He Loves Us!

The song How He Loves Us by the David Crowder band has been singing in my heart for the last week. When I think about my God and all He gave up for us, I know how much He loves me.

So many things try to strip us of the love of Jesus. Those circumstances and those obstacle and those people may change but God is NEVER changing. His love is deeper than the ocean, his thoughts toward us are more numerous than the grains of sand on every beach in all the world (Psalm 139).

He doesn't owe us anything but He gives us everything if we are willing to receive His gift.

If you doubt He exists just pause for a minute and try to understand how your breathing and your not telling yourself to. How is the earth spinning and your not feeling it. How your eyes see and your ears hear and your small feet and ankles are able to hold you up without you falling down. Look outside at the trees. Think of the thousands of species of animals that cover this earth all with names. All designed in their own unique way. There is no way its an accident or that it came from a bang.

It came from a God who loves us beyond our own conscious thoughts and wildest imaginings.

Sing it out with me:

He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves.

I Am NOT Ashamed

"I am not ashamed of the Gospel
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
I am not afraid to be counted
But I'm willing to give my life
See I'm ready to be all He wants me to be
Give up the wrong for the right
I am not ashamed of the Gospel

of Jesus Christ"

I couldn't always say that I wasn't ashamed. Not of the gospel that my faith is based on but I was ashamed to say I was a Christian because of all those who proclaim to follow Christ and are perpetrating a fraud. Who are quick to call one a sinner forgetting they are one themselves. Who say they are loving and then will talk about you behind your back. The ones who hoop and holla on Sunday and will curse you out on Monday. Those who cause people to judge you and say, "Oh, you're a Christian".

People that even I couldn't stand. People I didn't want to call my brother or sister.

Being authentic whether Christian or not is what is the most important thing but in today's society they tell you to be fake. Put on airs, be this person, buy that thing to be a better you. How about we all be who God created us to be?

I am no longer ashamed to be a follower of Christ. I'm no longer afraid to make that known to people. I'm not flashy, I'm not in your face and I don't need to be. I just need to be me. God's love for me shines through me.  I may not be "Christian" enough for some and I may be to "Christian" for others but I'm not trying to appease everybody. I don't need everyone's stamp of approval.

I want God to look at me when I stand before Him and have Him tell me, "Well done my good and faithful servant." That is my goal, to let the light of Jesus Christ shine through me.

I used to sing this song out at the top of my lungs when I was a little girl and it would always move me to tears but I never truly grasped what it meant til I got older. 

I am not ashamed...

Because He wasn't ashamed to leave His throne to die for me.

Slow Down

You don't realize how fast paced your life is until you are forced to slow down.  Friday I found out that I sprained my ankle. So I have to wear a soft cast for two weeks and this ugly boot thing (at least its black so I can work with this fashion-wise). What I realized about myself over the last couple of days is that I walk incredibly fast and that I am always on the move. For some reason I am always in a rush and I don't really like to sit for extended periods of time. But now that I am forced to slow down I appreciate my feet all the more and I sympathize with those who have problems with their feet.

It is a bit (ok, A LOT!) frustrating because I can feel how much slower I am going and I find that when I've been standing/walking for awhile I need to find a seat quick and something to put my foot up on . But today as I was walking (slowly, lol) to my office I really got to see the beauty of the world that God created for us. I could feel the cool breeze on my skin, the sunshine on my face, I could smell and see the beautiful flowers and trees. Things I would ordinarily miss because I would be whizzing by. My mind racing as fast as my feet on all the things I would be trying to cram into my day.

In our lives how often are we breezing through it, whizzing passed those things God wants to show us and more often then not running right passed God because there are things more important than Him. We get so caught up in the things we feel are "necessary and important" we miss the things that truly are just that.

Thru this injury that at first seemed more like an annoyance than anything else, God today reminded me to just slow down and take in all that my life is and will be. Don't breeze thru it, enjoy it. Things will happen when they are supposed to. Don't be in a rush to get there. Enjoy the journey and trust the process.

Slow Down.

Adjust Your Mirror

I like how we say we love ourselves then we snip and tuck and poke and pinch and nip and sow and glue and suck and inject everything and the kitchen sink onto or into or out of ourselves to make us a better us. But how do we measure better? When we measure ourselves against what the world deems beautiful or acceptable we will always fall short.

I know I definitely do. My hair isn't always done, my outfits aren't always fly. I'm skinny but I can't say that my body looks like Naomi Campbell's or Eva Pigford's. My skin ain't flawless, my thighs jiggle and sometimes I thoroughly enjoy just being bummy and not caring a lick.

I was always unhappy with the way I looked cuz I never measured up until...

I looked at myself through a new lens. Through the lens of  my Creator. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Created loving and planned for by the same man who fashioned the stars and carved out the oceans. I am important and I matter because I am important and matter to God.

So I ain't nip, tucking, squeezing nothing. Lol. So wat some things I'd rather didn't jiggle, jiggle. God made me who I am and if when He looks at me He gives a stamp of approval then it is all GOOD.

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

1 Samuel 16:7

I am more content with who I am now then I ever was when I was younger because I know who I belong to. Yeah I still have days where I look at myself and twist up my face, lol, but... (cue organist)

when I think about Jesus and what He's done for me, when I about Jesus and how he set me free... 

I wouldn't trade me for anything because He gave up everything just so that I could have life. Thats how special I am. Thats how special we all are. 

So adjust your mirror.

Its Hard Waiting

This Christ walk I'm on ain't easy. I have doubts. Not about who God is to me and what He has done for me. But about the process. Sometimes I struggle with the waiting. God promises to take care of you and lead you in down the right path. But He doesn't reveal things right away. Sometimes He shows you ahead of time but more often then not He doesn't.

I am one that struggles with patience. I have very little of it. Its a terrible thing. Its one of the fruits of the spirit that I have yet to master.

Waiting on the Lord is hard because we are people who live in a world of instant gratification. We want it and we want it now. God doesn't work that way. If He places a desire within you He will grant you that thing but in His perfect timing.

I know that He knows when I'm ready for things and that everything happens for a reason but its INCREDIBLY hard. Knowing that God will do it and then trusting He will are two different skill sets.

But I'm trying. *sigh* All I know is that when God does bless me with what I'm waiting for I will appreciate it and cherish it all the more because I waited on Him for it.