~*~

“If you do not believe, you surely shall not last”

~Isaiah 7:9b~

The last couple months I’ve been traveling back in time on an incredible journey, learning about faith…and the lack thereof!  The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are overflowing with accounts of God’s power and miracles.  Every single one of them is beyond amazing!  The account of Jesus walking on water and Peter going out to meet Him has been on my mind a lot.

Think about the disciples as they were on a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee.  It was dark and stormy and the boat was being battered by waves.  All the sudden they see someone walking towards them on the water and they cried out in fear “it is a ghost!”  But Jesus said, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”  Peter responded, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And Jesus said, “Come.”  Peter walked out onto the sea towards Jesus, but then He took his eyes off of Jesus and when he saw the storm surrounding him, he began to sink and cried out “Lord, SAVE ME!”  Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of Peter saying, “you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  Once they got into the boat the wind stopped and those in the boat worshiped Him and said “You are certainly God’s Son!”

We have no strength; no power in and of ourselves to keep us afloat during the “storm.”  There has to be complete reliance on Jesus and seeking Him as our source of strength and grace.

Throughout our entire lives we will have “storms” blowing in and out, but Jesus is right there in the midst of them.  We may not be able to see the outcome or how God will ever work through them.  It requires crying out to Him in faith, knowing that He hears.  He tells us to take courage and not be afraid, He is there for us.  We may have to walk out into the unknown, like Peter walking on the stormy waters.  Notice how as soon as Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at his surroundings, he began to SINK!  That’s exactly what happens to us.  Once we look at our problems and allow our fears to take over…down we go.  We have no strength; no power in and of ourselves to keep us afloat during the “storm.”  There has to be complete reliance on Jesus and seeking Him as our source of strength and grace.  When Peter realized he was sinking and cried out to Jesus, Matthew 14:31 says Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and took hold of him.  Jesus never leaves us hanging…or sinking.  His hand is stretched out towards us at all times.  It’s up to us to reach out and grab hold of His, or let our fears take over and continue our downward plunge into the unknown, alone.

When Jesus and Peter got into the boat the wind stopped.  The disciples began worshiping Jesus, saying “You are certainly God’s Son!”  I think that it is so important to praise and thank God for His work in our lives.  Think about all the times He has saved us and carried us through tough things.  Not only will it bring glory and honor to Him when we recognize and acknowledge Him in our lives, but it is an incredible testimony to others to hear about it, and thinking back on past times gives us strength and encouragement in the present. 

Are your eyes focused on Jesus at all times, or are you busy looking around you at the “winds and rough seas?” 

“You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew 14:31

~*~

“Your worst days are never so bad that you are

beyond the reach of God's grace.

And your best days are never so good that you are

beyond the need of God's grace.”

–Jerry Bridges

“As for me, I said in my alarm, I am cut off from Your (God’s) eyes!” That was David’s cry to God in Psalm 31:22.  Have you ever felt that way?  Like God doesn’t hear your prayers?  Or that He is so far away and you need direction, peace, answers to prayer, or just the feeling that He is with you?  I know I’ve had those feelings many times.  It’s hard to wait for God’s timing.  It seems that He always waits until the last possible minute to reveal His plans for us.  The other day I read Psalm 31 and was reminded how much God knows our troubles and discouragements and wants us to rely on Him. 

Psalm 31:3,5 says “For You are my rock and my fortress; for Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me…Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth.”  God’s promises are incredible!  He tells us right there that we can commit our entire lives to Him and know that He WILL lead and guide us.  He has made the supreme commitment on the cross so that we could be redeemed.  If He loves us enough to do that, we can know that He will carry us through each day and direct our steps in His perfect way.  Psalm 23:3 says “He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” 

“He knows who and what our enemies are, and He doesn’t give us over to them!”

“I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness, because You have seen my affliction; *You have known the troubles of my soul,* and You have not given me over into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a large place.” (vs. 7-8)  God knows the things that pull us down and discourage us.  He knows what and who our enemies are *and He doesn’t give us over to them!* He sets our feet in a large place!  When I think of a large place I think of somewhere I can run and be free, relax and rest.  What really comes to my mind are the green pastures and quiet waters He leads us by in Psalm 23:2. 

David goes on to talk about his enemies and his extreme physical and emotional distress because of the attacks against him.  But then in true “David fashion” He says in verse 14, “But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.”  My times are in Your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.”  Complete trust.  He asks God to deliver him, believes that God will take care of him, and knows that his times are in God’s hands.  It’s interesting that right after David tells God that he trusts Him, he continues to call out to Him for deliverance.  God tells us to come to Him and cast our burdens on Him.  “Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” –Psalm 55:22  Yes, we are to go to God and make our requests known, but it’s prayer with a trusting spirit and reliance on Him for the outcome.

“His goodness is stored up for us…just waiting to be poured out.”

I love verse 19… “How GREAT is Your goodness which You have stored up for those who fear You, which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, before the sons of men!”  What a loving God we have.  He is ready and waiting for us to seek refuge in Him.  His goodness is stored up for us…just waiting to be poured out.  All we have to do is go to Him and receive it; rest in Him and know that He has great things in store for our lives if we just seek Him.  He leads and guides us for His name’s sake and His glory and honor.  Are you giving Him the honor and glory He deserves by trusting Him, casting your burdens on Him and relying on Him for the outcome?

“Be strong and let your heart take courage,

all you who hope in the Lord.”

~Psalm 31:24~

~©~

But the greatest of these is…

…Love!   It’s an amazing thing; something that every single person desires and searches for in one way or another.  But what is love and why is it so important to us?  1 Corinthians 13, the famous “Love Chapter” in the Bible explains to us what love is:  We can know all mysteries and have all knowledge and faith so amazing that we can move mountains, we can give all we have to the poor and sacrifice our entire life, but if we don’t do those things in love they amount to nothing.  Is that not an incredible picture of the importance of love?  Think about it, we can give our entire life and have faith to move mountains and give all that we have, but if it’s not done in love…it is completely worthless! 

“When we are filled with His love then we can love others through Him.”

So what is love?  “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love NEVER fails!  (1 Cor. 13:4-8)  Wow, as I typed that list out it is humbling to realize how short I fall in showing perfect love.  None of us will ever reach perfection in the area of love.  But that doesn’t mean we should give up and not strive to perfect it.  We cannot love in this way in our own strength.  We have to rely on our relationship with Jesus, and when we are filled with His love then we can love others through Him.  1 John 4:16-17a “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us.”

As the world celebrates love this Valentine’s Day, I’m reminded of the greatest love story ever.  It’s the story of One who came to this earth in order to give His life for each and every one of us.  He suffered, was beaten, spit upon, mocked and hated all for our sakes.  He died so that we might have eternal LIFE.  “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” –John 15:13.  Jesus Christ showed perfect love.  His love is the kind that never fails to give without receiving anything back.  He came to serve, not to be served; to show us what love really is. 

“We must be so filled with His love that it spills over into the lives of every single person around us.”

The only way we can truly love another person in this way is through Jesus Christ.  We must be so filled with His love that it spills over into the lives of every single person around us.  In order to be filled with the love of Jesus we have to actively pursue Him with our whole heart.  We have to abide in Him, fellowship with Him and know Him.  “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” –John 15:4-5  

“We love because He first loved us.”

-John 4:19-

~©~

Unbelief Hinders Fullness

Read this from “A Disciples Notebook” this morning.  It reminds me of Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  We can do nothing in our own strength; even growing in a relationship with Christ must be done through Him, not with our own efforts.

“Everything needed for continual growth, for perpetual freshness, and for abundant fruitfulness are found in Him [Lord Jesus]. All power, all grace, all purity, and all fullness, absolutely everything to make all grace abound towards us, in us, and through us, are stored up in Him who verily dwells with us. 

Since this is so, what then is needed? Shall we try to help Christ to live in us? Shall we try to make Christ more living? Shall we help Him to put forth His own power in us? Shall we try, in other words, to grow—to produce fruit? Surely not. And yet is not this the grand mistake multitudes are making? Something however has to be done. Something is needed to deepen our spiritual life. All Christians have Christ, and possess therefore all the resources of spiritual power and abundant fruitfulness; and yet all Christians are not abounding in fruit unto God.

What is the reason of this? It is here: though we cannot make Christ more living, though we cannot add to His infinite fullness of life and purity and power, we may be hindering the manifestation of that life. One of the most serious hindrances is unbelief. This lies at the root of every other hindrance.” Evan H. Hopkins The Law of Liberty in the Spiritual Life, 77 
~~~ 
Your body is literally the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Dwelling in your body as a Christian is not only your unique personality but also the Spirit of Jesus Christ who is a living Person. What God wants you to be only the Lord Jesus in you can be. He merely asks for you to be wholly available to Him with complete submission and to trust Him without any doubting. This way He can shine through you! Trust Him! 
~~~

“Without faith it is impossible to please him.” 
Hebrews 11:6

::We may not be called to
a lifetime of singleness,
but we are for today::

Just about every one of us girls has dreamed of the day we will wear a beautiful white dress, our heart pounding fast in excitement, as we walk arm in arm with our dad down the aisle; oblivious to all the people around us because our eyes are fixed on the man we are about to marry.  Oh what an exciting day that will be!

 “Is Jesus enough?”  “Do I find complete satisfaction and fulfillment in Him?”

For many of us, that is still a dream that we hope and pray will one day come true.  But what do we do in the meantime?  What if that day never comes?  If God’s plan for you or me is to remain single, would we be just as happy and content?  I never really liked that question.  J  Even though I have told God that I will be content if that is His plan for me, there was always a little fear that if God knew I was willing to be single then maybe He would keep me that way!  This is something I know many of us girls can struggle with.  As God has been patiently teaching me, I’ve learned that the question is not “does He want me to remain single my whole life?” but it’s a matter of where our heart is.  We should be asking ourselves “is Jesus enough?”  “Do I find complete satisfaction and fulfillment in Him?”  If we are not completely satisfied and happy with Jesus’ love which is perfect and flawless, how could we ever be satisfied with human love which is imperfect?

The years we have right now while we’re single can be amazing!  They don’t have to be filled with boredom or waiting around for some prince to sweep us off our feet.   We have all this time to be building our relationship with Jesus so strong and close.   He wants to fill the longing that is in every person to be loved.  “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”  -Jeremiah 31:3.  When our relationship with Jesus is right, then everything else that we do will be an overflow of His love in us.  Marriage is to be an earthly picture of our relationship with Jesus.  He refers to Himself as the Bridegroom and Christians (the church) as His bride. (Revelation 19:7-9)  If we don’t have the right kind of relationship with Him, how can our future marriage ever be a picture of it?  This is the time to build and cultivate a love for Jesus that is stronger than any other.  We should be so in love with Jesus Christ that no matter what He has planned for us, we are genuinely happy and content because we have a relationship with the One we love the most.

Keeping that in mind, let’s go back to that beautiful dream of one day becoming a bride!  Marriage is a good thing, one of the best things…so I’ve been told.  J  It is not wrong to have a desire for it either.  God created marriage!  He tells us in Proverbs 18:22 that “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.”  I hope that one day we are all blessed with godly husbands, but our goal right now should be to leave that in God’s hands and work on building a stronger, deeper relationship with Him.  God tells us in 1 Corinthians 7:34 that “The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.”   That is God’s plan for us right now, to please and seek Him with all of our heart, soul, and might.  (Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”)

“Remember, those mistakes are not beyond God.  He is forgiving and calls us to Himself for healing from those painful mistakes.”

This can be a tough area for girls today, when it is expected that you give your heart away to multiple guys before you actually get married.  Maybe you have struggled in this area; whether you have given your heart away at the wrong time, just find it hard to trust God for His best in your life, or in some other way.  But remember, those mistakes are not beyond God.  He is forgiving and calls us to Himself for healing from those painful mistakes.   I love Psalm 51 when David is pleading for forgiveness and cleansing from his sin with Bathsheba.  (2 Samuel 11)  The God who forgave David is the same God who forgives us today.  Whether we have gone to the extreme that David did, or less, God will remove the guilt and the shame.  Psalm 51:10-13 particularly stands out to me.  ~*~ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.  Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to you. ~*~  

We may not be called to a lifetime of singleness, but we are for today.  Trust Him to bring the perfect man into your life in His perfect time and perfect way.  Use this special time to build the most amazing relationship with the One whose love is more beautiful than any other!  ©   

~© ~

Set-Apart Girl Conference

Windsor, Colorado

May 28-30, 2010

Eric and Leslie Ludy have an incredible ministry based in Windsor, Colorado that has had a life-changing impact on me.  They have encouraged me in my walk with God so much!  For more info check out the video below and visit their website, www.setapartgirl.com.  I’m really looking forward to this conference and hope to see you there!  ©

 ~©~

Q

uotes are one of my favorite things!  Words are powerful!  It’s amazing how something that someone says can be so unforgettable, and we’ll remember it years and years later.  I’d have to say that next to the Bible, which is by far the best, quotes are one of the things that really encourage me or cause me to think…and sometimes just laugh.  J  When I find a good one, I love to write it down on a post-it and stick it somewhere where I’ll see it throughout the day. 

“Never

underestimate

the power of a

kind word or

deed.”

Quotes are not just things that famous people say.  They are words that have meaning, words that encourage or build others up.  Words that make us think about something in a way we haven’t thought of it.  Words we can relate to.  Or just something that makes us smile or laugh!  James 3:10-11 says “From the same mouth come both blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.  Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?”  What we say can have a huge effect on others.  People will remember our words, whether they are a blessing or a curse, for a long time.  What kind of thoughts are you leaving others to think about?

After a year of building a collection of my favorite quotes in a folder in my inbox, I decided to make a page for them on here.  Check out the new “Quotes” page.  J