What is it to truly rely on Christ and His timing..This has always been hard for me to fully grasp. It's hard not knowing answers when you want to know them now, or not knowing why things are happening the way they are but you just want to feel comfort in knowing how things will turn out. Well recently, I've felt the LORD telling me to fully rely on Him..On His timing, on how He will move in my life. If you know me, I really can't handle waiting for answers. I like to find them out then and there or at least try to, but lately, I can feel God saying "Rachel, please don't worry about it. I have everything under control. Everything and everyone I have placed in your life is here for a reason. Don't worry My child. I have done and given you these things because they have a purpose.. and I will reveal them to you in My perfect timing when I know you're ready for it. Take comfort in Me right now and keep faith and trust in Me.. I won't let you down"... I'm not sure if you understand, but when He speaks to me and I hear this, I get all emotional ( we girls have our moments ;) ) because it's such a miraculous thing to hear God speaking to you. It truly does give me comfort when I realize that God has placed everything and everyone in my life for a reason and even if I don't know what tomorrow, next month, or next year will bring, I can take joy and comfort in knowing that God will work things out for those who truly love Him and want His will for our lives. "And we know that in all things God works for the goodof those who love him, whohave been calledaccording to his purpose." (Romans 8:28).That is not promising that it wont be tough. I'm sure each of you reading this has something in life where there's uncertainty. Everyone does. Not sure where things are going in your life or when God will move in certain areas.. It will get really hard not knowing things.. but all this leads to one thing. Relying on Christ. . .
We need to keep reminding ourselves that Jesus Christ, the King of all Kings, Our Lord of all the Earth is holding us in His mighty hands, Never to let us go. "So do not throw away your confidence;it will be richly rewarded." (Hebrews 10:35) We need to keep our faith in Him up with a spirit of rejoicing. Because there in Hebrews it says we need to keep our confidence(Faith) high in Christ because when we do, He will reward us with what we desire in Him. That includes keeping our confidence and faith in how He will bless us, when he will reveal the things we want revealed (His timing is perfect), And we need to know that all we do will be done for the Glory of Christ.
It is important for you to have like minded Christians helping you be lifted in God's word and encouraging you in your walk with Christ. To help reassure you that your not alone in this world and that we are going to continue to walk with Christ throughout the good and bad times. Always being a blessing and loving each other. I am blessed to have my friends and family here to help encourage me in Christ and lift me up with scripture. "Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future." (Proverbs 19:20). Even friends that I haven't known long, it's a blessing that I've met you. Because having a friend that I've not known long but has helped uplift and motivate me to become a better Christian is better than having a friend your whole life who has not been an encouragement to Christ and who is leading you away from Him. The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. (Proverbs 12:26)
And I love this song ( The Struggle - by Tenth Avenue North ) for so many reasons... Because we are free, we are free to struggle. We are Children of the Lord struggling in this world, dropping dead weights as we continue to sing praises to Jesus. And yes, we Christians will still have to struggle in this world but Jesus' might blood He shed, washes us clean. "for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for manyfor the forgiveness of sins." (Matt. 26:28).So as we continue to rely on Christ and what great things He has planned for us, let us keep our hands help high and voices singing to the One who gave us life and continues to bless us, even when we can't see it just yet. His wonderful plans will reveal in Christ's perfect timing.
As I woke this morning and walked outside, the weather screamed out "fall is here". I have waited all year for weather like this! So I am so grateful for this weather and want to enjoy as much of it as I can! :) So for my morning devotion, I grabbed my bible, some coffee, and my thoughts and sat outside soaking in the sunshine, breeze and nature around me. Right now, In my morning devotions, I'm reading through Psalm.. Today was Psalm 84. As I read this chapter and after, I felt restored, refreshed and invigorated as to what's to come! I'll share a few of the verses I read this morning. When I'm reading through Psalm, I read really slowly and taking in every word that is there..because there is so much information and words with meaning in there. So the verses I share with you, please take the time to let them sink in. Feel the power of them and how strong just a few words are. here is Psalm 84:1-2...
How lovely is Your tabernacle,
O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Yes! My heart and flesh is crying out for Jesus..Wanting to be with Him in His courts, in Heaven. Longing, yearning, wanting to be in the presence of the Almighty. . When I think of Heaven, I think of how pleasant it will be, how wonderful it will be to have knowledge like never before. To have no more trouble, hard times, or sorrows like we often have here on earth...Everything and Everyone will be perfect. What a thought. I mean really, perfect is a word we cannot use here on earth unless we are referring to Jesus Christ. He is truly the only One perfect."As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him" (Psalm 18:30)"So to one day have the knowledge like Him is mind boggling! . . Here is some more verses from Psalm 84:10-12...
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness
For the Lord God
is a sun and shield; the Lord will give
grace and glory; no good
thing will withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
Blessed is the man who trusts in You!
Yes, one day in heaven would be better than a thousand anywhere else. Wouldn't you agree?! ;) I also find so much comfort in this part "no good thing will withhold from those who walk uprightly". Being a true believer, we need to follow what God commands us to do. Yes, we will surely fall down but we need to acknowledge when we fall down and then pick ourselves up again asking God for forgiveness. We are imperfect persons living in an imperfect world, but being a Christian, you will know what is right from wrong in God's eyes and you will want to strive to do right before the Lord. You will feel conviction from the Holy Spirit and the main thing is, that we strive to be like Christ in all of our ways."Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (Philippians 3:12).The Lord knows we will have bumps in the road that causes us to sin but He also will know who continued to ask for forgiveness and made the effort to walk uprightly before Him. God can not stand Fake Christians. Those who speak of God and then live like the world, you can't truly be saved. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:21-23) See, many will live there lives acting as Christians yet are lying to themselves. God is a merciful God but He is also just. He gives people what they deserve, like a good Judge. I'm not here trying to talk down about people who are truly not Christians, rather try and give hope that there is a truer way to Salvation that actually leads to eternity in the most high place with our Creator. It is so very important to know that you have a close relationship with Christ. To live out the Bible to your fullest, giving it your all. "But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." (Luke 11:29)Thatyour mission here on earth isn't to please yourself, but please God. We are here to encourage, uplift, train, mentor, and bring people to truth about God. "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." (Hebrews 3:13).We are here not to hate, but to Love everyone Like Christ has loved us. If we are to be like Christ, we need to try and love like Him. Think of all the love Jesus had/has for us. He loved each and every one of us so much that He died an unspeakable death so that we ( anyone who comes to Him ) might have eternal life through Him in heaven. He loved us so much, that He didn't want to see us end up living eternity in hell. (John 3:16). So He gave His life, to the ones ( like me before I accepted Christ in my life ) who spat at His face, who mocked Him, who tortured Him and nailed Him to a cross. After we did that, what does the Lord say? "Then said Jesus, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do'..." (Luke 23:34) . . .That, people, is what you call true love. I know if that was me, I wouldn't have forgiven them. I would have had more hate in my heart than I could bare. But you see, He went through all of that so we don't have to hate, so that we can love those who persecute us, who beat, hurt, mock us.. That one day we can glorify God in Heaven. That is true definition of LOVE. . .
{ Please listen to this worship song :) }
One of my favourite thing to do is get lost in worship. Music is definitely a big thing for me but more than the actual music, it's the time I have with God and the lyrics I sing to glorify Him. To listen to worship music while eyes closed and feeling God's presence all around me. It's a feeling I wouldn't trade for anything. After I read through my morning verses, I played a song that was on shuffle hoping to get a good worship song with meaningful lyrics. And wow, Did I! ( the song I'm sharing with y'all ) I have only heard this song once before, but right there, surrounded by God's creation after reading those verses about Heaven, I went into total worship mode. I didn't want to come out of it. . . Ever. I wish I could stay right there praising God until He comes back. Then I was thinking, "Wow, if I love it right here praising God in my back yard surrounded by fresh air and worship music, and to think heaven is going to be so, so much better! "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)It excites me people! We need to share our excitement with others. We want others to see how much peace we have in knowing we have a Saviour who holds us in His hands and will never let us go. Unbelievers will see this peace in our hearts and know that something is different about us. Curiosity gets the best of most of us, hm? ;) So maybe just us acting as Christians should, will bring someone to Christ. And not just showing God's love while out in public, but around the clock, because we will want to.
I thank each of you for reading through my posts that are always typed out of what the Lord lays on my heart to share. I also encourage you to take a few minutes to be alone with just you and God. Turn on the song I've shared and have this precious time alone with Him, worshiping His name. It's a feeling no amount of money can buy.
This day and age, let's face it, is nothing like 10, 15, 20..etc years ago. Sometimes I like to daydream me living when times were simpler. When things didn't go so fast. When this world didn't have so many problems as it does now. And when most everything and everyone was brought up on a biblical foundation. Most of all, away from all the distractions that we have so many these days. . . I'll give y'all a good example { Technology }. Now don't get me wrong, technology has helped so many people in a so many ways. My computer and iPod have been a blessing to me. I have had the chance to share my beliefs to others, help minister to those willing to listen, and have made dear friends, all from technology! But technology has also brought a lot of wrong in this world. I won't go into every single thing that it has brought bad into this world but more of one issue that disturbs me very much. One of the biggest things that God didn't intend was for us to be distracted from growing closer with our Savior or hurting others with our devisees (computers, phones, iPods, ..etc). So many people ( even Christians ) are being taken in by the things of this world that we forget what our main priority in life should be. "Do not conformto the pattern of this world,but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasingand perfect will." ( Romans 12:2...one of my fav. )
I recently read this quote, "Have you prayed as much as talked about it?" Or "Compare the time you spend on your electronics today and then how much time you spent in God's word today". Because "you can't watch TV for three hours and then read three minutes of the bible and expect to grow spiritually" (another quote I found). And if we do spend a lot of time on our electronics, how are we spending it? We need to make sure that everything we do brings glory to God. Have your words hurt or healed? What do our conversations mostly consist of? Are they pleasing to God? We only have one short life on this earth to make a difference. We need to continually ask ourselves "Is what or who I am talking about pleasing to you, Lord? Will this hurt or lift someone up? "But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken." ( Matthew 12:36 ).
I made the decision to use the technology I have, to make a difference in this world. I am not going to use it just because everyone else has "this or that", but I'm using it to glorify God and bring people to see truth. I have promised God that I will not use technology to hurt others but lift others up in Christ. "These are the things you are to do: Speak the truthto each other, and render true and sound judgmentin your courts;" ( Zechariah 8:16 ). . . As you may well know, prayer is essential for a Christian's life. Having that one on one time with God is so very important. Even in prayer time, there are distractions. Satan will use even the simplest things to stop us form growing closer with our Lord. I have learned, to truly get deep into the word and prayer without distractions, I must seclude myself with just my bible and a quiet room. . . Just God and me. Leaving out any devices that would be a distraction. I mean, if I had my iPod sitting right next to me while I was reading the word, then hear a "tweet" or "ding" or see my screen light up because so and so liked my picture or left a comment. I'm human, curiosity would get the best of me as I wandered "hmm, wandered who texted or tweeted me, what did he/she say?" and then my distraction would break. so because of that, I make a point to put away everything that would break my focus with the Lord.
God will see what effort you are trying to get closer with Him. How you don't want to be distracted from Him. That a relationship with Him is more important than anything else. So if He knows how much you really want that relationship with him, then He is going to grant you more opportunities to be used by Him.
I will leave ya'll with a favourite song of mine! I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I do. It describes just what I was trying to say in this post.. plus, the lyrics = Amazing!
I am determined to get this 30 day challenge finished. ;) I don't think I have ever seen someone let a 30 day challenge last longer than 8 months, but I have, and I apologize. . .
I found todays challenge to be a little tricky because I have plenty scars on this earthly body of mine. :( from cuts and burns to chicken pox scars and all of those every day sort of accident scars. I think of it like, "hey, there's a story that goes with each scar we have. Good or bad" ( mostly bad haha ) but there is definitely one story that pops in my head most when I think of any scars I have. So below I will obey this challenge's commands and give a story about my the scars that left a mark on me and my memory.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
It was a normal Thursday in March of 2010.. I had gone to work ( at a restaurant I worked at then ) for my typical evening shift. I was feeling well all day, nothing stopping me from doing everything that I usually did on a daily basis. About an hour after I clocked in at work, I had the slightest pain in my stomach. I really didn't think anything about it because I had always suffered with stomach problems even as a young child. . As the evening grew older and older, my stomach pains were getting worse and worse. I was thinking in the back of my mind what this pain might be from. I even thought maybe it was the catfish I ate for dinner but my pain started hours before that. By the time I got home (around 11:00 p.m.-ish) I cried myself to my parent's bedside asking my mom what this pain might be. I had never felt it before. I felt bad because I knew they really couldn't do anything to help my pain go away and probably felt helpless because of that. I told my parents that I would try to go to sleep and see if I would feel better in the morning. I was trying to toughen up because I knew that I would have to go through more pain in my life than just a "bad stomach ache". I walked up to my room, hunched over, holding my side, because that was the only way I could walk. Usually if I don't feel well, after a long night's sleep I would feel really refreshed, but that night I couldn't go to sleep from this excruciating pain that kept on. I remember just crying out to the Lord all night long as I kept moving side to side because no position I could get in would be comfortable. That was one of the longest nights I had been through..sleepless, in the worse pain I had ever felt. I didn't want to wake my parents because they were both sleeping and had a busy day. Finally around six in the morning, I got out of my bed because I couldn't handle the pain any longer, walked to where we keep our books and picked up one about the human body. I started reading what organs were where and so on... I took the book to my mom and asked her to look at it as I showed her where my pain was. I remember her saying "Rachel, we are bringing you to the hospital as soon as you can get your things together. I think where you're pointing is your appendix but I want to be sure" The thought of going to the emergence room gave me a quiver but I new that that would be best because I could barely handle the pain any longer. .
In the car, every bump on the road felt like it was meant to hurt me. That 25 minute drive felt like hours. We finally got to the ER, they took all my basic info and asked ordinary questions, finally put me in a room, got into a hospital gown and waited for the doctor to see me. After the Doc. saw me, he wanted a CT Scan done because he had a really good idea what was wrong with me. I had to wait about almost two hours for the CT Scan. Once they took the scan, the Doctor came in and confirmed that I had Appendicitis and that they were going to need to do an emergence surgery. In 2009 I had the stomach virus and the pain from that was quite similar but not the least intense as it was right there. So yes, I was in fear. I know the doctors do surgery every day to people but them doing it on me was a just scary thought. I kept praying and praying that God would put his hand over my body. I remember right before going into surgery, they had started pumping me up with all sorts of medicine. A scary thought was that they said they gave me something that they give pregnant women for pain because the morphine wouldn't help in the least bit. I literally felt like I was levitating and spinning around. the most peaceful part was when they rolled me into the room where they would do surgery and the anesthesiologist spoke softly to me until I had dosed off. I remember dreaming while in surgery. I was walking in field with really tall grass and feeling the most pretty breeze and sunshine. just feeling the warmth of the earth on my bare feet. It was really neat.
Waking from surgery broke that nice dream with pain worse than when I went in. They couldn't give me any medicine for pain until I woke. I can't actually remember getting rolled into my room or the rest of the day really. it was all a blur. But I do remember that I felt as if I were a patient in one of those doctor movies. It was so weird because the hospital was rarely seen by my family or me. After the surgery, the doctor said that after they took the CT scan, my appendix had gotten even worse where it almost burst. It sounds all icky and nasty but once it does that, it can lead to infection in the whole body and then worse. They didn't plan on it getting as bad as it did, so the surgery lasted even loner than expected. I am just thankful I was asleep for all of this. . .
I also remember being put on a clear liquid diet for four days. The thought of living off of apple juice and chicken broth was bad enough but then when my parents and siblings brought poboys, salads, and other foods that smelt so good into the room for dinner, I was being tortured! haha they had to eat too ;) The day after my surgery, my doctor came and checked me but saw that I wasn't healing like I should be, so I had to stay at the hospital another day and a half.
It took me over a week of bed rest to heal. I had to fight the "getting off the pain medicine" and making sure I didn't catch pneumonia. Walking straight again was tough, but each day I pushed myself. I hadn't yet seen what the surgery left on me. I was wrapped in bandage and had to be careful it didn't come off. A week after surgery I had to go see my doctor for the last time to get my stitches out. One word explains it. P.a.i.n.f.u.l.! He didn't even tell me he was pulling them out. You can probably guess I wasn't happy in the least bit. I finally got to see the scars that were left on my tummy. Three of them. not big ( two are like, 1/2 inch and one is an inch ) but they'll always remind me of that time in my life.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The one think I'm most grateful for is that God was protecting me through everything. He didn't let the surgery go wrong, He didn't let me get pneumonia, He healed me, and I now have those scars to remind me of that. His healing hand that touches us all the time. We will have to suffer from pain while living in this world. Many painful things will happen to us, wether that be physical or emotional, or in most cases, both... But as Christians, we have this huge advantage that makes me smile at the thought of it. This verse explains it so perfectly ‘'He will wipe every tear from their eyes.There will be no more death’or mourning or crying or pain,for the old order of things has passed away.” ( Revelation 21:4 ) Won't that be amazing. The thought of no more death, pain, or crying because all of that will be gone when He takes us up with Him to live with Him forever. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes!! He is so awesome and worthy to be praised. . .
You know that feeling when you're reassured? . . . Reassured in Christ, that because you are His child, He won't let you down. That feeling when someone reassures you that, hey! just live for God and his wonderful will and then you will know that He has great plans for you and you need only give yourself fully to Him. . . Yes, I love that feeling! Another feeling I love is when I go to church to hear my paster preach his heart out for us. He is so gifted in the area of explaining the Bible so well that you understand so clearly what God commands us to do and how to live for Him. How to live a godly life that is pleasing to the Lord. Also, he is not afraid to teach on sin. I find that a lot of churches these days really don't want to teach on that topic because they might loose/scare off people... So the fact that he is not ashamed to preach truth just excites me! . . . I took as many notes as I could to share with y'all.
He was teaching on the Book of Habakkah ( I will admit that I haven't read that book of the bible before, but once he started teaching on it, I was like, "wow! I was missing out" ) . . He taught on 6 discourses... Here we go :)
1.) The theme of Habakkah is "To live by faith in God's sovereignty even if we don't understand." . . . I know there were many times where I would not fully understand why God would allow bad things to happen to me. I know I am a child of God.. He said He would take care of me. But I realized that I have to put all my faith in God, even when I have no clue where things are going in my life. I can't live by the standards of things or people of this world but live by Faith. I may not understand His will right now for my life, but He does and has great plans for me... And this goes for anyone who is a true believer in Jesus Christ. And that leads us to the next part.
2.) "It is okay to ask God questions but He is not obligated to answer them" - Oh, this one definitely hit home for me. I am sure we have all asked God many questions. But we can't expect God to answer any of our questions right after we ask. Because we can be asking something that He is not obligated to answer because he might have a better answer for you in another area .That is why it is very important that when we ask God questions, we have to always ask it according to His will. I have asked God questions before that I thought He would answer because I figured that God would answer in the way I wanted, but I was wrong. I did not ask it according to His will and I was only thinking of myself. I think another reason why He didn't answer that question was because He wanted to humble me. But I do believe that He is going to answer that prayer/question but it will be according to His will and it will be WAY better than what I was asking for first.
3.) "Trust that God is working even when we can't see" - As Christians, we definitely have to have this mindset. We can not be discouraged. When we can't really see God working in our lives, that is when Satan creeps in and wants us to think that God doesn't care about our problems and isn't worried about us. We need to flee those thoughts and continue to tell each other that God, right now, is working in and through each and every one of our lives.
4.) "Trust that God will judge sin in His timing" - My paster explained this so well. If someone claims to be saved and sins (here are some examples : does bad by someone, hurts others with words, does things secretly to hurt others, lies ) then their sin will find them out. They are not hiding it from God. "So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." (James 4:17) God sees and hears all. I mean, if you are a true believer, you wont want to do those things. So if you aren't saved ( or you may think you are but truly haven't given your life to Christ ) and keep sinning, God will bring justice to those who commit the sins. They will be found out either here on earth or on judgment day. But they will be judged. So when someone continues to try and hurt me, I keep reassuring myself that God will have his justice in His timing. I am relying on His timing for everything. Because His timing is PERECT!
5.) "Are you broken?" - Are we truly broken and humble for the Lord? Are we offering ourselves fully to God? No strings attached to this world. Willing to do anything for Him..No going in half way. We need to be willing to fully rely on God. We need to be fully submissive to Him. Giving our everything to glorify Him.
6.) - "Are you living in sin?" - Something that we need to do every day is examine ourselves. Say, "Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours". . . I continue to say "Lord, if what I am doing is going against what you called me to do, take it away, throw it out. If it does not glorify you, break it away and cleanse me with your love" . . . I urge you to really ask yourself if your lifestyle or how you act is God honoring and Christ like. Because soon and very soon, the Lord is coming back to take all His children up into the clouds. I would hate to see anyone be left here when I had a chance to tell them about God and His gracious ways. How He can save you from an eternal life of misery. That there is hope in Jesus Christ. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) . . . He died on that cross for whoever would believe in Him. It is never too late. Don't let anything, not even pride get in the way of acknowledging and confessing our sins. Do right to others, help each other out. Continue to ask yourself "would I do this if Jesus were standing right here in this room" but again, we forget sometimes that God sees and hears everything we do. . .
Until next time my dear followers, I'll leave y'all with a very beautiful song.
This Post pretty much describes itself by its title. :D I believe the Lord really wanted me to type this post up to share with others. You may wonder, "How do you know He was wanting you to type a post about friendship". . . At first, I wasn't really sure what my next post was going to be on. I usually wait until the Lord gives me the words and things to type on. I look to Him. I type what I know He want's me to type. Well, recently quite a few people ( followers, friends ) mentioned to me that I should really think about doing a post on friendship. After them telling me that, I was like, "Lord, thank you for laying this on my heart". :) Each time, He has His own way of showing me what He wants me to write about. First, I'd like to start out by saying that apparently, this is going to be typed from a Christian's perspective of the definition of friendship. Not through the world's eyes but through Christ's, and what He sees as what a true friend should be. . . There is a difference between the world's and God's idea of friendship. So here is what a true Christian friendship should look like. . . I will first start out by writing the type of people God wants His children to spend most of their time with. If you are a true Christian, then you should be spending most of your time with fellow believers. I am not saying that you should never be around unbelievers, because then we would never be able to be a light in this fallen world or ever witness to anyone. What I mean is, we should be carful with who we hang around and spend most of our time with, or who we call friends. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says "Do not be misled, 'Bad company corrupts good character' ". This verse isn't just talking about thieves, alcoholics, and criminals... it is also saying, do not spend time with those who speak wrong about others, those who gossip, blaspheme God's name, curse, and act as hypocrites. Because I have personally seen people who were persuaded into the worldly acts because they started spending more time with those who did those things that I stated up above. "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm. ( Proverbs 13:20 )" Even I had to deal with that.. I mean, who hasn't fallen into sin? But I asked the Lord to forgive me, and He did! . . . I had to learn that you have to be very careful when choosing friends. "One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24) . . . If you want to have a lasting true friendship, then both people will have to have the same priorities in life. That is to honor God in all that we do and give Him the glory. So what makes a lasting true friendship? . . .
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.Get rid ofall bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:29-32)
. . . . .
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.You are my friends if you do what I command.I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. - John 15:12-15
We should have a love for each other like Christ loves us. We should be willing to do anything for our friends. like Jesus died on the cross for us, we should be willing to do the same. . .
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is one of the most important things in a friendship. We should love our friends as Christ loves His church. And our friends should have that same passion. So. . .
{ a true friend will be kind, not easily enticed by jealousy, does not dishonor others or is easily angered. A true friend will not hold on to past wrongs but forgive. True friends will not delight in doing wrong but takes pleasure in doing right. A true friend will always defend for what's true and right, always hopes and prays with us for God's will. . . A true friend's love for each other will never fail, because Christ's love never fails us. }
. . . . .
I'm sure that we all have had broken friendships. Many of my friends have told me that they had to go through falling out with friends as well. . . Why does this happen so often? Because Satan is out to destroy anything and anyone in his path. If you had to go through that and believe that you were right in Christ's eyes, maybe it was God's will that you be separated from the people you parted with. We don't see the future and we can't see God's plan in our life ahead of time. He does. He could be saving you from more pain, heartache, or danger by taking you out of those people's lives. We just need to learn to trust God's will in our lives and rely on Him to bring the right type of people into our lives to become true, godly friends.
I have had to learn this and it has brought me closer to my Jesus. I made my Lord to be my truest, best friend. Whom I put first in my life. And let me tell you something people, Jesus Christ is the bestest friend you could ever ask for. :) He will never leave nor forsake you. He is there when you have good and bad times. He will never let you down when everyone else in your life does. He is our Saviour, Father, King, Holy One. One who will never get tired of us expressing our feelings and He will always be there to hear our cries. All of this while He embraces us in His arms. . . Who can ask for a better friend than Him? :)
After I gave everything to Him and put all my trust in His will for my life; when I decided to let Him take over and decide who would be taken out of my life and who He would put in it; then, just then did I realize that before, I wanted things my way but God had other plans for my life. He gave me understanding, and through everything the Lord allowed to happen in my life, He has brought true, Christian friends into my life. I couldn't be more thankful for how the Lord has worked in and through my life.
I'll end this post with a heart felt prayer. . .
Dear heavenly Father,
I want to take this time to thank you for
the amazing people you put into my life.
They have all truly been a blessing and I can't
keep from thanking You enough for them.
For placing them in my life at just the right time.
Because Lord, your timing is always perfect and
and I now understand why you allow things to happen
to people who truly love You and want to follow
Your will in their lives.
Thank you Lord for never leaving my side.
For being me closest Friend in even the hardest times.
...
Lord, please mold me into the person You want me to be.
Please use me as much as You can to be a light in this world.
Above all, everything I say and do, let it honor and glorify You Lord.
And help me make a difference in this world I live in.
I'm sure like 99% of y'all know that hurricane Isaac hit the gulf coast states and more. I have been trying to update all of y'all that follow me on Instagram but I have family and friends that don't follow me on that so I thought I would just do one nice size post telling y'all how things went and what we did. It'll be easier. :D
For this post, I would first like to thank God for not letting any real big damage be done to any of my family, friends, or our home. He has been so good to us and I continue to thank Him for His blessings. When we first saw Isaac's path heading straight for us, our first thought was "Evacuate". But after lots of discussion, we decided not to... We boarded almost every door and window there was on our home, so it felt like living in a cave. Isaac decided to take a long visit over Louisiana and Mississippi. Way longer than we expected... I thought the rain and horribly strong wind would never end. I will never forget the sounds the wind made. . .We lost power a couple times and tried passing our time by talking, praying, and watching the news. We did get tornadoes but they came at night, which was perfectly planned.. God knew that we would really freak out if we could see them during the day. He even thinks about the little things that help us. :D
I think so many people underestimated hurricane Isaac. I think God wanted us to realize that even though it was only a category 1 and then turned back into a tropical depression, that it could cause a lot of damage. My prayers are with everyone who flooded or lost so much in it's path. God is in control and people need to not underestimate God's power. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. And as Isaac hit on the 29th, all I could think of was when Katrina hit. How so many people lost their lives, family members, houses, and so much more. We really need to have compassion on all of those people and send our prayers out to them.
And to that, I want to thank everyone who has sent so many prayers our way. They meant the world to me. I felt so much comfort from every comment you sent me saying you were praying! It was like the Lord giving me a big hug. I can't explain with words the comfort of prayer brings. . I can't thank y'all enough. <3
These two pictures are of our lake that over flowed with water.
Our lake over flowed with water. To the point it breached.
And to that, I think I shall call it a quits. This past week was pretty interesting. But I will continue to pray for anyone else who was affected by hurricane Isaac. I'll leave y'all with this verse below. Someone showed it to me before Isaac hit us. Even though he said it's meant for a spiritual storm, it could go both ways. :)
I want to first start out by saying that I know this "30 Day Challenge" was started in January, and seven months later, I'm still not finished with it. I guess I just had so many other things on my mind to post on here that I had forgotten to finish this challenge. . . Sorry followers. ;D
So a Physical feature that I love! Hmm. . . I think one physical feature that I always look at people first and admire the most has to be their eyes. Each person's eyes are so different than someone else's and each pretty! With our eyes, we see this beautiful world the Lord created for us. The people He placed in our lives.. And we get to read His word and learn so many things with our eyes.
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"
~ Matthew 6:22-23 ~
How true! Let us see the good things the Lord has given us to see and filter out the bad. . . For then our eyes will have no darkness but will be healthy and full of light!! :D . . . So these three pictures are all taken by my sister, Katey. She is an Amazing photographer and you should really check out her photography blog! ( click here ). . .
observe how each one is different (except for the three pictures of my little cousin whom I just had to put three photos of because she is just too adorable ;D )
~ Megan ~
This post is taken over by all girls photos. haha, I am glad I found this one photo of my dear cousin, Andrew! ( Katey, note to self..get more guy models ;P )
~ Me w/ my oh so many freckles~
~ Alyse ~
~ Alyse again ~
~ Kayla ~
~ Emily ~
~ Alyse for the last time ;) ~
I can't help but see how beautiful each and every person's eyes are. They tell so much about someone too! So. . . That would have to be my favourite physical feature!
