God is a jealous lover. He gets angry when we give our hearts over to things that don't involve Him. He is a selfless God, but He is selfish about us. He wants us all to Himself and no one else.
Leviticus 20:26 - "And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine."
Jeremiah 18:1-11 - The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: "Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words." Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the Lord. "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it. "Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good." '
Both times God is talking to Israel, His chosen people. He wants them to love Him and give themselves over completely to Him so badly. It amazes me the amount of love God has for that nation. Over and over again Israel denies and rejects God. Yet He still loves them with unabashed and deep passion. In verse 12 of Jeremiah 18, the Israelites say this, "And they said, "That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the dictates of his evil heart." If God still loves Israel so much after a statement like that, which He clearly does if you look at scripture, how can we entertain the thought that God can't love us after we mess up two or three times? Israel has messed up sooooo many times, more than can be counted, and she has given her heart away to many adulterers throughout the centuries. There is nothing we could possibly do that is worse than what Israel has already done. (No offense to Israel or anything) It took a lot for God to become angry with Israel. He's not going to ditch you simply because you messed up...again. God is a jealous God and His loves is more abundant and forgiving than we could ever imagine; slow to anger and quick to love, His anger lasts but a moment and His love a lifetime.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Oh Spring!
The deliciousness of spring has been lingering around western NY the past couple days. It has been so wonderful!!! The sun has been out, mud is coming up everywhere, and the temperature is in the 40's. Since it's been so cold we don't notice that it actually really isn't that warm out. It feels so good to sense and smell spring ahead. However, it is short-lived. Snow is predicted to come over the weekend and the temperature to drop. :(. It's these little glimpses of hope that the torture of cold weather will end that get us through the bitterness of the rest of the season. It's what God does at times. When we go through a rough patch in life where life seems to be throwing us storm after storm or we're going through a dry patch in life, He throws us a little taste of what it's like after the storm or desert. Our hope is rejuvenated in His faithfulness and we continue on through the trial seeing more of the big picture than before with our faith built up even just the slightest amount.
Finding a job after college is done is no fun. It's tedious and very discouraging when every place you go to turns you down. When you have issues with rejection this does not add the joy of finding a career job, or any job for that matter. It's been hard for me to find a job. I get really discouraged when employers don't even want to consider me for a position. But God has reminded me of the big picture and shown that He is faithful. Nothing is set in any way, but the fact that someone wants to interview me for a consistent full-time position is amazing. It gives me hope that I am worthy of working in the professional world and there are employers that will want me. I can do it, and He will provide.
Finding a job after college is done is no fun. It's tedious and very discouraging when every place you go to turns you down. When you have issues with rejection this does not add the joy of finding a career job, or any job for that matter. It's been hard for me to find a job. I get really discouraged when employers don't even want to consider me for a position. But God has reminded me of the big picture and shown that He is faithful. Nothing is set in any way, but the fact that someone wants to interview me for a consistent full-time position is amazing. It gives me hope that I am worthy of working in the professional world and there are employers that will want me. I can do it, and He will provide.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Happy Valentine's Day!
In the spirit of valentine's day and love and marriage I have a link to share that is applicable to those who are married, engaged, or even single peeps who one day would like to be married. Pastor Paul Peterson explores sex and the Bible in his four sermon series Bedroom Talks. He goes through the Song of Solomon and discusses God's opinion on sex and advice about being a good lover. Check it out in the podcast list under the media tab.
http://church180.tv
http://church180.tv
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Romeo, Romeo. Wherefore art thou Romeo?
I love dreaming about my wedding, the love my future husband and I will share, the utter and abundant joy that I know will overflow from our marriage, and the journey we will take together. Of course I'm not naive enough to think it won't be hard at times and we both will have to work on our relationship, but that knowledge doesn't hinder me from dreaming about the gloriousness of it all. Any movie that integrates love into the characters lives excites my soul for the time when it will finally come to me...he will come to me and I to him and we will relish in being in love with each other. And since this is Valentines season, movies about love are on all the time for the next couple weeks. How it stirs me on the inside to know that some day, hopefully soon, a man of godly character will come around and sweep me off my feet and I will be able to understand in a tangible sense the lover side of Jesus. I know that Jesus is a lover and that He loves me more than I could ever imagine. But so many times I wish He would meet me in a physical form just so I could have a hug from Him. To feel, physically feel just how much I mean to Him. Someday my future husband will be able to show that to me. I know that he will be used by God to materialize that for me. Oh how I long for that day!!!! It will come, I hope, soon. Where is my Romeo?
Thursday, October 28, 2010
What is Better?
So I love talking about the end times. It gets me all excited to know what God is going to do and how He is going to provide, and righteously angry when I hear people say they don't believe we'll be here during the tribulation. For a while I've gone back and forth about whether to post about this frustration, and I've decided I need to say something.
The Bible clearly says we will be raptured after the 7th trumpet. The trumpets come after the seals, and the first seal won't be opened til the Antichrist says he or she is god (Rev 5). There are promises given to the followers of Christ about the provision He will have for His children. Revelations is a book that tells us exactly what is going to happen and it even gives time spans once the Tribulation starts. The only thing we don't know is when the Antichrist will make him/herself known. But once s/he does, we know the exact timeline of what will happen BECAUSE REVELATIONS TELLS US!
Regardless of whether you think I am correct in my thinking or not, is not the point. I don't care if you think I'm wrong. What I do care about is people's attitudes about when they think we will be raptured. The world has seemed to forgotten that Jesus is coming back and we need to be prepared for that. I think it is a dangerous thing to expect to not live through Tribulation, and so you don't study or prepare yourself. IS IT NOT BETTER TO EXPECT WE WILL BE HERE FOR THE TRIBULATION AND TO PREPARE FOR IT, THEN IF JESUS COMES BEFORE YOU ARE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED, THAN TO NOT PREPARE AT ALL AND REALIZE TOO LATE THAT YOU'RE IN IT AND BE DISAPPOINTED WITH GOD BECAUSE HE DIDN'T TAKE YOU AHEAD OF TIME?! The Bible says many will turn away from Him during the Tribulation because of bitterness and anger about what God is doing, and to be honest I think a lot of those people that turn away will be the ones who expected to be raptured before the Tribulation and are angry that they're here.
Whether we leave before the Tribulation or not, I call out to all who follow Christ to be prepared for the Tribulation. If you expect to be here then, there won't be any disappointment and you'll know what's going to happen and when. Grow in your relationship with God; be secure in Him and study His word. We are heading toward the end. The temple that will be destroyed by the Antichrist is in the workings to be built. It may not happen for 50 years, but it's coming. Once that temple is built, it's only a matter of time.
BE PREPARED!!!!
The Bible clearly says we will be raptured after the 7th trumpet. The trumpets come after the seals, and the first seal won't be opened til the Antichrist says he or she is god (Rev 5). There are promises given to the followers of Christ about the provision He will have for His children. Revelations is a book that tells us exactly what is going to happen and it even gives time spans once the Tribulation starts. The only thing we don't know is when the Antichrist will make him/herself known. But once s/he does, we know the exact timeline of what will happen BECAUSE REVELATIONS TELLS US!
Regardless of whether you think I am correct in my thinking or not, is not the point. I don't care if you think I'm wrong. What I do care about is people's attitudes about when they think we will be raptured. The world has seemed to forgotten that Jesus is coming back and we need to be prepared for that. I think it is a dangerous thing to expect to not live through Tribulation, and so you don't study or prepare yourself. IS IT NOT BETTER TO EXPECT WE WILL BE HERE FOR THE TRIBULATION AND TO PREPARE FOR IT, THEN IF JESUS COMES BEFORE YOU ARE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED, THAN TO NOT PREPARE AT ALL AND REALIZE TOO LATE THAT YOU'RE IN IT AND BE DISAPPOINTED WITH GOD BECAUSE HE DIDN'T TAKE YOU AHEAD OF TIME?! The Bible says many will turn away from Him during the Tribulation because of bitterness and anger about what God is doing, and to be honest I think a lot of those people that turn away will be the ones who expected to be raptured before the Tribulation and are angry that they're here.
Whether we leave before the Tribulation or not, I call out to all who follow Christ to be prepared for the Tribulation. If you expect to be here then, there won't be any disappointment and you'll know what's going to happen and when. Grow in your relationship with God; be secure in Him and study His word. We are heading toward the end. The temple that will be destroyed by the Antichrist is in the workings to be built. It may not happen for 50 years, but it's coming. Once that temple is built, it's only a matter of time.
BE PREPARED!!!!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Our Connection to God
When I wrote the post Revelation I mentioned how I would post something about the rest of what was revealed to us that night about God and His love. Well, here it is.
God gives us relationships and experiences to help us understand His love and draw closer in intimacy to Him. Fathers are there to show us the fatherly side of God; brothers and sisters to show us the family side; best friends and friends in general to show us His comradeship with us; significant others (boyfriend/girlfriend) to show us the lover that He is; spouses to show us the bridegroom that He is and the way He loves the church as a whole and individually as a husband to it. God is like a huge water tank with millions of line/pipes coming out of it. We have one large pipe that connects us directly to Him when He becomes our Savior. As life with Him progresses, our experiences with relationships add lines from us to God. Until we have each relationship experience (in the way God intended them), we won't truly understand and be connected to God in that way. You won't truly know the lover Jesus is until you have a lover. We can theorize and understand the concept, but we won't truly understand and connect with Him that way until we have that godly relationship with a physical person. That is why God created marriage and families, so that we could understand Him more and be way more intimate with Him than if we were single our whole lives. So as we go through life, we not only gain lines toward God, but we help build lines for others. You may not be the person that connects someone's line to God, but you will be part of the process in getting their pipe to reach the water tank. We have control over how much outpouring of God we allow in our lives. There is a valve on our lines/pipes that only we can turn on. We can turn it off to keep God from our lives or we can open it just enough for a slow drip. Or we can have a continuous steady flow of God's living water in our lives all the time. You get to decide, He won't force you to want the water of life. Satan will try to stop the flow by putting objects in the lines or cutting off your lines somehow. When that happens, you need to locate where the problem is and remove it. It could be an act of sin, or trial that helps us to grow, in either thing we must overcome so that the water of life keeps flowing and overflowing.
The part about relationships really changed my thinking. Before, always wanted...desired to be married out of fear of being alone. But now I desire to be married so that I can be closer to God and understand Him more. I want to know the true lover Jesus is.
God gives us relationships and experiences to help us understand His love and draw closer in intimacy to Him. Fathers are there to show us the fatherly side of God; brothers and sisters to show us the family side; best friends and friends in general to show us His comradeship with us; significant others (boyfriend/girlfriend) to show us the lover that He is; spouses to show us the bridegroom that He is and the way He loves the church as a whole and individually as a husband to it. God is like a huge water tank with millions of line/pipes coming out of it. We have one large pipe that connects us directly to Him when He becomes our Savior. As life with Him progresses, our experiences with relationships add lines from us to God. Until we have each relationship experience (in the way God intended them), we won't truly understand and be connected to God in that way. You won't truly know the lover Jesus is until you have a lover. We can theorize and understand the concept, but we won't truly understand and connect with Him that way until we have that godly relationship with a physical person. That is why God created marriage and families, so that we could understand Him more and be way more intimate with Him than if we were single our whole lives. So as we go through life, we not only gain lines toward God, but we help build lines for others. You may not be the person that connects someone's line to God, but you will be part of the process in getting their pipe to reach the water tank. We have control over how much outpouring of God we allow in our lives. There is a valve on our lines/pipes that only we can turn on. We can turn it off to keep God from our lives or we can open it just enough for a slow drip. Or we can have a continuous steady flow of God's living water in our lives all the time. You get to decide, He won't force you to want the water of life. Satan will try to stop the flow by putting objects in the lines or cutting off your lines somehow. When that happens, you need to locate where the problem is and remove it. It could be an act of sin, or trial that helps us to grow, in either thing we must overcome so that the water of life keeps flowing and overflowing.
The part about relationships really changed my thinking. Before, always wanted...desired to be married out of fear of being alone. But now I desire to be married so that I can be closer to God and understand Him more. I want to know the true lover Jesus is.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Thursday Nights is Where its At
God has shown up so much every Thursday night Heather and I meet up to study Revelations. This past Thursday was incredible; we did something neither of us has done before. But I'll talk about that later. It's funny, even though we're (supposed) to be studying Revelations, which we do, we always end up reading/ studying something else than Revelations every time. We pretty much let God have the reigns and take us wherever He wants to show us whatever He wants us to see.
This past Thursday Heather brought up Psalm 45. There's a key word in verse 12 that puts a certain picture or definition in our minds.
"And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift; the rich among the people will seek your favor."
When someone tells you to seek something, what action comes to mind? Or how do you think you should act? When someone tells me that I need to seek for something I have always felt that I need to strive to find that something. That somehow it's hiding and I need to seek it out. (See how I used the word? ;-]) Well guess what, God showed us the real meaning of seeking. Psalm 45:12 reminded us of Jeremiah 29:13 - "And you seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart". After looking up the definition of the Hebrew word seek, we found something interesting. Seek doesn't mean to look for and find. The literal translation of seek is "to make oneself sick with longing for Him". This translation is from the Greek and Hebrew. So when Jeremiah says that when we seek God we will find Him, he doesn't mean to go looking for God. Jesus is right in front of you and all around you. He is ever present and literally right in front of your face. So when we are told to seek God and we will find Him, we're being told to make ourselves sick with desire for Him; to long for Him with every fiber of our being and nothing less than everything, and we will find Him. It's voluntary love. He's not hiding, our eyes and heart are just under a veil so we can't see. As we draw closer to Him and grow in our relationship with Him, He reveals more and more of Himself to us; He takes the cover off our eyes so that we may see more of who He is. His wanting us to desire Him goes back to things I talked about in my post Revelations. Seek after the Lord, desire Him with everything in you and He will show Himself to you.
Another thing we talked about was the Seraphim talked about in Revelations 4. The Seraphim are the highest ranking angels in heaven. Just a one verse in this chapter reveal so much about the four Seraphim in Heaven and how they show a true example of seeking God. Verse 8 in chapter 4 says, "The four living creatures (the Seraphim), each having six wings were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!'". First I want to point out how it says these angels are covered with eyes "around and within". It's hard to picture, but what an image it brings. The Seraphim have millions of eyes and they always see a different side of God. Second thing I wanted to point out is how the Bible says they don't rest day or night. Why would that be written unless they have the choice to rest? Unless they have the choice to leave God's throne? They are the highest ranking angels in Heaven, I have a feeling they can go pretty much wherever they want. But they don't. The Seraphim, highest honored angels, constantly sit at the feet of God worshiping Him. Their love for God is voluntary and incredibly strong. They desire to be near God so much, and just want to be in His presence that they forgo rest. They give their all to Him. A true example of how to seek.
So as we're sitting in God's evident presence we decide to go out to Wal-mart and pray for people. Even though we were both excited to go and see God move, we both had quite a bit of fear about the idea. Before we went, we spent time in prayer rebuking fear and apprehension and asking God for boldness. We had no idea what God would have in store for us that night. Our time studying God's word and truth had been so fruitful we weren't sure what else could and would happen. On the way we prayed as well, asking God if there was a particular person we needed to find and talk to. God let us know there was a particular girl we needed to talk to and so we walked into Wal-mart on a mission for God. The first lady we asked about whether she would like prayer or not was very short. She said no and walked away. Surprising unhindered by the rejection we had just received, praise the Lord, we moved on. And then we saw her. A young twenty-something aged girl doing her job. We ended up talking with her for about a half hour, just encouraging her and letting her know that God saw her and cares for her more than she can imagine. It was such a blessing to talk with this girl and share with her. Turns out she is a Christian who had a difficult day and was feeling rather discouraged. It was so amazing. God is awesome. =D
After going to the parking lot to leave, God showed up even more so in good ole Vivian (my car) than He had earlier in the night. We literally sat in the parking lot worshiping God and praying for people passing by the car for around an hour, or possibly longer. It may have looked crazy to outsiders, but we didn't care. It was so amazing to just be in His presence.
This past Thursday Heather brought up Psalm 45. There's a key word in verse 12 that puts a certain picture or definition in our minds.
"And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift; the rich among the people will seek your favor."
When someone tells you to seek something, what action comes to mind? Or how do you think you should act? When someone tells me that I need to seek for something I have always felt that I need to strive to find that something. That somehow it's hiding and I need to seek it out. (See how I used the word? ;-]) Well guess what, God showed us the real meaning of seeking. Psalm 45:12 reminded us of Jeremiah 29:13 - "And you seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart". After looking up the definition of the Hebrew word seek, we found something interesting. Seek doesn't mean to look for and find. The literal translation of seek is "to make oneself sick with longing for Him". This translation is from the Greek and Hebrew. So when Jeremiah says that when we seek God we will find Him, he doesn't mean to go looking for God. Jesus is right in front of you and all around you. He is ever present and literally right in front of your face. So when we are told to seek God and we will find Him, we're being told to make ourselves sick with desire for Him; to long for Him with every fiber of our being and nothing less than everything, and we will find Him. It's voluntary love. He's not hiding, our eyes and heart are just under a veil so we can't see. As we draw closer to Him and grow in our relationship with Him, He reveals more and more of Himself to us; He takes the cover off our eyes so that we may see more of who He is. His wanting us to desire Him goes back to things I talked about in my post Revelations. Seek after the Lord, desire Him with everything in you and He will show Himself to you.
Another thing we talked about was the Seraphim talked about in Revelations 4. The Seraphim are the highest ranking angels in heaven. Just a one verse in this chapter reveal so much about the four Seraphim in Heaven and how they show a true example of seeking God. Verse 8 in chapter 4 says, "The four living creatures (the Seraphim), each having six wings were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!'". First I want to point out how it says these angels are covered with eyes "around and within". It's hard to picture, but what an image it brings. The Seraphim have millions of eyes and they always see a different side of God. Second thing I wanted to point out is how the Bible says they don't rest day or night. Why would that be written unless they have the choice to rest? Unless they have the choice to leave God's throne? They are the highest ranking angels in Heaven, I have a feeling they can go pretty much wherever they want. But they don't. The Seraphim, highest honored angels, constantly sit at the feet of God worshiping Him. Their love for God is voluntary and incredibly strong. They desire to be near God so much, and just want to be in His presence that they forgo rest. They give their all to Him. A true example of how to seek.
So as we're sitting in God's evident presence we decide to go out to Wal-mart and pray for people. Even though we were both excited to go and see God move, we both had quite a bit of fear about the idea. Before we went, we spent time in prayer rebuking fear and apprehension and asking God for boldness. We had no idea what God would have in store for us that night. Our time studying God's word and truth had been so fruitful we weren't sure what else could and would happen. On the way we prayed as well, asking God if there was a particular person we needed to find and talk to. God let us know there was a particular girl we needed to talk to and so we walked into Wal-mart on a mission for God. The first lady we asked about whether she would like prayer or not was very short. She said no and walked away. Surprising unhindered by the rejection we had just received, praise the Lord, we moved on. And then we saw her. A young twenty-something aged girl doing her job. We ended up talking with her for about a half hour, just encouraging her and letting her know that God saw her and cares for her more than she can imagine. It was such a blessing to talk with this girl and share with her. Turns out she is a Christian who had a difficult day and was feeling rather discouraged. It was so amazing. God is awesome. =D
After going to the parking lot to leave, God showed up even more so in good ole Vivian (my car) than He had earlier in the night. We literally sat in the parking lot worshiping God and praying for people passing by the car for around an hour, or possibly longer. It may have looked crazy to outsiders, but we didn't care. It was so amazing to just be in His presence.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Revelation
Last night my friend Heather and I were supposed to study chapter one of Revelations. I say "supposed to" because we only read as far as verse 9 and we only went in-depth as far as verse 5. Haha! God had other plans and we just went with it, and I am so glad we did. God totally showed up and revealed so much of Himself and His desire to us. It all started at verse 1 with the word revelation.
In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, revelation means an act of revealing or communicating divine truth. In a Bible dictionary Heather had, its definition was laying bear, making naked. Jesus wants to reveal Himself to us; everything about Him; where He's going and what He's doing. He is not ashamed and has no flaws, so He stands before us completely naked revealing everything about Himself in character, desires, and just who He is.
Now what we discovered last night may have a lot of you thinking we're crazy and out of our minds. You may ask how can we believe such things, but I tell you it was ALL of the Lord. As we were talking and God was revealing things to us, we didn't know how we were coming to the conclusions we had and yet everything made sense. It was obvious God was there directing our thoughts and words and prayers; the room was intensely hot with His presence. So let me shock you for a sec - there is no plan.
What does that mean? It means there's no plan; no a,b,c,d to follow. Christians tend to stress that we need to follow the plan God has for us. In our minds a plan means you go from point a to point b and so on. We have this view that there's this twisty tiny path to walk on with no leeway on either side. But guess what? THERE IS NO PLAN!!!!! So many times God asks you what you want to do. Yes, there are times in life where He will tell you you need to do such-and-such. But for the majority of the time, He is not concerned about what you do. Heather described it well. Life is a playground with God. There are boundaries (His commandments and laws) that we need to stay within to protect us from harm, but there is an immense amount of space that we have the freedom to move around however we want. Each persons playground is different because our desires and needs are different. Don't think of a playground as a small park that you take kids to. No, think of it as an enormous field where God has placed every toy you could ever want. And HE JUST WANTS TO PLAY WITH YOU. If you want to go on the seesaw, go on the seesaw. If you want to slide, go on the slide. Swing if that's what you want to do. He just wants to be with you in everything. God is lovesick over you and just wants to be close to you.
We don't have a plan, but we do have a mission and a purpose.Our mission and purpose in life is to LOVE AND BE LOVED. The greatest commandment - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength" - is the first part of our mission and purpose. Without His love we cannot love others. And the second greatest commandment - "Love your neighbor as yourself' - is the second part of our mission and purpose. All He wants us to do is love Him, grow closer to Him, glorify Him in everything, and receive the love He has for us. What freedom we have in this. Bloom where you are, play with Him, and enjoy His love.
Our humanly idea of what a plan is generates a fear of what happens when we step off the narrow path.Well since we no longer have to worry about the visual of a twisty narrow path, the fear of what happens when you step off the narrow lane changes as well. Psalm 89:14 says that the foundation of God's throne is righteousness and justice. We focus so much on the justice that we forget the righteousness. And here comes the second biggest revelation of the night - THE JUDGMENT IS NOT NOW! We are not supposed to pray for judgment until the Tribulation begins. There is no judgment now; God has no judgment for us now. Yes He does have anger, but He is slow to anger and it only lasts a moment before His love for us takes over. Anger is different than judgment, though. Right now is His righteousness and love, which will never end but doesn't include judgment yet. We have this view that if we stumble or take one step out of His boundaries that God will and does condemn and judge us. But God has no condemnation for us. We expect judgment and condemnation therefore we see it in everything. If you expect judgment, you will see judgment in everything and you will judge yourself. If you expect condemnation, you see condemnation in everything and condemn yourself. If you expect to be compared to others, you see everything as a comparison to you and you will compare yourself to everything. So it stands to reason that if you expect love, not only will you receive love abounding but you will see love in everything, you will give love to others, and you will love yourself. Brothers and sister I adjure you to have high expectations of love and mercy and grace from your Heavenly Father. In truth that's what He has for you, so expect it. Expect great things and do not let the fear of disappointment stand in your way.
God does not push us to come back to Him if we take a step out of His boundary. Instead, He is crying over us. He sees the harm we put ourselves into and because He loves us so much, He hates to see us hurt by the devil. So He reaches out His hand to us, yearning for us to come back to Him to love and safety. We make the decision to stay with God or leave His safety. We decide how far our relationship with Him goes. He has ultimate power and can make us do anything He wants, but He doesn't. He wants us to chose to love Him and desire to be with Him and grow in Him. He loves us so much and if He forces us to love Him and be with Him, it's no longer true love; it's manipulation. God seeks to love, not manipulate. That's why we have free will. Walk in the freedom of Christ knowing your purpose and mission in life. Run after Him because He wants you!
There are so many other things that were revealed to us about God's love last night. So many incredible things. I would write it all down here, but this post is long. Ask God to reveal Himself to you and He will because I know He wants to be closer to you.
In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, revelation means an act of revealing or communicating divine truth. In a Bible dictionary Heather had, its definition was laying bear, making naked. Jesus wants to reveal Himself to us; everything about Him; where He's going and what He's doing. He is not ashamed and has no flaws, so He stands before us completely naked revealing everything about Himself in character, desires, and just who He is.
Now what we discovered last night may have a lot of you thinking we're crazy and out of our minds. You may ask how can we believe such things, but I tell you it was ALL of the Lord. As we were talking and God was revealing things to us, we didn't know how we were coming to the conclusions we had and yet everything made sense. It was obvious God was there directing our thoughts and words and prayers; the room was intensely hot with His presence. So let me shock you for a sec - there is no plan.
What does that mean? It means there's no plan; no a,b,c,d to follow. Christians tend to stress that we need to follow the plan God has for us. In our minds a plan means you go from point a to point b and so on. We have this view that there's this twisty tiny path to walk on with no leeway on either side. But guess what? THERE IS NO PLAN!!!!! So many times God asks you what you want to do. Yes, there are times in life where He will tell you you need to do such-and-such. But for the majority of the time, He is not concerned about what you do. Heather described it well. Life is a playground with God. There are boundaries (His commandments and laws) that we need to stay within to protect us from harm, but there is an immense amount of space that we have the freedom to move around however we want. Each persons playground is different because our desires and needs are different. Don't think of a playground as a small park that you take kids to. No, think of it as an enormous field where God has placed every toy you could ever want. And HE JUST WANTS TO PLAY WITH YOU. If you want to go on the seesaw, go on the seesaw. If you want to slide, go on the slide. Swing if that's what you want to do. He just wants to be with you in everything. God is lovesick over you and just wants to be close to you.
We don't have a plan, but we do have a mission and a purpose.Our mission and purpose in life is to LOVE AND BE LOVED. The greatest commandment - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength" - is the first part of our mission and purpose. Without His love we cannot love others. And the second greatest commandment - "Love your neighbor as yourself' - is the second part of our mission and purpose. All He wants us to do is love Him, grow closer to Him, glorify Him in everything, and receive the love He has for us. What freedom we have in this. Bloom where you are, play with Him, and enjoy His love.
Our humanly idea of what a plan is generates a fear of what happens when we step off the narrow path.Well since we no longer have to worry about the visual of a twisty narrow path, the fear of what happens when you step off the narrow lane changes as well. Psalm 89:14 says that the foundation of God's throne is righteousness and justice. We focus so much on the justice that we forget the righteousness. And here comes the second biggest revelation of the night - THE JUDGMENT IS NOT NOW! We are not supposed to pray for judgment until the Tribulation begins. There is no judgment now; God has no judgment for us now. Yes He does have anger, but He is slow to anger and it only lasts a moment before His love for us takes over. Anger is different than judgment, though. Right now is His righteousness and love, which will never end but doesn't include judgment yet. We have this view that if we stumble or take one step out of His boundaries that God will and does condemn and judge us. But God has no condemnation for us. We expect judgment and condemnation therefore we see it in everything. If you expect judgment, you will see judgment in everything and you will judge yourself. If you expect condemnation, you see condemnation in everything and condemn yourself. If you expect to be compared to others, you see everything as a comparison to you and you will compare yourself to everything. So it stands to reason that if you expect love, not only will you receive love abounding but you will see love in everything, you will give love to others, and you will love yourself. Brothers and sister I adjure you to have high expectations of love and mercy and grace from your Heavenly Father. In truth that's what He has for you, so expect it. Expect great things and do not let the fear of disappointment stand in your way.
God does not push us to come back to Him if we take a step out of His boundary. Instead, He is crying over us. He sees the harm we put ourselves into and because He loves us so much, He hates to see us hurt by the devil. So He reaches out His hand to us, yearning for us to come back to Him to love and safety. We make the decision to stay with God or leave His safety. We decide how far our relationship with Him goes. He has ultimate power and can make us do anything He wants, but He doesn't. He wants us to chose to love Him and desire to be with Him and grow in Him. He loves us so much and if He forces us to love Him and be with Him, it's no longer true love; it's manipulation. God seeks to love, not manipulate. That's why we have free will. Walk in the freedom of Christ knowing your purpose and mission in life. Run after Him because He wants you!
There are so many other things that were revealed to us about God's love last night. So many incredible things. I would write it all down here, but this post is long. Ask God to reveal Himself to you and He will because I know He wants to be closer to you.
Friday, May 14, 2010
The End
This is my last weekend on a college campus. I will miss this. The massive amounts of people only seconds away. The ability to meet up with friends on the spur of the moment. College at Brockport, you will be missed by this girl. However, I will not miss the homework or having to sit through a class you can't stand. Lol! Out of everything I'll miss, the companionship of friends is number one. Many days I have spent trying to prepare my myself for the inevitable end of college. That day is tomorrow. I'm excited/scared/sad all at the same time. Last year when I went to graduation, I wasn't able to make it all the way back to my room before crying. Don't ask why it was so emotional, I don't even know. Haha! But it was. So I wonder, how will I react when I walk onto that stage and receive my blank piece of paper? Will I be able to hold in my emotions long enough til I'm at least away from everyone? Will I break down during graduation? (I really hope not) Will I not shed one tear? It's amazing to me that I've made it this far in life. In sixth grade I was so worried I wouldn't even be able to pass middle school, so how on earth was I going to pass college. But here I am - a college graduate. I've finished every assignment, and now I'm just packing and waiting for tomorrow. It's a little surreal at the moment, that tomorrow is graduation. Yesterday it didn't seem that way, but today it does. I've never thought any farther ahead than this my entire life. Oh boy. This is it. The end of the chapter. The door for life and the real world. Lord, help me get through this, I gonna need it.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
New Hair?
Here's a short conversation I had with one of my male students yesterday.
T: I like your hair.
Me: Thanks. I let it go natural today, so that's why it's curly. (Most of the time I'll have my hair up or straightened when I go to placement. Makes it easier.)
T: No, I know you got a new one put in.
Me: (Thinking for a second to figure out what he means. Light bulb goes off) No, this is my hair.
T: No it's not. I know you got some new hair. It's different than last week.
Me: (I thought about explaining it to him, but decided not; instead I laughed) Well thank you.
Oh children, how I love them. :)
T: I like your hair.
Me: Thanks. I let it go natural today, so that's why it's curly. (Most of the time I'll have my hair up or straightened when I go to placement. Makes it easier.)
T: No, I know you got a new one put in.
Me: (Thinking for a second to figure out what he means. Light bulb goes off) No, this is my hair.
T: No it's not. I know you got some new hair. It's different than last week.
Me: (I thought about explaining it to him, but decided not; instead I laughed) Well thank you.
Oh children, how I love them. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)