The absolute coolest thing happened tonight. I know that I never really get personal and into details in my blog but I just have to share what has transpired tonight! My boyfriend Jonathan and I have been really rocky lately. We came to a point in our relationship where we really needed to make the choice: Do we want to put God in the center of everything we do and therefore obtain His blessings in our life’s, or do we want to continue in the life of doing things our own fleshy way and occasionally seeking Him when we feel like it. Basically, are we going to continue being 'lukewarm'. Needless to say, we took some time to ourselves separate from each other to reflect on God, who He is and who He needs to be in our lives…on the throne and reigning in every aspect. After really delving into His word and seeking answers, Jonathan and I decided to meet at the coffee shop in town to talk about what we have been learning over the past few days of our time with solely God. It was an extremely relaxing and refreshing evening…we drank our coffee and read God’s word together, pouring out our thoughts and prayers that we had. We discovered that over the past few days apart God had revealed scripture to us in such a way that was just indescribable. I remember I was putting my make up on in my bathroom three days ago and felt God’s voice telling me to go and read Philippians 3. Of course after that happened Satan intervened in my mind and began lying to me (isn’t he just so infamous for that?) telling me that I was crazy and not to even bother looking it up. Guess what I did? I said GET BEHIND ME SATAN and I ran to my bed stand, grabbed my Bible and opened to Philippians 3. Holy Moly! The whole chapter is about having NO confidence in the flesh! Not trusting my own flesh and leaning on God! Look at the verses that my eyes came upon: vs.13-14 ‘But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’ Praise Jesus! FORGETTING what is behind! STRAINING toward what is ahead: the PRIZE! It’s so awesome how the God of the universe can speak to me… one who is so full of sin and shame. And yet He reminds me that I am not who I once was! I am not who I was yesterday! He gives us as many chances as we need to get right with Him. What other religion can testify to that? NONE! So the same day that God revealed that chapter and lesson to me, Jonathan later told me that he prayed about God revealing to him what his heart needed to realize when he opened his Bible. No lie, he opened right to Isaiah chapter 42. Look at what verses lit up on his page! Vs. 8-9 ‘“I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” WHOA! The former things have taken place…. AND new things I declare to you! God is the God of second, third and fourth chances! He says yes..those things in your past have taken place. That day you forgot about Me and made that decision based on your flesh? That is the former. BEHOLD, I have declared new things! I can make your life fresh and wash your sins as white as snow! I love it! So crazy cool, right? We are sharing these verses with each other at the coffee shop and Jonathan starts telling me his need for a small group. He wants a group of guys to come along side him in his journey with Christ. I mean after all, the Bible calls us to surround ourselves with believers who will lift us up and call us to be more faithful men and women of God. Not even five minutes later a few guys and a girl walk into the coffee shop. Jonathan leans in and tells me that he thinks he knows that guy.. ‘that guy with the pea coat and glasses and slick haircut.’ But the next statement that he made really puzzled me. He told me that that same guy used to take home school classes with him years back and Hunter (the guy’s name) was a major druggie and alcoholic with long hair and a beard. He said it didn’t surprise anyone if Hunter came into class stoned or completely drunk… sometimes even drinking in class! Hmmm. And Jonathan was so shocked to see him clean cut and all dressed up! The guys and the girl all began to sit down at some tables over near the other side of the café. But this is where it gets so good! Hunter looked over and noticed Jonathan. He came right over and started talking to us. I immediately noticed that Hunter was so full of life. He lit up when he talked about his girlfriend, when he talked about how God had changed his heart in the years since Jonathan had known him. He turned to Jonathan and I and he told us that he was there with a few people doing a Bible study! He said that he had started it a few months ago because he felt God calling him to do it. He then invited us to join in his Bible study! AH! I immediately said yes without consulting Jonathan. Which Jonathan has since thanked me for ;) The Bible study was SO relevant to what has been going on in me and Jonathan’s lives and our relationship. The struggles that each of us had been dealing with were brought up by others who were dealing with the same things! We didn’t even have to mention them! The verses that were discussed were just so relevant to our lives and our needs. Hunter later told Jonathan that last week after the Bible study he decided that he was done..it was over. He had gotten so discouraged with the lack of discussion brought forth by the group. By the Lord’s will he came back tonight for one last study… and when Jonathan and I were there and agreed to join his study, he was filled with joy! It was answered prayer for HIM! He needed the encouragement. Hunter has now decided to continue with the study! Praise the Lord! How cool is our God?! God ORCHESTRATED this all together tonight. Before Jonathan and I even prayed about Jonathan being able to join a small group… God answered that prayer! He is the God of answering unanswered prayer! Miraculous. After the study ended, Jonathan and Hunter went back to Jonathan’s house to talk and catch up. EXACTLY what Jonathan was yearning for just a few hours ago. This has all just made me see how FAITHFUL God is. How he hears the cries of our hearts before we even cry out to Him. It is just proving the point in the Psalms when so many times David cries out to God., “God you KNOW my heart!” God is so worthy of our praise and of our lives. He can turn the ugliest things into the prettiest things. After all, he is so faithful to make beauty out of the ashes of our lives.

“I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.”

--Isaiah 42:8

Do any of you like roller coasters?! This past month has been so crazy and exciting and stressful and painful and heart-wrenching and delightful and warm and cozy and sad and hectic and wonderful. Have I covered it all this month? I think so...probably. To say that I have been on a roller coaster would be lightly touching the surface. But hey- it's all good! God has taught me more in the month of December than I think I have ever been taught in my entire life! It is almost as if God used this month as a way to detoxify me ( to be completely honest with you!) Is it just me or can someone else testify to the fact that we can sometimes live such messy lives and get so caught up in our sinfulness that sometimes we just start living like nothing is wrong! Like we just get used to our sins?! Whoa whoa whoa. Get used to our sins? No. My God does not let us nor does He like us to get so caught up in a sinful lifestyle. So without too much rambling I will say this- God is so amazingly wonderfully faithful to reveal sin in us! I have a God who is my daddy, who doesn't let me touch the hot stove or even want me to go near it because He knows whats going to happen... I will get burnt! But sometimes it can be too late, and we do get burnt. But you wanna know how cool my Father in Heaven is? He can take the worst of situations (me getting "burnt") and be that daddy there for me to heal me and make it better. He can 'sit me down' and talk to me and take me through His word revealing to me the dangers of sin and what can come because of it! I am incredibly thankful that God never leaves us. He never leaves me even though I give Him plenty beyond plentyyy of reasons to. When I shut the door in his face and leave him out in the cold and dark areas in my life, He STILL manages to find His way back inside and grab hold of my heart usually in ways of STRONG conviction. Which, hey God? THANK YOU for the HOLY SPIRIT that you have placed inside of me! He has taught me in so many ways this month that I must trust God's promises rather than my own feelings! After all, my feelings can lead me in so many different directions ( i'm a girl :)) but God's promises ALWAYS lead me to the cross... where His blood was shed for me and for you. So that we may have Salvation in Him who has called us to Himself! When you take a glimpse at the life of Abraham, we sure do see a roller coaster of a life. In Genesis 12 he is called by God to leave his homeland, his family, and his father’s inheritance for another land that he has never seen, for a another family—God promises Abraham that he will be the father of a great nation (keep in mind that for 75 years his wife has been unable to have children), and for another inheritance of some vague “blessing.” He chooses by faith in God to go; he decides to trust that God’s promises of greater things will come true. He trusts that this rollercoaster ride will be exhilarating, but that God can be trusted. God is like the cars of the rollercoaster. Even though life plunges up and down, and Abraham gets a little queasy in his stomach, he knows that the cars will not fly off the track. In the end, all will be well. The ride will actually be exhilarating. There are twists and turns, but he is trusting all the way through the ride. That is my goal and I am so thankful that this month God placed me in the front seat of this roller coaster... and he sure did remember to buckle me in :) Praise and Glory go to HIM!

THIS IS TOO FUNNY :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkHNNPM7pJA


hope you all are getting so excited for Christmas!

Ever thought about Hell? I know people think of it as a hush hush subject these days... but this is real stuff. It's a real place and people go there every single day. Lets face it, even the people that we love most die and go to hell if they are not believers. Key words: people we love most. We need to have such an urgency to be sparing their lives and telling them about the gospel and God's amazing love for us! I read this article below and felt such a deep conviction about my lack of urgency. Read this and let God work in your hearts.

The Horror of Hell

by Tom Ascol

“There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ’s moral character, and that is that He believed in hell.” So wrote the agnostic British philosopher Bertrand Russell in 1967. The idea of eternal punishment for sin, he further notes, is “a doctrine that put cruelty in the world and gave the world generations of cruel torture.”

His views are at least more consistent than religious philosopher John Hick, who refers to hell as a “grim fantasy” that is not only “morally revolting” but also “a serious perversion of the Christian Gospel.” Worse yet is theologian Clark Pinnock who, despite still regarding himself as an evangelical, dismisses hell with a rhetorical question: “How can one imagine for a moment that the God who gave His Son to die for sinners because of His great love for them would install a torture chamber somewhere in the new creation in order to subject those who reject Him to everlasting pain?”

So, what should we think of hell? Is the idea of it really responsible for all the cruelty and torture in the world? Is the doctrine of hell incompatible with the way of Jesus Christ? Hardly. In fact, the most prolific teacher of hell in the Bible is Jesus, and He spoke more about it than He did about heaven. InMatthew 25:41–46 He teaches us four truths about hell that should cause us to grieve over the prospect of anyone experiencing its horrors.

First, hell is a state of separation from God. On the day of judgment, Jesus will say to all unbelievers, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire” (v. 41). This is the same sort of language that Jesus uses elsewhere to describe the final judgment of unbelievers (see 7:23).

To be separated from God is to be separated from anything and everything good. That is hard to conceive because even the most miserable person enjoys some of God’s blessings. We breathe His air, are nourished by food that He supplies, and experience many other aspects of His common grace.

On earth even atheists enjoy the benefits of God’s goodness. But in hell, these blessings will be nonexistent. Those consigned there will remember God’s goodness, and will even have some awareness of the unending pleasures of heaven, but they will have no access to them.

This does not mean that God will be completely absent from hell. He is and will remain omnipresent (Ps. 139:7–8). To be separated from the Lord and cast into hell does not mean that a person will finally be free of God. That person will remain eternally accountable to Him. He will remain Lord over the person’s existence. But in hell, a person will be forever separated from God in His kindness, mercy, grace, and goodness. He will be consigned to deal with Him in His holy wrath.

Secondly, hell is a state of association. Jesus says that the eternal fire of hell was “prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). People were made for God. Hell was made for the Devil. Yet people who die in their sin, without Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, will spend eternity in hell with the one being who is most unlike God. It is a tragic irony that many who do not believe in the Devil in this life will wind up spending eternity being tormented with him in hell.

The third truth is that it is a state of punishment. Jesus describes it as “fire” (v. 41) and a place of “punishment” (v. 46). Hell is a place of retribution where justice is served through the payment for crimes.

The punishment must fit the crime. The misery and torment of hell point to the wickedness and seriousness of sin. Those who protest the biblical doctrine of hell as being excessive betray their inadequate comprehension of the sinfulness of sin. For sinners to be consigned to anything less than the horrors of eternal punishment would be a miscarriage of justice.

And that brings us to the fourth truth — hell is an everlasting state. Though some would like to shorten the duration of this state, Jesus’ words are very clear. He uses the same adjective to describe both punishment and life in verse 46. If hell is not eternal, neither is the new heaven and earth.

How can God exact infinite punishment for a finite sin? First, because the person against whom all sin is committed is infinite. Crimes against the infinitely holy, infinitely kind, infinitely good, and infinitely supreme Ruler of the world deserve unending punishment. In addition to that, those condemned to hell will go on sinning for eternity. There is no repentance in hell. So the punishment will continue as long as the sinning does.

The dreadfulness of hell deepens our grateful praise for the salvation we have in Jesus Christ. Hell is what we deserve. And hell is what He experienced on the cross in our place.

Believing the truth about hell also motivates us to persuade people to be reconciled to God. By God’s grace those of us who are trusting Christ have been rescued from this horrible destiny. How can we love people and refuse to speak plainly to them about the realities of eternal damnation and God’s gracious provision of salvation?

Clearer visions of hell will give us greater love for both God and people

it's been FOREVER.

Hey y'all! I have to apologize for the amount of time that has gone by between my last update and now today: December 10. I will not make excuses :) Can I just say how cool God is though? He has been totally working in my life and showing me who He is! I LOVE IT! I also adore how God will meet you right where you are at, ALWAYS. always always always. He knows what you're going through and he reveals things to you that HELP you get out of whatever pit you are in! He guides you! He strengthens you! He upholds you! He helps you! Gosh... He LOVES you! So here I am today, sitting on my couch in the study with my puppy Jake right next to me. We have been listening to sermons online for about three hours. Because you know what? Thats just what needed to be done today for me. And of course God has lead me to such amazing sermons online that relate to EXACTLY what I am going through right now! Needless to say, during all of this I stumbled upon an article written by Lauren Barlow. I started reading it and had to pause a few times because WOW... what she had to say is exactly exactly exactly what has been on my heart this week! So instead of trying to reword it myself..I am just going to repost it in hopes that you will read it and get something out of it, just like I did. God rocks, guys.

Before you read this I want you to know I am not trying to come across as judgmental. I am not trying to put people down or make them feel less than. I am simply sharing my heart and my passions and I am truly sorry if it comes across as condemning. I say this out of a heart of love for my generation and a longing to see us all live a life worthy of our calling..

Now, with that in mind something interesting happened tonight that I can't seem get out of my mind... I tweeted something the other day that I didn't think would be all that controversial. But what can I say, I was born to rock the boat :) The tweet addressed the fact that a lot of the magazines in the "male interest" section has a picture of a half naked or pretty much totally naked woman on it.. And the way I was raised I really don't think that should ever be an "interest" of men.. And then I said that the women who pose for those kinds of magazines and dress (or not dress at all) that way is because their dads (and moms) never had the courage to stop their daughters from going out of the house when they were in skanky outfits and never spoke identity into their life.. Now of course so many thanked me for saying that but then there were a few comments that we've heard quite a few times from different people and weren't as supportive. I know people think us girls are too legalistic and we need to "live life" a little bit. And every time it is said to us, it saddens me. I don't think we should be deemed legalistic cause we think that women shouldn't be portrayed or portray themselves as a sex object. It breaks my heart that girls in the "spotlight" these days think they need to show everything to sell their product or to get on the cover of a magazine. And that is all we have to look up to or look at. And then little girls start to want to dress like the famous girls they see on tv and little boys think its ok to see those things. And its a vicious cycle and if we don't have the courage to put a stop to it, I don't know if it will ever end.

We grew up in a great household. It wasn't all perfect but I can honestly say we always tried to keep God the focus. And yes, I will admit it, when I was a kid I thought it was a bit extreme all the rules that were made and we had to follow. But you know what's so awesome?! Our parents knew what was good for us. And they knew the kind of women that my sisters and I could be and I believe we rose to that standard and it was only because they set the bar high. We were never allowed to wear immodest clothing. No bellies, cleavage, butts, short shorts or skirts, bikinis or extremely tight clothing were allowed in the house. If we bought it and brought it home it was taken back to the store or thrown out. Did I want to kill my parents at times?! Uhhh, duh. I was a teenager once too ya know :) But if I was gonna live in our house I had to obey the rules. Another rule that made me want to run away from home and be adopted by "cool parents" was the "no teen magazines" or magazines with anything inappropriate in it, nothing about sex or immodest women or anything like that was allowed. Oh here was another rule I just adored.. The "no rated R" movies rule... Or any movies for that matter with excessive swearing, bad jokes, sex scenes (even if nothing is shown) or nudity. And I must admit it, as much as I despised it then, now I am 25 years old and I can make my own decisions I still uphold those standards. And its cause I was taught that I can live my life by a higher standard. I didn't have to do what everyone else was doing. Now did I mess up? Of course I did. I snuck and watched movies I wasn't supposed to but of course my mother would find out cause mom's stinking know everything! But in my heart, even though I was found out and got in big trouble, I knew it was wrong and knew I couldn't watch those things. Us girls grew up being told all the time that everyone was called to change the world. But we can never change a world that we look and act just like. So still, to uphold our commitment to purity in our movie selection, before we see ANY movie we still check www.pluggedin.com and that tells us if the movie is appropriate or not and if a magazine has anything about sex or sexual talk in it we refuse to buy it. Oh, and you couldn't pay us a billion dollars to wear a bikini. My simple question to this generation is, where have our standards gone? It makes me so sad that we think its ok for a woman to be half naked or literally totally naked on the cover of magazines and we don't bat an eye. And even more, those magazines get bought. And when did it become OK to watch movies where people are naked or having sex? And Dads and Moms, why do you think you have no right to speak into you child's life about morals and values ?! You're the parent! They may say they hate you to your face but if you do it right they will thank you in the long run. You're not here to be their best friend. You're here to train your child in the way they should go and show them what a godly man and woman is supposed to look like. Thats what my parents did for my sisters and I and if they didn't I would not uphold the standards I currently do. And what's amazing is now we are best friends.

Yes, I know that pornography is a struggle for a lot men out there and with this blog I'm not trying to belittle you or shame you at all.. It's not your fault that America's marketing slogan is "sex sells", its not your fault that women pose for those awful magazines or walk around wearing less clothes then my dog wears. You don't have any control over that first glance and I believe God does not judge you for accidentally seeing those things. But its what happens after that. Men, you are stronger than what you think. And maybe when you start not getting those magazines or hitting on scantily clad women we will be forced to rethink what we are subjecting you to. And ladies, you are worth more than that. You are a precious beautiful daughter of God. Respect yourself. You are a treasure. Ask God what he thinks about you. And when He tells you, you wont have to go to boys to see what they think cause when you are rooted in Him nothing can sway you and you will always feel loved and valued.

So yes,I know I'm extreme, but I'm sure everyone thought Jesus was extreme when he flipped the tables over in the temple and yelled at everyone there. But they were defiling His temple. And our lack of morals and justifying the impurity in our lives even in the smallest form is defiling Gods temple. WE are Gods temple. And the sooner we realize that I think we will see that purity just isn't for the extremists and for "those weirdo Barlowgirls and their fans" its for everyone. God is trying to raise up a generation dedicated to purity.. It's time we stop trying to get as close to the line as we can. We need to challenge ourselves and not just get by doing what everyone else is doing. God's standards should be our standards. Not stupid hollywood standards. You were created for so much more then to just fit in. And yes, it feels good to fit in and be popular. Its hard doing what is right. But us girls have been made fun of our entire lives (yes even still today) for the stands we have taken in this life, but I do not regret one day taking these stands. I'm not saying we have done it 100% right. I have seen things I wish I never had, read things I regret, laughed at jokes I never should have, watched movies that were beneath who I was. But that doesn't mean it was over for me. God is a God of second chances, and third chances and millionth chances, When you pursue the heart of God and He becomes your focus and love you aren't gonna want the things of this world because you know they don't please his heart. Live your life to please the heart of the Father. Don't live a life that is below your calling.
I know this was a hard word. But the impurity in this world, in the Christian scene and non christian scene, breaks my heart and something needs to be done about it. I know one blog won't change the world but maybe it will challenge people. And you are the ones who can change the standard. Do you realize how powerful you are because of the God that we serve?

Robert Frost says so beautifully in my favorite poem, "I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."

Guys, take the road less traveled. Because in your life its going to make all the difference..

How big is this God that I claim to serve? That has been the question that has been on my heart for the past few days, weeks, and maybe even months? I find it so interesting how I can let a situation have its way with me- causing me to leave God in the dust and never once asking Him to have His hand in the situation. I will be honest, college is rough! It wears one out. One, namely being me. I cannot tell you the amount of times this week that I have had my pity parties over school or other issues in life and about half way through I remember, "oh yeah, maybe saying a prayer would help?" I mean I GUESS it would probably be helpful to ask the God ( you know, the one who CREATED me) for some strength and most importantly- guidance. Yes I know, I can be so pitiful. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Did you catch that? God has only good things planned for us, for me, for YOU. He is not going to harm us! God is a good God. The stupid devil is the guy that has plans to destroy you, to harm you, to stress you out, to make you weak, to contaminate your mind and your thoughts, to cause you to stumble. We all experience stressful days and weeks in our lives, but we have the choice of how we are going to deal with them. I know that personally for me, I can become so involved with my own life and my own problems and issues that I totally forget to look to God, to magnify Him. To make much of Him. To glorify Him in every situation and trial that I am faced with. As a result of my wrong focus, my problems become magnified. They become my "idol." I pour my emotions and my thoughts into those problems rather than into the God who can relieve me from whatever problems that I may face! Isaiah 40:8 says "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." It doesn’t matter what our circumstances are- when we find a promise in the Bible and believe by faith to receive that promise, nothing nothing NOTHING can keep God from being faithful to His Word. If only we can learn to magnify Him in every circumstance, our problems will become smaller in comparison to the greatness and the power that God provides for us by faith. I have a feeling that I am not the only one who is going through this, either! Especially with school starting back up again, it can become awfully stressful and we can so easily lose sight of our God and how big He is. He cares about you and I more than anything and He loves to hear the prayers of His children. It is music to His ears! So when you get caught up in your own issues and just want to scream and cry (well, maybe not THAT), but when you want to go ballistic, just ask yourself, " how BIG is my God?" He only has good plans for you, and He knows exactly what they are far before He ever reveals them to you. Don't you think you can trust Him, then? I choose to see God in all of His power and glory, and by doing that, my problems, no matter how small or great, are nothing in comparison to Him!

FORGIVE: it literally means to let go of; to release.

“Forgiveness is a beautiful word, until you have something to forgive.” - C.S. Lewis

When you forgive someone you give up your right to hurt them for hurting you. There is something good about letting go of that bitterness and revenge instead holding on to it, isn't there?

--> But why do we find it so difficult to let go of and to release those offenses that have been committed against us all?

As of late, I have been struggling with forgiving people and the act of forgiveness. How quickly I forget that my Savior has forgiven me for every single one of my sins. So why is it so difficult for me to forgive a brother or a sister?

Out of the honesty of my heart I have often been convinced that forgiveness has to be earned. If someone wrongs me or someone I love, as much as I want to forgive them, I can't unless I feel as if he/she has earned my forgiveness. But the fact is, there is usually nothing someone can do to earn it. When I WAIT until someone earns it, I make myself a prisoner to them, waiting for them to come clean, to apologize, to make amends or to ask for it. I am in a way being bind to the person rather than becoming free to them and moving on with the life that God has ever so graciously given me. Sometimes and all too often I forget that I am on this earth to honor and to GLORIFY Him. Yet still I get so caught up in the actions of others and holding those grudges. That is not my job here on this earth. We are called to forgive just as He has forgiven us. And He forgives us daily, constantly, always.

How about the idea that forgiveness is a one time act? I struggle with this ALL THE TIME. I often think that if I "make the decision" to forgive a someone one time, then that is it..they are forgiven and I can move on. But do I ever actually move on? That is SO not the case and I have been learning during my walk with God that forgiveness and forgiving someone for something is a process that takes more than one " I forgive you." Peter once asked Jesus how many times he should forgive a brother, thinking that seven times would be a fair amount. Jesus responded "seventy times seven." Which, of course, does not LITERALLY mean 490 times, but rather a countless amount of times. Loving a brother or sister in Christ and forgiving them is something that has to be done over and over and over again. And over again. We must continue forgiving until the matter is settled in our heart.

Ever heard of the phrase, "forgive and forget"? Of course you have. We hear that all the time in our world today- we act as if the two are synonymous. When we say to people "you need to forgive and forget what was done to you", we are asking them to do something that is actually quite impossible. Sometimes, forgetting can even short circuit the forgiving process. I feel as if you need to remember why you are forgiving the person. Like I stated above, forgiveness is something that has to be done over and over again. If one were to forget about why they forgave a person, they would no longer be able to continue the process of searching their heart for forgiveness for that person.

I can honestly agree with the statement that "you will never be free from bitterness until you believe in a God that is so powerful and so loving that He can cause all things in your life to work together for good." Not just the good things, but the terrible things- the evil things, the things that you are convinced will never be fixed. I know that I sometimes get in the mind-set of "me, me, me." Okay maybe not just sometimes...more like OFTEN times. I make it work in my mind that the reason to forgive is because of what it does for me, the benefits that I reap from forgiving, the peace that I get in MY heart about moving on and feeling free. I hardly ever think of what it does for my offender. BUT hey check it out: we are called to forgive because we have been forgiven. Forgiveness is the obligation of those of us who have been forgiven by God. It is not the choice or the option, but the OBLIGATION. Jesus said " If you do not forgive others, neither will my Father in heaven forgive you."( Matthew 6:15). Forgiveness is not optional for me or for you, it is essential. We do it because of the forgiveness that we have received. Have you thanked your Father today for the everlasting forgiveness that we have received through the shed blood of His Son?

living steadfastly today, because my God is faithful

Understanding things in life is so essential, isn't it? I mean if we do not understand stuff then we would be completely lost when it comes to just about everything. We need to understand why we go to school, understand why breakfast lunch and dinner are so essential, understand why we need sleep at night, etc etc etc. Now think about this: do we truly understand who God is? What He is like? Why He does what He does? His grace? His abilities? Because lately I have been so convicted about WHO my God really is. I want to know Him. Understand my Creator. I want to know Him so that when life happens and becomes almost unbearable, when trials come my way, when I fear things that are unknown, I can be aware of why God puts me through such trials and trust that His plan for my life is so much more than wasting my energy with such fear and panic. Understanding is a word that 'means to be so steadfast that we are prepared, that we are established, and that we are ready. Psalm 112 talks about the man who fears the Lord. Verse 7 says that (the man who fears the Lord) "He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD." This does not mean that the man who loves God will never get bad news, however! It just means that he will not have to FEAR it! Think about how much energy we waste on fearing things, worrying about things, panicking. Instead of pouring this energy into real life relationships and glorifying God, we use our energy on fear. How much energy do we really waste in fearing things? Fearing work on Monday morning, feearing that test grade, fearing what people will think of the new haircut, fear of not getting enough sleep, fear of ... you name it! We get entangled in a sticky mess of fear when we "forget" to place our trust in God. How quickly we forget that God is only a prayer away. He loves to hear the cries of our hearts. He yearns to comfort us and to reveal Himself through circumstances. "The man who is steadfast is secure in knowing that no matter what happens, he does not live in fear." He knows that God is going to give him the grace to stand up in that situation. 2 Timothy 4:17 says "But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength." Verse 8 in Psalm 112 continues that thought in stating that the man's "heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes." He knows the outcome of the situation and he will have victory over his trials. I really think that we need to have an understanding heart that cries "my heart is going to trust in the Lord and I will be established and steadfast in Him because I know the outcome, that I will have victory and glory over these problems and these situations. This is not the end." We need to hang with these trying circumstances because after this life comes glory! We only have a certain amount of time on this planet. The Bible describes it as simply a vapor. "Here today and gone tomorrow." I want to understand who God truly is so that no matter what comes my way I will be steadfast. Steadfastness and understanding brings us a LOYALTY to God! God deserves at least that much from us, wouldn't you agree? Lets make it our goal to stand on the rock in the storms of life and face them knowing who our God is and knowing that He will prove our faith genuine. How beautiful it truly is when we trust in Him; when our confidence is not placed in faulty earthly things, but in the One who made us. Even if we fall in these trials and fears, we need to have the steadfastness in God that we will get back up on our feet. Satan can never knock us down so that we cannot stand back up. Understanding is KEY in standing back up on our feet, because we understand that God is going to give us the grace to get through whatever we are going through. We understand and appreciate trials because we know that through trials come great joy and great faith in our trust in Him. We learn not to lean on our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge him... know Him..UNDERSTAND Him! :) Understanding secures us in Him. Amen and Hallelujah!

Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I get in these "blogging moods." I could be doing just about anything and all of a sudden I feel like I need to sit down and start writing, journaling, venting, sort of speak. Tonight as I was having some time with my Creator I whole heartedly felt a sense of peace come and wash over my soul and my mind. It was like nothing else in the world mattered in those few moments but God and I and our time together. It really got me pondering the word peace and what it truly means to have a peace in one's heart, a peace in one's mind, a peace within one's whole entire complete body: spirit, mind and soul. How many times a day or a month or a week can you honestly testify that you have a complete peace about a situation or circumstance in your life? Try hardly ever. At least for me that's how it seems. I came across a quote by Joyce Meyer that basically sums up the peace that I am talking about. She speaks far more eloquent than I ever could, so let's try to dive into a little bit of her words: "Before Jesus died, He willed us His Peace. But we forfeit His gift through strife. God's desire for us is that we live in peace with Him, with ourselves and with our fellow man. He wants us to have peace in the midst of our current circumstances--peace in the morning, at night and all times in between. Peace is our inheritance! And it is a wonderful possession." How incredible. We, as children of God, have inherited the free gift of peace through God's son Jesus Christ. He instilled a sense of peace inside of each and every one of us. Search your hearts for it, truly do some soul searching because it is there! Ask God for peace if you can't seem to locate it! Jesus said to the world "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27) He left us with peace. A peace from the Prince of Peace!! I want to be in pursuit of that peace. I want to experience that gift that Jesus has given to me! The Bible speaks of it so much; the psalmist in Psalm 34:14 writes that we need to "Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." Colossians 3:15 talks of letting "the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." We are CALLED to peace. Not requested that we seek peace, not recommended that we search for peace... but God commands that we yearn for the peace that He has placed inside of us. Peace is one of the fruits of the spirit. As believers we need to produce fruit through the way that we live our lives. The Bible defines the fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, and guess what? Peace is the third characteristic mentioned. In order for God to bless us with peace, we must follow His commands. In Isaiah 48:18 the Bible says, "If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea." Choosing not to follow God's commands results in the absence of peace. I do not know about you, But I need peace in my life. I want peace in my life. It just makes things that much more, well...peaceful. Aren't you so thankful for peace that is already in us? We have a God that has promised us peace. Stillness. Tranquillity. Serenity. When we are anxious, the Bible tells us to give thanks to God and pray. Then the "peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7). The peace of God is different from the peace of men because Gods peace surpasses all human reasoning. Thank you God for instilling peace in my heart and my mind and my soul, I pray that You would guide me in Your ways and in Your will, in an order that I would receive the peace that Your Son has provided through His death on the cross, AMEN. I am blessed.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30

Can I just start off by saying that God is good?! Oh my goodness, is He ever. To start off, a few days ago I was praying ever so fervently about life and guidance and direction and just..pretty much everything! God and I were really having a heart to heart. It was MUCH needed, to say that least! Towards the end of my time with Him, I found myself over and over again asking Him to grant me patience and strength. Those two words just kept flowing from my heart: Patience and Strength. To be quite honest I really lack those two things in my life these days. Well, fast forward to yesterday and today. Events upon events kept piling up that were filled with stress and uneasiness. I have felt like these past few days have really been a constant inner battle. I got to thinking though.... . When we ask God for things, in my case patience and strength, God's answer is probably going to require some action on our part. God puts us through situations to strengthen us and prepare us for what is to come. But when I asked for those two things, I did not have the right heart nor mind set. To be frank, I just wanted to wake up one day and be a stronger person, be a person with a whole lot more patience that I had the day before. Who was I kidding? Looking back on these few days involving trials, I have realized that God has given me the OPPORTUNITY to grow in the fields that I requested. He has a pretty cool sense of humor sometimes .... :) My Savior granted me the things that I asked for. He put me in situations that were tricky and tough because He knows that I will gain insight and strength from these experiences. Matthew 7:7 states, "Ask, Seek, Knock "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." I asked God and He gave it to me. So instead of being bitter over these past days, I need to be thanking and PRAISING my God who hears my cry, who listens to the very depths of my heart and who loves and cares about me enough to refine my souls every need.

While reading a book written by Natalie Grant recently, I came across something that really stuck with me, and I have to share it on here! Here we go: In Psalm 51, David confesses to God after being confronted about his sin with Bathsheba. I found a translation that really tells it like it is, check it out:

“Generous in love—God, give grace!

Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.

Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in Your laundry.

I know how bad I have been;

my sins are staring me down..

What you’re after is truth from the inside out.” (vv.1-3, 6 MSG).

Think about this: The God of the universe, the Creator of all that there is everything there was and everything that will be, has already seen the absolute worst that you have to offer. He is well aware of every lie that you have ever told and will tell, and every lie that you have ever believed about yourself. In fact, He knows the deepest and most hidden secret of your heart. He knows it all. ALL OF IT. And He loves you just as you are. He loves you just as much as He loved His son, who was and is perfect, never sinned! And we are sinners get that same love from our father. If you could really believe that what He says about you is true, that He loves you unconditionally, how would it change the way you live? Just for a second, imagine yourself being totally loved and totally accepted despite all your mistakes and flaws. How would your life be different? I thank God for Him letting me come back to Him again and again. His love never ever fails. When I finally accepted that Jesus loves me just as I am, flaws and all, I began to start accepting myself. I will tell you honestly that it is a daily struggle, though. I am betting that I am not the only one thinking this. His constant love is gradually yet steadily cemented into my heart! A love like that requires and guarantees a change in the person. His love knows every terrible secret, every single selfish motive, unkind word, and hurtful thought and still says, “I choose YOU.” It magnifies beauty that has long gone unnoticed. Think of it as an old painting buried in an attic completely and totally worthless and forgotten, until the dust is wiped away and the master’s signature on the painting is exposed, validating the paintings true worth. Love definitely changes your perspective on everything; what is real, what is true, what is beautiful and lets not forget, what is POSSIBLE. Isaiah 41:9 explains how the God of this whole universe says that He has chosen me and will not cast me away. I am accepted! Isaiah 43:1 tells us that we are His, He says that He calls me by name. I belong! In Romans 5:8 I am told that Jesus demonstrated His great love for me when He died for me. Now that is real, true, sacrificial LOVE. There can be no doubts, I am totally and completely loved. You are totally and completely loved. “The Lord your God is with you, the mighty One will save you. HE will rejoice over you. You will rest in His love..” (Zephaniah 3:17)

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=127523126891&ref=mf

Talk about convicting! I encountered this video while scrolling through my news feed on Facebook the other day. I will be completely honest, I saw that it was a twelve minute long video and I at first dismissed it. I thought "okay hold up, this sounds good, but twelve minutes?! no thanks...I have better things to do!" Well I kept coming back to it and scrolling over and and I finally decided to watch it. Best decision that I have made in a while! This dude, whoever he is, really knows what he is talking about! I did some research and found out that he is just a guy who has a Facebook page and post's some videos as he pleases. You can't even find this video on Youtube (which made me quite upset but that's another story). Anyway, I'm blabbing. Let's get to the point. After watching this video countless times, one major key point really stuck out in my head and I cant help but to write about it and sort of "talk it out." He began listing things like people using the Lord's name in vain, being seen in places that were built to be places of sin, the scoffing of the name of Jesus that we hear every day, jokes that defy His very name and slap His face in rebellion, fornication that we see in movies, etc. All of these things are of the "world." They are normal in the "world". The speaker says that "You will hate one and love the other always. If you love the world, you hate Him. Otherwise Jesus was wrong." I don't know about you but that cuts really deep. A few seconds before he made that statement, he was talking about the movies that we watch, the things that we do, the things that we say, the places that we go and the things that we hear. Think about the things that we hear on a daily basis.. how many classmates or friends use the Lord's name in vain and you simply just dismiss it? You silently think, "okay well they don't go to church like I do, they don't know Jesus like I do, they are a different religion, etc." Sometimes you don't even give it a second thought because that's "normal to hear these days." How about the places that we go? As a college age girl , I know so many people that go clubbing and bar-hopping on a Friday night, that go to apartments and get drunk with a bunch of people on the weekends. Just take a moment to think about what you do on the weekends. Where do you find your pleasure? Does it take alcohol in your system to make you happy? Does it take going out and dancing up against (ill be frank) guy's crotches or girls bodies to feel accepted? All the while Jesus looks down and wonders "Was My death on the cross not enough to satisfy you?" What about the fornications in movies that you watch? I understand that it is normal in this society to have a sex scene in every PG-13 and R movie. But examine that. Most if not all of those scenes involve intimacy between those that are out of wed-lock. What is the point of supporting that? Does that honor God? Why fill your mind up with things that do not bring Him joy? If you do not feel offended about these things, any one of them.. then in Jesus's words, you hate Him. Who are you trying to convince? How disgusting. Thats being completely blunt. And frankly, that is what we as Christians need. Not sugar coated ways to go about this. I am so at blame for this as well. We need to take the initiative to wake up every morning and die to self. Ask God to take away the temptations to do things that are not "of" Him and that do not put a smile on His face. You need to die to your desires. Thats tough! But is God worth it? You better believe it! Did He think we were worth dying for?! YES. Then let's live as if we are dying to self, for the sake of His GLORY! Really, it's the least we can do. Your ultimate goal and desire and plea should be that you want NOTHING to do with sin and EVERYTHING to do with God. True love for God means true hatred for sin. What do we do on those Friday nights when we go out and watch an R rated movie with plenty of sex scenes and a vast amount Jesus's name used in vain? Or how about when we go out and get wasted only to wake up the next morning and regret what happened the night before. We are slapping our very Creator in the face and turning our backs in rebellion saying "No thanks God, i'll do it my way this time. Maybe next time i'll do it Your way? I'll get back to You on that..." We may not have these exact thoughts, but subconsciously it is EXACTLY the mindset that we have. We need not have this attitude. I have felt so convicted about this recently. I examine my actions on a daily basis and I see myself more often than not "spitting" in God's face and turning my back on Him. I may not be intentional about it, but the point is that I do it. Sure, we are all sinners. "No one is good, not even one." But shouldn't we repent of our sins and learn from them and focus our eyes on the eternal things and not the temporary things in life? That's just what I got from this. I need to make it more of a goal to wake up every morning and plead with God that He take any foolish and selfish desire away. AWAY. I want it out of sight and gone. I don't know about you, but I want to and need to be putting more smiles on my Heavenly Father's face. I want to be crucified to the world and the world crucified to me.