

 

Deuteronomy 31:8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

His amazing love.

This weeks scripture is one of my favorite scriptures. It’s all about His love this week. If you are like me, then you need some reminding once in awhile about how much He actually loves you. This great big God has His great big love directed towards us. That’s the best thing to think about this week. His amazing love.

    The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
(Psalm 103:6-13 ESV)

He loves Us!

Kim Kardashian inspired me

I’ve written about Kim before, I think it was last year or early this year when she had done something(can’t remember what) and everyone had an opinion about it/her. So again I have something to say, not that I’ve heard or seen anything about her that I feel I need to defend or anything, I just thought of her and felt very inspired. I know a lot of you read that and were really puzzled. Well, keep reading. People have this opinion of her that is nothing close to inspiring. But, as much as I may not exactly follow her shows or her life, I am online a lot and I cannot prevent myself from seeing aspects of her life that are always being publicized(mostly negative sadly).
In spite of all that negative talk about her though, this lady keeps on living her life the way she wants to live it. You can say whatever you want about about Kim Kardashian, but you cannot deny that she’s focused. Every new story, every negative, she picks it and spins it to her advantage. The girl works hard. Her whole life is a job and she knows it, showing us what we want to see. I may not want to live her life -mostly because that publicity is ridiculous- but honestly, I think it takes way too much energy and I wasn’t born to work that hard.. *Smiley face* but I would love if I had that much passion towards my dreams and goals. The ability to take the negative and use it to my advantage. That’s inspiring.If we could all live our live with that tenacity towards our faith, our passions, our lives. It would be incredible.

We all need to be a little bit stubborn when it comes to living the life we dream of. Refuse to bend to public opinion. Choose to be ourselves. No imitation. When it comes to her personal life, I really have no clue. I don’t know how she truly is on the inside, I don’t know what she believes, and it’s not my job to know. It’s not my job to judge her either. Her life choices are her own, guided by her thoughts, her heart and whoever advises her and I will not judge her choices. It’s very easy to sit on my couch watching some entertainment news nonsense and form an opinion based on someone else’s imagined summary of a celebrity’s life. But, I am not here to live the easy life. I’m here to represent Christ and Christ sees the heart, and He shows love, and grace. Plus, I’ve mucked my life up pretty good with some choices I’ve made and it would be extremely ridiculous to judge someone when my own faults are staring at me. So I will only speak about her public life, what I see. What she shows us, and that is bravery and a whole lot of crazy hard work. She is always selling something, it may not be obvious, but she is always marketing, making money, achieving some goal. Be it online or when she’s out and about. And that is something to admire.

So the motivation for today, and the week ahead. Don’t lose focus on the dream. Push forward, have faith and mute all the negative talk. You’ll get there.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
(John 16:33 ESV)

Scripture for the week

Be loving to one another, stay faithful. Be sober minded and be alert, do not let yourself forget what side you’re on. This is all for a season and when it all ends, the moments we thought we couldn’t live without will be pointless. Our whole life will be like a drop in an ocean. We must therefore stay focused. Show grace, show mercy, love with everything you are, for that is His will for us.

For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

(1 Thessalonians 5:5-11 ESV)

Mid week inspiration

I read this on the Christian Living For today and was really inspired by it. Sadly they don’t have a share button for WordPress so had to copy it, I take no credit for it. If you like this, you can go to their website and check out their other posts.

God’s Powerful message to hurting women – I can heal you! by Robert
The number one question that people ask of God is why He allows suffering to come to them. This question has caused more than one pause for minister and layperson alike.

As a woman, it can seem like your suffering has gone unnoticed. After all, women are the keepers of the earth and home. You look after your families much like the woman mentioned in Proverbs 31. You don’t clothe them with scarlet but you do pray for them and that covers them with the blood of Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, when it comes to dealing with your own pain and hurt, there seems to be no one there for you. Maybe your heart is broken over a divorce. It could be that someone has brutalized you physically or mentally. You have learned to hide your pain and go on for the sake of the kids or for your livelihood. After all, the bills don’t stop coming because we are hurt.

Even at church on Sunday, you greet others with a smile that hides deep suffering inside. But how far can that really get you? Some women feel that there is strength in pain. The truth is that there is strength but not  that way.

When the hurt is that great, even your soul aches. In this life, it seems quite unfair that the deeds of the guilty can go unpunished. The only way that you see to stay in the “game of life” is to deny your pain and thus, a big part of yourself.

God wants you to know right now that  just will not do. Did you know that His heart is broken when your heart is broken? If Jesus wept for Lazarus in his death, he is surely weeping at the feet of the Almighty for your life. John 3:16 tells us that God loved every human being so much that He sent His only son, Jesus, to be a living sacrifice for us once and for all time. Does that sound like a God who doesn’t want your hurt to be healed?

God stands ready at the door of your heart to come in and change your life. There is one thing that you need to know: God is not like any man, woman or child that you have ever met. Even the most loving person in your life will let you down. It may not be their intention but it is human nature. God is not a man. He will never lie to you or make a promise to you that He doesn’t intend to keep. It’s time for you to hear God’s message of healing for your life.

Read the following verses:

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
23Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.

-Lamentations 3:22-23

God desires to sustain you with His love. It is an everlasting love that no man or woman can understand. You have to accept it on faith. Remember the faith you had as a child? That same childlike faith is what God works through to heal your heart, mind and soul.

This is not just a promise for the believer but the non-believer as well. It is human nature to hold onto pain and try to rationalize how you feel about it. God says to cast the burden of that hurt on Him. Pray right now, wherever you are for God to heal every part of you from the pain that you are experiencing. Let Him be your strength.

A text From a friend

So as the title states today’s post was not something I wrote, a friend ent me this and I thought I should share it. Hope it inspires you as well.

There is a battle between light and darkness in this world. The devil will do bad things to people if he can get away with it. He is a thief and is always endeavoring to steal God’s blessings form us. Although we enjoy a great deal of protection from him simply by avoiding sin and living in obedience to the word of God, we cannot er afford to just sit back complacently and think we’re immune from his attacks. Be sober and alert.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
(1 Peter 5:8 ESV)