About You

You are LOVED by God. There is nothing you can do, or can't do to make him love you more or less. He loves you because he loves you. Because you are His child.

YOU ARE~
Redeemed
Worthy
More then your past
Forgiven
Whole
Enough
Worth it
A treasure
Righteous
Free
Accepted
You matter.


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Amazing love is right.

"Amazing love, how can it be, that you MY KING would die for ME?"

Every time I hear this song I wonder that same thing, how CAN it be?? I know in my heart the answer is, love. Not the word love that we throw around so carelessly when we say we love chocolate, but real Agape love. Here's the definition for Agape love~ Divine, unconditional, self sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love.

To me it's also, unmerited, undeserving love.
Think about it. Think about someone who hurt you badly, or continues to hurt you on a daily basis, would you die for that person?
That is what Jesus did for us. He died for us, while we were IN our sin and continue to sin. He didn't say when you become perfect and sinless you can go to heaven, no, he sacrificed his life for you, as a sinner.

Did you know that Jesus was very distraught about what he was going to go through? He was well aware that he was going to suffer, be beaten, whipped and nailed to a cross and left to die.

He had the last supper with his disciples and told them to eat and drink of the bread and wine as though it was his own body, to remember him by that. That is why we do communion today.
Before his betrayers were going to come and get him, he went to the garden to pray, and he actually asked his father that he not have to go through with it. He didn't want to suffer and die, do you blame him? But he said, whatever his father wanted was what he would do.

Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done. Luke 22:42

Here's another verse from Mark where he uses the word " Abba" which means daddy.

"Abba, Father, " "he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what YOU will"

Breaks my heart when I read that passage. He's crying out, " Daddy, please don't make me go through this"


He not only prayed to have the cup taken from him, but afterward was in such agony he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was blood.


And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Luke 22:44


Have you ever been so scared and nervous about something that you actually sweat blood?

How can you not have thankfulness and love in your heart when you read how much he suffered? Not only physical suffering but mental suffering as well. Makes me want to fall on my knees and praise him.

Amazing love. What a perfect song for today.





Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Glorious Day

Can you watch that last post video and not weep? I can't watch it without feeling guilt about my sin. My sin put him through that. He did that for ME. Now that is love. That is more then love, it is Grace and Mercy.



I was listening to a sermon this morning and he was talking about God's grace, and about Noah. How God told Noah to build an Ark, and Noah lived in the middle of the dessert. The fact that Noah obeyed God is amazing. Can you imagine being Noah? Living in the dessert and people come and ask you what your doing and you say, "God told me to build and ark". People would probably think you are crazy right?



I haven't done anything as huge as building an ark, but I can sure tell you that obeying God has got me into some awkward conversations. For example, I have had people ask me why I home school, and when I say, " God told me to" they look at me like I'm nuts. Or when I talk about how my over eating is sin, people give me that same strange look. So imagine the looks Noah got building an ark in the middle of the dessert. But he obeyed God. This is the same God that we have today. God was sick and tired of people's sin and decided he wasn't going to put up with it anymore, he decided to let Noah in on his plan to flood the earth, and told Noah to save himself and his family by building an ark. Noah probably tried to save others, telling them about what God told him, and telling them to get IN the ark because God was going to destroy the earth, but I'm sure people thought Noah was a bit of a nutcase and they didn't listen. At one point, GOD shut the door of the ark. God shut it, not Noah. For some reason, Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord and God showed Noah Grace by letting him live. This is the same Grace that God extends to us today through Jesus Christ. God still doesn't like sin, but he gave us his son to cover our dirty sins and make us clean as snow. Today I feel like Noah. I am yelling out, "get in the ark! You are going to die!"



That was so not what this post was going to be about, I don't know where that came from! lol.



Back my original thought. The last few days, reading my bible, and dwelling on Jesus death, and watching a sermon last night about sin, I think to myself, have I REALLY made Jesus the Lord of my life?



Does my sin break my heart like it breaks his? The video we watched last night at bible study explained that sin is like a vine wrapped around an oak tree. If you take an ax to the root of the vine, it dies. But it is still wrapped around the tree. When Jesus died on the cross, he died to free us from sin's grasp. That means, sin has no hold on us anymore, we are dead to it, but we walk around still wrapped up in it, like the tree is wrapped in the vine, thinking we can't free ourselves of the sin, but we can! It's already dead! Just take it off! How simple that sounds, how wonderful that is, that Jesus died so I can be free from sins grip, yet I still live with it, why do I do that? I manage my sin, instead I need to unwrap it from me and leave it!



Every time I take a step in the right direction and follow the spirit instead of my flesh, I am unwrapping one more layer of that vine that is twisted around my body. When I take a step backward, I wind the vine back on. Sounds so ridiculous to me that I would keep myself wrapped up in sin when I don't have to. I have to follow the spirit!!! When I want to over eat, I need to PRAY, because Jesus shed his blood for me so I can live in the spirit. I can't do it, but Jesus can. Jesus did. When I accepted Jesus as my savior, his spirit came to dwell in me, I have God's power in me not to sin, why do I not use it? He died not only so I don't have to live in Hell for eternity, but so I don't have to live in hell here on earth! We don't have to be sinful humans! We don't have to live as gluttons, or selfish, or greedy, or loveless, or hooked on alcohol or drugs. We can be free from ALL of that because of his blood.



It's a GLORIOUS DAY. Easter and every other day is a glorious day because of what Jesus did. :)







What can take away our sins?

Thinking of Jesus.

I'm having a hard time this week NOT thinking about Jesus. It's not really that I love him more this week than any other, but the fact that it is Easter week, and many many people celebrate Easter but do not know Christ bothers me and I just want people to know!  Of course what he did on good Friday and Easter effects me every single day of the year, not just during lent or holy week or Easter day, but every single day.
If you say you love God, or your pray to God, but don't know his son, or deny his son, that is an insult to God.
I want to say this in the most loving way possible but I know it's not going to come out that way. lol.
If you don't know Jesus, well, you really need to.  If you don't know Jesus you are not going to Heaven, and that's a big deal. I know a lot of us don't think about eternity too much. We think more about today and what's going on right now and what we need to get done in the here and now, but friends, do  you really want to spend eternity in hell?  Eternity is a loooooong time!
If you don't know the story, because of Adam and Eve we are all born sinners, and we will all die.  God created earth and man to be perfect. But when Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan and disobeyed God there had to be a consequence. The consequence for sin is death.
For the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23
God promised Adam and Eve that he would send a sinless sacrifice to take the punishment they deserved.
Have you ever heard the term "BC"? Before Christ? Well, before Jesus Christ, people had to sacrifice lambs for their sins. They would repent and use the blood of the lamb as their sacrifice for their specific sin.
God did eventually fulfill his promise, and he sent his only son to be the sinless sacrifice for all of us. Yes for YOU and your sins.  It doesn't matter how good of a person you think  you are, you are not sinless, and if you are not sinless, you go to hell unless  you accept the gift of salvation from Jesus. Jesus died to save you from your sins. He took your place, he suffered, was mocked, beaten, whipped, nailed to a cross, for YOU.  It's a GIFT. From God. What is the catch? There isn't one. You either accept Jesus as your savior and make him Lord of your life or you deny him and you go to hell. This is big stuff here. So if you don't really know what Easter is all about, Good Friday  is the day that Jesus suffered and died for you. Easter is the day he rose from the dead. 
I pray that if you don't know Jesus yet, that you will after today. If you have questions about it, ask! Me or anyone else you know that knows Jesus as their savior.  
All I can picture in my  mind is him being whipped, on his knees, bloody, and carrying his own cross, for ME, and yet, there are days that I find it hard to make the smallest sacrifices for him. I feel sick to my stomach thinking about it. 
Jesus suffered for me and for YOU, because he loves us. More to come............... 

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Marriage

The last two days I had the opportunity to go to a marriage seminar by one of the pastors that God used to change my life. Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill church in Seattle. Without making him sound like an Idol to me, this was pretty exciting because I have been listening to sermons from him online for a few years, so it was pretty cool to actually get to see him in person, and even give him a hug!
I learned a ton at this seminar and I pray that I will be a changed wife because of it. It's easy to hear things, but it's the living it out that's the hard part! 
I'd like to share some of the things I learned at the seminar, and of course, put my two cents in too. ;)

One thing that he put a lot of emphasis on was that as married couples we need to have a friendship. Who would have thought? lol.
I know in my own personal marriage, I can say that Kevin is my best friend and really mean it in my heart, but is there really evidence of that in our marriage? Sadly, I'd have to say it we could be MUCH better friends. It seems most of our time is spent in the daily grind, work, and parenting, not a lot of time left over for us to  hang out as friends.

Here is something helpful that Mark gave us~

F~ Fruitful- Christ centered marriage. Jesus MUST be the center of your marriage. 
R~ Reciprocol- You pursue each other, not one person acting like a friend and the other isn't.  Ask yourself, "Am I a good friend to my spouse?"
Does one person in the marriage do all the work? Making dates, trying to start conversations, planning things, and the other does nothing? Both people should have equal parts in this.
I~ Intimacy- Women build intimacy through talk. LOTS of conversation.
Men build relationship through shared activities together.
He explained this in such a funny but truthful way, women can just go out for coffee and just talk about things, guys don't do that, they have to be doing something, like "working on something" to get together with a guy, then they talk while doing the activity. 
E~ Enjoyable- People need to have fun! Get dressed up and go have fun! Eat good food, blow some money and have fun with each other. ( I like this one, and we don't do this nearly enough!)
Have a date night once a week.
You can  get so busy "doing things" going through the motions, next thing you know you are old and bitter. Get out and have some fun and spend time together!
N~Needed- Wife should be by his side. She is needed. She is his helper.
It's better to do things together, not alone.
D~ Devoted- You should be a faithful friend, devoted spouse. Good times or bad, you are there for each other, devoted to one another no matter what.
S~Sanctifying- Marriage is NOT to make us happy, it is to make us HOLY. (This one really made me think!!)
Holiness then happiness.
That is really something to wrap your head around isn't it?

I have to go back to the first one, F for Fruitful. Jesus has to be the center of your marriage.  I'll be honest, Kevin and I do not have the perfect marriage. I know, shocker right? But I can say, the more and more that we put JESUS first in our own lives and in our marriage, the better it gets. The more we read the bible and build a relationship with God, and want to live for him, the better the marriage will get.  Honestly, I don't know how marriages survive without Jesus, many of them don't.
If every couple made Jesus the center of their life, their #1, God, then their spouse, then themselves, there would be no divorce. God doesn't like divorce. If we lived as mirrors of Jesus, there wouldn't be divorce! Why? Because Jesus was a servant. He didn't live for himself, he lived for others. This is how the bible teaches us to live. To be SECOND. Not to live for our own selfish desires and wants, but others first. What a concept hey? Think about it for a min. If you always put your spouse first, and your spouses needs first, and thought about and followed through on what would make your spouse happy, and your spouse was doing the same for you, no one would have any need for divorce! Why does divorce happen in the first place? Because we are sinful selfish human beings. We care about our own needs and wants, and what will make US happy.  It's true for any relationships we have in our life, try it for awhile, try putting your needs second, and your spouses, or friends, or anyone elses needs first and see what happens in your relationships. It's quite the challenge for us to be selfless like Jesus, the "world" is all about making "ME" happy, instead of others. We want what we want! We want to please ourselves! That is not the way that Jesus wants us to live.

Another big problem in our marriages and relationships is that there is no repentance and/or forgiveness. We do things wrong, we argue about it , no one wants to admit they did wrong and sinned against the other, and when someone does decide to humble themselves and say sorry, sometimes the other person is too proud or bitter to forgive. This is very damaging to our relationships.
God forgives us, he gives us grace for ALL our sin, this is what we need to do for our spouse.

Mark compared sin to trash. He said, sin  is like trash, and if we let trash build up and build up in our homes, it would really start to wreak and stink up our house! Sin left unrepentant and unforgiven will build up in a marriage, turn into bitterness and wreak havoc on our marriage.  He said, "take the trash out as fast as you can"! Makes perfect sense. When one sins against the other, we should be truly sorry, repent of it and ask for forgiveness. The other person should grant the forgiveness, and then it's OVER. No keeping track of wrongs, or holding on to bitterness.

Satan LOVES to destroy marriages. He wants to trick us, he wants us to be selfish and sinful and unrepentant and unforgiving, he wants our marriages to fail and he loves bitter people!

We should be fighting for our marriages!
Do things by God's power! Don't let Satan get a foothold in your marriage.

It takes two servants to have a good marriage. Ask your spouse how can I please you? What can I do to make you happy? Then do it!

I could share much more, but I'm going to leave it at this for now, I just challenge you, to live as Jesus did and be a servant and see what happens in your relationships. Put others needs before your own. Put your spouse before you. I am challenging myself to do the same.



Here's a picture of our teacher Mark Driscoll, my friend and sister in Christ Allie, and me. :)