Justified by Faith and Set forth in Forgiveness

We are Called to Forgive Even When it is Hard and Walk by Faith...

"The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self -all your wishes and precautions- to Christ."- C.S. Lewis 

It is incredibly hard to let go of something and give it to the Lord when you know that it would be so much easier to hold on to what it is and continue to give into it. Tonight as I was walking on the beach (I still cannot believe I live where I can walk on the beach every night. Praise God!) with my Activities Director and friend, Sam, we were discussing something that had us both so addled and in bitter spirits and it was just not where we wanted to be. Halfway through this walk I had this thought that came right to me. It could only be explained as a word from the Lord. This feeling was strong so I spoke on it and said, "Sam we just have to pray and forgive. That is the only way we are going to be able to let go and let God work in this the way he intended." Forgiveness is the last thing I would have ever thought I needed to do but yet the exact thing that needed to be done.

God is so good. He blesses us each and everyday in such amazing ways and it just puts this smile to my face and fuels a happiness in me that is undeniable. Even in this happiness there is still room for sin and mistakes and failure of different measures. In this instance this failing was holding onto something that was becoming this toxic thing that was only hurting me and doing the opposite of good in my life. It was becoming this default focus of my time here and that was not ok.

So when Sam and I got back tonight after our walk we started talking about this situation and we were just like we have to pray now and go to the Lord and ask for his guidance and just forgive and let go of this. We crawled up on Sam's bunk and dove into the word. Sam just so happened to turn to Galatians 3 and wow what a God thing that was. It was exactly what we needed to hear and applied to our situation more perfectly than either of us could have ever imagined. How amazing is the Lord? Galatians 3:24-25 says, "So the law was put in charge to lead as to Christ that we might be justified by faith.  Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law." After Sam read that verse we looked and each other and we were just like, wow God thank you. This law that was put forth served its purpose, and faith came so we live in this faith and are no longer supervised by the law. In the Lord we are free and how amazing is that?

To finish out Galatians three the verse -28 speaks on being one with Jesus and I am still so amazed on how perfectly this plays into today and this situation. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, MALE NOR FEMALE, for you are ALL one in Christ Jesus." We are ALL one in the Lord. In everything, every single thing. It is such an easy thing to remember and yet so hard to accept. No matter who you are, where you have come from or what you have done we are ONE in Christ. We are equal in our father's eyes. At the end of Galatians 3 we proceeded to pray and put forth this forgiveness in the Lord that was so greatly needed and this immense and indescribable peace just washed over us and this weight was just lifted. Something as simple prayer time and look into the word was what this situation needed. I think we often forget and underestimate the power of prayer and God's word. He speaks. Whether it be through situations, through the word, in prayer, whatever it may be he is speaking to us, all we have to do is be open to what he is telling us.

I am firm believer that the Lord calls all times soon and that he reveals and provides when the timing is right. So tonight following this powerful prayer I turned on my Holy Spirit Flowing station on spotify and the song that came on was "Forgiveness" by Matthew West. I looked up to the Heavens and giggled at the Lord. He speaks. Every day in every way he speaks to us. The lyrics to this song are so profound and I couldn't help but be consumed by how perfect the Lord's timing really is.

It's the hardest thing to give away

And the last thing on your mind today

It always goes to those who don't deserve

It's the opposite of how you feel

When the pain they caused is just too real

Takes everything you have to say the word

It flies in the face of all your pride

It moves away the mad inside

It's always anger's own worst enemy

Even when the jury and the judge

Say you've got a right to hold a grudge

It's the whisper in your ear saying set it free

Forgiveness, forgiveness

Forgiveness, forgiveness

Show me how to love the unlovable

Show me how to reach the unreachable

Help me now to do the impossible

Forgiveness, forgiveness

Help me now to do the impossible

Forgiveness

It'll clear the bitterness away

It can even set a prisoner free

There is no end to what its power can do

So let it go and be amazed by what you see through eyes of grace

The prisoner that it really frees is you

Forgiveness, forgiveness

Forgiveness, forgiveness

Show me how to love the unlovable

Show me how to reach the unreachable

Help me now to do the impossible

Forgiveness

I want finally set it free

Show me how to see what your mercy sees

Help me now to give what You gave to me

Forgiveness, forgiveness

Forgiveness truly is one of the hardest things to give away, just like these lyrics say, but that is what we are called to do. I am so thankful that tonight Sam and I could come together in prayer and ask the Lord for forgiveness for the way we have handled this and give forgiveness. For God is good and everyday we shall rejoice in his grace and go forth in faith. What a blessing it is to come here to this place that is so visibly in need of the Lord, and have the opportunity to share the most important part of who we are as Christians. Thanks be to the Lord for situations that cause growth and bring us closer to him. Thanks be to God for this amazing Christian family in which I can share and thanks be to the challenges that being part of this family brings.

 Life is not easy, neither is forgiveness but nothing worth the gain is ever "easy." Praise God for a challenging life that makes every day a new adventure and a chance to extend his forgiveness, grace, and mercy. Psalms 100:5 is a great reminder of the Lord's goodness, "For the Lord is good and his love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations." It continues, his faithfulness is forever and always, in every single situation. Going into tomorrow I pray for peace and joy regarding this situation and anything that I may face, that Sam may face that any of my SummerShine family members may face. As a body may we love each other and together love others. Tomorrow is another day the Lord has made and his forgiveness is in my heart and mine on my lips. 

Thank you Lord. 

Shine Bright through the Highs and the Lows

A Not So Easy Time Makes The Relationship Stronger...

Recently I have been having a time with the Lord and his plan for my life, and for the right now. Currently I am off doing my best working to shine his light at the KOA in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. What I didn't realize until quite recently is that every day can be a battle. Maintaining that light amongst the darkness and shining bright when circumstances aren't ideal has always been present but I don't think that I quite realized the full force of that until I jumped head first into this mission experience. Each and every day is a new opportunity to see his works in the least likely places. 

It seems as though everywhere I turn I know that what I see and feel is that the atmosphere in this place is severely lacking God's love and light. What is more amazing than God's love? It is incredibly difficult, it is a daily battle to push through and know that I am not working for a worldly person. Everything we do is for the glory of the Lord who loves us more than we could ever begin to imagine. Today and this past week have been a little bit more on the challenging side. I have to keep reminding myself I am here to carry out the Lord's plan for my life. A verse that my activities director brought up at our bible study speaks to what we are doing here so perfectly, "for all who have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."-Romans 3:23-24 This exemplifies that no matter what we all sin and fall short of the glory of God and that even through that the Lord loves us so deeply and gives us immeasurable grace. It plays so much in to the atmosphere here, that no matter who you are or what you have done you are justified by God's grace and that is amazing.

Where we are here it is imperative that we keep in mind that however different we may be from our coworkers we can't look down upon them or belittle them or each other. For our purpose is to shine God's light and share his love; keeping our heads up and pushing through the undesirable circumstances that we may face. "the Spirit helps us in our weakness..."-Romans 4:26 Every single day in whatever weakness you may face the Holy Spirit is there within you giving you the strength to carry out his will. God is so good. All the time he is good. 

This opportunity to work here with other SummerShiners has truly made me realize that it is about the work we are doing it is about how we do that work and who we are doing it for. Good works are wonderful and great but unless they are in the name of the Lord they don't hold the merit that they should. Hebrews 6:10 says, "God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them." Even as we work for the glory of the Lord for his people we ourselves are growing and that is amazing.

I have already learned so much about myself in this process and it amazes me everyday how present the Holy Spirit really is in everything we do. "And 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 I love this verse so much because the fact that the Holy Spirit is so tangible in our lives means everything. God has poured out his love that we too may love his children. I think it is so important in this mission field and any mission field that we know that it isn't about the work itself and how well we can do it but how we can do it with the Holy Spirit flowing in us to glorify our Heavenly Father.

The way I have discovered that I work is with my heart. I could be doing the lest desirable task, cleaning some bathroom with some of my amazing SummerShine family members, and smile and deep belly laugh because no matter what God is present and so so good. How blessed are we to be given the opportunity to serve our Heavenly Father? I know that right now I want to focus on cultivating friendships and working for the glory of the Lord even when it is approximately 100 degrees outside and I am walking around drunk from heat exhaustion. God blesses us everyday so I want to use what I have to glorify him in any way that I can even though that is harder than I could have ever imagined.

This season of my life is for working for the Lord as the Holy Spirit flows through me. I have prayed for who knows how long for things to become apparent in my life and right now all that I know for sure is that I can't even comprehend what the Lord is using me for but I do know that I love being the body. Of course I fail but failing or messing up an easy task only makes me want to work harder. God is amazing and he knows, he loves, he does, and he calls all times soon (even in the darkest places). My God is a loving God who holds me on days when I feel down and comforts me and gives me guidance when I don't know what to do or how to handle a situation. "Though the mountains be shaken (the heat be unbearable) and the hills be removed (and the work be difficult), yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken..."-Isaiah 54:10 No matter what God's love is unfailing, no matter the highs or the lows we may face, God is good and in that we can shine his light bright. We are the body and the lights in the darkness. That excites me and scares me, but I have been called and so have you. With the strength and love of the Lord we can do it.
Always and forever.

I am ready.
My mission, our mission for Christ Jesus who is undeniably righteous and in him we are so. 

We may stumble...

God, What if I stumble?

Psalm 37:24 says that "If He stumbles he is not down for long; God has a grip on his hand." 

Recently I was talking to one of my friends in my college dorm room about Jesus and His AMAZING love. She was asking me questions and telling me that she wanted to feel that closeness and that warmth that the Lord exudes and it got me thinking...and I decided I had to write about it. My friend went on to tell me that she felt that she was more or less stumbling through her faith and going through the motions instead of feeling it on a heart level. So I began to think about stumbling and it brought me to the question; "God, what if I stumble?" Will I lose the amazing feeling that I get when I feel your presence so strongly in my life? 

So while I was brainstorming I realized that no matter what happens to us, if we fall, the Lord is there to pick us right back up. We need only remember that he is our Saving Grace and he will  meet us in every moment of  our lives even when we  fall into a slump and don't feel him present. 

In psalm 119:165 it says that "For those who love what you reveal, everything fits-- no stumbling around in the dark for them." So with that we know that whatever God reveals to us we know that EVERYTHING fits. We shall not stumble around in the dark if we truly accept all that the Lord reveals. I love that simple fact that with God there is no darkness, only light. So when you truly yearn for the God and you live that everyday you will be consumed in the love and warmth in him. 

The Lord is light and he assures us that we will not eternally stumble around in the darkness. Isaiah 8:14 speaks volumes; "and he will always be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a tone hat causes men to stumble and a rock makes them fall." This tells us that either the Lord is the cornerstone of our lives (28:16) or he is a rock over which we fall. So we have a choice. We can can either choose to put all of our trust in him or we will stumble our way through life in a meaningless way, just simply wondering why we aren't feeling the warmth of the Heavenly Father. 

God says , "Watch closely. I'm laying a foundation, squared and true. And this is the meaning of the stone: A TRUSTING LIFE WON'T TOPPLE. 

Therefore as Christians if our complete trust is in God and not in people, we will have a solid rock of a foundation to place our lives upon and stay. So we put all of our trust in God because he is THE rock and the firm foundation made so that we will not stumble. 

Jeremiah 31:9 says; "Watch we come! They'll come weeping for joy as I take their hands and lead them, Lead them to fresh flowing brooks, lead them along smooth, uncluttered paths so that they will not stumble." The truth of the matter is that the Lord takes our hands and leads us to the fresh flowing well of his word. When we trust fully in him he leads us along uncluttered paths so that we might not stumble. 

So my dear friends if you feel as though you are stumbling and not connecting with Jesus in those warm glimpses into the kingdom know that the Lord is there. He will always be with you in every moment. As Christians we are the body and we are called to live a Godly life. So when we lead that life daily we will feel his warmth and love and those glimpses into the kingdom will only grow until the day where is becomes more than a glimpse but eternity in the Kingdom with the most amazing Heavenly Father. 

Love and Blessings to all of the Sons and daughters of the Kingdom.

Connecting With God On A Personal Level

Have You Ever reached a stagnant point in your walk with the Lord? Did you ever just feel disconnected in a way you could exactly describe? Have you ever just needed reminding how amazing God's love is for you?

It is completely normal to hit that point in your Christian walk where you just get caught in a valley where you feel like you are disconnected. It is not always easy to maintain the mountaintops experiences you have with the Lord. 

The truth is your faith walk is not going to be a series of mountaintop experiences. As christians we have valley experiences. But the good news is that in the Lord our mountaintop experiences will far out weigh the others. 

In everything we do we look to the Lord. if ever there is a time when we feel disconnected or just simply not on fire as we usually are, take that time to pray to God that he may fill your heart and ignite that fire. 

One of my favorite verses to quote and just think back to is Hebrews 12:29 "Our God is a consuming fire!" We are always consumed in his love. But there will most definitely be those times where we feel the fire is not as hot as it should be. All we need to do is look to the Lord and know that we are consumed in his love. He picks us up when we are down and is with us even when we feel that we are alone in all of the stress that we may have.

It is extremely hard not to let all of the little things run our lives. As humans we get so caught up in the planning that we feel obligated to do. We stress ourselves out involving every minute detail. That in itself is how we draw away from God. Where our focus should be on our AMAZING Heavenly Father, our focus is instead on things of this world. 

For we do not belong to this world and the ways of it. We belong to our Lord and Savior who resides in the home of our hearts. We are not home yet. 

And while I can't give you a step by step procedure on how to have a more personal relationship with Jesus, I can tell you that no matter where you are or what you are doing; it is never too late to come home to the one who loves you more than you could possibly even fathom. 

It is so immensely important to take time every day to speak with the Lord and just tell him how much you love him. He loves you so much, even if you feel as though your fire has dimmed in this particular moment. 

The most exciting thing about walking with the Lord is that no matter what you are his beloved. 

Remember that he loves you the very first, last, and of course the best. He knows your name and will come when you call on His. Ultimately the Lord will take away every bad thing in your life until you have gain in him. 

Connecting with God on a personal level is something that never ends. Everyday we grow and want more and he is there always. We need only call on him and he will remind us of his consuming fire and there we can cozy up and be warm and spread that warmth to others. 

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.