It shocks me how people who are raised in the church can be so anti-God.
I mean, putting aside the bad preachers, the hypocritical people, the bad role models, the influence of the world, etc., how can you put aside God?
Because all those other things don't matter.
They are just excuses to not give absolute awe, respect, love, adoration to the One God who created us, who loves us, who sent His Son to die for us, and who gives us His grace daily, even when we choose to screw up.
How people can become so tainted, so jaded, so deceived is beyond me.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I have lived in deception. In fact, I lived in that deception for 5 months of my life consistently but even while living in that deception, Christ in me was fighting for my life. I felt it and was aware of Him almost daily. Scriptures were popping up and convicting me constantly. People who knew nothing of the lifestyle I was living in said things that just blew me away, as if God were speaking directly to my soul. How can people deny that?
It is crazy how people can walk around on this earth and not see God.
And saying that too many bad things happen in this world for there to be a good God is sad and just another excuse to not have to live for God. Bad things happen to people everyday, to good and bad people, it is a part of life and even though it stinks royally, it does not mean that God does not care or love those people who get hurt.
Jesus died a horrible death on the cross, He was not spared pain, why should any of us be? He was perfect and yet He still experienced the ultimate pain. We sin on a daily basis, why do we think we deserve a perfect life?
It is all just saddening to see people deny Christ daily. And for what? or for whom?
I choose God, in the good and even in the bad.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
My heart's cry!
A friend of mine asked me about Peru and this is what I said...
Peru was the best choice I ever made for myself. Well, God definitely is the one who opened the door and made it crystal clear that I was supposed to go there through the financial provisions.
The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was having to take some cold showers pretty frequently and sometimes the food was a bit much for me. But the inconveniences are far outweighed by how much I truly fell in love with the place, and even more so, the people, the children especially.
I mean, I lived at the orphanage and breathed in those kids all day long. I went to school with them, ate lunch with them, helped them with homework, played outside with them, watched movies with them at night, went to church with them, for 9 whole weeks. And they were attached to me just as much as I was attached to them.
And for the 10th whole week, I was even more consumed with them because I was a House Mother, meaning me and another mother were in charge of 21 kids. I moved into their actual house with them, woke up at 6 or 7 in the morning and never left their side, making breakfast for them, having to discipline them, tell them no, not just being the friend anymore, but a mother figure. I even had a day and a half where I was the only house mother. And I loved every minute of it. The only complaint is needing to know more spanish so that I can really share my heart with them.
I loved playing basketball with them. Because I am actually good at it compared to them, ha ha ha! So they loved playing with me. We played almost everyday and it was just amazing.
And besides the kids, there were other volunteers that came throughout the 10 weeks that I was there and I became super close to two of them. Emily was a 16 year old volunteer that came and she and I hit it off on the basketball court the first day she arrived. She went through a similar circumstance last year and we have just become sisters as a result. She and I are super close and God brought the friendship at the exact time it was needed. Another girl named Aimee came 3 weeks after Emily, and Aimee and I are now best friends too. She has a huge heart and the light of God shines through in all she says and does. God definitely arranged divine appointments while being in Peru and He is not done with me there. I do not know how long I will be there but I know that I am super excited to return.
I could talk more but I do not want to write too much and bore you, ha ha. Thanks for asking =] Peru is a part of my heart and sharing it with others is something I love to do.
Peru was the best choice I ever made for myself. Well, God definitely is the one who opened the door and made it crystal clear that I was supposed to go there through the financial provisions.
The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was having to take some cold showers pretty frequently and sometimes the food was a bit much for me. But the inconveniences are far outweighed by how much I truly fell in love with the place, and even more so, the people, the children especially.
I mean, I lived at the orphanage and breathed in those kids all day long. I went to school with them, ate lunch with them, helped them with homework, played outside with them, watched movies with them at night, went to church with them, for 9 whole weeks. And they were attached to me just as much as I was attached to them.
And for the 10th whole week, I was even more consumed with them because I was a House Mother, meaning me and another mother were in charge of 21 kids. I moved into their actual house with them, woke up at 6 or 7 in the morning and never left their side, making breakfast for them, having to discipline them, tell them no, not just being the friend anymore, but a mother figure. I even had a day and a half where I was the only house mother. And I loved every minute of it. The only complaint is needing to know more spanish so that I can really share my heart with them.
I loved playing basketball with them. Because I am actually good at it compared to them, ha ha ha! So they loved playing with me. We played almost everyday and it was just amazing.
And besides the kids, there were other volunteers that came throughout the 10 weeks that I was there and I became super close to two of them. Emily was a 16 year old volunteer that came and she and I hit it off on the basketball court the first day she arrived. She went through a similar circumstance last year and we have just become sisters as a result. She and I are super close and God brought the friendship at the exact time it was needed. Another girl named Aimee came 3 weeks after Emily, and Aimee and I are now best friends too. She has a huge heart and the light of God shines through in all she says and does. God definitely arranged divine appointments while being in Peru and He is not done with me there. I do not know how long I will be there but I know that I am super excited to return.
I could talk more but I do not want to write too much and bore you, ha ha. Thanks for asking =] Peru is a part of my heart and sharing it with others is something I love to do.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Emotional
I am 23 years old.
I have been an adult for a long time now.
You would think my parents could call me up and tell me their concerns about me graduating and not having a "real" job lined up because of all the loans I have to pay off.
I know what is coming. And I know I have not had such huge responsibilities before this but I also know that God is bigger than all this and as long as I do my part, that God will take care of me.
I just wish they would treat me like an adult and talk to me and not everyone else around me.
I have been an adult for a long time now.
You would think my parents could call me up and tell me their concerns about me graduating and not having a "real" job lined up because of all the loans I have to pay off.
I know what is coming. And I know I have not had such huge responsibilities before this but I also know that God is bigger than all this and as long as I do my part, that God will take care of me.
I just wish they would treat me like an adult and talk to me and not everyone else around me.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Can't Let Go--Landon Pigg
Finality.
I've been dying to make it official, returning to Peru and all and 5 hours after it is official, my mind is racing with all the finalities that will come of this as a result.
Finishing my university career. Wow.
I thought it would never come but now that it is rapidly approaching, it will be hard to let go of. I mean, I have been at school since Fall 2005. I have met so many people. Done so many things, learned so many things, had so many firsts at this school and with people. And now I am doing lasts in these couple months that are left and it is weird looking back on all that has happened, where I am at now.
There are specific things that are hard to let go of: sisterhood, consistency, spiritual atmosphere, chapels, accountability, and I know some of those live on forever but it will forever be different.
There are some people that I will stay in touch with forever, some I may lose contact with from time to time but we will be forever friends, and then there are some that I may never see or talk to again. And I don't know how I feel about that.
I think I feel like some things were left unsaid. Not finished. And I do not intend on finishing it because sometimes others need to take initiative.
Maybe I am just afraid to open a new door and close an old one.
Who knows.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I am SO excited about Peru and have been waiting for this for months. I just have a feeling it is going to alter my life in a HUGE way and that is a bit frightening. I just want to do it all God's way.
I don't want to lose sight.
I don't want to get distracted.
I don't want to become self-centered.
I always want to keep my eyes on Christ and let Him lead me.
No matter where, I will go. No matter what, I will do.
God, I will serve you.
No matter what that means.
Your Truth will guide me.
I've been dying to make it official, returning to Peru and all and 5 hours after it is official, my mind is racing with all the finalities that will come of this as a result.
Finishing my university career. Wow.
I thought it would never come but now that it is rapidly approaching, it will be hard to let go of. I mean, I have been at school since Fall 2005. I have met so many people. Done so many things, learned so many things, had so many firsts at this school and with people. And now I am doing lasts in these couple months that are left and it is weird looking back on all that has happened, where I am at now.
There are specific things that are hard to let go of: sisterhood, consistency, spiritual atmosphere, chapels, accountability, and I know some of those live on forever but it will forever be different.
There are some people that I will stay in touch with forever, some I may lose contact with from time to time but we will be forever friends, and then there are some that I may never see or talk to again. And I don't know how I feel about that.
I think I feel like some things were left unsaid. Not finished. And I do not intend on finishing it because sometimes others need to take initiative.
Maybe I am just afraid to open a new door and close an old one.
Who knows.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I am SO excited about Peru and have been waiting for this for months. I just have a feeling it is going to alter my life in a HUGE way and that is a bit frightening. I just want to do it all God's way.
I don't want to lose sight.
I don't want to get distracted.
I don't want to become self-centered.
I always want to keep my eyes on Christ and let Him lead me.
No matter where, I will go. No matter what, I will do.
God, I will serve you.
No matter what that means.
Your Truth will guide me.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Revival Pt. 3 & 4: Dr. Rutland
Colossians 2:6-12
-Satan is a defeated foe, in chains, He has no power over us except the power we give him.
-God's grace is sufficient!
-My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed on the cross!
-You have to turn the table on the enemy who attacks your soul!
-You gotta learn to stand up to the enemy when he tries to haunt you!
-We are made to sit with God in heavenly places!
-We sit, walk, and run with God!
-Victory is ours!
-We were not born to be slaves to slaves, our Lord and Savior conquered death on the cross!
-It's already done, we just receive it!
1 Corinthians 13
Love Is the Greatest
1 "If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love."
John 3:16: For God so loved the world!
-There should be a change in you and your life when you become saved, are healed, restored, delivered, etc.
->Vs. 1-3 of 1 Corinthians 13--Priority of love, need for anointing of ministry
--If there is no love, it is NOTHING!
--If you have all these "experiences" with God but do not love, it is NOTHING!
->Vs. 4-7--Character
--Envy is a powerful force--rejoice in the blessings of others!
--Love never behaves unseemly, cares about others, and thinks of the atmosphere they are in before acting. (Some things are appropriate in one place but not in another, etc.)
--Love doesn't gloat over others sins and failures.
--Ask God to baptize you in love.
->Vs. 8-13--Eternity of Love
--Though things are exciting, they will pass away!
--The one thing that goes with you into eternity is love.
-Satan is a defeated foe, in chains, He has no power over us except the power we give him.
-God's grace is sufficient!
-My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed on the cross!
-You have to turn the table on the enemy who attacks your soul!
-You gotta learn to stand up to the enemy when he tries to haunt you!
-We are made to sit with God in heavenly places!
-We sit, walk, and run with God!
-Victory is ours!
-We were not born to be slaves to slaves, our Lord and Savior conquered death on the cross!
-It's already done, we just receive it!
1 Corinthians 13
Love Is the Greatest
1 "If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love."
John 3:16: For God so loved the world!
-There should be a change in you and your life when you become saved, are healed, restored, delivered, etc.
->Vs. 1-3 of 1 Corinthians 13--Priority of love, need for anointing of ministry
--If there is no love, it is NOTHING!
--If you have all these "experiences" with God but do not love, it is NOTHING!
->Vs. 4-7--Character
--Envy is a powerful force--rejoice in the blessings of others!
--Love never behaves unseemly, cares about others, and thinks of the atmosphere they are in before acting. (Some things are appropriate in one place but not in another, etc.)
--Love doesn't gloat over others sins and failures.
--Ask God to baptize you in love.
->Vs. 8-13--Eternity of Love
--Though things are exciting, they will pass away!
--The one thing that goes with you into eternity is love.
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