Good Morning Beautiful!!

I See Your Face in Every Sunshine...

This morning I woke up to the birds chirping and the sun streaming through my bedroom window. I know it sounds like the beginning of any Disney Princess movie ever, but this morning it was just so beautiful. As I was doing my morning ritual and preparing to go to my church I was getting butterflies. The Lord's presence was so thick this morning and I couldn't wait to fellowship with his children who too share such a love for Jesus. 

Today, this morning and every morning is a morning the Lord has made. As I was sitting and listening to pastor this morning the Lord really laid something on my heart. The Lord actually spoke to me and my heart stirred with excitement and there were those butterflies again. This stirring really made me think about how every day something different happens to us in our walk with Christ, whatever that may be. So that being said, every single day is a special day between you and God.

On my drive home I couldn't stop smiling. As the sun was shining through my windshield and warming me I thought about how God is in every sunrise, sunshine, and sunset. His presence in this world and in us warms us, from the inside out. What could be sweeter than God's unfailing love for us? Wow we are so blessed. So blessed beyond compare. 

I opened my bible this morning and it fell open to Psalm 143. I had to giggle at the Lord, because wow how he knows my  heart. The main verses that my eyes went to were 8-10 which essentially say, "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love...show me the way I should go...teach me to do your will." How amazing is that? This morning truly brought word of the Lord's unfailing love for me and for all of us. The stirring in my heart about mission work in another country was present in the verse with "show me where I should go." This truly opened up to my eyes to the fact that no matter where we are, whether it be in the beautiful morning, in the dark night, wherever we may be, the Lord is the home of our hearts and he makes everything beautiful. 

God's unfailing love is present in every morning, day, and night. He is forever within us warming us from the inside out, living in us so that we may spread his love and shine his bright light. So wherever the Lord may lead you, know that you always have a home in him and that he is present in every morning. 

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation"-Psalm 5:3 

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.

The Lord Knows The One Your Soul Loves...

The Lord Knows Him

"Put not your trust in Princes."-Psalm 146:3

In my earlier teen years I had a fixation on a guy, lets just refer to him as Contender 1, that I thought was very much my ideal guy. Looking back a those moments I can see that while he was the epitome of the christian guy I was looking for he is not the christian guy that the Lord has planned for me in my life. I know that during that time I spent countless moments wondering about the future that could be. When in all actuality I should have been going through that time focusing the most on how I could please the Lord more. 

When I sit and think about it now, I realize that the Lord 's purpose for that time was fulfilled. More often than not we think we know a lot more about our lives than we actually do. So where in the time that I spent invested in someone else who was a little less interested in me I gained a little more patience through such an experience. 

The Lord knows my heart. He knew it then when I was experiencing young love. It is the same for everyone; believers and non-believers alike. The Lord knows your heart. One of my favorite verses to refer back to when thinking about this time in my life and this current single time is, Song of Songs 3:5 "Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires." 

 As a single christian women I know what it is like to be in love. I was in love, I had that experience. The Lord's plan for my life was not to have a boyfriend or even be in a relationship in the time where he wanted me to be seeking him and growing in his love for me. So you may have experienced something similar or may be experiencing it. Know that the Lord has a plan for your future Husband.

Not every boyfriend or love interest is going to be a contender for your Prince Charming. The Lord has planned out your life from beginning to end and knows him. He knows his heart as well as he knows yours. So if you have not found him yet, thats ok because that just means that neither of your hearts are ready yet. What the Lord wants is for your love to be His. So young love may seem like the most important thing but as christians we know that ultimately all our love is for Jesus and we share our love with those whom we care about dearly. 

As women and simply as christians we strive for that love that is "patient and kind...rejoices with the truth...and always preservers." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) That is a love made after God's own heart. The love that the Lord has planned for us is perfectly crafted after his own heart and we need only be patient. 

Sure there will definitely be people we fall in love with and it might happen more than once. But the Lord knows when your heart is ready and he will arouse and awaken love in your heart. We will know when the time is right because the Lord will be so present in all of it and it will be a love made after his own heart. 

So my Contender 1is just that, a contender. While I did spend quite a long time loving him he wasn't the one the Lord has planned for me. He still has a place in my life as a brother in Christ but that is all. So until the time is right I will continue to pray to the Lord for my Prince Charming and follow the path the Lord has for me as I pray you will do the same.  

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.