Thoughts (167)

I just ate a banana. I don’t really even like bananas…Well anyhow, it was pretty good for being a banana.

When I sit down to write these posts, I pretty much just type whatever pops into my mind, and well, apparently today, random thoughts are breaking forth out of the deepest cavities of my brain.

First off, I want to apologize for missing yesterday. I slept for a total of one hour yesterday night and worked a long shift at work. Needless to say, I was pretty much out of it by the time I got home. I will actually be working more of those long shifts as I was promoted to full time department head until I go to school in the fall. It’s so cool to watch the Lord continue to provide in special ways.

As we approach “Palm Sunday” this week I’ve been thinking a lot about the life of Christ. Today we are so similar to the people that greeted Him as He rode into Jerusalem. We are all rejoicing and excited. He is this great person who we are drawn to. That is, until He starts making our lives different or uncomfortable. We get to a place where we must decide: will we allow Christ to change us to become more like Himself, or will we be content to settle with the comfortable mediocre Christianity. I think that all Christians face this place in their lives at some point. It’s when we decide if we will really follow Him with everything we are or let the influence of world deny Him the right to our lives. As you all know, I’ve been doing a lot of reading about great Christians lately. There is one thing about each of their lives that I notice is the same. Each of them, had a point in their life where they thought that it was the end, but each of them told the Lord, “No matter what you do in my life; No matter what you give me or take away from me; No matter what I face; I will love You! I will follow You! I will do whatever you require of me.” For some of these great Christians this prayer came easy. For some of them, it took going through struggles. But in the end, each of them surrendered their whole life to God. Once they did, things didn’t become perfect. Elisabeth Elliot’s husband was still killed. Oswald Chambers still faced struggles. But once they surrendered to God the bad things weren’t impossible. The bad things were ways that God could be glorified. The sweetest moments with the Lord are the ones where you surrender everything to Him and He wraps you up in His love and walks with you through the trials of this life.

Today’s Blessings:

The people who have surrendered everything to Him and have been used by Him in extraordinary ways.

The full time position at work.

His unfailing love and grace that carries us through the good and the bad.

Suffer Patiently (124)

Im gonna be super honest with you guys. I almost quit. I almost said, “Enough of this blogging thing; Im sick and tired of trying to be positive when life is hard and seems unfair.” But, what do ya know? Here I am. What brought about the change of heart you ask? Well actually a few things.

First of all, I hate to quit. Quitting is just something that isn’t hardwired into my DNA. In my mind, if I quit, then Im letting all the people that told me that I wouldn’t keep up with blogging, win. And there is no way that I would let that happen.

Second, I began to think of how much easier it would be if I quit trying to have joy and just did whatever I wanted to. As I was mulling over these thoughts I was listening to a sermon that talked about how one of the main things you must do to have victory over your struggles is to endure. I looked up the definition of the word ‘endure’ and this is what I got.

“suffer patiently”

Yeah, my heart may be hurting, but that doesn’t give me the right to whine and complain and be sad all the time. To endure means to patiently put up with the things that you wish could be over instantly. I wish that I could just fast forward through all of the hard things, but if that happened I couldn’t grow to be more like Christ through the hard things.

Finally, I didn’t quit blogging because it forces me to find at least something good that happens each day. It requires me to slow down and think about what God is doing in my life. If I want to keep a God-focused out-look then Im going to have to work through the hard times and never forget that what God is doing is for my good and His glory.

Today’s Blessing:

The grace that God gives me to suffer patiently through unpleasant circumstances.

-Christy

Loving MY Jesus Comes First. (114)

Have you ever been friends with someone just because all your friends thought that they were cool? Or have you ever been interested in or known a lot about someone or something because everyone else was?

That’s how I was with Jesus until He got a hold of my life and I decided to claim Him as my own. Like I’ve said thousands of time before I grew up in a Christian home. I got saved when I was little but the salvation I had then, really wasn’t just my own. I was piggy-backing off of my parents and teachers and friends. I knew all the right answers, I had the dress code down pat, I even made good grades, but the Jesus I loved and knew a lot about was this far off person that lived in heaven- He wasn’t MY Jesus. I fear that that’s what happens with a lot of young people that grow up in Christian homes. I don’t blame the parents for this I don’t really even blame pastors and youth leaders. This blame falls entirely on the kids that pretend that knowing all the answers and being good, is enough to have a personal relationship with Jesus. I wish I could jump up on the chairs at Christian schools and plead with the teens to make Jesus theirs! When I started reading the Bible on my own and praying that the Lord would show me something cool, He always did. It made the scriptures come alive. As a matter of fact, everything else started to make more sense. Obeying my parents didn’t seem to be a hassle anymore. Serving didn’t seem to be all about me anymore. Everything is all about Jesus.

This is actually something that I still struggle with. You see, I’ve always been one of those people that if you give them a list of things that need to get done, or point out an attitude that needs to change then they will do everything in THEIR power to get it done. It was easy for me to do the right thing and have the right attitude but if I was tired or focusing on something else then it was easy to go back to being self-centered. That’s where the thing that should be easy gets hard.

Loving Jesus comes first.

That’s it! That is the principle thing! If you love Jesus most of all, then the right attitudes are just going to come as a byproduct. It doesn’t matter if I haven’t slept good in days, it doesn’t matter if ever muscle in my body is hurting, and it doesn’t matter if I just ‘don’t feel like being spiritual’. Loving Jesus and showing His love to others is the  most important thing. Period.

I’ve actually started doing something different whenever I hear about a ‘hero of the faith’ or exceptionally godly person. Instead of taking notes and then trying to force those actions on myself, I just pray that the Lord would make me love Him more. So far doing things this way takes all the pressure off of being the perfect little Christian girl and makes me want to love and serve others without thinking twice.

Im excited to see how the Lord will continue to mold me into a woman that loves Him most.

Today’s Blessing:

1. Loving my Jesus.

-Christy

I Have Hope! (109)

I worked the early shift this morning. Typically when that happens I have this great idea of what I want to post about, and I think about it all day and then come straight home and type it out. But this morning, I couldn’t think of anything to think about today! That was until I got to work.

When I arrived at work there were a couple of jobs that I had to finish. One was binding up a couple of books for a lady. I don’t normally pay any attention to what im copying or working on but the front of the book said something about Arkansas, so it caught my eye. As I continued to punch holes in the pages I would occasionally glance down and see some of the text that was one the page. Before too long, I figured out that it was a ‘Bible study’ guide for Mormons. Remember the other day when I mentioned something about the ‘almost pornography’ business cards I had to copy, well this falls into the same category as that. It’s something that I would rather not make multiple copies of and have distributed to people everywhere. I know quite a bit about the belief of Mormonism from a couple classes I took in high-school, studying it in Sunday school, and having a friend that was Mormon. This post isn’t attacking mormonism so much as it is stating an observation I have made.

While I was making these copies I ran across one of the pages that said, “The best way to have the desires of your heart and be in right standing with God.” It proceeded to make a list of the things like, 1. Pray at least 4 times a day. 2. Fast at least 2 weeks every month. 3. Tell other people that you are praying for them… and a few other things. My first thought was, “Well that’s ridiculous! Im sure glad my God doesn’t require those things.” My next thought was, “That sure makes a whole lot of sense why so many people get frustrated and quit with the whole ‘religion’ thing.” When you are trying to serve a God that requires actions and a list of things you have to do to please Him it would be incredibly overwhelming. It’s not a wonder that there is so much hopelessness and sadness in the world. We are sinful creatures and we are going to mess things up! It’s what we do! When your salvation is based on what you do then why even have a god in the first place?!

God doesn’t require us to DO certain things to earn favor with Him. He loves us in spite of us. He knows that we are going to mess things up, but He loves us anyway! That is just about the most encouraging thought that I can think of. No matter what kind of day im having, when I don’t feel like getting up and reading my Bible, when I don’t feel like smiling, when I don’t feel like doing anything I can think of how much my Saviour loves me. When I start thinking that way it makes me want to have a good day, I want to get up and spend time with Him, I want to smile, and I want to do everything I can to share with others the hope that I have!

Today’s Blessing:

The hope that I have knowing that I’m not responsible for my own salvation. God’s got it covered. All I have to do is accept Him.

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” 1 Peter 3:15

-Christy

Do We Really Want Women’s Rights….(106)

Or do we want something different?

I design and make copies for customers as a part of my job. Sometimes they bring things in on a flashdrive or even their own laptop. I’ve seen a lot of interesting things, but last night was the most interesting I’ve had in a while. I was busy designing a baseball ticket when this couple walked up. As I turned around I saw the man hand a flashdrive to his wife and rattle off some instructions before turning around to browse the store. I saved the progress of the project I was designing and greeted the woman as she handed me the flashdrive and told me which file it was under. I clicked on the file and opened up what looked to be business cards. The fact that it was business cards wasn’t what got my attention, but was what was on the business cards that surprised me for a second. Now, it wasn’t anything completely pornographic, but it was a dark outline of a woman stretched out in a provocative manner. My first thought was that if my husband wanted to have something like that printed out he was going to have to take the flashdrive to the store to get copies made himself. There would be no way that I would do it for him or even go with him to do it.

Anyways, I made the copies and sent the couple on their way. I then started thinking. Okay, hang on a second, if society is all about “liberating women” and “women’s rights” how are images like that liberating the women? Believe or not, I’m not a huge fan of all of the “equality of women” stuff. I believe that “God created them male and female” (Genesis 1:17) intentionally. He wired us differently. Women and men ARE different! Our strong points and tendencies are different, not because of what society has said, but because that’s how God created us.

Im trying to figure out how a woman displaying herself for men is liberating?

How is that showing the world that men and women are equal?

If anything that’s taking the direct opposite approach and completely enslaving yourself to what a man wants from you. The Bible teaches that the man is supposed to love his wife as God loved the church and gave Himself for it. (Ephesians 2:25) That’s a sacrificial love, a complete love. Here’s where a lot of people get confused though. The Bible also says that wives are supposed to be subject (submissive) to their husbands. (Ephesians 2:22) A lot of women don’t like the sound of submitting or being subject to another person. By dressing provocatively and throwing yourself at men, you are doing just that whether you want to be or not. You are practically telling the men in the world to look at you and take advantage of you. It’s like standing up with a poster that says, “Look at me!! Satisfy your flesh and lustful desires with me!!!”

The kind of submission it’s talking about isn’t like either of those kinds though. The Bible isn’t saying to let your husband walk all over you and not let you have an opinion, and it’s not saying to sell yourself as sexual objects for men. Ephesians 2:22 tells us how we are to be submissive. The complete verse says,

“Wives, be subject (be submissive and adapt yourselves) to your own husbands as [a service] to the Lord.”

When you are submitting yourself to your husband and serving him, you are in turn serving the Lord. Ya know, something im discovering is that if we would just fix our gaze on Christ and do everything that we do for Him as an offering back to Him for what He’s done, then everything else in our lives will fall into place. Loving Jesus comes first! It’s kinda like the over used analogy of the tower. Loving Jesus is our foundation. That’s where every other aspect of our lives should build from. When we try to DO all the right things with out loving on Jesus first, things don’t add up, it just doesn’t make sense. But when we love Jesus first everything else just happens naturally. The submissive acts and the loving of your husband and other people around you will just come as by-products to loving Christ.

That’s not exactly where I was planning on going with that post, but there it is anyway…

Today’s Blessing:

1. The ability to love Jesus and everything else just falling into place.

-Christy

God Is All I Ever Dreamed He Would Be (103)

Isnt it funny how we ask God to test us, and we ask Him to prove Himself to us, but are surprised when He actually does…? I wish it wasn’t like that. I wish that when I asked Him to show Himself strong in my life that I was peering around every corner waiting for Him to do it. Let’s just start by telling you a little bit about my morning so far.

I rolled over and turned on my lamp. I checked my phone and moved my water glass that I use to take my pills over a little bit to make room for my phone charger. It also crossed my mind how utterly horrible it would be it my water tipped over and fell on the surge protector next to my bed. I then grabbed my kindle and turned on my YouVersion App and grabbed my devotional book.  I really enjoyed the passage from “My Utmost for His Highest” this morning. I’ve been thinking a lot about prayer and praying more. (I actually plan on posting about that sometime in the future.) I want to be like the gentleman at my Arkansas church that never said ‘Amen’ when praying because He was never done talking to the Lord.  There were two quotes that I really liked from today’s excerpt.

“Tell God you are ready to be offered and God will prove Himself to be all you ever dreamed He would be.”

That reminds me of the passage where Paul says that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20-21) I don’t know about you, but I have an incredibly vivid imagination. I can think up some pretty cool things, but God says that He can do more than that! If I offer myself up to God, and lay myself at His feet in abandoned surrender, then He promises that He is going to be more than enough and prove Himself to me in ways I would never have imagined.

A few lines down it also said this:

“After this way of fire [total abandoned surrender] there is nothing that oppresses or depresses. When crisis arise you realize that things can not touch you the way they used to.”

That right there is a statement of growth. When God brings us through trials they force us out of our comfortable fluffy lives growth occurs. As a young lady that has faced several hard things I can praise the Lord that I don’t respond to things in the same way that I did when I was twelve. Part of that is just regular maturity, but part of it is the Lord working in my life and Him changing me into the young lady He wants me to be.

After I read from Mr Chambers I opened the journal that Im using to copy down the Psalms to see what I was ready to copy. I knew that I didn’t have time to write it just then, but I wanted a sneak peak at what it was going to be. Psalm 9:9-10 jumped out at me.

“The Lord also will be a refuge and a high tower for the oppressed, a refuge and a stronghold in times of trouble (high cost, destitution, and desperation). And they who know Your name [who have experience and acquaintance with Your mercy] will lean on and confidently put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek (inquire of and for) You [on the authority of God’s Word and the right of their necessity].”

That’s the Amplified version of course…my favorite! That went along amazingly well with what I had just finished reading in my devotional. When I have experienced God’s provision in my life, then I can lean on and confidently trust my God. He’s a strong tower! AKA: He’s totally got this!!!

Alright so back to what happened this morning. So shortly after I finished my devotions my mom came in and told me that my puppy was sick and we were going to take her to the vet. I knew that she hadn’t been feeling well yesterday, and throwing up and not eating, but after I got home from work, I got her to eat a little bit and even drink some. So I thought maybe she was getting better. Well that was not the case. This morning she woke up refusing to eat or drink and still vomiting. So I got dressed and we drove her over to the vet. The examined her and took an x-ray of her belly. They discovered that her intestine walls were really think and full of gas. They are keeping her overnight to give her some fluids and medicine to hopefully clear everything up. Now im not one of those people that see my dog on the same level as humans, but I do love my little ball of fluff. She follows me everywhere, hates most of my friends, and has been my best friend ever since I’ve had her. I remember back a few years ago when she had a serious bladder issue and she had to stay overnight. I was a total mess, I was sure that she was going to die and cried my eyes out the whole time she was gone.

Im approaching it different this time though. Im trusting that God will do what He wants in this situation. If that means that the treatment works and she ends up being just fine or if that means that she doesn’t make it, im still going to trust God. After everything happened with Rich, I promised the Lord that I was no longer going to hold on tight to anything he gives me. My hands are open and will remain that way until He calls me home.

“Lord, whatever you want, wherever you want it, and whenever you want it, that’s what I want.”

-Richard Baxter

Today’s Blessings:

1. The cool ways that God answers prayer.
2. The ways that He continues to show me that He’s in complete control.

-Christy

Blessings in Waiting for Sanctification (98)

I have one more post for the series I did a while back. On blessings in waiting for_______. I know I kinda took a break from that for a while, but I would like to make a post on this topic.

Blessings in Waiting for Sanctification/Purification.

This topic was recommended to me by a friend. At first glance I really liked this topic. It’s practical and useful for everyday life. However after mulling it over for a while, I really don’t like the wording of that topic. Let me explain why….

While sanctification is a process, the ‘speed’, if you will is up to the person being sanctified. Now let me clarify a few things. The moment that you accept Christ you are saved. BOOM! You don’t work for you salvation. Like I said yesterday, salvation is through faith and grace, not works. Sanctification, on the other hand, is what takes time. Becoming more like Christ is the process, not the salvation. But the cool thing about it is that sanctification is a work that Christ does in you with your consent. God is not going to force you sit down and read your Bible and spend time with him. God is not going to force you to give up your habits of pornography and wrong life style. Once you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, He’s not going to let you enjoy those things, but He’s not going to strike you on the hand if you do. Becoming more like Christ is going to take effort on your part. It’s going to take you saying ‘no’ to the devil and yes to things that please the Lord. Even after growing up in a Christian home I don’t just wake up every morning with a smile on my face excited to get in God’s Word. You have no idea how much I wish it were that way. If you know me, you know that I detest mornings! I hate waking up and am typically in a zombie like state until I have my coffee. I have discovered however, if I don’t spend time with God in the morning then it’s very unlikely that I will get around to it that day. What I typically do is choose something short to read and study in the morning so that I don’t have to wake up 2 hours earlier than I normally would. I also try to saturate other parts of my day with scripture, such as my lunch break at work. What im trying to say is that it’s not always easy to choose to begin that sanctification process. You don’t exactly wait for the sanctification to happen to you either. The sanctification is something that you choose to be a part of. It’s something that God works in you. You have a part in the process.

So like I said, I really don’t think that sanctification is something that you are ‘waiting’ for. After all, you have a say in if you allow Christ to change you. But there are blessing in the sanctification process so I will mention some of those.

Blessings in taking part in the sanctification process:

1. Becoming more like Christ.
2. Learning about your God.
3. Getting excited about eternity with Him.
4. Getting to be a part of ministering to others.

-Christy

Finally, that sermon I promised! (83)

So for the last week I’ve been trying to tell you about the sermon that I was blessed to hear on Sunday. I’ve decided to do this post a little differently. I want to hit the highlights of the message, without adding much of my own input seeing as God doesn’t need my help. So without further ado: Allon-sy!!

The text of his message was Job 13:15-16

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.
He also shall be my salvation,
For a hypocrite could not come before Him.”

The thesis of his message was:
•“No matter how deep the disappointment people of God operating in the purpose of God do not have to be defeated and we will not be destroyed!”

God has really been showing me this week that as long as I am following Him, I cant mess up! If I’m walking with Him, He will make my path clear. Here are rest of the points that really stuck out to me!

“Either He will give suffering or He will give immeasurable strength to bear it.”

Suffering in this world is inevitable, but in the suffering I realize that the only way to get though it successfully is to run into my Savior’s arms! He’s got more than enough strength to handle my issues!

“Afflictions are secret favors of God’s Affections” Romans 8:28

If that doesn’t show me how much God loves me then I don’t know what would! He sends the hard things my way as a way of making me more like Him. That really makes you look at your trials differently!

“You can never break God’s promises by leaning on them.”

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like I’m bother God by falling into His arms and wanting Him to hold me. In reality though, that’s exactly what God wants. He doesn’t really want us to say, “Im tough, I can do this!” What He really wants is for us to say, “I’m weak, I can’t handle this, so I’m claiming your promises of strength and grace to get through this.

“Reading the Bible doesn’t solve your problems, but what you find there does.”

This made me think about how many times I open the Bible and for some dumb reason expect God to fix all my problems because I sit and sorta read it for 5 minutes. Reading the Bible isn’t going to solve my problems. If I truly read God’s Word with the intention of letting Him show me what He wants, then He will. It’s all about heart attitude.

Another thing the pastor mentioned was Andrew Murray’s “Rules for Tough Times”. He used the original version but also condensed them down.

God’s Appointment
In His keeping
For His training
In His time

I told you that would be different from my normal posts. But I’ve been dying to share with you all of those nuggets of wisdom! I hope maybe something there caught your attention and will cause you to see our great God in a new special way!

Today’s Blessings:

1. I don’t have to try and do things on my own strength, God’s got it covered!

-Christy

Ps. If you think of it you might remember my gramma I’ve mentioned here before, in prayer. She fell out of bed this morning and they took her to the hospital to make sure nothing was broken, as she was sore and in some pain. Thanks!

Our Good, His Glory Pt2 (79)

Hello There!
So continuing my post from yesterday… Why is it, that sometimes God shows His goodness in ways that we don’t expect? Wouldn’t it make more sense for Him to use a flashing neon sign to make it obvious as to what good things

He’s doing so we could properly thank Him? That’s a question that I have spent a lot of time thinking about. God was obviously the one that led us to the church in Arkansas and gave me the amazing life long friends I made there. But even in the obviousness I was forgetting to thank Him. He did everything short of the flashing neon sign and instead of thanking Him, I grasped on to those things, refusing to let go, until He used vice-grips to pry open my hands. That tells me that even if God did use the neon signs we still wouldn’t give Him the thanks and praise that He is so deserving of.

Secondly, I find that when God uses the hard things to bring glory to Himself they are almost more meaningful. The hard times cause us to grow, they cause us to realize how much God loves us. In the sermon yesterday the preacher said something that really stuck with me.

“The afflictions from God are secret favors of His affections.”

Because God loves us so much, He wants us to grow to be like Him. By sending us the hard things, the impossible situations He is really telling us how much He loves us.

When I look at the hidden blessings like that, my heart is overwhelmed with His goodness and love.

Today’s Blessing:

1.The hidden blessings!

As Promised (72)

Alrighty, as promised, today I plan on touching on several things that really stuck out to me from the January 4 excerpt of “My Utmost For His Highest”. If you didn’t get a chance to read it I will post the link again here: http://utmost.org/why-can-i-not-follow-you-now/

I thought the second sentence was incredible applicable to this blog and the whole idea of waiting.

“When God brings a time of waiting, and appears to be unresponsive, don’t fill it with busyness, just wait.”

This reminds me of a truth I learned in Sunday School when I was little. God sometimes doesn’t give just a yes or no, sometimes God say “wait”. My little 4 year old self thought that the “wait” was the one that was used the least. Haha! I couldn’t have been more wrong. So far in my experiences, the answer of “wait” is the one that I seem to receive most often. The best part about the waiting is the many things you get to learn about God! Of course the times of waiting aren’t the only times when God teaches us about Himself, but sometimes during the good times we forget to lower our ears and listen to what he is trying to say. When God strips all of the comforts away and takes all the noise out of our lives we are likely to lean on Him.
The last two sentences in that first paragraph is also something that is incredible applicable to my life right now.

“Never run before God gives you His direction. If you have the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt— wait.”

I am so thankful that I took a year off of school! God definitely knew what He was doing in that situation. No, it wouldn’t have been how I would have planned it, but that’s why im not the one in charge. This year has given me time to not only figure out what God wants me to do with my life, but also to focus more fully on Him. I had doubts as to where God wanted me to be. I had doubts as to what God wanted me to do. It seems like the only area that I didn’t have doubt in was the one that got turned completely upside down and continues to require the most trust. (Rich)

The next section talked about what we “feel” God’s will is. I absolutely hate that phrase. “I feel like God wants me to ______.” Feelings change, feelings aren’t reliable.

“…never act on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will cause difficult situations to arise which will take years to untangle. Wait for God’s timing and He will do it without any heartache or disappointment.”

God is so much better at orchestrating circumstances than we are. If we patiently wait for God to have His will in our lives, He will make things happen without the turmoil we put ourselves in.

The last paragraph shows us the way that Peter did not wait! I’m so glad that Peter existed in the Bible! I relate to Peter in so many ways! Anyhow, we know how Jesus predicted that Peter would deny Him. Peter of course couldn’t believe that he would ever do such a thing! But sure enough, he did. I really love how Mr. Chambers concludes:

“Natural devotion may be enough to attract us to Jesus, to make us feel His irresistible charm, but it will never make us disciples. Natural devotion will deny Jesus, always falling short of what it means to truly follow Him.”

How many times are we like this!? We like the idea of what Jesus has done and can do for us. But we cant become true disciples based the “idea” of Jesus! Our love for our Lord has to go beyond the feeling. If we are going to be His disciples we have to have a love and devotion that is strong enough to endure any trials and trouble He might throw our way.

Today’s Blessing:

The times of waiting that draw us closer to Christ and cultivate a genuine devotion to Him.