Wednesdays full of wisdom - Hard Times

Hey guys! Thanks for reading. Today was a really long day and this week has been one of the hardest weeks of my life...so this will be short and sweet but I still wanted to throw something up....

I have had a really hard week. Emotionally, I have been more down than I have been in all my life. I am simply at the end of myself. I am in so much emotional pain that I can barely breathe. The only thing that I know how to cling to is that I know, even when I don't act like it, that I have a Savior. He is always there for me...especially during these times. The key though, is to truly cling to Him. Its so cliche to say that I am clinging to God during hard times...I hear that so often, but how many times do people truly draw near during the difficult times in their lives? I know I need to.

I always go back to the verse that the Lord showed me, the day that I came back to Him...

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

-James 4:8-10

All we need to do is draw near to Him. He promises to draw near back. And no matter where you are in life, good times or bad, that's all He asks from us...to draw near. And the God of the universe promises to draw near in return. How amazing His love is.

So, I guess that's all I got for now. Thanks for reading. Remember, draw near. Don't just think about it, don't just talk about it, but DO it! :)

Wednesdays full of Wisdom - He is jealous for me

He is jealous for me. Love's like a hurricane I am a tree. Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy. When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory, and I realize just how beautiful you and and how great you affections are for me. And oh, how He loves us oh, oh how He loves us. How He loves us so.

-Kim Walker

The love that God has for his children always leaves me amazed. The God of the universe is jealous....FOR ME!!!! He loves us so much. Even when we turn away and do things that hurt His heart, He is right there, drawing us back to Himself. All the while being so jealous for our time and adoration. He just wants us to love and serve Him. And after all the amazing things He has done for us, it should not be difficult. Each day our lips should bring Him praise. He saved us and loves us more than we could ever fathom. But yet somehow, as humans, we always turn back to the things that dishonor and hurt Him. There have been so many times that I have turned away from the love of God, looked Him in the face and said, "I'm sorry, you're not enough." Just thinking about that hurts my heart.

What I wish we could all understand is, He is enough. He is everything. He is all consuming. He is all powerful. He is full of love. He IS love according to His word. Christ is sufficient. Jesus is enough. There is nothing that I need outside of Him. He is jealous for me! He loves me! He wants me to pursue Him each and everyday. He wants to teach me things and show me things. He wants me to grow in wisdom and in love. He wants me to love Him with all that I am! He wants me to reach other people with His love. He wants to use me for His amazing and perfect will! He is enough. Always.

I just get so lost in wonder when I think about the God of the universe being jealous for me. Me. I am nothing. I have turned from Him. My sin put Him on that cross. I have turned from Him time and and time again. I have hurt Him likely more than I have made Him proud. And yet...He is here. He draws me to Himself. All He wants is for me to put Him first. All He wants is all of me. And why should I withhold myself from Him? Only in Him do we experience true and lasting joy, peace like nothing I've ever known, and a confidence to know that in Him I can do all things and never will be shaken.

After all that I have done, all He wants is to forgive me and have me all to Himself. He wants me to come home. He wants my heart to be wholly His. He wants me to live to the calling that I have received through Him. Life can be so full and abundant if only we could keep our eyes focused on the cross. My darkest hours in life and hardest times were most certainly the times that I chose to walk away from the Lord and search out love and acceptance from other sources. If only we could see...He is all we need.

Dear Heavenly father,

I thank you for you unfailing and amazingly perfect love. I thank you for all that you do for me and how you never give up on me. I am so sorry for all of the times that I have walked away from you and thought that I could make it on my own. Thank you for your jealous heart. Thank you for never leaving me, even when I choose to walk away from you. I love you so much Lord, and I'm so thankful to call myself yours. Help me keep my eyes focused on you at all times. I love you. Amen

Wednesdays full of Wisdom - Be Still and Know

Today, and each Wednesday from now on, my dearest friend Lacey and I are going to be posting a bit of what God has been laying on our hearts. We're calling it Wednesdays full of Wisdom and I think it'll be a really great way for not only us, but also all of those who read our blogs, to be encouraged by the goodness of the Lord and what He is teaching us. So enjoy and I pray that this will minister to your heart and bring glory to our Father in Heaven.

I'll start by praying...

Dear Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you that you have given us the opportunity to draw near to you and seek your face each and every day. Thank you for your sacrifice and for your grace. I ask that you would stir up inside of us a desire to bring glory to your name with everything that we do. In the hard times and in the good times, help us to always remember that you are Lord and we therefore we have a reason to rejoice. I ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

There is one particular lesson from Scripture that the Lord has had to continually remind me of and He seems to use it time and time again whenever I start to get overwhelmed. That lesson is to "Be still and know that 'He' is God". I think that there are many times that I start to loose sight of the cross because I forget that I am not the one in control. And that the things that I face, I do not walk through them alone. There is an infinite amount of wisdom and strength that comes from simply calming yourself, and stilling your heart and mind, and thereafter reminding yourself that He is God and He is in control. It is a valuable discipline to be able to calm your heart and mind during times of struggle and simply remind yourself: He is God. Everything will be fine. I have been called to a purpose, and therefore I know that God will work all things out according to His will.

Stilling your heart and mind and fully trusting in the Lord in the hard times definitely takes practice. Doing so strongly opposes our fleshly nature. As humans, we cling closely to all that we can control. We try so desperately to make it on our own and in our times of greatest need, many times going to the Lord for help is the last thing we do. How much time and energy we could save and how much pain and grief we could have been spared from if we only learned the art of being still and trusting in the Lord.

True and lasting peace comes from being able to, on a regular basis, be still and know that He is God. The Bible says that we are to be anxious for nothing but in all things by prayer and supplication, make our requests known to God. We should live our lives, day to day, knowing that we are not in control, knowing that He has a plan and a purpose, and knowing that all we need to do is be still and our Heavenly Father will take care of us.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

In ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

So in conclusion, whatever it is that you are going through today, remember that being anxious and doing everything in your power to fix it is not the answer. Step back from the situation and...

BE STILL. KNOW THAT HE IS GOD. TRUST IN HIM. AND AGAIN, BE STILL!!!

The Student

As a student I have come to understand what it means to work hard, study hard, and earn good grades. I have learned what it means to learn and to listen. I have learned how to study and focus. As I have just finished my sophomore year in college, I am finally seeing the parallels that exist between studying for school work and studying the Word. I have come to the understanding that I am not only a student in a school, but I am also a student of the Faith. And just as I learn each day in class, I should be also striving each day in the Word, to seek what the Father has next for me to learn. I am a student of the King. How exciting!

I honestly have a love for learning. I complain about school and how hard things can get, but in reality, that's just life. Things are hard. And when it all comes down to it, I love learning. I enjoy studying. And I enjoy receiving good grades for my hard work. Similarly, I love to learn about the things of the Lord. I love digging into the Word each day. The learning never ends. I can read the same passage over and over again, each time learning something new about the goodness of God as He opens my eyes to see His greatness. And someday, and the end of the road, I will receive my grade: it will be my Father's loving arms greeting me and his beautiful face smiling as He says, "Well done my good and faithful servant" Oh how I long for that day.

Things I've Learned Along the Way

There are some things that I have learned throughout my life. In specific, I have been reminded lately that God has made it very clear to me that we were not made to live this life alone. Void from Him, nothing makes sense. Void from life giving relationships with other people, we grow weary and dull. Life was simply not designed to be lived alone. We are relational creatures. Which is why it's so wonderful that we serve a relational God. He is and wants to be everything to us. Father to the fatherless, Friend to the friendless, Comforter to those who mourn. He is strong when we are weak. He is here when everything else falls to the ground. He is our all in all.

There have been times in my life that I have forgotten those things. Lost sight of the cross for a while and tried to make it on my own. Those were no doubt my hardest and darkest times. But my Lord is always ready and willing to pick me up and bring me home. I think back to how many times I turned my back on Him and my heart is heavy.

One of my favorite quotes is this: "We make powerless the cross of Christ in our lives, when we refuse to live in the freedom that it brings." This is so true. When we loose sight of the cross, and when we refuse to live in all the power and love and light that the cross brings, we make it powerless and His sacrifice is as nothing to us. To me, there is nothing more saddening. We have been given everything we need in order to live a life full of happiness and love and power. And yet we choose to live in darkness. Not me, not anymore.

This blog is entitled, "All Things Beautiful". This is from Ecclesiastes 3:11 which says, "He has made all things beautiful in His time." This verse is one that I consider to be an overlying theme verse in my life. I have been many places, and made many mistakes. And yet He uses everything for His good. Looking back on all of the things I've done and all the things that I have been through, I can see how the Lord has picked it up and used it to further His kingdom. I feel so privileged to be a part of His plan and to be used by Him.

My soul finds rest in God alone.

My salvation comes from Him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation.

He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.