Faith

Gosh... faith keeps coming up... Over and over and over... Will I ever learn? Will I ever have enough faith? Will I have that faith to move mountains? I cannot move mountains in my own strength... but I can in faith. How do I do that

I want to write about all these things that keep coming up about childlike faith, blind faith, faith in the impossible, faith in the one true God. He is so faithful. And all he asks for is my faith.

25

There are some key points in life where you feel like life changes, like you grow, , like your best is behind you, or maybe there is something better waiting on the other side. 25 years of life may seem like one of these pivotal moments... but it doesn't feel that much different. Maybe it should... Maybe I should wake up and feel a little more tired, go to sleep a little earlier, notice a couple more wrinkles on my face... But I feel like there is a whole world of opportunity out there just waiting... 25? quarter of a century? Who cares. I want to live in the present. Make the most of today. Not live by the worlds expectations or standards. Maybe turning 25 was the best day of my life. Who knows. But I am not going to let anything hold me back. If I spend every day looking for those gray hairs I am gonna stress out and give myself gray hair. Live in the present. Live for Today. There is no reason to live held back by anything. I want to live in freedom, in God's grace, in the beauty of Christ. Growing up doesn't mean you have to act older... Okay be a little more responsible and act like you have a little bit of control of whats going on... but I want to keep that childlike faith that keeps you dreaming, keeps you believing, keeps you living each day to the fullest. We can have that full and abundant life if we embrace all the Christ has for us.

I was recently reading a book in which one of the chapters was titled Twenty-five. She talked all about Living out every purpose of each moment for the glory of God. She says "Whatever you have to do to connect with God in a way that feels authentic and truthful to you. Do it now, so that you don’t regret the person you become, little by little, over time, without it." Live and dream, connect, be yourself, continue to grow and change and be who christ has made you to be. Never stop being willing to let God lead you and use you. She says "Don’t get stuck… take a risk. Now is your time. Become, believe, try. Walk closely with people you love, and with other people who believe that God is very good and life is a grand adventure… Give today all the love and intensity and courage you can, and keep traveling honestly along life’s path." ("Bittersweet"- Shauna Niequist) These verses bring together God's perspective on the adventure of life. Trust, follow, and run after Christ.

Matthew 19:14

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children,

you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this

child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Proverbs 16:9

In their hearts humans plan their course,

but the LORD establishes their steps

So today, ask yourself

• Am I proud of the life I’m living?
• What have I tried this month?
• What have I learned about God this year?
• What parts of my childhood faith am I leaving behind, what am I keeping with me?
• Do I feel alive, or are people making me feel small?
• Is there any brokenness in my life that’s keeping me from moving forward?
• How do you feel connected to yourself or God? What do you do?

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So this is my dream... no matter how many years pass by, I want to be grateful for what I have. Live in the blessing... Love unconditionally, learn with an open mind, Laugh... Laughing keeps life filled with joy and peace. I am grateful for how God made me, and will keep this smile on my face no matter how much life is filled with chaos!! One day at a time.

“I felt more and more like myself with each passing year, for better and for worse, and you’ll find that, too.

Every year you will trade a little of your perfect skin and your ability to look great without

exercising for wisdom and peace and groundedness, and every year the trade will be worth it. I promise.”

(Shauna Niequist)

2011 HERE WE GO!!!

It's a new year. New beginnings. Some things will come to an end. Some things will begin. But the best part is, God is woven within every part of it. We are his masterpiece. He is doing his work. Even when we cannot see the final outcome and the result, he sees us as beautiful. May this year be a year of believing and living. Not just hearing and seeing. But Purpose.

2 Corinthians 5:7

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

I love this verse! Probably why I tattooed it on my foot… haha but today at bible study… got the perfect summary for why I got it. BELIEVING IS CHOOSING OBEDIENCE AND RESPONDING OUT OF TRUST EVEN WHEN YOU CANNOT SEE OR HEAR. That is what got me through all the inner turmoil and crazy turmoil. It took awhile, but God is good and he works in his timing. He knew I needed to encounter a crucible experience that would strengthen my faith and transform me forever. God’s love isn’t based on our circumstances but on his character. We have to see through God’s eyes. Respond in Obedience. And continue to follow him.

Purpose

We were created with purpose.

Romans 9:20-21

But who are you, o man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'"

Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay

some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

So often we are discontent or unhappy with how our Creator created us. But each of us were created in the image of God. Beautiful, worthy, and a masterpiece. God did not make mistakes. He made you YOU as a perfect part of his creation. Love who you are, Love who God made you to be. Love the strengths, love the thing that make you unique. Love God in you.

Like clay

"Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand" Jeremiah 18:6

This passage resonates so deep within my soul. To know that I am clay in the hands of the Omnipotent Creator affirms a sense of reasoning and purpose beyond that is far beyond my own grasp. The potter forms, molds, breaks, builds, and the clay into a beautiful work of art. And the clay is not just beautiful, it is designed for a specific purpose. And to be in the hands of the Lord is a refuge and comfort unlike any other. Our God is so big, we are so small, but we are important to Him. Just as each piece of clay is important in its essence to be formed and reformed until it can be as it is intended, we are important to God. In our brokenness, in our willingness, in our submission to be molded by the Potter, we are seeking to be formed not of our own will or way but the way of the Lord. How great a reassurance to be in the hands of God.

Reading the rest of the passage you are taken through the journey where Jeremiah hears God speaking to him. God is speaking to each one of us. We are his servant. He speaks to us as we are willing to serve him. Are we listening? God commands Jeremiah to go to the potter's house. Where is our potter's house? Where do you see the presence of the Lord? God offers refuge and restoration. Are we receiving his grace and peace? As we seek to experience and see God we see Him working, just as we see the "potter working at the wheel". He is working all around us. Sometimes God is working in ways in which we do not understand. The potter was forming broken clay. It was marred and ragged. But the Potter sees it as a beautiful piece to the overall masterpiece. He does not disregard any fragment, it is all important to him. He shapes the clay as best fit to him, just as he shapes us into his image as long as we are willing. The purpose God sees is greater than anything we can imagine. No matter how broken, the Potter sees purpose. God will speak. God will do. God will form. We just have to be his clay.

"Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand" Jeremiah 18:6

Shine...

Devo for the day:

"Seek my face, and you will find all that you have longed for. The deepest yearnings of my heart are for intimacy with Me. I know, because I have designed you to desire Me. Do not feel guilty about taking time to be still in My Presence. You are simply responding to the tugs of divinity within you. I made you in My image, and I hid heaven in your heart. Your yearning for Me is a form of homesickeness, longing for your true home in heaven.

Do not be afraid to be different from other people. The path I have called you to travel is exquisitely right for you. The more closely you follow My leading, the more fully I can develop your gifts. To follow me wholeheartedly, you must relinquish your desire to please other people. However, your closeness to Me will bless others by enabling you to shine brightly in this world."

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Nelson Mandela:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

We need to seek God. The world is trying to get in the way of God working in and through us. If we seek God with our whole heart we will find him. Yes God will meet us where we are at, but unless we turn to follow him he will not drag us along. We have to respond. We have to act. God chose us. He chose you. Yes, you. Bring glory to God. He is the all in all. He made each of us unique to shine for him. But a light does not shine if not connected to its source. As we become who we are and live that way, it allows others to be the real them. We can experience and be that freedom. Truth sets you free. If you live in truth you will experience the feeling of freedom unlike any other

JOURNEY... where am I?

God's Freedom. God has changed me so much, I finally value myself and believe in myself. I have always been my own worst enemy and I finally appreciate the strengths and weaknesses I see in myself and want God to fill the holes, to be my everything... While I before said I surrendered, I was still holding on, I still wanted control. I wanted something to be my way, and that was keeping me from the truth and freedom that I could have experienced. When Jesus says that he wants us to have full life, that phrase has so much depth and breadth within it that we can never comprehend. But what we can do is live in the moment, trusting in who God is and who he is in us that he is working and has a plan and purpose. It sounds so cliche but I have finally come to this place where I can trust God, not having everything figured out. Knowing he has something for me SOOO much better than I could even imagine for myself. God's truth has set me free!

God's love. Before I can even grasp any sort of what love is I have to get to know Christ. Christ is love. And in that I can love who Christ made me to be. He made me in his creation, as a beautiful masterpiece. While I am not complete, each portion of the process is beautiful and Christ refines my heart and soul. For so long I was not willing to let God love me like I knew him to love others. I could believe God's power and strength to be sufficient in others lives but doubt him in my own... This was not okay. I did not feel I was worth it or I was good enough to believe in that for myself... Who put this lie in my head!! So I had to endure the process of putting my hope and trust in false things besides the glory of the Lord. Understanding God's unconditional and perfect love is what life is supposed to be. Love is scary, but it is so amazing, powerful, and transforming. Love gives freedom and purpose. Love is life. Christ is love. We were created for most importantly a relationship with him. But also in fellowship to interact, empower, to feel, to be, to smile, to cry, to laugh.

God's timing. I love knowing what is going to happen, planning things out so they work perfectly... but life is not perfect. sometimes we have to go with the flow and trust. After I experienced some major setbacks, I wanted things to be perfect instantly, I wanted to be free, I wanted to feel like myself again. I had always put on the facade that everything was okay... but this was far from the truth. But only the past couple months have I felt even close to the person I knew was inside of me. If it were up to me, it would have happened alot sooner. God has different gauge of timing. There was so much more I had to learn in the process. I had to give myself time to fully heal... which took alot longer than I thought it would have.

Be still and know that he is God. I have often struggled with finding the time to slow down and enjoy. It is so easy to fill your life with busyness and pouring out. I now know how much I need to be filled so I can continue to pour out The more time you spend with Christ the more you will know the heart of God and continue to be filled with his presence. I struggle with this all the time. Thinking of mary and martha, I am challenged to be still, to be in the present, to live in the moment. Sit in the presence of the Lord, There is a time and a place for everything... God is the Lord of all...

So here's to where God has brought me, where I am today, and his plan for my future.