For my Ladies

To all my ladies, my wonderful, beautiful chaplain of my sorority shared this with our bible study a couple of months ago and I thought I should share as well! Keep this with you always to remember how much God loves you, no matter the circumstance.


I made her, She is different. She is unique.
With love I formed her in her mother's womb.
I fashioned her with great joy.
I remember, with great pleasure, the day I created her.
(Psalm 139:13-16)
I love her smile, I love her ways.
I love to hear her laugh.
And the silly things she says and does. She bring me great pleasure.
This is how I made her.
(Psalm 139:17, Zephaniah 3:17)
I made her pretty and not beautiful,
Because I knew her heart, and she would be vain
I wanted her to search out her heart, and to learn that it would be
Me in her that would make her beautiful
And that it would be Me in her that would draw friends to her.
(1 Peter 3:3-5)
I made her in such a way, that she would need Me.
I made her a little more lonesome than she would like to be
Only because I need for her to learn and depend on me.
I know her heart, I know if I had not made her like this, 
She would go her own chosen way and forget about Me, her creator.
(Psalm 62:5-8)
I have given her many good and happy things 
Because I love her.
(Psalm 84:11, Romans 8:23, 37-39)
Because I love her,
I have seen her broken heart, and the tears she cried alone.
I have cried with her, and had a broken heart too.
(Psalm 56:8, Psalm 34:18)
Many times she has stumbled and fallen alone
Only because she would not hold my hand.
So many lessons she's learned the hard way.
Because she would not listen to my voice.
(Isaiah 53:6)
So many times I have sat back
And sadly watched her go her merry way alone.
Only to watch her return to my arms, sad and broken.
(Luke 15:7)
And now she is mine again.
I made her, and then I bought her because I love her.
(Romans 5:8)
I have to reshape her and remold her 
to renew her to what I had planned for her to be.
It has not been easy for her or for Me.
(Jeremiah 29:11)
I want her to be conformed to My image.
This is the high goal I have set for her,
Because I love her.
(2 Corinthians 2:14)


The more willing we are to let God take control, the more able He is to mold you into every wonderful, good intention he had for you. Walking with the Lord is always harder, and always more worthwhile. Ladies, we need to be holding His hand and let him lead us away from our own knowledge so we can receive the amazing plans he has for our lives. Hope you all are have a fantastic weekend!

You are for me

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

For some reason, we usually tend to think that if we give things to God completely, he'll lead us to places that aren't in our best interest, like he'll hold out on us. Ever since Adam and Eve we've been believing this. Since Satan made it seem like the fruit of the evil tree was good and that God was keeping it from them. I don't know why it's so hard to trust that God's plans are better than our own. It should be comforting, knowing that we don't have to carry the burden of figuring everything out for ourselves. Yet, there's something in us that longs to know the exact plan of everything that's going to happen.


Sometimes God's only way of getting back our attention and putting us on the right track is taking away what we think is best for us, so we can ask him what actually is. And if anyone asks for wisdom, it will be freely given to him (James 1:5). I can't think of one time in my life that God's taken away something from me and hasn't given me something better. The waiting's the worst part because it's terrifying not knowing exactly what the future holds. But God tells us that those who wait for the Lord will renew their strength, not growing tired or faint.


It's not that God doesn't want us to have plans, we're supposed to be thinking of our future. But God should be at the root of that plan, so the two wills line up. He doesn't want us to be worrying about our future-what we'll eat or where we'll stay.God's going to place us exactly where we need to be in order to live a life that's best for us. The most important thing to remember is that God is faithful and He is for us. He won't forsake us, or give us something we can't handle.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ffdbo9Hypo


 I know that you are for me, I know that you are for me
I know that you will never forsake me in my weakness

Stray Sheep

    A relationship between a shepherd and his sheep is mentioned so many times throughout the bible. We are the sheep and Jesus is our shepherd, of course. Heard that countless times. It was told to me in a cooler way the other day. Sheep naturally are dumb animals- wandering, not understanding, leaving the flock just because they don't understand the protection they will have there. Sometimes, to get the sheep to come back to the flock, the shepherd has to break the legs of the sheep in order for it to comply so it gets back to safety.
 "7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." -John 10

    This way of telling the story of the sheep and shepherd made it much more relevant. We leave the protection of the Lord constantly and aimlessly. We don't know what to do because we don't ask for wisdom and rely on our own knowledge to get us through our struggles. When these struggles lead us astray, God breaks us. By pulling our feet out from under us, God leaves us with no choice but to come back into the safety of his arms. It's not him trying to hurt us when we have trials because he is trying to lead us to life. It's by his mercy that he comes out to find us and bring us back, no matter how hard that is. 
     " ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." -James 1
      It's difficult when going through trials to be thankful for them. My immediate reaction is to be angry or upset. Usually someone will come to me telling me that God has a plan. And that makes me even more mad because I don't want God's plan, I want my plan. But the trials we face are given to us so that we're broken for God's glory. It's to produce character (Romans 5:4) and faith that the Lord has better plans for us than we could come up with on our own (Jeremiah 29:11). We are the stray sheep, and He is our faithful shepherd. 
     


     

Complete

"Here I am, at your feet, in my brokenness complete" -Unashamed, Starfield


     Being in college, I'm constantly surrounded by people- which I LOVE, but it doesn't leave much time to spend alone with God. It's so easy for all of us to get caught up in doing other things. Especially for me- I love being involved and having something to do all the time. Being busy is fine- God wants us to be surrounded by his children, but as soon as our focus comes off him, it's so easy for Satan to step in and distract us with that busy schedule.


     One of the hardest things for me is finding the motivation to spend time in the Word. I admit, I don't wake up in the mornings and have an urge to read and learn more about God. The stories of the Bible telling about God's amazing power fascinate me once I find that motivation, but usually I just don't make it there. I've been praying lately for God to give me a passion for reading and learning from devotionals, or the Bible or anything. I still haven't quite figured out if that's a legit prayer or not..I mean, we should want to be learning how to live the wonderful life God intends for us to. But as humans, we just slip up. Whenever I have prayed for motivation to read the Word, however, my prayers have been answered and I find a passage that I haven't read before or one that applies to me perfectly. So, I'm assuming it is a legit prayer!


      Another humbling lesson I've been learning is that I can't plan out everything that's going to happen in life. I've always been a planner, I want to be a wedding planner as a career, I have my whole future planned out. But, of course, God keeps letting me know in not-so-subtle ways that he has a plan for me too, and they don't always match up. 
Matthew 16:25 tell us that "whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it". That verse drives me nuts sometimes. I just want for my plans to fall into place, for my life to be saved. Whenever my plans don't match up with God's, I lose them. Usually I'll get angry, be moody for awhile, eventually accept his plan when I have no other choice- and then be overwhelmed every time by how great his grace is. As soon as I lose the life I want to do his will, I find great joy in life in what he initially had in store for me. Broken at first, and then complete.


     So, I've begun getting up in the mornings to go to the gym. I'll run for a bit on the elliptical and listen to worship music. It's the best way I've found to start my day off with the Lord. It gives me a sense of peace to get through my busy days so I can stay on track (and get fit of course). Starting off my morning focused on God sets a pattern of me relying on his plans above my own for the hours following. Letting go of our own desires is one of the hardest things God calls us to do, but it's so important that we do it, and not be consumed in the the patterns of this world. 


When we stay on God's path, it is a gooood good place to be. 
   


Unashamed- Starfield: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vs3vrbVMP0&list=FLhanvSM9aYKVpDM10265vMw&index=2