Tuesday, September 24, 2013

"One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple."
Psalm 27:4
 
One thing, just one out of a million other things, David asks that he could dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life. Why?
 
1. To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.
 
To gaze. Just gaze upon the beauty of our wonderful Lord and King.
 
Gaze: To look intently or with fixed attention. A steady fixed look.
 
And to gaze all the days of his life...
 
Beauty: A pleasing quality associated with harmony of form or color, excellence of craftsmanship, truthfulness, originality, or another, often unspecifiable property.
 
Unspecifiable property... How great is our God!
 
2. To seek him in his temple.
 
Seek: To try to locate or discover; search for.
 
Discover our God. I don't know if this is completely possible, but as we discover more about Him (by searching for Him), we fall more in love with Him. We intently look, we gaze, we search, we discover that unspecified property and fall in love with Him all over again. How many people in our world today need to just fix their gaze on the beauty of the Lord? How many need to earnestly seek Him? And if they did, what do you think the result would be? And more importantly, do you need to fix your gaze, seek, and discover that beauty? What would happen if you did it on a regular basis? How about you stop reading this and try. I guarantee that you will be completely changed, you will fall in love, and you will never be sorry you did.
 


My Red Bird


 
The bird that God has sent to three different places that I have lived.
 
Ya know...the one I wrote about here and here

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Thankful Thursday

This Thursday I am especially thankful for
  1. Peanut butter cookies homemade by Mom
  2. Callouses on fingers so playing my fiddle no longer hurts (on that part anyways ;))
  3. Words from my Creator's heart
  4. Determination
  5. The power of one's testimony
  6. The amazing picture of humility in action I got to see this past weekend
  7. Getting to see Shane & Shane preform live this last Monday
  8. His grace
  9. The Holy Spirit
  10. This song: (Oh How I Need You)




What are YOU thankful for this Thursday?...

Sunday, September 8, 2013

The clock is ticking...

       This last weekend we went on a short trip to our old town. We saw friends, heard testimonies, and had a great time. We have lived in our new city for two years now. We have lived in our new house now for one year. How time does fly...I am now in high school (still homeschooling). Caleb is about to turn two and fall is right around the corner. Our time here on earth is so short and fleeting. What should we do with every year we are given? What should we do with every month, every week, every day? What about the hours, the minutes, and the seconds? We were made for more than just to eat, play (mostly with handheld devices or get brainwashed by television), be comfortable, get what you want, get the glory, and die. We are descended from someone who God breathed the breath of life into. God formed him with His own hands and  probably said or was thinking something like this: "Ah! I have a plan for you and it is going to be amazing!" The same God who formed Adam formed you. The same God who had a plan for Adam has a plan for you. And when Adam disobeyed and God's original plan was jolted, He designed a rescue plan. A man, God's son, took the penalty of death that you deserved..."Real love is not afraid to bleed." (Rend Collective Experiment: The Cost) God chose love, but He is a just God so someone without sin had to die. Jesus took the nails for you, he took the nails for me. And still we step out of His rescue plan. He ascended up to heaven and sent us His Holy Spirit, the counselor. He works in the hearts of men and is desperately trying to save his lost sheep. God made us a promise, He said that He would come back for us, come back for His love. The angles are being lined up, God is calling his people, and the horn is about to blow. Jesus is just waiting for God to give the command to go. They are waiting, all is still, but we are not all saved. And when they come, they are coming in justice and the ones who have not heard, and the ones who have rejected Him, will be lost forever. The neighbor next door is crying, your boss or school teacher has his head in his hands, the lost and broken and near and far, the day is near, how many will be lost? Time is ticking and the horn is about to blow, it's time to embrace what you were made for, time to make your Savior known. We were made to love and worship God with all our heart, and with every fiber of our being. And when you love someone that much, you can't help but make sure that everyone knows about Him. Christine Caine says something like this: "When an army goes into battle, they obey the last order the commander gave. Us being the body of Christ, I believe we should be obsessed with Jesus' last command..."

    "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20

     And to teach His commands, don't we also need to follow and know them? The students will not multiply as a step of division if the teacher skips that step every time she divides.