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)

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.

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)

Awe

I keep messing up. Unintentionally and intentionally.
I keep choosing the darkness over the light. With complete knowledge of what my actions are.
I am constantly  failing Him, but still He remains faithful. I am humbled by the love He has for us.

Are you really beautiful?

My girl Brittney posted this video a few days ago and I said I’d post it after I watched it. I’ve watched it and, wow! She totally hits the nail on the head on this one. Beauty, the whole concept of it is flawed nowadays. Girls are confused, they think the only way they could be beautiful is if the conformed to some completely messed up identity/mould. It’s really sad. Anyway, watch the video and share what you think about women and beauty in the world we live in today.

When I can’t focus…

It’s so easy to get frustrated and angry when we watch the news and take a look at the world we live in. Every single day, terrible things happen. All this stupid, stupid things humanity keeps doing. Self harm. We live in such a lost planet, and it’s really challenging knowing what we know. About God, about His truth, about the world and all that is to be done(according to His word). It can be really difficult living, just being alive in such a dark world. Being the light isn’t as easy as some people make it to be. Living right, we all know isn’t easy at all. It’s a lot easier to just give up on humanity. To forget our calling to love, to forgive and live harmoniously with all.

When it get’s to that point for me there are some things that throw things back into perspective. Scripture and music. I love music, but honestly there are times even music doesn’t soothe my restless heart. So I look for friends to talk to. Thanks to online church campuses, facebook, twitter, and christian chats we have a large variety of options when we don’t have anyone physically to talk to. So I talk to people, and they share their faith and my heart gets focused back on Him. The bible does say’ “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Our God loves fellowship, unity among men. It’s such a beautiful thing. We are not expected to go it alone, we are the church. Not me, or you by yourself but all of us. We are the bride and we need each other to fulfill His will for us(the bride).

It’s a cold, crazy, scary world we live in, but together we can overcome anything with Him by our side. I’m really grateful to Him for all of you who make this beautiful family and who keep me focused on Him. My Father, my King.

What do you do to keep the faith? When everything is making you angry and impatient? How do you turn your focus back on Him?

Hold on, this may take a while….

Every day is a chance to grow in God. Every single moment, in every single thing we do.

When we ask God to make us holy, or to fix us, we ask that He changes us in our every move. It’s not about some blanket change, where you wake up one morning and you are this perfect human being. That doesn’t happen. Every aspect of our lives is an opportunity to glorify God. To be able to appreciate that we need to actually grow, just like as we do in every other thing in life. If you struggle with patience and you pray about it and you work on it daily and have faith that He’ll change you, you are more likely to appreciate the more patient you, than if you wake tomorrow and you are smiling at everyone, and giving everyone a second chance. Same thing with working out and eating right in weight loss. Everything in life comes in  process, God does that for a reason. That we may learn, that we may recognize His sovereignty.

Although the change may take time, it does come. It’s not like some new years resolution you make, when you know well you won’t commit. When you lay your struggles at His feet, He commits to you. He is faithful to grow you, change you into that person You are meant to be. That your life may be a testimony to Him and His great works. So, is it going to take time to drop that bad habit or characteristic? Yes. But, it will happen. Don’t give up on yourself, and don’t give up on God. Commit your life to the path He has laid out and He will surely fulfill His promises for your life. So right now, whatever it is you are struggling with, it’s not finished yet. Look how far you have already come, do you think He’d bring you this far and  just abandon you? Of course not. Chin up. Take that next step in faith and in love. Love for God and love for people, and watch Him change you.

    Trust in the LORD, and do good;
        dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
    Delight yourself in the LORD,
        and he will give you the desires of your heart.
    Commit your way to the LORD;
        trust in him, and he will act.
    He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
        and your justice as the noonday.
    Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
        fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
        over the man who carries out evil devices!
    Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
        Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
    For the evildoers shall be cut off,
        but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
(Psalm 37:3-9 ESV)

Live!

He that is in us, is greater than he that is in the world. Consequence, bad choices, weakness or whatever it is that’s pulling you from God. He is greater, and He will win the fight if you let Him fight for You. Remember Him dying on the cross? That was for whatever you’re going through now. Whatever, we’re going through. He saw it then, He sees it now, and He’s already won. Now it’s up to us to act like we believe it, living  like it. Knowing that our lives are not in vain. That our pain is not eternal. It all passes because we have been promised it does. Dust yourself up and move on from whatever is holding you back from living fully. Embrace the freedom we have been blessed with. Live!

   

Christian?

I’ve heard a lot of people say that Christians only do good so they can go to heaven. Apparently, that’s the overall “vybe” that most Christians exude to non-Christians. Made me wonder, considering how many people seem to think that , are there any Christians who share that belief? Are there Christian who live that way? Doing good only for what they could get in the end. Are you among those? Doing good deeds just because of the great reward?

If you are, then you probably know deep down that, that is not what being a Christian is about, at all! Christianity is not some primary school reward system where you get points for good deeds, and lose them for the bad. If it were we would all be running on negatives trying to gain some points wouldn’t we? In that really messed up view of Christianity where would grace fall? Is there even any room for it? For forgiveness or mercy? Wouldn’t our lives be all about working really hard to be perfect and always do good so we could make the cut? The bible says,

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
(2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV)

God’s power is made strong in our WEAKNESS, meaning yes He knows we are weak. He does not expect us to be perfect and good. Only Jesus was, that’s why He chose to die on the cross that we may live. Acknowledging that, is all we need. Knowing that Jesus is indeed our only way, is the only salvation. No amount of good deeds can get anyone to heaven no matter how good you are, and no amount of bad can keep you out if you believe in God. Our God is a God of second chances, a God who loves us in our weakness and failures. No one should convince you other wise.

So no. Christianity is not about all the good you do. It’s about Jesus! It’s about our relationship with Him. An honest, authentic relationship with Christ. He doesn’t want a fake, “Hey, look at me world, I do good deeds all the time”, He just wants an honest heart with all the brokenness and short comings. Do not be fooled into living an inauthentic life just so you can look good on paper. Yes, as Christians we are a representation of Christ and because of that we have to work to live as He did. That does not mean that when you slip up you should hide away in a hole or live a life in secret sin. Your mistakes do not make you any less Christian. As long as you keep your relationship with God honest and repent. God does not expect any more from you than He knows you can give, so don’t try to live by anyone else’s standards. Do not live to please anyone else. Good deeds are good, but the love of Christ is best.

Forgiven

I let myself slip, I let myself stumble.

With everything that’s been happening in my life, I just let go. I can’t really give any excuses because I know my choices are what matter most in my life and I made the wrong ones. Don’t get me wrong, I am not beating myself up or feeling sorry for myself. I just know a lot more was expected of me. I expected more from myself and I just didn’t deliver. People are always talking about Go’s grace like it’s supposed to okay our sinful nature. Constantly trying to grey the black and white to suit or needs when the truth is clearly written. God expects a lot from us. Yes, He ha this amazing grace that covers us, but we should also remember that He sees our hearts and knows our intentions. We can go around acting like we don’t know when we clearly know what is right and what is wrong.

I hear a lot of people talking about, “only God can judge me” like He’s not going to. Do we really know the meaning of that? Do we really understand the implication of God’s judgement? He is an amazing God that forgives, and understands our weaknesses but our weaknesses cannot be our excuse to act as we please.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
(Romans 6:1-4 ESV)

He knows us better than we could ever know ourselves, and loves us with an everlasting love. We can not misuse or abuse that love by being dishonest with ourselves. Try, try, try again to do right. No matter how many times you fail don’t quit trying. Do NOT be fooled to think that you can do whatever you wish and it will all be okay. Do not be fooled to live a life less than the one intended for you. I have fallen a couple of times, but I repent, I pick myself up and I try again. Life is short, the temptations will end and when it’s all over I refuse to be found on the wrong side.

What about you? Will you give up? Will you choose to give in to temptations that only give short term gratification? Or will you choose life? We can’t have both. So what is it going to be? You have to choose. Every single day, every moment of your life is a choice you’ve made. So choose. He’s waiting for you to.