Joshua 1:9

 “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9

Do not be afraid! Do not be dismayed! We often struggle, but we do not need to fear. God hears our prayers, He is with us wherever we go! How amazing is that?!
Do not lose faith, do not lose hope! He is here. And know that His will is the best for us. We may not like what He wants, but if it’s what He wants, it is definitely better than what we want. As hard as it is, we must give up our will and seek His. Always. He knows His plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11). His are better than ours. He wants to give us a HOPE and a FUTURE. And His future for us is better than any future we could imagine for ourselves. How great is that!?  He loves us so much.
Be strong. Be of good courage. He loves you and will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).

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“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.” – 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Inner v. Outer Beauty

I think in today’s society, there is so much pressure to be beautiful. This pressure feels more severe on girls/women, but I think there is also a pressure for guys and men as well.

I have never considered myself “beautiful,” and it is only as of lately that I am starting to have a better view of myself, to where I’m content with what I look like.

But outward beauty isn’t important to God. Check out what His word says:

Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
      - 1 Peter 3:3-4

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
      - Proverbs 31:30

Inner beauty is far more important. Rather than spend all our time being beautiful for the moment or the day, why not spend time becoming beautiful for our Groom in heaven. That beauty is lasting.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
      - 1 Peter 3:15-17

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So I’ll stand, with arms high and heart abandoned, in awe of the One who gave it all. I’ll stand, my soul, Lord, to you surrendered. All I am is Yours.
      - “The Stand”

Reflecting the Glory of God

I loved this analogy my pastor made yesterday. I would have put it in the last post, but I felt that it deserved a post of its own.

Think about the moon. It is just a hunk of rock (obviously this is not the field of science I am in…) with no light of its own. The moon on its own has no glory. It’s just a rock (or something). It needs the sun to give light. The light from the sun reflects onto the moon, making it beautiful, giving it glory.

That is how we are supposed to be. We are to be nothing of ourselves, but shine with the reflection of our Lord. He is so beautiful, so incredible! We are to decrease and He is to increase in our lives. Don’t let yourself have the glory – let all of it be of and for Him!

So many songs are coming to mind right now:

Indescribable, uncontainable, You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name – You are amazing, God!
        - “Indescribable”

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord. Our God, You reign forever. Our Hope, our Strong Deliverer.
You are the Everlasting God, the Everlasting God. You do not faint, You won’t grow weary. You are the defender of the weak, You comfort those in need, You lift us up on wings like eagles.
        - “Everlasting God”

“To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.” – Jude 25

1/23/2011

2 Corinthians 4:1-10

• Yes, we all sin. But God forgives; He is merciful. Repent, move on. Don’t allow a devil in the world (or the devil) cause an avalanche to your faith.
• 2 Cor. 4:2 – We are to renounce sin, not call ourselves Christians but keep living in it.
• Sins don’t condemn people to hell. SIN condemns people. Not individual sins, but the rejection of God’s good news (the Gospel) is what sends people to hell.
• We are to be in the world not of it. We aren’t supposed to be more like them so we can relate. We are to be separated.
• The fundamentals of our faith are not always easy. That doesn’t make them less fundamental.
• We are to be humble: aware of who we are in the presence of God. But we are also to be bold.
• Good news: you get saved by Jesus
  Bad news: you get beat up by the devil every day until you get to heaven.
  Gooder news: it’s so worth it.

God bless you all!

Food for Thought :)

Jesus gave Himself for us and to us, paying a holy and precious price on the cross. After giving His all, is it too much for Him to ask us to do the same thing?
-Streams in the Desert, December 14


Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

I usually like NKJV, but this verse is so beautiful in the NIV.

How our hearts can break when we do not guard them! How much hurt could we prevent by guarding ourselves and not letting that guard down?

Guard your heart! I beg of you; save yourself the hurt! Even when it’s hard, don’t let down that guard! It is so much better to be guarded than to have a broken heart. When your heart is hurting, it makes life harder. Cling to Jesus – He is the One who won’t leave you, He won’t hurt you!

 

Maranatha! ><>

Psalm 121:1-2

I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.

How great is our God! How wonderful is it to know that our help comes from Him, and Him alone! He made heaven, and He made earth; He can get us through our trials.

1/19/2011

Job 11-13

• God knows everything. He knows your heart. He knows everyone’s hearts. Satan was arrogant to think He didn’t know Job’s heart.
• “Children, be reminded that your parents cannot pick up your cross for you. There comes a time when you have to take it up yourself and die on it.” – Pastor Rick G.
• Learn about God through His word, not your imagination.
• Ecclesiastes 9:2 – Good and bad things can (and do!) happen to anyone and everyone. The test is how you react to these things!
• The Christian life is a garden. It must be refreshed. Just because you have been a Christian for a long time doesn’t mean you don’t need to learn the basics. Ask God to refresh you.
• Don’t water down your testimony! Just because you’ve made friends with someone doesn’t mean you owe them lies!
• When you look at man, you see what God has salvaged, not what He created.

1/16/2011

2 Corinthians 3

• “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6) – the law held no solution, it just pointed out the sins and condemned. Jesus came to fulfill the law – He came to be our sacrifice and pay our ransom to save us.
• Using the faith helps us develop the faith! Meditate on the things of God!
• The devil enslaves us with sin – we are all born into that. Jesus paid our ransom and we are freed through Him if we believe – “I stand in Christ’s place and He stands in mine” (C. Spurgeon)
• The cross of Christ means that Jesus gave us His royal garments and bore our shame to redeem us.
• Sinners think that they’re okay with God and that He will be “fair” with them. That is very true, He will be fair! Without Jesus, they will die.
• The only sin that can forever separate you from Jesus Christ is to reject Him as your Savior.
• “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is [freedom]” – 2 Cor. 3:17

The full sermon (and lots, lots more!) can be found here: http://ccmech.org/sermons/sunday

1/5/2011, 1/12/2011

Job 6-10

• When we get to heaven, all the grief and anguish of this life will be worth it.
• God is not calling us to argue with people, He wants us to proclaim the faith.
• Suffering is not proof you have done something wrong. God uses suffering to refine us.
• Don’t base your theology on guesses or experiences. Base it on “Thus says the Lord!”
• Nothing happens without God’s permission. That doesn’t mean that it’s His fault when something bad happens though.
• “It’s all about global preaching – I want to reach the lost!” – Pastor Rick
• If your god is small enough for you to thoroughly understand, he is not big enough to be your God.
• God can do anything. He has the right to give, and the right to take away. Don’t think that He doesn’t, because Satan will exploit that thinking.
• “God has one Son without sin, but none without suffering.”
• Job 10:15 – God will lift up your head.

The Spirit’s Leading

“Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.”
– Acts 16:6-10 (emphasis added)

This passage is so interesting to me. There are two places where the Holy Spirit forbids them from preaching. I feel like we often think that God wants everyone to know about Him, so we should share with everyone. That is not always the case! We are to follow the Spirit’s leading! How hard that can be at times! I know that in my own life, I have taken the “initiative” to share the Word when that is not really what God is calling me to do, and without seeking His leading. How often we get into the flesh when we are trying to preach the Gospel! How disappointing! I always get upset with myself when I realize this was the case.

Paul, Silas, and Timothy were following God’s leading here. They heeded to what the Spirit said, even if that is not what they thought was best. God always knows best. It would benefit us greatly to follow the example they set for us here.

We should be governed by God!!! We should seek His will before we make any decision. We should follow His leading when we witness to those around us! We should live our lives for Him – that is a witness in and of itself. So often, we think that witnessing can only happen if we are telling people about God, but we can witness through the way we live our lives every day!

My pastor brought up an interesting point the other day. What if legislators gathered in prayer every morning before they went to their desks and earnestly sought God’s will? What if doctors and nurses bowed their knees before our Maker at the beginning of every shift and sought direction and leading and healing on the hurt? What if firefighters prayed for safety at the beginning of each shift? What if scientists sought their Creator and daily gathered and asked Him to lead their research? Just something to think about. Unfortunately, I feel that our country is going in the opposite direction.

 

Maranatha – O, Lord, come! ><>

Governed by God

Hi there!

Well, I guess you deserve an introduction, though I’m not sure who will be reading. My name is Rachel, and I am currently a college student studying bioinformatics. I live at home, more or less, with my parents and my brother, and my grandparents are currently staying with us as well. I have two cats and two birds, and my parents have two dogs and a cat. I go to an amazing church, and I love it and my friends!

I live in what some would consider a small town, and for quite some time, all I wanted was to get out. God had other plans, though, and I am beginning to see why.

For most of my life, I have been a Christian. I was raised in a Christian home, and went to church every Sunday and Wednesday growing up. During high school,I began to claim my faith as my own. We all have to do this at some point, because we can’t just be Christians because our parents are. I tried to keep up with my devotions, but eventually they went to the wayside, with me telling God that I would spend more time with Him in college. Well, here I am, and God is holding me to what I said (and boy am I glad!).

As a result of me staying at home, I continue to be active in my church, which is reason enough for me to stay. God has blessed me in other ways here too, but that is another post in and of itself. I also have two of the most amazing friends in the world. Between the three of us, at least one of us always has a problem (but often it is two with problems). This has allowed each of us to be a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen when things have gotten rough, and yet we have also been the ones crying and babbling at other times. God has knit our hearts together during the past few months and I can’t imagine college without them.

Well, I have learned many lessons over the past few months. I cannot even begin to talk about them all, but I am so glad that God has taught me what He has.

So, this blog is about what I learn. I don’t exactly know what will become of it, but I am interested to see where God will take this.