Getting a Grip on Reality...then, Come Often and Drink Deeply!

Today has just been an AMAZING day in what God has taught me and shown me! So this will probably be long! I was supposed to go with a family today from my church to Philly so that the wife could get her Green Card and I would watch their baby during that time. It ended up that they said if they were allowed to bring the baby into the interview that I would have to sit alone in the car or outside the Embassy (in Philly). I didn't want to put myself in that kind of possible danger (even if they did say it would only be an hour or so) so I told them last minute that I would not go...and I felt bad at first. But my great friend, Sue, emailed me this morning to tell me how a co-worker of hers went through the same interview and they do have the children in the interview so they can observe how the parents are with them...so I would have been alone...and she also said it took all day...so I would've been alone all day in Philly! I really praise God for keeping me from going and keeping me from so much possible danger! Who knows what would've happened and God kept me safe! Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." So I ended up getting to go to class and chapel and I am so thankful I didn't miss chapel! What a blessing it was! I feel it was just so amazing and applicable that I am going to include the outline from it. The speaker was Sherrie Holloway and she took her challenge from Hebrews 10:35-11:6.

"Getting a Grip on Reality"

2 Presuppositions to Run On:

-Pretending is Wrong

-God knows the truth

*If you are trying to please God, then you must live in His reality and truths!

3 Basic Realities of Life:

1. God is. (Hebrews 11:6)

Most times we are more convinced of our circumstances than we are of the existence of our God!

2. God's got our back. (11:6)

-We're not going to trust someone that does not have our back!

-To some, God needs to meet our expectations and give us what we want!

-God loves COMPLETELY, not partially! (Romans 8) We know this because of what He's done, what He's said, and who He is!

3. Jesus is coming. (10:37)

We must live with:

-Expectancy

-Urgency

-Careful living

-Focused living (what is the central purpose in your life?)

-Intentional, purposeful living

Practically Speaking:

1. We need to RESOLVE these issues! Come to a firm decision.

2. When issues come, STEP UP and make the right choice.

3. We will fail, but we've got to PRESS FORWARD.

WALK BY FAITH!

That really just challenged me that I need to be living my life in faith and not living my life in my own land of make believe! I know when things don't go my way I tend to try to pretend they aren't happening and don't go to God about it! There's my biggest mistake! And with keeping all that in mind, it really just leads into my devotional for today for how to follow after that.

My devotional today was by Sharon Jaynes and she talked about how Christ is our source of Living Water and when we trust in Him and put our faith in Him to lead us through life, He will get us through. We are spiritually thirsty people and need so desperately to go to Jesus for our spiritual water. And we can obtain that water through reading His Word! We can't get that spiritual water unless we believe in who Jesus is and what He's done for us and partake of that! It doesn't come by just knowing about Him, hearing about Him, and reading about Him. It's completely by faith and calling Him yours! What a blessed assurance that is to know that Jesus is our Living Water and we never have to be thirsty again! John 7:38, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink." I had two songs come to mind with these two thoughts today.

"Only You Satisfy" by Zach Jones

So hungry, so thirsty for
That which satisfies
This world’s full of broken cisterns
That have left me dry
There’s only one place where I’ll
Find what You made me for
There’s only one true fountain
That satisfies my soul

Only You
You’re the Fountain of living water
Only You satisfy my soul
You’re the source of eternal pleasures
Only You satisfy my soul

"By Faith" by Keith & Kristyn Getty

By faith we see the hand of God
In the light of creation's grand design
In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
Who walk by faith and not by sight

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We'll walk by faith and not by sight

And I Love Me!!

Wow, yesterday's devotional was great! Something that I never really thought about, but it definitely was a good thing to consider. The devotional was by Mary Southerland, "And I Love Me!" (http://girlfriendsingod.com/Devotions/DevotionArchives/2010DevotionArchives/September10Devotions/AndILoveMe92110/tabid/946/Default.aspx)

I never thought that we were supposed to love ourselves. I always associated that with all those people that were conceited and all about how they looked and acted in front of others. This really showed me differently. Mary S. used Psalm 139:13-14 which says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well".

That verse alone should give us reason to love ourselves. And I don't mean to the point of being conceited and "above everyone else". God says that kind of self-love is a sin and that is not what is being talked about here. The kind of love we are to have for ourselves is the love and joy to know that we are made wonderfully and beautifully by our great God! He has made each one of us beautiful in His eyes and He wants us to care for the body and health that He has given us. And we have to love ourselves enough to care for that. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and we need to take care of it. And if we don't have that kind of self-love that God wants us to have for ourselves then we won't bother to or want to take care of the way He made us! Doing this is in obedience to the greatest commandments that God gave us in Matthew 22:37-38, "Love 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 your neighbor as yourself" Yes, it's part of Jesus' commandment! That alone should make it our desire to obey!! Mary Southerland ended her devotional in a great little paragraph, "You can judge the value and the worth of a product by looking at the one who made it. You are no accident. You were created by God - for God - and even if you were never wanted or planned by human heart and mind, you were planned and wanted by God. So, love your neighbor and while you are at it, love yourself!"

Ephesians 2:10

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to

do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Some through the waters, some through the floods...

It's been awhile since I've gotten on here, but my devotional was great and I had to share! Today's devotional was by Mary Southerland (I feel I always end up having stuff to say when she's writing). It's was called, "Lord, Life Scares Me!" (She told the story of when her son, Jered was 2 and they had their first beach trip. He loved water, but the moment they got to the beach he was scared because it was too big!). So many times in our life we get into situations and circumstances that seem "too big" for us to handle. I thought about it and I've been through a lot of those times. The one that always sticks out most for me is my senior year when I got into a relationship that I should have never gotten into...it was an online relationship but it was with a guy that I had formerly gone to my church. The moment he started his sweet talk, he had me. Soon I was pulled completely under and didn't care what anyone thought! I knew it was wrong, but it was the first to say he loved me so I wasn't gonna let anyone/anything stop me! The circumstance was too big for me to handle by the end when I knew how wrong it was, but couldn't get myself out of it because I had let myself get too attached.

There were so many people praying for me to see what was right and for God to bring me out of that before it was too late. The relationship started in August 2007 and by God's grace ended in January 2008 (only a month before I was going to meet up with him and could have ruined my life). I praise God that He spared me from hurt and a lifetime of regrets. It took a while for me to forgive myself and that guy for what happened. But through God's strength alone I made it through and am joyfully and patiently waiting for Mr. Right.

So many of us have been though other circumstances, even ones that we can't control like sudden deaths in the family like I experienced at a young age when my dad passed away suddenly. Depression, abuse, relationship problems, health...all these trials can come into our lives and seem too big for us to handle and I can say personally that I have gone through most of these. But the greatest and most reassuring promise from God is that He WILL be there for us to get us through. These things in our life aren't a surprise to Him--He knows what has/is/will happen in our lives! And He wants more than anything to walk us through those times and be there right by our sides giving us the strength and will to get through them! We just need to get to our knees and seek Him in those times and ask Him for His great and mighty arms to come around us and help us get through...and He will! We have an awesome God! Live for Him and allow Him to walk you through the trials!

Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.

Jesus Loves ME!!!!!

Today's devotional was by Mary Southerland. It was called, "Yes, Jesus Loves Me!" (http://girlfriendsingod.com/Default.aspx?tabid=97) It talked about how Jesus loves each of us so much! Sometimes I feel like the stress of my days can really just weigh me down and take some of that day-to-day joy away...which really shouldn't be! This devotional really encouraged me to change my way of thinking! No matter how hard or stressful my days might get I need to remember that Jesus loves me! If we simply reflect on the love of God, all the stress of the day can just slip away! Mary Southerland mentioned how she could think of God's love and thoughts of when she first "met" God and all the blessings within her relationship with Him would come flooding to her mind! All the stresses and worries of her day would simply disappear!

Sometimes we let even the little things get in the way, allowing us to forget that God is there with us throughout the day and loves us UNCONDITIONALLY! What a joy it is to think that no matter what we do or what we go through, God still and always will love us! Other may fail us and walk away from us, but not God! He promises to walk with us through every part of our life--the good and the bad! What an encouragement that can bring such joy to our hearts. Someone...not just any someone, but the Almighty God and our Savior will always love us and walk along side of us if we simply follow His Word and obey Him! Praise God!

"Jesus Loves Me"
Jesus loves me! this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
they are weak but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

God Will Provide...

Today's devotional was by Mary Southerland, from Girlfriends in God. The devotional was entitled, "Greed Stinks!" and it really made me think and realize about how ungrateful I really am! God has provided for me and brought me through so many trials and I rarely just take the time to thank Him and give Him the praise that He deserves. It's been great to see Him provide all my college bills thus far and I know that He will continue to do so as long as I'm following His will for my life (which is my desire and I believe that the track I am taking right now is God's will for me!). He's provided me with great friends and family. Two great churches that I can attend and be actively involved in ministries there. An amazing college that has great professors who care about each one of us and will help whenever and however they can if needed. Not many college students can say that they have a relationship, a friendship, with their professors other than the student/professor relationship but at BBC they really invest time in each student and I praise God for allowing to go to such a college. I really need to learn to be content with what I have and what God has provided for me. He's blessed me beyond measure and I sometimes take that for granted and start complaining about what I don't have! May I learn to be more grateful for the life and things and people God has put into my life.

I also just have to say that today in chapel was our Praise Chapel...it was so encouraging and uplifting. The focus was to praise God for what He has done and how He has worked in lives and to hear some of the testimonies given was so encouraging. There are people that are going through rough times yet they have complete joy and happiness in God. They praise Him and you can just see God reflecting from their lives. It's definitely an encouragement to me for when I am going through something! Praise God for how he is working at BBC and in my life!

Meeting the Man of Your Dreams...

I get my devotionals sent to me daily from a website called, Girlfriends in God. The three ladies that write the devotionals, Sharon Jaynes, Gwen Smith, and Mary Southerland, have really challenged me on several occasions. Today's devotional was by Sharon Jaynes and it was called "Meeting the Man of Your Dreams" (http://girlfriendsingod.com/Default.aspx?tabid=97). I know I worry a lot in my personal life about whether or not I will ever find the Mr. Right...the man of my dreams. Reading this made me realize, I already found Him! He gives me eternal life. He walks on water. He's PERFECT! He shines like the sun. He will never leave me. He is a Prince! He died for me. He knows the desires of my heart. He opens the door. He loves me! (Isaiah 62:5). I know I may still struggle with the fact that I am single at times, but I will be able to remember that God is my first love...the man of my dreams! What an encouragement and comfort! As for waiting for my "earthly" Mr. Right...it's something I will have to trust and have faith in God that He knows who's best for me and when the best time is for me to meet that special person! I pray that God grants me patience and understanding between now and then.

Well, I've officially started my junior year at Baptist Bible College and it is going to be very busy. I'm really going to have to rely on God to get me through this semester. It is not going to be easy with 18 credit hours and 11 work hours plus homework...then to fit in a social life! But I am going to live this semester in prayer! I am really excited to see what God has to teach me this year in my Bible classes! My one desire is to be a woman after God's own heart and I still have a ways to go but I'm growing each and every day and for that I am very thankful!

God Is The Center Of My Being

It's been awhile since I've wrote on here. I can't believe all that God is doing in my heart and life. He's taught me, tried me, and blessed me so much in the past few weeks. He's taught me the importance of completely depending on Him for everything in my life. I'm struggling with something right now and without His help and strength I would never come as far as I have in the present trial. I am truly thankful for this help He has given to me...it gives great joy and victory when one realizes that they are getting through something with the help of God and God alone! I have not taken this problem to anyone (other than my best friend knowing) and He's taught me and shown me so much to get through it! Praise God!

The importance of trust and total dependence/faith in God is so vital in my life, I've come to realize. Especially in these past few months of the summer. But I'm getting through each day in His strength and power. I love Him so much for saving me and making me one of His own. I want nothing more than for Him to be the center of my life! I just want to serve Him and keep Him my number 1 focus!

He's also blessed me beyond measure with such great friends, family, and churches that love and care for me and want to see me grow close to my God and Savior! I can't thank God enough for the friends that have such an impact on my life and some of them don't even realize how much their friendship means to me! I just hope I never take these relationships for granted or lose them! God has also blessed in His provision for my school bill. He's allowed for my loan to go through so that I can make it back to BBC this Fall! I really look forward to what He's going to teach me and how I can grow closer to Him this coming school year! Praise God for His love, mercy, and provision in my life each day!