Should not be an Excuse

My head is about to explode of everything that the Lord just revealed to me through a friend. Let's just say the conversation was completely the Lord opening my eyes to see things I had never thought about.  As we all do, we all have pasts.  And we all sin and fall short of the glory of God, but it is by God's grace that we can have a new start.  It's not to say that through your time of being renewed and living your daily walk that you won't encounter hardships.  You will encounter struggles of those past memories that will be hard, but you have to deal with them.  You can't let Satan take ahold of those struggles, God is there to work through them with you.

   

For me...It has been alcohol.  I have never seen anything good come from it.  I have had family that abuses it and can be completely irresponsible when they are consuming it. I myself have abused it in the past, but have made the decision to not drink or be around those irresponsible situations.  I lost trust from many people who have abused it.  So for me whenever I hear the word alcohol, it causes me to feel a little uneasy and often lose trust in others when they are drinking casually.  

  

But... what my friend made clear to me was that this struggle is something that Satan uses against me.  He takes hold of that situation and causes my mind to wander.  I must not judge others, but care for them and trust them.  I say care because there might be someone that the Lord places in my life that will be going through the same thing that I went through and I need to love them, not judge them.  And I say trust because there will be people in my life who can  be around alcohol or have the occasional drink responsibly and I shouldn't judge them.  I don't need to make my past an excuse, but something that the Lord will help me work on when dealing with different circumstances.  I don't need to run and hide from it, but I need to deal with it head on.  And I don't need to hinder others and cause them to struggle what I struggle with.  

  

I praise God that I have him to help me along the way.  Many trials will come along, but taking it to the Lord should become my first instinct instead of my heart and feelings.  

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." James 1:12

Set-Apart

"Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me." Luke 9:23

Wednesdays have been the highlight of my weeks this summer.  As you have heard me mention before, I have had the delight in leading a high school girls bible study this summer.  These are my girls and I love them so so much.  We read the book Set-Apart Femininity By: Leslie Ludy, but I didn't want this to become a book club.  The Lord really placed it on my heart to each week give glory to Him and make it all about the Gospel.  I was so encouraged last night as it was our last bible study to see how much God worked in these girl's lives.  The girls each wrote me a sweet note of how much God taught them this summer and one girl wrote  "I spend so much more time in the Word, I have a passion for God like I never had before and I understand so much more about the Bible and what God wants for my life..."  Praise God.  I do not tell you this to give credit to myself because I was just the vessel that God used to get through to these girls.  It is because God that these girls and myself grew closer to Him this summer. 

As young women seeking to glorify God we recognized that our focus needs to be on Jesus Christ everyday.  I got these rings for the girls so that they will have something to look at each day and remember who we are supposed to be living for.  Our lives as Christians are supposed to be like Christ.  He is the one that God sent to Die on the Cross for OUR sins and because of this we must follow him.  

These girls have brought so much joy to my life and I praise God for them to be a part of my life.  I pray that these girls cling to the cross daily and don't get caught up in what this world tells us.  It is about Jesus and no one else, the rest will fall into place.  

I love you- Mandi, Taylor, Elizabeth, Allison, Lauren, and Lianna

Hebrews 12:1-3 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

For Derrick.

"Time and distance quench a small love, but make a great love grow stronger."

Today I read this quote after reading a story about a couple.  Their story goes a little something like this...

Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand had the most romantic real-life love story I've ever heard of.  But ironically their marriage was nothing like the "white picket fence" scenario that most us dream about.  Their life together was marked by intense persecution, torture, imprisonment, poverty, and over ten years of separation from each other.  When Richard sat in the pastor's convention listening to the name of Christ being blasphemed, Sabina had a choice to make.  She could either cling to her desire to keep her husband by her side and her family protected, or she could make Jesus Christ her highest priority.  She chose to honor the name of Christ, even though it meant giving up everything in life that she held dear.

Richard was thrown in prison, and she spent ten years not knowing whether he was dead or alive.  Was the beauty of their love story dimmed by such dismal circumstances?  Just the opposite.  After years of praying and agonizing for her husband, Sabina received a note scrawled in Richard's unmistakable handwriting.  He was only allowed to write a few words, which would be censored by prison guards.  His words were : "Time and distance quench a small love, but make a great love grow stronger"

(From Set-Apart Femininity By: Leslie Ludy)

God placed me in Louisville for the summer.  He placed Derrick in Bowling Green.  He is using us in the same way and that is to serve him better.  I would much rather be closer to Derrick, but that was not the Lord's plan this summer.  The time apart has been difficult at times, but small frustrations are always a result of selfishness. I am sinful.  Derrick is sinful.  That is why we must cling to the cross daily.  After reading this today I realized that Christ should be my main focus all of the time, whether in a relationship or not in a relationship, Christ should be my life.  

As I grow in my love for Derrick day after day, it isn't because of his good looks, great sense of humor, or ability to fart 50 times in one day (these are all added Bonuses... haha) BUT it is his love for the Lord.  I know that Christ is way more important to Derrick than me and I praise God for that.  I praise God to be dating an amazing Godly man who is all about serving the Lord.  In this season while we are apart...I seek to grow more with the Lord as well.

"We Love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19       

This past week in my high school girls bible study we talked about building walls against Satan's attack.  Before preparing for study I had never taken a look at the book of Nehemiah...Ever! Nehemiah is in preparation to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after the exile. In his despair he sits down and prays to the Lord.  His prayer is so beautiful...

"And I said, "O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,  let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.  Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,  but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.'  They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man."
    Now I was cupbearer to the king." 
Nehemiah 1:5-11

I read this prayer and think of how watered down my prayers are.  Last summer when I was in Africa, the Ghanaian's valued praying to the Lord.  They confessed everything before him and held nothing back.  They trusted and loved him completely.  I long to have prayers like this.   Through this scripture I am completely and utterly amazed at how the Lord continues to teach me things about myself.  

Inspired.

Give Me More.

Through the hustle and bustle of summer I have neglected my blog.  My summer has consisted of being a part time Mom and getting paid to do it.  Some days my job can be challenging through the two year old who wants more loving, more food, more to drink, more more more and I get so tired sometimes.  When I look at this sweet child I think about what God has been teaching me.  He has been teaching me to want more and has opened up my eyes and heart to it.


I think about the book I have been reading, Radical by David Platt, and I think about a story he told.  He told of Secret Churches that he would attend while he was in China (I think? Don't quote me).  At these churches people would come from all over and meet in these tiny hidden rooms just to learn more about the Bible and God.  They wanted more and more of him.  They didn't care how long it would take, if it was hours or days, they wanted to know more.  


I also think about the high school girls that I lead a bible study for and just to see the Lord at work in them.  We always run bible study to the very end of time.  I see their hearts burning for the Lord and they just want more.


And then I think about myself these past couple of weeks and how I have been putting my relationship with the Lord on the back burner.  I was stuck in a funk where I wasn't in a bible study so I didn't know where to read and then Saturday night I was checking out my churches blog and looky there...a Six Month Reading Plan of the New Testament.  Just what I was longing for.  More of the Lord.  (If you are looking to deeper your walk with the Lord by getting more into the Word you should really check this out Six Month Reading plan)


"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." John 10:10