Thursday, January 29, 2009

Sitting...


I've been thinking alot lately about the fact that I don't just sit with God on the regular. You know, just sitting by myself, not talking to anyone, not on my laptop, not on my cell phone, not watching the television - just alone, with no technology around, - just me and God. 

I'm actually sitting in prayer right now, thats what brought on the thought. An hour, three times a week, just isn't enough. It's an awesome start, but still not enough. I need to get with God for a while everyday, and if not everyday, atleast I could try. 

It's been a realization of mine for quite a while now, how we are so dependant on our technology. We think we can't live without our computers or our cell phones, iPods, GPS's, pagers, PDA's, wireless internet or FaceBook. Alot of us can't even go without using a calculator to do the simplest of math equations. How sad a shape are we in when we have gotten to this point? It's SO easy to let our stuff get in the way of God. It's so incredibly easy to let our laptops get in the way of God. How long will we let our stuff come between us and our Father?

It's a common joke now that we "can't do anything without getting on FaceBook first." One I heard a few weeks ago was, "famous last words: I've got to write this paper, but I'll just check my FaceBook first." HOW SAD IS THAT?! We are a technology dependant society to the point of it, honestly, being an addiction! I'm as guilty as the next person. I can't go an hour without having my cell phone in my hand or my laptop in front of me - and honestly, it's coming between me and my Daddy. Sometimes I even get on my laptop to look something up on BibleGateway and I'll end up on FaceBook, later to realize I've been on FaceBook for an hour and STILL haven't found the scripture I had intended to look up. 

I'm challenging everyone who reads my blog right now - including me - to take some time out of your day that you would normally talk on your cell phone or get on your laptop, even if it's just 15 minutes, and get alone and spend that time with God. Just once a day. You don't have to do it everytime you think of going online or calling someone, I'm not saying you have to become a hermit, just once, maybe twice a day. 

Do it. You might be surprised where it gets you. 

Monday, January 26, 2009

Nothing is impossible for You...

So I've been reading up on abortion lately and what President Obama plans on trying to legalize concerning the issue. I'm appalled. Obama  plans on trying to legalize every type of abortion in all 50 states and make them unlimited to anyone who wants one and for there to be no restrictions on them. 

I'm praying right now that Obama's heart will be changed and a redical revival will sweep the nation. Nothing is impossible for God.

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. Its an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. Its a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing!! "Nothing is impossible with God"

God, I pray right now that You would change the heart of our president and that he would see the issue of abortion through new eyes. I pray that You would help the people of our nation to realize what a huge mistake we are making. I pray that people would realize the amount of people we are simply throwing away and the impact it is going to have on our future as a nation. How are we supposed to have a future generation if we are killing it? God, I just pray right now that You would send revival to America. I pray that You would sweep over everyone in this country and cause our people to realize their need for you. God I thank you so much for giving me such a blessing to be able to live in a country where I have the freedom to change the world. Amen.

Friday, January 23, 2009

From Your perfect hands 
You gave Your one and only son 
To save, we wretched people
So undeserving
Sitting under our steeples

We've done nothing to deserve it
Some don't even care
But I, Your lowly servant
Have striped myself bare
Of all this worlds problems

I decicate myself to you
You and only You
My life will be your masterpiece
And you will be the potter

I'm not really sure where this came from but i wanted to share. Love you guys.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Jesus, here I am, your favorite one.
What are you thinking?
What are you feeling?
I have to know.

So, I'm in prayer, and this song is playing on The Prayer Room, and it got me thinking about it. First, of all...I'm God's favorite me, and it makes me feel absolutely wonderful. I'm Gods favorite. There will never be anyone like me in the future and there has never been anyone like me in the history of humanity. I LOVE that thought. God made me a complete individual, not similar to anyone. When I think about it...how much of an insane amount of love goes into making us. God is SO in love with me, and I, somehow, overlook that sometimes. It remind me of that Misty Edwards song.

I'm in love with God and God's in love with me, this is who I am and this is who I'll be and that settles it. Completely.

Something else it made me think about too is the fact that God lets us know what going on with Him. He lets us know His thoughts and His feeling about us and about what we do and about what He does. That, in and of itself, is absolutely amazing to me. I could sit and think about it forever. 

John 15:14-16a
14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you...

My God loves me so much that He not only made me completely special but He also wants to be intimate with me, and how sad is it that I can't even bring myself to be intimate with Him all of the time.  It makes me so sad to think about how much He loves me and how much He cares for me, and how much time and effort He puts into me and that I, for some reason, can't. 

I'm comtinually trying new way to become more intimate with God. That's what I'm here for. That's the very reason I exist.

Monday, January 19, 2009

thinking again

So, I'm sitting here in Al De Salvatore's church with Add, Bee and Heather, to hear Add preach...and there is no Internet so I'm actually writing this in Open Office and more than likely by the time any of you guys read it I will have copied and pasted it to Blogspot. Not sure why I wanted to share that glorious information but maybe someone will find it as strange as I do.

Anyways, for some reason I feel the need to say how awesome God is at making sure my needs are met. I don't have any huge news like my college tuition has been paid or I'm getting a new car or anything like that, just so you won't get your hopes up, but I've just been thinking about it a lot more lately that I normally do. God has so richly blessed me it's not even funny. First of all I'm in Master's Commission and I'm not paying for a thing, now, you may say, “well that's not necessarily God blessing you, that's just your mom paying for you to be here”, and I know this because I've heard it before, but God is blessing me by allowing me to be here through my mom paying for it. Something else is the fact that I'm here and I've been placed with the most awesome home-openers ever. Not only are they allowing me to live in their house but when I had a really annoying, and completely out of my control, money issue, they took care of me until I got the money I needed in the mail.

Those are just two examples out of many, but I just thought I would share. God is so awesome that He blesses me through everything. Every little thing is a blessing from God. Waking up in the morning, having money in my wallet (no matter how much it is), being in MC, being alive, being able to have any type of food I could ever want right at my fingertips, I have amazing friends, my family is absolutely wonderful...honestly God has blessed me with so much I can't even think of it all.

I just felt the need to share. Lol. Love you guys.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Thinking...

I believe you made
All that I can see
So everything I want
Is You, Alive in me
Though I may be young
You said let the children come

So, I will sing
I'm not too small
To know you Jesus
As my Lord
So, I will sing
I will sing, for You
Only for You

Even if my eyes
Can not see You here
I believe You are
I know You're always near
Though I may be young
You said let the children come

So, I will sing
I'm not too small
To know you Jesus
As my Lord
So, I will sing
I will sing for You
Only for You

I was sitting here listening to this Hillsong Kids song, which I love by the way, and I was thinking about having faith like a child. I wish so bad to have that child-like faith again. 

I do Kids Connect on Saturday night now, and seven though I normally only do sound, I did worship with them tonight. It was one of the most awesome things I've experienced in a long time. Not only did 30 or more kids jump around and sing to Jesus, but being in the middle of it made me, somehow, feel like I could get that child-like faith back again. It's also so easy to let loose in worship when im around all the kids in Kids Connect. Kids always have this way of not caring who's around in worship. If they want to dance - they dance. If they want to jump - they jump. If they want to spin around - they spin around. Even if the just want to dance in front of the projector - they do it!

It always seems harder to worship when I'm around other adults. We always seem to be so judgmental towards others, and in turn, we feel like we are going to be judged for something we do or want to do, and I'm pretty sick of it. 

I'm making a point from this point to completely ignore everyone else in the room during worship, calm my thoughts and stand and worship the only one who is worthy to be worshiped. Connect deeply and intimately with the one who cares so greatly for me, I can't even fathom it. 

Your prayers are ALWAYS appreciated. 

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

So, I've not been having a good time in life lately - but, at the same time, I've been learning so much more about God than  I've ever realized was truth. I've felt so complainy, so whiney, and so pathetic, the past week or so - I can hardly stand myself, but I feel more open to help and more open to oppinions from other people than I EVER have. 
I'm just getting to the point in my life where I not only WANT to fix my junk, I'm DOING something about it. I'm working towards a goal. I'm working to deal with and get over stuff that I haven't yet. So, with that being said...it seems like everything is being dumped on me at once. 
One thing I'm having to do now is deal with my Dads death. May will begin the sixth year since my Dads death and I still haven't dealt with it. I'm not sure how to do it - but, with that being said, I got back from my Christmas break about a week ago to find out after a few days that a good friend of mine, from back home, had passed away. Not only did he pass away, but the way he died was the EXACT same way my Dad died...it was a hard blow. I didn't quite know how to deal with it, but this situation has cause me to meditate on an extremely important piece of scripture.

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together[a] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28

I've heard this verse all my life, but I've never really thought about it this much. God uses EVERYTHING for good. God can use a situation like the death of my Dad, or the death of my friend to reach so many people. God could have easily reached hundreds of people from those deaths - and honestly, I know He did. 
This week I've basically just learned not to be selfish in these kinds of situations.
Even though I was extremely upset with both situations, God used them to reach people through everyones pain.

I'd really appreciate you guys prayers.