The Sovereign Lord

"Though the fig tree does not bud,
and I am alone
and there are no grapes on the vines ,
and I can find no joy in the world right now
though the olive crop fails,
and I have nothing to soothe my open wounds
and the fields produce no food,
and I'm out of a job or hate the one I have;
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no one warms me on cold nights,
and no cattle in the stalls
and I have no tangible basis for feeling secure,
yet I will REJOICE in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Saviour,
The Sovereign Lord is my strength,
he make my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights."
Habukuk 3:17-19
Finding God  by Larry Crabb

Sometimes life is hard. Things happen that we don't understand. God takes us places we don't want to go to. Places of surrender. Of forgiveness. But we don't want to let go and we want to know WHY. We want answers. We want healing. Sometimes more than we want God, and God wants us to want Him more than ANYTHING. We don't always realize that surrender is more than letting go, it's giving our lives completely to someone who will not leave our side, who knows what's best. And when we trust that God is good no matter what, it is then that we can rest in Him. The Lord is sovereign. He is our strength. He loves us unconditionally...no matter how many times we fail, mess up, He is still there and loves us just the same. So basically what I' m trying to say amid all my ramblings, is seek to find God in each moment of life. Choose to rejoice.
-Kelsi

"I've seen MIRACLES just happen,
silent PRAYERS get answered,
BROKEN
HEARTS
become BRAND NEW
that's what faith can do."
-Kutless

The pursuit of all things

We pursue many things.
A better job.
A greater career.
A nicer house.
Dreams close to our hearts.
We pursue peace.
We ask for strength.
We want happiness.
Seeking, searching...
We are all doing it.
We are all pursuing something.
But really, what is our greatest pursuit?
A greater career can be good.
We need strength.
Life without happiness isn't really worth living.
All these...they are good things to pursue, but are our pursuits getting confused?
Are we wanting comfort of life more than Jesus?
Are we praying for peace and strength instead of asking Jesus to fill us with Him?
And are we trying to figure out what God is doing instead of resting in Him?
Pursue the heart of God.
Want Him more that anything.
He WILL meet your needs.

-kelsi

God loves you. So much.

We pray for peace.
We pray for strength.
We beg God to help us not fall apart.
Struggling so hard, we try to figure WHAT God is doing.
Lower and lower we fall, and we cry out to God.
We wonder why He isn't answering our prayers. We fail at being the strong and courageous people we want to be. We barely know ourselves.
The light is gone. God feels so incredibly far away. What we thought was a fairly strong faith is now wavering. Alot. We know the promises of God.
He will never leave us.
He won't let the waters overflow us.
His grace is sufficient.
Knowing this and living like we know it are two different things. We struggle to not give up.
Life feels against us. "Why God?" we ask again and again.
We become empty, weary, and drained.
On late nights our heads rest on tear stained pillows. Yet we continue to struggle, to wrestle, and to seek the face of God. When there is no where else to go, Jesus Christ is our only hope. So we continue to hold on, but we can barely keep out grip.
In those desperate moments, anger and hurt arouse. Does God not see what we're going through?Does He not care?Does He not hear?
Sometimes I think our focus gets clouded ,and we can't see clearly. Through our tears and our grief, we fail at keeping our perspective. If Jesus said He won't leave us-He won't. Sometimes though it does feel like God is silent. Maybe we aren't really hearing or maybe we're seeking God for the wrong reasons so he remains quiet. In all this, it doesn't mean He doesn't care or see, and it doesn't mean he has deserted us. The devil may try to get us to believe that, but it's not true. I believe God can bring us to these places, where we feel alone, where it seems like He isn't hearing us...to the place where we grow so weary and hopeless that Jesus is the only one to pursue. Our only hope. When it feels like He doesn't care, I believe God wants us to realize that He wants us to want HIM more that anything else in the world.
More than peace and joy.
More than comfort of life.
More than being strong, and more than our deepest, biggest desires.
He wants us to come to Him, just as we are and fall on him. With God, he wants us to fall apart, because when we are truly broken before Him, it is then that he can fill us completely.
"Come to me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will I give you REST."
Rest.
Life and everything we go through, we will never fully figure it out. We may never truly know why God works the way he does, but it is then that we can rest in Him. We may not know what to do, why things happen, but we need to trust Him. When nothing in life feels sure, it's hard to entrust it into God's hands. If we truly desire to know God though , we will follow His call. Sometimes resting and trusting in Jesus is the only thing we can do, and believing that He will not let us go. When we become nothing, Jesus Christ become our everything.
Beauty unfolds
as hearts surrender,
and empty themselves.
They look up, gaping open
to be filled
with Jesus Christ.
It is then that we are truly filled, and all our cracks and scars are healed.
It is then that beauty bursts forward, it's wonder that reaches everywhere.
God loves you. So much. Rest in His love. His love that loves us just the way we are. His love that will never, ever let us go. His love that will see us through.

-Kelsi

Loving the Difficult People in Your Life

“She had been beside my locker for three long years in a row. It was one of those girls that were hard to love. She always wanted to be the life of the party. In class, she’d add obnoxious comments to embarrass some and produce laughter from others. I never tried to get close to her. I didn’t want to be “connected” with her. I would avoid her in the hallway. I’d sit beside her, and not start up conversations with her. I’d laugh at her comments to be polite. I’d talk wrongly behind her back. I’d always said, “I want to find a solution in helping her.” That wasn’t my full intent. I remember [so] well the times I prayed and asked God to give me opportunities to love on her and show her my caring spirit towards her.  I could see her hiding behind those fronts and masks. I wanted to see her so badly tear down those walls and masks. But, I didn’t know how to address it. I just didn’t feel ready to commit to a friendship/relationship that took so much effort and work. I guess, I would have to say it’s partly pride. It was so incredibly selfish of me. “

       Every human alive on earth has people; they don’t connect very well with. PERSONALITIES PROVOKE. CONVICTIONS CONFLICT. HABITS HARASS YOU. PEOPLE DON’T [quite] MEASURE UP TO YOUR LEVEL.

     Who are those people in your life? Think about it for a second with me.

 Recently, I have been thinking about those people in my life that are difficult to love.  The questions that came to my mind were: How can I love them better? Why don’t they get along with me? What do I need to do to begin loving them? Did Jesus love difficult people?

What do I need to do to begin to love them?

 I need to obey his commandments.

(YOU DO, TOO)

God said in His Word, “That love your neighbor thing…I meant that.”

Who is your neighbor?

Neighbor means anyone. 

The poorly dressed man on the street corner. The girl with the gossip habit at your High school. The missionary’s teenage daughter. Yes, the person that is difficult to love.

Do you really, truly love your difficult neighbor?

1 Corinthians 12: 21 says, “The eye can never say to the hand, I don’t need you. The head can’t say to the feet, I don’t need you.”

You should have no reason to say to your neighbor, “I have no need of you.”

You have to have a heart that is willing to follow these commands. (Evaluate yourself.)

       How can you love them better?

 You can love the difficult person by serving them. I read an article online about serving the unlovable people in your life. The article said this, “Serving gives us an easy way to see how we should love. It’s not just some mushy, hard-to-grasp emotion but a move to action. Secondly, Serving someone has a way of changing the way we see them. If you are constantly looking out for a way to help someone, it’s very hard to think of their worthlessness. It’s very hard to stay mad at them.”

        How can you serve someone this week?

   I encourage you to bless and serve someone this week. They would appreciate it so much.

      You should look past then into whom God made them to be. Yeah, this will be so hard and difficult. It’s so worth it, though.

As humans, we tend to look into the outward appearances and characteristics. I encourage you to look into their heart.  [try it. Ask God to help you.] Their story matters just as much as yours does. You could end up being one of their biggest blessings.

       Did Jesus ever have to love difficult people?

He loved many, many, many difficult people. Jesus loved the Pharisees, hypocrites, mockers, and his tormentors. Toward the end of his life, he loved the people about to betray, deny, and desert him. Guess what? Jesus was fully aware of it.

           1 Corinthians 11:1 says, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

Jesus washes the feet of men, who were unworthy of it. Jesus never put on a fake love, a false front or made them feel insecure or stupid. He truly, completely loved them.

       This proposes the question, “How can you completely love the unlovable in your life?”

    Follow the Example of Christ.

           It might call for some sacrifice with your best friends this week, but you will be blessed to serve a difficult person.

 I’m going to be completely honest with you.  This is something, I am working on. It doesn’t come easily or naturally for me. (or any other person) I have put a paper in my locker to remind myself to love others around me that are difficult to love. I DARE you to come with me on this adventure. Will you?

                Begin to love those, who SEEM impossible to LOVE.

     You never know, God might have a blessing in disguise waiting for you.

by Simone

*If you have tried this and have amazing-God stories, I’d be so happy to hear! You can contact me at: authorgirlsim@gmail.com

"To be alive is to be broken, and to be broken is to stand in need of grace."
-Brennan Manning

What does it mean to truly be alive?
And what does it mean to be completely broken?
A person can be alive without experiencing true life. True life is Jesus Christ dwelling in our hearts. Its living in the freedom of a sinner that was saved. 
Brokenness is to be emptied of everything and to be filled with only Jesus. It's letting go of what we want for what God wants. Sometimes to experience true freedom is to let go. Surrender. And sometimes to be broken is to see how we are nothing without God. We can try desperately on our own, but in the end we will always fail. It's hard to admit we're wrong, and that we're sinners in need of grace. Human flesh says its all about us, but it's not!!!And so to bow the knee and tell God that whatever He wants of us, we will do..it takes courage and it takes strength, but that's the heart cry of God. That we will give him everything and let Him be Master.
Life is never something we will figure out completely, but when we entrust it into the hands of God..there is peace. I have wrestled with some of the things God has required of me. I don't always understand, and when I dwell on it, it makes me discontent. But I have realized also that when I focus on God, on what He wants and not just what I want, there is joy. Joy in knowing I'm where God wants me. We need to come to the place where we want God's will more than our own. This doesn't come overnight. It's actually a daily choice. We can choose to see all that God has denied us of, or we can choose to see everything He has blessed us with. Jesus really does give grace for the painful moments.
And His grace really is enough.
It does see us through.

A Song that has inspired me:

Great is your faithfulness Oh God
You wrestle with the sinner's heart
You lead us by still waters in to mercy
And nothing can keep us apart

So remember your people
Remember your children
Remember your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Great is your love and justice God of Jacob
You use the weak to lead the strong
You lead us in the song of your salvation
And all your people sing along

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Your grace is enough
Heaven reaching down to us
Your grace is enough for me
God I see your grace is enough
I'm covered in your love
Your grace is enough
For me

-chris tomlin

Home Is.

We are a fragile flock,
we specks of life,
and our hearts scatter, 
skittish, 
at first doubt.
And we're easily drawn aside,
from His side,
when greener grass and tales of treasure
catch our attention.
And we're stubborn and shallow and sensitive---
a fragile flock---
but deep in our souls,
we do feel.
We feel so much
and yearn and long and hope.
We yearn for home;
we can't enjoy the day
not knowing where we'll lay our heads at night.
Take away our familiar place,
and you pull the ground from beneath our feet.
We lose our footing and fall on our backs
and find ourselves staring at the sky.
We need a solid place,
we fragile flock;
Without a home
we scarce know who we are.
And so we wonder, dazed and scared and lost,
"If I don't have a place, then who am I?"
We don't want to be pilgrims.
Not us.
We want to be lords.
We want a place,
a safe place;
we want a home.
Our only constant sights are the cotton in the day sky
and the twinkles in the night
and the Shepherd whom we follow.
His face, his staff, his feet.
"Lift up your eyes!"
He always tells me
when I grumble about leaving home again,
how that home will never be my home again,
but how the next place won't be like home now,
so
WHERE IS MY HOME.
"Lift up your eyes," He says,
and so I do.
I see the heavens and I heave a sigh.
I know my home is heaven;
it sounds nice.
But I am just a speck in a fragile flock;
I need some sort of home
here on this earth!
I need some sort of home
before I die!
"My lamb, you have a home here;
lift your eyes!"
And so I lift my eyes
and I look higher,
much higher than the sky,
and I see Him.

~Cheríe