Practice His Patience

Problems...Will Always Be Present 

Today. What a funny thing today. Today is another day the Lord has made but I am having a hard time rejoicing and being glad in it. The thing about today is that no matter where we go the Lord will be there. Despite the disappointment or stress we may feel for whatever reason we must keep the faith. 

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the almighty love of Christ that forever flows through us."- Romans 8:38-39

I know I am experiencing a really hard day and as soon as I got back to my dorm room this afternoon I went to the word. The only place we can ever truly find a home is in Christ himself. It is evident throughout scripture that nothing, NOTHING, not one single thing, can separate us from Christ and his amazing love. There is a peace that we find in the Lord and I know that sometimes we have trouble resting in it. But even in that we must know that many problems vanish instantly in the Light of God's love because we realize that we are NEVER alone. 

The Lord replies in Exodus 33:14 "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." We have rest, peace, love, and everything we could ever possibly need in the presence of the Lord. Even in the midst of our problems and our days that just fall short. Each moment we can choose to practice his presence or to practice the presence of problems. Often it feels easier to take the problem or problems at hand and run with them; but in the Lord we are blessed to have patience and understanding in knowing that no matter what the circumstance he is so much greater. 

Christ has set us free. He has set us free from the attachment of the problems that come with living in this world. For we know that what awaits us is more than worth the problems we face. I know I must remember and that we all must remember; Nothing, not one little problem, NOTHING, can separate us from God's great love for us. 

An Immense Love for Love

Love is Not Just a Four Letter Word...

I have always had a such a crazy love for love. From a young age I would watch romantic comedies and dramas, read books with an underlying love story, and just take notes. Obviously I soon realized that real and true love wasn't just like the movies or the books, but it was better. But with that knowledge that it is better, it is also more real and raw than one might realize. True love isn't forced, it is as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13; "patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude or self-seeking, not easily angered, doesn't delight in evil but instead rejoices in truth, it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love NEVER FAILS." 

Real and true love is unforced like waves because authentic love comes right from the Lord. We are blessed with the ability to love others the way the Lord loves us. So when I was younger I made the decision that I would hold out and wait for that love that love that mirrors Christ's love for his bride. There is no love that can match the Lord's love for us. When you think about that and the love you feel for others here on earth it is something to know that the love you feel stems from the love the Lord has for you. That crazy love is everything. 

Even as I read novels today and watch movies, I am so in love with the loves stories that I see. To be in love is something that every woman, man, child, everyone wants to experience. True love on earth is a blessing from the Lord. Proverbs 19:22 says it best, "What a man truly desires is unfailing love." The truth is that unfailing love is something that comes from our Heavenly Father. The love we experience and indulge in on earth is just a glimpse into how much the Lord loves each one of us. When I think about it I can't imagine a greater gift than that. 

I am still currently waiting on that true love that is shared with a significant other. As I am only a freshman in college that isn't too crazy. When I think about that love that the Lord hand crafted between man and woman I get butterflies and a warm feeling. Because when I think about it, the longer you wait in the Lord's timing for that love the sweeter it is when you have it, and the less likely you are to ever think about letting it go. I know and believe that when the Lord's timing is right that love will be awakened. So fret not because your love story has been written by the one who created love. How amazing is that? 

"May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else...may he strengthen your hearts that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones." Whenever I read those verses, 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13, I can't help but smile to think that our love will increase and overflow for our true love because in the Lord love is abundant. Being that love is my favorite thing, that simple fact that love is abundant, is just beyond anything I could ever imagine. 

Watching true love unravel before your eyes in movie form, book form, or even in real life with people you know and care for is so amazing to me. It warms my heart and makes me smile to see love so uninhabited and so real. It is only natural to want a love like that. So true love is different than the books and movies, so what? The love that is bestowed upon us from the Lord is crazy. His crazy love for us knows NO BOUNDS. "Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Romans 5:5) 

So the next time you see a movie, read about love, experience love yourself; know that, that love comes from the one who loves you more than you could ever begin to imagine. True love doesn't wait, you already have it in the Lord. The truth is, you have no idea who you are meant to share that intimate love with here on earth. The moment you know who you are going to spend the rest of your days on earth with, is when you can't imagine sharing your love and life for the Lord with anyone else. Now I don't know about you but that sounds like a love worth waiting for. 

That four letter word, Love. L-O-V-E. Isn't just a word. It is so much more. 

Beauty is in the Eyes of The Beholder

What Makes You Different Makes You Beautiful!!!

You are who the Lord made you to be. He makes beautiful things out of the dust, and he  made beautiful things out of us. We live in a society where physical beauty is the focal point of ourexistence. Many times more than not this is the downfall of our society and our self image. The domination of physical beauty puts such a damper on God’s amazing love for all of us. He made us in his image to be a people who spread his love to all of the people. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11  

I know that I struggle so personally with believing that I am beautiful. Of course true beauty comes from within but our brains are trained to see all of things about us that we wish we could change. That  unhealthy thinking makes us part of this world and in reality we are not at home here and our earthly physical beauty cannot compare to the heavenly beauty within our hearts for Jesus.

Proverbs 31:30

  

You my dear friends are beautiful to the Lord, so beautiful. No matter what you are going through, what you have been through, or how you see yourself your beauty lies in the eyes of the  beholder whom is the most beautiful of all. 1 Peter 3:3-4 tells us, “Do not let your adornment be merely outward; arranging the hair,wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel; rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”  Our Heavenly Father is so perfectly beautiful and he made us in his image.
  So, look to the Lord for he would never lie. Song of Songs 4:7

 You are altogether beautiful! Never forget the one who made you because he never once made a mistake.

I'm Not Afraid To Say That I Am Waiting

In regards to my last blogpost "The Lord Knows Who Your Soul Loves" I put a song at the end called "Hide Your Love Away" by Anthem Lights. In today's culture it is seen as such a cliché or a taboo to save yourself for the one that the Lord has made for you.

But as a Strong Christian Woman who has never been in a relationship and has received so many questions regarding that choice to wait until the love is wakened for a christian gentleman. I love that this song speaks volumes to the regard that waiting for your Prince or Princess is God's plan. Because the truth is the Lord has something so magnificent in store for your life. He knows that someone who is going to be your other half on this earth. That someone who through your love for Jesus you will love each other so wholly.

So if you listened to the song from the last post I highly encourage you to watch this short video on the reasoning behind the song. If you are waiting that is amazing. Don't be afraid to say that you are because in the end the Lord will bless you well and you will be more than happy that you did.

All Of The Moments...Start And End In Jesus

There are moments,

These moments are pre determined because the  Lord takes so much care in our lives to plan out each and every little thing. The minute details are often the most exciting and important. I love the fact that our lives are a series of moments, moments where the Lord constantly loves us, no matter what.

Some moments in my life...
Finding God in the smallest things,

Like a smile 

A laugh 

The sun 

A question  

Words 

Moments we await... 

Awaiting the moment...That's natural

Wanting a boyfriend, someone to spend time with and be romantically close to

Well of course thats ok and important to want that moment, those moments. But it is not a moment we can choose and plan out for ourselves. There is an amazing someone out there for us. The Lord took careful time in picking them out. As the Lord is growing in our lives, he is growing our hearts to be open to the love of another. It is such a gift. A gift worth waiting for. So as I wait...As we wait...we know God will always be at the center and he will be forever great!

Recently I was given some fabulous words of wisdom that could only have come straight from the Lord, 

"Rest in God's love and the other things will come in His time when you are ready. Remember you don't need an earthly man first and foremost to define you. You are a daughter of the king with all the keys to the kingdom. You are strong in the faith...smart, beautiful, and so much more...God is preparing the perfect match to your needs. Try to be patient... Focus on refining your gifts and following the path He has given you...Just know God has a plan to give you hope and a future.. Don't doubt your significance go Him...He wants nothing but the best for you...Continue glorifying Him in all you do. Be open and ready for all that He has in store. Good things come to those that wait for his perfect timing. Don't let our people's relationships steal your joy. Walk in his love and light. Satan wants to steal your joy distract you and make you doubt. Don't give him the power to bring you down. When you start to feel sad because you don't have a guy just remember...God is hand picking your guy...Don't settle for any guy...Your Prince charming is out there. Trust in the Lord's timing and know that he only has the best plan for you." 

God is so good. His timing is something we will never understand and yet it is everything we will ever need. The moments he plans out for us are exactly what we must go through to get closer and closer to him and his amazing love.

When I look at where I am in my life right now, I am so blessed. We are all so immensely blessed. The moments of today, tomorrow, next month, and 5 years from now are already planned and in that I  know the Lord will be so much more than present throughout them all. 

If ever you are struggling with a moment, you are stuck in a moment you want to move from, just remember that there is a time for everything. In Ecclesiastes 3 it is said; "there is a time to weep and a time to laugh...a time to embrace and a time to refrain...a time to love..." Our Heavenly Father knows what our times, our moments are going to be and that is amazing!!

So why worry about that guy that who can't seem to find you? There might not be any available gentleman that are what you need or what you are meant to have. The timing is simply not right. The Lord knows your heart and your head and all of you. He knows the type of gent you need to be with and that is simply why it is not happening. Not because you are not desirable, because the Lord made you in his image. It is because you are too amazing and grounded in the Lord's love that there is no guy willing to take a chance.God's timing is not right. But it will be. 

Relish the moments. Trust that the moments are perfect. Because they are. Put your trust in the almighty Heavenly Father. For he plans out the moments. I am so in awe when I read psalm 40:5 "The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." 

Look at the moments of present, for yes the future moments are planned. So don't worry about being single, don't worry about that moment when you think you ruined an audition, that moment you didn't  do so well on a test, the moments that are unknown; those are the most exciting. Those minute moments are all part of God's plan for your life. 

Our lives are a series of carefully planned moments...

We don't plan them 

We trust in the Lord 

His timing is perfect 

His plan for each of us is beyond what we could ever imagine 

Those moments

He planned them

We are infinitely blessed

This moment 

The next 

Forever 

Are all 

In The Lord 

ALWAYS 

"Perhaps  this is the moment for which you were created."  Live it.

Stressing Is A Part Of Life...But It Is Not The Center

Why must we stress? 

There really is no concrete answer to this question "why must we stress?" And yet here we all are stressing over the simplest, most minuscule things in our lives. It is human nature to be stressed in all kinds of ways at different times in our lives. That is something as a race that we cannot seem to get away from, it is inevitable. And yet with the Lord it is so possible. 

God is so good. When we are stressed He wants us to come to Him. "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens."-Psalm 68:19 Not just once in a while, the Lord bears our burdens DAILY. I don't know about you but I find so much comfort in that. So we are going to get stressed but in the Lord that stress becomes a testament of our love for our Heavenly Father who will never leave us to bear our own burdens. 

So this is midterm week at Meredith and for many, and in particular some of my close friends that can be major stressful. It is possible that you could study for hours on end, stressing yourself out over what? A midterm? When you think about that one college midterm or maybe that one relationship that didn't pan out and you harp on it you stress. But what for? Paul says in Galatians 5 that "Christ has set us free to live a free life. Take a stand and do not let yourselves be burdened again." So instead of succumbing to the stresses of school, relationships, friendships, jobs, commitments; take a stand for Him and do not let yourself be burdened by worldly things. For we are not of the world, we are are not home in the stresses and burdens of worldly things, but instead our home is in the Lord. 

If there is something you are struggling with at this very moment...stop...tell the Lord of your struggle, your stress; and give it up to him and do not let yourself be burdened. The Lord wants us to live a life in Him and be a light to those who do not know of his unfailing love. We should not waste our time stressing over worldly things that do not near compare to our AMAZING, burden-bearing Heavenly Father. 

The next time we begin to stress about some irrelevant worldly thing we must stop and remember we have a wonderful Savior who died for our sins, and daily bears the burdens that we may have a life in Him and His love. We live for him and are a walking light for His love for us. Stress does not touch Him. So therefore stress should not be something we let control our lives. The center of our lives is the Lord and shall forever be. 

We must seek His peace daily by filling our minds with His word, by lifting up our hearts to Him in prayer, and simply sitting at His feet in awe and reverence. For, it is ONLY by His mercy, grace and His never-ending love, that the stress we hold onto so tightly in our lives can be taken away. 

The Lord says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." What more could we even ask for? We are blessed by Him so immensely. So do not stress dear ones for the Lord almighty is here and always will be. 

Nothing You Could Ever Do Would Make Him Love You Less

It is crazy to think about The Lord's love for us. How could someone so perfect, almighty, beautiful, everlasting, and so much more could love such an imperfect people as us? This is something I think about all the time. It is a constant discussion among my friends and I. The Lord is literally so amazing and present in our lives and yet we are so undeserving.

One of my close friends recently came to know The Lord. Such a relationship is so indescribable. She didn't know before that God was such an amazing and loving God. When we think about it, none of us did and we are so blessed by that fact. I think that is something we often undermine. It is ultimately amazing that no matter what our past may be, however dirty we have felt, how low, that when we accept Christ into our hearts that we are washed clean because he loves us so deeply. This simple fact while so simple is so profound. 

It is normal for us as humans to look back on our past, our sin, and to beat ourselves up about the choices we have made. But the real truth of the matter is that The Lord doesn't look at our sin and judge us. He loves us in our darkest times, in the midst of it all his love is washing over us. His amazing, cleansing love makes us new. Because Jesus took the fall for our sins we are forever blessed. He loves us first, He loves us last, and He loves us the BEST. 

So when we are looking to be loved why look anywhere but to The Lord? He loves us, so deeply, and by his wounds we are healed. Romans 5:8 speaks to these points so beautifully, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were sinners, Christ died for us." When I look to this verse my heart fills up with so much love for my amazing Heavenly Father and I am in awe. It is so crazy to know that even while we were sinning "Christ died for us", he died for us. Just a lowly

race of people. 

At our worst. 

There is NOTHING

Absolutely nothing 

That we could EVER do 

to make him love us any less. 

Our perfect Lord died for us when we are so far from perfect. We fail constantly. We sin and The Lord loves us the same. I am so completely overcome by God's great love for me and for all of us. "But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness."- Psalm 86:15 He is abounding in his love for us always and no matter where we are in our walk with him, no matter what sins we have committed or will commit, he loves us the same and he ALWAYS will. In that we know.... 

There is nothing we could ever do in all of our lives that would cause him to love us any less.