Love is only the beginning

bahahaha

Job 5:17-18

In love with this song right now =]

Holding Hands, Holding Hearts

Holding Hands, Holding Hearts; I want to rely so deeply on God, to be so complete in my satisfaction through Him alone that my relationships naturally begin to resemble these characteristics

Holding Hands, Holding Hearts

I love what Isaiah 26 says: “We have a strong city; God makes the salvation its walls and ramparts.” (v.1)  It just has really helped me put who God is to me right now in this season of my life.  How we view God and how he helps us changes in our differing God.  Yes God is; however He takes on different roles in our relationship throughout life.  He is the Creator, the Redeemer, the Sustainer, the Almighty One… We have many different ways of describing Him.  All of course are inferior to His awesomeness and perfection. 

Anyways, God has really started to put Himself in perspective for me.  I have seen myself as a soldier in battle before armed with His righteousness and the different aspects of believing, but as I enter a difficult season of my life I see myself less as a soldier going in for the fight and more as a fortress.  God is my fortress.  He protects me from the attack of the enemy.  I am a warrior for the Gospel yes and taking on His armor in order to go out and share His Good news.  However, God is forever our protector and sometimes we really need His protection from the enemy. God allows bad things to happen to us because He is testing our strength in our faith.  He will never allow us to go through more than we can handle, but He will allow us to go through some pretty tough things like we see in the story of Job.  This is why we need to fully understand who God is to us and how much He does for us.  

God is my fortress.  His truth is my foundation and His salvation my walls.  He protects me from the waging against me with His mighty hand, and He covers me with His love mercy.  His faithfulness stands guard, and sacrifice drives the enemy further and further away the stronger our faith grows in God and the Gospel.

God is getting me through this season.  It’s a rough road but the more I focus on Him and delve into Him, the lighter the burden feels and the more at peace I become.  Isaiah 26:7 “The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth.”  I am beginning to understand this more and more as I learn how to really hold on the reliance in Him at all times.   

ZEAL, n. [Gr., L.] Passionate ardor in the pursuit of any thing. In general, zeal is an eagerness of desire to accomplish or obtain some object, and it may be manifested either in favor of any person or thing, or in opposition to it, and in a good or bad cause.

Over and over again you see this word pop up in the Bible when talking about God and our relationship.  Not so much our end, but how he feels about us.  He has zeal for His children.  After reading the definition it just made me so much more thankful for being able to know Him.  I love God.  Oh, but how much more he loves us. =]

Hebrews 10:23

Deuteronomy 20: 3-4

“He shall say: ‘Hear O Israel, today you are going to battle against your enemies.  Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them.  For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.’”

I think this little passage is so important for us to hear today as Christians. We are called to persecution for our beliefs.  It’s just the way this life is because we love the Lord.  We know that from Jesus. But a lot of times that can scare us into a lack of action for Him.  We hear Him telling us to do something but the fear of rejection and even worse can scare us into an inactive, frozen state.  We want to be liked and loved and this sometimes skews our view.  It causes us to A) not hear with clarity what the Lord is telling us because our fears interject our own ideas and B) forget the love we have from our church and most importantly God.  He is going with us into these hard times and struggles.  He’s not making us go through this persecution alone!  And with Him we will be victorious in love as long as we seek Him first and live for Him, no matter what crazy thing He tells us to do.  We must trust Him, for His love is without limits and with love that big there is no way we can even think He would abandon us.  The only one doing the abandoning is you and me. He is ALWAYS and FOREVER faithful.

The poor.

I feel like I and many others seem to think too literally about the poor people Jesus speaks of in the Bible.  It doesn’t entirely mean the financially poor, but also the physically, emotionally and spiritually poor.  We are called to help the poor in every area.  We were and sometimes are still poor in spirit.  God fills us and rescues us from that poverty and because of that we are called to reach out those still poor.  We have gained the kingdom and therefore are rich, so we must share our riches with others. God has given us much to share, whether it be a strong spirit, many talents/gifts or monetary wealth. I guess lately I just have felt bad because I don’t have much financially to give yet.  I’m still living dependently off of my parents since I’m in college and do not have time for a job.  Therefore I am weary about radical giving in the financial realm.  I mean it’s not all really my money so I must be aware of this in giving.  But then God reminds me that it’s alright. I shouldn’t feel guilty, yet I still need to radically give to the poor what is mine to give. =] That’s all.

Life is changing. Childhood is fleeting away. I am growing up. Things that were once dear to my heart are suddenly just becoming memories of how it was back then. I am not quite sure at the moment how to handle it.  will trust in the Lord and He will see me through this confusing and unsure time.

He brings peace to the weary and rest to the restless.

Sometimes we need to take a few steps back.  Maybe it’s to stop complaining and just be thankful, or maybe it’s to realize God is in control.  Sometimes it’s to remember a time where we were super reliant on God and how we need to remember that reliance for our current situation.  God never changes but our life is constantly shape shifting.  We are like clay that God is molding so that we resemble more of His image.

So I was looking back on some old things I wrote about before summer and it just made me realize how I need to seek that kind of reliance still in my current place in life.  The situations are completely different but my reliance on God is still the same.  I also need to remember how His Spirit is moving inside of me in every moment of life.

I’m excited to see Kevin (Taco) again so that I can just really be in God’s work when it comes to our relationship. I know He is working even though we are apart but I want to learn and explore more about my place as Godly woman while actually being with him.  I just want to be the Godliest woman I can be for him. That’s all.