Category: Wisdom

Last night I went to the International Day of Prayer (IDOP) that my church put on at the Gym at my school. During the night, we heard from several pastors in the area and got the opportunity to pray in groups for the persecuted church around the world. This video was shown:

After this video was shown, the girl featured in this video, Sarah, was brought up and my Pastor got the opportunity to ask her several different questions about her time in chains and why she didn’t sign the document. This was so powerful.

Sarah articulated to us that during the time she was in chains, the reason she didn’t sign the document was because she would be betraying her God and her fellow brothers and sisters, and she couldn’t do that.

She went on to explain that her God had never wronged her. How could she betray him by signing that document when her God had always been good to her?

That is huge. Most of the world would say that God had betrayed her and wronged her by putting her in those chains to be beaten and tortured, but Sarah disagreed. Sarah had been given, by God, eternal life with Him and that was the biggest gift she has ever needed.

That is so accurate. As believers, we NEED Christ. We have an extreme problem – sin. There is only one solution – Christ and his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead to defeat death and sin.

I needed last night. I needed last night to remind me of how my own brothers and sisters in Christ were suffering around the world. I am here in America, comfortable in my Christianity, lazy in my faith, and they are being beaten for the same faith that I have. Something is wrong with this picture. I needed that wake up call.

To Be Continued… =)

Thursday night, the freshman, women dorm that I am an RA at held an event called “Dare to be Free.” This event focused in on the struggles that women face, daring women to let Christ free them from these struggles.

To start the event, we passed out a questionnaire that had many different struggles on it including: masturbation, sexual limits within a relationship, pornography, eating disorders, body image, insecurities within relationships, comparison, pride, jealousy, gossip, etc. We asked them to mark which struggles they have/are struggling with, then asked them to fold up their piece of paper and place it back into the basket.

We passed back around the basket and had each woman pull out a piece of paper.

We then read through the list and asked the woman in the room to stand when a struggle was marked on their paper as the list was being read.

On every struggle, almost all the women in room stood up with the exclusion of just a couple of struggles. This fact astounded me – even though this perhaps should not have. Seeing the hurt and pain of so many women was something that I had known, but I had never physically been able to see. These women struggle. They struggle with deep things.

No. One. Is. Vocal. About. It.

This. Is. Not. Okay.

After we read off the list, we entered into a time of sharing. Three RAs and myself shared on different struggles we had/are facing and shared how Christ has/is working in our lives. This was a great time of sharing. One day, I might be bold enough to share my struggles that I have and am struggling with online, but for now, I will not. If you would like to know, ask and I will pray about sharing with you. 😉 haha

Following the time of sharing, we had a panel (the 12 staff members of my RA staff) answer questions that people sent in via text. These questions were deep. These questions were to the core of what we all believe about ourselves (whether or not the beliefs were true or not). These questions were challenging even to the 11 other people on my staff with me.

I left that night at that event wanting badly to tell those women until I was blue in the face that Christ loved them and valued them and is pursuing them. I wanted to tell those girls that a life full of Christ is so much more valuable and worth pursuing than any other relationship with any other person on this planet. I wanted to tell those girls that their worth is not determined by any other resource (magazine, TV show, celebrity, movie, book, boy, girl, group of people, thing, themselves, etc.) on the planet except for by Christ and what his word to us says.

So that is what I am going to do (sorta).

~~~

To women of all shapes and sizes, cultures, skin colors, religion, short, tall, skinny, fat, brunette, blonde, black-haired, gingy [ 😉 ], white-haired, wrinkly, braces, no braces, glasses, trendy, wears hand-me-downs, extroverted, introverted, and whatever earthly things you are identified by:

You are so beautiful.
You are loved by the God of the universe and were created in His image.
You are precious in His sight and he knows the number of hairs on your head.
He died on the cross to make you daughters of Him, the King.
He has adopted you and you are now heirs of His throne.
He has taken your sin and your struggles upon Himself and has counted you as clean, righteous, holy.

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These are the things that identify you. These are the labels that define your worth. Nothing in this world can define that…only Christ can.

“Your blood speaks a better word
Than all the empty claims I’ve heard upon this earth
Speaks righteousness for me
And stands in my defense
Jesus it’s Your blood”
Your Blood- By: Matt Redman

“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”
(Proverbs 31:30 ESV)

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” -2 Corinthians 12:9

To Be Continued… =)

After I posted like a week ago that I haven’t really gotten the time I have needed to write out what is going on in my life and process through the things I have been going through, the Lord totally provides so much time to do that. So here I am…blogging… =)

This week has been an interesting one, and it is only wednesday. So much has gone on. My emotions have gone from being super duper low, to being super high. Today has been one of those days where I have been on the Roller Coaster called EMOTIONS. I woke up in a sad mood. A little discouraged. A little on edge. I went to chapel and J-MO totally rocked it (why I just said that sentence the way I did, I do not know). Got out of chapel and went to pick up my beautiful and newly engaged friend Sarah from the airport (so amazing to see her, by the way). After my discouraging morning, chapel brought my spirits up a little and definitely encouraged me. Then going to pick up Sarah I got a good 40 minutes that I don’t usually get to spend in the word, praying, meditating on scripture, and all the other amazing things that being in a relationship with the Lord brings.

I came upon this gem of a verse: “For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” Psalm 107:9

I didn’t really think twice about it at the time I read it. I thought it was an amazing verse, I tweeted it, then moved on.

Later on this afternoon, I received some news about a friend that should have crushed me to the core of my being. I should have been so sad and I should have grieved deeply. I should have been upset. I should have been angry. I should have been selfish. To paint a picture for you, if I wasn’t a Christian, today would have been one of the hardest days of my life. As I received that news, yes, there was an initial weight in my gut. Then I took a second to process that information and not let my emotions completely rule my life. 

I realized….

I. AM. FINE.

Better yet, I. AM. GREAT. AMAZING. SPLENDID. EXCELLENT. and any other adjective that shows that I have the Lord and he is in control. There is no reason I shouldn’t be fine and no reason I shouldn’t be praising the Lord right now.

The Lord has brought me to where I am and he has done that with power, might, faithfulness, gentleness, care, love, perfection, and so much more.

Yesterday’s (well, early this morning’s) blog about “Who Jesus is?” had it’s moment to prove itself in my life…and by God’s grace, it did.

“For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” Psalm 107:9

The Lord has filled my soul with GOOD things…great things even. He has satisfied my longing soul. He has given me so much to praise Him about that I cannot help but be thankful. Thankful for my past and all that it brought and so entirely thankful for my future and all that will become of it because the Lord has been so good to me and has satisfied me and that is enough.

To Be Continued… =)

Tonight at youth group, Brandon started off the night doing a very interesting activity. He passed around a stack of papers that said on the top, “Who is Jesus?” with the rest of the page blank. He gave us all the opportunity to write on the page everything we knew about Jesus. The only kicker is that we couldn’t use our Bibles.

This activity proved to be a very awesome and eye-opening opportunity for me.

I have grown up going to church literally before I was even born. After I was born, my mom worked in a church office and would put me in my car seat, and I would sit on her desk while she worked. Church was a common thing. When I got to be old enough to go to school, my parents made the huge sacrifice of putting me through private, christian school my whole life. Christianity was and is something I understand. Knowing who Jesus is/was is not a hard thing for me. I was able to write out the list pretty easily. But, putting thought into the truth of who he was and what that meant for my heart proved to be difficult. While the answers come easy, sometimes believing what he does and making that a reality in my life is hard.

On that list, I included things such as:

• Jesus is God
• Jesus defeated death and sin on the cross through the resurrection.
• Jesus broke down the wall of hostility so that now Jews, gentiles, male, female, etc. can be saved and redeemed and have salvation. 
• Jesus was the Lamb of God whose blood was shed so that we can have life. 
• Jesus brings the person who was dead in their sin to life, able now to be counted as righteousness and able to now sit with him as heirs to the kingdom at his right hand on high.  (Ephesians 2)
• Jesus is so faithful and perfect
• Jesus did miracles and has all the power of the Father because he is 100% God. He willingly chose to humble himself as a human so that he could be an acceptable sacrifice for our sin. 

As I sat there thinking through all of those things, I looked at that list and realized what a HUGE gift I have in Jesus. Not only did he do those things to save humanity from their eternal destination because of all the sins they have committed, but he died and rose again and defeated death and sin so that I could defeat the sin in my life now. He did those things so that I could live a life of freedom. He did those things so that I could share the wonderful love and grace that he lavished on me with other people. He did those things so that I could help others defeat that sin and the power it has over them. He did those things so that I could become one with Him and love Him with everything I have.

“Who Jesus is” is not a light thing. He is God. He is omnipotent…ALL-POWERFUL!

If I am a believer in Him and say that I am living my life modeled after Him, I need to start believing and living out the truth of the list that I had written on that sheet of paper. Those truths better become evident in my life because if His grace has been lavished upon me, the least I could do would be to live those things out for His glory.

To Be Continued… =)

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
Every man would have a friend
That right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list

To Be Continued… =)

I feel like I get so much less time these days to write out and record my weeks and days. I only really get to do that on seldom occasions. I am also procrastinating on writing a paper, so this is what I do to avoid it! 😉

So Friday, went to the Smith Hall Fall Film Festival. It was great! The boys did a great job and it was enjoyable. We got to dress up and eat popcorn and watch really funny short films.

Saturday I woke up and spent the day in Oak Glen with my residents. It was honestly such a great time and so refreshing. We got apple cider, took pictures, ate yummy food, and just enjoyed each other’s presence. Here are some, well a lot of, pictures:

Then, Sunday I went to church which was so good. I love my church family and am always so blessed by them. One of the handful of things that scare me about leaving Riverside in the future is that I will not be with my church family and my actual, blood family. Anyways, after church, I went home and spent time with my family. My brother Marty and his wife Sandie came over to drop of my new car and then eat dinner with the family. It was so nice to have all of us together. I can’t help but think that after May I might be somewhere other than in Riverside and times like these may not happen as often. It was a sweet time.

Here’s a picture of me and my new car:

 Out of all the things that have made me “feel” like an adult, a new car has definitely given me that feeling. Being able to go where I want and go when I want to go has been freeing and definitely has make me feel 10 years older and more responsible. I can’t explain it, but it was almost like a rite of passage for me. I am thankful for it.

Hopefully I will get to blog again soon…sooner rather than later. ❤

    “God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
        and those who hate him shall flee before him!
    As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
        as wax melts before fire,
        so the wicked shall perish before God!
    But the righteous shall be glad;
        they shall exult before God;
        they shall be jubilant with joy!
    Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
        lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
    his name is the LORD;
        exult before him!
    Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
        is God in his holy habitation.
    God settles the solitary in a home;
        he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
        but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
    O God, when you went out before your people,
        when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
    the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
        before God, the One of Sinai,
        before God, the God of Israel.
    Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
        you restored your inheritance as it languished;
    your flock found a dwelling in it;
        in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.
    The Lord gives the word;
        the women who announce the news are a great host:
        “The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”
    The women at home divide the spoil—
        though you men lie among the sheepfolds—
    the wings of a dove covered with silver,
        its pinions with shimmering gold.
    When the Almighty scatters kings there,
        let snow fall on Zalmon.
    O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
        O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
    Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
        at the mount that God desired for his abode,
        yes, where the LORD will dwell forever?
    The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
        thousands upon thousands;
        the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
    You ascended on high,
        leading a host of captives in your train
        and receiving gifts among men,
    even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.
    Blessed be the Lord,
        who daily bears us up;
        God is our salvation. Selah
    Our God is a God of salvation,
        and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
    But God will strike the heads of his enemies,
        the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
    The Lord said,
        “I will bring them back from Bashan,
    I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
    that you may strike your feet in their blood,
        that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”
    Your procession is seen, O God,
        the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
    the singers in front, the musicians last,
        between them virgins playing tambourines:
    “Bless God in the great congregation,
        the LORD, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”
    There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
        the princes of Judah in their throng,
        the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
    Summon your power, O God,
        the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.
    Because of your temple at Jerusalem
        kings shall bear gifts to you.
    Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,
        the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
    Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;
        scatter the peoples who delight in war.
    Nobles shall come from Egypt;
        Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.
    O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
        sing praises to the Lord, Selah
    to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
        behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
    Ascribe power to God,
        whose majesty is over Israel,
        and whose power is in the skies.
    Awesome is God from his sanctuary;
        the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
    Blessed be God!“
(Psalm 68 ESV)

I can’t sleep tonight. Life is hard. Sin is so stinking hard, whether it is your own or someone else’s. Pain is hard. My heart is so full of sadness and despair for those who don’t know the power of Christ and who can’t live in freedom because they are bound by sin. My heart is so so heavy tonight. I want people to realize the Gospel and the power we have to make war with our sin and our lives that are separated from Christ. I am no where near perfect at this. But, that is not to say it isn’t something I struggle through and desire greatly! I want to live out the reality that Christ has broken those chains and freed those bonds.

Lord, help me to be a believer that is characterized by You. Characterized by your Gospel and fighting the sin that you crushed on the cross. You have already defeated it so that I don’t have to walk in it. Help me to live for you and to constantly desire you!


To Be Continued…