Adonai

Adonai can mean "our Lord," "Master," or "Father." This word can also be used when referring to men or angels, but in the old testament it was frequently used in reference to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is amazing the way our heavenly Father treats us, and instead of dispelling the punishment we rightly deserve for bringing upon ourselves sin and hurt He uses the opportunities to mold us and discipline us, so we never experience that hurt again. The Lord may also ask things of us in order to challenge us and grow us and these things come when we seek Him with all of our heart. Beth Moore discusses that often God will say, "sit right there child and watch me work." Other times He may say, "Stay out of this because I must do this on my own." Still other times He says, "I need you to will your sword a little bit," or He may even ask us to "Step into the middle of a raging battle and drop all of our defenses and wholely and completely trust Him." When He asks this of us, it will be the most difficult thing you have ever faced, but if you trust Him enough to give the battle and place your life completely in His hands He will never let you down and you will witness His power in such a mighty way that you will never be the same again!

In Joshua 10, Joshua and the Israelites are called to fight a war that was not their own, but they trusted God completely and His glory was displayed for all to see. During this war, Joshua asks God to have the Sun stay still so they could finish the battle, and in the only time in history God made the sun stand still for twelve hours in the middle of the sky--incredible! This also makes me realize that God wants us to ask for amazing things, things that we think could never come true. He may chuckle sometimes and then just respond with, "Oh Child, I have so much greater things in store for you, just wait!. Regardless, He is Adonai and will always take care of us. Do not ever think you are too lost, too damaged, to weak, or too burdened to where you cannot come to His feet and lay everything before Him and watch Him work in you, because He will!

Apathy and fear have no place here...

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart is also." -Matt. 6:19

Tonight I stopped by Hastings coffee shop to decompress with a spice chai latte and a meaningless book. Instead, the Lord allowed me to run into three young men, whom I struck up a wonderful conversation about the abomidable nature of the "christian church" and "christians" in general. We were all sadened by the apathy and fear that hold so many believers back from pursuing the Lord with all they have. I recently found myself in this position, where I thought I was content to remain at "basecamp" instead of climbing to the "summit" to experience all the Lord has to offer me and bless me with. The Lord wants us all to experience the "summit," but so often we look ahead and become apathetic or fearful about pushing through the challenges that often come with meeting the Lord at the top and becoming overwhelmingly blessed through the process. We also miss out on experiencing all the beauty and opportunities He has for us when we do not meet Him at the peak.

The whole chapter 6 in the book of Matthew speaks to us about actively living out our Christian faith. We should not only verbally talk about it, but people should see our love for Christ overflowing in all we do. So many "Christians," myself included, often times find themselves in this slump I like to call apathy and/or fear. But the Bible, clearly states that the Lord did not want us to be fearful and apathetic, but ever pushing forward and continuously seeking Him with a strength we will begin to experience when we do this (2 Tim. 1:7). Be encouraged by the fact that God never leaves you and His presence is never out of reach--it is our responsibility and free will to challenge ourselves daily to live for Him with all we have and in the meantime meet Him at the peak instead of remaining at the base of the mountain along with all the others who are faced with apathy or fear. He has so much more for our lives and wants us all to experience the wonder and fulfillment we will find when we serve our purpose and vision He wants to direct us in!

Much much love!

Faithfulness

The Lord is faithful, and hopefully you will begin to see this through my blogs and how He hs transformed and redeemed my life in the matter of days. Today (or I suppose, yesterday now), I had the most wonderful time with my best friend, Jordy, decorating for VBS at her church. I am so happy to see the work God is doing in and through her and her husband, Robert, at this church. I also watched my new favorite movie, Transformers 3, with my friend Megan who I have not had the chance to hang out with as of late. It was nice to hang out with my friends and just spend a nice and productive day in good company. "The Lord is great and greatly to be praised!" So exhausted and ready for some shut-eye now. :)

Much love,

Your sister in Christ

Belief

I just heard the most wonderful, convicting, and faith-induced talk with Beth Moore (what an incredibly anointed and gifted woman, who practices what she preaches). The beauty of it all is that we can all live a life that is as fulfilling as hers.

Jesus Christ wants each and every one of us to experience the hope, encouragement, and fulfillment through using our giftings for His glory every waking moment. However, in order for us to do this we must embrace a faith-induced obedience. This means that when we reach the point of unbelief in life we have the choice to disobey God's calling and plan for our life (it may be fearful and not as enticing and I have done this a thousand times over) or we can step into the promised land He has for each of us and re-characterize ourselves by taking a step of faith and believing He will carry us through and do what He says He has promised (Joshua 4:19-5:12). When we take this step of faith, between unbelief and disobedience, we will no longer allow shame have a hold of you. We also will not allow that shame of our old reputation pull us down any longer (we are a new creation).

Just like the Israelites (In Joshua) were brought full circle by God in Gilgal (circle), they allowed him to break their old cycle and thus they inherited all God promised them. The more insight we can gain from which point our cycles go wrong every time, the more we can reverse that cycle.

For me, I compromise my standards and values in every relationship. I tell myself I will not date someone who will not be the head and the spiritual leader. However, everytime, I fall into this cycle of believing I can help and fix the guy I am dating in becoming the man of God I know he can be. There are several problems with this scenario....I intitally am not trusting God to do that work in that guy, I am being sucked under by trying to keep myself and my boyfriend spiritually grounded, and I compromise other values in the meantime (thinking that may fix the problem). Now that I have identified this bad cycle, I must work on reversing it, in order to demonstrate faith in my Lord Almighty and to receive all He has promised me.

We must not become enslaved by unbelief and failure like the Egyptians, and like the enemy is constantly trying to bring upon us. "Often a wounding precedes our full reception of God's promises, but healing always follows (Beth Moore, Belief series)!!!" We must stop being victims of our shame and the entanglement that the enemy brings. Prevailing belief always leads to the promised land, where we will naturally learn how to use our giftings and love for the glory of God!

Children's Beauty

Camp Cardinal Hill was so fun today and reminded me of how much I love children and why I am going to be an OT. Also, I am excited about having my own kids one day to invest in and be an example to (crazy how many areas of my life I have really witnessed God's tranformation in)! Children are really the essence of naivity and innocence, but even still, their sin nature comes creeping in at times, and I am reminded of why, even they, need Jesus in their life. Cannot wait for another day tomorrow with these beautiful children who lift my spirits so much!

Contentment

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13

My best friend, Jordan Delaney, reminded me of this beautiful and heart-lifting verse today. God is so so sooooooooo faithful!! Today I desired to get back into yoga and prayed that God would encourage me to do so. Just hours later, Mary Alice tected me suggesting we should go to Hot Yoga after Jazzercise--what an answer to prayer and what amzing friends God has placed in my life! I think I burned around 1500 calories, and sweated everything out of my body in 2 1/2 hours of pure conditioning. It felt good! It felt good to feel again, and witness such a quick answer to prayer. The endorphins probably helped a little as well. :)

Keep pressing onward! Don't lose sight of why were are here on earth and do not forget to focus on others and love them in the process! The more you focus on other people, the less you are able to pout about your own life and dwell on your hurt, which will only cater to the enemy's schemes.

Love, love, love! :) And HOPE!

Friends & Family

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion FOREVER!" ~Psalm 73:26

Friends and family are just a few of the many blessings the Lord has placed for us here on earth. Ladies, boyfriends are incredible, but you must be careful to not let yourself be vulnerable, because then the hurt that comes with losing that guy who was your best friend is something you will never forget. Yes, you can be healed, but the memories take a LONG LONG time to ever forget. Guard your heart ladies, and save it for the Lord, and that incredible, and I mean INCREDIBLE, man of God has planned for you in HIS TIME. It is hard to believe it at this moment in time, but we must begin by professing positivity and the Lord's blessings upon our lives, because only then will we begin to believe them.

Now, back to friends and family. It is incredible how the Lord places people strategically in your lives at the right moment. When you begin to feel lonely friends come along who you did not even realize you had missed so much--what a blessing! :) Family....Family is the encouragement God wanted to give us here on earth. Now are families dysfunctional? Of course. Are some families broken and in desperate need of the grace and love of Jesus? Most definitely. I know mine is. However, the beauty that comes with hurt and despair in one family member's life becomes felt by the whole family. And guess what? This moment and pain in one family member's life can bring the whole family together and show them things about themselves that they were not ready to changes before.

I was always praying for my family. Praying direction and faith in their lives, and guess what? Through my pain they are beginning to find this. They have hope, we have been praying for guidance and direction as a family, and my wonderful Dad is finally beginning to see the amazing things God has ordained him to do. Wow, so exciting! Also, through this pain, I am beginning to shed light on my giftings and have begun to use those giftings to bless other people around me. Yes, I still have plenty of moments of weaknesses where I just want to give up, but with the love and strength God has given me and the people He is strategically placing in my life I am pulled through the mire and stand firm on their hope and faith as well as my own (Rom. 1:12).

Thank you my wonderful Father!