“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” 💛Ephesians 4:22-24
A sweet girl messaged me the other day and asked along the lines of "how do you put away things of this world, when you want to live for Christ?"
Ask Jesus to come and renew your mind. Put AWAY things of this world. Become and embrace being a NEW creature in Christ. Throw away old music, surround yourself with strong believers, pray, serve, and step into the calling that the Lord has given you. Fall in love with Jesus. Fall in love with his word. And know that HE loves YOU more than anything this world has to offer. Don't look back. Run the race of this life with him and be ready to punch the devil in the face when old things of your past come up. You'll be tempted, BUT you don't have to give into that temptation. You have the power and authority to say NO to SIN and YES to Jesus. Let the Lord do a work in your heart today, and embrace everything he has for you.
The top picture, me at a village school in the middle of some jungle in Uganda. The bottom picture, me in Newport Beach, CA.
Something I've learned over the last 10 months is this: getting on an airplane shouldn't change you.
Yikes. Those are hard words for me to swallow myself. Sometimes I think about my time in Uganda, and I'm forever thankful for it. But something that still constantly shocks me is when I hear or see people say "I'm going to be a missionary" or "send me to a missionary training" or "I'm saving so one day I can go be a missionary."
Friends. Yikes. Did you know that the word "missionary" isn't in the bible? Woah. Pause.
But a the term, "follower of Christ is." Is it fun to travel the world and go into all the world as the bible says to do? Yes. Absolutely. We're commissioned to do so as Christ followers. But one thing that I've learned is that no matter where you are, serve and love with all you've got. Do everything as if unto the Lord. Serve, and love the hopeless no matter where you're at. And if you get to go on a plane one day to do it, than praise God. But don't identify yourself as a "missionary" when you're only in a foreign land.
““The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But you shall be named the priests of the LORD, They shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs. “For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, And will make with them an everlasting covenant. Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, And their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, That they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed.” I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its bud, As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.”
"I close my eyes to see, My king in majesty. Your grace compels my soul,
to love and drawing close. I lift my hands and sing, surrender
everything. In you I know I'm found, My God, to you I'll bow. Now until
forever- Jesus, I surrender. Show me what I don't know, more of you. I'm
desperate for your presence, longing to be with you, lead me to a new
place more of you. Through the fire, i'll persevere. I won't submit to
any fear. Where I'll go you've been before, all my trust is in you Lord.
Lead me to you, forever, Lord, I will pursue...I will pursue. You've
won my heart, Jesus, you're all that I want
All that I want. All I need is you." -Pursue // Hillsong
I heard this song for the first time this weekend, well I'm sure I've heard it before-- but this is the first time that i've actually taken time to listen to the lyrics and take them to heart. Worship to me is beyond important, and being a worship leader has taught me that Christian Music is more than just a song, it should be our hearts cry. Worship is more than a song, worship is our lifesong as followers of Christ.
Does my life reflect how my walk is with the Lord?
Do I do ALL things and work as if I am working unto the Lord?
I love this picture that my sister snapped of me a few months ago when we visited San Diego for the first time. San Diego is one of the most beautiful places I've been. It's perfect weather all year around, and the coast is gorgeous. I love this picture because there's an empty seat next to me, and I don't see it as lonely-- but I see Jesus sitting right beside me. He and I had a great chat there, and he speaks to me like a friend. I want to talk about a touchy subject. Something that a lot of young christian girls (and guys, I guess) think about is a future spouse. Yea, lots of us desire a husband (or wife if you're a guy) and marriage is a great thing. But, something I ask myself and keep myself in check with is, is "his grace is sufficient?" Yes, it is. Nothing else, could satisfy my life. I wear a purity ring to remind myself that Jesus is mine, and I am His. He's the ultimate lover of my soul, and even when & if the Lord sends me a husband one day-- Jesus will still be my #1. And as young christian girls (and guys), we shouldn't be striving for a spouse, we should be striving for a deeper relationship with the Lord-- how can we be HIS helpmeet, and how can we help him build HIS kingdom? For we are his bride as the church...a keeper of HIS home... and a keeper of the home is more than doing dishes and the laundry... but that's for another blogpost.
I love finding songs that are an example as to what season of life i'm in. Right now, it's the song above (Pursue // Hillsong). I am content with the Lord, and I like to ask him, "Lord, show me what I don't know... I want more of you!" Let my heart be desperate for his presence, as I'm longing to stay with him... I'll ask him to lead me to a new place, as we should always have something NEW and WONDERFUL happening in our life.
So, let's persevere, and always strive for MORE of what the Lord has for us. As we surrender, know that ALL we need is Jesus in this life. Nothing else should satisfy our soul like He does.
Be encouraged friends, and let's strive for a deeper walk with the Lord.
“Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always);”
1 Thessalonians 5:16
Joy. Something that is VERY important to have in life. Especially as Christians.
One of my favorite scriptures is "let the joy of the Lord be your strength." Sometimes in life, that's all that we might have, joy. The best thing about joy and where I learned it most, is from little children who were imprisoned, some of them were these little cuties pictured above. So many times, we forget as Christians to be joyful about the simple things in this world. No matter what is going on around us, what we have, what we don't have-- we have joy. Unending joy in Christ when we serve him.
I challenge you today, to see joy in everything.
He gave us joy in exchange for our mourning, took of our dirty clothes and clothed us with gladness.
The Lord is GOOD friends. He is the only one that is good, and when we live in this world-- see him in everything. Let's be joyful, glad hearted, and rejoice!
10 "And if you offer yourself to [assist] the hungry And satisfy the need of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness And your gloom will become like midday. 11 “And the Lord will continually guide you, And satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail."
-Isaiah 58:10-11AMP
My mom asked me what my favorite scripture is these days, and I told her the one above out of one of my favorite scriptures of Isaiah. It's about how the Lord will CONTINUALLY guide you. No matter what season we may be in. I can always see the Lord's hand in whatever is happening in my life.
He's always there.
Even when we feel like we're in a desert season; the Lord's promise is that you will be like a watered garden, and water will spring forth... his waters never fail us in a desert place. Who is our strength? The Lord.
But what do I love about that verse? It's the verse before that really gets me. Something that helps me get my eyes off of myself, and back onto the Lord is by getting myself serving, and loving others which is what we're meant to do as Christians.
How does light rise in darkness?
How does gloom become like noonday?
Offer yourself to assist the hungry, satisfy the needs of the afflicted.
I love how scripture answers all of our questions. That's the living water. Are we seeking HIS kingdom first? Then all things are added. All things aren't added if we don't seek.
How is the scripture written in Matthew 6:33? Seek his kingdom first.
May you see the Lord's hand in the midst of the season of life you're in, may you hold-fast to hope, and if you're in a desert season, may the Lord show you that you are strong. May you serve, and love others. May light rise in the darkness of your life, and may gloom become like the noonday. Serve. Don't stop serving.
Instead of putting a ❌ on my hand today to bring awareness to the estimated 27 million salves around the world; I'm going to pray for the women and children world wide who are being prostituted that I've gotten to look in the eyes of and pray for, and offer a way out to. #staydangerous #dosomething #endit #enditmovement #sertministries
"Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll.
3 And
He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with
this scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth like
honey in sweetness."
-Ezekiel 3:1-3nkjv
Now why in the world would I put a picture of flat funny looking cookies with that scripture? Well, the Lord has a funny way of teaching me in every little thing I do. Even when my cousin Gracie and I have a late night baking party and the cookies turn out not so tasty looking.
Here's our conversation as she pulled these funny looking cookies out of the oven:
Me: what happened to the cookies?!!
Gracie: I dunno
Me: Did you follow the recipe?
Gracie: nope, I hate recipes. I dunno what happened.
Me: Duh!! It's just like the bible. You have to follow it or else your life will lead to destruction. Now the cookies are ruined!!
Gracie & Maddie: hahaha
Don't let your life be funny looking cookies. Let's read our bibles, follow the recipe that the Lord gives us of instruction and do as it says. His word is there for us as a guide, a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path so that we can live RIGHTeously. Get into your word today, it's sweet as honey.
