goodness, the faithfulness of Jesus overwhelms me.
He continues to pursue me in this Divine Romance and I am just so humbled to serve such a lovely King.
"My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." -Psalm 84:2
Praise the one who has saved me from death. You are God. You are good. You are Jesus. Yeshua, I love You. Teach me, oh Jesus teach me. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control. I'm satisfied to hear you say, "You're my child." But my heart yearns for more of You, God. I want MORE of You, God... Reveal Yourself to me. Yeshua, I love You.
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" -1 John 3:1
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
something about Grace...
"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." -Jonah 2:8
when I read through Jonah this past weekend & came across this verse, all I could think was, "dang."
That sentence got to me and has been running through my mind a lot the past few days.
here it is again:
"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." -Jonah 2:8
I don't know about you, but for me these words sting and leave me in a pondering state.
To be quite honest, I can't fully grasp the grace of God. There is just something about Jesus and how He loves His creation so deeply that He chose to die for our sins, that leaves me speechless. There is just something about Jesus and how He is continuously filling our lives & souls up with His incredible grace that leaves me in wonder.
"The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus." -1 Timothy 1:14
what blessed children of God are we to be covered in the Lord's grace?
So then, going back to Jonah 2:8, my question is why would anyone willingly choose to forfeit the grace of God? How do you even begin to forfeit grace?
"...cling to worthless idols..."
Well, I don't bow down to statues, I don't even really obsess over celebrities.
I wrote a blog a while back focusing on the song Clear The Stage by Jimmy Needham. I mainly focused on the chorus saying "worship is more than a song." But this weekend as I read Jonah, I had Clear The Stage on repeat & different lyrics stood out to me.
"We must not worship something that's not even worth it. Clear the stage and make some space for the one who deserves it.
Anything I put before my God is an idol. Anything I want with all my heart is an idol. And anything I can't stop thinking of is an idol. Anything I give all my love is an idol."
All of a sudden idols aren't just big statues and popular celebrities. All of a sudden idols become much more than that. All of a sudden, I'm convicted of idolatry. Thank God for His unending grace flooding through my life.
While many of us are clinging to idols, my attention is drawn to Romans 12:9.
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."
I can assure you that JESUS IS GOOD. Draw close to His heart & cling ever so tightly to the King.
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through His redemption that came by Christ Jesus." -Romans 3:23-24
the truth found in this hymn humbles me:
"amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see."
We, little bitty humans, are rescued by the grace of Christ. We are redeemed by the grace of Christ. I fail Jesus daily, yet He continues to pursue this little heart of mine. Oh how He loves us.
"...if grace is an ocean then we're all sinking..."
Jesus,
I ask You reveal a little more of Your grace to me as You continue to teach me to live this life for You. Teach me to cling tightly to You, for You are the one true definition of good. I love You.
-me.
"Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love." -Ephesians 6:24
when I read through Jonah this past weekend & came across this verse, all I could think was, "dang."
That sentence got to me and has been running through my mind a lot the past few days.
here it is again:
"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." -Jonah 2:8
I don't know about you, but for me these words sting and leave me in a pondering state.
To be quite honest, I can't fully grasp the grace of God. There is just something about Jesus and how He loves His creation so deeply that He chose to die for our sins, that leaves me speechless. There is just something about Jesus and how He is continuously filling our lives & souls up with His incredible grace that leaves me in wonder.
"The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus." -1 Timothy 1:14
what blessed children of God are we to be covered in the Lord's grace?
So then, going back to Jonah 2:8, my question is why would anyone willingly choose to forfeit the grace of God? How do you even begin to forfeit grace?
"...cling to worthless idols..."
Well, I don't bow down to statues, I don't even really obsess over celebrities.
I wrote a blog a while back focusing on the song Clear The Stage by Jimmy Needham. I mainly focused on the chorus saying "worship is more than a song." But this weekend as I read Jonah, I had Clear The Stage on repeat & different lyrics stood out to me.
"We must not worship something that's not even worth it. Clear the stage and make some space for the one who deserves it.
Anything I put before my God is an idol. Anything I want with all my heart is an idol. And anything I can't stop thinking of is an idol. Anything I give all my love is an idol."
All of a sudden idols aren't just big statues and popular celebrities. All of a sudden idols become much more than that. All of a sudden, I'm convicted of idolatry. Thank God for His unending grace flooding through my life.
While many of us are clinging to idols, my attention is drawn to Romans 12:9.
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."
I can assure you that JESUS IS GOOD. Draw close to His heart & cling ever so tightly to the King.
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through His redemption that came by Christ Jesus." -Romans 3:23-24
the truth found in this hymn humbles me:
"amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see."
We, little bitty humans, are rescued by the grace of Christ. We are redeemed by the grace of Christ. I fail Jesus daily, yet He continues to pursue this little heart of mine. Oh how He loves us.
"...if grace is an ocean then we're all sinking..."
Jesus,
I ask You reveal a little more of Your grace to me as You continue to teach me to live this life for You. Teach me to cling tightly to You, for You are the one true definition of good. I love You.
-me.
"Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love." -Ephesians 6:24
Saturday, February 23, 2013
sense God.
Today I woke up to silence with the sun shining through my blinds & I was in an incredibly good mood.
After a few minutes of just laying there, I decided to flip open my Bible and read through a few random Psalms. I read quite a few this morning, but one in particular was Psalm 34. [you should go read it really quickly. it's one of my favs]
I've read through this chapter many times, it's marked up in pink highlighter and light blue pen in my Bible. This morning though, I read through these verses not thinking much about their lovely truth and then moved on to a different chapter. Little did I know, that God was going to humble me greatly with these verses in just a few short hours.
Early this afternoon, my family went to Lamesa to watch a movie. I drove the 40 miles with my family silently doing different things in the back seat.
For those of you that know me, you know that I think WAY too much & driving always gives my brain an opportunity to think even more! haha I'm quite the scatter brain, so I don't know I ended up back on the subject of Psalm 34, but God kept my mind wandering over those words. Especially verse 8.
"Taste and see the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."
I was stuck on taste and see.
Taste and see?? Why did David, a wise man, choose to use the words, "Taste and see The Lord is good..."?
I guess David simply wanted to make the point that you can sense God's goodness through every little thing.
And then of course, I kept thinking. How exactly do I sense God?!
There are 5 senses: seeing, tasting, hearing, smelling, and feeling.
Well if you can "taste and see" that God is good then you can sense that He is good with other things too.
I HEAR the sound of wind, giggles, instrumental music, singing, crying, clapping, conversations, and laughter. All of these tend to remind me that Jesus is good.
I SMELL candles and perfumes, but I also smell flowers and rain. Those tend to remind me that Jesus is good.
I FEEL different surfaces, a person's shirt when I hug, people's hand during a high-five. But I also FEEL different things in my heart. Emotions of happiness, awe, love, compassion, and peace and am reminded that Jesus is good.
I TASTE mainly just different foods. Some of which taste reallyyyy good! haha But God provides me with nutrition daily. I taste and am reminded, Jesus is good.
I SEE people living life, nature, pictures & paintings, sunsets & sunrises, smiles, and wonderful suprises. All of these things remind me that Jesus is good.
I'm humbled that The Lord created these five senses ultimately to endlessly remind His children that JESUS IS GOOD.
Romans 1:20 says,
"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
For a long time I wondered how God could possibly think humans could simply KNOW there is a God who loves us and created us to love Him in return. I think I get it now though.
we humans can sense God because with all of His goodness, He has allowed us to sense Him.
So go ahead,
hear, smell, feel, taste, and see.
Jesus, and all He is, is good.
Jesus,
-teach me to continuously sense Your presence, Lord.
I see you face in every sunrise. The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes. The world awakens in the light of the day and I look up to the sky and say, You're beautiful. Yes, you Lord are good & you Lord, are beautiful. I love You. Oh I dearly love You.
After a few minutes of just laying there, I decided to flip open my Bible and read through a few random Psalms. I read quite a few this morning, but one in particular was Psalm 34. [you should go read it really quickly. it's one of my favs]
I've read through this chapter many times, it's marked up in pink highlighter and light blue pen in my Bible. This morning though, I read through these verses not thinking much about their lovely truth and then moved on to a different chapter. Little did I know, that God was going to humble me greatly with these verses in just a few short hours.
Early this afternoon, my family went to Lamesa to watch a movie. I drove the 40 miles with my family silently doing different things in the back seat.
For those of you that know me, you know that I think WAY too much & driving always gives my brain an opportunity to think even more! haha I'm quite the scatter brain, so I don't know I ended up back on the subject of Psalm 34, but God kept my mind wandering over those words. Especially verse 8.
"Taste and see the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."
I was stuck on taste and see.
Taste and see?? Why did David, a wise man, choose to use the words, "Taste and see The Lord is good..."?
I guess David simply wanted to make the point that you can sense God's goodness through every little thing.
And then of course, I kept thinking. How exactly do I sense God?!
There are 5 senses: seeing, tasting, hearing, smelling, and feeling.
Well if you can "taste and see" that God is good then you can sense that He is good with other things too.
I HEAR the sound of wind, giggles, instrumental music, singing, crying, clapping, conversations, and laughter. All of these tend to remind me that Jesus is good.
I SMELL candles and perfumes, but I also smell flowers and rain. Those tend to remind me that Jesus is good.
I FEEL different surfaces, a person's shirt when I hug, people's hand during a high-five. But I also FEEL different things in my heart. Emotions of happiness, awe, love, compassion, and peace and am reminded that Jesus is good.
I TASTE mainly just different foods. Some of which taste reallyyyy good! haha But God provides me with nutrition daily. I taste and am reminded, Jesus is good.
I SEE people living life, nature, pictures & paintings, sunsets & sunrises, smiles, and wonderful suprises. All of these things remind me that Jesus is good.
I'm humbled that The Lord created these five senses ultimately to endlessly remind His children that JESUS IS GOOD.
Romans 1:20 says,
"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
For a long time I wondered how God could possibly think humans could simply KNOW there is a God who loves us and created us to love Him in return. I think I get it now though.
we humans can sense God because with all of His goodness, He has allowed us to sense Him.
So go ahead,
hear, smell, feel, taste, and see.
Jesus, and all He is, is good.
Jesus,
-teach me to continuously sense Your presence, Lord.
I see you face in every sunrise. The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes. The world awakens in the light of the day and I look up to the sky and say, You're beautiful. Yes, you Lord are good & you Lord, are beautiful. I love You. Oh I dearly love You.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
the worries of Winter & the flowers of Spring.
"...I walk to the meadow and stare at the flowers better dressed than any girl on her wedding day. So why do I worry? Why do I freak out? God knows what I need. You know what I need. Your love is, Your love is, Your love is strong ... Two things you told me That you are strong And you love me. Yes, You love me..."
-Jon Foreman
my soul has weary and worrisome Winter days here and there. those days always end up reminding me of Jesus' love and grace. my soul also has days filled with the flowers of Spring. those days also always remind me of Jesus' love and grace, but in a different way. it's neat how God works. i'm in awe of His wonder. i'm satisfied with the greatness of The Lord. my soul is overwhelmed with this marvelous God of the sweetest, strongest love.
"One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard:
that You, O God, are strong,
And that You, O God, are loving." -Psalm 62:11-12a
-Jon Foreman
my soul has weary and worrisome Winter days here and there. those days always end up reminding me of Jesus' love and grace. my soul also has days filled with the flowers of Spring. those days also always remind me of Jesus' love and grace, but in a different way. it's neat how God works. i'm in awe of His wonder. i'm satisfied with the greatness of The Lord. my soul is overwhelmed with this marvelous God of the sweetest, strongest love.
"One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard:
that You, O God, are strong,
And that You, O God, are loving." -Psalm 62:11-12a
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
restful days.
today I am thankful for rest. today I am thankful for restful days.
so often in this life, I find myself in a place of stress and worry. I find myself tired and weary.
so often in this life, I find myself straying away from the feet of Jesus and becoming less & less focused on all He is, on all He does.
so often in this life, I find myself forgetting the peace Jesus provides. I find myself denying the rest only the Lord can give.
today I am thankful for sweet promises spoken by Jesus.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28
such a simple, yet beautiful promise. "...and I will give you rest."
I can't get over that phrase.
my heart is overwhelmed and satisfied by the peace I find in the rest provided by the Lord.
Psalm 62:1says, "Truly my soul find rest in God; my salvation comes from him."
today I am thankful for a God who breaks through the sorrows of this world and provides rest.
and gives salvation.
and pours out love.
so often in this life, I find myself in a place of stress and worry. I find myself tired and weary.
so often in this life, I find myself straying away from the feet of Jesus and becoming less & less focused on all He is, on all He does.
so often in this life, I find myself forgetting the peace Jesus provides. I find myself denying the rest only the Lord can give.
today I am thankful for sweet promises spoken by Jesus.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28
such a simple, yet beautiful promise. "...and I will give you rest."
I can't get over that phrase.
my heart is overwhelmed and satisfied by the peace I find in the rest provided by the Lord.
Psalm 62:1says, "Truly my soul find rest in God; my salvation comes from him."
today I am thankful for a God who breaks through the sorrows of this world and provides rest.
and gives salvation.
and pours out love.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
diving in deep.
what I haven't mentioned in my past few blogs is that Will Reagan & the United Pursuit recently came out with the new album, Endless Years.
[It. is. golden. and. I. loveeee. it. :D]
my favorite song on the album is probably "Give Me A Song," [you definitely need to look it up].
one of the lines in the song says,
"...sink or swim, I'm diving in to the passion of Your heart where love starts..."
this little phrase stands out to me every time I listen to the song, which is quite a bit. throughout the past year, I've developed this little image about my relationship with Jesus. I've got to tell a little story for it to make sense though.
so on the block where I lived for eleven years up until this Summer, there is a yard with almost solid concrete. for some reason this yard always got the best rain puddles after a thunderstorm. my sisters & I, along with all the neighborhood kids, used to ride our bikes as fast as we could through the water. but, we also would set down our bikes, take off our shoes, roll up our pants, & splash and dance around in these glorious rain puddles.
I picture my relationship with Jesus like this. it all started by dancing in the rain puddles. it all started by making a mess and splashing around in this glorious divine romance.
what you probably don't know is I have also spent the last eleven years of my life living across the street from the public pool. [there was never a quite Summer day, if you were wondering.]
so here my friends & I were splashing around in these rain puddles across the street from a giant public pool never once even acknowledging the irony.
I picture my relationship with Jesus like this. I continuously splash around in rain puddles of faith not acknowledging the fact that i could be diving into deep waters right across the street.
I have this image in my head of a little girl splashing around in rain puddles on a dull cloudy day.
I also have this image in my head of a little girl diving into this pool ungracefully. that's right. as ungraceful as possible this little girl dives into the deep end of a pool and immediately gets soaked in this freezing cold water & still chooses to get out and repeat this anything but pretty, dive.
over & over & over, she does this.
I picture my relationship with Jesus like this. I ungracefully dive into His loving heart & immediately get soaked up in His glorious passion. over & over & over, I do this.
but, sometimes I get 'tired.' as much as I hate to say this, sometimes I don't want to dive into Jesus' heart.
I also have this image in my head of water being dumped on this little girl. again, she is immediately soaked, but didn't do anything to be soaked. water was poured on top of her. over & over & over again.
I picture my relationship with Jesus like this. God is constantly, [whether I am diving in or not], pouring His love & forgiveness all over me. over & over & over again.
Jesus is so good to me. Jesus is too good to me.
"...God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit..." -Romans 5:5
"Many waters cannot quench this love; rivers cannot wash it away." -Song of Songs 8:7
Jesus,
give me a song to sing & will sing it to you, oh God. sink or swim, I'm diving into the passion of your heart where love starts.
-ungraceful little me.
[It. is. golden. and. I. loveeee. it. :D]
my favorite song on the album is probably "Give Me A Song," [you definitely need to look it up].
one of the lines in the song says,
"...sink or swim, I'm diving in to the passion of Your heart where love starts..."
this little phrase stands out to me every time I listen to the song, which is quite a bit. throughout the past year, I've developed this little image about my relationship with Jesus. I've got to tell a little story for it to make sense though.
so on the block where I lived for eleven years up until this Summer, there is a yard with almost solid concrete. for some reason this yard always got the best rain puddles after a thunderstorm. my sisters & I, along with all the neighborhood kids, used to ride our bikes as fast as we could through the water. but, we also would set down our bikes, take off our shoes, roll up our pants, & splash and dance around in these glorious rain puddles.
I picture my relationship with Jesus like this. it all started by dancing in the rain puddles. it all started by making a mess and splashing around in this glorious divine romance.
what you probably don't know is I have also spent the last eleven years of my life living across the street from the public pool. [there was never a quite Summer day, if you were wondering.]
so here my friends & I were splashing around in these rain puddles across the street from a giant public pool never once even acknowledging the irony.
I picture my relationship with Jesus like this. I continuously splash around in rain puddles of faith not acknowledging the fact that i could be diving into deep waters right across the street.
I have this image in my head of a little girl splashing around in rain puddles on a dull cloudy day.
I also have this image in my head of a little girl diving into this pool ungracefully. that's right. as ungraceful as possible this little girl dives into the deep end of a pool and immediately gets soaked in this freezing cold water & still chooses to get out and repeat this anything but pretty, dive.
over & over & over, she does this.
I picture my relationship with Jesus like this. I ungracefully dive into His loving heart & immediately get soaked up in His glorious passion. over & over & over, I do this.
but, sometimes I get 'tired.' as much as I hate to say this, sometimes I don't want to dive into Jesus' heart.
I also have this image in my head of water being dumped on this little girl. again, she is immediately soaked, but didn't do anything to be soaked. water was poured on top of her. over & over & over again.
I picture my relationship with Jesus like this. God is constantly, [whether I am diving in or not], pouring His love & forgiveness all over me. over & over & over again.
Jesus is so good to me. Jesus is too good to me.
"...God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit..." -Romans 5:5
"Many waters cannot quench this love; rivers cannot wash it away." -Song of Songs 8:7
Jesus,
give me a song to sing & will sing it to you, oh God. sink or swim, I'm diving into the passion of your heart where love starts.
-ungraceful little me.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
beautiful little friendships.
the past two days have been very good for my heart. i spent the majority of the past two days in Lamesa, which was just wonderful. on the forty minute drive home i had time to think, and all i could really think about were my friends. my dear, sweet friends. what lovely blessings each and everyone of my friends are to me.
i think that's been one of the hardest and neatest things about moving. i've begun to realize just how much time and energy you pour into friendships, but i've also realized how worth the time and energy is. plus i've gained new little friendships which aren't near as strong, but i know that even new friendships will turn out beautiful some day.
the past two days, i've gotten to see quite a few 'old' friends. some i expected to see and some were unexpected run-ins at the perfect time. i have enjoyed talking to each one of these friends and basically just being with them.
the past two days, i've also had quite a lot of friends i didn't get to see, but those little friendships are still such a blessing in my life. goodness, friends are so good for the heart.
God has poured all of this love into my life and so much of that love comes from these beautiful little friendships. i've learned so much from my friends. i've learned so much about God and His love from my friends. God has [and continues to] blessed me with such sweet people in my life. such sweet friends and family. goodness, i love all of these dear people.
so as i sat in the car for forty minutes tonight, i thought about how loved i am. about how blessed i am. about how thankful i am for all God continues to pour over me. He is such a gracious and loving God. He is constantly blowing my mind at all i have to be thankful for.
but, tonight, i am especially thankful for sweet friends.
tonight, i am especially thankful for the blessings i have in all of my beautiful little friendships.
"A friend loves at all times..." -Proverbs 17:17
i think that's been one of the hardest and neatest things about moving. i've begun to realize just how much time and energy you pour into friendships, but i've also realized how worth the time and energy is. plus i've gained new little friendships which aren't near as strong, but i know that even new friendships will turn out beautiful some day.
the past two days, i've gotten to see quite a few 'old' friends. some i expected to see and some were unexpected run-ins at the perfect time. i have enjoyed talking to each one of these friends and basically just being with them.
the past two days, i've also had quite a lot of friends i didn't get to see, but those little friendships are still such a blessing in my life. goodness, friends are so good for the heart.
God has poured all of this love into my life and so much of that love comes from these beautiful little friendships. i've learned so much from my friends. i've learned so much about God and His love from my friends. God has [and continues to] blessed me with such sweet people in my life. such sweet friends and family. goodness, i love all of these dear people.
so as i sat in the car for forty minutes tonight, i thought about how loved i am. about how blessed i am. about how thankful i am for all God continues to pour over me. He is such a gracious and loving God. He is constantly blowing my mind at all i have to be thankful for.
but, tonight, i am especially thankful for sweet friends.
tonight, i am especially thankful for the blessings i have in all of my beautiful little friendships.
"A friend loves at all times..." -Proverbs 17:17
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