Hi all!
So it's come to my attention that there was a problem commenting on my blog. I've made a couple adjustments to my blog settings... you should be able to comment now. If not, please email me at violinist4Christ@yahoo.com
Thanks, and God bless! Hope everyone has a blessed new year. 2011 is going to be great!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Thursday, December 23, 2010
From my prayer journal...
"No other could ever be as beautiful.
No other could ever steal my heart away.
I am captivated by You."
-Captivated, by Vicki Beeching
No creature can be as beautiful as its creator. No human can be as beautiful as Jesus. It's sometimes hard to remember that, though. Some people catch my attention with how kind and beautiful they are. Oh how easily my eyes turn from You!
Lord, help me always remember how beautiful You are. May no one ever take Your place. They could never fulfill the void You so perfectly fill. You're beautiful and I love You!
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace."
-Taken from my prayer journal in hopes that it will be a blessing to you as it is to me.
Merry Christmas!
No other could ever steal my heart away.
I am captivated by You."
-Captivated, by Vicki Beeching
No creature can be as beautiful as its creator. No human can be as beautiful as Jesus. It's sometimes hard to remember that, though. Some people catch my attention with how kind and beautiful they are. Oh how easily my eyes turn from You!
Lord, help me always remember how beautiful You are. May no one ever take Your place. They could never fulfill the void You so perfectly fill. You're beautiful and I love You!
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace."
-Taken from my prayer journal in hopes that it will be a blessing to you as it is to me.
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Open Door
"And You've opened the door for me
And You laid down Your life to set me free
All that I am will serve You Lord."
Oh You Bring ~ Hillsong United
God's opened the door for us. The door to healing. The door to His presence. The door to freedom. The door to worship Him in spirit and in truth. The door to everything - everything He has for us. All we have to do is walk in. Push through all the debris that's in the way. Push through the distraction, the doubt, the worry, the fear. Push through the apathy, the lack of passion for God, the idolatry - the love of this world instead of God. Present it all to God. It's okay to admit to Him where you're at, 'cause He meets us where we are. He gets down on our level where we've fallen and helps us back up again; helps us back to the path again. Give Him your life. Worship Him - with your life. Do everything as unto the Lord, with excellence.
And You laid down Your life to set me free
All that I am will serve You Lord."
Oh You Bring ~ Hillsong United
God's opened the door for us. The door to healing. The door to His presence. The door to freedom. The door to worship Him in spirit and in truth. The door to everything - everything He has for us. All we have to do is walk in. Push through all the debris that's in the way. Push through the distraction, the doubt, the worry, the fear. Push through the apathy, the lack of passion for God, the idolatry - the love of this world instead of God. Present it all to God. It's okay to admit to Him where you're at, 'cause He meets us where we are. He gets down on our level where we've fallen and helps us back up again; helps us back to the path again. Give Him your life. Worship Him - with your life. Do everything as unto the Lord, with excellence.
Perfect Peace
"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You! 4 Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock."Isaiah 26:3-4 (NLT)
For several years I've dealt a lot with fear... mostly at night. I don't know what it was, but I used to get so scared at night that I couldn't go to sleep. I won't go into detail, but a lot of the time there was no reason for it. God's brought me SO far from where I was all those years ago when it was the worst. If I knew the Scripture and promises I know now back then, I would have had more peaceful nights. Thank You, God, for delivering me from fear and the effects thereof.
Over the years, God has shown me things in His Word about peace and dealing with fear. Every time I heard a sermon about peace, I'd jump at the chance to learn more about it. My favorite Scripture I've found over the years is Philippians 4:4-7."Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."-NKJThese are the instructions God's given us to walk in peace! Start out with praise. Sing a worship song to Him, delight myself in God, read a Psalm to God, etc. Then I'd examine my life, and if I'd done anything to someone that day that wasn't gentle or considerate I'd repent and make it right with them. And I brought every one of those worries to God. Every time I started getting in fear, I'd give it over to Him. I would pray about what I was scared about, and thank God for answering my prayers. And then I took hold of His promise. That HIS peace would guard my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.
So God has come through in so many ways over the years. He's given me His perfect peace; about the near and far future. The theme for church camp this year was Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." This is my last year of high school and college is coming up fast. I do not at this time know what to major in. I've considered a couple of different things, but... yeah. I've learned to trust God and realize that He has got my whole life mapped out, and He wants me to know the next step exactly when I need it. He'll let me know at the exact right time, and I WILL know His voice when He speaks.
So I want to encourage you today that no matter what you might be facing that God has a GOOD plan for you - to prosper you and give you hope - a great expectancy of what is to come. Maybe you've been dealing with fear too. Get in the Word. Find out God's promises for you about that area. Keep your mind stayed on Him, and He will keep you in PERFECT peace. With no weak points. Rely on His strength and grace, and He will carry you through it. Follow the wonderful instructions of Phil 4:4-7. And trust God through it all. When your mind is stayed on Him, your problems don't look as big. Magnify God and watch the problems shrink in comparison. God will carry you through.
For several years I've dealt a lot with fear... mostly at night. I don't know what it was, but I used to get so scared at night that I couldn't go to sleep. I won't go into detail, but a lot of the time there was no reason for it. God's brought me SO far from where I was all those years ago when it was the worst. If I knew the Scripture and promises I know now back then, I would have had more peaceful nights. Thank You, God, for delivering me from fear and the effects thereof.
Over the years, God has shown me things in His Word about peace and dealing with fear. Every time I heard a sermon about peace, I'd jump at the chance to learn more about it. My favorite Scripture I've found over the years is Philippians 4:4-7."Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."-NKJThese are the instructions God's given us to walk in peace! Start out with praise. Sing a worship song to Him, delight myself in God, read a Psalm to God, etc. Then I'd examine my life, and if I'd done anything to someone that day that wasn't gentle or considerate I'd repent and make it right with them. And I brought every one of those worries to God. Every time I started getting in fear, I'd give it over to Him. I would pray about what I was scared about, and thank God for answering my prayers. And then I took hold of His promise. That HIS peace would guard my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.
So God has come through in so many ways over the years. He's given me His perfect peace; about the near and far future. The theme for church camp this year was Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." This is my last year of high school and college is coming up fast. I do not at this time know what to major in. I've considered a couple of different things, but... yeah. I've learned to trust God and realize that He has got my whole life mapped out, and He wants me to know the next step exactly when I need it. He'll let me know at the exact right time, and I WILL know His voice when He speaks.
So I want to encourage you today that no matter what you might be facing that God has a GOOD plan for you - to prosper you and give you hope - a great expectancy of what is to come. Maybe you've been dealing with fear too. Get in the Word. Find out God's promises for you about that area. Keep your mind stayed on Him, and He will keep you in PERFECT peace. With no weak points. Rely on His strength and grace, and He will carry you through it. Follow the wonderful instructions of Phil 4:4-7. And trust God through it all. When your mind is stayed on Him, your problems don't look as big. Magnify God and watch the problems shrink in comparison. God will carry you through.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
The Cost
Hi all,
Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. I can't promise I'll post x amount of times a month, but as God leads I'll post.
My church has a noon time prayer meeting open on the weekdays, and my dad and I attended it one day. Part way through our time there, I felt impressed to pray for the youth in America. My heart aches for my generation, and even the Christian youth - so many have wandered away from God. I wanted to make a difference - be a voice that draws their attention back to Christ. And then I believe God spoke to me - that I could be that voice online.
Something else that happened during that prayer time was that my thoughts started wandering to a scene in a move. When I realized that I'd gotten distracted, I snapped back to the present and was about to keep praying. Immediately I heard God say loudly in my spirit something that related to the said movie.
This is the scene from the movie I was remembering, at which I was disgusted when I saw it: a man's daughter had come to a proper age to be married. She was beautiful and had captured the attention of a couple men. Her father was willing to give her away to the man who had the largest pig. And he did. (Like I said, I was disgusted, so I quit watching the movie.)
But I heard God say so clearly that some have done just that - carelessly traded something so precious and valuable for a life with the pigs. They have traded a beautiful life with God - walking with Him every moment of every day and living out the amazing plan He has for them - for ease and complacency.
This is where so many of us have missed it, including myself. Too often I've traded obedience for something easier. Have you ever noticed how relieved one is when one comes up with an excuse not to follow God? It's hard! It's hard to go against the crowd, to deny self of things in the world that look good in order to do what you know God has told you to do. For instance, I believe God wants me to wait to have a boyfriend at this time in my life. It's so hard sometimes to wait, though. I see so many "couples" my age or even younger than me. It looks so good. But I have to go back to what I have heard from God about this, believe that He knows best for me. I have faith in God - in His power, His wisdom, and His goodness.
Then my flesh rises up and I think, It's so hard to always follow God! I have all these things I want to do - that I feel like doing. And what if He calls me to go somewhere I don't want to go, or tells me to say something that goes completely against my personality? What if...?
“If you want to be My disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow Me, you cannot be my disciple. 28 But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’" - Luke 14:26-30 NLT
"I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless (loss) because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!"
-Philippians 3:7-11. NLT.
Lord, never let it be said of us that we traded Your plan for ours. God, I have seen what it takes to be Your disciple - to follow after You with everything no matter what I feel or don't feel comfortable doing. God, all that means nothing to me - nothing - compared to knowing You! I want to be one with You in purpose and desire. Let Your plans be my plans; Your thoughts my thoughts. Nothing else is comparable to this! Everything else falls short and will end in vain. Your plans and thoughts are so much higher and better than anything else. I know that You have an incredible plan for my life, and that even when You tell me to do something hard, it is for the best and I will do it. Thank You, God for having such a great plan for my life!
Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. I can't promise I'll post x amount of times a month, but as God leads I'll post.
My church has a noon time prayer meeting open on the weekdays, and my dad and I attended it one day. Part way through our time there, I felt impressed to pray for the youth in America. My heart aches for my generation, and even the Christian youth - so many have wandered away from God. I wanted to make a difference - be a voice that draws their attention back to Christ. And then I believe God spoke to me - that I could be that voice online.
Something else that happened during that prayer time was that my thoughts started wandering to a scene in a move. When I realized that I'd gotten distracted, I snapped back to the present and was about to keep praying. Immediately I heard God say loudly in my spirit something that related to the said movie.
This is the scene from the movie I was remembering, at which I was disgusted when I saw it: a man's daughter had come to a proper age to be married. She was beautiful and had captured the attention of a couple men. Her father was willing to give her away to the man who had the largest pig. And he did. (Like I said, I was disgusted, so I quit watching the movie.)
But I heard God say so clearly that some have done just that - carelessly traded something so precious and valuable for a life with the pigs. They have traded a beautiful life with God - walking with Him every moment of every day and living out the amazing plan He has for them - for ease and complacency.
This is where so many of us have missed it, including myself. Too often I've traded obedience for something easier. Have you ever noticed how relieved one is when one comes up with an excuse not to follow God? It's hard! It's hard to go against the crowd, to deny self of things in the world that look good in order to do what you know God has told you to do. For instance, I believe God wants me to wait to have a boyfriend at this time in my life. It's so hard sometimes to wait, though. I see so many "couples" my age or even younger than me. It looks so good. But I have to go back to what I have heard from God about this, believe that He knows best for me. I have faith in God - in His power, His wisdom, and His goodness.
Then my flesh rises up and I think, It's so hard to always follow God! I have all these things I want to do - that I feel like doing. And what if He calls me to go somewhere I don't want to go, or tells me to say something that goes completely against my personality? What if...?
“If you want to be My disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow Me, you cannot be my disciple. 28 But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’" - Luke 14:26-30 NLT
"I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless (loss) because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!"
-Philippians 3:7-11. NLT.
Lord, never let it be said of us that we traded Your plan for ours. God, I have seen what it takes to be Your disciple - to follow after You with everything no matter what I feel or don't feel comfortable doing. God, all that means nothing to me - nothing - compared to knowing You! I want to be one with You in purpose and desire. Let Your plans be my plans; Your thoughts my thoughts. Nothing else is comparable to this! Everything else falls short and will end in vain. Your plans and thoughts are so much higher and better than anything else. I know that You have an incredible plan for my life, and that even when You tell me to do something hard, it is for the best and I will do it. Thank You, God for having such a great plan for my life!
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