Category Archives: Inspiration
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In case you ever wondered…
1. I believe God created everything.
2. I believe Jesus is both human & divine.
3. I believe Jesus died in our place for our sin.
4. I believe there is nothing we can do to impress God or to make Him love us more.
5. I believe we are saved by God’s grace by believing in Jesus’s sacrifice.
6. I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God.
7. I believe the Bible is the final authority in all matters.
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit.
9. I believe God sends His Spirit to convict people of their sin.
10. I believe God gives His Spirit to those who believe in Him.
11. I believe Jesus is coming back for His followers.
12. I believe the Church will spend eternity with God.
13. I believe God will judge the world through Jesus (Acts 17).
14. I believe the Church is the hope of the world.
15. I believe God’s glory is the greatest thing.
16. I believe God is about being glorified above everything else.
17. I believe the followers of Jesus regularly repent of sin.
18. I believe we should forgive one another in the same way Jesus forgives us.
19. I believe we are called to live holy lives.
20. I believe God is holy.
21. I believe we should care for the poor.
22. I believe truth is not relative.
23. I believe giving is natural for the followers of Jesus.
24. I believe the cost of following Jesus is worth it.
25. I believe worship is really important; it’s more than singing–it’s a heart & mind devoted to the things of God.
26. I believe we should be on guard against religious righteousness.
27. I believe discipleship happens best at home.
28. I believe we are called to share our faith in Jesus with others; the story you are called to share is the story of what God is doing in your life.
29. I believe people who don’t believe in Jesus will spend eternity in Hell.
30. I believe missions happen because worship doesn’t.
31. I believe God humbles the proud and gives grace to the humble.
32. I believe in submitting to one another.
33. I believe in reading the Scripture.
34. I believe in memorizing the Scripture.
35. I believe in taking all of our anxiety to God in prayer.
36. I believe in sharing one another’s burdens.
37. I believe in living life together.
38. I believe the followers of Jesus are new creations.
39. I believe the mission of Jesus is worth any sacrifice.
What do YOU believe?
Matthew 6:26
Welp, it seems that I haven’t done a great job at sticking to all of my resolutions (namely, #13. Post a blog at least once/week). I guess I’ll need to work on that. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about God’s provision a lot lately. I have a tendency to worry about a lot of things– my relationship with God, my family, relationships, school, friendships, making sure I’m taking good care of myself, and probably more. A few weeks ago, I pulled into my driveway, looked to my left, and saw a bird sitting on the ledge of a stone wall. The first thing that popped into my mind was Matthew 6:26; God provides for all living creatures in one way or another. Why would I think that he isn’t going to take care of me, one of His children? No matter how big my problems or concerns may seem, I need to relax & learn to trust that God will take care of them and me. So today I’m thankful for all the ways that God has provided for me and will continue to provide for me, all the undeserved blessings He’s given me, and for His saving grace.
Heyyy, 2011!
With less than 3 hours left in 2010, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect a little bit on the past year. I can’t believe how much has changed and how much I’ve grown since this time last year. Although there have been a lot of ups & downs and I still have a long way to go, I’m choosing to celebrate what God has done in me so far. I’m happier, more confident, and more responsible. I have a better idea of what I want in a career, a husband, a family, and life in general. Most importantly, I’ve grown closer to God, and I have a better understanding of what being a Christian is all about: accepting God’s grace and living out of the overflow of His love, which He makes very apparent..
While driving back to Stillwater today, “Never Let Go” by David Crowder Band came on the radio. I started singing along, and out of nowhere, I started crying. The sunset was beautiful, and I felt like God made it just for me to enjoy on my drive. I felt totally in love with God, and it was one of those moments that I wish I could bottle up and experience every day. I hope to have more of those moments in 2011, and I pray that everyone will experience the type of joy that comes from being God’s child 🙂
On that note, here are my goals for 2011..
1. Grow in my relationship with God by making it a point to spend time with Him each day
2. Work on being honest with myself & God
3. Read through the whole Bible
4. Maintain a healthy lifestyle
5. Run a half-marathon
6. Smile & laugh more
7. Establish stronger friendships
8. Do a better job of prioritizing my time and activities
9. Live on a budget
10. Complete 3 Bible studies
11. Write the first 3 chapters of my dissertation
12. Simplify; get rid of things that aren’t useful, beautiful, or cherished
13. Post a blog at least once/week
14. Learn to crochet (Already did this over Christmas break.. soo I’m changing this goal to “Crochet a whole afghan” 🙂 )
God bless everyone, and happy 2011!!
Unfailing Love
I’m currently working through a really great Bible study.. Breaking Free by Beth Moore. This week’s them is “God’s Unfailing Love.” It’s weird because I wasn’t able to do the Bible study for a couple of weeks, and the timing for this week worked out perfectly. (Side note: Why is it that whenever something that seems to be a God thing happens, Christians tend to describe it as being “weird” as if it happened by chance? Hmm.. maybe it’s just me. Anyway..) Today’s lesson started out with Beth talking about parenthood and how she didn’t realize she had such a capacity to love until her daughters were born. Then, she mentioned that a child psychologist once explained the tension or conflict that happens when children are teenagers as being necessary in order for parents to let their children go when it’s time; “If the bond we had with them as infants did not change, we would never be able to let them go.” Then she moved on to the connection to God.. “All our lives God retains the strong feelings toward us that infants evoke in their parents.” Since I don’t have children, I can’t totally comprehend this, but I would imagine it’s a pretty amazing feeling–one that I hope to experience someday. However, I have experienced the love that my mom has for me and I have to say that I can’t imagine anyone else loving me more than she does. So to know that God loves all of us infinitely more than my mom can even comprehend loving me really blows my mind.
The study continued with some exercises that included the following verses:
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38-39
“What a man desires is unfailing love.” – Proverbs 19:22
After talking about Proverbs 19:22, we had to write down our view of “unfailing love.” Instantly, I thought of the love a husband should have for his wife.. unconditional, strong, real, true, persistent, giving, protective, understanding, supportive, passionate, eager.. forever..
Then came 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, which sounded very similar to the list I wrote out.. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it 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.”
Then Beth wrote, “Paul described agape love as a supernatural love that only God fully possesses and only God can give…The only way we can love with agape love is to pour everything else from our hearts and ask God to make them pitchers of His agape. Before we can even begin to give God-love away, we’ve got to fully accept it. God loves you with perfect love.”
I instantly thought, “This is my problem.” I don’t know how to accept love, especially from men, because I’ve been hurt so much and so deeply. I’m scared to really let anyone in. Even God.
Then, we read 1 John 4:18.. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
When I flipped to that verse, I already had it outlined so I had obviously read that verse in the past. But it has never hit me so hard as it did today. “There is no fear in perfect love.” I came to a huge realization.. if God has marriage in my future, I won’t be scared when I meet the right person. That is huge for me.
But before, I can be ready to love another person and let them in, I have to let God in. Lately, I’ve been praying, not intentionally and not in the same words, Psalm 51:6.. “Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.”
I want to let God go to the deepest parts of my heart where I don’t let anyone go because I’m too scared. I really need to start asking God for more help with this because, as Beth described it, “if we don’t allow God’s truth to take up full residence in our hearts, we may learn just enough to move out of one prison into another.” I can really relate to this, and I’m guessing anyone who’s reading this has been through this at one time or another. Instead of really opening up and letting God take control, you keep moving from one thing to another, trying to find peace and contentment.
There was a question written on the page that I was not expecting.. “Have you ever feared that someone would cease loving you?” I felt something shift inside of me, and my heart & mind let out a resounding, “YES!” Then I read Beth’s reflection on it and could completely relate.. “Not only have I feared it, I’ve experienced it! God has carefully and graciously allowed some of my fears to come true so that I would discover that I would not disintegrate. I’ve experience a few things I was sure would destroy me. But guess what? They didn’t. Not because I’m so strong, but because God taught me to survive on His unfailing love. It wasn’t fun, but it was transforming.”
I think we all lose perspective sometimes, especially in the thick of a difficult circumstance. Everything that happens to us has to go through God’s hands first. He won’t give us any hurt, pain, or heartache that we can’t handle with His help. That’s an especially hard thing for me to understand & remember along with the fact that God loves us unconditionally. “God’s works change, but His love stays simple, steady, and strong.” I feel like I’m meant to love someone as I have in the past.. with my whole heart. But more than that, I feel like I’m meant to love someone with absolute, fearless abandon; I know that “Someone” is God, but whether there’s another “someone,” I don’t know. I just know I’m meant to love and love better & stronger than I ever have.
What Life is All About..
John Wooden, former basketball coach at UCLA, died today. He was 99 years old. Apparently he was a really good basketball coach, but I think this video says more about him than his record does. I feel so blessed to have seen this, and I hope everyone who watches it will feel the same.
Wow. What an amazing man. He had one college coaching job for 28 years, was married to the only woman he ever kissed for 53 years, and lived in the same city for 61 years. He was 14 the last time he used profanity and had his last drink in 1932. It’s strange that if someone lived this way in today’s world, many people would probably say they were too straitlaced. It’s so refreshing to see a man who followed God to the best of his ability and was a role model to so many people. I would definitely encourage everyone to read more about him, his pyramid of success, and his seven-point creed. I am so thankful for people like John Wooden; I’ve kind of just realize that a person doesn’t have to do some huge and spectacular thing with their lives to touch the lives of others.. following God is enough. Seeing the way this man lived his life makes me want to be a better person and reinforces the true reason why we’re all here.. to love.
Here are some of his quotes:
— “I have always tried to make it clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior.”
— “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
— “If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me”
— “Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.”
— “Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters.”
— “There are many things that are essential to arriving at true peace of mind, and one of the most important is faith, which cannot be acquired without prayer.”
— “What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player.”
— “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”
— “You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.”
— “Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.”
Broken Into Wholeness 