It's not what you know, it's WHO you know...

Everybody tells us that our choices, mistakes, and character make us who we are...but did you ever consider what a hopeless feeling that leaves us? We are sinners who fail continuously because we are human....Those "good choices" we make? Consider your motives; to make yourself look good, to make yourself look better than someone else, to be a good person. These choices are made out of pride and selfishness, which is sin in itself, rather than to give gratitude to the One who gives them to us.

And as for mistakes, praise God they do not reflect who I am....I have asked for forgiveness for them and they are washed away. Only when we realize that it is not about who we are, but about what has been done for us through the sacrificial Lamb, can we experience a life worthy of the calling we have received and be blessed in the way He desires to bless us.

And when you come to this realization, you seek to discover who you are in Christ--who HE says you are...and it's gonna rock your socks off :)

There's a small hump you gotta cross first, though, the thing that holds us captive, Christian and non-Christian alike: FEAR.

(a little disclaimer: I hold a Biblical world view and the Word of God guides my life so the rejection of these fears is based on Biblical truths...St. Augustine said it best, "If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.")

if we fear it is because we have believed a lie...

fear rejection? someone once told you that you weren't good enough or worthy enough...

The king is enthralled by your beauty;

honor him, for he is your lord.

-Psalm 45:11

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me

together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully

and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

-Psalm 139:13-14

fear failure? someone once told you you failed past the point of forgiveness...

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

-Psalm 73:26

Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,

because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

-Lamentations 3:22-23

fear death? you didn't believe the assurance of salvation and the promise of eternal life through Christ's sacrifice ...

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord,"

and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

you will be saved.

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,

and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

-Romans 10:9-10

"For God so loved the world that he gave

his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him

shall not perish but have eternal life.

-John 3:16

fear loneliness? someone told you that you need another person to make you happy or satisfied ...

"...being content with what you have;

for He Himself has said,

I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU,

NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU."

-Hebrews 13:5

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,

nor angels, nor principalities,

nor things present, nor things to come,

nor powers, nor height, nor depth,

nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us

from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-Romans 8:35-39

fear pain? someone told you that you had to face it and survive it by yourself ...

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

-Psalm 46:1

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power

is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast

all the more gladly

about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power

may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake,

I delight in weaknesses, in insults,

in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

-2 Corinthians 12:9-10

fear the future? someone told you that your future reflects your past because history repeats itself ...

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.

-Jeremiah 29:11

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,

and all these things will be given to you as well.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.

-Matthew 6:33-34

The prince of lies is so good at targeting our weakest points and the lies we believe the most...

BUT!!!!!!!!!

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

-1 John 4:18

Happy Friday!!!!! I have an exciting weekend ahead...a very special and handsome date, amazing friends, and maybe even some job offers! God bless

Read it...it's wonderful :)

I found it and needed somewhere to post it...obviously too long for a facebook status, haha. Read it and be amazed and comforted by the power of my Jesus.

The will of God will never take you
Where the grace of God cannot keep you,
Where the arms of God cannot support you,
Where the riches of God cannot supply your needs,
Where the power of God cannot endow you.

The will of God will never take you
Where the spirit of God cannot work through you,
Where the wisdom of God cannot teach you,
Where the army of God cannot protect you,
Where the hands of God cannot mold you.

The will of God will never take you
Where the love of God cannot enfold you,
Where the mercy of God cannot sustain you,
Where the peace of God cannot calm your fears,
Where the authority of God cannot overrule for you.

The will of God will never take you
Where the comfort of God cannot dry your tears,
Where the Word of God cannot feed you,
Where the miracles of God cannot be done for you,
Where the omnipresence of God cannot find you.

- Author Unknown


THAT'S MY KING!

Desire of My Heart

Delight yourself in the LORD and
he will give you
the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

One of the most beloved verses in the Bible...and one of the most misinterpreted...

I've been thinking a lot about the plans that I make (that generally don't work out exactly the way I thought) and how whatever actually happens is abundantly more amazing than my original plan. And all I can think is wow, He really does know my heart better than I do.

So that word delight...I decided to look up the original Hebrew...
"delight” (עָנַג, pronounced aw-nag): to be delicate or feminine, or sensitive and pliable
And after a little further digging, the context of delight in this verse means to be solely dependent on God and to find pleasure and satisfaction in Him alone. Interesting? It has much deeper meaning than simply thanking God for blessings and worshipping Him in Church. It's discovering that the greatest joy comes from fulfilling your purpose in glorifying Him. It's remembering our salvation through Jesus Christ and understanding only through Him do we experience an abundant life here on Earth and eternal life. It's finally realizing that void can ONLY be satisfied by the One who created it so that you would seek Him to fill it.

He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.
--Saint Augustine


What do you desire? That word literally means what you petition or request from the depths of your heart. It is something deeper than a 'want' that is also a need...similar to the difference between love and adoration. So according to the meaning of "delight," if you are truly "delighting" yourself in the Lord, He should be your greatest desire. It just makes sense - if you desire something, you think if you have it you will be fulfilled (and you should). If you have found true satisfaction in Christ, your greatest desire has been fulfilled.

BUT...there is that little 's' on the end of desire. So you get to have more than one!!! Hooray!!! The catch is Christ is the only one who knows the truest desires of your heart...the nearer you draw to Him, the more they are revealed to you. In my own life, I know there are some consistent desires that I know are from Christ; to be married- to serve another as Christ did, to understand the love relationship between Christ and His Bride (the Church), and someone with to share the joy of this life found in Christ, to understand the meaning of unconditional love; to have children- to truly understand the sacrifice God made in giving His only Son for me, to bless my parents with grandchildren, to raise them to glorify God in a lost world; to teach- to love and be compassionate toward children other than my own, to share the love of Christ through my everyday example and actions; to be a best friend - because I know that God speaks through those around me and even through me, because this too is a love relationship in which you understand sacrifice...

That being said...the details- the whos, whats, whens, and wheres- of these desires are revealed in God's timing. Some He's blessed me with or with a glimpse of, and the rest I will continue to wait for knowing that these divine appointments are more than worth waiting for...

small disclaimer: I am certainly no theologian, this is just what God has laid on my heart :)

Be blessed and be a blessing today!