I'm back

I'm horrible at keeping up with this thing! I really love the idea of blogs and I REALLY enjoy reading others!!! I love to know what the Lord is doing in peoples' hearts and lives. So just to give a quick update on a few things that He has been doing in my life over the past few months....

He has brought me into a community group at Grace that I absolutely LOVE!!! It is such a sweet opportunity to spend time with the body and get to know them more intimately. I love how committed to prayer they are and how much I enjoy spending being a part of their lives.

Since January He has allowed me to be in the evening bible study with some amazing women. We got to go through the book of John and Hosea. I am so blessed to have been able to learn more about my maker through those pages! Also, the women challenged me weekly and held me accountable for my time with my Creator. The Lord used the study to show me more of His character and also more of my character(eeek)! haha I feel that He used those women to really show me what a women who seeks Jesus looks like! They came week after week to learn and grow more in Him. They didn't let the worries of the day keep them away from such a precious time that He allowed for us every Monday night.

A huge part of this season in my life has been my relationship with Dathan. The way the Lord has shown Himself through our relationship has been CRAZY! To see the Lord work in such mysterious and AMAZING ways is so humbling. He has completely transformed my heart and Dathan's heart and brought us together. I am so blessed to be in a relationship with this man. I give the Lord EVERY BIT of praise for this relationship. Without Him there is no way that we could have reconciled such a broken, unhealthy relationship. I love that the Lord is holding my hand every step of the way and making me rely on and trust Him.

Ummm I got to experience my first VBS ever! I didn't grow up in church so I had never attented a VBS in my life. It was soooo awesome! Games, songs, little hands, smiles, God's love, decorations, snacks, sweet children, funny adults...you name it...it was there! :) I had the honor of being a group leader..what an experience! I absolutely adored my group and enjoyed seeing the Lord teach them( and me) about Himself throughout the week. I'm excited for next year!

I haven't got to spend as much time with my bestie as I would like but the time that we do spend is priceless. It is cool to see where He has brought us both over the last year. We are both transitioning into "adult" life and headed on new journeys. She will be moving to Montgomery in December. I'm super excited for her but not really ready to see her go. I'm thankful for such a sweet friendship though, and I know the Lord will protect the friendship that He has set in place.

Sooo...I'm sure there are TONS of other things I could write about but I'm really hungry so I'm going to go eat and I will be back soon..I hope!

Jesus!

beautiful!

Singleness

singleness is a privilege!
By: Amanda McLendon
Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 3:11pm
I know right off, crazy title. Singleness is a privilege?! I must be crazy, right?! But at the moment, after God hitting me over the head, I think I can say that and honestly mean it. In our culture, no, it's not a privilege. The culture, which serves Satan incase you didn't know, wants us to believe that we need a person of the opposite sex to complete us. I mean there's the famous movie line, "You complete me." Well last time I read my Bible it told me not to be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be renewed by the transforming of my mind. (Romans 12:2) So let's throw the culture's beliefs and ideas out the window. As believers, that is NOT what we are called to follow. We are called to follow the Truth of God and if you're wondering where you find His truth, it's in that thing we call a Bible. For some, it's that book sitting by your bed you thumb through when you finally get to a point you think you need God or if your like me you study the heck out of it to teach others and forget sometimes it's there to speak to you. His truth is right there and that is what we should turn to every moment of every day to know what principles and truths should guide our thinking and the way we live.

Ok, so that rant is over, so what about singleness. What would make me say something as crazy as singleness is a privilege?! Because God's Word, the thing I just talk about being the truth that should guide our lives as believers, says so! 1 Corinthians 7 talks about singleness believe it or not. If you don't, check it out. It talks about how married men and women have divided attention. (Now please don't think I'm turning into a bitter person who is about to bash marriage. Marriage is clearly a beautiful thing God has instituted, but I'm simply seeing the beauty also found in singleness. Shoot, I hope to be married someday!) Ok, so back to 1 Corinthians 7. It also talks about how an unmarried man or woman is anxious about the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord. They can also have undivided attention for the Lord. So what's the privilege? God giving you the opportunity to be fully devoted to Him! Perhaps God has something he wants to accomplish in your life and He needs you to be single in that season for that to happen. Perhaps God is protecting you from a relationship disaster that could pull your attention from Him. Maybe God needs to teach you that ONLY HE can complete you, not some other person. Why do we try so hard to be completed by things that are created instead of the one who created everything?

God has purpose in EVERYTHING. I heard a guy speak this weekend on Acts 17 when Paul proclaims THE GOD to the people of Athens. THE God who created everything. Please take some time to read Acts 17:24-27. Just see how incredibly great and awesome our God is! In there it talks about how basically He determined all that would happen. And the beauty of it all is in v. 27. The purpose in everything He has determined would happen is that people would seek God and find Him. So if you are like me and you find yourself single, or maybe in some other situation or season in life that maybe you just honestly flat out don't like, see that God has purpose in it. Start with just seeking God. He has a purpose in it. You can trust Him. I mean, He created you and knows you better than you know yourself. Please know, these are the things I keep having to say over and over to myself.

So singleness, throw out what the world says about it and maybe even what people in your own Christian circles say. It truly is a privilege. God has purpose in it. You have the opportunity to give your undivided attention to God. Please don't think I'm saying this as someone who has it all together because I most definitely don't. But the more I fix my mind on what HIS truth says, the more He changes my heart and my attitude. And I give you full permission that if you run into me on a day that I'm buying into what the world says, remind me of His truth. :)

Feeling Unloved

Excerpt from Praying God's Word by Beth Moore

Praying God's Word: Chapter 5- Overcoming the Insecurity of Feeling Unloved

Minor insecurities can be little more than occasional challenges, but when life suddenly erupts like a volcano, insecurity turns into panic. Want suddenly feels like need. A hidden pocket of unmet needs suddenly quakes and leaves a cavern. The fear of the feeling of being unloved is probably our greatest source of insecurity, whether or not we can always articulate it.

Jehovah God, the Great Soul-ologist, identified man’s chief desire in Proverbs 19:22: “What a man desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar.” Look at the verse carefully. What in the world does being better off “poor than a liar” have to do with a man’s desiring unfailing love?

Think about it for a moment! The Holy Spirit is pin-pointing the deep origin of our constant cravings to have more and more of anything. He is implying that our human tendency is to stockpile belongings or amass wealth in order to satisfy a cavernous need in our souls. He is also suggesting that we are lying if we’re saying that our greatest need is anything besides unfailing love. The word desires in Proverbs 19:22 implies a deep craving. Each of us craves utterly unfailing love: a love that is unconditional, unwavering, radical, demonstrative, broader than the horizon, deeper than the sea. And it would be nice if that love were healthy, liberating rather than suffocating, and whole. Interestingly, the Word of God uses the phrase “unfailing love” thirty-two other times, and not one of them refers to any source other than God, Himself. You see, God had the transcendent advantage. Because He created us, God got to make us any way He wanted us. It’s not His will for anyone to perish, and since the only way to have eternal life is to receive Him, God created us with a cavernous need that we would seek to fill until we found Him.

Praise Him!

Today has been a very calm and peaceful day for me. The Lord woke me with sweet thoughts of Him and His love for me. I was able to come before Him in prayer and praise Him for who He is and intercede for those I love. How sweet that we have the privilege to talk to God, Maker of the universe! A sweet friend of mine bought me the book The Valley of Vision. This morning I stumbled upon this prayer and wanted to share it.

~Truth in Jesus~
Life-Giving God,
Quicken me to call upon thy name,
for my mind is ignorant,
my thoughts vagrant,
my affections earthly,
my heart unbelieving,
and only thy Spirit can help my infirmities.
I approach thee as Father and Friend,
my portion forever,
my exceeding joy,
my strength of heart.
I believe in thee as the God of nature,
the ordainer of providence,
the sender of Jesus my Saviour.
My guilty fears discourage an approach to thee,
buy I praise thee for the blessed news
that Jesus reconciles thee to me.
May the truth that is in him
illuminate in me all that is dark,
establish in me all that is wavering,
comfort in me all that is wretched,
accomplish in me all that is of they goodness,
and glorify in me the name of Jesus.
I pass through a vale of tears
but bless thee for the opening gate of glory at its end.
Enable me to realize as mind the better,
heavenly country.
Prepare me for every part of my pilgrimage.
Uphold my steps by they Word.
Let no iniquity dominate me.
Teach me that Christ cannot be the way
if I am the end,
that he cannot be Redeemer
if I am my own Saviour,
that there can be no true union with him
while the creature has my heart,
that faith accepts him as Redeemer and Lord
or not at all.

I love this song and I love her voice! It is amazing that the Lord lets us experience such beautiful things! :)

Agape

~unconditional love
~the love that consumes
~self-sacrificing love of God for humanity
~the Father's love for His children
~selfless love
~charity
~love that is passionately committed to the well-being of the other
~the highest and purest form of love

"The greatest labor of love that ever happened was possible because Jesus pursued the greatest imaginable joy, namely, the joy of being exalted to God’s right hand in the assembly of a redeemed people: “For the joy that was set before him [He] endured the cross!” "John Piper-Desiring God

Can you believe it? That this is how God loves us? He chose us to be His children! He uses us! He made us in His image! He LOVES us! It blows my mind to even sit here and think about that kind of sacrificial love.

I love this song! How He Loves-David Crowder Band

As believers we are called to love like this! 'Love (agape) the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love (agape) your neighbor as yourself.' Mt 22:37-40