How He loves us so

"I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us."


How does He loves us?


"The Lord has appeared of old to me saying: 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you." (Jeremiah 31:3)


"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)


"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved.)" (Ephesians 2:4,5)


"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit." (Titus 3:4-5)


"'Come now, and let us reason together' says the Lord, 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.'" (Isaiah 1:18)


"But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine." (Isaiah 43:1)



Oh, how He loves us so!

Overwhelmed

WHY?! I am so angry...

I am so angry. I know that anger isn't good, but I can't help but be angry and heart broken over something like this.

On Monday a sweet 7 year old girl named Somer Thompson when missing in Florida when she was walking home from school. They searched all over for her. On Wednesday night, they found the body of a little girl buried in a landfill (A huge pile of garbage). Thursday morning, they identified it as being Somer. I was devastated

On Wednesday night another little girl, 9 years old, named Elizabeth Olten went missing in Missouri when she was walking home from a friend's house. After hearing about Somer Thompson, I was heart broken, so I prayed for this little girl Elizabeth, hoping that she was unharmed and safe. Today, they found her body in a wooded area near her home. She is gone too.

WHY?! Why do people do these things? HOW could someone take a child's life?! I can only imagine how scared these sweet babies were when their murders were taking their lives. I am so burdened for these little girls. The people who did this are sick and disturbed. Who knows what these little ones had to endure once they were taken. I only hope they weren't sexually assaulted by whoever did this. This is horrible... I am devastated...

I don't understand how these people aren't completely consumed with guilt right now. I hope that they are so overwhelmed with guilt. I hope and pray they the Lord would give them a STRONG conviction and that they turn themselves in. These people do not deserve to live among people. They deserve to be completely isolated from all people for the rest of their lives- miserable.

I just do not understand... :(

Remember God

READ THIS FIRST.

How true is it? How true is it that we sin when we forget God? I have been learning lately what the things that take me away, or make me forget, God are in my life and have been limiting my association with them. (For me it is watching TV, Spending time on Facebook, Reading books that aren't Christian literature.) I have found that when I stop doing whatever it is that takes me away from Him, I think "Oh... God, I forgot You are here..." And when I hear those words it breaks my heart.

Watching TV, going on the Internet, and reading isn't sinning, but it does make me forget my Maker. Of course I want to stay away from sin because it is not in God's will for me, but I don't just want to stop there. I want to live a life that is PLEASING to my King in everything I do. Is it pleasing when I spend more time on the Internet, catching up with all of my friends and hearing all the latest news, than "meditating on the glorious splendor of His majesty"? Is He well pleased when I start obsessing over what is going to happen to so-and-so on this or that show next week? Does it please my God when I ignore Him? The answer to all of these questions is "no".

When we forget God, is when we sin. I can testify that this is truth because, when I do not keep every thought captive and meditate on the Lord, thoughts of temptation come. When I do these activities, they make me forget my King and put me in a position that leads to sin.

My desire is to please God. Not forget Him and shame Him.

"Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday." (Psalm 37:3-6)

:D

Today I painted my nails black for the first time, and I really like how they turned out!!

(I feel like this would be a blog Jillian would post!) :)

Black nails and natural hair!! :)

From Utter Darkness To Marvelous Light!

Imagine that you're walking in pitch dark. You hear nothing, you see nothing, but you keep walking. With every step you take, you trip and fall, you scrape your knees, and hit your head. As you climb through the darkness, your hands get rough and calloused, and your feet begin to bleed. You have no sense of direction and see nothing but darkness. Utter despair.



Then, turning your head a little to the right, you catch a glimpse of something behind you... light. You stand up and turn towards it. You can SEE every step that is before you being illuminated and the path is straight and certain. "And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying 'This is the way, walk in it.' when you turn to the right or to the left." You are being guided by the Hand of the Almighty One. Complete Peace.



These are the two examples of how someone will choose to live their life. Either in total darkness, or marvelous light. There is no in between. Either you will serve God or the devil. There is no medium. The bible says "Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me." (Matthew 12:30)



Who are you serving? The king of darkness, whose only goal is to "steal, kill, and destroy" you. Or the King of kings; Lord of Life; Jesus Christ, who loves you and wants the best for you?

Before Jesus, there was no other choice but to walk in darkness. Man was eternally separated from God because God is perfect, holy, and set apart- He can have no sin before Him, and because we are sinful people by nature, we cannot be with God. The wages of sin in death- the penalty for our sin is eternity separated from God in hell. But the bible says "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8). Jesus lived a perfect life, without any sin (the life we could not live). And was brutally beaten to the point where you couldn't even tell that He was a man, was put on a rough wooden cross, with nails driven through His hands and feet, and died to take all of our sin on Himself. He was laid in a tomb and then, three days later, He rose from the dead and is alive to this very day!! :) God loves you and wants you to serve Him, and not the things of those world.



Jesus said "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) "If you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9) Praying to God a prayer of repentance and proclaiming Jesus in your heart and with your mouth as Lord of your life, is how to be saved. God is calling you.



The illustration I painted for you at the beginning of this blog is one of repentance. Repentance is this- You're walking one way, but you stop walking that way, turn around, and walk the complete opposite way- stopping the life of sin you're living and determining to live a life following the plans that GOD has for you.


What's your decision- will you continue to walk in darkness, or in His marvelous Light?

Why Do You Let Me Stay here? - She&Him

LOVE it! <3

She&Him is a great band... love their music... Christmas present idea right here... ;)

God Is Sovereign

Isn't she just beautiful? :) I find myself wanting to call her a lot lately and it's a bummer to have to realize, again, why I can't. However, I am confident that my Lord has everything planned out for the good because His word promises it. Of course I miss her and wish that things could be different, but I know that God is sovereign and I love that I can put my full weight on Him.

"God is NOT ninety-nine percent sovereign. He is one hundred percent sovereign, or not sovereign at all!"

"My soul waits silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him." Psalm 62:5

Revelations 22:20- Soon, and Very Soon

Soon and very soon
My King is coming
Robed in righteousness
And crowned with love
When I see Him I
Shall be made like Him
Soon and very soon

Soon and very soon
I'll be going
To the place He has prepared for me
There my sin erased
My shame forgotten
Soon and very soon

I will be with the One I love
With unveiled face I'll see Him
There my soul will be satisfied
Soon and very soon

Soon and very soon
See the procession
The angels and the elders
'Round the throne
At his feet I lay
My crown's my worship
Soon and very soon

I will be with the One I love
With unveiled face I'll see Him
There my soul will be satisfied
Soon and very soon

Though I have not seen Him
My heart knows Him well
Jesus Christ the Lamb
The Lord of heaven

I will be with One I love
With unveiled face I'll see Him
There my soul will be satisfied
Soon and very soon
Soon and very soon
Soon and very soon

No Wrath. Not Ever.

“Here’s a gospel truth that is just astounding and meant to comfort your guilty, burdened soul: because Jesus Christ perfectly obeyed every facet of the law in your place and then dies bearing all the guilt and wrath that was rightfully yours, you are no longer obliged to obey the law as a way to avoid his wrath. God has already poured out every drop of his wrath on his Son in your place. You are no longer subject to wrath, because wrath is the result of transgression or sin, and sins can be committed only when there is a law that has been violated. So now, if you’re in Christ, there is no law that you can break that will bring God’s punitive wrath upon you, or, as Paul put it, ‘Where there is no law there is no transgression,’ and hence, so ‘wrath.’ No wrath for you because you’re in Christ, and God has no wrath left for him. No wrath. Not ever.”

- Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

WOW! I am so thankful and encouraged by this!