conviction

Whoa. It has been a long time since I posted on this thing. Honestly, it is because I got complacent in my faith. I'm fighting it. It's hard, especially as finals time approaches, but praying for discipline has truly helped.

Anyways, enough about me. What's up Jesus?!

(This is going to be short and choppy for two reasons. One-it's straight from my journal. Two-I'm working off of an hour of sleep last night. Gross.)

Check out Romans 12:12

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

Cool. So we've got:

joyful-hope

patient-affliction

faithful-prayer

Without going into much depth, those pairs look great. Joyful hope. Patient affliction. Faithful prayer. Yup, just noticed that.

Anyways..........

Joy:

choice

comes with salvation

happiness

radiant

be joyful always

being in love

Hope:

eagerly waiting

worth it

happy ending

Patient

waiting

not sitting still

say no to complacency

active

Affliction

hard time

being broken

shedding the exterior-painful process

Faithful

confidence

expectant

trust

reliance

Prayer

communication

genuine

humility

All of this is possible through grace. Because of the grace given by the Father, we are able to have salvation which brings joy and hope, helps us to be patient and endure affliction and gives us a reason to hope and pray.

Grace

better than what you deserve

not to be taken for granted

indebted

predestined

cleansed

That is directly connected to God's love

Love

unconditional

satisfying

LIFE CHANGING

Y'all, can people tell? Can people tell that your life has been changed due to the wonders of your Savior?

Why not?

Make War!!

So at camp, we as counselors would say, "Make war!!!" a lot. And when the song came on, we would go nuts and shout, "Ephesians 6!!!" What the junk were we talking about?! The armor of God. Five minutes ago, I plopped open Mac Daddy (MacArthur Bible Commentary) and looked into what this exactly meant. Go to Ephesians 6:10-18. v10-"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might." Ultimately, Satan's power over Christians is already broken! Remember Friday's Bible X about the white horse in Rev. 19? That's what's up!! v11-"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." Put on conveys the idea of permanence, indicating that armor should be the Christian's sustained, life-long attire. Satan's schemes are carried out by his demon hosts. (And this is where I see Sarah B with her demon in a head-lock. Who's your daddy? You are!) v12-" For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Wrestling is hand to hand combat featuring trickery and deception. Fighting this deception requires truth and righteousness. v13-"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having gone all, to stand firm." As Christians we must be obedient by putting it on. The first three pieces were worn continually on the battlefield; the last three were kept ready for use when actual fighting began. Standing firm against the enemy without wavering or falling is the goal. v14-17"Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of piece. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." This is the third time Paul calls Christians to take a firm position in the spiritual battles against Satan. And now, we see what the armor is:

Belt of truth: The soldier wore a tunic of loose-fitting clothing. Since ancient combat was largely hand-to-hand, the tunic was a potential hindrance and danger. The belt cinched up the loose material. The belt that pulls together all the spiritual loose ends is truth.

Breastplate of righteousness: A tough, sleeveless piece of leather or heavy material covered the soldier's full torso, protecting his heart and other vital organs. Because righteousness, or holiness, is such a distinctive characteristic of God Himself, that is the Christian's chief protection against Satan and his schemes.

Boots of the gospel: Roman soldiers wore boots with nails in them to grip the ground in combat. The gospel of peace pertains to the Good News that through Christ believers are at peace with God, and He is on their side.

Shield of faith: This Greek work usually refers to the large shield that protected the soldier's entire body. The believer's continual trust in God's Word and promise is "above all" absolutely necessary to protect Christians from temptations to every sort of sin.

Helmet of salvation: The helmet protected the head, always a major target in battle. This passage is speaking to thsoe who are already saved; therefore, it does not refer to attaining salvation. Rather, since Satan seeks to destroy a believer's assurance of salvation with his weapons of doubt and discouragement, the believer must be as conscious of one's confident status in Christ as being aware of a helmet on the head.

Sword of the Spirit: A sword was the soldier's only weapon. In the same way, God's Word is the only weapon that a believer needs, infinitely more powerful than any of Satan's devices. It's used defensively to fend off Satan's attacks, and offensively to help destroy the enemy's strategies.

There it is! But y'all, this means nothing if you don't apply it! So, go out and MAKE WAR!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs1Sq7M7cIU

Rooted and Grounded in Love

Alright, so Ephesians 3:16-19 has really stuck out to me this past week. So, because it's awesome, why not share it? Duh!

So, background on Ephesians....(and a lot of this stuff is taken from the MacArthur Bible Commentary)

-written by Paul while he was in prison. The location of the prison is debated, but the cool thing is that he is urging these people to keep pursuing God because He's awesome-even though Paul is in chains for it. Whoa-I love it!

-this was written to...Ephesus! Ephesus was an important political, educational and commerical center

-the was written to remind believers of their immeasurable blessings in Jesus; and not only to be thankful for those blessings, but also to live in a manner worthy of them

--***because of this (the blessings received as a believer, Christians are sure to be tempted by Satan to self-satisfaction and complacency.

---Dude, been there done that. Personally testimony time. Camp was such a monument in my spiritual growth and walk with my Savior. Y'all, He wrecked shop on my life in big ways. I am very focused on grades at Baylor because I need the scholarships to go here. I am dedicated to my job (writing sports for the Baylor paper) because that's what I want to do with the rest of my life, and it can open some great doors down the road. And, I am involved in a sorority, which is a great way to make friends and truly get involved on campus. This last year, however, my priorities got super messed up. With God, school, job and sorority, guess which one got put on the back burner. God. I would get so involved with things that I would not spend time with Him daily, and I wouldn't go to church. However, because I am a minister's kid and claimed to be "on fire for Christ," I was prideful and felt like I had to appear that I had everything under control, but I didn't. So, I got to camp and was challenged hard core. God placed me in a group women in Sojo that would really push me and challenge me in my faith. Weeks 7-10, I hit this place in my walk where my relationship with God wasn't like it used to be. I experience God through emotion, passion and feeling. I understood that it's so much more than a feeling, but it was so weird that I wasn't feeling Him during that time. I knew that Scripture was the one thing that would help and fulfill me (as well as sooooo many oreos!) However, Scripture would leave me angry and hurting at the fact that it wasn't like it used to be. It was hard. So hard. However, at the end of it, God shook me and really got me attention. My pride got torn down. I cried in front of people. Bawled. I like to make it seem like I am perfectly fine and have everything together, so when I lost it emotionally, I knew God was wrecking shop on my life. Then, He challenged me. He asked me if my faith was really my own or if I was riding my parents' faith card. I would blindly believe things my dad would tell me about Christianity. Most importantly, He made clear the fact that I had placed Him on the back burner while I put so many other things in front of Him. He told me one of them must go. Awesome. I realized that He wanted me to prove I love and trust Him by getting out of my sorority. Wow. It was hard. I prayed that if He willed, that He could change my heart toward the situation, to remove any emotion towards my sorority. Praise the Lord He has changed my heart! Yes, it is hard sometimes seeing them on campus, but I know that right now, I am in the middle of His will and there's no other place I would rather be! Then, a blessing came from out of nowhere. I knew I needed community in Waco at my church. I met with the college minister on Monday and on Wednesday, I was asked to lead a small group of college students. Shut up! God is so awesome! If ever I begin to doubt my decision to leave my sorority, I remember the awesome opportunity God has given me to speak truth about Him! So, God has been so very good these last few weeks. Do I deserve these blessings? Not at all!!

And, as we did in Sojo all the time...I just went for a good five minutes on a tangent. Cool.

Anyways......now to Ephesians 3:16-19.

"That according to His riches and glory"

His riches are limitless to every believer but shouldn't be our focus. Our focus should be on whose we are, not what we get.

"He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being"

Strength-discipline to study the Word, understand and live by it. Although the outer, physical person becomes weaker with age, the inner, spiritual person should grow stronger through the Holy Spirit, who will energize, revitalize and empower the obedient, committed Christian.

"So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith"

Salvation.

"That you, being rooted and grounded in love"

Rooted. He planted me in His love. Before I was born. He picked me-and not like the last kid on the dodgeball team. I have roots in Him. No strong wind the world throws at me will ever take me from Him. How deep do you want these roots to grow? Roots like a flimsy daffodil or a giant oak?

"May have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth"

These aren't features, but an effort to suggest its vastness and completeness

"And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

To be so strong spiritually, so compelled by divine love, that one is totally dominated by the Lord with nothing left of self. Total devotion allows believers to truly experience the greatness of God.

What's up Jesus?! I love this! Y'all, keep pursuing Christ. He will reveal different things that you never knew!

Pursuit of the Gospel

Has marriage and dating been a desire of my heart? Yes. However, after this summer, I can say that I am totally, completely and overwhelmingly satisfied with my God and my Savior. Is marriage still a desire? Yes. But, only for the sole purpose to bring God glory. He fulfills my every need and provides me with so much. His grace is overwhelming, and He has clothed me in His righteousness. His love for me is overflowing, more than I will ever need. I know I can lean on Him in faith. I know the singleness I am in now is such a gift from Him to sink my roots deeper into who He is. Settling on a boy? Not an option. I'm going to wait for my pitch, whenever it comes. Am I crying right now? A little. Because I deserve none of this. I deserve to have been passed up by this awesome God, but He had other plans in mind. All throughout the Bible, you see glimpses of the gospel. At camp, we found the gospel in the genealogy of Genesis 5. Because I'm an idiot, I didn't write that one down. However, sometimes I feel like God is like Waldo, and I am searching for Him daily. Twenty minutes ago, I found Him. Y'all. Check out the story of finding Isaac a wife in Genesis 24. This is the longest chapter in the book, showing that marriage is important. However, check out verse 6. The servant shouldn't have to get the woman by showing her Isaac; she should come out of faith. My husband should be leaning so far on God that if God weren't real, he would fall on his face. I've got to wait on the Lord. If I trust Him with my eternity, I should trust Him with this. In the end, Rebekah goes back with the servant to marry Isaac. Check out the gospel in all this. The servant was a servant of the father. The father sent him on a mission to go off into a land to declare good news to a chosen bride and tell her the story of a father who had a son. And this father had all of his goods and had given them to his son. And this son had sent out a messenger to find her and preach the good news that you could come be a part of this family and a part of blessing this whole world, but you've got to walk by faith. You've got to go by faith. So there's this climatic moment when they leave it up to Rebekah as she stands in the middle of her family, and they all look at her and say, "Young woman, what are you going to do?" And she says the same thing Abraham did long ago. She says, "I'll go." And she walks by faith with a man of faith until he brings her to that chosen bridegroom who she gets to live with forever.

What's up GOSPEL?!

Y'all, God is so stinkin' good!

Truly Blessed

How many times a day do we use the word blessed? And how many times do we truly understand the meaning? Yes, it is a church word. Sure, it is somewhat synonymous to the word good. The legitimate dictionary definition of the word is this, "blissfully happy or contented." Growing up as a minister's kid, I have heard and used this word countless times, never fully understanding what it truly means.

Whoa.

Check out 1 Peter 1:1-2.

"To God's elect..." What does elect mean? "to pick out, choose"

"Who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father"

foreknowledge? "knowledge of something before it exists or happens"

Shut. Up.

Y'all. Who am I that God thought of me BEFORE I WAS EVER CREATED and chose me to be a part of His family?!

"For it is by grace you hae been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." Eph. 2:8-9.

Salvation is a gift. Do you choose a gift or receive a gift?

"Yet, befoe the twins were bon or had done anything good or bad - in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls - she was told, 'The older will serve the younger.'" Rom 9:11-12.

I could have just as easily not been chosen. Think about it. No matter how much I think life sucks or how much I feel persecuted as a Christian...suck it up! I could be headed to hell, but the great I Am CHOSE ME and gave me life, victory, hope, happiness, joy..............

So, the term Christian should be taken much more seriously. Now, we use it like we use the word human. Being a Christian, bearing that name, is such a big deal! It is the name of Christ on us. Because of the high honor that comes with bearing the name Christian, I should seriously strive to act like one. Who am I to receive this precious gift and not respect it? It would be like if my future husband, whoever it may be, were to propose to me, give me the ring, and I not take care of it. Obviously, a wedding ring is nowhere close to how important salvation is, but it was the best analogy I could come up with. As a Christian, I am called to take up my cross and follow Him (Mark 8). This doesn't mean to throw on my cross necklace before I peace out of my apartment. Y'all, the cross was a place of death and shame, not just difficulty and discomfort. By taking up your cross, you will lose things and people will make fun of you. Don't ask for lighter crosses; ask for stronger backs. We could not have been elected. Cross compared to hell doesn't seem so bad anymore. Any pride I had about the great life I have lived or how obedient and faithful I was during camp this summer...throw it out the window! There is nothing I did to deserve the wonderful, priceless, breathtaking gift of salvation. HE CHOSE ME BEFORE I WAS BORN!! What the junk?!

"However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name." 1 Peter 4:16

Dating on the Run

A day full of chick flicks and Michael Buble gets a girl wondering. As those around me begin relationships, get engaged and walk down the aisle, I have found myself content in the gift of singleness that God has blessed me with. However, after a day like today, Satan has had plenty of vulnerabilites to attack. Because I love sports, the athletic analogies catch my eye more than any other. In high school I ran the 100. From warming up and getting my feet steady in the blocks until the clock stopped, my eyes were constantly on the finish line. Looking to my left or right during the race would only slow me down and throw off my focus. In my walk with Christ, I am keeping my eyes on the finish; the day when I finally get to see my Savior! Sadly, I find myself looking around sometimes. I have set my blocks correctly, by believing the Christ is God's Son and that He indeed rose from the dead and is, shut up!, coming back again!! I know that I am His, and He is mine. My left foot is a foot ahead of my right one, and my blocks are two fists away from the starting line. I can lean out in faith that they will not slip when I take off. As I run, I should not look behind me. Get on my level! Yup. That's super sassy. However, the Bible clearly states that we should not be unequally yoked (2 Cor. 6:14). Yes, that automatically triggers the nonbelievers reaction in my brain, but let's take that to the believers as well. In a relationship, I want to be pushed toward Christ, not held back to wait. I am a competitive person so the thought of being spurred on my someone in the lane next to me to get to the end faster appeals to me. Think about it. Having someone who pushes you in your walk with Christ. Not like, I memorized all of Numbers...get on my level! But one who is truly seeking the Lord and as they get closer to Him, you find yourself wanting to get closer as well. Honestly, I need to give up the control of looking around. Thankfully, I have gotten better at this since my freshman year of college. God's timing is perfect, and I shouldn't settle as I wait for Him to bring someone along. I should be so focused on God and the finish line that all I see is a head run by me, sparking the competitive edge in me to catch up. Funny. What catches my attention isn't his appearance but the fact that he is so diligently running the race that I am. 1 Cor. 9:24 is perfect, but check it out in The Message. "You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win." Sometimes, my competitiveness can be a struggle, but in this light I see it as a blessing. In my mind, running just for the fun of it isn't appealing. Praise God one that runs to win is what catches my eye. I pray my future husband isn't just running the race to finish, but diligently running the race to obtain the prize. "All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally." 1 Cor. 9:25. For now, I need to bask in the gift that God has given me, full of no distractions, able to whole heartedly pursue Him who is pursuing me. And when He's ready, He will put someone by my side to push me even more towards Him.

Wake Up!

Complacency. We all struggle with it. Personally, I prayed at the beginning of the summer as my time began at the Ranch that God would reveal Himself to me and would kindle a fiery passion for Him. A week into this prayer, He slapped me in the face with Revelation 3:1-2, 15-16. "I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. WAKE UP and strengthen what remains." Alright, God. Got it. In the latter verses, John writes about being either hot or cold. Sure, I have heard that a ton during my life, being raised a minister's kid and all, but it never really sunk in. Think about it. God tells us to get out of the middle of the road and pick a side. Why? It is much safer to be on a side rather than chill in the middle of the road. The cool thing about picking a side is that He wants me on His side. Yet again, I have heard that God pursues me. Awesome, but it never clicked. Think about a hunting dog for a second. This dog knows what it is after and will stop at nothing until it brings the prey back. The pursuit is relentless. No matter how quickly the prey runs to escape the dog, the dog quickens its pace, never backing down. Shut. Up! What did I do to deserve this pursuit?! The God of the sunsets and flowers and stars and all of creation wants me. By no means does He need me at all, but the fact that He wants me should bring me to my knees daily. So why do I lose my passion for Him? I think that because I was raised in a Christian home that I sometimes feel like I know a lot about the Lord and that my knowledge is enough. Wrong! Who am I as a finite being to try and squeeze the infinite being of God into my small, little brain? I am restricted by time when He is timeless. I pray that daily I am blessed with the opportunity to rediscover Him and in the process, WAKE UP!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2LR2_Z3nfM

Be the Moon. Reflect the Son!

Hey y'all! So, we have all sung "This Little Light of Mine." Do you remember singing, "Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine!" Easier said than done. Back during staff training for camp, a few of us got lost in the woods after we got through with initiation. Thankfully, a few of us had lit tiki torches. Did those of us with light cup our hand around the flame so only we would be able to see? Ridiculous! We shared our light with those around us who couldn't see. Check out Matthew 5:14-16. We are called to let our light shine before men, but we would rather hide out light most of the time. Why? Because society tells us otherwise. Because we look around us and all we see is darkness. If we were to stand up for our God, we would be different and people would look at us. However, the light brings life. Who are we to hide it and keep it to ourselves when those around us are in desperate need of it? Sure, we will probably get made fun of in the process, but let's remember the martyrs. Now does getting made fun of seem so bad? We have been given life by the Father, the Creator, Yahweh. Who are we to keep it to ourselves? We pride ourselves on being strong Christians when in reality are we really strong or are we just spoiled?