“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And you may have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fulness of life and power that comes from God.”
--Ephesians 3:17-19 (NLT)
Reading this today reminded me how deeply rooted in His love I NEED to be...
I had a tooth pulled last week...and when I went into the office, I didn’t want to see the tooth afterwards, however after it was out, I didn’t care anymore, so I asked the dental assistant to see it and HOLY SMOKES!!! The root on that thing was HUGE! When the dentist was pulling it, he had to really dig and even though I had been numbed there was still a little bit of pain involved...and the deeper the root is, the more pain there is, naturally.
So, when I read this today, I thought...The deeper my roots are in God’s love, the harder satan will have to dig to pull me out...and incidentally, there is more pain involved...
Pain isn’t always bad, besides the fact that it hurts. It means that our roots are intact and ready to hold on for dear life before something else takes control. I am working on establishing my roots as deeply in God’s love as possible, so that when trials come, I am not easily pulled out! I pray the same for you!
GOD BLESS!
8.11.2009
8.09.2009
Sing With Joy
The Word truly does speak and fill us...
When I moved up here to Ohio...I had lots of expectations for how it would look...what I would be doing, who I would be hanging out with...
The last couple of months has been very different from what I originally thought. The past couple of weeks I have been SO busy that I didn’t take time to be in the Word like I should have...I CHOSE not to...there were times I thought about it and then made the choice to do other things...
I have felt as if I have emptied myself for I don’t know how long...I have felt like I stepped into a time chamber and travelled back to 1999 where we sing “I will dance on the streets that are golden” 500 times...I’ve felt a little self righteous...I have thought about how I gave up SO much to move up here and do what I am doing and I have been giving giving giving and not really getting much in return...which in some ways may be true but...
HOW DARE I?
Besides the fact that I am surrounded by such great folks, God has given me more than I deserve by blessing me with air in my lungs!
I finally cracked open the Word today to find such great reminders of what I am doing...
When I began this journey the verses that spoke to me over and over again were Matthew 16:24-25, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang onto your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”
These words are why I began this journey...How is it that those words were good enough to sell my house, leave my family, and friends, and the life I knew and loved but when I have to sing a song I was burnt out on 10 years ago, I get upset and wonder what I am doing? SERIOUSLY!?!?!
From now on, I will do my best to sing with joy, laugh with others, and to love the life I live, being filled by His Word...I pray the same for ya’ll!
When I moved up here to Ohio...I had lots of expectations for how it would look...what I would be doing, who I would be hanging out with...
The last couple of months has been very different from what I originally thought. The past couple of weeks I have been SO busy that I didn’t take time to be in the Word like I should have...I CHOSE not to...there were times I thought about it and then made the choice to do other things...
I have felt as if I have emptied myself for I don’t know how long...I have felt like I stepped into a time chamber and travelled back to 1999 where we sing “I will dance on the streets that are golden” 500 times...I’ve felt a little self righteous...I have thought about how I gave up SO much to move up here and do what I am doing and I have been giving giving giving and not really getting much in return...which in some ways may be true but...
HOW DARE I?
Besides the fact that I am surrounded by such great folks, God has given me more than I deserve by blessing me with air in my lungs!
I finally cracked open the Word today to find such great reminders of what I am doing...
When I began this journey the verses that spoke to me over and over again were Matthew 16:24-25, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang onto your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”
These words are why I began this journey...How is it that those words were good enough to sell my house, leave my family, and friends, and the life I knew and loved but when I have to sing a song I was burnt out on 10 years ago, I get upset and wonder what I am doing? SERIOUSLY!?!?!
From now on, I will do my best to sing with joy, laugh with others, and to love the life I live, being filled by His Word...I pray the same for ya’ll!
8.06.2009
AloHA!
Today Ryan left to go back to Romania...
While much was accomplished, there were so many things that both of us wanted to do during this visit that we didn't even have time to think about let alone do, because we were sooo busy. This past weekend we attended the wedding of his cousin Meghan and had a great time...the photos are my favorites that I took of the rehearsal dinner and wedding...
The good thing is that we are headed in the right direction, have gained focus on how to move forward in raising funds and me eventually moving over there. God is so good in that, while I dreaded today for the past couple of days, HE stepped in, comforted me, and gave me motivation to begin moving forward with the plans we have made for raising funds.
I LOVE GOD and how He knows what we need, even when we don't and how He provides it even when we don't ask, because we are His children and He loves us!
Thank you Father for loving me today and always!
The happy couple, Meghan, Ryan's cousin, and Ryan, her husband!!! ...but not the same Ryan...lol
Alex, Ryan's cousin with Kobe, Ryan's nephew!
Kenzie, Ryan's niece
Rod and Wendy, Ryan's mom and dad.
Justin and Carrie, Ryan's brother in law and sister
That is Ryan n me...lol...AloHA!
While much was accomplished, there were so many things that both of us wanted to do during this visit that we didn't even have time to think about let alone do, because we were sooo busy. This past weekend we attended the wedding of his cousin Meghan and had a great time...the photos are my favorites that I took of the rehearsal dinner and wedding...
The good thing is that we are headed in the right direction, have gained focus on how to move forward in raising funds and me eventually moving over there. God is so good in that, while I dreaded today for the past couple of days, HE stepped in, comforted me, and gave me motivation to begin moving forward with the plans we have made for raising funds.
I LOVE GOD and how He knows what we need, even when we don't and how He provides it even when we don't ask, because we are His children and He loves us!
Thank you Father for loving me today and always!
The happy couple, Meghan, Ryan's cousin, and Ryan, her husband!!! ...but not the same Ryan...lol
Alex, Ryan's cousin with Kobe, Ryan's nephew!
Kenzie, Ryan's niece
Rod and Wendy, Ryan's mom and dad.
Justin and Carrie, Ryan's brother in law and sister
That is Ryan n me...lol...AloHA!
8.04.2009
Long while
It has been a long while since my last post...truth is I have been super duper busy AND in some pain...
I have been in pain because I had an issue with an abscess tooth, went to the dentist and had to wait for almost a week till they could pull it...it was pulled today and though I am in pain I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Praise the Lord!
Besides work I was also involved in a week of VBS, after work every day a couple of weeks ago...it was one of the highlights of my summer as Ryan and I were the missionaries for the week and got to tell the kids about Romania. We had the goal of raising $3000 so that we can build the girls and boys bathrooms in the children's home in Romania. If we were to raise $1500 there were some adults who would get cupcakes in their faces...$2000 Ray drank a human milkshake (you don't want to know what that is), $2500 Justin, the youth minister/Ryan's brother in law would dress up like a baby, drink out of a bottle and be fed baby food, and at $3000 Rod, the minister of the church/Ryan's dad would get a mohawk and dye it pink (temporarily).
I had a blast with the kids that came to my room each night and I taight them some Romanian words and played some games and sang some songs with them. I taught them that the kids in Romania that we want to help like the same things we like, but they sometimes don't have a mom or dad to love them or take care of them so we are building a house so that we can help take care of them and give them a safe place to grow up.
Here are some pictures from the week...
I have been in pain because I had an issue with an abscess tooth, went to the dentist and had to wait for almost a week till they could pull it...it was pulled today and though I am in pain I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Praise the Lord!
Besides work I was also involved in a week of VBS, after work every day a couple of weeks ago...it was one of the highlights of my summer as Ryan and I were the missionaries for the week and got to tell the kids about Romania. We had the goal of raising $3000 so that we can build the girls and boys bathrooms in the children's home in Romania. If we were to raise $1500 there were some adults who would get cupcakes in their faces...$2000 Ray drank a human milkshake (you don't want to know what that is), $2500 Justin, the youth minister/Ryan's brother in law would dress up like a baby, drink out of a bottle and be fed baby food, and at $3000 Rod, the minister of the church/Ryan's dad would get a mohawk and dye it pink (temporarily).
I had a blast with the kids that came to my room each night and I taight them some Romanian words and played some games and sang some songs with them. I taught them that the kids in Romania that we want to help like the same things we like, but they sometimes don't have a mom or dad to love them or take care of them so we are building a house so that we can help take care of them and give them a safe place to grow up.
Here are some pictures from the week...
7.19.2009
Set Apart
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called--one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
--Ephesians 4:1-6
I heard a quote in a sermon this week, “The closer one gets to God, the more you grieve over sin.” I am not sure who originally stated this.
Jesus wept over Jerusalem and the sin that had corrupted them.
Jesus grieved over the sin of the world.
This made me think.
When I am walking close to Jesus and in a consistent state of sweet communion with the Spirit, I am more aware of the sin in me and around me in the world. Not only am I more aware, it absolutely hurts me more to see it.
This week I was at Kennywood, an amusement park in Pittsburgh, with Ryan. We were walking through Noah’s Ark, a fun house sort of thing with the theme being the same as the name! There were a couple of teenage boys a few people in front of us who were blatantly cursing the name of Jesus. It hurt me. Physically my stomach turned. I was praying and just telling Jesus that I was sorry that they didn’t love Him yet but I DO!
Other examples of sin that I see and that bother me occur mainly within the church. I think that it bothers me more when I see a brother or sister sinning because they know and understand the consequences of sin as I do.
There are also examples in Scripture who, upon reviewing their own pasts, grieved the sin in their own lives. David grieved over his sin with Bathsheba. Peter grieved when the rooster crowed after he had denied Jesus, 3 times. Paul grieved over persecuting Christians.
So many times in my own life I have justified things. I have made fleshly desires my priority over Jesus. I am realizing that it isn’t how close I can get to the line, whatever that line may be...It is how set apart and pure can I remain.
When I meet Jesus I want to be found pure and blameless.
“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”
--2 Corinthians 7:1
“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in His own time--God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who live in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.”
--1 Timothy 6:11-16
--Ephesians 4:1-6
I heard a quote in a sermon this week, “The closer one gets to God, the more you grieve over sin.” I am not sure who originally stated this.
Jesus wept over Jerusalem and the sin that had corrupted them.
Jesus grieved over the sin of the world.
This made me think.
When I am walking close to Jesus and in a consistent state of sweet communion with the Spirit, I am more aware of the sin in me and around me in the world. Not only am I more aware, it absolutely hurts me more to see it.
This week I was at Kennywood, an amusement park in Pittsburgh, with Ryan. We were walking through Noah’s Ark, a fun house sort of thing with the theme being the same as the name! There were a couple of teenage boys a few people in front of us who were blatantly cursing the name of Jesus. It hurt me. Physically my stomach turned. I was praying and just telling Jesus that I was sorry that they didn’t love Him yet but I DO!
Other examples of sin that I see and that bother me occur mainly within the church. I think that it bothers me more when I see a brother or sister sinning because they know and understand the consequences of sin as I do.
There are also examples in Scripture who, upon reviewing their own pasts, grieved the sin in their own lives. David grieved over his sin with Bathsheba. Peter grieved when the rooster crowed after he had denied Jesus, 3 times. Paul grieved over persecuting Christians.
So many times in my own life I have justified things. I have made fleshly desires my priority over Jesus. I am realizing that it isn’t how close I can get to the line, whatever that line may be...It is how set apart and pure can I remain.
When I meet Jesus I want to be found pure and blameless.
“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”
--2 Corinthians 7:1
“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in His own time--God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who live in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.”
--1 Timothy 6:11-16
6.29.2009
Sovereignty
One thing that I lack in so many of life's circumstances is "security" or "assurance." It seems that one thing after another can plague us and we could most certainly let it get to us and knock us down, however God is God and He is sovereign! Praise the Lord!
I am doing a study on the names of God, and the lesson today spoke of God's sovereignty.
Sovereign itself means, being above all others in character, importance, excellence, etc. God is above all others...
In the study I am doing it says, "Just as a grain of sand cannot rightly be called a beach, other deities likewise cannot rightly be called gods. There is no other god beside Him (Isaiah 44:6)."
Many tend to think that God being sovereign, or above all others, or in control of all things, means that we are robots and that we do not have freewill, on the contrary we certainly are fully responsible for the choices we make in life but we do not have the ability to act independently of God. We are always under his sovereign rule.
How does that make you feel?
It makes me feel secure and assured in a world full of chaos and uncertainty, that He is working toward a predetermined goal and I am a part of that plan. His greatness is my anchor and when all is said and done, it will be good!
A sovereign God=a God I can trust!
I am doing a study on the names of God, and the lesson today spoke of God's sovereignty.
Sovereign itself means, being above all others in character, importance, excellence, etc. God is above all others...
In the study I am doing it says, "Just as a grain of sand cannot rightly be called a beach, other deities likewise cannot rightly be called gods. There is no other god beside Him (Isaiah 44:6)."
Many tend to think that God being sovereign, or above all others, or in control of all things, means that we are robots and that we do not have freewill, on the contrary we certainly are fully responsible for the choices we make in life but we do not have the ability to act independently of God. We are always under his sovereign rule.
How does that make you feel?
It makes me feel secure and assured in a world full of chaos and uncertainty, that He is working toward a predetermined goal and I am a part of that plan. His greatness is my anchor and when all is said and done, it will be good!
A sovereign God=a God I can trust!
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.
O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name!
--1 Chronicles 29:11-13
6.26.2009
Things that make life beautiful!
Just wanna share that...
--I love Jesus more than air or life...He fills my cup to overflowing!
--I miss home and my family and I visited today, but I also KNOW that I am not supposed to be there anymore. I am where I should be! Praise the Lord for that assurance!
--I am looking forward to a lot of things...
--I absolutely LOVED the thunderstorms during my drive today, and the fact that I got a call from somebody who is at the beach because he wanted to walk on the beach with me...too bad I couldn't hear him over the wind and we had to end the call early...but oh how the thought woos me and makes me grin! :)
--AND...the sun peeping out from behind the storm clouds and shooting glorious rays through the sky...reminds me of what I think Heaven might look like, even though I know it is a smidgen of the glory found there!
--I love my 6 year old nephew, his honest candid remarks, how he laughed today when I caught him in a lie...He told me he hugged Ariel for me at Disney and when I asked his Paw paw (the one who took him) he said, "YOU WOULDN'T GO NEAR ARIEL!" And my nephew just giggled...oh dear how I love that boy! I love kissing his face and will miss the day he won't let me anymore...
I think I am done with my blog...but not done praising Jesus for the things that make life beautiful!
--I love Jesus more than air or life...He fills my cup to overflowing!
--I miss home and my family and I visited today, but I also KNOW that I am not supposed to be there anymore. I am where I should be! Praise the Lord for that assurance!
--I am looking forward to a lot of things...
--I absolutely LOVED the thunderstorms during my drive today, and the fact that I got a call from somebody who is at the beach because he wanted to walk on the beach with me...too bad I couldn't hear him over the wind and we had to end the call early...but oh how the thought woos me and makes me grin! :)
--AND...the sun peeping out from behind the storm clouds and shooting glorious rays through the sky...reminds me of what I think Heaven might look like, even though I know it is a smidgen of the glory found there!
--I love my 6 year old nephew, his honest candid remarks, how he laughed today when I caught him in a lie...He told me he hugged Ariel for me at Disney and when I asked his Paw paw (the one who took him) he said, "YOU WOULDN'T GO NEAR ARIEL!" And my nephew just giggled...oh dear how I love that boy! I love kissing his face and will miss the day he won't let me anymore...
I think I am done with my blog...but not done praising Jesus for the things that make life beautiful!
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