Pursued by My Lover

I start laughing with joy. Then crying, and then laughing again. All throughout that day when I thought about it, I was giddy all over again.    

                   
The other day while doing my devotions God opened my eyes to the truth that He was pursuing me way before I even began to look His way. Just think about this... God, the Creator of the Universe, wants YOU!! and so much so, that He pursues YOU!!! Yep, I know, it is simply crazy, amazing!!! (*girls, just food for thought...no man will ever pursue you like what God does!! Not even close!)

I invite you to look at these verses with me... :)

"For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."  Psalm 139:13

"Your eyes [God] saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."  Psalm 139:16

"O Lord, You have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. ..."   Psalm 139:2-5

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8

"For God so loved the world (you), that He gave His only Son, that whoever (if you) believes in Him [you] will not perish but have everlasting/eternal life." John 3:16

You know sometimes we believe the lie that we are not valuable and that we don't "measure" up. Or maybe you think that God doesn't like you, much less love you. Sometimes because of circumstances that happen in our life that are out-of-our-control, we believe the lie that satan and the world feed us: "You are not worth much or valuable; you are such a loser." But guess what, Friend?!?! You have been created and made in the image of God, and He says you are valuable. Your worth does not depend on what you have or have not accomplished; whether you are super smart/intelligent; on your looks or athletic ability; or anything else!

You are valuable & of worth because God says you are!!!

So don't believe the lies from the world that you have to do a specific thing or be a certain way to be valuable! It's just not true! You, my friend, are valuable because God wanted you to be and He made you in His image; it pleased Him. Check out the book of Genesis and the creation account (Genesis 1-2). Notice how God created the rest of creation and then how He created humans. Walk in the truth today and tomorrow and the rest of your life! 

Friend, if Jesus is your Lord and Savior embrace knowing that He wants you and is for you! Maybe though, you do not know what having a relationship with Jesus is; know that God is pursuing YOU and is calling your name. Go to Him. He wants you! I encourage and challenge you to find out more about a relationship with Jesus. Open up the Bible and start reading. Ask your pastor, a trusted friend, or as always, please contact me! I would love to talk with you! :)                

Friend, God doesn't make junk! If fact, you matter so much that even though we messed up His perfect world and separated ourselves from Him, He made a way that we could live with Him for eternity! Isn't that just crazy, amazing!?!? You do matter! You do have a purpose because of Christ! You are precious and valuable!

It's Good to be Alive

The sun is shining; the grass is turning a lovely, lush, bright green; flowers are starting to peak up through the ground; and the air smells so fresh. On top of this, my Savior Jesus, loves me and has made a way for me to spend eternity with Him. Wow! Amazing! I cannot wait for the day I finally see Him!

But... I am here today, living life. And you know what? Sometimes I can get caught up in life, getting so busy that I forget to enjoy life and embrace the little things. God put me here to bring Him glory. I don't want to waste my life! I want it to count!

Listen to this song by Jason Gray called, "Good to be Alive". This should be our attitude everyday. :)

May we live everyday as if it was our last, enjoying and embracing God's grace. 

Letting Go of Me & Holding on to You, Jesus

This past Sunday we had a fundraiser at our church for a team from our church going to St. Louis, MO this summer. Much time, effort and prayer had gone into the planning of the program. Everything was ready and going as planned. Then I got a phone call. Curve ball!

One thing we prayed before the night begin was that no matter the results God would get all the glory. Whether the church was overflowing or only 5 people showed up; whether we ran our of ice cream sundaes or we only used one bucket; whether I tripped and fell flat on my face or got through the night without a mishap (this was my personal prayer). Whatever the outcome, God would get the glory, honor and praise. 

Well, the night went great! Our church was full with only a pew or two open, we did have enough ice cream, the singing group [The Saratoga Boys gospel quartet] sounded amazing and our church band did a super job. We raised more money than we thought we would, and guess what?!? Not a single person tripped!! :)

But that was not all that happened that night, no. Like I said, the evening went great; but admidst all this, God wanted to teach His daughter {me} more about Himself and conform her more to the likeness of His Son, Jesus. About 45 minutes before the concert started, I got a call saying that my brother was sick and not coming. I would have to do his speaking part and get some other guys to do his other jobs. Not so hard, right? Then why was I so nervous? I usually get nervous when I speak in front of crowds, but for some reason, after this phone call I was in a bit of a tizzy!

That night God humbled me. He showed me that I sometimes start relying on my own strength instead of on His strength. God stretched me-I was put on the spot and out of my comfort zone, having to step up and do more speaking since Caleb was unable to come. When I had to ask other guys in our church to do some of his task for that night, that was out of my comfort zone-I don't like asking people to do things at the last minute and this was very last minute! "Would they even say yes?"

I had some trouble with the presentation about the trip concerning what to say and how to say everything. My prayer was that God would speak through me and that the words I said where His, not mine. So basically, ''Here's what I have, Lord, please be fill in the cracks."

Even during this time of teaching and molding-which is humbling and crazy and amazing all at the same time because the Creator of the universe, He cares enough to reach down and not let me stay how I am, but to change me-He showers me with blessings! Friends that live about 2 hours away came. It meant the world to me to have them there! They loved on me, encouraged me, and showed up. God showed me through these friends, a little taste of His love for me.

I so desire to become more like Jesus everyday! But honestly, sometimes I don't like being stretched or put out of my comfort zone. But if I really do yearn to become more like Jesus, than that means change, because of sin, I am not naturally like Jesus.

"Lord, I pray that we would yearn for You. May we hunger and thirst for Your Word. God, thank You for not letting us stay like we are-all broken, cracked and full of ourselves-but for changing us more into Your likeness. Thank you for teaching us, Your children. May we learn to surrender to You and Your will."

Never Forget...

It was dark. I was driving home. Crying. Weeping. Sobbing. So disappointed with myself. I had forgotten. I'd promised myself I wouldn't, but I had!

The winter of 2011, I lived in Guatemala for about 3 months. God had told me to go to Prairie Bible College in Three Hills, Alberta. Part of our training/schooling for intercultural studies was a three month mission trip to Guatemala. Among other things that we saw, we saw poverty. 

Poverty. What comes to mind when you hear this word? I don't think anyone of us who lives in North America or a non-third world country can truly understand what this means in everyday life. Yes, some of us have experienced it to some degree and seen it firsthand, but unless you actually live in it day in and day out, I don't believe you can fully grasp it. 

Here are some stories/experiences that are all too real! This is everyday life for many... 

I see faces of little girls no older than 6 or 7 years old, living in public bathrooms selling squares of toilet paper for a living (yes, they even sleep in the building during the night on pallets-think of the rats, bacteria and stench!). 

I met a man, Louis, who had worked in the sewer for the past 35 years. This was his job; what he did for a living. And you know what? He thanked God for this job! 

Families picking through piles and piles of garbage, looking for something valuable to sell or fix and then sell. And these are not like our very organized garbage trucks/sites. We have it good! I'm talking heaping piles of dirty, disgusting, putrid trash; 15-20 feet high and 20 football fields wide! This is their job, how they make their living. Because they pick through trash, this is how they are viewed by others: trash.

.

Then there's these beautiful children. Children who cannot go to school because their parents cannot not afford it. These children with dreams just like everyone else, cannot not get an education because they are just trying to survive. Since they cannot get an education, the cycle of poverty continues. 

There are countless more stories like these and many more people that need help! Not only physically, but spiritually! Where are we, Christians?!?! Why are we not helping? There are over 3,000 verses in the bible concerning helping the poor, orphans and widows. It's time to get out of ourselves and do what we have been commanded to do!!

As I was driving home that night God showed me that I was starting to forget. The memory of these children and beautiful individuals, who are significant and valuable because they have been created in God's image, had slowly been fading. They were fading because I live in a very selfish, self-serving society and I had started listening to it.

Just think of everything that I [we] take for granted: running water, electricity, a car, internet, food, clothing, my bed. Can I honestly say that every time I jump in the shower I thank God for running water or when I turn on the light I praise Him for it? No, I don't. But I should! And you should too! We do not have a right to any of these things-they are gifts from God. 

Here is a startling fact: 

   "The truth is that there are 143 million orphaned children, 11 million children who starve to death from preventable diseases, 8.5 million children who work as slave, prostitutes or under other horrific conditions and 2.3 million live with HIV. This adds up to 164.8 million needy children. At first glance this seems like a huge number, but 2.1 billion people on this earth claim to be Christians. Truth be told, if only 8 percent of the Christians  would care for one more child, there would be no statistics left!" (taken from "Kisses from Katie")

Friend, we do not need to "experience" poverty to do something about it!! May I encourage you today to become more informed and ask God where He wants you to help. 

"Jesus, I pray we would be more afraid to live a comfortable life and fail to follow You, than we would be of what other people say or think, or not fitting in with the world! Jesus, we cannot change the world, only You can do that. But, may You use us to change the world for the better for one person!" 

God's Chisel

Do you ever look around at life and just wonder, "God, what You doing?!?!" I know I sure do!

This winter I got my parent's car stuck in the snow. Because I do not have a phone and Caleb (my bro whom I live with) was gone, and all my neighbors not home, I had to walk two miles to get to someone who could take me to work. [I cut it close on making it to work on time that day!] 

On Valentine's Day of this year, I was out giving Valentine's and visiting some friends. On the way home I hit a huge deer, shattering the windshield and getting to pay a lot of money for a new one. 

A man came into the library where I work looking for the encyclopedias. It is a series of all these books full of information, right, but for some reason I had the dictionary in my head, so one book, not a set. I could not find the encyclopedia for the life of me!! Then this patron shows me, the librarian, where they are. [for the record, it was a long day, but seriously, talk about a humbling event!]

We stub our toes, hit our head on beams, hammer our fingers instead of nails, fall on ice, trip over those invisible lines and spill on our favorite outfit or white shirt!

Why do these things happen to us? Could it be that they happen because God loves us? Yep, I think so.

Check out this video about God making us into His masterpiece. You will not regret taking the time to watch it!! :)

So Friend, maybe the next time something goes "wrong" in our day or it is just not going like we wanted or planned, instead of getting upset/impatient, we should ask God what He is teaching us and what He wants to change in us; thanking Him for caring enough to change us.

"Jesus, may we take every opportunity to become more like You! Help us to see these annoyances as lessons from you rather than a dread. May the desire to be more like You outweigh wanting life to "go our way". God, thank You for teaching us!"

Blessings on your weekend!! 

My Name is Child of the One True King

The other night while driving to a friend's home to babysit I got behind a very slow vehicle. Did this man not know that I had somewhere to get to? The radio had been on and the song that came on right as this vehicle pulled out was, "Hello, My Name Is" by Matthew West. Maybe you have heard it, but if not take a few minutes and listen to it. You won't regret it!! :)

Or you can go to this link... =>   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJlCj9_Sfj0 

This song talks about our identity being in Christ. As a born-again believer, you are God's child! You are the Child of the One True King! How amazing is this!?!? Makes me want to sing and dance and shout out loud!! The Creator of the universe made a way for me and you to spend eternity with Him! Even though we messed up the perfect world He created, and even though He knew that we were going to reject Him, He still loves us and wants us to come to Him! He is the only Way, the Truth and the Life! (if you don't get this-what I am talking about-just ask!) :) 

So as I was slowly driving to babysit, I was able to bask in this truth. If the car had not pulled out in front of me I would have arrived to my destination before the song was done and not had heard this song that very much so blessed me.

Friend, I encourage you today to look for God's blessings! They are all around us, but sometimes we are so busy going and doing and living that we miss out on what He desire to give us because we were too busy to notice. Today, I challenge you to slow down and notice your blessings that may be in disguise.

Blessings on your day!

Jennah

Psalm 100

 "Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth! 

Worship the Lord with gladness; 

Come before Him with joyful songs. 

Know that the Lord is God and 

we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. 

Enter His gates with thanksgiving 

and His courts with praise! 

Give thanks to the Lord and 

praise his name! 

For the Lord is good and 

His love endures forever. 

His faithfulness continues through all generations."