Month: May 2011

Beauty for Ashes!!!!!!!!!!

Published on by Sarah E. CooleyLeave a comment

I was in a pretty poopy, horrible mood the moment I woke up. Not usually how my mornings are. Usually I am filled with Joy and Thanksgiving to the Lord. Today was different and I didn’t like it at all. I was so angry. I was dwelling in bitterness and getting myself NO WHERE FAST!!! I decided that reading the Word would be a great idea-it so was… The Lord is so good at providing everything we need. From the little things to the ginormous things! I also read out of My Utmost for His Highest. That was also a great idea. This is the reading for today:

“Yes-But…!”
“Lord, I will follow You, but…” (Luke 9:61)

“Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your common sens, totally going against it. What will you do? Will you hold back? If you get into the habit of doing something physically, you will do it every time you are tested until you break the habit through sheer determination. And the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will come right up to what Jesus wants, but every time you will turn back at the true point of testing,until you are determined to abandon yourself to God in total surrender. Yet we tend to say, “Yes, but-suppose I do obey God in this matter, what about…?” Or we say, “Yes, I will obey God if what He asks of me doesn’t go against my common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.”
“Jesus Christ demands the same unrestrained, adventurous spirit in those who have placed their trust in Him that the natural man exhibits. If a person is every going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe through common sense, and leap by faith into what He says. Once you obey, you will immediately find that what He says is as solidly consistent as common sense.”
“By the test of common sense, Jesus Christ’s statements may seem mad, but when you test them y the trial of faith, your findings will fill your spirit with the awesome fact that they are the very words of God. Trust completely in God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to you, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis-only one out of an entire crowd is daring enough to invest his faith in the character of God.”

Reading that was like a nice little slap in the face ridding me of my sin-THANK YOU LORD! I always find myself going back to my old ways of bitterness, hatred, and sin. The Lord has not called me to live in the flesh in which I once walked, but in His ways-the good works that he created beforehand that I should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). After I got done reading that, I began to get ready. Beauty for Ashes came on by Shane and Shane. Another little slap in the face, but SUCH an encouragement. This song just repeats itself over and over again and this is exactly what I needed to have repeated over and over again this morning.

“Beauty for ashes
A garment of praise for my heaviness
Beauty for ashes
Take this heart of stone and make it Yours, Yours

I delight myself in the Richest of Fare
Trading all that I’ve had for all that is better
A garment of praise for my heaviness
You are the greatest taste
You’re the richest of fair.”

Thank you, Lord.


To Be Continued… =)

"Our Time is But a Breath, So We Better Breathe It"

Published on by Sarah E. Cooley1 Comment

This morning, as I was getting ready for work, I was listening to Michael Bublé. That is a normal occurrence for me – at least listening to some sort of lovey-dovey, romantic music. Whether I am single or dating someone, I always enjoy it because…well…I am a girl! 😉 Anyways, I had been listening to it and then changed it to country. After each song, I realized a little more how wrong their view of love was.

(How to say this without sounding ridiculous and completely cynical…hm…??) Well, I realized how lost our world is. They (including myself sometimes) are all so focused on the wrong things. They are focused on how a person – one very human, flawed person –  can satisfy their every need. Man, does that not work, or what?!

Been there, done that. Doesn’t work, doesn’t satisfy.

It has been an interesting journey the last month or so. I was (and am still) THAT person. I put all my eggs in one basket and that was very foolish of me. Hindsight is 20/20.

I placed that one, human person as the most important thing in my life…with all the expectations you should place on no one but the Lord. It was a set up for failure.

And that is what happened. It failed. I set up for myself my own personal idol and then turned around and claimed that the Lord is number one in my life. As much as you try to fight it, the Lord will strip you of those things. He will make sure that you put him first. He will make sure that you are broken in every way possible so that nothing but him is glorified.

If there is one lesson I could share with every girl, it is that MAN FAILS…they are not Jesus (they are not perfect or God). They can NEVER take Jesus’ place in your life. They can never, ever fill the all-satisfying hole that only the Lord can fill. They can’t do it. Even if they try with all their might. They could do everything you ever ask of them, but who wants to be “loved” by demand (I sure don’t; I want to be desired and wanted)!!!

I was listening to Brooke Fraser on my way home from my activities last night and she has a really good song called C.S. Lewis Song. Basically, it is a song that is filled with quotes and ideas that C.S. Lewis thought through in some of his writings. One of the lines that kept getting me over and over was this:

“If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy,
I can only conclude that I was not made for here
If the flesh that I fight is at best only light and momentary,
then of course I’ll feel nude when to where I’m destined I’m compared”

 So true. my desires are not satisfied by anything here on this earth. There are some days when I want nothing to do with this earth and my heart craves to be in heaven worshiping at the feet of Jesus. Unfortunately that time is going to have to wait, but for now I will conclude with the bridge to the song:

For we, we are not long here
Our time is but a breath, so we better breathe it
And I, I was made to live, I was made to love, I was made to know you
Hope is coming for me
Hope, He’s coming

To Be Continued… =)

"Pee on the Present"

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One of my favorite sayings that I tell to almost every girl who isn’t content is “Don’t have one foot in the Past, one in the Future, and pee on the Present.”
I feel like this is the story of my life right now. I have to keep repeating this to myself so I don’t go crazy trying to play out the past and see where I went wrong. Or, spend too much time dreaming about the future and what I can do correctly when it finally rolls around. When I do those things, I am seriously missing something. I am missing “right now.”

Life is hard. It has its up’s and down’s. More recently, it has been a kinda lull in-between. I have had some extremely joyful times, but I have also had some “hit rock bottom” hard times. It is hard to balance the two. It is hard to trust the Lord that right where he has you is right where you belong. It is hard to not get lost in the day dreams of tomorrow and memories of yesterday. But, the Lord is so sovereign. He is soooo incredibly patient. He waits with me and walks with me all the way (Like the “Footprints in the Sand” poem =) ).

I don’t have any clue where I will be next year at this time. Who knows? Maybe India. Maybe in the Middle East somewhere. Maybe in Europe somewhere. Maybe I’ll be right here in Riverside. The Lord really is the only one who knows; I need to trust him. He is enough; His Gospel is ENOUGH!!!

Days like today, where nothing is particularly wrong, but something isn’t right…I need to trust him. I need to keep my eyes stayed on him. I need to not look to the right or to the left. I need to keep my hand on the plow and not look back. I need to RUN with strength and confidence in him. I need to not pee on the present all the gosh darn time and trust Him that where I am at is good and even GREAT!!!!!!!

Hope

Published on by Sarah E. CooleyLeave a comment

By: Addison Road

(VERSE 1)

If everything comes down to love

Then just what am I afraid of

When I call out Your name

Something inside awakes in my soul

How quickly I forget I’m Yours

(PRE-CHORUS)

I’m not my own


I’ve been carried by You


All my life

(CHORUS)

Everything rides on hope now

Everything rides on faith somehow

When the world has broken me down

Your love sets me free

(VERSE 2)

When my life is like a storm


Rising waters all I want is the shore


You say I’ll be ok


Make it through the rain


You are my shelter from the storm

(CHORUS)

Everything rides on hope now

Everything rides on faith somehow

When the world has broken me down

Your love sets me free

(PRE-CHORUS)

I am not my own

I’ve been carried by you all my life

(CHORUS)

Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow

When the world has broken me down


Your love sets me free

(CHORUS)

Everything rides on hope now

Everything rides on faith somehow

When the world has broken me down


Your love sets me free

(CHORUS 2)

You’ve become my hearts desires


I will sing Your praises higher


Your love sets me free


(Your love sets me free)


Your love sets me free


(You love sets me free)


Your love sets me free


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xboucW89gUU



To Be Continued… =)

Beauty says, "All shall be well."

Published on by Sarah E. Cooley2 Comments

Part of submission to Christ is being content and satisfied in his will. When this occurs, it is a beautiful thing. I have been reading Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge. It is wonderful! They talk a lot about this in the first couple of chapters in their book:

           “And what does beauty say to us? Think of what it is like to be caught in traffic for more than an hour. Horns blaring, people shouting obscenities. Exhaust pouring in your windows, suffocating you. Then remember what it’s like to come into a beautiful place, a garden or a meadow or a quiet beach. There is room for your soul. It expands. You can breathe again. You can rest. It is good. All is well. I sit outside on a summer evening and just listen and behold and drink it all in, and my heart begins to quiet and peace begins to come into my soul. My heart tells me that ‘All will be well,’ as Julian of Norwich concluded. ‘And all manner of things will be well.’
           That is what beauty says, All shall be well.
           And this is what it’s like to be with a woman at rest, a woman comfortable  in her feminine beauty. She is enjoyable to be with. She is lovely. In her presence your heart stops holding its breath. You relax and believe once again that all will be well. And this is also why a woman who is striving is so disturbing, for a woman who is not at rest in her heart says to the world, ‘All is not well. Things are not going to turn out all right.’ ‘Like a fountain troubled,’ as Shakespeare said, ‘muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty.’ We need what Beauty speaks. What it says is hard to put into words. But part of its message is that all is well. All will be well.”

Submission is beauty. It is inviting to the people around the woman who is submitting because when a woman submits to the Lord, there is a peace and countenance about her that is indescribable. It is explained in this verse: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7 ESV). This passage is the step by step process of submitting your will to the Lord. First, you make a conscious effort to not be anxious. Second, by prayer and supplication, you let the Lord know what your requests are. Then, third, the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds. This peace is indescribable. It is without understanding. It is supernatural.

This is the peace that comes from the Lord when we submit to his will. We need to focus completely on his will for our lives because his will is perfect. We may have our plans and the “perfect” way we think our life should go, but the Lord is the one directs our paths. In his perfect plan, we may find rest. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand…The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.” (Proverbs 19:21, 23 ESV).

To Be Continued… =)

Your Love is a Song & Let It All Out

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This song was so comforting to me this afternoon. Switchfoot’s Your Love is a Song:

“I hear you breathing in
Another day begins
The stars are falling out
My dreams are fading now, fading out

I’ve been keeping my eyes wide open
I’ve been keeping my eyes wide open

Ooh, your love is a symphony
All around me, running through me
Ooh, your love is a melody
Underneath me, running to me
Oh, your love is a song

The dawn is fire bright
Against the city lights
The clouds are glowing now
The moon is blacking out, is blacking out

So I’ve been keeping my mind wide open
I’ve been keeping my mind wide open, yeah

Ooh, your love is a symphony
All around me, running to me
Ooh, your love is a melody
Underneath me, and into me

Oh, your love is a song
Your love is a song
Oh, your love is a song
Your love is strong

With my eyes wide open
I’ve got my eyes wide open
I’ve been keeping my hopes unbroken
Yeah, yeah
Ooh, your love is a symphony
All around me, running through me
Ooh, your love is a melody
Underneath me, running to me
Your love is a song
Yeah, yeah
Your love is my remedy
Oh, your love is a song”

~~~

And this: Relient K’s Let It All Out:

“Let it all out

Get it all out
Rip it out remove it
Don’t be alarmed
When the wound begins to bleed

Cause we’re so scared to find out
What this life’s all about
So scared we’re going to lose it
Not knowing all along
That’s exactly what we need

And today I will trust you with the confidence
Of a man who’s never known defeat
But tomorrow, upon hearing what I did
I will stare at you in disbelief
Oh, inconsistent me
Crying out for consistency

And you said I know that this will hurt
But if I don’t break your heart then things will just get worse
If the burden seems too much to bear
Remember
The end will justify the pain it took to get us there

And I’ll let it be known
At times I have shown
Signs of all my weakness
But somewhere in me
There is strength

And you promise me
That you believe
In time I will defeat this
Cause somewhere in me
There is strength

And today I will trust you with the confidence
Of a man who’s never known defeat
And I’ll try my best to just forget
That that man isn’t me
Reach out to me
Make my heart brand new
Every beat will be for you
For you

And I know you know
You touched my life
When you touched my heavy heart and made it light”

Oak Tree > Acorn

Published on by Sarah E. Cooley4 Comments
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I just finished reading a book called Passion and Purity” by Elisabeth Elliot, and let me tell you…this book has blown my mind!!!



The last several weeks, I have been learning about submission and what that looks like in my life – being a single woman with out a man to even think of applying this to my life, I have been trying to figure out how this works. So, in submitting as I am commanded as a believer and Christian, who do I submit to then? This submission is different then the submission commanded for a wife to her husband. It requires our whole will, all of our might, and a surrender that is unlike a surrender any human could give to another human. This submission is paramount to the husband-wife submission. The phrase “submit to God” seems easy. Try applying the phrase “submit yourself to God” to your life and tell me how easy that actually is.



All to quickly, I want to do my own thing, submit to my own will, and follow the plans that I make for myself. But, being a Christian, I eliminate myself from those choices the moment I decided that I wanted Christ to Lord over my life. Mark 8:34-38 speaks to this: “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’”

 As a Christian, I forfeit my rights as a human being and allow the Lord to control my life. That is a scary thought if you do not know the Lord, but when you begin to understand who the Lord is, it is quite freeing because he is so faithful.

In Passion and Purity, a section talking about submission to God really stood out to me. It says: “The growth of all living green things wonderfully represents the process of receiving and relinquishing, gaining and losing, living and dying. The seed falls into the ground, dies as the new shoot springs up. There must be a splitting and a breaking in order for a bud to form. The bud ‘lets go’ when the flower forms. The calyx lets go of the flower. The petals must curl up and die in order for the fruit to form. The fruit falls, splits, relinquishes the seed. The seed falls into the ground…. There is no ongoing spiritual life without this process of letting go. At the precise point where we refuse, growth stops. If we hold tightly to anything given to us, unwilling to let it go when the time comes to let it go or unwilling to allow it to be used as the Giver means it to be used, we stunt the growth of the soul.” 

This is remarkable. In my own life, I see this whole process occurring right now. There was a seed, it was planted, but before giving life, it has been broken from the life it was in, it has died, it has split and is now giving life to a new growth. Hindsight is most definitely 20/20. When the beginning of the trials had come into my life (The brokenness, death, and splitting), it seemed as though everything – life itself – was ending. But, to my surprise, the new life Christ desired for me to have was just beginning. I am only at the beginning stages of growth that the Lord desires for me to be at. This brokenness, death, and splitting is such a gift from the Lord. It is remarkable to me that I am actually able to say that now. 

Elisabeth Elliot continues later on that page: “It is easy to make a mistake here. ‘If God gave it to me,’ we say, ‘It is mine. I can do what I want with it.’ No. The truth is that it is ours to thank Him for and ours to offer back to Him, ours to relinquish, ours to lose, ours to let go of – if we want to find our true selves, if we want real Life, if our hearts are set on glory.”

It is so easy to get caught up in the game of it’s mine because the Lord gave it to me, but it is never mine. I never know what is truly best for me. If I do not understand this truth, it is sure to be plucked out of my hands (like this last year has been). In the past, I have held on too long. The Lord knows all and he knows what is right. Trust him and obey the moment he commands us to. It is crucial. 

“Think of the self that God has given as an acorn, It is a marvelous little thing, a perfect shape, perfectly designed for its purpose, perfectly functional. Think of the grand glory of an oak tree. God’s intention for us is ‘…the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.’ Many deaths must go into our reaching that measure, many letting-goes. When you look at the oak tree, you don’t feel that the ‘loss’ of the acorn is a very great loss. The more you perceive God’s purpose in your life, the less terrible will the losses seem.”

Isn’t this the truth?! When I know a glorious oak tree is planned for me, in no way am I going to settle for the little tiny itty-bitty acorn. That would be foolish. I need to commit my way to the Lord and be willing to let it go of things that he has given me at one time if that should be His will because I know he has an oak tree destined for me. This seems easy to understand, but it is still difficult. 

I will conclude this post with a quote from another book I am reading, Disciplines of a Godly Woman by Barbara Hughes: “Does the word submission feel uncomfortable to you? Put it back into your vocabulary. All the disciplines of a godly woman [ or man 🙂 ] are about submitting your will to God’s loving rule in daily life. Reject the popular voices that entice you to put your needs first, to protect your self-interest and rights, to push at God-given boundaries. Search the Scriptures to understand how Jesus did it – and then follow His example – because Jesus Christ is Lord!”


~~~

“Take Thou the full possession of my heart. Raise there Thy throne, and command there as Thou dost in heaven. Being created by Thee, let me live to Thee. Being created for Thee, let me ever act for Thy glory. Being redeemed by Thee, let me render unto Thee what is Thine, and let my spirit ever cleave to Thee alone.” 
John Wesley


To Be Continued… =)

Times

Published on by Sarah E. CooleyLeave a comment

Times
By: Tenth Avenue North

“I know I need you

I need to love you

I love to see you, but its been so long

I long to feel you

I feel this need for you

and I need to hear you

is that so wrong?

oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh oh

now you pulled me near you

when we’re close I fear you

still I’m afraid to tell you

all that I’ve done

are you done forgiving?

or can you look pass my pretending?

Lord I’m so tired of defending

what I’ve become

what have I become?

oh oh, oh oh, oh oh.
I hear you say “my love is over,


its underneath, it’s inside, it’s in between


the times you doubt me, when you can’t feel


the times that you’ve questioned “is this for real?”


the times you’ve broken, the times that you mend


the times you hate me and the times that you bend


well my love is over, it’s underneath


it’s inside, it’s in between,


these times you’re healing


and when your heart breaks


the times that you feel like you’ve fallen from grace


the times you’re hurting


the times that you heal


the times you go hungry and are tempted to steal


in times of confusion and chaos and pain


I’m there in your sorrow under the weight of your shame


I’m there through your heartache


I’m there in the storm


my love I will keep you by my power alone


I dont care where you’ve fallen, where you have been


I’ll never forsake you


my love never ends, it never ends

~~~

Ecclesiastes 3
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.
I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.”

Comfort Food….

Published on by Sarah E. Cooley1 Comment
~Psalm 103~
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
        and all that is within me,
        bless his holy name!
    Bless the LORD, O my soul,
        and forget not all his benefits,
    who forgives all your iniquity,
        who heals all your diseases,
    who redeems your life from the pit,
        who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
    who satisfies you with good
        so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
    The LORD works righteousness
        and justice for all who are oppressed.
    He made known his ways to Moses,
        his acts to the people of Israel.
    The LORD is merciful and gracious,
        slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
    He will not always chide,
        nor will he keep his anger forever.
    He does not deal with us according to our sins,
        nor repay us according to our iniquities.
    For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
        so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
    as far as the east is from the west,
        so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
    As a father shows compassion to his children,
        so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
    For he knows our frame;
        he remembers that we are dust.
    As for man, his days are like grass;
        he flourishes like a flower of the field;
    for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
        and its place knows it no more.
    But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
        and his righteousness to children’s children,
    to those who keep his covenant
        and remember to do his commandments.
    The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
        and his kingdom rules over all.
    Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
        you mighty ones who do his word,
        obeying the voice of his word!
    Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
        his ministers, who do his will!
    Bless the LORD, all his works,
        in all places of his dominion.
    Bless the LORD, O my soul!
To Be Continued… =)

"But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

Published on by Sarah E. CooleyLeave a comment
 
“The church has made a big deal out of small things, and a small deal out of big things.” -The I Heart Revolution Documentary
~~~
    “I hate, I despise your feasts,
        and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
     Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
        I will not accept them;
    and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
        I will not look upon them.
     Take away from me the noise of your songs;
        to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
     But let justice roll down like waters,
        and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
 (Amos 5:21-24 ESV)
~~~
Praying for all those going on ISP trips, Norco Trips, SOS trips, etc. I pray that your sacrifice would be a sweet fragrance to the Lord, and that crushing injustice through the work of the gospel would be a “big deal” in all of our lives.