Refreshing Hope

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character and character, hope. No hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

(Romans 5:1-5)

...Casting all your care upon Him [God] because He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called usto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strenghten, and settle you. To Him be the gloty and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

(1 Peter 5:7-11)

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. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior, I gave Egypt for your ransome, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, and I have loved you...

(Isaiah 43:1-4a)

Becoming a true Rebelutionary

Okay, I feel like I've been blogging way too much lately. But I have something super exciting I want to share with the world..

I am finally realizing what it is to trust God!

For so long God's been trying to get it through my thick skull that I need to trust Him. And now I'm finally beginning to do that. I feel like I go through struggles and issues so much in my life. And each time I think I deal with them by trusting God, which is what I should do. But I've never really understood what that meant.
Today in school I had to read the book of James. It is an incredible book! I challenge you to read it for yourself. It really impacted me. One of the many things that popped out to me was the 17th verse of the 2nd chapter: "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." It also talks a lot about rejoicing in our trials (1:2-12) because they are what shape us into what God wants us to be. And James stressed the importance of continuing in our faith, especially when times are hard. How awesome is that? To truly trust God means to believe what He says is true, and because of that you do what He asks you to. You do hard things for His glory.

So no matter how hard things get in my life, and how tempted I am to give in to the lies of the devil, I will not (James 1:12-17, 1 Corinthians 10:13) Because I have a big God, and I know that He has a plan in everything that I am going through. And I know that because of my struggles and doubts, He will strengthen my faith, stretch my patience, and mold me into the woman He wants me to be. :)

The question isn't "Has God given up on us?" But rather, "Have we given up on God?"

Everywhere you look people are talking about how 2009 has the potential of being one of America's scariest years. With the economy in crises, and all these "changes" headed our way; it's hard not to wonder whether or not they'll be good changes. Especially from a Christian point of view-Everything we know could soon be no more..

But in reality, is there anyone to blame but ourselves? Have we not brought this upon ourselves by sitting back quietly and comfortably for too long? Are we finally ready to stand up and move forward no matter what the cost, shining the light of Jesus?

I am. [oh how i am.] I am so sick of being on fire for God for about a week, and then letting it die. I'm so sick of seeing my country walk away from God because I've been too lazy to stand up and speak the truth. This time, I'm going to stand up.

I challenge all of us to make the decision to do hard things for God everyday. To pray because we know God is listening, and that prayer moves His heart. To live everyday as if its the last one. To never, ever, let a chance to talk about Jesus go by unused. To love those around me with God's unselfish love. To not blend in with our frightened neighbors; but to tell them about the God who can take away their fears..

It is time to stop watching from our comfortable pews. It's time to start standing up for Christ, and doing what He's called us to do.
Everyone knows that time is short and uncertain. So I'm challenging you, and more so myself, to live every second for God. Completely for God.

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." ~1 Peter 2:9

To Revise, Is To Realize.

Well, I'm not exactly sure how much I want to say right now. So I'll just give you a peek at what I've been learning lately..

1. Satan really does want me to fail.
2. Jesus is always there, even when I can't see Him at all.
3. It's not all about me. In fact, it's not even about me at all.
4. I've been sitting back for too long.

I think I've been learning more than that. But that's all I'll share for now.
All I know is that my faith is really being tested. But I'm determined to win the battle. One day at a time, and with Jesus carrying me through every step. I've realized I can't do anything on my own; and life is pretty much miserable when I even try to. But I've also realized that I have to control my own emotions, and I have to decide to hold on to the truth. I'm finding that no matter how many times a lie is screamed, it won't [and it can't] change the truth. And I'm realizing I need to ignore the lies.

I'm ready to start doing big things. I may say that a lot, [especially with all the excitement of a new year] but this time one of the big things I do, is going to be not falling back into a lazy state. Time is too valuable. God has such big plans, and awesome things in store. Are we..am I..going to just sit back and miss out because I'm comfortable? [I've actually become quite uncomfortable recently] No. I'm not.

Won't you join me?

So it all began with a chocolate raindeer head..

Okay, so I'll be honest, this blog has nothing to do with the title. haha. :]

It's the new year and it seems that the thing to do is make a resolution. Come up with something that you're going to do throughout the year to make yourself, or your life, better. And I'm not going to lie, I've been thinking a lot about what needs to change in my life. And I've realized a lot.

Sometimes as a growing Christian I seem to get so caught up in myself. All it takes is one little mishap and I feel as if I'm worth nothing. [which is true regardless] But I all too soon forget that Jesus makes me worth something. He gives me the strength to be something.

I've also noticed during my recent examining; that I'm struggling with the same thing I've been struggling with for a long time. Trust. Why is it so hard to trust the God of the universe with my life? I like to convince myself that I've given things to God. But it seems that the very next time something comes up, I grab everything back out of His hand. [have you seen "The Stool" video?] Why do I do that? Honestly, I have no idea. But I do know something..

God knows that we're not perfect. He made us with the ability to make our own choices so that we wouldn't be His robots. And we chose to disobey and be sinners. I cannot do anything right on my own.
But that's why I have Jesus. He gave me the gift of grace. I once heard a youth pastor say something like, "So often we become obsessed with trying to be just like Jesus. We can't! It's impossible to be just like Him..we are sinners." Which I agree with completely. I can never measure up to what God would require.
That's why I have Jesus. I am made perfect in my weakness because His strength shines through. He promises to be everything I'll ever need. He'll never leave me. And He always forgives me when I come to Him.
The hardest part for me, is remembering that. A million different songs have been popping up as I've been dealing with my recent struggles. And one that I heard today, by Relient K, said:
~I've a reputation, for replacing, my confidence with fear.~
Boy did Matt hit me right on the head with that one! :) So much lately I've been questioning everything. And it makes me afraid. I seem to *know* everything that God promises. But I freak myself out by thinking it's hard to actually *believe* it. Wrong again.
[i know I'm getting kinda lengthy, but I'm almost finished. i promise ;)]
Faith is not feeling. I actually looked up the word last night in our family's dictionary. And it's definition pretty much said "trusting without reason" [okay that was a paraphrase. but it was the point. i promise. lol] And it was like a light went off! It is not always easy to trust God. But I know that I know that I know He always keeps His word. One thing that He also promised is that being a Christian is not always easy. In fact, it's super hard sometimes. But that's where we insert the trust factor. And when we trust Him, when it's hard, is when He shows us some super stellar stuff. So even though it's hard, I'm going to hold on to the fact that I'm not believing in some made up fantasy. My God is real, and He does do awesome stuff. And He does love me.

~We are healing But it's killing us inside Can we take a chance? When faith and fear collide We can make it Step out and take it We can't live feeling so numb How long can we hold on? Can we hold on? Hold on There's something deep inside That keeps my faith alive When all you can doIs hide from the fear That's deep inside of you Something, something, something Something, something, something To hold me close when I don't know There's something deep inside That keeps my faith alive~
Skillet-Collide

And it begins!

Well this is the start of my blogging life. I'm really not good at this kind of thing, so I hope you all can bare with me. ;)

So I'll pretty much give you a quick background on your writer. I'm just a girl trying to live every day for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. (Yes, I'm one of those Jesus Freaks :) But Christianity is not what many assume it is. I am not a religious person. I am someone who figured out that Jesus loves me more than anything. (Yeah, the same God who created this whole hugee universe, loves me. He loves you too.)

Another thing that is super important in my life is music. :) I play guitar and a little piano. I have an acoustic and an electric guitar. And if you asked my friends, I would be the weird girl who names her guitars. The electric is Ella, and the acoustic is Edward. ;) I think of music as one of the most incredible things God created. And I hope to honor Him with music, throughout my whole life.

I also have some pretty amazing friends (some of which convinced me to do this whole crazy thing. tehe ;) and I'm really grateful for all of them!

I'm not too sure what this blog is going to contain, but I hope that you will be encouraged by what God shows me. I'm actually kind of glad for this whole idea, because I am really excited for this new year. I think, no, I know, God is going to do some incredible stuff in 2009. And it'll be super for me to share it with whomever decides to read. :)