Ch. 665 - Unclean Spirits

'... say to those with fearful hearts,
"Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you." '
[Isaiah 35:4]

Ch. 664 - God of Glory

Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the Lord glory and
strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his
name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of
his holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the
waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord thunders over the mighty
waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
[Psalm 29:1-4]

Ch. 663 - Heart Cry

'My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
Your face, Lord, I will seek.'
[Psalm 27:8]

Ch. 662 - Able

My God is an able God.

It's never a question of whether He can do something, but rather a question of whether He will do something, according to His timing and plan.


'A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" '
[Mark 1:40-41]

Ch. 661 - A Clean Heart

We need a fresh touch of the Spirit.

Everywhere the River flows, there is Life.

Fruit will be produced.

It starts with the heart.
Removal of toxins.
Confession.
Repentance.

Say "Yes."


' "Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'" '
[Mark 7:15]

Ch. 660 - He is Willing

EXPECTANT.

Like never before, I feel.
Confident.
Assured.
Familiar.

At home, really, standing in the Presence...

Shekinah glory, come down.

Ready.
Waiting.
Blessed.
Free.

To be filled entirely... what a desire.

And He is more than willing to grant us these desires.

He gives freely.
Out of love.
Out of grace.

There is no limit.
There is total abundance of what He offers.

No comprehension.

......

'Come with power.'

"I'm already here."


'I will praise you forever for what you
have done;
in your name I will hope, for your
name is good.
I will praise you in the presence of
your saints.'
[Psalm 52:9]

Ch. 659 - Dissension and Gossip

'A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.'
[Proverb 16:28]

Gossip separates people, period...

Ch. 658 - Without Hindrance

'Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.'
[Habakkuk 3:17-18]

Ch. 657 - Opportunity

'Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" '
[John 11:40]

Glory.
How do we see the glory of God in our day-to-day lives?

Think.

Ch. 656 - Lord

Listen to God.
Obey.
You will be blessed.
He makes things entirely right.


'For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.'
[2 Samuel 22:32-33]

Ch. 655 - Vessels

God and man.
Potter and clay.

I like this.
A lot.

Overused?
Not to me.

We truly are like clay.
The transformation of clay into pots is involved.

The clay needs to be refined.
The removal of impurities takes time.
Water gives life to clay. Makes it pliable.
A solid base is given to each pot. Stability to build upon.
The clay is molded by hands into the form the potter desires.
No pot is the same, even though they all come from the ground.
If the pot is not coming along the way the potter imagined, the potter will break it down and start anew. There is no hurry. Even though no pot turns out to be perfect, each is perfect in the eyes of the potter.

Each pot is unique.
Traits.
Character.

But they are made to be used.
Filled.
Poured out.
Filled.
Poured out.

Be thankful that you do not sit on a shelf as a dry, decorated vessel.
For what good is a pot that remains empty and still all of its days?


' "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the Lord. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel." '
[Jeremiah 18:6]

Ch. 654 - Constant

'I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.'
[Psalm 69:30]

This verse often convicts me in regards to the fact that we do not do either of these things. At least not in sincerity, with a pure heart - and certainly not often enough.

Ch. 653 - Garden

I am a daughter of the Gardener.

'I am not my own, I am Your garden.'
[Garden by Misty Edwards]
He planted me in fertile soil. He dug a hole of perfect depth for me so that I could easily and strongly take root. He then gently, yet firmly packed the soil around me. He daily tends to me. He has given me nourishment and water, making sure I receive the appropriate amount of light. He has hedged me in so that no predator can harm me or pluck me from my home within the ground. Over time, I have grown and truly flourished. He has pruned me periodically and I have thus borne flowers. Fruit. I would not be alive if it were not for His tenderness in caring for me.

I am beautiful.
My Lord God loves me.
And I, Him.


'But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.'
[Psalm 52:8]

Ch. 652 - Reality Check

What a night...

I know I've said this before, but: I think often we get too caught up in what's going on in the 'here and now' with ME, ME, ME... so we forget about the big picture. And how it should be about GOD, GOD, GOD... and THEM, THEM, THEM.

Life is good.
Life is great.
God is good.
God is great.

Joy.
Hope.
Clarity.
Renewal.
Blessings.

God-highs... gah.
I've been on a definite God-high for about a month now.
And it's been fantastic. I've loved every minute of it.

I've done my best to not focus entirely inwards. And while I have spent time thinking and praying about other people, I feel that it's not enough. I've tried to share what God has given me. But sometimes I feel like an absolute failure. Do people know I truly care about them? Are my spoken words empty? Meaningless? Do I ask God for an awareness of the needs and feelings of others? Am I following the Holy Spirit's promptings towards my brothers and sisters? Or the promptings towards nonbelievers? Do I even want to be aware or sensitive?

Each day I pass people who put a smile on their face, while on the inside their hearts are breaking. Each day I pass people who are leading a group in laughter, but they'd rather weep or cry out in anger. We see joy, they feel bitterness. But they want to seem strong. "Okay." "Fine." Even "Good!" or "Great!" And just to ward off possible questions of greater depth, they tack on the exclamation that "God is so good, man!" But they can't really expound on why He is "so good" because they've got homework [or so they say...] and they'll have to catch you later.

Sad.

Sometimes we have no idea.
For one thing, they aren't willing to let people in.
And another, we aren't willing to chip away at their walls.
It would be done with gentleness and respect, of course.
But if we don't work at it, no progress will be made.

They'll remain shut up, surrounded by numerous defenses that sometimes they don't even mean to construct. So how do they get there? The world puts them there.

The world says this is a cold, hard place.
The world says nobody really cares.
The world says we can't get from here to there with merely an unseen God.

The world is wrong. How can we let ourselves be so greatly deceived? Oh, well... "the great deceiver", the devil, can have a stronghold on us [if we let him]. But in contrast to God, he has nothing. The power of God greatly surpasses the power of our enemy. And he is not loving, or just, or kind, or merciful... and he truly has no authority in our lives.

The world should not dictate whether we reach out to our brothers and sisters in Christ's love - or, as someone being reached out to, whether we grasp their outstretched hands. We can't assume that just because someone is a fellow believer everything is fine. We all have our battles. There's nothing wrong with asking if someone would be willing to be an ally. Trust in God, yes. But trust people, too. Man is not entirely evil. I know that I have always struggled with thinking other people are heartless. I've always been very critical and hard on people. That is changing more and more each day, it seems. Some days I learn more than others, and those are the days I deem "bad" or "difficult" - yet when I sit down at the end of the day and reflect, I see God was at work throughout the day. And that makes each bad day a good day in the end.

I think we sometimes focus outwards to such a far extent that we miss the people standing right next to us. Or walking down the hall towards us between classes...

But don't take this as a challenge to simply ask people more questions the next time you see them or get a "feeling" that someone's not doing too great. Don't make someone your pet project. Don't talk to people because you feel like you have to. Talk to people because you want to. Because you genuinely care about them, and are interested in their lives. Just remember that Christ lives in them... would you give Him the cold shoulder or brush Him off like a pesky mosquito?

... I hope not.

You can't love God without loving others.
And you can't love others without loving God.


'If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.'
[1 John 4:20-21]

By the way: I apologize if this was difficult to follow. I feel like I was kind of all over the place, jumping from one thing to another. There is simply so much on my mind right now. I'm finding it difficult to think straight and organize my thoughts. So when I'm just writing down raw thought, it's just as jumbled as it is in my mind. Blech.

Ch. 651 - Listen and Love

I feel content. And joyful. Beautiful. I woke up this afternoon [I was really tired, okay?!] full of praise for God. He is just so faithful. He is constantly listening and I love that. If you know me somewhat well, you'll know that I really enjoy listening to people. But sometimes I wonder if I just settled into that, because that's simply how it's always been. I don't feel like people are always willing to listen to me. We live in an age of constant noise, for one thing. People are always going on and on and on, sometimes without taking a breath and I worry that I'm actually going to have to use my CPR training one day just because people won't stop talking! Another thing: I'm not very assertive, and I don't like to talk just to talk. I like to contribute something if I feel that it will be beneficial for those I'm around at that time. There's also the fear of man that's always inhibited me from speaking up, but those chains are being loosened and soon I'll be completely free. Of course, none of this usually goes for people I feel very comfortable around. And there are always exceptions. Just saying... Well. To sum it up - I don't talk a lot and I assume that people don't want to listen. Because I am ridiculous.

So. God. Listening. It's wonderful. When I come to the realization again and again that He doesn't merely hear me, but listens to me, I am floored. This personal belief is backed up by all the answers to prayers God has given me, especially during the past month. I can't go into too great of detail in regards to this, just because I like that my hands function. And I feel that if I were to type everything out right now, my fingers and wrists would probably hurt or simply not work tomorrow. Thus, you will simply have to trust me in saying that God is faithful and listens to every word we speak. Every thought in our mind. Every cry of our soul. He could choose not to. But He is a loving, compassionate, and gracious God. And I shouldn't have to remind you that all glory goes to Him when our prayers are answered.

I would like to challenge you; remind yourself that there are more people than you may think that are willing to listen. So if you usually do the listening, take a step out and seek others who will listen to you. And if you usually do the talking, close your mouth and open your ears. Show love to one another in doing these things. By asking someone to listen, you are saying that you trust them. By listening to someone, you are saying that you care about them enough to do so. We hear it so often: "God loves you." It is truth. God loves all of His created children. And even though not every child will receive eternal life, wouldn't you say they are still worthy of it because they are loved by God? Look around you each day as you go about living your life and remember that the people you see are all beloved children of God. They all are worthy of being reached out to. It is not a single group of people that "deserve" or "need" to be reached. There are people who have questions and are seeking, but don't know who will listen to them. And there are people who could answer a lot of those questions, but they don't stop to actually listen to the questions. The greatness of God could be revealed more and more if we took the time to listen and let ourselves be used by God, letting Him speak through us to His people He loves.


'On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying. Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us: " 'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.' " When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.'
[Acts 13:44-48]

Ch. 650 - Choices, choices...

Alright. I'm done. The assignment devotionals helped in catching up, but that's all I'm going to use them for, I think. Most excellent.

Anyway, I was doing a lot of thinking about something today... really over the past week now... and from all this thinking I decided the thing I dislike about myself the most is how indecisive I am. Or it's at least in the top three... but seriously. It's pretty bad. I remember writing about being indecisive on my other blog some time ago, so I thought I would transfer it over:

"Indecisive" - May 2008

'I am indecisive.

I have OCD tendencies.
I can deal with that.
I am pretty stubborn.
I can control how stubborn I am.
These things are not that big a deal.

However, the fact that I am so indecisive is a big deal.
Because I feel like I can't always deal with it.
And because I feel like I can't control how indecisive I am.

It's truly a curse.
You'd think that it gives you more time to truly think things over - well, that's true, it does... but that means that it gives you more time to be anxious about whatever you're thinking about, or overwhelmed by everything that comes into play.

It basically took me seven months or so to decide to come to Utah over Florida State. It did come down to money, but FSU really didn't have the strength of the program that my major is included in, anyway. But still... I spent hours debating in my head about which school I should attend.

I don't like changing up the shampoo and conditioner I use because if I did, that means I would have to choose new ones among what seems like hundreds of choices. It's ridiculous. So I stick with the same kind very time, because it's tried and true. The same goes for things like laundry detergent, for goodness' sake.

I even spend more time than I should on thinking about what to write in this blog. My 'So Close' blog is easy. I just write down my thoughts on whatever spiritual idea, topic, verse, etc. is most dominant in my mind at the time. And I simply write my thoughts here, too. I don't put any effort into my writing, either way. But I do think about what I'm going to write about each day.

Being indecisive really is a downfall. I try to make things easier for myself and just say, "Okay, this is it. You're going to do this and not that. No more thinking about it." But five minutes, hours, or days later I find myself changing my mind about it and wanting to do something different.'

[I feel no differently now than I did almost two years ago. Oh! But I have, since then, changed shampoo/conditioner... and I've stuck with them for about seven months now. Awesome. I still use the same laundry detergent, however. Ha.]

I've often wondered why I'm so indecisive. Is it because I'm afraid of making wrong choices? Am I worried what people will think of the decision I make, the route I take? I really don't know. And then of course there are the decisions of change that you make, thinking the change will be better than what you have... and then you are quick to realize that the grass isn't greener on the other side. I mean, it's not that bad. It's just not what you expected. And you know that if you give it some time, the grass will be just as green as, if not greener than the other side currently is.

But still. You can't decide what you want to do. Er, I can't decide what I want to do. And I don't like it. But you know what makes it alright? The fact that I have a glorious Helper. He guides me. Directs my steps. Gives me hints, if you will. "Mmm, getting warm... ope, colder... colder. There you go. Warmer... warmer... hot, hot, hot!" And I know that He will not lead me astray. There's no way that I can be indecisive if I truly listen to Him, because who would I be to go against His will for me? I think desiring to be in His will, guided by Him, will cure me [if you will] of my indecisiveness. He will make my decisions for me... because really, He made them for me a long time ago.


'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.'
[Romans 8:28]

Ch. 649 - Back of the Line!

' "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." '
[Matthew 23:12]

We are advised to be humble, for those who are humble will be exalted. Jesus Himself came as a holy Servant, and He was truly the greatest among all men. In this world and by men, we tend to determine greatness by position and earthly power. But believers determine greatness in Jesus, by how we serve others... or at least we should. Pride often gets in the way of being a purehearted servant of Christ. We may say that we serve others in the name of Christ, but we can often let that service make us believe we are thus greater than others. That is not true servanthood.

Ch. 648 - I hope you RSVPed...

' "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. "Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' "But they paid no attention and went off - one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests." '
[Matthew 22:2-10]

Even though not all people will come to know Christ, the gospel invitation is open to all who are able to hear it – much like those who are invited to the wedding banquet in these verses. It saddens me that those who were invited ended up not deserving the invitation. God, by His grace, offers so much to His created people… yet many turn their backs on Him [for a variety of reasons]. I can only imagine how this makes our Lord God feel. To love so many, to such a great extent, and then not be loved in return? Even though God doesn’t need anything from us, this realization is heartbreaking to me. But those whom He has chosen are worthy of Him by His grace and mercy.

Ch. 647 - A Child's Obedience

' "... There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' "'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. "Which of the two did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you." '
[Matthew 21:28-31]

Just as children should be obedient to their mothers and fathers, the children of God should also be obedient to their heavenly Father. Jesus’ parable of the two sons asked to go work in the vineyard [by their father] relates this principle to Jesus’ audience. Saying we will do what is asked of us and then not following through in doing so is just as sinful as saying we won’t do it/simply not doing it. But obedience – even obedience after first saying we won’t do it – is returned to us as righteousness. Doing the willing of God is commended. Repentance will help us be received into the kingdom of God.

Ch. 646 - Christ's Compassion

'Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. "Lord," they answered, "we want our sight." Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.'
[Matthew 20:30-34]

If we desire to be Christlike, these verses are helpful in better understanding one characteristic of Christ. As the blind men call out to Jesus, the crowds tell them to be quiet. However, they continue to cry out. I think it's safe to say that they are filled with faith. Jesus has compassion on them and then heals them. He even asked what they wanted Him to do for them. As disciples of Christ, we should also show compassion to people and attempt to help them in the name of Jesus Christ [whether it's healing people through the power of the Holy Spirit... clothing the homeless... etc.]. We can also learn from the blind men; if we truly believe Jesus is the Son of God, we should then believe that He can do anything for us. He loves us and by our faith, will answer our prayers.

Ch. 645 - Our True Inheritance

For my Life of Christ III class I have been working on an assignment regarding the gospel of Matthew. For each chapter in Matthew, I have to give a brief summary of the chapter - and for chapters nineteen through twenty-eight, I also have to write a devotional/reflection. Now, I'm technically writing this chapter on February 11... I [obviously] fell behind in writing, so I thought it'd be easy to catch-up using those devotional/reflection writings. "Oh, the cleverness of me!" I may even continue to use them past the catch-up point... and then do the same for my Mark, Luke, and John devotionals later on this semester. Brilliant? Indeed.

'Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." "Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'" "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.'
[Matthew 19:16-22]

I think it’s important to realize that even by being “good people” and following God’s commandments, we cannot draw near to Christ because we tend to cling to idols such as earthly treasures. We truly need to give everything up in order to follow Christ. The rich, young ruler in these verses could have had everything – intimacy with God, the gift of discipleship, heavenly treasure, and eternal life… but by overestimating the value of earthly treasure, he lost the opportunity to gain what truly matters. Anything that inhibits our drawing near to God may be counted as sin. We need to let go of such things and repent, so that we can inherit what God desires to give us.

Ch. 644 - Be Holy

'But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." '
[1 Peter 1:15-16]

"Be holy, because I am holy."

This comes from Leviticus 11:44-45 and 19:2.

Image-bearers of God.
Christlike.
Holy.

Ch. 643 - Faithless Sons

This semester I am taking a class on the book of Jeremiah. We just started today [it's a Focused weekend class], because our teacher was out of town on Thursday and Friday. We were in class for about five hours and got through chapter five of Jeremiah. I really enjoyed today's class. I've never studied the prophets, really, so I'm excited to learn more. Now, while I took many notes and wrote down a few side thoughts based on what our teacher [Mr. Summa] went over, one thing that really stuck out to me comes from the following verse:

' "Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception," declares the Lord.'
[Jeremiah 3:10, NASB]

Judah's sister, Israel, had gone astray and was not faithful to God, and Judah did not learn her lesson from Israel. So she, just as Israel had, turned away from God and participated in pagan worship. Mr. Summa noted that Judah used temple worship as a mask [of deception]. They didn't care about God or His law. It was an external act of worship; their hearts were not part of the worship at all.

That got me to thinking... Many continue to do this today - "Christians" especially. Most people like to use the phrase "going through the motions" because it's a nice way of saying that they don't righteously worship God or care about the states of their hearts. I wonder how many people think, 'Yeah, I'm a Christian... so I go to church on Sunday, make sure people see me - especially the pastor - and then I'm good to do whatever the heck I want during the week! Who's gonna know? The only time I see those people is at church...' They don't worship God with their lives. And they obviously don't care about their relationship with Him.

This is heartbreaking.


' 'Return, O faithless sons,' declares
the Lord;
'For I am a master to you,
And I will take you one from a city
and two from a family,
And I will bring you to Zion.'
"Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding." '
[Jeremiah 3:14-15, NASB]

Ch. 642 - In His Will

Lately I've been praying for God to reveal to me His will for my life... this might as well be the first time I've done so. What do I mean by that? Well, I have prayed this before... but I didn't truly care, and I don't know if I ever really believed that He would reveal His will. I suppose I thought that I would simply go through life in a trial-and-error format in order to see what He has in store for me. But I don't think that's really what God desires for us. That format wastes time... time we could be using to truly further His kingdom. So. I have been praying... a lot. And He has been responding... a lot. Almost daily, I receive something new. Praise God!

Clarity.

I simply so desperately want to be living in His will, and know His plans for me. And while I'm alright with not completely knowing these plans hour for hour, I do feel it's important to be praying about it.

I'm also desiring to have a better knowledge and understand of the gifts God has given me. I truly believe I need to develop these gifts with a faith-based strength, so that I will be able to use them in reaching out to the lost and giving God glory. He will enable me as He sees fit... I can hardly wait to see just how, exactly, He wants me to do for Him, using those gifts He has so graciously given me.


'I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.'
[Psalm 16:7]

Ch. 641 - A New Season

I am practically speechless.
I mean, it is literally difficult for me to physically form words right now.
But I know I am always able to write, so I figured that was the best way to go about getting my thoughts and feelings out there - which, for some reason, I desperately want to do.

I know I say it a lot, but there's just so much truth to it that I strongly believe it should be said a lot:

GOD IS GOOD.

And He wants to bless His children. He says, "Come to my table. See what I have? Here, take some." When God offers you something from His table of blessings and gifts, you don't refuse! I feel that God has given me so much the past few weeks. Whenever I find myself thinking that He's just got to be done, He gives me something else. Some things are big, some things are small. An answer to prayer. Opened doors. New friendships. Gifts of the Spirit. Reconciliation. Encouragement. Revelation. Freedom. Joy. And since they all come from God, they are all good.

'Whom the Son set free is free indeed,
and there ain't no chains that can hinder me,
hallelujah! Hallelujah!'
[Part of a song that came out of IHOP-KC]

This perfectly depicts how I feel right now. Over the past few weeks, I have consistently sought God each day and I have drawn closer to Him than ever before. Ever. Knowing that I am free and fully alive in Christ, I have been able to set aside a lot of things that have hindered me from worshiping and knowing God the way, I feel, I have always been meant to. I have confidence that I am truly in God's will right now. What a peace that brings upon one's heart! God has revealed so much to me. And even though it can be overwhelming at times, there is such clarity to it all that it's easy to process and then, God-willing, share with others.

I don't think I've ever felt so loved, either.
I can almost feel the weight of God's love for me.
He loves me.
He loves me.
He loves me.

I am simply in total awe of my Lord God.

I am God's joy.

You are, too.
Did you know that?


'For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your
offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
They will spring up like grass in a
meadow,
like poplar trees by flowing streams.
One will say, 'I belong to the Lord'...'
[Isaiah 44:3-5a]

Ch. 640 - I like Proverbs.

'The Lord does not let the righteous go
hungry
but he thwarts the craving of the
wicked.'
[Proverb 10:3]

Ch. 639 - Grateful for Change

I love my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Or I at least attempt to.
It's hard to like them all, for sure...
... but I do truly love them to the best of my ability.
I don't have much else to say right now.


'Above all, love each other deeply...'
[1 Peter 4:8a]

Ch. 638 - Emptied and Filled

'Spirit of the Living God,
fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the Living God,
fall afresh on me.

Melt me.
Mold me.
Fill me.
Use me.

Spirit of the Living God,
fall afresh on me.'
[Spirit of the Living God, a hymn]

This is my prayer. And not just for myself, but for others as well - especially at my school.

God answers prayers.

I know that.
I believe that.

I mean, He has answered many of my own prayers before. When I think about how many people continually pray to our Lord God - and how He answers their prayers, too, I feel overwhelmed. He is so BIG. But He's entirely personal.

I love that about Him.

I just thank God and praise Him for all that He does.

He listens.
He speaks.
He moves.

And I have faith that He will answer this prayer of mine.
I don't believe it will happen for quite some time.
[On a large scale, I mean.]
But He will answer.
He will respond in ways that give Him absolute glory.
Which is how it should be.


' "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." '
[Matthew 21:22]