You are my beloved....

"You are my beloved and I am pleased by what I have made in you and what I have found in your heart."
- Your Heavenly Father
Dearest Lord, Holy Father, I praise You alone for the adventures, enjoyment and relaxation I had today. You are the giver of all good gifts, and today, Father, was a truly splendid gift from You. Thank you for beginning to reveal your plans for me, Lord, and starting to use me for Your glory. I ask You to continue working in me and through me for the sake of Your glory alone. I find my pleasure in doing what delights You, my Father, so I thank You for teaching me what that is and for bringing me many opportunities to do just that. Thank You, Lord, for the new friends I have made that challenge me to grow in my relationship with You. I ask that You would continue to grow those relationships which are meant to be and to cut off those which are meant to end.
As I sleep tonight, Lord, I pray my sleep would be sweet and my dreams pleasant. Let my heart be constantly focused on You, even while my body is at rest, that I may be in prayer and conversation with my One true Lord at all times. Keep those who need prayer on my mind and heart so that I may lift them to You; and show me those I do not yet know of that are longing for a touch from Your heart to theirs. Let me be Your vessel, Lord, a constant outpouring of Your love overflowing in my life. I praise You, Lord, for the sole reason that You have been so good to me.
Love and Praise Forever and Always,
Your humbled and faithful servant
Amen

I Long for You

You, O Lord, are what the depths of my soul and the core of my being cry out in longing for. No matter how much time I spend with You, I cannot get enough. In You alone I find my strength and the meaning of my life. Your glory defines me.

Thankful for Suffering

Over time I am becoming more and more thankful for the suffering God has allowed me to endure because anytime I am suffering I have learned to stay strong in my faith in God. All the trials I have experienced have led me to a stronger faith in God and a closer relationship with Him. If I had not experienced the things I did, I would not have had the kind of faith in God that I do and I may not even be able to be used by Him for his glory in the way He so desires. My passion and longing and love for my Heavenly Father would maybe not be nearly as strong had I not experienced the need of it to sustain my own life.
Christ's body is my bread of life and His blood is what brings life to my spirit. I live by the nourishment that He alone can bring. Because I have experienced the fulfillment of what His nourishment can do in my body and spirit and soul, I long for Him and nothing else. My desires are slowly becoming what He desires for me; I am being transformed by the renewal of my mind and my desire for the things of the spirit. I am seeing a change in me and consequently in my life because God has been allowed to work on the parts of my life that require His careful hand.

Rejoice in the Lord Always: Not Just Another Cliche

"Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!"

But what does it mean to rejoice? How can we rejoice ALWAYS?! God knows it's not easy for us to rejoice through every circumstance, but He encourages us to seek Him for the strength to do just that. Let's look first at what it means to rejoice.

According to Webster's Dictionary, rejoice means to feel or express great happiness. In this verse, the Greek word agalliao is used, which is the ACTIVE form of rejoicing - usually in response to what God has done. It means to feel an exuberant joy, the kind that overflows and affects everyone around you!

In the Old Testament, to rejoice was a short-lived event, but in Phil. 4:4 it is used with the commanding word of 'always' (Vine's Concise Dictionary). We tend to overuse this word 'always' and therefore forget what it really means. Again, Webster's Dictionary tells us that always means without exception, continuously, uninterruptedly, forever, in any event, at any time, perpetual continuance.

Let's take a closer look at this perpetual continuance. Perpetual means continuing without interruption or intermission, enduring forever. So the definition of always is redundant: perpetual continuance = continuing continuance that continues forever, without intermission. redundancy in literature (and the Bible is considered literature!) is used to emphasize a point of importance - meaning that God is emphasizing that we are to rejoice always no matter what the circumstances are, good or bad, promising or bleak.

Rejoicing is also active and meant to be seen by others (continue reading through verse 5). So when God tells us to rejoice in Him always, what He means is to express actively an exuberant joy in what the Lord has done with perpetual continuance!!

How great is that?!

~ The Lady Who Didn't Want My Stuff on Her Bench ~

This afternoon I ventured up to the YMCA in Hudson in hopes of swimming my heart out and burning lots of calories. Well, I was successful in my endeavor, and boy did it feel good!! But then, I got into the locker room, had finished showering and walked out to find 2 women with their stuff all over the bench in front of my locker. Now, I don't mind that at all, as long as I can get to my things. They let me get to my locker and all, but you will see where this plays in later. When those ladies left, I put some of my stuff on the bench to pack up.

I went to blow dry my hair because it's like -20 with wind chill outside here, and when I came back probably 20 minutes later, this lady was sitting on a bench a little past the one where I had left my stuff, waiting. As I was packing my bag she came over to me and asked, "Is all this stuff yours?" and I smiled and said, "Yes."
 
Her response was startling. "Don't do that again," she said harshly. Caught somewhat off-guard, I apologized politely and went back to packing. Really, my stuff didn't hinder her access to her locker at all. Then she turned to her own empty locker and opened it and shut it again to make a point. You see, she already had all her stuff in her hands; but after doing this, she turned back to me and said, "I didn't mean to get mad, but this was my locker and I couldn't get to it with all your stuff there."
 
Again I replied, "I'm sorry." But I added, "There were two other women here before me that took over most of the bench so I just had to fit my stuff in around theirs. I didn't mean to be in anyone's way." The lady said, "Ok," and gave me a look of disgust before turning to walk away.
 
Just as she was leaving I had the urge to give her a little piece of my mind. Something like, "You know, it's not going to do any good for you to just tell me not to do it again. I'm gonna keep putting my stuff on this bench just like everyone else does. But if you were to ask me politely to use less space or to allow you some room, I would gladly do so. But yelling at me only makes me angry with you and that causes me to be more stubborn than I am anyway."
 
BUT I didn't say any of that. I let her walk away and let some of the other women stare at me. And instead of saying all of those unnecessary things, I allowed myself to cool down and evaluate the situation, and later - on my drive home - I lifted that lady in prayer. You see, I have no idea what she might be going through in life. Maybe she just needed to feel like she had some control over a situation because she feels as if she has lost control of everything else. Perhaps she needed to see a young person respond in a decent way to help her realize that we aren't all as bad as a lot of people make us out to be. And really, maybe she just needed to see the love of God. Whatever her reason was for picking me out of the crowd of women in the locker room, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I didn't allow it to get to me and instead hopefully opened a door for God to work in her life by praying for her.
 
No, that lady isn't going to stop me from putting my stuff on the bench in the locker room, but I will be more conscientious about how much of the bench I take up. And next time my stubborn self wants to give an older adult a piece of my mind, I will remember this situation and think about whether what I am going to say is really important enough to show disrespect to someone older than me, even if they are disrespecting me first.
 
So, besides burning off a good number of calories and getting to do something I love, I got to meet a wonderful lady in the locker room who probably has no idea what's gonna hit her when God begins to work in her life.

I'll Leave You With This

If I could leave you with the one thing that has been the most influential thing in my life, the thing that has carried me through every storm and calm place, the thing that has proven its endless faithfulness, it would be this: to know, to love, and to rely on the One true God with everything that you are and all that you have. Let Him be your strength, your joy, your health, and your only desire.

Know what it is that He has taught you and remain firm and confident in that, knowing that you are guaranteed to face tribulations and persecution. But know, also, that the Lord is your strength and will guard what He has entrusted to you. Let the truth always dwell in your heart and do not be ashamed of it. Instead, proclaim it boldly, having confidence in the truth and love you’ve experienced in Him. Be ever-ready to give an answer for your faith, to correct or advise in love, and to build others up with the Word of Truth.

Know that there will be people, probably some of your own friends, that decide to turn and go an easier way; but I encourage you to find strength in the Lord and to stand in Him until it is your day to receive your eternal reward. When you remain in Him with your desires being all His desires, you will become pure and honorable in His eyes and He can prepare you to do anything He needs from you. I encourage you to spend time in His word and with Him so that you can be transformed and consumed by his truth and peace and love.

No matter what you do or what you have to give up in life, never let your relationship with God be something you sacrifice. Let your life be a reflection of everything that He is so that your life brings glory to Him alone. Be a servant, be a friend, be a light that others can follow to lead them out of darkness. Do the work of an evangelist, focusing on leading by example and showing the love of Christ. In all things, know God and make Him known to others.

Key Verses:
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.     2 Corinthians 3:5
Entire phrases from 2 Timothy are used in this post. I recommend that you take the time to study out the entire book. 2 Timothy (NIV)

Make Your Life Count

A popular Christian song by Tal & Acacia has the lyrics “Garbage in, garbage out; what you do is found out. All can see what goes in me, I pay the price.” This song has more truth in it, though, than the artist probably realized when she was initially writing it. This is because of a principle talked about in several places in the Bible, including in Romans 8:5-6, where is says, “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.”

                  Living by the Spirit is what brings life and living by the fleshly desires of our old human nature causes death. If you’re dead, how are you supposed to respond to the calling God has placed on your life? In reality, you can’t. The only way for you to pursue God’s calling for your life is to be full of His life, and living by the things of the Spirit. This means that you fully rely on Him as the center and foundation for you entire existence. But how do we live by the Spirit? To live according to the Spirit, your mind must always be set – focused on – the things of the Spirit. Did you know that what you allow into your spirit is what ultimately controls your life? You control what controls you! What we give permission to in our lives is what governs our thoughts, actions and even our ability to respond to God’s calling!  It takes discipline to keep your mind focused where it should be. You will have to put aside thoughts that are not of the nature and Spirit of God. However, it does not stop with your thoughts. The things you fill your mind with influence the patterns of your thought. God tells us to fill our minds and hearts with the desires of His heart. How, exactly, does He expect us to do this?

                  To fill your mind with the things of the Spirit, you may have to make some changes. Back off your time watching movies and TV shows that do not glorify God – anything about sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking, and everything else that God has asked His children not to engage in. Music you listen to should be written and performed by artists that give all the glory to God for their talents and successes with uplifting lyrics that glorify Him as well. A good question to ask yourself would be, “Is what I am watching, listening to, or doing, making God proud? How would I feel if I could see Him right next to me watching this take place?”

                  It’s important to remember, though, that you don’t only have to cut these things from your life – you have to replace them with something else. That something else should be the Word of God. When you decrease and eliminate your time in fleshly things, you should take the time you spent in those things and turn it into God-time. Spend your time in the Word, prayer, and having your own praise and worship. Just this little habit change will make a huge impact on your life and your ability to touch other people’s lives with God’s love!

Matthew Henry Concise Commentary

Spirit-Filled Life Student Bible

NIV Study Bible

Pastors Mac Hammond and Jim Hammond