Showers of blessings

I have a question for you. Did you take time to thank God for His many blessings today? I know it’s difficult, even though it should be anything but difficult. We get so caught up and consumed in our busy, day-to-day lives that we fail miserably in recognizing God’s grace on our lives. For the past year, God has really been teaching me to “open my eyes” (no Brandon Heath…I love your song but I hear it on the radio 100 times day) to the blessings He pours on me each and every day. It’s funny because as I look back, I can see how routine my life has always been. I mean, when you’re in high school and your life consists of after school practices, homework, and church, it gets a tad bit repetitive. As I’ve transitioned to the “college life” (oh, so grandiose!) that routine has been shaken up a bit. I have found myself having more time to stop and look around at life. Today, I found out that my speech class for tomorrow was canceled. (yaaaaay!) It’s a fun class, but a lot of work. To sum up a long and rather boring story, my group has had to move our date for our group speech 2 times. I am not a patient person, those of you who know me know this all too well. And I am not the biggest fan of having to speak in front of people. (No, no, I can handle it; it’s just not something I would choose to do.) Any way, when I found out that class was canceled for this past week, I “jokingly yet seriously,” (if there is such a tone) said, “Thank You, thank You, thank You! The Lord LOVES me!!!” I have no idea why my class was canceled…I was blessed with the extra time to study for a test that I definitely needed the added time to do so. But in all seriousness, why not take the fact that your class was canceled as a blessing from God? The past 2 days at work I have gotten the closest parking spots to the door. (That sounds incredibly lazy, and I suppose it is….it was raining one of those days so I will use that as my excuse.) Life can be a whole lot more pleasant if we simply learn to acknowledge God throughout the day. How about when you catch that green light as you’re rushing home from a long day at school…or even when you have all the time in the world. I think if we learned to include God in our lives more than we presently do we would be SHOCKED to see how our days would turn out. What kind of relationship lasts when all you do is take? For the majority of the time that’s how we handle our relationship with God. I’ve “blogged” about it before, and here I am writing about it again: take the time to see God’s movements around you. When a stranger smiles at you and you have no idea why. When you see a college student reading his bible in the library or when your friend chooses to stick to her convictions rather than follow what everyone else is doing. When you’re given the opportunity for friendship, or when you are able bodied to bump around a volleyball; Thank the God who gives you all that you have and take the time to tell Him thank You. Be blessed and look for His blessings...you'll find them.

Just say no?

You know, we can be pretty mindless at times. (Yes, I’m referring to not only myself but to you as well.) God does so much for His children and most of the time we completely fail at giving Him the praise, honor, and glory He deserves. The amazing thing about it is that He still loves us just as much as He always has. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “ No temptation has overtaken you such as is common to man; and God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” What does that verse mean to you? If someone asked you what it meant, what would you say? How about, “God will not give us anything we can’t handle. He will help us get through everything that comes our way.” Great Sunday school answer! Not only is it a great Sunday school answer, but it’s true; however, that’s not all that can be squeezed out of that verse. It’s a treaty, a declaration of hope between God and His children. I’m going to quote a sentence or two out of a book that I’m reading for the Bible study I have been involved in called, Self Confrontation. I would try and rephrase it for you, but I feel that if I attempted to put it into my own words that I would loosen the depth of the thought and you would miss a great truth. “God will not allow believers to be tested or tempted beyond what they can bear. He gives you His grace and strength to endure every test and resist every temptation so that you never have to sin.” Yes, you read that correctly. When we trust Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, He gives us hope that screams, “Your old self is gone. He is dead!” We are now being conformed to the image of Christ. Every trial and tribulation we go through is brought about to bring endurance to our lives so we may run the race and not only finish but finish strong. When we are faced with the temptation to sin…we don’t have to sin. “Oh, but you see, it’s just too hard. I’ve tried saying no, I’ve tried to ignore it and let it pass, but it never does. I simply can’t do it.” That’s where you’re wrong my friend. The minute God writes your name down in the Lambs Book of Life, the minute you accept His as God of your life, He automatically provides you with the goods, the ability, and the power, however you wish to phrase it, to defeat sin and temptation. So when we do sin, it’s our own choice. There is no one to blame but ourselves. I simply want to challenge you to think about this key concept and essential truth in the life of a believer. Jesus was 100% man and 100% God. When He lived here on earth, He was just like us. He went through the same challenges, temptations, and disappointments as we do…yet He didn’t sin. We are humans in a lost, broken, dying, and sinful world. Even though we are present in this tragic time, we are being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Therefore, if we are becoming more like Him, then the reality of God enabling us to where we never have to sin isn’t such a mind boggling idea. We are still going to sin…every day, ever person, until we are united with our Father in Heaven. But what a thought…He really is conforming us as His sons and daughters…just like Jesus.

Love God, Love others

God never leaves you hanging. Thank goodness He doesn’t! He takes us through life, showing us great and mighty things; He teaches and gives us the opportunity to learn. Life lessons aren’t always the easiest or most fun to sit through. I’d rather sit through a days worth of lectures on chemistry than have to swallow my arrogance and pride in order to learn, yet again, another lesson in life. But life isn’t supposed to be like that. We aren’t to dread being taught or despise the “empty and mundane” tasks of life. Ecclesiastes 2:24 and 3:12-13 say, “There is nothing better for a man to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.” “ I know that there is nothing better for them to rejoice and to do good in ones lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor – it is the gift of God.” In everything we do, we should be bringing praise and honor to God. Our life shouldn’t be filled with tediousness, but joy. This quote places those verses into perspective: "Our obedience and love for God are demonstrated not so much in situations where it is EASY to obey, but often in the ROUTINE, mundane, and seemingly UNPLEASENT tasks of life." (Self Confrontation wb) I mean, think about it. When I have to pay $2.75 for gas, my heart doesn’t tend to leap for joy. When I’m given 3 tests in 1 week, my heart sinks and I want quit. When I walk into my room and it’s a mess, I just want to turn around and walk right back out. What we really should be experiencing is a desire for obedience. Pump your gas, and don’t complain; God PROVIDES. Study for your tests and be wise with your time; when it’s time to routinely clean your room and do laundry, do it with joy. Sometimes God will take you to a similar place of failure so you may experience VICTORY through Him. It isn’t easy facing the music of a familiar horror film from your past; and giving up your own fleshly desires for the sake of obedience may not ever seem like the high road…but there’s a purpose. View each and every opportunity as a chance to be an obedient servant to the One who gave His life for you. Love God and love others.

There's a Purpose to The Madness

Romans 8:28 – “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His service.” I’ve memorized that verse 100 different times, for 100 different purposes. Today, I finally grasped a hold of what it means. A very dear friend of mine was at a conference this past January called Passion. One of the speakers at the conference was Beth Moore. I’ve grown up hearing about Beth Moore from my mom and you cannot grow up in a Baptist church without at least hearing her name. My friend gave me a copy of a message that she spoke at the conference and as I listened to It, I literally felt like God was speaking directly to me. (Wonderful experience by the way) So, since I’m this little writer girl, who apparently looks like she’s 14, (according to the lady at Ross) I figured I would enlighten you on how God spoke to my heart in hopes of encouraging you. (Well, those few people who actually take time and read my posts, thank you.) Each of us has gone through different things in our lives. We’ve all had those “trials” and “testy” times in our life where we’ve fallen hard and had our faces against the pavement. (It hurts, by the way.) This verse in Romans talks about God causing everything in our lives to work together for the good, to accomplish a purpose. This was put into an entire new perspective for me. The things in our past that we have gone through play an essential role in who we are going to become for Christ. There are certain things that we get from those uncertain circumstances that allow us to be used by God in a way that if they hadn’t of happened, we would not be able play that certain “role” that we are playing right this very second. God equips us for our purpose by preparing us with life. God wants us to stop despising what He has allowed us to go through and look at it as a roadmap of where we have come and where we are going. If God did not see our circumstance as a way to bring good out of it, He would not have permitted and allowed it to happen. Can you see that? I hope so because it radically changed my thinking. Yes, I know this is part of who God is. He wills that everything we go through have good come from it…but do you know that personally? Because once you truly grasp your heart around it your perspective of life will be radically changed. I’ve been there, I have friends who have been there and who are here in this exact place, right now. Life is crashing down around you. You have no idea why you are where you are. What’s the purpose of “here,” and your learning to trust God completely…in everything. It’s not easy and it isn’t the most glorious adventure to begin embarking on. But you know what? It becomes the most glorious adventure when you embark on obedience to God. He will take you where you’ve never dreamt of being. So even in the midst of those testy times, I encourage you to know why you’re there. You’re there because God has permitted you to be there. This time in your life will majorly impact who God has planned and willed for you to be. Trust Him. Cling to Him. HE know's what He's doing. I can promise you, He know's a lot better than we do.